Say That Again?

By the time you read this, I’ll already be gone… On vacation! It’s high time I took some “me” time, so I talked to the boss and he decided everyone at YEGwords & Sons LLC deserved a break. Luckily, I squeezed out a crossword a little early this week so I can still give you a little Friday fun. However, this newsletter is going to be a shorter one with higher-than-average typos.

Thanks to you all, August’s workshop sold out within the week! I’m excited to hang out with those of you who will be there, and for those who couldn’t make it, I’ll aim to run another one in the fall :)

Just because I checked out of work early doesn’t mean I checked out of making a great puzzle for you!`

Discussion (and spoilers!) below the break.

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Say That Again? by Brandon Cathcart

Discussion

I’ll be honest, it’s getting harder to judge how difficult my puzzles are as my partner and test solver keeps getting better at crosswords. As her average solve time goes down, I have to ask Is it because the puzzle is too easy or is she just getting good? Maybe a bit of both, but the more important question now is Does this puzzle have good vibes regardless of difficulty? and the answer (in my opinion, at least), is yes.

You’re never too old to rage against the machine, or listen to Rage Against the Machine!

Today’s Theme

The title reveals the theme in a punny way here. Say That Again? belies three italicized theme entries, where the clues and answers are a spoken phrase - but it’s the same word repeated 2 (or 3) times.

["Correct, you'll turn starboard here"] is RIGHT, RIGHT

["Quite the burly sled dog..."] is HUSKY HUSKY

and my favourite,

["Anyway, your water source is looking healthy"] is WELL, WELL WELL!

Behind the Clues

1A. It’s a little mean to start with a misleading clue, but with fair crossings, I thought it would make a good “ahhh” moment. [Spaghetti, e.g.] immediately evokes PASTA, and while that’s not the answer, the correct one here shares 4/5 letters. Spaghetti is also a type of STRAP.

9A. The clues that are trying to be clever sometimes come out fully formed, and sometimes take a few revisions to nail the wording. [Step in preparing a hand-made turkey?] is one of my favourite question mark clues in recent memory, if mostly for the visual. I’ve made quite a few hand turkeys in my time, so I know I have to TRACE my hand!

34A. [It races at night, sometimes] immediately evokes a visual of street racing, of the only Fast & Furious movie I’ve seen, Tokyo Drift (don’t @ me). But in this case, the answer is the much more relatable MIND racing at night. But since you asked, let’s listen to one of the most hype songs to ever be made.

13D. Any Theodore Tugboat fans in the house? What a Canadian classic. [Theodore Tugboat action] is TOW, because as a happy, smiley tugboat, he tows.

21D. [Power cycles?] is another little clue I was happy to come up with. I had EBIKES in the grid and I sat for a bit, telling myself “This is ripe for wordplay. There’s something here.” And there was. And that’s the story.

28D. [Three for comedy, but thirds for photography] isn’t the toughest clue, but I always like highlighting interesting little language quirks and parallels. Here we’re talking about the “RULE of three” for comedy (Every joke is funnier if you say it three times) and the “RULE of thirds” for photography (Your subject should cover all three thirds of the frame).

Alright, time to dump this laptop into a lake and get off the grid.

Until next week,

Brandon

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