Thursday

I don't know if Pete Muller has it in him to make an ordinary crossword. He had the word ladder and the AC/DC rebus in the Sun, and then the utterly S-less NYT (not a single S in the grid or clues). And now, THE_GAP puzzle in the Thursday NYT, with intentionally blank squares as sort of an anti-rebus. (If you're hung up in the timed applet and can't figure out what to enter in the gaps, try S for space. It took me about 30 seconds to hit on that solution.) Some juicy clues ("Board unit?" for MEAL, "They may be hard to beat" for ODDS, "Meat dish often served with gravy" for ALPO, "Good college for poets?" for BARD). My favorite entries were AMY and vacant-eyed DONDI.

Updated:

In the order in which I completed them:

In Edgar Fontaine's Wednesday NYS puzzle, "Do You Know Jack?", there's a FEE FI FO FUM rebus laid out an entirely different way from how Levi Denham and Nancy Salomon did it in their February 16, 2006, NYT. Both versions are fun.

The Monday NYS by Donna S. Levin is called "'Sex' Appeal." Took me a while to glom onto the theme—"Sex and the City" characters. Cute, if a tad anachronistic (at least the reruns are in syndication now).

The highlight of today's CrosSynergy puzzle by Will Johnston, "Sandwich Spot," was the intriguing fill. The Brazilian dance MAXIXE was new to me. I also like IT'S ME (so much more idiomatic than ITSI or ITISI), LET'S GO, ORMOLU, and DIE DOWN.

Ed Early's quip puzzle in the LA Times was right up my alley, too, despite being a quip puzzle. How often does that happen? (Not too often.)

The Thursday NYS is Gary Steinmehl's "Zounds!" I love the theme entries! Excellent puzzle overall.

NYT 5:57
Thur NYS 5:44
Wed NYS 5:15
LAT 3:46
Mon NYS 3:40
CS 3:31
Tausig tba