Bruce Haight’s New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up

Difficulty: Very difficult (14m19s)

Bruce Haight’s New York Times crossword, 12/14/2022, 1214

Today’s theme: VICHYSSOISE, which you make by combining…

• NEW POTATOES
• CHICKEN STOCK
• HEAVY CREAM
• SAUTEED LEEKS

Wow, was this difficult or what.  Aside from the truth that it’s an outsized grid, there was lots right here that I simply couldn’t parse — EONS AGO, BBQ RIBS, LOVE SET, BUS RIDE, GET BEAT, DEED BOX — couldn’t see any of them.  I used to be lucky sufficient that VICHYSSOISE was randomly on my thoughts at present, as Mali Handa was visitor running a blog for Rex at present and began a soup dialogue within the feedback part.  And then we get a VICHYSSOISE puzzle from the NYT the following day?  Really odd coincidence.

Cracking: DIE DOWN — You know what else is odd?  This phrase appeared as soon as within the NYT in 1955, after which didn’t seem once more for 46 years (!!!), till 2001.  That’s an unusually lengthy hole for such an idiomatic 7 letter phrase.

Slacking: BULBED — yuck, and yikes.  I needed BULBAR as a substitute — which is extra of a medical time period than the rest, and even that could be a stretch.  But no, it’s BULBED.  What’s subsequent?  BULBIC?  BULBIFICENT?

Sidetracking: OPTIC — Ok, so Bruce is an ophthalmologist.  So each time he places one thing eye-related right into a puzzle, it’s like a bit Easter egg.   Which is an effective segue into the web’s most well-known ophthalmologist, Dr. Glaucomflecken: