Hi all.

Jeffrey here. Sorry we missed you last week but we’re back for another fun puzzle today.

“Bird Droppins’” is this week’s puzzle title and it isn’t as messy as it sounds. The theme answers all have a bird “dropped” into the middle of a common phrase.

17a [Pumped about doing a country barn dance?] – HOT TO {TURKEY}TROT.

27a [Be a naggy partner on a safari?] – HUNT AND {HEN}PECK.

42a [Device for prying amateur singers off the stage?]– KARAOKE {CROW}BAR.

53a [Title of a “M*A*S*H” episode in which Pierce bares all?]– THE NAKED {HAWK}EYE.

Canadian content:

9d [Con comment, on the Hill] – NAY. Parliament Hill, to be exact.

15a [“Sure!” in Sherbrooke] – OUI. Sherbrooke is a city in Quebec.

20a [“Takin’ Care of Business” grp.] – BTO. Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

Tip of the Week:

If you love crosswords, enter tournaments! The 43rd annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament was held virtually on April 23-25. Without the need to travel to Stamford, Connecticut, over 1,000 individuals and over 100 pairs logged in to solve. Tyler Hinman won his sixth title.

I guess many of you took my advice to compete and beat me in the Foreign Division as I fell from second in 2019 to seventh this year. Foreign competitors, usually all from Canada, represented at least four continents as the number grew from 14 to 41.  A couple of typos were my downfall, but I did manage to solve the very hard puzzle #5 cleanly. Ontario’s Wil Nediger won the Foreign Division and was an amazing ninth place overall.

As usual, New York Times Crossword Editor Will Shortz hosted the tournament, doing a live stream from the usual Stamford Marriott location. Competitors could break out into virtual tables and turn on their cameras to chat about the puzzles or anything else. It is a very open and friendly bunch and it really doesn’t matter how fast or accurate you solve. If you love doing and talking puzzles, a tournament is the place to be. I do hope to return in person next year, but they did a great job under the circumstances. If you attended, tell us in the comments about your experience.

You can still get the puzzles and watch the finals at crosswordtourament.com

Other upcoming tournaments include Boswords and Lollapuzzoola.

See you next week!