Sunday, September 29, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

Tom McCoy’s New York Times crossword, “Now Weight Just A Second”—Jenni’s write-up

It’s a change-the-emphasized-syllable theme, or a homophone theme, or both. Thanks to Howard Barkin for explaining it in the comments! The WEIGHT of emphasis is changed to the SECOND syllable of a word in each theme answer. At least I think it is. It doesn’t appear to be the same substitution in each theme entry and I think the title is playing on “Wait/Weight,” not anything to do with actual weights. This puzzle felt like a slog to me, but that may be just because I’ve been cooking all day and my head is full of measurements.

So the theme answers:

• 22a [Cruise that specializes in baked alaska, e.g.?] is SHIP OF THE DESSERT. Isn’t it “baked Alaska?” And “ship of the desert,” which I know refers to camels, isn’t something that trips off my tongue.
• 33a [Like ambitious scientists?] is NOBEL MINDED (noble-minded). Another not-so-common base phrase.
• 49a [How everyone on this floor is feeling?] is THE MORALE OF THE STORY (the moral of the story).
• 68a [“Our lab studies regular dance moves rather than high-kicking”?] is IT‘S NOT ROCKETTE SCIENCE (it’s not rocket science). This one I liked.
• 86a [Summary of an easy negotiation?] is I CAME, I SAW, I CONCURRED (I came, I saw, I conquered).
• 105a [What a truck driver puts on before a date?] is SEMI COLOGNE (semi-colon).
• 116a [The main food served at Walden Pond?] is MAJOR THOREAU FARE (major thoroughfare).

This is not my favorite theme. Either it’s inconsistent or I missed the point.(spoiler: I missed the point).

A few other things:

• 15d [Package deliverers of the present day?] are REINDEER. I thought that was going to be a theme entry because of the ? and then it just took me a long time to see.
• 18a [End of oyster season] is APRIL, the last month with an R in the name until September.
• 29a [Quickly go through the seasons, say] is BINGE, as in “binge-watch.”
• 67d [MIX, for one] is YEAR. At least the Roman numerals are in the clue and not the grid.
• The Potterverse gives us SNAPE and KNUT.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that “verano” means summer in Spanish. I did know ETE, which is the answer.

Evan Birnholz’s Washington Post crossword, “Taking Place” – Jim Q’s writeup

No matter how you feel about this puzzle, it’s a milestone for Evan. His 200th WaPo. Considering the consistent quality and the chances he’s willing to take, it’s amazing that it’s already been 200. It feels like he took the WaPo reins just a couple months ago. They are all still fresh and exciting. It’s a good sign when you can’t wait to see what’s in store next.

Anyway, I knew it’d be a curveball this week, and unfortunately I was on the DL. It’s been such a busy week that I haven’t been able to solve this ahead of time and give it proper thought. That’s my way of saying that I didn’t figure out the meta. But I only just solved it. With any luck I’ll figure it out during this write-up.

THEME: ???? (Update: Figured it out thanks to a nudge… see bottom of post)

CLEARLY META RELATED THEME ANSWERS:

• 25A [*Advancing edge of a northern cold air mass] ARCTIC FRONT. 
• 27A [*Pain receptor, e.g.] NERVE ENDING. 
• 42A [*Good thing to keep in stressful situations] LEVEL HEAD. 
• 52A [*Medical facility in which patients get skin grafts] BURN CENTER. 
• 75A [*Reason for a detour] STREET CLOSURE. 
• 87A [*Industry expert, in business jargon] THOUGHT LEADER. 
• 109A [*Oft-criticized school standards initiative] COMMON CORE. 
• 120A [*Despaired] LOST HEART.
• 137A [*Early advantage in a sprint] FLYING START. 
• 141A [*Tight race climax] PHOTO FINISH. 

Grid was simple. Clearly compensating for the oversized Sunday and the tougher-than-normal meta. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how fantastic the clue for PIANO was [Wonder-working instrument?]. Stevie Wonder surely appreciates that…

Okay. So we’re looking for a three word phrase. And there’s a set of three hinted at in the “theme” answers: Things that have to do with the beginning, things that have to do with the middle, and things that have to do with the end. I highlighted them in different colors in the “theme answers” section above.

