Darn - Just About Had It!

It’s been an eventful week over here, a combination of a whirlwind November/December finally slowing down and some fun events to attend. You may have picked up from previous newsletters and crosswords that I’m an avid reader, so I’m thrilled that one of the events was seeing Canadian legend Margaret Atwood talk about her new memoir! Thanks to Audrey’s Books and EPL for putting on the event. I wasn’t going to read it (not really a memoir guy), but now I might have to…

It’s almost time for my holiday vacation, which, in addition to probably reading a memoir, will likely consist of the following things:

• Chilling out

• Chilling in

• Catching up on NYT/Puzzmo crosswords I’ve missed in the last few months

• Working on little projects around the house that I’ll get to 80% done, then leave for months (years)

• Getting my books in order so the CRA doesn’t get mad at me (responsible choice)

• And the best part: eating a concerning amount of baked goods

I can’t wait! In my headphones, I’ll be playing cozy albums - ones that evoke holiday feelings while not being about the holidays. Kate Bollinger scratches that itch for me, which the top comment on YouTube nails: “Your songs are like drinking hot chocolate on a cold snowy day.”

This week’s crossword is the last one of 2025! A funny hybrid - kind of themed, kind of themeless. You’ll have to solve it to see what I mean ;)

Discussion (and spoilers!) below the break.

Play

Darn - Just About Had It! by Brandon Cathcart

Discussion

In my crossword workshop, I describe the typical format for a crossword theme - a few long horizontal theme answers, a revealer maybe… Then I go and break that rule every other puzzle! Some teacher I am. Still, I do enjoy a themeless-ish puzzle on occasion because it means I can get a little more creative with my cluing and put some fun long phrases in there.

Call me musically nostalgic for a time I was never in - another 80’s rock opera banger makes it into the puzzle this week :)

Today’s Theme

Happy holidays! That’s a phrase I couldn’t have written in today’s crossword, as the revealer 36-Across specifies [Christmas, or, when spoken, a description of every prompt and answer in this crossword... Wait a sec... Damn it!]. Phonetically (another no-no word), NOEL sounds like NO L, which is what the entire puzzle has, clues (“prompts” lol) and all… Except for the last corner of the grid! Oops ;)

Behind the Clues

5A. [Tear to shreds, as the shirt for my pirate costume when I was 8] is a clue that could be true for a number of ages. My mom took an oversized shirt, TATTERed it, added an eye patch, and set me up in a pirate costume I reused for years (over top of puffy winter coats and snowpants, of course).

15A. You might find a few oddly worded phrases in this puzzle, this being one of them. [Passes to a hockey scorer]? Who calls them a hockey scorer? I couldn’t use “goal,” the seemingly sole word naturally used to describe what you’re assisting in hockey. I guess I could have not referenced hockey, but where’s the fun in that?

26A. One of my favourite clues this puzzle! [Sweaty activity where you might ask "What's up dog?"] is HOT YOGA, and though the pose’s mother would call it “Upward-Facing Dog,” if you’re cool and hip you call it up dog. NOT to be confused with Cobra!

3D. [Space units used by Han in a famous Star Wars quote] is PARSECS, as in “You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? … It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs." ― Han Solo. Fun facts: Google AI Overview gets the quote wrong (thanks AI) and there’s a chunk of discourse online over parsecs being a measure of distance, not time.

8D. Another oddly-phrased clue thwarted by NO L. What’s a good TIN can clue? Metal… nope! Material… nope! [Makeup of canning cans] it is! At least I got to use “canning cans.”

9D. [Key to quitting certain things?] is my play on a classic. With the new year around the corner, maybe you’re thinking of quitting certain things - if they are on the computer, you might use the ESC key to do it!

I hope you enjoyed this puzzle!

Until next year,

Brandon