College in Down Under slang / WED 3-30-16 / Flopper in basketball / Part of insects body that holds legs / Calvin Hobbes conveyance / Arcade game played on incline / Trumpet guitar effect

Constructor: Andrew Reynolds

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: CLIMATE CHANGE (34A: Environmentalist's concern ... or a hint to the circled letters) — contiguous circled letters are, in four different answers, a jumble (or "change") of the letters in "CLIMATE"

Theme answers:

• CHEMICAL TESTING (17A: Some lab work)
• MEAL TICKET (2A: Source of income)
• DIRECT MAIL (49A: Like some ad campaigns)
• SATELLITE CAMPUS (56A: School branch)

Word of the Day: ERIC the Red (5D: ___ the Red) —

Erik Thorvaldsson (Old Norse: Eiríkr Þorvaldsson; 950 – c. 1003), known as Erik the Red (Old Norse: Eiríkr hinn rauði), is remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland. The Icelandic tradition indicates that he was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Þorvald Ásvaldsson, he therefore also appears, patronymically, as Erik Thorvaldsson (Eiríkr Þorvaldsson). The appellation "the Red" most likely refers to his hair color and the color of his beard. Leif Erikson, the famous Icelandic explorer, was Erik's son. (wikipedia)

• • •

This is a tried and true, red white and blue theme type. Some revealer phrase with CHANGE or CRAZY or DANCE or some other word signifying "mix the letters up," and then a bunch of phrases that feature the letters in the other revealer word all jumbled up and strung across two words in a bunch of theme answers. For example, here's a CHANGE OF HEART puzzle from three years ago. Anyway, you get the picture. You can probably imagine a lot of phrases around which one could, theoretically, build this type of theme. This one is solid, for sure, with very decent theme answers. But it was a bit of a letdown to solve because you get the gist of it right away—I actually got the revealer before I got any of the themers, but even if I'd uncovered CHEMICAL TESTING first, I would've known *right away* what the revealer was. This happened to me today with a different puzzle in a different paper, where, one answer in, I not only knew the revealer would be BREAK BREAD, but I could easily go down and fill in the other "broken" breads, just by inference, with no crosses or anything (PITA, RYE...). Conceptually solid, this one is—a serviceable example of a well-worn concept. But the AHA came early, not late, and it came as an "Oh, you again," not a "Whoa, who are you!?"


Longer Downs in the NW and SE corners are nice, actually. I do want to say something about some subpar short fill here, not because it's particularly bad today (it isn't; not particularly). I want to be clear that when I grouse about stuff like ASSN, CUL, AAH, OTIC, -IER, SSE, LOC, ATO, TOBE, etc., first, it's not that any one of those is a dealbreaker (though honestly -IER is close). It's that when they pile up, they become irksome. And second, they become more irksome the easier the grid is to fill. If the puzzle is not terribly theme-dense, then these kinds of one-star answers should be at a bare minimum. In a theme-dense puzzle (esp. a very good one), I can put up with more. In a sparkly themeless, I can put up with more. But in a fairly ordinary themed puzzle, I expect the constructor to polish The Hell out of the grid. Just so we're clear.


I did my first ever Twitter poll tonight. Just a one-hour poll asking readers which is the better cross: TEAM / -IER (which is actually in this grid) or TRAM / IRR. The results aren't as surprising as my mild change of heart (!) about the vast superiority of TRAM / IRR. Hang on, let me check the final results now ... Well, with 7 minutes left, and 58 votes in, TRAM / IRR. is still crushing, with 74% of the vote. But puzzle whiz Jeffrey Harris claimed that IRR. was a "crossword invention," like SOR. for "sorority." I find IRR. a perfectly normal abbr., having seen it on clothing tags in outlet stores when I was growing up. Or So I Thought. Trying to find visual evidence on line is proving well nigh impossible. I still believe that abbr. is legit, but Jeffrey, as usual, appears to be something other than wrong. So while I'm still #teamtram (as opposed to #teamteam), I'm less indignant than I was at the choice that was made in this grid.

