Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Added Support”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar phrases that have an added OW at the end. The revealer is ENDOW (66a, [Support with funding, and, if reparsed, a hint to this puzzle’s theme]).

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Added Support” · Mike Shenk · Wed., 9.18.24

• 17a. [“D’oh!” from Homer Simpson?] DUMB BELLOW. Dumbbell.
• 29a. [Porthole at the back of the plane?] TAIL WINDOW. Tailwind.
• 43a. [Grassy expanse by the water?] LAKE MEADOW. Lake Mead.
• 58a. [Come-on offered to a nursery customer?] FREE WILLOW. Free will.

I was expecting the revealer to be something like BACKACHES. I think I would have enjoyed that a little more. Otherwise it’s a solid add-some-letters theme.

In the fill, those two 8-letter Across entries seemed like theme answers at first, but the lack of question marks in the clues ensured they weren’t involved. I see MESS MATE gets some hits on online, but I have to wonder if it’s a phrase people actually use. It never came up while I was in the military, but then my experience was far from extensive.

The real highlights in this grid are those long Downs, especially the two corner stacks: ISLAND TIME with “THAT DOES IT!” as well as DELTA FORCE with ICE SKATERS. Lovely! Honorable mention to VAN HALEN and SABBATHS in the other corners.

Clues of note:

• 19a. [Hand-to-hand contact]. CLAP. I wonder if some solvers read the last word as “combat”.
• 24d. [City south of Puget Sound]. TACOMA. Hmm. Not really. Olympia’s at the southern end of the Sound, but you can go west and even southwest from TACOMA and end up getting wet.
• 39d. [“Dance the Night Away” band]. VAN HALEN. I didn’t recognize the title, and going by that alone, it sounded more apt for a motown hit than a 1980s rocker. But of course I’ve heard the song before. Let’s check it out below.

Solid theme, but the fill steals the show. 3.75 stars.

Casey Callaghan & Will Nediger’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 9/18/24 – no. 0918

The theme here involves the Rome tourist attraction, THE SPANISH STEPS, and there’s an Italian thing I’d never heard of, 17a. [House of worship at the top of 67-Across], TRINITA DEI MONTI. The circled squares in the grid’s center spell out the Spanish numbers UNO DOS TRES CUATRO in a stairstep pattern. I see the architectural vibe of having the “Spanish steps” of numbers climbing up towards that church, but the payoff for the climb is reduced if you’ve already had to work the crossings for all 15 letters of that church name.

Fave fill: PITMASTER, HOME ALONE, SCHOLARS. “TRADESIES” doesn’t ring a bell to me. Maybe it’s a generational thing?

Did not know: 42d. [Linux software packages, informally], DISTROS.

Three stars from me.

Bill Conner’s USA Today Crossword, “Floor Plans” — Emily’s write-up

It’s always good to be prepared.

USA Today, September 18, 2024, “Floor Plans” by Bill Conner

Theme: each themer in the downs ends in a word that can be added before “plans” to make a new phrase

Themers:

• 4d. [Shenanigans], FUNNYBUSINESS
• 6d. [Quickly get started], SWINGINTOACTION
• 18d. [Speak convincingly (though perhaps not truthfully)], TALKAGOODGAME

FUNNYBUSINESS, SWINGINTOACTION, and TALKAGOODGAME. Also, the title is a great clue since “floor” is below or on the bottom and in the themers are in the downs today so the bottom word is the one used for the theme. With the theme, we get BUSINESS PLANS, ACTION PLANS, and GAME PLANS.

Favorite fill: SEGA, AMINO, TOOLBAR, and MWAH

Stumpers: RAISECAIN (tricky for me since Raisin’ Canes is a restaurant chain here), HORNEDIN (uncommon to me to needed crossings), and NORTE (new to me)

A lovely puzzle overall with a great theme and themer set. Lots of wonderful fill including some lengthy bonus fill. It took me a bit longer than usual though there were many entries that I didn’t know or had trouble even with their crossings, especially in the left side of the grid with the NW and W sections being the hardest for me. No entries were super hard so other solvers may have an easier time, depending on your knowledge. Give it a try and let us know!

3.5 stars

~Emily

Paul Leistra’s Universal crossword, “Semifinals” — pannonica’s write-up

Universal • 9/18/24 • Wed • “Semifinals” • Leistra • solution • 20240918

Circled squares at both termini of the theme answers.

• 61a^R [Hair problems … or a theme hint] SPLIT ENDS. Those letters spell synonyms for ‘end’.
• 17a. [“Who’s on First?” comic] BUDD ABBOTT (butt).
• 29a. [Part of a mortgage check] INTEREST PAYMENT (intent).
• 36a. [Benefit from nepotism, perhaps] START AT THE TOP (stop).
• 46a. [Where team teaching may occur] DOUBLE CLASSROOM (doom).

I appreciate the variety of senses for ‘end’ used. And also that the ‘ends’ appear on the ends.

• 4d [Attempt to bring up the passed?] SÉANCE. The question mark in the clue isn’t to signal misdirection—the clue itself doesn’t make much sense. Rather, it’s there to demonstrate that ‘passed’ is not a spelling error for ‘past’.
• 9d [Lovable figure] BODY TYPE. Now, I feel there should be a question mark here too, acknowledging the positivity mantra to love one’s body. Without it, the clue/answer combination feels off.
• 13d [Yonge __ (main road in Toronto)] STREET. Can’t help but think there’s a personal connection to the constructor here. Why else mention that unusual locale, unless perhaps to introduce the crossword-friendly YONGE to audiences?
• 40d [Stench] ODOR. You know my spiel.
• 60d [Freezer cubes] ICE. I’ve recently started making clear ice, with a specialized tray.
• 1a [What Blue Jays often have on their heads] CAPS. Note the capitalized name, which counteracts any potential misdirection.
• 53a [Cosmetics brand] OLAY. This is incorrect. They offer skin care products.
• 68a [Rod’s partner] REEL. It isn’t technically a duplication with 6d [Yank who retired in 2016] A-ROD, but if it were me, I’d have chosen to clue REEL differently anyway.

Billy Bratton’s AV Club Classic crossword, “AV Classic Themeless #78”–Amy’s recap

AV Club Classic crossword solution, “AV Classic Themeless #78” – 9/18/24

Lots to like here in this medium-ish difficulty (between a Friday and Saturday NYT level) themeless.

Fave fill: The well-named brand EMERGEN-C, COOKIE JAR (nice clue, [Gingerbread house?]), BREASTFED, MEATSPACE, WORK IT OUT, DOVETAILS, REPO MAN, EXTREME MAKEOVER, BRUSH UP. Meh: DEAR ONE, LIKE NOW. Suspect the LIKE NOW/REKT crossing has wrecked some solves.

Did not know:

• 54a. [Currently prominent characters and strategies], META GAME. I have encountered the concept of “useful in the meta” in Pokémon Go, and I guess that’s related?
• 11d. [Depeche Mode hit with the line “words are very unnecessary”], ENJOY THE SILENCE. Depeche Mode is from my generation, not Billy’s. Back in the 1980s I did have a goth friend at Carleton who was into the band, but I was more new wave and indie rock then. Didn’t know this song at all. Please enjoy the inscrutable video!

3.5 stars from me.