SUNDAY PUZZLE — Timothy Polin is back, and today he helps us flash back to our high school chemistry classes. Fear not if you slept through yours; the clues and the puzzle’s title are great hints as to what is going on.
Today’s Theme
We have a set of 10 items in our theme, all of which contain their own periodic table abbreviations. If you’ve forgotten about the periodic table of elements, here is a lovely interactive one for you to peruse.
For example, at 22A, the clue is “[Circled letters]-filled contraption,” and the answer is WEATHER BALLOON. In this case, the circled letters happen to be HE, which is the abbreviation for helium.
Similarly, and this is something I learned today, DAGUERREOTYPEs were printed on silver, or argentium surfaces. The abbreviation for argentium is AG, which is circled in the grid.
Tricky Clues
■ 5A: You’re supposed to hit the SPACEBAR with your thumb?
■ 25A: Literary pop quiz! Don’t panic, you know this. How are you affirming your humanity if you err? Because, as Alexander Pope said, “To err is human, to forgive divine.” See? I told you that you knew this.
■ 87A: Nice wordplay here. “Put a stop to?” usually means to make something stop, but today we’re stopping up the drains and the answer is CLOG.
■ 1D: I thought this was spelled wrong for the longest time. Meet the Eastern Wood-PEWEE.
■ 52D: You’re going to see these once in a while. “Foreign capital whose name sounds like a water passage to San Francisco” requires you to remember that San Francisco is part of the Bay Area and that a passage is a “route.” That’s why the answer is BEIRUT.
■ 112D: Hi, yes, remember when I said a while back that the ACE playing card is usually a “one”? Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s an “eleven.” Hence, “Big heart?”
I will be on vacation for the next two weeks, but you will be in excellent hands as the surprisingly dangerous Caitlin Lovinger takes the wheel. Happy solving!