Keep your eyes on the sky for today’s theme clues!
SUNDAY PUZZLE — Hi solvers! Long time, no see. Today’s puzzle is coming to you all the way from Alaska, whose state bird is the willow ptarmigan! This is a bit of a mouthful, so if you figured out today’s theme, you’ll understand why I couldn’t put it in the grid. Enjoy the final glimpses of summer, and I can’t wait for regular puzzles to return in the fall! If you have any specific comments or questions about it, you can reach me at macorsi@umich.edu, and with general inquiries please send an email to crosswords@umich.edu. Happy solving!
Tricky Clues:
1D. The clue “Magic charm, or a UMich dorm on the Hill for short,” refers to MOJO, or Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall. I would stumble into Mosher-Jordan with my friend after a particularly brutal study session and get revived by their fresh cookies and panini press. Hopefully you also got to experience that magic.
12D. The clue “‘Middlemarch’ author” refers to author George ELIOT. I regretfully have never read “Middlemarch” – I’ve heard of T.S. Eliot, but George is new to me! I’ll stick to my scientific-fiction and mysteries.
28D. The “bear whose bed was too hard” is PAPA bear of Goldilocks and The Three Bears! I didn’t particularly love this story as a kid, especially because of the whole breaking-and-entering thing. If I had to choose between a careless girl and a bear family with a relatively nice home, I’d choose the bears.
67D. “He orders his martinis shaken, not stirred,” refers to BOND, James BOND. I’ve always loved Daniel Craig’s portrayal of the character and tried to love Sean Connery’s, so I’m excited to see how the next actor decides to approach the role. Go watch “Skyfall” if you haven’t already!
5A. The clue “Slides, for short” is actually PPT, or PowerPoint. My high school used Microsoft Office, so I will forever be loyal to PowerPoint, Word and Excel instead of whatever Google Slides horror the University of Michigan encourages us to use. It’s seriously so much more powerful, so make the switch.
Today’s Theme:
Today’s theme is based on one of my least favorite wordplay phrases, partially because I’m perpetually running about five minutes late. The answers to 17-Across, 21-Across, 62-Across and 70-Across are JAYWALKER, EMULATION, CROWDFUND and ROBINHOOD, which all contain the bird names “jay,” “emu,” “crow” and “robin.” The birds appear first in each name, thus 45-Across’ “First arrivals, colloquially” are EARLY BIRDS. 36-Across’ “As a reward, what happens to 45-Across” is GET THE WORM. I guess this is a sort of homage to my own pet bird, Birdie, who’s a cranky 27-year-old cockatiel that doesn’t eat worms but definitely enjoys a good grape stem. Thanks for solving and try to be on time!
Answer Key:
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