Jackson Matz’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 9/20/24 – no. 0920
Hello! It’s a Friday puzzle, not too tough, anchored by four interlocking 15s. A little bit of odd fill — plural HAVOCS, not-an-idiom NO SEATS — offset by more fun stuff.
Fave fill: SHAR-PEI, SPARROWS (if you’re like me, you had the -WS in place and filled in S*A**OWS, unsure whether it might be swallows, but they’re a different family within the Passeri suborder), SPIRAL STAIRCASE (nice clue, [Windy flight?]), SHEBANG, PARANOID with a Molly Ivins clue, THANKSGIVING DAY, HARD AS A ROCK, JEDIS (I didn’t know this was a [Plural form decried by staunch “Star Wars” fans] and I just wish that the crossing LEGO had been LEGOS for maximum triggering), MISSING THE POINT, PESCETARIAN (though I decry this variant spelling and prefer PESCATARIAN as sensible Merriam-Webster does), PRIME REAL ESTATE, and ATLANTIS.
Shades of “Saturday Stumper” Stan Newman in the generic names here: OSKAR (I’ll grant you the clue is about a specific fictional one, but [“The Tin Drum” protagonist] mightn’t resonate with that many solvers), GIANNI, and ERICH clued as if it were e-Rich, [Apt name for a successful crypto investor?].
Did not know: 42a. [Brazilian soccer club named for an explorer, familiarly], VASCO. Started out as a rowing club, of all things!
3.75 stars from me.
Will Pfadenhauer’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up
LAT • 9/20/24 • Fri • Pfadenhauer • solution • 20240920
This was significantly chewier than I’m used to in a Friday Los Angeles Times crossword. I sort-of saw the the theme with the first relevant entry, but didn’t appreciate it fully.
- 17a. [*Youthful helpers on tennis courts] ALLOYS (ball boys). At this point I thought it was missing Bs, and …
- 19a. [*Fashion toys from Mattel] ARIES (Barbies). … this seemed to confirm that, but …
- 25a. [*Restaurant freebie] BE A DOLL (bread roll) … nope! Just double letters, which change.
- 28a. [*Weapon in Clue] EVOLVE (revolver). Now, at this point I was desultorily moving around the grid, so didn’t yet perceive that these starred entries occurred in the same rows.
- 34a. [*Italian red wine] CHANT (chianti).
36a. [*Sasquatch trait] HARNESS (hairiness). … aha, rows! - 50a. [*NCAA basketball powerhouse in Milwaukee] MARQUEE (Marquette).
52a. [*Tornado] WISER (twister). - 59a. [*Weekend part] STURDY (Saturday).
61a. [*Finding the means?] VERGING (averaging). - 70a/73aR [… insert for some water pitchers, or what has been used row-by-row on the answers to the starred clues?] BRITA | FILTER. Kind of an unwieldy phrasing required to explain the principle, yes?
First, these are great finds, and the clue for 61-across is notably good. Second, I have just a couple of minor reservations. One is that, although brand names have become commonplace in crosswords since the Will Shortz era, I remain a bit prudish about using them as the basis of a theme. True, BRITA filters are rather ubiquitous, but not so much as to have become generically synonymous with the product. I believe PUR, among other brands, has significant market share (I happen to have a LIFESTRAW dispenser). The other nit is observing that in Row 3, 18-across [Tit for __ ] TAT is not missing any Bs. The other thematic rows each consist of two entries, so it isn’t an issue elsewhere. Looking symmetrically, Row 13—which contains the revealer—has TEA in that location (72a), but that row doesn’t employ the filtering mechanism.
- 9d [Jazz station?] NBA TV. I had no idea this was a thing. 66d [Provo’s state] UTAH.
- 12d [Slob’s napkin] SLEEVE. I’d more likely call such a person a boor. A slob might not wipe their face at all!
- 34d [No. pro] CPA. I fully understood the clue only after getting the answer via crossings. 44d [WNBA pos.] CTR.
- 50d [Brand sold at REI] MSR (Mountain Safety Research). REI stands for Recreational Equipment, Inc.
- 55d [Exfoliation stone] PUMICE. Etymology: Middle English pomis, from Anglo-French pomice, from Latin pumic-, pumex — more at foam (m-w.com).
- 60d [Thumb-operated controls] D-PADS. The D stands for directional.
- 62d [Not self-sufficient] NEEDY. Disagree. This is not an either/or, and ‘needy’ has a pejorative connotation.
- 67d [Main information source?] MENU. As in main menu.
- 41a [“Find out if they know”] GO ASK. Good clue for a tricky entry.
NYT: Nice Friday – just about the right level of difficulty. I was slowed down a bit by the fact that “Green Bay Packers” has the same number of letters as THANKSGIVING DAY (in retrospect, I imagine the Packers have been on the Lions’ schedule since before 1934).
Resisted ERICH until I had no other choice.
All the dictionaries I checked cite the etymology of “pescatarian” as a portmanteau of pesce (Italian for fish) and vegetarian. So where did that first “a” come from? I’ll give Amy “common” but not sensible.