Saturday, July 17, 2021

Ryan McCarty’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s write-up

NY Times crossword solution, 7 17 21, no. 0717

Hey, the Boswords Summer Tournament is coming up on Sunday, July 25, and I do encourage you to sign up. It’s online, and there’s a Twitch livestream that makes it feel a bit less virtual and more real—though the folks who aren’t featured in the video stream can only interact in the (typed) chat window. It’s a fun lineup of constructors, including Malaika Handa, one of the new Fiend bloggers. Why am I mentioning this here, int he NYT write-up? Because I hadn’t had a good sense of Ryan McCarty’s style until I did one of his puzzles in the Boswords Spring Themeless League and got to hear Ryan talk about his puzzlemaking. Have been a big fan ever since! This wild NYT pinwheel grid with a super-chunky midsection (staggered 13s crossing staggered 11s, how is this even possible) has a bunch of zippy, fresh fill and I’m calling it 4.5 stars. Those of you who get disgruntled at names in the fill may be cranky, but I appreciated that the first four entries I filled in were all names! (AMELIA crossing TYLER URIS SIA).

Fave fill: SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the U.S.), BOG TURTLE, SLICE AND DICE your data, EMOJI KEYBOARD, “I DIGRESS,” OPEN SWIM, LOOP-DE-LOOPS, RAGGEDY ANDY, REDDI-WIP, and the DREAM ACT.

Toughest square for me: where 22a. [Pull (out)], BOW meets1d. [Whirlpools], SPA TUBS. I was thinking of whirlpools found in nature, wasn’t parsing SPATU*S as two words, and had a hard time seeing past TOW. Oof!

Didn’t know the term WAGE LABORERS, 33a. [Ones exploited in a capitalist system, per Marx]. Also new to me: 18d. [High-flying picnic game], BLANKET TOSS. Googling … oh! I was picturing a blanket being tossed, but it’s a person being tossed, trampoline-style,  on a blanket whose edges are held by a group of people. And Google is showing me that this is traditionally part of Iñupiat whaling festivals, rather than lower-48 picnics.

Three more things:

• 17a. [Pea piercers], TINES. Well! Not the usual clue for fork tines. It does take some skill to spear a single pea or kernel of corn.
• 21a. [Bagel variety], PLAIN. Yes! It is the best.
• 29d. [Lent feature], EAR. As in a bodily feature you might “lend.”

Good night, friendo!

Mollie Cowger’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up

LAT • 7/17/21 • Cowger • Sat • solution • 20210717

Two answers span the grid: 20a [It may require some heavy lifting] EXERCISE REGIMEN and 52a [“Caste” author who was the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism] ISABEL WILKERSON—that happened as late as 1994! And one of her notable antecedents is nearby: 49a [Lincoln biographer] Ida TARBELL.

• 5a [Word from the Aramaic for “father”] ABBOT. New information to me, and it makes easy sense retrospectively.
• 19a [Fermented seasoning] MISO. What’s your preference: shiro, aka, awase?
• 23a [Leaves spots?] TEAPOTS. I was reluctant to fill this in because I felt that the clue’s ‘spots’ was too blatantly evocative of POTS. Plus, I’m now noticing that just below that is 25a [Checks at the bar?] ESTOPS!
• 24a [Coastal hazard] TSUNAMI. 55a [Having ups and downs, in a way] TIDAL. It’s a misnomer to call the former TIDAL waves, as they are caused by different phenomena. TSUNAMI are caused by abrupt displacement of water mass (e.g., seismic activity, landslides); when the huge energy reaches shallow coastal areas, what had been expressed as speed changes to height and a towering “harbor wave” (the literal translation of TSUNAMI) forms. Tides, of course are caused by the gravitational forces of the moon and sun. Waves generated by changing tides are called bores and are not nearly as dramatic, but are fascinating in their own way.
• 28a [“Sunflower Seeds” artist Ai with an echoic name] WEI WEI. The work was installed at 32a {London’s TATE Modern} in 2010.
• Oh, oh, and now I’m seeing 40a [Old-style writing need] INKPOT. Not so good, considering our TEAPOTS adventure, above.
• 43a [Well’s opposite] RARE. Yep, fooled me.
• 58a [Where a 1980 “miracle” occurred] ON ICE. Silly me, I leapfrogged over the obvious answer and was trying to figure out how to fit LAKE PLACID into 5 squares.
• 

