Tuesday, January 31, 2023 | (2023)

Latno time (jenny)

NOW3:28 (Amy)

WSJ5:04 (Jim P)

Jonesin' Crosswords by Matt Jones, "Free Spin" - written by Erin

Hello, my dears! Matt gifted us with an unthemed theme this week! I like the rounded shape of the grid, almost like an S or a Poké Ball. the mid 12s,VERY RANDOMmiHÜHNER-SHUTTLEIt caught my eye as a nice fresh filler.PRE-DAMP[Moisturizing, like many wipes] is a great hint/answer combination, but I'm one of those people who irrationally dislike the word MOISTURIZING, so I didn't appreciate it as much as I should. I have nothing but appreciation forTASTENMASKER[Video games (like Street Fighter) that require quick fingers and little nuance] but I have fond memories of hitting buttons in the arcade as fast as I could and hoping to win.

Things I learned today:

• 6d.[North American indoor sports organization. claim about 10% Iroquois among their total players]NLL.The National Lacrosse League consists of 14 teams and the players are approximately 80% Canadian. The average player salary is just under $20,000 per year.
• 16a.[Sagrada Familia Architekt Gaudi]Antonio. This is something else I relearned when Matt included it in aclass last year, and quickly forgotten.
• 42a.[University that is a castle?]YALE.Linus Yale Jr. and Henry Towne formed a Yale Lock Manufacturing Co. in 1868.
• 50a.["Anon ___" (debut novel 2022 by @DeuxMoi)]PLEASEIs DeuxMoi an anonymous Instagram account posting celebrity rumors? And you wrote a book about it?

Until next week!

Annemarie Brethauer's Wall Street Journal Crossword, "Double Standard" - review by Jim P

Thematic answers are two-word sentences where the second word is a 'copy' of the last few letters (ie the 'right') of the first word. the developer isCOPYRIGHT ©(52a, [Author's protection and a suggestion for 20-, 31- and 37-bar]).

• 20 [rule for exercises that put the least strain on the body?]LOW IMPACT.
• 31a. [Regulation restricting the use of a wind instrument?]RECORDER REQUEST.
• 37a. [Rule requiring casting Cumberbatch?]BENEDICT ISSUE.

My first reaction after understanding the topic was that I wanted all three to have 5 letter second words and I found the inconsistency unfortunate. But then I realized what I was missing. The second words are synonyms for LEI (which you probably would have noticed if you had noticed that each clue begins with "Rule").

That was greatDogmoment and it really made me appreciate the topic. I particularly liked the last entry in the magazine because for a while it looked like Cumberbatch would be in some popular works (he and Idris Elba). (I'm not complaining because I like your work. Have you ever done anything together?)

Good theme and good long padding withECUADOR,GRAMMATIK,DULCE, a sarcasm"BOO-HOO!"BIOPICOS, mi "IT'S ME(although I needed the most crossovers for this one). The solution ran smoothly from start to finish - well, by the wayPOP[Reconciliation Gift].

Tracknotizens:

• 8a. [Motorized bicycles].Mopeds. Not what I think of when I think of "motorized bikes". Mopeds have been around for decades, but real motorized bikes are a little newer (right?).
• 45 Pence [„Armes Baby, wah-wah!“]. „BOO-HOO!” I really liked this advice.
• 53d. ["I don't love ___ anymore" (Cancion de Annie Lennox)].OF. I had an Annie Lennox kick last week so this was nice to look at even though it was an odd looking filler. Today I learned: Lennox's version is a cover of a song by a British bandThe lover speaks(I've never heard of them). With it, she won the 1995 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, beating Carey, Raitt and others.

Good puzzle all around. 3.75 stars.

Morton J. Mendelson's Universal Crucigram - "One Way or Another" - Written by Matt F

Pay attention to today's headline because that's the only topic tip you'll get! Each asterisked entry is a direct reference to 'one way' and for the corresponding entry down you are tasked with discovering 'other' as in a word versus the cross answer. To be perfectly honest, "different" doesn't really seem to me to mean "opposite", but let's do it. I convinced myself that the puzzle led to another = alternative = other. Let's examine the impressive nine (9!) Pairs:

• 1A/1D– [*Without food] =FAST/PARTY
• 5A/5D– [*help] =HELP/RESTRICTION
• 9A/9D– [*Grande] =GROSS KLEIN
• 22A/22D– [*Stable] =STABLE/shaking
• 33A/33D– [*average] =FINE, FINE
• 41A/41D– [*brightly lit] =SUN/SHADE
• 45A/45D– [*Go to] =INPUT OUTPUT
• 57A/57D– [*Fast] =SPEED/SLOW
• 64A/64D– [*full volume] =HIGH LOW

From a structural point of view, this topic is a great challenge! The trick applies to all cross/low pairs starting in a corner. Check out the grid again if you missed it! — and under these conditions create 9 pairs of opposites while keeping a relatively clean grid (THE IDYLanyway) is an impressive achievement. Also, by nerd standards, it's cool that so many antonyms share a common initial.

