Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Just Do It” — what’s the word? – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 10/1/24

Hello lovelies! This week’s theme evokes memories of the  “Schoolhouse Rock!” song  “Verb: That’s What’s Happening.”

• 17a. [They don’t play their own hits] COVER BANDS
• 62a. [Personal transport that requires some balance] HOVERBOARD
• 11d. [Finch relative that can build an intricate nest] WEAVER BIRD
• 29d. [Wheel clamp for parking violators] DENVER BOOT

Other things:

• 45a. [Muppet that’s got a beef with a rock] ELMO. No idea what Elmo’s problem is with Rocco.
• 57a. [Salt ___] BAE. Turkish chef/butcher/restauranteur Nusret Gökçe was the subject of some 2017 memes in which he seasons meat by letting salt slide down his forearm.

Until next week!

Ryan Mathiason’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Conversation Pieces”—Jim’s review

The circled squares spell out languages and are broken up by a black square. The revealer is LANGUAGE BARRIER (39a, [Tourist’s concern, and a description of four of this puzzle’s black squares]).

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Conversation Pieces” · Ryan Mathiason · Tue., 10.01.24

The languages in question are:

• GREEK 17a / 18a: OGRE / EKES.
• GERMAN 25a / 27a: ANGER / MANKIND.
• LATIN 50a / 53a: MET GALA / TINES.
• HINDI 63a / 65a: SHIN / DIVA.

Nice. I solved this as a themeless and only noticed the final circled language as I approached the finish line, but it’s a good Tuesday theme. I appreciate the inclusion of one non-Western language.

We get four long Down marquee entries today, with three of them strangely centered around food: MARGARINE, GAS GRILL, and DIGESTIVE. Perhaps William FAULKNER was himself centered around food, but I have no knowledge of such a supposition. Did you know the Brits use the word DIGESTIVE to refer to some cookies? It sounded distinctly unappealing to me when I first heard the term, but then I tried McVitie’s Dark Chocolate Digestives which you can order on Amazon. You’re welcome.

I actually liked seeing OGS [Respected pioneers, in ’90s slang] in the grid. I’m surprised the term only has three hits in the Cruciverb database, and two of those were from this year (NYT and New Yorker), so this is a WSJ debut. I don’t know that it needs the “’90s slang” add-on because it’s still in use.

Clues of note:

• 23d. [Something needed for tracking shots?]. BAR TAB. Good clue. Had me thinking filmography at first.
• 40d. [BBQ maker]. GAS GRILL. The clue makes it sound like this is a brand, but I don’t think that’s the case. I guess a grill does “make” BBQ, but it feels off to me.

3.5 stars.

Kevin Curry & Jeff Chen’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 10/1/24 – no. 1001

I confess I didn’t really look at the shaded squares until after I finished solving. The revealer is CRYPTOZOOLOGIST, [Pseudoscientist investigating the “sightings” in this puzzle]. The shaded squares within TENNESSEE TITANS, MUCKRAKING, CUBIC FOOT, and COPY EDITOR spell out misspelled (“crypto”) cryptids: NESSEE for Nessie (Loch Ness monster), KRAKIN for the kraken (though the A takes a different vowel sound in MUCKRAKING and kraken and this makes me furrow my brow), BIC FOOT for bigfoot, and YEDI for yeti.

Fave fill: “SEE HERE,” NO MERCY, WASH U (I would have applied there but they made some mistakes when I put them as my first choice for a National Merit scholarship—I forgive them, but can they forgive themselves?), PINE NUT, GAG GIFT, and OPOSSUM.

Not so keen on HOORAH (don’t know anyone who says this instead of “hooray” or “hurrah”), YIPES (again, who says this instead of “yikes”?). These fall in my NOT OK category, as does AREEL, which mainstream dictionaries don’t seem keen to include. Now, if A-Rod released a line of fishing gear …

3.25 stars from me. The vowel dissonance between MUCKRAKING and kraken lowered my acceptance of the theme concept. I guess Tennessee/Nessie copY EDItor, and BIC FOOT also have sound variances, but that doesn’t make me like the theme better.

Elizabeth C. Gorski’s Cr♥ssw♥rd Nation puzzle (Week 697), “Labor of Love”—Ade’s take

Crossword Nation puzzle solution, Week 697: “Labor of Love”

Hello there, everybody! We are now in October, and let all the pumpkin spice lattes fly around you as you’re making your commutes to work or just heading outside for other errands. 

Today’s puzzle, if it was confusing at the beginning, definitely has a workaround … as in, each of the words that make up the perimeter of the puzzle can come before the word WORK, which acts as the reveal (48A: [___ on the side (take an extra job … or a hint to the theme found at the puzzle’s edges)]). 

• • • • POLICE (1A: [“Roxanne” band, with “The”])
      • ART (7A: [Garfunkel who appeared in Mike Nichols’ “Catch-22”])
      • YARD (10A: [Measuring stick length])
      • DRUDGE (13D: [Creator of a widely-read online “report”])
      • LEATHER (44D: [Sofa material])
      • MASTER (69A: [Become proficient in])
      • LEG (68A: [Part of a relay race])
      • LACE (67A: [Add booze to the punch, say])
      • SOCIAL (58D: [Word with butterfly or contract])
      • PLASTER (1D: [Bandage, to a Brit])

Outside of the execution of the theme, biggest highlight were the adjoining 8-letter down entries, and all of them hit! Initially put in weakness for WEAK SPOT (39D: [Achilles’ heel]) so that’s slowed me down a bit down there, and I loved the clue for DERRIÈRE (40D: [Elegant-sounding sitting area?]). Even ESSE has some sentimental value, given its clue, because I just came back from North Carolina (Charlotte) late Monday night and wishing for so many in the western part of the state — and many parts of the Southeastern portion of the US — for their safety and health given the horrible effects of Hurricane Helene (6D: (___ quam videri (North Carolina’s motto)]).

“Sports will make you smarter” moment of the day: AENEAS (17A: [Dido’s lover]) – Quarterbacks and wide receivers across the National Football League did not love former defensive back Aeneas Williams during his time with the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams. Williams was an 8-time Pro Bowler and 3-time 1st team All-Pro who finished his career with 55 interceptions and 13 career touchdowns as a defensive player. Williams, who went to college at the HBCU Southern University, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014. Oh, and his brother’s name is Achilles, in case you were wondering what their parents’ motivations were when naming their children!

Thank you so much for the time, everybody! Have a wonderful and safe rest of your day and, as always, keep solving!

Take care!

Ade/AOK