Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “That’s Unreal” — I still made this, so not to worry. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 10/29/24

Hello lovelies! This week’s Jonesin’ involves adding a long I sound to phrases and letting hilarity ensue. The title refers to the imaginary number i, aka the square root of negative one.

• 17a. [Nonsense, to a religion that advocates world unity?] BAHAI HUMBUG (bah, humbug)
• 24a. [Assertion upon recognizing the peninsula linking Africa with the Middle East?] IT’S A SINAI (it’s a sign)
• 39a. [Series of interlinked Hawaiian verandas?] LANAI PARTY (LAN party)
• 48a. [Instruction on how to get to the Burj Khalifa?] DUBAI STEP (dubstep)
• 61a. [Humble response from an Alaskan peninsula?] I’M JUST KENAI (I’m just Ken)

Other things:

• 50d. [Makes a Battenberg] BAKES. A Battenberg is a sponge cake in a checkerboard pattern, held together with jam and covered in marzipan.

Until next week!

Elizabeth C. Gorski’s Cr♥ssw♥rd Nation puzzle (Week 700), “Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun!”—Ade’s take

Crossword Nation puzzle solution. Week 700: “Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun!”

Hello there, everyone! Just a few days before Fright Night, and, after that, it will be time to remove the pumpkins from the porch and get ready for all things Turkey Day! 

But before that, one last ode to Halloween, as each of the theme answers to today’s grid is a pun created from nouns/phrases to give each of them a Halloween-sounding ring to them.

• • • • RHAPSODY IN BOO (15A: [Ghoulish composition by George Gershwin])  … or by Miles Davis!
      • SCARY GRANT (29A: [Ghoulish star of Hollywood’s Golden Age?])
      • MADAME HEX (35A: [Ghoulish mystery woman who inspired the song “I Put a Spell on You”?]) – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins reference! Nice!
      • SCREAM PUFF (47A: [Ghoulish pastry shop treat?])
      • HIDE AND SHRIEK (59A: [Ghoulish kids’ game?])

As a frequent user of en dashes and em dashes, I initially got tripped up and put in the em dash instead of EN DASH when coming across the first word in the clue and thinking I needed the one that’s the longer of the two (13A: [Longish hyphen]). There is the word GOLF (42A: [Driving sport]) in the clue for PRO SHOP, but, again, that’s something that a) I don’t mind seeing, and b) I didn’t notice until after solving the grid, as I was getting ready to talk about having those two related entries in the puzzle (41D: [Boutique at a golf club]). One of these days, I’m going to have EDAMAME to just find out how it tastes, though it’s going to be hard to separate me from string beans, which I’ve loved since I was a kid (3D: [Japanese appetizer]).

“Sports will make you smarter” moment of the day: MASHA (23A: [“Three Sisters” sister]) – Masha is the nickname of former Grand Slam tennis champion Maria Sharapova, who was recently named as one of the people who will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame for the Class of 2025. The Russian burst onto the world stage as a 17-year-old, when she defeated Serena Williams in the Wimbledon ladies’ singles final to win her first major in 2004. She went on to win each major at least once, winning the French Open twice. In 2016, Sharapova failed a drug test at the Australian Open and was banned from the sport for two years, which was later reduced to 15 months. Along with her titles at Grand Slams, Sharapova was also the silver medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, losing to Serena in the gold medal match.

Thank you so much for the time, everybody! Have a wonderful and safe rest of your day and, as always, keep solving!

Take care!

Ade/AOK

Caroline Sommers & Freddie Cheng’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Let’s Go!”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are colloquial phrases normally used when trying to light a fire under someone (figuratively speaking, of course). The revealer is COME-ON LINES (63a, [Words from a pickup artist, and, if reinterpreted, each of the four theme answers]). In other words, these are lines you might use when trying to get someone to “come on!” (i.e. get moving). An added element to the theme (though not an essential part) is that each theme answer is clued more literally than figuratively.

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Let’s Go!” · Caroline Sommers & Freddie Cheng · Tue., 10.29.24

• 17a. [“Unshell that walnut!”] “GET CRACKING!”
• 24a. [“Choose a stylish outfit!”] “MAKE IT SNAPPY!”
• 39a. [“Take off like a rocket!”] “HURRY UP!”
• 51a. [“Sit over there instead!”] “MOVE YOUR BUTT!”

Colloquial phrases make for lively theme entries, so that part of this puzzle was fun. What threw me off is that the literal cluing doesn’t really have anything to do with the essential theme. These could’ve all been clued [“Let’s go!”], and the play on words in the revealer still would’ve applied. In fact, now that I think about it, the literal clues actually contradict the theme. For example, the clue [“Choose a stylish outfit!”] interprets MAKE IT SNAPPY as having to do with style, not with “coming on”, ergo it’s no longer a “‘come on’ line” as the revealer would have us believe. What do you think?

