Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Bird is the Word” – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ answer 11/29/22

Hello everybody! This week’s Jonesin’ theme alludes to Twitter, our favourite flailing social media firm.

• 17a. [Tiny solution for cleaning up (like an understaffed moderation team)] TOWELETTE
• 21a. [Symbol of clumsiness (like announcing, then canceling, an $8/month verification system)] TWO LEFT FEET
• 39a. [Use unfair tactics (like suspending accounts from just one side of the political spectrum)] HIT BELOW THE BELT
• 55a. [Evoking both happy and sad feelings (like a social network that’s provided both joy and frustration)] BITTERSWEET
• 62a. [U.K. “Love Is All Around” band which lost 40% of its members in 2022 (like a certain website that’s apparently hemorrhaging users)] WET WET WET
• 69a. [Message that can be seen hidden in order in the five longest answers (which might not be seen anymore if its platform implodes)] TWEET.

If you thought the theme concerned jumbled up birds (OWL in 21a. and 39a., TIT in 55a.), I see you.

Other issues:

• 67a. [Nail file stuff] EMERY. I by no means knew why nail recordsdata have been known as emery boards. Emery is a combination of corundum, or aluminum oxide (which is the first materials of sapphire and ruby) blended with different minerals.
• 9d. [Marina of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”] SIRTIS. She performed Counselor Deanna Troi within the collection. Total Geek Confession Time: In medical faculty, if it was after regular enterprise hours we needed to signal into the constructing containing the health club. My then-boyfriend and I have been there on a regular basis, with our IDs, and so they knew who we have been, however we nonetheless needed to check in each single time. One night we determined to insurgent (as a lot as you could possibly as a med pupil), and we signed the log as Deanna Troi and William Riker. We labored out as common, no person acknowledged the presence of Starfleet officers within the constructing, and Reader, I married him.

Until subsequent week!

Josh Goodman’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Order in the Court”—Jim P’s evaluation

Theme: ALL RISE (65a, [Bailiff’s request, and a feature of this puzzle]). Theme solutions are acquainted phrases that function the letters ALL. They’re positioned within the Down path in such a approach that the letters ALL appear to rise when continuing from left to proper. In preserving with that motif, I’ll current the theme solutions from left to proper.

Wall St Journal crossword answer · “Order in the Court” · Josh Goodman · Tue., 11.29.22

• 39d. [Free-throw flub] AIRBALL.
• 22d. [Primary motor cortex’s setting] FRONTAL LOBE.
• 14d. [Sentence starter, usually] CAPITAL LETTER.
• 8d. [Lens figure] FOCAL LENGTH.
• 11d. [Tempo faster than moderato but slower than vivace] ALLEGRO.

Solid theme, although I’ve to confess it didn’t do lots for me. I feel Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen ruined such a theme for me with their near-perfect Descent of Man puzzle. What I cherished most about that puzzle was that every theme reply was a grid-spanner, thus giving them no wiggle room within the placement of their entries. But this one does its job nicely, and the theme solutions are stable.

But they should have been exhausting to work with since there’s a 13-letter entry taking place the center and a 9-letter entry going throughout the middle. Plus the 7-letter revealer within the backside proper. The result’s an unusually-shaped grid with 4 largish corners. You can see the distinction in a nook with no theme materials (the NW) which is the smoothest of all of them. The relaxation aren’t unhealthy, however we get some less-than-stellar fare in ELECTS TO and RAN AT.

On the plus aspect, I preferred RICH KID, SANTA FE, MISS OUT, SEÑORITA, and de Bergerac’s BIG NOSE.

Clue of be aware: 47a. [Adrenaline, for short]. EPI. I admit to not figuring out adrenaline and epinephrine are the identical factor. But even so, do folks say “EPI” apart from when referring to an EpiPen?

The grid should have been a problem to fill, however it’s stable throughout. 3.5 stars.

David Rockow’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword answer, 11 29 22, no. 1129

This theme is actually for the birds. Literally!

1d. [Tweeters] BIRDS

51d. [Gathering of 1-Down, like that found in the center of this puzzle], FLOCK. Though technically, a flock wouldn’t be seven birds of various species hanging out collectively.

37a. [Element of plumage … and a feature shared by every answer crossing this one], FEATHER. The seven crossings are the FALCON, WREN, RHEA, KESTREL, HAWK, NENE, and CONDOR, all clued with chook info.

Bonus thematic materials consists of PEACE CORPS clued by way of a dove, URBAN AREAS clued by way of pigeons, and never symmetrically, IDIOT clued as [Turkey] and a finch within the chookSEED clue. The 15-letter downs are usually not theme entries.

I’m reasonably into birds, so I loved the avian quizzing right here.

Least favourite fill, once more: DR. WHO. If you need to know why, see final Wednesday’s submit and feedback.

Liked seeing Rosalind Franklin within the DNA clue.

3.75 stars from me.