NYT 7:09
LAT 5:32
Newsday 4:58
CS 3:38
My friend Amy (not to be confused with me) took me out to celebrate my birthday tonight. The strawberry margaritas on the rocks were plentiful, and the inebriation remains extant. But I tend to find the wavelength in Myles Callum's crosswords, and this Saturday's New York Times puzzle is no exception. There were just enough complete or partial gimmes ([Comic Boosler] is ELAYNE, [Soap actress Kristen and others] is ILENES, ["What's Going On" singer] wa Marvin GAYE, [Roy Rogers' surname at birth' was Leonard SLYE, the [Money machine mfr.] NCR, and Mary and Rhoda's friend Phyllis was, of course, played by CLORIS Leachman; [Pier grp.] was IL_ {ILA} and [New Wave singer Lovich] was LEN_ {LENE}) to flesh out answers with leading patterns of letters to help (when one sees *****DYAN* and the clue relates to a [Little redhead], can it be anything but RAGGEDY ANN?), and just enough misleading clues that I caught the wavelength for.
Yeah, so, I enjoyed this puzzle, but I may have a headache in the morning, and if so, I will blame the crossword. (Nothing personal). Favorite clues (some of which partner with terrifically colloquial entries): ["That may be true but..."] for "THE THING IS"; [When a procrastinator tends to something] for ANOTHER DAY (world-class procrastinator here); [It's built for a trial] for CASE; [Shot putters' supplies?] for SERUMS; [Title locale of five 1980s films: Abbr.] for ELM ST; [Chic] for A LA MODE (and doesn't ice cream make anything more stylish?]; [No-nonsense cry] for "I MEAN IT!"; Stephen [King's second] for SALEM'S LOT; [Diamond, e.g.] for STONE (as in gemstone); [They're thick] for IDIOTS; [Ones going head to head] for RAMS (started with FOES here); [Part of a rebel name] for Robert E. LEE; [Puppet glue-ons] for the delicious entry, GOOGLY EYES; comedy [Routine responses?] for HAHAS; [Response to "I had no idea!"] for "NOW YOU KNOW"; [Cry "nyah, nyah!"] for RUB IT IN; [Engagement breakers] for CEASEFIRES; [Clammed up] for the short and sweet MUM; [Felix, e.g.] for TOMCAT; the doubling-up of [Like some instruments] for REEDY and SURG (abbr. for surgical).
Nice to see the UTNE READER and ORONO, MAINE promoted beyond the quasi-crosswordese UTNE and ORONO standalones. Who the heck is [Italian tenor ___Schipa]? This guy named TITO, and apparently he could rock a hat. Two biblical clues I didn't know: [Son of Elam whose name means "God the Lord"] for ELIAH and [God commanded him to marry a harlot] for HOSEA. Having never been a Boy Scout, I was totally guessing that the [Arrow of Light earner's program] was WEBELOS. I also had no idea that ESME was the [Saki story whose title character is a hyena].
Updated:
Bonnie Gentry's themeless LA Times crossword was blessed with two wide-open corners hitched to the rest of the grid by 15-letter answers. Phrases I liked in the answer grid: LET IT GO, TOO SOON, WING IT, SHOPS AT, DRANK IN, and LAY INTO. My son Ben doesn't have any K'NEX building toys, but we have quite a collection of Legos lying fallow. Ever since that Seinfeld episode, the Chrysler LEBARON has amused me. Favorite clues: [Demoted, in recent lingo] for the neologism PLUTOED; the misinterpretable [Let off] for PARDON; [Animal, vegetable or mineral] for NOUN (aren't those fun, the clues that call for an answer like VERB or NOUNS by listing two or three examples?); [Starting point] for WOMB; [Fruity quaffs, informally] for ZINS (Zinfandels); and, because I like her, [Emmy-winning comic Sykes] for WANDA.
Doug Peterson's Newsday "Saturday Stumper" has lotsa goodies. Now, ALPHA MALE ([Leader of the pack]) and NERO WOLFE (nice clue: [Stout fellow]) appear in opposite corners of the grid, but I have no idea if they're intended as a minitheme. Is Nero the alpha male of the Wolfe pack? I always like to see Orange variations in the grid (ORANGE SODA here) because, let's face it, I'd have to get far more famous for my last name to make it into a crossword ("Middle name of ex-president of Nauru" is a bit of a stretch). ORONO, MAINE gets classed up with the addition of the state name to a crosswordese college town—just as it did in today's NYT crossword. The last square I figured out here was the crossing of the [Fictional phantom] at 6-Down with the ["Dukes of Hazzard" character]—I opted for DUKE, which, hello, is already in the clue. (Brain freeze!) It was LUKE Duke crossing Jacob MARLEY, of course. Favorite clues: the looks-like-a-verb [Calls to action] for RED ALERTS; [Less windy] for TERSER because, frankly, we had enough wind in Chicago on Thursday, and yes, I know they call it the Windy City, but not because of 70 mph winds; and [Cranium feature] for SINUS, because my kid has a durable sinus infection that seems to be laughing at the antibiotic.
