Happy December Eve Eve! Yes – December. 🙀 I am still mentally in June (coincidentally about where I am in reading the various periodicals I subscribe to), though I certainly like the weather better now. We are having our first few days with sub-freezing temperatures, and I love it, especially when the sky is clear – everything seems so crisp and fresh. So lets stoke the fire in the fireplace, find a cozy chair, maybe get a cat in our lap, and solve this week’s puzzle.
- Name: Prisoner Escape
- Size: 15×15
- Entries: 74
- Difficulty: Medium Hard (my solve time: 7:55)
I had a vague idea about what the theme might be from the title – maybe some wordplay about jail breaks. But it took me a while to get the actual theme; for a much of the solve I thought it had something to do with adding or deleting the letter “T” since the first three themers had final words that included two Ts. But that went out the window with the final themer, and the lightbulb came on: the themers are common phrases where the final word starts with “CON,” CON (short for “convict” = “prisoner”) has been removed from the phrase (“prisoner escape” – ha!) and the resulting phrases clued punnily:
- 19A: [Camping store display?]: TABLE OF TENTS – Well that makes sense – an outdoor store might have a table with (un-erected) tents displayed on it. The store’s catalog may also list that equipment in its table of contents.
- 32A: [Diplomacy for an unexpected event?]: EMERGENCY TACT – One would hope a diplomat would be tactful all the time, even in an emergency. If not, they may need to have someone to call as their emergency contact. This is an entry that led me to believe there was something going on with the letter “T” in the last word of the themers – I thought the original phrase might be “emergency act.”
- 38A: [Do an editor’s dele?]: TAKE OUT OF TEXT – It’s a little awkwardly worded, but I guess an editor does take words out of text. Unless I’m taking this out of context.
- 55A: [Combines atomic nuclei?]: CAUSES FUSION – One would indeed be causing nuclear fusion if you combined atomic nuclei. Of course, you would also either be blowing something up or next in line for the Nobel Prize in Physics if you could sustain it. I hope that sentence doesn’t cause confusion.
As I mentioned, I had a harder time than I should have figuring out the theme. I started off solving quickly – just jumping from one word to the next, but then hit a few snags. The three-letter-square “boxes” in NE and SW and on the E and W sides were deceptively tough – especially since I didn’t know 16A, drew a blank on the cereal at 31A as well as the Quebec cheese town, and thought 63A was spelled with an extra S. Otherwise a fun challenge and I learned a few things.
Canadian content:
- 2D: [Chicoutimi child]: ENFANT – I had heard of Chicoutimi before and vaguely knew where it was located, but didn’t know it was a borough of Saguenay.
- 16A: [Prime minister on a $5 bill]: LAURIER – I can not even picture what a Canadian $5 bill looks like – I haven’t handled Canadian cash in at least 5 years. However, I am familiar with the Caadian Coast Guard icebreaker Sir Wilfred Laurier, so the name came to me after I got a few crosses. He’s the source of this week’s quote and I chose the specific quote because of themer 55A, though I am positive he was talking about something completely different.
- 24D: [Quebec town known for its cheese]: OKA – I know I’ve seen this in a previous puzzle but could not remember what it was.
- 29D: [Hockey sportscaster Oake]: SCOTT – Scott Oake is also an Olympic sportscaster, having been a CBC broadcaster for 11 Olympic Games.
- 35D: [Trading place on Bay St.]: TSX – Me: “I know this one! It’s the Toronto Stock Exchange – TSE!” Oops… really made it tough to get 38A before I knew the theme.
- 56D: [“___’s Ghost” (Ondaatje novel)]: ANIL – I’d heard of Michael Ondaatje (I don’t think Ive read any of his books, but perhaps a magazine article or story) but I didn’t know he was Canadian, though born in Sri Lanka.
- 59A: [Part of colour or neighbour]: SILENT U – Counting this as Canadian. You may have noticed I have tried to use the spelling with the silent U in these posts, but I’m sure I’m not consistent as it doesn’t come naturally to me.
Other stuff:
- 7A: [Stir-fry veggie]: SNOW PEA – My solving troubles started here as I confidently entered “snap pea.”
- 9D: [Turf from office]: OUST – This clue had me flummoxed for a long time (“Maybe something to do with the fake grass from one of those executive putting practice things you see in TV shows and movies to indicate the boss is out of touch with his employees and to highlight the struggle of the working class against oppressive capitalism?”) until I had a vague recollection that to “turf” someone was to kick them out.
- 14A: [Place for K-I-S-S-I-N-G]: IN A TREE – Thanks – now that taunting nursery rhyme is stuck in my head.
- 27A: [Dot on a subway map: Abbr.]: STN – I never know if this is going to be STA or STN.
- 60D: [Words in a metaphor]: IS A – I put in AS A without thinking hard about it and again, made it tougher on myself to get the theme.
- 63A: [Ludicrous]: ASININE – I would have sworn that it was spelled “assinine.”
Quote of the week:
“Fraternity without absorption, union without fusion.”
– Wilfrid Laurier