CS 4:09
LAT 3:19
NYS 3:11
NYT 2:37
Lynn Lempel's headlining the New York Times crossword two days in a row. (Wait, does this mean there's going to be a full Lempel week? Imagine if a newspaper gave the marquee to a single constructor for an entire week...) There are six theme entries, on the shortish side, supplemented by an impressive ten 7-letter fill entries. The BIG BANG sums up the other five theme entries, which all begin with a clamorous din: CRACK SHOT, CRASH DIET, POP FOUL in baseball, CLAPTRAP, and a BOOMTOWN. (Edited to add: Every one of these theme entries makes for a great entry on its own—perhaps it's the inherent sound effects that makes them so zippy?) Bonus points for including APLOMB, which is a word I love.
In the New York Sun puzzle by "Ogden Porter" (a.k.a. Peter Gordon), there are two 19-letter theme entries and a 15. Mind you, the grid's only 15x15, so the 19s are broken into symmetrical chunks. The title, "A Few Choice Words," reflects the "[preposition] Y OR [same preposition] Z" format, as in FOR BETTER / OR FOR WORSE, BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, and COME RAIN OR / COME SHINE. The lower right corner made me smile twice—first it was ["___ Fly Now" (#1 hit of 1977)] for GONNA. That, of course, was the theme song from Rocky. You might think that its dearth of lyrics would make #1 a long shot, but that cheesy instrumental "Music Box Dancer" was a big hit in the same era, and then there were the Hill Street Blues and Beverly Hills Cop theme songs. (Has there been a hit instrumental in the past decade?) The second smile came from the clue [Juicehead who's into the grape] for WINO. I think that's a new clue, and we know how Peter likes to have fresh clues. Not much to say about this puzzle other than "Yay! This Monday and Tuesday aren't holidays for the Sun!"
Updated:
Today's CrosSynergy puzzle by Bob Klahn, "Low-pH Solutions," plunks a PH at the bottom ("low" end) of five vertically placed theme entries. Afraid so becomes an AFRAID SOPH nervous about pledging a frat; fatale adds weight to a Hebrew letter, FAT ALEPH; the [Mythical mythological maiden?] is a PSEUDONYMPH; Viagra is used to convey info VIA GRAPH; and homeroom develops into baseball asset HOMER OOMPH. This isn't exactly a Monday theme, but I love it regardless of what the calendar says. Favorite clues: [Heart murmur?] for PIT-A-PAT; [Little letter] for NOTE; [You might be asked to button yours] for LIP (FLY is also 3 letters!); [Bananas, nuts, or crackers] for LOCO; [Finish the ninth or tenth letter] for DOT an i or j; and [E-musing] for BLOG.
Pancho Harrison's LA Times crossword changes the first part of several two-syllable words/phrases to include a sound-alike famous name. There's Richard's GERE SHIFT, and coach Bobby's KNIGHT STAND, for example. Best fill: "SO WHAT?" (which was initially looking like some sort of HAT...), LAPTOPS, and a MUST-SEE.
January 06, 2008
Monday, 1/7
January 05, 2008
Sunday, 1/6
NYT 9:55
WaPo 8:06
LAT 8:06
PI 6:05
CS 4:59
I need to wash and slice 10 pounds of fresh fruit tonight or first thing in the morning, as it's due at my aunt's house at 11:00 Sunday morning, ready to eat. It's for my mom's relatives' annual Christmas Day brunch, which now lands about two weeks late. Whatever puzzles I don't solve and blog tonight will languish until afternoon or evening. Okay, so really, they won't languish if thousands of other people are solving them during the day, but you know what I mean. Also, there's no Boston Globe offering in Across Lite this weekend.
Oh! January 6 would have been my crossword-loving grandma's 96th birthday. Without her example, I wonder if I would have found my way to crossword puzzles as early as I did. Thanks, Grandma!
