Newsday 7:10
NYT 5:25
LAT 4:57
CS 3:54
Pete Mitchell's 70-word New York Times crossword is loaded up with juicy entries. What links WAYNE GRETZKY, the [Winner of eight consecutive M.V.P. awards], with JOAN JETT, who is [One of only two women on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"], and ENRIQUE IGLESIAS, the [Singer with the 2000 #1 hit "Be With You"]? Why, that would be EROTICISM, or [Steaminess], of course, along with their fondness for letters that score big in Scrabble. Other groovy entries:
This grid has lots of shorter answers in it, but that doesn't make it much easier because there are still some tough clues.
Updated:
Leonard Williams' 68-word themeless LA Times crossword included a few names I needed every crossing for:
There were other names and titles that came together more easily, but not because I actually knew the answer based on the clue. For example: ["Funny Face" stars, 1927] are ASTAIRES in the plural. WILD ONE is the [1960 hit with the line "I'm-a gonna tame you down"]. It was also a 1958 song, a 1964 song, and a 1993 song.
I did know that ESTELLE [Harris of "Seinfeld"] played George Costanza's mother, and that [Jack who played "the Man" in "Chico and the Man"] was Jack ALBERTSON. Turning off the sitcoms, RACINE was the ["Phedre" playwright], and I might have read that in translation. RUTH Bader Ginsburg was the Supreme Court [Justice appointed after Clarence]. ANNABEL LEE is the name of an Edgar Allan Poe [1849 love poem].
My favorite answer here was GINORMOUS, or [Totally big]. I liked the etymology in the clue for BALSA, [Spanish word for "raft"]—balsa wood does indeed float like a raft. A few of the compound or multi-word answers might snag some solvers: SKI RESORT is a [Gondola setting, perhaps]. Anyone else trying to think what sort of Venetian canals might begin with SKIRE? No? Just me? [Part of a credo] is a CORE BELIEF. [Very cold] clues LIKE ICE. I'm not sure this one rises to the level of "in the language," crossword-worthy fill. Same with RAGGED EDGE, which is clued with [Tear evidence].
The answer to Daniel Stark's 72-word Newsday "Saturday Stumper" is here. Some of the clues:
Will Johnston's CrosSynergy crossword is "Steps on Broadway: A Jerome Robbins Birthday Celebration." Wow! A theme custom-made to delight you musical theater lovers, but that will leave me piecing the theme answers together with the aid of crossings. I swear I haven't even heard of TWO'S COMPANY, the [1952 revue with lyrics by Ogden Nash, featuring Bette Davis in song-and-dance routines]. I do know of THE KING AND I, but Across Lite cut off the clue in the clue list and made the letters teeny in the single clue box, so I worked the crossings for that one instead of getting it from the clue (but I would've gotten it from the clue if I'd read the full clue). I've also heard of MISS LIBERTY, GYPSY, and CALL ME MADAM, but the year, stars, and shows' writers didn't point me in the right direction at all. (Robbins did the choreography for the shows.)
I see in Robbins' Wiki write-up that HUAC, clued here as [Anti-Red gp.], figures into his biography: he named names and betrayed some friends, but later felt bad about it. Hmph! Highlights in the fill: the 10-letter STAR-GAZING and MASQUERADE; PYGMY echoing GYPSY as a two-Y, no-vowel word; THE TUBE, [London's underground, informally]; POTBELLY, or [Beer gut]; SHLEMIEL, or [Unlucky one]; and a CHILI DOG, clued kinda grossly as [Sausage topped by stew].
October 10, 2008
Saturday, 10/11
October 28, 2007
Monday, 10/29
NYS 3:47
NYT 2:41
CS 2:38
LAT 2:34
The worst thing I can say about Fred Piscop's New York Times crossword is that PANATELA, or [Slender cigar], is rather fancy for a Monday puzzle, though all eight of its crossings are fair. The best thing I can say about it is that the theme is interesting and feels fresh, there's a smattering of longer fill answers, and some clues skew in a new way. (Okay, that's at least three things.) The foursome of theme entries split -ATION words into two parts to create fake phrases. The process of carbonation is boring (but has such delightfully fizzy results if you like pop), but break that open into a CARBO NATION, or a [Pasta- and potato-loving country]. I can't believe that hasn't been used as the title of a screed against carbs (which I love). a GENE RATION's an [Allotment of heredity units?]. 1-Across and 1-Down are for smokers and drinkers, with LIT UP crossing LAGER. Now, I don't consider a LAGER a [Hearty brew] compared with, say, a brown ale or a dark beer, but I suppose even a crappy Bud Light is heartier than a brewed cup of tea. I like [Milk for all it's worth] as a clue for USE; SEAHORSE, TAN LINES, MAJORED IN, and STONE AGE; [Furrowed part of the head] for BROW (am envisioning a furrowed skull instead, and it's not a good look!); and [Stewed to the gills] for BLOTTO. I had trouble parsing the clue for LIVES A LIE; [Is false to the world] doesn't really use familiar phrasing, but I suppose the Times crossword isn't ready to venture into talking about, say, closeted gay men with wives who cruise public bathrooms for anonymous sex. Speaking of sex, [Rooters] is a funny clue for FANS if you've heard what "root" is Australian slang for.