The subject matter is so dense that it doesn't leave much room for enthusiasm, but I like what we have in the middle of the padding:CHECKED,MAESTRO,EQUITY CAPITAL,EDIT WARS... and how about the reference to NestléFASTDust? I shamelessly admit that I loved this stuff as a kid after it was officially rebranded as Nesquik (one of the big names in acronym products if you ask me). I can still feel that sweet chocolate nostalgia when I close my eyes and think about it. Ahh... the good old days.

Thank you Morton!

The New York Times Crossword by Erik Agard - Amy's synopsis

NO!HELLO HELLO! This is a Filipino gift16 [Doppelter Name Crushed Ice Dessert]. (Reduplicativerefers to words/phrases like choo-choo, mama, and pooh-pooh.) You'll get yoursshaved ice, condensed milk and a selection of sweet fruits and vegetables, and then you top it off with a scoop of ube ice cream (ube is a purple yam used primarily in Filipino desserts). Thanks Erik for including HALO-HALO in your grid, and with basic crossovers, so I don't want to hear any complaints.

I didn't get the topic until I came to the developer,24 Days [Chanteuse with chart-topping Top 4, 14, 16 and 19-Down], MARIAH CAREY. these four areONE DAY SOON HEROES FOR RENT(I didn't know this as a Luke Cage title),ALFAROBA(Sothat iswhy the tree has this name:[Tree whose pods contain a sweet-tasting pulp]), miFANTASY SAGA. I didn't listen to much pop or R&B in the 1990's so I don't really know the songs "Someday", "Hero", "Honey" and "Fantasy". Mariah has more #1 hits than Elvis, Madonna or Michael Jackson, so this track definitely ranks as notable in pop culture.

Filling that I liked in addition to the themes and dessert:"FIRST...", "THIS HURT", CAT CAFÉ(Chicago has a rabbit petting spot, I'm not sure if there are cat cafes here too.)ETHIOPIAmiLIBYA's Africa tour with Swahili side (SUBSCRIBE TO).

The grid looks odd due to the staggered stack of subjects in the middle. Each section is connected to its neighbors so my solution flow through the grid was smooth.

4.25 stars from me.

Elizabeth C. GorskiCR♥SSC♥RDPuzzle of the Nation (Semana 609), "The Confused Quintet" - Reseña de Ade

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well as we wrap up the first month of 2023.

We had some fun with the anagrams in today's puzzle, as the first few words in the five entries in the topic are anagrams of each other. So lucky that each of these words can stand as a separate word instead of those letters being the first four letters of a larger word.

• • • LIAM HEMSWORTH (15A: [Actor in The Hunger Games])
    • EMPIRE OF MALI (24A: [Kingdom of West Africa founded by Sundiata Keita, the "Lion King"])
    • MILA KUNIS (35A: [Ukrainian 'Friends with Benefits' actress])
    • MAIL DELIVER (49A: [Postal Clerk Job])
    • BEAN SALAD WITH LIME (58A: [high-fiber side dish for legume lovers])

Topic entries and their grid positions didn't allow for very long non-topic fills anywhere else. There were these two stacks of tickets seven letters down, withSHOPPING MOUSEhighlighting the best for me...and possibly taking some of you back to your youth in the 1980's(1D: [Young woman visiting a mall]). The times I'm grateful to have seen my mom QVC in the past are the times she tells me she's a fan ofisaakMizrahi's collection and his when he appears on TV, making this answer a dish if it weren't otherwise(34D: [Mizrahi-Designer]). I love thatLAILA (50D: [undefeated boxer daughter of 47-Across])and ALI appear almost next to each other in the grid(47A: [Boxer "stings like a bee"]). Everything's ok,I AM OUT (25D: ["This business is not for me"]), but before I go, I'll leave you with some robberies...

"SportÖWillesmartestTime:STEAL (7A: [embezzlement?])- Many sports fans know that former Utah jazz forward John Stockton holds the NBA's all-time record for steals, but would you know who holds the league record for most steals in a single game? Well, that record belongs to two people: Larry Kenon, who had 11 steals for the San Antonio Spurs in a 1976 game against the Kansas City Kings, and Kendall Gill, who had 11 for the New Jersey Nets in a 1999 game against the Miamis. Heat. One of the greatest defenders of all time, Alvin Robertson had 10 steals in a game on four separate occasions. In one of the games, on February 18, 1986, Robertson, playing for Spurs, recorded a super rare quadruple double: 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals.

