New York Times, Wednesday, April 13, 2016
| Author: | Tony Orbach |
| Editor: | Will Shortz |
As is sometimes the case, the idea for this one came from what would wind up being an unused entry: COLLISION CORSET. Not sure why that popped into my head but, there it was! So, armed with/infected by that, I went in search of phrases that could work the same way — with the added ET sound, plus the change of spelling/meaning to the base words — and came up with these. Though I like them all enough, my favorite is VANITY FERRET — mostly because I could see myself strutting around with one of those, looking down my nose at the less fortunate, posh-pet-challenged passersby.
Not too many clue changes from my original submission, but, for vanity's sake, two worth noting. For WANDS, I'd wanted to give a nod to my daughter, Sarah Kate, and her love of all things Harry Potter, so had offered "Diagon Alley purchases." Then, for YOGI, I'd looked out the window and thought of my neighbor, NYT sportswriter Harvey Araton, and plunked down "'Driving Mr. ___' (Berra book by Harvey Araton)." Well, those didn't make the cut, but at least I get to mention friends and loved ones here!
Thanks again to Will and crew — and, happy puzzling!
Some funny results today involving a sound addition, Mountain Dew to MOUNTAIN DUET, Vanity Fair to VANITY FERRET (hilarious!), magazine rack to MAGAZINE RACQUET. I was never sure of the pronunciation of CRUET (crew-eht, not crew-ay). Huh. Now I know.
Far and away, my favorite section was the lower left, with GET FUZZY crossing PLOTZ. I recently introduced my 11-year old nephew to the hilarity that is GET FUZZY, with Bucky Katt's poorly thought out evil schemes, and Satchel's innocent dunderheadedness. And PLOTZ is Yiddish slang to faint away in dramatic form, as in "that drama queen just plotzed!" Love, love, love that bonus fill. The L of PLOTZ is going to be tough for people who don't know that or NALA of "The Lion King," unfortunately. I can see an argument that it's not particularly fair.
I also liked entries such as SCHERZO, ASGARD, SNUCK UP ON, but overall, I felt there was too much crossword glue for my taste. The theme density is a little high, given that all four themers are long. But still, I noticed the little bits everywhere, from ETHNO / ENVIRO — two prefixes crossing each other — to a smattering of TAI, HTS, OPP, NEOS, ENNE, etc. Some of it is in the name of working in great fill, like NATCH, but man, the price to pay in that north region is steep.
Will has mentioned that he's trying to phase out SDI, Reagan's "Strategic Defense Initiative." I actually don't mind it that much since the so-called Star Wars defense system was a big topic of discussion when I was a kid, but I see where he's coming from — those acronyms are rough. It looks almost necessary given the layout, stuck in that highly constrained region between SNUCK UP ON and LACE INTO.
LACE INTO … dictionary says it's legit, as "attack, devour, or scold." Still, it's not my favorite use of a precious 8-letter slot.
Some amusing results generated off of solid base phrases, with some rocky points. Still, the image of Satchel Pooch PLOTZing away gave me a huge smile.
