Hello September! The trees are just starting to show the first signs of turning and more and more leaves are littering my deck, which I have been enjoying as much as possible with the mild temperatures and low humidity. Fingers crossed that this weather stays for the rest of the month, though we could really use a bit of rain. The new month is the inspiration for this week’s quote. I’m back from a whirlwind Labo/ur Day weekend road trip to Virginia Beach for my nephew’s wedding where there was lots of socializing with family and friends, beach time, and plenty to eat and drink. The next few weeks are almost as busy, with family visiting next weekend, and a work trip next week, so let’s get right into this week’s puzzle.
- Name: Word Search Puzzle
- Grid size: 15×15
- Entries: 78
- Difficulty: Easy (my solve time: 6:26)
OK, naming a puzzle after a different kind of puzzle is interesting. I thought maybe once you filled in the grid, there would be a secondary puzzle where you searched for words hidden in the grid, ideally across, down, and diagonally. I guess they could be somehow indicated in the clues – maybe using bold or italic for words to be searched for? Well, file that theme/gimmick idea away for the future, because this was a little more straightforward: The themers are all common phrases, clued straight, but then the revealer makes you go back and search for a specific word hidden in each themer:
- 17A: [Again]: ONE MORE TIME – Straightforward enough – to do something one more time is to do it again.
- 25A: [Human gestational period, typically]: NINE MONTHS – Yep, that’s the typical length of a human pregnancy.
- 38A: [Dexterity required by a surgeon]: FINE MOTOR SKILLS – “Steady hands” was the first thing that came to mind, but I got the end of the phrase and worked from there.
- 49A: [She married Niles on “Frasier”]: DAPHNE MOON – I don’t think I’ve ever watched an entire episode of “Frasier” so I needed all the crosses to get this one.
- 60A: [2003 Pixar film, and what you were doing if you discovered the theme to this puzzle]: FINDING NEMO – The revealer, which really provided an “aha!” moment. While solving, I had no idea what the gimmick was but the light immediately came on when I got this entry. If I had solved the revealer earlier it may have helped get some of the themers. Very clever.
A smooth solve for the most part, with a few entries I didn’t know, but that were fairly easy to work around and get the crosses. I found a couple of other NEMOs in the grid that I’m pretty sure were not part of the theme. Interesting that all the NEMOs in the themers were split across two words. I guess if SEA ANEMONE had been a themer it would have all be in one word; maybe there are other examples.
Canadian content:
- 16A: [Trivial Pursuit piece]: PIE – I nearly forgot that Trivial Pursuit was invented in Canada. I think I’ve mentioned that one of my lifetime high points was beating several other Canadians at the Canadian version of the game during a New Year’s Eve party in Halifax.
- 32D: [Ottawa Redblacks org.]: CFL – I have to say if I was pressed to name the Ottawa Canadian Football League team I would not have come up with Redblacks anytime soon.
- 33D: [“Fly the Flag” carrier]: AIR CANADA – I’m not familiar with that slogan, but I had a pretty good idea which airline uses it.
- 42A: [Vancouver’s SkyTrain syst., e.g.]: LRT – The Vancouver SkyTrain is an example of light rail transit.
Other stuff:
- 6A: [Yogurt-type beverage]: KEFIR – Lassi was the first thing that came to mind, but I quickly saw it didn’t work with the crosses, so had to wait to get a few more. I still had to make a guess at 10D.
- 10D: [___ Dolly (“Winter’s Bone heroine)]: REE – I had never heard of “Winter’s Bone” before, even though it received four Academy Award nominations.
- 11A: [Balfield thefts: Abbr.]: SBS – In case it got past you, those ballfield crimes are stolen bases.
- 26D: [Civil or elec. professional]: ENGR – I read this clue as “Civic or elected professional” so was thinking of an entirely different profession than engineer.
- 51A: [Undercover bobby]: NARK – I’m pretty sure in North America narc is more common than nark. However, at least in Australia, they are two very different words that aren’t necessarily related to each other.
Quote of the week:
“Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul… but I must confess that I love you only because you are a prelude to my beloved October.”
–Peggy Toney Horton