Sunday, June 30, 2024 | (2024)

LATtk (Gareth)

NYT13:31 (Nate)

WaPountimed (Matt G)

Ginny Too’s New York Times crossword, “Misstated” — Nate’s write-up

– 22A: FLOOR IT, DUH [Getaway driver’s plan, obviously?]
– 28A: MISS IS ZIPPY [“She sure runs fast!”?]
– 34A: TEN ASEA [Captain and nine crew members?]
– 45A: ORE AGAIN [Jaded miner’s remark?]
– 51A: MINI-SODA [co*ke-ette?]
– 60A: INDIE ANNA [Actress Kendrick, when appearing in smaller films?]
– 70A: DELL AWARE [PC-sensitive, in a way?]
– 80A: WHY OM-ING [“You realize this is a silent meditation, right?]
– 86A: EYED A HOE [Considered buying that garden tool?]
– 96A: HUH WHY E [“Wait … can we not play this in F sharp instead?”]
– 102A: VERGE IN, YEAH [“Mm-hmm, get a little nearer”?]
– 113A: WHISK ON, SON [Parent’s encouragement to a budding chef?]

Today’s Sunday NYT is not only a debut (yay!) but an impressive one at that. Look at that theme density! 12 of 50 (nearly 25%!) US states are represented amongst a well-filled grid and, as fair as hom*ophones go, they all sounded pretty spot-on to my ear (if not maybe with slightly different syllabifications at times). This ties in nicely with the puzzle’s title, “Misstated,” as a hint to each state being expressed different via hom*ophone.

Even though the themers are each on the shorter end, getting a grid to fill this smoothly with that many themers placed throughout the grid is impressive! I don’t know how many of these are tried and true dad jokes, but most were new to me. It feels hard to make a theme like this feel fresh in 2024, but this puzzle did that for me. Bravo! I’m looking forward to seeing more from this constructor.

What did you think of the theme and the puzzle in general? Do you have any good state puns to add? Let us know in the comments – and have a great weekend!

PS – Thanks a bunch to the fellow Fiendsters who covered for me while I was away these past two Sundays. I appreciate your time tremendously!

PPS – Chasing the high of my Wheel of Fortune appearance a few years ago, I was recently on another game show! You can find me on Episode 4 of The 1% Club, streaming now on Amazon Prime video. I’m the guy in seat 20!

Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword, “If I Could Talk to the Animals”—Matthew’s recap

Theme entries are two-parters this week: there are six pairs of entries sharing a row, where the first entry contains a noun for a group of animals, and the second is the sound that that animal makes.

• 23a [*The Lords’ work?] ACT OF PARLIAMENT(owls)
• 26a [What you hear in this conversation: “Good evening.” “Good evening. Oh look, there’s a mouse. I’ll be right back.”] HOOTS
• 36a [*Set of items that can help you begin a task] STARTER PACK (wolves)
• 41a [What you hear in this conversation: “What a nice night we’re having in this dark forest!” “Yes indeed! Ooh, look at that full moon!”] HOWLS
• 59a [*Romantic symbol that may be tied in the shape of a heart] LOVE KNOT (toads)
• 62a [What you hear in this conversation: “How’s life here at the pond?” “Oh, you know, eating bugs, hopping around, the usual.”] CROAKS
• 83a [*2014 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee] TIM FLOCK (sheep)
• 85a [What you hear in this conversation: “Nice weather we’re having today.” “Ewe said it. Get it? I said ‘ewe’!” “Ugh, that pun was awful.” “You mean … it was baaad?”] BLEATS
• 98a [*Informal briefing held by a politician, maybe] PRESS GAGGLE(geese)
• 102a [What you hear in this conversation: “So, got any plans for the winter?” “Yeah, flying south. I’m pretty sure that’s also your plan.”] HONKS
• 118a [*Eliminated from postseason contention but still competing hard] PLAYING FOR PRIDE (lions)
• 121a [What you hear in this conversation: “I’m the king of the jungle!” “No, I’m the king of the jungle!”] ROARS
• 49d [Conversation among friends … or a hint to the animal collectives in the starred answers and the conversations that follow them] GROUP CHAT. An apt revealer.

I had a good time with this one. The theme had me interested to see what the next example was, was clear enough quickly enough that I wasn’t too thrown by new-to-me TIM FLOCK, and GROUP CHAT was a satisfying revealer that I didn’t see coming. I have a fun mental image, whether it’s true or not, of Evan’s young son learning animal sounds and inspiring this puzzle.

Other notes:

• 1a [With 74 Across, explorer whose name is shouted in a pool] MARCO / POLO. I hoped as I started that a two-part opening answer would be theme relevant, but alas.
• 20a [Hops up an down, as at a rock concert] POGOS. I can’t say I’ve ever made this connection between POGO sticks and the way that people jump up and down to music, but I can’t deny the similarity.
• 55a [“Ugh, very funny”] HAR HAR. It can be tough to pin down a specific laugh syllable in a clue. I think this does well.
• 126a [Curving pool shot] MASSE. Here’s a term I learned from crosswords that I haven’t seen in a while.
• 47d [People whose work requires many degrees?] GEOMETERS. I was a bit surprised to see this entry, but the clue is reasonable. I wonder if Evan considered a cross reference with THETA

Adam Simpson’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Infinity Pool”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are popular song titles about things that go on forever. The two-part revealer is embedded in the infinity symbol in the center of the grid: 68a [*With 70-Across, symbol of endless repetition … or what might make the songs in this puzzle go on and on] BROKEN / RECORD.

• 21a. [*The Bangles ballad that’s still hot?] ETERNAL FLAME.
• 26a. [*Cyndi Lauper bop that plays around the clock?] TIME AFTER TIME.
• 39a. [*Carl Carlton classic that’s adored to this day?] EVERLASTING LOVE.
• 89a. [*k.d. lang hit that leaves you hungry for more?] CONSTANT CRAVING.
• 111a. [*Queen song that keeps you going?] DON’T STOP ME NOW.
• 118a. [*Rod Stewart track that never gets old?] FOREVER YOUNG.

Super impressed with this grid design, especially that infinity symbol in the middle with the revealer fitting serendipitously inside. Further, each song was a huge hit, and to find enough song titles to fit symmetrically without any word duplications (okay, “ever” is repeated, but I only just noticed now), is *chef’s kiss*. Well done!

I was going to say that with the exception of EVERLASTING LOVE, each of these is an ’80s song. But that’s not quite true. CONSTANT CRAVING came out in the ’90s and DON’T STOP ME NOW was from the late ’70s. Rod Stewart’s song did come out in ’88, but it’s related to (though not an exact cover of) Bob Dylan’s song of the same name from ’67. Still, what is it about the ’80s that caused musicians to explore themes of permanence?

In the fill, we have plenty of meaty 7s and 8s to enjoy: OSBOURNE, SKI PARKA, CURACAO, BAR FOOD, SALOONS, SNOOKER, NUT TREE, etc. The rest of the grid is quite smooth with only ONE TO and NOES detracting from the overall high quality.

Clue of note: 16d. [Eye contest action]. STARE. I had to STARE at this clue to try to make sense of it. Perhaps [Engage in a certain eye contest] might have worked better for me.

Impressive puzzle. 4.5 stars.