9 computer- and tech-based phrases are reimagined as if they’re food and drinks gadgets you may order at a cybercafe.
- 23A: [Crispy snacks you have when examining your laptop’s circuitry?] is SILICON CHIPS.
- 33A: [Dessert wine you have when setting up an inkjet?] is PRINTER PORT.
- 48A: [Candy you have when typing in a URL?] is ADDRESS BAR.
- 58A: [Meat you have when deleting junk from your inbox?] is EMAIL SPAM.
- 66A: [Desserts you have when a website tracks your user information?] is INTERNET COOKIES.
- 79A: [Noodles you have when repeatedly sharing a block of text on social media?] COPY PASTA. In case it’s a brand new time period for you, copypasta is simply what the clue says: a block of textual content that’s shared broadly on the web and social media. One in every of my test-solvers advised me that there’s an opportunity that one might get fooled into considering this could be COPY-PASTE since that’s an older and better-known laptop phrase — and copypasta is derived from that — though hopefully the noodles within the clue would lead you to pasta quite than paste.
- 90A: [Soda you have when navigating a window?] is BROWSER TAB.
- 103A: [Sausages you have when URLs stop working?] is BROKEN LINKS.
- The revealer is at 117A: [Document listing the food and drink items in this puzzle?] which is COMPUTER MENU.
One factor I discovered the onerous means whereas constructing this puzzle is that there aren’t a ton of phrases that may double as laptop terminology and meals or drinks. The one ones I didn’t find yourself utilizing have been “feed” as in NEWS FEED (which seems like meals for animals quite than people), “Java” as in EMBEDDED JAVA (form of a deep reduce so far as tech phrases go, in my view), and “slider” as in VOLUME SLIDER (which struck me as much less computer-y than the opposite 12-letter meals merchandise, SILICON CHIPS). There might have been different ones that I missed from this big glossary here, however they’re not simple to seek out.
I also needs to point out that this isn’t the primary crossword to utilize a pc/meals theme. Clive Probert wrote a puzzle for the Chronicle of Increased Schooling in January 2019 known as “Laptop Menu” with 4 of the identical meals and one of many identical full theme solutions, EMAIL SPAM. The theme clues in Clive’s puzzle have been a bit completely different in that they might redefine the primary phrase of every phrase as effectively, akin to [Oreo eaten by Spider-Man?] for the reply WEB COOKIE, whereas mine makes use of the primary phrase to trace on the complete laptop time period in every clue. It’s simply two alternative ways of getting on the identical thought.
Another solutions and clues:
- 28A: [“___ on a Feeling” (hit for B.J. Thomas and Blue Swede)] is HOOKED. The Blue Swede model is the one with the “ooga-chaka” chorus.
- 40A: [___ Arizona Memorial (Pearl Harbor landmark)] is U.S.S. I obtained to go to the memorial whereas in Hawaii in June.
- 54A: [Shohei ___, gold medal-winning judoka] is Shohei ONO. Right here’s a comparatively uncommon non-Yoko clue for ONO. He’s gained two Olympic gold medals for judo within the 73 kg class.
- 98A: [University of Connecticut city] is STORRS. I hadn’t heard of this metropolis earlier than writing the puzzle, however it definitely got here in useful in that spot.
- 115A: [Crush, as the competition] is EAT ALIVE. Regardless of the meals theme, this wasn’t meant as a bonus theme reply. Getting eaten alive could be, uh, not probably the most nice expertise in a cybercafe (or anyplace).
- 14D: [“I relish reaching out to the world and its infinite beauty!” writer Lauder] is ESTEE Lauder. This quote comes from her guide “Estée: A Success Story.”
- 15D: [Sub space?] is SEA. Once more, “sub” isn’t an indication that it’s a bonus meals theme reply; it’s referring to underwater submarines.
- 16D: [Works on one’s image, in a way] is PHOTOSHOPS. This reply ended up being computer-related, although not food-related.
- 18D: [Birds ___ Real (mock conspiracy theory that states birds no longer exist and have been replaced with drones)] is AREN’T. A callback to final month’s “Imaginary Creatures” puzzle.
- 62D: [“Sailors’ delight” at night, in a saying] is RED SKY. The total phrase is “Purple sky at night time, sailors’ delight; pink sky within the morning, sailors take warning.”
- 84D: [“The universe seems neither benign ___ hostile, merely indifferent”: Carl Sagan] is NOR. A neat quote, though it happens to me that I unnoticed the tip of it, which is “… merely detached to the issues of such puny creatures as we.”
- 116D: [Key/note intro?] is LOW. As in “low-key” and “low notice.”
Right here’s a heads-up that subsequent week’s puzzle can have a meta and I’m advised it’s not the simplest one to unravel. Good luck.
