Puzzle 233 – “A Mere Formality”
puz here / pdf here / solution here
Look, I’ve been trying to get 22-Across into a themeless for months. It was the title inspiration and the seed here, and it’s been tough to make work because it does involve a letter pattern you won’t see often in a 12-letter entry.
But my favorite clue here: 18-Across, no doubt, with the bit of trivia at 45-Down a close second. Been working on the question-mark clues, and in general, I bumped the difficulty up a notch for the cluing on this one, I sense. I dig the grid shape too, with that swath of unbroken white space moving from lower-left to upper-right.
Happy Thanksgiving this week, yall. I’m thankful for everyone who’s spent any time solving on this site, and I’m thankful for all my crossworld pals too. Hope you enjoy this one. Comments welcomed, as ever. Happy solving, friends.
*Excellent* clue at 18-Across and fun trivia indeed at 45-Down. Between references to étouffée, cassoulet, charcuterie and crusty bread, my mouth was watering at completion!
I really loved the trivia find at 45D when I hit upon that bit of info. The best part is how those original lyrics match the final ones’ meter and rhyme. Plus the Boston hint there eases up the clue altogether…
good one thanks!
glad you enjoyed!
Lots to love here (of course) – 22A made me smile, and the clue at 55A was just perfectly random. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
The things we wind up learning when we research clues, amirite?
The “Tuxedo T-shirt” answer inspired me to order one from the web, and whenever I wear it to formal occasions, I’ll tell the hosts that YOU inspired me to do so, lol!
Fair enough, haha… it’s an evocative entry for a themeless, if nothing else.
And the “Marriage of Ketchup Bottles” is too funny…but it’s what I do with all of my liquid condiments!
Also, Thanks Again for crafting such very solid crosswords!
That sweep of white space from the SW to NE is quite stunning!
Aww, thanks! It’s a fun grid feature to play around with.