Note: No WSJ puzzle due to the holiday and the Fireball is on hiatus this week.
Neville Fogarty’s New York Times crossword—Ben’s review
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope however you’re celebrating this year (be it a buttermilk-brined turkey breast or whatever main course you want now that you’re not tied to making a massive turkey for family) that you’re staying safe.
Neville Fogarty has today’s puzzle, and I think I would have cracked its secrets early on if I had been solving the print edition rather than the online version. Once it was solved, the grid re-aligned itself to show what was going on, but if you solved online, here’s what you would have entered:
NYT #1126 – 11/26/2020
- 18A: Oboe or flute sound — VVOOWWEELL
- 29A: Home to around eight million Americans — IISSLLAANNDD
- 47A: Circumlocutory — WWIINNDDEEDD
- 61A: Some winter wear — JJOOHHNNSS
The print version has only half as many double-wide squares for each of these, allowing you to fill each in with LONG (71A, “Word interpreted literally in completing four of this puzzle’s answers”) versions each of these and fully answer the clues – LONG VOWEL, LONG ISLAND, LONG WINDED, and LONG JOHNS
It’s a clever idea, even if the online version doesn’t have the same punch as the print version does.
I leave it there since it’s a holiday. Whether you’re someone who FLIES SOLO in your FEASTING today or you’re celebrating with your quarantine pod, may your main course be satisfying, your sides delicious, and your pies perfectly baked.
Joe Deeney’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s summary
LA Times 26/11/20
DREAMSEQUENCE is an excellent choice of revealing answer. The rest of the theme execution is fairly basic: the letters of DREAM are scrambled across two parts of theme entries. We get 20th century REEFERMADNESS and REDARMY; fellow shorty HEADMRI; esoteric THIRDAMENDMENT (why do we never hear of people defending this one!) and GINGERBREADMEN, clued oddly as holiday cookies; which holiday??? I see them in low numbers throughout the year? Do you serve them with turkey in the US?
My error was PHI/PHIENG. That is the ante-ante-penultimate letter. I didn’t know the correspondent so I went in blind.
Least plausible clue: ITSFUN as a [Carnival ride cry]. That does not sound at all natural.
Gareth
David Alfred Bywaters’ Universal crossword, “I Was Framed” — Jim Q’s write-up
The title is perfect. “Four Eyes” might be an alternative!
THEME: The word “EYE” is added in the middle of common phrases to create wacky answers.
Universal crossword solution · “Tongue-Tied” · David Alfred Bywaters · Thur., 11.26.20
THEME ANSWERS:
- 17A [Part of an improvised pirate costume?] CABBAGE EYE PATCH.
- 25A [Beer goggles’ more sophisticated counterparts?] WINE EYEGLASSES.
- 41A [Rag doll features?] COTTON EYEBALLS.
- 54A [Two elements of a hipster social gathering?] ROCK AND EYE ROLLS.
Very fun and playful theme. By far, 54A is my favorite of the themers. I love the visual.
I mistakingly thought the clue suggested rag dolls featured COTTON BALLS for a second, which sounds awfully specific to Raggedy Andy. I think I was distracted because when I typed COTTON EYE… I really want to finish it with JOE.
A CABBAGE EYE PATCH is delightfully ridiculous. WINE GLASSES and WINE EYEGLASSES as a set seems redundant in a way, since GLASSES and EYEGLASSES seem rather interchangeable for me as terms.
Favorite clue was the meta at 35D [This clue is one.] SENTENCE. Very strange to see a period end a clue. Reminds me of the Margaret Farrar era!
4.1 Stars. Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m surprised the editors didn’t give some hint in the on-line puzzle , via the “info” tab, that there were more open squares to be used. Once the gimmick was visible, as in the answer key, it seems it would be easier than doing the on-line version.
Really enjoyed the NYT today. I didn’t grasp the actual theme until I saw that 61-A was Long Johns. I’m not a huge fan of the NYT Crossword app because it doesn’t sync well between devices (especially when using the Windows 10 app), but I do like how they do things like this when finishing the puzzle.
NYT: did the print grid have the double-length squares?
LAT thoughts:
— CHIENG {1D: “The Daily Show” correspondent Ronny}/IN RUN {22A: Ski jump’s approach ramp} was more or less a guess
— IT’S FUN {3D: Carnival ride cry} is something no one has ever actually cried while on a carnival ride
— I don’t understand how the clue works for KEEP {23A: Not turn}
— This seems like bad advice. It’s been engrained in me by many doctors over the years that Q-TIPS {56D: Personal hygiene aid} should NEVER be stuck in my ears to remove wax. What other “personal hygiene” uses do cotton swabs have?
— How is OMNI {14A: W competitor} a “W competitor”? It’s a pop science magazine whereas “W” is a fashion magazine
— I finally managed to remember AMA {43D: Reddit interview, briefly} this time around
— I’ve never heard of an ACID DROP {35D: Candy made with sour sugar} or “sour sugar”
— TICKLY {48D: Sensitive, as a subject}? Isn’t “ticklish” the appropriate answer for this clue?
Not my cuppa
KEEP can be the opposite of rot. Turn can be a synonym for rot. OMNI and W are both highish end hotel chains.
Doh! … Thanks J! I obviously had blinders on for those two and took the constructor’s bait. I’m not thinking outside the box very well today, a sure-fire impediment to solving late-week crossword puzzles.
OMNI magazine is long-defunct. Omni and W here are luxury hotel chains.
LAT: here i am again nitpicking about Inuk vs Inuit… the clue for 47D NANOOK should read “Title Inuk in a 1922 film”… singular vs plural… when will the crossword world ever learn this distinction??
Haari, see https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Inuit defs 1a and 1b.
English words from foreign languages are not obliged to carry their grammar over, otherwise the plural of moose is mooseg.