Lynn Lempel, one of my favorite easy-puzzle constructors, tossed out more of a challenge in her Sunday New York Times crossword, "The Inside Dope." The theme was of zero help in solving this puppy—in fact, it took me a minute to see what the theme was after I finished the puzzle. I was looking for two other kinds of dope—info and marijuana—rather than the idiots who are hidden within the 10 theme entries. There's a DODO in PLACIDO DOMINGO, a DINGBAT in the READING BATTERY, and a CHUMP in the PACIFIC HUMPBACK whale, for example. I like that there's a hidden non-donkey ASS the day after the B-word debuted in the Gray Lady's crossword. (Will Will Shortz get cranky letters about this?) Oh! There's also some SPERM in the grid, cross-clued with OVA; am I the only one so well-trained by crosswords that I expected labor union abbreviations in both spots? I am disappointed to learn that Teri is not the only famous GARR; [Ralph ___, 1974 N.L. batting champ] gives me no warm fuzzies. And what's with ERNE not playing the part of a sea eagle? Here, it's an [Island-dotted lake of Northern Ireland]. Favorite clues: [Some tubes] for MACARONI; [Lover boy?] for EROS; [It's sour] for a FLAT NOTE in close proximity to Placido; [Title with a tilde] for SENOR (or Señor); [Seminole's archrival] for a GATOR of Florida collegiate sports; and [Not fair] for WET, as in weather. Overall, the non-theme fill didn't do much for me; I might have preferred a puzzle with eight theme entries and more breathing room for longer, zippier fill.
Merl Reagle's Philadelphia Inquirer puzzle tumbled like a house of cards—easy! Each of the 10 theme entries is "Four Little Words," and each beginning rhymes with its end. The direct rhymes, like LOOSE AS A GOOSE and BLAST FROM THE PAST, were the easiest to suss out. ME AND BOBBY MCGEE and CHEAPER TO KEEP HER took more crossings and more thinking to fill in. The entries are so lively in and of themselves: PEDAL TO THE METAL, SOAP ON A ROPE, and the others already mentioned simply sparkle. Favorite clue: [Singer whose name has only two A's] for BARBRA. I started out with ARETHA there, but the "only two" says "doofus, think of a name that might customarily have more than two A's."
In this weekend's Washington Post puzzle, "Two-Piece Suits," Harvey Estes nudges 16 kinds of "suits" into concocted phrases in eight theme entries. For example, a [Simian's time to be alone?] might be some much-needed MONKEY SPACE, and "monkey suit" (tuxedo) and "spacesuit" (astronaut's attire) are both known entities. In this one, its not the theme entries that captivate me so much as the fill. Springsteen's "I'M ON FIRE" abuts tennis great ROD LAVER. The LOVE BOAT is sandwiched between GRIMACES and "IT'S NO USE." LAGER crosses ALE in a heady spot. Not to mention AL JOLSON, FALL FLAT, and RAUCOUS—lively language. Favorite clues: [Bee's city] for FRESNO; [Subject of "worship"] for SUN; [Site visits] for website HITS; [Wayne, aka Batman] for BRUCE Wayne; [Like some trigger fingers] for ITCHY; and [Dipped treat] for BONBON (not OREO!). Honorable mention to one lousy little piece of fill I am inordinately fond of: I GO (["My turn"]).
Updated:
Alan Arbesfeld's syndicated LA Times crossword, "Name Dropping," dumps some famous people's first names from assorted phrases. "Waltzing Matilda" gets the treatment—[Pan a Dahl novel without Disney?] knocks out WALT and leaves ZING MATILDA. "Mexican standoff" loses STAN Laurel and gets a [Polite Chihuahua gesture as Laurel departs?], a MEXICAN DOFF of the hat.
Good times—the CrosSynergy "Sunday Challenge" has a Rich Norris byline, and the man has a knack for constructing good themeless puzzles. Each corner has some colorful 8-letter answers crossing 6-letter entries. Highlights in the fill: J.C. PENNEY, old-school TAPE DECK, I LOVE YOU referencing ROMANCE, a POP-TOP, YUK IT UP, EMOTICON and VITAMIN C crossing a PAYPHONE, some HAS-BEENS AT RANDOM, and PEROXIDE bleaching out a SNAKEPIT. (At 72 words, this one has the maximum word count for a themeless, but it doesn't come across as "unambitious constructor" so much as "constructor who wants to pack the grid with as many lively answers as possible." Favorite clues: [Chain store that began as The Golden Rule in 1902] for J.C. PENNEY; [Relative of bananas?] for NUTS; [Name on a Trump card] for DONALD (his credit cards, business card, and photo IDs presumably bear his full name—wait, does he need a business card?); [Cone-shaped] for PINEAL (cone as in pine cone, which the pineal gland is vaguely shaped like, only it's so wee); and [Green] for COLD CASH.
Emily Cureton's muse is the NYT crossword
There's a new blog you're sure to enjoy—artist Emily Cureton has taken to drawing pictures that riff on a handful of answers from each day's New York Times crossword. Some of you have seen her artwork over at the Rex Parker blog, but now Emily's got a dedicated site, Daily Crossword Drawings. The December 31 entry—one of my favorites—spotlights LOON, NAMECALLING, and LIAR:
I hear Emily will be selling stuff featuring her drawings at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. T-shirts, mugs, prints? I have no idea. But I'm looking forward to shopping!
