Happy Juneteenth everyone! I like this holiday for several reasons. First of course, is that it is a celebration of a truly happy event. Second, it is on a fixed date, so it will fall on a different day of the week each year. I kind of liked having my work week split into two 2-day parts this year. And finally, it makes for a nice string of early summer holidays, with Memorial Day just a few weeks ago and Independence Day just a couple of weeks ahead. In any event, I was able to sleep in and then get some yard work done I had been putting off. It was rather warm, but not as bad as some had feared, and I had lots of shade trees where I was working. In any event, it’s pleasant enough to sit on my deck to solve the puzzle and post this blog, so let’s see how I found this week’s puzzle.
- Name: O, No! (*see note below)
- Size: 15×15
- Entries: 70
- Difficulty: Easy (my solve time: 5:57)
With the title “O, No!” I was pretty sure the theme would have some sort of shenanigans around the letter “O” – an initial guess was that O wouldn’t be used at all in the grid. That would be quite a feat, so it quickly became apparent that wasn’t the case. After getting a few of the themers the gimmick became clear: the themers are common phrases that normally contain a word with two O’s, one of the O’s is dropped, and the resulting phrase is clued punnily:
- 15A: [Command to an AWOL orange picker?]: GET IN THE GROVE – I guess once the AWOL picker is back at work they will be told to “get in the groove” and pick at a faster rate.
- 23A: [Spammers targeting Roy Rogers?]: COWBOY BOTS – I picture little computer applications wearing ten gallon hats, spurrs, and of course cowboy boots.
- 35A: [Uneducated educator?]: IDIOT PROF – I guess an instructor who is not all that smart would need to have someone provide them with an idiot proof syllabus to teach from.
- 48A: [Security officer at a fowl farm?]: CHICKEN COP – The chicken cop would be patrolling the chicken coop, I guess. I’ll have to ask my friend who works on a large chicken farm near London, Ontario if they have security officers, and if so, if they are called chicken cops.
- 55A: [Zeus, vis-à-vis Asclepius, in status?]: THE GREATER GOD – I had never heard of Asclepius, but knowing that Zeus was the King of the Gods, I could easily infer from the clue that he was also a god, and was probably lower in rank than Zeus. However, given all the mischief the gods get up to in mythology (and various holy texts, for that matter) I wonder if either ever really acted for the greater good?
A fun theme, and a pretty smooth solve, though I started out a bit rough in the NW only getting 1A right off the bat. But I was able to get a foothold elsewhere and gradually worked my way back to the NW and filled it in relatively easily. I had a minor panic moment when I finished and didn’t get the happy or sad popup – I frantically searched for a blank square and found I’d been mildly stumped by 16D/18A and left it blank to return to later, and promptly forgot about it.
Canadian content:
- 22A: [Juste pour ___ (Montreal comedy festival)]: RIRE – I’ve seen parts of this festival on TV going back several decades. It looks like they’re not just in Montreal – they have a road show that been to Sydney, London, and Bermuda at least. Their website isn’t up to date so not sure what’s happening there.
- 32D: [Oilers goalie Skinner, for short]: STU – Still an active NHL goalie, Stuart Skinner was born in Edmonton, where he has played his entire professional career to date.
- 50D: [Ont. fair, Aug. 16-Sept. 2/24]: CNE – The Canadian National Exposition, better known as The Ex, is being held in Toronto August 16 through September 2, 2024. I may be in Sarnia on the 17th of August, but not sure the 3-hour drive is worth it.
- 52A: [Summer setting in T.O.]: EDT – Toronto observes Eastern Daylight Time in the summer. For as large as Ontario is, I’m kind of surprised that there are only two time zones observed in the province.
Other stuff:
- 1D: [Largest nation in Africa]: ALGERIA – Initially I thought it might be South Africa, then Namibia, and I tried to remember other nations in the southern part of Africa. Then I remembered how big the North African countries are.
- 3D: [When some take a siesta]: AT THREE – That seems kind of late for a siesta, but I guess they may eat lunch later than I do.
- 7D: [Podium hopeful, e.g.,: Abbr.]: ATH – Totally stumped by this, maybe because I had a politician in my mind for some reason, rather than an athlete.
- 18A: [Fat cat’s wallet filler]: WAD – I knew it had something to do with cash, but I couldn’t think of a three-letter synonym for cash.
- 19A: [Baby bat]: PUP – The first thing that came to mind was the miniature baseball bats that they give out at the Louisville Slugger factory after you take a tour. I quickly realized the clue was for the animal.
- 31A: [“Paint Your Wagon” song girl]: ELISA – I remember watching “Paint Your Wagon” many years ago on broadcast TV, but I can’t remember any of the songs except for “Wand’rin’ Star.”
Quote of the week:
“They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it.”
– Willie Mays
*My favourite baseball team is the Baltimore Orioles, known as the O’s, and the common cheer at Camden Yards (and increasingly on the road as fans travel to see them play away games) is “Let’s Go O’s!” I humbly suggest that would have been a better title for this puzzle. 😀