Kelly Morenus’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 2/7/25 – no. 0207
I liked the puzzle, lots of good stuff … but when there’s a noticeable answer word included in a clue, it grates. See PROTECT and nearby 36D. [Campus protection], TENURE. The pair of [Campus figure(s)], DEANS and BURSAR, were not crying out for a third wheel.
Fave fill: CRIME NOVELIST, the lovely CHANCE ENCOUNTER, RICKSHAW, ON A REGULAR BASIS, DINNER THEATER (I’ve never been), drawing FREEHAND, the PREDICTABLE and FORMULAIC pairing.
Three clues:
- 12A. [Murder she wrote?], CRIME NOVELIST. I started watching the old Murder, She Wrote series on Peacock last year. You’d think Jessica would stop traveling to see a niece or nephew when she realizes somebody always turns up dead.
- 16A. [Material that goes on a foundation], POWDER. This is about makeup, not construction.
- 21A. [Site where a previously unidentified species of sea urchin was discovered in 2004], EBAY. !! Indeed. Here’s a story in The Guardian about the 2006 event. A scientist named the urchin Coelopleurus exquisitus after its fancy shell–purple squiggles!
I did hate INE binding the top 11/13/15 stack. The dreaded [Chemical suffix], could be ENE or ANE or INE. I might hate the musical IN E (or IN any of A, B, C, D, F, or G) more, though.
Four stars from me.
Kelly Richardson’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up
LAT • 2/7/25 • Fri • Richardson • solution • 20250207
Theme’s based on shortened state names. Not postal codes, not abbreviations—well, all but one could be considered abbreviations, as we’ll see.
- 16a. [Play staged by Boston’s Commonwealth Shakespeare Company?] MASS PRODUCTION (Massachusetts).
- 23a. [Demand policy changes from the lawmakers in Olympia?] PRESSURE WASH (Washington).
- 53a. [Digits starting with 908?] JERSEY NUMBER (New Jersey). That’s a telephone area code.
- 62a. [Fortunes made in Chicago?] ILL-GOTTEN GAINS (Illinois).
“Jersey” is the odd one out. The phrases themselves are all fairly good.
- 7d [Just before nightfall] AT DUSK.
- 17d [ __ meteor: many an August streaker] PERSEID. Plunked in the -ID ending right away, waited for a couple of crossings before figuring out which group it was.
22d [Chinese tea] CHA.- 33d [Rueful reply] SADLY NO. 2d [Woeful cry] ALAS.
- 39d [USDT division] IRS. 30a [DOL division] OSHA. 25d [Stop __ order: bad news on a construction site] WORK.
- 20a [Johnny of “Point Break”] UTAH. Not part of the theme.
- 52d [Game point?] ARCADE. Okay, sure.
- 56a [ __ Lanka] SRI. Where cha is thenir.
- 69a [Contributes] ADDS. 28d [Additionally] TOO.
Liked, didn’t love.
I solved the NYT faster than I did this week’s Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday puzzles. Wacky.
I loved most of the fill, but I agree that the campus thing was a tad too much (cute in retrospect, not so cute while solving). I also would have liked a few more tricky/fun clues but overall definitely a fun one!
Same here — very fast for a Friday. But a nicely constructed puzzle, for the most part.
My time today was almost identical to my time on Tuesday. I thought this one was a bit easier than the typical Friday, though not excessively so. Tuesday’s puzzle, on the other hand struck me as being exceptionally hard for its time slot. It’s been a weird week.
I did like today’s puzzle, though. Entertaining and clever.
My experience was similar. My T/W/Th/F were all within about 20% of each other, with my Tuesday time much higher than usual and my Friday time a bit less than usual but not as skewed as my Tuesday time.
This is just me, and not a knock on a clue – but can anyone clarify the clue for CRIME NOVELIST in the Times?
My brain just can’t seem to parse it, as it feels like it’s a mismatch describing the novel and not the novelist (even with the ?). It was one of the last answers I filled in today. Thanks!
Weird grammatical bend on “she wrote murder,” I think, evoking the 1980s TV series (whose title included a comma)?
NYT: is CAUSES A RIOT green-painty or is it really an idiom that’s lost on me??
What does green-painty mean?
I’ll take a shot at answering this, but there are others here who likely could do a better job. A “green paint” answer is something that, while it certainly exists, isn’t exactly idiomatic – something that comes to mind as a common turn of phrase. “Green paint” definitely exists, but as far as our common vernacular goes, it doesn’t stand out – no more common in the language than “blue paint” or “red paint.”
I think Mutman is probably right – I don’t think CAUSES A RIOT is a phrase that is very distinctive on its own. “Runs riot,” or “raises a ruckus” are probably more legitimate “in the language” phrases. CAUSES A RIOT is a perfectly acceptable answer to the clue, but doesn’t stand out as a phrase we hear/use every day.
Gary R — perfect explanation!
I learned “green paint” on this site, so I thought most would know.
Glad you agree. Not criticizing, as I appreciate all constructors, but just checking.
I feel like there have been a bunch of green-painty answers recently. ON A FAST is one that jumps to mind.
My personal feeling is that a themed puzzle may force some awkwardness, but a themeless puzzle shouldn’t have much in the way of green paint.