Friday, 2/27

Sun (untimed, drat) — It's not too late to subscribe to the Sun and do this cool crossword
NYT 6:25
CHE 3:38
BEQ untimed
WSJ 12:02
LAT 6:59

This is my last post 'til post-ACPT, most likely. I will see some of you at the tournament, and the rest of you will be entertained here by the bloggy stylings of Joon. Be nice to him, will ya? Thanks!

Mark Diehl's Sun crossword, "Think Twice," is Peter Gordon's way of going out with a bang and reminding us of how many truly exceptional crosswords he has edited and published. This is the final Sun puzzle until a possible vague future date, and it's a doozy. (It's in the running for the year's coolest gimmick crosswords.) It was kids' TV programming that tipped me off to the rebus gimmick—[Miranda Cosgrove TV character surnamed Shay] could only be CARLY, but there were four squares. With 12-Down being an adverb, the LY had to be the rebus square—and [With prudence] sounded like SAGELY, which would fit with two letters per square. Would you look at that? The entire grid is framed with rebus squares, 44 of them in all. The edges of the puzzle are DOUBLE-EDG[ED] in a sense—and [RA]ZOR BLADES and BROADSWORDS can also be double-edged. So there's a full-fledged theme to elegantly explain the point of having the rebus squares around the edge.

You know what? I believe Diehl's puzzle has more than 225 letters in its answers, though there are only 225 white and black squares. No wonder it took a while to finish! My favorite answers were the double-packed ones, like CORN CHEX, THE SCORE, and MONA LISA in four squares apiece and ED KOCH in three. Would you believe the music world has a non-Brian ENO? Yep, it's [Spoon drummer Jim]. Overall, a cool crossword packed with Friday-worthy clues, and a fitting valedictory for the crossword snob's breed of crossword.

If you'd like Peter to bring the Sun puzzle back some day, and you'd be willing to pay an annual subscription fee (just 20¢ per puzzle!) for these fine crosswords, click here to sign up. I was #7, and I expect that number to skyrocket now that I'm exhorting you to signal your interest, too.

The New York Times crossword by Joe DiPietro has a fearsome-looking grid, doesn't it? Triple-stacked 15's at the top and bottom, and not with dead-giveaway clues? Yow. (Another "yow" is likely in store for the Saturday puzzle. Will likes to make a splash during tournament weekend.) Here are the six big girls:

• [Bygone flag] is THE STARS AND BARS.
  
• [Think a certain way about] clues HAVE AN OPINION ON.
  
• [Make a call] is USE THE TELEPHONE. It's in the language as a verb phrase, yes, but it looks weird in the puzzle.
  
• [Much of Central America, once] was BANANA REPUBLICS.
  
• ["This would be a first for me"] clues I'VE NEVER TRIED IT. This is one of those spoken phrases that isn't remotely a dictionary entry, but that I like to see in the puzzle.
  
• [Trading posts?] are GENERAL MANAGERS. Stock trading? Baseball trading? I don't know.
  

Now, here are my favorite clues. Sometimes favorite because of cleverness, and sometimes favorite owing to the sheer cussedness of a hard clue. And also, let's have some answers I liked.

• [Cover girl, e.g.?] is a SPY with a cover.
  
• [Laid-back] is TYPE B, with the unexpected B at the end. It crosses PLUMB, or [Downright]. Love the word plumb.
  
• The [Time being] is the NONCE. Great word.
  
• [Mammonism] clues GREED. Hey, a clue I could answer without a zillion crossings! Much appreciated.
  
• [1960s-'70s touchdown maker] is a LEM, or lunar excursion module that touched down on the moon. No football here.
  
• [Beat but good] clues THUMP. Also a cool word.
  
• [Can't continue] was kinda tough because HAS TO STOP is an unusual answer. Same with [Withdrew quietly] for WENT ASIDE.
  
• [Relating to wheels] is inferrable thanks to "rotary," but who ever uses the word ROTAL? Not I.
  
• [Emulates Eve] clues RAPS. Great clue—not Bible Eve, but the rapper named Eve.
  
• BORED is clued as [Yet to be engaged?]. I like that clue.
  
• You don't see a lot of abbreviated long answers. [It's a little over 65 degrees: Abbr.] refers to the ARCTIC CIR., or circle. Degrees of latitude, I presume.
  
• [Things that open and close yearly?] are WYES, as in the plural of the spelled-out name of the letter Y.
  
• NAMIBIA is the [Home of Walvis Bay]. What else was it gonna be with the NA at the beginning? It sounds Australian to me, though.
  
• G.I. JANE was a [1997 Demi Moore flick]. Great entry.
  
• Very few of us know that REBURN is a [Co-firing technique used to reduce pollution from electrical power plants].
  
• Are you up on your old Greek currency? [Pennies : dollar :: ___ : drachma] clues LEPTA. I needed every single crossing.
  
• Who doesn't like a rainbow or sunbow? [Producers of sunbows] are MISTS. Don't ask why I started with MOONS here.
  

Tom Heilman's Chronicle of Higher Education crossword, "Drama Queens," has a theme of Hollywood trivia. What [Royal role] has been played by four different actresses, two of them portraying her twice? ELIZABETH I, that's who. BETTE DAVIS chalked up her queen roles in 1939 and 1955 and CATE BLANCHETT played Elizabeth in 1998 and 2007. The same year that Blanchett was nominated for an Oscar for playing Elizabeth, so was JUDI DENCH—she played an older Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love and won the Best Supporting Actress trophy. And GLENDA JACKSON played her in 1971.

A few non-theme clues:

• [Brno was once its capital] clues MORAVIA, a region in what's now the Czech Republic.
  
• To [Take a shot?] in a shot glass is to IMBIBE.
  
• [Terminus a ___] QUO looks to be Latin, and I don't know what it means. Speaking of Latin, CICERO is the ["In Verrem" speaker].
  
• [Disrespectful replies] clues the mass noun SASS.
  
• [Got too old for] is OUTGREW.
  
• ELIJAH was the [Biblical prophet fed by ravens].
  
• [Jörgen's wife, in an Ibsen play] is HEDDA Gabler.
  

updated 10:30 pm EDT by joon:

dan naddor's LA times crossword has a fun wordplay theme in which AR gets added to the beginning of an existing R word:

• [Spiff up the family dog?] is ARRANGE ROVER.
  
• [Milestone in St. Louis history?] is ARCH ARRIVAL. (i'm quite sure it was built there, rather than just arriving from somewhere else.) this answer tripped me up because i was thinking the first AR was the wordplay, but in fact it was the second one. nice answer, though. the ARCH is absolutely spectacular. on a related note, not two hours ago i flew into dulles airport, the main terminal of which was also designed by crossword hero EERO saarinen. it's also one of my favorite buildings in america.
  
• [Weapon for a medieval assassin?] is MURDERER'S ARROW, playing on the term "murderer's row," which i associate with the 1927 yankees. this was my favorite theme answer.
  
• [Places for bookings?] are ARREST ROOMS. larry craig has no comment.
  
• [Lineup of battery terminals?] is CATHODE ARRAY. one the plus side (no pun intended—you have to believe me!), we aren't often treated to CATHODE in the grid; usually ANODEs dominate. on the minus side, this answer doesn't do much for me, even though i'm about to teach circuits next week.
  

the even-length MURDERER'S ARROW necessitated an oversize 15x16 grid, but i didn't mind. lots of good stuff in the fill, including retired hitters DARRYL strawberry and hall-of-famer ROD CAREW, plus petco park's PADRES to round out the baseball mini-theme. more circuits (AMMETER), and some biology (PABA, or [Vitamin B-10], and AMOEBA). chemistry wanted to have its place, too, but DIMERS was clued as [Nickel-and-___: nitpickers].

old-school crosswordese: PROAS are [Indonesian outriggers]. unfamiliar names: ["The Shoes of the Fisherman" author] MORRIS west, [Innovative bebop drummer] MAX ROACH, and ['90s FDA commissioner] KESSLER. also, could somebody explain why EOS are [Prez's decrees]? i would have liked to see a mythology clue there.

today's brendan emmett quigley crossword, "Hello Brooklyn! -- Natives only," has a fun "welcome to ACPT" theme. words with ER sounds get changed to OI sounds, as if spoken with a thick brooklyn accent:

• [Brooklynites approach to the Atkins diet?] is LIVE AND LOIN.
  
