I just remembered that Brad Wilber co-constructed the puzzle that soured me on The New York Times crossword. But I like his puzzles, and I liked today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper. Not especially tricky, but challenging enough to be a challenge.
Three clues that I especially liked: 20-Across, six letters, “Refuge for daytime sleepers.” 64-Across, four letters, “Smooth finish.” 9-Down, five letters, “Number lines.” And one clue that had me hung up for a long time in the puzzle’s center: 36-Across, nine letters, “Deadlocked situation.” STALEMATE? No.
And no spoilers: the answers are in the comments.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Today’s Saturday Stumper
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OWLERY. NESS. LYRIC. SPLITVOTE.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to pick a critter to represent "daytime sleepers," it wouldn't be owls. A few are diurnal, some are crepuscular, and the rest are active during the day as needed.
ReplyDeleteI know next to nothing about owls, and I don’t doubt that you’re right. I liked the strangeness (at least to my eyes) of the answer OWLERY.
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mean it soured you on the NYT crossword completely. Just remember that if you see a clue you disagree with, you can't tell for sure that the author came up with it, only that the editor ran it.
ReplyDeleteI still do the syndicated puzzle. But I just don’t get Will Shortz. I often find the Washington Post puzzle much more to my liking.
ReplyDeleteI just realized that in a 2015 post I suspected Shortz as the creator of the “Cool jazz pioneer” clue.
ReplyDelete