Category Archives: Crosswords

NYT Crossword Puzzle 12-1-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

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I pulled out 38A Smooths (out): IRONS because going to the Magic Castle as much as I do means that I have been wearing my button-down shirts. When I get back, sometimes I hang up my shirt on a hanger, and something I throw it over a chair. But no matter what, I have to either launder my shirts or iron them before I wear them again. The amount to iron builds up, and I had 10 shirts that were taking up space outside my closet. I learned how to iron a long time ago, and then I re-learned how to iron from the T.M. Lewin ironing video on youtube.

The video says that you should be able to iron a shirt in three minutes. I haven’t experienced anything close to that speed, but I do like the way the shirts turn out. I also don’t put water in the iron because years ago I found that there’s calcification that then flakes onto the shirts, and that’s super annoying. I use a spray bottle. I don’t use starch. My real preference is to iron shirts that are wet and just out of the washing machine. Those are the easiest to do.

Theme!

17A Play a wrong note during a violin sonata?: ERRONTHEGSTRING.
28A Little prince taking a bath?: CLEANHEIRACT. It’s like WhoCARESact.com.
44A “We all put things on TV sometimes”?: TOAIRISHUMAN.
59A Headline after Jane becomes queen?: EYRETOTHETHRONE.

Finished this one in 11:19.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-30-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

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I pulled out 43D Notoriously fast starter: HARE because the first-ever place I ever performed for anyone at the Magic Castle was at the Hat and Hare Lounge. Some people absolutely love performing there. I prefer the Cellar. I think I like the Palace Bar as the second-favorite place to perform, but I’ve performed there the least. Weird.

The theme is all what the games really are.

20A Sign outside a Stratego tournament?: CAPTURETHEFLAG.
25A Sign outside a Scrabble tournament?: SITFORASPELL.
48A Sign outside a Taboo tournament?: DONTSAYAWORD.
56A Sign outside a dominoes tournament?: CONNECTTHEDOTS.

Finished this one in 8:02.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-29-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

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I pulled out 4D Mouth-puckering green drink: LIMEADE because I haven’t had limeade in a long time, but I used to have it in summertime, and I like it way more than I like lemonade. I don’t know what it is about the drink, but I find it to be way more refreshing. Why is it not as popular as its yellow brother?

Theme!

20A Hoped-for experience at a casino: STREAKOFLUCK.
28A Sprinkle often paired with salt: DASHOFPEPPER. I made latkes last night and tonight. I made the recipe last night, though. Cooked more today. Anyway, I added salt and pepper, but I feel like I could have done more pepper. It would have benefitted from more pepper.
45A Fashion designer’s purchase: BOLTOFFABRIC. Just like how fabric is sold in bolts and there are bolt ends that are sold for less as scrap, that’s how I get my pieces of wood for my woodworking projects! But scrap from the hardwood store. Not from the fabric store.

54A Early advantage … or what 20-, 28- and 45-Across each have?: RUNNINGSTART. Streak, dash, bolt.

Finished this one in 4:55.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-28-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

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I pulled out 33D Pin point?: LAPEL because I routinely wear two lapel pins when I wear a suit. Most frequently I wear a suit to the Magic Castle in Hollywood. When I go, I wear my magician member pin and a pin that another magician member friend of mine gave to me about a year ago. That second pin is of a hand and a card fan. It’s really cool both in its appearance and its meaning. Nader Hanna is immensely nice and a wonderful performer.

The puzzle’s title is Garage Sale Pitches.

23A TV, volume knob broken, only $10!: CANTTURNTHATDOWN.
43A Baseball mitt, has a small hole, just $1!: DROPEVERYTHING.
68A Guitar, never used, $15!: NOSTRINGSATTACHED. I don’t know of any guitars that come not pre-strung.
91A Textbook, a few pages torn out, $2!: LIMITEDEDITION. As long as it’s not the cover because stripped books are no joke.
114A Two fish tanks, accessories included, $5!: ROCKBOTTOMPRICES.

Finished this one in 34:59.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-27-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

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I pulled out 24A Brilliant display: BLAZE because I had GLAZE in there for a long time, and that made me think that 24D The world’s most-visited city (20+ million travelers annually): BANGKOK was GANGNAM, which I knew couldn’t make sense. Like, it might as well be Itaewon, amirite? I don’t like BLAZE as an answer for that clue.

No theme, but there were some long answers.

16A Operative: UNCERCOVERAGENT.
53A “You can come out now”: THECOASTISCLEAR. Calah and I were in Orange County on a mini-moon, and the coast was pretty clear! We did a ton of walking, so that’s a good thing.