Patrick Jordan's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Tattoo Review," has four theme phrases that start with popular (?) tattoos. My cousin's wife has a small BUTTERFLY on her ankle. And my cousin? A Ralph Lauren polo player logo on his upper arm. Me, if I ever got a tattoo, I'm thinking a 10x10 crossword grid, partly filled in, or maybe a 15x5 grid, easier to play around with the fill.
August 24, 2007
Saturday, 8/25
May 20, 2007
Sunday, 5/20
NYT 10:02
WaPo 9:10
LAT 9:03
BG 8:30
CS 4:25
Quick takes, because it's already Sunday afternoon:
The NYT by Seth A. Abel is called "More Headlines That Make You Go 'Huh?'" Now, I don't specifically recall its apparent predecessor, but I like this type of theme. I always enjoy poorly worded headlines that are open to horrible misinterpretation. There were a number of clues I loved, but I did the puzzle in the wee hours and have since forgotten what they were. Here's one: [Shaker formula] for NACL. Let's see...and [Palm readers?] for the brand of PDAs called TREOS. And SHAW clued as [Newsman Bernard], because before he was a clean-shaven CNN anchor, he was a mustachioed anchor on the local news in Chicago. Never heard of NFL running back KEVAN Barlow, but have now made a mental note of the spelling of that first name.
Henry Hook's Boston Globe puzzle, "Quiet, Please," adds SH to the beginning of a word in each of 10 theme entries. NOAH'S SHARK ([Not Jonah's whale?]) evoked Merl Reagle's line in Wordplay about inverting two letters in "Noah's Ark" to make "No, a shark!" I rather liked SKATING SHRINK, [Analyst on ice?].
Patrick Jordan's Washington Post crossword, "Reformed Criminals," assembles eight fictional villains and anagrams them. Just the sort of puzzle-within-a-puzzle I enjoy! With two theme entries in each corner of the puzzle, none interlocking, the grid seemed a little more open, without any super-creaky entries compromising the fun.
The syndicated LA Times puzzle, "Show of Shows," was a group effort. According to the Across Lite notepad, "Puzzle constructor Bonnie L. Gentry recently led a crossword workshop during a cruise. This puzzle's theme, title and pen name (made on a cruise) came from members of that workshop. Ms. Gentry did the rest." The five theme entries from "Mae Donna Cruz" are mashups of of three TV shows, such as COPS LOST LAW AND ORDER, clued as [Officers failed to control rioters?]. A few clunkers in the fill (such as NO EAR, clued as [Absence of musical skill]), but I did enjoy the theme entries. Despite my love of pop culture, it took me far too long to figure out that the theme involved TV shows.
Harvey Estes' themeless CrosSynergy puzzle was about par for the course, difficulty-wise, meaning easier than most of the other themeless puzzles I do. Favorite bits: SOUR NOTES and SORE LOSER, [Way below] addling me as the clue for UNDERPASS, and the pairing of COME AGAIN? and SO TO SPEAK.
February 01, 2007
Friday, 2/2
NYT 9:41
NYS 5:39
1/19 CHE 5:15
LAT 4:28
CS 2:56
WSJ 8:15
Reagle 7:18
(post updated at 9:10 and 9:50 a.m. Friday)
Ah, Friday! I like Fridays. Tuesdays are pretty good because of the extra weekly puzzles (the Onion A.V. Club crossword and Ben Tausig's Ink Well puzzle), but the daily puzzles are generally pretty easy. When Friday rolls around, it usually means a themeless NYT, a wickedly hard Sun (themed or themeless), the show-us-your-book-learnin' Chronicle of Higher Education crossword, the Sunday-sized Wall Street Journal crossword, and an early crack at Merl Reagle's Sunday puzzle.
You know how hard it is to find Bears apparel for your kid three days before the Bears play in the Super Bowl? I couldn't find a sweatshirt until the third store, and all three stores were sold out of the coveted kid-sized jerseys. The students at Ben's school have been instructed to wear Bears gear or colors tomorrow. Sports jingoism!
