One of the underrated features of any language, and a core component of cluing in general both in trivia and crosswords, is a word or phrase’s inferability (or inevitability, if you will). That’s how we get portmanteaus that are easily accessible, how we unpack idioms, and what makes a good (or bad) pun. The constructor may not have come up with this one, but he was wise enough to spotlight it. If you know anything about flag-making, you can get to Betsy Ross. If you know anything about the campiness of drag, you can get the last couple of inches to the delightful answer, BUSTY ROSS. There are other instances, too! Creature atop the miner Willard’s head, in “Jak and Daxter” (6) doesn’t actually require you to know anything about this delightful video game trilogy, only to think of an animal that might be associated with a (coal) miner–namely a CANARY. Clues can also be dressed up like, Hercules character, who per Kate Knibbs, is “the only Disney princess with a shitty ex-boyfriend, except she’s not an official Disney princess” (3). It’s likely that if you get this, even if you know Knibbs or the mythology of Megaera, you’re getting it from the only three-letter Hercules character (MEG) but wow, all that extra information is delightful, and now you’ve got other stuff to look up. A few other really good clues from a standout puzzle: Fulfilled a minor responsibility, in millennial-speak (8) has great fill and clever cluing over what you determine “minor” to mean (ADULTED), Breaker breaker (5) is a minimistically appealing echo along the same lines as “Buffalo buffalo….” that yields JETTY, and It’ll help block out all the “bullshit” (9) is a justifiably quoted use of foul language in a clue, since we’re talking about the TAPE DELAY that would help a censor stop it. Isn’t it nice to talk about language like adults every once in a while? So much more good stuff; you can check out my real-time solve and reactions on Twitch.
- Brian Thomas, AVCX+, 9/16/22
The Crossword Scholar 