Friday, 10/31

WSJ 8:35
Sun 6:24
NYT 5:37
CHE 5:17
LAT 3:41
CS 3:12

(updated at 11:45 a.m. Friday)

Hey, word nerds! Do you like spelling? Check out the online Spelling Bee at the Virtual Thesaurus site. It uses all sorts of fancy-pants algorithms to figure out what sort of words to give you—if you're not a terrific speller, it won't give you words like caracole. If you do have mad spelling skillz, it'll challenge you a lot but not punish you for getting some difficult words wrong. The top score is 800, and I can attest that you can score 800 despite missing a sizeable percentage of your words. (I flubbed 8 of my last 50 words.) If you play long enough, it'll give you another crack at words you gave up on—and it shows you the correct spelling when you "surrender," so pay attention to those freebie answers.

I learned about the Spelling Bee from Ben Zimmer's OUPblog post.

I must tear myself away from the Spelling Bee to tend to the crosswords.

Jim Page's New York Times crossword starts with a mini-theme—["Easy does it!"] clues the two intersecting 15-letter answers, TAKE A DEEP BREATH and WHAT'S THE BIG RUSH—and builds the rest of the puzzle around it with fill that groups itself into assorted topic areas.

We've got some pop culture:

• Chuck NORRIS is the ["Good Guys Wear Black" star, 1978].
  
• ADAM WEST is the [Actor voicing the mayor on "Family Guy"].
  
• DAME EDNA is [Aussie with purple hair and ornate glasses].
  
• The [Sammy nicknamed "The Red Rocker"] is Sammy HAGAR.
  

And some geography:

• ISR., or Israel, is a [Big exporter of diamonds: Abbr.]. A [Nazareth native, e.g.] is a SABRA, or one born in Israel.
  
• BADEN is a [Black Forest resort] known for its mineral springs. BADEN means "baths."
  
• The [Capital of the Apulia region] in Italy is BARI.
  
• SAO fills in the blank in [__ Jorge (Azores island)].
  
• [Chicago's Little Village, e.g.] is a BARRIO. I've never heard it called that here, but Wikipedia is pretty convincing.
  
• RENNES is the [Capital of the Brittany region].
  

And some high culture:

• [Maestro ___ de Waart] is named EDO, and the [Longtime La Scala music director] is Riccardo MUTI.
  
• ARTES are [Cultural doings in Cadiz].
  

And some nibbles:

• PASTA / SALADS are [picnic dishes].
  
• SNO Balls are what's meant by [Hostess ___ Balls].
  
• A [Little something] to snack on is a NOSH. Have you read Giles Coren's excoriation of his newspaper editors for changing "where to go for a nosh" into "where to go for nosh."
  
• A [Drink with a straw] is a MALT.
  
• [Some porters] are STOUTS.
  
• SODAS are [Ballpark concessionaire's offerings]. So are BEERS, of course.
  
• NACHOS are [Some chips]. Wow, this puzzle is loaded with junk food.
  
• FETA cheese is a [Topping on a Mediterranean pizza] that I would not eat.
  

I had a couple favorite clues here. [Be too reserved?] clues OVERBOOKS, as in a restaurant or flight. [Artemis or Atalanta] is a HUNTRESS. Forget the hunting part—have you seen Free To Be You and Me, in particular the Atalanta story? It's a feminist retelling of the Atalanta myth.

I was ready for Donna Hoke Kahwaty's Sun crossword, "For Startlers," since I'd already done two Halloween-themed puzzles with BOO words this week. This time, the BOOs are bunched into eight rebus squares, with RAY "[BOO]M [BOO]M" MANCINI holding down the fort in the middle. Lots of hard clues in this puzzle:

• [Game played with unmentionables?] is TA[BOO].
  
• [What the king of diamonds holds] is an AXE. Really? Yes.
  
• [Chacmas, for example] are BA[BOO]NS. Chacmas? Yes, grayish black baboons of southern and eastern Africa.
  
• [Sprinter Pistorius] is named OSCAR. This one was vaguely familiar.
  
• ICE-NINEI This clue wasn't hard for any Vonnegut fan—[Ocean freezer in "Cat's Cradle"]—but I love the entry and wanted to mention it. Read more here.
  
• I took [Site to read the writing on the wall?] too literally, picturing an actual wall. The answer's FACE[BOO]K. Facebook is where I encountered the link to Ben Zimmer's post about Spelling Bee.
  
• [Used kettlebells, say] clues EXERCISED.
  
• [Last rewards?] are [BOO]BY PRIZES. This one's not so tough, but again, a great entry.
  

