Solve ’til you drop!
SUNDAY PUZZLE —Hello solvers! Something I’ve noticed is that once you start constructing crosswords, you see everyday language and words in a whole new light. Suddenly, store signs, song lyrics, movie titles and random tidbits of conversation stick out, practically begging to be turned into a crossword theme. Today’s puzzle was inspired by my love for thrifting and shopping in general, enjoy! If you have any comments or feedback for the puzzle, feel free to reach out to me at tobinsax@umich.edu! More general concerns or questions can be sent to crosswords@umich.edu. Happy solving!
Tricky Clues
7A/57A: One of the most well-known states for a gold rush is California, or informally CALI, which started in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill. The state north of California is Oregon, or informally OREG.
15A: I used to love battling my cousins in Wii tennis, although I never knew the official scoring terms. ADIN refers to the game point in tennis, which stands for “advantage in.”
17A: I love sitcoms and I especially love when characters break the fourth wall in some way. These are officially called ASIDES.
27A: If you haven’t listened to the band Geese, I highly recommend you do! Start with their third album 3D Country, and don’t be alarmed by the opener “2122,” it’s a bit crazy, but the rest of the album is such a vibe. Their frontman is CAMERON Winter, who has also done some solo work of his own!
8D: I don’t know if you can handle spicy food, but hopefully you handled this clue! ADOBO is a spicy marinade used in Latin American cuisine, or a very popular Filipino stew.
21D: As I construct crosswords, I also learn a lot of new terms, so don’t worry if you didn’t know this one. The “Linguistic family of Swahili or Zulu” is BANTU.
24D: When figuring out wordplay clues, it can be helpful to suss out which word the wordplay is being enacted on, or changing the subject of the sentence. For “Where to check for prints?,” focus on the word “prints,” which can refer to fingerprints or art pieces. Then you might end up at an ART SALE, instead of a police station.
33D: I’m not a huge country music fan, and if you aren’t either, don’t worry, because this clue isn’t testing your knowledge of that! This “Country album?” refers to an ATLAS, a book of maps, or an album of countries.
Today’s Theme
When you see shaded squares in a puzzle, or a * in some clues, you can guarantee that is where the puzzle’s theme is. Solving the starred clues by themselves gives us MONIKERS for the city nicknames in 18-Across, TAGALONGS as the Girl Scout cookies in 23-Across, SNUGGLE for cuddling up with a cat at 39-Across (or as I prefer, to cuddle up with a crossword!) and TELEVISES for “Airs” at 51-Across. Now, pay attention to where the shaded squares are, they outline the words, NIKE, ALO, UGG AND LEVIS, respectively. The commonality is that these are all brands, which might be found in a SHOPPING CENTER (at 62-/64-Across) in the real world, or in the cross-world, if you will, as literal “shopping” brands at the “center” of other words.
Answer Key:
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