Tracy Gray’s New York Times puzzle – Sophia’s write-up

Theme: MY BAD – The final phrase of every theme reply is a synonym for “mistake”.

New York Times, 12 05 2022, By Tracy Gray

• 18a [‘Bama rival] – OLE MISS
• 25a [Bit of banking documentation] – DEPOSIT SLIP
• 39a [Cause of many California earthquakes] – SAN ANDREAS FAULT
• 50a [Former moniker of reality TV child star Alana Thompson] – HONEY BOO BOO
• 62a [“Oopsie!”… and a hint to the ends of 18-, 25-, 39- and 50-Across] – MY BAD

This is a traditional “words at the end of the phrase connect” puzzle, which doesn’t actually occur that a lot within the NYT anymore. As such, I used to be on the lookout for one other layer to the theme, however I believe that’s it – I sort of want there was one thing extra to raise it. I do like that all the theme solutions confer with different meanings of the “mistake” phrases, and the mirror symmetry could be very placing.

The first three theme solutions are good however not too particular.  The grid-spanning SAN ANDREAS FAULT is my favourite. HONEY BOO BOO feels a bit of just like the odd theme reply out – it’s the one popular culture reference (though it’s a bit outdated; “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” went off the air in 2014), and BOO BOO doesn’t fairly really feel like the identical kind of “mistake” as MISS, FAULT, or SLIP. This was an immediate drop-in for me, however I might see it tripping up a number of of us much less aware of the TLC oeuvre.

The fill total could be very clear, and I just like the standout CABOOSE and ARROW KEY. I didn’t know CHAPPAQUA (11d[Town in Westchester County, N.Y., where the Clintons live]) and wanted most crosses to get it, however I used to be glad to be taught it. Other solutions I believe could possibly be tough are LAIRD and AGEE, each of which I used to be fortunately capable of get off crosses. I had “made par” as a substitute of SHOT PAR, in order that slowed me down in the beginning of the puzzle.  Other than that, although, this puzzle performed very straightforward for me – it’s very uncommon for me to complete a puzzle in beneath 3 minutes, which I did at the moment.

Jeff Stillman’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Bunker Mentality”—Jim P’s assessment

Theme: SAND TRAPS (57a, [Golf hazards, or what the letters between the circles have fallen into]). The different theme solutions are acquainted phrases whose outer letters spell SAND.

Wall St Journal crossword answer · “Bunker Mentality” · Jeff Stillman · Mon., 12.5.22

• 18a. [Loafed] SAT AROUND.
• 23a. [Isthmus, essentially] STRIP OF LAND.
• 35a. [Gave up one’s confederates] SANG LIKE A BIRD.
• 51a. [Investment option] SAVINGS BOND.

Works for me. Cute premise with solid-to-fun entries. I admit I needed there to be a development from S/AND to SA/ND to SAN/D. But that might solely be three entries, and in addition to, nothing concerning the theme says there must be any type of development.

In the fill I appreciated MATILDA and BERSERK (although I can blame a sure online game for inflicting me to spell the latter one fallacious). DRUG USER was a little bit of a downer.

On the opposite hand, I beloved the shout out to Kevin KLINE who tortured Michael PALIN in a scene in A Fish Called Wanda, certainly one of my all-time favourite movies. But why not cross reference their clues? Yes, I notice the puzzle additionally has Eric IDLE, and that each Pythons are clued as such, however that KLINE/PALIN scene was most likely an enormous purpose KLINE gained the Oscar.

And that’s all I’ve. Nice puzzle. 3.5 stars. Enjoy the chips-up-the-nose scene from A Fish Called Wanda.