Greetings from a place where I can see Canada, and I may actually visit. I’m in Sequim, WA just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Vancouver Island. We’re thinking of taking the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, which I haven’t visited for at least 15 years. Check back next week to see if that trip came off. First, we need to get to this week’s puzzle.
- Name: On a Roll
- Size: 15×15
- Entries: 76
- Difficulty: Very Easy (my solve time: 5:26)
This week I must be hungry, as my first thought on the theme for “On a Roll” was foods that are often served on a roll – hotdogs, sausages, lobster, pit beef… now I am definitely hungry. Instead, it’s a bit of grid position play – the themers include the letters END which appear in the grid immediately above another entry with those letters, aligned. Thus, “end over end” or rolling:
- 17A: [Emails quickly]: SENDS A NOTE – I’ve probably seen this entry used more as a clue for “emails” than this way around. It’s over 20A: [Let have for a bit]: LEND TO.
- 31A: [Shows flexibility]: BENDS – Could alternatively been clued as “Diving decompression hazard (with “the”) but being flexible is a happier sense of the word. It’s over 34A: [“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” singer Lee]: BRENDA – I’m not a big Christmas song fan, but somehow I knew the singer of this song right off the bat.
- 32A: [One can do it with time of money]: SPEND – One can also waste either of those as well, but luckily I had a few crosses so didn’t make that mistake. Immediately below is one I knew right off, confirming my nerd cred – 38A: [“Return of the Jedi” setting]: ENDOR – Who can forget the home of the Ewoks?.
- 47A: [Italian fashion house]: FENDI – I only know this from a lyric in this song (it’s at about 3:52). It’s atop 53A: [Takes care of]: TENDS TO – which is a common crossword entry.
- 57A: [Head up]: ASCEND – I had the “lead a team” sense of the clue in mind, so it took me a while to come to the “start to climb” meaning. It is over 62A, which we’ll get to below as the revealer and another themer.
- 62A: [Like a tumbling move, and literally, what can be found six times in this puzzle]: END OVER END – If an object is tumbling end over end, it’s on a roll. In addition to being under 57A, it’s over 66A: [Be a peddler]: VEND – to vend is to sell or peddle goods.
Another one where I initially thought I was going to have a hard time, but then it went quite smoothly. My problem was the first couple of entries in NW – I initially put in VSTS for 1A, and thought DAYLIT for 1D, so struggled with that a bit before leaving it empty and going through the rest of the puzzle. I like this theme/gimmick a lot – especially that multiple entries are involved and it makes you think about the way the grid is put together. I also love that the revealer is part of the theme twice – very clever.
Canadian content:
- 1A: [5% levies in most of Cda.]: GSTS – As mentioned above, I entered VSTS, then saw that wouldn’t work with 1D, so tried PSTS (for Provincial) then moved on to resolve it later. I’m assuming GST stands for General Sales Tax, but oddly the official site for Canadian taxes doesn’t spell it out.
That’s all I found – let me know if I missed anything in the comments below
Other stuff:
- 10A: [Construction beam]: L BAR – Raise your hand if you initially entered I BAR. I thought so.
- 13D: [Almost-obsolete ph. line]: RES – At first I tried to think of what the abbreviation for “party line” was, and eventually realized it was a residential phone line that was sought.
- 28A: [___-on-the-tree (’60s gear shift lever)]: THREE – This brought back memories of being in high school and a friend had a 1960s classic muscle car with the manual gear shift on the stem of the steering wheel (the “tree”). I don’t think I ever drove a car with this style of shifter.
- 45D: [Act on ___ (be brave)]: A DARE – I’d bet that most folks who act on a dare are more stupid than brave…
- 69A: [“Daniel Boone” actor Ed]: AMES – That’s a pretty deep cut for an entry usually clued as “Home of Iowa State University,” so I thought Mr. Ames might be Canadian. Alas, he was born in Malden, MA.
Quote of the week:
“A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing, since adventurers come into it as well as go out, and the life in it grows strong, because it takes something from the world, and has something to give in return.
– Sarah Orne Jewett