Who Hired This Guy?

Boo! It’s Halloween, one of the few times of the year you can dress up in a crazy costume, leave your house, and no one will think twice about it. Plus the candy… The candy! The worst Halloween I’ve had as an adult was when we bought candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters, and those damn kids took it all. Where’s the candy for me?? Leftover Halloween candy hits different than regular candy, it’s just the truth.

Last week I spoiled you with the spooky new song from Tame Impala. This week, to end my opening monologue, I’d like to share with you my favourite Halloween song. Serendipitously shared with me at a friend’s Halloween party years ago, it’s technically a children’s song, but the best children’s songs are also good adult songs. Maybe it’s just good because of that one moment, but all these years later, it still makes me laugh and sing along - so maybe it will become a new favourite for someone else out there. Thanks to KidsTV123 for giving me “Spooky Spooky - Halloween Song.”

This week’s crossword was a fun one to make. A little clever and a lot of fun, I DARE you to make it through without something between blowing air out your nose and an audible chuckle.

If you’re venturing out tonight, stay safe! And if you’re staying in, have a great Halloween!

Discussion (and spoilers!) below the break.

Play

Who Hired This Guy? by Brandon Cathcart

Discussion

I had such fun with this puzzle and I hope it shows. Some of my favourite clues, a theme that feels clever and funny, it’s everything I aspire YEGwords to be.

Here’s one of my favourite scenes in any Marvel movie, THOR yelling at someone on Fortnite.

Today’s Theme

This week, the revealer is 38-Across, [A small freight elevator... or the person saying the italicized phrases]. The italicized phrases all seem to relate to food in some way. Knowing (or figuring out) that a small freight elevator is a DUMBWAITER, we can parse the speaker of the phrases as a DUMB WAITER, who misinterprets common food idioms for literal statements.

"Yeah I made a mess of the chickpeas, I asked if you wanted to hear about the specials and you told me to SPILL THE BEANS!"

"Miss, of course that's not YOUR CUP OF TEA, that's a bowl of soup."

"Sorry, I overheard you say something about an EGG ON YOUR FACE... did you want that soft, medium, or hard?"

And before you @me, chickpeas are beans (according to the internet).

Behind the Clues

5A. I love a clue that’s evocative, and this one is that to me. [Rats that would be wearing white coats if I were in charge] is LAB, as in lab rats, and can you just imagine them? Little guys running around in lab coats? No one put me in charge of a lab.

12A/44A. I thought this was a fun combo clue. [Bird known for not being able to fly and not being afraid of humans (not a great combo tbh)] is likely well known - the DODO is a poster child of extinction, and honestly fascinating to learn about. But did you know about the [Flightless bird that went extinct about 200 years before 12-Across]? It’s amazing that penguins and emus have stuck around for as long as they have given this alarming trend. The MOA was like an emu from New Zealand, until the Māori arrived and hunted them all. This is why we can’t have nice things.

42A. I consider YEGwords to be a learning ground for people who don’t do traditional crosswords, so I like to add in some common crosswordese from time to time - words and phrases that come up way more in crossword puzzles than in real life. [Tennis legend Arthur (whom I only know from doing crosswords)] alludes to that as Arthur ASHE has such a nice name for crossword fill. I guess he was also a great tennis player.

3D/7D. Another nice clue pairing here, though I know I’m going to get some DMs about it. [A mostly-vowels way of saying "See ya!"] and [A mostly-consonants way of saying "See ya!'] are ADIEU and BYE. “But Y is sometimes a vowel!” they say. I think technically here it operates as a vowel, I admit - but today, here, it’s considered a consonant unless proven vowel. I rest my case.

9D. [Like emo clothing and doing magic tricks, for some] is PHASE, and let’s be clear - I hope that for some people it’s not a phase. We need emo adults and we need more magicians. This country is on the precipice of a magician drought! Quick! Send your kids to magician school! After their 4-year degree, I’m sure the magic industry will be booming.

28D. This one is a little tricky. [Like one who's put in more hours, in a way] is purposefully misdirecting, but in a “in a way” way, not in a full “question mark” way. The answer is OLDER, as in you’ve put more hours into life.

I hope you enjoyed this puzzle!

Until next Friday,

Brandon