Colorists / MON 3-2-15 / "Momma" cartoonist / Sign between Cancer and Virgo / Peruvian author Mario Vargas _

Hey, everyone, it's an Annabel day and boy am I excited! Not only was this a great puzzle, but I went to my first convention this month - Katsucon - and it was loads of fun. I got to meet the creator of one of my favorite webcomics, bought a new poster print for my room, and there were so many amazing costumes! Here I am in mine.*

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Triple L" — Theme words had three L's.

Theme answers:

• STILL LIFE (17A: Cézanne's "The Basket of Apples," e.g.)
• CALL LETTERS (23A: Radio station identification)
• MELL LAZARUS (51A: "Momma" cartoonist)
• TWO-L LLAMA (61A: "A beast," according to Ogden Nash)

Word of the Day: ECHOS (52D: Pioneering 1960s communications satellites) —
Project Echo was the first passive communications satellite experiment. Each of the two American spacecraft, launched in 1960 and 1964, was a metalizedballoon satellite acting as a passive reflector of microwave signals. Communication signals were bounced off them from one point on Earth to another. The Echo satellite program also provided the astronomical reference points required to accurately locate Moscow. This improved accuracy was sought by the US military for the purpose of targeting intercontinental ballistic missiles. (wikipedia)

• • •

Definitely one of the most fun puzzles I've solved in a while. Props to Andrea Carla Michaels for using her own NAMES  for that answer's clue (34A: Andrea, Carla and Michael)! Not to mention PHIAL's spelling;  never even saw that before. But OHGOD, am I ready for the era of ERA, especially with predictable clues like  "measure of time" or "time in history," to be over. Also, I ended up stuck on the northeast corner for a while (for some reason, that corner always trips me up?), but I loved the southwest corner with its proliferation of O's.

Not a lot to say about the theme. Typicalll, simpllle Monday.

Bullets:

• 61A: "A beast," according to Ogden Nash (TWOLLLAMAS) — Okay, how could I see this and not address the fact that the llamas got lloose in Arizona and everyone talked about it so much that #llamadrama becomes a trending hashtag (the best ever, in my opinion) on Twitter? I mean, come on. The llamas were even crossword colors. Here, have a 26-minute long video of the llama chase...because apparently that exists.

[but the best part is that I rode on a llama at Homestead Gardens once]

• 31A: Layered hairstyle (SHAG) — I had honestly never heard of a shag before doing this puzzle and had to guess at this one for a while. My mom was shaking her head at me because my sister was watching Scooby-Doo, with Shaggy and his shag haircut, right in front of me. Maybe she's just old. (Rex, don't tell her I said that!!) 
• 18A: Exams for future attnys. (LSATS) — Omigod you guys, with this word bisecting EMMETT, Elle Wood's love interest, I just couldn't not post some LEGALLY BLONDE!(This is totally what college is going to be like, right?)

["but, first you'll need an LSAT score of more than 174" ...see...posting songs from this musical is totally relevant]

• *9A: Ponzi scheme, e.g. (FRAUD) — Okay, so I didn't actually link to pictures, I just Rickrolled you all. Because, y'know, I'm a fraud. And also because ASTLEY (50D: Rick with the #1 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up") was one of the clues. The Katsucon part wasn't a fraud, though!! That was seriously one of the most fun things I've ever done. I cosplayed (nerd-convention slang for "dressed up as") April Ludgate from Parks and Rec, and my friend was Tom Haverford. Good times.

Shout-out to MELL LAZARUS, the "Momma" cartoonist, because it's my "Momma" 's birthday on Thursday! I'm sure Rex will send her a BFF present.

Signed, Annabel Thompson, tired high school student. Live long and prosper. (To Leonard Nimoy's ghost: I'm sorry about that time I put a figurine of you in my shoe.)

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Franciscan order member / MON 8-16-10 / End of week office dress policy maybe / Quaint computer insert / Drooping as rabbit's ears

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels and Jennifer Nutt

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: TV DETECTIVE (60A: What each of the characters named at the ends of 17-, 24-, 38- and 48-Across is):

• Frank CANNON (1971-76) — LOOSE CANNON (17A: Unpredictable sort)

• Joe FRIDAY (Jack Webb years: 1949-59, 1967-70) — CASUAL FRIDAY (24A: End-of-the-week office dress policy, maybe)

• Nash BRIDGES (1996-2001) — BURN ONE'S BRIDGES (38A: Permanently sever ties)

• Adrian MONK (2002-09) — CAPUCHIN MONK (48A: Franciscan order member)

Word of the Day: CAPUCHIN MONK (48A: Franciscan order member)) —

The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (O.F.M. Cap; in England and Ireland, O.S.F.C) is an order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Capuchins, called a minister general, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri. // The order arose in 1520 when Matteo da Bascio, an "Observant" Franciscan friar native to the Italian area of Marche, said he became inspired by God with the idea that the manner of life led by the Franciscans of his day was not the one which St. Francis had envisaged. He sought to return to the primitive way of life in solitude and penance as practiced by the founder of his order.