Pete Mitchell's New York Sun crossword, "Five of Clubs," fills the golf cart with five clubs: a TAXI DRIVER, FLYING WEDGE, KERRY WOOD, CURLING IRON, and SHOT PUTTER. Throw in an octet of 7-letter fill and a pair of 10s, and it's mighty fancy Monday fill. Favorite entries: The old TV show THE FBI; ED ASNER; ROXANNE clued with a line from the Police song; and architect Frank GEHRY. GATO's clue, [Chihuahua cat], put me in mind of the cartoon chihuahua Ren and his pudgy kitty pal, Stimpy—so it pleased me no end to find REN, the [Toon pal of Stimpy], further down in the grid. [Rev.'s rev.] for FWD looks weird. It looks just as weird on my DVD remote, where the rewind key is labeled REV and the fast-forward key is FWD. What happened to REW and FF? Are those, like, so 20th century?
Updated:
I usually don't care so much for themes that feature phrases that begin and end with halves of the same word, but Paula Gamache spruces up the idea in her CrosSynergy crossword, "Supernova," by tying them together with a purpose. Phrases that begin with ST and end with AR? (E.g., STEEL GUITAR, STOP THE CAR,) By themselves, boring. Highlight the EXPLODING STAR in each, though, and the puzzle gains a reason for being. Favorite fill entries: THE BRONX, WEBSTER, ORVILLE Redenbacher, and NON-PC ([Like a sexist joke, briefly]).
Nancy Salomon's LA Times crossword is light on theme density (41 squares), but rich in fill. The theme, while small, is a tight one: "NO PAIN, NO GAIN," "NO GUTS, NO GLORY," and "NO HARM, NO FOUL" are tied together by NO-NOS crossing the center. Fill highlights: a STANDING O, SILAS MARNER, HOI POLLOI, IN GOOD SHAPE, and Damien: OMEN II.
August 15, 2007
Thursday, 8/16
NYS 6:04
NYT 3:40
LAT 4:32
CS 2:41
(updated at 8:50 a.m. Thursday)
There's another plus-sized New York Sun grid (15x16 squares) for Pete Mitchell's "Don't Be So Negative!" puzzle. It summons up thoughts of all those words with prefixes that lack non-prefixed opposites. This old New Yorker piece by Jack Winter plays with that quirk of the English language; words and phrases like "sipid," "plussed," and "for some apparent reason" populate Winter's humorous essay. The crossword gives us NOCENT BYSTANDERS, RULY PASSENGERS, MACULATE HEART, and a GRUNTLED EMPLOYEE. Then the puzzle's also jam-packed with crisp and clever clues. [Where one might use a J-stroke] means nothing to me, but it's in a CANOE? Okay. [Cranberries' land] is ERIN, not BOG, because the band called the Cranberries is Irish. Cynophobia is a fear of dogs, so the [Bad choice for a cynophobic cinephile] is CUJO. [Heated competition?] is a MEET, where racers may run in heats. I didn't know the word [Exiguous], which means SPARSE. TASS is the Soviet/Russian news agency, a [Red alert issuer?]. [Fleshy flora] is ALOE, since aloe leaves are thick and fleshy. [Sit in a barrel, maybe] is AGE—if you're wine or whiskey. An AXLE is a Chevy [Suburban bar].
I went through at least half of Alan Arbesfeld's New York Times puzzle, including the theme entries, before I thought to see how FROM / START TO FINISH was borne out in the theme entries. ENDED BART jumped out at me as being a reorganized "bartended" (though it wasn't—it was "tended bar" with just a single letter shifted to the end), but then I didn't bother checking the logic of the theme entries up above until after I was done. "Trust in me" becomes RUST IN MET, "theater of war" turns into HEATER OF WART, and a "Trailways bus" is RAILWAYS BUST. Anyone else solve the puzzle without bothering to parse the theme answers? And did anyone else laugh to see that the [2001 Oscar nominee for the song "May It Be"] was Cruciverbia's favorite songstress, ENYA? I Googled up the YouTube video—yeesh, it's that woeful song from one of the Lord of the Rings movies. (Last Wednesday's Sun puzzle by Kelsey Blakley wowed with a similar theme.)