• [Brooklyners ventriloquism technique?] is BLANK VOICE.
  
• [Cheers bartender Woody's slimy menu addition, in his new Brooklyn bar?] is OILY BOYD SPECIAL. sure, the clue is tortured as all hell, but this was a fun one, with two sound transformations. also, anything reminiscent of former red sox pitcher oil can boyd (no relation to OIL CAN HARRY of mighty mouse fame) is a good thing.
  
• [Brooklyn burger caper?] is PATTY HOIST, playing on patty hearst, who was abducted by the semiconscious liberation army.
  
• [Push carcinogens in Brooklyn?] is FOIST POISON, playing on "first person." i don't think this one works as well, because POISON has a Z sound in the middle, whereas "person" has an S sound. still, props for trying for another double-transformation answer.
  

my favorite fill was the cluster of F-words (no, not that kind) in the top part of the grid, with FANJETS and FLAG DAY and the vowel-dropping website FLICKR. although actually, the F there did cross DFL, or [Like the contestant who came in 699 out of 699 entrants, initially]. hint: D = dead, L = last. so maybe yeah, that kind of F-word.

impenetrable to me: [Band leader of the "Centerfold" band] JGEILS (i don't even know how to parse this—or maybe it's just one name anyway?) next to ["Beauty and the Beat" rapper] EDAN.

harvey estes's wall street journal crossword, "male bonding," has a cool theme that's a little tricky to explain. it's kind of like the "before & after" jeopardy! category in that an expression which ends with a certain word is joined to an expression which starts with the same word, but in this case, the middle (shared) word is always a word which could generically mean a male person:

• [Vacation spot that was built more recently?] is LATER DUDE RANCH ("later, dude" + dude ranch).
  
• [Muppet game show host with all the answers?] is WISE GUY SMILEY. two thumbs up for this answer.
  
• [Cowboy star cheating at hide-and-seek?] is PEEPING TERRELL OWENS. no, just kidding—it's PEEPING TOM MIX. but terrell is jealous of the attention that tom is getting instead of him.
  
• [Like streakers?] is FAST BUCK NAKED. you know, in the original olympics, they competed in all of the events, including footraces, wearing nothing but olive oil.
  
• [What Jeb might call Dubya?] is MAMA'S BOY GEORGE. i emit a tehee at this one, too, mostly at the incongruous juxtaposition of W with boy george.
  
• [Strange pinko?] is ODD FELLOW TRAVELER. i confess that i don't understand what "pinko" has to do with "fellow traveler."
  
• the best theme answer is [Praise for a scholar?], or YOU DA MAN OF LETTERS.
  

this one definitely gave me a stiffer workout than recent WSJ puzzles. the toughest area was the NE, where YOU DA MAN was quite difficult to parse, and was also surrounded by vague and/or tricky clues. my favorite was [Thatcher follower]. john MAJOR refused to fit, because the answer is tom SAWYER, who tailed after his crush becky thatcher puppy-dog style. also, OILCAN makes another appearance in this puzzle; chalk up another point for crosssynchronicity.

goodness, it's already 11:20 and i'm just finishing the friday blogging. the saturday puzzle has already been out for 80 minutes! will hop right to it.

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Thursday, 1/8

LAT 4:48
Sun 4:40
NYT 4:34
CS 2:48

(updated at 9:15 a.m. Thursday)

The Sun "Themeless Thursday" puzzle is a reminder of how enjoyable Mike Nothnagel's crosswords are. If you're a fan too, check your local bookstore or newsstand for the February 2009 issue of Games—the World's Most Ornery Crossword is a plus-sized 25x25 themeless, and this one by Mike is the funnest Ornery I've done in ages. Mike told me they used most of his clues, so it seems I approve of his cluing style as much as his fill. His Sun crossword bears the usual hallmarks—lovely lively fill. Highlights for me (as opposed to Highlights for Children):

• The marquee entry is DRUGSTORE COWBOY, the [1989 Matt Dillon film], sharing the lead with the two-Q QUEBEC NORDIQUES hockey team, the [Colorado Avalanche, formerly].
  
• KAMIKAZE gets an etymology clue that's new to me—[Literally, "divine wind"]. Another Japanese K word appears in the clue for EDYS, crossing KAMIKAZE at the E: [Maker of Mint Karaoke Cookie ice cream]. May I just say that ice cream flavor makes no sense to me?
  
• You know how many 5-letter words can be a [Mattress cover]? There's a QUILT and a DUVET in addition to a SHEET. The SHEET, of course, is the only one that specifically covers a mattress rather than the bed.
  
• Game show fun! FREE SPIN is a ["Wheel of Fortune" bonus], and Jeopardy!'s Alex TREBEK was a [Frequent Ferrell "SNL" role].
  
• Mike teaches math. Is he well acquainted with [Lectures] = TALKS AT?
  
• TRUMP PLAZA has been an [Atlantic City landmark since 1984]. The new Trump International Hotel & Tower has been a Chicago landmark for weeks now.
  
• PROVE IT is clued as an ["I don't believe you" follower].
  
• ["How many of each animal did Moses take on the ark?" is one] example of a TRICK QUESTION.
  
• To [Push it, in a way] is to ASK TOO MUCH.
  

In Joe DiPietro's New York Times crossword, five phrases in which the first word starts with S and ends with -ING lose the -ING, which changes the meaning of the phrase. The de-INGed word becomes a noun used to modify another noun (I know there's a term for that). Here are the theme entries:

• SHOOT STARS are [Supermodels?] at the photo shoot. Shooting stars, on the other hand, are meteors. 
  
• STOCK STUFFER might be [One who fattens up cattle?] livestock. Stocking stuffers are what Santa leaves in your stocking.
  
• SERVE SUGGESTION is a [Bit of advice from a tennis coach?]. A serving suggestion is what's depicted on the box for a prepared food—like fresh sliced strawberries in a bowl of cereal when no berries are included inside the box.
  
• SWING SINGLES are [45s from Count Basie and Benny Goodman?], 45s being records with a song on each side. Have today's college students seen 45s? Swinging singles may be found hitting on one another at singles bars, and are not to be confused with swinging couples.
  
• The SLIDE SCALE runs [From gentle to steep for some playground equipment?]. With a sliding scale, people pay different amounts for something based on what they can afford. 
  

I like the base phrases, but the de-INGed results don't sing to me. In the fill, there are a few names I don't know, and a couple I do. The Jim [Nabors role] is Gomer PYLE; got that. The [Pupil of Miss Crump, on TV] is OPIE; more decades-old TV, got it. [Nancy's aunt in Nancy Drew mysteries] is named ELOISE; she had an aunt? [N.F.L. Hall-of-Famer Matson] is named OLLIE; never heard of him. ["Porgy" novelist ___ Heyward]'s first name is DUBOSE; Dubose Heyward is a delightfully weird name. [Sci-fi novelist ___ S. Tepper]'s first name is SHERI; never heard of her. The [R&B singer with the hit "Thong Song"] is SISQO; I know the name but not the song. [Last name in comedy] is MARX, as in Groucho, Harpo, et al.; got it. [Curly whacker] is MOE Howard, one of the Three Stooges; got that.

I like the varying Jets in the clues. The [Only Super Bowl won by the Jets] is III, while [The Jets, e.g.] are a GANG in West Side Story. There are two [Jot]s, too, a WHIT and an IOTA. There's no [Jut] clue, but close: [Just] means ONLY. There's not much information provided in the cross-referenced clues for 28-Down and 45-Down, GAS and a FILL-UP.

Updated:

Don Gagliardo's LA Times crossword has a theme that takes a while to suss out because the clues for the first three theme answers is simply [?], and the grand unifying answer's clue is [Question that begs to be asked about 17-, 30- and 37-Across]. It turns out the question is WHERE DID IT ALL GO?—referring to the DISAPPEARING INK, VANISHING CREAM, and EVAPORATED MILK. Evaporated milk is actually quite easy to see, but I like the overall conceit anyway. Liveliest fill: RAISE HELL, or [Cause a ruckus]. So accustomed am I to the daily crossword's catering to the stereotypical great-grandma who gets the vapors, I wanted to put CAIN in there instead. Speaking of vapors, [Paralyze with mist, as an airport] almost looks like it's suggesting that TSA employees spray passengers with paralyzing mist, doesn't it? I bogged myself down with ICE IN (wrong! where's the mist?) instead of FOG IN, which led me to have CREW instead of OARS for [Trireme hands], too. [Word often seen in green] is obvious if you're solving the crossword while walking down a busy street, less so if you are sitting indoors—it's WALK. Also cute: Crossing PETRI dish with a TEST TUBE.

