Hello from Stamford, Connecticut! Well, actually, it’s more like “hello from Philadelphia” since I wrote this blog post before I left for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. So by the time you read this, I’ll have a pretty good sense of where I’ll end up finishing. It’d be nice to improve on my 69th-place finish from last year, but I’m just aiming to finish all seven puzzles with no mistakes and to have a good time with puzzle friends old and new. You can follow the standings here.
As for today’s crossword: This one had a meta to crack. And I think it’s appropriate that I served up one about crossing state lines this weekend since I drove past a few state lines to attend the big puzzle tourney.
The instructions asked solvers to find a U.S. state that should be in the puzzle, but isn’t. There are six long Across entries who are notable real and fictional people with states in their names, and most of them are crossed by another state:
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- 24A: [Swordmaster in the “Dune" series] is DUNCAN IDAHO, which crosses MONTANA at 21D: [Fictional idol Hannah].
- 39A: [Fast Eddie’s rival in “The Hustler"] is MINNESOTA FATS, crossing IOWA at 40D: [Siouan people].
- 51A: [Oscar nominee for “Sideways"] is VIRGINIA MADSEN, crossing TENNESSEE at 43D: [“Orpheus Descending" writer Williams].
- 89A: [“Pelvis With the Distance" painter] is GEORGIA O’KEEFFE, crossing FLORIDA at 65D: [___ Evans (Esther Rolle’s role on “Good Times")].
- 102A: [Brendan Fraser’s role in “The Scout"] is STEVE NEBRASKA, crossing KANSAS at 98D: [“Point of Know Return" band].
- 122A: [Vicki Lester’s love in “A Star Is Born"] is NORMAN MAINE. However, no state crosses this answer. So the missing state should be here.
But which one is it? This is where a map can come in handy. The title refers to states crossing one another, but another way of thinking about crossing state lines is crossing a border. Each crossing pair in the grid are states that share a border with one another, so we need a state that shares a border with Maine. There is only one such state: NEW HAMPSHIRE, so that’s our answer.
I was happy to find enough people with states in their names to make it work, and to clue the crossing Down entries without explicitly referring to the actual states in their clues. Undoubtedly there were some fairly well-known ones that I had to leave out (like BOOKER T. WASHINGTON and INDIANA JONES) because they and their crossing states were placing a pretty hefty strain on the grid (and aren’t you glad I didn’t drop MICHIGAN J. FROG on you for the second week in a row?). In fact, my original idea was to cross the “stately” people not with other U.S. states but other countries. I was going to call the puzzle “Cross-Country Trip” and hopefully have some travel-related phrase spelled out from the intersections. Problem was, I didn’t think it would be apt if a cross-country trip involved other nations; it would be a literal interpretation of crossing countries and states in the grid, but it’s more like globetrotting, and it would have forced me to pick a pretty random assortment of countries anyway. Keeping things limited to crossing states made the process more logical, so when I found out that Maine is the only state in the lower 48 that shares a border with just one state, that was my ticket.
Other notable answers and clues:
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- 32A: [Bobby aptly contained in NORRIS TROPHY] is Bobby ORR. Along with Yoko Ono and Brian Eno, I’ve had to look up Bobby Orr’s Wikipedia page more times than I can count for some new cluing angle. It wasn’t until I wrote this puzzle that I realized that his name is contained neatly in the name of the trophy that he won eight times. That made the answer easier to figure out, but I didn’t mind that.
- 46A: [Rice products?] are BOOKS. Anne Rice was the intent here.
- Speaking of books, 58A / 133A: [With 133 Across, 1975 King novel] is ‘SALEM’S / LOT, which sorta aptly takes place in Maine.
- 74A: [Language heard in Valletta] is MALTESE. My brother Justin has an odd obsession with Malta for some reason. He has spent quite a while trying to learn the native tongue and he has even been there (and fairly recently). That sound I just heard was him salivating once he read this clue. That sound he heard was me being smug about it.
- 85A: [Afloat asea] is ADRIFT. I think it’s funny how these nautical adverbs beginning with the a- can be combined to make a coherent clue.
- 99A: [“Wow, that’s fancy!"] is OOH LA LA. Okay, so I have to fess up that last week I had OO LA LA as an answer, without the H. I’m on Team OOH LA LA for this answer if I have to pick one. Both spellings have found their way into crosswords, though, so if I need to call on OO LA LA to get me out of a jam, I will. And believe me, I needed it in the worst way.
- 7D: [NBA Hall of Famer who shot free throws underhanded (and hit 90 percent of them)] is RICK BARRY. It was one of Barry’s odd quirks that he could score 30 or 40 points a game and have the strangest technique for shooting free throws, but it’s hard to argue with the results. I keep wondering if poor career free throw shooters like Shaquille O’Neal would have done better at the line if they’d adopted Rick Barry’s style … *thinking * … nah, probably not.
- 15D: [Fierce demon slain by Gandalf] is a BALROG. You could say I was having some fun with the northeast corner since it’s an unusual answer. The Balrog is the demon to whom Gandalf thundered “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” in the first “Lord of the Rings” movie.
- 38D: [Spot checker, say?] is a PET SITTER. I liked this clue for its surface sense with the phrase “spot check,” but I’d be willing to bet money that very, very few people actually name their dog Spot. See also: Rover, Fido.
- 54D: [Falco known for “Nurse Jackie" and not “Rock Me Amadeus"] is EDIE. This note is mostly just an excuse to link to the music video to “Rock Me Amadeus.”
- 115D: [Her answer to “What’s the best cellphone?" is “Wait … there are other phones?"] is SIRI. It’s actually one of a few responses she gives to this question. I’ve heard she’ll give you a bit of cybernetic sass if you ask her about her Microsoft equivalent Cortana.
Your obligatory teaser: Next week’s puzzle is going to be an experiment of sorts. Nothing unprecedented, but not exactly common either. I hope you enjoy it, but I’d recommend setting aside a little extra time for it.
**Special thanks to Erik Agard, Howard Barkin, Sam Ezersky, Al Sanders, and Michael Sharp for test-solving this puzzle, and to my copy editor Jenny Abella for her thorough fact-checking and proofreading of clues.**
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