Category Archives: Crosswords

WSJ Crossword 1-11-21 Complete

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I’m trying something new here, and I’m hoping you’ll bear with me. Since the WSJ crossword takes up time during the week, I figured I’d try to do all of them each Sunday and time their posting to go out each day but a week late. EXCEPT for the Friday puzzle. That one will be posted on time on Sundays.

I pulled out 66A Lease signer: TENANT because I’ve been watching Because This is my First life, and it’s pretty good! It’s the fourth K-Drama I’ve started and the third I think I’ll make it through. Start-Up and Crash Landing on You were easy to watch. Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol wasn’t for me. Because This is My Frist Life has a lot of promise.

The title of this puzzle is Going to Pot.

17A Something with negligible value: HILLOFBEANS.
25A Scouting activity, quaintly: WEENIEROAST. Does KROQ still have the Weenie Roast concert?
39A Is motivated by self-interest: HASANAXETOGRIND. When did ax become axe? I remember ax growing up, but now it’s axe? It’s like how Australia is a continent but now Oceania is a continent?
48A “Double, double toil and trouble” concoction: WITCHESBREW.

61A Unremarkable sort, or what you’re left with after 17-, 25-, 39- and 48-Across: ORDINARYJOE.

Of course a Monday puzzle is the one about coffee. Though I guess that could also be a Friday puzzle. Or a Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday.

COFFEE BEANS, ROAST COFFEE, GRIND COFFEE, BREW COFFEE.

Finished this one in 8:44.

WSJ Crossword Contest 1-17-21 Answer

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This puzzle started off with a busted WSJ puzzles site. I couldn’t do the crossword puzzle on my screen no matter which computer or browser I used. So I printed it out. I did the puzzle in pen, and that got Calah to call me a lunatic or something to that effect.

As I went through, I did have some errors, so I had to overwrite some of my answers. It’s not the prettiest of grids, but it’s honest.

It was a lot of fun, but I knew I couldn’t get the meta puzzle answer from this nonsense.

So it was off to Excel!

Way easier to read and to highlight!

The clues fell into place, as did the highlighting.

And, of course, the missing word of the movie titles.

AMERICA
BLACK
ULTIMATUM
GAME
SUNDAY

A BUG’S with the missing LIFE because I WON’T SPOIL THE ENDING.

So the answer: A Bug’s Life.

NYT Crossword 1-17-21 Complete

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On this day in 1994, LA woke up to a magnitude 6.7 earthquake. With an epicenter near Northridge, it’s one of the worst things to come out of the Valley, and that’s saying something. (I know I’m going to be paying for that statement later, but it’s totally worth it.) I don’t remember the shaking itself, but I remember my dad driving us around to look at the rubble. It was pretty bad. Freeway overpasses had collapsed. Lots of stuff was broken. Generally bad times.

I pulled out 14D Fading process for jeans: ACIDWASH because I joked(?) a couple months ago that anyone in LA who wanted acid wash jeans should leave them outside because it was going to rain that night/day. The next day was beautiful because all the smog was gone.

The title of this puzzle is Double-Crossed, and the grid looks slightly different in the print edition.

23A Way into a garage, typically: OVERHEA(DD/OO)R. That’s true about half the time for me. If I go in through the overhead door, I go out through the pedestrian door. If I go in through the pedestrian door, I go out through the overhead door.
7D Subject of a Sleeves Up campaign: BL(OO/DD)RIVE. There are lots of reports of blood shortages in more places than just Transylvania. COVID has made it almost impossible to get people to donate blood. There’s less coverage of how the chocolate chip cookie industry is affected. Maybe Nutter Butter can shed some light on this type of blow.
34A Nickelodeon competitor: CART(OO/NN)ETWORK.
13D Classic dorm room meal: RAME(NN/OO)DLES. I still have not yet had ramen. And I see a lot of it in the K-Dramas.
61A Prominent women’s rights lawyer: GLORI(AA/LL)RED. And she’s not letting Harvey Weinstein get away with it.
45D Beer in a green bottle: STE(LL/AA)RTOIS. Green bottle made me think Heineken then Beck’s. I think of Stella Artois as being in a brown bottle. It’s not.

Just try to get one of these in America.