I don't at all recall ASTRES, ['70s Pontiac subcompacts]. I doubt I have ever used the word REINVOLVE, or [Bring back into play]. The lower left corner of this puzzle didn't please me at all. [Lateral lead-in] devoutly wished to be EQUI, because nobody much uses AMBIlateral; ambidextrous, yes. The ["Sands of Iwo Jima" director Allan] DWAN is not as famous these days as he might have hoped. The [Despondent cry] is "OH, ME," which I have never, ever said, and which could just as plausibly be AH ME, OH NO, or ALAS. [Some of the landed gentry] are DOWAGERS and [Birds' bills] are also called NEBS. Stretching down into this corner, too, is AT A LOW EBB, or [Declining seriously]. The idiom may date back four centuries and may be used in mainstream newspapers today, but it resisted my efforts to piece it together this morning.

Randall Hartman's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Five of a Kind," has a vowel progression theme, with five lively phrases swapping in A, E, I, O, and U to fill in the B*LLY___ space:

• BALLYHOO is [Hype].
  
• BELLYACHE is [Complain].
  
• The BILLY GOATS GRUFF are [Fairy tale characters].
  
• BOLLYWOOD is the [Film industry of India].
  
• BULLY BOY is a [Tough guy].
  

Hartman probably didn't realize that Byron Walden did essentially the same theme (but with BELLYFLOP and the shorter BILLY GOAT) in his 11/23/01 NYT puzzle. The two puzzles are different—the older one was a tougher Friday puzzle, while today's is as easy as a Tuesday NYT. I like 'em both.

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Sunday, 10/19

LAT 8:30
PI 7:55
NYT 7:47
BG 7:12
CS 3:50

Split Decisions, Second Sunday NYT puzzle 9:27

(updated at 9:25 a.m. Sunday)

I only saw half of the theme in Joe DiPietro's New York Times crossword, "Perjury." I saw the hidden OATH tucked inside all the long entries, but it wasn't until I reached 112-Across that I learned of the other half: [Perjure oneself ... or what can be found six times in this puzzle] clues LIE UNDER OATH, and below each of those five hidden OATHs, the word LIE appears.
CAN'T DO A THING, or [Is completely hamstrung], sits above LIE OVER, or [Completely cover]. The LIE portion is under OATH.

• MY THROAT HURTS is a [Cold sufferer's complaint] (yep, I'm there), and the OATH is above BELIE, or [Contradict].
  
• SEMI-PRO ATHLETES are [Part-time players], and that answer is paired with PURLIEU, or [Confines].
  
• THE ROAD TO ATHENS, or [Title of some 2004 Summer Olympics preview shows], is partnered with LIENS, or [Security agreements].
  
• OAT HAYS, [Certain feeds for horses], sits atop the LIE in explanatory theme entry, LIE UNDER OATH—and it took me a while to see that OATH.
  
• The SHOWBOAT HOTEL, an [Atlantic City casino], appears above FLIED OUT, or [Batted the ball too high, perhaps].
  

The visual rebus aspect of the theme is cool—"lie under oath" is represented by LIE beneath the word OATH, making it a far more intricate theme than one with just an embedded word.

Here's today's assortment of answers and clues:

• LECTIN is a [Carbohydrate-binding protein]. Did anyone get that answer with fewer than three crossings?
  
• [Stream bank sliders] are OTTERS. Doesn't that clue sound like it should be sports jargon? "Ripken's specialty, of course, is the stream bank slider."
  
• [Stomach section] is the PIT. Anatomically, I'm not so sure this is a thing, but metaphorically and emotionally, sure, it works.
  
• [Ballet's Markova or Alonso] is ALICIA. ALICIA doesn't sound like it matches the Russian-seeming Markova. Ah, because it doesn't. She was English, born Lilian Alicia Marks.
  
• [IV to III, maybe] is a SON. I know a guy whose wife is pregnant with a boy, and he's excited because the kid'll be Henry VI or XXIII or something. A long line of Henrys in the family...
  
• [Not quite boiling] means the pot is ON SIMMER.
  
• SOW'S EAR is a weird entry. It's gettable with its clue, [It's not a silk purse source, it's said].
  
• [High society] is BON TON. That's a department store somewhere, isn't it?
  
• RETEST is an [Opportunity to go beyond the first grade?], as in getting a new grade on the same exam.
  
• [Child's attention-getting call to a parent] is HEY, MOM. Yep, I hear that one a lot.
  
• WRAP PARTIES, or [Cast events after filming is done], is a lovely entry to grace the middle of the puzzle, crossing two of the theme entries.
  
• We get the three-word crossword answer TO A T fairly often. Here, FIT TO A TEE expands on that. It means to [Be perfect] for its purpose.
  
• A SLUG [doesn't really represent change], as it's a fake coin.
  
• [New York City racetrack, informally] is BIG A. I don't know a thing about this.
  
• [Concerned wife's question in the E.R., maybe] is HOW IS HE?
  
• BOLO TIES are [Western wear].
  
• [Soap-making solution] is SODA LYE. Is that available in a diet version?
  
• [Longtime Philippine archbishop ___ Sin] is named JAIME. That one was a gimme for me—who can forget a prelate named Sin?
  

Updated:

This weekend's second Sunday puzzle in the New York Times is another "Split Decisions" by George Bredehorn. I found the upper right corner to be kinda tough, and the lower left corner to be much knottier than the opposite side. From top to bottom, left to right, here are my answer pairs (use your mouse to highlight the white text to see the answers):

Across: THUS/TOSS, CHAPEAU/CHAPELS, CANTATA/CANASTA, STRAINER/STRANGER, RACKETS/RACISTS, ANVIL/ANGEL, DISASTER/DISPUTER, ISOBARS/ISOMERS, CADMIUM/CALCIUM, INSOMNIA/INSIGNIA, SCANT/SPENT, BASSOON/BALLOON, HEADLESS/HELPLESS, LEISURE/LECTURE, HONESTY/AMNESTY, RAPT/RIOT
Down: GRIDDLE/TWIDDLE, UPS/BUS, SUITORS/EDITORS, BURST/FIRST, HUMANLY/UNMANLY, FOLKS/FOCUS, SCRAWNY/SCRAWLS, BLATHER/FEATHER, LATCH/LYNCH, CARDIAC/CARDING, SWEPT/SWELL, ANCHORS/ANCHOVY, SPA/SAW, TRANSIT/TRANSOM

This kind of puzzle's good training for looking at spaces in a crossword and thinking about what words could fit there, narrowing down the list of options as you read the clue.

Merl Reagle's Philadelphia Inquirer crossword, "The NASA Gift Shop," marks the 50th birthday of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration with a batch of NASA-related puns. The ones I liked best were GEMINI CRICKET, the [NASA doll that sings "When You Wish Upon a Star"], playing on Jiminy Cricket, and ORBITAL REDENBACHER'S, [NASA's special-edition popcorn?], citing Orville Redenbacher. I liked the puzzle just fine, but find myself having nothing much to say about it. (This coughing, sneezing, and sniffling business is distracting.)

Pamela Amick Klawitter's syndicated Los Angeles Times Sunday crossword, "All Is Lost," dumps an ALL from eight phrases to change the meaning. The most amusing theme entries were:

• DAS COWBOYS (Dallas Cowboys), or [Rodeo competitors, in ungrammatical German?].
  
• A HOLE IN THE W (a hole in the wall), or [Result of pranksters shooting at Wal-Mart's sign?].
  
• ABSENTEE BOT (absentee ballot), or [Automaton gone missing?].
  

My favorite bit of fill here is CAMP IT UP, clued as [Act in an amusingly affected way].

