Why did the [REDACTED] …
◆ · By kieranjboyd · Published 2022-10-25T00:40:08.931Z
Constructor's Note
You've probably heard the joke about the jay-walking chicken, but this crossword represents the dangerous journey of a savvier but angrier creature. The shaded, unclued Down entries represent the protagonist's origin and destination; if read differently, they name three ways it avoids the animals travelling down the vertical lanes. The circled letters show our protagonist's path as it jumps about across the grid: when read top-to-bottom, they identify the animals that make up the traffic (and their vehicles); when read left-to-right, they provide a triply apt description for our protagonist.
Checking for previous play data...
1A
Σ
1
2
3
4
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
Across
- 1AΣ
- 6ATony Soprano and co.
- 12APlace to act local?
- 13A_____ Calvino, writer and journalist whose first name is one letter off the name of the country where he died
- 14AGrimy person/receptacle
- 15AAward named for a Greek muse
- 16ANet sales?
- 18ADownsized
- 20ARap song that broke the record for the biggest 24-hour debut for an all-female collaboration on YouTube
- 22ALike some salsa
- 24ACraven or Anderson of film
- 25AAdmission
- 27AMakers of some delicious donuts at Beiler's in Philadelphia
- 29AG_assmak_r's oven with a _ot tempe_ature
- 31ASauce with a rating of as low as 100 Scovilles
- 34AThe K of CK
- 35AUndeservedly poor reputation (for a low-quality hip-hop artist, say)
- 36ASavory Indian pastry
- 37AGroups of animals [like those travelling down the columns of this grid]
Down
- 1D[See note]
- 2DStill a contender
- 3D"I'm a bear, back off"
- 4DMeans, ______, and opportunity (detective's trio of damning evidence)
- 5DMove leisurely [unlike our protagonist]
- 6DSee 7D
- 7DWith 6D, afternoon meal of snacks and warm drinks
- 8D"You get the gist"
- 9DLandlocked African country previously called Nyasaland
- 10DThey support the quarterback, in short
- 11D[See note]
- 17DCourse for some 18D that might involve basic solutions
- 18DSee 17D
- 19DLike many British films, in the US
- 21DAmtrak's flagship service along the Northeast Corridor
- 23DGently use a sponge on
- 26D21D parts (abbr.)
- 28DEmail in which you're asked for money
- 30D2011 animated musical set in 30D
- 32DLook, I don't enjoy cluing US-specific trivia, so just make these cells the same as the middle three cells of 23D
- 33DLady in La Antigua (abbr.)