• • •

Really liked this one, despite the fact that I (someone who starts teaching crime fiction again in something like two weeks) could identify only two of the four detectives. "CANNON" sounded like one of those one-named 70s cop shows I'd heard of (it is), but BRIDGES I could not identify. So I googled, only to have a powerful "D'oh" moment. "*Nash* Bridges." There was literally Nothing about that show that made me want to watch it, so I never did (as I avoided most '90s phenomena). I sort of forgot that Nash BRIDGES *was* a detective — whoa, I just realized NASH is in the grid—crafty (39D: Ogden who wrote "Candy / Is dandy / But liquor / Is quicker"). In my head, he is like a slightly more civilized and effete Walker Texas Ranger. Anyway, the theme answers themselves are fantastic, especially the highly unexpected and original CAPUCHIN MONK—the only answer in the grid keeping this puzzle from being flat-out "Easy" for a Monday. I hesitated only a couple of times while solving: once at SECY (58D: Cabinet head: Abbr.), an abbrev. I can't stand, and one which (consequently?) never comes readily to mind; and once at DELHI (33D: Indian metropolis), which I (once again!) misspelled on my first try. My brain will not let DEHLI go. Love the music in this one (esp. Stevie!).

Wife just called from the next room, re: clue on NIECE (15A: Uncle's special little girl): "Creepy!" Agreed. Only weirdish words today were FLOR (27D: Bloom: Sp.), which is more Spanish 102 than Spanish 101 (e.g. ESO, ADIOS, AGUA, etc.); and ALOP (31A: Drooping, as a rabbit's ears), which will make novice solvers go "???" but will be so familiar to constant solvers at this point that its presence is not likely to cause disturbance of any sort.

[My love for this man's music knows No Bounds—nothing can make me happier faster: Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie AMOUR"]

Bullets:

• 41D: Quaint computer insert (DISKETTE) — this clue made me laugh out loud, mainly because it made me imagine someone picking up one of these at a little antique store on the coast: "Look at this honey ... isn't it adorable?"
  
• 49D: Like some symmetry (AXIAL) — a bit of an oddity on a Monday, but I can tell you that I got this instantly based solely on the clue: symmetry seems to be a preferred way of coming at AXIAL.
  
• 67A: "Go, bullfighter!" ("OLE!") — this clue also made me laugh out loud, primarily at the idea of anyone, at any time, shouting "Go, bullfighter!" "Go, bullfighter! Throw a home run!"

About tomorrow's puzzle: I won't be around to blog it (though someone else will). I want to invite you, however, to write your own personal comments on your copy of the puzzle, cut it out, and send it to me at:

Rex Parker
4700 Vestal Parkway East, #279
Vestal, NY 13850-3770

Or else take a picture of yourself solving it, shredding it, making an airplane out of it, whatever, and send that along to me via email. Seriously.

I'll be back on Wednesday with a brief recap of this past weekend's Lollapuzzoola 3 tournament in Queens.

Thanks.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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German/Polish border river / MON 3-22-10 / TV show with many doors / Dashing actor Flynn / Richard's partner in Carpenters

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: LADE (35D: Stow, as cargo ... or an anagram of the last word of 17-, 35- or 52-Across)


Word of the Day: REX Reed (14A: Film critic Reed) —

Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic and former co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for The New York Observer.

• • •

Well, this was easy, and though it pains me to say it, very unsatisfying. The theme is just D.O.A. LADE? That's your hook? Your pivot answer? A four-letter word with zero charisma that constructors use only when they have to? And there are anagrams ... why? I just don't get it. Further, the theme answers aren't very interesting. And with only three theme answers, and 78 words (the max) to work with, the non-theme fill should have been much, much, much better than it was. DIASPORA (11D: Scattering of an ethnic group) is about the only interesting thing in the grid. Otherwise, all the typical partials and abbreviations and tired names that you hope not to have to see much of in an early-week puzzle. IRMA (24D: "___ la Douce") *and* ELSA (30D: "Born Free" lioness)? Well, I guess it could have been worse. Could have been ERMA and ILSA. No joy in Rexville today.

