Town on Cape Cod / THU 10-25-12 / Big Whig / Opera character sings Largo al factotum / only way to run away without leaving home / Part of Mideast orchard

Constructor: Caleb Rasmussen

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: TETRIS — circled letters contain the word "TETRIS"; theme answers are a [basic instruction for TETRIS]: "DO NO LET THE / FALLING BLOCKS / REACH THE TOP"

Word of the Day: STAPES (43D: Smallest human bone) —

n., pl., stapes, or sta·pe·des (stā'pĭ-dēz').
The innermost of the three small bones of the middle ear, shaped somewhat like a stirrup. Also called stirrup.

[New Latin stapēs, stapēd-, from Medieval Latin, stirrup.]

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/stapes#ixzz2AH34ISVa

• • •

I never played TETRIS. It was huge when I was in college, but the idea of pushing FALLING BLOCKS around faster and faster and faster never held any appeal for me. Perhaps this is why I feel like I'm missing something here. I keep wanting there to be something more. Like, if I shake the paper or push a certain letter pattern the blocks will actually start falling. But I think the mere "basic instruction" (as well as the shapes formed by the black squares) is all there is to the theme. Fill is good and bad. The long Downs are pretty darned good—I especially like OIL RESERVE (28D: The Gulf of Mexico has a big one)—and who doesn't love Millard FILLMORE (34D: Big Whig), am I right? But this grid has one of my least favorite crossword towns in it (TRURO, ugh) (38A: Town on Cape Cod), and I don't think ERE and E'EN should ever be that close to each other (unbearable crosswordese proximity). Clue on GONE DARK is weird (10D: Closed, as a theater). Really should have some kind of spy clue—something about going off the grid. Something Jason Bourne-esque. Overall, though, the fill is fine—not particularly objectionable, occasionally interesting.


I looked at the clues for the NW at first, but didn't get anywhere and so went to where I saw my first gimme: 61A: "Evil Woman" grp. (ELO). With the exception of the "P" in STAPES, the whole bottom / SE section went down pretty easily. I think I moved in a vaguely anticLOCKwise fashion from there; I know I finished in the SW. Wasn't sure about LAY READER (25A: Congregation member authorized by a bishop to conduct part of a service), but the clue sure helped me get the LAY part and the rest just fell into place via crosses. I know squat about opera, but got FIGARO from -RO (37A: Opera character who sings "Largo al factotum"). Wasn't sure it was right, since I know FIGARO only as a repeatedly sung name, not a particularly character. I did, however, know who ORESTES was—right up my alley (40A: Brother of Electra). Got YEOMEN from -MEN because it just ... sounded Englandy (2D: ___ Warders (Tower of London figures)).

Twyla Tharp attended my alma mater. Also, Tharp and Sharp (my real last name) are close. So I feel an affinity with her. She wrote a whole book on the creative process, so I'm not surprised to see a quote of hers used to clue ART (5D: "The only way to run away without leaving home," per Twyla Tharp). Thought 24D: Where police look for matches might have something to do with arson. Then police line-ups. Never think of police actually being *in* DNA LABS, but I guess they do look *to* the labs for answers, so OK (24D: Where police look for matches). FIG TREEs were part of my backyard landscape growing up. Knobby trees with big-ass leaves. Lots of fig orchards in central California. Also in the Mideast (which I assume means "Middle East") as well (37D: Part of a Mideast orchard).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Elephantine walker in Empire Strikes Back / SUN 10-21-12 / Fictional Miss Jane / Warner who played Charlie Chan / Bambi villain / University in Center Valley Pa / Cash back from online purchase / Persuasive Dr Seuss character / Port from which Amelia Earhart left on her last flight

Constructor: Caleb Rasmussen

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: Bypassing Security — puzzle note:

This puzzle's grid represents a sealed vault and its well-guarded surroundings. After completing the crossword, start in the upper-left corner and find a safe path to an important item. Then determine where to use this item to access the vault and its contents.  

To enter the contest, identify the following 10 things: a) the name of the "important item," b) where to use it, c) seven hazards to avoid, and d) the contents of the vault. Each of these things is named by a single word.

When you have found the 10 words, send them in an e-mail to: crossword@nytimes.com. Twenty-five correct solvers, chosen at random, whose entries are received by 6 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Oct. 23, will receive copies of "The New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzles 2013 Weekly Planner Calendar" (Andrews McMeel). Only one entry per person, please. The answer grid will appear next week. The winners' names will appear in the issue of Nov. 4. 

