Sunday, April 21, 2024 | (2024)

LATtk (Gareth)

NYT14:20 (Nate)

WaPotk (Matthew)

Michael Schlossberg’s New York Times crossword, “Get Cracking” — Nate’s write-up

Flavortext: “Standing between you and the score of a lifetime are the seven locks of this safe. After completing this puzzle, rotate each dial 90°, 180° or 270° to the only other position that forms four valid crossword answers. The new letters in the 12 o’clock (circled) positions will spell out an appropriate exclamation.”

In left-to-right, top-down order, Locks 1-7:

LOCK 1:
19D: PBS [Channel with on-air fund-raising]
29A: TARP [Sheet under a tent]
33D: JEER [Taunt]
26A: BLASE [Unimpressed]

Rotated 180° clockwise, the entries become PBJ, EARP, SEER, and BLAST with J at the top.

LOCK 2:
21D: SPY [Mole, e.g.]
31A: AORTA [Major vessel]
36D: SOLD [Shout at an auction]
30A: STAB [Sharp pain]

Rotated 270° clockwise, the entries become SPA, SORTA, BOLD, and STAY with A at the top.

LOCK 3:
41D: CROW [Boast]
66A: MOI [“Who, me?”]
70D: CRY [Blubber]
65A: STREAK [Wordle player’s pride]

Rotated 180° clockwise, the entries become CROC, KOI, WRY, and STREAM with C at the top.

LOCK 4:
43D: TEAL [Blue-green]
68A: NOTION [Belief]
73D: CPR [E.M.T.’s technique]
67A: ARK [Partner ship?]

Rotated 90° clockwise, the entries become TEAK, LOTION, NPR, and ARC with K at the top.

LOCK 5:
72D: PEA [Stew tidbit]
92A: SIR [Percival of legend, for one]
99D: LARGE [Ginormous]
91A: LIP [___ service]

Rotated 90° clockwise, the entries become PEP, AIR, SARGE, and LIL with P at the top.

LOCK 6:
77D: MEME [Distracted Boyfriend, e.g.]
104A: DAM [Block (up)]
110D: OVEN [Appliance that may self-clean]
103A: LOAN [Advance]

Rotated 180° clockwise, the entries become MEMO, NAM, EVEN, and LOAD with O at the top.

LOCK 7:
82D: SWAN [Gift on the seventh day of Christmas]
108A: TOPS [First-rate]
114D: ORAL [Kind of tradition]
107A: IOU [Letters that sound out a sentence]

Rotated 270° clockwise, the entries become SWAT, OOPS, URAL, and ION with T at the top.

So, what do the letters at the top of each lock spell after rotated correctly? JACKPOT!

Wowwwwwww! What a neat concept and fantastic execution with what felt like little (or at least manageable) crosswordese. I love the extra bonus reveal once you’ve cracked the safe correctly – what a fun payoff. Kudos to the constructor for this elegant puzzle!

Some quick random thoughts:
– Because of the black square layout, it almost felt like solving nine smaller puzzles rather than one big mega Sunday grid. Did anyone get stuck in certain sectors because of this?
– I fully had GPA for [No. on a resume] at 37A instead of at 13D for [Application figure]. Anyone else?
– I got stuck for a moment as to whether 104A [Block (up)] was JAM or DAM, so I appreciated the lock rotation mechanism as a way to check that square.
– It’s interesting that both C CLEF at 1A and C CLAMP at 88A were needed to anchor those specific corners. Oh, and G SUIT at 13A in that corner, too.

That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed solving the puzzle and that you’re having a lovely weekend. Here’s to a great week to come!

Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword, “Break in the Action” — Matt’s write-up

Theme entries this week are a pair – er, trio – of clues with helpful circles helping us parse:

• 5a [Computer network pro / Extract from …] 10a [… underground / French word for “between” ] AD(MIN E)NTRE
• 23a [Overly fussy / Make a sudden … ] 24a [… forward movement /Felix of “The Odd Couple”] ANA(L UNGE)R
• 25a [SNL alum Cheri / Head toward …] 26a … the sky / “Que ___, ___” (lyric in a song sung by Doris Day)] OTE(RI SE)RA
• 39a [Group following the score / Throw …] 41a [… a tantrum / “Oh great, that’s just what I needed”] ORCHEST(RA GE)E THANKS
• 63a [Very short period of time / Take …] 65a [… the wheel / Stage show featuring the
  number “Reel Around the Sun”] NANOSECON(D RIVE)RDANCE
• 71a [Radio transmissions, e.g. / Go …] 75a [… bad / Thornton Wilder play set in Grover’s Corners] SIGNAL(S OUR) TOWN
• 100a [Whiskey-and-vermouth co*cktails / Make …] 103a [… smooth / Actor who provided the voice of Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” films] MANHATTAN(S AND)Y SERKIS
• 118a [Word such as “be” … or a punny description of the seven-letter word that can create new action words when its letters are inserted in the breaks of the circled action words] LINKING VERB

Inserting workable letters into the circled strings (literal LINKING VERBs) forms the word CONNECT, a fitting term for this theme.

Truth be told, I enjoyed the longer entries more than the fact the LINKING VERBS were there, or the payoff from the extra layer. And the puzzle is gentle enough I didn’t really use the extra clues to help the solve. But it’s cleanly done and an apt revealer. I do quite like that, other than some very deep cuts, only C-O-N-N-E-C-T works in each set of circled letters.

Notes:

• 44a [Winter cap extension] EARFLAP. This shows up in puzzles from time to time. A few years back the alternative EARLAP appeared in a tournament puzzle, to a good amount of post-solve discussion. Every time I see it, I want to hold it up and say “See? Here it is!”
• 54a [Crossword constrictor] BOA. I’m sure I’ve seen this clue before, but have never noticed the single-letter difference between “constructor” and “constrictor” before
• 83a [Pieces maker] REESES. Are the individual candies called “Pieces”? I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the latter without the former.
• 95a [Fodder for fact-checkers] LIE. And truths, as well, lest something slip through!
• 106a [Astin of “The Goonies”] SEAN. Immediately after a Lord of the Rings clue, I was primed for a different Sean Astin angle, but “The Goonies” is a fun one, too.
• 11d [Woman’s nickname that omits “alie”] NAT. There have been a LOT of clues lately that play on nicknames and full names. Apologies to Evan that his puzzle is the one I’m saying this on, but they are really not my favorite.
• 62d [Cadillac Mountain’s state] MAINE. Cadillac, in Acadia National Park, is the highest mountain on the US Atlantic Coast.
• 74d [Pitcher’s delivery?] SALES SPIEL. This rang a bit odd to me, but it does pass through two themers and a revealer.

Paul Coulter’s Universal Sunday crossword, “All Decked Out”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar phrases that feature a playing card (in circles), though entries are clued as if the card was removed. The revealer is “CUT THE CARDS” (118a, [Request to a poker dealer … and a hint for making 23-, 33-, 49-, 67-, 86- and 103-Across match their clues]). (Aside: Does a player ask the dealer to cut the cards, or does the dealer ask one of the players? I thought it was the latter.)

• 23a. [*Continue granting loans? (+8)] LEN DEIGHTON. Lend on.
• 33a. [*Cowardly Martian? (+J)] YELLOWJACKET. Yellow E.T.
• 49a. [*Nanny’s warning? (+K)] MAKING A THREAT. Maa threat.
• 67a. [*Le bon ami? (+A)] THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES. The pal of Versailles.
• 86a. [*”I’ll give you a belly rub soon”? (+10)] PATENT PENDING. Pat pending.
• 103a. [*Noah’s ship as it transports the Wise Men? (+2)] GENIUS AT WORK. Genius ark.

YMMV, but I didn’t get a lot of joy from this. The remaining puns after the cards were removed were mostly of the groan-worthy variety (Maa threat, e.g.). I did appreciate the parenthetical hints in the clues that helped keep the whole thing from turning into a slog.

There are some definite highlights in the grid like MARY ASTOR, SNIFTER, HANDSHAKE, A LA MODE, LATE TAG, and AIM LOW. But there were too many iffy entries that counter-acted all those goodies: “THAT’S A GO” (who says that?), TD PASSES, EVENER, ICE IT, and all the TOs: SELL TO, MEANS TO, AS TO, and SIDLE UP TO.

3.25 stars.