Theme answers:

• 17A: All around, as on a trip (OVER HILL AND DALE) — I read "all around" as "all-around," though I'm not sure it would have helped to have read it properly. This is a phrase I've only ever heard in one context: that "Caissons Go Rolling Along" song. I know "ALL OVER HELL AND GONE." And I know "CHIP AND DALE." And yet, time-wise, not blowing right through this one hardly seems to have mattered. Still came in under 3.
  
• 35A: TV show with many doors ("LET'S MAKE A DEAL")
  
• 52A: Move into first place in a race (TAKE OVER THE LEAD)
  

Had a number of missteps, but clearly nothing catastrophic. Went with DRIVES over DROVES (1D: Herds), HEE over YEE (13D: "___-haw!" (cry of delight)), and OLES over RAHS (4D: Stadium cheers). Precision of my European geographical sense is not reliable, so RHONE/RHINE is always an adventure. Today, I picked correctly: RHONE (49A: River of Arles). "Arles" is commonly associated (in puzzles and elsewhere) with Van Gogh. I sort of like the symmetrical corner pieces MUDDY (9A: Foil, as the waters) and PADDY (60A: Rice field). PADDIES are MUDDY, right? Anyway, as words, they stand out against the mass of ecru that is the rest of this grid.

Bullets:

• 30A: Dashing actor Flynn (ERROL) — only just noticed that his name is the (last) name of another famous, crosswordesey actor, spelled backwards: Peter LORRE. Also, if you add an "S," it's an anagram of SORREL (33A: Horse color).
  
• 51A: Richard's partner in the Carpenters (KAREN) — her voice is truly beautiful. I could listen to her all day long. Also, many Carpenters hits were simply good songs. One of my favorite albums of the '90s was an anthology called "If I Were a Carpenter," with Carpenters songs covered by modern rock groups. There were a couple of duds on there, but most of it was hauntingly fantastic.

• 31D: Title before Rabbit or Fox (BRER) — Remember when Roger Rabbit and Samantha Fox teamed up to do that dance video? Or did I dream that? Or am I thinking of "Opposites Attract?"

[Remix!]

• 34D: German/Polish border river (ODER) — ah, four-letter European rivers. Who doesn't like those?
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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Cartoonist Browne — MONDAY, Nov. 2 2009 — Jetsam's partner / Rochester's beloved governess / Head of a major toy outfit

Constructors: Andrea Carla Michaels and Kent Clayton

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "BELIEVE IT OR NOT" (51A: Ripley catchphrase that's apropos to 20-, 34- and 42-Across) — theme answers are all holiday-related creatures that adults trick kids into believing are real

Word of the Day: DIK Browne (23A: Cartoonist Browne) — Dik Browne (August 11, 1917 – June 4, 1989) was born Richard Arthur Allan Browne in New York City. He was a popular cartoonist, best known for writing and drawing Hägar the Horrible and for drawing Hi and Lois.

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A simple and lovely puzzle. Was thinking as I moved through it that a. the fill seemed solid all round and b. there seemed to be some kind of kid/toy theme going on. I was going too quickly to catch the theme, and with HASBRO (9D: Owner of Scrabble) and THE EASTER BUNNY already in the grid I hit the odd clue 42A: Head of a major toy outfit and had no clue what to do with it. "F.A.O. Schwarz!?" Had to get the theme and then come back to it. I like that this puzzle has ACTOR in the NE (16A: Thespian), as any of the theme answers a child might actually have seen in his/her life would have been played by one. I also like the way HASBRO is clued, as at least one of today's constructors is a competitive Scrabble player.

Theme answers:

• 20A: Spring egg distributor (The Easter Bunny)
• 34A: One who leaves money under a pillow (Tooth Fairy) — problem here: you've given EASTER BUNNY a "THE," but failed to give one to TOOTH FAIRY. Either they both get one or neither gets one. This is the only real flaw in today's puzzle, but it's kinda big. Really really surprised that kind of inconsistency was allowed to fly.
• 42A: Head of a major toy outfit (Santa Claus) — does not need a "THE," thankfully.

There were perhaps one too many partials today, especially since they were likely unnecessary (i.e. in little corners of the grid where constructors would have had a lot of leeway with fill). EYE ON, TO AN, AN OUT ... I wouldn't want more than one partial in my Monday grid unless there were really, really good cause (brilliant fill that couldn't be pulled off any other way, for instance).

Bullets:

• 30A: Jetsam's partner (flotsam) — one of several wonderful answers today; also in the group are HASBRO, KARACHI (44A: Largest city in Pakistan), ABDOMEN (43D: What situps tighten up), and FROTH (30D: Possible sign of rabies), though the clues on the last two felt a bit off, somehow. I'd say ABS or ABDOMINALS in response to the 43D clue, and while "frothing at the mouth" is certainly a rabies sign, simple FROTH feels like an odd fit. There's FROTH on my cappuccino.
• 8D: _____ Best of the pre-Ringo Beatles (Pete) — Andrea loves her Beatles, so we'll end with this.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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MONDAY, Sep. 7 2009 — Disney lyric repeated before Darling it's better Down where it's wetter / Decorative needle case / Rapper turned actor

Constructors: Andrea Carla Michaels and Ashish Vengsarkar

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: Extraterrestrials — the letters "ET" can be found a dozen times in the grid.

