Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
SUNDAY PUZZLE — What’s up, solvers! We’ve hit the summer months of crossword production, and as always, I am so excited to publish for The Michigan Daily again. As my 9 to 5 creeps into my 5 to 9, work piles up and the days get hotter, crosswords are a great excuse to sit down for a few minutes and clock out while solving a puzzle. I’m writing this as I sit in the lab waiting for some PCR to cook, which is something every undergraduate lab assistant probably dreads. If you know, you know. Hopefully you’re not also doing PCR and are instead outside having an amazing summer, so happy solving!
Tricky Clues:
8D. “Search for underground water with a divining rod” is DOWSE. Do I know what it means to go dowsing? No. Sometimes that just happens when you’re writing a crossword. Now you will always remember that to use a divining rod to locate sources of groundwater is actually to dowse.
19A. “Bird feeder fill” refers to SEEDS, which isn’t necessarily a tricky clue but certainly is a pertinent one. My dad recently gifted my mom a birdfeeder for the backyard that has a camera attached, and I’ve been loving the close-up shots of cranky cardinals waiting for some food. It’s also my mom’s birthday this week, so everyone wish her a happy birthday!
37A. “Soda, to a Michigander,” is POP. I love that this is a Midwest thing — people say pop too in my home state of Illinois. There are a few phrases that are different between the two states, though — everyone always laughs when I call cornhole “bags” and refer to sneakers as “gym shoes.” You can take the girl out of Illinois…
54A. “Cubs hitter Sammy” is of course SOSA. Look, I’m a White Sox fan. I despise the Cubs, have never set foot in Wrigley and get sad every time someone mentions that they’re doing hot this year. At least we have the new pope as a fan. Take that, Sammy Sosa.
56D. The answer to “Fish food?” was actually SUSHI. Fun fact, I just tried sushi for the first time ever last week. Yes, I’m 20. No, I’m not a picky eater. The opportunity just never came up. Now I know what the hype is about, I guess. Just don’t ask me about my chopstick skills.
Today’s Theme:
Today’s theme is actually inspired by my other work at The Daily as an editor on the news section. 40-Across, “Reporting on a story, or what’s happening in the highlighted clues,” refers to BREAKING THE NEWS, something we regularly do as student journalists. Taking a peak at the clues for 17-, 19-, 24-, 26-, 48-, 54-, 62-, and 64-Across, you’ll notice the letters in “NEWS” are broken up by black squares, literally breaking the story. Silly, but who doesn’t love a little wordplay? Send some love to your Daily reporters and grab a paper on campus next semester!
Answer Key:
The post Stop the Presses appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