Thanks for the time guys! Have a nice and safe rest of the day and keep solving as always!

Cautious!

Ade/AOK

Los Angeles Times Crossword by John Guzzetta - Article by Jenni

This is a perfectly good Tuesday topic that didn't really catch up with me, possibly because I'm sitting in an airport in the fourth hour of an eight-hour travel day that started with a very loud garbage truck at 5:30am. . So maybe it's not the fault of the puzzle.

I saw the pattern and didn't find the developer necessary or particularly funny (see above re: probably grumpy reviewer).

• 20a [Refund requirement, usually].RECEIPT
• 39a [motto of a socially responsible company].PEOPLE WITH WIN.
• 56a [academic ultimatum] isPUBLISH DYING.

And the Reveal: 70a [with 71-Across, Destiny's Child, or The Supremes and an appropriate description of the longer answers to this puzzle] isPOP/TRIO. Each topic phrase starts withPAG–Ö–PAG. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing particularly attractive either.

Some other things:

• [Formless Mass] is bothDROPSmiCENTER.
• 25d [music without light] isGRIFFIN. I assume this refers to bedtime and not death.
• 41a [Miscellaneous] isSEVERAL, not VARIABLE like I tried first.
• 56d [sail prefix] isFOR. I love paragliding which is a surprise as I thought I was afraid of heights. It's not the heights I'm scared of. It falls, and that seems unlikely. Plus it's fun!
• It took me a while to analyzeAUTOaround [like some freighters] in 50d. I do not know why. See above for: tired.

What I didn't know before putting this puzzle together: this MaraROONEYwas nominated for an Oscar for "Carol". Cinema and geography are my oddities Kryptonite.

The New Yorker Crossword by Anna Shechtman - article by pannonica

As announced, moderately demanding. The hardest part for me was the upper right section. But a little time and effortand let's go.

• In the middle of this section was 16 [27-year-old Jane Austen leading lady with "every beauty but flowers"]Anne Elliot. (It's almost symmetrical to 54a [leader Jane Austen, who comments: "They seemed almost as afraid of being noticed and praised as other women are of neglect"]FANTASTIC PRICE.)
• OthersENCHARGEs(50d) top right: the width 6d [hardware bit]MUTTER, 5d [like pants from bottom to top]FLAT, the other two long cruises...actually almost all the entries there. It was slow and deliberate to complete it and the puzzle.
• 32a [catchphrase for an unconventional switch hit?]clap clap off. Does this track work well enough? Does “hit” indicate that it sold—or sold—well?
• 3d [“A real without origin or reality: a hyperreal”, by Jean Baudrillard]SIMULACRUM. Apparently with a new import into our digital age.
• 13d [metaphor of workers alienated from their work]CPV. Or very involved.
• 26d [subcontracting]RELET. I was surprised to find thisleavemisetthey are not etymologically related. Also, none of them are related.LENT(42a [advanced]).
• 45d [Serve with sauce?]HEALTHY. Lindo.
• 46d [Controversial Coverage of Pizza]RANCHO. shit (that).
• 49d [In __ delicto (equally guilty, in a trial)]PARI. Slightly better than trying to convince yourselffrom peer to peer.

A welcome Tuesday workout.

Amanda Rafkin's USA Today Crossword, Wait Around - Sophia's summary

Editor:Erik Agard
Is: Each topic answer starts with WA and ends with IT.

• 17a ["Would you like to try it?"] -I WANT TO TRY IT
• 37a [Trainingskleidung] –HEATING TIME
• 61a [Mami Wata for example] –SPIRIT OF WATER

This is a classic USA Today topic that I think lives and dies by the fun of the responses to the topic and the cleverness of the title's wordplay. Both are performed well today by Amanda and I really enjoyed the puzzle. I had never heard of Mami Wata so I needed the most crossesSPIRIT OF WATER. I've also kept trying to get [workout clothes] to start with "exercise," although that doesn't even work with the theme.

More information:

• My favorite clue in the puzzle was [Like this face :( ] toSAD. I don't know why, it just amused me (ironically).
• YCITIthe full name of Wells Fargo's competitor? I thought it was "Citi Bank" but I could be wrong
• [Morticia, a Wednesday Addams] aMADRE- a timely reminder given the popularity of "Wednesday"! I still have to search.