Michael Lieberman’s New York Times crossword — Sophia’s write-up
Happy Monday folks, and happy World Series weekend to all baseball fans! Today’s theme is perfect for the season, coming up with a new twist on a nickname for the game:
New York Times, 10 28 2024, By Michael Lieberman
- 17a [Nursery rhyme about a disastrous trip up a hill] – JACK AND JILL
- 28a [Nursery rhyme about the perils of sitting on a wall] – HUMPTY DUMPTY
- 45a [Nursery rhyme about the hazards of decaying infrastructure] – LONDON BRIDGE
- 59a [Nickname for the World Series … or what you might call 17-, 28- or 45-Across?] – FALL CLASSIC
So, each of the three CLASSIC nursery rhymes involves a literal FALL. Clever! I didn’t realize how many different rhymes share this same theme…. “Ring around the Rosie” also has falling, are there others too? Anyways, all three of these rhymes are very familiar to me and as such the puzzle played pretty easily, so I am curious if that will be true for other folks as well.
Lots of great fill today that kept the puzzle from feeling boring. OCTOPUSES are my favorite animal so I was thrilled to see them make an appearance. DEADLINES, TESTAMENT, and LARGE COKE are all also fun (although I did have “large soda” before and had to change it). Some other quick hits:
- I had a weird amount of trouble with the clue of [One might be squeaky or shaped like a bone] for DOG TOY. It’s relatively straightforward and yet I just couldn’t see it. A good answer though!
- A slightly trickier (although still Monday appropriate!) clue/answer pair that I liked – [They brighten everyone’s days] for SUNRISES
- I liked the modern takes on the BOT and KILL clues, [Many a customer service assistant, nowadays] and [Pass idly, as time], respectively
- ANNA Kendrick has her directorial debut out on Netflix now! It’s called “The Woman of the Hour” and I’ve heard it’s good, so I’m planning to watch it soon.
Dylan Fugel’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Squawk on the Wild Side”—Jim’s review
Debut puzzle alert! Congrats to our newest constructor!
Theme answers are familiar phrases with a word that’s been replaced by its homophone which is also a bird sound. The revealer is BIRDSONG (61a, [Notes from on high, and an alternative title for this puzzle]).
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Squawk on the Wild Side” · Dylan Fugel · Mon., 10.28.24
- 17a. [Dove’s overthrow of a regime?] COO D’ETAT.
- 21a. [Crows’ shared purpose?] COMMON CAWS.
- 37a. [Robin’s assessment of an attractive mate?] GOOD ENOUGH TWEET.
- 54a. [Chick’s frugal friend?] CHEEPSKATE.
Cute enough, eh? These didn’t quite tickle my funny bone, but I liked them well enough. I think I liked the grid-spanning entry best of all even though its not quite a homophone like the others.
WATCHMEN and REAR ENDS top the fill. The latter gets the nice clue [Tailgates too much?]. That NE corner was especially meaty with fun entries like SCHISM, CRUNCH, HONCHO, and HOOCH.
Clues of note:
- 1a. [Hoover or Oroville, e.g.]. DAM. Tough clue to start a Monday grid, amirite?
- 42a. [Record label founded by Drake]. OVO. New-to-me cluing angle. I don’t recall seeing this in a puzzle.
- 9d. [Boss, from the Japanese for “group leader”]. HONCHO. Cool bit of etymology trivia.
3.25 stars.
NYT: There’s a glitch in the link to the NYT at the top of this page. If you click on it, it takes you back to last week’s puzzle. Also it shows 44 ratings at 8pm Central time.
I enjoyed the puzzle and the revealer brought an unexpected twist.
I found this quite easy, maybe a minute longer than my Monday best. The theme was handled very well, and I didn’t see a lot of junk in the fill – even the 3s didn’t make me want to scream.
I was excited to see someone that I “knew” on Jeopardy last week – I’m sorry that you didn’t do better, Sophia. You probably did better than I would have, but I always root for people I know when they show up. Being chosen for the show is more than most of us can claim!