Word of the Day: W. AVERELL Harriman (11D: Diplomat W. ___ Harriman) —

William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891 – July 26, 1986) was an AmericanDemocratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baronE. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Trumanand later as the 48th Governor of New York. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1952, and again in 1956 when he was endorsed by President Truman but lost to Adlai Stevenson both times. Harriman served President Franklin D. Roosevelt as special envoy to Europe and served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union and U.S. Ambassador to Britain. He served in numerous U.S. diplomatic assignments in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He was a core member of the group of foreign policy elders known as "The Wise Men." (wikipedia)

• • •

So, a contest.

Will requested that I not give away any contest-related information about the puzzle, which essentially means not showing the grid or talking about the theme ... so ... how 'bout them Tigers?!

I will publish the completed grid on the website's Facebook page on Tuesday after 6pm—good for the nearly 2000 of you who have LIKED that page (19A: Gave props on Facebook). Also, I will probably go back in and add the completed grid to this write-up, I guess.

Here's what I can say:

I found this much harder than your typical Sunday. Total Hail Mary at TAL / AVERELL (10A: Chess champion Mikhail / 11D: Diplomat W. ___ Harriman) and [that European capital] and AT-AT (100A: Elephantine walker in "The Empire Strikes Back"). Plus, the segment just south of the the NW, with its multiple ... tricky spots ... was virtually impossible for me to get. I had to wait on about four different squares in there for a good long time. Stumped on:

• 4D: Concludes
• 35A: Soft scent
• 35D: Crop holder
• 51A: BlackBerry features

Can't give you any of those answers, 'cause ... 'cause.

Also, I misspelled AVON LEA (88D: Setting of "Anne of Green Gables") as AVON LEE and was stuck wondering how HES could be the answer to [Boasts]. No idea how I remembered OLAND, but I did (39A: Warner who played Charlie Chan). Well, sort of. Needed a few crosses to jog my memory.

Never heard of ANEROID (75A: Kind of barometer) or the answer to 121A: Predatory insect, but that may be the only complete stumper of the day. The other stuff that "stumped" me, I at least recognized once I got it. Yes, even LAE (60D: Port from which Amelia left on her last flight). Even, very vaguely, ESSIE (38A: Actress Davis of "The Matrix Reloaded").


Overall, I thought the puzzle ... interesting. Clever. Mildly tough / annoying to solve, but conceptually bold. Seems like a very tough puzzle to construct (surely someone will call it "a tour de force!"). As stunt puzzles go, it's alright. Aiight. This is essentially how I felt about this constructor's last puzzle (also a stunt puzzle), and how I will likely feel about his next puzzle (also a stunt puzzle), which comes out Thursday, which I know only because its theme was (stupidly) leaked and published on a website last week. It's a theme that a friend of mine claims to have done already, but I've never seen it done, so it'll be new to me, which is (mostly) all that matters.

I can't give you the correct answers to the contest, but I assume I can give you the wrong answers. So here's one: SLOT. Seems a very, very good answer to me, but I'm 99.99999% sure it is Not Correct.

And now...

Bullets:

• 13A: Highland fling participants (LASSES) — I assumed this had something to do with stump-throwing or whatever happens at the Highland Games. Caber-toss? Yep, that's what I was thinking of:

• 53A: Secretary of labor who became a Supreme Court Justice — Oh, didn't know this one either. Infer infer infer.
• 74A: Gabrielle of volleyball and modeling (REECE) — if I hadn't known her, center would've been Way harder than it already was.
• 102A: Historical figure in Isabel Allende's novel "Inés of My Soul" (PIZARRO) — at one point I had EL ZORRO. True story.
• 116A: Persuasive Dr. Seuss character (SAM I AM) — nice clue.
• 107A: Like a winning X Games trick, maybe (INSANEST) — here's the results of a losing X Games trick. Actually, it's just my nephew's mouth after a nasty skatepark accident. 

• 44D: New World monkey (MARMOSET) — the hippest, most modern of monkeys.
• 55D: Cash back from an online purchase (E-BATE) — Hey, look, another E-word to E-hate.
• 89D: University in Center Valley, Pa. (DESALES) — uh ... really? Wow. Seems obscure. I can name hundreds of universities. This is not one of them. And I live next door to Pa.
• 80D: Fictional Miss Jane — wanted EYRE or MARPLE or, less explicably, BRODIE.
• 114D: "Bambi" villain (ENA) — that's right, turns out Bambi's aunt was the killer all along. Also, Bruce Willis is dead and Soylent Green is people. 

Happy ... navigation. 

