Way behind schedule this week – apologies for those who were waiting eagerly for the blog. Just another busy week and September is shaping up to be very busy for me as well, with several important meetings and travel for both work and leisure every week. I’ll try to get the blog done as soon as I can but please bear with me. On to this week’s puzzle…
- Name: Just Cuz
- Size: 15×15
- Entries: 72
- Difficulty: Very Easy (my solve time: 5:25)
“Just Cuz” made me think of cousins, or reasons for doing something (short for “just because”). But I didn’t really have an idea how that would turn into a puzzle theme so I had to get a few to figure it out. I’m still not quite sure how the title relates to the theme – maybe it’s “Just CU (see you) Z” or a play on “just cause” though I’m not sure how that works with the theme. In any event the themers are common phrases where the last word in the phrase starts with “S” – the S is replaced with a “Z” and the resulting new phrase is clued punnily:
- 17A: [Wine varietals that’ll kill you?]: DEADLY ZINS – If – in pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony or sloth – you intentionally served someone a poisoned zinfandel and they died, you would be committing a deadly sin.
- 23A: [Yuletide exuberance?]: CHRISTMAS ZEAL – If you are that excited, or zealous, about Christmas you would probably put Christmas Seals on all the envelopes of the cards you send out.
- 35A: [Stubborn Seuss character in a choir?]: ALTO ZAX – I didn’t remember the Zax characters, although I’m sure I read about them many years ago. Maybe the choir the Zax is singing in is accompanied by someone playing alto sax.
- 38A: [Clearasil target on an infant?]: BABY ZIT – If a baby had acne, maybe the baby sitter would apply Clearasil ointment to the baby’s skin.
- 46A: [Witty remark about rural living?]: COUNTRY ZINGER – In the old “Hee Haw” or at the Grand Ole Opry there often will be a comedian or MC cracking wise before the next country singer takes the stage..
- 55A: [Site of the sacred mark of Zorro?]: THE HOLY ZEE – Wouldn’t that be the Holy Zed? I imagine if Zorro ever visited Vatican City any mark he left in the Holy See might be considered holy itself.
Smooth solve, once again a time very near that of last week. A few entries I didn’t know, but not enough to really slow me down much – just had to skip over them and work on the crosses or in other areas of the grid and eventually work back to them.
Canadian content:
- 12D: [Fourth largest campus in Can.]: UBC – The University of British Columbia has over 60,000 students at its Vancouver campus.
- 18D: [“___ and the Real Girl (Ryan Gosling film)]: LARS – Ryan Gosling was born in London, Ontario. “Lars and the Real Girl” came out in 2007.
- 21A: [Alberta’s NDP leader Nenshi]: NAHEED – Naheed Nenshi was born in Toronto, and prior to becoming head of the Alberta New Democratic Party he was the mayor of Calgary from 2010 to 2021.
- 39A: [Eagle : America:: ___ : Canada]: BEAVER – The beaver became an official symbol of Canada in 1975 and is the inspiration for this week’s quote.
- 57D: [Queen’s Park prov.]: ONT – Queen’s Park is in downtown Toronto and was named in honor of Queen Victoria.
- 60A: [Levant or Pound]: EZRA – Ezra Levant was born in Calgary; the self described “human rights activist, political writer, and father” is the host of the Ezra Levant Show and founder of Rebel News.
Quote of the week:
“The eagle may soar; beavers build dams.”
– Bill Vaughan