NYT 6:42
Newsday 6:41
LAT 4:57
CS 3:13
(updated at 11:15 Saturday morning)
Misha! It's been too long since we've seen a crossword by Michael Shteyman in the New York Times, and I gotta tell you, it reminds me of yesterday's Nothnagel: Lots of interesting entries and no garbage. Of course, it's a Saturday puzzle, so it's not unusual to encounter something you just plain don't know. For me, that's TALOS, the [Brass guardian of Crete, in myth]. Luckily, the crossings for that answer didn't put up any roadblocks for me. Oh, and PENNI, the [Old Finnish coin], again with reasonable crossings.
Michael built the grid around a lattice of 15-letter answers, three running across and three down:
Favorite clues and answers:
Clues that may be a tad more vexing than the others:
Updated:
Doug Peterson's themeless Newsday "Saturday Stumper" doesn't have all the zip of today's NYT puzzle, but it's just as low on the junk-o-meter. RESIT, or [Pose again], is as bad as it gets, and it's neither obscure nor ungettable. Favorite clues:
To get a solution grid for the blog, I typed my answers into the Newsday applet. It was fine for typing in a series of Across answers one after the other. Filling in crossword answers piecemeal on this applet? That would drive me bonkers.
Robert Wolfe's themeless LA Times crossword is braced by three 15-letter answers in plain language. A disbelieving "YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS" means ["This must be a joke"]. ["Better!"] means "THAT'S MORE LIKE IT." And something [Honoring a former friendship] is FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE. After you REOIL something, or [Quiet more squeaks], you may need to give it a REWASH ([Second cleaning]). There are two messes, a STY that [doesn't get picked up often] and a RAT'S NEST, or [Cluttered place]. [Yarn material?] is LIES, as in "spinning a yarn" or tall tale. Less familiar answers abound:
Thomas Schier's CrosSynergy crossword, "Boys Will Be Boys," runs together three words that can precede boy in each theme entry:
[A trio of boys] is COW STABLE GOLDEN. At first I thought all three would be agricultural/ranching in nature, but no.
The first [Three more boys] are WATER CHOIR PAPER.
The last [Three more boys] are WHIPPING PLAY FLY.
You know what would be fun? If the boys were arranged into groups of words that could double as an intelligible phrase. Say, a GOLDEN FRAT BUS (though that's not a 15). Or MAMA'S PRETTY LOVER (also not 15). You get the idea. Something more amusing than a series of words in random order.
August 29, 2008
Saturday, 8/30
July 11, 2007
Thursday, 7/12
NYS 6:07
NYT 5:28
LAT 3:27
CS 3:06
(updated at 11:55 a.m. Thursday)
Did you know that 2007 is the 300th anniversary of the birth of the mathematician Leonhard Euler? A Swiss watchmaker, Oris, has honored Euler with a limited-edition Sudoku wristwatch. Perfect for the sudoku buff on your gift list—provided you've got about $1,700 to spare.
Don't you hate it when you're doing a crossword puzzle on the Times applet and the phone rings? I didn't want to let it keep ringing because my kid had just fallen asleep, so I answered it. Market research firm looking for Spanish-speaking adults. Is that really the best way for these groups to find their target audience, calling anyone with a somewhat Spanish-looking name? Pfft.
The interrupted puzzle was Michael Shteyman's NYT crossword for Thursday. The theme entries are interlocked, with STORM CENTER crossing the other three phrases starting with POWER, WASH, and TRUST; those first words can all follow 65-Across, BRAIN. Things I admired: FAUX PAS and MAX ERNST with their X-rated action, plus [Titillating] cluing JUICY; the tennis clue [Border in the court?] for SIDELINE; buying software ON CD but getting a CD (as in certificate of deposit) at an S AND L; MED school plus the anatomical HUMERI; the colloquial theme entry TRUST ME ON THIS sitting atop the even more colloquial ME EITHER; and the [Egg-laying mammal], theECHIDNA. The [Yellow spring flower] turned out to be OXLIP (etymology: Old English ox + slimy substance). Another spring flower, the tulip, ends with the same three letters but is unrelated (it's from the Persian for turban). ASH is clued as [Wood for oars] instead of the usual baseball bat; did you see the NYT article today about how ash trees may not always be a good source for bat wood? (The emerald ash borer from Asia kills the trees, and climate change may soften the wood.)