Updated:
I got partway through Paula Gamache's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Cheers!" and saw a frightfully stodgy quote taking shape. [Start of some advice about resourcefulness], IF LIFE HANDS YOU / LEMONS...ach. Then the rest of it settled into the grid, and the advice ended ASK FOR / TEQUILA AND SALT. (Then you'll have the ingredients for a tequila body slammer.) Oh! That's hardly stodgy.
Nancy Salomon's LA Times crossword has a switcheroo theme highlighting two homophone-rich flip-flop phrases, "all for one and one for all" and MacBeth's "fair is foul, and foul is fair." Her theme entries are FARE IS FOUL and FOWL IS FAIR, and AWL FOR ONE and WON FOR ALL. Neat trick, that.
July 24, 2007
Wednesday, 7/25
NYS 6:18
NYT 3:46
LAT 3:39
CS 3:35
(updated at 9 a.m. Wednesday)
Another cursed typo in the NYT applet! I would've been right up there with Howard B, but for an errant letter.
The New York Sun puzzle by Pete Mitchell, "Nonconformity," has a little kick to it. That kick comes in the form of an outside-the-grid twist: The only theme answer inside the grid, color OUTSIDE THE LINES, hints at the gimmick. In each corner section, the entries extend outside the grid in one direction, and the letters that don't fit inside the grid spell colors. Thus, above 1-Across, LOVEY Howell, you need your BROWN crayon to complete the Down answers of [B]LOC, [R]ONA, [O]VERSKIRT (a [Woman's accessory] that is, I believe, passé by centuries), [W]EAVE, and [N].Y. MET. In the northeast corner of the puzzle, the outer color is to the right and spells ORANGE; continuing clockwise, GREEN's under the southeast corner and PURPLE abuts the southwest. Cool trick, eh? The constructor knows how to color inside the lines, too, as AQUA fits into 6-Across normally. Favorite clues: [Sauce whose name is Italian for "pounded"] for PEST[O] (related to "piston," apparently—though pestle derives from Latin pistillum, meaning what? Anyone up on their Latin?); [Niminy-piminy person] for [P]RISS; [Nice thing?] for OBJET; [Park and bowl?] for STADIA; [Guinness Book cofounder McWhirter] for ROSS (raise your hand if you know his brother's name, too); and [Typical S.E. Hinton character] for TEE[N] (Ponyboy and Sodapop!). Wondering what zarzuelas are? That link explains the opera-ish form.
Ed Early's New York Times crossword is a quote puzzle. "A dreaded quote puzzle!" you exclaim. (Or else you're saying, "Ooh, I enjoy quote puzzles." Pfft.) This example was more like a standard crossword theme than most—instead of offering you a single "aha" moment when you eventually fill in the last line, it adds a few smaller "ahas" along the way. It's fairly standard to add a [Speaker of the quote] entry, and here it's CHICO. He's balanced across the grid by [Sibling of 54-Across], his brother HARPO. Then there's an extra symmetrical pair of entries, MARX and BROS., not explicitly tied to the quote theme by the clues but aptly describing CHICO and HARPO, et al. The puzzle is further enhanced by including 15 7- to 8-letter fill entries, with John MCENROE beside OEDIPUS, HOUDINI by ARMENIA, and a TRIVIAL/COHABIT corner. My typo was in another 7, where NET COST turned into NET COSE.
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Annemarie Brethauer's LA Times crossword gets down in the dumps. It's really the pits. Why? Because the theme entries all end with things that are dug out, like pits. And in each case, the word's used in a sense other than that of a hole in the ground. There's NE'ER-DO-WELL, LAST DITCH, the GREAT DEPRESSION, the movie ENEMY MINE, and PIGEONHOLE. Extra bonus points for putting STARSHIP in the grid but not mentioning the World's Most Terrible Song, "We Built This City." I just Googled the song title and one of the first hits was this USA Today article agreeing with my assessment that this song (video here) is the absolute worst ever. Number 3 is Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (video here), but a few months ago I heard their "Dance Hall Days" on the radio, and it was painfully, gratingly awful. I think "Dance Hall Days" (video here) is every bit as abysmal as those other songs—maybe even worse.
