Note: Fireball is a contest this week. We’ll post a review after the submission period closes.
Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Cutting Tools”—Jim’s review
Theme answers are familiar phrases whose first or last letters spell out a type of tool. This tool is separated from the main entry by a block and is given its own clue.
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Cutting Tools” · Mike Shenk · Thu., 9.12.24
- 20a. [Beatles song whose title is an item the singer is “steppin’ out” of] / 23a [Gardening tool]. OLD BROWN S / HOE.
- 27a. [Metalworking tool] / 28a. [Steakhouse favorite] FILE / T MIGNON.
- 47a. [Esoteric] / 49a. [Woodworking tool] HARD TO G / RASP.
- 54a. [Carpentry tool] / 55a. [Section of the Rockies in central Colorado]. SAW / ATCH RANGE.
Haven’t seen one of these Mike Shenk specials in a very long time, so it took me a little while to figure out the trick. Once I did, things proceeded more smoothly. That last one though, was extra tricky, since I’ve never heard of the mountain range, and the crossing RARA was clued differently than usual [Uncommon, in ancient Rome].
BLOODLUST is a fun entry in the grid. ESTATE LAW isn’t quite so engaging, though maybe it is for some folks, what do I know. The rest of the fill is fairly standard, but smooth nonetheless. I never knew the pitcher ROLLIE Fingers, but now I’ve seen him twice in one day (the other being Joon Pahk’s “Going Too Far” puzzle from a couple days ago).
Clues were notched up a bit for Thursday. I noted these:
- 40a. [Deck divisions]. SUITS. Thinking of a wooden deck, I went with SLATS.
- 29d. [Diamond center]. MOUND. The old truism holds here: If you see “diamond” in a clue, it’s probably about baseball.
3.75 stars.
Parker Higgins’ New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up
Difficulty: Easy (6m58s)
Parker Higgins’ New York Times crossword, 9/12/24, 0912
Today’s theme: yes, and?
- LIFE PARTNER (and limb)
- FIRST MATE (and foremost)
- GOOD BUDDY (and ready)
- WINE PAIRING (and dine)
Played more like a Wednesday all-around. 4 out of 6 10-letter entries were not thematic, unusual for an otherwise-themed puzzle, with paired vertical fill in the NE and SW — ALASKA ROLL, MILE STONES, PIANO BENCH, and AM I TOO LATE? Speaking of which…
Cracking: ALASKA ROLL, which made its NYTXW debut a scant 3 months ago, now back for more. Still fresh, even though I’m more into sweet potato tempura and kani salad.
Slacking: I got nothing. Rare clean sheet. Maybe calling marsh land REEDY, if you force me to poke holes, but nothing chafed.
Sidetracking: Super Mario BROS
Jeanne D. Breen’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s summary
Jeanne D. Breen’s puzzle today features letter subtraction. As explained in the final long across answer, COUNTMEOUT, ME is subtracted from common phrases and the newly minted ones are described in clues:
- [Fuel for Greek gods?], OLYMPICGA{ME}S
- [Dirty sheets?], OFFENSIVELINE{ME}N
- [Really obnoxious infants?], BABYBOO{ME}RS
- [Commit to eating leafy greens exclusively?], LEADACHAR{ME}DLIFE
Clues that need additional notes:
- [“The Little Red Chairs” novelist O’Brien], EDNA. Google suggests an Irish novelist about a Yugoslav war criminal.
- [When “The Room Where It Happens” happens], ACTII. Google suggests this is Hamilton.
- [Painter nicknamed “Jack the Dripper”], POLLOCK. Never heard this, but it seems plausible, and cute…
- [High-voltage enemy of Spider-Man], ELECTRO. That is one generic supervillain name…
Gareth
Michael Drusedum & Jason Reuben’s USA Today Crossword, “Body Composition” — Emily’s write-up
Head, shoulders, knees, and toes!
