NYS 8:30 (a Sun PDF this time
NYT 5:56
LAT 5:23
9/14 CHE 5:15
CS 3:14
Jonesin' (untimed)
WSJ 6:38
When I solved Byron Walden's Friday New York Sun puzzle, "Joint Custody," the theme managed to elude me despite the title sending a clear message. Well, not so clear, because joint custody has nothing to do with anatomical joints, and the theme does, and yes, I admit to asking the constructor for a hint about what the theme was. The gimmick is that four answers travel clockwise around the grid's corners, and where the bend is, there's a joint embedded within the corner answer. So 22-Clockwise is a dog's TRAVEL BOWL, 5-Clockwise is STUCK NEEDLES IN, 43-Clockwise is SUSHI PLATTER, and 55-Clockwise is CRANK LETTERS. 20-Down offers a hint about the theme: in order to find the hidden joints, you must GO ON A BENDER. The rest of the puzzle has a themeless vibe to it—tough answers, tough clues. Favorite clues: [Hookers on the strip?] for VELCRO brand hook-and-loop fasteners; [Shift worker?] for MODISTE; [Dialed up?] for SOAPED; [It might carry rock and roll] for a mine TRAM; [Course pro?] for TUTOR; the unappetizing [Spotted dick ingredient] for SUET; [Correct beginning?] for HARD C and [Correct ending] for -IVE; and the aerobic CARDIO for [Spinning, e.g.].
Tough words: Well, for starters, there's TOUGHIE, clued as [It resists cracking]. [Place of confinement for the fire-breathing Typhon, in mythology] is the ever-popular Mt. ETNA. [Nursling] is an unfamiliar word for TOT or "carefully nurtured person or thing." TRETORN tennis shoes were popular among the preppy crowd in the '80s; I didn't know it was a [Swedish sneaker brand]. A [Meteoric stone that can be carbonaceous] is a CHONDRITE. Guess what? Four years ago, my hometown got walloped by incoming chondrites, some zooming through rooftops and windows but most landing on the ground harmlessly. A KILOCURIE is a [Unit of radioactivity]? I'm sure it is. ERBIUM is [Element #68], and I don't have a clue what it's good for.
Fun entries: the DIVINYLS, [Band with the 1991 hit "I Touch Myself"] (lyrics here, video here—I don't know this song because by 1991, I was three years past college and too cool for current pop music); EVAN BAYH getting promoted from last-name-that-helps-a-constructor-finish-the-corner to full name; the cross-referenced OBLADI and OBLADA.
(P.S. Did you happen to notice that the black squares in this 14x15 grid aren't placed symmetrically?)
Moving along to the unthemed New York Times crossword by Harvey Estes—A couple answers came extra quickly after they appeared in other crosswords this week: astrologer Sydney OMARR, whose column I read when I was a kid, and the [Pacer maker: Abbr.] of carmaker AMC. It took some time to piece together the two triple-stacks of 15-letter entries, even though LEAVES A BAD TASTE came to mind quickly—I blame 5-Down, [Large accounts?] I knew what the clue was getting at, but opted for SAGAS instead of EPICS and thus questioned my 1-Across ideas. The other long ones are ART APPRECIATION ([Class in which various schools are discussed]), BY TRIAL AND ERROR, the lovely ESCAPE MECHANISM ([Daydreaming, e.g.], DEAD AS A DOORNAIL, and (out of character with those five lively phrases) the blah ASSESSMENT ROLLS ([Records of interest to real estate agents]).
Toughest and/or most beloved clues (the two are often synonymous for me): [Distillation location] for LAB (I was thinking moonshine, as in BEAM, the [Bit of moonshine]). An [Adolescent outburst] may be ACNE. [Initials of a noted "Wizard"] means TAE, Thomas Alva Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park (no known Harry Potter connection). [Go downhill] means ATROPHY (not SKI!). [Drive along leisurely] is TOOTLE (really!). The old word LEGIST means [Expert in ancient law]. A bed SHEET is a [Retiree's coverage?]. The automotive term for a bad [Front wheel divergence] is TOE-OUT. RICE is [Something needed for your sake]. An unfamiliar name is referenced for ERICAS: [Lois Lane player Durance and others]. From the original Superman show? Nope: From Smallville. I don't know about [Didn't paw] for FONDLED; unwelcome fondling would still be pawing, no?
Other worthy entries: ATTAGIRL; VARMINT; ["30 Rock" creator] TINA FEY (that was my favorite TV show last season—season 2 begins next Thursday night, and you can get caught up on last season via DVD); the [Emphatic turndown] I MEAN NO; and FRIEDA, the [Curly-haired "Peanuts" character].
Updated:
By the way, I asked Byron to tell us a little about the construction of his oddball Sun puzzle. Watch for that later today in the comments.
