Jump to: Tricky Clues | Today’s Theme
SUNDAY PUZZLE — In his print introduction to this grid, Joel Fagliano writes: “Caryn Robbins is a retired editor living on the east end of Long Island with her husband and two Havanese dogs. An avid lifelong solver, she discovered puzzle constructing during the pandemic through an online course. This theme came to her in the throes of planning her daughter’s nuptials, inspiring the example at 23-Across. Her favorite theme clue is 38-Across, which paints a great mental picture.”
Today’s Theme
There are seven long, stately theme entries in this puzzle, at 23-, 38-, 50-, 69-, 87-, 98-, and 117-Across. Each entry is a common expression that, with the addition of two letters, becomes a jokey answer to the question posed in its clue. Easy to elucidate but elegant in its execution, this is one of those themes that seem like one-trick ponies for a moment, but its inventiveness makes for a charming solve.
The first entry I completed was 87-Across. [Santa’s routes on Christmas eve?] solves to NOEL FLY ZONES, but I honestly read it as “No elfly zones” to start, as my eyes were drawn to the letters e-l-f in the context of Santa Claus. 98-Across made things click, though: [Advice after one’s rival scores a perfect ten?] is DONT GET MAD GET ELEVEN. At this point, the puzzle’s title, “Take the El Train,” made sense. Each of these entries has an extra “el,” transforming them from “no-fly zones” and “don’t get mad, get even,” respectively.
Even when you know the trick, the remaining theme entries are impressive (especially the 21-letter phrases at 23- and 117-Across). I concur with the constructor that 38-Across, [Eviction notice sent to a New York deli owner?], is brilliant — PACK YOUR BAGELS AND GO! — but I found all of the theme entries funny and surprising.
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Tricky Clues
13A. [Gets ready to surf, maybe] solves to LOGS ON. It’s a reference to the internet, which used to be an astonishing destination. “Websurfing,” as a term, came about in 1992 and peaked about a decade later.
126A. I knew this entry because of Bob Newhart’s recent passing — it’s prominently featured in his obituary from July. [Where the entire “Newhart” series actually took place] is IN A DREAM, one that was apparently dreamed by a sleeping character from an earlier sitcom, “The Bob Newhart Show,” and revealed in the “Newhart” series finale. I’ve never watched either show, and I wonder if knowing the end spoils them.
