Hello and Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! Among many other blessings, I give thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts on these puzzles with you every week and to Barb for creating them. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
- Title: Finishing First
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 72
- Difficulty: Medium Hard (my solve time 8:45)
“Finishing First” is the title of this week’s puzzle. The themers are all phrases related to the internet, but with a twist – the first 3 letters are also domain extensions – the three letters that end web Uniform Resource Locators (URL) and email addresses – since they start the phrases, they are the “finishes” appearing “first”, hence the title:
- 17A: [*Luring online using a fake identity]: CAT FISHING – I was today (well, when this is published, yesterday) years old when I learned there is a .cat domain.
- 23A: [*Places for online feedback]: COMMENT SECTIONS – “Don’t read the comments” is often good advice when on any .com domain, but please do post and read the comments below! This is a very nice grid-spanning entry.
- 36A: [*Blow up online]: GO VIRAL – Though I have worked for the US government my entire adult life, I have never had a .gov email address – always .mil.
- 48A: [*Online venues for making career connections]: NETWORKING SITES – My very first email address had a .net ending – ptialaska.net. That address redirects to Alaska Communications now – PTI must have changed their name to that or been acquired by them. Another nice grid-spanner.
- 58A: [Domain extensions, as those found at the start of the starred clues’ answers]: URL ENDINGS – the revealer.
This was an essentially themeless solve for me – I didn’t get the full theme until getting the revealer. I picked up that there was something related about the starred clues (duh) but had to think about it a bit post-solve. I solved this one pretty straightforwardly – starting in NW I made essentially a Z-shaped run to NE, SW, then SE then worked S to N filling in gaps. 25D, 29A, 30D were last to fall – some obscurity and oblique cluing got me there.
Canadian content:
- 1A [Summer setting in Alta.]: MDT – I guessed correctly that Alberta follows Mountain Daylight Time in the summer.
- 8D: [Bonne _____! (cry on “le 1 janvier”)]: ANNEE – I’d love to be in Montreal or Québec City for New Year’s.
- 13D: [Shaken stuff in French cuisine]: SEL – I’d shake some salt on my poutine before lifting my glass of champagne to toast the New Year (yes, I’m reaching for Canadian content here).
- 22D: [Abbr on many French churches]: STE – Also in the names of many towns in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada (still reaching…).
- 41D: [Like the pen of author Margaret, say]: ATWOODS – That pen is hers, so hands off!
- 51D: [“Wants and ____” (Drake/Lil Baby song)]: NEEDS – Drake was born in Toronto; Lil Baby is from Atlanta.
- 53DA: [County locale of St. Thomas, Ontario]: ELGIN – Needed all the crosses for this one. Wikipedia tells us that St. Thomas is the county seat for Elgin County, but it is independent from the county.
Other stuff:
- 19A: [Twelfth Jewish month]: ELUL – As often as they appear in crosswords, I should really memorize the months of the Jewish calendar.
- 20A: [Where to find a dead Boddy]: CLUE – I never knew (or forgot) that the crime being solved in the game Clue was the murder of Mr. Boddy.
- 24D; [Smokeless smoke]: ECIG – I confidently put VAPE in here, which cost me a bit of time to untangle.
- 29A: [Chilling experience?]: LEISURE – A laugh-out-loud clue that totally threw me.
- 30D: [Three before X]: UVW – I had VII in here for a loooong time…
- 55A: [Ratio of 6:2 or 8:4]: TWO TO ONE – I was stuck on the aspect ratio of television screens so kept trying to fit TV in the answer somewhere.
- 61A: [Booted it]: HIED – I thought “booted” meant ended or kicked out, so had DIED in here for a while.
Tip of the week: Don’t fill up on the appetizers before the turkey and mashed potatoes are served!