Friday, April 10, 2020, Byron Walden

4:04 (sort of)

When I entered 2D: Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex," for one (ORATORIO) without a cross, my first thought was, we've seen this exact clue recently, haven't we?

Well, yes, some of us certainly have, as it turns out. If you look back in our blog to Saturday, March 21, you'll see a special report I wrote "from" the virtual crossword tournament this puzzle was the capstone for. It was a ton of fun, and now I get to share with you the very cool puzzle that Mr. Walden wrote to finish things off. There were tough clues and easier clues. The tough clues were super tough, to the degree that the winner took nearly five minutes to finish the thing. I laugh, because I gave up and went to the easier ones.

I'm pretty sure that this version is the one with the easier clues. As I recall, the tough clue for 20D: Pac-Man and the ghosts, in Pac-Man cereal (MARSHMALLOWS) was something to do with an ancient Greek cough remedy. Mind you, I think they were talking about the plant or the root or something, not the puffy things we like to use on our s'mores. Interestingly, HEPPLEWHITES got the same clue in both versions.

Jessica Jones, SNOOPER

30A: Deterrent to squatting (WIFIPASSWORD) strikes me as odd. Is there a special kind of squatting where you piggyback on somebody else's wifi? So it turns out yes: that Googles well. It did seem to me as I solved it last month, that if one is desperate enough to illegally occupy somebody's unused domicile, it would hardly matter if the wifi is available or not.

18A: Shot in the back (EPIDURAL) is a fine non-QMC. 36D: Self-serving comment? (ONEFORME) is an excellent QMC. These illustrate the classic conflict we here at HAFDTNYTCPFCA like to dissect.

I cast aspersions on LEAFER and BETON. Otherwise it's a very clean grid. Just a pity that I'd done it before, so my Friday was not as inspiring as it could have been.

- Colum