Anthony Salvia's Sept. 14 Chronicle of Higher Education crossword, "Arts Trek," presents four 15-letter works of art (a painting, symphony, novel, and play) that include parts of our solar system in the title. As with most CHE crosswords (deftly edited by Patrick Berry), the fill is interesting and the clues are smart—maybe a touch more literary and scientific literacy is called for, but there's still a smattering of pop culture. If you like tougher themed crosswords, you should make a point of solving this one each week. I download it on Fridays from Cruciverb.com, where the puzzle from two weeks before is posted. If you've missed some, Will Johnston's calendar page has all the Chronicle puzzles from 2007.
Donna Levin's LA Times puzzle is excellent, too. The theme entries include puns with Japanese words. [Boozy Japanese woodworker?] plays on Karen Carpenter and Kirin beer: KIRIN CARPENTER. A few favorite clues: [Baba not au rhum] for ALI Baba; [Four spot?] for a spot of TEA at 4:00; [It might land you in deep water] for DIVE; and [Newtonian fruit?] for FIG newtons.
Thomas Schier's CrosSynergy puzzle has four phrases starting with words that can follow MEAT. Meat MARKET ANALYST, fine. Meat LOAF OF BREAD and meat BALL BEARING, savory. Meat HOOK AND LADDER, though...I don't want to think about meat hooks!
The Matt Jones puzzle I solved last week, concurrent with the launch of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, is this week's Jonesin' puzzle, "In the Language." The theme entries are words that have been added to this new edition of the SOED. If you didn't make time for the puzzle last week, now's your chance!
Randolph Ross's Wall Street Journal crossword, "Launch Time," includes nine NASA missions in the theme entries. The resulting batch of phrases is crisp: FREDDIE MERCURY and JUPITER, FLORIDA share space with VIKING PRESS, for example. Easier than most WSJ puzzles, too—it can be fun to zip through a puzzle faster than you were expecting.
September 27, 2007
Friday, 9/28
June 20, 2007
Thursday, 6/21
NYS 5:54
Time Out 5:14
NYT 4:19
LAT 4:14
CS 2:58
(updated at 9:45 a.m. Thursday)
The Thursday NYT crossword is credited to John Sheehan, which is not a familiar name. This might be his constructorial debut—if so, congratulations!
Anthony Salvia's Sun crossword, "Lots of Love," hinges on the tennis definition of love: NOTHING (25-Down). The four longest entries contain rebus squares that spell out ZIP, NADA, NIL, and ZERO (as in [ZIP]-A-DEE-DOO-DAH, baseball great BILL MA[ZERO]SKI, VA[NIL]LA FUDGE, and MONTREAL, CA[NADA]. Until I figured out the rebus, I was drawing a blank on what 4-letter city could be the [Capital on Luzon]; ah, MA]NIL]A! Someday I will get there. Fairly tough puzzle aside from the rebus action—did I know that Mia HAMM had a book? I don't think I did. The 4-square blank for [Hefty competitor] sure looks like GLAD until the [ZIP]LOC rebus nudged its way in there. Did I know that AERO was an internet domain name? I sure didn't. How about [Three-time NBA All-Star Larry] NANCE? Nope. Also didn't know Darryl Dawkins and his famous DUNKs—but it's an entertaining Wikipedia article so I'm glad I looked him up. There were other things I just plain didn't know, but I found the crossings to be eminently reasonable as I didn't have to blindly guess anything. What I liked best, aside from the rebus action: [Bolt with no threads?] for STREAK (streakers have a website complete with photos); KIT BAG; [Prepared to show] for GROOMED (as in dogs going to the Westminster Dog Show); DONUT crossing DUNK; and [They might get swung at if they go through the strike zone] for SCABS (I'm pro-union).
Sheehan's NYT crossword contains six theme entries with anagrams tied to the all-caps clues with an adjective. For example, [GENRES] are TOSSED GREENS, and PROSE scrambles up to KNOTTED ROPES. The resulting phrases aren't all ones that feel "in the language" to me—like KNOTTED ROPES and ADDLED BRAINS. FAUX PAS (clued with [SAP]) is completely "in the language" (in two languages, in fact!), and BAD DEAL ([LEAD]) has more Google hits than I'd expected. Speaking of that last one, did you first try NEW DEAL and/or RAW DEAL in that post, as I did? Favorite parts: the three Xs and a Q in the grid; [It may come after you] for ARE; [America's Cup, e.g.] turning out to be EWER rather than RACE; [You can see through it] for the IRIS of your eye; and [Turn blue, e.g.] for DYE (no sadness, no hypoxia!). I don't think I've ever seen crossword regular ASP clued as [1950s-'60s American rocket; Wikipedia says the Asp rocket was "used 30 times to study the explosion clouds of nuclear bombs." Who knew?
