Seems to Me

December 26, 2022

"Ka-chow!"

Check out the puzzle here

Three-letter words aren't quite as easy as we sometimes think them to be. They make for tight spaces that are freakishly hard to get out of, especially while constructing a crossword loaded with three-letterers. I had always tried avoiding them while constructing, but yesterday, in a fit of crazy, decided to make a grid full of those. I have learnt my lesson and will hopefully keep my distance from them. How ambitious, given that I know how incorrigible I am capable of becoming.

Tricky Clues

Sometimes, I find an interesting word, like AKANBE, that sticks with me for years on end. I first knew of the word from a translator's asterisked side-note in a manga (probably Doraemon -- no judging I was 12 and sick of the second rate Hindi dub I was forced to watch on T.V.). It's a funny gesture that gives me funny looks whenever I do that to other people. See? It's so common in anime that even Aerodactyl does it!

Well, the next time you see an anime, you would probably know what an AKANBE is and why the anime girl has stretched her eyelids down.

I was glad to not find AKANBE in the word-list, and knowing that it might be debutant entry gives me a strange satisfaction that is rivaled only to setting people on fire in GTA.

19A was my seed entry. I asked my little brother for a word and he came up with HAMILTON: the both of us are big fans of the seven-time world champion Mercedes driver Lewis HAMILTON. Sir Lewis HAMILTON. I am fairly new to motorsports and I immediately became a HAMILTON fan when I saw him sport a rainbow flag on his helmet in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last year. The Saudis did not like it.

We have another motorsport entry at 40A, albeit fictional. The sports channel RSN -- Racing Sports Network -- broadcasted all events in the Cars universe starting with the 2005 masterpiece.

34A: Goose is OIE in French and has what is the most ridiculous pronunciation I have ever known. It is pronounced something like /ua/ -- the two vowels they left out while making the word. This YouTuber did a funny short about it.

37A: ULA is a diminutive suffix that is more often seen in scientific literature. The closest word that shares etymology with the suffix I can think of is 'homunculus,' meaning a perfectly miniature human.

15D: Snowmen have carrot noses so the peculiarity of a carrot-less snowman would be NO NOSE.

20A: A LIP BALM prevents cracked lips, and I should better not forget using one, especially in these devilishly dry Central Indian winters that make my lips bleed as if they are sweating. Okay, I should stop oversharing. The entry was featured with a similar cluing in the Times crossword a few days back.

The 4D entry LAK has been in the Times crossword some 40 times, and 33 in pre-Shortz era puzzles; every time clued as the 1901 song Mighty LAK' a Rose. My apologies, I had to keep it to keep my puzzle from falling apart.

7A: I was thinking of inventive ways to clue the super common word AND when I thought of the mnemonic F.A.N.B.O.Y.S. for the seven coordinating conjunctions in grammar. You know what, I'm gonna let this video do the talking.

Well, that's all for today. Here's a last parting remark: a GIF of the Pokémon diva Jessie doing a fired up AKANBE. It was too much of a comic gold to not put it in the blog.

-- Priya