OK, the real THEME is probably: "GO FISH" (1A: Card game in which a player might aske "Got any 8's?") — 7 fishing-related theme answers (8 if you count CARPS => 38A: Complains) ... but I'm right about the "ET"s.

Word of the Day: SLOAN (5D: M.I.T.'s _____ School of Management) — The MIT Sloan School of Management is one of the five schools of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is one of the world's leading business schools [...] MIT Sloan offers bachelor's degrees, master's degree and doctorates, as well as non-degree executive education programs. Its largest program is the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, which matriculates students every year from more than 60 countries and offers the widest range of electives of any business school in the United States.^[1] U.S. News & World Report and BusinessWeek award it #1 in the most disciplines of any business school in the United States. (wikipedia, though the page reads like it was written by the SLOAN P.R. dept.)
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Way more interesting, and thematically denser, than most Mondays, but also much looser, to the point that I'm not sure how to define the theme except very, very broadly. I thought at first there were just the three Across theme answers — different stages of fishing (baiting, catching, reeling in). But that seemed weak, and the stages weren't even in order. Then I noticed the long Downs, which have Nothing to do with fishing, but are both nautical. Then I looked back at the first Across answer, GO FISH, and thought that must be the title. And that's where I am now. I'm counting SINKER in the far SE (rotationally symmetrical with GO FISH), even though HOOK and LINE are nowhere to be found (except, you know, in SINKER's clue).

• 1A: Card game in which a player might aske "Got any 8's?" (Go Fish)
• 20A: Fall for it (take the bait)
• 41A: Start something that one shouldn't start (open a can of worms)
• 57A: Be a sucker (get reeled in) — interesting that two of these clues should be sucker-related (see 20A)
• 11D: Algae color (marine green) — really don't like this one. Never hear anything described this way. SEA green, yes.
• 24D: Disney lyric repeated before "Darling it's better / Down where it's wetter" ("Under the Sea")

• 72A: Hook, line and _____ (SINKER)

Felt a good deal harder than the average Monday, but when I finished my time was only a few seconds over my average, so ... either my average is lower than I think it is, or this puzzle was pitched to a normal Monday level of difficulty. When I use words like "hard" or "difficult" to describe a Monday puzzle, I almost always mean "hard ... to burn through as quickly as I'm used to." Monday puzzles are almost never genuinely "hard" in any sense of the term. Here, there were four banks of 6's (NW and W, SE and E), which gave the puzzle a little openness. I was slowed most by DUMPS crossing PROTEGE. [Jilts] seems so much worse and more pointed than the simple DUMPS. I had DUPES, which I believe to be a plausible component part of jilting. Also PROTEGE and [Tutee] aren't a very exact match. If you have a PROTEGE, you are operating on a very high artistic or technical plane. Any schmo can tutor someone. I've seen many a [Tutee] that no one but no one would describe as a PROTEGE (unless ironic laughter were the intended result).

Bullets:

• 16A: Useful item accompanying a face card in blackjack (Ace) — I don't like "useful" here at all. Unless you are McGyver. Then maybe you have real, non-card-related plans for that ACE.
• 22A: "The Simpsons" clerk (Apu) / 25A: "The Simpsons" neighbor (Ned) — aw, guys, you shouldn't have ... I love them!
• 49A: Bowler's button (reset) — me: "Bowler hats have buttons!?"
• 51A: Steeple contents (bell) — weirdly tough, in that "contents" makes me think plural.
• 68A: Verb go-with (noun) — I ... suppose, yes. If you are constructing a sentence, sure.
• 63A: Boxing combo (one two) — today this evokes "ONE fish, TWO fish ..."
• 21D: Instill with the three R's (educate) — remedially, yes, but again I don't like the clue match here.
• 42D: Where streets meet: Abbr. (cor.) — far and away my least favorite thing about the puzzle. One of my most hated abbrevs.
• 50D: English monarchs from Henry VII through Elizabeth I (Tudors) — fishing and English royalty today; see also ETON (58D: School for princes William and Harry).
• 59D: Decorative needle case (etui) — the old-timer returns.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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Ancient Jordanian city with rock carvings — SUNDAY, Aug. 9 2009 — Bone receptacle / Common setting in Indiana Jones movie / Entertainer Bela

Constructors: Patrick Blindauer and Andrea Carla Michaels

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Made For TV-Movies" — 5 grid-spanning answers are wacky, hypothetical shows; each answer is made up of an existing TV show and an existing movie linked together by a shared word



Word of the Day: ESTIVAL (25A: Summery) —

Of, relating to, or appearing in summer.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin aestīvālis, from aestīvus, from aestās, summer.]

