Sunday, July 28, 2024 | (2024)

LATtk (Gareth)

NYT11:34 (Nate)

WaPo6:40 (Matt G)

Paolo Pasco’s New York Times crossword, “The Big Five-O” — Nate’s write-up

Today, we are treated to a *banger* of an Olympics tribute puzzle. I just finished solving it and WOW! Not only an achievement in construction, but a true joy to solve. Let’s be like Tom Daley and dive right in!

First, take a look at that incredible grid art of the Olympic rings. Wow! But the colors of those rings aren’t just for show – they also represent a color word that needs to precede each grid entry to fully answer each respective clue!

Blue ring, clockwise from the top:
36A: (blue) PRINT [Detailed plan of action]
45D: (blue) STATE [Democratic stronghold]
79A: (blue) BAYOU [Signature hit for Linda Ronstadt]
43D: (blue) BIRDS [They fly somewhere over the rainbow]

Black ring, clockwise from the top:
38A: (black) MAGIC [Malevolent sorcery]
47D: (black) MAILS [Extorts from, in a way]
81A: (black) OLIVE [Supreme pizza topping]
46D: (black) SHEEP [Ostracized family member]

Red ring, clockwise from the top:
40A: (red) ROBIN [Restaurant chain with an avian mascot]
50D: (red) SCARE [Phenomenon allegorized in “The Crucible”]
82A: (red) ALERT [“Danger! Danger!”]
48D: (red) PANDA [Raccoonlike mammal of China]

Yellow ring, clockwise from the top:
59A: (yellow) PAGES [Obsolescent book]
65D: (yellow) BELLY [Milquetoast]
98A: (yellow) CARDS [Results of some fouls in soccer]
63D: (yellow) STONE [National park since 1872]

Green ring, clockwise from the top:
60A: (green) GIANT [Brand in the frozen food section]
69D: (green) SALSA [Dip made from tomatillos]
100A: (green) HOUSE [What has a lot of room to grow?]
67D: (green) RIVER [Creedence Clearwater Revival song named after a place “where cool water flows”]

How amazing to not only find solid, five-letter, color-related entries to fill those rings, but to do so in a way that allows for clean fill AND sees those rings overlapping?! And entries like PAGES, OLIVE, and GIANT are smoothly part of three(!) intersecting rings! Incredible.

We also have some bonus theme fill at the top and bottom of the grid to solidly round out the puzzle, if the Olympic Rings tour de force wasn’t enough for you:

17A: RING BEARER [Wedding role … or a description of 114-Across?]
20A: COLOR WHEEL [Artist’s diagram … or one of the five for 114-Across?]
114A: OLYMPIC FLAG [This puzzle’s subject]

Sensational! What a fun and joyful way to celebrate both The Olympic Games and crosswords. This is easily one of my favorite puzzles of the year – the rare tribute puzzle that absolutely delivers on so many levels. Kudos to Paolo!

What did you think of the puzzle? Let us know in the comments – and have a great weekend!

Evan Birnholz’s Washington Post crossword, “Making the Switch” — Matt’s write-up

A more straightforward theme than last week’s meta: two-word phrases have their word order flipped, and are clued to match:

• 22a [Appearances of a certain basketball player?] FORWARD LOOKS
• 35a [Free ticket to enjoying TV static?] INTERFERENCE PASS
• 59a [Actress Sally exited?] FIELD LEFT
• 61a [Actress Bernadette when she’s tagged on the basepath?] OUT PETERS
• 68a [Person often thinking about real estate?] PROPERTY INTELLECTUAL
• 92a [Acknowledges a dinnertime prayer?] NOTES GRACE

A revealer not only confirms the theme mechanism, but points to a typically Evan element:

• 110a [Switching positions, and a phrase spelled by the first letters of 12 words that have switched positions] FLIP FLOPPING

No complaints on the theme, and I found the fill varied, interesting, and generally a bit on the tougher end. It was a nice workout, particularly in the areas crossing PROPERTY INTELLECTUAL. The mirror symmetry allows for a different grid flow than we’re used to, but even so, some chunky downs that weren’t exactly gimmes. Welcome, to be clear. Hoping you enjoyed, as well.

Notes:

• 1a [Bird depicted on many a Bryn Mawr College lantern] OWL. On one hand, a little trivia-y (though Evan goes to the Bryn Mawr well decently often), on the other, as three-letter birds go, it’s probably not EMU or TIT. Not to mention the OWL’s close association with wisdom and learning.
• 53a [Veil of ___ (goddess-inspired metaphor for the mysteries of nature)] ISIS. This is new to me, but there are only so many four-letter goddesses, particularly with a crossing or two.

Amie Walker and Rebecca Goldstein’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Olympic Games”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar phrases repurposed as if they were literal words of advice from Olympic coaches.

• 23a. [*Encouragement from an Olympic volleyball coach?] “DIG A LITTLE DEEPER.”
• 43a. [*… from an Olympic tennis coach?] “SWING BOTH WAYS.”
• 50a. [*… from an Olympic taekwondo coach?] “KICK IT UP A NOTCH.”
• 73a. [*… from an Olympic pole vault coach?] “GET OVER IT!”
• 90a. [*… from an Olympic water polo coach?] “TREAD CAREFULLY.”
• 98a. [*… from an Olympic basketball coach?] “DODGE THE PRESS.”
• 121a. [*… from an Olympic marathon coach?] “GO TO GREAT LENGTHS.”

Fun theme, and all the entries are on target…except one. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never heard the phrase DODGE THE PRESS. “Meet the Press”, yes, but DODGE THE PRESS, no. Googling the phrase in quotation marks does give me some hits, but the Google Ngram Viewer shows “avoid the press” has far more traction. What say you?

The fill is delightfully smooth with highlights CHILD ACTOR, MOSCOW MULES, MIXED GREENS, SWEET TREATS, and TIN FOIL.

Clues of note:

• 86a. [“Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a ___” (Sam Gamgee line)]. STEW. Referring to taters—er, poh-tay-toes—of course.
• 69d. [Card game with unspoken rules]. MAO. Brand new to me. I guess I should be thankful for that.

Good puzzle. 3.75 stars.