Each of the themers is also a common crossword pun-style clue when a (?) is placed at the end. So the clue ARCTIC FRONT (?) may have ANT as an answer since ANTARCTIC is a thing. Or perhaps it simply refers to the letter A, since it’s in front. But that would be inconsistent with BURN CENTER since there is no “middle” letter in BURN. BURN CENTER would therefore have to be UR. Or maybe we’re looking for a phrase like BUtter chuRN where [tterchu] is the center? That’s just weird.

Based on the size of the grid, something is going on besides a simple commonality across the theme answers. The starred clues must just be telling us to look somewhere else in the grid… or in the clues… or something.

Going with letters only… that yields A L T F for the “start” clues, UR MM OS for the “center” clues, and E C F for the “finish” clues (**Update… whoops… I meant E T O for finish clues). Looks like a dead end.

You know what I forgot to mention? I did stumble in a very small section of the grid while solving. It’s the part that included NASH, COHORT, and DROSSY. Is it just me? Or does DROSSY sound like a bullshit word? Evan avoids yucky fill at all costs. According to my brief research (looking only at NY Times), DROSSY hasn’t been used as fill since 1995. And 1972 before that…. And- hey- it sounds an awful lot like GLOSSY, which is indeed a PHOTO FINISH. Am I onto something? That moment when you can’t tell if you’re going down a rabbit hole…

The title is “Taking Place.” Can I substitute GL in place of the DR in DROSSY and still get acceptable fill? That would give us SOG and COHOLT. The former would pass, barely. Not the latter.

A few things I know for sure are A) Evan’s metas are always gettable and B) They’re always an amazing AHA. But as of now, I’m stumped.

I would say I look forward to seeing the comments for the reveal, but I don’t want the help just yet. I want to get the grid posted. I’ll officially throw in the towel before I head off for the city tomorrow.

When it comes down to it, I have faith that this is another masterwork from Evan. And I’m totally fine with not getting the meta.

I’m way more excited that I can say congrats on 200. I hope you all feel the same way.

 

***Update and meta explanation***

Thanks to the nudge from Martin, the answer revealed itself quickly and logically. Without that nudge, I’m sure I would’ve just kept staring at DROSSY. Ha!

Can’t believe I missed that there is a synonym for each of the first words of the theme answers elsewhere in the grid. Should’ve picked up on AVIATING. They are:

ARCTIC ===> WINTRY

NERVE ===> CHUTZPAH

LEVEL ===> EVEN

BURN ===> TORCH

STREET ===> AVENUE

THOUGHT ===> IDEA

COMMON ===> ROUTINE

LOST ===> AT SEA

FLYING ===> AVIATING

PHOTO ===> SHOT

Going back to one of my earlier inklings, if you take the first, middle, or last letter as suggested by the theme clue (highlighted and color coded above), it spells out WHERE IT’S AT. A satisfying meta answer that fits the “Taking Place” conceit. Well done, Evan! Not at all DROSSY!

Zhouqin Burnikel’s Universal crossword, “Number 42”—Rebecca’s review

THEME: COLOR BARRIER – Lines 1, 3, 8, 14, and 21 have barriers breaking up colors hidden within the answers

THEME ANSWERS:

• Line 1: IN A SPIN | KATO | LIVE AID
• Line 3: ONLINE DEGREE | NUMERATE
• Line 8: SPUR | PLEAD FOR | EDITORS
• Line 14: LAMISIL | VERA WANG | RAYS
• Line 21: ATLANTA | NINO | RANGERS
• 118A [Obstacle represented abstractly by words split across rows 1, 3, 8, 14 and 21] COLOR BARRIER

As soon as I saw the byline of today’s puzzle, I knew I would like it – and as usual Zhouqin Burnikel did not disappoint. It was one of those puzzles where, at least to me, the theme was not clear until I got to COLOR BARRIER – and then I was blown away looking back through the puzzle. Finding the colors in each of the theme rows was so impressive. I also loved the inclusion of Jackie ROBINSON adjacent to the COLOR BARRIER that he broke.

