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Try and crack the theme of today’s puzzle!

SUNDAY PUZZLE –  Hello solvers! This week we’re publishing what I think will be a slightly more difficult puzzle than usual. I phrase it that way because it’s so hard to tell as a constructor just how hard a puzzle will be. Even with people solving it beforehand, it’s not easy to predict how a general audience will assess it. Nevertheless, I wanted to try and test the waters with a slightly more obscure set of entries and clues, hopefully appeasing those of you who fly through our usual puzzles. If you would like to contribute to the crossword or berate me for a job poorly done, email me at pavkan@umich.edu. Happy solving!

Tricky Clues:

25A. It’s always hard to clue simple words (EAT, SAD, MAD, etc.) without being totally boring, so I was very happy with this clue. “No longer fast” refers to, in this context, EAT. The idea that somebody eats to break a fast is not revolutionary, but a bit of wordplay adds some misdirection. I am a massive fan of misdirection. 

28A. I am so sorry if you haven’t hopped on the “Succession” hype train, but I think about that show too much for me not to use it as a clue. “Youngest Roy sibling in ‘Succession’” refers to ROMAN, as in Roman Roy. Roman used to be a character that I somewhat empathized with, but his recent behavior (no spoilers) has been absolutely disgusting. That’s what I get for trusting a billionaire.

51A. “Brazilian soccer star, to fans” refers to NEY, as in Neymar. Definitely a difficult entry, especially for people who aren’t the biggest soccer fans. That being said, I had to fill my quota of at least one soccer reference per puzzle, and this silky smooth Brazilian seemed like the perfect choice. Neymar will do things with a ball that look impossible until you watch it back in slow motion. He is a walking cheat code who was unfortunate enough to peak at the same time as two of the best to ever play the sport. In any other generation, Neymar is seen as one of the very best. 

66A. Speaking of quotas, I hit my world capital quota with another clue that I’m quite proud of. “World capital that becomes its country when you add two letters” refers to TUNIS. Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, one of a few African nations with direct access to the Mediterranean Sea. I think that world capitals such as Tunis and Mexico City are so lazy. Give me wild and eccentric world capitals. Give me more of Ouagadougou and Podgorica. In my opinion, this is the true first step to world peace. 

1D. This one is tricky mostly due to how obscure it is. “Brainy bunch” refers to MENSA, the self proclaimed “High-IQ society.” Personally, I am not a huge fan of that whole concept. Isaac Asimov wrote this short piece titled “What Is Intelligence Anyway?” where he talks about the idea of being “intelligent.” It changed my entire perspective on what it meant to be smart, so I have trouble taking groups like Mensa seriously. 

50D. This one is my favorite. “Rest of the afternoon” refers to SIESTA. A siesta is a midday nap, more specifically as a cultural norm in Spain. The New York Times recently published a puzzle which clued SIESTA very similarly, which freaked me out when I was solving it as I had just written the clue myself. I felt a lot less clever after that experience.

Today’s Theme:

Hopefully, you found this theme to be both straightforward and engaging. The revealer can be found at 44-Across, with SALT SHAKERS. The idea is simple: you take the letters in SALT, and you “shake” them. For example, at 20-Across, we have SOCIAL STUDIES. The theme is continued at 37-Across with LEGISLATION, and is rounded out by a shoutout to Purdue with WEST LAFAYETTE. I mostly enjoyed the process of finding potential theme entries, but the letters S, A, L and T are found in what feels like infinite words and phrases. Whittling it down to just three felt impossible. Some honorable mentions that didn’t make the cut were VIOLA STRINGS, EAST LANSING, and FINAL STRETCH.

Answer Key:

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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:

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Try out the second installment of The Michigan Daily’s crossword!

SUNDAY PUZZLE – Hello solvers! Welcome the second, slightly more difficult, Michigan Daily crossword. This puzzle is one that I’m especially fond of, as its theme revolves around one of my favorite pastimes. I hope you enjoy solving it as much as I enjoyed building it. As always, the tricky clues, today’s theme and the answer key can all be found below. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about the crossword, please feel free to email me at pavkan@umich.edu. Happy puzzling!

Tricky Clues:

14A. Most medical school students could tell that the human arm is made up of three bones: The ulna, the radius and the humerus. Most English majors, however, could tell you that the plural forms of those three bones are ulnae, radii and humeri. Thus, the clue “Arm bones” refers to ULNAE.

19A. A somewhat obscure reference for sure, but hardcore geography buffs will know that “Hamburg’s river” refers to ELBE. The Elbe River is often overshadowed by its more notorious European peers such as the Danube and the Rhine, but it’s actually quite beautiful on its way through Bohemia. 

41A. I hope this one confused you a little bit, but redeemed itself by rewarding you with an “Aha!” moment. For those of you that are wondering what Japan and Senegal could possibly have in common, the clue “Suffix for people from Japan or Senegal” refers to ESE, as in Japanese and Senegalese. Other nations that follow this convention include Portugal, Sudan and China.

10D. The beauty of crosswords is that they are readily adaptable to the changing of language and culture. This entry is a prime example, as the clue “You might lose feelings for someone if they give you this” refers to THE ICK. This one might have given you trouble if you had not considered words and phrases popularized by TikTok when solving the puzzle. 

