Sun 3:50
NYT 3:49
LAT 3:35
Tausig (untimed)
Hey, sometimes Brendan Quigley makes crosswords that people pay him for, and not just those three free puzzles each week at his blog. His New York Times crossword has four theme entries, four phrases that have INGQ (or just GQ) in the middle. That sounds lifeless, doesn't it? It's not, because the Q is always up for a good time and the phrases are interesting ones:
I got off on the wrong foot with this puzzle by making 1-Down a wandering EYE instead of JEW. I just this minute learned that there was a wandering Jew in medieval Christian folklore—I only knew it as a houseplant. That corner was the last part I filled in, and KIRI wasn't helping me one whit (that's [___ Davis, "A Girl Like Me" documentarian].
I've got some favorite clues and whatnot:
It wouldn't be a Thursday Times without some curveballs:
Tony Orbach's Sun "Themeless Thursday" reminded me a bit of Karen Tracey's puzzles thanks to some Scrabbly names. There's TORQUEMADA (is it a coincidence that this [Cruel inquisitor] appears opposite MISTREATED with SADIST in between?) and the band JAMIROQUAI, and a most timely PONZI SCHEME crossing UZBEK. There's also a bakery zone, with TEACAKE (I'd have loved it if that were clued as the character in Zora Neal Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God) atop SODA BREAD. Never heard of the ["Mighty Mouse" villain] called OIL CAN HARRY. Favorite clue: [Jessica Simpson, to Bronx Mowgli Wentz] for AUNT. I haven't heard the term [Pigeon-hearted] before; it means MEEK. I was disappointed that the puzzle didn't have more challenging clues, but relieved that Tony didn't pelt me with an unfamiliar fish crossing a Puerto Rican fried food (as he did in his first NYT themeless).
Updated:
In his LA Times crossword, David Kwong riffs on the phrase "kill two birds with one stone" with some rock 'n' roll trivia:
Assorted clues:
Ben Tausig's Ink Well/Chicago Reader puzzle, "Reel Copies," has a theme that was utterly unfamiliar to me when I test-solved it.
Miscellaneous non-theme clues:
February 25, 2009
Thursday, 2/26
April 23, 2008
Thursday, 4/24
NYS 5:51
NYT 3:53
LAT tba
CS 3:16
Happy birthday to my son Ben, who turns 8 on Thursday. Birthday greetings also to three other charming people born on April 24—you know who you are.
Michael Langwald's New York Times crossword has a rebus puzzle (not in the sense that crossword folks use the term rebus for squares containing multiple letters) hiding within it. The [1965 hit by the performers suggested phonetically by the ends of 18-, 24-. 37- and 56-Across] is Sonny and Cher's "I GOT YOU BABE". (Here's an ancient video clip of their performance.) The four entries that are referenced are MIDNIGHT SUN ([Summer arctic phenomenon]), WOUNDED KNEE ([1890 battle site that's now a memorial]), SAINT ANNE ([Grandmother of Jesus]—really? I did not know that), and MARKET SHARE ([Measure of a company's dominance]). The ends run together thus: SUN KNEE ANNE SHARE. Seems like an odd way to assemble a crossword theme, but it's a good odd and a welcome departure from the ordinary.
I really should have finished the puzzle faster—the answers were tumbling easily, but the typing thereof? Not so smooth. TO SCALE was TOSSCAL the first two times I tried to enter it, and I kept typing answers in the wrong direction or order. Oy! Here's a clue I don't understand: SOL is clued with [G]. Are those equivalent musical notes or something? Favorite clues: [Mayo can be found in it] for AÑO (Spanish "year," Spanish month of May); [Hamilton who wrote "Mythology"] for EDITH (a highlight of high school, that book); [It'll never fly] for EMU; ["Sanford and Son" setting] for WATTS (Sonny and Cher's TV shows and Sanford and Son both ran from 1971 to 1977—and I was watching them); and [Prepare to serve] for ENLIST (I was thinking first of food served on a tray, then of tennis). I didn't know that CHUTNEY was [Condiment made with a mortar and pestle], but I did know that I love chutney, especially to cut the heat of curry spices. BERTHA was [Charlemagne's mother]? (Also known as Bertrada of Laon, who hooked up with King Pippin the Short, who may or may not have been a hobbit.) [War preceder] wasn't HEIGHTENED TENSIONS at all but rather, MAN O'. Did you know the Portuguese man o' war is not a jellyfish? Read all about it. [Cross as ___ (annoyed)] is A BEAR, and I don't know how many people still use that phrase—but bears certainly can be cross, as demonstrated by the one from the Will Ferrell movie that just killed its trainer this week. (Eek. Poor guy.)