If this puzzle took you longer than you thought it would, you can take solace in the fact that it has 15 more squares than usual—the grid is 16 rows tall, not the standard 15. Before I hit the sack, let me single out one other marvelous answer—[BOO][BOO] BEAR, the [Ursine sidekick] of Yogi Bear.

Updated:

Donna Levin's LA Times crossword contains some voting-related puns that took me a while to unravel:

• [Voter from Twain's hometown?] is a HANNIBAL ELECTOR, playing on fictional creepazoid Hannibal Lecter.
  
• [Meetings of the Hypnotist Party?] are TRANCE CAUCUSES. This plays on the Transcaucasus region, which includes parts or all of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. That's some high-end geography-based punning there, isn't it?
  
• [Communist goon candidate whose name isn't on the ballot?] is a RED WRITE-IN HOOD, playing on Red Riding Hood.
  
• [Convention deadlock?] is a DELEGATE BALANCE, building on a "delicate balance."
  

Favorite clues: [Like a unicorn tamer, in myth] for CHASTE; [Malay word for "man"] for ORANG; and [Rose born William Bruce] for AXL. Tricky bits: [Ready, willing and able: Abbr.] for ADJS (short for "adjectives"); [Glacier National Park's Garden Wall, e.g.] for ARETE.

The trio of Todd McClary, Craig Kasper, and Andrew M. Greene teamed up to make this week's Wall Street Journal crossword, "Election Headlines." The meat of each plausible news headlines is clued as if it pertains to a particular person. Three examples:

• [Candidate Benny Goodman] GETS SWING VOTE, as he was a swing/Big Band musician.
  
• [Candidate Orville Redenbacher] MAKES CONCESSION SPEECH, because Redenbacher's a popcorn brand and popcorn's sold at movie theater concession stands.
  
• [Candidate Gingerbread Man] LOSES IN RUNOFF, because the Gingerbread Man was always running away to avoid being eaten, but was eventually scarfed down by a wily fox who outwitted him.
  

Randall Hartman's CrosSynergy puzzle, "In a Stew," says that [What you're working on (and a literal hint to 17-, 28-, and 47-Across)] is a CROSSWORD PUZZLE or rather, a puzzle containing cross words:

• YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS is one [Grumpy remark], though it sounds more disbelieving than cross to me.
  
• I CAN'T BELIEVE IT is clued as another [Grumpy remark], though it too sounds more disbelieving than testy.
  
• The final [Grumpy remark] is indeed grumpy: THAT TICKS ME OFF.
  

The two longest Down answers sort of tie in with the theme. To [Have a cow] is to GET UPSET, but after all the crossness, the wise one FORGIVES, or [Shows compassion, perhaps]. [Comedian Murray] clues JAN, and that name didn't ring a bell for me. Turns out Jan Murray was a Borscht Belt comedian, né Murray Janofsky. [Those who stop Lightning strikes?] was no gimme for me—it's GOALIES, so the Lightning must be a hockey team. Or maybe soccer? No, hockey—the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning.

Todd McClary also has a solo outing today, with this week's Chronicle of Higher Education puzzle, "Literary Bent." There's one standard theme entry, POETS' CORNER at 16-Down ([Westminster Abbey burial ground, four residents of which are hidden in this grid (in appropriate places)]. Apparently there are 28 writers buried there, as well as many others commemorated with plaques. Four of those buried there are also interred in the poets' corners of this crossword grid. Edmund SPENSER runs around the NW corner, upwards in EPSOM and to the right in the unusual ENSERFS ([Binds to the land]). Abraham COWLEY rest in the NE corner, in SCOWL and LEYTE. John DRYDEN goes down in REDRY and backwards at the end of KENNEDY in the SE quadrant. And Thomas HARDY occupies the last corner, backwards in AHEAD and upwards in HYDRA.

Plenty of tough clues, like [Post-recession measure?] for a TOUPEE, STU [Holcomb who coached for Miami and Purdue] (who?), and WELCH [__ Hall (Yale freshman dormitory)].

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Sunday, 8/26

NYT 11:28
BG 10:10
LAT 9:43
PI 8:04
WaPo 7:01
CS 4:18

Strange thing, that. Last night I overimbibed and still finished the Saturday Times puzzle about 15% faster than Byron Walden, my NYT applet benchmark. Today I spent 12 hours with my son, two nephews, and assorted kids (and plenty of grown-ups) at the Museum of Science and Industry, and I finished the Sunday puzzle about 25% slower than Byron. Sheesh, I probably shouldn't drive after spending that much time with young children. Clouds the noggin!