July 05, 2007
Friday, 7/6
LAT 6:12
NYS 5:06
NYT 4:51
Jonesin' 3:46
CS 3:18
WSJ 9:48
(updated at 10:55 a.m. Friday)
Pete Mitchell had a New York Sun crossword in May, and I believe his new 70-word themeless puzzle marks his debut in the New York Times. Congrats, Pete! He seems to have a queen thing going on, as that Sun puzzle included Queen Elizabeth's ANNUS HORRIBILIS, and the NYT features GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. Lots of goodies in this puzzle, such as ABE VIGODA starring at 1-Across; BIONIC ([Having some replacement parts?]) evoking the upcoming Bionic Woman TV series; ARM IN ARM, which reminds me of the Remy Charlip book by that name that offered me a wealth of wordplay when I was a kid; more than a dozen phrases, including COME NOW and TIE ONE ON; documentary filmmaker ERROL Morris (his films are always fascinating); and a modicum of Scrabbly action. Favorite clues: [Persian's gift] for NINE LIVES; [Plaster] and [Get plastered] for the adjacent DAUB and TIE ONE ON; [Hammer activator] for PIANO KEY; [Something taken before practicing] for BAR EXAM (I kept parsing that as BARE-something); and [Dough must be squeezed out of them] for MISERS.
Well, the eejits who are setting off fireworks in my neighborhood had the sense to wait until after I'd finished up in the NYT applet before they started detonating. Alas, several small explosions accompanied Patrick Berry's 66-word Sun Weekend Warrior, and I can't believe my kid is sleeping through the noise. (It's putting me on edge—I can't imagine coping with the far more real dangers experienced by people living in Iraq.) The single most perplexing entry here was [In the afternoon, in British military slang] for PIP EMMA; scroll way down here for the explanation of why PIP EMMA means p.m. (further up that page, we learn that tweezers get their name from the trusty etui!). The single most fabulous entry is OOMPA LOOMPA, intersecting with both NICOTINE GUM and REMOULADE sauce. And then there's QUEEN ANNE (another QUEEN today) crossing QUEEG—at the E, not the Q. Favorite bits: [King, maybe] for CLUB (in cards); [Snookums] for POOKIE; [Mothers oversee them] for CONVENTS; and [Become fire-proof?] for QUIT.
Updated:
Patrick Blindauer's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Face Front," groups phrases that start with words that can be preceded by SIDE. An unexciting theme type, yes, but Patrick peps it up with more colorful clues for the theme answers. [Stair master's home?] is a WALK-UP APARTMENT, for example, and [Where push comes to shove?] is LINE OF SCRIMMAGE. Maybe it should be a rule that these themes must get a jolt from clever cluing—I'd like that, in any event. Other highlights: ZAGREB, Croatia, and the clue [Famous Christian?] for SLATER.
Pete Mitchell's byline also appears atop today's LA Times crossword, this time with theme entries that drop an E somewhere. Pete, I liked the fill in your other puzzles better! Though it is fun to contemplate Charles KURALT going HOG-WILD with a case of LABATT beer. The clue for PLASM was unnecessarily out-there: [Suffix with neuro-] gets you neuroplasm, which garners under 1,000 Google hits and which I've never encountered in 18 years in medical editing. Neuroplasm is the first one voted off the PLASM island. Ectoplasm from Ghostbusters and protoplasm will battle it out for the title of top -plasm.
Matt Jones's Jonesin' puzzle is a themeless this week. Hooray! An easy one, but with a ton of zip—pop culture (Rachel MCADAMS, PETER Farrelly, Iggy Pop and the STOOGES...and Murder, She Wrote taking place in MAINE), intersecting Stephen King novels (CARRIE and MISERY), MYSPACE, SMINT brand mints, rings for NIPPLES, South America (CUZCO and CARIOCA) and foods of the tropics (COCONUT and CITRONS). Great clue: [Battle amidst cornfields] for IOWA CAUCUS. Even when I had the IOWA part, I was still mystified.
Mike Shenk constructed the Wall Street Journal crossword under the pseudonym Judith Seretto. In "No-Par Stock," each theme entry has a PAR lopped off the beginning and the resulting phrase is clued. For example, Parade Magazine becomes ADE MAGAZINE, [Periodical for fruit drink makers?]. Tough cluing overall, and plenty of good fill (BUTTER UP, CUT-OFFS, KAWASAKI, ENERGY BAR).