January 04, 2008
Saturday, 1/5
NYT 5:45
Newsday 5:28
LAT 5:03
CS 3:20
Paula Gamache rocks, and so do 70-word themeless crosswords. The Saturday New York Times puzzle doesn't bedazzle anyone because the grid was fearsomely difficult to fill—it bedazzles because it introduces a best-selling book about the vegan diet, SKINNY BITCH, to crosswordland. (It's a [Saucily titled best-selling diet book].) I didn't know about the book until this week's NYT article about the follow-up book. That entry is stacked atop IL TROVATORE and TEACHER'S PET, which I'd like to think is not so often the [Target of a school bully]. Moving clockwise around the grid, other highlights include CREWCUTS (great clue: [Private dos?]); HETEROS ([They're straight]); EL CAPITAN ([Yosemite Valley peak]; FLUORIDE ([Enamel strengthener]); [John of Lancaster] for LOO; NASTY HABITS (great clue: [They really ought to be kicked]); ACUTE ACCENT (great clue: [Sign of stress?]); SAVES THE DAY; Lake TITICACA of Trivial Pursuit fame ([Body found high in the Andes]—and not a cousin of Ötzi, found frozen in the Alps); [Like 1, but not I] for ARABIC (and also in the number family, [It's next to nothing?] for ONE); [No Yankee fan] for REB, going Civil War rather than Major League; another body of water, LAKE TAHOE, [Where Fredo Corleone gets shot]; OXYMORONS ([Passive-aggressive and the like]); and SILICA GEL (the [Common desiccant] found in those little packets in shoeboxes).
Things that gave me pause: [Peggy of "The Dukes of Hazzard"] is Peggy REA, who played "man-chasing Lulu Hogg." Who? What? The lesser Rea of acting, I shall call her. There's a [Ben Jonson poem] called TO CELIA. I don't recognize the title (me! an English major!), but the first line's familiar: "Drink to me only with thine eyes." There is ITALO disco European dance music? All righty. And YVETTE is a [1884 short story by Guy de Maupassant]? I'll take your word for it. The [N.F.L. salary limit] is called a HARD CAP? Okay. And the [___-de-four (hemisphere-shaped vault]) is CUL-de-four; I guessed COL at first. Now, when I say these gave me pause, I really mean they made me pause in solving because I didn't know them and needed the crossings. This pause is not a pause of doubt or distaste. This crossword was a lot of fun, and eminently fair.
Updated:
The Newsday Saturday Stumper by Stanley Newman (a.k.a. "Anna Stiga") is also a 70-worder, this one featuring eight 9s as the longest answers. Best fill: USE-BY DATE, ON HOLIDAY, DIATRIBE, "YES, INDEED" ([Amen alternative]), "NICE DOG," and BOLO TIE. Favorite clues: [Tiger Woods PGA Tour participant] for GAMER (it's a video game!); [Hole-in-the-wall fixture] for ATM; [Inexperienced one] for COLT (I move that Will Shortz rename the ACPT Rookie category the Colt division); [Bugs] for GERMS; [Watering holes] for LOUNGES; [Opposite of "free"] for ENSLAVE; [Get on] for both RIDE and ENTRAIN; [Sort of stole] for BOA; and [Fair pair] for a pair of TENS in poker.
Ed Early's LA Times puzzle has three triple-stacks of 15-letter entries, many not so difficult to tease out. The tastiest: CHOCOLATE-COATED, of course. Favorite clues: [Future event that sounds as if it already happened] for PRIOR ENGAGEMENT; [Political party term signifying diversity] for BIG TENT; and the super-cheesy "Make IT SO" Star Trek: The Next Generation reference.
Nancy Salomon's CrosSynergy puzzle, "Jaws 3," features two phrases that include the name of a large reptile (ALLIGATOR PEARS, CROCODILE TEARS) and one phrase that is the name of a large reptile (CAIMAN LIZARDS. [Fit to serve] clues ONE-A, and Douglas Bass recently shared with me his disgruntlement about ONE-A and other draft classification references in crosswords, pointing out that the draft ended 35 years ago. The majority of ONEA clues in the Cruciverb database refer to the draft classification, but the answer's also been clued as [___-Day Vitamins], which probably resonates better for those solvers under the age of 45.
The First Annual American Crossword Critics Association Awards!
The American Crossword Critics Association (ACCA) is pleased to announce its awards for achievement in puzzle construction for 2007. Honorees were chosen from among all the major daily and weekly puzzles published in the U.S. in the past year.
