Thursday, April 25, 2024 | (2024)

BEQtk (Darby)

LAT6:20 (Gareth, 1 ERR)

NYT10:47 (ZDL)

WSJ4:59 (Jim)

Note: Fireball is a contest this week. We’ll have a review after the contest ends.

Jamey Smith’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Wholly Moley!”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar(ish) phrases with non-consecutive circled letters that spell out an occupation. These occupations also comprise the title of a famous novel. The revealer is INSIDE JOB (37a, [Betrayal of trust, hinted at by the circled letters, which form an apt John le Carré title]).

• 16a. [Adore] THINK THE WORLD OF. Not so keen on a theme answer that ends in a preposition, but a very tight theme like this warrants some leeway.
• 23a. [Individual shareholders] RETAIL INVESTORS.
• 53a. [Party leaders?] SOCIAL DIRECTORS.
• 60a. [No big sacrifice] SMALL PRICE TO PAY.

Very nice! I ignored the circled letters in the first two entries until I hit the revealer, then I was able to fill in the remaining circled letters immediately. That sure helped cut down on my solve time.

I especially liked the connection with the spy novel. The revealer doesn’t necessarily stipulate that theme answers have anything to do with the world of espionage, but having answers that do tightens and elevates the theme, and having them all come from the same source is elegantly serendipitous. Kudos to our constructor for a well-conceived and well-executed theme.

With four grid-spanning theme answers and a central revealer at a difficult 9 letters in length, this couldn’t have been easy to fill. No doubt that’s the reason for the cheater squares in the NE/SW corners. But the result is a pretty smooth grid with some nice long fill. Highlights include RED HOTS, FLOOR IT, “C’MON, MAN!,’ SHOTPUT, DATA LOSS, and JEWELERS. Not much in the crosswordese department either, with OWS, OSS, and DDR being the worst of it.

Clues of note:

• 58a. [“___ bodkins!” (old oath)]. ODS. I like the cluing angle (much more pleasant than a drug-related one), but Wikipedia lists it as “Odds bodkins.” However, it also identifies it as a euphemism for “God’s body!”
• 25d. [Muktuk eater]. INUIT. Per Wikipedia, “Muktuk is a traditional food of the peoples of the Arctic, consisting of whale skin and blubber…It is usually consumed raw, but can also be eaten frozen, cooked, or pickled.”
• 34d. [Veiled oath?]. I DO. Lovely clue (though it looks like Joel fa*gliano first used it in 2018).

Very nice puzzle. 4.25 stars.

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

Difficulty: Average (10m47s)

Today’s theme: HOLY COW (“Wow!” … or a phonetic hint to this puzzle’s theme)

• SC (HOLE) O (HOLE) WL
• SIMON C(HOLE) O (HOLE) WELL
• MOSC (HOLE) O (HOLE) W IDAHO

Is it possible to hearHOLY COWin your head without those words being voiced by Phil Rizzuto? Probably so, if you’re under 40, but if not, let me tell you that he absolutely owned it. Don’t @ me with Harry Caray or Earl Gillespie. Old school Hollywood baseball.

Cracking:ELECTRO, first appearanceThe Amazing Spider-Man#9, 1964.

Slacking: MCI, which has only ever been Kansas City International Airport to me, and still not sponge-worthy.

Sidetracking:HOLY COW

Greg Snitkin and Rafael Musa’s Universal crossword, “Stop It!” — Sophia’s write-up

Today’s Universal theme is about re-interpreting common phrases into commands to give something up. They are:

• 14a [“Stop choosing such an easy Halloween costume every year!”] – GIVE UP THE GHOST
• 23a [“Stop listening to Taylor Swift’s lead single from ‘Lover’!”] – GET AWAY FROM ME
• 39a [“Stop serving this small dish!”] – RETIRE THE SIDE
• 50a [“Stop eating this deli meat!”] – QUIT COLD TURKEY

Overall a very cute theme! GIVE UP THE GHOST is my favorite; it was the first theme answer I got, it totally encapsulates the theme, and it made me smile. GET AWAY FROM ME is also fun, and legitimately good advice – “Me!” is one of Taylor Swift’s worst songs ever. I would not begrudge anyone that forgot this song exists (I personally wish I could, and I am a Swiftie). RETIRE THE SIDE is a baseball term for getting the final out in an inning, in case folks are unfamiliar.

I like the wacky black square clumps in the corners and on the sides. Normalize unique grid patterns!

Clue highlights: [Degree of difficulty?] for PHD, [They look good when they’re ripped] for ABS, [Present day, for short?] for XMAS.

Fill highlights: CHALUPA, EARPIECES, DREAM ON, TIME OUT

Sarah Sinclair & Kelsey Dixon’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s summary

The revealing entry’s clue gives a (slightly clumsy, but appreciated) second in: [Friend’s invitation before a party, or a TikTok genre that shows off the starts of 20-, 30-, and 41-Across] leads to GETREADYWITHME in today’s puzzle by Sarah Sinclair & Kelsey Dixon. Apparently that includes MAKEUP, HAIR and “FIT”, which I assume is something clothes oriented? So:

• [“Just decide!”], MAKEUPYOURMIND
• [Remedy known as “having a counter-beer” in German], HAIROFTHEDOG
• [In great shape], FITASAFIDDLE

Quite a few other mysteries today for me:

• The hundred target, in Pilates], ABS, but there was enough context to realise a muscle group was likely.
• [Benefit that may be rolled over: Abbr.], PTO. My mistake. Around here PTO means “please turn over”? I went with a Y to make YTO.
• [Tipping point on a counter?], IPAD. I couldn’t imagine such an eye-wateringly expensive piece of equipment being anywhere near a counter???
• [“The Sacred Art of Giving __”: Ta-Nehisi Coates essay about a friendly greeting], DAP. Day seemed plausible enough.

Gareth

Dylan Schiff’s USA Today Crossword, “Change of Plans” — Emily’s write-up

Stay on your toes!

Theme: each theme contains “plans” that are mixed up (or “changed”)

Themers:

• 20a. [Desserts with ice cream and fruit],BANANASPLITS
• 38a. [You might need more of it if you ask someone to step back],PERSONALSPACE
• 55a. [He played Zack in the “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody”],DYLANSPROUSE

A mix of themers in today’s set. For BANANASPLITS, it took a few crossings before I saw this, though PERSONALSPACE filled right in for me. DYLANSPROUSE is new to me so took longer to get.

Favorite fill: NOTHANKS, EDAMAME, and ASPCA

Stumpers: ASSCHEDULED (needed a few crossings), CHEETAH (new fact in cluing for me), and SOCIAL (needed crossings)

A fun puzzle with a wonderful grid. The top half was a smooth solve and went very quickly but the bottom half slowed down and took time to break into for me. Nothing was too difficult and everything was fairly crossed, it just took a a bit more time today.

3.5 stars

~Emily