Welcome to The Miscellany News’s online exclusive crossword column, where I, your Games Editor, give short commentary and solving tips for large crossword puzzles. As a warning, this column will always include “spoilers” as to the theme and difficult entries in the crossword puzzle.
Theme:
This week’s puzzle has a sporting theme, clued off by the title, “Fore!” Each of the starred entries is a golf scoring term. Something I’ve always loved about golf is how there are a certain number of points you are expected to get– the PAR FOR THE COURSE (this week’s revealer). Thus, it only makes sense that the scoring terms (like BIRDIE and EAGLE) are defined in relation to the par (one and two under, respectively). Some of my favorite crossword themes investigate the origins of common phrases. Plus, sometimes it investigates their ridiculousness through wordplay. If we can say that something we expected is “par for the course,” why can’t we say that something that came a little bit early or a little bit under is a “birdie”?
Difficult Clues:
5A: For clues that are numbers, sometimes it’s best to put our math hats on. Unless the number usually represents something very specific, it’s always a good guess to try Roman numerals: in this case DCLI. As a refresher, D=500, C=100, L=50, I=1. Altogether, “651”
16A: “Van Gogh city” could be a couple places. He was born in Zundert, Netherlands, and died in Auvers-sur-Oise, France. For a time, as well, he lived in London, Brussels, Antwerp, and various other Netherlandish cities. However, the city this clue is asking for is ARLES, the city where Van Gogh shared a home with Paul Gauguin and painted many of his most famous works.
35A: “Freudian agents” refers not to some people walking around carrying out the mission of a certain psychoanalyst, but instead to one of the three agents that Freud coined as part of the psychic apparatus: the egos, superegos, and IDS.
65A: This clue involves a dialect difference in spelling. I always thought that the word meaning lively was spelled “pert,” and it often is, but it turns out that in the Southern US, it is also often spelled PEART, the solution to this clue.
69A: I sometimes get tripped up when clues that are one word are solved with multiple words. That is the case here: with “regarding” solving to AS TO.
23D: You might have to check the masthead for this answer– to find out that our very own graphics editor Annie MCSHANE has been featured in this weeks puzzle! She makes incredible graphics, and deserves every shoutout she gets.
38D: “Musical silence” might sound like an oxymoron, until you think through your notation marks. A REST is not silence that is musical, but a little bit of silence within the music.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Feel free to comment on this article to discuss with fellow solvers!