Happy middle of August everyone! We got a break from the hot weather and the temperatures are almost fall-like, so I’m enjoying it as much as I can. I hope conditions are similar for you as well, and in any event let’s take a few minutes and solve this week’s puzzle.
- Name: You’re a Doll
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 73
- Difficulty: Medium Hard (my solve time: 7:30, but with 3 errors)
It took me a while to figure out this week’s theme since I ignored the title and was thrown into thinking it had something to do with countries due to the first two themers. Once I completed it (more on that later…) I took a longer look at the themers and it leapt out at me – the themers are all common phrases, clued straight, where the last word of the phrase is a type of doll:
- 17A: [Like goods imported from “the world’s factory”]: MADE IN CHINA – China dolls are very fragile.
- 24A: [Vodka cocktail with khalúa and cream]: WHITE RUSSIAN – You can’t think White Russian and not think Big Lebowski, but in this case you need to think of Russian dolls, or Matryoshka.
- 36A: [Scrappy online poster]: INTERNET TROLL – I always found Troll dolls to be kind of creepy, but I guess I find most dolls creepy. I don’t think of internet trolls as “scrappy” but as something more negative – malevolent might be a better description.
- 48A: [Sheet placed atop an image, as for copying]: TRACING PAPER – Paper dolls are a thing. I read the clue initially with “…as for tracing” so did a double take as it’s a big no-no to have a word in the entry in the clue. Just my brain solving while reading I guess. I haven’t seen or used tracing paper in ages.
- 57A: [Oil checker’s rod wiper]: DIP STICK RAG – I got dip stick but had trouble with 54D so didn’t get RAG for a little while. Never on earth would I have got 59D and 63A, so that was one error and I wasn’t able to just run the alphabet as I had two typos elsewhere… A rag doll is a common toy for children.
This was a relatively quick solve, but maybe I went too quickly as I had a couple of typos (in 1A of all places) and then the natick-to-me at 59D/63A. So my solve time of 7:30 (nearly spot on my average) is probably not reflective of my actual difficulty with this puzzle so I’m rating it a medium hard. I had a few snags in other places as well, that I’ll try to point out below. The longer non-theme entries in this puzzle (11D, 12D, 28D, 29D) were very nice.
Canadian content:
- 1D: [Coin bearing the Bluenose]: DIME – Having sailed alongside the Bluenose II I knew this one right off.
- 11A: [Mock Canadianisms]: EHS – I have been guilty of tacking an “eh” onto the end of a sentence to indicate Canadian-ness. All done with affection, of course.
- 35A: [It had to be removed in a Legion, once]: HAT – I assume this refers to the Royal Canadian Legion, where I also assume you were required to remove your hat on entering the building.
- 37A: [Forecast in Vancouver, often]: RAIN – All the times I’ve been to Vancouver the weather has been beautiful, so I guess I’ve been lucky.
- 63A: [Canadian businesswoman Dickinson]: ARLENE – No way I’d know this as I am unfamiliar with her many accomplishments.
Other stuff:
- 1A: [“Oh, heck!”]: DANG IT – I put in DARN IT and never looked back, even though 3D and 4D were obviously wrong. So that cost me the other two errors I had in the grid.
- 14A: [How overtime periods never end]: IN A TIE – I guess this refers to hockey, because in other sports – certainly American Football – a tie after overtime is definitely possible.
- 23D: [Universal residence?]: ISS – I guess the International Space Station is indeed a universal residence for the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard it.
- 59D: [___-Kee (lucky “Mulan” bug”]: Having never seen “Mulan” this was near impossible for me.
Quote of the week:
“The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible”
– Salman Rushdie