Don't reflect, just click: which crossing is better? #crosswords #myfirstpoll

— Rex Parker (@rexparker) March 30, 2016

Lastly, it's worth noting, in case you didn't catch it up top, that ERIC the Red appears to be an ERIK, in actuality. Is this a fudgeable spelling? Strikes me as at least mildly IRR.


Lastly lastly, if you mentally reparse NORSEMEN, you might get a phrase that makes you giggle like the 8th grader that you are I am.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Game with a 32-card deck / TUE 4-1-14 / Peak in Greek myth / Opera singer in an opera / Robb Stark's realm in "Game of Thrones," with "the" / Genetic sequence groups

Constructor: Andrew Reynolds

Relative difficulty: It'll make a fool out of you

THEME: "HEADS OR TAILS" — (37A: Winner of the wager in 17-/56-Across, depending on how you fill the circled squares in this puzzle), with (17A/56A, Common format for a wager) being BEST THREE / OUT OF FIVE

Word of the Day: NOLTE (40A: Nick who was named People's Sexiest man alive in 1992) —

Two sides of the same coin.

• • •

Andy Kravis here, rubbing for Sex. I mean, subbing for Rex. April Fools'!

Did you remember today was April 1st? Will Shortz and Andrew Reynolds sure did. I expected some trickery today, and I was not disappointed. Today's puzzle gives us five circled squares, representing coins, each of which can be filled with either H or T:

Theme answers:

• GUS(H/T) (3D: Sudden outburst) crossing IS(H/T) (19A: Suffix with cartoon)
• FIS(H/T) (11D: It may be landed with a hook) crossing BAS(H/T)ES (21A: Clobbers)
• (H/T)INT (24D: Bit of color) crossing (H/T)UMBLE (24A: Bring down)
• (H/T)ONES (37D: Improves, in a way) crossing (H/T)(E/A)(A/I)(D/L)S (37A: Winner of the wager in 17-/56-Across, depending on how you fill the circled squares in this puzzle)
• (H/T)AUNT (46D: Plague) crossing (H/T)OOT (46A: Blast)

Besides HONES and TONES, the HEADS/TAILS entry affects three more down entries: MALT and MELT (32D: Diner menu item); TIT and TAT (33D: Part of retribution, in a phrase); and RILE and RIDE (34D: Antagonize). By my count, that's 8 squares (and 13 clues) that have two possible answers.

Puzzles like these, which can be filled more than one way and still be correct, are commonly referred to as Schrodinger puzzles. Most recently, the January 30, 2014 NYT was also a Schrodinger puzzle, though the quantum element was limited to a single square. And, lest anyone ever let us forget, Will Shortz's favorite crossword puzzle of all time is the famous CLINTON/BOB DOLE Schrodinger puzzle of 1996.

Back to the puzzle at hand. Once you've filled in all five circled squares, at least three will contain either H or T, and that's how you know whether HEADS or TAILS won. In my initial speed solve, TAILS won 3-2, even though I had HEADS at 37A. But since Mr. Happy Pencil doesn't come up in Across Lite unless you've got 5 H's and HEADS at 37A, I think we all know who the real winner is. Which side of the coin won your solve?

This is an extremely impressive construction. 78 words and 40 blocks are reasonable numbers for a Tuesday puzzle. Of course the gimmick would be much better suited for a Thursday puzzle, but it's a fantastic April Fools' puzzle. And the theme is really the star here: the surrounding fill is fairly unremarkable, about on par with or slightly better than with most other Tuesday NYT puzzles. Mostly 3- to 6-letter entries, with the only long non-themers being the unremarkable MOUSE PADS and UNINSURED (the latter with a nice Obamacare reference in the clue). There are a few entries that I think are slightly out-of-place for a Tuesday: CODONS (44D: Genetic sequencing groups); UVEAS (25D: Eye parts -- side note, did you notice the "eye parts" mini-theme running through the grid?); maybe MT. IDA (32A: Peak in Greek myth) is too hard for Tuesday, maybe not. Not a fan of the plurals ROES and ETHELS, nor OST, ERAT, or ENE. Given how difficult this grid was to build, "unremarkable surrounding fill" is a huge accomplishment.

