Daniel Bodily’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “A Matter of Record”—Jim’s review
Answers to the theme clues are common words and phrases but with an added letter making them… other common words and phrases. The revealer is TAKE A LETTER (62a, [Dictator’s order, and how to make sense of the answers to the starred clues, in two ways]). In other words, TAKE A LETTER from the answer in the grid to form the answer to the clue.
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “A Matter of Record” · Daniel Bodily · Thu., 10.24.24
- 17a. [*Coin-operated phone, datedly] P(L)AY STATION.
- 25a. [*Risk everything] GO ALL IN(E).
- 27a. [*Military ruler in old Japan] SHO(T)GUN.
- 39a. [*Warhol genre] POP (T)ART.
- 48a. [*When Hamlet sees his father’s ghost] AC(E)T ONE.
- 51a. [*Warhead measure] MEGAT(R)ON.
As I hoped, the extraneous letters spell something, in this case LETTER.
Now this is more like it. It’s been somewhat of a rough week in WSJ Puzzle Land, but this one scratches the itch. We’ve got a tricky but gettable theme, some good wordplay, an aha moment, and a meta-esque payoff at the end. Two thumbs up from this guy.
POLO SHIRT, INCOME TAX, and PHENOMENA are grid standouts. ELASTOMER is today’s TRUMEAU, but it was far easier to suss out via the crossings. Other than that, smooth fill all around.
Clues of note:
- 19a. [Parking order?]. “SIT.” As in, “Park your rear end.”
- 30a. [Sight read?]. AIM. This was pretty much impossible to uncover without the crossings, but it made sense in the end.
- 45a. [Sheet from a drawer?]. CEL. “Drawer” as in “one who draws.”
- 6d. [City south of Arches National Park]. MOAB. In my defense MESA is in fact south(ish) of Arches…just much farther south.
A fun theme, strong fill, and some fresh cluing make this the best WSJ puzzle of the week. Four stars.
Ella Dershowitz’s New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up
Difficulty: Challenging (18m06s)
Ella Dershowitz’s New York Times crossword, 10/24/24, 1024
Today’s theme: ANY TAKERS (“Who’s interested?” … or, phonetically, what four answers in this puzzle are vis-à-vis the answers next to them)
- IMPA(
NE)LING -> THEO(NE) - SEA (
NE)TTLE -> FAR GO(NE) - HEADSTO(
NE) -> COCK(NE)Y - (
NE)W AGERS -> ALL I (NE)ED
Classic Thursday shenanigans.. was hung up quite a while on WAGERS and IMPALING, but the hallmark of a good puzzle ends with a concession once I wrap things up, and not incredulity. This puzzle ended with the former, and not a Bobby Knight-style chair toss.
Cracking: CAN WE NOT, incidentally also something I might say in a state of dubiety
Slacking: PPS, also known as the first step in potty training
Sidetracking: Mike Myers’s original Scottish accent
NYT: Cute theme that was very easy to suss out from a few theme answers. Overall an enjoyable solve.
But I had a heckuva time getting every last letter right! Never heard of SZA, and did not know which vowel made _SS into an intensifying suffix. And never heard of the BAI oxidizer-infused water (and would VASTLY prefer clues that don’t make me wonder “How much did that free ad cost?”).
To make matters worse, I have usually seen the word spelled EMPAneLING rather than the IMPAneLING (that dictionaries apparently prefer). Oh, well.
I only know SZA because I have a teenager at home.
SZA’s song “Kill Bill” is something I know of only from crossword puzzles. (To me, “Kill Bill” = Tarantino.) I was proud of myself for typing that it without any crosses. It’s the little things, right?
The IMPAneLING thing gets better and better. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, not only can you spell it with an E or an I, you have your choice of one or two L’s.