24D. Do you guys remember that video of the kid who was yodeling in the middle of Walmart? His name is Mason Ramsey, and you may be surprised to hear that he is now a successful musician who has already been signed to a record label. Those of you who were aware of this would’ve realized that the clue “Mason Ramsey, when he first went viral, e.g.” refers to YODELER.

47D. This is, in my opinion, the hardest clue in the puzzle. The clue “Beginning of a famous Caesar quote” refers to I CAME, from a letter Caesar wrote to the Roman Congress featuring the line “veni, vidi, vici,” which directly translates to “I came, I saw, I conquered.” I think this one is especially difficult for two reasons. Firstly, who actually just knows Caesar quotes off the top of their head? Secondly, people inclined to history who would be familiar with the quote are most likely primarily aware of the original Latin version of it. Nonetheless, kudos to you if you figured it out. 

Today’s Theme:

If you haven’t guessed by the title of these Constructor Notes, the theme for this puzzle revolves around chess. I’ve been an avid chess player for most of my life, so it was the most obvious source of inspiration when I sat down to build my second puzzle. The answer to the revealer clue at 38-Across is CHESS, and the clue itself references the circled squares seen throughout the grid. There are four entries in the grid with a group of circled squares in them, and each one is assigned a point total in parenthesis. Each of the four entries has a chess piece hidden inside of the circled squares, with its respective point total in the clue. For example, the clue at 17-Across, “In a video game, the place you return to after a death (one point),” refers to SPAWN POINT. This answer hides PAWN inside of it, which is the chess piece with the value of one point. Other theme answers are found at 26-Across and 60-Across with KANGAROO KICK, which hides ROOK and with SKIN GRAFTS, which hides the invaluable KING. One clue that you may not have wanted to see over breakfast was at 44-Across, “Death via meat grinder, perhaps? (Nine points),” refers to GROTESQUE END, which, of course, hides QUEEN. I tried my hardest to fit in some chess legends with entries of CARLSEN and ANAND, but I unfortunately could not make them work. I definitely could have fit TAL in as an homage to the great Mikhail Tal, but hindsight is both beautiful and cruel.

Answer Key:

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Get a closer look at the university with the very first Michigan Daily crossword!

SUNDAY PUZZLE — Before I say too much, I would first like to acknowledge the incredible work done by Eric Lau in the coding and design of the web player. None of this would exist without him. As far as the puzzle, it is the first of (hopefully) many to be released biweekly every other Sunday. My goal with this first puzzle was to make it accessible, so it should be solvable with at most a little help from Google and your friends. I will also be including a Constructor Notes section with each crossword, discussing some of the tricky clues and revealing the overall theme of the puzzle. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about the crossword, please feel free to email me at pavkan@umich.edu. I hope you enjoy the first ever Michigan Daily Crossword!

Tricky Clues:

24A. I had to make sure that this spelling was acceptable, but the clue “Bounded” refers to LEAPED, as opposed to LEAPT which was the spelling I was familiar with. According to the Internet, “leapt” is the British English spelling and “leaped” is the Americanized version. Both are acceptable in day-to-day use.

30A. “Subj. for new immigrants” is ESL, otherwise known as English as a Second Language. These courses are readily available for those who are trying to learn English, in addition to their mother tongue. It’s no surprise that the majority of people who take ESL courses aren’t originally from America. This clue also illustrates a helpful tip for crossword solving: when a word is abbreviated in the clue itself, such as “subj.” in this one, you can expect the answer to be an acronym or abbreviated in some way as well.

35A. If you’re solving the puzzle with your mom, you might want to pretend not to know this one. However, a “Hallucinogenic drug also known as Ecstacy” is MDMA. I wonder what percent of the student body will get this right.

9D. This one is quite close to my heart, but the downside is that you’d have trouble guessing it if you didn’t immediately know it. The “Setting of ‘Parks and Recreation’,” is PAWNEE, a fictional Indiana city in which that show takes place.

21D. I’m really sorry about this one. Hopefully you could use the across clues to help, but “‘The Caine Mutiny’ captain” refers to QUEEG. Unless you’re a real film buff, this is an incredibly hard solve, especially considering that The Caine Mutiny came out in 1954.

45D. If I can find a way to fit in a national capital, I will almost certainly do it. This one I especially liked due to the special case of Bolivia. “One of two capitals of Bolivia,” refers to SUCRE. But if you know your capitals, you would’ve struggled between that and LA PAZ. Bolivia is one of three countries in the world with multiple capitals, South Africa and Eswatini being the other two.

Today’s Theme:

I felt that the inaugural Michigan Daily Crossword should be representative of the university itself, and I tried to accomplish that through the theme. The answer to the revealer clue at 36-Across is GOING TO MICHIGAN, while the rest of the theme clues and entries refer to various places on campus. One small mistake which you may have noticed comes at 18-Across. “Campus coffee shop which can be found in the Union” refers to SWEETWATER, rather than the correct name SWEETWATERS. 20-Across and 55-Across both refer to residence halls, EAST QUADRANGLE and ALICE LLOYD respectively. 47-Across, however, uses some wordplay. “Sad, small, Ann Arbor bar?” refers to BLUE LEPRECHAUN. Other shorter Michigan themed answers are also in the grid, but I was just lucky to get them to fit.

Answer Key:

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