WSJ Crossword 12-29-20 Complete

Pretty fast for me for a Tuesday WSJ puzzle. In other news, while it’s not pouring in LA today and the temperature has cranked up to 59, we’ve got sustained 14MPH winds and 20+MPH gusts. I don’t care much for this, but I do look forward to going for a walk later to see the city clear of smog thanks to yesterday’s rain and with wind-swept skies.

I pulled out 16A Diet that goes against the grain?: PALEO because that word just means old, from the Greek palaios, which means ancient. Now that I think about it, it’s cool to think of the ancient Greeks thinking about what was ancient to them. It’s like how an elderly person will call a 50-year-old a kid. But since paleo just means old, do you have any chunky milk in your fridge right now? Any open bottles of wine that have turned to vinegar? Any blue cheese that wasn’t intended to be that color? Shouldn’t those count as part of the paleo diet?

This puzzle’s title is Idle Hands, and the clue are about a thing I have on the wall that I finally bought after much delay because I finally found the time to do so.

18A Karate chop target, sometimes: CINDERBLOCK. Though breaking them this way isn’t always as hard as it seems.

28A Radio format for Fleetwood Mac and Heart: CLASSICROCK.
51A Where Oxford types might hang out?: CLOTHESRACK. Oxford style billowy shirts.

62A It’s right twice a day, and it can be found at 12-, 28-, and 51-Across: BROKENCLOCK.
CINDERBLOCK, CLASSICROCK, CLOTHESRACK.

But the problem is that the saying is inaccurate. It’s not just that a broken digital clock shows nothing at all and therefore neither shows the wrong time nor the right time. It’s not always right with analog clocks. The pendulum of a grandfather clock may swing fast or slow compared to accurate and be in need of repair. Depending on the speed, it may be off by an additional second each day and therefore be right once every approximately 118 years, as it would have to make up 12 hours of drift at the rate of 1 second a day. There are 43,200 seconds in 12 hours, 43,200 days is a little more than 118 years. If it’s running too fast, it may be right more than twice a day, but that would make at least twice a day and therefore would qualify.

Finished this one in 8:00.

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