There were a couple of entries that had some noticeably nice, fresh clues (which I suspect came from the relatively young Mr. Reynolds): NORTH (30D: Robb Stark's realm in "Game of Thrones,"with "the") and fun. (57D: Band with the 2012 #1 hit "We Are Young"). Also nice to see ARGO clued as the Best Picture Oscar winner (as it has been more often than not since 2012), though for some reason Argo feels to me like it happened a lot longer ago than "We Are Young."

All in all, one of my favorite early-week NYT puzzles this year. Getting such a challenging puzzle on a Tuesday? ICING on the cake.

Signed, Andy Kravis, (H/T)ipster of CrossWorld

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Garfield waitress / SUN 7-28-13 / Business titan born July 30 1863 / Texas athletic site / Feeling Good chanteuse / NFL owner who moved Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996 / He wrote I exits that is all I find it nauseating

Constructor: Andrew Reynolds

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Fast Work" — puzzle celebrating HENRY FORD's 150th birthday (5D: Business titan born July 30, 1863) with a tribute to his innovations in mass production, specifically, the ASSEMBLY LINE (57D: 5-Down innovation). Circled letters are added one at a time as you descend the puzzle, going from "M" at the top to, finally, "MODEL T" at the bottom (116A: 5-Down unit). Other assorted theme answers include:

• 16D: Feature of a 57-Down (CONVEYOR BELT)
• 62A: Like the 116-Across (MASS-PRODUCED)
• 78D: 116-Across, colloquially (TIN LIZZIE)

Word of the Day: Chuck LORRE (94D: "The Big Bang Theory" co-creator Chuck) —

Chuck Lorre (born Charles Michael Levine; October 18, 1952) is an American television writer, director, producer and composer. Lorre has created many of America's hit sitcoms including Grace Under Fire, Cybill, Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory. Lorre also served as an executive producer of Roseanne and Mike & Molly. (wikipedia)

• • •

Celebrating American capitalism's most notorious anti-semite! Huzzah! Happy birthday, buddy.

I've been reading a lot of 1923 newspapers lately and speculation about a possible Ford presidential run is rampant. But then Harding dies and Coolidge takes over and there goes 1924. Anyway ... Ford!


This puzzle was very easy and very loose. There's no real revealer, just a lot of theme entries that are confusingly cross-referenced. I guess HENRY FORD is the closest thing to an anchor in this puzzle, along with the finished MODEL T. Anyway, it's pretty clever, the whole "literally building a MODEL T" aspect of the puzzle. Fill is solid. Clue on LORRE is super-weird—a total outlier, familiarity-wise, compared with every other answer in the grid. You can clue Peter LORRE hard, you know? Not that this LORRE isn't worth inclusion. Those are big shows he's created. It's just nutty to have a name that unfamous in an otherwise phenomenally easy puzzle.

Really like the pairing of HOMELAND (3D: 2012 Emmy winner for Outstanding Drama Series) and TIMESLOT (83D: Bit of TV real estate)—good answers with both rotational and TV-related symmetry. Also like ART MODELL—the fact of the name in the grid, not the human. I could not care less about the human, ART MODELL. He moved the Browns, so he's usually seen as a kind of villain, except to people who care about the Ravens (the geographically limited few). I suppose he's a hero to them. If they can embrace Ray Lewis, they can embrace anyone (95A: N.F.L. owner who moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996).

I wrote in METEORITE instead of METEOROID, just like you (or most of you, anyway) (76D: Space rock, maybe). I loved and was a bit flummoxed by the clue on SLEEP MODE (73A: A computer may be in it). Otherwise, this puzzle offered almost no resistance. I finished in under 10—Very Fast for me on a Sunday.

Bullets:

• 52A: Texas athletic site (ALAMO DOME) — nice answer. This answer helped me change OUTER to the more confrontational OUTED (34D: Exposed).
• 114A: "Feeling Good" chanteuse (SIMONE) — got this easily, though this is not a song I associate readily with her. I listen to her a lot. Maybe this once just escaped my particular record collection.

