Theme: The Crying Game
Emet Ozar serves up a Thursday challenge. Best to keep in mind that it's just a game! The four theme entries are symmetrically placed in rows Across, with two of them spanning the grid, and the other two just one square shy of that. All four involve a common phrase that is reinterpreted as a cry from a game player. The theme entries are:
16-Across. Sad cry from a hot potato player?: I DIDN'T CATCH THAT. If you drop the potato, you're out.
25-Across. Sad cry from a Bananagrams player?: CAN I GET A WORD IN? Players race to build crossword grids using letter tiles. Why haven't I played this?
46-Across. Sad cry from a Battleship player?: I MISSED THE BOAT.
61-Across. Happy cry from a Scrabble player?: I'M DRAWING A BLANK.
All those cries ended on a happy note. Let's see how we fare with the rest of this game.
Across:1. All-Star side: EAST. Sports are games, too, but they seem more like tribal warfare by proxy. In many sports, the All-Star games pit East versus West.
5. Maori dance: HAKA. Speaking of sports, the Haka is performed by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team before matches.
 |
| All Blacks Haka dance |
9. Building blocks: ABCs.
13. Pepper __: MILL.
14. Drop: OMIT.
15. Biggest city in the Cornhusker State: OMAHA. Nebraska.
16. [Theme clue]
19. Custom car made from cast-off parts: RAT ROD. A custom car with a deliberately worn-down, unfinished appearance, typically lacking paint, showing rust, and made from cheap or cast-off parts.
14. Drop: OMIT.
15. Biggest city in the Cornhusker State: OMAHA. Nebraska.
16. [Theme clue]
19. Custom car made from cast-off parts: RAT ROD. A custom car with a deliberately worn-down, unfinished appearance, typically lacking paint, showing rust, and made from cheap or cast-off parts.
 |
| Rat Rod |
20. Knightly honorifics: SIRS.
21. Formal accessory: TIE.
22. Actor Corddry: ROB. You may remember Rob as a correspondent on The Daily Show. He has a number of other television and film credits, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and more Ds than seem proper in his surname.
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| Rob Corddry |
24. Rented: LET.
25. [Theme clue]
33. Palm fruit: DATE.
34. Tool that can be made to sound like a theremin: SAW. The theremin is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer. It is named after its inventor, Leon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928. Here is Leon Theremin playing the theremin:
Playing a saw requires touching it with a bow:
https://youtube.com/shorts/3-2wWp1UBiY?si=N6E0SxupPWiXKwVl
Apologies if the videos don't work! You can look up Theremin on Wikipedia to see the Leon Theremin video. And of course you can copy and paste the YouTube link into your web browser to see the saw in action.
35. Thin: SPARSE.
36. Ballpark figs.: ERAs. Not estimates (like ETAs), but figures reported in baseball ballparks: Earned Run Averages.
37. Verbal shrug: MEH.
39. Valley: DALE.
40. Grinding vessel: MORTAR. I tried "metate" first.
43. Orecchiette shape: EAR. "Orecchiette" means "little ears" in Italian. It's a pasta shape.
 |
| Orecchiette |
45. Cyberchatted, for short: IMed. Instant Messaged. Also written IM'd.
46. [Theme clue]
49. "SNL" alum Gasteyer: ANA. She's had continued success on film and stage.
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| Ana Gasteyer |
50. Bother: ADO.
51. "KPop Demon Hunters" voice actor Daniel __ Kim: DAE. A successful actor on stage, film and TV.
 |
| Daniel Dae Kim |
54. "99 Luftballons" band: NENA. The German band Nena recorded "99 Luftballons" in 1983. The song tells a fictional story about how 99 balloons are mistaken for enemy aircraft and trigger a global nuclear war.
56. Trashes: TOSSES.
61. [Theme clue]
64. Game consoles produced between 1983 and 2001: SEGAS.
65. Escalator part: STEP.
66. No-frills grocery chain: ALDI.
67. Had in mind?: KNEW.
68. Obscure: HIDE.
69. All-Star side: WEST. The last Across clue echoes the first. Here in the Corner, we call that a clecho -- a clue echo.
Down:
1. Doha dignitary: EMIR. Doha is the capital of Qatar.
2. Verdi opera: AIDA.
3. Feature of many a slinky gown: SLIT.
 |
| Just for Splynter. |
4. "I lost interest" letters: TLDR. Too Long, Didn't Read.
