My schedule was a bit less hectic this week so I should actually have this teed up to post right around the time Barb sends the puzzle out. We’re in full September here, and I’m loving it, even though it has been a bit rainy this week. Not a lot worth mentioning going on, so let’s get to this week’s puzzle.
- Name: It All Adds Up
- Grid size: 15×15
- Entries: 70
- Difficulty: Very Easy (my solve time: 5:46)
Barb said she’d used a similar gimmick in “You Do The Math” from 29 April 2020; the blog didn’t start until June 2020, so there’s no blog entry to link to. For what it’s worth, my tracking spreadsheet has the note “Harder than usual” and a solve time of 8:49. The themers are all clued using a string of “mini-clues” that are added together to come up with the theme entry:
- 15A: [CROOK + SOUP OR SALAD + FINK + CHARGED PARTICLE]: CONSIDERATION = Con + side + rat + ion.
- 21A: [AN EMAIL ENDING + GOLF AVERAGE + H-J LINK + MAMA’S BOY]: COMPARISON = Com + par + I + son.
- 36A: [FORMER LOVER + SEMESTER + NOT OUT + CONSUMED]: EXTERMINATE = Ex + term + in + ate.
- 50A: [ARMY BUG + THAT THING + ___/HIM + BRO’S SIB]: ANTITHESIS = Ant + it + he + sis.
- 57A: [GIVE SASS + “TOOTS” + YOURS AND MINE + UP TO THE TASK]: DISHONOURABLE – Dis + hon +our + able.
A pretty straightforward theme and my solve was as well – no real problems; getting the gimmick early on helped with the solve. There were a few headscratchers I call out down below, but all were fairly easily gettable from the crosses and context.
Canadian content:
- 4D: [NAFTA successor]: CUSMA – I had a vague notion that the North American Free Trade Agreement had been replaced/rebranded but didn’t know the new name. The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement replaced NAFTA in 2020.
- 11D: [Chicoutimi chums]: AMIES – The name Chicoutimi comes from Shkoutimeou, which means “the end of the deep water” in the Montagnais (now Innu) language.
- 37D: [Gosling or Reynolds]: RYAN – Ryan Gosling was born in London, Ontario and has starred in such films as “Barbie” and “La La Land.” I’m excited to see that he’s the lead in the upcoming film version of “Project Hail Mary,” a book I really enjoyed. Ryan Reynolds was born in Vancouver, and is best known for the “Deadpool” films.
- 56A: [Fur trading posts: Abbr.]: FTS – I’m counting this as Canadian since I’m pretty sure most if not all Canadian cities named “Fort [Something]” were originally fur trading posts.
- 58A: [Sets for the Canadian series “The Surgeons”]: ORS – I’ve never seen nor heard of this show, but with a name like that it wasn’t hard to figure it was set in operating rooms.
Other stuff:
- 1A: [Teeny time pieces: Abbr.]: MSECS – For a short while I was trying to come up with a word for a miniscule watch. Then I thought nanoseconds (NSECS), but was pretty sure 1D would be Mt. [something], so went with milliseconds.
- 27A: [Egyptian gatekeeper god]: AKER– I initially thought this was AMER, having been tripped by the peripatetic spelling of another Egyptian deity, Amun/Amon/Amen Ra. But again the New Zealand peak helped me as I doubted it ended in an M for some reason.
- 40A: [Singer Sumac]: YMA – A classic croswordeese proper noun, Yma Sumac was born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo in Cajamarca, Peru.
- 60D: [“___ Bodkins!” (“Blimey!”)]: ODS – OK, sure. I see the phrase is an archaic English minced oath used as an exclamation of surprise that comes from “god’s body.”
Quote of the week:
“By consideration and comparison, one might admire an antithesis; but to exterminate it is a most dishonourable shortcut for those afraid of debate.”
– Barb, me, and ChatGPT