Hi, crossword fans. My name is Jeffrey Krasnick and this is the first of a series to go along with Barbs weekly ClassiCanadian Crosswords. These short posts will hopefully help illuminate themes and give some solving tips. Ill also explain some of the Canadian content for those solving south of the border.

This week we have a tricky puzzle titled Break It Up. The title of a crossword can often be a helpful hint to the theme. In this case, Break It Up refers to the fact that the theme answers are broken apart in some way. This is explained further at 54a [Continental wall formed by the Rockies … or what a black square acts as in rows 3, 5, 8 and 11] GREAT DIVIDE. A black square in each of the mentioned rows is dividing a synonym for great.

Row 3 – CONTROL KNOB/LED – NOBLE

Row 5 – SOREN/OWNED UP TO – RENOWNED

Row 8 – TENOR/MOUSE – ENORMOUS

Row 11 – OILPASTEL/LARVA – STELLAR

Canadian content:

15a [B.C. strait off Haida Gwaii] – HECATE

45a [Calgary trade sch.] SAIT – Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. The abbreviated school is a hint that the answer is also an abbreviation.

60a [___ de Montréal] ILE French for the island of Montreal. The city of Montreal is entirely on the island of the same name. Among the notable people born there – me.

Solving tip of the week:

Three- or four-letter words with lots of vowels are very helpful in constructing a crossword and will appear frequently. Try to remember these. Examples include 26a ERIE and 30d ONO