Karen Tracey's back with another Themeless Thursday puzzle in the Sun, with a number of her trademarks in evidence. The overall Scrabblosity, check: two Zs, a Q, an X, a J, and a few Ks. A touch of geography, check: AQABA ([Eilat's neighbor across the border]). Fresh phrases, check: a LIVE ONE, OLD SCHOOL ([Opposed to innovation]), MEXICAN-AMERICAN, HAZARD AN OPINION, NIKOLA TESLA's full name. I could've sworn I learned about the [Hungarian folk dance] called the CZARDAS from a Byron Walden puzzle, but it doesn't show up in the Cruciverb database; maybe a tournament puzzle? Favorite tidbits: [One who won't mix fleishig and milchig food] for JEW; [Small cells] for AAS (as in batteries); [Current in spot?] for ANODE; [Singer at Charles and Diana's wedding] for TE KANAWA ("Tek somebody? Wha?"); and [1800] for SIX PM. Plenty of unexpected and unfamiliar (to me) clues for names like LIZA, ETTA, SHAQ, and ILSA.
The crossword conspiracy rears its head today, with OPINION in Michael's puzzle too, and ABILENE being an answer in Karen's and part of a clue in Michael's. Let the record show that I have no opinion on Abilene.
Updated:
Pancho Harrison's LA Times crossword takes 10 phrases that start or end with eye, changed the eye to a capital I, and clued the result as an autobiography. No I, Asimov here, but rather, the zombie's DEAD I, Chuck Yeager's I IN THE SKY, and a streaker's NAKED I. Cute! Bonus unrelated I action with IHOPS, [Blue-roofed franchises]—coincidentally where I had breakfast today. (Just at a single IHOP.)
Mel Rosen's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Rated AA," groups five two-word phrases with A.A. initials. I kinda liked the trio of two ["Shoo!"] clues and one ["Shoot!"]. Did you know one of the nicknames for ARKANSAS is the Bowie State> I didn't. It has to do with Bowie knives, apparently.
April 06, 2007
Saturday, 4/7
NYT 8:04
LAT 7:04
Newsday 3:29
CS 3:25
(updated at 9:40 a.m. Saturday)
Newsflash! The Chicago Sun-Times published an article about that local chap who won the ACPT. Yes, the headline falls back on the old trope of "Top puzzler, 11 letters," but the article branches out to describing Tyler Hinman's solving speed in terms of distance traveled. Tyler likes to finish early-week NYT crosswords within four blocks (a half mile) on the El, worst-case scenario, eight blocks. (Although the CTA's doing some platform construction now, and El travel times are slower—Tyler may be finishing crosswords in less distance.)
Kinda tough Saturday NYT crossword from Michael Shteyman, nyet? Nine 15-letter entries (2/3/2 sets going across, crossed by 1/1 going down), and not a one of them had a clue that gave me the answer quickly. Favorite nuggets: THE URGE; [Like some wine]/[Like wine] for OAKY and AGED; [Musical circles?] for CDS; THINKING OUT LOUD; IN A PERFECT WORLD; DON'T BE A STRANGER; EVENING RUSH HOUR; [95 for Am or 100 for Fm: Abbr.] for AT NO; [Go with] for PICK; [Salon job, informally] for EDIT; [Plantation head?] for TRANS (as in transplantation); [Capable, facetiously] for EPT; and the Iranian double-play of SHIA and SHAHS. Sweet construction, but I had trouble tuning into Michael's wavelength on this one.
