Jonesin 4:55
NYT 3:05
LAT 2:44
CS untimed
Matt Ginsberg's New York Times crossword
Matt's theme invites a bunch of oddballs to the party. The theme entries are words that are the "only common word in the English language with the consecutive letters ___." MPG is in 18A: CAMPGROUND. ADQ is in 28A: HEADQUARTERS. 48A: THANKSGIVING contains KSG. 62A: BLITZKRIEG, as in the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop,", has that unusual ZKR cluster. I have known how to spell 2D: RASPBERRY for decades, but I still have trouble typing the P in that SPB sandwich. And NKC is in 35D: CRANKCASE. Kinda weird to have clues that give you three of the letters in the answer but no definition of the word, isn't it? Twenty-five bonus points for freshness.
This was kinda hard for a Tuesday puzzle, if you ask me and Rex Parker. (But not if you ask assorted people who whizzed through this crossword in their standard Tuesday times.) Not only are the theme clues not the usual, but there's some tougher fill. 3D: [Burned ceremonially] is IMMOLATED? Ouch. Generally what's IMMOLATED is rather horrifying to burn—if you're lucky it's merely animal sacrifice and not human. Not a Tuesday vocabulary word, and also rather gruesome. If you ask Joon, IRED (37D: [Really ticked]) is also gruesome crossword fill, what with ire not being a verb. I still think Lash LARUE is one of those outdated celebs who's pretty much known these days only among those who do too many crosswords, but I like the 66A clue: [Cowboy star Lash, who taught Harrison Ford how to use a bullwhip]. I also appreciate the word DETRITUS, or 38D: [Rubble, e.g.].
I wonder how many other of these outlier words Matt had on his list of possibilities for the theme.
Matt Jones's Jonesin' crossword, "Four in a Row"
I got sidetracked when I filled in some of the Down answers. REX MORGAN, M.D. and ORANGES? Hmm, will other Down answers be, I dunno, JIMMIED and R&B SINGERS? Is the theme "four crossword bloggers in a row"? In a word, no. The theme entries, which run Across, contain 4-letter alphabetic runs. GYMNOPHOBIA, GENETIC DEFECT, GENDER STUDIES, and DEATH CAB CDS all contain 4 consecutive letters. I didn't know gymnophobia was a word; Tobias Fünke of Arrested Development, a "never-nude," suffered from that phobia, the fear of nudity. Yes, the root words of gymnasium are "exercise naked," and though I am not a gymnophobe, that's a horrifying idea. My dad's high-school gym class had to swim nude. Can you imagine??
Favorite clue: [Product of Jordan?] is the HANES underwear endorsed by Michael Jordan.
Mike Peluso's Los Angeles Times crossword
How many verbs can you conjugate in LATIN (31A: [Classic language, and with 61-Across, hint to the puzzle theme found at the starts of 20-, 37- and 57-Across]/ 61A is LOVE ([Cherish]), and I can conjugate that Latin verb for the first, second, and third person singular, thanks to crosswordese. How often have we seen AMO, AMAS, or AMAT? I've never seen the plural forms, but the estimable Urban Dictionary tells me the series continues amamus, amatis, amant (this is one of the few Urban Dictionary pages without juvenile obscenity or crassness).
The long theme entries begin with the letters in AMO, AMAS, and AMAT, but not with those words per se. 20A: AMONG THE ENEMY is a [2005 Margaret Peterson Haddix children's thriller] I've never heard of. 37A: A MASS A FORTUNE is clued with [Accumulate wealth]. And 57A: [Non-remunerative athletics] are AMATEUR SPORTS.
My favorite clue is 54D: [Seriously humid] for MUGGY. That's right, people: mugginess is no laughing matter. It maketh Orange cranky. Luckily, Chicago's MUGGY days are over for the year. Unfortunately, it's been unseasonably chilly of late. Cluing 46D: SLALOM as a [Sinuous ski race] makes it sound kinda hot, doesn't it? Slinky and curvy? 47D is LEMONY, or [Tart, as a citrus drink]; my son just started reading the first of the Lemony Snicket books. Between that series and the Hardy Boys mysteries, he should be set for months. I'm also partial to that 23A: [1958 #1 hit sung in Italian], not because of the song "VOLARE" but because the car I learned to drive in was a forest green Plymouth Volare station wagon.
Updated Tuesday morning:
Randall J. Hartman's CrosSynergy/Washington Post puzzle, "Quiet!"—Janie's review
Gotta tell ya—for a "quiet" puzzle, this one packs quite a punch. Not only does it have a "before and after" thing going, but as 63A (the last of the theme-clues) tells us, there's something about the "before" component in the three other theme-entries that ties in to this last theme-entry and relates to a key word in the fill there. The clue in question is the sassy ["Shut yer yapper!" (and a hint to 17-, 28-, and 47-across)]; the title-related fill: "PUT A LID ON IT!"; the "key word": lid. The other theme entries:
I love how Randy has braided together the various strands of this theme. There's both a complexity and a neatness to it that's very appealing.
Appealing, too, is much of the non-theme puzzle complement. We get [Two of a kind], a PAIR of "pod" clues at 1- and 2D, for instance: [Pod inhabitant] and [Pod inhabitants] for ORCA and PEAS. Here's a little clip of a pod of orca whales. We also get a pair of "golden age of the silver screen" types in (actor) Mary ASTOR [...of "The Maltese Falcon"] and (gossip columnist) HEDDA [Hopper of Hollywood].
Sports, anyone? There's André AGASSI [Winner of a career Grand Slam in tennis], a HIKER [Appalachian Trail user], the NFL [Org. of Falcons and Eagles] and OTTO Graham [Hall of Fame quarterback...]. If you [Go downhill], you may SLED to do so. You may also SKI if you [Compete in the Nordic combined] (or ski-jump to be more accurate, which looks an awful lot like flying downhill). How does Sergey Bubka negotiate tall fences? He POLE VAULTS. Okay, he's retired, but he still holds the world record. Great misdirect clue here: [Attempts to pass the bar?] has nothing to do with the legal system.
There's more misdirection with [Quit surfing?], which has nothing to do with water sports and all to do with computer use, LOG OFF; [Farm team], which has nothing to do with baseball and is all about OXEN; and [Court affairs] which this time is about the legal system's [TRIALS] and has nothing to do with basketball. Turnabout is fair play after all.
OMG, nearly forgot the best of the "this-is-not-a-sports-clue" clues—the eye-widening, laugh-inducing [Something taken before swinging?] for, yes... VIAGRA.
Before closing, and while I'm rhapsodizing, let me not forget to mention the elegant RHAPSODIZE [Wax lyrical].
And that's a wrap for today!
October 05, 2009
Tuesday, 10/6/09
August 15, 2009
Sunday, 8/16
Seattle Times 22:08 (paper)
LAT 17:54 (paper)
CS 23:50 (paper)
BG Forthcoming, if the puzzle is posted soon
A belated Happy Birthday to our regular host, Orange! My name is Sam Donaldson, and I’m your guest blogger for today’s cavalcade of Sunday crosswords. No, I’m not the Sam Donaldson of ABC News fame; I am merely a Sam Donaldson. But to my knowledge I am the only Sam Donaldson that occasionally constructs crosswords (under the more formal moniker of Samuel A. Donaldson—a variation of “a Sam Donaldson,” I suppose). I also use the pseudonyms “Patrick Berry” and “Frank Longo,” so maybe you have seen some of my work….
But enough about me! Let's get to the puzzles!
Randolph Ross's New York Times crossword, "Let's Talk About Me"
Oh, I guess we'll still talk about me, after all. Ross takes ten phrases and clues them with other common phrases including the word "me." Pairing the "me" phrases and the theme entries results in some jarring combinations that took me a while to figure out. Check it out:
- ["Pardon me"] is an ERROR MESSAGE. It's a very polite way to indicate that someone may have made an error. As in, "Pardon me, but it appears you are driving off with my car."
- ["Save me"] is a MASS APPEAL, something a parishioner might shout during the service.
- ["Feed me"] is a COUNTER PLEA, what a hungry customer at a diner might say. It's also what Audrey II cries to Seymour in "Little Shop of Horrors." I think that's why this is my favorite theme/clue pairing.
- ["For me?"] is a possible line that a gift recipient might use, so it's a RECEIVING LINE.
- ["Shoot me"] is a FILM DIRECTION, one used especially by directors Quentin Tarantino and M. Night Shyamalan, as they like to pull an uber-Hitchcock and give themselves extended cameo roles in their own films.
- ["Lean on me"] is a TENDER OFFER of support from a caring and sensitive person--who probably just wants something from you. Um, anyway....
- ["Make me"] would be some CROSS WORDS. So would any number of phrases that I uttered while falling into several of this puzzle's traps, as explained below.
- ["Kiss me"] apparently indicates a PECKING ORDER, as in "Kiss me, first, and then you can go kiss all those other people."
- ["It's on me"] is a FREE RESPONSE. I'm not positive about this, but I think the idea here is that if you and a friend went to a party with an open bar, you would say jokingly to the friend, "What'll you have? It's on me!" At least I would. This explains both why I get few party invitations and why, when I do, it seems I attend them alone. But perhaps I am missing something here?
- ["Write me"] looks to be a BOOK PROPOSAL. It is? Is the book proposing to me that I write it? Is someone asking for a really long postcard? It's moments like this is when I turn to this blog, confident that Orange will explain it for me. If you're doing the same thing now, I'm sorry to let you down. But I'm sure someone will help us out in the comments.
In terms of the fill, I love the nice open corners in the NW and SE, where triple-8s meet some double-6s and a theme entry. Love [Superlative on "Top Chef"] as the clue for TASTIEST, since I have a crush on one of the hosts of that show. THE BURBS is just a fun entry, and a real treat as 1-Down. LAST CALL, NO NUKES, and BANG ON are good, lively phrases. My favorite clue, hands down, is [Word that led to the "Why a duck?" routine by the Marx brothers], the clue for VIADUCT. It reminds me of their "Dollars, Taxes" (Dallas, Texas) gag in Duck Soup that my nephews could recite from a very young age. [Seeding org.] is a fun clue for USTA, the United States Tennis Association. As a clue for WAD, [Plug] slowed me down a little. I suppose some might wince at RIO DIABLO, since it seems a little desperate to reach for a 1993 TV western. But what, 30% of all westerns contain either "Rio" of "Diablo" in the title, right? So I thought it was fair. I found ONE LS (first-year law students) a gimme, but that's because I get to teach to them starting in about a month.
I started this puzzle with a brand new eraser on my trusty solving pencil, or, as I call it, The Death Wand. I think I'll soon need another eraser. I fell into every conceivable trap in this puzzle, and there were lots of them. Please tell me you fell into some of these too: (1) "encircle" for ENGIRDLE; (2) "spot on" for BANG ON; (3) "epics" for SAGAS; (4) "standing" for STEERING (hey, you can't tell me a column doesn't stand); (5) "pod" for GAM; and (6) "El Al" for BOAC (c'mon, every four-letter airline is El Al!). Between these traps and some of the names and high-falutin' stuff not within my admittedly narrow bailiwick (CORELLI, GISELLE, FARAD, and the like), I ended up with a solving time much slower than my usual Sunday. Of course this happens the one time I broadcast my solving times to the web-iverse.
Merl Reagle’s Seattle Times crossword, “Splish Splash”
Normally, Merl’s puzzle is identified on this blog as the “Philadelphia Inquirer” puzzle, but I’m going with the Seattle Times instead (it’s the same puzzle). I have my reasons: (1) I live in the Seattle metro area, so this has been my traditional second Sunday puzzle for years; (2) the Seattle Times was the second paper to pick up Merl’s puzzle in syndication, so it’s senior (the Inquirer was third); and (3) this particular puzzle’s theme relates to water, and Seattle is to water as Paris is to love.
It looks like Merl is on a well-deserved summer break, as this puzzle is a rerun from 2001 (with some updated clues). I only discovered this after the fact, so it had no effect on my solve. Heck, you could rerun a puzzle from last month and there’s a decent chance I wouldn’t notice. Supposedly, DAVID SCHWIMMER was the [TV star who inspired this puzzle?]. The ten (!) other theme entries are ordinary words, phrases, and names that, according to the notepad, contain a verb associated with “summer water fun.” Here they are, from top to bottom:- SURFACE STREETS is clued as [Stoplight milieu], and every successful “schwimmer” must “schurface” after diving in the water.
- CASTRO’S CUBA, the [Dictatorship that turned 50 this year], has “scuba” hidden after the apostrophe. That’s a lively phrase, no?
- VIRGINIA WADE was the [1977 Wimbledon winner], and water mavens like to wade.
- SGT. SNORKEL, clued as [Beetle Bailey’s topkick], stumped me for a while. First, I don’t think I have ever seen the term “topkick” before. When I saw it in the puzzle, I thought of professional wrestling; turns out it’s military slang for a first sergeant. Second, I only know the character as “Sarge.” His canine companion, Otto, is a constructor’s crutch. Finally, I wouldn’t let myself enter the abbreviation “SGT.” in the grid because nothing in the clue was abbreviated. I have become a slave to cluing conventions! Look, if Sarge’s title in the strip is always abbreviated (that is, if his formal name is “Sgt. Snorkel” and not “Sergeant Snorkel”), then I can be convinced that there’s no need for an abbreviation in the clue. But Wikipedia lists the character as “Sergeant,” so I think there should be some signal in the clue. Granted, citing Wikipedia is like citing Grandpa—sometimes it’s just not accurate no matter how authoritative it seems. But I guess I'm still troubled.
- SELFISHNESS, [Generosity’s antonym], has something fishy inside.
- TOM CRUISE is the [“Valkyrie” star]. In the original version of this puzzle, he was clued as a “Taps” costar. For more on Tom Cruise, watch most any episode of “The Soup” on E!
- WASSAIL SONG is clued as [“Here We Come A-Caroling,” e.g.]. I don’t know if Merl wants us to find “sail” or “sails” as the water verb. I prefer the plural since it straddles the two words, but this would be the only plural water verb in the puzzle. So now I’m thinking it’s supposed to be just “sail.” But if that’s the case, does “wassail song” trip off your tongue as an in-the-language phrase?
- GEORGE RAFT is a [“Some Like it Hot” co-star] and this puzzle’s “WTF”-inducing section for me. George Raft?!? I would have wanted “backdrafts,” “draft board,” or “first draft” here, but maybe those just wouldn’t work.
- PROTUBERANCE is a [Bulge], and there’s a “tube” inside of it. Insert your own joke here—I’m not going there.
- ENDIVE SALAD is a [Dish of greens] that probably wouldn’t be served at a “dive.”
Some of the notable fill, from my perspective: The KISSER that is [Alice’s face?] took me way longer to figure out than it should have—I kept thinking it was some reference to Alice in Wonderland instead of Alice Kramden from “The Honeymooners.” The [Real name of Kirk Douglas] is ISSUR Danielovitch? Holy Moses (pardon the pun)! And isn’t it bizarre to see ISSUR right atop ISSUERS? TWO PHONES, the [Household minimum these days], only came after trying two-income, two people, and two person. Does this feel a little dated to you, too?
Merl’s puzzles always entertain me, and this was no exception. Maybe it’s because we are both University of Arizona graduates (unlike me, however, Merl is a distinguished alumnus). Eleven theme entries surrounded by smooth fill is impressive. The inconsistent placement of the water verbs within theme answers (sometimes at the start, sometimes at the end, sometimes in the middle, sometimes straddling words) “dampened” my overall enthusiasm for the puzzle, but this was still a fun summertime diversion.
Mike Peluso's Los Angeles Times crossword, "Injured"
The key to this puzzle happens to be the current home of most of my fantasy baseball roster. 85-Down's clue is [Temporarily not playing, in baseball lingo (and a hint to this puzzle's theme)], and that's ON THE D.L., or the disabled list. The nine theme entries are two-word phrases whose words begin with "D" and "L," respectively:
- DRAFT LOTTERY is a [Vietnam War program] and an event usually held at the start of a fantasy baseball season.
- A [Driver's warning, perhaps] is a DASH LIGHT. The only dash light that works in my car is the yellow light telling me I'm almost out of fuel. Then the game begins! How long can I go before the tank is dry? Fortunately, I've never learned the answer.
- A DOUBLE LIFE is [What spies often lead], and that's a great clue because my first thought was along the line of "mission."
- DRY LAKE is a [Desert phenomenon]. Desert residents sometimes say they wish they could see the rivers and lakes up here in Seattle, but they're all full of water. The sun's a bit strong in the desert....
- A [Place to sign] is the DOTTED LINE, even though most signature lines these days aren't dotted.
- DIRTY LOOK is clued with the poetic [Leer or sneer].
- If [It's no longer spoken anywhere], it's a DEAD LANGUAGE.
- To [Be slain by a stand-up comic?] is to DIE LAUGHING, my favorite theme entry. It's always interesting to me when one of the theme entries uses a clue involving wordplay and none of the others do. This doesn't bother me in the least, but I wonder if others (a) noticed it, and (b) were bugged by it.
- And an Arthur [Murray offering] is a DANCE LESSON. By the time I reached this part of the grid, I had the theme, so I wrote "deadpan look," convinced the clue was talking about Bill Murray. This is my day for springing traps! Thank goodness I was wrong--deadpan look would have been a rotten entry.
Quick, back to the puzzle. I enjoyed the solve, as there was much to like. Of course I liked SAFECO, the Seattle [Mariners' park, familiarly]. Even more familiarly, we call it "The Safe." Less familiarly, it's Safeco Field, a great venue for baseball. The M's are playing one of the Axis of Evil (aka, The Yankees) this weekend, so the excitement level there has reached a *cough* fever pitch. THE BAR looks like an awkward phrase, but the clue ([Words after pass and raise]) makes it seem quite legit to me, and I love that the clue tries to make me think of poker first. Didn't know that "aardvark" was DUTCH, but it makes complete sense. Odd to have both SSRS and SSTS in the same grid; I wish Mike could have worked in SSNS for the trifecta. [Getting unauthorized R&R?] was a fun clue for the old standby AWOL. Just one clue I still don't get, so I would appreciate any guidance in the comments: why is SPECTRE clued as [The ghost of Mrs. Muir?]? I think I get the wordplay of the movie title in the clue, but I don't understand the connection to the answer. Does it somehow relate to James Bond?
For a more in-depth analysis of the fill and the theme, be sure to check out PuzzleGirl's write-up over on L.A. Crossword Confidential. (And thanks to PuzzleGirl for helping me with a technical snafu earlier!)
Bob Klahn’s themeless CrosSynergy “Sunday Challenge”
Ah, nothing like a Klahn themeless puzzle for dessert. All of the pleasure and none of the guilt! I'll go further with the metaphor (which will now become a simile): a Klahn themeless is like a rich, rich chocolate mousse. I love it, but I usually have to take it home with me to finish--it's just too complex and overwhleming to have in one sitting. Fortunately, Bob kept things rather light and refreshing here.
This 70-worder has lots of goodies, like these: OPEN A CAN OF WORMS, clued as [Create new problems], spans the equator; [One whose words cannot hurt you] is just a terrific, unforced clue for NAME CALLER; COPERNICAN is a fun entry, but the clue, [Of a revolutionary theory about revolutions], really makes it shine; and then you have POTEMKIN VILLAGE, an [Imposing, diversionary facade]. That's a term I have heard, but I never knew its meaning or origin. Apparently, this Potemkin dude wanted to impress the boss, Catherine the Great, when she toured Crimea, a region that Potemkin's forces had just captured. So he ordered the construction of hollow facades along the riversides Catherine would travel so it would look to her like the region was a great prize. Basically, Potemkin was the forerunner to Michael Scott. (That's a reference to "The Office.") Modernly, then, a Potemkin village is any intent to divert attention through an elaborate ruse.
Hey, look, it's Sarge's (er, Sgt. Snorkel's) dog, OTTO, camped right up at 1-Down! He was my first entry into the grid, and the extreme NW fell rather quickly. Took a while to get the last word of ON THE MAP, as it I wrestled for the longest time with MAFIAS, clued as [Iniquitous cliques]. "Iniquitous" would make a very Klahn-ian grid entry, wouldn't it? I slowed down from there, as the [Preeminent Jewish philosopher of medieval times], Moses MAIMONIDES, was completely foreign to me. Moved to the NE and confidently wrote in "frosty" for FRAPPE, the [New England milkshake]. My parents must be proud. But when 12-Down, the [Volunteer group created in 1961], had to be PEACE CORPS, I saw my error. Headed to the SE, where Woody BOYD [Harrelson on "Cheers"] was a gimme. BOYD fed GARGOYLE, the [Grotesque medieval spout], and before long that corner was complete. Once I passed Ptolemy and Galileo and landed on Copernicus, the SW soon fell.
So, you ask, how did The Death Wand manage to take almost 24 minutes to get through this relatively straightforward grid? The answer lies in the puzzle's midsection, at the intersection of BIRR, a [Whirring sound], and BAOBAB, the [Thick-trunked tropical tree]. The Cruciverb database says these terms have been used enough times in the past that I can't cry foul. And I can't really share most of what I did cry as I tried to hammer out this crossing. Let's just say it took a long time. Alas, Klahn never lets you win, even when you finish the solve. (I'm exaggerating, of course--this was a fair challenge and a fun solve.)
The Missing in Action Boston Globe Crossword.
It appears that the Cox & Rathvon Boston Globe puzzle is down for the count. As of very late Saturday night it still was not accessible through the Puzzle Pointers link. If it's posted when I wake up tomorrow (remember, I'm on the west coast), I'll add it to the mix. But if not, then my work here is done.
Before I hand the conch back to Orange, I want to thank her and her cadre of regular bloggers for all of the fine work they perform on this site. As a solver, the Diary is an invaluable resource when I don’t get the theme or can’t figure out what letter is supposed to go in that last #&*%-ing square. It also reassures me sometimes that, yes, the puzzle was unusually hard. For someone learning the ropes of construction, it offers insight into what crossword connoisseurs like and dislike. I distinctly remember reading a review of another puzzle in which Orange praised some wide-open corners in a mid-week NYT puzzle. I challenged myself to try the same on a grid I was working on at the time. That puzzle went on to become my NYT debut, and, sure enough, Orange’s review mentioned the triple-stacked 9s in the corners (with approval, thank goodness). So this blog has been (and continues to be) a tremendous asset for me, both as a solver and constructor. I know many of you feel the same way, and I know others have said nice things before (more articulately, too). But some things are well worth repeating: this site rocks!
Thanks for your patience. As the Sam Donaldson might say, “Back to you, Orange.”
June 16, 2009
Wednesday, 6/17
BEQ 4:45
Onion 3:41
NYT 3:21
LAT 3:21
CS 6:57 (J—paper)
Peter A. Collins and Joe Krozel's New York Times crossword
That's a cool visual twist, sketching a tree with its parts labeled descriptively in the grid. Running straight down the middle of the puzzle are a central LIMB ([Life's partner]), the TRUNK (a [Magician's prop]), and one ROOT ([Cheer (for)]). Extending out from the TRUNK are four more LIMBs, running across and diagonally, and two more diagonal ROOTS. All of the letters in these tree pieces are circled for the solver's convenience, as not everybody wants to play word search after finishing a crossword. Rounding out the theme, there's the word TREE clued as the [Thing depicted by this puzzle's circled letters] and, rather beside the point, the NESTS that might be found in a tree.
The constructors filled the corners with two 6x4 chunks and pairs of 8-letter answers crossed by single 8's. Highlights in the fill:
Updated Wednesday morning:
Raymond Hamel's CrosSynergy/Washington Post puzzle, "Body Language"—Janie's review
I know I must sound like the world's crankiest solver, but once again I feel that the talented Mr. H. has delivered a "close-but-no-cigar" theme. And because the CrosSynergy puzzles receive peer review, responsibility for that falls on the peers-in-question as well. The idea of the theme is friendly if not "brilliant," and perfectly fine: four figurative (and familiar) phrases that also name body parts. The problem is that we don't use these phrases in the form we receive them in the puzzle. The only way I can get them to sort of work is if I take the clue/fill combo as infinitives. But there's nothing to clarify that in the cluing.
Three of the four phrases make the most sense in their passive-voice forms; and the result is that the promise of a solid theme is skewed. If you think I'm on the wrong track here or am being hyper-critical, please speak up and set me straight!
Elsewhere in the grid I'm a happier camper. From the art world: Salvador DALI is clued in reference to "Eggs on a Plate Without a Plate" which I'm quite certain will not stick to the ribs...; and RODIN in conjunction to "The Kiss". Seeing OYL ["Thimble Theatre" family name] so close to Rodin made me laugh. If any sculptor were to render Ms. Olive as a statue, it would not be Rodin, whose healthy figures represent well-nourished bodies. Giacometti on the other hand...
I also like the punchiness of the ONE-TWO [Ring combo]; and if boxing's not your thing, perhaps you'd be happier to see Kobe Bryant score, make a BASKET or three (and a very timely clue/fill pair that is). After last Sunday's championship game, I imagine the[Sports-team execs], the Lakers' GMS, are still a pretty happy group.
We get three authors, two well-known to me, the third not. In the former category are Harper LEE of To Kill A Mockingbird fame and thus [Atticus Finch's creator...], and [Nancy Drew writer Carolyn] KEENE. You may know this but "Carolyn Keene" is really a succession of several writers. If you care to delve further into the mystery, Melanie Rehak has written a wonderful book on the subject aptly called Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her. The name I needed the crosses for was ["The Pilot's Wife" author] SHREVE. Anita Shreve actually, though not to be confused with ["West Side Story" role created by Chita Rivera] ANITA.
There's a sweet crossing of two kinds of rides: SEMIS and the LIMO—and two kinds of vocal styles: you can CHANT text or you can INTONE it. We also get two shades of questionable activity: DICEY [Doubtful] and TABOO [Forbidden]; two internet references: AOL and URLS; and an assortment of names: actor LEW Ayres, the silver-screen's first Dr. Kildare, TESS Trueheart [Dick Tracy's wife], ANAKIN Skywalker [Luke and Leia's father], and [Soccer great] PELE.
I hope/trust that Ray and his esteemed colleagues will take my SNIT in STRIDE. But I also hope it's something they might take to heart!
Hello, Orange here again. I slept in. I love summertime! (If only the climate would recognize that meteorological summer began June 1, because it still feels like April.)
I haven't done today's CrosSynergy puzzle, but in reading Janie's write-up, I laughed when I encountered ARM TO THE TEETH. It sounds like a modification of the slangy "Hell to the naw!"
Mike Peluso's Los Angeles Times crossword
I pre-blogged this puzzle last night at L.A. Crossword Confidential and I must say, I suspect it was easier than my relative solving times suggest. I had this bizarre experience in which I kept reading entirely wrong clues and filling in answers in the wrong places. Really wrong. Like putting ALMS (10A, [Donations to the needy]) at 58A, which is LEVY ([Assess], as taxes). And putting 1A, [Rock concert equipment], into 1D; the singular AMP works with the clue just as well as the correct plural AMPS. Usually one solitary beer has no such effect on me as a solver. Weird.
The theme didn't do much for me. All three phrases have the same clue: [Angel]. This theme type is #6 on Brendan Quigley's list of 10 bullshit themes that do not represent the apotheosis of thematic creativity. But still, it's only Wednesday, and plenty of staid themes are always going to find their way into the Monday-to-Wednesday slots. Today's three [Angel]s are a HEAVENLY SPIRIT, an AMERICAN LEAGUER, and a BROADWAY BACKER—you know, the sort of Broadway-show-backing angel whose favorite sign is "SRO" in crosswords.
PETE ROSE and UNCLE SAM make a nice symmetrical pairing here, and their vertical neighbors LEER AT and GROVEL make a disturbing pair.
Brendan Quigley's blog crossword, "Teenspeak"
Brendan rated this one "medium" but I dunno, I thought it was kinda hard. I didn't even understand what was happening with the theme entries until after I finished the puzzle—and it wasn't a case of racing through the puzzle too fast to bother with the theme. I pondered the theme while solving and didn't grasp it. But now I do:
I took a wrong turn at 63A [Doesn't dwell on]—it's SEES PAST, but putting in GETS OVER mucked up that corner for me. I got the final R from USSR, a [Cold War side], but alas, the actual answer was the WEST.
Let's eyeball the best and the worst in this puzzle. First, the worst:
And now, the best:
Deb Amlen's Onion A.V. Club crossword
The theme entries this week tell a timely story, and each of those theme answers is made by adding a G to the front of a word in a familiar phrase:
Aww, look at the Wordplay shout-outs in this puzzle: CAKE is the [Band whose "Shadow Stabbing" is featured in "Wordplay"]. Here's a homemade video for the song:
And then there's EELS, clued as [Band whose "Saturday Morning" is featured in "Wordplay"]. In their officia; video, pancakes are made:
Favorite clue: [Delighted condition?] for a power OUTAGE in which the lights are de-lit. Favorite fill: EITHER/OR, clued as ["Whatevs"].
June 06, 2009
Sunday, 6/7
NYT 11:26
BG 7:55
PI 7:50
LAT 7:20
CS 3:30
Jeremy Newton's New York Times crossword, "Shifty Business"
I'm pressed for time, as I have 6:00 dinner plans involving IHOP. The evening meal at IHOP always puts me in a quandary: breakfast for dinner or dinner for dinner? If only they still sold the corn cakes that I loved so.
Jeremy Newton's theme is, I believe, gears that might be found in a car. Now, my gearshift has park, reverse, drive, and neutral, with a couple more "you really need to bother with this?" options off to the side. My car doesn't advertise first, second, third, fourth, or fifth gear—but those are rebus entries in this puzzle, along with reverse and neutral, but no ordinary drive. It's quite possible that car/crossword buffs will be knocked out by the locations of the rebus squares. Are those circled rebus squares laid out like they are in the sort of car that goes to fifth gear? I have no idea. It is hard to marvel at something if you don't know whether it's marvelable.
Without further ado, the theme entries (which can be entered in the puzzle most quickly by just using the first letter of the rebused word):
A handful of non-theme clues before I sign off:
Updated Sunday morning:
Yikes, I've blown most of the morning and have four puzzles to blog about? Yeah, I'll be giving short shrift to them all.
Mike Peluso's syndicated Los Angeles Times Sunday crossword, "Taking the Bite out of the Dog"
The dog says "GR" and that's what's been taken out of assorted phrases to create each theme entry. I liked this theme a lot, particularly these answers:
37D. APES OF WRATH are [Angry gorillas?].
Highlights in the nonthematic parts of the puzzle:
I do want to take issue with 60A. [Dentist's number?] as a clue for OPIATE. Dentists typically use local anesthetics (which are not OPIATEs) to numb you up. For more involved procedures, you might be sedated, but I don't think that involves OPIATEs either. Now, if they prescribe Vicodin for postop pain, that's an OPIATE, but that's for pain relief, not for numbing.
(PuzzleGirl wrote about this puzzle at L.A. Crossword Confidential too.)
Merl Reagle's Philadelphia Inquirer crossword, "Woof Gang"
The theme is "Merl's grab bag of dog-breed puns":
The fill included some unfamilar names. 4D is [Entertainer Theodore] BIKEL, which rings a faint bell. 94D is ["The Group" co-star Joanna] PETTET not only doesn't ring a bell, it denies that bells ever existed. Same with 113D CRAIN, [Actress Jeanne of "A Letter to Three Wives"]—and both PETTET and CRAIN cross the [Grandpa Walton portrayer], Will GEER. If you don't know him, you're kinda stuck Googling these people, aren't you? There's also 55D AKBAR, an [Indian emperor of 1600], crossing OLEA, the [Olive genus].
Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon's Boston Globe puzzle, "Rhyming Game" (delayed Across Lite edition)
Each theme entry takes a two-part, four-syllable rhyme and adds another word that rhymes, creating made-up phrases that are clued accordingly. For example, [Research into bores?] might be FUDDY-DUDDY STUDY, and [Not much of a hat?] is a TEENY-WEENY BEANIE.
In the fill, I learned a new word: [Nuque] is the French word for the NAPE of the neck. There's a cognate in the anatomical term nuchal, which means "of or relating to the nape of the neck." Now, that doesn't explain why an unfamiliar French word is used to clue an English word in this puzzle.
I filled in ALIEN for [Little green man] before I made it over to [Men in green], so I still had Martians on the mind and needed all the crossings to get CELTS. [Supersonics site] is an anachronism now—the SEATTLE Sonics moved to Oklahoma and were renamed the Thunder.
Rich Norris's themeless CrosSynergy/Washington Post "Sunday Challenge"
Easy clues overall meant that I finished this puzzle quickly, which is a shame because so many of the 9- and 10-letter answers are so fabulous—the puzzle has just the sort of fill you hope to find in a themeless puzzle. Among the best:
May 21, 2009
Friday, 5/22
NYT 6:00
BEQ 5:31
CHE 3:58
LAT 3:06
CS 6:29 (J/paper)
WSJ 6:41
Who knew a kid could have strep in the absence of a sore throat? Yep. Fever, cough, and headache are the manifestations of the strep that's making the rounds in Chicago. I wrote up the CHE puzzle earlier this evening, but I promised to check on my son, who's having trouble getting to sleep, so I'll have only an abbreviated write-up of the New York Times puzzle.
Manny Nosowsky's New York Times crossword
Yay! A Manny Friday! Such a puzzle always promises to be deftly constructed and enjoyable, but not disappointingly easy. Without further ado, clues and answers of particular note:
Cathy Allis's Chronicle of Higher Education crossword, "Mystery Guest"
I've never read any Sherlock Holmes stories, nor seen any film adaptations. But I can still appreciate the Mystery Guest theme that Cathy Allis (the artist formerly known as Cathy Millhauser) has wrought in this 15x16 tribute puzzle. There are four theme entries and a smattering of circled squares. The theme entries are:
The circled squares, read in a zigzag from top to bottom, spell out ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. And I certainly had no idea that was the hidden name, not based on the theme answers. Is the capitalized "Mystery Guest" another clue that it's Doyle?
Look how loose the grid is—there are two diagonal swaths of fill that traverse three quarters of the grid, easing your path through the grid. There are plenty of routes in and out of each section of the puzzle. And the fill doesn't feel constrained by the requirement that a specific letter must appear somewhere within each row (though there's some flexibility as to where the letter goes).
Hey, Cathy, let's see some more of your puzzles soon!
Updated Friday Morning:
Patrick Blindauer's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Double Time"—Janie's review
In other words, it's time to double something—and today that would be the central consonant of a five-letter noun or adjective, and then pair it with the resulting six-letter noun to create a two-word (kinda whimsical, alliterative) adjectival phrase. Get it? If that doesn't make sense, perhaps this will:
This was a fairly easy puzzle for me, probably because there was a lot of "sweet spot" fill. Fill-um stars NEESON and MR. T (who has a real name—Laurence Tureaud!); and the JOADS of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
But let's not forget that "Double time" is also a musical term—and there was lots of musical fill here: DO-RE-MI, ["I] AM THE [Walrus"], ["I] HEAR A [Symphony"], ARLO Guthrie, Paul ANKA, AIMEE Grant, TITOS Puente and Jackson, ERNO Dohnányi, not to mention the well-clued [A flat's equivalent] G SHARP. (I also had to smile when sound-alike SHARPEI ["sharp A?"] showed up in the same NW territory.)
The longest of the non-theme fill is also rich: PASTE IN, MOUSETRAP (smartly clued as [Danger for Stuart Little]), FLAPJACKS (making its CS debut) and BEERCAN. This last one, clued as [Coors container], is well-paired with [Keep in a barrel, perhaps] for AGE. Wine and hard-liquor, I learned, are not the only alcoholic beverages to be barrel-aged. Yep, it's also a process for some mighty pricey beer these days. Yikes.
There's a fine pairing, too, of POGO [stick] and then [Stick with a blade, a loom, and a handle]. That latter one is a fancy way of getting to OAR. Here's a diagram that'll show ya what's what. (Full disclosure: this one uses the word "grip" instead of "handle"... The diagram that pointed out the "blade" and the "handle" made no mention of the "loom," which was a new term to me.)
And there's another lively pair of related clues/fill: SMUSH for [Compress] and RAZE for [Flatten]. Love SMUSH especially—though I did start out with SMASH...
BEEPER for [Cell phone predecessor] conjured up the first season of The Wire, and TRIO for [The Fates] sent me looking for more details. I was reminded that these dames are not unique to Greek mythology, but have their counterparts in Roman and Norse/Germanic mythology as well—possibly including even Macbeth's witches.
To re-address the theme before closing—you know what? There are a lot of six-letter words with a repeated consonant in the middle. But there really aren't lots and lots to choose from when you're trying to come up with phrases that sound like they could be "in the language." Bravo, Patrick. You came up with four good ones, giving us two with a repeated "T" and two with a repeated "P." That, too, keeps the theme-fill tight and consistent within itself. No mean FEAT, that!
Mike Peluso's Los Angeles Times crossword
The theme here is familiar phrases in which the first word adopts a -LER'S ending. The new words are completely unrelated etymologically in three of the four cases:
New clues (which may not actually be new, but they felt fresh to me):
More on the puzzle from Rex at L.A. Crossword Confidential.
Brendan Quigley's blog crossword, "Themeless Friday"
Those of you who've been perplexed by intriguing titles for Brendan's themelesses can rest easy today—"Themeless Friday" is indeed themeless. I'm glad Brendan sometimes writes about the genesis and crafting of his puzzles, because I always find that interesting. (Open invitation to constructors: If you're particularly pleased with how your puzzle came out and want somewhere to talk about the process of creating it, you're welcome to do that here. Either in the comments or via an e-mail from which I can copy and paste your story.) Among the freshest fill and clues in today's puzzle is this stuff:
Cathy Allis's Wall Street Journal crossword, "It's Not the Economy"
Yay! Another puzzle from Cathy! I really thought I'd have to wait more than a day before I saw another of her creations. The theme entries are familiar phrases with financial implications, but Cathy reimagines them and the clues suggest that "It's Not the Economy" that these phrases are about at all:
Fun theme! I like the Reaglesque partial stacking of the top and bottom pairs of theme entries, too. Highlights in the fill: DOO DAH is a ["Camptown Races" bit]. POST-IT is a [Brand of note]. EGOISTE is that [Chanel fragrance for men] that had those ludicrous TV commercials about a decade ago. Remember that one? All the windows being thrown open and various European women shouting "Egoiste!" into the rue before closing the windows again?
May 05, 2009
Wednesday, 5/6
BEQ 4:36
NYT 3:03
LAT 2:58
CS 6:57 (J—paper), 3:05 (A—Across Lite)
Michael Callaway Barnhart's New York Times crossword
This debut puzzle is an easy one, one I'd have finished in a decidedly Tuesdayish time if not for that typo. I paid no mind to the theme while doing the crossword, as the theme entries were all clued straightforwardly, but now I see that the KEY WORD ([Google search need...or a hint to the ends of 20- and 49-Across and 11- and 28-Down]) answers end with keyboard keys:
Among the impressive fill and clues in this puzzle were these:
Out-there stuff:
Updated Wednesday morning:
Patrick Blindauer's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Seven C's"—Janie's review
Can you name them? One of the interesting things about them is that there are some seven variations on the traditional Medieval septet. Oh, wait—Patrick's theme is seven Cs. I was thinking... Never mind.
So—in the three long theme answers we get lively, alliterative phrases in which each word starts with—you know:
Somehow I imagine that restricting oneself to seven Cs only—no more, no less—was a genuine construction challenge. Patrick makes it look and feel like a breeze. The peppy cluing and fill add to this puzzle's charms.
Taking a page from the Klahn playbook, we get such entries as [Lofty lair] for AERIE, [Fish features] for FINS, [Piece of Pollock (not this guy] for ART, [Candle composition] for BEESWAX, [Mammal of Madagascar] for LEMUR, and [Petrol provider] for ESSO.
I especially like the way ART sits atop MIRO. "The Tilled Field" lives in the Guggenheim. C'mon down!
Love those two vertical 11s: HELPING HAND and FLINTSTONES; and also the two vertical 8s: PASTRAMI and CILANTRO -- though that's a culinary combo I think I'd like to avoid! For more palatable culinary creativity, be sure to tune into the Food Network tonight (10 p.m. Eastern) for Dinner: Impossible which will revisit this year's ACPT luncheon.
Mike Peluso's L.A. Times crossword
I already wrote up this puzzle for L.A. Crossword Confidential. The theme takes an unusual twist, combining the "words that can precede X" trope with an anagram. 54A: [Food reaction shared by about 3 million Americans] is PEANUT ALLERGY. Did you ever notice that "peanut GALLERY" ([43D: Anagram of 54-Across's ending that can follow the first word of 20-, 33-, 40- and 54-Across]) is an anagram of PEANUT ALLERGY? Apparently Mike Peluso did. The other three theme entries—
—operate as standard answers, evoking ART GALLERY, the NATIONAL GALLERY, and PRESS GALLERY.
Updated Wednesday afternoon:
Brendan Quigley's blog puzzle, "Support Group"
Just a quick overview today—The theme there is inserting PRO into a phrase, changing the spelling of the word that turns PRO, and cluing the resulting phrase. "Diesel motor" becomes DIESEL PROMOTER, or [Shaq's agent?]. [Legal action for a rain dance?] clues CLOUD PROCEEDING, playing on "cloud seeding." And a singular "growing pain" (aren't there usually multiple growing pains?) turns into GROWING PROPANE, or [Slowly accumulating barbecue fuel?]. That one doesn't quite work for me, because you'd never say that you're growing the amount of propane you have.
In the fill, BRA is clued as a [Cup holder?]. This one clangs—the bra is made of cups and straps, it doesn't hold cups. What it holds are...not called cups.
Lots of cool fill—a DIME NOVEL, DEL MONTE canned fruit, the au courant SWINE FLU, a LIGHT TOUCH, the PASO DOBLE, and the BAD COP from the "good cop, bad cop" routine ([Interrogation figure]). Bonus nostalgia points for the partial A BILL, clued as ["I'm Just ___" (Schoolhouse Rock classic)].
April 21, 2009
Wednesday, 4/22
NYT 4:22 (paper) — NYT applet/Across Lite back online, but this puzzle wants to be solved on paper
Onion 4:11
BEQ 3:59
CS 2:57
LAT 2:45
Daniel Finan's New York Times crossword
So, the NYT is having technical difficulties in the puzzle department, possibly because of this crossword's long Notepad message and circles in the grid. Luckily, I solved it last week before the Marbles Amateur Crossword Tournament and had the PDF version. I'm all about honoring copyright, yes, but I'm also about enabling people's crossword addictions, especially ones that they pay good money for. So for now the puzzle's posted, and once the NYT server is ponying up the puzzle properly, I'll take it down. (Well, not before I wake up in the morning.)
Anyway, the puzzle! I loved it. I suspect many of you will agree with me that it feels like a Thursday puzzle. Not just the spilling-to-Wednesday gimmickry (which I appreciate—with the demise of the Sun, I've been hankering for more gimmick puzzles than just the occasional Thursday NYT), but also the difficulty level. Anne Erdmann solved this one only a few seconds faster than I did, which I think places it after Wednesday difficulty.
The difficulty lies in the six theme entries that are clued with letters. As the Note says: "When this puzzle is done, the nine circles will contain the letters A through I. Connect them with a line, in alphabetical order, and you will form an illustration of the puzzle's theme." The connect-the-dot picture is a sailboat, but six entries are clued only with reference to the portion of the sailboat picture—and until you've filled in most of the puzzle, you won't see that boat take shape.
The theme includes two large sailing ships:
The boat parts are as follows:
I'll tell you what the main trouble spot was for the Marbles contestants. There was a prize for everyone who finished the puzzle correctly, and usually we didn't need to look further than 1-Across for a mistake. [A Morse "I" consists of two] is DITS, that age-old crosswordese word. 2D is [Chekhov play or its antihero], which apparently is not much of a gimme—nearly half of the contestants had DOTS/OVANOV instead of DITS/IVANOV.
What else did I like about this puzzle, aside from the Blindaueresque gimmick action?
Oh, wait! In the category of boring fill nobody's excited about, ALEE finally finds a higher purpose. 64A is [Away from the wind], and I bet this has some relevance to sailing. And a clunky abbreviation, ATL., is [One of the oceans: Abbr.] on which the SANTA MARIA sailed. And a [Ship's christening, e.g.] is an EVENT. And TAKING is clued as [Pirating], which also ties into the theme.
How do you feel about the Thursdayification of Wednesday? I'm strongly in favor.
(Thanks to Karen T. for facilitating the solution image.)
P.S. You know who made the first connect-the-dots crossword? Elizabeth Gorski, 12/14/03, with all 26 letters forming a Christmas tree with a star on top. So maybe Patrick Blindauer is Gorskiesque...
Updated Wednesday morning:
Mike Peluso's L.A. Times crossword
I had no idea what the theme was until I found myself at 66A: [Action hero's garb, and what each first word in this puzzle's four longest answers is] clues a CAPE, and the theme entries are well-known geographical capes:
Lots of admirable fill—XANADU, PEPPIEST, BEEFALO, Julio IGLESIAS, BLURB—but I've got a phone interview with a reporter in less than an hour and a few more puzzles to blog first, so I'll send you to Rex's L.A. Crossword Confidential post if you're looking for more on this puzzle.
Later Wednesday morning: Oh, the interview was at 10 Eastern, not 10 Central. Back to the puzzles.
Brendan Quigley's blog crossword, "Shut Up and Play"
The theme's a quote from John Coltrane, split into 5/14/14/14/5 chunks. "IF THE / MUSIC DOESN'T SAY / IT, HOW MANY WORDS / CAN SAY IT FOR THE / MUSIC?" Quote themes? Meh.
Among the tougher non-theme clues were these ones:
Some of the fill is superb and some is not—in the latter category, I'd place CAN-MISS, or [Far from surefire, informally], and WE MET, or ["No need to introduce us"]. The good stuff includes TWEET ([Communicate in 140 characters or less]), BRAND-NEW ([Fresh out of the box]), MR. WHITE ([Harvey Keitel's "Reservoir Dogs" role]), and LOVE SCENE ([Hot shot?]). Does Harvey Keitel have a Twitter feed yet? I do.
Paula Gamache's CrosSynergy puzzle, "What's the Story?"
The theme entries all begin with "___ story" words. For example, a WAR OF WORDS is a [Protracted argument], and BEDTIME FOR BONZO wa a [1951 Ronald Reagan film]. War stories, bedtime stories...you see where this is going. My only quibble with the theme is the clue for FISH STICKS: [Children's menu staples]. Chicken fingers have displaced fish sticks from nearly all kids' menus I've seen. All five theme answers are lively crossword fill, though—we also have a GHOST WRITER and LOVE HANDLES.
In the fill, I DO NOT feels a bit iffy with the clue [Runaway bride's words?]. I'm skeptical that any altar jilting involves this spoken negation of the "I do" wedding vow. Hard to clue the answer without using the word "do," but I'm guessing Paula was backed into that answer by its neighbor, WAHS—there aren't a lot of workable options for W*H* crossing two theme entries.
Deb Amlen's Onion A.V. Club crossword
Dang, my browser crashed and I lost what I wrote about Deb's puzzle. In short: I liked the smooth and interesting fill. The theme can be described as "remove an A from song titles Amy has never heard of":