1 B | 2 T | 3 W | 4 E | 5 T | 6 H | 7 N | 8 O | 9 L | 10 A | 11 S | 12 S | 13 O |
||
14 A | H | A | 15 N | A | T | C | H | 16 A | P | N | E | A |
||
17 T | E | L | 18 E | V | I | S | I | O | 19 N | C | R | U | E | T |
20 H | O | S | N | I | 21 S | H | O | E | 22 C | D | S |
|||
23 S | C | H | E | R | 24 Z | 25 O | 26 R | I | 27 S | K | ||||
28 M | O | U | N | 29 T | 30 A | I | N | D | U | 31 E | 32 T |
|||
33 U | 34 G | 35 L | Y | 36 N | E | O | S | 37 T | I | P | S | Y |
||
38 N | A | E | 39 G | I | O | R | G | 40 I | O | 41 O | P | P |
||
42 L | E | A | 43 V | E | 44 F | R | A | N | 45 E | N | N | E |
||
46 V | A | N | I | T | 47 Y | F | E | R | R | 48 E | T | |||
49 I | N | F | O | 50 D | E | N | S | 51 E | 52 L | 53 Y |
||||
54 A | 55 N | N | 56 U | G | 57 G | 58 S | 59 A | E | R | I | E |
|||
60 M | A | G | 61 A | Z | I | N | E | 62 R | 63 A | C | Q | U | E | T |
64 P | L | O | T | Z | 65 A | G | E | N | T | 66 C | G | I |
||
67 M | A | N | L | Y | 68 W | A | N | D | S | 69 T | E | S |
| Across | Down | |
| 1. "Oh, yeah ...," in a text : BTW 4. Prefix with musicology : ETHNO 9. Dogie-bagging rope : LASSO 14. "Of course!" : AHA 15. "Of course!" : NATCH 16. Sleep clinic concern : APNEA 17. Oil dispenser on a Food Network show? : TELEVISIONCRUET 20. Egypt's Mubarak : HOSNI 21. Brake plate : SHOE 22. Ones put on the rack? : CDS 23. Lively movement : SCHERZO 26. Hasbro board game in which armies conquer territories : RISK 28. Genre for "Dueling Banjos"? : MOUNTAINDUET 33. Vicious, as a fight : UGLY 36. Modernists, informally : NEOS 37. Slightly pickled : TIPSY 38. Highlands refusal : NAE 39. Armani with a plaque on the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style : GIORGIO 41. Vs. : OPP 42. Hit the bricks : LEAVE 44. Actress Drescher : FRAN 45. Cousin of -trix : ENNE 46. Weasellike animal kept as a fashion accessory? : VANITYFERRET 49. Dope : INFO 50. How black holes are packed : DENSELY 54. Massachusetts' Cape ___ : ANN 56. Fleecy boots : UGGS 59. Place for a bald-headed baby? : AERIE 60. Equipment endorsed by Inside Tennis? : MAGAZINERACQUET 64. What someone who is overly verklempt might do : PLOTZ 65. Big player on draft day : AGENT 66. Certain special FX : CGI 67. Hairy-chested, say : MANLY 68. They may be waved at concerts : WANDS 69. Your, in Paris : TES |
1. Ancient Roman meeting places : BATHS 2. Former Fox series set in California : THEOC 3. Actress Kate of "Grey's Anatomy" : WALSH 4. Green person, for short : ENVIRO 5. "___-Pan" (James Clavell novel that preceded "Shogun") : TAI 6. Brooklyn ___, N.Y. : HTS 7. CBS military drama : NCIS 8. "Call on me! I know this!" : OHOH 9. Give an earful : LACEINTO 10. Loan letters : APR 11. Caught unawares : SNUCKUPON 12. Sow : SEED 13. Proverbial "wild" things that are sown : OATS 18. Other side : ENEMY 19. Seaweed at a sushi bar : NORI 24. Pueblo people of New Mexico : ZUNI 25. Something not repeated : ONEOFF 27. '80s missile shield plan : SDI 29. Former Yankee manager who also served as player-manager of the Mets : TORRE 30. One of the nine worlds of Norse mythology : ASGARD 31. World Series of Poker channel : ESPN 32. Class : TYPE 33. Silver State sch. : UNLV 34. Mother of Cronus and Rhea : GAEA 35. Pressuring : LEANINGON 39. Comic strip featuring Satchel Pooch and Bucky Katt : GETFUZZY 40. About : INRE 43. Car registration fig. : VIN 45. Bibliographical abbr. : ETSEQ 47. Eastern mystic : YOGI 48. Puts into effect : ENACTS 51. Burp : ERUCT 52. Feudal lord : LIEGE 53. Himalayan cryptids : YETIS 54. Around-the-clock, in a way : AMPM 55. "The Lion King" lion : NALA 57. Nibble (on) : GNAW 58. Its mascot is Sonic the Hedgehog : SEGA 61. N.L. East city, on scoreboards : ATL 62. Knights of ___, villainous group in "The Force Awakens" : REN 63. "What next?" : AND |
Answer summary: 6 unique to this puzzle.
Found bugs or have suggestions?