It's getting late, so I'll hold off on blogging about Byron Walden's Sun Weekend Warrior until the morning and focus my waning neural transmissions on the NYT by David Kahn. Holy schnikes! We've been socked with a rebus puzzle on a Friday! It would have been cruel to run it on a Thursday, rebus or no—these clues were supra-Thursday clues, and the asymmetry of the entries containing the 12 rebus squares (aside from the crossing RAINING and [CAT]S AND [DOG]S in the center) doesn't hand out easy answers. Also, Kahn's puzzle exceeds the standard word-count limit of 78, demonstrating that editors do bend the rules for puzzles they love. This crossword seemed different from most rebus puzzles in that about half the instances, the rebused letters actually stood for a [CAT] or [DOG] (as in [DOG]HOUSE and HEP[CAT]) rather than just a sequence of letters (as in [DOG]MA). It did take me a while to notice that this was a rebus puzzle—who's expecting that on a Friday?—and that there were two kinds of rebuses. Favorite and/or most vexatious clues and answers: For *HOUSE, [Place of disgrace]; I put in [CAT] and couldn't figure out how HOT[CAT] made sense. (Because it didn't, of course. [DOG]HOUSE!) I never knew CAT'S PAW meant "stooge." My mind read [E.T.S. offering] as [E.M.S. offering], so I plugged in CPR instead of GRE (Whoops. Minor difference.). [Lowly post] yielded an answer with consecutive rebus squares: [DOG][CAT]CHER. In the meat arena, [CAT]SUP is a [Burger topper] and ROULADE is a [Meat dish with a filling]. COSETS pops up again as a [Mathematical grouping]—glad that word was in another puzzle not long ago! I needed the help, frankly.
For reference, the entries with rebus action are: 1A, DOGMA; 9A, DOG EAT DOG; 14A, CAT ON; 18A, CAT-O-NINE TAILS; 37A, CAT'S PAW; 41A, CATS AND DOGS; 54A, DOGHOUSE; 62A, CATCH AS CATCH CAN; 70A, DOG IT; 1D, DOGCATCHER; 4D, VACATE; 9D, DOG STAR; 13D, DOGE'S; 31D, LOCATE; 37D, CATSUP; 38D, HOTDOG; 42D, DOGGIE BAGS; 49D, HEPCAT; 51D, CORNDOGS; and 62D, CATER. (Whew!) Unless I counted wrong, there are 94 theme squares in this grid if you include all the words with rebuses, plus RAINING. (Wow!)
Interestingly, both the Kahn puzzle and Byron's Sun puzzle included a 3-letter word with a *AR pattern, clued as [Slander, say] and [Sully], respectively. Both times, I gravitated to the same first letter, and both times, I was wrong. Slow learning curve for me this week.
Updated:
Byron Walden’s themeless Weekend Warrior in the Sun felt easier than many of his crosswords. The NW quadrant still managed to tie me up in knots—the aforementioned MAR-for-TAR issue muddled 1-Down (PRESTONE, maker of Super Flush), and I had OSCAR NOM instead of OSCAR NOD (the [Short honor?] clue seemed to hint at an abbreviation rather than short-subject films), obscuring George EADS and further hiding PRESTONE. The adjacent REST AREA is clued as [Place with stop-and-go traffic?]. Off to the right, [Pupillary sphincter] is IRIS ("A sphincter says what?"). That crosses the "Mikado" setting, TITIPU—sphincter, go, PU, Flush? Moving…right along, my favorite clues/entries here were [Last character seen in "Casablanca"] for CLOSE QUOTE (I'm partial to the hyperliteral clues that require solvers to disregard semantics); [Shine sources] for STILLS; [Space City rival] for BIG D; [With nothing too spare] for ORNATE; THE TWINS [Castor and Pollux]; [Indicator of condensation] for ETC; [Eye-catching style, for short] for ITALS; [Anger caused by chemically enhanced beef?] for ROID RAGE; and [Xing folks] for PEDS. So, how did you find the difficulty level compared to that of the typical Weekend Warrior?
I've grown fond of finding Bonnie Gentry's name in crossword bylines. Her Wall Street Journal puzzle, "Turning Around Bear Markets," was packed with anagrams. And in this Simon & Schuster book, puzzle 9 is Bonnie's masterpiece, a 17x17 crossword that's almost themeless—the unifying theme is that every single clue is a question-marked clue. If the askew clues are always your favorite, check out Bonnie's S&S puzzle.
Michael Ashley's January 19 Chronicle of Higher Ed puzzle (or, as I call it in my head, the Chronic) features five famous pseudonyms of Wild West figures. Super-jumbo-bonus points for including a blast from the past in LEO SAYER, clued as ["When I Need You" singer]; ah, the '70s! My mom bought the Leo Sayer album (the one where he wears suspenders on the cover) when I was a kid.
When solving Merl Reagle's Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer puzzle, "Socked In," the haze lifted quickly and I was able to suss out the 11 theme answers without much difficulty. James Sajdak's LA Times puzzle includes one of my favorite words, MAELSTROM, and a French-spelling theme. Patrick Jordan's CrosSynergy puzzle is called "Pinch Me!"—but the combination of one theme entry, SALT SHAKER (as in "pinch of salt"), along with GYRATING and SPIN CITY, led me to think a dance floor was busting out.
