Today’s puzzle is a rerun from June 2016, with a couple of minor changes in the grid and the clues. You can read the write-up from 2016 here, but just as a refresher: The theme clues follow the pattern “___ time," with ten events that fit those clues in a punny way.
- 22A: [Travel time?] is a BASKETBALL GAME.
- 35A: [Running time?] is a TRACK MEET.
- 37A: [Present time?] is a BIRTHDAY PARTY.
- 57A: [Prime time?] is a MATH CLASS.
- 66A: [Play time?] is a JAM SESSION.
- 70A: [Turnaround time?] is the HOKEY POKEY.
- 77A: [High time?] is a PLANE RIDE.
- 97A: [Buy time?] is a SHOPPING SPREE.
- 99A: [Take time?] is a FILM SHOOT.
- 116A: [Drive time?] is a GOLF TOURNAMENT.
Here’s what changed from 2016 to today:
- 9A: [Pics up on Twitter, say] is MEMES. Before it was METES, clued as [Dishes (out)].
- 27A: [Arena seating levels] is TIERS. Before it was LIENS, clued as [Debt securities].
- 42A: [Not a single one] is NONE. Before it was ZONE, clued as [General area … or with “war,” general area?].
- 74A: [Sprawling plant] is VINE. Before it was clued as [App with short 74 Down], when the Vine video app was still a thing.
- 11D: [Barbecue offering], is MEAT. Before it was TEAL, clued as [San Jose Sharks’ uniform color].
- 28D: [Subcontinent queen] is RANI. Before it was NAZI, clued as [The Soup ___ (classic “Seinfeld” character)]. This was the impetus for changing the old grid. Even though I’m a longtime fan of “Seinfeld," I no longer felt comfortable using the word NAZI as an answer in a crossword, even if clued in a humorous context like this.
- 58D: [“Run” writer Patchett] is ANN. Before it was clued as [Mitt’s wife].
- 74D: [TikTok uploads] is VIDEOS. Before it was clued as [74 Across uploads].
- 109D: [Women wearing habits] is NUNS. Before it was clued as [Sisters who don’t necessarily have the same parents].
- 115D: [Resource needed to build cities in Catan] is ORE. Before it was clued as [Resource needed to build cities in Settlers of Catan], and the “Settlers” part of the name has since been dropped from the game.
My hope is that you could enjoy this puzzle again in 2022, even if you’d solved it six years ago. And, just like I did in 2016, I kept in an Easter egg in the clues. The clue for RANDOM at 114A is [Like the sequence 114, 95, 109, 76, 102, 3]. On the surface, that is a random sequence of numbers. But if you look at the squares in the grid containing those numbers, you spell out R-A-N-D-O-M. It was an inside joke that the sequence is both random and not random.
We’ll return to a new puzzle again next week.
What did you think?
"time" - Google News
April 24, 2022 at 11:00PM
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Analysis | Solution to Evan Birnholz's April 24 crossword, “Time Trial” - The Washington Post
"time" - Google News
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