The New York Sun "Themeless Thursday" is by Sue Alexander, and I don't recognize the name—a constructor's debut? She's got a smooth mini-theme: FEET ON THE GROUND and HEAD IN THE CLOUDS. I wonder if it's intentional that their locations are topsy-turvy, or if the fill just wasn't working with THE CLOUDS up top.
Favorite entries and clues: BIKER BAR, clued as [Hangout where you might see a lot of hogs]; SICK AS A DOG; the literal MOON-WALKER or astronaut [Alan Bean, for one]; [Hit singer, perhaps?] for RAT (who might "sing" or rat on a hitman); and [Things assumed to be false?] for ALIASES.
Updated:
Lynn Lempel's CrosSynergy crossword is a good mid-week puzzle. The "Female Leads" in the theme entries (unified by SHE at 66-Down) are female animals, but those words are part of longer words in the two shorter theme entries and span two words in the longer ones. There's a SOW in SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW and a DOE in DO EXACTLY AS I SAY—both great entries even if you ignore the animal gimmick. HENRY CLAY and COWABUNGA contain a HEN and COW. Bonus points to the constructor for plunking WILDEBEEST in there as a fill answer.
David Kwong also has a cool theme in his LA Times puzzle. PETER AND THE WOLF anchors the theme, and the other four theme entries are phrases in which a word is replaced by the instrument that portrays that character in Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. The oboe plays the part of the duck, I have learned from a great many crossword clues over the years. So duck and cover ([Protection method from flying debris]) becomes OBOE AND COVER. There's a bird represented by the flute, so we get a tropical FLUTE OF PARADISE ([New Guinea's black sicklebill, e.g.]). Grandfather and bassoon are linked, so grandfather clock ([Tall timekeeper]) is a BASSOON CLOCK. And the clarinet stands in for the cat, so cat burglar ([Stealthy sort]) becomes CLARINET BURGLAR. The theme's explained in a Notepad note in Across Lite; I suppose the same explanation is given in the actual newspaper. That's probably a good thing, because if you don't know anything about PETER AND THE WOLF, the theme entries would be truly mystifying.
March 22, 2008
Sunday, 3/23
NYT about 9:00
BG about 9:00
WaPo about 8:45
Going Too Far 8:21
PI 7:24
LAT 6:29
CS 3:27
You know what? I have a typo or error somewhere in my New York Times crossword, and I don't feel like looking for it. (Oh, wait, there it is! YUURE for YOURE. My applet time says 20:18, but that's a lie. A lie, I say!) It's late, I just got back home after eight days of spring break, the bathroom was painted while we were away so we had to clean up and re-equip the bathroom, and nobody's gone shopping for Easter Bunny stuff yet. So a grid the applet won't accept is fine with me. "Common Interests," by Robert W. Harris, has eight phrases that are directly associated with half the clue and sort of punnily connected to the other half. For example, the common interests of [Electrical engineers and news anchors?] are CURRENT EVENTS. The order of the two clue parts seems random, rather than sticking with straightforward first, punny second. I like the 7x7 corners in the upper left and lower right, lots of white space. (Edited to add: According to Jim, this is Harris's debut. Congrats!)
I solved the Across Lite Boston Globe crossword, "What's My Line," on the plane, with the laptop on my husband's tray table because the yob in front of me opted to recline his seat into my airspace (I am morally opposed to reclined seatbacks when it's not sleepy-time), getting a sideways crick in my back. What does that have to do with the puzzle? Nothing. The 12 theme entries hinge on the clues—each clue is a "___ line" phrase, split into separate words pointing toward a phrase that might be such a line. Baseline becomes [Base line?], which is WHO'S ON FIRST. An assembly line becomes [Assembly line?], or INSERT A INTO B.
Mel Rosen's Washington Post puzzle, "Roommates," slaps together two "___ room" words, ditches the "room" part, and reclues accordingly. Elbow room and a storeroom join forces as ELBOW STORE, [Where to buy pasta?], for example. Wiggle room and work room contribute to WIGGLE WORK, having to do with belly-dancing. These and eight other theme entries take up plenty of grid space. Actor Armand ASSANTE is in the puzzle; in strip poker, is it possible to have an ass ante?
Updated:
Easy themeless offering from Bruce Venzke and Stella Daily in the CrosSynergy "Sunday Challenge." Two triple-stacks of 15-letter phrases amid lots of 3- and 4-letter words that are mostly not too tough to figure out, and once you've filled in one or two of the 15s, you've got a lot of footholds to charge through the rest of the puzzle.
Also in the easy vein, the syndicated LA Times crossword, "Strike Effects," by David Kwong and Kevan Choset. Each theme entry is a TV show's title with a letter removed, changing one word into another. For example, [Show about a castaway's wrath?] is THE LONE ANGER (The Lone Ranger). The Down answer in the bottom right corner is WRITERS, [Recent strikers who literally account for today's missing theme letters]. That's right: The first theme show is missing a W (DESIGNING OMEN), the second an R (FAMILY MATTES), the third an I (MARRED WITH CHILDREN), and so on through T, E, R, and S. I like the play on the multiple meanings of strike—the union members were on strike, and the letters are struck out.
Merl Reagle's Philadelphia Inquirer puzzle, "IQ Test," assembles a batch of phrases that contain IQ, such as THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE and UNIQUELY QUALIFIED. Lots of theme entries, some of 'em long, many of them intersecting to make a lattice through the grid. The theme itself isn't particularly entertaining, though I do like to see a bunch of Qs in the grid, but I admire the way the theme entries interconnect.
Updated again:
This weekend's second Sunday puzzle in the NYT is Eric Berlin's latest "Going Too Far" puzzle. The clues aren't so hard and answers aren't at all obscure, but it takes a while to fill the grid because you're not sure of the length of each entry until you get some of those gray squares filled in by entries that "go too far." I didn't try piecing together the quote (which occupies the gray squares) until the end, when I needed the final letter to tell me the first letter of the [___ Canal, joining Lake Huron with Lake Ontario]. The quote ends with a T, so it's the TRENT Canal. Hey, Eric, put aside your Puzzling World of Winston Breen sequel and make 60 more "Going Too Far" puzzles for a book, will ya? I'd like that.
The quote in the "Going Too Far" puzzle includes the word MAGIC, which spurs me to recommend the engrossing March 17 New Yorker article by Adam Gopnik on magic, what it tells us about how we think, and magicians. I'm not into magic, but loved the article. (Except for where Gopnik uses "regime" where he ought to've used "regimen." Pet peeve.) Here's the abstract of the article, which you'll need to dig up in the printed magazine.
October 23, 2007
Wednesday, 10/24
NYS 4:35
NYT 3:05
CS 3:00
LAT 2:38
David Kwong's New York Sun crossword packs one of those juicy wordplay/geographical themes into its 15x16 grid. As the "United Nations" title hints, each theme entry consists of three overlapping ("united") country names. We get JAPANAMADAGASCAR, CUBAHRAINDONESIA, CHILESOTHONDURAS, and AZERBAIJANGOLAOS, and despite the seeming lack of any particular organization to the names (other than the overlapping letters), I love the theme. The first two letters in JAPAN cross two more countries, FIJI and IRAQ, just for the hell of it. Plenty of tough clues here: [Vanua Levu Island is part of it] for FIJI; [Grecian formula ingredient?] for ETA; [Mark Twain's celebrated frog] for DAN'L; [Insult subject] for YO MAMA; ["GoldenEye" villain Trevelyan] for ALEC; [Joneses] for YENS; [Harmoniphon soundalike] for OBOE; [Sweat spot] for AXILLA (that's the armpit in anatomical terms); [Eunuch flute's more common name] for KAZOO; and [Graceless] for STIFF. LAB RAT was nice fill, though it overlaps in part with the BIO clue, [Class with a lab].
Do you ever hesitate to click the "done" button in the New York Times crossword applet? When I filled in 59-Across in Patrick Blindauer's puzzle, I had to look at it a little longer because it looked so preposterously wrong to me. Patrick's theme consists of seven Latin phrases—only four of which were familiar to this solver. In English, [The die is cast] is familiar, but the Latin ALEA IACTA EST, with all those clumsy vowels bumping up against one another? Oy. SEMPER IDEM means [Always the same] thing. ECCE SIGNUM (as used in this Shakespeare/Henry IV quote) means [Behold the proof]. I'd wager the other four phrases—HABEAS CORPUS, TERRA FIRMA, AB OVO, and SINE QUA NON—are far more familiar to most solvers. Favorite clues: [Shout to a team, maybe] for MUSH (as in a team of sled dogs—and no, I'm not ready to contemplate the snowy season just yet); [They're rather pointless] for EPEES; [He said "Slump? I ain't in no slump. I just ain't hitting"] for Yogi BERRA; [Sport whose name means "gentle way"] for JUDO; and [Black lacquer] for JAPAN (japanning is something I learned about strictly from crossword puzzles). Favorite brand-name fill: NODOZ and BVDS.
Updated:
Easy LA Times puzzle from John Greenman—idiomatic phrases placed in fairy tale settings. Favorite one: Goldilocks is LOADED FOR BEAR. Aw, and that fairy tale was never particularly violent—not like Little Red Riding Hood with all the carnage. I'd never heard of VALPARAISO, the seaport that's the sixth largest city in CHILE. I'm much more familiar with its Indiana namesake and the university there—but is that Valpo something known only to those in the Chicago and Indiana vicinity?
Randolph Ross's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Right Between the I's," includes four phrases that start and end with I's. I like ISABELLE ADJANI and IRONCLAD ALIBI the best, I'M FROM MISSOURI and ITALIAN SALAMI a bit less.
