Now You See It...

I love the movie Now You See It. I feel like everyone in the cast brings their best self - Dave Franco as a skeezy close up magician, Isla Fisher as the escape arist… hold on, sorry… That movie is Now You See Me? Now You See It is a straight-to-TV Disney movie from 2005 with an almost identical rating on Rotten Tomatoes (70% vs 63%)? Do I love a mediocre movie, or are Rotten Tomatoes ratings essentially worthless?

This week, YEGwords contributor Glenn Cook (who watches Now You See It most weekends) said “Now You See It, my favourite movie? That gives me an idea for a puzzle theme…” And who am I to deny a man with so much passion? Enjoy Glenn’s latest creation and foray into word puzzle trickery!

Discussion (and spoilers!) below the break.

Play

This week, we have two versions of the puzzle! The default is a typical YEGwords difficulty, but if you’re up to the challenge, try the more puzzling NYT Wednesday-ish level crossword! The clues are the same, but the theme leaves more up to the solver :)

Now You See It… by Glenn Cook (edited by Brandon Cathcart)

Now You See It… (Extra Challenge!) by Glenn Cook (edited by Brandon Cathcart)

Discussion

Like in his first puzzle, “A Sticky Situation”, Glenn introduces some fun wordplay into the theme and puzzle overall. We had to leave a reference to ENID by the Barenaked Ladies on the cutting room floor, but were able to replace it with other CanCon faves Prozzak, so the Canadian music references remain strong.

Today’s Theme

This week’s theme revealer is 32-Across, [Medium for a secret message — and what the circled squares contained when you started this puzzle]. That medium is INVISIBLE INK, and you may realize that to solve the answers with the circles, you’ll need to put the word INK into them - almost as if it was there the whole time…

Behind the Clues

10A. I love the phrase [Ale aficionados, perhaps], and may start describing myself as such (though these days, I’m more of a non-alcoholic ale aficionado, not quite the same ring). They are BEER DRINKERS, but perhaps they could also be called pilsner patrons? Brew backers? Stout sippers?

12A. Maybe you aren’t a sports person, but as a crossword solver, I do have a small compendium of popular sports teams locked away. One of those is the [NBA's Magic, on scoreboards], who hail from Orlando, or ORL on the scoreboard.

24A. The Brits know how to do comedy - and a notable one who currently hosts the Great British Baking Show is NOEL Fielding. While he cut his teeth with his group The Mighty Boosh, I know him best from the Big Fat Quiz of the Year, which he’s been on a few times.

1D. Name a more iconic toy - there probably is, but the [Wooden construction set for children first sold in 1914] is such a staple of “old-timey" fun (unless you’re going back to the stick & hoop era). The TINKERTOY construction set is arguably the basis for modern giants like Knex and other building/construction kits.

2D. Let’s get to the core of this exercise, shall we? The [Core-strengthening exercise done in a crunch-like position] is a HEEL TAP, and while it’s not as punishing as some core exercises, I can’t confess to enjoying it.

17D. While we went with a more universal clue [Send again], RESHIP has some fun connotations in the internet age. “Shipping” is hoping two (often fictional) characters end up in a romantic relationship - you’ve probably done it, but now you have a name for it.

I hope you enjoyed this puzzle!

Until next Friday,

Brandon