Grant Thackray’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s write-up

NY Times crossword resolution, 9 17 22, no. 0917

What a fairly grid, sashaying proper and left. Almost seems like some form of curvy racetrack.

Easier than I used to be anticipating, however tougher than Friday.

Fave fill: “WHERE DID I PARK?” is perhaps questionable as crossword fill, however it positive is relatable! THE SANDS OF TIME, a fantastic AURORA (the photograph beneath was taken by a Pokémon Go good friend up in St. Albert, Alberta. This is perhaps an image taken from her bed room window!), LITTLE RASCALS (how does that maintain up now? I’m guessing it’s fairly appalling), “WHAT’S NEW?”, DOLLAR SIGN, and ATLANTIS.

Northern lights (aurora borealis), St. Albert, Alberta, Canada

Rambling notes from my clear up: Not eager on 1a. [Sign of spring] for THE RAM—that could be a image of the signal Aries, no? And after all, the 6-letter spring zodiac signal beginning with T is TAURUS.

This is the Pokémon Go version of Crossword Fiend, apparently. Because 7a. [Performs repetitive tasks to gain experience points, in gaming slang], FARMS—that’s additionally a factor within the sport. Evolving a bunch of creatures with a low value for evolution is, e.g., Pidgey farming. I admire it serving to me with crosswords! (P.S. 17a MEW isn’t only a [Litter whimper], it’s additionally a Pokémon title!)

• 22a. [Twitter-sphere?] is a cute clue for BIRDCAGE. Not positive that birdcages are sometimes spherical, however when it comes to the extra metaphorical “sphere,” yeah, it really works.
• 43a. [Impertinent sort], SNIP? This is a utilization I really feel like I see solely in crosswords. Do you utilize it that manner?
• 52a. [Compound that becomes a man’s name when its last letter is removed], ETHANE. I admire the non-chemistry angle. Much extra gettable for the humanities crowd.
• 45d. [Metal that can be drawn into a wire an atom wide], GOLD. Sure didn’t know this. Bring me such a wire posthaste!

Four stars from me.