Chase Dittrich & Jeff Chen’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “To Be Continued…”—Jim P’s overview

Our revealer is HAS THE FINAL WORD (60a, [Possesses ultimate authority, like each starred answer in relation to the previous one (and wrapping around)]). The different theme solutions every share a phrase with the previous and following theme solutions, and needs to be considered as a set.

Wall St Journal crossword answer · “To Be Continued…” · Chase Dittrich & Jeff Chen · Thu., 12.8.22

• 17a. [*…”Ain’t gonna happen!”…] WHEN HELL FREEZES (over).
• 27a. [*…”That’s all from me”…] OVER AND (out).
• 30a. [*…”Move aside!”…] OUT OF MY (manner).
• 43a. [*…”In the old days”…] WAY BACK (when).

I just like the gimmick right here. After getting the primary one, I most likely scowled as a result of it appeared just like the puzzle was making an attempt to get away with leaving out a phrase of the phrase (as I do know it). But I caught on after I received to the second, and that made getting the remainder of them fairly fast work. Nice, Thursdayish theme.

I loved the entire lengthy fill immediately: FORMULA ONE, EMMA WATSON, KANGAROO, and FREE LOVE. Plus, HOSER, KABUL, and Greta GERWIG.

That’s to not say all the things was excellent within the grid. We have ungainly MT IDA, an uncommon plural correct noun (DAMONS), a longish partial (A STAGE), and an unpleasant crossing of PAWL and TEMPI. No concept what a PAWL [Windlass part] is, nor even what a windlass is. (Ah, nautical stuff. That explains it. I used to be within the Air Force, not the Navy.) And TEMPI [Players’ paces] as plural of tempo is simply meh.

Clues of word:

• 22a. [Breaks in cases]. LEADS. I like this clue; there are a number of methods to learn it.
• 25a. [Human embryo feature that’s gone by birth]. TAIL. Did not know this. Turns out it’s exceedingly uncommon however doable for a kid to be born with a real tail. There have been about 40 identified instances worldwide.
• 35a. [Runoff election, e.g.]. REVOTE. Timely. Absolutely wonderful to see nearly half of the Georgia voters vote for somebody who’s clearly unsuitable for the job (Walker).
• 4d. [Hopper in a “mob”]. KANGAROO. Apparently teams of kangaroos are known as “mobs” as a result of when their group is threatened, every particular person goes its personal manner, i.e. they don’t transfer as a bunch.
• 7d. [Capital nicknamed “Tigerstaden”]. OSLO. “The Tiger City” nickname appears to have originated from this poem wherein a horse, representing the peaceable countryside, and a tiger, representing the damaging metropolis, do battle. Spoiler alert: The tiger didn’t fare so effectively.
• 59d. [Purviance who appeared in many Chaplin films]. EDNA. Wow, um, actually? How many solvers know this title?

Nifty theme, principally good fill. 3.75 stars.

Peter Gordon’s Fireball Crossword, “Getting Up There” – Jenni’s write-up

This is at most a Wednesday NYT issue degree and the theme could possibly be an NYT Monday or Tuesday. I assume Peter’s giving us a break after final week’s. I want the tough ones. Oh, and there was a completely unfair crossing the place I used to be Natick’ed.

Each theme reply has circles. For this efficiency, the position of the circles might be performed by the colour orange.

Fireball, December 7, 2022, Peter Gordon, “Getting Up There,” answer grid

• 21a [Person who is lusted after] is a SEX OBJECT.
• 26a [“In addition…”] is FURTHERMORE.*
• 36a [1988 Shirley MacLaine film with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based on a novel by Bernice Rubens] is MADAME SOUSATZKA. The Z was the Natick sq.. I most likely ought to know that NJ Senator Bob MENENDEZ spells his title with a Z relatively than an S. Since I didn’t know that and had by no means heard of the movie, I used to be stumped.
• 45a [Device used by John Madden to diagram plays] is the TELESTRATOR.
• 54a [Slug, e.g.] is a GASTROPOD. Not to be confused with a gastropub, the place one is perhaps served a GASTROPOD.

And in case it wasn’t apparent, there’s a revealer stretched throughout two solutions. 66a [When combined with 67-Across, the theme of this puzzle] is ATMO/SPHERE. EXOSPHERE, THERMOSPHERE, MESOSPHERE, STRATOSPHERE, and TROPOSPHERE are the layers of the ATMOSPHERE. Here’s a helpful diagram.

Handy diagram

It’s a wonderfully positive theme. There’s nothing to determine and no “aha” second (no less than not for me since I determine it out with THERMO). Hence the NYT Tuesday comparability.

*If you probably did the primary model of the puzzle Peter despatched out, there was a circle lacking. There is not any THERMSPHERE.

Just a few different issues:

• I’m going to make chili within the gradual cooker later this week. I can’t bear in mind the final time I used the gradual cooker to make STEW.
• 20a [Shtetl shout] is OY VEY. Oy. For one factor, that time period has moved effectively past the shtetl. For one other, in my expertise it’s extra usually a moan than a shout.
• I’m not an 80s child and I’m nonetheless comfortable to see REN clued by reference to “Footloose” relatively than Stimpy.
• 42a [Golf driver’s power source?] is GAS. Aren’t golf carts electrical? What am I lacking?
• I’m amused on the juxtaposition of ADELAIDE and DAMASCUS with solely certainly one of them clued as a metropolis.

What I didn’t know earlier than I did this puzzle: see above re: the Shirley MacLaine film and NJ Senator. I additionally didn’t know the phrase odontiasis. I didn’t have any hassle inferring that it’s associated to tooth.

The New York Times — 12/8/2022

For these unaware, there might be a one-day walkout on the NYT starting at midnight tonight. In solidarity with the union, the Thursday puzzle might be omitted this week (apologies to Grant Thackray, as their puzzle will sadly run through the first walkout on the paper for the reason that late Nineteen Seventies).

From the Guardian:

The New York Times is bracing for a 24-hour walkout on Thursday by tons of of journalists and different staff, in what could be the primary strike of its variety on the newspaper in additional than 40 years.

Newsroom staff and different members of the NewsGuild of New York say they’re fed up with bargaining that has dragged on since their final contract expired in March 2021. The union introduced final week that greater than 1,100 staff would stage a 24-hour work stoppage beginning at 12.01am on Thursday until the 2 sides reached a contract deal.

Negotiations lasted for greater than 12 hours into late Tuesday and continued on Wednesday, however the sides remained far aside on points together with wage will increase and remote-work insurance policies.

On Wednesday night the union stated by way of Twitter {that a} deal had not been reached and the walkout was occurring. “We were ready to work for as long as it took to reach a fair deal,” it stated, “but management walked away from the table with five hours to go.”

“We know what we’re worth,” the union added.

The Thursday write-up will return subsequent week.