I found today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, the most difficult Stumper in weeks and weeks. I needed an hour to finish. The most difficult parts? As Sarah Palin said when questioned about her newspaper-reading habits, all of them.
In the time I spent doing this puzzle, the United States spent more than $41M on an undeclared (thus illegal) war.
Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:
2-D, ten letters, “Movement’s softening.” I liked seeing this answer.
5-D, eight letters, “Game stop.” I was thinking of a time limit. Wrong.
14-A, letters, “Table read.” MENU, right? Wrong.
19-A, fourteen letters, “Flight plans?” I was sure the answer had something to do with a prison break. Wrong.
22-A, four letters, “Relish from Ireland.” It didn’t fool me, but I’m not sure I buy the clue.
23-A, fourteen letters, “Get out of here!” I was thinking along the lines of shoo, amscray, skedaddle. Wrong.
26-D, ten letters, “Simpsons minion.” An easy starting point.
31-D, four letters, “Brief out takes?” Pretty strained, and I don’t mean like baby food.
35-D, eight letters, “What mice and elevators are.” Um, no, not always.
37-A, six letters, “Practice figure.” I was thinking of etudes and scales. Wrong.
49-D, four letters, “Executive in the etymology of ‘exchequer.’” Weirdly timely.
49-A, fourteen letters, “North Pole, NY theme park.” Very helpful.
54-A, ten letters, “Big Apple area named for its Colonial calcium carbonate deposits.” Even more helpful. I can hear the name in the WOR traffic updates as I’m commuting to college. But I hate when people say “Big Apple.”
58-A, four letters, “Swift group that ran more than three hours, not long ago.” I was thinking of some newly extinct critter. Wrong.
My favorite in this puzzle: 11-D, four letters, “Oft-stitched assignment.” A perfect example of how this puzzle makes the simplest answer a challenge.
No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.
comments: 4
DIMINUENDO. (As in “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.”
DEERLICK. TELL. EXITSTRATEGIES. ELAN.
YOUREKIDDING ME. MRSMITHERS. ETDS.
BUTTONED. (Not all mice have buttons.)
MEDICO. SHAH. SANTASWORKSHOP.
WHITESTONE. (As in “The Whitestone Bridge is backed up both ways,” etc.)
ERAS. HER. (Think bathroom towels.)
Boy I loved these clues. But the top half was mostly blank for at least 20 minutes while I slowly struggled to fill in the rest. I also had "56A Standing Challenge" as WADER right until the end until I finally changed it to BADPR
So much clever misdirection in this one. For me the top left was the last area to fall.
And an oops: the last answer in the comment should be HERS.
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