Greetings from a comfy chair on my deck on a warm first day of June. The sun is shining, there is a slight breeze, and it’s not too humid – perfect for sitting out and completing this week’s puzzle – let’s take a look at it:
- Title: What’s Your Problem?
- Grid size: 15×15
- Number of entries: 72
- Difficulty: Easy (my solve time: 6:12)
The title didn’t really evoke much before I started the solve, but it quickly became apparent as I got the first themer – common phrases that are clued to refer to a person in a certain profession with a “problem” related to that profession:
- 17A: [Problem for a primatologist?]: MONKEY ON HIS BACK – I imagine this would be a problem both literally and figuratively.
- 27A: [Problem for a drummer?]: STICK IN THE MUD – That would be a problem for a member of a rock band, say if they were playing at an outdoor festival just after a heavy rain. That likely wouldn’t be a problem for this Drummer; she has plenty of other problems on her hands.
- 42A: [Problem for a music tuner?]: FORK IN THE ROAD – It would be tough to tune a musical instrument if your tuning fork was left in the road. Just remember, “you can tune a piano but you can’t tuna fish.” Ba-dum-tsss. I’ll be here all week; please tip your server.
- 54A: [Problem for a supermarket baker?]: ROLL IN THE AISLES – “Clean up on aisle 3.”
I thought I was in for a near-personal best solve time as I went screaming through the top half in about a minute and a half. Slowed down a little after that, and spent about 20 seconds finding a typo but still ended up pretty fast, in the 85th percentile of all time.
Canadian content
- 10D: [Guy LaFleur was one, for short]: HAB – Guy LaFleur played nearly his entire NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens, who are also know as “Les Habitants” or “The Habs.”
- 13D [Crooner Paul from Ottawa]: ANKA – Paul Anka has had multiple hits over the years ranging from “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” in 1959 to “Goodnight My Love” in 1969.
- 40D: [Ontario town on the Thames]: CHATHAM – I guessed correctly that London, Ontario is also on the Thames. I wonder if they pronounce it “Tims” or “Thames?” The school I went to in New London, Connecticut is on the Thames River and it is pronounced with the “th” as I learned to my embarrassment on my first visit.
Other stuff:
- 2D: [It’s in Henry’s bucket, in a kid’s song]: A HOLE – No hyphen between the two parts of that answer or it would mean something very different.
- 34D: [Ear examiner’s equipment]: OTOSCOPE – Don’t know how I knew this but got it with only a few crosses.
- 41A: [Ref. that added “anti-vaxxer” in 2021]: OED – I’m surprised it wasn’t in there already; there have been anti-vaxxers for decades.
- 43D: [Midday meeting, informally]: NOONER – Uh,… it’s a “meeting,” I guess…
- 59A: [Angry cat’s back shape]: ARCH – In my house we refer to this as “Halloween cat.”
Quote of the week:
“There is nothing in machinery, there is nothing in embankments and railways and iron bridges and engineering devices to oblige them to be ugly. Ugliness is the measure of imperfection.”
– H. G. Wells