Doug Burnikel and Zhouqin Burnikel’s New York Times puzzle – Sophia’s write-up

New York Times, 08 22 2022, By Doug Burnikel and Zhouqin Burnikel

Theme: The first phrase of every theme reply is a reputation for the subway.

• [Black Forest Ham and Cold Cut Combo, for two] – SUBWAY SANDWICHES
• [Region encompassing a city and its suburbs] – METRO AREA
• [One-size-fits-all hosiery] – TUBE SOCKS
• [Nonmainstream productions like “Pink Flamingos” and “Eraserhead”] – UNDERGROUND FILMS

Cute theme! I’m a famous public transit lover so this was a simple theme for me to love. It’s spectacular what number of phrases we have now for these sort of transit – in Seattle we have now the sunshine rail, which wouldn’t have actually labored for this puzzle. A number of of the clues have been somewhat unusual to me: Are TUBE SOCKS actually one dimension suits all? I had additionally heard of “Eraserhead” however not “Pink Flamingos” so I needed to get that from context.

I don’t have many feedback on the fill at present – it was very clean and Monday pleasant, no crosses that appeared unfair.

Other notes:

• The grid is outsized to accommodate the 2 16 letter theme solutions. That additionally provides additional house for some enjoyable fill – I WAS RIGHT, DOGGONEIT (which I couldn’t spell accurately for some time), MANDELA, WAIT OUT.
• I actually ought to know LEN Dawson by now, however I neglect his title each time. On the opposite hand, I knew Heidi KLUM immediately, however I affiliate her with “Project Runway” not “America’s Got Talent”.
• There are additionally a number of astronauts within the puzzle in YURI Gagarin and Ellen OCHOA, which is a enjoyable parallel.

Kurt Krauss’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Take a Little Off the Top”—Jim P’s overview

Theme: CAN OPENER (59a, [Soup preparer’s need, and a hint to the starts of the starred answers]). Theme solutions are acquainted phrases whose first phrases may “open” for (i.e. precede) “can.” (By the best way, I’ve made my share of soup from cans, however I’d nonetheless choose it if the clue had a “perhaps” in there to point not all soups come from cans. Oh, and don’t most soup cans have pop tops as of late, anyway?)

Wall St Journal crossword resolution · “Take a Little Off the Top” · Kurt Krauss · Mon., 8.22.22

• 16a. [*Prominent gut] BEER BELLY. Beer can.
• 24a. [*Where to go for a fill-up] GAS STATION. Gas can.
• 35a. [*Taunts between teams] TRASH TALK. Trash can.
• 49a. [*Sweet treat at Starbucks] COFFEE CAKE. Coffee can. Hmm. Does espresso nonetheless are available in cans? Will anybody admit to purchasing espresso in cans?

My laptop computer battery’s at 12%. Gotta make this fast.

Fortunately for me, it is a excellent instance of a Monday grid: an easy-t0-grasp theme and clean fill. Theme solutions have been enjoyable and full of life although I nonetheless wanted the revealer to place all of it collectively. The resolve proceeded easily by means of to the top.

It’s a problem to assemble a grid with a nine-letter central entry, nevertheless it’s dealt with nicely right here. Unfortunately, the grid will get bisected which means we don’t get any juicy lengthy entries, however with such clean fill I hardly seen. I loved the BEE GEES, “OH YES,” ALFALFA, AL DENTE, “TRY ME,” and even BAD NEWS. The iffiest entry I noticed was the partial A TALE, nevertheless it was rapidly gotten previous.

Clues of observe:

• 42d. [You might need to brace for it]. BAD NEWS. I wished this to be IMPACT.
• [UFO crew] does double responsibility for 12d ALIENS and 58d ETS.

Lively Monday theme and a fast resolve. Four stars. (Battery test: 11%. Pretty good!)