- Name: Ship of Foolishness
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 74
- Difficulty: Easy (my solve time: 5:37)
From the title, I figured this one was made for me: Ships! Foolishness! – right in my wheelhouse (ha!) And I was not disappointed with the theme and the smoothness of the solve. While not in my top ten fastest solve times, it was not far down the list. The themers are common phrases that include a term that’s used at sea, and clued punnily:
- 19A: [Ship’s bathrooms equipped with Siri?]: TALKING HEADS – Siri is a talking assistant for iOS and a head is what sailors call the toilet on ships. Of course, Talking Heads are something completely different, but somehow I think they all sort of go together.
- 31A: [Baseball slugger aboard?]: BATTER ON DECK – The offensive player in baseball is a batter, and the deck is what the floor of a vessel is called. I believe there was a missed cluing opportunity here: “Pancake mix spilled in the galley?”
- 40A: [Cargo area for barber tools?]: SCISSORS HOLD – Scissors are a barber’s main tool, and the hold is the area in a ship for stowage of goods and cargo. A scissors hold is something completely different.
- 51A: [Upper structure where the ship’s orthodontist works?]: DENTAL BRIDGE – The bridge is the command center of a ship, where the watch officer, helmsman, and lookout are usually posted. The Captain is often on the bridge as well, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an orthodontist on a ship’s bridge. Maybe if the Captain didn’t have time when ashore to have their dental bridge fitted…
My solve didn’t start out auspiciously when the first thing I entered was ENCODED in 1A, but that was quickly resolved and it was pretty much smooth sailing (ha!) from there on, especially as I figured out the theme pretty quickly. Only on review did I notice the mini-themers at 14A and 17A – too bad there couldn’t have been a few others scattered through the grid. No real snags at all, though I’m surprised 43D didn’t get me, and I was kind of lucky to remember 59D from a previous puzzle.
Canadian content:
- 3D: [Summer hrs. in Winnipeg]: CDT – A big swath of North America goes on Central Daylight Time each year – but for how much longer?
- 16D: [Alex ______ Studio, where Jennings works]: TREBEK – While the studio is located in Culver City, California, Mr. Trebek was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario.
- 21D: [eReader that’s an anagram of “book”]: KOBO – I put “Nook” in here initially, but it’s this one.
- 24A: [Club giving free tows: Abbr.]: CAA – Well, if the Canadian Automobile Association is anything like it’s American counterpart, the tows are only “free” if you don’t count the annual membership fee (however, it’s still a bargain).
- 54D: [56-Across’s premier Ford]: DOUG – Doug Ford seems to be doing well as premier, but unfortunately the first thought that came to mind was his troubled brother.
- 56A: [Province meaning “sparkling water” in Iroquois]: ONTARIO – I didn’t know that this was the derivation of the name of the lake, but I have certainly sailed on the sparkling waters of Lake Ontario.
- 59D: [Snotty Nose ___ Kids (Haisla hip hop group]: REZ – I really ought to give their music a listen some day – looks like I could have the chance in March
- 64A: [Van summer festival]: PNE – I know I’ve seen this one before, but I’ve also seen CNE several times so almost put that in here, rather then the Paciific National Exposition.
Quote of the week:
“Don’t minimize the importance of luck in determining life’s course.”
—Alex Trebek