Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Tuesday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: July 28, 2020

























My time: 7:27, just under average for Tuesday.  I made a lot of clumsy finger mistakes, but the truth is, this one caught me off guard.  Maybe I should do my solving when I'm more awake.

Theme: WEB OF LIES: the shaded and linked answers are all a form of lie, like TALL TALES, FICTION, LIBEL, and so on.

I'm not happy with my time especially because some of these clues are so simplistic.  "Meditation syllables" (OMS).  "Kit _____" (KAT).  "Outs' opposites" (INS).  "Raise the ____" (ALARM).  These would be rather simple, and boring, even for a Monday.

On the other hand, I'm not sure "Let me see..." is a great clue for WELL.

I have never heard of the baseball term "twin killings."  It means double plays, or DPS for short.  And what is a double play?  It's when you get two outs in one action.

"Bubble gum in 1906" is INVENTION.  This is... contested. Bubble gum was invented in 1928 by a man named Walter Diemer, say some sources.  Frank H. Fleer invented a substance in 1906 that we would not probably call successful bubble gum: Blibber-Blubber!

I have never heard of the term DIME STORE (e.g. Woolworth's).  I have always heard "five and ten cent store" or even "five and dime store."

Ariana Grande has a song "ONE Last Time," but the Hamilton song would have been a better referent.  Her song is kind of boring and has a weird video.

For "reactions to slugs" I put *EWS but it's OWS because it means punches, not mollusks.

The wrist bones CARPI have come up before.  Remember that, Fishwrist!

I liked the theme today.  Well-spun, with a nice capper that explained it all.  It's always admirable when the capper of the theme helps you solve the rest of the theme answers. 

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