76A Visual phenomenon created by short flashes of light: STROB(EE/FF)ECT. Long exposure with a strobe makes for amazing photos.
66D Nestlé creamer: CO(FF/EE)MATE. The perfect amount of coffeemate is just get better coffee and use milk and sugar.
104A Some entertainers at children’s birthday parties: BA(LL/OO)NARTISTS.

Dennis Forel is not just an amazing balloon sculptor but a really nice guy!

85D Sallie Mae products: SCH(OO/LL)OANS. What will happen when there’s free college for everyone?
119A Awards show that airs at night, ironically: DAYTIM(EE/MM)YS. It seems like everyone in the industry has at least one Emmy. I don’t, but I’m also not in the industry.
101D Pool competitions: SWI(MM/EE)TS. Can anyone forget Ryan Lochte’s American Flag grill? Does anybody even want to?

It’s perfect.

I thought this puzzle was pretty good.

Finished in 1:11:55.

NYT Crossword 1-15-21 Complete

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None too bad for a Friday puzzle. The timer went on kinda long because I got up from the computer partway through and didn’t realize the timer was still going. Not that it matters, of course. I mean the WSJ Friday puzzle didn’t work on the website at all, so I had to print that one out to do it. You’ll see that post on Sunday because I also figured out the meta puzzle answer super fast.

I pulled out 41A Game that can be played on bicycles or elephants: POLO because it’s crazy to think about all the different types of unusual polo. Harvey Mudd notoriously has a unicycle hockey, which is kinda like polo.

The theme of this puzzle seems to be GET TRUMP OUTTA THERE.

29A Eclipsed everyone else: STOLETHESHOW. Trump has talked about having a rally at the same time as Biden’s inauguration. What a crazy guy.
32A One getting fired up for competition?: STARTERPISTOL. This one is kind of on the nose.
48A Complete loss of self-identity: EGODEATH. Reports are that Trump is all mopey after the second impeachment. I would be, too, but also I wouldn’t have done all those harrible harrible things like you wouldn’t believe.
51A Where one might hear a call for action: MOVIESET. If only Trump had stuck to that instead of using his office as bully pulpit to bring the worst out of people.
52A Metaphorical incentive: CARROT. Completely ineffective against Trump.
12D Honcho: LEADER + 33D Captured, in a way: ONCAMERA. Trump is a leader on camera, but he’s garbage in reality.
36D: Employs as a backup plan, with “to”: RESORTS. Reports are that Jared and Ivanka aren’t allowed to join the country club near their new $30M Indian Creek Island home. Whoops!
37D Blanked on: FORGOT. Person, man, woman, camera, TV.

and finally

7D Topic in property law, colloquially: SQUATTERSRIGHTS. That’s what these past few months have been about. Now scram!

Have a great, safe weekend, everyone!

NYT Crossword 1-14-21 Complete

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What a day today may be! People are calling for Liz Cheney’s head, and that’s a real shame. We need unity now, and the way to do it is to excise the things that continue to tear us apart. My take is that if Trump has won reelection and done this, they wouldn’t have minded getting him out right now, installing Pence, and then have an easy Pence inauguration on January 20. But that’s not the world right now.

I pulled out 53A “90 Day Fiancé” network: TLC because Calah and I binge watched that show together around the time we got engaged. There are so many things wrong with that show, and that’s, of course, why we had to watch all of it. Then we watched the spinoff, The Family Chantel. More trainwreck. So good.

I didn’t realize what the circles were until the end. It had seemed like they were all T’s, but that turned out to be incorrect. In this case, it was good that NYT automatically filled in the circles with the letter choices.

