Sunday, January 19, 2025

Emily Sharp & Kunal Nabar’s New York Times crossword, “Word Problems”–Amy’s recap

Amy here, subbing for Nate this week. Nate will be off blogging duty for weeks or months after losing his home to the California wildfires. There’s a GoFundMe raising money to help Nate and Ben rebuild their lives in the aftermath.

NY Times crossword solution, 1/19/25, “Word Problems” – no. 0119

Terrific theme today. The theme clues’ “word problems” suggested by the title include mathematical symbols that are converted into words in the theme answers:

• 22A. [Hard / work], DIVISION OF LABOR. The slash can sub for ÷. There’s a division sign within a phrase meaning “labor,” so DIVISION OF LABOR.
• 31A. [New York × paper], PRODUCT OF THE TIMES. The answer to a multiplication problem is the product.
• 51A. [√generate], ROOT CAUSE. CAUSE is a noun in the answer but it’s also a verb meaning “generate.”
• 66A. [It’s what ﹣ you think], DIFFERENCE OF OPINION. Answer to a subtraction problem is the difference. I’d have preferred an en dash looking more like a minus sign than this hyphen does.
• 82A. [(Pixar movie)<super>2</super>], SQUARED UP. Up is the title of a Pixar movie.
• 99A. [∫ workout routine], INTEGRATED CIRCUIT. Calculus symbol for integral, circuit training is something gym rats know better than I do.
• Saving the best for last, 112A. [Rocket science + brain surgery], ADDED COMPLEXITY. Love it!

I enjoyed figuring out the theme answers. How did you do with them?

Fave fill: All of the long Downs with ≥8 letters. Plus AYO Edebiri–I’m finally watching Season 3 of The Bear. Some sprinklings of crosswordese vibes with AGA OGEE AGEE IDYLS IMARETS, things I’ve rarely ever encountered outside of crosswords (and Spelling Bee).

3.75 stars from me.

Michael David and Jeff Chen’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Double Front Flips”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are idiomatic phrases where the first two words (or compound word) are used more literally, and each phrase is used to describe a verbal or mental statement.

Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Double Front Flips” · Michael David and Jeff Chen · 1.19.25

• 21a. [*”This, my dear piano students, is middle C,” e.g.?] KEY-NOTE SPEECH.
• 30a. [*”I hate the end of daylight savings!,” e.g.?] FALL-BACK POSITION.
• 47a. [*”You’ll get better at diving with practice,” e.g.?] JUMPING-OFF POINT.
• 69a. [*”What other brands of detergent are there?,” e.g.?] BEYOND-ALL QUESTION.
• 86a. [*”Do I dare steal third?,” e.g.?] ON-SECOND THOUGHT.
• 107a. [*”My ACL surgeon was so rude!,” e.g.?] KNEE-JERK REACTION.
• 120a. [*”Oh no, I lost my wedding ring!,” e.g.?] OFF-HAND REMARK.

Very nice! I liked these quite a bit, especially the baseball entry which caused me to audibly chuckle. The last one is quite good, too. Nothing felt tortured or unnatural. Overall, a really fun set!

The seven long theme answers seemed to have required a lot of separation in order to create smooth surrounding fill. Thus, there isn’t as much long Down fill as we’d normally see in a 21x grid. But there are still some definite highlights to enjoy, a lot of it in the Across direction: “SEND HELP!,” STONE AGE, “LET’S SEE…,” LOST A STEP, SPILLWAY, “IT’S NO RUSH,” and “OOPS, SORRY.” I didn’t know SKIDMORE College, and for some reason, the way it’s clued [“Hidden Ivy” in Saratoga Springs] made me think it was from an animated kids’ show like Gravity Falls. Go figure.

TITI monkey of Ecuador

Clues of note:

• 12a. [Bread Week creation]. LOAF. Bread Week would be from Great British Baking Show, in case you didn’t know.
• 30d. [Huck ___ (character in the 2024 novel “James”)]. FINN. The book re-imagines Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective.
• 58d. [Monkey hidden in “Isn’t it ironic?”]. TITI. Maybe it’s ironic that the TITI has such an impressive tail yet it’s not prehensile.

Good puzzle. 3.75 stars.

Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword, “Captain Obvious Goes Skiing”–Matt’s recap

Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword solution, “Captain Obvious Goes Skiing,” 1/19/2025

Evan’s Captain Obvious character is back, this time from a ski trip. As is typical for this genre, the theme entries themselves are innocuous phrases, and the fun is in the clues:

• 23a [“___, and that new snow won’t be wet”] KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY
• 41a [“___? Then you’ll have collided with skiing equipment”] KNOCKED BOOTS
• 48a [“___? That’s a restricted ski trail!”] LIMITED RUN
• 68a [“___, so your hands will get cold”] THE GLOVES ARE OFF
• 90a [“___? Then you’re holding those sticks a few feet away from each other”] POLES APART
• 96a [“___? That’s common at the bottom of the slope, but that chair brings people back up to the top”] YOU NEED A LIFT
• 117a [“___? Then you’re skiing”] GOING DOWNHILL FAST

My favorites in this set are the ones that are the most forceful in their “regular” usages: KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY, GOING DOWNHILL FAST, and especially THE GLOVES ARE OFF. It’s been about six months since the last Captain Obvious. Evan keeps them nicely spaced – I could see them getting old, but I’m always happy to see one.

Other highlights:

For once, my gut reaction of SCARFS for [Gobbles (up)], or [Eats quickly], or anything similar, was correct over “SNARFS,” which I still have never seen outside of a crossword // the perhaps slightly dated but nostalgic if so ALL THAT // Trickery in [Joined forces?] for ARMIES // OREL Hershiser, fellow son of Buffalo, New York, holding on, just barely, to crossword relevancy // Fun little quote for TIGER from “Calvin and Hobbes”: ‘One with “no room for improvement”’