Loafing Around

Today is the last full day of winter with the vernal equinox occurring tomorrow, 20 March 2025 at 09:01 UTC (05:01 EDT, 02:01 PDT). As spring is springing, I’m starting plans for my garden and have already begun other yard work, clearing brush and branches that have fallen during the winter. And I’ve spent a bit of time sitting out on the deck, though it’s still been a bit chilly to spend much time out there. Soon, though, I’ll be sitting out there on Wednesdays working on the puzzle and the blog post, so stay tuned. Now lets turn to this week’s puzzle

• Name: Loafing Around
• Grid size: 15×15
• Entries: 70
• Difficulty: Hard (my solve time: 8:07)

I had no idea what the theme of this puzzle was going to be from the title “Loafing Around,” and I didn’t have any idea during the solve either. Only after finishing did I dig in and figure it out, but it took a while. “Loafing” in the title doesn’t refer to laziness, but to the use of “dough” as slang for money (however, loafing as laziness is the inspiration for this week’s quote). The themers are unrelated phrases clued straight; the first word of the phrase is a slang term for money – or dough – as hinted at by the revealer “starter dough:”

• 22A: [Lotto buy one might use a coin on]: SCRATCH CARD – “Scratch” is American slang for money, but nobody knows where it comes from. I knew I was in for a harder solve this week when I could barely parse the clue for this entry. Also, once I got the answer, I was thrown a bit as I know these things as “scratch-offs” or maybe “scratch off cards.” So I first thought maybe “off” was dropped from the themers, but how does that relate to “loafing around?” So I just plowed ahead none the wiser.
• 30A: [Ottawa and Oslo, for two]: CAPITAL CITIES – I guess “capital” isn’t technically slang, as it is a term used in finance to mean “…cash or liquid assets being held or obtained for expenditures… the term may be expanded to include all of a company’s assets that have monetary value, such as its equipment, real estate, and inventory. But when it comes to budgeting, capital is cash flow.” Also Canadian content.
• 36A: [Is a non-conformist]: BUCKS THE TREND – “Bucks” is a slang term for US dollars, apparently deriving from deerskins used as currency in the 1700s. My hunch is that “currency” is being used loosely here, as I bet there was more barter involving deerskins that actual financial activity.
• 49A: [Stuffed fare of Eastern Europe]: CABBAGE ROLL – “Cabbage” as slang for money also apparently comes from US dollars. The US Mint started using green ink on the backs of the bills to thwart counterfeiting, and I guess that resembles (green) cabbage.
• 63A/64A: [With 64-Across, bacterial basis of sour breads, and a hint to 22-, 30-, 36- and 49-Across]: STARTER DOUGH – The revealer. Another themer that was difficult for me to get, as all that came to mind was sourdough starter. Starter dough is used to make baked goods rise, as an alternative to mixing in yeast with the other ingredients. And, for our purposes, it tells us that the start of each of the themers is “dough” or slang for money.

I mentioned above that I had difficulty with figuring out the theme, and also a couple of themers. A few other snags occurred during my solve, though I have to say it felt like a steady, if somewhat difficult solve. There were a few head-scratchers that I needed all the crosses for, and several Canadian entries I didn’t know. So a worthy and enjoyable challenge.

Canadian content:

• 12D: [Kananaskis hiking area]: RAE LAKE – Rae Lake looks to be a nice place for hiking and backpacking. It’s located SW of Calgary, and looks to be about a 2-hour drive from there. Kananaskis is the unincorporated area near the lake.
• 23D: [Yukon’s neighbour]: ALASKA – Alaska makes up the entire western border of Yukon, and I believe it is probably the longest border between a US state and a Canadian province/territory.
• 24D: [E-file destination]: CRA – If you file your taxes electronically, they will end up with the Canada Revenue Agency.
• 30A: [Ottawa and Oslo, for two]: CAPITAL CITIES – I’ve been to both cities for work trips in the past, but hope to visit both as a tourist in the next few years.
• 31D: [The ___, Manitoba]: PAS – The Pas is a town at the confluence of the Pasquia River and the Saskatchewan River in the Northern Region of Manitoba. It is approximately 520 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.
• 39D: [Canadiens player, to fans]: HAB – As solvers of Canadian crossword know after a while, the Canadiens are known as the Habs because it is short for habitants, a term for the original settlers of “New France.”
• 49D: [Garland of the Vancouver Canucks]: CONOR – While Connor Garland was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, he has played for the Vancouver Canucks since 2021.
• 57D: [“___ année sans lumière” (Arcade Fire song)]: UNE – Arcade Fire is a Montreal-based band; this song comes off their 2004 album “Funeral” which did quite well, as I recall.
• 59A: [Slightly red, at The Keg]: MEDIUM – The Keg is a steak house chain, so if you want your meat slightly red, be sure to order it medium (or medium rare as I do to be sure).

Other stuff:

• 1A: [Goaded, with “on”]: EGGED – Another instance where I started off confidently and wrongly, entering “URGED” in here. It took a while to see it was wrong as the final three letters were correct.
• 17A: [Foyer fixture with hooks]: COAT TREE – I could not get coat rack out of my head, and even when I got TREE all I could think of was hat tree.
• 18A: [Driver’s flip-flop]: UIE – As much as some people despise the word moist, I feel the same way toward uie, uey and however else you want to spell it.
• 21A: [Make potable, as ocean water]: DESALT – Desalinate immediately came to mind, as we had a desalinator aboard every ship I’ve served on. Luckily, it was immediately obvious that wouldn’t fit here, and desalt came to me quickly enough.
• 43A: [Buffalo’s smaller cousin]: ANOA – At first I thought this was possibly Canadian content, and Anoa was a town across the Niagara River from Buffalo. Nope, that’s Fort Erie. An anoa is also known as a dwarf buffalo and lives on the islands of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Quote of the week:
“Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
-Robert Heinlein