Greetings ClassiCanadian solvers! What would you ask a solar physicist? “Why does the sun shine?” And shining it has been – we’ve had a beautiful few days here and I hope you have as well. For the (questionable) answers to more questions about questions, read on…
- Name: Answer Me This
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 70
- Difficulty: Medium Easy (my solve time: 6:38)
Once again I just dove into the solve without thinking much about the title, but it didn’t really matter – the theme was apparent pretty quickly and, unlike last week, paying attention to the title wouldn’t have helped much (though it wouldn’t have hurt, either). The themers are common questions that are idioms (at least in North American English, I presume), but clued as if they were posed to someone who would answer them straight:
- 20A: [Question to an angler?]: WHAT’S THE CATCH – An angler might answer with what they’ve caught (or not – after all “it’s called fishing, not catching”), but the idiom usually is asked warily by someone made an offer too good to be true.
- 27A: [Question to a museum curator?]: HOW’S IT HANGING – I guess you could ask this about a particularly difficult-to-display piece of art, but usually it is asked in place of “How are you today?” or “What’s up?”
- 44A: [Question to a meat seller?]: WHERE’S THE BEEF – Usually when I go to my local grocery or butcher shop, the beef is pretty prominently displayed, but I guess if you went to an exotic meat shop, or perhaps were shopping in another part of the world, you would have to inquire as to the location of the bovine-derived meat. However, certainly in North America if you asked this it would be taken as a criticism of the substantiveness of whatever was presented to you. When the commercial that started it all came out, I was not watching much TV, so when I first heard the phrase used idiomatically, I had no idea why everyone else who heard it laughed.
- 52A: [Question to a child in a paternity suit?]: WHO’S YOUR DADDY – I can imagine this question being asked of a lost child in a place where dads often take their children (maybe a sporting event?), or when inquiring as to identities of adult males in a photograph. But it makes sense in a paternity suit setting as well. But we all know what’s being asked when someone says that to us – as this site says they’re “not looking for an answer: They’re making a point about how great they are.” And the patriarchal-ness (?) of it leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. But as it’s usually said in good fun (and I’ve heard it from all genders) I hope no one is too offended by it.
I though I would have a much slower solve time – I got tripped up multiple times. But getting the theme early on, and cruising through big chunks of the middle section must have evened things out. I had the most trouble in SE – for the life of me couldn’t remember French for “month,” never heard of 50D, and had a Y instead of a C in 65A. Eventually sorted things out and luckily for my guess at 50D/59A I didn’t have any other errors so got the happy notice.
Canadian content:
- 9D: [Home to almost 3000 hockey rinks]: CANADA – That works out to about 1 hockey rink per 12,750 Canadians, which sounds about right. By comparison there’s 1 curling rink per 38,000 Canadians, so you guys have some catching up to do. 🥌
- 15A: [Catherine of “Schitt$ Creek”]: OHARA – I was a fan of Catherine O’Hara way back in the 1970’s when I would stay up late after Saturday Night Live to watch SCTV and connect with my Canadian roots. Even back then, I knew she was talented playing amazing characters like Dusty Towne, and Lola Heatherton, then seeing her in the great Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries, and now finally getting her “mainstream” acclaim from Schitt$ Creek. So she’s the source for this week’s quote.
- 35D: [Film about a high school kid with lupine urges]: TEEN WOLF – While apparently there’s a more recent movie and a TV series, what first came to my mind was the 1985 film staring proud Canadian Michael J. Fox.
- 65A: [Quebec’s Val-des-___]: LACS – I know I’d heard of this place before and seen it in these puzzles but drew a blank at first. Its the “Valley of the Lakes” and “in the heart of nature.”
Other stuff:
- 23A: [Fancy sofa]: SETTEE – I guess “chesterfield” is too long…
- 33A: [What a sock may be missing]: MATE – I had “MAT_” and almost entered “CH” as a rebus in the last square. I didn’t have anything in 36D yet, so it was possible, though I’m not sure Barb has ever used rebuses before.
- 38D: [Make a difference?]: SUBTRACT – Just a great clue-entry pair. *chef’s kiss*
- 50D: [Tassimo’s answer to the K-Cup]: T-DISC – Was pretty much clueless on this one, but a little (non-google) sleuthing paid off. The inclusion of “K-Cup” in the clue meant it was a coffee capsule of some sort; also that the first letter may be paired with a word. I had all the crosses except 59A and 65A, and was positive 50D/59A was a vowel, so mentally ran through the vowels (thanks 12D for the inspiration!) and I looked likeliest. After replacing the Y with a C in 65A – ta-da! Or I should say “voila!”
- 61A: [Urgent care pro]: ER DOC – I had the C from 38D but nothing else, so confidently entered MEDIC. Took seeing that 53D and 54D wouldn’t work to figure it out.
Quote of the week:
“I’m drawn to playing characters who are terribly flawed and have no idea about it.”
– Catherine O’Hara