Thursday, February 27, 2025

Note: Fireball is a contest this week. We’ll post a review after the submission period closes.

Gary Larson & Amy Ensz’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Make a Long Story Short”—Jim’s review

Theme answers were originally familiar two-word phrases where each word featured a long vowel sound. The vowel sounds have been shortened giving rise to completely different words and therefore phrases, though the resultant entries are still crossword-viable (though wacky).

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Make a Long Story Short” · Gary Larson & Amy Ensz · Thu., 2.27.25

• 18a. [Baby feature, once the fontanels have closed?] KNIT SKULL. Night school.
• 23a. [Look for one wearing tartan leggings?] PLAID GAMS. Played games.
• 37a. [Fellow who’s spent too much time in the pub?] LIT BRIT. Lite-Brite.
• 50a. [Identifying mark for Bo Peep’s flock?] LAMB BRAND. Lame-brained.
• 59a. [Tie for a traditional hula skirt?] GRASS KNOT. Gracenote.

Good Thursday theme. I was perplexed for quite a while until I sorted out the middle entry, and appropriately had my aha moment (seeing as how it’s based on light bulbs). I was then able to piece together all three middle entries which, as it turns out, feature the same vowel sound in both beginning and ending words. This isn’t the case with the first or last entry, so I was thrown off by this fact. Not a dealbreaker, but as a solver, I think it would have been more elegant, if there was more consistency on this front. However, it probably wasn’t easy finding potential entries for this theme; it’s not one you can easily search on, so you’d have to just pore through many possible phrases looking for ones that could be altered and still make sense. So kudos to our constructors for finding a nice set, even if they might feel a little forced (looking at KNIT SKULL, e.g.).

I love the NE corner stack of MOUNT FUJI and ISLE OF MAN. The corresponding SW corner with RURAL AREA and THE TITANS isn’t quite so sparkly, but it’s solid. New to me is NATES as clued [Buttocks, anatomically] which is pronounced nay-teez and is the plural of natis.

Clues of note:

• 7d. [Record label co-founded by Herb Alpert]. A AND M. Tough to put together with this clue. Would’ve been much easier referring to the Aggies’ school.
• 12d. [Birthplace of the Bee Gees members]. ISLE OF MAN. Huh. Neat little factoid there.
• 21d. [Private instructor, for short]. SGT. Good clue. I waffled between this answer and NCO.
• 31d. [Apt-sounding name for a chef]. STU. I wanted Sue. Anyone else?

Good puzzle. 3.75 stars.

David Steinberg’s New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up

Difficulty: Easy (9m07s)

David Steinberg’s New York Times crossword, 2/27/25, 0227

Today’s theme: hot POCKETS (What the U’s in this puzzle’s solution represent)

• BI(G LOVE) / BLUE JEANS
• GOT O(PEN) / TROUSERS
• MIC(KEY) / JODHPURS
• PERSE(PHONE) / CORDUROYS

My biggest struggle was trying to remember how the hell to spell JODHPURS, but we got there in one piece.  I was little surprised that the rebus content of each U square is explicitly spelled out in the cross-referenced clue (Pants in which you may carry a pen, Pants in which you may carry a glove, etc.), which made the solve easier.

I noticed after the fact that those POCKETS are the only Us that appear in the grid — good execution.

Cracking: TABERNACLE

Slacking: kinda SRTA

Sidetracking: parsley sage rosemary and THYME