Apologies for the unannounced hiatus last week. Both Barb and I had unexpected obligations arise, so it just made sense to skip last week’s post. I hope you enjoyed the puzzle – feel free to leave your thoughts or questions about it in the comments section below. This week is a scorcher here – a “heat dome” has kept temperatures above 26C and as high as 40C all week. And of course this is the week I had to commute by train to DC and then walk nearly a mile to get to my meeting location. You really learn to appreciate the shady side of the street on days like these. So that’s my excuse for getting this week’s entry done a day later than usual – let’s get to it before more time goes by.
- Name: Top Heavies
- Grid size: 15×15
- Entries: 74
- Difficulty: Easy (my solve time: 6:27)
“Top Heavies” might make you think of structures that are more bulky the higher you go, like an inverted pyramid or a water tower. And I guess that’s what we’ve got here, but in words: The (vertical) themers are all phrases where the first word can be paired with “mighty” to form another common, but unrelated phrase:
- 3D: [Train engineer of lore]: CASEY JONES – I remember being told the story of Casey Jones in elementary school, and maybe even singing the ballad about him. But I recall the story as made-up folklore, like Paul Bunyan. But it turns out Casey Jones was a real person. In any event, Mighty Casey is the main character in “Casey at the Bat.”
- 9D: [Sounds in a computer lab, maybe]: MOUSE CLICKS – These days you’re more likely to hear screen taps than mouse clicks as folks work on their devices. “Here I come to save the day!” was the chorus of the Mighty Mouse theme song.
- 14D: [Haughty, or in a different sense, like the top words in 3-, 9-, 23- and 28-Down]: HIGH AND MIGHTY – The revealer lets us know that the themers are both high (in the entry) and mighty (when paired).
- 23D: [Idiomatic alignment by one who’s well prepared]: DUCKS IN A ROW – If you have your ducks in a row, you are squared away, all, set, ready for anything, etc. Mighty Ducks was the original name of the NHL team from Anaheim, California, named after the 1992 movie.
- 28D: [Casks used in winemaking]: OAK BARRELS – After oak barrels have been used to make wine, they are sometimes reused to age whiskey. I have several mighty oak trees in my yard, so they are the inspiration for this week’s quote.
This solve seemed harder than it actually turned out to be. I just had to work all over the place, and then I was actually surprised when I got the final entry and the “Congratulations!” pop-up. There were several entries I wasn’t sure about where my first guess was correct, and others I was pretty sure of that I had wrong. All were pretty quickly confirmed or rejected by the crosses, so not too much impact to my solve time.
Canadian content:
- 11D: [Vancouver Canucks logo]: ORCA – The Vancouver Canucks have the coolest logo in the NHL, in my opinion.
- 16A: [Alberta national park]: JASPER – Jasper National Park is located in the Canadian Rockies.
- 52A: [B.C.-born pop star Carly ___ Jepsen]: RAE – Carly Rae Jepsen was born in Mission, BC.
- 63A: [“…rollin’ down the highway ___” (“Bud the Spud” lyric)]: SMILIN – Stompin’ Tom Connors’ “Bud the Spud” has made an appearance here at least once before.
Other stuff:
- 1A: [Live like a single guy, informally]: BACH IT – At first I thought it should be spelled “batch it” but they’re bachelors, so we’ll spell it like they are trying to take after Johann Sebastian.
- 14A: [Given in respect, as a degree]: HONORARY – Not honourary?
- 21A: [Pinlike, in a simile]: AS NEAT – I has “sharp as” stuck in my head, but that would be tacklike.
- 32D: [Surgical baby delivery]: C SECTION – I wanted to fit Cesarean in here but the crosses set me straight.
Quote of the week:
“Today’s mighty oak is just yesterday’s nut, that held its ground.”
–David Icke