Theme: Southbound.
The reveal:
11 Down. Following the path of a snowbird, perhaps, or what the answers to the starred clues are, in two ways: SOUTHBOUND.
Obligatory musical interlude...
CrossEyedDave here, I found the puzzle fairly simple, with one speed bump. (See 38 across). But having this visual impediment (I.E.: Mentally CrossEyed...) I find I have great difficulty in visualizing vertical crossword answers. So, when the reveal stated, Southbound "in two ways," I was very much relieved to think, "oh, that's easy! the theme answers are vertical, starting at the top, and heading South!" But when it came time to explain the second way they were Southbound, I was completely dumbfounded... yes I could see they all started with S, and ended with TH, but there wasn't a complete, or even repeating partial southbound anywhere... so eventually, I texted my family, thinking, one of the four must see what's going on here.
This was their response...
So in desperation, I texted CC for help. She responded with, "In the 4 Down slots, SOUTH bookends each theme entry. so they are bound by SOUTH. This is also a 16x15 grid, so it has 81 words." Well, I would have seen the grid size eventually, and even the 17 three letter words. But I still think horizontally, and bookends surround books in a shelf, so I went looking in the wrong direction,
Text #2: um, I still don't get it..,
So here is the explanation, direct from C.C. herself:
"The middle one has 16 letters, that's why this grid is a 16x15 grid. Each theme entry has S*OUTH or SOU*TH pattern. So each theme entry is bound by SOUTH. And the theme entries are placed in the down slots for visual effects."
4 Down. *Manhattan Ingredient. SWEET VERMOUTH.
7 Down. *Personal asset during a crisis: SOURCE OF STRENGTH.
23 Down. *"Zip it!": SHUT YOUR MOUTH.
36 Down. *Recording studio space: SOUND BOOTH.
Personally, I think it was that there were no continuous or repeating SOUTHs that made it invisible to me. And I am hoping that I am not the only one that had so much trouble as I did in visualizing this.
So, to borrow from 56 down, and sum this up, SOUTH bounds (or bookends) each theme answer by (one) S*OUTH, or (two) SOU*TH.
But hey, wait a sec,, if you include my original guess being vertically read in its entirety from top to bottom as being read southbound, WOULDN'T THAT BE THREE WAYS???
Oh well, onward! (Or should I say Southbound....)
1. Draconian: HARSH. (Sorry, nothing funny about this...)
6. Yoga pose: ASANA.
Who, me?
14. Gawking, perhaps: IN AWE.
12 minutes of this, but very funny Sulu bit near end.
15. Spy's assumed identity: COVER.
16. Bozo: OAF.
17. New York City's "Crossroads of the World": TIMES SQUARE.
Having lived in NYC, I would avoid this like the plague.
19. G7 member: USA.
20. "Gotcha": I SEE.
21. Belonging to us: OUR.
22. With less delay: FASTER. When one of my Daughters was in Grammer School, some one got the bright idea to put in speed bumps all through the pick up area. Well meaning, but not thought thru. They were 2 inch by 2 inch strips, hard plastic. So I told the Principal they were incredibly uncomfortable to crawl over, but no problem of you drive really fast... (they were gone the next day.) kind of redundant since the pick up area was a square of 90 degree turns.
24. Camping shelter: TENT.
27. Sibilant "Zip it!": SHH.
28. Most expansive: VASTEST.
6 hours of aerial panoramas for your viewing pleasure.
31. Ultra-: UBER.Ubers who pimped their rides...
34. "Booped" body parts: NOSES. Normally, I would post a cute "Dog" video here. But things have a habit of winding up backwards... I am reminded of the (irreverent) movie Dogma, where God, (played by Alanis Morrisette) when asked "why are we here," simply "boops" the questioner on the nose.
It has an all star cast!
The entire movie is now available on YouTube, free with Ads.
Do not watch if you don't want to be "booped."
38. Zipped along: TORE. I automatically inked "sped" before erasing it for "tore." (My speed bump.) Crosswordese #3,141 - you will not trip me up again... (wait, is that Pi? Ack! It goes on forever!)
39. Unprincipled: AMORAL.
41. Sworn enemy: FOE.
42. Glamping shelter: YURT. I have followed Girl in the Woods for about ten years now. If you don't know what to cook in the woods, check out her month long cook in the woods challenge, where she went out every day in February, and showed how to cook a different meal every day! 28 days, 28 meals!
Of course, with age, sleeping in a makeshift wooden shelter with your dog can get a little tiresome...
43. "The Wizard of Oz" creator: BAUM. L. Frank Baum
44. Meditation sounds: OMS. Why Om, and not some other sound...
46. With less delay: SOONER.
48. Cry of dismay: OH NO.
49. Solemn vow: OATH.
51. Red in the face: RUDDY.
52. Singer Erykah known as the "Queen of Neo-Soul": BADU. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Follow this link for more info...
53. Seattle MLB player: MARINER. Major League Baseball.
55. "Mic Drop" K-pop band: BTS. Learning experience: What BTS stands for...
57. Ultra-: MEGA.
58. Office dispatch: MEMO.
65. British medical sys.: NHS. National Health Service.
66. Patron saint of Norway: OLAV. Believe it or not, both Olaf, and Olav are acceptable spellings.
67. "The Bear" Emmy winner Edebiri: AYO.
You may know her as "this character..."
68. Engineer from a Cambridge sch., e.g.: MIT GRADUATE. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
71. Airport arrival: JET.
The First One?
72. Come together: UNITE.
73. See 11-Across: OTTER.
74. Barbecue residue: ASH.
75. Long and winding roads, e.g.: PATHS.
76. Trunk: CHEST.
Down:
1. "Let's rock!": HIT IT.
2. Carrot family plant: ANISE.
3. Instant noodles option: RAMEN.
4. [theme]
5. Chaps: HE'S.
6. Finds not guilty: ACQUITS.
7. [Theme.]
8. "Selma" director DuVernay: AVA. More info here...
9. Brand of spongy toys: NERF.
10. Spaces: AREAS. Meh?
11. [Theme Reveal]
12. Slide (into): EASE.
13. Way out there: AFAR.
18. Family boys: SONS.
23. [Theme]
26. Petro-Canada rival: ESSO.
29. Quick __ wink: AS A.
30. Small digits: TOES. (Not ones...)
32. Made a mistake: ERRED.
33. Second attempt: RETRY.
34. Big shot: NABOB. One definition:
Another definition...
35. Nebraska home of the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium: OMAHA.
36. [Theme]
40. Weaving machine: LOOM.
45. Title of respect: MA'AM. (If you want to use respect, you must include the apostrophe.)
47. Metal-bearing material: ORE.
50. Like some screens, for short: HIGH RES. (high Resolution.)
54. Mars rover org.: NASA.
56. Provide an overview: SUM UP.
59. Exhilarate: ELATE.
Elate = you missed your Zoom meeting...
61. For all to see: OVERT.
62. __ Fresh: Tex-Mex chain: BAJA.
63. Marbled loaves: RYES.
Catcher in the Rye?
64. Actress Lollobrigida: GINA. Images:
69. __ for tat: TIT.
70. "What's up, __?": DOC.
Bugs Bunny Southbound...
The 15x16 Grid
It took a good little
ReplyDeletewhile for me to solve this puzzle, but after I finished it, I looked back and saw that most of the clues, including the themed ones, were not that hard to get.
So I guess I would say it was a combination of hard and easy.
FIR, so I’m happy.