Saturday, July 25, 2020

Saturday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: July 25, 2020

























My time: 10:51, a full twelve minutes faster than my average!  I'm a speed demon, baby!

I love this grid, with its giant cross and plethora of grid-spanning answers.  Well done, Royce Ferguson!  Truly, you are a cruciverbalist to the gods.

The only one that struck me as off was ALL ALONG THE LINE for "from day one."  But indeed, that's the expression!

"Top of a face" being XII is a trick I've seen before but it still gave me pause.  It's clocks!

A new thing to me is TIE WRAP ("simple cable binder").  This seems to be a catch-all term for variosu types of zip ties.

IDYL, as in Theocritus' poems, is usually spelled idyll, no?

Let's learn internal anatomy with Dr. Digestive Organs! The jejunum (plural jejuna) is he part of the small intestine between the duodenum and ileum.  The cecum (plural ceca) is the cul-de-sac lying below the terminal ileum, forming the first part of the large intestine.  ILEA (singular ileum, not to be confused with the ilium, the hip bone) are the distal portions of the small intestine, extending from the jejunum to the cecum.

I've heard of ST. VITUS, but not this Catholic "Fourteen Holy Helpers" mumbo-jumbo.  They are a group of saints venerated together in Roman Catholicism because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases.  Doesn't that sound like pagan superstitious hoodoo?

The ALTAI Mountains have come up before, but I had forgotten entirely.

AVIS is the parent company of Zipcar, whatever that is.  Oh look, it's come up before as well!

UNADON has come up several times before. It would be nice to have a memory.

Clever clue: "Was on eggshells?" is BROODED.

Great quiz!  Maybe not a ONCE IN A LIFETIME experience, but it was fun ALL ALONG THE LINE.

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