It’s daunting to fill a grid that’s nearly as wide open as a themeless - while having to work around a full set of seven themers. Jeff: Jim and I have had many fun collaborations before, but Sunday 140-word puzzles are a major-league step up from Triple-A 15x15s. Horton was previously a star defenceman (spelled with a c) for the Toronto Maple Leafs (spelled with an f.)įinally, apologies to the “West Side Story” collaborator who didn’t make the clue at 37D: Jerome Robbins. It’s about torturing a lark.Ĭanada leads the world in donut shops per capita, and no chain is more Canadian than TIM Horton’s (81A). That song is repetitive, cruel and disgusting in a way that appeals to children everywhere. Jim: Here’s an explanation of today’s Canadian Content.Įvery Canadian child learns the song “Alouette” (6D). Those circled letters, though, found me in a spot of trouble.įiguring this out also made me notice the mirrored entry at 24A, “Sight at a checkout counter,” or CASH REGISTER. Those extra letters represent CAPITAL GAINS, i.e., increases to each capital city. That revealer, at 119-Across, “What this puzzle’s circled letters are with respect to the surrounding shaded squares?” makes a great punchline. I especially loved 114-Across, “One who walks to work? (Qatar),” in which one’s vocation involves motion, as a DOG HANDLER: DOHA is shaded, and G is in the circle. It also helped me wise up to the two puns. That helped me greatly with trivia that I didn’t remotely know, although I still screwed up that “Golfer who won the 1998 Masters (Italy)” at 26-Across (as I’ll explain in a minute). In each of the theme entries, the shaded letters spell the mentioned country’s capital. This is one of those themes that goes from zero to 60 when you get it, I think. Those shaded letters, K-I-G-A-L-I, spell the capital of Rwanda returning to 49-Across, Q-U-I-T-O now jumps out in a way that makes me wonder how I missed it. “Activity for Santa (Rwanda)” solves to MAKING A LIST the shaded squares start at K and end at I, and the circle surrounds the N in MAKING. Next, I got 100-Across, and it was there that the shaded letters made sense. (What do Turkey and Ecuador have in common? Not money - Turkey has a lira, and Ecuador uses the U.S. The shaded squares occur at the very beginning of the clue, and the circle is at its fifth position - the C in COLD. The first couple of theme clues did nothing to assuage my fears, but I lucked out with 49-Across, “Give up all at once (Ecuador).” I had a few crossing letters and enough of a notion here to figure out the answer, QUIT COLD TURKEY. Having read the puzzle’s title, “In the Money,” and then noticing some of these countries - Qatar, Rwanda - my heart sank a little. The theme clues range from straightforward trivia to some really sweet puns, and each one is assigned a different country, which appears at the end of the clue in parentheses. There’s also a revealer at 119-Across and a cute hint at its mirrored entry, 24-Across.
Within those squares sits a single circled letter.
There are seven entries - 26-, 41-, 49-, 71-, 91-, 100- and 114-Across - that contain a series of shaded squares.
TV series from Seoul e.g.As a treat, we get nicely labeled theme entries today and not a rebus in sight.Insalata of tomato mozzarella and basil crossword clue.
Rodriguez of Jane the Virgin crossword clue.*Netflix series starring Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury crossword clue.*Emmy-nominated miniseries about a woman leaving her Hasidic community crossword clue.Takes responsibility for crossword clue.Result of a bases-loaded walk for short crossword clue.Updates the backstory to accommodate new material for short crossword clue.