I usually alternate between themed and themeless puzzles, but when I took a fresh look at the themed puzzle I intended to post today, I wasn’t thrilled with it. So here’s next week’s planned puzzle a week early.
The seeds for this grid were 6D/20A and 7D. My favorite clue is 29A – it’s not a pun or misdirect, but a beautiful quote I ran across somewhere.
Words: 18 (7×7)
Average Length: 5.00
I just finished a fascinating (to me at least) book about the relationship between Bob Dylan and The Beatles, “Where the Music Had To Go,” by Jim Windolf. At one point, the book discussesthe Dylan song that’s in 8A, which is one of my favorites of his. I think the first verse is among the most evocative passages he ever wrote:
Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks
When you’re tryin’ to be so quiet
We sit here stranded, though we’re all doin’ our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin’ you to defy it
Lights flicker from the opposite loft
In this room the heat pipes just cough
The country music station plays soft
But there’s nothing, really nothing to turn off
Just Louise and her lover so entwined
And these visions of [redacted] that conquer my mind
Later in the song, the lyrics become (to me, at least) impenetrable, and that’s where the title of this puzzle comes from:
See the primitive wallflower freeze
When the jelly-faced women all sneeze
Hear the one with the mustache say, “Jeez, I can’t find my knees”
Come back Saturday for a full-size themed puzzle titled “What’s the Big Idea?”
Words: 62 (17×12)
Average Length: 5.56
The two seeds for this puzzle, 26A and 5D, originally were intended to seed a themed puzzle, but I couldn’t come up with two other good theme answers and a revealer. Instead, they anchor this themeless, which I think should play on the challenging side.
If you’re interested, here’s a link to the Wikipedia page for 47A. She was a distinguished mathematician/astronomer/philosopher and counselor to the political leadership of 4th century Alexandria, who met a violent end at the hands of a Christian mob.
Words: 76 (14×16)
Average Length: 4.79
I’d had the idea for this puzzle for ages, but the construction turned into more of a challenge than I expected. I even had an entirely different puzzle with the same theme ready to go, but I wasn’t happy with it and decided to start over.
I’m a sucker for unusual time signatures, and 11D fits the bill: it’s one of only two rock songs I know of that’s predominantly in 7/4. (The other is “Solsbury Hill,” by Peter Gabriel; the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” alternates between 7/4 and 4/4.)
19A is something my mother used to say. She had other precipitation-related expressions as well: if it was raining while the sun was shining, she’d say “las brujas bailan” – “the witches are dancing” – an expression she picked up during her childhood in Puerto Rico.
Words: 16 (7×7)
Average Length: 4.88
I constructed this one as an exercise: I wanted to make a mini puzzle starting with 1D and ending with 12D. As exercises go, it turned out to be of the not-exactly-breaking-a-sweat variety: to my surprise, filling the grid only took a half hour or so after I’d settled on a grid shape.
Words: 73 (16×15)
Average Length: 5.37
I’m posting this a day earlier than usual because I’m heading out of town to celebrate my niece’s wedding. Congratulations, 13A and Marco!!!
Words: 16
Average Length: 5.00
The seeds for this puzzle were the title clue (used in 5D), which came to me out of the blue the other day, and 8A, which I learned from a Norwegian gentleman a few weeks ago. The title clue is cryptic. If you solve the online version, there’s a conventional clue you can reveal. Otherwise, here’s the conventional clue in retrograde: rotcelloc niar.
Words: 81 (17×15)
Average Length: 5.14
I’d had the clue for 20A in my list of ideas for a while. I decided to try coming up with two other grammar-related answers/punny clues, which turned into 36A and 56A. Having said that, my favorite answer/clue combination is 64A – it’s not a pun but it’s a pretty fiendish misdirect!
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.25
Here’s a challenging themeless with a bit of everything: science, religion, archeology, baseball, and of course, music. I’m posting this from Berlin, Germany, where I’m finishing up a sometimes disturbing but ultimately inspirational trip that included Copenhagen, Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, Dresden, and Wittenburg, among other places. I’ve written about the trip and posted lots of photos on my travel blog. Please take a look if you’re interested.
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