Updated:
The bottom section of Lynn Lempel's themeless LA Times crossword is anchored by the phrase PECK'S BAD BOY, which I'd never heard of before. Late 19th-century books, a 1921 silent film, and a 1934 talkie—a bit before my time. The phrase (clued here as [Mischief-maker]) is in the dictionary, though. (The E crossed the last name of someone I didn't know, [Former MSNBC anchor Randy] MEIER, who could just as well have been MAIER crossing PACK's. Lucky guess.) Favorite clues: [It might get rid of a pain in the neck] for ANACIN (though really, ibuprofen would be better for that); [Triumphant cry] for YES; [Fast prelude] for MARDI GRAS; [Hamburguesa, por ejemplo] for CARNE; and [Eponymous coastal Cuban village] for DAIQUIRI.
Much easier themeless offering from Daniel Stark's Newsday Saturday Stumper.
March 14, 2007
Thursday, 3/15
NYS 4:15
NYT 4:11
LAT 3:58
CS 3:19
Is it just me, or has the Times crossword forum been nonfunctional pretty much all day? I so enjoy seeing the British Airways ad atop the "Service Unavailable" message, because I'll be flying BA in May, and I'm beginning to get a Pavlovian reaction: British Airways = 12 hours of waiting. Hmm, maybe that's not what they're hoping their ads will evoke.
Odd-looking crossword grids abound—Michael Shteyman with the NYT puzzle, and Barry C. Silk with left/right symmetry in the Sun.
In Michael's, the four corner squares are black, but they are not connected to form a big X. The theme entries, if you can call them a theme, are four entries around the grid's perimeter plus the two that cross in the middle, all of them with two X's. (XANAX and XERXES are bonus XX entries not in symmetrical spots.) I love Scrabbly letters in crosswords, and this one has a baker's dozen of X's. Toughest words: the [Brazilian dance] MAXIXE, TELESTO the [Moon of Saturn], and the race horse ALYDAR. Favorite entries: all the XX words, SAT PREP, EX-MARINES, and AT AN ANGLE. Favorite clues: [Private affair?] for EXTRAMARITAL SEX, ["Shifting gears a little" and others] for SEGUES. And have I mentioned that I like the X business?
I didn't notice the fullness of the theme, if you can call it that, in Barry C. Silk's Sun puzzle, "T Squares." Sure, there's a big T in the middle of the grid and that long TEETERTOTTERING had a lot of T's in it—but every single answer contains at least one T, too. (I'm fine with the clues not all starting with T.) I never knew the Wait Until Dark bad guy was named Harry ROAT. ROAT? Is that a real surname? Apparently it is, and it's Scottish. Military abbrevs. in both of these puzzles—TSGT is short for Technical Sergeant in the Air Force, whereas the NYT's SGTMAJ is a Sergeant Major in the Marines and is ranked above the TSGT, according to the chart at the latter Wiki link. Favorite clues: [College basketball Hall of fame] for SETON Hall University, [Sudden death can end it] for TIE, and [What hyperactive people might be on?] for THE GO. My first guess for the hyper clue was DRUGS, giving me a U at the end of the sudden death word...FLU? That's terrible! Fortunately, a trusty time zone clue and old standby NTH coaxed me out of the FLU idea.
Updated:
Raymond Hamel's CrosSynergy puzzle makes note of another key day this week (aside from Pi Day and St. Patrick's Day) in "Beware the Ides of March."
Kelsey Blakley's LA Times puzzle includes IDES in the fill, but unrelated to the theme. I had a hard time teasing out the theme in this one. Across the middle was GARRISON KEILLOR, which backwards is ROLLIE K? NO SIR, RAG. That was unilluminating. Eventually it dawned on me that the three long Across entries bound together by a vertical word down the middle began with POST, GARRISON, BASE, and FORT. Those ruminations took place after I finished the puzzle, but during the solve, I stumbled over BUMBLE, [Make a mess of], which really wanted to be BUNGLE, FUMBLE, or JUMBLE. It didn't help that the M came from Kristen MARTA, No, wait, it's MARTA Kristen; either way, not a name stored in my pop-culture bank before today.
