Happy April everyone! I hope you didn’t get fooled, or if you did that it was clever and fun, and not embarrassing or cruel. No fooling – it is definitely spring here. I have seen more and more buds blossom (or blossoms bud?) on trees and shrubs each day. There is a glorious tulip magnolia at the corner of my yard that is in full bloom, and wildflowers are popping up all over the place. This week’s quote basically sums that up. Of course, the pollen levels are rising bringing sinus troubles, but it’s a small price to pay to enjoy the outdoors before the humidity and mosquitoes set in. I will be headed to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut this weekend – on the off chance any ClassiCanadian solvers will be there please let me know and let’s meet up. Drop a comment below, or contact me on Bluesky. You can follow the tournament action on their website, but to manage expectations I don’t expect to place anywhere near the top of any of the categories I fall into. Friday is coming fast and I have an Orioles game to go to tomorrow, so let’s get going on this week’s puzzle.
- Name: My Fellow Citizens
- Grid size: 15×15
- Entries: 70
- Difficulty: Very Hard (my solve time: 11:03)
“My Fellow Citizens” immediately evoked a politician giving a speech, which is not something I really want to be thinking about these days, especially not when trying to enjoy a puzzle. Luckily, it was soon apparent that politics had nothing to do with this weeks’ theme. The themers are phrases/words that all start with a synonym for a male human, or “fellow,” clued straight:
- 17A: [Detailed information]: CHAPTER AND VERSE – This one took me a while to get, because while I’ve heard the phrase, I couldn’t bring it to mind. I usually have heard it used in a mildly derisive manner, such as “He knows the rules chapter and verse, but can’t play the game well.” Chap is an informal reference to a man, stereotypically British. “I say, old chap!“
- 23A: [Refusing to buy]: BOYCOTTING – To boycott is to refuse to buy something or to patronize a vendor, usually to make a statement through collective action. A boy is a young man.
- 33A: [Lion with the heart of a lamb, say]: GENTLE GIANT – This one fooled me for a minute, as I initially thought “‘gentle’ isn’t a synonym for man.” Then I realized gent was intended here. The first gentle giant that comes to mind for me is Andre the Giant.
- 46A: [Needing a tow, maybe]: BROKEN DOWN – This one also stumped me for a while, first to just get the entry, then to figure out how it fit in the theme. Again, I thought, “‘broke’ or ‘broken’ aren’t synonyms for man; but maybe ‘broken man’ plays into the theme somehow?” until I realized I was using too many letters and it was just bro.
- 54A: [Horizontally-slatted seat]: LADDER BACK CHAIR – Another themer that didn’t come easily, though I know exactly what these items of furniture are. Lad as a synonym for young man is of hazy origin, but appears to come from old Norse for “stocking” which was a reference to a fool. Hmm…
This one gave me trouble all over the place. I mentioned above the themers I had trouble with, but there was a lot of short fill that cost me at least 3 minutes and probably more. The entire SE corner was baffling – no idea on 39D or 58D, had MIA in for 61A, and correct but unsure entries for 36D and 64A. Once I untangled that area, I still had something wrong, so started scanning the grid. Found a subtle error at the arguable natick of 3D/22A and corrected it, but still no happy pop up. Finally got to 63A, and remembered that I kind of thought it might be an error, as to “re-gloss” something seemed to have nothing to do with sanding it. Well, it wasn’t re-gloss, so changing it to “de-gloss” made more sense and produced a clean solve. Now I just need to find out what the heck the apocrypha book “ESD” is…
Canadian content:
- 1D: [Toronto-based fin. giant]: RBC – The Royal Bank of Canada (or do they just go by RBC these days?) is a Toronto-based financial giant.
- 11A: [Maritimes summer hrs.]: ADT – The Maritime Provinces observe Atlantic Daylight Time in the summer.
- 22A: [CTV anchorman Sachedina]: OMAR – Omar Sachedina was born in Vancouver and is the anchorman for CTV National News. For some reason I though it was possible that his first name could be OMIR. I don’t even think that is a real name – maybe Amir, or of course Omar.
- 31D: [Prime Minister’s address]: RT HON – Nope, we’re not looking for 24 Sussex Drive, but for the term of address for the PM – the Right Honourable [insert name here].
- 61A: [Some Cdn. snowbirds’ destination]: MEX – I was pretty sure, but not 100% sure, about 36D, so I confidently filled in “MIA” (for Miami) as I know lots of Canadians go to Florida for the winter. Well it makes sense that snowbirds would also go to Mexico as well. And many more may be joining them soon.
Other stuff:
- 3D: [Deceitful scoundrel]: SCALAWAG – I could have sworn it was spelled with an I – which (for familial reasons) I should know better. I didn’t remember that the term originally referred to post-US Civil War supporters of Reconstruction, otherwise known as non-defeated loyal Americans.
- 6D: [“Correo ___” (Spanish airmail)]: AEREO – I could picture seeing it on envelopes and stamps, but for the life of me couldn’t figure out the order of all those vowels without all the crosses.
- 55D: [Apocrypha bk.]: ESD – I have no idea what this is. I initially had ESR in and thought in passing that it referred to the book of Ezra, but of course that would be EZR, right?. Google points me to The Apocrypha, a collection of Jewish writings sometimes included in the Old Testament, and apparently the books 1 and 2 Esdras are included in The Apocrypha. I guess Esdras could be abbreviated ESD, but man that’s a deep deep cut. I must be missing something. In my experience ESD refers to Electronics Support Detachment or Enterprise Service Desk.
Quote of the week:
“April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.”
– Edna St. Vincent Millay