Grant Thackray’s puzzle visits exotic and unusual lands.
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SATURDAY PUZZLE — Today we have a challenge with a low word count (64) and six debut entries, including all four long entries at the grid’s top and bottom. I was repeatedly bamboozled by excellent wordplay from Grant Thackray, who hasn’t constructed a themeless puzzle for The New York Times in over a year.
My knowledge of the trivia in this puzzle was awful, especially the name questions (I was so happy to see MR MET among a tough crowd!). I needed several trips through the clue set and some lucky crosses to finish the solve, and I got especially stuck in the center of the grid.
12A. This clue takes a second look. At first I thought I’d found an error: A “Question in a lot of cars?” comes from inside the car, right? Picture yourself anxiously circling the block; it’s late, perhaps a bit rainy, and everyone and their vehicles seem tucked away for the night. I figured this had to be: “Where can I park my car?” Instead, this solves to WHERE DID I PARK MY CAR. Why would you ask that if you were in your car? Oh, wait.
You’re in a lot of cars. A parking lot. Don’t mind me!
22A. There are three “land” references in the clue set today, which may be why I thought of “Birdland” as an answer for the clue “Twitter-sphere?”. The little blue bird of social media didn’t cross my mind, and the second half of the entry came to me via crosses. It’s a small world, for sure: a BIRD CAGE.
36A. This clue is a common idiom in a clever disguise. “What can’t be done alone, famously” is THE TANGO, which takes two to do. The Argentine dance goes back to 1880s Buenos Aires, but this idiom’s popularity didn’t soar until a song sung by Pearl Bailey was released in the early 1950s.
6D. “Go out too late” implies missing curfew and getting grounded, but in this case you’re not at a house party, you’re offstage, and you MISS A CUE.
22D. I thought of Homer’s “wine-dark sea” when I read this clue, “Where one might drift off on a boat,” but I missed that the “drift off” is metaphorical. Instead of wandering from a jetty or mooring, in this case passengers “drift off” to sleep in bed, in a ship’s BERTH.
27D. Speaking of the deep, “The land down under?” referenced by this clue isn’t at the bottom of the map. For this one, look to Plato and the story of submerged ATLANTIS.
This is my lucky No. 11th puzzle! My seed for this one was 14-Across, which is something I ask myself pretty much every time I leave somewhere. I was a little disappointed to see my clue for 19-Down was replaced by the editorial team, which I thought was pretty clever, but I also fully understand that it relies on a bit of historical knowledge I thought was common but probably isn’t. For anyone who wants to parse their way through it in the comments, it was “Teach defense from the law?” I also had “Cold-hearted gift?” for 30-Across, which I also thought was pretty clever but perhaps too morbid for The Times. I am glad my clue for 51-Across stayed, though, as it reflects the strangeness I’ve long mulled over about the phrase “head over heels.”
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