• 47D: He wrote "I exist, that is all, and I find it nauseating" (SARTRE) — lots of great, bitchy stuff about SARTRE (and a hell of a lot of other people) in the new book "My Lunches With Orson." Highly recommended.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. SYNDICATS! Listen up. A message from Brian Cimmet:

Lollapuzzoola 6 is happening in New York City on Saturday, August 10. A day of all-original puzzles designed just for the tournament, bonus games, great fun and friends, and all for just $25 (optional pizza party not included). Or, if NYC isn't in your travel plans, sign up for the At-Home version for just $10. For more on Lollapuzzoola, visit www.bemoresmarter.com, find us on Facebook, or contact tournament co-director Brian Cimmet at brian@bemoresmarter.com.

P.S. Rex Parker once described this crossword competition as "easily the best tournament experience I've had to date," if that sort of thing holds any sway.

Thanks!

- Brian

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1985 john malkovich film / THU 11-15-12 / Palindromic girl / Soul singer Bryson / Orbit Eclipse / Parent company of Oscar Mayer / Clooney's ER role / Breaking Bad airer

Constructor: Andrew Reynolds

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: TREES (71A: There are six hidden in this puzzle in appropriate places) — circled squares across middle of the grid spell out FOREST, and intersecting each on of the letters in FOREST is a tree:

FIG
OAK
PEAR
ELM
ASH
DATE

Word of the Day: "Per ARDUA ad astra" (35A: "Per ___ ad astra") —

Per ardua ad astra ("Through adversity to the stars" or "Through struggle to the stars") is the motto of the Royal Air Force and otherCommonwealth air forces such as the RAAF, RCAF, and RNZAF. It dates from 1912 and was used by the newly formed Royal Flying Corps. (wikipedia)

• • •

Felt pretty easy, but my time says slightly on the hard side, so the little delays must've added up. Theme was strange, in that I simply guessed ARBOR from the clue (___ Day, five letters, first thing that came to mind), and then proceeded to fill in the grid, expecting any second to run into some theme material, but it never materialized. Unless you count TREES, which I guess you should, but it's not as if that word really changed anything about how I finished solving the puzzle. When I was done, I tried to figure out where the TREES could be hidden. Hey, there's one, inside Meryl STREEP. OK ... and ... then ... huh. No more TREES. Then (and only then) did I notice the circled squares. I think my aversion to circled squares is now so deep that my brain refuses to process them. Anyway, the TREES ended up being in the FOREST. I thought maybe this theme was trying to illustrate the expression "can't see the FOREST for the TREES," but I'm guessing that's not really the case, mostly because I could see the FOREST, but couldn't see the TREES at all (at first). I've seen other, better tree-themed puzzles before. And I haven't seen FIG trees in a FOREST before. I didn't hate, or even strongly dislike, this puzzle. It was just ... interesting. Odd. Curious.

I struggled not mightily, but frequently. Had trouble seeing almost all the long Downs. I had S-AKED UP before I realized what the answer there was (!). Needed about half the crosses before either REAPPEARS or DELMONICO showed up. Didn't see irrelevant because my palindromic girl was ANA, not AVA. Was kicking myself mid-solve for not coming up with ARDUA. That motto is usually used to clue ASTRA (a far more common entry than ARDUA), so since I knew I'd seen it a lot, I figured the answer would just come to me ... with one cross? ... two crosses? ... oh, come on! Had ADD TO instead of ADD ON and CAW instead of COO, the latter of which resulted in my favorite wrong answer of the night: TWO-MAN instead of NORDIC (58A: Like some Winter Olympics events). Never thought I'd be glad to see "ELENI," and I wasn't glad, exactly, but that little nugget of crosswordese certainly made the north a good deal easier than it might otherwise have been. I was reluctant to put in ROSS because I was sure "Friends" was running interference in my brain. Turns out ROSS was Clooney's character's *last* name, not his first. PEABO I knew because his name is PEABO and who could forget something like that.

Bullets:

• 62A: One of the five major taste sensations (UMAMI) — Sounds suspiciously like a 1985 John Malkovich film. 
• 9D: Persuade through razzle-dazzle (SNOW) — this clue doesn't persuade me that it's correct. In SNOW, there is the implication of deceit. "Razzle-dazzle" merely implies showmanship (though the creation of confusion appears to be part of the showmanship, in some cases). 