USA Today, September 12, 2024, “Body Composition” by Michael Drusedum & Jason Reuben
Theme: each themer starts with a body part
Themers:
- 17a. [Events leading up to the main plot], BACKSTORY
- 35a. [User’s manual], HANDBOOK
- 43a. [Aptly named street dance with high-speed stepping], FOOTWORK
- 66a. [Toupee], HAIRPIECE
It’s all coming together in today’s themer set with BACKSTORY, HANDBOOK, FOOTWORK, and HAIRPIECE. Everything with either a solid fill or had fair crossings to help out. Nice set!
Favorite fill: ITSGOOD, WAGEGAP, SCOOPS, and KORMA
Stumpers: GARNET (I’m not up on my gemstones so took me a while), DENIED (cluing didn’t quite click for me), and GEOTAGS (needed a couple of crossings)
A fun puzzle with great fill and a lovely theme and themer set. The lengthy bonus fill was great too. I like the grid design and it had a good solve flow for me.
4.0 stars
~Emily
NYT: I got four immunizations yesterday and have had a mid-grade headache since I woke up this morning, so I was not functioning at my best. None of the answers crossing the theme answers are particularly hard (I only half-remembered 2D ELIE Mystal), but they slowed me down enough that 61A WINE PAIRING was the first theme answer I got completely, and it took me a few to figure out how the answer fit the clue.
Then, horror of horrors, I had to use the theme to get the rest of the theme answers.
35D BRUNEI reminded me of my good friend Margaret, who died a few days ago. I can remember her telling me that she had looked up Brunei at some point well into adulthood and was surprised that it wasn’t in the Middle East. (But I blame my headache for making me try to fit Bahrain in there first.)
The clue for 47D BOW-WOW was cute (in a good way). And any puzzle with ETTA James is fine with me.
O M G… TIL that Brunei is on Borneo and not in the Middle East. Shame on me! I thought it was a neighbor of Oman or close..
Four immunizations at once is overdoing it, IMO (I have yet to get the latest covid shot, and I have had bad reactions to the previous boosters). And I need my flu shot. And the new shingles vax (not so now, but I’ve been putting it off).
I’m sorry to hear about your friend.
Oh, there was a puzzle? I struggled to interpret a couple of the themers, but it was a decidedly untricky Thursday.
Thanks for the condolences.
I just hate the hassle of scheduling the vaccines, filling out the consent forms, etc. It’s doubled because my husband needed all four shots, too, and we ended up getting them at different Walgreens about a mile and a half apart.
At least I won’t need another pneumonia vaccine for a while.
CVS in California only allows you to book 3 vaccines at a visit, at least when booking it online it limits you. I just booked my two for this season.
Good luck!
Had my COVID and Flu this morning at CVS. No reactions so far.
OH — both NYT and LAT were enjoyable and easy.
My mind is blown. Today I learned that there’s a Sawatch Range AND a Wasatch range out west.
+1
I didn’t recognize the Sawatch Range, either, despite having driven through it at least once or twice. To make things worse, I now live less than 150 miles from Mount Elbert, the tallest peak in the Rockies, which is in the Swatch.
NYT: [SHRUG]. A fine puzzle published on the wrong day. Would’ve been on the easy side on a Wednesday, nothing Thursday-ish about it. The themers were cute, but not integral to the solve, as they were all easy to get from crosses. Yesterday I would’ve liked it a lot. But speaking as one who loves tricky Thursdays, it was a let-down to encounter this otherwise excellent puzzle today.
Try the WSJ.
Thanks for the tip, pannonica! Much more Thursday-satisfying.
Thanks, pannonica…. WSJ was much more Thursday fun than NYT, today.
NYT difficulty was completely off. I PR’ed it. This week’s Wednesday took me about 60% longer. Clues were Tues/Wed difficulty..very odd
Where is the solution of the theme of the universal September 12
Universal puzzles seem to be neglected several days each week. I’m not volunteering to do the heavy lifting, but I hope someone finds time to review the Universal puzzles each day.