Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Taking Directions” – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ resolution 10/4/22

Hello lovelies! This week’s theme invloves including route phrases to well-known names.

• 20a. [Eight-time Oscar-nominated actress in a light camera shot?] GLENN UP CLOSE
• 28a. [“The Producers” star who’s always passing other motorists?] NATHAN LEFT LANE
• 48a. [Olympian turned WWE wrestler whose finishing move involves a protractor?] KURT RIGHT ANGLE
• 56a. [“Psych” star who’s taken up skiing?] DULÉ DOWNHILL

I don’t love when phrases essential to the theme are discovered within the fill, comparable to 49d. UP LATE.

Other issues:

Ishihara shade blindness check

• 38d. [Eye doctor Shinobu who lent his name to a color perception test] ISHIHARA. He developed the colour blindness check involving studying coloured numbers set in a background of various shades of pink and inexperienced.
• 12d. [Rubella spot] MEASLE. German measles is one other identify for rubella, to not be confused with rubeola, which is one other identify for measles.
• 53a. [“La Cage aux Folles” costar Tognazzi] UGO. The Italian actor is greatest recognized for his function as nightclub proprietor Renato Baldi, however he additionally acted in “Barbarella” and “Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man.”

Until subsequent week!

Lee Taylor’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Call the Cops”—Jim P’s assessment

Theme solutions encompass phrases re-imagined as in the event that they had been crimes. The revealer is CRIME SPREE (31d, [Rash of unlawful activity, as featured in this puzzle]).

Wall St Journal crossword resolution · “Call the Cops” · Lee Taylor · Tue., 10.4.22

• 18a. [Commit a diamond heist in a ballpark?] STEAL A BASE. Bonus for incorporating “diamond” into the clue.
• 29a. [Commit assault in a shop?] SLASH PRICES.
• 47a. [Commit battery at the pool?] BEAT THE HEAT.
• 59a. [Commit fraud at the hospital?] CHEAT DEATH.
• 3d. [Commit game theft in the kitchen?] POACH AN EGG.

Not a foul theme. I might inform what was occurring with the primary theme reply I uncovered (3d), however it nonetheless saved my curiosity all through. I discovered BEAT THE HEAT and CHEAT DEATH to each be particularly good.

I’ll say that I believe the revealer just isn’t as robust as I’d like. It doesn’t have something to do with the truth that we’re taking part in with phrases right here, and it itself doesn’t have any jokey wordplay that I’d count on. If I could provide another revealer, I’d have gone with WORD CRIMES [Weird Al song for grammarians, or what the theme answers are, in a way]. That is, these aren’t actual crimes, however we’d think about them as such once we play with the phrases.

Having theme solutions in each instructions means there’s not a lot room for lengthy fill. But the 4 7s radiating from the middle make a pleasant set (OAT MILK, OPEN-AIR, STEPS IN, STORAGE).

Clues of word:

• 48d. [Line of text?]. HYPHEN. Nice clue.
• 57d. [Mussorgsky’s “Pictures ___ Exhibition”]. AT AN. I do get pleasure from this piece, and I might’ve embedded it beneath, however …”Word Crimes.”

3.5 stars.