Constructor: RAFAEL MUSA
Relative difficulty: EASY (at least that's how it felt after Thanksgiving dinner and a few glasses of wine)
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THEME: THEMELESS FRIDAY!
Word of the Day: SRO (Kind of housing aimed at low-income residents, in brief) —
All in all, a good end to the week. I feel like the central entry CHANGE OF PLANS (35A - "Actually, this is what we're doing now...") was a nice and lively Clue/Answer pairing to anchor the whole thing. Maybe I'm just in a good mood from a nice dinner with friends (not to mention the wine), but I was smiling the whole time I solved. Maybe not the flashiest puzzle I've seen, but it was well-made and well-appreciated.
Bullets:
Signed, Eli Selzer, False Dauphin of CrossWorld
[Follow Eli on Twitter (probably not for much longer) and BlueSky (eliselzer.bsky.social)]
Relative difficulty: EASY (at least that's how it felt after Thanksgiving dinner and a few glasses of wine)
Word of the Day: SRO (Kind of housing aimed at low-income residents, in brief) —
Single room occupancy (more commonly abbreviated to SRO) is a form of housing that is typically aimed at residents with low or minimal incomes, or single adults who like a minimalist lifestyle, who rent small, furnished single rooms with a bed, chair, and sometimes a small desk.[1] SRO units are rented out as permanent residence and/or primary residence [2] to individuals, within a multi-tenant building where tenants share a kitchen, toilets or bathrooms. SRO units range from 7 to 13 square metres (80 to 140 sq ft).[3][1] In some instances, contemporary units may have a small refrigerator, microwave, or sink.[1]
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Hello, it's Eli once again! Did everyone who celebrates have a nice Thanksgiving? See some family and friends, eat and drink too much, and solve and blog about the NY Times Crossword? Just me? So, yesterday Rafa left you by saying he hoped that today's puzzle kept up the good streak. Well, surprise! HE CONSTRUCTED TODAY'S PUZZLE! I promise I won't let today's write-up be influenced by the fact that we are both members of the Rex Parker fill-in squad (The Rexplacements?).
I like a good themeless puzzle, and this one really fit the bill. Not a ton of proper nouns or excess obscure trivia, a nice clean grid; smooth sailing from start to finish. Granted, if you put NERD FESTS (17A - Hackathons and "Star Trek"conventions, say) and DRAMA CLUBS (53A - Kids acting out?) into a puzzle, you're aiming straight for Eli. My only real hangup was putting in HUM instead of HUP for 46A (Drill sound) and questioning what a HELMLINE was and why a counselor would be involved. My head went to sailing for some reason until I got to the end and didn't get the happy message. I finally saw what 46A was going for and that HELP LINE (36D - A counselor may be at the end of one) made a lot more sense.
I also thought there might be a bit of a mini theme between LAST PAGE (6D - Where a whodunit may reveal "who done it" - fun clue, btw) and CLOUSEAU (35D - Fictional detective first seen in a 1964 film). Then I realized my brain was thinking of Poirot, not Clouseau, which also explained my confusion about why an Agatha Christie character could first appear in a 1964 film.![]()
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| These are the same picture, right? |
Bullets:
- ROBOTO (44D - "Mr. ____" (1983 Styx hit) — Obligatory:
- FAKE MEAT (37D - Option for a vegetarian) — I hope that any vegetarians celebrating Thanksgiving were able to get a meal that worked for them, whether they wanted Tofurkey (or another fake meat) or they would rather not pretend to have meat in the first place.
- SEIKO (55A - Omega alternative) — I watched a bit of the dog show after the parade (I missed the COLLIES (40A - Some "bearded" dogs), and it felt like every other commercial was for a luxury watch. I guess the dog show/luxury watch Venn Diagram is more of a single circle than I had imagined.
- VIGGO (32A - Actor Mortensen) — I wish Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2 spelled his name the same way so he could split crossword clues with Mortensen.
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| Vigo! |
Ok, I've started pulling out Ghostbusters 2 references. I think it's time to start getting ready for bed. Thanks for having me! Enjoy your Friday, and don't give go buying things just because commercials say you're supposed to!
[Follow Eli on Twitter (probably not for much longer) and BlueSky (eliselzer.bsky.social)]