Friday, February 16, 2024

Colin Adams’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 2/16/24 – no. 0216

Good themeless from a new constructor! So much good stuff in it.

Fave fill: SPAMALOT, “WE’RE RICH!”, VOODOO, INNER DEMONS, HIGHWAY HYPNOSIS, “DON’T TEMPT ME,” “OH, BOOHOO,” “NICE WORK!”, SOUR NOTE, WORN DOWN (it me), FOOD COMA, “YOO-HOO,” PATIENTS (it me), MESSY BUN. Less keen on EWER, which you can’t buy at Walmart or Wayfair because it’s an old bit of crosswordese.

Three question-marked clues I liked:

• 15a. [God on a mission?], APOLLO. As in the NASA mission heading towards the moon.
• 64a. [Stand-up person?], NO-SHOW. As in “You got stood up.”
• 66a. [Moving company?], TROUPE. As in a theatrical troupe that moves the audience emotionally.

Four stars from me.

Robin Stears’ Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up

LAT • 2/15/24 • Fri • Stears • solution • 20240216

We have punned versions of phrases which now end with exclamations.

• 17a. [Rather impressive exclamation of relief?] QUITE A PHEW (… few).
• 24a. [Astonished exclamation at the Four Corners Monument] BORDER GOLLY (… collie).
• 35a. [Exasperated exclamation over a breath mint?] TIC TAC D’OH (… toe).
• 51a. [Quiet exclamation of dismissal from way back when?] OLD SOFT SHOO (… shoe).
• 60a. [Etymological story about an equestrian’s exclamation?] TALE OF WHOA (… woe).

Sorry. these just didn’t excite me. Perhaps if the original phrases had something in common it would have felt like a stronger theme.

As for the crossword in general, it kept throwing me gentle curveballs, so I was on my toes a lot and needed to make numerous corrections as I slipped along.

• 5d [Law org. led by Christopher A. Wray since 2017] THE FBI. Surprise definite article!
• 6d [Escapade] CAPER, not ANTIC.
• 7d [Felt sore] ACHED, 8d [Sore feeling] IRE.
• 18d [“Between a Rock and a Hard Place” memoirist Ralston] ARON. He’s the 127 Hours guy.
• 26d [Peel] RIND. Just purchased several fruits that look to be dekopon but were called mandarins and priced accordingly. I hope they turn out to be what they seem to be, and that I got a real bargain. The RIND comes off so easily.
• 28d [Echidna snack] ANT. Echidnas, also called spiny anteaters, are egg-laying mammals (monotremes), along with platypuses.
• 33d [Is in the past?] WAS, 36d [“Nuh-uh!”] IS NOT. Uh-oh.
• 22a [Perfect darling] ANGEL.
  
• 32a [Brian Setzer genre] SWING. But he started out—or at least became famous—as a retro rockabilly artist in the Stray Cats.
• 56a [“Correctamundo!”] RIGHT. “Check out the big brain on Brad!”
• 57a [Station under the Garden] PENN. That’s Madison Square Garden.
• 65a [Devoured] ATE UP, not EATEN.

Joe Rodini’s Universal crossword, “On Broadway”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar phrases whose final words help you MAKE A SCENE (57a, [Rant and rave in public, or what the ends of 18-, 23-, 36- and 52-Across do]).

Universal crossword solution · “On Broadway” · Joe Rodini · Fri., 2.16.24

• 18a. [When a future butterfly is in a chrysalis] PUPAL STAGE. Set the stage.
• 23a. [Selfless ballers] TEAM PLAYERS. Gather the players.
• 36a. [“Nicely done!”] “I GIVE YOU PROPS.” Supply them with props.
• 52a. [They’re drawn in conflict] BATTLE LINES. Feed them their lines.

Nice, simple, elegant. I ignored the theme during the solve and therefore got to enjoy a surprising aha moment when I hit the revealer. Fun theme answers and pleasant wordplay throughout. Kudos!

