Happy first full week of August, I guess. As I mentioned last week, there aren’t any holidays (at least not national holidays) in North America the United States in August, so we just have to make our own special days. I had a nice weekend with an unexpected crab feast in Annapolis last Saturday night. However, when we returned home we found we had no power – a strong thunderstorm had come through while we were gone. Until now we have been lucky – though our neighborhood has many trees, we hadn’t lost power from a fallen branch in the 11 years we’ve lived here. And it appears this outage (which lasted until late Sunday morning) was caused by an exploding transformer, so I guess our streak is still going. In any event, it was a relatively minor inconvenience, though we did have to relocate a brunch we had planned to host Sunday morning. It did make the temperatures slightly cooler, though the humidity is still oppressive. It appears we’re in for the remnants of Debby in a few days – hopefully she’ll move through quickly, leave a little still needed rainfall, and allow us a sunny (and cooler) weekend. That’s the weather report, now back to our regular crossword blog.
- Name: For the Record
- Size: 15×15
- Entries: 74
- Difficulty: Easy (my solve time: 5:56)
The title “For the Record” went in one ear and out the other – I didn’t even think of it during the solve and had to remind myself what the puzzle title was once I finished. The theme is four grid-spanning phrases where the first letter of each phrase spells GOAT – an acronym for “greatest of all time.” I feel that’s a little thin for a theme (though 4 grid-spanners is a substantial constructing feat) but maybe I’m missing something. There is at least one Olympic athlete in the grid – maybe they are the GOAT for their particular sport? Please enlighten me in the comments to point out what I’m missing or if you have other theories (or if you think Im over thinking this and the theme is what I think it is).
- 17A: [It’s shown to the highly esteemed]: GREATEST RESPECT – Respect is earned, so to show someone great respect is quite an honour.
- 25A: [From a simple background]: OF HUMBLE ORIGINS – To be “of humble origins” is to come from a family that did not have substantial material wealth or social status. It’s usually used to highlight a person’s current success or perceived higher status.
- 46A: [“But seriously now”]: ALL KIDDING ASIDE – This phrase is used to indicate to the listener/reader that while what preceded was said jokingly, what is about to be presented is serious.
- 62A: [Nothing much to do at the moment]: TIME ON ONES HANDS – I rarely have time on my hands – must be because I wash them so much.
- 69A: [Initials for the best athlete ever, from the first words of 17-, 25-, 46- and 62-Across]: GOAT – The revealer. I still wonder if there is something else about the themers that tie them together that I am missing.
My solve was about as plug-and-chug as it could get – I started in the NW and ended in the SE, working pretty much row-by-row from N to S with only a few minor snags. There was one word I was sure I had wrong but all the crosses worked, so I just left it as it was and went on to finish, figuring I’d go back and work on it if I didn’t get the “congratulations!” pop up. I was surprised to get that, and now I have to go look up the word and commit it to memory for future puzzles.
Canadian content:
- 1A: [Shania’s “___ I Feel Like a Woman”]: MAN I – Shania Twain was born Shania Edwards in Windsor (she’s an August baby too!), and “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” was off her 3rd album. It has a fun music video that does a gender reverse of Robert Palmer’s videos for “Addicted to Love” and “Simply Irresistible.”
- 23D: [Ottawa NHLer, to fans]: SEN – The Ottawa Senators play at Canadian Tire Centre.
- 24A: [Anka’s “___ Beso”]: ESO – Paul Anka was born in Ottawa, and “Eso Beso” made it to #19 on the US Billboard charts in November of 1962.
- 37D: [Dad, in slang, or a southern Alberta river]: OLD MAN – The Oldman River joins the South Saskatchewan River upstream from Medicine Hat ultimately flows north to the Arctic Ocean.
- 44D: [Employee I.D.]: SIN – To be eligible to access government services and benefits you need to have a Social Insurance Number.
- 50D: [Sprinter Andre de ___]: GRASSE – Andre de Grasse was born in Scarborough, Ontario and won 6 medals at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.
Other stuff:
- 16A: [Alone on the stage]: SOLUS – I first entered SOLOS, but that didn’t seem right as the clue should have been “Sings alone on the stage” or something like that. Apparently it is used in stage direction.
- 18D: [Features of many crosswords]: THEMES – I enjoy both themed and themeless puzzles. My understanding is that themeless puzzles are harder to construct. I know that the hardest New York Times puzzles on Friday and Saturday are usually themeless.
- 33A: [“Free your pores!” skincare brand]: BIORE – I was absolutely sure I had this entered incorrectly and had one of the crosses wrong but they all looked right so left it in. Bioré is a skincare brand based out of Japan.
- 53A: [Had an average golf game?]: SHOT PAR – At least for me, shooting par would have been a way above average golf game. I use the past tense because I quit playing the game when I realized I had much better uses of my time.
Quote of the week:
“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
–James Randi