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MONDAY PUZZLE — It’s beginning to be that time again. As we inch gradually toward the end of the year, and Mariah Carey is ceremonially defrosted in preparation for the holidays, I feel myself slowing down in time with the season. I crave feasts, time with family and quiet evenings by the fireplace.
Today’s crossword theme felt as if it were dangling the prospect of my imminent escape from responsibility in front of me, if only because it teased a behavior I exhibit most often during the holiday slowdown. The puzzle is a New York Times debut for its constructors, Desirée Penner and Jeff Sinnock. I’d like to congratulate them for sticking together on this one — once I started solving, I couldn’t tear myself away.
Today’s Theme
İçerik Tablosu
Who says you can’t watch a thriller after Halloween? In the revealer at 56-Across, today’s crossword wants to know where “your eyes might stay during a suspenseful scene,” and adds that it’s “the only place you’ll find the ‘eyes’ in this puzzle.”
Using my spooky movie intake this past month as anecdotal evidence, I can confirm: My eyes were GLUED TO THE TV.
And speaking of I’s — did you notice the rarity of the letter “I” in this grid? It appears only on either side of the letters “TV,” in the following instances:
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TRANSIT VISAS (20A)
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HOBBIT VILLAGE (28A)
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CROSSFIT VIDEO (49A)
Admittedly, the entries it took to satisfy the parameters of this theme felt a little stretchy — TRANSIT VISAS, especially, seemed like it was straining against the more obvious “tourist visas” — but I was so utterly delighted by the wordplay in the revealer that I decided to turn a blind “I” or two.
Tricky Clues
16A. “Huh-uh” has always struck me as an odd variation of other negations meaning NOPE. Shouldn’t it be “Uh-uh” or “Nuh-uh”? Apparently, though, there’s no rule. So long as the grunt gets a response from its recipient, it’s doing its job.
45A. Ah, lovely. Now that I know a FLEA “can leap more than 40 times its body length,” I’ll be keeping 40 times more distance from animals that look as if they have them.
37D. The term for “In a carefree way” has an awfully carefree sound to it: BLITHELY seems to be drifting off on the wind, doesn’t it?
50D. The term for “Newly weaned piglets” has been newly birthed in my vocabulary: They’re SHOATS! If you happen to learn adorable names for any other small farm animals, give me a shoat, would you?
51D. “Be an angel?” in the financial sense means INVEST, because wealthy individuals who invest their own money in new companies are known