Tuesday, April 8, 2025

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Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “I’m… Not Batman” — actors in different roles. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 4/8/25

Hello lovelies!  In this week’s grid Matt explores other roles of actors that have played Batman.

• 17a. [2016 black comedy/mystery starring George Clooney] HAIL, CAESAR!
• 23a. [2006 dramedy starring Ben Affleck] MAN ABOUT TOWN
• 39a. [1983 comedy starring Michael Keaton] MR. MOM
• 51a. [2019 auto racing movie starring Christian Bale] FORD V FERRARI
• 61a. [1985 sci-fi comedy starring the late Val Kilmer] REAL GENIUS

Other things:

• 47a. [Trick-y student, so to speak?] OLD DOG. As in “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
• 42a. [Brand used in potato chips in the 1990s] OLEAN. Olestra (brand name Olean) was a fat substitute designed not to be digested and therefore not add calories. It was banned in Canada and the EU due to reduced absorption of nutrients as well as…let’s just say side effects.

Until next week!

Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “I Can’t Think Straight”—Jim’s review

Groups of circled letters form L shapes and spell out words having to do with cognition. The revealer is MIND-BENDING (56a, [Like LSD trips, and a hint to the circled letters]).

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “I Can’t Think Straight” · Mike Shenk · Tue., 4.8.25

Circled words are:

• “Judgment”: 5d JUDITH / 17a DISLODGMENT.
• “Intellect”: 26a INTEL / 11d RECOLLECT.
• “Brain”: 37a BRANS / 28d GRAIN.
• “Reasoning”: 40a REA / 33d SEASONING.

I love the title and the revealer and the overall concept. A few things strike me, though. INTEL as clued [Spy’s gathering] comes from “intelligence” which, yes, has a slightly different meaning than “braininess” but it’s really not that far off. Maybe if it was clued with respect to the chip manufacturer, I might have liked it better. BRANS is odd in the plural. I would have been nicer as BRAND and that would’ve gotten rid of LANKNESS which is also an uncommon word. Lastly, DISLODGMENT just lacks the sparkle you’d like to see in a long theme answer.

Hans MOLEMAN

In the fill I did like BAKELITE, TEMPURA, and especially MOLEMAN [Visually impaired “Simpsons” character Hans].

Clue of note: 37d. [Early plastic]. BAKELITE. This sure sounds like a child’s cooking toy, doesn’t it? Sort of like an Easy-Bake Oven knock-off.

3.25 stars.

Elizabeth C. Gorski’s Cr♥ssw♥rd Nation puzzle (Week 723), “High-Protein Block Party”—Ade’s take

Crossword Nation puzzle solution, Week 723: “High-Protein Block Party”

Hello there, everyone! Have seen that temperatures in the Northeast have dropped, once again proving that spring is the ultimate tease. Hope those who are reading this are enjoying some better, warmer weather!  

Let’s spin the cheese wheel today, as there are eight different blocks of circles included in the grid, and when the letters are inserted and read from top to bottom, spell out different kinds of CHEESES (26D: [Food often sold in blocks (and revealed in this puzzle’s block formations]). 

• • • • FETA, BRIE, TILSIT, ROMANO, AMERICAN, ASIAGO, EDAM, BLUE

I know some apple varieties, but can’t say that I had heard of WINESAP before today, though I’m sure I’ve come across those a few times without realizing and thought they were McIntoshes (22A: [Apple variety]). Been flying a lot recently covering March Madness (which officially ends Monday night), so can’t wait to get on that last flight home from San Antonio, AISLE SEAT secured, and comfortably head back to New York (39D: [Plane passenger’s option]). Unfortunately couldn’t fly Southwest to/from San Antonio and had to buy a plane ticket where your seat assignment is unknown until you get to the gate (unless you pay extra), so I’m glad that I checked in and saw that my 6’4″ self is in an aisle seat! 

“Sports will make you smarter” moment of the day: NASTIA  (58A: [Gymnast Liukin, gold medal winner at the 2008 Olympics]) – It was a special 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing for Nastia Liukin, who won five medals during those games. The gold that she won was for the all-around, while she earned three silver medals — team, uneven bars, balance beam —and a bronze in the floor exercise. It’s easy to say that 2008 was the highlight of her career, but I would disagree with that and say that distinction for her came seven years later, because she had the honor of being interviewed at the US Open by a certain sports reporter/cruciverbalist.

