Greetings everyone and welcome to June. So far so good – it has been warm but not hot with low humidity and I only got my first mosquito bite yesterday. So far no bites as I am sitting on my deck solving and writing. There is a bit of haze in the sky – even this far away from the wildfires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan – and the setting sun last night was deep orange, so my thoughts are with those affected by the fires.
- Name: There’s Been a Mix-up
- Grid size: 15×15
- Entries: 72
- Difficulty: Medium (my solve time: 7:03)
There has indeed been a mix-up, and it only took me to the second themer to figure it out: The themers are two-word phrases, where the second word has been anagrammed (mixed-up) to form another word, that word is placed at the beginning of the phrase, then clued punnily to match the result:
- 17A: [Flimsy prop in a Roald Dahl story?]: CHEAP GIANT PEACH – “James and the Giant Peach” was one of my favorite books as a child and introduced me (probably a little too early) to some of Roald Dahl’s adult short stories. “Peach” anagrams to “cheap” and – according to the Internet Anagram Server (I, Rearrangement Servant) – also to “cap he” and “cap eh” which seems appropriately Canadian. Roald Dahl gets this week’s quote, but unfortunately he also said some pretty awful things, so consider the source.
- 27A: [Eschew wiener holders?]: SNUB HOTDOG BUNS – If I’m eating a hotdog (usually at an Orioles game) it’s always in a bun with lots of mustard and sauerkraut if I can find it. “Buns” ➜ “snub” and also “nubs.”
- 43A: [Chows down on healing hot beverages?]: EATS HERBAL TEAS – This is the weirdest of all this week’s themers, IMHO, which is saying a lot. They’re either eating herbal tea leaves, or munching on rather than drinking a liquid – I’m not sure how you would even do that? Maybe freeze it first and chew on the ice (not iced) tea? “Teas” ➜ “eats” and also “sate,” “east,” “etas,” “seat,” and “a set.”
- 54A: [Makes off with a pricy Keg entrée?]: TAKES T-BONE STEAK – As we know from previous puzzles, The Keg is a Canadian steakhouse chain, so you’ll see this mentioned below as well. “Steak” ➜ “takes, and also “stake,” “teaks,” and “skate.”
I just realized there’s a secondary theme here and that’s food – maybe that was intentional and it just got past me. “There’s been a mix-up” is something you might say to a server at a restaurant (likely one of those who takes an order from a large table and doesn’t write it down…). In any event, now I’m hungry and I’ll start up the grill soon after I post this blog. This was a pretty smooth solve, with my time being about 20 seconds faster than my overall average (7:26). There were a few sticky areas, particularly the SE where I was unsure (but ultimately correct) about Thai currency and had never heard of “stratas” as condo property titles. I’ll have to see if “strata” in that usage is Canadian – check below and see if 42D is under “Canadian content” or “Other stuff.” As always: please use the “Submit a Comment” section below to tell us about your solve experience, ask any questions of me or Barb, let me know if I missed or got something wrong, or if you want me to add any terms to the Crossword Blog Glossary.
Canadian content:
- 20A: [“Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” singer Clark]: TERRI – Terri Clark was born in Montreal and has released at least 17 albums. I either forgot she was Canadian or never knew, but I distinctly remember the first time I saw her eponymous debut album, when I was a volunteer DJ at a radio station in Alaska.
- 32A: [SIN cards, e.g.]: IDS – Social Insurance Number cards can be used as identification, but most folks use their drivers license or passport.
- 46A: [Canadian who said “The medium is the message”]: MCLUHAN – Marshall McLuhan, who was born in Edmonton, is famous for this quote which is from (and the name of) the first chapter in his 1964 book “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man.”
- 52D: [Butter ___ (Canadian pastry)]: TART – Butter tarts have made an appearance here before.
- 54A: [Makes off with a pricy Keg entrée?]: TAKES T-BONE STEAK – The Keg has over 100 locations, mostly in Canada but there are a handful in the US in Texas (1), Arizona (5), Colorado (1), and Washington (1).
Other stuff:
- 18D: [Brief but meaningful]: PITHY – Is it “pith-ee” or “pie-thee?”
- 23A: [Forbes’s #13]: GATES – As of 2025, Bill Gates was listed in the Forbes list of billionaires as the 13th richest person on earth.
- 30A: [Certs ingredient]: RETSYN – “It’s two, two, two mints in one – with Retsyn.”
- 33D: [1968 Winter Olympics site]: GRENOBLE – Grenoble is also the home of Port Revel, a famous training facility for maritime pilots, with a lake that has been converted into scaled ports and waterways where pilots can brush up on their skills without hazarding full-size ships and waterways infrastructure.
- 42D: [Condo property titles]: STRATAS – While I don’t think stratas are used in the United States, they’re apparently big in BC, Australia and few other places, so not strictly Canadian-only.
Quote of the week:
“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”
– Roald Dahl