We had a nice snowstorm last night, and the world outside my window looks like a winter wonderland. It’s warming up, and rain is forecast later today, so it won’t last long, but I’ll enjoy it while it’s there. In other news, the world continues to burn (well, at least the part I’m in), so let’s not think about that and just dive into this week’s puzzle.

• Name: Fire!
• Grid size: 15×15
• Entries: 74
• Difficulty: Medium Easy (my solve time: 6:37)

Don’t shout the name of this puzzle in a crowded theater. “Fire!” initially made me think of “Ready… aim…” but then I didn’t really think about it until after I finished the solve, and had to look back and figure out what the theme was. The themers are three phrases, clued straight and seemingly unrelated, but then tied together by the revealer to create a common piece of advice in case of fire:

• 17A: [Train passenger pickup place]: RAILROAD STATION – A railroad station is where trains pause to pick up and drop off passengers. I am very familiar with Baltimore Penn Station and Washington Union Station, as I have been through them hundreds of times on my commute between the two cities over the past two decades. Since trains halt at the locations, a train station is also known as a stop.
• 27A: [Daring feat with a springy cord]: BUNGEE JUMP – There was a time in my life when the idea of doing a bungee jump had its appeal, but those days are well behind me now. When one bungee jumps, they drop off of a platform or high structure, like a bridge.
• 44A: [English bakery treat with currants]: CHELSEA BUN – This was the last themer I got, as I have no idea what this pastry is. Apparently it’s a “wonderfully sticky, buttery and shiny square-round bun, similar to the cinnamon roll.
• 55A: [Fire safety instruction, or 17-, 27 and 44-Across taken as a whole]: STOP DROP AND ROLL – The revealer, which ties them all together. “Stop, drop, and roll” is advice taught to kids since the 1970’s about what actions to take if their clothes catch fire – STOP: do not run as it fans the flames; DROP: fall to the ground; and ROLL: roll your body to smother the flames on the ground. I’m afraid that doesn’t work when someone sets fire to the Constitution.

A pretty straightforward solve, though a few head scratchers, primarily in the SE, had me bouncing around the grid more than usual. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of punny clues, so I liked that themers were clued straight and stood on their own, leaving the solver with a nagging feeling wondering about how they might be connected. Then the revealer comes up and nicely ties it together, for a satisfying “a-ha!” moment. While our “Presidents Day” (officially just Washington’s Birthday) holiday is observed next Monday, today is the birthday of one of the Presidents rightfully honored, so Abraham Lincoln is the source for this week’s quote.

Canadian content:

• 21A: [Montreal borough near Dorval]: LACHINE – Lachine is west of downtown Montreal, near the airport. In fact, the airport’s address is actually Dorval. Founded as a trading post in 1669, and then as an autonomous city, it was merged into Montreal in 2002.
• 41A: [“Be My ___ Ono” (Barenaked Ladies song)]: YOKO – This is a fun song. The Barenaked Ladies are a band formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. They are currently on tour, appearing right in downtown Baltimore on June 8th.
• 42A: [Prov. parliamentarian]: MLA – Although I know I’ve seen this one before, I had to look it up: Member of the Legislative Assembly.
• 64A: [Enjoy Whistler or Whitewater]: SKI – Whistler is a ski resort in BC north of Vancouver; Whitewater is about 400 km east of Vancouver.

Other stuff:

• 12D: [“Crazy” bird]: LOON – Missed opportunity for Canadian content, but I guess Loonie references have been in here plenty of times already.
• 31D: [ELO’s “___ Sky]: MR BLUE – I have been a fan of ELO all my life, and this is one of my favorite songs of theirs. Watch a bunch of boomers sing along.
• 39D: [Green-light gesture]: OK SIGN – This one had me stymied for a while, as I was trying to think of what gesture one would make at a green light. When the light turns and the car ahead of me doesn’t go, I might make a gesture, but usually I honk the horn first. This event is also a unit of measure: the amount of time from when the light turns green to when the guy behind you starts honking is a New York Minute.
• 62A: [Tied a double knot?]: REWED – I was stuck on this for a while; while I saw it was clued punnily, I couldn’t get the sense of a knot in a string or thread out of my head. I had SEWED in there for a while, but that didn’t work with the crosses. In case you’re still having trouble parsing it, it’s “re-wed” – to remarry, or tie the knot again – double knot.

Quote of the week:
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
-Abraham Lincoln (as seen in today’s A.Word.A.Day)

PS: As mentioned previously, I have the idea to create a blog entry that defines various crossword-specific terms I use in my posts. I could link to that post for specific definitions when I use them. Let me know in the comments below if you think that would be useful, and if there are any terms I should include in such a glossary.