NY Times Crossword — Tues 6/5/18 (No. 0501, syndicated edition, originally published 5/1/18)
Tuesday morning. Best way to get ready for the day. New York Times crossword puzzle. Fun puzzle today. The theme, ROADBLOCK (64A), was mildly helpful. I made numerous mistakes. Still finished in 12 min, which for me is not bad on a Tuesday.
I didn’t know ILYA (61A), Kovalchuk of the NHL. And the fact I also didn’t know (57D) Stanley ELKIN, who wrote “The Magic Kingdom,” didn’t help me none. But Ilya isn’t all that uncommon a name, and I figured it out. Elkin took me a little longer, since I also didn’t know PHI (69A), Greek letter that represents the golden ratio — though I’ve been seeing this one in the puzzle lately, so maybe it’s something I should have known?
I initially missed DODGE (55D), Word before City or after Fort on Midwest maps. I first guessed “Dicks,” but after solving (68A) TONGA, Polynesian land east of Fiji, changed it to “Diggs.” So really I missed it twice. Only when I finally resolved ROADBLOCK (64A), Obstacle… or any one of four black squares in this puzzle, did I finally get “Dodge.”
I also first missed FLASHLAMP (3D) — I said “flashbulb.” I also missed (16A) BLINI — I had guessed “babke.”
Cute puzzle on an early week morning. Happy Tuesday y’all!
aaronswickard 