Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Reverse Routes” — if you switched them… – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 12/17/24

Hello lovelies!  For this week’s Jonesin’ we have a case of flip-flopping the phrase.

• 17a. [Portable brain?] MIND TO BRING (bring to mind)
• 58a. [Dub some DJ turntablism over a Pixar movie?] SCRATCH TO UP (up to scratch)
• 11d. [Your future?] LIFE TO COME (come to life)
• 28d. [Line to for first dibs using the plus sign?] QUEUE TO ADD (add to queue)

Other things:

• 57a. [Live mascot of the Bulldogs] UGA. The current University of Georgia mascot is Uga XI, aka Boom.

Until next week!

Elizabeth C. Gorski’s Cr♥ssw♥rd Nation puzzle (Week 707), “To Coin a Phrase … “—Ade’s take

Crossword Nation puzzle solution, Week 707: “To Coin a Phrase … “

Hello there, everybody! Just a couple of weeks left in 2024, so hope you all are going to end the year in style. 

We some money on our minds as we solve today’s puzzle, with the first word of the first three theme answers all being words that can precede the word “penny.” The final theme answer, THREE PENNY OPERA, acts as the reveal (59A: [Brecht/Weill music drama, with “The” (and a hint to the puzzle theme)]). 

• • • • LINCOLN NEBRASKA (17A: [City named for No. 16])
      • PRETTY WOMAN (26A: [Roy Orbison song with the lyric “Yeah, she’s walkin’ back to me”])
      • BAD HAIR DAYS (45A: [Troublesome times for mops and locks])

As a member of the fourth estate, I should have easily plopped down PRESS but, instead, typed in “media” first (26D: [Fourth estate]). If you’re a cheese lover, we have GOUDA (1A: [Fondue cheese]) to start off and EDAM later on to whet your appetite (38D: [Wax coated cheese]). As a Brooklyn native and hip-hop enthusiast, I can’t see MCA without thinking about the late Adam Yauch, a.k.a. MCA, one-third of the Beastie Boys (30D: [Longtime record label]). I’ll probably seeing a number of people from 17A (Lincoln, NE) when the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team descends upon New York City soon to play in an end-of-season bowl game at Yankee Stadium. A number of them will probably be wearing overalls in the stands, just like their mascot, Herbie Husker.

“Sports will make you smarter” moment of the day: GOLF (1D: [Nelly Korda’s game, mastered “to a tee”]) – How much did Nelly Korda master the game of golf in 2024? Well, the current No. 1-ranked women’s golfer in the world finished in first place in five consecutive starts, tying the LPGA record and becoming just the third woman to win fine straight tournaments (Annika Sorenstam, Nancy Lopez). On the PGA Tour, only three players have ever won at least five straight starts: Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson.

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

Kathy Lowden’s New York Times crossword–Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 12/17/24 – no. 1217

Light, fun theme with reduplicative words carried out to a third word. They all start with the letter “i” in the first part, in accordance with the rules. We’ve got a KNICK-KNACK KNOCK, FLIP-FLOP FLAP, PING-PONG PANG, and DILLY-DALLY DOLLY Parton (I hope she takes a little time to dilly-dally, because she’s so hard-working!).

Toughest vocab in this grid is KAVA, I think, 10a. [Polynesian drink with psychoactive effects]. If any of you have tried kava, we need to hear about it!

Overall, pretty smooth grid, peppered with some pop culture.

Four stars from me.

Geoff Brown’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Child’s Play”—Jim’s review

Today’s theme consists of groups of circled squares—themselves in a square formation—which each spell out a child’s toy. The revealer is TOY BOX (69a, [Kid’s container, and a clue to this puzzle’s theme]).

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Child’s Play” · Geoff Brown · Tue., 12.17.24

The toys in question are DOLL, KITE, PINWHEEL, BALL, and LEGO. Feels a little odd to have one brand name amongst the other generic toys. But of course, LEGO are hugely popular, and the grid wants a four-letter toy in that location to match the other corners. Plus it allows for smooth fill in a corner that also has the revealer. So no harm, no foul.

Top bits of fill include WIPEOUT, “MY HERO!,” GENTEEL, PECORINO, BONSAI, “EASY, NOW!,” and SCROOGES. This last one in plural form makes me wonder how the various actors might be ranked on the performance as the miserly character. Thank goodness we have the Internet to answer that question. Most years lately, I listen to the audiobook version of A Christmas Carol as read by Tom Baker (the fourth Doctor Who), who does a marvelous job as Scrooge. Tim Curry’s version is also quite good.

Clues of note:

• 20a. [Attach with a click]. SNAP IN. Do you really snap something in? I would tend to go with snapping something on.
• 36d. [Guitar legend Eddy]. DUANE. Didn’t know the name and which was the first name or the last. But DUANE Eddy was the guitarist on the theme song to Peter Gunn.

3.5 stars.

Susan Gelfand’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

I have an irrational, unreasonable preference for revealers at the bottom of the grid. This one’s in the middle. If that’s the only thing I have to complain about, we’re doing well!

The theme answers:

Los Angeles Times, December 17, 2024, Susan Gelfand, solution grid

• 18a [Iced tea garnish] is a LEMON WEDGE. Iced tea with lunch in the summer is the one thing I really miss about giving up caffeine. Most places have decaf coffee (except in Iceland, for whatever reason). Nobody has decaf black tea.
• 23a [Art class staple with a bovine logo] is ELMER‘S GLUE.
• 52a [Handheld tension reliever] is a STRESS BALL.
• 58a [Bathtime floater] is a RUBBER DUCK.

And the aforementioned revealer: 37a [Coerce, or what can be done to 28-,23-,52-, and 58-Across] is PUT THE SQUEEZE ON. Nice!

A few other things:

• DECAF at 9d, just for me.
• Is STMT an abbreviation people actually use?
• [Bali garment] is a BRA. The company, not the island.
• I’m reminded how rural our area is when I have to follow a hay BALER down the road.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: I got nothin’.

Boaz Moser’s Universal Crossword, “Winter Themeless Week, Puzzle 2” (ed. Taylor Johnson) — Matt F’s Review

Universal Solution 12.17.2024

We’re in the middle of another themeless week at Universal – a feature they kicked off last year, I think? – which means you’ll have a fresh new themeless every day this week! These tend to be clued more gently than the NYT weekend puzzles, which makes them more approachable but no less impressive!

In today’s 74-worder, we have an intriguing grid that seems to have a long flashy answer at almost every turn. 12 words are 9 letters or longer – the sweet spot for themelesses – and they’re all solid entries. My favorites are GET USED TO IT, A WIN’S A WIN, I KNOW THAT, CLASS CLOWNS, and SMOKE SHOW.

A few trickier clues were peppered throughout to provide that “themeless feel” I’m used to, like [Divided from the start?] for PRE-CUT, and [Manhattan setting?] for BAR (my favorite!). The clue for ULURU at 46-Down perhaps could have been phrased as “monolith formerly known as Ayers Rock,” since the name was officially changed in 1995 to show respect for the Aboriginal Australians who own that land.

This was a well-constructed puzzle that felt fresh and kept me engaged in every corner. Can’t ask for much more than that. Hope you all enjoyed this one!