Well, it’s time to update my bio on the blog page. As of today, I am officially retired from US government service. It’s going to take a while for that to sink in, but I have a hunch when I wake up when I want to (or the cats want me to) on Monday, with no thoughts of what tasks and meetings I have next week, it will feel pretty different (and good). I’ll let you know next week. Hopefully this means that I will have much more time on Wednesdays to solve the puzzle and write the blog entry, so fingers crossed you’ll be able to read about the puzzle immediately after solving it. Speaking of puzzles, let’s get to this week’s.
- Name: S.O.S.!
- Grid size: 15×15
- Entries: 75
- Difficulty: Medium Easy (my solve time: 6:32)
This theme is right up my alley – A radio distress signal! Ships! – so I’m chagrined to admit that I had no idea what it was until well after I had finished. Ah, well – I must be distracted. The themers – in the infrequently-seen Down entries in the grid – are two-word phrases, clued straight, where the second word is a type of ship. The fact that they are Down entries and the ship types are at the bottom of the entry make them “sunken ships”:
- 24D: [Latte maker attachment]: MILK STEAMER – I almost entered milk frother, as that’s what I use when I make my latte every morning. However, it occurred to me that a frother is not really an attachment to an espresso machine, but a milk steamer definitely is. “Steamer” is a colloquial way to refer to a ship powered by steam engines, like the SS (steam ship) United States, which was towed earlier this week from the berth in Philadelphia where she had been languishing for over 30 years awaiting a restoration or re-use that never came. She’s off to be sunk off the west coast of Florida and become the worlds largest artificial reef. Seems appropriate.
- 34D: [Winter outerwear insert]: COAT LINER – A coat liner adds an extra layer of insulation to your jacket, extending its usefulness in the cooler and cold seasons. A liner refers to an ocean liner, which is a passenger ship that runs on a regular schedule, vs a “cruise liner.” There is really only one true ocean liner still in service, the Queen Mary 2 which I had the privilege of sailing aboard in 2023.
- 25D: [Art table slicer]: PAPER CUTTER – A paper cutter is a handy thing to have if you need to cut many sheets of odd-sized paper, as we do every year when we make our Christmas cards. A cutter originally referred to a small boat, often used as a tender for a larger boat or ship. Now it is used to refer to the ships (greater than 65 feet/20 meters) of the US (and other nations) Coast Guard.
- 36D: [Night sky clutter]: SPACE JUNK – Space Junk is an awesome song off of Devo’s first album. It’s also a byproduct of the efforts of a certain space nazi. A junk is a Chinese sailing ship.
- 26D: [Deep sea divers’ discoveries, and a hint to 24-, 34-, 25 and 36-Down]: SUNKEN SHIPS – The revealer.
A relatively smooth solve, as my solve time was nearly the same as last week’s. An unusual grid – I don’t know if anyone noticed the slight asymmetry. While I’m not a fan of a completely non-symmetrical grid, I’m definitely open to variations and this certainly didn’t take away from the solve or the aesthetic of the grid.
Canadian content:
- 22D: [Aptly named city near the mouth of the Fraser River]: DELTA – A delta is the formation made by silt deposits where a river empties into a larger body of water. It’s also a city outside of Vancouver in British Columbia.
- 42D: [Sainte-___ (Quebec City Suburb]: FOY – Sainte-Foy used to be its own city, but was incorporates into Quebec City in 2002.
- 43D: [B.C. fuel export: Abbr.]: LNG – British Columbia is set to be a large exporter of liquid natural gas.
- 46A: [Media inclusion of this country’s culture, for short]: CANCON – I’d never heard this term before – until I looked at the header of this section of the blog post… Canadian Content refers to a set of requirements for Canadian broadcasters to produce and air content made in Canada or by Canadians.
Other stuff:
- 10A: [Government agents, casually]: FEDS – Not me anymore.
- 30A: [“Exile in Guyville” rocker Liz]: PHAIR – I love Liz Phair and “Supernova” is in my top ten most rocking songs.
Quote of the week:
“The game is rigged, but you cannot lose if you do not play.”
– Marla Daniels (Maria Broom), “The Wire” Season 1, Episode 2 “The Detail“