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A very clever and very easy puzzle from two of my favorite constructors. Theme answers were few, but enormous, and easy to get with only a handful of crosses in place. When you can throw 21-letter answers across the grid with relative ease, the rest of the puzzle is sure to follow. All the titles involved in the TV-Movies were very well known to me, with CITY OF ANGELS being the only one I had any uncertainty about (I knew the title well, but wasn't sure if I remembered the movie in question — it's the Meg Ryan / Nicolas Cage vehicle from a few years back). The only resistance this puzzle provided came at the very end, in the far SW, where neither TANAKA (124A: Tomoyuki _____, creator of Godzilla) nor PETRA (98A: Ancient Jordanian city with rock carvings) came readily. Appropriately (for this puzzle), I was saved by TV (albeit TV I've never watched): was able to guess "The TEXAN" for 100D: Old TV western starring Rory Calhoun, with "The" and knew ELENA Verdugo well from ... well, from crosswords, frankly (99D: "Marcus Welby, M.D." actress Verdugo). The ELO clue was oddly not a gimme — took me some time to piece together the letter reversal in the title "OLE ELO" (107A: "_____ ELO" (1976 album)). But that little patch was the only place I really had to work. Otherwise, a breezy, ESTIVAL puzzle.

Theme answers:

• 22A: Dirt-dishing lass who's been cut off? (Gossip Girl, Interrupted)
• 44A: Dad is familiar with top Broadway star? (Father Knows Best in Show)
• 66A: Actor Joel's crime scene analysis? (Grey's Anatomy of a Murder)
• 90A: One-quarter of a mourning lacrosse team? (Two and a Half Men in Black)
• 113A: Hollywood hanky-panky? (Sex and the City of Angels)

Theme answers are odd in that they are 4/5 modern (either still on the air or produced within the past decade or so), and 1/5 old — half a century old, in fact. "Father Knows Best" ran from 1954-60, and "Anatomy of a Murder" is exactly 50 years old this year.

There weren't an inordinate number of names in the puzzle, but when they came, they came in bursts. The SW corner, I've covered. There's also the potentially vexing little niche in the NW where PELE (28A: Star of football, to most of the world) and FLECK (38A: Entertainer Bela) come across LETT (30D: Mikhail Baryshnikov, by birth). The FLECK clue took me longer than it should have because the tell-tale banjo was left out of the clue. Had me thinking Bartok and Lugosi and Abzug and Karoly ... Fixed it all pretty quickly, though.

Bullets:

• 1A: Explorer who has a monetary unit named after him (Balboa) — small hiccup here at the beginning, as I did not know this, and then put in LUG for 1D: Tote (bag).
• 20A: Notre Dame cry ("Go Irish") — had GMT at first for 11D: Prime meridian std. (GST), which made the Notre Dame cry look like it ended in "MH." Worried that it might be some foreign exclamation featured in Victor Hugo's novel or something equally obscure.
• 36A: Wayne _____ (Gotham City abode) (Manor) — new Batman comic now out in bookstores called "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?," written by Neil Gaiman. About as good as a (super)hero comic has been in recent years. Smart, funny, imaginative, beautiful.
• 58A: Epic poem written in dactylic hexameter (Iliad) — THE epic meter in both Greek and Latin.
• 76A: Some depictions on a pyramid wall (gods) — much more basic answer than I was expecting.
• 80A: Brand that's universally liked? (Sara Lee) — great clue. "Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee."
• 84A: Backyard briquettes (charcoal) — makes me want to see BRIQUETTES in a grid.
• 87A: Red head, once? (Mao) — I'm sure I've seen this clue before, but it's still good.
• 14D: Superhero with an octopus named Topo (Aquaman) — never heard of this octopus, but the fact that "octopus" is in the clue pretty much gives this one away. The only TOPO I know is GIGIO.
• 24D: Beverage brewed from petals (rose tea) — I'm sure someone somewhere drinks this, but so far I've come across it only in crosswords.
• 34D: Common setting in an Indiana Jones movie (library) — fantastic clue; probably my favorite of the puzzle. Completely misdirective, yet accurate. I was thinking LIBERIA or LIBYA or some such geographical setting, but no.
• 55D: Noted rule maker (Hoyle) — quickly wrote in COYLE, probably because I just finished reading "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" by George V. Higgins (1970). Easily one of the five best crime novels ever written. Brilliant. If you like Elmore Leonard (or Quentin Tarantino, for that matter), you must read this book. Right now.
• 68D: Colorado State, athletically (The Rams) — I'm writing this from just outside of Boulder, where the CU Buffs play.
• 69D: Future presenters of the past (oracles) — great clue that took some time to sink in. ORACLES present the future, but they are features (predominantly) of literature from the past.
• 93D: Something you love to play with (new toy) — YOURSELF didn't fit.
• 105D: What traffic and dogs do (snarl) — no desire to think about snarling dogs right now. My shepherd/husky was mauled by a pitbull yesterday back in NY. She has many wounds, but is very lucky that her injuries weren't much worse. One of the bites was about an inch from her left eye.
• 112D: Snick's partner (snee) — more things-seen-only-in-xwords.
• 117D: Pill alternative, for short (IUD) — I wonder when the Times first decided that birth control was appropriate as a crossword answer... now, it seems like any other answer, but I imagine there was a time when mention of IUD might be seen as too indelicate or controversial.

