Byron Walden’s New York Instances crossword—Amy’s write-up

NY Instances crossword answer, 8 6 22, no. 0806

Powerful one, eh? A placing grid to strategy when it was clean—all that lengthy fill bumping up towards the nine-row diagonal line of blocks.

Fave fill: JUMP FOR JOY, the entirely-new-to-me BIDENOMICS, slangy SITCH(uation), ACTIVE DUTY army, a VASECTOMY clued as a [Form of birth control], CLUE IN, FALL ISSUE ([It’s bound to run in the third quarter], as within the pages are sure into journal type and the problem could run within the July-August-September interval), PUTS ON HOLD (we hate being placed on maintain), “UP IS DOWN,” JUICE BAR, Andrea DEL SARTO (topic of a Robert Browning poem), OSCAR BID, and Cyndi Lauper’s ode to masturbation, “SHE BOP.”

5 extra issues:

• 47a. [Some arcade habitués], PINBALLERS. Can’t say I’ve seen this precise phrase earlier than, however who doesn’t like pinball?
• 34a. [Commanders became part of it in 2022, for short], THE NFL. I totally forgot the Washington Soccer Workforce had lastly chosen a brand new title, and that it was this. “Commanders”? Dudes… Have you ever by no means learn nor seen on TV The Handmaid’s Story? You might have chosen a significantly better title. How concerning the Washington Monuments?
• 53a. [Someone who can’t stand working?], DESK PERSON. DESKPERSON? No concept. Most dictionaries don’t embrace this phrase, however American Heritage Dictionary tells us it’s somebody working at a newspaper desk.
• 37d. [Worker who processes wool], FULLER. Dang. That may be a deep reduce in English vocabulary. I attempted FELTER, to no avail. Apparently fulling means “to shrink and thicken (woolen fabric) by moistening, heating, and urgent.” Did greater than two readers of this weblog already know that phrase and get it immediately?
• 29d. [___ Rhubarb, foil for the Katzenjammer Kids of old comics], ROLLO. Didn’t know this, as I don’t suppose my native newspapers ran Katzenjammer Youngsters on the humorous pages. No one likes a Rollo, although. He was the spoiled wealthy child within the Nancy cartoon, too.

4 stars from me.

C.C. Burnikel’s Los Angeles Instances crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Instances 8/6/22 by C.C. Burnikel

So do we expect C.C.’s being self-referential in beginning this puzzle with CCS [Includes, briefly] at 1-Throughout? I wouldn’t put it previous her. Some attention-grabbing factors and highlights from this puzzle:

• 6A [Bell hooks work whose title comes from a line often attributed to Sojourner Truth] is AIN’T I A WOMAN. A fellow constructor tipped me off some time again that Reality’s well-known speech in all probability ought not be referred to by that title, provided that it comes from a transcription of the speech which may not precisely symbolize Reality’s personal speech patterns. This clue neatly honors Sojourner Reality for making a speech about necessary concepts whereas referring as a substitute to a piece by one other author in order to not indicate that AIN’T I A WOMAN is verbatim from Reality.
• 27A [“Born a ___”: Trevor Noah memoir] for CRIME jogs my memory that I’ve heard wonderful issues concerning the e book and will get round to studying it in some unspecified time in the future.
• 48A [Self-referential] is META — and if C.C. is sneakily referring to the truth that 1-Throughout refers to herself, that’s, like, mega-META.
• 61A [Problem that often grows with fame] feels contemporary as a clue for that outdated standby, EGO.
• 2D [System with shades of meaning] is a pleasant clue for COLOR CODE.

My one beef is that it’s a bit too straightforward for Saturday!

David Alfred Bywaters’ Wall Road Journal crossword, “Secret Brokers” — pannonica’s write-up

WSJ • 8/6/22 • Sat • “Secret Brokers” • Bywaters • answer • 20220806

They aren’t so secret, these brokers, or REPs. In actual fact, they’re inserted fairly overtly into authentic phrases, altering their meanings.

• 21a. [Road crew’s concern?] SURFACE TO REPAIR (surface-to-air).
• 42a. [Parrot back?] REPEAT LIKE A BIRD (eat like a chicken).
• 68a. [Disgust Dalí?] REPEL SALVADOR (El Salvador).
• 93a. [Protest songs?] PITCHED REPROOFS (pitched roofs).
• 118a. [Dinosaur statuettes?] CERAMIC REPTILES (ceramic tiles).
• 14d. [Deceptively shouting “I’m up! I’m up!”] REPLYING IN BED (mendacity in mattress, which additionally works for the clue).
• 54d. [Grievances posted on TikTok?] REPROACH CLIPS (roach clips).

Not a WOW theme, but it surely will get the job finished.

• Favourite clues, back-to-back: 18a [Play around, in a way] TOUR. 19a [Item made to measure] RULER.
• 58a [Game originally called “La Conquête du Monde”] RISK. Novel clue, to me.
• 98a [“Really?”] OH YES. Doesn’t comport. The reply looks like a reply, which isn’t how crossword clues work.
• 3d [Bug’s kin] WIRETAP. Talking of secret brokers and spydom. 69d Navy thoughts sport, for brief] PSYOP may also qualify.
• 22d [Snail, quail or whale] ANIMAL. 30d [E or G, e.g.] NOTE. 55a [David and Alfred, e.g.] NAMES; Bywaters can also be a reputation, however not of the identical type.
• 72d [To the back, on a boat] AREAR. Anybody else have ABAFT first?