Updated:
Apparently Brendan Emmett Quigley will have a weekly crossword in Time Out New York. Seems to be only in the icky sort of Java applet I don't much like (I kept reading the wrong clues and typing over the letters I'd already entered), alas. This week's offering, "Puzzle It Over," has a meta theme of crosswords themselves.
Stella Daily and Bruce Venzke's LA Times crossword offers three 15-letter definitions of HERO, sort of a reverse clue/answer set. (Nice 8-letter entries splashed throughout the grid, too.) Martin Ashwood-Smith's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Spring Training," has a similar theme—the theme entries have springing-related clues, [HOPPER], [SKIPPER], and [JUMPER].
April 25, 2007
Thursday, 4/26
NYS 6:25
NYT 4:47
Jonesin' 4:18
LAT 4:15
CS 3:12
(updated at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday)
Last week, David Quarfoot commented elsewhere that he hoped last Saturday's NYT would be a Nothnagel (turned out to be a Walden instead). That dream was merely deferred by five days, as the Thursday NYT is by Mike Nothnagel. So this crossword from the math teacher of the day (the other two guys mentioned in this paragraph teach math) features a rebus theme, IT'S GONNA COST YOU. How much? Two [ARM]s and two [LEG]s. The [ARM]s appear at the intersections of B[AR M]ITZVAHS/DE[AR M]E and W[ARM]S/OSC[AR M]AYER, and the lower limbs kick it in NOB[LE G]ASES/AL[LEG]EDLY and CIRC[LE G]RAPH/PEG[LEG]. That CIRC[LE G]RAPH had an out-there clue: [Something never shown in bars]. Favorite bits: [A couple in Mexico?] for DOS; TAX RATE (I see my tax accountant tomorrow!) crossing XBOX; OH BOY (as well as OK OK, I FOLD, NOT SO, DEAR ME, and AH ME, rounding out the conversation part of this crossword, not counting a couple partial entries); [Not same-sex] for COED (yes! adjective! never a noun!); ZOOM and LENS, clued separately; [Old war story] for ILIAD; and IKE clued not as Eisenhower but as ["South Park" brother].
Anthony Salvia's Sun crossword, "A Tale of Jimmy the Greek," tells a short story in which each line features a dreadful pun with a Greek letter. The big trouble spot for me was the crossing of [Go ballistic], which could be RANT or RAVE as easily as RAGE, with two words that had dead-end clues. ["The Big ___" (Dr. Seuss short story)] turns out to be "The Big Brag" (look! available used via Amazon for less than $100!), but given Dr. Seuss's propensity for coining words, this one was a you-know-it-or-you-don't answer. (I didn't.) RAGE also crossed [Hogchoker, e.g.], which I've never heard of. Apparently it's an Atlantic fish along the lines of SOLE, but sheesh, it's not as if hogchoker is anything I've seen on a seafood menu. Anyone else find that to be a terrible crossing? What I liked: [One with three womb-mates] for QUAD; [One-piece brand] for SPEEDO; J. GEILS and W.C. FIELDS; [Problem in many photos taken with a flash] for REDEYE; and [Sweat spot?] for BROW (why the question mark here?).
Updated:
Remember the word golliwog being used in the Sun recently as a clue for OGRE? I just came across this Slate.com slide show of racist advertising spokescharacters, including Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima, golliwogs, the Frito Bandito, "Chinese Cherry" Kool-Aid's bucktoothed cherry, and more. Interesting text alongside each image places the ads in context.
Aw, too bad Thomas Schier's finger-themed CrosSynergy puzzle ("Digital Analysis") came out three days after David Pringle's NYT crossword. He's got all five digits with THUMB TACK, but in lieu of Pringle's PINKY TUSCADERO, he's got the plainer LITTLE ONE.
Jack McInturff's LA Times puzzle has one of those themes where the answers define words that sound alike—here, [Antes], [Aunties] (which sounds the same in my regional accent but not in all), and [Antis] (which I pronounce ant-eyes, particularly when used as a noun rather than a prefix). Highlight: being tricked by the clue, [Jordan was once in it: Abbr.]. Wait, is that the UAE or the UAR? Neither—the NBA, as in Michael Jordan.
Some more:
Matt Jones' Jonesin' puzzle for this week is called "I Suspect Vowel Play," and the theme entries are words or phrases with double vowels...including SKYY brand vodka. The NINTENDO WII gets some play, as does the Scrabbly THE BRONX ZOO, and the Homer Simpson ploy to get disability pay involved getting so obese he had to WEAR A MUUMUU. Next to the latter entry is NED, clued here not as Homer's neighbor but as the Groundhog Day character Ned Ryerson, the insurance agent ("Am I right or am I right?" We still use that line around my house.). In the fill, there's a band I've never heard of (AFI, complete with unusual hairstyles). Favorite clue: [What you once was] for THEE.