INNER VOICE, DROOPY EARS, and GOT WISE top the fill today. Very smooth overall with only ODEON and maybe “ON ME” smacking of crosswordese.

Penny is our basset mix with DROOPY EARS (though it’s true she may have beagle in there)

Clues of note:

• 10d. [Beagle feature]. DROOPY EARS. True, but basset hounds are more known for this feature than beagles.
• 41d. [It’s created by splitting hairs]. PART. This might be splitting hairs, but a part is created more by separating hairs, yeah?

Nice puzzle, but the theme clues ended up being distracting. 3.25 stars.

Kathy Lowden’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 10/29/24 – no. 1029

Super-quick solve for me, wasn’t expecting that, especially since the theme phrases aren’t existing idioms at all. Synonyms for “lots” are paired with rhymes and clued accordingly, giving us DOZENS OF COUSINS (I have to include second cousins or my cousins-in-law to reach a count of dozens), SCORES OF DRAWERS (the rhyme works for me but I’ll bet plenty disagree), OODLES OF POODLES (would prefer if the rhymes were spelled differently as they are in the other three themers), and OCEANS OF POTIONS. Lightweight, but the made-upness of the phrases knocks this up from Monday to Tuesday slating.

Fave fill: The BZZT and PSST echoes, WALDORF (salad or Muppet), LIZARD, TV SHOW.

Today I learned: 49d. PIPPIN is a [Broadway musical about the son of Charlemagne]?! Originally came out when I was a little kid, never had a clue what it was about. Give me a hobbit here, please.

3.5 stars from me.

Doug Peterson’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

This one was fun to solve and the revealer gave me a giggle.

First the theme answers with red letters playing the role of circles.

• 17a [Person announcing numbers in a hall] is a BINGO CALLER. We have an annual bingo fundraiser for choir and now I know there’s a whole bingo subculture around here. Fascinating.
• 26a [Grammy Award won twice by CeCe Winans] is the BEST GOSPEL ALBUM.
• 45a [Notre-Dame de Paris, notably] is a GOTHIC CATHEDRAL.

And the aforementioned revealer: 59a [Crowdfunding target, and what can be found in three of this puzzle’s answers] is a STRETCH GOAL. I didn’t realize while I was solving that the GOAL gets progressively more stretched as we go down the grid. Impressive! As I filled in the theme answers I was thinking about this guy. Only me?

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that there’s a satirical biopic about Al Yankovic called WEIRD.

Andy Kravis’ New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 10/29/24 • Tue • Kravis • solution • 20241029

It seems to me that the mocha difficulty level has stabilized again. This is going to be a quick write-up, as I have an appointment this morning.

• 1a [Org. that governs people who work on pitches?] FIFA. Not sales but soccer/football.
• 17a [What might hold up a romantic dinner?] TABLE FOR TWO. The consonant cluster at the end gave me pause, until it didn’t.
• 28a [Provolone sub?] VEGAN CHEESE. I have not had good experiences with VEGAN CHEESE. Perhaps they’ll get better at it.
• 32a [Like geese, e.g.?] PALINDROMIC. Very nice, and sneaky.
• 41a [Spooky sound in the woods at night] HOOT, not HOWL.
• 51a [Dime, in the 35-Across] ASSIST. I did not know this. (35a is the NBA)
• 6d [Hurdle for some prospective homeowners] CO-OP BOARD. 15d [Boardroom V.I.P.] CEO.
• 8d [Word after data in the dictionary] ENTRY. Not alphabetically, but as part of the same, ah, entry.
• 31d [Alternative to drunken noodles at a Thai restaurant] PAD SEE EW. Fan of both dishes.
• 41d [Predator of a wildebeest] HYENA. Just yesterday in the Universal write-up I was pushing back on a clue description of hyenas as ‘merely’ scavengers.

Enjoyed this one, and for time-related reasons am glad it wasn’t too difficult.

Rebecca Goldstein’s Universal Crossword, “Full Moon” (ed. David Steinberg) — Matt F’s Review

Universal Solution 10.29.2024

It’s “Transformation Tuesday” in today’s puzzle. Inspired from the classic coming-of-age film, Teen Wolf, Rebecca Goldstein transforms the TEEN into a WOLF via word ladder. Let’s take a look at the progression:

• 17A – [Boy band genre whose first word is the start of a transformation] = TEEN POP
• 18A – [Good and mad] = TEED OFF
• 30A – [Conformed] = TOED THE LINE
• 39A – [Published an expose, maybe] = TOLD ALL
• 47A – [Bars with tight security?] = GOLD RESERVE
• 63A – [Driving instructor?] = GOLF PRO
• 66A – [Howling movie monster whose first word is the end of a transformation] = WOLF MAN

Seven theme answers required to make this work, all fit neatly into the grid without a single overly constrained corner or piece of ugly fill. Fittingly, the LA DODGERS streak down the middle as they are currently making a run at a World Series sweep against the Yankees. Tune in tonight for Game 4 to see if they can pull it off!