Wednesday, June 19, 2024 | (2024)

LAT4:01 (Gareth)

NYT4:43 (Amy)

Note: No WSJ puzzle due to the Juneteenth holiday.

Brad Wiegmann’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

I like the theme. X + Y = a compound word or phrase that’s more than its parts. Each “X + Y” clue is a familiar “X and Y” verb phrase unto itself.

• 16a. [Wait + see], STOPWATCH.
• 25a. [Give + take], HANDHOLD.
• 36a. [Kiss + tell], SMACK TALK. This one’s particularly good.
• 51a. [Hit + run], SLAPDASH.
• 60a. [Cut + paste], CHOPSTICK. Ooh, this one’s great!

Did not know: 31a. [Abolitionist senator Charles], SUMNER. Unless … yep, he’s that guy. So back in 1856, the Senate and House floors were even less decorous than they are now. A slaveholder yobbo in the House named Brooks came into the Senate chamber and beat the crap out of Sen. Sumner with a cane. I learned this when I looked up the history of Brooksville, Florida while lunching there. That’s right: In the South, a guy like Brooks could be reelected and honored with city and county names in states other than the one he represented. As for Sen. Sumner of Massachusetts, Wikipedia notes, “Sumner suffered head trauma that would cause him chronic pain and symptoms consistent with what would now be called traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, and spent three years convalescing before returning to his Senate seat. He suffered chronic pain and debilitation for the rest of his life.”

Fave fill: SEA SERPENTS and SPACKLE. Least favorite: FANDUEL and all the other sports gambling sites/apps that have commandeered way too much sports broadcasting, venues, etc.

Gen X fact-check: Uh, no. An ASTRO POP was/is not a [Rocket-shaped frozen treat]. The Astro Pop was a 1970s conical sucker that you can still buy today. The roughly rocket-shaped ice pop is called Bomb Pop.

Four stars from me, plus a big demerit for the ASTRO POP thing.

Dylan Schiff’s Universal crossword, “So to Speak” — pannonica’s write-up

Demonymic language puns.

• 20a. [Repeat oneself while touring The Hague?] DOUBLE DUTCH.
• 39a. [Talk like the locals while staying in Thessaloniki?] GO GREEK. Not quite sure what the straight version of this phrase means.
• 41a. [Add “um” and “er” while visiting Chiang Mai?] PAD THAI. Even though all of these theme answers are good, my sense is that this was the seed entry. (70a [Had a gut feeling] KNEW.)
• 57a. [Cut out excess vocabulary while vacationing in Odense?] PRUNE DANISH. Pruning is kind of poetic here.

A solid theme and smooth flowing grid.

• 6d [Oh of “Grey’s Anatomy”] SANDRA. Last night I watched the excellentAnatomy of a Fall, with Sandra Hüller playing a character named Sandra Voyter.
• 7d [Intro to bio?] ABOUT ME. Neither a prefix nor having to do with life sciences.
• Nice paired stack here: 28d [Far from innovative] UNORIGINAL, 29d [Means of improving workplace efficiency] ERGONOMICS.
• 42d [Long-__ relationship] DISTANCE.
  
• 48d [Take in a sea breeze?] SIP. Vodka with cranberry juice and grapefruit juice.
• 56d [Be totally awesome] RULE. The other night I watched a 1966 all-star film that I’d never heard of:The Chase. It’s a rather flawed film, despite the luminaries in front of and behind the cameras. One of the roles, a femme-fatale-type, was played by Janice RULE.
• 63d [Summertime top] TEE.
  
• 18a [Onigiri wrapper] NORI.Onigiri are Japanese rice balls, and the seaweed provides an easy way to pick one up, as well as delivering a contrasting crispness. In their simplest form they are a kid-friendly food and as such are often presented in cute ways.
• 25a [“Expect great things” retailer] KOHLS. Tried KMART first.
• 46a [Cut in half] BISECT. Pet peeve:dissect does not rhyme with this, and when I hear people do so it puts me on edge.

(little more mainstream than my usual picks, but I couldn’t come up with anything else to close)

Shannon Rapp & Will Eisenberg’s USA Today Crossword, “Key West” — Emily’s write-up

Enjoy this collab getaway!

Theme: adding “key” before the first word (or to the “west”) of each themer forms a new phrase

Themers:

• 20a. [Chef’s iconic creation],SIGNATUREDISH
• 36a. [Bright-green rental for urban riders],LIMESCOOTER
• 55a. [Domino effect],CHAINREACTION

A fun themer set today, starting with a delish SIGNATUREDISH, catching a ride on a LIMESCOOTER, and triggering a CHAINREACTION. With the theme, the set becomes: KEY SIGNATURE, KEY LIME, and KEY CHAIN.

Favorite fill: MOCHAS, ADEPT, UNO, and KART

Stumpers: TRIS (needed crossings), NAMELY (needed crossings), and GETSREAL (needed crossings)

Loved the grid, though it took me longer than usual to break into much of this puzzle. I found the cluing a bit trickier than usual but everything was fairly crossed so once I had some footholds, I was able to start filling in and complete the solve. Nothing was too difficult for an entry, so perhaps others found this easier to solve. Still, I loved this collab, with its excellent theme and themer set. And now I want a huge slice of neon pie!

4.5 stars

~Emily

Daniel Hrynick’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s summary

Daniel Hrynick gives us an offbeat kind of theme: five two-part foodstuff names’ first parts are one-word movie titles. They are imagined to be being eaten in the cinema while watching the film:

• [Wrapped movie snack for a Rowan Atkinson comedy?], BEANBURRITO. Terrible choice of movie edible.
• [Spicy movie snack for a Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze fantasy romance?], GHOSTPEPPERS. Just plain. Yikes.
• [Roasted movie snack for a Leslie Nielsen disaster comedy?], AIRPLANEPEANUTS. So how do those differ from peanuts, other than where they’re served?
• [Cold movie snack for a Disney princess musical?], FROZENYOGURT
• [Sweet movie snack for an Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy?], JUNIORMINTS

Quite a lot of weird short bits today: partials CANI, ATEE, ASIN; obsolete plural abbr. SSTS. On the other hand YONCE was a pleasant surprise – Y?N?? is not the friendliest pattern to start with! It’s sort of a double-A side single? Something like that?

Gareth

Robyn Weintraub’s New Yorker crossword – solution grid

Hi folks – my 1-year-old woke upvery early this morning, during my usual blogging time, so there will be no write-up of Robyn Weintraub’s New Yorker today. The solution grid is posted here – feel free to discuss in the comments. Happy Juneteenth!