Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Whole Grains” – – wordplay that’s good for you. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 11/19/24

Hello lovelies! You could say this week’s Jonesin’ should have an hourglass figure with how the SANDS are moving.

20a. [2002 Disney title duo] LILO AND STITCH

• 27a. [Almost there] SECONDS AWAY
• 51a. [’70s sitcom character always talking about “the big one”] FRED SANFORD
• 58a. [Terrain that’s tough to predict, or a representation of the circled letters] SHIFTING SANDS

Other things:

• 53d. [South African restaurant chain known for peri-peri chicken] NANDO’S. They only have locations in five US states and DC. Drat.

Until next week!

Aaron Ullman’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Keyless Entry”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar(ish) phrases whose first words can also mean “remote” in one way or another. The revealer is REMOTE START (61a, [Keyless convenience with many newer cars, and a hint to 17-, 24-, 38- and 51-Across]).

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Keyless Entry” · Aaron Ullman · Tue., 11.19.24

• 17a. [Long, long ago] DISTANT PAST. Remote as in far removed.
• 24a. [Alter ego of Eminem] SLIM SHADY. Remote as in small (like chances).
• 38a. [Method of dog instruction with noisy reinforcement] CLICKER TRAINING. Remote as in the TV-controlling device. (Never heard this phrase before, but it makes sense.)
• 51a. [Tasks for a telemarketer] COLD CALLS. Remote as in aloof (I think).

Nice. I like the changes in meaning with each entry and the lively phrases.

We also get four anchoring long Downs in the corners, my favorites being RIVAL GANG and KICK DRUM. I don’t know the director JUSTIN LIN, but he’s certainly crossword-worthy as popular as the Fast & Furious franchise is. ARTICLE I rounds things out in the NE. Not so keen on REDOS, OLA, AINGE, ORONO.

A woman wearing a mantilla

Clues of note:

• 43a. [Players retired in 2022]. IPODS. I probably wasn’t the only one thinking this had something to do with sports.
• 13d. [Mantilla or muffler]. SCARF. TIL what a mantilla is. Despite growing up Catholic and seeing it worn by many church-going women, I always thought it was just called a veil.
• 33d. [Ride at a rodeo]. BRONC. A “for short” is in order here, I think.

Fine puzzle. 3.25 stars.

Elizabeth C. Gorski’s Cr♥ssw♥rd Nation puzzle (Week 703), “Make Mine a Triple!”—Ade’s take

Crossword Nation puzzle solution, Week 703: “Make Mine a Triple”

Hello there, everyone! Here is hoping that you’re all doing well and not too frustrated that you’re already hearing Christmas music before Thanksgiving officially arrives.

It’s a bit of rhyme time with today’s theme, as rhyming phrases are paired with another similar-sounding word at the end to create some wacky puns. 

• • • • FUDDY DUDDY BUDDY (17A: [Persnickety pal?])
      • HIPPY DIPPY TIPPI (28A: [Actress Hedren, who was a 1960s flower child?])
      • NAMBY PAMBY BAMBI (47A: [Banal Disney film of 1942?])
      • HOCUS POCUS LOCUS (60A: [Magical place?])

Immediately filled with good memories upon filling GO FISH, as I had not played the game in forever until I stayed at the house of a friend and fellow crossword puzzle solver in the Boston area and got to play with her nine-year-old son (1D: [Kids’ card game]). If I remember correctly, I was asking questions to him about the rules while I was playing and was well on my way to losing before the game got interrupted as he had to get ready for bed. I literally only knew a couple of days ago that the person starring in Gladiator II was named MESCAL, as I was too busy focusing on Denzel Washington being in the period piece when watching all of the previews (50D: [Paul of “Normal People”]).

“Sports will make you smarter” moment of the day: OLIVA (14A: [Minnesota Twins great Tony]) – Tony Oliva finally got his due for his amazing baseball career in 2022, when he was selected by the Golden Days Era Committee to be enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Cuban-born Oliva spent his entire career with the Twins, from 1962 to 1976, and made eight consecutive All-Star Game (1964-1971) while winning the American League batting average title three times. Oliva is the only on-field member who appeared in all three World Series appearances in Twins history: as a player in 1965, hitting coach in 1987 and bench coach in 1991.