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

Barbara Lin’s New York Times crossword–Evan M’s write-up

Barbara Lin’s NYT crossword solution, Tuesday 4/8/25 

Hey all, Evan M here to blog the Tuesday NYT. Well this wasn’t exactly my favorite puzzle, but it was cute. The revealer is 37A [Contributes to a group gift … or a hint to (the theme entries)]: CHIPS IN. All the theme answers are items can have chips in them: like a TOLLHOUSE COOKIE, a POKER GAME, a TACO SALAD, or a DESKTOP COMPUTER.

Pretty straightforward idea, but it’s missing the wow factor for me. The long non-theme answers are fun: I didn’t know KINESTHESIA meant exactly this [24D: Awareness of body position, scientifically]; perhaps TAKE A STROLL could have been clued a little more playfully or in a misdirecting way [11D: Wander through the neighborhood after dinner, maybe].

All in all, solid Tuesday. 3 stars from me.

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

I enjoyed this! Got the connection in theme while I was solving and still found myself smiling at the revealer, which is the sign of a good Tuesday. (and hi! to Patti Varol, the editor of the LAT Crossword, who I had the pleasure of meeting at ACPT this past weekend!)

The theme answers:

Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2025, Janice Luttrell, solution grid

• 20a [One who is easily awakened] is a LIGHT SLEEPER. My husband was usually the one who woke up first when our kid was a baby even though he was perfectly capable of sleeping through the phone or my pager when I was on call.
• 28a [Alley oops?] is a fun clue for GUTTER BALL.
• 36a [Aerobic session with a small platform] is STEP CLASS.
• 48a [Price-slashing event with early hours] is a DOOR–BUSTER.

And the revealer: 56a [Restaurant or theater staffers who work with patrons, or where the starts of 20-, 28-, 26-, and 48-Across can be found?] is FRONT OF HOUSE. I like the structure with one theme answer right in the middle, and as I said I found the theme amusing and accessible.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that the constellation VELA is also known as the Sails. Maybe it’s in this photo I took in New Zealand.

New Zealand sky, Aoraki Mt Cook, February 2025. Click to embiggen.

Brooke Husic’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 4/8/25 • Tue • Husic • solution • 20250408

Another on the easy side. There were a few moments where I hesitated because the letter combinations weren’t looking right, such as the —LLS– at 13-down [Courageous] which turned out to be BALLSY and the —MT ending of 46-across [Saw behind closed eyes] DREAMT.

• 1a [Like Roberta Cordano, the current president of Gallaudet University] DEAF. Wikipedia says she’s the first deaf woman to lead the institution, so I’m assuming her predecessors include both hearing and deaf men as well as hearing women. It also mentions that she’s the first openly gay president there.
• 14a [“Reservation Dogs” actor Guerra] ELVA. I’ve heard overwhelmingly good things about the show.
• 21a [Professional paid to be both seen and heard] SPOKESMODEL. The clue’s “seen” got me to the answer’s MODEL (after I already had the SPOKES- part).
• 25a [Sounds in the backing track of Beyoncé’s “Ring the Alarm”] SIRENS. Made an educated guess with the I in place.
• 32a [Determine the concentration of, as an acid or base] TITRATE. I recently had a titer done of my body’s MMR resistance; fortunately my levels are all good. Not all childhood immunizations were as effective as each other, so it’s a good idea in the current climate to check your levels.
• 34a [Runner who won her 2023 marathon début and her 2024 Olympic-marathon début] SIFAN HASSAN. That’s impressive.
• 37a [Greeting that’s affectionate, but not touching?] AIR KISS. Nice.
• 49a [Source of funny Stories?] MEME ACCOUNT. Stories is a feature of, I believe, facebook.
• 60a [Camera-shutter onomatopoeia] SNAP. Digital cameras artificially reproduce this sound. That’s an example of skeuomorphism.
• 1d [Alaskan mountain name that means “high one”] DENALI.
• 2d [Inspiration for each chapter of Primo Levi’s “The Periodic Table”] ELEMENT. I recently unpacked my long-held but unread copy. I really should get around to that.
• 5d [Thunderous sounds] CLAPS. Works for both storms and applause.
• 9d [Opposite of a writer’s block?] PRESS PASS. Cute, well done.
• 22d [Produce-aisle sprays] MISTS. Handy for when you need to wet your fingertips to open the plastic bags. Also effective: vegetable bins that have ice in them.
• 27d [Unconventional, in a way] KINKY. Tried KOOKY first.
• 32d [Wheel of Fortune, for one] TAROT CARD.
  
• 45d [Crosses the threshold] ENTERS.
  
• 51d [“Navy Blue” choreographer Doherty] OONA. Another new OONA!
• 52d [UX component] USER. UX is short for user experience.

I had a good user experience with this crossword, though as usual (and as suggested above) it could have been a little tougher.