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Jump to: Today's Theme | Tricky Clues
THURSDAY PUZZLE -- First, on behalf of the Wordplay crew, I would like to wish our readers a happy holiday season. Sam Corbin, Caitlin Lovinger and I would also like to extend a special thank-you to all of you who gather to discuss crosswords with us every day, whether you are a regular in the comments section or someone who lurks. To paraphrase the standard airline-pilot announcement: We know you have a choice of puzzle columns to read, and we thank you for choosing Wordplay.
At this time of year in my area -- winter in the Northeast United States -- people like me are looking for a comfy spot in which to hibernate, but there are those for whom this is prime "run outside and be active!" season. For example, Ella Dershowitz, the constructor of today's puzzle, seems to be encouraging us to do so, although we have to look at things a bit differently and let our minds wander in order to solve her grid.
I figured out Ms. Dershowitz's theme in stages, which is the best way to solve a puzzle, in my opinion. A reveal that unwinds itself slowly is nice because it keeps the fun going through the entire solve, and sometimes after you finish it you're left staring at the grid saying, "Wait, I know there's something else going on here."
And wouldn't you know it? There was, in fact, something else going on.
Today's Theme
We're going skiing today, but in order to solve the puzzle we're going to need to take a SKI lift to three answers, which are not complete as they've been written. I found the three SKI LIFTS almost immediately, but a quick note: Solving this will entail using a theme element that some newer solvers may not have seen before. It's been a while since I've seen this particular shtick on a Thursday or Friday.
Some themes that involve the words up or lift or a synonym of that nature require reading entries or parts of entries from bottom to top, or upward (up word?).
In this case, three entries contain the word SKI when read that way, and when we take that SKI lift, we arrive at an Across answer that completes the phrase.
For example, at 28A's [Faith Hill hit with the lyric "It's perpetual bliss"], all we can write for the four-letter answer is THIS. But the answer is the song title "THIS KISS," so where the heck is the KISS?
At the end of the answer THIS, we ride the letters S, K and I up to 18A and hop off onto 18A, ISS. And there it is: "THIS KISS."
Tricky Clues
13A. POKÉ BOWL makes its debut! I know that may not be as exciting to others as it is to me, but I am a sushi-loving fool and that includes dishes like this from other cultures and cuisines.
19A. The [swimming legend Diana Nyad]'s name is APT because it sounds like naiad, a water nymph.
33A. I thought that to [Forgo a ring, maybe] would be to elope, but that's not quite right. And we're not forgoing a piece of jewelry; we're just not ringing a door bell. The answer is KNOCK.
41A. Note the spelling in this clue. [A thing of the passed?] is not from the past; it's something belonging to a person who has passed away. The answer is OBIT.
2D. [Stole onstage] sounds as if we are supposed to be thinking about someone sneaking on before a cue, but this stole, which appears onstage, is a BOA.
5D. This [Lane in DC?] is not Pennsylvania Avenue or such. It's LOIS Lane from DC's Superman comics.
11D. In the analogy [Chess : check :: go : ___], we are looking forthe state in the East Asian game Go that would be most similar to check in chess. ATARI is the state where a stone or group of stones is in a position to be captured.
58D. I learned the slang word TEC, meaning [Gumshoe], or detective, from crosswords. It doesn't come up as often as it used to, but TEC has appeared in 208 New York Times puzzles.
Constructor Notes
This is an ironic puzzle for me to have made, given that I am deeply terrified of the activity in this theme. I do love hiking in the snow and pretty much everything else about winter, especially hot chocolate with peppermint and Puzzle Mania!
Happy holidays and happy winter to all you wonderful solvers out there, whether or not there are snowy mountains involved.
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