Note: Fireball is a contest this week. We’ll put up a evaluation after the submission interval closes.
Tom Pepper’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Stated Words”—Jim P’s evaluation
Theme: Familiar phrases have a particular phrase changed by a state abbreviation, which when learn letter-by-letter, sounds just like the lacking phrase.
Wall St Journal crossword resolution · “Stated Words” · Tom Pepper · Thu., 11.10.22
- 17a. [Fourth in the Chicago Cubs batting order?] CLEAN UP ON IL NINE. Clean up on aisle 9 or Clean up on Illinois Nine.
- 27a. [Yearning for Big Sky Country?] FEELING MT INSIDE. Feeling empty inside or Feeling Montana inside.
- 44a. [Prizes won by Acadia National Park for the first sight of sunrise in the U.S.?] DAYTIME ME AWARDS. Daytime Emmy Awards or Daytime Maine Awards.
- 59a. [Proper method for butchering Omaha steaks?] NE WAY YOU SLICE IT. Any means you slice it or Nebraska means you slice it.
It wasn’t till I made it by means of the second entry that the penny dropped. Having to pronounce the 2 state letters was a bit surprising, however as soon as I caught on to it, I favored it effective. The phrases as learn with the state names can get just a little awkward, however they’ve a sure appeal to them. I particularly just like the Montana entry.
Elsewhere, we now have SPAMALOT, MINESTRONE, GLOBE TROTS, and TRASH CAN. A enjoyable assortment of lengthy fill entries, that. I wanted all of the crossings for TITI [Soft-furred monkey], because it’s been a very long time since I’ve had want to consider one. It’s fascinating to notice that their tails aren’t prehensile.
Clues of be aware:
- 14a. [Pats on the back, maybe]. BURPS. Ha. Unexpected as nicely, however good.
- 48a. [They’re found in ballot boxes]. XES. Not “ballot boxes,” however bins which can be on ballots. Hold up. Anyone right here have bins on their ballots that they X in? Ours (Washington state) are bubbles that you simply fill in utterly.
- 64a. [“Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars.” author]. OATES. It took me a number of seconds afterwards to understand that this was referring to not Daryl, however to Joyce Carol.
- 50d. [Ill-fated priestess of myth]. HERO. I’ve most likely seen this clue within the WSJ earlier than and commented on it. But I should have promptly forgot about it, as a result of it nonetheless felt new to me. Yet the hyperlink to the pertinent Wikipedia web page is pink in my browser, indicating I’ve been there earlier than. Maybe I ought to learn it and attempt to bear in mind it higher.
Nice puzzle. 3.5 stars.
Dan Caprera’s New York Times crossword—Zachary David Levy’s evaluation
Difficulty: Very simple (7m21s)
Dan Caprera’s New York Times crossword, 11/9/2022, 1109
Today’s theme: BATTLESHIP?
- STUNTWOMAN (N-2: P)
- CANINE TEETH (A-9: L)
- INDONESIANS (D-1: O)
- BREAKS EVEN (Okay-7: T)
- PLOT (What’s spelled out, appropriately, after mapping the coordinates indicated by this puzzle’s circled letters)
I don’t know what recreation that is. The closest factor that involves thoughts evokes accusations of unfairly inserting ships diagonally, and to a lesser extent, being jealous of people who had a functioning battery-operated model with *KA-PLOWIE* sound results. But I believe what’s referenced right here is just spanning PLOT factors alongside two components of a theme reply, and having them spell (appropriately sufficient) PLOT. I used to be nonetheless ready for the app to deal with me to some type of underwater explosion upon ending the puzzle. I respect the weird grid components and diagonal symmetry in maintaining the puzzle extra consistent with a Thursday curveball, though I got here near a private file and suspect others will do the identical.
Cracking: MALI — my household used to dwell in Abidjan, so I’ve a gentle spot for all issues West Africa. TIMBUKTU (somebody please put that in a puzzle with out cluing it as “the middle of nowhere”) was, as soon as upon a time, a very powerful heart of commerce and academia in all of Africa.
Slacking: UNSURE OF — laborious to make something ending in “of” sparkle, and the longer the phrase, the more severe it will get. AS OF, okay. IN ANTICIPATION OF, barf.
Sidetracking: OMNI — okay, I don’t know if you happen to’ve stayed within the common Radisson these days, and I acknowledge that they’ve each entry-level and mid-scale properties, however on the entire they’re most definitely not drawing from the identical clientele.
