Jeff Chen and Jim Horne’s New York Times crossword, “In the Money” —Nate’s write-up

We’re again for an additional Sunday NYT, and this one’s fortunately written by people who find themselves who they are saying they’re! Let’s dive in:

08.14.22 Sunday New York Times Puzzle

– 26A: MARK OMEARA [Golfer who won the 1998 Masters (Italy)]
ROME is shaded, with Ok circled amidst it

– 41A: DO A SLOW BURN [Seethe (Norway)]
OSLO is shaded, with A circled amidst it

– 49A: QUIT COLD TURKEY [Give up all at once (Ecuador)]
QUITO is shaded, with C circled amidst it

– 71A: CHAIR OF THE FED [Major player in U.S. economic policy (Egypt)]
CAIRO is shaded, with H circled amidst it

– 89A: TIMBER INDUSTRY [Boarding group? (Switzerland)]
BERN is shaded, with I circled amidst it

– 100A: MAKING A LIST [Activity for Santa (Rwanda)]
KIGALI is shaded, with N circled amidst it

– 114A: DOG HANDLER [One who walks to work? (Qatar)]
DOHA is shaded, with G circled amidst it

– 119A: CAPITAL GAINS [What this puzzle’s circled letters are with respect to the surrounding shaded squares?]

To summarize, every theme entry comprises the title of a world capital metropolis and inside that capital (“In the Money”) is a single letter. Those single letters (letters that these capitals had gained, thus CAPITAL GAINS) spell out KA-CHING, the sound of a CASH REGISTER (24A). This was a cute, constant theme that had a number of good payouts. CAPITAL GAINS and KA-CHING had been each enjoyable revealers for me, and I additionally appreciated the geographic variety of world capitals represented. The twin which means of capital additionally made for good interaction between the puzzle’s title, themers, and revealer(s).

I additionally actually loved a number of the cluing within the puzzle, together with:
– 78A: TRIDENT [It’s good for three points] – I used to be relieved to not must know sports activities right here!
– 89A: TIMBER INDUSTRY [Boarding group? (Switzerland)]
– 125A: EEYORE [Sad ass] – Quite actually!
– 5D: DRUM SOLO [Special collection of musical hits?]
– 15D: VIEWERS [Watch parties?]

There had been some dings in opposition to my fixing expertise. For no matter motive, this puzzle didn’t CLICK for me and it took me a very long time to get a foothold. When the highest of the grid has clues like [Old map inits.] and [Old gold coin] in addition to the complete title of a golfer whose final main win was over twenty years in the past, I do know that I’m personally going to have some hassle. Your mileage could have diversified, although, and I hope you had been capable of get a smoother glide into the grid than I used to be. I additionally obtained tremendous caught within the DO LOOP, EOS, POMES part within the NW nook and needed to reveal these solutions.

Other random ideas:
– 7A: DIVAS [Big voices with big egos] – I used to be genuinely stumped when MEN wasn’t the reply right here and spent a number of seconds looking for a five-letter synonym.
– 94D: CATTALO [Hybrid farm animal] – Apparently, this is identical factor as a beefalo, a cross between cattle and buffalo. For a second, I puzzled if it was one way or the other a cat/buffalo hybrid. TIL!

That’s it for me for now. What did you take pleasure in concerning the puzzle? Can you consider different phrases that might have served as theme solutions on this puzzle? Comment beneath!