And now your Puzzle Tweets of the Week (puzzle chatter from the Twitterverse):

• ruthreichl Coffee and crossword at home, looking out at the river; feels like such incredible luxury.
• whithicks Things that are addicting: crossword puzzles, vampire novels, sex, ice cream, Facebook, and Twitter. I think Twitter might be the worst.
• electra126 Just got to write the word 'boob' in a crossword puzzle. It's a good way to start the morning. ^ ^
• viswoman I got most of the puzzle without cheating and going to Rex Parker. Would help to know a lot about fraternities. Instead of nothing.
• guentheralex Giving up on a crossword puzzle is an agonizing, gut-wrenching decision which never gets any easier
• priehs At BGSU commencement. One faculty member is secretly doing a crossword. I see you!
• soupisgood201 "its hard for me to do it orally" my mom said that about doing a crossword puzzle. Leigh ann says "thats what she said"

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Announcement — two free puzzles you must do now! (or ... you know, when you have time)

Brendan Emmett Quigley and Matt Gaffney asked me to come up with ANY word or phrase I wanted, 10-15 letters long, to serve as the seed theme answer for puzzles that they both then constructed independently of one another (in a kind of crossword duel-to-the-death). I thought long and hard about what word/phrase I would give them. Finally chose something vivid, with lots of potential — it certainly yielded impressive (and highly divergent) theme results. You can solve both of the puzzles from this puzzle duel very easily, and for free. Brendan's puzzle is here. Matt Gaffney's puzzle is here. These are two of the best independent constructors in the business, and their work is more than worth your time and attention.

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Crosswords Los Angeles Tournament (4/25/09) - a recap by Andrea Carla Michaels

Last weekend, the very first Crosswords Los Angeles Tournament was held at Loyola Marymount University. Andrea Carla Michaels was on the ground and brings us the following report of the event:

OK, I waited a bit to write up what happened in Los Angeles because I confused it with Las Vegas, and I thought what happens in Lalaland stays in Lalaland. But if Rex says write, I write! But I also wanted to wait till there would be fewer spoilers and you could relate to the puzzles we had to solve. And you could sympathize with writing DUMB as a post, instead of DEAF, etc.

SO I flew down to L.A., mostly to see my grandmother (Maidie will be 97 end of next month but I can't be there on Memorial Day, so I just told her that it was almost June, we celebrated and no one was the wiser…).

Drove to non-UCAL-Loyola Marymount. Gave myself an extra hour to get lost, hit traffic, schmooze beforehand … and glad I did. Got there extremely early, but not before Swedish-sounding Doug Peterson. He personified what these "competitions" are like in that they don't feel like competitions … and I don't think I'm just saying that because my name is not Eric and I don't have a chance to win! Doug warmly greeted me. (He finished JUST outside the finals and even set them up. The hardest working solver there … I think he shared his thoughts on Amy's blog and is Brian and Ryan's special correspondent if you want to check out his take.)

Throughout the day, I also got to meet fellow constructors whom I only knew by byline: John Farmer, Susan Gelfand (who was a volunteer), Alan Olschwang, Alex Boisvert (gorgeous, like a cross between Topher Grace for you young folks and Ron Livingston, the guy that broke up with Carrie on a post-it and who was in "Office Space") and Todd Gross who just got his first puzzle accepted for the L.A. Times. There was also a super-cute childhood friend of Peter Not-for-me Gordon. (I honestly don't know if there were other crossword blog commenters there, but I've just noticed on the results page actor Dennis Boutsikaris, whose father reads Rex religiously and has written to me privately. I wish I had realized that and would have sought him out.)

