Greetings all! Time keeps marching on and before you know it will be the new year. No wasting time – let’s just jump right into this weeks puzzle!
Title: Just Like Clockwork
Grid size: 15×15
Number of entries: 74
Difficulty: Medium Easy (my solve time 6:53)
“Just Like Clockwork” has an apt theme for the week after we turned our clocks back to Standard Time: the themers all contain the word TIME, but reversed as explained by the revealer:
- 17A: [Like gauzy fabric]: SEMITRANSPARENT – For some reason I initially put in “near” instead of “semi.”
- 23A: [Limbs attached to trunks]: EXTREMITIES – Got this one right off the bat, the cagy misdirection of the clue notwithstanding.
- 36A: [Small cup of black coffee]: DEMITASSE – As a coffee drinker this came to me quickly.
- 54A: [Hot-headed “varmint” chaser]: YOSEMITE SAM – One of my favorite characters from Saturday morning cartoons of my (distant) youth.
- 61A: [Observing a fall ritual, as depicted in 17-, 23-, 36- and 54-Across]: TURNING BACK TIME – the revealer, as TIME was “turned back” in each of the themers.
I guess the theme could also have been something about all the themers containing EMIT… 😉
This was a relatively easy solve for me, with a few head scratchers, but not so much that I felt they really slowed me down. I was able to get the crosses for any stumpers pretty readily. Started in NW and proceeded generally N to S with a few spots I had to go back and mop up.
Canadian content:
- 1A [Home reno stores branded “Truly Canadian” before a U.S. buyout]: RONAS – I didn’t know this and needed all the crosses to get it.
- 10D: [Haida _____ (Queen Charlotte Islands, today)]: GWAII – Having lived in the Pacific Northwest for several years, I knew this one.
- 34D: [Cost plus in most of Cda.?]: PST – Provincial Sales Tax, if I’m guessing correctly.
- 35A: [___-Foy, Université Laval locale]: STE – While I didn’t know where Université Laval was located, I had heard of Sainte-Foy before.
- 40A: [TSX trading unit: Abbr.]: SHR – I learned through a recent puzzle that the Toronto Stock Exchange had changed its name to TSX, so this was easy.
- 50A: [“Conspiracy of Silence” subject _____ Betty Osborne]: HELEN – I was vaguely aware of this horrible story, but needed most of the crosses to get the entry.
- 57A: [Summerside’s prov.]: PEI – I must have got this one all from the crosses because I don’t even remember reading the clue.
Other stuff:
- 6D: [Tech trash]: EWASTE – I’m generally not a fan of the various “e-” formations, but e-waste is one I’ve embraced as I think it succinctly describes something real.
- 18D: [Sweeney Todd hit “____ Roller”]: ROXY – Never seen the musical, but might have to check out this song with its intriguing title.
- 31A: [Precursor to the fax]: TELEX – Wow – fax machines are in museums now, telexes are really old!
- 43A: [Not grandma-proof, perhaps]: RACY – Kind of scratching my head over this one; not sure what “not grandma-proof” means and why it’s racy. Unless there is a different meaning for racy than the one I’m aware of (“lively, entertaining, and typically mildly titillating sexually).
- 56D: [Wired for a newscast]: MIKED – Since mic is short for microphone, I’ve seen this spelled “miced” witch looks like it should be pronounced like the small rodent.
- 59A: [Boston cooler?]: CRISPER – Another head scratcher for me. The crisper I’m familiar with is a drawer in the refrigerator; not sure how Boston plays into this.
- 64D: [Dating show akin to “Ex on the Beach,’ for short]: BIP – No idea what Ex on the Beach is, and I assume BIP stands for “Bachelor in Paradise” which Google tells me is a thing and which I will never watch.
- 66A: [Booking partner of Airbnb]: ITRIP – I was unaware of the existence of iTrip until getting this answer.
There were some really good clues in here, IMHO, in particular 20A, 41D, and 51D. I love it when a clue is cleverly oblique and especially when it is funny.
Tip of the week: Remember which clocks you have and haven’t adjusted back to Standard Time or you may find yourself somewhere an hour early.