Registration is now open for the Boswords Winter Wondersolve. It’s a one-day virtual crossword tournament on Sunday, February 6, with four puzzles — by Christina Iverson, Adesina O. Koiki, Kate Chin Park, and Matthew Stock. If you aren’t able to solve on the day of the tournament, you can always order the puzzles to solve them afterward. Good times either way.
At the end of 2018 I’d written a crossword for the new year with the title “Dropping the Ball,” and, at the time, it was one of the most polarizing puzzles I’d ever written. I wasn’t able to schedule this one at the beginning of 2022, but I wanted another crack at a puzzle with the same title but with a different, tricky theme.
Today’s puzzle features several answers in both directions that don’t seem to fit their clues. 31D: [Soda bottle measurements] seems to be hinting at LITERS, but the answer has one extra square. 35A: [Items stuck in cakes] has to be CANDLES, but that answer has two extra squares.
The theme is explained by 115A: [Below zero (Hint: The complete answer is an alternate title for this puzzle suggesting a letter that can fit in 10 squares, but has been dropped each time)]. The answer to the clue is NEGATIVE, but since it’s nine squares in the grid, you have to enter the blood type O-NEGATIVE. The letter O goes in ten squares in the grid, and you have to ignore it every time you see it for the clues to make sense.
- 23A: [Marsh plants with an animal in their name] appears to be COATTAILS, but is clued as CATTAILS. Crossing it at 2D: [One-man show about Capote] is TROU, clued as TRU.
- 35A: [Items stuck in cakes] is CANOODLES, clued as CANDLES. Crossing it at 31D: [Soda bottle measurements] is LOITERS, clued as LITERS; and 36D: [Distracting noise] is ODIN, clued as DIN.
- 43A: [Joining] is LION KING, clued as LINKING. Crossing it at 39D: [Roam, with “about”] is GOAD, clued as GAD.
- 69A: [Procedure used in a search for one’s genetic ancestors] is DONATES TO, clued as DNA TEST. Crossing it at 53D: [“___ looking at you, kid”] is HEROES, clued as HERE’S; and 58D: [Some pub drinks] is ALOES, clued as ALES.
- 92A: [Posting insulting messages online] is FLAMINGO, clued as FLAMING. Crossing it at 81D: [Developer’s creation] is A POP, clued as APP.
- 99A: [Pair in a Double Quarter Pounder] is PATOOTIES, clued as PATTIES. Crossing it at 83D: [Cartoon chihuahua] is RENO, clued as REN; and 89D: [Believing, so to speak] is BUOYING, clued as BUYING.
- The revealer clue at 115A, again: [Below zero (Hint: The complete answer is an alternate title for this puzzle suggesting a letter that can fit in 10 squares, but has been dropped each time)] is O-NEGATIVE, clued as NEGATIVE. Crossing it at 97D: [Walking aids] is CANOES, clued as CANES.
Since dropping the letter O is the name of the game, I kept it out of the entire grid except in those ten squares, but still aimed to create legitimate words with and without the O’s. That caused me several headaches — O is such a common letter that I’d mistakenly included it in several corners, only to realize after finishing a section of a grid that I needed to avoid it.
Some other answers and clues:
- 63A: [Michael who played bass for the Bangles] is Michael STEELE. When I found out about this fact my first reaction was, ‘Wow, the former RNC chair was in the Bangles?’ Nope. The one who was in the Bangles is a different Michael Steele.
- 64A: [Diamond experts?] is SKIERS. Think of black diamonds, which signify advanced skiing trails.
- 74A: [Indiana director?] is STEVEN. That would be Steven Spielberg, who directed Indiana Jones movies.
- 82A: [“The most astonishing activity of mankind born out of struggle between wisdom and madness,” per Magdalena Abakanowicz] is ART. A lengthy clue but I liked the quote.
- 118A: [Like some shots at 19th-century saloons?] is SEPIA. Shots meaning pictures, not drinks.
- 5D: [Org. opposing dealers … or leading “dealers”?] is DEA. It literally leads the word “dealers” by being its first three letters.
- 37D: [“Concrete Cowboy” actor Idris] is Idris ELBA. I saw this movie last year; it was filmed around my neck of the woods, in Philadelphia.
- 44D: [One who might drop the ball] is KLUTZ. This wasn’t theme related, but I hope you don’t think I goofed up by accidentally inserting O’s into the puzzle.
- 49D: [Phil, to Will, on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”] is UNCLE. I have to admit being tempted to watch the gritty remake of “The Fresh Prince” on Peacock since I watched the original series as a kid.
- 61D: [Late actress, animal welfare advocate and self-described “avid crossword puzzle addict” White] is BETTY White. I originally finished the grid before the new year, and my clue was simply going to be [“The Golden Girls” co-star White]. After her passing, I had to give her more space than that.
- 93D: [Light source traditionally given to a first-year student at Bryn Mawr College] is LANTERN. This came from the personal well, as the husband of a Bryn Mawr alumna.
What did you think?
