Happy Valentine’s Day! I realize it’s nearly a week away but it will have already happened by the time next week’s blog is posted, so ❤️💕💖💗💘💌
Valentine’s Day has nothing to do with this week’s puzzle, so let’s take a look and see what’s going on there.
- Name: In Other Words
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 74
- Difficulty: Medium Easy (my solve time: 6:57)
“In Other Words” has a pretty straightforward theme: common phrases are clued with a (punny) different meaning (“other words”):
- 17A: [*Complimentary poltergeist]: FREE SPIRIT – If a ghost didn’t cost anything it would be a free spirit.
- 23A: [*Dulcet zeros]: SWEET NOTHINGS – Just remember, when collecting data that zero is a value.
- 36A: [*Pendular base hits]: SWINGING SINGLES – I guess to be precise, all singles in baseball are swinging singles (if you count a bunt as a swing).
- 47A: [*Fetching window smudge]: WINNING STREAK – I can honestly say I’ve never seen a winning streak on a window.
- 58A: [*Plebeian frigidity]: COMMON COLD – During the pandemic, isolating at home and wearing masks when out, I went for over two years without catching a cold, which is the longest stretch by far in my life, I’m sure.
A fairly smooth solve, though there were a few entries that hung me up, starting with 1A. Never seen 32A before that I can recall, and 32D is pretty obscure so had to guess at that one.
Canadian content:
- 1A: [Canadian coffee brand in a green bag]: NABOB – I seem to recall this being used in a previous puzzle, but didn’t know it immediately, so needed most of the crosses to get it.
- 43A: [Conservative leader before Poilievre]: OTOOLE – Pierre Poilievre succeeded Erin O’Toole as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada after being elected on 10 September 2022.
- 45D: [Toronto CFLer, for short]: ARGO – The Argonauts are Toronto’s Canadian Football League team.
- 58D: [Product safety org.]: CSA – At first I thought this was a crossword no-no: I assumed CSA stood for Canadian Safety Association, and you can’t use a word in the clue that’s in the answer. But I find out that the Canadian Standards Association is a thing, so it’s OK.
- 59D: [Its members get free towing]: CAA – Maybe it’s “free” depending on the distance towed and your membership level, if you don’t count the membership fee.
Other stuff:
- 6D: [Poetic “between”]: TWIXT – I couldn’t get “betwixt” out of my head so needed most of the crosses before I got this.
- 14A: [Tuscan city with a famous cathedral]: SIENA – Pretty much every Tuscan city has a beautiful cathedral; what I remember most about Siena was the beautiful Piazza del Campo where they ran horse races and had colorful festivals.
- 19A: [“The Simpsons” town drunk]: OTIS – I watched a lot of Simpsons in my day but didn’t remember this character, not to be confused with the bus driver Otto, who appears frequently in crosswords.
- 32A: [Plant “hairs”]: SETAE – Woof – never ever seen this before. While it appears to be primarily used for invertebrates, is is also used for some plants.
Quote of the week:
“A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.”
— Emo Philips