Liz Gorski's Boston Globe crossword in Across Lite, "I'll Pencil U In," inserts a U into eight phrases to change the meaning. I had a little trouble with one crossing, where a ["TV Guide" acronym] that's really an abbreviation (acronyms are pronounceable words) crosses a [Baroque dance]. There are four time zones in the U.S., but apparently the one TV Guide mentions is Central, or CST (the other time zones' TV shows are scheduled an hour off from when they air in the Midwest, where prime-time shows run from 7 to 10 p.m.). The dance is CHACONNE, and I'll bet not many people know that word. I'd have clued CST more specifically to unknot that square. My favorite theme entries are CARPENTER AUNT (ant), or [Kin seen sawing?], and LOBSTER FRAU DIABLO (Fra), or [Mrs. Freud's spicy seafood recipe?]. That last one's just plain nuts, but it goes for broke so I like it. Highlights in the fill include GLASNOST, THINK BIG, LAKE ONTARIO, USER'S MANUAL, and SPY RING.

Patrick Jordan's themeless CrosSynergy "Sunday Challenge" is the week's easiest themeless puzzle. Patrick is perhaps more drawn to pangrams than any other constructor, and he did manage to get all 26 letters of the alphabet into this grid without having any horrid abbreviations or woebegone obscurities. He did trick me with [Pina colada ingredient], 3 letters—not rum but ICE. [Engages in logrolling] is BIRLS—this lumberjack sport is sometimes called roleo, which is another word that seems to pop up more in crosswords than in day-to-day living.

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Monday, 9/1

CS 4:40
LAT 3:59
Jonesin' 3:43
NYT 2:30

(updated at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday)

Happy Labor Day! May your labors be few (but not unemploymentally so), your skies clear, and your barbecues free of all foodborne pathogens.

The New York Times crossword is a solo outing from Andrea Carla Michaels, who is one of those early-week specialists. As expected for a Monday, the theme is basic and straightforward, the clues are pretty easy, and the fill combines plenty of plain language with a handful of crosswordy answers that a beginning solver will soon learn all about. The theme answers all relate to hushing, but I don't quite get why the clues are worded as they are. SILENCE IS GOLDEN is ["Shhhh!" prompter]. Doesn't "Silence is golden" replace a "Shhh!" rather than prompting one? MUM'S THE WORD is clued with ["Shhhh!"]. That's "Shhh"! as in "Don't tell anyone" rather than "Be quiet." MY LIPS ARE SEALED is a ["Shhh!" response]—again, more of an "I'll keep your secret" than "Ooh, I better be quiet because she shushed me." I don't know how well these three theme clues and answers cohere, but hey, it's a Monday puzzle and the phrases are so familiar, there's no need to overthink it.

One of my favorite clues is [Like oranges and tangerines] for CITRUS. (Anyone else try CITRIC first? No?) Andrea just says "no" in two answers: NO SALE is a [Key on an old register], as in cash register, and NO RUSH means ["Take your time"]. There are 15 other 6-letter answers in this grid, which makes the fill feel a bit fresher than if there was a greater preponderance of 3- to 5-letter answers.

Here's a Crosswords 101 lesson. Study the following crosswordy items, which you will be quizzed on later in other crosswords:

• [Lyrical, like a Pindar poem] is ODIC. When Pindar's in the clue, you almost always need the word ODE or some form of it.
  
• ET TU completes ["___ Brute?"]. It's what Julius Caesar said to one who betrayed him. The clues for ET TU sometimes mention a "rebuke."
  
• [Hersey's "A Bell for ___"] ADANO is a WWII novel for which Hersey won the Pulitzer Prize. Has anyone read this or seen the movie? I know it only from puzzles.
  
• [Sign of a hit show] is SRO, short for "standing room only." Do Broadway shows sell tickets for standing room?
  
• SNEE is clued [Snick and ___]. According to The Mavens' Word of the Day, "The classic crossword clue for snee is "cut, old style." Actually, just 14 of 110 os SNEE's crossword appearances in Cruciverb.com's database reflect that verb usage. About 25 times, it's been clued with some version of the "snick/snick or/snicker" thing. More often, SNEE is clued as an old dagger, a bygone blade, etc.
  
• [Leave in, to an editor] is STET, or "let it stand." The opposite is DELE, or "delete." Yes, proofreaders and copy editors use these terms, but they (the terms, not the people) are equally popular within crossword grids.
  
• LILT is a [Light tune]. I think the word gets more action in crosswords than in speech or ordinary writing.
  
• [Old salts] are TARS. Old slangy word for "sailor." Popeye was the consummate tar.
  
• [Drunkards] are SOTS. You know what sots do? They tope. And sometimes emit a "hic." If they don't keep drinking, they may get the DT's. Sot, tope, hic, DTS—that's crosswords and booze in a nutshell.
  

Updated:

Anyone know where the CrosSynergy puzzles have been hiding? I know this page offers an online applet and a printable option, but I want my Across Lite, dagnabbit! I especially want yesterday's themeless crossword.

The LA Times crossword by Joe DiPietro has six theme entries beginning with _AKE words:

• 17-A. FAKE THE FUNK is clued as [Not keep it real, in streetspeak]. This is not a phrase I've heard.
  
• 23-A. SHAKE ONE'S BOOTY is to [Dance enthusiastically, slangily]. Isn't the one's quaint?
  
• 52-A. STAKE ONE'S CLAIM is to [Assert a right of ownership].
  
• 61-A. WAKE THE KIDS is to [Disturb your children with late-night noise].
  
• 3-D. MAKE A DENT is [Show initial progress, with "in"].
  
• 36-D. TAKE A RIDE is [Drive to the country, say].
  

The symmetry in this group of phrases is that the middle two Acrosses are verb-ONE'S-noun, the two bracketing them are verb-THE-noun, and the two Downs are verb-A-noun. The theme does not exhaust all the possibilities, though. BAKE COOKIES and SLAKE ONE'S THIRST could fit into a grid, but not within the bounds of the paired structures here. (I can't think of a good phrase that starts with BRAKE, though.]

Updated again:

Matt Jones's Jonesin' crossword is called "I'm Surrounded by Idiots" because the theme entries are various "idiots" with extra letters in their midst:

• NINEPENNY means [About 7 cm long, like nails sold in hardware stores], and the first and last letters form NINNY.
  
• FILM SCHOOL is [Where many directors get their start]. There's a FOOL around there.
  
• DOUBLE-SIDED TAPE, the [Gift-wrapping adhesive] for those too anal to let tape show, is wrapped in a DOPE. (Thanks to Triplerose for correcting me. I had DUPE. D'oh!) Is the double-sided tape for sticking on bows, or for holding the giftwrap around the box?
  
• MORAL OBLIGATION, or [Do-gooder's reasoning, perhaps], is tied up in a MORON.
  
• A TWIT encloses a TWO-BASE HIT, which [lets the batter get to second].
  
• DOWN QUILT is a [Comfy handmade comforter], and it tucks in a DOLT.
  

I like the vocabulary word in the fill: OROTUND means [Sonorous]. ZANZIBARI's two Z's are zesty—it's clued as [Resident of the island where Freddie Mercury was born]. I didn't know the Queen front man was from Zanzibar. Hell, when I was a kid, I had no idea he was gay, either. Or the Village People. *whoosh* over my head.

Updated Tuesday morning:

Randolph Ross's CrosSynergy puzzle is called "Location, Location, Location" because the location of the words in the clue is key.

• [Flu (taxi) symptom?] is CAB IN FEVER, because that taxi or CAB is inside "flu symptom," which refers to FEVER. Cabin fever is a familiar phrase if you ditch that first word break.
  
• [Tim of (catch some rays) "Bull Durham"?] is BASK IN ROBBINS. Baskin Robbins is a chain of ice cream stores now conjoined to Dunkin Donuts.
  
• [Family (Hershey treat) members?] clues KISS IN COUSINS. Kissin' cousins is the base phrase here.
  
• [News (fair) magazine?] is JUST IN TIME. This theme entry is a smidgen jarring because unless there's a famous person named Justin Time, the base phrase has a stand-alone "in" while the other theme entries don't.
  

