Can you solve Pavan’s puzzle?
SUNDAY PUZZLE – Hello solvers! Welcome to the first puzzle of our summer series. We plan on releasing puzzles exclusively online for the summer term and continuing print publications once The Daily resumes the physical paper in the fall. I’ve been sitting on this crossword for months, so I’m thrilled at the chance to finally publish it. Hopefully, you find the theme entertaining. If you would like to contribute to the crossword, email me at pavkan@umich.edu. Happy solving!
Tricky Clues:
1A. “Capital of Switzerland” refers to BERN. I tried to gauge how difficult this clue was by asking a few of my friends whether they knew the answer. Every single one of them said no. At this point, I was almost compelled to change the clue so that it referred to Bernie Sanders’ campaign slogan from 2020: “Feel the Bern.” I decided, however, that I preferred the world capital.
17A. This one was meant to lead you astray, and hopefully it did just that. The clue “Catch some rays?” refers to FISH. If it hasn’t hit you yet, let me explain. In this context, the phrase “catch some rays” refers to the act of fishing for rays in the ocean. The question mark indicates the wordplay in the clue.
38A. This clue really only applies to the university, but the clue “Who to call if you have a cold on campus” refers to UHS. The University Health Service deserves a special shoutout, as they continue to deal with the onslaught of frat flus and Markley strep variants year after year.
2D. I had a number of options when deciding on how to clue this entry, and I ended up choosing the one that was most relevant to me. The clue “Soccer legend ___ Cantona” refers to ERIC as in Eric Cantona. Cantona was a prolific French attacker who starred for Manchester United in the 90’s. As a lifelong fan of Manchester United, I remember watching Cantona highlights wishing the current team had a player as good as him. His career was marked by both moments of notoriety and brilliance, but it is undeniable that there will only ever be one Eric Cantona.
57D. The clue “Rapper whose song ‘Tribe’ features J. Cole” refers to BAS. When I’m trying to figure out if a musician is too obscure to put in a puzzle, I use the Five Million Rule. The Five Million Rule is entirely made up and incredibly simple: If an artist has over five million monthly listeners on Spotify, then they’re good to go. Thankfully, Bas currently has roughly 5.3 monthly listeners, so I don’t have to lose sleep over including him in the puzzle. I am a big fan of Bas, especially in the context of his record label, Dreamville Records.
Answer Key:
