Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “My Kind of Town” — with three examples in the circles. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 11/5/24

Hello lovelies! This week we have a simple theme involving words followed by “town.”

• 17a. [Keepsakes on VHS, perhaps] HOME VIDEOS
• 41a. [Head-over-heels comment] I’M CRAZY ABOUT YOU
• 69a. [TV ad subject mentioned with “And now a word from …”] OUR SPONSOR

Other things:

• 6d. [“UnREAL” star Appleby] SHIRI. This was a Lifetime drama about a reality television producer that ran from 2015-2018.

Until next week!

Adam Cohen’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Name Game”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are made-up phrases consisting of a famous person and a rhyming game animal (or the meat thereof).

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Name Game” · Adam Cohen · Tue., 11.5.24

• 20a. [Game for Emmy winner Cicely?] TYSON BISON.
• 38a. [Game for poet Alfred?] TENNYSON VENISON.
• 53a. [Game for comedian Lenny?] BRUCE GOOSE.

Hmm. This seems awfully light in the theme department. I think I’ve only seen a puzzle with three theme entries when each one was a grid-spanner (in the major puzzle venues, that is). And with a theme that’s fairly straightforward like this one, I would think a fourth or fifth could be found (GORE BOAR? RUFFALO BUFFALO?).

With only three theme answers, I would expect the fill to be amazing. STONE AGE, NEWLYWED, and SANDBAGS are great, but ENGAGE IN, IRONWARE, and STANDING are only meh. The short fill is mostly fine, but there are a lot of proper names in a grid whose theme consists of proper names. That NE corner alone has three names crossing a fourth (ERIC, SARA, and OWEN crossing AESOP).

Clue of note: 67a. [Convertible, for one]. SOFA. Do people refer to a sofa bed as a “convertible”? I have never heard this.

The theme is fine by me, but it’s on the light side, and a heavy dose of proper names on a Tuesday weighs against the puzzle. Three stars.

Evan Kalish’s NYT crossword 11/5/24 — Eric’s non-review

Evan Kalish’s NYT crossword 11/5/24

As you probably know, the New York Times Tech Guild went on strike Monday. The Guild, which represents over 600 software developers and other employees who operate the “back-end systems” behind all digital aspects at the Times, has asked that readers honor the Guild’s “digital picket line” by not accessing Times games.

Team Fiend has chosen to support the striking workers and will not review today’s puzzle.

Apologies to Evan Kalish. Your puzzle looks interesting and I’m looking forward to solving it when the strike is settled.

New York Times tech workers go on strike before election

Elizabeth C. Gorski’s Cr♥ssw♥rd Nation puzzle (Week 701), “The Big Three”—Ade’s take

Crossword Nation puzzle solution, Week 701: “The Big Three”

Hello there, everyone! Obviously, nerves are frayed and jangling right now given that Election Day is upon us. Here is hoping that we can help take just a little bit of that uneasiness off of you by our commentary on crossword puzzles today. 

Of course, on all days, two of the three theme answers contain words that are colors associated with the two main political parties, so maybe your uneasiness went up even more! Either way, a third color starts another theme answer, and PRIMARY COLORS acts as the reveal (59A: [Best-selling political novel by Joe Klein … or the puzzle theme!]).

• • • • BLUE SAPPHIRES (15A: [Gemstones in “royal” or “cornflower” shades])
      • YELLOW BRICK ROAD (26A: [What’s followed in “THe Wizard of Oz”])
      • RED SKY AT MORNING (46A: [Sailor’s meteorological warning, in a saying])

I’m sure enough of you on here remember the “Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! WISK! Wisk! Wisk!” jingle and promotion from the early 1990s, and that’s all I thought of after I filled in that entry (54D: Liquid detergent brand]). Initially put in “chortle” instead of CHUCKLE given that I got the first and final two letters first and the former was the first word that popped into my head (3D: [Laugh a little]). Gotta give some love to Garden City’s finest, ADELPHI University, not only because it’s not that far away from me, but also because we wouldn’t have the legendary rap group Public Enemy without the school given that both Chuck D and Flavor Flav went there (40D: [Long Island University]).

“Sports will make you smarter” moment of the day: SEEDING (18A: [Starting a garden, e.g.]) – With college and pro football in the back halves of their seasons, with the NBA starting up against two weeks ago and with Division I college basketball getting underway across the country on Monday night, it’s never too early to talk about teams playing for seeding, trying to gain the highest-ranking possible in the playoffs to, ostensibly, create the easiest pathway towards a championship. I guess, at this time, some pro teams are also playing for “seeding” in a sense, though there’s another word for wanting to lose a lot of games to secure a high position in the ensuing college draft: tanking.

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