On the road again… I’m where I think a lot of Canadians come for the winter as so-called “snowbirds.” A few more clues below – let me know your guesses where I am in the comments. Going to try to get this written up before heading out to work so I better get on it….
- Name: Half-baked Baking
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 76
- Difficulty: Hard (my solve time: 13:57)
I solved this one fairly late at night right before I went to sleep, so may not have been at tip-top mental abilities. I probably could have solved in under 10 minutes if I took the time earlier in the evening. The theme is pretty straightforward – the themers are common phrases with a baked item tacked on and clued punnily:
- 20A: [Origami shaped like a fruit-filled pastry?]: PAPER JAM TART – Paper jams used to be the bane of office workers, but with so much work done paperlessly these days I can’t recall the last time I had to fish wadded up paper out of the printer. Jam tarts sound quite appealing about now.
- 32A: [À la mode dessert that’s past its expiry date?]: ROTTEN APPLE PIE – Funny how a “rotten apple” is often used to mean one bad actor in a group, when it actually comes from the phrase “one bad apple spoils the whole barrel.” Nothing wrong with apple pie, though.
- 39A: [Winner of the fruit loaf contest?]: TOP BANANA BREAD – Ever wonder why the lead person on an organization is called the top banana? So did I, and now I know. Banana bread is a good use of those bananas just past their ripeness (which varies person-to-person).
- 53A: [Heavy Sara Lee dessert delivered to Fido?]: DOG POUND CAKE – Are dog pounds still a thing? I think they’re called “animal shelters” these days. Pound cake is definitely still a thing.
This should have been an easy solve, but fatigue (and probably that stiff bourbon I had after dinner…) cost me a smooth solve. Also I was hung up by the shorter fill – 28D, 34D, 36A, and a few others I had trouble seeing. Otherwise pretty straightforward; I’ll solve earlier in the evening in the future.
Canadian content:
- 13D: [Logan and Denali: Abbr.]: MTS – Mount Logan is the highest peak in Canada, and 2nd highest to Denali in North America.
- 22A: [Saskatoon-Regina dir.]: SSE – It would take you just over two and a half hours to drive this.
- 49D: [Canada’s Grammy’s]: JUNOS – I was in St. Johns a few years ago when the Junos were being held there but didn’t get to see them nor did I run into any singers that I knew of.
- 57D: [Political grp. that’s not right?]: NDP – The New Democratic Party leans left, not right.
Other stuff:
Going to skip this section this week, unless I get a bit more time later today. Here’s a clue to my whereabouts: This American city has a section that is famous for making cigars, and has a close connection with Cuba.
Quote of the week:
“There’s two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you’ve made a discovery. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you’ve made a discovery.”
– Enrico Fermi