Wednesday, February 5, 2025

George Barany & Michael David’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “On the Table”—Jim’s review

Do you ever play Alexa’s “Puzzle of the Day”? Well, this puzzle is apt, given today’s (Tuesday’s, as I write this) answer for Alexa’s puzzle.

Theme answers have HIDDEN / ELEMENTS (74a, [Six of these are 73-Across in the starred answers (with two in 42-Across)].

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “On the Table” · George Barany & Michael David · Wed., 2.5.25

• 1a. [*Argentine soccer legend] MARADONA. Radon. I was wondering if the N was actually an Ñ, but it’s not.
• 9a. [*Specialized language] JARGON. Argon.
• 25a. [*Time saver for a criminal?] PLEA DEAL. Lead.
• 42a. [**”People haven’t done that for years”] “YOU’RE GETTING OLD.” Tin and gold.
• 53a. [*Opening on Broadway?] SCENE ONE. Neon.

Nice. I was stymied throughout the entire solve until coming to the revealers at the end, and even then I had to think about it. My first reaction was to look for elemental abbreviations and I was prepared to be disappointed if that was the theme. But finding the full names of these ELEMENTS made for a better aha moment. I’m impressed with the theme entry placement which ends up requiring largish stacks in all four corners. That’s tough to pull off!

There are however some compromises, like APA, ILA, awkward CELLI, and abbreviation ASCAP crossing proper name MARADONA. That one in particular might be rough on solvers. But the A makes sense, and if you can get past those entries, the fill is quite nice with highlights: CUL DE SAC, CATNAP, BEELINE, “GO TEAM!,” OUTER EAR, and TOP TEN.

Clue of note: 54d. [Yo-Yo collection?]. CELLI. Love the clue, not so keen on the entry. But knowing that the word “cello” comes from the Italian violoncello makes it more palatable.

3.25 stars.

Kiran Pandey’s New York Times crossword–Amy’s recap

NY Times crosswords solution, 2/5/25 – no. 0205

This one played like a themeless puzzle except for the thematic SLUSH PILE, [Common assignment for editorial assistants … or a description of this puzzle’s circled letters?]. Piled up in the middle three rows, those circled words are RAIN, SNOW, and HAIL, Rain and snow combine to make slush, yes. But I’ve seen hail, pretty much always in the warmer months, and the rain just melts it into water. Never seen slush in the summer outside of Slurpees. Maybe sleet can go slushy?

Fave fill: BASE TAN (wear your sunscreen, kids), DROPS DOWN to see menu commands, TALK UP, LEFT BRAIN, CARRIES NO WEIGHT, CHAI LATTE, CATTAIL (loved those at the marsh of my childhood), BIKESHARE, “ROT IN HELL!”, and gaming BOSS LEVEL.

Somewhat gettable for me but not a familiar term: 59A. [Console device with triggers and thumbsticks], GAMEPAD. I just asked my husband “What’s the name for the thing you’re holding?” He offered a few options including GAMEPAD. Okay! I know what that is now. What I don’t know is whether Pokémon GO has a BOSS LEVEL.

I also don’t know that the singular WAFFLE FRY gets much use in the language. Have you ever said it yourself? Have you then dipped it in ketchup, no mayo?

51A. [Is out] is so aspirational. SLEEPS? Yes, please. Ideally for a full seven hours.

3.5 stars from me. Still waiting for crosswords to uniformly grasp that HAIL is a summertime precipitation. Maybe those of you without exposure to Midwestern thunderstorms are less familiar with it?

Darrell Bridges’ Universal crossword, “Continental Breakfast” — pannonica’s write-up

Universal • 2/5/25 • Wed • “Continental Breakfast” • Bridges • solution • 20250205

It’s a self-evident theme, with just three entries. The rest of the grid has a little more breathing room.

• 19a. [Dutch baby, by another name] GERMAN PANCAKE.
• 37a. [Its main ingredient should be slightly stale] FRENCH TOAST, pain perdu, which reminds me of a literal translation of nostalgia: the pain of going back [home/in the past].
• 54a. [It has large squares] BELGIAN WAFFLE.

It irks me a little that the clue for 19-across contains what could sort of be another theme entry.

Not that it’s essential to the theme or anything, but the three countries—Germany, France, Belgium—are all contiguous with each other (Luxembourg is at the nexus of the trio). If we want to include the Netherlands, it shares a border with Germany and Belgium, but not France.

• 4d [Best effort, in competition] A-GAME. 23a [A-lister] STAR.
• 21d [One might be closed at a car dealership] CAR DOOR. I didn’t anticipate the clue being so silly/literal, so I was thinking CAR DEAL or possibly even CAR LOAN.
• 45d [Amount being received] INFLOW. Tried INTAKE first.
• 15a [Any artistic category] GENRE. I wasn’t quite in sync with the clue, envisioning something like sculpture, which probably wouldn’t be called a GENRE.
• 33a [Showing signs of injury] BRUISED. I reflexively thought it would also end in -ing, but that’s on me not thinking clearly about adjectives.
• 39a [Spanish artist Salvador] DALÍ. Spain borders France and Portugal, and technically, Morocco. Uh-oh, if I use that criterion, France borders a whole lot of other places! (In addition to the continental ones I left out because they weren’t relevant to the theme.)
• 52a [Like charged atoms] IONIC. 56d [Gas that’s colorless under normal conditions] NEON.