There was a huge showing of NPLers (National Puzzle Leaguers, not known as Nipples, but really, these bad acronyms have GOT to stop!). They all knew each other from many puzzle gatherings, northern tournaments, etc. and made quite the plea to join. One of their group, John Suarez, led a huge, fun, group game while folks were waiting for the final results.

Here's the thing … Elissa Grossman was amazing. Funny, smart, self-deprecating and she managed to keep things running PLUS gave us lunch! These mini-tourneys are great. The three or four I've taken part in have all been for fantastic charities involving literacy, libraries, kids, etc. Somehow she managed to only charge $25 (that went to a terrific cause) and yet every competitor got a Dell book, an unpublished puzzle by Merl Reagle, who had tried to do one of these tourneys in the early '80s (!), laminated name tags, mechanical pencils, and did I mention, a free lunch!?!

Because Elissa is a professor at the business school, the room was donated … so it was in a tiered lecture room, and memories of college came flooding back. It was freaky to feel so much older than the professor. I've gotten used to be older than cops and even doctors, but business school professors … damn!

We got off to a late start since folks signed up at the last moment. All told, there were about 100 folks, 50 in the regular division, 25 in the "Experts" (which was really just anyone who had ever done one of these things), and lots of volunteers. But Elissa kept us apprised, and if she ever decides to become a stand-up, she'll do well. Her students must love her!

The rest of the setup was like the Brooklyn tournament. The puzzles were from this week's New York Times. I bummed halfway through when I realized the first was by Joe Krozel, whose wavelength I've never been on. PLUS I made the rookie error of not checking crosses, and put -INE for "Chlor- suffix" instead of -IDE … making NECI instead of DECI. ☹

The drag is ONE error costs about 200 points once you've subtracted the 150-point bonus for a perfect puzzle, the 20 points less for two wrong words, AND the 25-point penalty for getting something wrong. OUCH! And this was my only error in the entire tournament!

When I'd finish a puzzle, I'd wonder where my row had gone (she put the "Experts" in the last row, making it easier for volunteers to grab our puzzles more easily) but when I'd go out into the hall, there would only be about 10 folks who had finished before me. All named Eric. And yet in the end, that ONE LETTER (damn JoeK) cost me even the top 20.

However, Elissa managed to have prizes for the first 25 folks, so I actually won a book of easy puzzles called "Mocha Mondays" which I had two puzzles IN, yet had no idea had been published, as we are not given residuals nor even a copy of the book when our puzzles are reprinted! But that's another story!

After three rounds and free lunch — did I mention that? (Five different choices! Plus fruit and cookies … Really, how DID she do it?) — there were two more puzzles. It was a little freaky that the puzzles went Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then another Wednesday. I was hoping for a Friday, because then I could maybe make up what I lacked in speed with solving toughies.

The problem (for me) with these competitions is that the first puzzles can be solved by everyone there, so the speed demons are almost uncatchable. I'd like to see a competition of all Wednesday through Saturday puzzles, so speed isn't the main factor. A major determining one, but not the main. That way, I also think we'd see more women. Maybe all named Erica?

After five rounds, there actually was a newcomer Jordan Chodorow who was ahead of the Erics. (For those of you who don't know, Eric Maddy and Eric Levasseur have won all the West Coast tourneys. Both are NPLers and quite amicable guys who seem to be friends. Eric Maddy even won the Sudoku tournament in Morgan Hill as well, so he ain't to be messed with.)

As for the finale, Tyler was there to do the play-by-play, along with this cool, funny, nice guy named Michael Colton who writes for "Sit Down and Shut up" which is on … after … the … SIMPSONS!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, he had a dinner party he was giving, has a one year old, was getting it all together, so when the tourney ran late, he had to split. He was also in the top ten at that point. Swedish-sounding Doug ran up to me and asked if I could fill in. I was thrilled, and contrary to popular belief, I had neither poisoned Michael, nor broken his leg.

Young Tyler was quite amusing, despite operating on four hours' sleep and with somewhat of a hangover. I have renewed respect for Merl (was it ever lacking?) as the play-by-play happens so fast you can barely say anything about what they are solving … much less be clever and entertaining. I can't say anything about the final, unfortunately, as it hasn't been published yet, but it was a toughie by Elizabeth Gorski. Perfectly constructed, but with an exceedingly difficult twist, which may or may not have involved rebuses, more than that I cannot say, but it wasn't a puzzle suited for a final, necessarily. (See! That's why I've been procrastinating writing anything about the tournament!)

