Sunday December 30th 2018, NY Times Crossword

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Time: 47:51
Sunday Average: 48:49
Best Sunday: 21:55

Perhaps it was UNWISE to attempt this Sunday puzzle after a few bottles of wine while re-watching episodes of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and The Good Place. I could feel my lack of focus as I struggled with clues that should have been well IN RANGE, but my mind felt, for multiple logical reasons, somewhat STUNTED. Fortunately I was able to grasp the theme almost immediately, which was revealed in the puzzle title “No duh,” which is to say that it’s common phrases without the “the.”

  • “Reason for an R rating?” BEHIND SCENES. This is quite silly.
  • “Cuban or Zuckerberg?” WELL-OFF MARK. Yup, they’re both rich.
  • “Needing certain ink for a color printer?” OUT OF BLUE. And start singing Neil Young “and into the black...”
  • “Impetus behind a paternity test?” POP QUESTION. 
  • “On a Paleo diet, say?” AGAINST GRAIN. It took me a while to remember which dumb diet the Paleo is, but this one’s pretty funny. 
  • “Really, really needing some sun?” BEYOND PALE.
  • “Buy one circus animal, get one circus animal free?” SEAL DEAL. Seals?
  • “Something up for grabs on a fishing boat?” SPARE ROD. Yawn.
  • “Installment of a women’s clothing catalog?” SKIRT ISSUE. OK, I’m impressed with how many theme answers fit in this puzzle, but as you can see, I’ve started to lose interest. 
I started watching “Riverdale” on the plane, which features emo JUGHEAD. It’s incredibly dumb but still made me want to keep watching. 

I had never heard of LARISSA, capital of Thessaly, which is the fourth most populous region of Greece. It crossed RUE, which I can only sometimes remember is an evergreen medicinal plant. That was the last square to fall for me.

I really should have gotten “Only European capital on both a river and an ocean” since I just arrived in LISBON. I’m not sure what it means that I got BISSAU so much faster. But the mile-long bridge in Lisbon on which it’s illegal to run out of gas is damn impressive. 

Media consumed yesterday: “Don’t Breathe” (2016 horror/thriller film). 

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