Keep Going!

I hope you had a good mid-week weekend on Wednesday! If you had the stat off, that is. I can’t remember experiencing a day that felt more like a Saturday, and also a Sunday. It did make me consider for the first time whether the dream four-day work week could centre around having Wednesday off, for a 2-on 1-off 2-on 2-off kind of schedule. Having tried that now, I can definitively say… it doesn’t quite hit. Now there are two days for me to get the Sunday Scaries? Yeah, I don’t think so. Wing Wednesday was invented to solve this exact problem years ago.

This week’s crossword is a great way to kick off your real weekend - a nice smooth puzzle that leans on the easier side and has a fun reveal. Enjoy, and have a great weekend :)

Discussion (and spoilers!) below the break.

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Keep Going! by Brandon Cathcart

Discussion

You Can Do It! ← That’s true, and was the original title of this puzzle. However, an earlier version had CAN DO as an entry (like can-do attitude), so I changed the title to prevent the duplication. A later rewrite caused the entry to be removed, and now there’s no evidence of CAN DO anywhere but in the attitude of you, the solver. Looking at the grid, you may be able to figure out where CAN DO used to live based on the theme answers.

Musical movies make an appearance today with ONCE, a beautifully awkward movie. There’s a good chance that even if you aren’t familiar with the movie, you have heard this song. It’s so simple, but it’s nice. This scene captures how genuine the movie feels.

Today’s Theme

Today’s theme is brought to light by the revealer, 32-Across. [Classic motivational poster: A cat dangles from a clothesline. Caption: ___, or a punny description of the answers to the starred clues]. It’s referencing posters like this:

This poster style has been riffed on so often, there’s a Wikipedia article about it! The answer is HANG IN THERE, and it’s a punny description of the answers to our three italicized clues because they all have HANG in there!

[* Fried burrito that Deadpool likes the sound of, but doesn't actually enjoy eating] is CHIMIC[HANG]A.

[* Annie who has a "Hard Knock Life," for one] is ORP[HAN G]IRL

and [* High-ranking heavenly beings] are ARC[HANG]ELS

It was an intentional choice to not use any words or phrases that started/ended with HANG or where it was too phonetically obvious (like HANG GLIDE or even UNCHANGED) - the reveal is more satisfying when it’s nicely hidden.

Behind the Clues

10A. [Country whose flag is verde, bianco e rosso] is a great example of a foreign language clue. When you see a foreign language in a clue, it’s a safe bet the answer should also be in that language. That’s why the answer is ITALIA, not ITALY. However, the previous clue, [Siesta before a fiesta] is answered in English - so it’s more of a feel thing than a hard and fast rule.

29A. I haven’t thought of it like this before, but HEYO is a [Slangy portmanteau greeting] of HEY and YO. I say it pretty often but never thought about why it felt right. Nice.

36A. [Let's just call it a wrap on babies] is a fun clue hidden in a phrase. You might initially read this as “Let’s just stop this whole babies thing,” but you can also read it as “I’d describe this thing as a wrap on babies,” which could be a blanket maybe, but a DIAPER feels more appropriate.

8D/14D. We have some nice clue symmetry here with [Language spoken in "Slumdog Millionaire"] and [Language "spoken" in "A Quiet Place," briefly]. Lots of language in this puzzle, it seems. The answers are HINDI for Slumdog Millionaire, and the “spoken” language is ASL, a movie I have yet to see but understand that being quiet is a good thing to do, hence their use of ASL.

25D. When you see a weirdly specific clue like [Soup and ___'s 16th Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest (2024 Edmonton Fringe festival show featuring a Hulk-y wrestler)], don’t get scared! Remember that the crossword constructor (usually) wants you to get the answer, so they give you the information you need. In this case, most people won’t have seen that niche play - so it’s just for fun. All the information you need is in the last three words - “…a Hulk-y wrestler.” Certainly you know someone who would fit the bill - Hulk HOGAN. Remember, sometimes clues have fluff, you just have to sort through them.

33D. This is a Canadian crossword, damn it, so we have to Canadianize the classics! Usually clued as [Debut on the NSYE], here we do [Debut on the TSX] or Toronto Stock Exchange. That’s an Initial Public Offering, or IPO. Jot that one down in your “words to know for crosswords” list.

I hope you enjoyed this puzzle!

Until next week,

Brandon

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