Not much in the long fill department, though. BUSH SR struck me as a bit awkward at first, but I feel like I’ve seen it enough in the wild. DO SHOTS, AZALEA, and SWAMI are other colorful highlights. ASCOTS at 1d echoes yesterday’s Wordle.

Olivia Rodrigo

GAH [Exclamation of frustration] sure wanted to be BAH, and I never knew there was an AP GOV class, but I was pretty certain there wasn’t an AP BOV class.

Clues of note: 53d. [Youngster who may love Olivia Rodrigo]. TWEEN. A new name to me, but then I’m old. She has numerous awards including a few Grammys, was Time‘s Entertainer of the Year in 2021, and Billboard‘s Woman of the Year in 2022.

Smooth and enjoyable puzzle. 3.75 stars.

“Food Chain” by Margaret Seikel, norah’s review; 4:31 paper

THEME: The revealer, split across 22-Across and 49-Across, WHOLEHOG BARBECUE [Southern cooking tradition that can be described by the transformation happening in this puzzle] hints us to a word ladder that takes us from NOSE to TAIL (If you are unfamiliar with the revealer phrase, start here.)

tny-2024-02-16

Themed entries:

• NOSE 1A [Rhinoplasty target]
• POSE 13A [“Strike a ___” (line that opens Madonna’s “Vogue”)]
• POLE 17A [___ position (what’s earned by the fastest qualifier, in Formula 1)]
• POLL 34A [Bit of fodder for horse-race journalism]
• TOLL 54A [Fee for passage]
• TALL 61A [Towering]
• TAIL [Plane part with an identifying number]

This was an easy breezy solve, thanks to a clean grid that lets the theme entries breathe and shine.

Some favorite entries/clues:

• NAMASTE 20A [Yogi’s closing]
• AGENCY 28A [Placement service for full-time caregivers, say]
• HUM 45A [Instruction to a child learning how to blow bubbles underwater]
• CELTIC 10D [___ knot (blackwork-tattoo option)]
• HORCHATA 36D [Cinnamony drink made with rice]
• URSULA 46D [Melissa McCarthy role in a 2023 musical remake] (listening now)

Thanks Margaret and The New Yorker team!

Jared Goudsmit’s USA Today crossword, “Sky-High (Freestyle)”—Darby’s recap

Editor: Jared Goudsmit

This themeless was really fun. I was very impressed by the amount of long fill that was included in the puzzle. We had two spanners with 7d [Really happy] ON TOP OF THE WORLD and 34a [“You must have it wrong”] THAT CAN’T BE RIGHT. Plus, four 9s in the NE and SW corners, as well as four 10s in the NW and SE. It made for a grid that flowed where, though you could see that some of the blocks on either side of LEON, CORP, WART, and NONE likely made it easier to fill each of those corners on their own first.

Jared Goudsmit’s USA Today crossword, “Sky-High (Freestyle)” solution for 2/16/2024

I really loved that we got both 14a [Eco-friendly device on a roof] SOLAR PANEL and 17a [Set of celestial objects gravitationally bound to one another] STAR SYSTEM in the northwest corner. Each had a space-oriented word, so they were a great combo. I also really loved the two conversational questions in 30d [Question asked after digressing] and 31d [“Do I know you?”] WHERE WAS I and HAVE WE MET respectively. The cluing was kept extra fresh here by definitionally cluing WHERE WAS I versus using a quoted example for HAVE WE MET. As a gamer who loves a 12d [Hangout where Catan or charades might be played], GAME NIGHT was especially fun.

A few things slowed me down too. I didn’t know that UGGS were 10a [Australian boots]. I was also unfamiliar with 4d [“Love by Grace” singer Fabian] LARA. SITARIST was tricky but not terribly so, and I liked its inclusion.

Overall, this was a great puzzle. I had such a fun time throughout.