• 28D: French-speaking African land (MAURITANIA) — got this one rather easily despite the fact that if I was forced to name as many African countries as I could, I wouldn't get to this one for a good, long while, if at all. It sounds fictional to me.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Extract with solvent / TUE 9-18-12 / Rock legend Jimmy / Long-running PBS film showcase / Signs of deep sleep on an electroencephalogram / Old Spice alternative / Aztecan language / 88 98 carwise

Constructor: Andrew Reynolds

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN BY LED ZEPPELIN — circled squares, which ascend (like a stairway) from SW to NE corner, spell out this phrase. A few other Led Zeppelin answers are thrown in here and there:

PAGE (1A: Rock legend Jimmy)
GUITAR SOLO (3D: Standout performance for 1-Across)
JOHN BONHAM (29D: Bandmate of 1-Across)

Word of the Day: JOHN BONHAM —

John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove.^[1] He is widely considered to be one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock music.^[2][3][4][5] Over 30 years after his death, Bonham continues to garner awards and praise, including a Rolling Stone readers' pick in 2011 placing him in first place of the magazine's "best drummers of all time" (wikipedia)

• • •

This is what I'd call a Fortuitous Discovery type of puzzle. Constructor realizes that some answer or phrase or name fits perfectly into some apt visual scheme, and voila, a theme is born. Problem is that once you've made the Fortuitous Discovery, you've gotta build a decent puzzle around it. Or you don't. Whatever. You should, anyway. I think the Fortuitous Discovery is impressive—amazing that the staircase thing works out, corner to corner. The remaining theme answers (not to mention the quality of the fill) => less impressive. Long theme answers are cross-referenced back to PAGE at 1-Across, as if he were the subject of the puzzle, but he doesn't even get his whole name in (and doesn't have a symmetrical companion answer either). JOHN BONHAM's inclusion here is totally arbitrary, based on the Unfortuitous Discovery that ROBERT PLANT (the face/voice of the damn band) just won't fit into the scheme of things. So the Fortuitous Discovery is all there is, and it's pretty epic, so OK. But as a piece of puzzle construction, this puzzle is pretty wobbly. Density of the theme also creates a crosswordese ripple effect over the entire grid. When I went ELUTE into ESTOP, I had to stop and take a deep breath—get the wind back in my sails (wind = will to go on). UTO EDO ALETA NIK GNAR ALY ESTO STE TAI RIT SITU etc. are a lot to take in a 78-worder (or any puzzle). I actually really like the other long answers (though I had never heard of DELTA WAVES; 41A: Signs of deep sleep on an electroencephalogram). If TED KOPPEL were NORWEGIAN, I'd have to change my rating to a strong thumbs-up. But as is, this is a B-. That's on the positive side, but just barely.


Only real hold-up happened when I put in TREED for AT BAY (53A: Cornered, as a wild animal). Then I wrote in TRIO (!?) for 53D: Small marching band? (ANTS). Didn't take that long to extricate myself, but an error pile-up like that is always a time-killer. Probably a 20- to 30-second mistake, which is fairly major on a Tuesday. I also slowed a bit when I couldn't recover the aftershave AFTA (another crosswordesey answer) (5D: Old Spice alternative). Brain got stuck on ATRA. Then there was the DELTA part of DELTA WAVES, which took some hammering away to get. Nearly wrote GRRR before I remembered the existence (in crosswords, anyway) of the word GNAR (44A: Growl). I don't think the clue on "P.O.V." is very Tuesdayish (feels harder) (26A: Long-running PBS film showcase), though it's not like it slowed me down much.

ISAAC STERN has to wonder what the hell he's doing in this puzzle (30D: Polish-born violin master). Wrong GENRE (31D: Category).

Thanks to Finn for filling in for me yesterday. He did a fine job on very short notice. I had a MINCEMEAT puzzle rejected by Will a couple years back, so I just recused myself from that particular write-up. No hard feelings, just ... potential conflict of interest.

Good day,

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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