Finished this one in 28:08.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-26-21 Complete (contains spoilers) #nytxw

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Tomorrow I’ll be back to my computer. Still on my phone today.

I pulled out 5A Onetime chain that offered Free Battery Club memberships: RADIOSHACK mainly because I love this 2007 article from The Onion: Even CEO Can’t Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business.

Finished this one in 33:24.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-25-21 Complete (contains spoilers) #nytxw

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This puzzle has a lot of oddly specifically relevant clues. I’ll expand upon that later.

I pulled out 1A Builder of a papery nest: WASP because wasps were building a nest under the eave of a neighboring building. I didn’t care much for that, but I wasn’t about to go knocking on doors like covid isn’t a thing. So I looked at Google maps and found a photo with the banner outside that advertised open units. I called the number only to find that the building had been sold and was no longer under the management whose number appeared on that banner. I set it aside for a few days to regroup and to be successful in other areas(?), and when I returned to the wasps issue, I did a Google search for newer listings in that building. I got through to the right people! I said either take away the wasps or charge them rent, but status quo is unacceptable. The nest stayed up for months, but activity stopped within a couple days of the call.

There’s a theme, but it’s difficult to write it out on the wp app.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Finished this one in 14:04.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-24-21 Complete (contains spoilers) #nytxw

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I pulled out 31D Dark green side dish: KALESALAD because the Trader Joe’s kale something or other that’s sold in glass jars is being recalled because it may have glass in it! Moral of the story: no kale. Get your roughage from broccoli.

Writing this one from my phone, which isn’t ideal, but there you go. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Finished this one in 15:10.

NYT Crossword 11-23-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

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I pulled out 18A Font akin to Helvetica: ARIAL because it’s not exact, but it’s kinda close? They’re both sans-serif fonts that are clean and easy to read. I also prefer Arial to Calibri. I don’t know if it’s because I was raised with Arial or what, but it’s true.

Also the #raabidfun T-shirts are in Helvetica.

The #raabidfun T-shirt available in many sizes!

Theme! Today’s has down clues rather than across clues. Weird.

3D M.L.B. record-holder for most career home runs: BARRYBONDS. *
11D Singer profiled in the biopic “Walk the Line”: JOHNNYCASH.
29D N.B.A. commissioner starting in 2014: ADAMSILVER.

20A Sort of investment suggested by the ends of 3-, 11- and 29-Down: PERSONALFINANCE. Bonds, cash, silver.

Finished this one in 4:25–a new record! The old record was 5:22 that I had set back in July of this year.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday4:133:499:185:0184
Tuesday4:254:2513:0611:458
Wednesday7:3816:5111:5524
Thursday12:1227:5022:1610
Friday10:2929:2318:1824
Saturday16:3330:3321:2624
Sunday15:1150:5738:3011

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-22-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

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I pulled out 27D Dehydrated plum: PRUNE because prune just means plum but in other languages. Here’s the etymology:

prune (n.)

mid-14c., “a plum,” also “a dried plum” (c. 1200 in place name Prunhill), from Old French pronne “plum” (13c.), from Vulgar Latin *pruna, fem. singular formed from Latin pruna, neuter plural of prunum “a plum,” a dissimilated borrowing of Greek proumnon, from proumnē “plum tree,” a word probably, like the tree itself, of Anatolian origin and thus from a language of Asia Minor. Slang meaning “disagreeable or disliked person” is from 1895. Prune juice is from 1807.

Theme!

17A Pastime for armchair sports enthusiasts: FANTASYBASEBALL. Fantasy baseball is pretty much the worst. The season is so, so long. And to play it right, you gotta do rotisserie rather than head-to head, so you don’t even really know how it goes until the season ends. It’s way too much of a commitment, and how can you be a fan of the game and play roto fantasy baseball? If you throw being a functioning human, forget it. Stay away from fantasy baseball.
29A Unidentifiable protein: MYSTERYMEAT.
45A Holy site in Jerusalem: WESTERNWALL.
61A Spanish or French, but not German: ROMANCELANGUAGE.

67A What the start of 17-, 29-, 45- or 61-Across is, in a bookstore: GENRE. Fantasy novels, mystery novels, westerns, and romance novels. Also what’s a bookstore?

Finished this one in 4:13.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday4:133:499:185:0184
Tuesday5:2213:0611:457
Wednesday7:3816:5111:5524
Thursday12:1227:5022:1610
Friday10:2929:2318:1824
Saturday16:3330:3321:2624
Sunday15:1150:5738:3011