Saturday, March 1, 2025

Curiously Quirky Word Searches, by Trip Payne

Book rec from Amy: Trip Payne’s Curiously Quirky Word Searches, a collection of variety word searches whose extra angles ramp up the challenge level. A list of written works, and the answers to find are the authors’ names—that’s one puzzle. Find the US presidents’ surnames, given only the letter counts (two have 10 letters, eight have 5 letters, and so on). If you’re like me, you’ll find these puzzles absorbing. Order it from your favorite indie bookstore!

Ryan Judge’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 3/1/25 – no. 0301

Fun puzzle tonight. Heck, 1-Down SASHAY welcomed me most genially, as I paused Drag Race to tackle the crossword.

Fave fill: SALT-FREE seasonings, such as the handy blends from Penzey’s Spices (my favorites are Bavarian and Singapore). ATAHUALPA, with Inca in the clues for a change. STREET FAIR, the season is nigh. POT BROWNIES, RULE OF THUMB, and BACON STRIPS stacked in the middle. SIMON SAYS don’t forget your GALOSHES. BANSHEE! WHIRLPOOL and CHIN-UPS.

Two more things:

• 30A. [___ Aran, protagonist in Nintendo’s Metroid], SAMUS. This, like a zillion Mario and Zelda characters, is a name I learned from video game quizzes on Sporcle.com. I honestly have no idea what sort of game Metroid is, mind you.
• EPA is clued with the word “green,” while IRS is said to have collectors. Welp, one is getting less green by the day, while the other is currently down 7,000 employees.

Four stars from me.

Ed Sessa’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Times 3/1/25 by Ed Sessa

Gotta be super quick on this one and say that PAWTERNITY LEAVE and FOREVER CHEMICAL as marquee entries felt of the moment in a good way.

Kevin Christian’s Wall Street Journal Crossword, “Do It!” — pannonica’s write-up

WSJ • 3/1/25 • Sat • “Do It!” • Christian • solution • 20250301

The clues all have the same terse imperative format. And they’re phrases we would expect to see in a different context.

• 23a. [Open it!] NEW BUSINESS, not a wrapped present.
• 35a. [Try it!] CRIMINAL CASE, not some food.
• 48a. [Take it!] LONG HOT SHOWER, not some item being proffered.
• 67a. [Cool it!] DATA CENTER, not your amplified mood.
• 70a. [Zip it!] WINTER COAT, not your mouth.
• 85a. [Can it!] FRUIT COCKTAIL, not your outrageous behavior. Also? Not a big fan of canned FRUIT COCKTAIL.
• 102a. [Stop it!] RUNAWAY TRAIN, not whatever it is you know you shouldn’t be doing.
• 116a. [Hit it!] PUNCHING BAG, not a musical number.

Got it?

• 

  Contopus virens, the Eastern wood pewee ©John Deitsch/Macaulay Library

  3d [Bird in the flycatcher family] PEWEE.

• 13d [Ballpark figures?] TALENT SCOUTS. Not the answer we usually see for this clue.
• 15a [Rest on perpendicularly, as a bed] LIE ACROSS. A big brass one?
• 29d [Filmography makeup] TITLES. 54a [Universal offering] MOVIE.
• 59d [“Now I see!”] AHA. 22a [Exclamation point?] IDEA.
• 62d [Nice way to end] ON A HAPPY NOTE. Was perplexed because ON A HIGH NOTE didn’t fit.
• 84d [Make slow progress] CRAWL, not CREEP.
• 93d [After a bit] LATER ON.
  
• 100a [Right away] AT ONCE.
  
• 15a [It falls in the fall] LEAF. Just the one.
• 30a [Citrus scent in shampoos] BERGAMOT. etymology (m-w.com): French bergamote, from Italian bergamotta, modification of Turkish bey armudu, literally, the bey’s pear
• 39a [Double duty?] STUNT. Nice little clue.
• 64a [Ground-breaking thing?] FAULT. Flummoxed me for a few beats.
• 108a [Les Claypool offering] BASSLINE. He of Primus fame.
• 119a [Spiky fish] SCAD, not SHAD.

Maybe just slightly tougher than the average WaPo Saturday 21×21?

Doug Peterson’s Newsday crossword, Saturday Stumper — pannonica’s write-up

Newsday • 3/1/25 • Saturday Stumper • Peterson • solution • 20250301

One of my fastest times ever for a Stumper.

Solving path: the usual scattered entries to start, perhaps a few more than typical. Then basically the whole bottom third, followed by 33-across [Guide for gardening] FARMERS’ ALMANAC. After that, the northwest, and finally the northeast where I took a few bold leaps to hasten the finish.

My rapid time was abetted by a few fortuitous coincidences:

• 61a [1972 “Match of the Century” loser] Boris SPASSKY. His death on 27 February was widely reported yesterday.
• 32d [Top club] ACE. There was a very similar clue in the WSJ that I just solved and wrote up. Ditto 11d [Merrie Melodies mainstay] BLANC, for which the WSJ answer was MEL. And! there was a roughly similar clue/answer to 53d [Very small opening] ITTY.

And now for the standard run-through.

• 15a [Home of the Queen Elizabeth $3 bill] BAHAMAS. Did not know this.
• 16a [Xanadu-like] IDYLLIC. One of the leaps I mentioned above. Plopped in the -IC, went with SCAT for 14d [Run off] thanks to already having 28a [Run off] SHOO; dismissed EDENIC because it didn’t fit either letter-wise, or precisely sense-wise, then quickly saw the correct answer.
• 26a [One with tablet recommendations] DOSER. Meh.
• 37a [Teacher of Beethoven and Schubert] SALIERI. I put this in, then took it out, and reinstated it after a few crossings seemed to confirm.
• 38a [Literally, “prompt answer”] RIPOSTE. Because I first had ATOP at 36d [Superior] (A-ONE), it was difficult not to see the inappropriate RIPTIDE here. More French: 35d [À couer vaillant __ d’impossible] RIEN, which sort of leads to …
• 39a [Wishful thinker’s phrase] I CAN DREAM, CAN’T I, for which I first tried out I WONDER … something.
• 43a [“In me thou __ the twilight of such day”: Shak.] SEEST. Played the odds here, with the ending first.
• 45a [Suiting] FOR, not APT.
• 55a [In type] COOL CAT. Tough clue.
  
• 57a [Cinema’s first Spider-Man] Tobey MAGUIRE. Well, the first explicitly authorized version. Because, y’know, there’s 3 Dev Adam (1973) from Turkey.
• Favorite clue: 59a [Above it all, in a way] TALLEST.
• 1d [Bore] ABIDED. Tough, but I had adequate crossings.
• 3d [Starter with eggs] CHEF’S SALAD. Typically it’s an entrée, no?
• 7d [Expressed impatience, perhaps] TSKED. Could also have been ASKED, but see 56d [Sue (for)] ASK.
• 8d [He lets Louis win at roulette] RICK. A rather oblique clue referencing Casablanca (1942).
• 10d [Navigation device] GYROCOMPASS. Briefly has AUTOCOMPASS, which probably isn’t a thing.
• 24d [Organizations banned by Costa Rica and Kiribati] ARMED FORCES. I knew about the former’s status, but not the latter’s.
• 30d [Not working against] IN STEP.
  
• 31d [Napoleon’s place] PATISSERIE. And more French!
• 34d [Field trip?] ERROR. Tough one.
• 44d [Nitrogen-powered devices] TASERS. Did not know this, and it probably isn’t useful information for me.
• 52d [Conversacion starter] HOLA. Easy to gloss the cognate’s spelling diferencia.
• 54d [Cashier] OUST. The verb.