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Friday, 7/18

NYS 7:33
NYT 5:31
CHE 4:16
CS 3:39
LAT tba—I can't get Cruciverb.com to load today, so no LAT in Across Lite yet

WSJ 9:42

I have a headache, which does not put me in a blogging frame of mind. Also, if you happen to have solved the Sun and Times crosswords without a headache and you were faster than me, please remember that my brain is aching. (Preemptive excuse-making! I excel at that.)

Up first, Mike Nothnagel's New York Times crossword. I liked it a lot. A crossword that works GAY-FRIENDLY into the mix (clued as [Inclusive, as some resorts]) gives me the warm fuzzies. I've edited plenty of sleep medicine papers, so I liked the combination of CIRCADIAN RHYTHM ([It helps you sleep at night] rather than in the daytime) at 17-Across and JETLAG, which is a potent [17-Across disrupter] (so is shift work).

The nastiest bits, the ones that demanded attention to their crossings, included:

• IXIA, a [Showy flower of the iris family]. I'm usually pretty good at the botany clues, but not this one. Rumor has it ixias are native to South Africa and are also called corn lilies.
  
• The [Chorus "instrument" in Verdi's "Il Trovatore"] is an ANVIL. Blacksmiths, Wile E. Coyote, a bone in the ear—those are the anvil connections in my ken.
  
• I had ACH for the [Glaswegian "Gee!"], but it's OCH.
  
• Hockey is not my thing, so I had no idea the [Section of a hockey rink in front of the goal] was called a SLOT.
  
• The [Force commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia]? The clue meant scarcely anything at all, but a few crossings pointed towards ARMADA, and it fit with everything else. Medina-Sidonia is a city in Spain.
  
• ["Just a Closer Walk With Thee" and others] are DIRGES. Would you believe I don't own a single mixtape of dirges?
  
• I've heard of EROS, sure, but I drew a blank on the [Offspring of Chaos, to Hesiod] clue.
  

Interesting or unusual answers:

• [Music lovers flip for it] means SIDE TWO of an album. In vinyl. Kicking it old school!
  
• MUCH TO MY CHAGRIN is roughly equivalent to ["Unfortunately..."].
  
• [Denied] means SAID NO TO. Past tense, no -ED at the end—heck, no -ED in the middle, either.
  
• ENTRY-LEVEL is [Like many low-paying jobs]. I started in publishing and made $16,250 a year in my entry-level job. I wonder what editorial assistants start at now...
  
• The FIRE MARSHAL is a [Person with burning resentment?] because he's so darned mad about those fires that need investigation, I guess. The clue seems like it fits an ARSON INVESTIGATOR better, but that won't fit here.
  
• KEVIN BACON was a ["Diner" co-star, 1982], along with Ellen Barkin, pre-plastic surgery Mickey Rourke, and Daniel Stern.
  
• EARLDOM is one kind of [English jurisdiction] but boy, that word didn't come easily for me.
  

Assorted other things I feel like mentioning, but no longer have the will to organize:

• In old ROME (13-Down), people spoke Latin, so [Hard to find] was RARA, meaning "rare." Nice cross-referenced combo, Mike and Will.
  
• People! DIRK Benedict was in The A-Team. The late Molly IVINS could indeed say that. TRAJAN was an emperor. Antoinette PERRY is the Tony Awards' namesake. Mary was the [Sister of Lazarus, in the Bible]. LITA Ford is a rock guitarist. Generic people include a RAJA, a GURU, some AGAS, a Cabinet SECY., and a PAL.
  
• If you turn down the corner of a page, that [Turndown?] is a DOGEAR. With the errant ACH, I was looking at DAGE-something for way too long.
  
• Oh! Fun clue: [Presidential portrait site?] is your WALLET, provided you've got some paper currency.
  
• MONISM is the [Belief that all things are made of a single substance]. Can that substance be chocolate? Or crunchy toffee?
  
• Usually it's deca- but sometimes that [Prefix meaning "10": Var.] is spelled DEKA. This is one of those times.
  
• Can you use AWASH IN ([Completely overrun by]) in a sentence? "This crossword is awash in good, meaty stuff."
  
• I've done enough crosswords that a clue like [Biotite and lepidolite] had me thinking MICAS right off the bat.
  
• I like TMI, or "too much information" (["I didn't need to know that," informally]. If you don't care that I have a headache, you might've thought "TMI" at the start of this post.
  

Joe DiPietro's New York Sun puzzle is called "Shuffle the Deck," so I figured the theme would have something to do with playing cards. Indeed, we are treated to SPOONERISMs of four cards. After swapping the initial consonant sounds (or lack thereof), the eight of hearts becomes HATE OF ARTS, a [Philistine's characteristic?]. The ace of spades is SPACE OF AIDES. The [Movie river's senior member gets better?] was hard to parse. Rivers have members? The queen of diamonds turns into a brief tale in which the DEAN OF KWAI MENDS. That one's tortured so far, it's almost genius. Six of clubs is CLICKS OF SUBS.

The clues and answers I admired the most:

• DONDI! The [Orphan of old comics] with the vacant stare.
  
• SAO TOME, [Gulf of Guinea island]. Full name! More often, it's a fill-in-the-blank with just one of the two words in the grid.
  
• MR. T, the [B.A. Baracus portrayer on TV], was in The A-Team. Boy, seems like that show is everywhere.
  
• The explicit HBO documentary/magazine series REAL / SEX gets split among two entries. I like that they're clued in unison.
  
• [What kids to when it counts?] is HIDE, in hide-and-seek. It means the player who's "it."
  
• FRAM is an [Oil filter brand], apparently. I believe it's used to make the frim fram sauce, two parts frim to one part fram. Here's a clip where you can enjoy Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong's duet on "The Frim Fram Sauce." "I don't want pork chops, baby"—truer words were never sung.
  
• I blanked on OMAR MINAYA's last name, piecing it together with the crossings. I always like a full name parked in the crossword grid.
  

Updated:

Harvey Estes constructed this week's Wall Street Journal crossword, "Boarding Requests." The boarding in question has a Star Trek bent to it—together, 65- and 67-Across spell out BEAM / ME UP. Those ME's are beamed up from the four theme entries in the grid's bottom half, where they've been removed from phrases that are reclued accordingly, and teleported smack-dab into the four theme entries up top, also clued accordingly. [Brand-name desserts in a food fight?], for example, are SARA MELEE CAKES. The [Plain grazer?] is a HOMELY COW. The [Guilt-ridden doo-wop group?] is SHAME NA NA. After the ME's were beamed up, what was left at the bottom included 'TIS SQUARE (Times Square), or [Comment about something that's ne'er been hip], and LEAD A CHARD LIFE (charmed), or [Be a vegetarian]. Good theme, tons of good fill and clues. One of my pet peeves is crosswords that pretend that "coeds" isn't a sexist term for "female college students." So props to Harvey and/or editor Mike Shenk for [Connecticut coeds] as a clue for ELIS—maybe the Yale students in question are thought to be female, but ELIS is a gender-neutral term for Yale students. I have never once used MELON to mean [Financial windfall]. Which kind of melon is it? I prefer watermelon. Favorite clues: [Appealing, maybe] for IN COURT; [Place for some drawers] for ART CLASS; [Evidence from a hairsplitter?] for DNA; and [Area between the shoulders] for the ROAD.

I quickly caught onto the theme in Larry Shearer's Chronicle of Higher Education puzzle, "Copy Writers." [Difficulties in writing "Common Sense"?] are Thomas PAINE'S PAINS, and all the theme entries follow that structure, author's name in the possessive + a homophone of that possessive. Dario FO'S FOES are [Those who opposed the writing of "Accidental Death of an Anarchist"?]. That writer a great many of us know strictly from his appearances in crosswords, Charles Reade, figures into READE'S READS, or [Texts that influenced the writing of "The Cloister and the Hearth"?]. Edgar Allan POE'S POSE is the [Stance assumed while writing "The Purloined Letter"?]. [Libations enjoyed while writing "War Trash"?] are JIN'S GINS, and I had to look that one up. It's a recent novel by Ha Jin and it won the National Book Award. The most insane entry in the puzzle was [Local assembly of czarist Russia], or ZEMSTVO. The Wikipedia article tells me this mode of local government allowed the peasants a wee smidgen of involvement, though the nobles hogged most of the slots for themselves.


