“Super Bowl Matchups” by Matt Gaffney – 10:08
Are you ready for some football?
Hi. Jeffrey here, 21D. [How a tired person talks] – SLEEPILY giving you this week’s Daily Beast puzzle. My now-ex-boss’ retirement party was last night, and I “partied”. I hope I don’t 57A. [Fall asleep in a meeting] – NOD OFF, although my first meeting this morning is with a couple of 85A. [Suffix with concert or party] – GOERS who were still there when I left the party, so I guess I’ll look good in comparison.
Speaking of parties, it is Super Bowl weekend , and Matt has taken previous matchups and given them wacky clues.
Theme answers:
33A. [Predators who steal from our national bird’s nest? (Super Bowl XV)] – EAGLES RAIDERS
45A. [Fees for ten-gallon hat repair, for example? (Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII)] – COWBOYS BILLS
68A. [Gives birth to little horses? (Super Bowl XLI)] – BEARS COLTS
71A. [Plows into a group of Greek gods? (Super Bowl XXXIV)] – RAMS TITANS
90A. [Animals ridden by gold rush participants? (Super Bowl XXIV)] – 49ERS BRONCOS. Anyone stumped by the number instead of letter trick?
103A. [Heads of Nordic marauding raids? (Super Bowl IV)] – VIKINGS CHIEFS
More football:
6A. [Field ___] – GOALS
74A. [Tight ___] – ENDS
88D. [Dolphins have them] – FINS
Music:
51A. [Smooth Santana] – CARLOS
65A. [“I Go ___”] – TO RIO
79A. [“___ Crossroads” (1995 Grammy-winning song)] – THA
114A. [Musician Brian] – ENO
3D. [“All ___ the Watchtower”] – ALONG
4D. [Hits a high note?] – YODELS
69D. [Green Day drummer ___ Cool] – TRE
76D. [Lip ___ contest] – SYNC
106D. [Spinal Tap guitarist ___ Tufnel] – NIGEL
Other stuff:
59A. [Shortest month, so to speak] – MAY. Shortest in number of letters.
127A. [Rendezvous] – TRYST. When in doubt on the bottom row, enter TRYST. It loves the bottom row, having no normal vowels and all.
14D. [Home for Bobcats, Grizzlies and Timberwolves] – NBA. Our Canadian content represented by the Grizzlies. Speaking of Canadian football, at the Grey Cup game in November, the Montreal Alouettes came from behind to defeat the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 28-27, on a 33-yard field goal by Damon Duval as time ran out. Duval had actually missed his first attempt, but Saskatchewan was penalized for having too many men on the field, allowing Duval a second field goal attempt. The Alouettes had been trailing 27-11 with 8 minutes left in the game. I’m betting the Super Bowl won’t be as exciting.
58D. [Host of the 1924, 1968 and 1992 Winter Olympics: abbr.] – FRA. Speaking of Canada and sports, one week to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics! There will be 109D. [Curling, e.g.] – SPORT. Next week’s theme, perhaps?
62D. [Unimportant, coarsely] – PISSANT. You don’t see that in a puzzle too often.
64D. [Like some dietary breads] – NO TASTE. Oops, NO CARB.
91D. [Top row answer, in many crosswords] – 9 ACROSS. But not this one. And this is a down answer. My head is spinning. That might be the partying. Better stop soon.
100D. [Pollster Nate] – SILVER. Huh?
104D. [___ varnishkes (deli dish)] – KASHA. My aunt tried to get me to eat this. Unsuccessfully.
Happy birthday to my sister Cheryl! Where’s my coffee?
I did this last night and I used the electronic crossword program offered by Matt and not Across-Lite. I was ready to shoot myself by the end of that one and couldn’t get the damn numbers in. It took me a bloody half-hour to finish this thing with right clicks not like left clicks. It made a Beast of me, thanks for letting me vent.
I didn’t like the WOOT/TORIO crossing that pissed me off too. I’m going to go kick a Tickle Me Elmo doll.
How does one find this puzzle to download (.puz format preferred)???
@Larry – Click on “Today’s Puzzles” at the top of this page and you’ll find a Daily Beast link.
Also, let me again plug CrosswordButler as well as my new Puzzle Pointers page, both of which offer direct access to the Daily Beast puzzle.
I feel like I should be more excited about the upcoming Super Bowl than I actually am. Maybe it’s sleep deprivation.
No matter how subtle I make the Canadian content, he always finds it.
crosscan: pollster nate SILVER. (he’s not really a pollster, but “psephologist nate” would be an even more bewildering clue.) i knew of him from baseball long before 538. he’s super-famous now, though; time named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people last year.
Alex’s crossword programs are awesome. Please support him.
@Matt – Now if I could only win one of your contests.
@joon. Gee, thanks. Super-famous and I have no clue. Just wait until the next 70’s music reference you don’t know.
i meant super-famous in context. he’s definitely the world’s most famous psephologist. he’s not quite the most famous quantitative baseball analyst, but he might well be 2nd.