There's a reason why Will schedules some themelesses square for a Saturday, the toughest slot of the week. No matter how ...
read moreThere's a reason why Will schedules some themelesses square for a Saturday, the toughest slot of the week. No matter how straightforward you go with a clue for ZUGZWANG, if you've never heard of it before, it takes nearly every crossing to work it out. What a cool German term! Although it nearly stymied me, the crossings made it fair game, and I really liked learning it. Okay, NED Jarrett could be JED, TED, RED, etc., but with ZUGZWA?G in place, you should be able to make the best guess at that last letter.

Speaking of stymied, there was a lot that nearly broke my spirit, but I ultimately pulled through successfully. Here are some points that might help illuminate:
- HEDDA Hopper was a noted gossip columnist of the early 20th century.
- How could GREW mean "waxed"? When one waxed poetic, for example.
- NOBIS means "us" in Latin, as in "ora pro nobis" = "pray for us." I think it's tough but fair.
- EMEND seems like it should be "amend," doesn't it? But it specifically means "to make corrections or improvements in (a text) by critical editing." Editor-speak!
- RFD = "rural free delivery." Whoo, tough.
- SOC = sociology, I think. Never seen that used in real life.
I'm not sure people still say HOMESLICE, but I did love PARTY FOUL, ON THE FRITZ, the full ETON COLLEGE, and even the at-first-weird-seeming YEAR ZERO. What else would you call 0 AD / BC, though?
Although there was a bit much of the RFD SOC ESTO NSW type of crossword glue for my taste, I really enjoyed some of the learning — especially ZUGZWANG. Definitely a term we should all try sneaking into daily conversation.
I'm talking to you, JESS RILEY!!!