Happy June everyone. We all know how quickly time is marching on, so I won’t mention it, but we’re entering my least favourite time of year for the weather – hot and humid. There will still be a few periods of lovely, sunny, clear, dry days and cool evenings, but I will soon be pining for late September. I apologize in advance for the upcoming complaints. Let’s take our minds off of the weather by turning to this week’s puzzle.
- Name: Pairs of Portmanteaus
- Size: 15×15
- Entries: 74
- Difficulty: Medium (my solve time: 7:10)
This was a fun one to solve and to figure out the theme. The title pretty much is the theme – each themer is a pair of portmanteaus (or should it be portmanteaux?) jammed together and then clued punnily to describe what the resulting nonsense phrase might be (I have a hunch I’ll be linking to various dictionaries a lot in this post):
- 17A: [“Take it easy, Einstein!”?]: CHILLAX BRANIAC – First usage documented in 1994, chillax is a portmanteau of “chill” and “relax,” meaning to calm down and relax, often said to someone who is anxious or agitated. Braniac combines “brain” and “maniac” and is what you’d call a very intelligent person. Its usage in this sense goes to 1975, however its origin goes back to 1956, when it appeared as the name of a character in Superman comics.
- 27A: [Trig whiz grumbling with a rumbling tummy?]: HANGRY MATHLETE – Being simultaneously “hungry” and “angry” since before I can remember, I certainly knew the feeling of being hangry long before I knew the word, the origin of which goes back to 1918. “Mathematics” and “athlete” team up to give us mathlete – not sure of the origin, but it’s usage started ramping up in the 1950’s.
- 43A: [Tennis garb for luxury tenters?]: GLAMPING SKORTS – “Glamorous” and “camping” combine to take us glamping, which is comfortably roughing it, I guess. Skorts are what you get when you combine a “skirt” and “shorts,” often worn by tennis players.
- 55A: [Tight relationship between rival dudes?]: FRENEMY BROMANCE – I’ve never really understood how you can be “friends” and “enemies” at the same time, but frenemy is a popular way to describe certain relationships (and a 2012 TV movie). Is a “romance” between “brothers” (bros) the male equivalent of “gal pals?” Discuss in the comments.
Smooth solving, though not a cakewalk by any means. Several head-scratchers that I needed the crosses to get, but luckily that wasn’t a big problem. Filled in NW quite quickly then chain solved* SSE to about the center of the bottom row, then followed the path of least resistance toward the NE. I could figure out at least one of the portmanteus in each themer, so that was a help in the solve. This was truly a fun solve – snappy fill and cluing, and the theme was really well done. Barb said she had fun putting it together, so a good time was had by all!
Canadian content:
- 24D: [Bruins number 4]: ORR – Bobby Orr was born in Parry Sound, Ontario. All I can think of when I hear his name is this song. And the starting line from that song is this week’s quote.
- 29D: [“… ___, mean, fightin’ machine! (John Candy in “Stripes”)]: A LEAN – “Stripes” is one of my all-time favourite movies and a defining part of my adolescence. It also colored my view of what military basic training was like, which didn’t serve me well when I started my service, except for coming up with marching songs. John Candy was born in Toronto in 1950 and taken away from us way too soon in 1994.
- 33A: [Arcade Fire’s “___ Bible”]: NEON – I think there ought to be more Arcade Fire references in crossword clues and this album (and song) is a good place to start.
Other stuff:
- 10D: [The Seven Dwarves’ workplace]: MINE – All I could picture were the Keebler Elves so I initially put in TREE.
- 19D: [Basket-making fibre]: ISTLE – This is the first of several head scratchers I came across. I know there is a term for certain materials used in basket weaving that I’ve seen in crosswords before, but I couldn’t remember it – must have been osier.
- 30D: [“The lovely Muse”]: ERATO – I see clues referencing the Muses many times in crosswords, and I always feel like I need to memorize who they all are. But I’ve come to realize that if the clue includes the word “muse” in it, the answer is Erato.
- 46D: [Food thickening starch]: SAGO – Head scratcher #2 – All I know and could think of as food thickeners is corn starch, though as I write this filé powder comes to mind. I had no idea what sago is.
- 52D: [Cur’s “grr”]: GNAR – Head scratcher #3 – I though the best answer was “grrr.”
Quote of the week:
“The pro is here to lead the way
To save the day
[Wicked little critta!]
He clips the puck from Bobby Orr
He shoots! He scores!”
– They Might Be Giants
*I just made up “chain solved” as a term for getting an entry, then getting the entry off the last letter of that entry, and continuing that way until you are stumped. Maybe it’s been used before but I’m glad to claim it if not.