Really beautiful fill throughout this puzzle, both as part of the theme, with answers like VERA WANG, and LIVE AID – and throughout the rest of the puzzle. IDITAROD, ILANA, UBER RICH, ADLIBS, TUNA TACO, PRO GAMER, ALSO-RAN, and VIMEO are the first ones that come to mind as favorites, but I enjoyed so much of this solve.

And of course, thanks to 48-Across, I had IF EVER I Would Leave You stuck in my head while solving, which is never a bad thing.

4 stars

Paul Coulter’s Universal crossword, “Supernatural”—Jim Q’s review

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a super puzzle!

THEME: Alter egos of well known superheroes make up the first word of two-word phrases/names

THEME ANSWERS:

• 16A [“Whose Line Is It Anyway?” regular (starts with Batman’s alter ego)]
  

  Universal crossword solution · Paul Coulter · “Supernatural” · Sun., 9.29.19

  WAYNE BRADY

• 24A [What sycophants do (Aquaman)] CURRY FAVOR.
• 35A [Golden Flashes’ Ohio school (Superman)] KENT STATE.
• 49A [In one’s birthday suit (Iron Man)] STARK NAKED. 
• 58A [Best-selling writers? (Spider-Man)] PARKER PENS. 
• 64A [What the first letters of this puzzle’s superheroes aptly spell] BASIS. 

I really liked this puzzle, especially since the superheroes weren’t super obscure. My knowledge of the comic book superhero universe is extremely limited, and I knew four of the five alter egos in the puzzle (the exception being Aquaman).

PARKER PENS are new for me, but that goes in the “glad it’s in my vocab” part of the brain.

I found the revealer to be very bizarre. BASIS is just such a vague word in my opinion when it comes to describing one’s alter ego. I mean, I get it. Each of the names is the BASIS for the superhero they become, but that’s just such a weird way to describe it. It’s clever and fun that a word is spelled out. But I don’t think it enhanced the enjoyment of the puzzle. The themers were just fine as they were.

4 stars from me.

Evan Birnholz’s Washington Post crossword, “Taking Place” – Jim Q’s writeup

No matter how you feel about this puzzle, it’s a milestone for Evan. His 200th WaPo. Considering the consistent quality and the chances he’s willing to take, it’s amazing that it’s already been 200. It feels like he took the WaPo reins just a couple months ago. They are all still fresh and exciting. It’s a good sign when you can’t wait to see what’s in store next.

Anyway, I knew it’d be a curveball this week, and unfortunately I was on the DL. It’s been such a busy week that I haven’t been able to solve this ahead of time and give it proper thought. That’s my way of saying that I didn’t figure out the meta. But I only just solved it. With any luck I’ll figure it out during this write-up.

THEME: ????

CLEARLY META RELATED THEME ANSWERS:

• 25A [*Advancing edge of a northern cold air mass] ARCTIC FRONT. 
• 27A [*Pain receptor, e.g.] NERVE ENDING. 
• 42A [*Good thing to keep in stressful situations] LEVEL HEAD. 
• 52A [*Medical facility in which patients get skin grafts] BURN CENTER. 
• 75A [*Reason for a detour] STREET CLOSURE. 
• 87A [*Industry expert, in business jargon] THOUGHT LEADER. 
• 109A [*Oft-criticized school standards initiative] COMMON CORE. 
• 120A [*Despaired] LOST HEART.
• 137A [*Early advantage in a sprint] FLYING START. 
• 141A [*Tight race climax] PHOTO FINISH. 

Grid was simple. Clearly compensating for the oversized Sunday and the tougher-than-normal meta. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how fantastic the clue for PIANO was [Wonder-working instrument?]. Stevie Wonder surely appreciates that…

Okay. So we’re looking for a three word phrase. And there’s a set of three hinted at in the “theme” answers: Things that have to do with the beginning, things that have to do with the middle, and things that have to do with the end. I highlighted them in different colors in the “theme answers” section above.

