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Those Down answers intersect with the starred answers, so there’s a good chance they’re connected. A pair of revealers can help explain the trick. 24A: [Make money, and an alternate title for this puzzle] is TURN A PROFIT and 123A: [Money up front, and an alternate title for this puzzle] is DOWN PAYMENT. Those starred answers zigzag in the grid by turning down on a unit of currency.
- 27A: [*One concerned with possessions] is MATERIALIST. It starts with MATER at 27A, turns down on RIAL at 28D: [123 Across in Iran?] — making it the DOWN PAYMENT in Iran — and finishes with LIST at 43A: [Word after A, B, C or D].
- 47A: [*Have strong feelings (about)] is CARE A LOT. It starts with CAR at 47A, turns down on REAL at 48D: [123 Across in Brazil?], and finishes with LOT at 68D: [Auto site].
- 53A: [*Removes, as paint from a wall] is SCRAPES OFF. It starts with SCRAP at 53A, turns down on PESO at 54D: [123 Across in Mexico?], and finishes with OFF at 73A: [Inaccurate].
- 60A: [*Generating interest on top of interest one has already earned] is COMPOUNDING. It starts with COMP at 60A, turns down on POUND at 61D: [123 Across in England?], and finishes with DING at 88A: ["We have a winner!” sound].
- 69A: [*Art installation by Anya Gallaccio where 10,000 rose heads of the same color rest atop their stems and wither over time] is “RED ON GREEN.” It starts with RED at 69A, turns down on DONG at 70D: [123 Across in Vietnam?], and finishes with GREEN at 92A: [Inexperienced]. I wasn’t aware of this art piece before writing this puzzle, but it’s a neat idea that makes good use of time, space and color all together. You can view photos of it here.
- 75A: [*Bibimbap or pilaf, e.g.] is RICE DISH. It starts with RIC at 75A, turns down on CEDI at 77D: [123 Across in Ghana?], and finishes with ISH at 97A: ["Sorta”].
- 101A: [*Repeatedly] is OVER AND OVER. It starts with OVER at 101A, turns down on RAND at 102D: [123 Across in South Africa?], and finishes with DOVER at 119A: [Kent County city (in the U.S. and in England)].
This is the financial version of last October’s “Seasonal Downturn” puzzle which involved the same trick but with weather forecasts. That puzzle was fairly constrictive in that there weren’t many choices for phrases that could turn on a weather forecast word and produce valid grid entries Across and Down. There are many more world currencies to pick from, but not all of them lend themselves well to creating a full grid with legitimate entries everywhere. I was surprised that the three-letter Japanese YEN didn’t yield many phrases that could work. Something like STRANGLEY ENOUGH would have forced me to end the answer with the Across entry NOUGH; I don’t think that’s a valid word unless you clue it as a contraction of “enough,” which is essentially the same word as in the full answer.
Some other answers and clues:
- 1A: [Caribbean music genre pioneered by Lord Shorty in the 1970s] is SOCA. I’m not terribly familiar with Soca, but I think it’s interesting that it’s an abbreviation of “Soul of Calypso.”
- 19A: [Butler employee, for short] is PROF. Butler University in Indianapolis, that is.
- 32A: [Nickname of a former Microsoft Office assistant that resembled an office fastener] is CLIPPY. I was surprised to learn while building this puzzle that Clippy wasn’t the assistant’s original name! It was originally called Clippit, though I’ve only ever heard people call it Clippy. This Seattle Met piece by Benjamin Cassidy does a deep dive into how Clippy became a cultural icon.
- 40A: [Hoops coach Tyronn] is Tyronn LUE. I’m still a little surprised that he hasn’t made his way into more crosswords given his letter combination; he won a championship as the Cavaliers coach in 2016, so it’s not like he’s made zero impact on the NBA. I was a bit leery about cluing him by the team he currently coaches (the Clippers), first because there was a nonzero chance he would have been let go by the Clippers after they were eliminated from the playoffs, and second because CLIPPY was in the puzzle too.
- 62A: [Incoming statement?] is HERE WE ARE. The clue is sort of a callback to the finances in the theme.
- 85A: [Athlete delivering a routine performance] is ICE DANCER. Routine as in “dance routine,” not “average.”
- 132A: [1970s New York Times crossword editor Will] is Will WENG. He’s responsible for writing a statement that crossword constructors everywhere nowadays cite as advice for solvers: “Don’t be conscience‐stricken if you use dictionaries, atlases and such in doing a puzzle. It’s your puzzle and you can do it any way you please.” Meaning, if a friend or family member of yours tells you that it’s “cheating” to look up answers to help you solve a puzzle, don’t believe them. Just show them that quote.
- 8D: [YouTuber Natalie who discusses politics and gender on the channel ContraPoints] is Natalie WYNN. I’ve watched a few of her ContraPoints videos; they’re sometimes quite long, but she puts in a ton of research and she argues her points well. Only a week before I wrote this puzzle, I watched her response to the “Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling” podcast.
- 46D: ["Happy” plants in Bob Ross paintings] is TREES. Let’s just put a happy little link to Bob Ross here.
- 95D: ["Taxi” fare, say?] is TV DINNER. They used to air “Taxi” reruns in syndication on one of the local Chicago network channels when I was growing up, but I only watched a little bit of it. Even though it was before my time I liked this clue.
- 124D: [Joel Embiid’s org.] is NBA. When I wrote this puzzle, I was guessing just based on what other sportswriters were saying that Embiid would be awarded the MVP, and he was, although I didn’t have the nerve to make that exact prediction in the clue in case I’d been wrong. This weekend he’ll have the chance to live up to the name in Game 7 against the Celtics.
What did you think?