Fall is here! Fall is here! Shorter days, cooler temperatures, less humidity (unless it’s raining). We do have the occasional tropical storm brush by (as Ophelia did recently), but I love even a cool rainy day this time of year. And it’s nearly the end of baseball season – except for those teams going to the playoffs. 😀 I already have my tickets for three postseason games – we’ll see in the next few days if I’ll be going to one of the wild card games that start next week, or if I have to wait until the Divisional series starts on October 7th – check back next week to find out! While we wait to find out (I’m following two games as I type this), let’s turn to this week’s puzzle.
- Name: You Get the Picture
- Size: 15×15
- Entries: 72
- Difficulty: Medium (my solve time: 7:02)
The title was a bit of help with the solve, though it led me a little astray once or twice. I was looking too hard for theme-related words in the themers, and went down a few minor rabbit holes. The themers are idiomatic phrases that are clued punnily to make them have something to do with photography (“get(ting) the picture”):
- 17A: [Darkroom dupes?]: DOUBLE NEGATIVES – If you have duplicate developed film in the darkroom, there you go. A lot of people think a double negative in language works like it does in mathematics – i.e., the negatives cancel themselves out. But language rules and math rules are not the same, and while a double negative may not be standard English, they don’t work like in math.
- 27A: [Tip on doing closeup photography?]: NOT BY A LONG SHOT – A long shot in photography or filmmaking is by definition not a closeup (though I guess you could zoom in on a subject in from a long distance away and get a closeup). A long shot is used to describe an event that is unlikely, or has long odds, but may be worth attempting.
- 44A: [Why the slow photographers missed taking the picture?]: THEY DIDN’T CLICK – In analog photography, when the photographer presses the shutter it makes an audible click. Many (most?) digital cameras play a clicking sound when taking a photo. When two people don’t connect socially, it is said they didn’t click.
- 55A: [Took off while the cameras were snapping?]: WAS GONE IN A FLASH – A flash is used in photography where there is not enough ambient light for a good exposure, or to fill in where there are unwanted shadows on the subject. To say someone was gone in a flash meant that they left quickly. I assume it comes from the flash that accompanies firing a gun or cannon.
I felt pretty comfortable with this one at the outset, and sped through the top half. It bogged down a bit after that, as I chased the aforementioned rabbits down a few holes, so I jumped all over the place which slowed me down. I actually felt like I solved faster than last week – and I did, by one second.
Canadian content:
- 7D: [Reform Party co-founder Manning]: PRESTON – Born in Edmonton, he was the founder and only leader of the Reform Party of Canada.
- 11D: [“New”, in a province name]: NOVA – I knew this one right off, as I’ve probably spent more time in Nova Scotia than any other province other than British Columbia.
- 12D: [“Canadian Mint” and “Disco Fever” record co.]: K TEL – Man, I remember those K-Tel albums, and even more I recall the TV ads, though I doubt I ever saw one for “Canadian Mint“.
- 58D: [ID needed for E.I.]: SIN – I seem to recall the abbreviation for Social Insurance Number being used in these puzzles before, but had to look up Employment Insurance.
- 63A: [B.C.’s ___ Lake, last town before the Alaskan Hwy]: DEASE – I was unaware of this town – I see it’s just over a hundred air miles from Juneau, but it would take you over 15 hours to drive, and you’d have to take at least one ferry.
Other stuff:
- 1D: [Thrice, on an Rx]: TID – I always want to enter TER – I used to attend meetings in France that were in an office that was on the 3rd floor – the address was something like “20ter Rue Schnapper.”
- 6D: [Le Car producer]: RENAULT – Sometimes I tell people my last name is pronounced like this car maker.
- 24D: [Part of a baseball line]: STITCH – Obviously this refers to the stitching on a baseball. All I had in my mind was statistics, like a pitcher’s “line” – his hits, runs, strikeouts, etc. after a game.
- 25A: [Marie Kondo’s bane]: CLUTTER – Though she’s famous for decluttering, apparently she’s eased off a bit.
- 27D: [Airbnb alternative]: HOTEL – I initially put “motel” in here and for a while I though the themer above (27A) ended in “smut”. One of the rabbit holes…
- 32A: [Colour in a mot croisé]: NOIR – I’m embarrassed to admit that I had to look this up to learn that it’s a direct translation to French of “crossword“.
- 43A: [Suffix with synth- and sympath-]: ETIC – My mind immediately went to -asizer and -izer, but obviously that wouldn’t work. At least it wasn’t clued “digital admission coupon” or something like that.
- 47A: [Skateboard with handlebars]: SCOOTER – This is what came to mind when I read the clue (fast forward to 1 min 32 sec).
Quote of the week:
“If you’re not practicing, somebody else is, somewhere, and he’ll be ready to take your job.”
– Brooks Robinson