The New York Times puzzle, "Getting Ahead," is credited to two constructors, Andrew Greene and Craig Kasper, but Craig let me know that he and Andrew had two other collaborators, Todd McClary and Jeffrey Harris, who would perhaps be listed as co-constructors if the byline had enough room. This marks Andrew's debut, and if you happen to take any photos of people solving this puzzle, he'd love to get a copy. The theme of the foursome's puzzle is getting a head into the grid: The circled squares spell out facial/head features in the appropriate places. HAIR atop SCALP over the BROWS, a pair of EYES with vertical EARS just past them, a NOSE in the middle, and LIPS and CHIN holding the whole thing up. These 10 body parts are contained within long "theme entries," unrelated but for the inclusion of facial features. And look, over there at 80-Across—somebody's got a TOE dangling from an EAR. (Here are some badger toe bone earrings to complete the puzzle.)

What took me longer than usual? Well, that whole 1-Across corner fought me, for one. The [Toddler's mealtime accessory] is a BOOSTER CHAIR, but somehow having a 7-year-old means I've wiped the slate clean of toddler memories. The cross-referencing of 1-Across to 7-Across, which in turn referenced 1-Across and 61-Across, was kind of a nasty trick. (The EMBLEM of the IMAC is an APPLE.) The [Steve Martin romantic comedy] killed me, too—I thought of ALL OF ME and ROXANNE (but not THE JERK) when the 7-letter movie title needed was L.A. STORY. Ack! Cluing EBB as a noun ([Point of decline]) and sprinkling in BORAXO ([Heavy-duty hand soap]) and MOORAGE ([Dock payment]) didn't help that corner fall easily.

Favorite clues: [Crawl space?] for PUB; [Safari, e.g.] for WEB BROWSER; [Knight time?] for YORE; [___ Rose] for AXL; [Worth trying?] for ACTIONABLE, as in giving cause for legal action (here is an entertaining rant about the word being shanghaied by corporatese types); and [Subj. follower] for PRED. (short for predicate, as learned from Schoolhouse Rock's "The Tale of Mr. Morton"). Why is a KAZOO a [Skiffle instrument]? Skiffle is a "type of folk music with a jazz and blues influence, usually using homemade or improvised instruments."

Unfavorite aspects: ACIDY and RETAG are the kind of words that may appear at the end of a dictionary entry for the main word, in a fat and comprehensive dictionary, but don't get much use in the language. They're thisclose to being "roll your own" words. BLARNEYED ([Persuaded with flattery]) as a verb, also not as common as the noun blarney. That word and HEYERDAHL ([Noted explorer of Polynesia]) contain EYEs and the A of the crossing EARs. [Defense contractor whose stock symbol is the same as its name] is much less fun than Cousin Itt when it comes to ITT clues. I didn't know [Creatio ex ___ (Christian tenet)]; here's a definition of creatio ex NIHILO.

Updated:

Henry Hook's onlineBoston Globe puzzle, "Takeout Menu," strips the theme entries of a word in the clue, leaving an incomplete answer. Thus, [Thrill-seeker, out of tune?] is soldier of fortune minus tune, or SOLDIER OF FOR. Most obscure clue/answer, for me: [College basketball's Coach of the Year Award eponym] for Henry IBA, a complete unknown to me. (I wasn't following Oklahoma State hoops action during my toddler years, nor before I was born.) It's a tad surprising that this name doesn't find its way into crosswords more often. Two-thirds vowels?

Harvey Estes' themeless CrosSynergy puzzle, is packed with lots of colloquialisms, so it's a fun solve.

Gail Grabowski's syndicated LA Times puzzle, "In Reverse," adds BACK to the end of each theme entry, since BACK can change the meaning of the second part of each theme entry. I was fooled by the first theme entry, DIAMOND CUTBACK, because diamondback is also a meaningful word, but actually, the theme hinges on diamond cut and cutback. (Unless, that is, chicken back and jelly back are meaningful entities...)

Robert Doll's Washington Post crossword, "I Spy," has seven theme entries starting with spy-type words, like SECRET (INGREDIENT), UNSEEN (DANGER) and CRYPTIC (CROSSWORD). Nice theme, and a super-smooth, easy solve.

Merl Reagle's Philadelphia Inquirer offering, "A Kinder, Gentler Puzzle," puns on nine violent phrases to make them more palatable. For example, Give 'Em Hell, Harry morphs into GIVE 'EM HELP, HARRY, and barroom brawlers no longer have blood on their hands, they have spilled BUD ON THEIR HANDS.

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