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

Erik Agard’s New York Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up

NYT • 11/19/24 • Tue • Agard • solution • 20241119

Stepping up to the pinch-hit.

Solved this one rather speedily, as befits a Tuesday crossword. Just a minor hitch or two.

• 17a. [Find a way to avert disaster] SAVE THE DAY.
• 38a. [Have a sleepover] SPEND THE NIGHT.
• 62a. [What 17- and 38-Across combine to form?] TIME BUDGET. Not quite a revealer, but it illuminates the appealing symmetry of the two other theme answers. Not a strong phrase for me, but it has ample Ngrams support.

This is a good case argument for a less-is-more approach to crossword themes. It’s elegant.

• 6d [Hue granter?] DYE. Goofy pun on the actor Hugh Grant.
• 8d [ID is required when sending a letter there] IDAHO. Great clue that fooled me well and good.
• 11d [Rosh __ ] HASHANAH.
  
• 12d [“Don’t bother with that”] IGNORE IT. This looked like gibberish because I had an error in one of the crossing entries: 19a [“Who __?”] ISN’T, for which I had IS IT. IGIOREIT was weird-looking indeed.
• 22d [First name in civil rights history] MARTIN Luther King, Jr. But for whatever reason I first considered MARIAN Anderson.
• 26d [Game of throws] DARTS, playing on Game of Thrones.
• 35d [Head over heels] IN LOVE. 16a [Head over heels] GAGA.
• 36d [Some band recordings] DEMOS. 63d [Some band recordings] EPS.
• 38d [Track-and-field star Richardson] SHA’CARRI. New to me.
• 41d [Expressed contempt] SCOFFED. 53d [Overlooks disrespectfully] SNUBS. 69a [Express contempt] SNEER.
• 51d [Quintet in a supervocalic word] AEIOU. “Supervocalic” is itself supervocalic.
• 61d [Key that’s missing an “ape”] ESC. Silly clue.
• 15a [Saga sage since 1980] YODA. This one confused me for a bit because I elided the ‘sage’ part of the clue.
• 58a [Low tie score] ONE ALL. Needed crossings to eliminate ONE-ONE.

Will Nediger’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 11/19/24 • Tue • Nediger • solution • 20241119

This week’s Tuesday offering was for me moderately challenging, as per the description. It felt just a bit more recalcitrant than what we’ve seen of late. So, yay!

• 1a [“EastEnders” channel] BBC ONE. Filled in the BBC, waited for crossings to eliminate TWO.
• Several fine clues in the puzzle; I’ll collect them here. 16a [Bone-shaking action?] DICE ROLL. 12d [Where one might be fore-warned?] GOLF COURSE. 24d [Chelsea buns?] ARSE; I don’t know whether there’s a baked good called a Chelsea bun, but I like the clue all the same. (update: it is a thing.) Lastly, my favorite of all: 27d [Steps in for a limited time?] DANCE CRAZE.
• 18a [“Gotta be honest with you …”] I CAN’T LIE. Waited for crossings to eliminate WO–.
• 21a [Celebratory initialism that reverses to an incredulous initialism] FTW (for the win, what the fuck).
• 29a [Greeting that can be used instead of “Oi!”] OLA. Is this all Portuguese?
• Grid-spanner: 36a [“It’s just a figure of speech!”] DON’T BE SO LITERAL.
• 42a [“Munch” kin] EAT. Munchkin, get it? 45d [Something to nosh on] SNACK.
• 45a [Breakaway group] SECT, followed by 47a [Joined together] SPLICED.
• 61a [Joint cuddle sesh?] KNEESIES. Haven’t heard the term, but it was inferable with a few crossings. And now I see that ‘joint’ was a bonus nudge.
• 35d [Work with an audience] PLAY. Seems like a sort of weak clue?
• 49d [Zaps with a beam] LASES.
  
• 51d [Toothpicks for giants, maybe] LOGS. Silly.
• 54d [Word that fills in the blanks in the film titles “There is No __” and “__ Does Not Exist”] EVIL. I’m aware of the latter because it’s a newish film by the director of Drive My Car (which I still need to see). The other title is unfamiliar to me, but I like how the titles are simpatico. Nediger is a cinephile so it’s nice to see the editors letting him flex that itch.
• 58d [Item that can be used after it’s burned] DVD. Technically wouldn’t that be a DVDr?