Two friends of mine, Paul Clay and Eric (!) Seale, had driven all the way down from Santa Barbara to hang with me and give it a try (Paul doesn't even do puzzles, but Eric, true to his name, is totally into it and would like to construct). And although Paul finished dead last (ok, ahead of a woman who left after two puzzles!) he personified what the day was like: upbeat, super friendly, fresh, and challenging. He knew no one save me, and yet found everyone super-welcoming and had a blast. I felt very proud to be part of this community.

You can see the results and check out who was there, at crosswordswest.com.

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1970s Robert Young TV role - TUESDAY, April 14, 2009 — Barry Boone (Congos name before 1997 / Simpsons teacher who was called Mrs. K)

Hi. Andrea Carla Michaels filling in one last time for Rex. As some of you eagle-eyed folks noted yesterday, yes, it's true, I was actually the blonde dancing around in the Rick Astley video. I get residuals every time "Never Gonna Give You Up" is played on YouTube … so after yesterday's Rickrollin' good times, I now have enough to retire to ZAIRE (10D: Congo's name before 1997). Thank you, everyone!

So it's nice to go out on a solid Tuesday Barry Boone puzzle. Many of you may recall Barry was "retired" after accusations of "alleged" steroid use, helping him to set some sort of baseball record, but now a repentant BB works off his community service sentence by writing crosswords for the NY Times.

THEME: True to his name, Barry Boone has hit a home run in constructing a puzzle with a boon of theme answers: "Hidden Gems" — Five sets of gems are "hidden" in long phrases with consecutive letters circled in addition to the explanatory phrase HIDDEN GEMS, thus creating a "playing field" of 60 squares of theme answers: His "diamond" has answers the lengths of 10, 11, 9, 9, 11, 10!

Theme answers:

• 17A: 1985 Glenn Close/Jeff Bridges thriller ("Jagged Edge" = jade)
  
• 21A: Mail service made obsolete by the transcontinental telegraph (Pony Express = onyx)
  
• 32A: Simple swimming stroke (dogpaddle = opal)
  
• 40A: Widening in a highway, maybe (toll plaza = topaz)
  
• 53A: 1970s Robert Young TV role (Marcus Welby = ruby)
  
• 59A: What the long Across answers with circles have (HIDDEN GEMS)
  

He has traded one diamond field for a field of diamonds … or something like that! You would never realize it was the same person, but he sneaks in signature clues like 26A: Most Little Leaguers (BOYS), 38D: World Series org. (MLB), and 54D: Catch and throw back as fly balls (SHAG). Barry was very clever not to have clued SHAG with an Austin Powers reference where we would then have to brace ourselves for sniggering comments by ACNED BRATs (ACH!) about its double entendre meaning in the other English-speaking nation.

Instead, we get some nice back and forth … 42A: Lenin's "What IS TO Be Done?" seems to be answered by the other Lennon's 44D: "Let IT BE." (Actually, it was written by Paul … but still!) 50D: Tree with "catkins" (whatever the hell they are) is sweetly paralleled with the theme answer DOGPADDLE. And for every highbrow, sophisticated clue/answer such as 34D: Andrei Sakharov in the Soviet era, e.g. (DISSIDENT) there's a less highbrow 63D: "Evil ERNIE" (comics series).

Some of the interesting pairings are even self-contained in the clues, e.g. 44A: Eisenhower and Turner (IKES) is so visually evocative — I can totally picture DDE and Mamie across a candlelit table from Ike and Tina on a double date … from hell! Speaking of DDE, if I had any nits to pick about this puzzle, it would be that there were an abundance of three letter initials: BLT, ETO, EKG, GRE, MLB, LPS as well as ten (count 'em, ten!) fill-in-the-blanks with partials such as INOR, ISTO, ITBE, ASTAR, TOSEE. Although there is something I like about TOSEE, it feels like a cross between Tushie and Watusi.

Speaking of which, I'd like to take this opportunity (as it's my last blog before I watusi my way to the Congo) to complain that I get the letters WATUSI on my Scrabble rack at least once a game, which is illegal to play in Scrabble, and yet is almost impossible to make another word out of. On a positive note, however, this puzzle was very Scrabbly with a nice sprinkling of Zs,Xs, Ks, and a J. If only AGUA (28D: Contents of the Spanish Main) had been AQUA, the puzzle would have been one F away from a pangram! (And only one clue away from having NO gratuitous Simpsons references! 56D: "The Simpsons" teacher who was called Mrs. K (EDNA)! D'oh!)

It's now after 1 a.m. so I'd like to put this blog to bed to the dulcet tones of my favorite answer "LOLA" (37A: In a Kinks hit s/he "walked like a woman and talked like a man"):


Aw c'mon, now, I needed 37 more cents to get to Zanzibar … ciao ciao, rafiki!

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