Our main goal in issuing these awards (which have monetary value of $0) is to give recognition to constructors, whose work is so often simply consumed and tossed away by solvers. Solving crosswords would become a stale and tedious endeavor were it not for the innovative work of constructors who strive to make puzzles that are thoughtful, fresh, contemporary, often rigorous, and - at best - genuinely exciting. We salute all the (vastly underpaid) constructors out there who have given us countless hours of stimulating diversion (and occasional torture) during the past year. The following awards are not meant to foster competitiveness among constructors or to be exclusionary in any fashion, but simply to honor those puzzles that blew us away.
We are happy to issue (virtual) Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the following categories:
GOLD: Alex Boisvert, New York Sun (NYS), 4/2/07 - "10 Baggers"
SILVER: Fred Piscop, New York Times (NYT), 9/24/07 - ["Here's/There's/Where's"]
BRONZE: Lynn Lempel, NYT, 2/12/07 - ["Last Dance"]
GOLD: Patrick Berry, NYS, 9/14/07 - "Color Change"
SILVER: Brendan Emmett Quigley, NYT, 1/31/07 - ["Tilt at Windmills"]
BRONZE: Alan Olschwang, NYT, 1/4/07 - [Punctuation rebus]
GOLD: Byron Walden, NYT, 2/24/07
SILVER: David Quarfoot, NYT 4/20/07
BRONZE: Karen M. Tracey, NYT, 3/3/07
GOLD: Craig Kasper, NYT, 3/18/07 - "Initial Substitutions"
SILVER: Merl Reagle, Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/7/07 - "Seeing Double"
BRONZE: Ashish Vengsarkar, NYT, 1/7/07 - "Spellcheck"
GOLD: Patrick Berry
SILVER: Byron Walden
BRONZE: David Quarfoot and Karen M. Tracey (tie)
Rex Parker's Honorable Mentions:
Crossword Fiend’s Honorable Mentions:
We are also happy to announce Special Awards for
We had this one decided - Stanley Newman's puzzle (blank PDF here) had crushed Orange like she hadn't been crushed all year, and since Rex took a good long time to get it done, he couldn't argue. And then Klahn happened. And while the Klahn did not vex Orange so much, it vexed the hell out of most of the rest of the puzzling world. Rex couldn't finish. Former champions admitted openly that it brutalized them. Some cried foul. Others humbly accepted defeat and chose to see it as a learning experience. And so we give this award to both puzzles. (An aside: most of you do the NYT, but Newman's "Saturday Stumpers" are definitely worth your time if you like rough stuff.)
DON'T TASE ME, BRO
HEATHER HAS / TWO MOMMIES
That's it. Join us next year when we'll do it all again. And if you see anything out there in the World of Puzzles that you feel is particularly worthy of consideration, or if you can think of viable, interesting categories that we don't have yet, don't hesitate to let us know.
All best wishes for a great new year in puzzling,
Orange and Rex Parker (founding members of ACCA)
January 03, 2008
Friday, 1/4
NYT 5:27
LAT 4:44
CHE 4:28
Jonesin' 3:39
CS 3:37
WSJ 8:19
For the crazy New York Sun puzzle, see here.
And tune in Friday afternoon for the first annual American Crossword Critics Association (membership: two) honors, singling out Rex's and my favorite puzzles from 2007. Wow, is it hard to narrow that list down! I had saved about 40 themeless puzzles alone in my "great puzzles" folder, not to mention themed daily puzzles, oddball gimmick puzzles, and Sunday-sized puzzles.
The Friday New York Times puzzle's by Raymond Young has a stellar 54-word grid, a pinwheel spinning around a black square in the middle. While solving, I didn't even notice that this crossword had such a low word count, since it had plenty of showy entries and relatively few clunky obscurities. First, the groovy answers and clues: the late Molly IVINS; MOVIEFONE, a [Service for filmgoers] (this one evokes a classic Seinfeld episode); "WHERE'S THE FIRE?" as in ["In a hurry, are we?"] (though I cannot imagine a cop saying the latter); PERPETRATE, or [Cause]; E-MAIL LIST, or [Modern marketing aid], atop another EM- word, EMBROIDER, or [Decorate]; VAPORIFIC ([Producing some clouds]), just because it reminds me of "toasterrific" from Ren and Stimpy; IN THE PINK ([Fit]); "SEE HERE!" (["Now listen!"]); SETS THE TABLE (mostly common letters and a commonplace task, but fresh as crossword fill); the colorful WHARF RATS ([Pilferers from ships and port warehouses]); To Kill a Mockingbird's HARPER LEE, [Alabaman who wrote the Best Novel of the Century, according to a 1999 Library Journal poll]; the semi-arbitrary yet Scrabbly SCENE XII, [Part of Act IV where Marc Antony resolves to kill Cleopatra]; SPIKE TV (["The first network for men" sloganeer, once]); and [Overplayed] for HAMMED it up.
