Hello everyone – coming to you from an undisclosed location this week. I will drop clues here and there and let you guess where I am in the comments. The first one is that I took a step back in my progression toward spring – it’s much more chilly than back home. On to the puzzle…
- Title: The Write Stuff
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 78
- Difficulty: Medium hard (my solve time: 8:11)
Uh oh – a punny title probably means a punny theme… not necessarily as only one themer has a punny clue. The others all are common phrases where the last word is something that is “written:”
- 17A: [With strict precision]: TO THE LETTER – I never got the theme while solving so needed most of the crosses to get this one. It’s been a while since I wrote a letter, unless you count an email as a letter.
- 25A: [Part of Mozart’s staff?]: MUSICAL NOTE – I don’t think Mozart had a large staff (but have no evidence one way or the other) but I know for a fact he wrote notes.
- 37A: [Not “a” but “the”]: DEFINITE ARTICLE – There is only one definite article in English (“the”) but there are 4 in Spanish. So I learned that today – I read it in an article.
- 48A: [Plea to a windbag]: KEEP IT BRIEF – While I hope I’m not considered a windbag, where I am is considered windy. I’ll be giving a presentation today on my work, but I’ll be speaking off the cuff rather than from a formal brief.
- 58A: [Baseball ploy involving a bunt]: SQUEEZE PLAY – I didn’t see this play when I went to a game at what used to be called New Comiskey on Monday afternoon.
This was a fairly quick solve for the first three quarters, then I had lots of trouble with the SE corner: no idea on 51 and 52 D and had LAP PET for 67A. So I spent a solid minute or more trying to figure that area out.
Canadian content
- 22A: [’80s NHL powerhouse Mike _____]: BOSSY – Born in Montreal and played for the New York Islanders. I was saddened to learn he recently died on April 15th 2022.
- 24A: [Quebec town known for its cheese]: OKA – It wasn’t known to me until just now – and I love cheese. It looks like a lovely place and I will ty to visit when I get back to the Montreal area.
- 30A: [Main cross street of Yonge]: BLOOR – I don’t know why, but I knew this right off the bat. Maybe because it is a stop on the Toronto subway.
- 35A: [Vegreville, Alta.’s 8-foot statue beast]: ELK – A deep cut – had to look this one up. Vegreville is home to a large Ukranian Canadian population and the home of the world’s 2nd largest Ukranian Easter egg as well as the elk statue.
- 42A: [Nunavut’s neighbour: Abbr.] NWT – The Northwest Territory is adjacent to Nunavut.
- 51D: [TV’s “Beachcombers” baddie]: RELIC – Had no idea on this one and didn’t help that I had a P in the last spot. Needed all the crosses and made a wild guess at 51A and was surprised when it was correct. Sounds like an interesting show.
- 64A: [Terrebonne twinkler]: ETOILE – I’m sure the stars twinkle in the night sky in Terrebonne, Quebec when it’s clear out.
- 65A: [CFL fan’s channel]: TSN – If you want to see the Canadian Football League there is no better place than TSN.
Other stuff:
- 4D: [Pre-univ span]: ELHI – This is one of my most disliked pieces of crosswordese but at least I got it right away.
- 25D: [Poetic A.M.]: MORN – I was racking my brain trying to remember a four letter poet who’s initials started “A.M.”
- 31D: [Name of 13 popes]: LEO – Got this one right off as “LEO (Roman numeral)” is often seen in crosswords and you just have to get the cross to figure out which one between I and XIII it is.
- 39D: [Second door on the second floor]: TWO B – Clever clue – kind of surprised I can’t recall seeing this clue or entry used in other puzzles.
- 67A: [Furry leg warmer]: LAP CAT – For some reason I had “lap pet” in here even though I’m pretty sure the phrase “lap cat” is far more common and we have two cats that love to crawl onto our laps.
Quote of the week:
“Eventually, I think _______ will be the most beautiful great city left in the world.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright