August Lee-Kovach opens our solving weekend.
Jump to: Tricky Clues
FRIDAY PUZZLE — August Lee-Kovach is building a good name for himself as a constructor of late-week puzzles.
This is his fifth grid in The New York Times, and his first Friday puzzle. Mr. Lee-Kovach has had a Saturday crossword published already, which means that he has some experience with themeless grids. It shows: He packs his puzzle with some lively nine-letter stacks, and while there are a couple of speed bumps, I found it to be a fun tug of war between me as solver and Mr. Lee-Kovach as puzzle maker.
Tricky Clues
1A. [One shooting for the stars?] sounds as if we are supposed to be thinking of a person, but the “one” in the clue is a SPACESHIP.
19A. I needed help for this one, but I’m proud to say that I still have enough brain cells left to recognize that [The “1” in 3-1-4, say] is a sports clue. The answer is LOSS, as in wins, losses and ties.
48A./45D. These near-twin clues — ([It/They might grab a bite to eat]) — are somewhat grizzly. The “it” at 48A is TALON, as in the claws of a bird grabbing its prey, and the “they” at 45D are MOLARS, as in one’s back teeth. And now for a question from the Department of Pedantic Arguments: Don’t we bite food with our front teeth, and then transfer the food to the MOLARS to be chewed? No judgment if you do it the other way, of course. The department was just wondering.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