Now, for the gnarly bits—and having just waded through the entire grid for the previous paragraph, I see plenty of things that I got strictly via the crossings. Such as LICEY, clued as [Tigres del ___, Dominican team that has won the Caribbean World Series nine times]. LICEY is right next to LOSCH, the last name of [Claudia ___, 1984 Olympic gold medalist in shot put]. I go those only because DESCENTS and TELESCOPY came together and because I had a lucky guess that the bottom entry was SHYEST and not the American Heritage Dictionary's preferred spelling, SHIEST. Two obscure sports names crossing a could-go-either-way spelling? Okay, people will complain about that. Also from the world of sports, a racehorse I'd never heard of at 2-Down, CAPOT ([Horse of the Year that won the 1949 Preakness and Belmont])—hey, Steve M., was this one on your list of horses to know for crosswords? Doing a 180 from sports to opera, there's [Soprano Albanese] two columns over from CAPOT. Livia? Lidia? No: LICIA Albanese. (Still alive! But not well-known to non–opera fans.) I've seen the word reforest, but never REAFFOREST ([Plant on after a wildfire, say]). And HEMINS, the [Forensic indicators of the presence of blood]—I have not picked this word up from CSI. EPIC TALES seems straightforward enough, but with a twisty clue ([Relations of Homer?]) and the horse/opera crossings, that was the very last answer I completed. The [London locale of Prada, Dior, Gucci, and Giorgio Armani] is SLOANE STREET—ah, so that must be where the term Sloane Rangers comes from.
Matt Jones's Jonesin' puzzle pays tribute to "The Worst of 2007"—all manner of terrible things that've been anointed as the worst (song, car, movie sequel, TV show, fashion mistake) of last year. Ah, this was fun! Never heard of the song (I pay the least attention to the music section in Entertainment Weekly), but the crossings were reasonable enough to complete the title. What I liked, besides the theme: two retro pols, HHH (Humphrey) and ADLAI (one alone is lame, but two makes it fun); "IT'S ON!" and SMOOSH; [It comes from your butt?] for ASH (speaking of which: Illinois's public places are now smoke-free! No more smoky bars!); looks-like-crosswordese-but-it's-not ELAH, from the title of that Tommy Lee Jones movie that got good reviews; and Judge WAPNER from People's Court.
Updated:
Patrick Berry's 12/21 Chronicle of Higher Education puzzle, "Trace Elements," is a thing of beauty. The six theme entries reinterpret two-letter words as two-letter atomic symbols. Thus, [Aluminum that doesn't seem like aluminum] is WEIRD AL (Al = aluminum), and [Arsenic in a murder-mystery show?] is AS SEEN ON TV (As = arsenic). Terrific theme with a fresh little "aha" moment for each of the six theme answers, amid glass-smooth fill (which includes two more elements, TIN and NEON, in non-gimmick form). Favorite clues: [Marco Polo venue] for swimming POOL; [They're made using one's hands] for FISTS; [Get off the ground] for HOP; and [Dairy suppliers] for UDDERS.
"Standing Out" is the name of Mel Rosen's CrosSynergy puzzle today. The theme's a quip: IS IT REDUNDANT TO / BUY A VANITY PLATE / FOR A LAMBORGHINI? I'm no fan of quip puzzles, but this one does break into 15s at logical places.
Lee Glickstein and Nancy Salomon's LA Times crossword has a title within the grid: EATS OUT. The EATs are removed from the base phrases in the theme entries, so dancing all night to Benny Goodman is SWING PROFUSELY (sweating), and a baseball player may be SCARED TO DH (death). OFF THE BEN TRACK (beaten) sounded off to me—"off the beaten path" is the phrase I'm more familiar with, and while it outranks "off the beaten track" on Google, the "track" phrase is the one with solid reference support. (Live and learn.)
Randolph Ross's Wall Street Journal puzzle is an "International Foodfest," with foods adopting place names in modestly punful fashion. I'm a fan of geography themes, and this one offers 11 different entries. My favorites: the TUNIS SANDWICH, DELHI PICKLE, and MALTA MILK BALLS. The very last square I filled in was a borderline unfair crossing: [Yesterday, in the Yucatan] (not a Spanish word that's so commonly known among non-Spanish speakers, I think) meets [Farm product cooperative]. I have never, ever heard of AGWAY cooperative stores. (The store locator tells me my closest stores are over 200 miles away in Indiana.) Spanish "yesterday" is AYER. AGWAY?? Ow. But other than that one crossing, a most enjoyable puzzle.
Vowelless Crossword, Friday, 1/4 (NY Sun)
NYS 20:52
Frank Longo's Friday New York Sun puzzle is entitled, "Vwllss Crsswrd," and all the vowels have been omitted from the answers. None of the answers include a Y, so there's no need to ponder whether Y counts as a consonant or vowel.
Let's look at how fancy this 62-entry baby is. Quadruple-stacked 15-letter entries at the top and bottom! Another 15 across the middle!
I confess that I Googled three times—once to confirm that I had the right title in mind for the George Clooney sequel, once to look up the Broadway director (Broadway is not my bag), and once to look up the cruise company. (If it's not Royal Caribbean, Carnival, or Princess, what else could it be? Oh, one I've never heard of. Gotcha.) And I did stop the Across Lite timer a few times, for a break or for Googling, so really, my time's longer than what's posted above. But the posted time is about 2.5 times longer than last Saturday's NYT themeless by Klahn, so yeah, this puppy's a killer. I suspect the clues would have felt pretty tough even if I knew how many letters the answer really had (with vowels).
If you've got the answers filled in but the alphabet soup of consonants doesn't always make sense, I've got my answers listed below (use your mouse to highlight the text). If you filled in the vowels another way, feel free to share your answers.
Across
1. best live-action short film
16. German short-haired pointer
17. sets the record straight
18. trip cancellation insurance
19. airiest
20. pigeon
21. misperception
29. surprises
31. mutual agreements
33. ties in
34. transcendental meditation
38. total
39. detention center
40. brine-cured
43. dermatological
44. bunt
45. Debbie
47. Return of the Killer Tomatoes
57. Orlando International Airport
58. went in the right direction
59. assistant administrators
Down
1. Big East
2. Sartre
3. "Time's up!"
4. lunatic
5. Vishnu
6. Chirac
7. treacle
8. natural
9. shed a tear
10. hoarseness
11. radiation treatment
12. tapers
13. fingerprinting
14. loathings
15. morticians
21. Mamet
22. Easter
23. plant nutrients
24. orgiastic
25. circular definition
26. apeman
27. tended
28. intonated
30. episodical
32. stainer
35. Altima
36. attic
37. neural
40. Abe Burrows
41. Orient Lines
42. "I doubt that"
46. abhorred
48. andante
49. "King me!"
50. Lithuania
51. lean-tos
52. ruled out
53. terrier
54. impact
55. traitor
56. steins
January 02, 2008
Thursday, 1/3
NYT 4:48
NYS 4:38
LAT 3:58
CS 3:12
Hey, look! It's alliterative crossword constructor day! Henry Hook's New York Times puzzle explains its theme in 56-Across—the four people/characters in the other theme slots (Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. the PENGUIN in Batman; MARY POPPINS; Neville CHAMBERLAIN; and the MORTON SALT GIRL) were known to CARRY UMBRELLAS. Highlights: the longish fill (ANXIOUS, FIRETRAP, BLUENOSE, SHIATSU); the inclusion of the two OUE words, ROUE and MOUE; [Boxer's hand] for PAW (boxer as in dog, not boxer as in pugilist); the steep cost of an ARM and a LEG; the Scrabbliness of JINNI (i.e., genie) and XMAS/ANXIOUS); and [Passing obstruction?] for a NAY vote.
Alan Arbesfeld's New York Sun puzzle goes zodiacal, with "Strange Signs From Above" warping eight of the 12 signs into sound-alike goofy phrases. Libra becomes LEIGH BRA, or what was removed (from Janet Leigh) before the Psycho shower scene. There's Cancer ("CAN, SIR!"), Aquarius ("UH, QUERY US"), Taurus (TORE RUSS), Gemini (GEM IN EYE), Capricorn (CAPRA CORN), Leo (LEA EAU), and Pisces (PIE SEIZE). Fun theme! Nothing's gonna work for Sagittarius or Virgo, but "air ease" and "Score pee? Oh" are faintly possible. Favorite clues: [Ma, e.g.] for VIRTUOSO; [Where stars are capitals] for MAP; and [Big shot?] for SMASH (I played my first tennis game on the Wii game console this morning—I just barely edged out my kid, who completely patronized me in the way he reassured me that I was getting the hang of it). I didn't know LUCIUS was the [Name of three popes]—I did know, however, that Samuel L. Jackson's character in The Incredibles was named Lucius (superhero identity: Frozone).
Updated:
I like Donna Levin's LA Times crossword. It takes crossword regular NEE and moves it to the theme clues, each of which reads [TV spouse née ___] with a surname filling in the blank. I knew the two from newer shows and pieced the other two together from the crossings. Fun bits of TV trivia! In two corners, there are triple-stacks of 9-letter entries in the fill. Other tasty nuggets: PUN is clued as [According to Oscar Levant, it's "the lowest form of humor—when you don't think of it first"]; [Lute sound?] for the LONG U sound; and [Isinglass] for MICA, because I think isinglass is a cool word (I had no idea the etymology related to a Dutch word for a sturgeon bladder). My 7-year-old spotted the [Type of money]/PIN pairing and questioned me. Yes, I had to explain to a kid that the answer to "kind of ___" clues never equates to a noun that's the equivalent of the noun in the clue. He thought it would be awesome if pins could be used as money, and he'd stash pins in his mini-lockbox and feel wealthy.
Martin Ashwood-Smith's CrosSynergy crossword, "Seeing Stars," has three 15-letter things that can all be described as [Stars]. It's sort of a backwards theme, as PROMINENT ACTORS, ARMY DECORATIONS, and CELESTIAL BODIES are the sorts of phrases that would generally be confined to the clues (with STARS playing the part of the answer).
Scrabble for Cheaters—NYC benefit
New Yorkers who enjoy Scrabble but wish it were kosher to cheat, your dreams are coming true! On Saturday, January 19, in Brooklyn, 826NYC (which helps kids develop their creative and expository writing skills) is holding a Scrabble for Cheaters benefit. The more money your team raises, the more you can cheat your way to glory. Buy a vowel? It'll cost you $50 of donations. Buy a Scrabbly Z, Q, or X? $250. Reject an opponent's perfectly valid word because it's occupying that triple-word score square you had your eye on? $450. Make up your own word? $500.
January 01, 2008
Wednesday, 1/2
Onion 5:51
Tausig 5:45
NYS 4:45
LAT 3:50
NYT 3:45
Here's a little word game for you: There is a trio of common words—6, 7, and 8 letters in length—in which the 6-letter word also serves as the first 6 letters of the longer words. Hint: People with less vocabulary savvy than you often use two or more of these words interchangeably, but they oughtn't do that.
Patrick Blindauer's New York Times puzzle takes things a step beyond crosswordland, as is Patrick's wont. In this one, the central entry reads CONNECT THE O'S, and the clue instructs us to do that with four straight lines. CLARINET / RELATIVE is clued as a [hint to this puzzle's secret]. If you're like me, you gazed at this resulting layout:
and wondered what the hell kind of musical instrument that was a symbol for. I even Googled clarinet relative, since only the bassoon and flute came to mind. Eventually it hit me: an oboe sounds like an "O bow," and that's what the thingamabob in the grid is, an O bowtie. The oboe is likely the most commonly used musical instrument in crossword grids, so it's a sweet twist to repurpose it for a higher use than Modern High Crosswordese. (If you missed the recent puzzle where the EBRO River was repurposed in a splashy manner, Rex and I will give the details in our first annual American Crossword Critics Association honors on Friday. Constructors, feel free to don your gowns and tuxedos on Friday; if you don't win, you can still enjoy the glamorous imaginary parties after the virtual award presentation.) The fill in Patrick's puzzle didn't stand out as clunky or forced, though the mandatory placement of the letter O in those 22 squares and nowhere else certainly constrained the filling process. Now, you might argue that ATLI, [Mythical king of the Huns], is a crappy crosswordese answer, but I like it because Tyler Hinman and I named our pub trivia team Atli one week. Favorite clue: [Souvenir from a bad trip?] for ABRASION.
The New York Sun puzzle is by Bob Klahn. Be not afraid! It is not so beastly at all. In "Piece by Piece," there are six short (8 to 10 letters) theme answers, each of which has two words or is a compound word—and each half of a theme entry fits the "___ piece" template. For example, TIME PERIOD feeds into timepiece and period piece, so there are 12 different "___ piece" answers inherent in the theme. Favorite clue: [Country with an upside-down Polish flag] for INDONESIA. I thought the Polish flag had a red eagle on it, so this seemed highly unlikely, but whaddaya know? Poland's got white on top, red on the bottom, and Indonesia's the opposite (and the Isle of Man has three legs radiating out from a central point!). Favorite fill: DEM BUMS, a.k.a. the Brooklyn Dodgers. ABIE is clued with reference to the old comic strip, "Abie the Agent," which was dreadfully obscure to me in last Thursday's NYT crossword but now? It's old hat.
Ben Tausig's Ink Well/Chicago Reader puzzle, "Congestion Procession," says to me, "I hab a code." The theme entries are spoken by someone so congested, the M sound can't get through the nose and sounds like a B. Thus, maybe someday becomes BABY SUB DAY (an [Occasion for mini hoagies?]), and "Show me the money" mutates into SHOW BEA THE BUNNY. Answers that fail the stodgy Sunday morning breakfast test: [Places that might have troughs] are MEN'S ROOMS, [Big name in feminine hygiene] is KOTEX, and a [Johnson] is a WANG. Answers that were beyond my ken: the Southern rapper BUN B, that it was ANNIE who sang "Chewing Gum," that T-BIRD is a cheap fortified wine. Most appalling thing I learned: The New York Post headline upon IKE Turner's death was "Ike 'Beats' Tina to Death." Wow, the post is sleazy. Domestic violence double entendres fail the ha-ha test.
I meant to do the Tausig and Onion crosswords Tuesday morning, but I was busy all day and moved them to the Wednesday post. Am too sleepy to the second one—overtired is not the default status one wishes to have when facing a Byron Walden crossword!
Updated:
Byron Walden ought to write a political rap including the rhymes in his Onion A.V. Club crossword. The mainline candidates named John (Edwards and McCain) are charged with doing the dirty work and attacking their debate opponents via quasi-violent words that rhyme with the other candidates' first names (e.g., PILLORY CLINTON, TWIT ROMNEY). Aw, how come MENACE KUCINICH didn't make the cut? Oh, fine. I suppose including 94 theme squares in a 15x16 asymmetrical grid is plenty, and I can't complain that there are four attacks on Republicans and just three attacks on Democrats. Unusual fill included the Indiana ski area PAOLI Peaks—I never knew Indiana had skiing (it's not far from Louisville, apparently)—crossing internet slang PHAIL. AFRIC is an old-fashioned word for African, or [From south of the Mediterranean]. LOTL is short for Land of the Lost, a show I watched as a kid (though the only thing I remember is Chaka, as seen here). And then there's SMUSH ([Pack together]) crossing ARM FARTS ([Music from the pits?]. Now, where I come from, those are strictly called "armpit farts," but not everyone calls 'em that. (Also? My niece can make neck farts with her chin. She can also stick her tongue in her nose. She's very talented!)
Thomas Schier's CrosSynergy puzzle goes entomological in its puns. I felt mighty clever when with just the final L, I filled in MISS THE BOLL at 59-Across, but alas, the boll is the cotton and not the bug that infests it, and the answer was SEE NO WEEVIL. I rather liked this buggy theme. (A dear friend mentioned the other day telling a colleague that she liked etymology. "Bugs?" he asked. Auugh.) I enjoyed David Bowie's "LET'S DANCE," [Dirty dish?] for RICE (as in dirty rice—holy cow, it's "dirty" because it's darkened by being cooked with chicken liver? Eww.), the word DODGY (though [Hard to pin down] makes it sound elusive rather than unsavory), and the Aussie EMU (my uncle just came back from a trip to Australia and gave my son some coins, including one with an emu—I prefer the darling echidna and the platypus).
The CrosSynergy puzzle clues ETH as [Biblical verb ending]. As Douglas Bass pointed out to me, "While these words [thy, thee, thou, shalt, etc.] did appear in the King James Version, there's nothing intrinsically Biblical about them. They're just the way they were translated at the time. Modern Bible translations (like the New International Version, f'rinstance) use the language that one person in 2007 would use in talking to another. I don't like the association of Biblical with archaic." I don't mind associating Biblical with archaic, but when archaic language is naught but archaic language, it would be good to label it as such. Why evoke the Bible when it's really 1600s English language that's involved? Including the Bible in the clue also serves to marginalize those solvers who don't identify themselves as Christians. I mean, if the clue's about a specifically Biblical character or story, that's one thing, but plain ol' English language from four centuries ago? Why bring the Bible into it?
Dan Naddor's LA Times crossword is not infested with egg sacs, but it's got SAKS FIFTH AVENUE, German Jewish poet and playwright NELLY SACHS, Kenny G's SOPRANO SAX, and SACKS OF POTATOES.
