WEDNESDAY PUZZLE — It says something about the times we’re living in that I had no questions about the theme of today’s crossword, constructed by Jacob Stulberg. Every entry was as familiar to me as an old saw. The words might as well be cave markings or etchings in stone tablets, representative as they will be, to future historians, of how our civilization once lived.
Am I being melodramatic? I’ll let you be the judge of that, once you’ve solved the puzzle. I’ll wait here — quietly, I guess.
Today’s Theme
This puzzle narrates a breakdown in communication that takes place, presumably, on a video call. The replies to someone trying unsuccessfully to be heard appear, in order, at 17-, 25- and 43-Across: The [Response to “Good morning, everybody!”] is YOU’RE MUTED. When no one responds to the initial greeting, the caller tries again. The [Response to “Let’s get this meeting going”] is WE CAN’T HEAR YOU. Now the caller is frustrated, but the only [Response to “Why is everyone ignoring me?”] is TURN YOUR MIC ON.
Finally, at 58-Across, we get the speaker’s resigned [Reaction to the unsuccessful “conversation” in this puzzle]: OH, FORGET IT.
My only quibble with this theme — as one who has tried to speak up on calls while muted more times than I care to admit — is the suggestion that an entire work meeting would end because of one person’s sound issues. It wouldn’t! But I’m being pedantic, and I know we’re here (hear?) to have fun.
Tricky Clues
40A. I was initially unfamiliar with the term indicated by [Prefix with -meter], which is ALTI. I have since learned that an altimeter is an instrument for measuring altitude. Maybe that’s obvious to some people, but it went right over my head.
54A. Speaking of things overhead: These [Chicago sights, for short] are ELS, as in the aboveground L train. Fun fact: Even though this entry contains the phonetic spelling of the letter L, that letter is, itself, a phonetic abbreviation of “elevated.”
60A. When you see a question mark in a clue, question your instincts, because the answer is probably a pun of some kind. The common definition of “off base” refers to mistaken assumptions, but here, [Off base?] refers to being absent from a military base — absent without leave, or AWOL.
10D. Single-word clues are uncharacteristically tricky because of their ambiguity. How does one little word cause so much trouble? [Look] can refer to a stare, but it can also mean “seem,” i.e., APPEAR.
52D. Is one meant to know that the [First word of “Ode on a Grecian Urn”] is THOU? That’s not even Greek (to me).
Constructor Notes
The version of this puzzle I submitted was a good deal more cryptic: 17-, 25- and 43-Across had no clues, and 58-Across was clued as [“Sorry, you were saying?”]. In another draft, 58-Across was unclued and solved to “Arrrrrrrgh!” Will Shortz, et al., wisely suggested rethinking that.
To all solvers who take issue with the clue for 25-Down’s WIZARD OF OZ: Feel free to add “in the first book featuring him.”
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