18A Relative of a croc: GA(T/B)OR. I took the clue to mean crocodile, so it was GATOR for alligator. But it can be taken like the shoe. Now I know that GABOR is a shoe brand.
7D Garage jobs: LU(T/B)ES. I took the clue to refer to cars, so it was LUBES. As for LUTES, I have zero idea how this applies.
24A Desires: WAN(T/E)S. I figured it was WANTS. That makes sense. I guess desires can wane. Like the desire to understand this puzzle because now I’m feeling that there’s a chance that the first letter is for the across and the second letter is for the down, and each word exists with the other letter.
4D What a letter needs: LEAS(T/E). I just don’t get this one. Oh, wait, letter like tenant. Contract to live or work somewhere. Now I understand.
27A Awesome time: B(L/O)AST. Having a blast is a good thing. You can later boast about it.
10D Brief appearance: CAME(L/O). A brief appearance is a cameo. As the Australians know, camels tend to stick around.
51A Have a Pavlovian response: DRO(O/L). Ring the bell = getting fed. Can’t wait. Droll means “Curious or unusual in a way that provokes dry amusement.” Could work! Feeling like it’s more and more likely that it’s just across/down.
55A Moves like molasses: S(E/T)EPS. Molasses seeps. Oozes might be better. I don’t think of molasses as stepping.
56D Spud: (E/T)ATER. This can only be the TATER for potato.
62A Ancient unit of length: CU(B/T)IT. Cubit is a thing. I don’t think that there was any CUTIT measurement.
54D Petrol unit: LI(B/T)RE. Only can be LITRE.

38A Classic party game … or a hint to solving the answers that intersect circles: SPINTHEBOTTLE. Oh, now I get it! Clockwise, it’s
T/B
L/O
E/T
B/T
O/L
T/E

Good times.

Finished this one in 28:21.

NYT Crossword 1-13-21 Complete

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I’m behind on this morning’s rules hearings in the House of Representatives now by about 45 minutes. I’m watching it on 1.25x right now so I can get as much in before starting work this morning. The resolve against Trump is way more bipartisan than it has been. Of course that’s not hard because it’s been along party lines, but this really should be unanimous. The concept that this is just a hoax and a conspiracy is madness. Jim Jordan got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and he’s not making Trump question his decision. I just got to the point where they’re voting on the rules. I guess I’m caught up? OK cool.

I pulled out 18D Make an effort to get swole: HITTHEWEIGHTS because I used to go to the gym with Calah weekly before COVID hit. I mainly rode a stationary bike and listened to books on Audible while Calah went to a workout class. Finally I agreed to go to one of those crazy classes with her, but I was prevented from following through because COVID hit, and even my dad advised that the gym seems like a bad place to spend any time. The gyms closed a couple weeks later.

The theme of this puzzle is basketball movies? The commissioner of baseball told all teams to show up for spring training next month and to expect a 162-game season. That seems laughable in the COVID era.

20A Address by a Sacramento N.B.A. player?: THEKINGSSPEECH. Like the 2010 film and the team.
35A Game notes for a New Orleans N.B.A. player?: THEPELICANBRIEF. Like the 1993 film and the team. So there were the Charlotte Hornets that moved to New Orleans and became the New Orleans Hornets. Then Charlotte got another team, the Bobcats, reportedly named by and after founder Robert Johnson. The New Orleans Hornets temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City as New Orleans was recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Then in 2013, the New Orleans Hornets renamed itself the New Orleans Pelicans, as Louisiana is the Pelican State. The following year, the Charlotte Bobcats were renamed the Charlotte Hornets.
46A Charlotte N.B.A. player in charge of recycling?: THEGREENHORNET. Like the 2011 film and the team.

I finished this on in 15:39.

NYT Crossword 1-12-21 Complete

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Wow! The hearing this mor

ning was ridiculous. Jim Jordan is how he’s been for a while. He just focuses on the irrelevant parts of events, and he won’t say that the election wasn’t rigged.

I pulled out 47D Expeditions by knights: QUESTS because I play Avalon with friends most Tuesday nights, and I’m writing this as we’re playing right now. If they read this post, they’ll know why I’ve been a little distracted.

Today’s long clues are clearly in reference to getting Trump out of the Oval.

18A Hard deposit in a bladder: KIDNEYSTONE.
29A Legislation often resulting from compromise: BIPARTISANBILL. Come on, Mitch McConnell, let’s get an early trial going after impeachment breezes through the House.
46A N.F.L. signal caller: PROQUARTERBACK.
61A Jiffy: BRIEFMOMENT.

37A Adage on the impermanence of suffering … or a hint to 18-, 29-, 46- and 61-Across: THISTOOSHALLPASS.

They all pass stuff, but we need these articles of impeachment to go through and for us to make Mike Pence. Also NYT just reported that the Trump administration executed Lisa Montgomery while Trump happily pardoned all kinds of criminals. What a time to be alive!

Finished this one in 11:30.

