I pulled out 42A Small bouquet: POSY because that’s the name of the rabbi whose class I attend via zoom most Thursdays. It’s a class that’s about what’s in the bible and how it applies today rather than just what’s in there the end.
Theme!
15A Flummox: BEWILDER. 17A Flummox: BEMUSE. 55A Flummox: BEFUDDLE. 52A Flummox … or a classic word game represented by the central grid of shaded squares, in which 15-, 17- and 55-Across can be found: BOGGLE.
The puzzle online animates the four theme clues as they would be in the game Boggle one letter at a time. It’s way more decent a theme than I had expected.
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.
I pulled out 25D Generational divide: AGEGAP because it reminds me of a show that had been on Netflix: Age Gap Love. If you didn’t watch it, here’s a little bit:
At the time it was on Netflix, I told a coworker about it. She pulled Netflix up on her computer, and I guided her to the show. She didn’t care for it and didn’t want it in her Continue Watching section. She then errantly continued to take my advice and advanced to the end of each episode with the logic that Netflix would no longer remind her of all the wrinkly people. However, she really just told Netflix that she went through the series very quickly and wanted lots of content similar to the show she had just devoured.
The title of this puzzle is Snoozefest. Lots of Z’s. How hard could it be? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
18A Harriet’s partner on 1950s-’60s TV: OZZIE. 22A Inaptly named bear of a tongue twister: FUZZYWUZZY.
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear/Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair/Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy…/So he changed his name to Ed Asner.
28A Winter weather hazard: FREEZINGDRIZZLE. That sounds horrible. 37A Get closer and closer: ZEROIN. A sugar-fee drug! 42A Transfixed: AGAZE. 45A Ostentatious display: RAZZLEDAZZLE. 63A Final creature encountered in “Dr. Seuss’s ABC”: ZIZZERZAZZERZUZZ. 85A Sportscaster Jim with the classic opening “Hello, friends”: NANTZ. 86A Opportunities to win a vacation on “Wheel of Fortune”: PRIZEPUZZLES. 91A Actress Ana of “Love, Victor”: ORTIZ. 93A Bistro sign word: CHEZ. Also a lounge sign word. 101A “Which Disney Princess Are You?” and the like: BUZZFEEDQUIZZES. 107A Eye shade: HAZEL. Like my wife‘s eyes. 113A Conflagration: BLAZE. 116A Popeye creator Segar: ELZIE. 2D Côte d’_: AZUR. Calah read A Year in Provence to me. 3D Nickname for Isabelle or Isidore: IZZY. Awful clue. Really, really bad. 4D Fashion designer Lange: LIZ. 7D Rattles: FAZES. 8D Opposite of flatness: FIZZ. FizzBuzz, am I right? Some of you know what I’m talking about. 12D Many a collaboration between Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald: JAZZDUET. 14D Spanish composer Isaac: ALBENIZ. 30D Nintendo princess: ZELDA. 31D Order of roses: DOZEN. 34D Kilt-wearing Greek infantryman: EVZONE. 37D Chain that sells chains: ZALES. 39D Levels: RAZES. 40D Old fogy: GEEZER. 43D Partner of glamour: GLITZ. 46D _ garden: ZEN. 47D When repeated, one of the Gabor sisters: ZSA. 50D Mercedes-_: BENZ. 54D Stupor: DAZE. 57D Pac-Man navigates through one: MAZE. 58D Wood-shaping tool: ADZ. 61D Six-Day War leader Weizman: EZER. 63D Unsightly spot: ZIT. 65D Counterfeit: ERSATZ. 67D Having some pep: ZINGY. 73D Nervous state: TIZZY. 75D Football sideline reporter Kolber: SUZY. 76D Brand of pretzels and chips: UTZ. 81D Pointy-eared dog: SPITZ. 82D Big name in car parts: AUTOZONE. Get in the zone. 87D Victoria Falls river: ZAMBEZI. 99D Pound and others: EZRAS. 100D Worshiper of the rain god Tlaloc: AZTEC. 104D Eleven, en français: ONZE. 109D Country music’s _ Brown Band: ZAC.
111A Quick nap … or a playful description of the 64-Down here: FORTYWINKS. 64D Sleep indicators: ZEES.
In case you’re wondering, I showed my coworker how to delete an item from watch history so no recommendations would be made from having gotten to the end of every episode of Age Gap Love.
I pulled out 1D Stumbling syllables: UHS because I had UMS there the whole game. I couldn’t figure out what I’d done wrong. Then I tried the H, and that was that. Now I know that the 13A Native Rwandan: HUTU. Clearly I have much to learn.
If I didn’t write this blog, I wouldn’t have understood the theme.
19A Land___: DISPOSALAREA. 22A ___more and more: PRESIDENTS. 40A I___, for one: NEWSCASTER.
48A Test format … or a hint to understanding three of this puzzle’s clues: FILLINTHEBLANK. Now, I’d filled this in with MULTIPLECHOICE. It was wrong. It never was multiple choice.
So why fill in the blank?
19A LandFILL: DISPOSAL AREA. 22A FILLmore and more: PRESIDENTS. Millard Fillmore. Not on the list of baby names when that time comes. 40A IFILL, for one: NEWSCASTER because Gwen Ifill.
This Saturday puzzle looked hopeless. I’m really glad I started Friday when it came out and picked it up again tonight. If I’d had to start it tonight, it would have a severe impact on anything else I’m doing.
I pulled out 1D Computer store: CACHE because I was struggling with that one for so long. I kept going back to it. At first I’d thought APPLE, but that didn’t make any sense because there was no hint that it was that. Nothing else really fit. It wasn’t the last clue I got, but it was close.
The theme also seemed to be long and a little obscure?
1A Goof: CARELESSMISTAKE. Not an early answer for me. 16A Mischievous character in West African folklore: ANANSITHESPIDER. Um, what?
17A Hosts: COMMUNIONWAFER. Too Jewish to have gotten this one early. 61A Passive-aggressive tactic: SILENT TREATMENT. 64A Renter’s amenity: PRIVATEENTRANCE. How is this the answer to this clue? 65A Gaze at with appreciation: FEASTONESEYESON.
Another Sunday in a row, but it took me a long time. Sunday puzzles aren’t necessarily the hardest, but they’re just so lengthy. I think my favorite clue of this puzzle was 106A Where spaghetti and orzo rank in terms of their suitability for making necklaces? BELOWMACARONI. It’s true! You can’t really make those into necklaces.
Speaking of pasta: On an early date with my now-fiancee, we made pasta from scratch together. It really isn’t that hard. Ingredients are just flour, egg, and salt. Some people say only to work the dough with hands while other people say that it’s totally fine to use a Cuisinart. Since this was an early date, Cuisinart it was! I can tell no difference in the quality, so I recommend that method. I have a pasta roller and some cutter attachments for my KitchenAid, so we were set once the dough had rested in a fridge for a little while.
I recommend that everyone who can eat pasta at least tries to make pasta from scratch once. During the COVID era, you’ve got the time, and it is even cheaper than getting dried pasta from the store.
Manage your privacy
To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