5. Relish-topped ballpark bites: HOT DOGS.
6. Theater chain with MacGuffins Bar and Lounge: AMC. Never heard of this, but AMC is the only theater chain that comes to mind.
7. Some Korean cars: KIAS.
8. __ the Hun: ATTILA.
9. Check no.: AMT. Abbreviation in the clue calls for abbreviation in the answer. AMT is for "amount."
10. Thai currency: BAHT.
11. Hebrew symbol that translates to "living": CHAI. Chai is not so much a symbol as it is a word, composed of two Hebrew letters. It means "life." Hebrew letters were also used as number symbols, and the letters in chai add up to 18, so that 18 is associated with life and luck.
5. Relish-topped ballpark bites: HOT DOGS.
6. Theater chain with MacGuffins Bar and Lounge: AMC. Never heard of this, but AMC is the only theater chain that comes to mind.
7. Some Korean cars: KIAS.
8. __ the Hun: ATTILA.
9. Check no.: AMT. Abbreviation in the clue calls for abbreviation in the answer. AMT is for "amount."
10. Thai currency: BAHT.
11. Hebrew symbol that translates to "living": CHAI. Chai is not so much a symbol as it is a word, composed of two Hebrew letters. It means "life." Hebrew letters were also used as number symbols, and the letters in chai add up to 18, so that 18 is associated with life and luck.
12. Fill fully: SATE.
15. "You are just too much!": OH STOP.
17. Edible seaweed: NORI.
18. Hands that handle the deck: CREWS. The deck of a ship ...
23. Radiate pride: BEAM.
25. Tricky pool shot: CAROM.
26. Maker of the 2600 and 5200 game consoles: ATARI.
27. Tiny homes tucked in branches: NESTS.
28. Chirp: TWEET. Sounds heard in NESTS.
29. __ wave: RADIO.
30. Broadway genre: DRAMA.
31. Dot on a map: ISLET.
32. Call for: NEED.
33. Prefix with sexual: DEMI. A demisexual person only develops sexual attraction after forming an emotional bond with another person. They don't get hot and bothered by slits in gowns, for sure!
38. "Good one": HA HA.
41. Vinyasa sequence: ASANAS. An asana is a physical pose in yoga. Vinyasa is a style of yoga that links poses in a fluid sequence. I've seen my lovely daughters practice this flow.
42. Freshen: RENEW.
44. Bureaucratic hassle: RED TAPE.
47. Like kanelsnegle: DANISH. Kanelsnegle are Danish cinamon rolls. I didn't know this, but I'm happy to see these on the crossword menu. Especially if I only have to spell Danish, and not kanelsnegle!
48. __ tube: BOOB. Yes, kids, that's what we used to call the TV. Cathode ray tube device for idiots. Before we all got sucked in.
51. Floppy or hard medium: DISK.
52. Blessing ender: AMEN.
53. Lip: EDGE. Like the lip of a cup.
55. Not pro: ANTI.
57. Vegetable side: SLAW.
58. Result of a good pitch: SALE. A good SALEs pitch results in a SALE. Not baseball this time!
59. Some football linemen: ENDS.
60. Sketch: SKIT. Not drawing, but sketch comedy.
62. Like sashimi: RAW.
63. HS equivalency test: GED. General Educational Development test.
Here's the grid:
Solvers, did you find yourselves DRAWING A BLANK at any point?
Did you at least GET A WORD IN the right place, here and there?
If you KNEW all the answers without the help of perpendicular entries, I'm impressed!
Let us know in the comments.
-- NaomiZ
2 comments:
I don’t know about the
rest of you, but I actually thought this puzzle was pretty tough. There were a lot of clues that seemed to have an “oblique” aspect, kind a like a cryptic crossword, if you’re familiar with that genre. But I got it, eventually.
FIR, so I’m happy.
I actually found this puzzle easy for a Thursday which to me underscores why puzzle construction is complex endeavor. For example, those who hate proper names don’t get the joy I get from learning new things or being tended of things I knew but forgot.
I was impressed with the theme answers knowing it is not easy to find 14 and 15 letter fill that works.
RAT ROD was a complete unknown and one I won’t remember.
We have follow up to yesterday with more pasta and a reminder of Splynter’s ASANA comment. Thanks for the shout out yesterday Richard. I now need go back and re-examine your lady in the field pic.
Naomi nice explanation of CHAI and it amused me see it next to BAHT in the puzzle.
Thanks Emet and Naomi
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