Gotta start paying attention to Avalon again.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-11-21 Complete

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Lots of ones today! 01, 11, 21. Forget the prefix of 20 on the last one. I watched the House of Representatives meet this morning, and I must have missed something because HR 21 seemed only to ask Pence to invoke the 25th, and then there was no introduction of articles of impeachment. Then there were news reports that impeachment was introduced. Is it that they’re introducing them at the committee level? I’d appreciate any clarification.

I pulled out 18A Cast celebration at the end of filming: WRAPPARTY for two reasons. One is that I am from LA and have known that term for as long as I can remember. The other is that I started watching the K-Drama Because This Is My First Life, and in the first episode even they use that term. I haven’t gotten far enough to determine if Calah and I should watch it together, but it looks way more promising than Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol did at this stage, so I have some hope. I know it’s rare for me to pull out a theme clue, but I felt strongly about this one.

Theme clues

18A Cast celebration at the end of filming: WRAPPARTY.
26A Souvenirs from Havana: CUBANCIGARS. Obama lifted the ban on Cuban cigars back in 2016. If I cared at all for the smell of cigars, I’d be happy about it, I’m sure. But the thing I really care about is the 25% scotch tariff enacted by the Trump in 2019. Joe Biden, you know what to do. If you don’t, the thing to do is to get rid of the tariff.
44A Going from nightspot to nightspot: CLUBHOPPING. I remember when a few friends and I barhopped in Santa Monica one Halloween. Lots of lines. Worth doing once, though.
59A Certain online board for discussion of a topic: SUBREDDIT. If only going to a subreddit didn’t trigger incessant notifications from ones you only looked at and didn’t join. HALP!!!!

58D Where you might find the starts of 18-, 26-, 44- and 59-Across: DELI.

WRAP, CUBAN sandwich, CLUB sandwich, SUBmarine sandwich.

Finished this one in 5:53. The Monday streak is actually at 39. My phone thinks otherwise.

WSJ Contest 1-8-21 Answer

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It’s all but guaranteed that my answer is wrong, but damned if I didn’t put effort into it.

The answer I was going to submit is ESSAY. I decided against that while writing this.

This can’t possibly be the answer because there’s nothing supporting it, but it’s the only thing that I can come up with that has to do with English class.

The AP part of AP English was–and still is–bothering me.

I had gone down that route.

Any AP together might have indicated something I could use. Perhaps letters in between A and P could tell me something. It did not.

I looked to see if SA could get me anywhere for ESSAY.

No dice there, either.

Maybe the longest answers would help?

Didn’t seem like it.

Then I realized something that was sure to break this wide open!

The A and the P were right there! That just had to be something. It couldn’t not be!

After staring at it longer, I decided that I’d go with ADJECTIVE.

All the letters are there! Who knows!

NYT Crossword 1-10-21 Complete

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It would have been my zeidie’s birthday today. He’d have been 98 years old. He survived more than half a dozen concentration camps, was liberated from Ebensee in Austria, and later had a sheet metal shop in Los Angeles. He passed away during Obama’s second term.

I pulled out 2D ___ shield: RIOT because I felt like it was an inappropriate clue and answer along with 123A Makes Don nod?: REVERSES in light of the storming of the Capitol this past week. Maybe stay away from that stuff for the moment, Will Shortz.

The title of today’s puzzle is Oh, Fourpeat’s Sake!

22A Classic saying originated by John Donne: NOM[ANISANIS]LAND.
31A Aid for making a tiki bar cocktail: BAH[AMAMAMAM]IX.
48A “Glad to have you back, dear!”: WELC[OMEHOMEH]ON.
62A Most expensive block: PR[IMETIMET]V.
72A Post-interruption question: WH[EREWEREW]E.
87A First ruler of a united Hawaii: KINGK[AMEHAMEH]A.
103A Relatively light foundry product: AL[UMINUMIN]GUT.
118A Potful in some Italian kitchens: RO[MATOMATO]SAUCE.

The fourpeat is the repeat of the four letters in the shaded boxes.

I didn’t care much for this puzzle. Kind of a disappointing Sunday. My feelings may be colored by what’s happened and is going on in DC, but I’m happy to be done with the puzzle till tomorrow.

I finished this one in 47:28.