Falsely Imprisoned

Ah, jail - a place frequented by felons and Monopoly players alike. Felons are in for committing a crime, of course, but Monopoly players? Why are they in exactly? Because they just happened to land on “Go To Jail?” What is the charge, officer? I demand to see my Monopoly lawyer. You have 0 Monopoly evidence against me for whatever crime I’ve allegedly committed. We assign the role of Banker at the start of the game; why not Judge as well? I guess it’s time for me to quit making crosswords and design the unofficial Monopoly™ Court Room expansion. Hell, while we’re at it, why not a Free Parking expansion as well? Nobody just builds free parking lots…

Anyway, help! I’ve been framed! Just kidding, I’m not actually in jail as I write this. But perhaps some people in this puzzle aren’t either…

Discussion (and spoilers!) below the break.

Play

Falsely Imprisoned by Brandon Cathcart

Discussion

So I’ve just been informed that there is indeed a Monopoly Go To Jail expansion, so that’s some great news for all 3 Monopoly lovers out there. Anyhoo, last week’s puzzle was quite strong so I wanted to make sure I followed it up with a good return to the midi size. There's another puzzle I half-constructed that will probably make an appearance next week, but it decided it wasn’t quite up to snuff yet.

I know this song took over the radio a while ago, which can lead to feeling overplayed, but man… It’s such a good song. Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas are an unstoppable force.

Today’s Theme

Today we have three theme clues that relate to the puzzle’s title, “Falsely Imprisoned.” Each italicized clue is a phrase used to describe someone in jail, but the question mark at the end tells us there is wordplay afoot - these aren’t actually criminals. By ascribing certain words in the clue with an alternate meaning, we get what each clue really means:

[Person kept in a cell?] is kept in a cell phone, a PHONE CONTACT

[Person put behind bars?] is put behind alcohol bars, a MIXOLOGIST

[Person serving multiple life sentences?] is serving (giving you) multiple sentences about someone’s life - a MEMOIR WRITER

Behind the Clues

16A. [Like one in a submarine, hopefully] makes me think of submarines which always makes me think of The Hunt for Red October. I admittedly don’t remember much about the movie, but I do have a weirdly strong feeling attached to it. For most of the movie, the crew remains DRY. No spoilers.

28A. Niche clue time. [Video game genre that includes StarCraft and Age of Empires, briefly] is RTS, or Real-Time Strategy. These are games “where players manage resources and command units to achieve objectives continuously in real time, rather than taking turns.” (Thanks Wikipedia). I was big into AoE 2 when I was younger, and several years ago picked up Northgard, which scratched that itch well.

41A. Crossword learning moment! I know I use brackets a little willy-nilly for flavour, but this is a more traditional use. When it’s just one word before or after the clue, it can be inferred as a word that comes both before the clue AND the answer in order to make it feel complete. An example I like is [Goof (around)] where the clue is “Goof around” and the answer is “___ around”. It’s HORSE, which needs (around) in order to be a proper synonym for goof. In this puzzle it’s a bit more obtuse, but [(Got) turned into viral internet content] is (got) MEMED. I felt “Turned into viral internet content” for MEMED didn’t feel natural enough, and adding (Got) to the beginning felt better.

4D. Okay so I felt the need to highlight [Product not to be confused with blue Kool-Aid] not because the answer is WINDEX but because I just realized that the latter part of Kool-Aid is spelled AID not ADE, which is weird. Is it not a cool ade? It’s cool aid? Please help.

26D. [Like a car seat after hastily coming home from the beach, perhaps] emerged from a complete rewrite of the bottom left corner after testing, but turned into one of my favourite clues. Opposite of earlier’s DRY, the seat might be DAMP.

35D. [Tim ___ Slam (Rhyming act of biting an Australian biscuit into a straw and sucking hot beverage through it)] is Tim TAM Slam, which I’ve tried but is a little bit my nightmare. My tongue gets burned with hot bevies so easily, so the idea of not slurping my tea or cocoa is a little terrifying. Tim Tams look so good though.

I hope you enjoyed this puzzle!

Until next week,

Brandon

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