June 17, 2006

Happy Father's Day!

Gah! I just spent almost four minutes scanning my grid before changing UNLIT to UPLIT and the "wealthy biblical land" to OPHIR. (Biblical crosswordiana is not my strong point.) Aside from that wicked little crossing, I enjoyed this Father's Day puzzle by Ben and Mark Tausig, "Dear Old Dad." Chock-full of interesting clues, though a little less irreverent than the puzzles (which I'm inordinately fond of) that Ben publishes in independent weekly papers.

Henry Hook throws a bone to fans of crosswordese geography with his LA Weekly puzzle, featuring people's names that include the names of rivers—many of them known primarily to crossword fans and potamologists.

Harvey Estes' Washington Post puzzle, "Good for What Ales Ya," does not have a beer theme, despite the title. Good stuff, even without the brewskis.

NYT 13:14
WaPo 9:43
LA Weekly 9:22
LAT 8:52
CS 3:41