Ray Hamel's CrosSynergy crossword is called "Plus-Fours," and it's got nothing to do with those crazy-looking short pants that may well be in evidence at the British Open golf tournament this weekend. Instead, the theme entries add four to the number in various phrases. You know the story of the Three Little Pigs—add four and you get SEVEN LITTLE PIGS, [A full litter?]. [A very lucky find?] might be an EIGHT-LEAF CLOVER (though I'd worry about mutagens in the local environment if I saw one...). The [Extended Beatles song?] is TWELVE DAYS A WEEK, which would be a lot of days in the week to be loving someone.

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Thursday, 7/3

NYS 6:30
CS 4:30ish?
LAT 4:06
NYT 3:45

Call me a rebel if you must, but I do like crosswords that mess around with how things are supposed to be. The famous Patrick Merrell NYT puzzle that intentionally violated a bunch of crossword rules; the recent Joe Krozel NYT puzzle in which 10 clues were lies (or at the very least, dead wrong); the Thursday New York Times crossword by newcomer Keith Talon with a theme that cries out for attentive editing. His first theme entry is PROOFREADINNG with an extra N, clued as [What this answer could use?]. In the middle, TYPOGRPAHICAL is [Like this answer's error], a transposition of two letters. And at the bottom, [This answer contains one] MISPELLING, that missing S. The fill's got a quartet of 8-letter answers, such as STERLING, which is both [First-rate] and the name of the cognoscenti's favorite puzzle book publisher. (We love the binding and the paper stock, yes, but also the crosswords and other types of puzzles.) (St. Martin's Griffin also rocks, of course.) Another 8 is YOSEMITE, [Home of the 1,612-foot Ribbon Falls]. I'd never heard of Ribbon Falls, so I figured I'd include a photo. Sure looks mossy! They say it dries out every summer. Tuesday's puzzle seemed like at least a Wednesday, and Thursday's puzzle also feels like a Wednesday.

Joe DiPietro's "Themeless Thursday" in the New York Sun felt more like a Friday, or maybe it's just me—I'm plumb tuckered out. Great vibe from a lot of the fill—Camus's THE PLAGUE, SUKIYAKI (plus HIBACHI, rounding out the Japanese section), CO-CHAIR, MADE A LIST (my problem isn't making the lists, it's getting anything accomplished that's on the list). Anna Nicole Smith's former employer TRIMSPA, PLAIN-JANE, and a PIZZA OVEN (like RAZZ, one of two answers with a double Z). SAXONS are [British invasion participants] who predate the Beatles; their X crosses XHOSA (!), a [Bantu language related to Swazi]. The last letter I filled in was the N in RED BANK, the [New Jersey birthplace of Count Basie], crossing Gary [Cooper's "High Noon" role], KANE. My favorite entry here is the [Early TV role for Moore], Laura PETRIE. Can I get an "Oh, Rob!"?

Updated:

The LA Times crossword brings together new (I think) constructor Sharon Peterson with noted mentor Nancy Salomon. The theme entries all pertain to the BEACH (38-Across) in that the beginning of the first word in each is something beachy. [No longer moist to the touch] is SURFACE-DRY, which begins with SURF. SEASON TICKETS make a nice [Gift for a symphony lover], and the SEA is there. A [Worn sign] is a SANDWICH BOARD, starting with SAND. [Church duds], or SUNDAY BEST, starts with SUN. Highlights in the fill include WEAK-KNEED with its double K ([Likely to cave]—one of two cave clues, the other being [Caves, to early man] for ABODES), ANECDOTES, and A GOOD DEAL. Favorite clue: [Bugs came to life with his help], M*L...MAL? MEL? MIL? MOL? MUL? MYL? Eventually the crossing told me it was MEL and I realized it was Mel Blanc and Bugs Bunny, not some other kind of bugs.

Ray Hamel's CrosSynergy crossword, "Fried French," tortures some French phrases by changing parts into English words that sound similar. [Parkas, sweaters, and such?] are HOT COUTURE (haute), [Heavy knickknacks?] are BRICK-A-BRAC (bric), [Last mowing of the season?] is COUP DE GRASS (grace), and [Extended pursuit?] is CHASE LONGUE (chaise). Favorite clue: the insidery [Opera seen frequently in crosswords], AIDA.

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Thursday, 5/29

NYT 7:34
NYS 5:05
CS 2:51
LAT 2:26

By the way, that new ad atop this page? If you've got unlimited data service on your cellphone and you're looking for a good crossword application, click that ad for a free three-day trial of Crossword Cafe. The puzzles are from the CrosSynergy syndicate—meaning six easyish themed puzzles and one smooth themeless per week, from top-notch constructors including Bob Klahn, Rich Norris, and about a dozen others. Last I heard, Crossword Cafe was using puzzles from 2006, but intends catch up at some point and provide newer puzzles. Now, a phone isn't optimized for speed-solving, but if you've been hankering for crosswords on the small screen, check it out.

John Farmer's New York Times crossword inadvertently vexed me. *IAN*, [A Baldwin]? That must be DIANE Baldwin. She's famous, right? I know the name. Whoops—she's a crossword constructor. The answer was PIANO. I spent a minute or more toying with the rebus entries in an attempt to please the NYT applet before I realized the problem was that I'd only half-corrected DIANE and had DIANO. Er, no. Those rebus entries add a big fillip of cleverness—they're two-way rebus squares, replacing the word ACROSS in the Across direction and DOWN the other way. Why, what a coincidence! ACROSS and DOWN are so crosswordy! (I like insidery, toy-with-convention gimmicks like this.) The theme entries are:

• [First clue] = ONE {ACROSS} crossing [Jazz/blues monthly] = {DOWN}BEAT
  
• [Spans, as a river] = STRETCHES {ACROSS} crossing [Hit the skids] = GO {DOWN}HILL
  
• [Relocate from one side to the other] = MOVE {ACROSS} TOWN crossing [Master] = GET {DOWN} PAT
  
• [Facing one's house from a short distance away, say] = {ACROSS} THE STREET crossing [Scorn] = LOOK {DOWN} ON
  
• [Transect] = CUT {ACROSS} crossing [Inverted} = UPSIDE-{DOWN}
  

The rebus squares aren't quite symmetrical—4-Down and 45-Down aren't opposite one another in the grid. All four corners contain three 7-square entries (three of them involving rebus action), and two of the liveliest entries are 11 letters long: ARSENIO HALL, who was Eddie Murphy's ["Coming to America" co-star], and those [Versatile performers], ONE-MAN BANDS (here are Pixar's dueling one-man bands). Tricky spots: TANTO is [Non ___ (not so much, in music)]. A Russian crosswordese burg is OREL, [City on the Oka]. Never heard of [Hall-of-Fame Nascar racer Bobby] ISAAC. High points: IN VITRO, or [Like some fertility lab techniques]; [Kvetcher's cry], OY VEY ("Is it a Northern thing?"); the noun [Innocent] for LAMB; [Celt of NW France] for BRETON (you can read up on Brittany here); [Hide in a closet?] for LEATHER; and ["This is not ___" (warning label)] for A TOY. Nice job, John! A rebus puzzle is always a bit of a surprise, and you managed to embed an extra element of surprise in your gimmick.

I need to finish the Sun puzzle in the morning and go to bed now—I'm so sleepy my eyes are closing mid-clue!

Updated:

Alrighty, after a good night's sleep, Joe DiPietro's New York Sun crossword made a ton more sense to me. It had taken me over 2 minutes to complete the first quarter or maybe third of the puzzle last night, and less than 3 more minutes to finish the rest this morning. The "Double Down" theme entries swap in the numbers ONE, TWO, FOUR, and EIGHT (each one double its predecessor) for won, to, for, and ate. For example, [Knock down the king and queen?] in chess could be FELL TWO PIECES, playing on the verb phrase "fall to pieces." Favorite clues: [Star of stars?] for Carl SAGAN, star of Cosmos; [Portrayer of Crane and Sparrow on film] for Johnny DEPP, whose bird-named characters were Ichabod Crane and Captain Jack Sparrow; [Took the wrong way?] for LED ASTRAY; [Fairly large] for TIDY, as in "a tidy sum" but not in many other phrases; and [Go around and around, in a way] for EDDY. Zippiest fill: AL ROKER, providing the weather forecast.

