Saturday, November 19, 2022

Benji Goldsmith’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 11 19 22, no. 1119

A lovely themeless, if a tad on the easy side for a Saturday puzzle. The hourglass grid design lends the look of having lots of long fill, while around half of the entries are actually in the 3- and 4-letter space.

Fave fill: “OK, SHOOT,” AT ONE WITH NATURE (what’s your favorite natural environment to be in?), CREATES A MONSTER (such a great phrase), DIALS IT BACK (also great), SMALL TALK ([It’s sometimes weather-related], true enough–it’s cold in Chicago and snowing in Buffalo, that’s all I know), MOUSEKETEER, MEAT ALTERNATIVE, the great “IS THIS SEAT TAKEN?”, and “THEY SAY…”.

Not at all keen on “OH ME” (it’s marginally better than AH ME, which all you constructors should purge from your wordlists!), and RATLIKE feels maybe weird. TERNS is boring fill, but the clue saves it: [Birds that rarely swim, despite having webbed feet]. They just want to be ready for anything! I don’t think [Quirky old fellas] is apt for GEEZERS; dull and cranky old fellas might also be called geezers, and quirkiness doesn’t enter into it, in my experience. Is Merriam-Webster off base, or am I?

Four stars from me.

Kate Chin Park and Brooke Husic’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Times 11/19/22 by Kate Chin Park and Brooke Husic

I don’t have much time to write this one up, but I’ll say that I liked the energy of this grid, between SCREEN TIME, PARTY DRESS (great clue, too), JELLY SHOES, SHEA BUTTER, SMARTPHONE, and STRAPPY as a descriptor for shoes [Like wrap heels]. I also enjoyed the clues of [Pity parties?] for SORE LOSERS and [One doing spit takes?] for WINE TASTER.

TRUST NO ONE also had me thinking of the opening credits of Wie Is de Mol? and the ominous whisper of “Trust nobody!”

Lisa Senzel and Jeff Chen’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Doc Work” — pannonica’s write-up

WSJ • 11/19/22 • Senzel, Chen • “Doc Work” • solution • 20221119

Punny phrases in the form of things medical professionals might say. Tomswiftian stuff.

• 23a. [“My colleagues and I will do some exploratory work on your knee, in a ___,” said the rheumatologist] JOINT  VENTURE.
• 31a. [“My role is to ___,” said the OB/GYN] HELP PEOPLE OUT.
• 47a. [“You have to be ___,” said the pediatrician] A LITTLE PATIENT.
• 66a. [“Never fear, I use only ___,” said the surgeon] CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY.
• 84a. [“My procedures should be able to ___,” said the orthopedist] SET YOU STRAIGHT.
• 99a. [“Be warned, I may have to make some ___,” said the dermatologist] RASH DECISIONS.
• 113a. [“Don’t worry, during your corrective procedure, I’ll stay ___,” said the ophthalmologist] LASER-FOCUSED.

Perhaps laughter is the best medicine?

• 35d [One being strung along?] BEAD. My first thought was KITE.
• 38d [Rom-com plot, usually] CUTE STORY. Was thinking LOVE STORY, but there was also 33d [Comedian Love] LONI.
• 43d [Alternative to NYSE] OTC. 44a [Call’s counterpart] PUT. 105a [Vehicles that can roll over, briefly] IRAS. Just in case you’d forgotten it’s the Wall Street Journal.
• Theme-adjacent: 35a [Severe cold, say] BAD CASE.
• 40a [Perennial chicken course?] ROAD. >groan<
• 106a [Spotting 26-Across, say] ON SAFARI; 26a [Nyala or gnu] ANTELOPE. These entries are symmetrically opposite each other, a nice touch.
• 117a [Gradually reveals a scene, to a cinematographer] IRISES IN. Not a technique seen much in contemporary films.
• 122a [Do-it-yourself tool?] SEX TOY. Bit racy, no?

Matthew Sewell’s Newsday crossword, Saturday Stumper — pannonica’s write-up

Newsday • 11/19/22 • Saturday Stumper • Sewell • solution • 20221119

Mostly smooth sailing on this one, with some turbulence in the lower right as I struggled to complete the grid. In fact, I still don’t fully understand some of the clues there: 65a [Some roots of rock] STRATA? 56a [Turnoff before checking in] RENTAL CAR RETURN? Best guess is that the latter is at the airport, and checking in is for a flight. Not quite sure how STRATA are roots, but there it is.

• 3d [Création volcanique] ÎLE. Spent way to much time thinking about how one might say ‘ash’ in French.
• 7d [Protective layer] HEN. Tricky little clue.
• 22d [Major producer of pomegranates] IRAN. Yes, it’s pomegranate season. The one currently sitting in my basket, which I need to open up, is from the USA.
• 34d [Show servility] GENUFLECT. Anyone else thinking of Tom Lehrer?
• 41d [Juvenile jellyfish] LARVAE. Other life stages: polyp, medusa.
• 43d [Growths of grass] SWARDS. Had BLADES for a time. Etymology: Middle English, from Old English sweard, swearth skin, rind; akin to Middle High German swart skin, hide (m-w)
• 53d [Sound of billowing sails] SLAP. Considered SLAP also; this hampered my progress on seeing/completing that long entry RENTAL CAR RETURN.
• 7a [What you may get out of your refrigerator] HUM. Kind of a ridiculous clue. Fortunately, the crosses—while not super-easy—were more easily gettable.
• 20a [Word from Malay for “sheath”] SARONG. Makes sense. 45a [Word associated with parties and dresses] WRAP.
• 21a [Capital by the Red Sea] DINAR. Yes, this one fooled me today. With the A in place I was considering AMMAN.
• 37a [A name of Eliot’s] STEARNS. The S of T.S.

Not my favorite Stumper solve of late, but a good workout. Despite pinwheeling long entries to bind things together, it somehow felt incohesive. On the other hand it’s quite plausible that I’m just projecting my mental state onto the grid. Time for coffee!

Mikkel Snyder & Brooke Husic’s USA Today crossword—Matthew’s recap

Nothing to see here – USA hasn’t posted today’s yet, and I reviewed yesterday’s.