46. Cold Opens

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So we're in the first two months of the year or, as I refer to it, "Counting down to baseball season." My beloved Cubbies look to be improved this year with some solid signings on the off-season; I'll temper expectations, but that should at least keep those pesky Brewers and Cardinals playing at their best!

1. Puzzle #45 recap

Puzzle #45 answer: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

Correct entries: 51 (first streak of two 50+ puzzles!)

So, some things to notice early on:

a. We have two semi-themers that certainly appear to be opposite in meaning: ANTEDILUVIAN and CONTEMPORARY.

b. Those basically mean, in a much simpler way, OLD and NEW.

c. But two themers does not a meta make, and there's a lot else going on in the grid, with many entries that do not quite seem to match their clues.

Four of the entries are missing something:

16-A: It might be found on your icebox shelf: CONE (COLDONE)

37-A: Variety of a popular card game: HEM (HOLDEM)

38-A: You might hear it on the radio: GENIE (GOLDENOLDIE)

65-A: Most audacious: BEST (BOLDEST)

And, then, four of the entries have something added within them:

29-A: Baby fox: KNEWIT (KIT)

04-D: Class of mathematical numbers: RENEWAL (REAL)

25-D: If: Sp.: SINEW (SI)

38-D: What you can deliver, with "the": GOODNEWS (GOODS)

I tried to be a little surreptitious with some of those, but some are very clearly incorrect! So, what did I do when writing the puzzle? I took any OLD out and put any NEW in, hence the 8-word phrase: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

d. Note as well that the clue for ANTEDILUVIAN (OLD) begins with the word OUT and the clue for CONTEMPORARY (NEW) begins with the word IN. In fact, these are the only instances of OUT and IN anywhere in the entire clues!

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2. I'll also place this one at a Level 3; at the very least, it's a 2.5. I know my bonus puzzles are supposed to be minis, but I've been breaking that self-imposed rule, including on this one. Whoops!

Best of luck, and happy solving!

Mikey G

The answer to the meta is a 7-letter word.