Saturday December 22nd 2018, NY Times Crossword

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Time: 20:53
Saturday Average: 38:20
Best Saturday: 10:34

I got the chance to tackle this Saturday puzzle as a passenger on our 16 hour drive back to Massachusetts, currently not too far from the TACONIC State Parkway and taking a break from a book ON TAPE. I hacked my way through NW and SE by making fairly short work of the longer middle answers. I was proud to be able to drop in ZOROASTRIAN right off the bat from “Ahura Mazda worshiper” while the more crosswordy clues for BEER GOGGLES (“Drinking glasses?”)  and CORRECTIONS (“Slip covers?”) eluded me for a while. For some reason, referring to Katy PERRY by only her last name threw me off for a while. I also didn’t get MILEY (“2000s female teen idol, to fans”) until the end, so I really failed on my 2000s pop music today.

The SW was the killer for me, with “Pragmatist philosopher Charles Sanders” PEIRCE presenting a real sticking point. I’ve never enjoyed seeing the word “espy” in crosswords, so you can imagine how I felt about ESPIAL. Those two crossing “Receive as a member,” which begged for the much more obvious INducT instead of INCEPT make up a truly MEATY corner.

As a tennis fan, I should have gotten EVONNE Goolagong, but I couldn’t quite bring to mind the pronunciation or spelling of the Australian former world number one tennis player.

I fully plan to spend my two weeks off from work avoiding ADULTING as much as possible and I’m sure a MARTINI will be involved at some point as well.


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