Thursday

How about that theme in David Pringle's NYT, eh? It's a beaut. Four 15's cleverly hiding NORTH, EAST, WEST, and SOUTH amid in-the-language phrases, tied together with the explanatory DIR at the bottom of the grid. And it's too bad that ASIAN is clued in reference to bird flu, because otherwise the juxtaposition of CHICKEN, ASIAN, and CHUTNEY would have had me on the phone to Star of India for a late supper.

Speaking of India, Ben Tausig's Sun Themeless Thursday had some winning clues, like "Cleveland Indians, perhaps?" for the fresh entry EXPATS, "Michael Jordan, e.g." for SCENT, and "Extra minute?" for TEENIER. I also liked "Go through odontiasis" for TEETHE—I can't say I ever encountered the word odontiasis in all my years of dental editing, but the odont- portion definitely makes the answer gettable.

Updated:

Two masters of the themeless form have themed puzzles today—Manny Nosowsky in the LA Times and Bob Klahn with the CrosSynergy puzzle.

NYT 4:11
NYS 4:09
CS 4:01
LAT 4:00