Wednesday, 12/12

NYS 4:48
NYT 3:26
CS 3:20
LAT 3:18

Tonight's trivia night, so if I get to the Times crossword tonight, it won't be until rather late. And maybe, just maybe, I will cut myself some slack and just go to bed when I get home.

In the meantime, y'all can talk about the Times puzzle after it's released, along with the New York Sun crossword by Sean O.F. Smith. (Why can't I avoid thinking of O.D.B. when I see those O.F. initials?) The puzzle's called "No Way!" and indeed, assorted "ways" (or abbreviations for types of streets) have been scuttled here and the resulting new phrases clued accordingly. A diving board loses its road (RD) and becomes DIVING BOA (see also discussion of anacondas and water moccasins in comments on previous post). Direct deposit drops a court (CT) to make DIRE DEPOSIT, a [Calamitous arterial accretion]. (Extra bonus points for the word accretion, which I like.) A Detroit Piston basketball player sheds a street (ST) to become a [Motown particle?], or DETROIT PION. A drill sergeant loses the drive (DR) to become an ILL SERGEANT. And last, above average detours around the avenue (AVE) to make ABOVE RAGE. Good crossword!

Updated Tuesday night:

Huzzah! We won at trivia! (We wouldn't have if not for wagering all 40 points possible on the final question, but hey, not every team could place these world religions in order from highest to lowest percentage of the globe's population: Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu. And we nailed it.)

The New York Times crossword by Daniel Kantor has a theme. Hmm, what was it?  Lemme take a look. Ah, yes. Four things that are A GOOD DEAL: a BAJILLION (not to be confused with bajingo); getting [21 in two cards], or BLACKJACK; getting TWO FOR ONE at happy hour; and an executive's GOLDEN PARACHUTE (factoid from the Enron documentary: One of the execs who cashed in big became something like the second-largest landowner in the state of Colorado). Fave fill: HOBNOB, HOJO, "IT'S SO YOU," PHOTO ID (tonight before trivia, the bar's bouncer followed me to the table to ask to see my ID—hah!), SNOOZE, GOOEY like caramel, CANDIDE (which crosses IDEE at the end, making me wonder if it was originally CANDIDA and IDEA, and Will nixed the yeasty entry), and LEE J COBB in his entirety. Oh, and ANSON Williams, who played Potsie on Happy Days.

Updated Wednesday morning:

I couldn't find the theme in James Sajdak's LA Times crossword—three phrases began with roughly synonymous words, but the fourth did not. I'd filled in the explanatory 54-Down via the crossings and hadn't seen the clue—TOUCH can follow the first words, SOFT, GENTLE, SMOOTH, and MAGIC. Favorite fill: JUNKY, ZZ TOP, BOOZY followed by SOBER, and "TOLD YA."

Randolph Ross's CrosSynergy puzzle's called "A's, E's, and I's for You." He doesn't only have I's for you, in IT'S IN HIS KISS, but also A's (ATLANTA HAWKS) and E's (REFERENCE LETTER)—phrases that contain just one vowel. Scattered throughout the grid are numerous words with only O's (STOP SHORT, NONCOMS, BORN TO, etc.), but all U gets is pond SCUM. Poor U.