LOLA is in DiPietro's grid, clued as [Top 10 song of October 1970]. "Lola" was a Kinks song. Another Kinks song is included in this cool quiz compiled by Matthew Baldwin. Each quiz item is an alphabetical listing of the words included in an individual rock song's lyrics. The trick is to distill the song title and artist based on the lyric vocabulary. The first one, for example, is a and baby be become can come couldn’t fire funeral get girl hesitate higher i if in is it know liar light lose love mire much my night no now on only our pyre say set that the through time to try untrue wallow was we would yeah you. Catchy, right?

Martin Ashwood-Smith's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Moment of Truth," features a quote theme: "I DO NOT MIND LYING / BUT / I HATE INACCURACY," by SAMUEL / BUTLER. What exactly does that mean? Aren't lies a divergence from accuracy as well?

The theme in Donna Levin's LA Times crossword tumbled like a house of cards. With EDMUND filled in by easy crossings at the beginning of 20-Across and [Site of the feat] related to EDMUND and 55-Across including EVER in its midst, EDMUND HILLARY, TENZING NORGAY, MOUNT EVEREST, and THE HIMALAYAS practically filled themselves in. Hillary is clued as [Name in the news 55 years ago today]; I suspect this would have been a Monday puzzle if not for the anniversary date dropping it on a Thursday. Favorite fill: EQUIVOCAL ([Wishy-washy]), PLAYBOYS ([Casanovas]), BIG TOE ([Water tester]), "USA! USA!" ([Olympics chant]), and END ZONE ([Area where excessive celebration is discouraged]).

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Friday, 4/18

NYS 5:31
NYT 4:59
LAT 4:13
CHE 3:53
Jonesin' 3:48
CS 3:11

WSJ 6:49

In Joe DiPietro's New York Times crossword, most of the longer answers and all of the 9s are phrases rather than words. I'm definitely a fan of phrasal crossword entries, though it felt like there were a lot of prepositions floating around. BUTTED OUT ([Quit meddling]) crossed EVEN OUT ([Become balanced]), PUT A BID ON ([Tried to buy]) sat atop ON THE MEND ([Improving]) across from ON LOW ([Simmering]), and other entries included AT (STOP AT, [Pay a visit to]) or UP (SLIP-UP, [Blunder]) or TO (WENT TO BED, [Retired]).

Favorite entries and clues:

• ["This is how it's really done..."] for "STEP ASIDE."
• [Note taker?] for TELLER—even with the last five letters, I didn't see where this one was heading.
• ["About Last Night..." co-star, 1986] for ROB LOWE, right near LOB and ROBE—go ahead, say "Rob Lowe lob robe" five times fast. I can't even say it more than once.
• [Curse] for POX—I love a metaphorical pox, I do.
• "Please? Please? Please?"] for "WILL YOU?"
• [Rival rival] for ALPO—Rival's a dog food brand.
• [What big eyes they have]—great clue for a terrible word, OGLERS.
• [Best by far] for CREAM—at first I read that as the verb, "The Cubs bested their opponents/they creamed them," but on second thought, we're talking nouns, aren't we? The cream of the crop is the best by far.
• AQUA VITAE are [Spirits] and for some reason, I've always liked the term.
• [Put away one's groceries] for EAT.
• [Docks] for CURTAILS.
• ["Indeed!"] for "TO BE SURE."
• [Bygone Montreal event] isn't some sort of singular occasion like a world expo but rather, an EXPOS GAME.
• The ALIEN and UFO are parked near one another—one's a [Weekly World News newsmaker] and the other's clued with [One might be involved in a hoax].

Gnarly bits:

• Those NET LEASES are [Certain rental arrangements] not known to me. The N came from NABES, clued as [Films are shown in them]. NABES are neighborhood movie theaters, if I recall correctly.
• [It's all to the Italians] is TUTTO, but perhaps TUTTI and TUTTE would also fit the clue—anyone up on Italian?
• A [Pal] is a SPORTO? I know that word, but only as a shoe brand.
• The [Cry of disgust] is PAH. Tubas, of course, emit two cries of disgust after each "oom."
• [Ocean blue] is a noun here, as is the BRINY, but neither sounds nouny at all.

Karen Tracey's New York Sun "Weekend Warrior" does indeed have plenty of Scrabbly letters in it—notably in TOPAZ QUARTZ, DIZZY GILLESPIE, and TEXT MESSAGE—but it also had some crossings I didn't like, two involving technical mumbo-jumbo. First, there's the [Intel chip brand] crossing ["___ petit placidam sub libertate quietem" (motto of the Bay State)]. I guessed XEOS and ESSE, but it's XEON and ENSE. (Ouch.) Then there's the crossing between ["Fiddler" figure] and [Baseball Hall of Famer Combs]; I guessed YENTA and EARL A., but it's YENTE and EARLE. Never saw Fiddler on the Roof, and await a lesson on the differences between yenta and yente. New York baseball players who died before my parents were born and who aren't Babe Ruth? Also not a strong point for me. (These two crossings were where Across Lite told me my letters were wrong.) Last, we have [___.net (Microsoft's web application framework)]. Really? Ouch. It's ASP. That got mucked up because I was reading [Spark] as a verb, not a noun, and trying CATALYZE for CATALYST, and that E just wasn't leading anywhere. Favorite clues: [Fictional author of the short story "The Pension Grillparzer"] for GARP; [Source of paper profits?] for newspaper ADS; [Five-time Tour de France winner Indurain] for MIGUEL (a gimme); [Dvorak alternative] for a QWERTY keyboard; [Org. that campaigned unsuccessfull to change the name of Fishkill, New York] for PETA (the name means "fish creek" in Dutch—"creek," not "kill 'em all"); [On the ground, in ballet] for A TERRE (not a term I knew, but it makes sense with minimal knowledge of French); and last but not least, ["Yo, Hadrian!"] for AVE.

Updated:

Nope, the Illinois earthquake this morning didn't awaken me. Drat! Why'd it have to happen in the wee hours when I was sound asleep?

Patrick Jordan's CrosSynergy puzzle, "GQ," twists a common misspelling/typo—the intermingling of plaque and plague—into a theme. We get a PLAQUE OF LOCUSTS, QUILT COMPLEX, and QUEST OF HONOR, with Gs being replaced by Qs. The puzzle's a pangram, too—all 26 letters are used at least once in the grid.

I did Doug Peterson's LA Times puzzle right after the CrosSynergy—whaddaya know, another theme with Qs! In this one, each of four phrases gets a QUE (which means WHAT, 61-Down, in Spanish) inserted somewhere. My favorite was the conversion of St. Elsewhere into QUEST ELSEWHERE, or ["Do not seek the Grail in this place"?]. The other theme entries ended up with ANTIQUE, PARQUET, and BASQUE in them. There's another QUE word in the fill crossing the theme—PLAQUES! It's officially the award of the day in crosswordland. Also, if you were looking for "bust A GUT" in the NYT crossword and frustrated not to find it, it's right here at 6-Across. Favorite clue: [Tried to get hits] for GOOGLED.

Sheesh! Now I've done Matt Jones's Jonesin' crossword, "A Greet Addition," and there's a LOCUST clued as [Insect in a plague], so I've circled back to the morning's first puzzle. I would now like a plaque depicting a locust. Three theme entries take a foreign-language greeting and add a letter to change the sense. BUENOS DIALS and GLUTEN TAG (my favorite one) pick up an L, and KONNICHI WAG adds a G—Spanish, German, and Italian. "Holla!" would have been a good alternate title for this crossword, no? Really fun puzzle—I enjoyed the fill and clues throughout.

Michael Ashley's Chronicle of Higher Education crossword, "Big Names," features a theme of presidential nicknames. Did you know Rutherford B. Hayes' nickname was OLD EIGHT TO SEVEN? I sure didn't. The other four theme entries were familiar, though. Cancer makes an appearance in ANTICANCER, [Powerful drug-treatment class]. Fresh but old clue for AGRA—[United Provinces of ___ and Oudh (former name of Uttar Pradesh)].

