Greetings from the dreary end of January; at least I guess we’re being prepared for February. In college we called this the “Dark Ages” – the time between return to school from winter holiday and Spring Break. While I sometimes find this time of year a tad depressing, all I need to do is remind myself of sweltering midsummer heat and humidity, and I’m OK with a little grayness, cold, and slush. And it’s easy to get away from it by curling up with a warm beverage and a good crossword puzzle, so let’s do that!
- Name: Noble Gases
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 76
- Difficulty: Easy (my solve time: 5:43)
I figured the theme would be entries that somehow included or referred to the elements in the far right hand column of the periodic table. I wasn’t wrong, but it was implemented differently and in a more clever way than I expected. The themers are names and titles of persons or characters of “nobility” and two circled letters within the themers are the chemical symbol for a noble gas:
- 17A: [War hero whose statue is in Trafalgar Square [radon]]: LOⓇD ⓃELSON – The statue of Lord Horatio Nelson is a landmark in Trafalgar Square (as are the pigeons). RN is the symbol for radon (and also Royal Navy!), which is the noble gas with the highest atomic number (or ATNO as crossword solvers know it). In my early maritime career I was quite enamored of Horatio Nelson and read many histories and biographies of him, and also visited HMS Victory in Portsmouth. So he’s the source of this week’s quote.
- 23A: [Hit from “Moulin Rouge!” [argon]]: LⒶDY MAⓇMALADE – I thought I was unfamiliar with this song from “Moulin Rouge!” but I know it more from this version (and by an alternate name). In any event, the name rang a bell so it was easy enough once I got most of the crosses. AR is the symbol for argon, and the gas is often used where an inert atmosphere is required.
- 37A: [Meghan Markle’s title [helium]]: DUCⒽESS OF SUSSⒺX – The Duchess of Sussex also has the titles of Countess of Dumbarton and Baroness Kilkeel; I’m sure we could find a few symbols for noble gases in those titles. “Hydrogen is built into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees.”
- 48A: [Monarch who abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson [krypton]]: DUⓀE OF WINDSOⓇ – Wallis Simpson grew up in Baltimore, in case you didn’t know that. KR is the symbol for krypton, which, in addition to being Superman’s home planet, is used for lighting and lasers, and has the coolest name of pretty much any element.
- 58A: [Jazz pianist and bandleader [neon]]: COUⓃT BASIⒺ – Count Basie was a legend, and only burnished his reputation by appearing in a classic like this. NE is the symbol for neon, which is probably the most familiar noble gas.
Once again, I appear to be on a bit of a streak – five out of my last seven solves have been under 6 minutes. This was a smooth solve, even though there was quite a bit of unusual fill as well as some themers that weren’t immediately apparent.
Canadian content:
- 5D: [“Wok with ___” 70’s cooking show]: YAN – I didn’t know this show started in Vancouver – in the US we had a show in the 80’s called “Yan Can Cook” that must have been based on the Canadian version.
- 16A: [“The Big Raven” painter Emily ____]: CARR – Emily Carr is probably one of the most well-known Canadian artists. “The Big Raven” is stunningly iconic, and evocative of so much about British Columbia.
- 26D: [Snowbirds mil. grp.]: RCAF – The Royal Canadian Air Force‘s demonstration squadron is the Snowbirds.
- 32D: [Winter commuter on Rideau Canal]: ICE SKATER – I love that you can commute via ice skates on the frozen Rideau Canal.
I bet at least one of the nobility in the themers had a title such as “First Exchequer of Canada” or something like that, but didn’t have time to look into it. Feel free to enlighten me about that in the comments below.
Quote of the week:
“Gentlemen, when the enemy is committed to a mistake we must not interrupt him too soon.”
― Horatio Nelson