Each of the themers is also a common crossword pun-style clue when a (?) is placed at the end. So the clue ARCTIC FRONT (?) may have ANT as an answer since ANTARCTIC is a thing. Or perhaps it simply refers to the letter A, since it’s in front. But that would be inconsistent with BURN CENTER since there is no “middle” letter in BURN. BURN CENTER would therefore have to be UR. Or maybe we’re looking for a phrase like BUtter chuRN where [tterchu] is the center? That’s just weird.

Based on the size of the grid, something is going on besides a simple commonality across the theme answers. The starred clues must just be telling us to look somewhere else in the grid… or in the clues… or something.

Going with letters only… that yields A L T F for the “start” clues, UR MM OS for the “center” clues, and E C F for the “finish” clues. Looks like a dead end.

You know what I forgot to mention? I did stumble in a very small section of the grid while solving. It’s the part that included NASH, COHORT, and DROSSY. Is it just me? Or does DROSSY sound like a bullshit word? Evan avoids yucky fill at all costs. According to my brief research (looking only at NY Times), DROSSY hasn’t been used as fill since 1995. And 1972 before that…. And- hey- it sounds an awful lot like GLOSSY, which is indeed a PHOTO FINISH. Am I onto something? That moment when you can’t tell if you’re going down a rabbit hole…

The title is “Taking Place.” Can I substitute GL in place of the DR in DROSSY and still get acceptable fill? That would give us SOG and COHOLT. The former would pass, barely. Not the latter.

A few things I know for sure are A) Evan’s metas are always gettable and B) They’re always an amazing AHA. But as of now, I’m stumped.

I would say I look forward to seeing the comments for the reveal, but I don’t want the help just yet. I want to get the grid posted. I’ll officially throw in the towel before I head off for the city tomorrow.

When it comes down to it, I have faith that this is another masterwork from Evan. And I’m totally fine with not getting the meta.

I’m way more excited that I can say congrats on 200. I hope you all feel the same way.

 

 

 

Paul Coulter’s LA Times crossword, “Where It’s At” – Jenni’s writeup

Oddly enough, this writeup contains spoilers for the WaPo.

Each theme answer is clued straight and also describes its position relative to another answer, which is denoted by circles. I don’t think the puzzle needed circles; they took some of the fun out of it for me.

• 22a [Ahead of time … and where it’s at] is BEFOREHAND, which sits left of 24a [It includes a king and queen], ROYAL FLUSH, which is, of course, also a HAND.
• 44a [On the up and up … and where it’s at] is ABOVEBOARD, which sits ABOVE 52a [Food squares?], MEALS. That’s the BOARD in “room and board.”
• 53a [In a ship’s hull … and where it’s at] is BELOWDECKS, which is BELOW 50a [Bout enders, for short], KOS (as in “he decked the other boxer with a knockout”).
• 88a [More than flamboyant … and where it’s at] is OVER THE TOP, which is above 93a [Casual shirt], TEE.
• 95a [Mortgaged to the hilt and then some … and where it’s at] is UNDERWATER, which is UNDER 92a [Red __], SEA.
• 121a [Subsequent to the normal closing time … and where it’s at] is AFTER HOURS, which sits to the right of 118a [Final football score including at least one safety], NINE TO FIVE. Aside from the fact that no one writes out the numbers in football scores…

I enjoyed this theme. I would have enjoyed it more without the circles. Just me? And how weird is it that the title of this puzzle is the answer to Evan’s WaPo meta? WEIRD.

A few other things:

• Ugh, a dupe. IRE and IRATE in the same grid? Come on.
• 3d [Hardly in favor (of)] is NO FAN.
• 14d [Back biters] are MOLARS. Took me a minute.
• 34d [Conestoga driver] is a WAGONER. I wanted another E in that word. Google Ngrams says I’m wrong.
• 118d [Nancy, in Nancy] is a NOM.
• I was happy to see LISA Leslie rather than LISA Simpson.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that Swansea is in Wales. Anyone who has played me in Learned League knows that geography is not my best thing.