The Wall Street Journal puzzle credited to Colin Gale is really WSJ crossword editor Mike Shenk's work. In "Company Acquisitions," various company names adopt an extra letter and shift their focus. Starbucks, for example, becomes SITARBUCKS, [Company that pays Indian musicians?], and MetLife is MEATLIFE, [Company that promotes the nonvegetarian lifestyle?]. Overall the crossword was pretty easy, but the theme entry clued [Company that sets costs for masons?], T. ROWEL PRICE? I have a vague sense of rowel as something mechanical or tool-oriented. One dictionary says it's "A sharp-toothed wheel inserted into the end of the shank of a spur." What does that have to do with masons, who work with brick and stone? I have no idea, and Google didn't make it any clearer. Here are pictures—again, no sign of masonry.

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Saturday, 6/16

Newsday 6:52
NYT 6:10
LAT 4:41
CS 2:37

(updated at 8:45 a.m. Saturday)

So, Saturday afternoon I plan to head down to Hyde Park for the New Word Open Mic. Much more my speed than a standup comedy open mic, or a singer-songwriter open mic.

Joe DiPietro's 72-word Saturday NYT crossword had a few spots of levity, but seemed pretty straightforward as far as themeless crosswords go. Tons of phrases—NEXT UP, GO AFTER, LOSES TO, AIMED AT, and ACHE FOR all sort of mesh together. The upper right has a trio of answers containign 3- and 5-letter syllables: SAWHORSE, ICE QUEEN, and THE STAND. One of my favorite clues is the one for IQ TEST: [It might ask "What comes next?"]. (Does the "next" cue tat NEXT UP elsewhere, though?) I like the batch of entries that include letters as words: SCENE I, TO A T, A TO B, A PLUS, and EXHIBIT B. Apparently Delaware became known as the DIAMOND STATE because Jefferson called it a "jewel" with a strategically advantageous location. Here's the ORTEGA site, complete with the sun smackdab in the logo's middle. (Rival taco company Old El Paso gets short shrift here, with the EL PASO clue being [It's near Fort Bliss].) The trickiest clue for me was [Bologna oils], which sounded vaguely culinary in nature but turned out to be the Italian word for "art" (as in oil paintings), ARTE. The T was the last square I filled in, since [Nonsense] can be bosh just as easily as the chiefly British TOSH, and TOSH could also be clued with reggae's Peter Tosh. Extra bonus points for the non-ED past tense of LEAPT, clued as [Acted impulsively].

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Karen Tracey's LA Times themeless crossword has a grid that can inspure a dash of vertigo, but if you can piece together the four 10-letter answers that spiral around the center, you've got a leg up into each of the quadrants. (Conversely, if any of those elude you, you'll be starting from scratch with a mini-puzzle in that corner.) Favorite bits: [It's shaken but not stirred] for TAMBOURINE; my ONE AND ONLY; [First name in toasting?] for DOM (took me a while to connect that to Dom Perignon champagne); [Gossip] for WHISPERING; and [One way to be taken] for ABACK.

Raymond Hamel's Newsday Saturday Stumper was a little more of a Saturday Irker for me today. The [Symptom suffix] ATIC crossing the ol’ ETUI? (I see that the clue's a mislead, making the solver think of suffixes used with specific symptoms rather than with the word symptom—symptomATIC—but I didn't see that when I was solving and it seemed rather random at the time.) [Not ___ (not really)] as a clue for HALF? Is not half a stand-alone phrase, or is it generally not half bad? According to the idiom listing in the dictionary entry for half, not half can precede something other than bad...though it seldom does. ["Westworld" name] as a clue for YUL? Never saw the movie, and "name" in the clue made me think it referred to the name of a character rather than an actor. ELARA, one of Jupiter's 63 known moons, and far from the biggest)? Three French words commonly seen in crosswords (ETUDE, ECOLE, ETRE)? NO I.D. as [Reason for a bouncing]? COATLESS? (PANTSLESS is funny. COATLESS, not so much.) This puzzle made me kinda grumpy.

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Saturday, 5/26

WSJ (21x21) 8:30
NYT 5:49
LAT 4:54
Newsday (untimed)
CS 3:32

(updated at 8:20 a.m. Saturday—have a great weekend!)

Oh! It's kinda short notice, but I'll be out of town this weekend. My in-laws have dial-up internet service (in this day and age!) and a single phone line, so I will be away from the blogosphere and cruciverbisphere when Sunday's post should go up. Is there anyone craving a chance to guest-blog the Sunday puzzles this holiday weekend? If so, please e-mail me by Saturday morning, earlyish. Otherwise, get out there and barbecue, garden, sit in a hammock or by the pool, take superfluous naps, and enjoy the long weekend! Edited to say that Al Sanders has generously offered to cede an hour of chill-out time to handle Sunday's posting.)

The Saturday NYT by Joe DiPietro reminds me of Friday's by Mike Nothnagel—similar difficulty, similar vibe in the fill (not so "wow, I've never seen that in a crossword" but also a high enough word count not to resort to roll-your-own words with dull prefixes and suffixes tacked on). The most mystifying clues for me included [Fandangles] at 1-Across for DOODADS (Google doesn't turn up a quick demonstration of "fandangle" used that way); [Massen of the 1940s film "Tokyo Rose] for OSA (read about her here); [Brown foe] for STEELER (yes, I've heard of the Cleveland Browns, but I couldn't purge Brown University from my head—I blame Hunter College); and [1992 Pulitzer poet James] TATE (that Wikipedia article makes it sound like I'd enjoy Tate's poetry). Also tricky: [Woolly] for OVINE, not fabric, and [Winter coat] meaning a woolly ULSTER coat rather than frost (not to mention [Come down briskly?] being SKI rather than precipitation; [Ones who accept charges] for MATADORS, across from [Charged] for HAD AT (which I don't quite get); the [Special treatment] of TLC crossing the RED CARPET, a [Special kind of treatment]; the abbreviated PARK AVE. clued as [Fashionable part of N.Y.C.]; ALIS from the Oregon state motto; and the vague prepositional descriptors IN CRATES, ON DEPOSIT, and IN VALUE. Best parts, to me: That middle section with all the S words (SCOT-FREE and SCRUNCH, SWOON and SKI); [It might follow someone] for ELSE'S; the SPIT-TAKE; and a clue for NERTS that somehow didn't push me straight towards the answer. I also liked [Like some plains] for FRUITED for whatever reason.

I meant to solve the Wall Street Journal crossword tonight, but I have dawdled too much while writing this post and ought to turn in soon. More in the morning—

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The CrosSynergy puzzle by Mel Rosen is a tribute to John WAYNE, whose centenary birthday is today. You may be astonished to hear that I needed to fill in the fourth of four movie titles before I figured out who the *A*NE actor might be!

Myles Callum's (good to see his byline again—it's been a while) themeless LA Times puzzle had some terrific entries (PASSION PIT right up top, STYROFOAM, LA BAMBA, HELLFIRE). Even better were these clues: [Seer's need] isn't a crystal ball but rather OPTIC NERVE; [Union buster] is the non-labor SECEDER; [Avoid taking a bath] is CUT ONE'S LOSSES; [All, for one] is a laundry DETERGENT, while [One, for one?] is CUBE ROOT (question mark not needed there); and [Singer's employer?] is SEAMSTRESS.

Doug Peterson's Newsday Saturday Stumper had a number of knotty spots, toughest in the lower left corner for me. Have you heard of 1641 Irish Rebellion leader Rory O'MORE (also O'Moore)? I hadn't. And I knew Paul Bunyan's great blue ox was Babe, but he had a dog? Named FIDO? I did once know that LL COOL J's real name is James Todd Smith, but with a clue removing the rap context ([Performer born James Todd Smith]), the answer was sort of a nice surprise emerging in the grid.

"A Fabulous Day for Justice" gets the glory in Friday's Wall Street Journal crossword, constructed by Patrick Berry. I'd never noticed how many phrases in the legal system included such splendid adjectives. Such SPECIAL PROSECUTORS! And a perp with an OUTSTANDING WARRANT! The theme entries are tied together with a short story told in the clues and answers, following a continuous narrative from top to bottom. An entertaining theme, executed with elegance. As a bonus, the longest vertical answers contain words of praise not included in the theme: BEST-SELLERS and THE MAJESTIC.

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