It's Just Business

It’s currently 8:16 am on Friday morning. I’m frantically typing a crossword newsletter to make sure I get it out at the 9:00 am deadline. * Record scratch * You’re probably wondering how I got myself into this situation. Well, unfortunately, it’s not that interesting - a busy week, personal negligence, and a last-minute decision to go compete in “league night” at a pinball place last night. Was it a good choice? Yeah, I made Novice playoffs (and then lost immediately), so worth it. Should I not have left it so late? Absolutely, especially after last week’s puzzle had a typo that left me full of sham. But hey - you probably received this at 9 which means I got it done. Good job, me 😎

This week’s crossword is a nice little romp, though on initial testing, it was a bit hard. I eased it up in places, so I hope you have a satisfying solve. And if you do get stuck, remember - it’s not personal, it’s just business.

Discussion (and spoilers!) below the break.

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It’s Just Business by Brandon Cathcart

Discussion

This puzzle started with the phrase ROOT CAUSE and blossomed out from there. It went through a few iterations, eventually landing on the puzzle you solved, and it’s one that I’m happy with. Looking through the clues, I had a hard time picking out which ones to highlight below - and remember, we’re on a time crunch here! Now, time to get Moana stuck in your head for the rest of the day (worth it!)

Today’s Theme

The three theme clues are [Tree?], [Vampire slayer?], and ["Let off some steam, Bennett" in Commando, e.g.?], which on their own are ambiguous. However, from the title, we learn that the answers are just business (terms). A tree could be considered a ROOT CAUSE, a vampire slayer is a STAKE HOLDER, and if you’ve ever seen Commando (scene below), you’ll know that Arnold’s iconic quote is a PIPE LINE. Ah, what fun we have.

Behind the Clues

Another hot week for clues!

11A. [When is a clock most like a train? When it's ___ two!] is a joke a friend told me while playing a Robin-like (of Batman and Robin) character in a D&D campaign once, and it stuck with me ever since. The joke lands better said it out loud, so tell a friend, and be sure to make “pulling a steam whistle” motions as you deliver the punchline - TWO TO TWO!

12A. A cheeky clue for some cheeky solvers! [Ed Sheeran and Rupert Grint, e.g.] are both redheads, but that doesn’t fit - such a shame. Good thing they’re both BRITS! The “allowing” of a shortened answer here isn’t explicit, but I like to think it’s implied by “e.g.”, a shortened word in the clue, which I used instead of “for two” or another ender.

21A. ["That's gold, Jerry! Gold!" (Kenny Bania explaining this Spanish word to Seinfeld)] is one of my favourite types of clue - taking a pop culture reference and using it in a different context. Of course, in the show, Kenny is referring to a stand-up joke, but in my clue, he’s exasperatedly teaching Jerry that “gold” in Spanish is ORO.

5D. ["Beats me!", or an accurate statement about my board game collection] may have tripped you up because it’s a lot of words. With these longer clues, it’s best to figure out the heart of it (“Beats me!”, in this case), and just enjoy the rest as a bit of fun. The answer, of course, is NO CLUE, which wasn’t always true of my collection - I owned a beat-up Goodwill copy of the game for a while, before realizing I never played it and donating it back. You’re welcome, Goodwill.

14D. [One of several in a good bug jar (we all made bug jars, right?)] makes me feel nostalgic for childhood and also sad for all the grasshoppers, minnows, and other small creatures that were accidentally, through no fault of their own, subject to my negligence. Remember kids! Poke an AIRHOLE or two in that jar - the bug won’t escape, and you’ll be considered more humane. Put some grass, a stick in there too - enrichment is good, I hear.

17D. It makes sense that people make this mistake - ["Able was I ___ saw Elba", a famous palindrome erroneously attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte]. Napoleon, famously exiled to Elba, never uttered these lines (at least no one was around to hear it… If a tree falls in a forest?), but it is a famous palindrome nonetheless. ERE I completes the phrase. Personally, I’m a “Too bad I hid a boot” kind of palindrome-lover.

Whew, we made it. I hope you enjoyed this hasty newsletter and (not hasty) puzzle!

Until next Friday,

Brandon