Thursday, June 27, 2024 | (2024)

BEQtk (Darby)

LAT10:16 (Gareth, 1 ERROR)

NYT12:18 (ZDL)

WSJ8:38 (Jim)

Peter Gordon’s Fireball Crossword, “Meaty and Juicy” – Jenni’s write-up

I was pretty clear that there were missing letters somewhere. Rebus? Nope. Something different. We have to look under the theme answers to see what’s going on. I’ve included Peter’s grid because it’s easier to see what’s going on.

• 16a [Alternatives to Toyota Corolla [without] ] isNISSENTRAS. That’s clearly supposed to beNISSAN SENTRAS. So where are the missing letters? We have ANS hanging down from the second S.
• 24a [1980s ABC star [she] ] isEMMANUEWISwith LLE dropped below the second E.
• 47a [Eloquent [green] ] isSILVONGUED and ERT is dangling from the V.

The revealer is 56a [Roast beef sandwiches served au jus….or a hint to this puzzle’s theme]:FRENCH DIP. SANS is “without” in French.ELLE is “she” andVERT is “green.” Nice!

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: thatROAR was a #1 hit between “Blurred Lines” and “Wrecking Ball.”

Kathy Bloomer & Jeff Chen’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Cheers!”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are wine varietals broken into two Down entries (for ultimate sneakiness). The top parts of each entry are clued as normal crossword words thereby disguising the full name of the wine. The black squares in the middle simulate a half bottle of wine, AKA a SPLIT (64a, [Small wine bottle, and a hint to solving the starred clues]).

• BURGUNDY is made with 2d BURG and 26d UNDY [*French floral wine with hints of crisp minerality].
• PROSECCO is made with 11d PROS and 29d ECCO [*Italian sparkling wine with fruity notes].
• GRENACHE is made with 31d GRE and 40d NACHE [*Spicy, berry-flavored dessert wine].
• CABERNET is made with 33d CAB and 46d ERNET [*Full-bodied, woodsy red wine].
• CHAMPAGNE is made with 27d CHAMP [Solver who has correctly identified five bottles of wine today, e.g.] and 50d AGNE [*Celebratory sparkling wine often opened by 27-Downs].

Very cool! I went from being flummoxed for most of the solve (“Whoever heard of ERNET or NACHE wines?”) to having a big aha moment toward the end. Finally piecing together the bottle of CHAMPAGNE was the perfect ending to a fun solve. Santé!

My only problem was that I never heard of a half-bottle being called a SPLIT. I’ve only ever heard it called a “demi”, but I guess that’s my own problem. It makes for a good basis for the theme, and the SPLIT wines were so stealthily sneaky, it made the ultimate resolution that much more fun. Great work, Kathy and Jeff!

Strong fill, too. OBLAST and OBISPO make for a startling first row. At 4d, I saw Google in the clue and went with STREET VIEWS which stymied me for a while until I figured out it was AERIAL VIEWS. I liked seeing NERD RAP, IPECAC, MATCHA, REDDIT, and ELYSEE. I wasn’t so keen on OFER [Batter’s hitless game, in baseball slang], but it’s outweighed by the puzzles goodies.

Clues of note:

• 24d. [Ranch dressing component?]. STETSON. Lovely clue.
• 58d. [Savor, as fine wine]. SIP. A fitting last entry for the puzzle. Now I’m thirsty.

An appropriately tricky Thursday puzzle. 4.5 stars from me.

Paolo Pasco and Sarah Sinclair’s New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up

Difficulty: Extra cheesy (12m18s, but mostly because filling in forty [!] rebus squares in the app is time consuming)

Today’s theme: mangia!!!

• PIZZA TOPPING (Pepperoni, mushroom or green pepper … or what each cluster of black squares represents in this puzzle)
• STUFFED CRUST(Feature of a deluxe pie … and of this puzzle?)

Audacious — the grid art, the rebus border, and the digital bowtie peppers/square-eronis/mushroom chapeaus. Pie in the sky, a little bit saucy, and delivered right to your door. Also basil.

Cracking:I GOT DIBS, last slice is always mine, you shall not pass

Slacking: Sea-TAC, home of the world’s worst pizza, Pallino, just past Checkpoint 3 in the Central Terminal. Why even bother using the word “pizza” west of the Mississippi river? Why even bother having an online opinion about food unless it’s needlessly divisive?

Sidetracking:PREP‘s vs Manco & Manco, the “First and Last Name in Pizza” (for the record, we’re an M&M family)

Lynn K. Watson’s USA Today Crossword, “Spare Change” — Emily’s write-up

Penny for your thoughts!

Theme: the letters in the word “spare” is rearranged in each themer

Themers:

• 20a. [Celebration you can’t throw for yourself],SURPRISEPARTY
• 38a. [“I enjoyed that a fair amount”],ITWASPRETTYGOOD
• 51a. [Disney’s Lady, for one],co*ckERSPANIEL

This themer set took me a few crossings for each: SURPRISEPARTY, ITWASPRETTYGOOD, and co*ckERSPANIEL. Cluing was solid but didn’t ring any immediate bells, and in the case of Lady, “Springer spaniel” first came to mind. Nice theme that was a bit trickier to see but not too tough. Loved the misdirection in the title, evoking money especially coins.

Favorite fill: OBOIST, TROPE, PINOT, and MISO

Stumpers: TYPECASTS (need crossings), RUE (only thought of “woe”), and ACMES (this one always feels new to me when it comes up)

A fun puzzle with bonus fill that I’ve not seen before, though maybe some of your have, including TYPECASTS, THERAPISTS, and OBOIST. The grid made it feel a bit disjointed of a solve for me but the overall flow was still fairly smooth. Some cluing was trickier for me as well which is what added to my time.

4.0 stars

~Emily

John Michael Currie’s LA Times Crossword – Gareth’s summary

In this puzzle by John Michael Currie, BEADYEYES sounds like BDI’s, and four other entries have BDI in them. The clue associates BEADINESS with rodents, but I’ve never known about such a linkage:

• [Sea creature who lived across the Strait of Messina from Scylla], CHARYBDIS
  [Objects for separating subjects], TABDIVIDERS. I wanted lAB
• [Seafood appetizer often seasoned with Old Bay], CRABDIP. I wanted tIP. It seems weird to have dip as an entire appetizer??
• [Land of giants in “Gulliver’s Travels”], BROBDINGNAG

Others:

• [Onset of], STARTTO. This just sounds awkwa.
• [Isolated group of employees], SILO. Is that what that means…
• [Home of Lucas Oil Stadium, familiarly], INDY. Crossing with OBVI is my error. Had OBVS. Never encountered that abbreviation, nor do I know where Lucas Oil Stadium is. SNDY sounds like San Diego? Considered SNNY and SUNY as well…
• [SoCal school], SDSU. A real SSTS type answer that.
• [Comedian Lydic], DESI. As previous, tESI didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility.

Gareth