Ahhhh – finally, it’s starting to feel like fall. Sitting out on my deck and I don’t need the fan on or the mosquito repellant (well, maybe a bit of the repellant). I’m back home after a trip last week to Louisville, Kentucky, for those playing the guessing game from last week’s blog. If you like medium sized cities with lots of microbreweries, Louisville may be for you. It’s the playoff run in Major League Baseball and Barb has thrown us (or at least me) a curveball this week, so let’s get to it.
- Name: In-comprehension
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 80
- Difficulty: Easy (My solve time 6:38)
OK, I’m stumped. There is a note that commends us to “Note the starred clues to help reveal the theme” but I’ve been staring at the starred clues and am still in a state of incomprehension about the theme. I assumed “IN” had something to do with it, but not all the starred entries have IN in them. I can’t even say if the starred clues are themers, so I’m not going to list them below, so onto…
Canadian content
- 3D: [Trains of “North America’s Railroad”]: CNS – I didn’t realize the Canadian National railroad had such a strong presence all the way down to Louisiana. North America’s Railroad indeed.
- 10D: [French suffix with Québec]: OIS – When do you use “Québec” and when do you use “Quebec?”
- 28A: [Iroquois name of a Toronto college]: SENECA – I didn’t know that “Seneca” was an Iroquois name.
I had no real problem with the solve of this themeless-to-me. I was just vexed by the theme – I read the note alerting me to be mindful fo the starred clues, but as I was solving I never saw a connection or common theme for them. I pretty much cruised through the solve, starting in NW (of course) and working down the center then up the sides. No real snags; had OBI WAN in 67A briefly, but quickly saw it didn’t work and remembered his surname.
Other stuff:
- 21A: [First colour TV maker]: RCA – I bet they said they made color TVs 😉
- 25A: [Regretful Twitter buyer Musk]: ELON – I think you misspelled “bone-headed.”
- 27D: [The ____ (nickname of the royal family): FIRM – Not sure I’d heard this one, but seems appropriate. And timely.
- 58A: [Donut shop regular, in jokes]: COP – This always reminds me of this song.
Quote of the week:
“Grief is the price we pay for love.”
– Queen Elizabeth II
Hi all, it’s me, the evil creator of this week’s puzzle. I admit, the theme was not easily “gettable” and I apologize for that. Here’s what I had in mind: The title “In-comprehension” was meant to suggest that all the answers to the starred clues are words found IN the word “comprehension”. For example, all the letters in MOONSHINE are found IN “comprehension”. I got this theme from a Jeopardy category called “Inadmissible” that used the same concept. I hope that clears things up.
Thanks Barb! I think the problem was with my thick head and not thinking literally about the title. Which, by the way, I love that you give a clever title to each of your puzzles.