I’m back from a quick trip where I was north of Canada – I was in Detroit last weekend. The main reason was to meet up with a friend, and we also saw an Orioles-Tigers game (the O’s lost 😞), and many cool buildings and museums. I lived in Detroit many years ago and the city is unrecognizable. If you get the opportunity to visit, I highly recommend it. On to this week’s puzzle.
- Name: Literary Twists
- Grid size: 15×15
- Entries: 76
- Difficulty: Medium Easy (my solve time: 6:42)
I was pretty sure what was coming from the title “Literary Twists” – and it wasn’t plot twists or characters named “Twist.” The themers are titles of well-known literary works where the last word of the title has been anagrammed (twisted) into a new word then clued punnily:
- 17A: [Dicken’s tale set on the “Yuletide Reef”?]: A CHRISTMAS CORAL – “A Christmas Carol” is one of the most well known stories of all time, at least in Western literature. Maybe “A Christmas Coral” could be set to music by Jimmy Buffett.
- 27A: [Christie murder mystery set in a border town?]: DEATH ON THE LINE – “Death on the Nile” was published in 1937 as one of the dozens of Hercule Poirot mysteries. I guess this could have been clued as Canadian content as being set in Surrey, Sault Ste Marie, Windsor, or Niagara Falls.
- 48A: [Golding book about a clerical bigwig?]: LORD OF THE FILES – “Lord of the Flies” was published in 1954 as the debut novel by William Golding. “Lord of the Files” would be a good nickname for the lead clerk at a law firm or insurance agency.
- 63A: [Hemingway book about little green men leaving home?]: A FAREWELL TO MARS – “A Farewell to Arms” was first published in 1929 and tells the tale of an American serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian army. Interestingly, it entered the public domain on January 1st of this year. This week’s quote comes from it. “A Farewell to Mars” could have been an alternate title to “The Martian.”
A smooth solve, with the exception of 8D (“clinician” hung me up for some reason), 15A (the spelling of the Idaho town escaped me), and 21A (I had OONA for way too long, which didn’t help with 8D). I got the theme/gimmick* right off which helped a bit with the solve; I had a harder time figuring out what the original title of the works were.
Canadian content:
- 29D: [Vancouver Olympics skating champ Ohno]: APOLO – Friend of crossword constructors everywhere, Apolo Anton Ohno was born in Federal Way, WA but won a silver and two bronze medals in Vancouver in the 2010 Olympics.
- 30D: [Hamilton CFLer, for short]: TICAT – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats didn’t have a great 2024 season, coming in last in the East Division.
- 34A: [Red mud prov.]: PEI – Prince Edward Island is known for its red soil and sand which are due to their high iron ore content.
- 38D: [Trudeau jr.’s predecessor]: HARPER – The Rt. Hon. Stephen J. Harper was Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister from 2006-2015.
Other stuff:
- 6D: [One with litter in the house]: CAT OWNER – As the “owner” of two cats, I can vouch that there is kitty litter all over the house, despite our best efforts to contain it.
- 16A: [Instrument whose name means “leaping flea,” for short]: UKE – I’m sure I’d heard it before, but didn’t remember that ukulele means “leaping flea” in Hawaiian. The name arose because when players move their fingers quickly on the strings, it looks like fleas hopping around.
- 21A: [“Return of the Jedi” dancer]: OOLA – I’m a moderate “Star Wars” fan, but didn’t know this character, though I remember the scene quite well.
- 43A: [“The Fresh Prince of ___”]: BEL AIR – Local tip: If you ever come to Baltimore, Belair Road is pronounced “blair.”
- 56D: [Online daters’ meeting place, maybe]: CAFE – I had the first letter and confidently put in CHAT.
Quote of the week:
“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”
― Ernest Hemingway, “A Farewell to Arms”