I additionally need to say thank you for other people’s birthday needs ultimate week. Sadly, it was once probably the most extra irritating birthdays of my lifestyles since I examined certain for the coronavirus ultimate weekend. It was once ready to keep away from covid-19 for 3½ years, however it in spite of everything were given me, and naturally it had to strike proper ahead of my fortieth birthday. Such unfortunate timing. All issues regarded as, despite the fact that, I’m doing positive — I used to be feeling moderately dreadful the primary few days, however I’ve been feeling higher in recent years. Hopefully by means of subsequent week I’ll be trying out detrimental once more, however we’ll see.
Seven starred solutions appear to be lower brief and don’t are compatible their clues. 27A: [*NBA Hall of Famer nicknamed “The Pearl”] looks as if EARL, however that’s simply his first title. Where’s his complete title, EARL MONROE? 30A: [*Sculpture garden seen in the video game “GoldenEye 007”] is … STA? That looks as if an overly ordinary clue for STA, an abbreviation for a teach station.
There’s a key trace at 129A: [Walking trip that may last from morning till evening … and a hint to this puzzle’s theme] which is DAY HIKE. The starred solutions get started on one line, then transfer up to the following row for 3 letters, then end at the unique line. The letters that transfer up are the three-day abbreviations for the seven days of the week.
- 27A: [*NBA Hall of Famer nicknamed “The Pearl”] is EARL MONROE, with the raised MON for Monday.
- 30A: [*Sculpture garden seen in the video game “GoldenEye 007”] is STATUE PARK, with the raised TUE for Tuesday. I at all times preferred this degree after I performed the sport a very long time in the past.
- 58A: [*“Is that all?”] is ARE WE DONE, with the raised WED for Wednesday.
- 60A: [*Michigan city on the Great Lake in its name] is PORT HURON, with the raised THU for Thursday.
- 81A: [*They’re thick as thieves] is BEST FRIENDS, with the raised FRI for Friday.
- 111A: [*Prepares an ambush] is SETS A TRAP, with the raised SAT for Saturday.
- 114A: [*Anesthetizes] is PUTS UNDER, with the raised SUN for Sunday.
I’ve achieved a number of “raised letters” topics (see right here, right here, right here, right here and right here), and I’ve achieved a number of topics according to the seven days of the week (see right here, right here and right here), so I suppose it was once most effective herbal that I might mix them into one puzzle. My aesthetic is at all times to use actual crossword entries on either side of the raised letters in order that it looks as if an another way commonplace grid whilst you’re completed, despite the fact that I recall gritting my tooth a little bit understanding that I’d want STA to pull it off. The letter collection TUE simply doesn’t have many choices to start with.
Some different solutions and clues:
- 32A: [Bachelor party venue?] is ALMA MATER. As in a spot the place other people with bachelor’s levels may have a reunion celebration.
- 46A: [“Nessun dorma,” e.g.] is ARIA. This is from “Turandot” and it’s one in all my spouse’s favorite arias.
- 1D: [Run uncovered during an NFL game, say?] is STREAK. NFL receivers aren’t those streaking, despite the fact that.
- 31D: [Island nation whose capital was Koror City until 2006] is PALAU. The capital at the present time is Ngerulmud.
- 42D: [Newborn who composed the scores for the “Naked Gun” films] is IRA Newborn. That’s his title, despite the fact that it’s humorous to believe him composing the song whilst he was once a child.
- 56D: [“My Dad Wrote a ___” (comedy podcast featuring a series of erotic novels called “Belinda Blinked”)] is PORNO. This podcast is as humorous as marketed — Jamie Morton and his buddies James Cooper and Alice Levine learn in the course of the “Belinda Blinked” books that Jamie’s dad wrote underneath the pseudonym Rocky Flintstone. It’s NSFW content material, clearly, however it’s hilarious.