Tonight is the Chicago Cru dinner! I will do my best to stay awake for the duration of the meal, and I need to print out copies of a crossword I made (I plan to ask Popeye to post it to the NYT forum afterwards as a Cru special).

Kyle Mahowald's NYT felt harder than my time indicated. Favorite entries included INDYCAR, STJOHNS, the "pumpkin" PETNAME, HEAVEHO, GODIVA, MUSTSEETV, and BARHOPS. "House shower" led to an "aha" moment when CSPAN revealed itself. It was an educational puzzle, too: I hadn't known MOCHA was a Yemeni port. And ever since seeing The Incredibles, I've been in love with the word HOBO. As supersuit designer Edna Mode says (and I can totally do her voice) "I will fix your hobo suit." (Unfortunately, the two Pixar characters whose voices I can mimic best—Edna Mode and Roz from Monsters Inc.—are both voiced by men.)

Anyone know who calls a HITMAN a torpedo, or vice versa? I'm not sure if Kyle (or Will) was getting at a slang term for a torpedo or a slangy clue for a hitman.

It's amazing how many constructors can concoct business-oriented themes for the Wall Street Journal puzzle. While they're good puzzles (if a bit on the easy side), business themes aren't really up my alley. Today's Patrick Berry outing with a magazine theme was much more fun because I'm a magazine junkie (but too soon completed—7:21).

This weekend's posted Merl Reagle puzzle, "Invasion of the Tree People," was a typically fun outing. Why is it that The FAERIE Queene doesn't pop up more in crosswords? So many vowels! And an R!

LAT 4:48
CS 3:25
NYS 7:03
total 15:16 (ouch)