Sunday, 9/24

NYT 10:52
WaPo 9:18
BG 8:31
LAT 8:21
Newsday 6:06
CS 4:27

The NYT puzzle by Mark Diehl and Kevin McCann, "All-Knowing," ups the ante by being a quote puzzle, meaning you've got to work harder on the Down clues (unless you happen to have memorized this particular quote—I didn't). The quip is from OSCAR/WILDE, and it's accompanied by some difficult clues and unusual fill. Raise your hand (mine isn't raised) if you knew that the [Fish that may someday spawn] was the SAMLET, a young salmon. The M, where it crossed NMI (short for "no middle initial") was the very last square I filled in. [Stain] led me straight to DISCOLOR, which differs by only two letters from the correct answer, DISHONOR. The clue [Just firm enough] put me in mind of mattress-related adjectives, so henceforth I'll be referring to mattresses with just the right firmness as AL DENTE. [Scout leader?] had me wondering for a bit until the crossings gave up the REIN, the reins for Tonto's horse, Scout. I'm always pleased with a shout-out to a retired Crayola color like RAW UMBER.

Updated:

Today's themeless CrosSynergy puzzle's by Harvey Estes, as is the Washington Post Sunday puzzle, "Named for the Proprietor. The LA Times Syndicate puzzle's credited to Nora Pearlstone (anagram of "not a real person," i.e., editor Rich Norris).

A few of the squares in Henry Hook's Boston Globe puzzle, "Numbers Racket," were flat-out lucky guesses. In square 59, the [Numerical prefix] could plausibly be HEXA or SEXA (as in sexagenarian), and it crosses [Ancient 1.5-gallon measure], the obscure HIN. Rationally, if the crossing were an S, there would have been a less obscure clue for SIN. An even trickier spot was where the ["Alice in Wonderland" illustrator] John TENNIEL crosses the not-too-common MINIFIES and CONGE.

For an easier crossword, try Fred Piscop's Newsday puzzle, "Vault Disney: Fun facts about Disney films."