Well, summer is definitely here – officially with the Solstice last week as well as meteorologically with the temperatures we’ve experienced recently. And we’re getting our usual summer weather pattern with heat and humidity during the first part of the day, developing thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. We could use some rain – I haven’t had to mow my lawn for nearly a month and it’s turning mostly brown. There’s your weather report – off to the puzzle…
- Name: Way to Go!
- Size: 15×15
- Entries: 70
- Difficulty: Easy (my solve time: 5:56)
Second week in a row with an exclamation point in the title, and my solve time was only one second faster than last week. Coincidence? It’s late so I’m going to hop right into the post and make it a quick one. The themers are all common phrases where the first word, when preceded by “go”, is a phrase used to describe being angry, clued straight:
- 18A: [“No way, get lost!”]: NUTS TO YOU – When someone is irritating you they make you go nuts.
- 24A: [Mail delivery body]: POSTAL SERVICE – A few decades ago there was a time when it seemed like every week there was a workplace shooting at a US Postal Service facility (The story was more complicated than it appeared). People started using the term to “go postal” to describe getting angry, often over a work-related issue.
- 34A: [Popular discarding game]: CRAZY EIGHTS – Many phrases for getting mad reference insanity, which isn’t really fair to people with mental illnesses, as most are nonviolent. It’s enough to make you go crazy. Oh, that usage isn’t referring to the cracks on the surface of ceramics? Huh…
- 46A: [New Orleans fruit dessert served flambé]: BANANAS FOSTER – I have eaten in New Orleans at the place where Bananas Foster was invented. Though I did not order the dessert, it was quite a spectacle when someone ordered it as it was prepared tableside and the flames were enormous. If you were pyrophobic you’d go bananas.
- 53A: [Isn’t gonna take it anymore]: MAD AS HELL – While the clue reminds me of this song, the answer definitely brings to mind this classic movie scene which is the source of our quote this week. Kind of surprised this wasn’t clued as a revealer, e.g., “What you’d be if you were to “go (the first word of 18-, 24-, 34-, and 46-Across)”.
While my solve time was similar to last week, which I considered a smooth solve, I never really felt on the wavelength of this one and it seemed there were a few clinkers of clues/answers. It may just be that I’ve had a long week already (it’s only Wednesday?!), the Orioles are on a season long losing streak (though they won as I started this entry – yay!), and I am once again getting to the puzzle and blog much later than I want to.
Canadian content:
- 11D: [The Great One’s first name]: WAYNE – Born in Brantford, Ontario, if you type “the great one” into the search bar it will automatically suggest Wayne Gretzky.
- 48D: [Town 90 km. north of Medicine Hat, Alberta]: ATLEE – Needed all the crosses for this one. Atlee, Alta. is home to a wind farm.
- 50D: [CBC journalist ___ Ayed]: NALA – I am unfamiliar with Ms. Ayed (who apparently spells her first name differently), but nice to see this word clued as something other than a lion.
- 54D: [Centre Bell NHLer, to fans]: HAB – As mentioned here several times before, the Montreal Canadiens are nicknamed the Habs, short for les habitants which is what the original settlers of “new France” were called.
Other stuff:
- 6D: [Like a polygraph passer]: HONEST – Uh, not so fast.
- 33D: [Capt. Smith’s ill-fated vessel]: SS TITANIC – She was actually RMS Titanic – she was a Royal Mail Ship, carrying mail under contract to the British Royal Mail.
Quote of the week:
“So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell: ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take this anymore!’”
– Howard Beale, played by Peter Finch, as written by Paddy Chayefsky, in “Network“