  Not the Methuselah

  39d [The oldest known one is Methuselah] TREE. Direct from Wikipedia: “Methuselah is a 4,852-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California. It is recognized as the non-clonal tree with the greatest confirmed age in the world … Its exact location … is a secret protected by the United States Forest Service “

• 59a [String some words together?] SLUR, 60a [Lick, maybe] SEAL, 51a [Get] PROCURE. Clues such as these three are representative of the trickiness throughout the crossword that I mentioned in the introduction.
• 31d [Contest with hogs] MOTOCROSS. Not sure about this one. Aren’t ‘hogs’ exclusively Harley-Davidson BIKEs (7d)? And they don’t manufacture motocross motorcycles.
• 53d [“It was me”] I DID.

Stanley Newman’s Newsday crossword, “Themeless Saturday” – Derek’s write-up

Newsday 07/17/2021

As a general rule, as I have less issues with Stan’s puzzles. This week, that does not seem to be the case. This is also where I am going to say it’s been an exhausting week and work has been a little stressful … no, that won’t fly here. This is just a good, tricky puzzle! Impressive 14 stacks don’t help either, and the clues are vague enough to where you need lots of crossings to get them. Especially for 14-Across! (See below!) I had fun, and that’s all that matters! 4.6 stars from me.

A few comments:

• 14A [Indy, more formally] DR. HENRY JONES, JR – I couldn’t remember what Indiana Jones’ real name was at first, but this is a great clue and entry!
• 27A [Onetime anchor job for Seacrest] E-NEWS – This is going WAY back! He has come a long way since then. Now I know him primarily as Dick Clark’s sub on New Year’s Eve! Fun fact: he is now 46 years old. I thought he was older than me, but I guess not. (I am getting old … !)
• 42A [“Annum” fraction] DIEM – Annum is year in Latin, diem is day. Know your Latin!
• 68A [Good reason] SANITY – Sometimes I question my own … !
• 2D [Fudgelike food] PRALINE – I have had these shipped to my house straight from Louisiana, and they are delicious!
• 12D [What gets an ace into space] EJECTOR – This is the best clue in the puzzle. Great word picture in your mind, if nothing else!
• 15D [Francis is the first pope to be one] JESUIT – I am not sure what the difference is (from standard Catholic), but I have heard this fact once or twice.
• 34D [Teen troublemaker since 1876] FINN – Very clever clue here. I was totally fooled!
• 41D [Word from a Brazilian language for “tooth fish”] PIRANHA – I made this harder than it actually is. This should have been a gimme. Now you see why this puzzle took me so long!
• 48D [Savings banks, to Wall Streeters] THRIFTS – I don’t know this term. Interesting …

Everyone have a safe and healthy week! (And thanks to pannonica for writing up today’s LAT for me!)

Katie Hale & Christina Iverson’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “The Name of the Game” — pannonica’s write-up

WSJ • 7/17/21 • “The Name of the Game” • Hale, Iverson • Sat • solution • 20210717

Some speculative career determinism—all in fun, of course. The first word of each game’s name relates to a profession.

• 25a. [Stunt performer’s favorite childhood game?] DOUBLE DUTCH.
• 33a. [Political strategist’s favorite childhood game?] SPIN THE BOTTLE.
• 53a. [Window installer’s favorite childhood game] BLIND MAN’S BLUFF. Blinds aren’t really the province of a window installer, that’s more of a decorator’s thing. But to my knowledge there aren’t window designer specialists as a distinct profession. Those who set up the displays for store windows, that’s something else entirely, and would typically not involve blinds. Bottom line: this clue/entry is an unsatisfactory compromise.
• 65a. [Social media influencer’s favorite childhood game?] FOLLOW THE LEADER. Influencers are interested in garnering follow(er)s, not so much in following per se. Unless this entry is meant to be taken as a whole phrase, which would make it distinct from the other themers; it is after all in the central spot, unpaired, so perhaps that’s a partial rationale?
• 84a. [Photographer’s favorite childhood game?] CAPTURE THE FLAG.
• 102a. [Broadway star’s favorite childhood game?] MUSICAL CHAIRS.
• 112a. [Tanner’s favorite childhood game?] HIDE AND SEEK.

It’s a cute theme idea, but to my thinking the execution is mildly problematic.

• 6d [Awkward situation] HOW-DE-DO, but I tried HOWDY-DO first.
  
• 12d [The planets, e.g.] ORBS, but 36a [Planet’s shape in a book series by Terry Pratchett] DISC.
• 43d [Deduce] INFER. Grates on me when I hear someone say INFER when they mean insinuate.
• 51d [“You nailed it!”] PERFECTO, 83a [“Ain’t happening!”] NO DICE.
• I liked the four longest down entries: ONE-TIME USE, ACTS CASUAL, ROPE LADDER, and TIN FOIL HAT, but preferred the latter two as being more unusual appearances in a crossword.
• Ok fine, I’ll make some pairings. Usually I prefer to have threesomes or more, but since there are so many pairs in this puzzle, I’ll STIR some of them IN (30d) here. 64d [Mexican mister] SEÑOR, 69d [Spanish gentleman] DON. 67d [Accompanying] WITH, 19a [Unaccompanied] LONE. 76d [Fruit from a palm] AÇAÍ, 60a [Fruit from a palm] DATE.
• 80a [Early computer for hobbyists] ALTAIR. Wow, that 8800 looks pretty retro-spiffy with that clear casing (I don’t believe that was standard issue). I’m sure its computing power is a microfraction of a typical current smartphone. That’s an 8-inch floppy drive, by the way.
• 59a [Visual precursors to migraine headaches] AURAE. The neurologist Oliver Sacks, among others, speculated that abbess Hildegard von Bingen’s visions were caused by migraines.
  
• 106d [Classical element] FIRE.
• 123a [Extended operatic solo] SCENA. Didn’t really know this, but it was inferable after a few crossings.
• 56a [Be revolting] RISE UP. I’ve been trying to remember a blues song from the 1950s that mentioned poor people rising up, but have been stymied. Could’ve sworn it was JB Lenoir. Instead, how about this simmering anthem from the late 1980s?

Richard D. Allen’s Universal crossword, “Initial Direction”— Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Two word phrases where the first word starts with U and the second with P.

Universal crossword solution · “Initial Direction” · Richard D. Allen​ · Sat, 7.17.21

THEME ANSWERS:

• USB PORT. 
• UNDER PRESSURE. 
• UTILITY POLE. 
• URBAN PLANNING. 
• (revealer) UPSTART.

Fun looking grid. Caught my eye instantly. It does make it somewhat tricky for the themers to pop out (they very well could be the spots occupied by UNAMUSED, LIPREADING, etc.) The 7/13-Letter themer stacks were a surprise for me.

I don’t quite get the theme with respect to the revealer. None of the phrases begins with UP at all. I thought, after glancing the title and the first themer I uncovered (UNDER PRESSURE), that it would be UNDER/OVER preposition related. I guess if you read it as U.P. START, then it works better, but the clue doesn’t direct us to parse it as such. So not really a big fan of this theme.

Nice longer fill on this one- almost had a themeless feel to it (which I had fingers crossed would happen again today).

When’s the last time you used your CD Changer? I’m guessing you’ve probably used CD-ROM more recently.

2 star theme in a 4 star grid. 3 stars.