Monday, December 16, 2024

Ailee Yoshida’s New York Times crossword— Sophia’s write-up

Theme: COFFEE BREAK – The grid contains the names of four coffee orders, “broken” between two answers.

New York Times, 12 16 2024, By Ailee Yoshida

• 17a [Sound of an unfortunate bird poop landing]/18a [Blab] – SPLAT/TELL
• 22a [Hi-___ image] / 23a [Department handling media inquiries] – RES/PRESS OFFICE
• 48a [Competition whose winner gets a tiara and sash] / 52[Gesture of approval] – MISS AMERICA/NOD
• 56a [Muppet with his own “world” on “Sesame Street”] / 57a [Blingy piece of neckwear] – ELMO/CHAIN
• 34a [Timeout at work … as represented visually by this puzzle’s circled letters] – COFFEE BREAK

Anyone else have “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter stuck in their head after solving this one? I think this theme and revealer is super effective. COFFEE BREAK is a fun phrase on its own, and perfectly explains what’s going on here. All of the answers included in the coffee phrases are solid, with PRESS OFFICE and MISS AMERICA as the standouts (although I did try to fill in “beauty pageant” at first).

The thing with hidden word puzzles is that the rest of the fill needs to be strong enough to withstand the fact that there aren’t necessarily long theme entries – the puzzle can very easily become full of short, boring fill. But that’s not what happened here! There’s a lot of fun fill, like CHIA SEED, ELEGANCE, ARTISTIC, AVOCADO, SO I HEAR. There are a few pieces of fill that are suboptimal (ILIUM, IF I), but overall everything works.

Random other thoughts: I enjoy how much cookie related content is in this puzzle – the BEAR-shaped Teddy Grahams, Double STUF Oreos, and cookies in a SLEEVE. The hardest part of the puzzle for me was the bottom middle, since I didn’t know Phil SIMMS. And some clue highights: [This stinks!] for ODOR, [Like lines / that rhyme / and keep / good time] for POETIC.

Happy Monday all!

Fred Raker & Andrea Carla Michaels’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Recasting”—Jim’s review

Debut puzzle for ACMe’s co-constructor, so congrats are in order. Theme answers are well-known film titles where one of the words is also the surname of a well-known actor. Clues then imagine that actor being recast in the film.

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Recasting” · Fred Raker & Andrea Carla Michaels · Mon., 12.16.24

• 20a. [1989 Kevin Costner film recast with Sally?] FIELD OF DREAMS.
• 35a. [1941 Orson Welles film recast with Carol?] CITIZEN KANE.
• 40a. [2015 Steve Carell film recast with Martin?] THE BIG SHORT.
• 53a. [2008 Jeremy Renner film recast with William?] THE HURT LOCKER.

Easy and breezy Monday grid to get the week started. All of these are big-name films and all the actors are equally famous, so it should be readily accessible to even those who aren’t film buffs.

I’m not sure I buy the premise about recasting though. After all, a film is not going to be titled after one of its actors unless it’s about that actor. It would make more sense to me if the clues went the more traditional wacky route. For example, [Film about actress Carol performing her civic duties?] or [Film about actor Martin’s rise in comedy?].

SOY MILK, SHED A TEAR, and CLASSMATE top the fill. A few examples of crosswordese (OLEO, MUS, TREO) are scattered around the grid, but for the most part, they’re easily gotten past.

Clue of note: 5d. [It’s full of holes]. GOLF. I don’t know about “full” but I do like this clue.

3.25 stars.

Janice Luttrell’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Times 12/16/24 by Janice Luttrell

I wish I had more time to talk about this puzzle! (Pre-holiday madness on all fronts.) The revealer at 56A [Like most televisions, and what can be found at the start of 20-, 36-, or 46-Across] is HIGH DEFINITION, because each of the first words in the theme entries can be a definition for HIGH:

• 20A [Above-the-street rumblers] is ELEVATED TRAINS.
• 36A [Possibly unattainable entry on a bucket list] is LOFTY GOAL.
• 46A [Really big ask] is a TALL ORDER.

Like I said, wish I had more time for commentary, because I think the revealer is quite clever! I’ll call out one clue that I liked: This is certainly the right time of year for [“All I Want for Christmas Is You” singer Mariah] to clue CAREY.

Adam Wagner’s New Yorker crossword, “Stop Right There!”–Amy’s recap

New Yorker crossword solution, 12/16/24 – “Stop Right There”

This week’s New Yorker is the annual cartoons and puzzles issue. So instead of the usual “Monday means a rigorous themeless,” we get a themed puzzle. 57a. [Instruction on a Monopoly card . . . or how to read four clues in this puzzle] clues DO NOT PASS GO, and [Long agonizing shriek] clues WAY BACK WHEN because you lop off the -nizing shriek that follows go-. [Ergonomic] = THEREFORE, [Place to search for lingonberries] = URBAN DICTIONARY, and [Rival of Legolas] – PLAYMOBIL.

Fave fill: POST-IT, EDAMAME. Meh: SAIL BY, IT’S IN, BAD DEAL, NO-RUN. New to me: Lauren ALAINA, CAT DAD.

