Tag Archives: John Guzzetta

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-24-22 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 8D Breakout movie role, say: STARTURN because I’ve never heard this term before. Maybe I have, and maybe it was a crossword answer before. If so, I’ve solved it only from the cross words.

Theme!

16A It doesn’t need time to rise before baking: QUICKBREAD.
29A One of two “royal” sleeping options: QUEENBED.
35A Social crafting event: QUILTINGBEE.
42A ATV with four tires: QUADBIKE.

59A Key member of a football team, in brief … or a feature of 16-, 29-, 35- and 42-Across?: STARTINGQB.

Nyah-nyah, Tom Brady. LFGR.

Finished this one in 6:23.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 8-13-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 30D Insight offerer: HONDA because I did not understand this until after I finished the puzzle. But now I get it. Honda Insight. Not getting advice from an automobile. Though they do have the Helpful Honda folks.

The First Generation Honda Insight is a weird-looking vehicle. Someone the grade above me in high school had one. The car certainly made a statement.

No theme to this puzzle that I could discern. Gotta run now!

Finished this one in 34:28.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday11:443:499:287:2769
Tuesday12:295:2213:3911:4112
Wednesday19:587:3817:3118:0310
Thursday20:1812:1229:0622:5310
Friday34:2816:2334:4333:0810
Saturday27:4335:2836:509
Sunday15:1155:0538:559

NYT Crossword Puzzle 7-22-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I thought I was going kinda slow with this one, as I did it while waking up, but that was wrong! I beat my old Thursday best by almost a minute! But this did feel like an overly friendly Thursday puzzle. And you see that the streak is at 46 now. Like I said in yesterday’s post: “Tomorrow’s puzzle will show that my streak really is still alive.”

I pulled out 22A Land of plenty?: ASIA because I don’t understand this answer. I had been under the impression that Australia is the land of plenty. That’s why it’s easy for them to reject temptation.

The theme for this puzzle was far out.

17A Ones sporting man buns and ironic T-shirts, say: HIPSTERS. Did covid bring back the manbun or did it never leave. And can it please go away for forever? I mean ironichaircut.com aside, meh.
20A Closest living relatives of whales: HIPPOPOTAMUSES. How do you stop a hippo from charging?
35A They enforce discipline among legislators: PARTYWHIPS.
42A Locations of some dives: SHIPWRECKS.
63A Little dipper?: PITACHIP. Awful answer. Really dumb. Pita chips can be big.
57A Inseparable … or like three pairs of answers in this puzzle?: JOINEDATTHEHIP.

That caused doubling!

1D Get back into shape: REHHAB instead of REHAB.
2D Come up: ARIISE instead of ARISE.
3D Lukewarm: TEPPID instead of TEPID.

27D Exhibited relief, in a way: EXHHALED instead of EXHALED.
33D It can be heavier in the summer: AIIR instead of AIR.
21D Admits: ACCEPPTS instead of ACCEPTS.

51D Run-of-the-mill: HOHHUM instead of HOHUM.
52D Upper echelon: ELIITE instead of ELITE.
53D Took performance-enhancing drugs: DOPPED instead of DOPED. But in the world of stonks and hodl, DOPPED seems real.

With the bonus:
32A Pelvic joints: COXAE.

I realize now that I’m disappointed the the puzzle didn’t make giant HIPs. The formatting should have extended.

OK I fixed it. HIP HIP HIP HOORAY!

Finished this one in 12:12. A new personal best for a Thursday.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday6:103:499:298:0566
Tuesday9:545:2213:4012:019
Wednesday14:277:3817:2812:357
Thursday12:1212:1229:1928:057
Friday16:2334:5528:156
Saturday27:4336:2538:176
Sunday15:1157:4443:206

NYT Crossword 11-25-20 Complete

A moment ago I was excited to have done a Thursday puzzle so quickly. Then I realized that today is only Wednesday. And I can be fine at Wednesdays, so it turns out that this was no real surprise.

I pulled out 32D Signed, sealed or delivered: PASTTENSE because of how sad the song would have been. I mean could you imagine?

There I was / Signed, sealed, delivered / I was yours back then.

Depressing!

I don’t know how I feel about today’s theme other than that it exists.

16A Prince, e.g.: MALEHEIR
25A Stamp on an envelope [and 16-Across flipped]: AIRMAIL
31A It takes a glider up to launch altitude: TOWPLANE
44A It takes a glider up to launch altitude: PLAINTOE
50A Golf reservation: TEETIME
63A Herbal drink full of antioxidants [and 50-Across flipped]: THYMETEA

Thyme tea? This is the first I’ve ever heard of thyme tea. So I looked it up and came across these questions:

That second one really got my mind going. What does happen to your body when you drink thyme tea?

A little more searching got me to the unassailable medical publication Stylecraze’s 3 Side Effects That Tell You Why Thyme May Not Always Be Good. Those side effects are headaches, asthma, and skin allergies.

It even offered that it could lead to “hypotension: Allergic response to thyme may cause hypotension, as observed in a 45-year old man. Some sources even hint cardiac arrest upon the intake of thyme oil.”

When you talk about a single uncited case and then offer the vague “some sources,” it’s just gotta be true.

I finished this one in 12:19. We’ll see tomorrow what a real Thursday puzzle will do to me.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!