Relative difficulty: Incredibly hard for a Monday, not so bad for a Saturday.
THEME: Words or phrases, mostly English, crossing other words and phrases in a square. Each word or phrase is separated from others by a black square. Clues are provided to assist the solver in determining which letters go in the white squares. Sometimes referred to as "none".
Word of the Day: AULANI — Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa is a beachside hotel, resort and vacation destination at the Ko Olina Resort & Marina near Kapolei on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Part of the Disney Vacation Club, it is the third Disney Vacation Club Resort located outside of a Disney theme park property. The resort opened on August 29, 2011. It is based on the Days Inn in Detroit, Michigan. (mostly Wikipedia, mostly true)
Yes, I know AULANI isn’t in today’s puzzle. This is better; you’ll thank me when it shows up. And to those who like to bet on the Word of the Day – too bad; I can’t condone gambling.
So Rex and all of the cool crossword people claim to be in St. Louis at Patrick Blindauer’s wedding this weekend leaving this Canadian accountant to sweep up the blog. I want proof – wedding guests, stop anagramming the maid of honour’s name long enough to take a picture or video of someone saying AULANI at the wedding. The first person to do so will get a fabulous prize from Rex. The fact that the wedding may have occurred before you read this just adds to the challenge.
If Brainiac comes down from outer space and shrinks St Louis and puts it in a bottle, I become the most important person in Crossworld. It could happen.
Who am I?
Just think of me as Andrew Carlton Michelle.
I can’t find the rule book, so today you’ll get: Seinfeld instead of Simpsons, a Broadway tune, sunny weather, smooth travel connections but no feisty dogs or cute daughters. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of that. Oh, and mysterious formatting problems, questionable grammar and typos are guaranteed.
It is too bad Rex has been subjected to floods, missed flights and all sorts of plagues. You’d think by now he’d realize just how powerful Will Shortz is.
Random Question: In the lyrics to Neil Diamond’s “I Am, I Said”, you know, the song where the chair ignores him, he goes:
Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of being a king
And then became one
Well except for the names and a few other changes
If you talk about me, the story's the same one
Except for the name and a few other changes? So the story is actually completely different. Am I right? I think I am (I said).
Theme answers:
There are no theme answers. Its a themeless puzzle. I said that already. Please pay attention.
Other stuff, like big words and tricky clues, all in a special boldface:
- 1A. [Singer/songwriter Scialfa] - PATTI. The wife of the Boss, Bob Seger.
14A. [Cause for some spatial relationships?] - ALIEN ABDUCTIONS. Something sleazy about that clue.
17A. [Debut at the 1979 Frankfurt Auto Show] - VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. Random 15 letter cars are always handy.
20A. [One with nothing to hide] - NUDIST/21A. [Wallop] - SOCK. If you got nothing to hide, what's with the sock?
28A. [Show one's stamped hand, perhaps] - REENTER. In a world of lousy RE words, this is a good one.
32A. [Can't take a bit] - HATES. No hating around here today. All sunshine and lollipops.
33A. [Bear essentials?] - CLAWS. Hidden by the socks, no doubt.
36A. [They're in the vicinity: Abbr.] - ESTS. This place is awash with estimates. Here an EST, there an EST, everywhere an EST, EST.
37A. [Sartre's "Les Jeux Sont ___"] - FAITS. Hey, I said no gambling.
40A. [Damn] - CURSE. No means no. Watch your mouth.
41A. [Like 14-Across] - EERIE. I wanted to put SILLY.
42A. [Tool handle strengthener] - FERRULE. It is a real word so no whining about it.
44A. [Member of a very early union?] - SEX CELL. If you don't understand this, please google it. No wait, don't!
46A. [Titan after whom one of the oceans is named] - ATLAS. The Pacific Ocean, of course.
48A. [Silver checker] - REIN. The horse Silver, as in hi-ho, hi-ho, its off to work we go. Hmm. That sounds wrong. Tonto, how does it go?
57A. [Suffered serious consequences] - PAID A STEEP PRICE. What will happen to me if I keep this up.
60A. [Groups aiming for good returns] - INVESTMENT TEAMS. Yay, financial terms! Accountants rule!
61A. [Smoking and heavy drinking] - AGERS. Saturday crossword solving is another example.
63A. [They go with uppers] - SOLES. Shoes. Parts of shoes.
3D. [One spending a long time in the bathroom?] - TILE SETTER. Wow. Never saw that coming. Clue of the day. "WIFE" was too short to fit.
4D. [Drug in a sci-fi novel series] - TEK. Written by Montreal's William Shatner
5D. [What swallows swallow] - INSECTS. Swallow are birds and they swallow insects. They don't swallow swallows. That would be gross.
9D. [Memphis hospital, familiarly] - ST JUDES. I wasn't familiar.
12D. [Some marching bands] - ANTS. Watch out for the swallows!
16D. [It's shown on TV monitors at many airports] - CNN NEWS. Rex will elaborate.
27D. [Alexandria is in it] - DC AREA. Not sure which part of DC; I'm guessing the Justice League.
29D. [Coming down hard] - TORRENTIAL. Rex will elaborate.
31D. [Spur part] - ROWEL. A rowel is a part of a spur.
40D. [Pirate's appurtenance] - CUTLASS. appurten-what?
41D. [Grandfathers, e.g.] - EXEMPTS. Not a noun here. You were fooled.
47D. ["The primary factor in a successful attack," per Lord Mountbatten] - SPEED. Don't try to pretty it up with fancy quotes; the answer is just SPEED.
49D. [Capital near Faleolo International Airport] - APIA. Got me. I put OSLO. I always put OSLO.
55D. [Lofty place] - ACME. Shout out to Andrea!
58D. ["I think you overshared," briefly] - TMI. We're back at the sock and the bathroom.
59D. [Locomobile competitor] - REO. That locomobile was one crazy vehicle.
72 words, nothing yucky, cool clues, sex, nudity, Montrealers, bathroom humour, and rock and roll. Just one smooth solve. What more can you ask on a Saturday?
- Thanks for reading all the way to the end. Please tip the blogger on your way out.
Signed, Jeffrey, Usurper of Crossworld
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