3.25 stars from me.

Kyle Dolan’s Universal crossword, “Winter Themeless Week, Puzzle 1” — pannonica’s write-up

Universal • 12/16/24 • Mon • “Winter Themeless Week, Puzzle 1” • Dolan • solution • 20241216

Pretty smooth themeless here, nothing too tricky.

• 17a [Some shared pics] INSTA POSTS. Tried INSTAGRAMS first.
• 36a [People who might edit their own genetic code] BIOHACKERS. Still primarily in the realm of science fiction, though of course there is CRISPR technology. 22a [Genetic material] DNA.
• 39a [Not fulfilled, as expectations] UNMET. 27a [Filled completely] SATED.
• 43a [Big doofuses] OAFS. 66a [Big doofuses] ASSES.
• 47a [Quaint negative contraction] ’TISN’T. Is it? Quaint, that is.
• 64a [Dessert made with a root veggie] CARROT CAKE. That makes it sound unappetizing.
• 67a [Person who will succeed?] HEIR. Well, yes.
• 7d [Vegan entries with buns] MUSHROOM BURGERS. 51d [Long, thin fungus in ramen] ENOKI. 16a [Ramen vessel] BOWL.
• 28d [Go up against] TAKE ON, not TACKLE.

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword # 1740 (Themeless) — Eric’s review

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1740 12/16/24

This wasn’t too challenging, and like the kind of crossword I prefer, I could get all the unknowns/semi-knowns with a few crosses.

I did end up having to check for a mistake, which turned out to be 1A [Some Italian liqueurs] CAMPARIS. I had an I for the second A, though I know how to spell it. 2D [Spots] sort of made sense as IDS.

The grid has triple stacks of eight-letter answers in each corner, Across in the NW and SE and Down in the NE and SW. All those answers are fine if not particularly sparkling. A couple of those were new to me:

• 13D [Barbet, e.g.] WATER DOG Actually, now that I have looked it up, it’s somewhat familiar.
• 34D [Cricket competition between England and Australia] THE ASHES According to Wikipedia, “[t]he term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, The Sporting Times, immediately after Australia’s 1882 victory . . .,  its first Test win on English soil. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and that ‘the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.’”
• 36D [“There’s more …”] IT GOES ON I would probably say “It gets better . . . .”

Other things that jumped out at me:

• 17A [Some material mixed in concrete] FINE SAND Yawn.
• 34A [“How dare you!”] THIS IS AN OUTRAGE
• 58A [Gastropub quaff] DRAFT ALE/6D [Cyclist’s covering] ROAD JERSEY I bike, and don’t really have special clothes for it. But I do have a jersey with the Real Ale Fireman’s 4 logo on it. (If you’re in Texas, Real Ale makes some pretty good beers.)
• 44A [Future king, perhaps] CHECKER Nice bit of misdirection.
• 48A [Creative Cloud company] ADOBE/56A [Monopoly company] HASBRO Both needed a cross or two before I remembered the names.
• 52A [Rival of the Swiss Maestro] RAFA I sort of followed tennis back when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were at their peaks, but I didn’t know that nickname for Federer.
• 62A [“The ___ being tied is a start. Now, if only it could be gagged” (Bob Thaves)] SENATE I remember Thaves’ cartoon Frank and Ernest, but I didn’t know the quote or recognize his name. I like the quote, though.

• 11D [Unkindness member] RAVEN A gimme for me; there are lots of ravens where I live. A group of ravens is also called “conspiracy.”

Michael Berg’s USA Today Crossword “Ceiling Fans” — Eric’s review

Michael Berg’s USA Today Crossword 12/16/24

I missed the theme while solving. FAN is at the beginning (“the ceiling”) of three Down answers:

• 3D [What Brits call a “bum bag”] FANNY PACK
• 7D [Subject of the sitcom “The League”] FANTASY FOOTBALL I’ve never heard of that show, but the answer was easy to get with a few crosses.
• 30D [Highfalutin] FANCYPANTS An amusing entry I don’t recall seeing in a grid before.

Other things:

• 35A [Youngest daughter of Ned Stark, on “Game of Thrones”] ARYA It’s taken almost five years of daily crossword solving, but I think I have finally internalized that name.
• 44A [Go bankrupt in Monopoly, say] LOSE On the other hand, that means the boredom is over.
• 59A [Youngest Nobel Prize winner Yousafzai] MALALA I’m chagrined that I’m still working on remembering that name. I don’t remember what I had at first, but it was close to correct.
• 61A [Cyclist’s section of the road] BIKE LANE I have mixed feelings about this one because in most if not all states, a cyclist is allowed to claim the entire traffic lane even on streets with a dedicate bike lane. Riding in the bike lane is sometimes a great way to get hit by a turning car.

Musical trifecta:

• 64A [Singer-songwriter Aimee] MANN One of my most-played artists.
• 9D [Pogues singer MacGowan] SHANE Another gimme, though I wonder if he’s a bit obscure for a Monday puzzle.
• 21D [Singer-songwriter Rita] ORA