crossword 3:22
meta -3 days
hello and welcome to episode #375 of matt gaffney’s weekly crossword contest, “Where’s Your Filter?”. for this week 1 puzzle, matt asks us for a two-word medical procedure. what are the theme answers?
- {Begins to memorize all dictionary entries starring with the 19th letter? (to 24-Across)} is HITS THE S’S.
- {Very impressive abduction and ransom note? (from 17-Across)} would constitute a POWER KIDNAP, if you can use “kidnap” as a noun. i’d probably say “kidnapping”.
- {Person who washes the clothes of humorist Rocca? (to 63-Across)} is a MO LAUNDERER. i know him from “wait wait, don’t tell me”. he’s presumably been on other things.
- {Film genre where a former presidential candidate falls in love? (from 52-Across)} is a ROMNEY COM. a true valentine’s day treat, for sure.
- and right in the middle of the grid is {Crossword Fiend founder/blogger Reynaldo, who underwent this operation successfully last weekend} AMY.
well, you guys here at the fiend all know this one: it’s a kidney transplant, and we’ve been talking about it for weeks now. only 10 more days until amy gets her staples out! this puzzle was eminently solvable from just the title and instructions, which is how i solved it 3 days before getting around to the crossword. i got the email on friday, but i went out of town for the weekend (to lollapuzzoola!) and didn’t get to do the puzzle until monday.
the theme is a little unusual: a KID moves from HITS THE SKIDS to POWER NAP, and then NEY is transplanted from MONEY LAUNDERER to ROM COM. i liked it.
elsewhere in the fill, POSTS clued as {Blog entries} was perhaps another nod to our esteemed hostess here at the fiend. the clue that made me laugh was {Drink I happen to be drinking as I’m cluing this (no joke)}, which i first read when i had ___I filled in. i confidently wrote (no joke) NEHI. oops? the correct answer was CHAI.
that’s all for today. thanks to matt for this touching tribute to ms. fiend, and continued best wishes to amy as she recovers from her surgery!
Ditto on NEHI. Not sure about its effect on the kidneys.
Thirded for NEHI.
joon, good to finally meet you this weekend!
oh hey, you too. and congrats!
What a finely crafted tribute to a woman who’s done so much for the crossworld. Good on you, Amy, and well done, Matt.
Thanks, Joon — 456 correct entries this week.
My wife, who is a nurse, provided the title. And is demanding credit on the blog this Friday!
Best wishes to Amy for a speedy recovery.
And thank-you Nurse Gaffney for your solid contribution to this week’s puzzle!
I hope Matt accepted KIDNEY SWAP and KIDNEY EXCHANGE as well. I dithered for a while before I went with KIDNEY TRANSPLANT as the “procedure” since the others were more the “process” for getting to the operating room.
I was so happy to see Amy’s name on the leaderboard. (I usually notice it because it comes right after my name–when we both get it right.) So she must be on her way to recovery.
I thought Nehi too. Is it still around? Has anyone ever had it?
I’m pretty sure it isn’t. Paradoxically, that’s why I guessed it–because Matt put the “no joke” qualifier in the clue, I figured he somehow had come into possession of a rare product, perhaps as a gift from a fellow crossworlder.
EDIT: Apparently the Nehi brand belongs to RC Cola, which now markets former Nehi blends under the name RC Q.
I’ve seen signs advertising cheap Nehi at gas stations, along with a pop called (I think) Big Red. “What’s Nay-hee?” my son asked.
Much appreciated the theme! This remains the only crossword I’ve done since July 29.
First puzzle I managed to solve correctly in months… and I forgot to submit an entry.
Figured out kidney but missed how kid and ney got transplanted from the other clues. Since I couldn’t think of any other kidney procedure I took a guess at kidney transplant. First time I’ve gotten one right by accident.
Merle Reagle also dedicated his Sunday puzzle to Amy. I was amused by seeing Amy’s name on the leaderboard. Get well soon Orange!