Parliamentary Puns and Cryptic Wordplay: The Globe's Weekender Crossword Breakdown

The Globe and Mail has started a new weekly column about its puzzles, and the first installment takes apart the Saturday Weekender crossword. The column is called Puzzle Pieces, and it is written by Jess, the paper's puzzles and games editor. Each week she plans to walk through the Weekender, pass along a note from the constructors, and name her favourite clue from Fraser Simpson's Weekender Cryptic. She warns that the column contains spoilers and should be read only after the Saturday puzzles are solved. She also says she hopes to help brand new solvers appreciate the craft, even if seasoned solvers find some of the explanations obvious.

This week's crossword is titled Governing Principles. It was built at long distance by two people: Jeffrey Martinovic, a recent engineering graduate of Western University, and Mark MacLachlan, the dean of science at the University of British Columbia. Jess's favourite moments include 84D, where [Source of inflation?] turns out to be an AIR PUMP rather than a financial measure, and 88D, where [Call from down under?] is a BUTT DIAL, not a call from an Australian friend. She also likes 82A, [Cause of some head-scratching], which is LICE. The clue carries no question mark, and she adds that she knows the answer from experience.

The constructors also worked in Canadian references. At 1A is José Bautista's iconic BAT FLIP. At 25A, a Reach for the Top contestant is SMART. At 107A is DAVE Cooks a Turkey, a nod to fans of the Vinyl Cafe.

Jess then explains what a theme means in a crossword. It is not like a theme party, with topical content scattered everywhere. In crossword circles, she says, it is closer to a gimmick. A simple theme can go unnoticed while you solve the whole grid, and a trickier one can make the puzzle hard to finish until you work it out. Theme entries usually sit in the longest Across slots. A 21x21 grid, the size of the Weekender, might have seven to 10 of them. They tend to be placed symmetrically, one above for each one below, and their clues often stand out through asterisks, italics, or slightly wacky wording. Some puzzles also circle or shade letters in the grid.

Here the theme is puns. Martinovic and MacLachlan reimagined seven common terms as if they belonged to the Canadian government, and the question marks on the theme clues signal wordplay. At 23A, [House of Commons leader who isn't secretly recording conversations?] gives WIRELESS SPEAKER, since someone secretly recording might be wearing a wire. At 39A, [Government-sanctioned Jell-O making?] is CROWN MOULDING. At 47A, [One who suspects a senator is about to propose?] is MOTION SENSOR, with a second pun on proposing. At 64A, a [Fundamental document legislating hair and eye colour?] is a GENETIC CONSTITUTION. At 85A, [Toothbrushing and exercise practices that vary by electoral district?] is RIDING HABITS, which is Jess's favourite. The remaining theme entries are at 93A and 113A.

The constructors' note describes how it came together. Martinovic approached MacLachlan with the idea of puns on Canadian government terms. They brainstormed possible theme entries, then built and filled the grid together. They were pleased with extra fill such as BUTT DIAL, AIR PUMP, FREE WIFI, YEAH RIGHT, ACNE CREAM and SOLAR CAR. They settled on clues over a Zoom meeting they describe as laughter-filled.

The column closes with the cryptic. The Globe has an exclusive weekly cryptic by Toronto's Fraser Simpson, and Jess points newcomers to his primer on solving. Her pick is 30A: [New diet candy's sold to many at the same time (10)]. The (10) says the answer has ten letters. Half of a cryptic clue is a definition and half is wordplay, but the solver must find the split. Eventually "new" reads as an anagram indicator, an instruction to rearrange letters. "Diet candy's" has ten letters, so it is the material to rearrange, which leaves "sold to many at the same time" as the definition. With a few crossing letters, the letters become SYNDICATED. Next Saturday brings another Weekender and another breakdown.