If you don't want any spoilers ... well, then, really, why are you here? I was gonna say "don't read the Comments section," but anyone who goes that deep has no business complaining about spoilage. Would be sporting of you to keep solution to yourself, but I'm not the boss of you, sadly, so ... do what you will. 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Legendary Gaelic bard / THU 7-7-11 / 1990s TV neighbor / Jiminy Cricket declaration / Mad Money airer / Skilled hoops player slang

Constructor: Caleb Rasmussen

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: NO U-TURN (35A: Traffic sign literally violated 12 times in this puzzle) — every answer with a "U" in it makes a 90˚ TURN in the grid at that "U" (thus it is "U" TURN, even if it is not a literal 180˚ U-TURN)


Word of the Day: ASK.com (20A: ___.com (Google competitor)) —

Ask (known as Ask Jeeves in the UK) is a Q&A focused search engine founded in 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California. The original software was implemented by Gary Chevsky from his own design. Warthen, Chevsky, Justin Grant, and others built the early AskJeeves.com website around that core engine. Three venture capital firms, Highland Capital Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, and The RODA Group were early investors. Ask.com is currently owned by InterActiveCorp under the NASDAQ symbol IACI. In late 2010, facing insurmountable competition from Google, the company outsourced its web search technology to an unspecified third party and returned to its roots as a question and answer site. Doug Leeds was appointed from president to CEO on January 2011. (wikipedia)

• • •

Let me say first off that this puzzle is very clever and largely well put-together. A mild proliferation of ugly little fill means very little in a grid this ambitious. This is why God invented EPIS and INRE. I also have to give this puzzle credit for keeping its secret hidden from me til the bitter end. That is, I had no idea what the theme revealer was until I filled in the very last letter, which was the second "U" in "U-TURN." I got that answers were careening off each other in each of the four quadrants, but I didn't see what was linking them all. After I got GESUNDHEIT, I figured that 7D: Result of being left out in the cold must bend at that same "U". No idea that it would bend at an earlier "U." No idea that the revealer would bend twice (none of the others did).

Overall, I didn't find the puzzle exceedingly challenging ... until I got it right down to 7D and 35A. And I might have pieced it all together much, much more quickly had not two little answers been given insane / dated clues—and both from the same thematic universe. I cannot remember the last time I thought of / saw / heard of either Juno (the ISP) or ASK.com. The idea that ASK.com is, currently, a "Google competitor," is Laughable. Yahoo. Bing. Those can call themselves competitors. I know what the major (and even minor) search engines are because they direct traffic to this blog all day long. I see their names every day. ASK.com is usually so far down my referral list that I never see its name. And Juno. Who the hell uses Juno? Isn't that dial-up? Dial-up still exists? I had AOL for the [Google competitor] and nothing for 26D: Juno, e.g.: Abbr. Not until I ran the alphabet on IS- did hit "P" and remembered the '90s (something I generally hate doing). At that point, I *immediately* discerned GOOSEBUMPS, and then NO U-TURN. First thought: "What!? Those answers don't make U-TURNs! 90˚ turns are not U-TURNs." And then I figured it out. So my "aha" moment came at moment of severe irritation (at the ASK and ISP clues, mostly). But, as I say, conceptually, this is pretty great.



Theme answers:

• 4D: Happen again (RECULDER) / 19A: Carry, as a burden (SHOUR); i.e. RECUR and SHOULDER
  
• 18A: Disagreeably direct (BRURON) / 10D: Transmitter, of sorts (NEUTAL); i.e. BRUTAL and NEURON
  
• 63A: Birthplace of man stars (NEBUSE) / 49D: Awaken (AROULA); i.e. NEBULA and AROUSE
  
• 65A: Winter item sold in pairs (EARMURVE) / 42D: Statistical shape (BELLCUFF); i.e. EAR MUFF and BELL CURVE
  

Picked up the theme, or the essential idea, anyway, in the NW, and it didn't take long. Then moved in a fairly systematic counterclockwise fashion until I had that troublesome center part surrounded. Along the way, I enjoyed BALLER (67A: Skilled hoops player, in slang) and realized I know virtually nothing about Jiminy Cricket; "I'M NO FOOL" is not familiar as a Cricket phrase to me (68A: Jiminy Cricket declaration). There are a couple of recurring crosswordy words that helped me sail through the majority of the grid. First, OSSIAN, who shows up in grids more than he has a right to (36D: Legendary Gaelic bard); and then ITERS, which is unlovable in the singular, nevermind the plural (22A: Anatomical passageways). All other non-theme answers seem tolerable to good.


Skee-Lo - I Wish by christ88

Bullets:

• 54A: "Art is the triumph over ___": John Cheever ("CHAOS") — I don't know. Sometimes art *is* CHAOS.
  
• 21D: 1990s TV neighbor (KRAMER) — on back-to-back days ... and no one's mentioned "racist tirade" once. Such a forgiving lot.
  
• 61D: "Thou soft-flowing" stream of literature (AVON) — use of quotation marks in clue feels awkward, but I guess this is a better clue than something about cosmetics or bell-ringers or whatever.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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