Jump to: Tricky Clues
FRIDAY PUZZLE — Happy Friday, solvers! Today we have a cooperation from Margaret Seikel and Sophia Maymudes. This is their 2nd partnership and 2nd Friday together, after their exceptional puzzle from June.
I enjoyed feeling the character of this puzzle while I was fixing it. I might distinguish the option of ideas and entries what the contractors appreciated and picked to stress.
This puzzle is a best example of why the Friday crossword is my favorite of the week (shh … don’t inform the Monday-to-Wednesday puzzles that I typically blog about). Fridays have all the versatility fundamental in a themeless grid, offering contractors the space to consist of entries that they like, while not needing extremely tough ideas to pump up the trouble, as you’ll in some cases see on Saturdays. This puzzle is a dynamic, voicey, freewheeling journey through the eyes of the contractors, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Tricky Clues
11A. There are a great deal of things that “Kings and queens, e.g.” might be. Royals? Rulers? Mattresses? OK, that last one has a lot of letters. Today the response is PIECES, as in chess PIECES.
13A. The wordplay hint “Discreet look?” describes the “NO-MAKEUP” MAKEUP cosmetics pattern of using minimalist makeup that is planned to look natural. As of 2021, this pattern, according to The New York Times’s Styles area, was on its escape.
20A. I had actually never ever become aware of an mbira prior to experiencing the hint “What musicians pluck on an mbira,” however I recognized with the idea of a “thumb piano,” of which the mbira is one example. The mbira, the nationwide instrument of Zimbabwe, is played by plucking secrets or Branches connected to a wood block. In investigating this hint, I stumbled upon a beautiful Google doodle commemorating the mbira; I extremely suggest examining it out.
22A. “One who collects just for kicks?” is a SNEAKERHEAD. “Kicks” is slang for shoes, and a SNEAKERHEAD is an individual who, as you may have thought, gathers tennis shoes.
30A. A Shell filling station may be a location to pump gas, however a “Shell filling station?” with an enigma is a TACO BAR, where you may fill a TACO shell with any of a variety of TACO fillings. I like when contractors camouflage words as correct nouns, and vice versa, by putting them at the start of an idea, where the uppercase might suggest “this is a proper noun” or “this is just how clues start.” It’s challenging!
45A. “One end of Suez?” is ZEE, which is the letter on completion of the word Suez. I waited up until I had the crossing to complete that 2nd E due to the fact that I wasn’t sure if the response was ZEE or zed, as the letter is spelled in Egypt, where Suez is discovered.
49A. I’ve constantly believed material DEVELOPER (“One who makes videos, e.g.”) is such an amusing euphemism for “person trying to become famous as an online influencer.” It sounds so genuine! And for some individuals, it is rather a profitable profession.
55A. “One side of a ’90s boy band rivalry” is ’NSYNC. The opposite of this competition, naturally, is the Backstreet Boys.
2D. I was so thrilled when sport climbing was presented as an Olympic sport in 2020. It’s an extraordinary sport, and the climbers who contend at the global level are mind-blowingly gifted. The hint “___ climbing (discipline that debuted at the 2020 Olympics)” may have tripped up solvers who desired “rock” to enter that blank, however the response is LEAD climbing, which is one part of the integrated Olympic occasion (in addition to speed climbing and bouldering).
9D. I had no concept that an IGUANA was a “Lizard with a third eye.” Apparently, such an eye, discovered on the top of the head, is called a parietal eye and is utilized for thermoregulation and for policy of the body clock. It appears that this is a function of the majority of lizards, not simply IGUANAs.
29D. I like a good ellipsis hint, where either side of the ellipsis might be an idea by itself. Here, “Choose … or choice” is the hint for SELECT due to the fact that both words suggest SELECT (if you analyze “choice” as an adjective significance “of excellent quality”).
44D. Finally, a “Creepy story?” is an ATTIC, as in the story (flooring) of a house where all of the creaky sounds and spiders live.
Constructor Notes
Margaret Seikel: Most themeless puzzles have a lots or more responses with a minimum of 8 letters. This one might have just 4, however I believe they actually load a punch. Three of the 4 seeds remained in the initial grid skeleton. However, Sophia’s addition of material developer significantly opened the fill possibilities for the bottom half. As constantly, it was so enjoyable to send out edits backward and forward, concentrating on making the midlength fill shine.
Sophia Maymudes: I’m proud of the number of of our sent ideas made it into this puzzle, although my preferred — “You shall not pass!” for BALLHOG — was unfortunately cut. It’s constantly a blast to deal with Margaret, and I’m anticipating more collabs in the future.
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