Sunday, June 9, 2024 | (2024)

LATtk (Gareth)

NYT10:51 (Nate)

WaPo17:18 (Matt F)

Zachary Schiff’s New York Times crossword, “Quiet Time” — Nate’s write-up

– 22A: CINNAMON BREAD [Sweet loaf with a swirl]
– 31A: TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR [Triple-platinum song from Taylor Swift’s debut album]
– 49A: SCIENCE PROJECT [Potato battery or model volcano, e.g.]
– 58A: SIDE HUSTLE [Extra source of income, slangily]
– 76A: FRUIT SALAD [Side dish at a summer cookout]
– 84A: THIS IS JEOPARDY [Classic game show intro]
– 103A: DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE [Pay a backhanded compliment, perhaps]
– 117A: SILENT AUCTION [Popular charity event … or a hint to this puzzle’s circled letters]

I was surprised by how relatively simple this puzzle’s theme was – each of the themers, in order, has a circled letter that is silent in the entry. In order throughout the puzzle, those letters spell out a SILENT AUCTION, hence the “Quiet Time” title of the puzzle. Since all this theme needed to succeed was seven themers, one each with those silent letters, I wonder if the constructor originally considered this as a 15x puzzle with quite short theme entries before realizing it’d be too dense? It certainly works better in a 21x grid with room to breathe, and that choice also allowed for my favorite thing in this puzzle – modern theme entries like TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR and SIDE HUSTLE and other fun inclusions like THIS IS JEOPARDY and DAMN WITH FAINT PRAISE. (Edited to add: I just checked the Wordplay article for this puzzle and my 15x –> 21x suspicions were right! I also read that this is the constructor’s NYT debut – congratulations indeed!)

The fill in the grid felt mostly solid, though there were a few moments like ELIHU crossing GAUL, SION, and POUF that might give some folks some trouble. Overall, though, this was quite a quick solve for me and almost a PB! Did any of you breeze through this puzzle? What did you think of it? Let us know (kindly) in the comments section – and have a great weekend!

Aaron Rosenberg’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Backing Musicians”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar phrases that end in words that are also well-known bands, clued wackily as if these were actions one might take in support of the band. The revealer is BAND-AID SOLUTION (106a, [*Temporary fix … or a description of seven answers in this puzzle ]).

• 20a. [*Keep Ray Davies and co. in shape on tour?] WORK OUT THE KINKS. Didn’t know the name but a good entry.
• 35a. [*Hustle to get Robert Smith and co. their gear before showtime?] RACE FOR THE CURE. This time I knew the name and grokked the theme. This is also my fave entry of the lot.
• 43a. [*Shuttle Ann Wilson and co. to the venue?] TAKE HEART. Solid.
• 60a. [*Provide Pat Monahan and co. a place to stay on the road?] HOUSE TRAIN. I thought, “What the heck is a HOUSE TRAIN.” But no, it’s a verb as applied to a new pet, perhaps.
• 64a. [*Make sure Eric Clapton and co. are illuminated on stage?] LIGHT CREAM. Solid.
• 80a. [*Tow Freddie Mercury and co.’s broken-down tour bus?] DRAG QUEEN. Hmm. This one’s a bit iffy. No one refers to towing a vehicle as “dragging.” And presumably the band wouldn’t be in the bus at the time.
• 88a. [*Encourage Jim Morrison and co. to freely express themselves?] OPEN UP THE DOORS. Eh. This one’s okay if you’re referring to literal doors being opened, but a metaphorical “open doors” seems far more common.

Solid wordplay. The challenge for many solvers will be recognizing the names. I knew four of the seven, so needed some crossings to work out the others. But knowing the phrases ended in band names was certainly of some help even if I didn’t know which band it was. I do like the consistent approach as if the solver is a professional roadie who has worked for all these bands.

Top fill: MARMADUKE, CHICKEN DANCE, ON CLOUD NINE, HOME LOAN, MACARON, KEY TO SUCCESS, “USE THE FORCE,” and PET PIG. I give a meh to “US TOO” and MALIGNER.

Clues of note:

• 1a. [Parisian sandwich cookie]. MACARON. Nice start to the puzzle, especially given that we are trained to respond with “Oreo” to the phrase “sandwich cookie.”
• 16a. [Smallest denomination of U.S. coin ever minted]. HALF CENT. News to me. It was minted from 1793 to 1857.
• 83a. [Scam]. HOSE. This sounds like dated slang unless it’s come back into fashion, but that seems unlikely.
• 103a. [“___ corn!” (2022 viral video)]. IT’S. Wow. I missed this one from two years ago. See below if you missed it too.
• 53d. [Teacup, say]. PET PIG. Didn’t know this designation for a mini pig, either. Here’s everything you need to know.

Good wordplay and lovely long fill. 3.75 stars.

Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword, “Mind Your P’s and Q’s” — Matt F’s Review

Befittingly, we’ve made a little substitution at Fiend to cover today’s puzzle. You get the other Matt today. So, let’s dig in and see what Evan cooked up for us in this one.

(Side note: I should know better than to try and crank out a write-up the morning of, knowing full-well my 3 kids will be clamoring for my attention every second of the day from 6AM onward. One of these days I’ll learn my lesson and do these things the night before. Apologies to anyone who was hoping to read this first thing in the morning.)

Theme Synopsis:

Today we have a substitution puzzle where the P in common phrases is switched out for a Q sound, and the resulting phrase is clued in a punny way.

• 23A: Actor Aidan, when he’s doing summersaults? = ROLLING QUINN (…pin)
• 31A: Surpasses that pheasant relative? = GOES BEYOND THE QUAIL (…pale)
• 47A: Charmingly old-fashioned game? = QUAINT BALL (paint…)
• 62A: Actor Pesci’s nickname when he makes a duck sound half a dozen times? = JOE SIX-QUACK (…pack)
• 75A: “Awesome crouch!”? = SWEET SQUAT (…spot)
• 92A: Pet mouse? = SQUEAKER OF THE HOUSE (speaker…)
• 104A: Ocean giants that twist like worms? = SQUIRM WHALES (sperm…)

Overall Impressions

With a straightforward theme like this, I like to look at each themer in isolation and take a stab at the answer before checking crosses. Some of these came easier than others, and even if I didn’t get it right away, I basically had to “find that Q” with crosses and the phrase fell in shortly after. Four out of seven required more than just a “qu” swap to make the phonetic switch, and I enjoyed these the most – pin/Quinn, pale/quail, spot/squat, sperm/squirm. The fill stays clean here despite all the Q’s, and trickier intersections like MIRTH/GIMLI are crossed fairly enough to keep the flow. QANTAS was a nice change up that threw me off when I was expecting another QU word.

I also like the black square pattern here. There’s something aesthetically pleasing about the connectivity of everything, opposed to a smattering of single squares. I think it helps facilitate good solving flow, too.

Thanks for the puzzle, Evan!