Snack-motivated Great Dane of Toons / TUES 2-7-23 / "No need to wake me" / Home to Bryce Canyon / Third degree?

Hello, everyone, it’s Clare — here for a slightly later Tuesday than usual! Hope everyone had a good January, filled with making resolutions (and then forgetting them two weeks later). I just moved into a new place, so things are a little hectic, and I’m sitting here writing this while surrounded by boxes, half-assembled IKEA furniture, and piles of clothes; I’ll get around to putting it all away eventually! I’m also more sore and tired from moving in than I have been in a very long time — I’m on the third floor, sooo….. I’ve still been rock climbing a bunch (getting better, slowly but surely), watching sports (let’s not talk about Liverpool), and generally just staying busy. 

Anywho, onto the puzzle…

Constructor: Ellen Leuschner

Relative difficulty: Fairly easy

THEME: A series of related items that can be grouped together into a well-known phrase (that’s the best way I can think to describe it)

Theme answers:

• DAISY CHAIN (18A: Buchanan-Duck-Duke) 
• SUBWAY SERIES (29A: Paris Métro-BART-London Underground) 
• GUITAR STRING (49A: Fender-Gibson-Yamaha) 
• PICKUP LINE (63A: Silverado-Ram-Tundra)

Word of the Day: ADAIR (11D: Famed firefighter Red) —

Paul Neal "Red" Adair (June 18, 1915 – August 7, 2004) was an American oil well firefighter. He became notable internationally as an innovator in the highly specialized and hazardous profession of extinguishing and capping oil well blowouts, both land-based and offshore. (Wiki)

• • •

This was a really lovely Tuesday puzzle. And I’m not just saying that because I’m sleep-deprived and frazzled. (I’m seeing cardboard boxes in my dreams.) The theme here was fresh and fun; nothing about the grid felt super forced; I kind of flew through it; and I thought some particular clue-and-answer combos were great. The puzzle just made me smile in a way that not many Tuesday crosswords have in a while (at least that I can remember). 

In fact, I knew I’d like the puzzle as soon as I figured out DAISY CHAIN (18A). I put together Daisy Buchanan and Daisy Duck and Daisy Dukes and thought the way the three came together was super clever. It was joyful! 

PICKUP LINE (63A) was probably my favorite out of all of the theme answers. Some other favorite answers were MAGIC BEAN (3D: One of several traded for Jack's family cow, in a fairy tale); STAND TALL (36: Act confidently); LOOKS UP TO (2D: Admires). I started singing when I saw 54D (Car mentioned in the Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun") and wrote in T-BIRD. I love seeing ELIZA Hamilton (31D: Sister to Angelica and Peggy in "Hamilton") in a puzzle (and I started singing songs from the musical, too). Some of the other clues/answers were also interesting in the way they were phrased. SEGO (72A: State flower of [Utah]) was a bit different than the usual “sega.”. “Like a bug in a rug” should be the only way ever allowed to clue SNUG (60D). 5D: Third degree? for PhD and 14A: Organizer of a couples cruise? for NOAH were both clever clues that made this puzzle feel fun. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t have a couple small complaints, of course. I got held up with SCOOB (23A: Snack-motivated Great Dane of toons). I get that the clue might be hinting to you to find a nickname by using “toons” instead of “cartoons,” but I still thought I had something wrong here because I was so sure it had to be “Scooby.” There was also some tired fill such as ARIA (7D); IM PEI (53D); EMO (66D); and YETI (19D), but I’m inclined to look past that because the rest of the grid was so nice. I don’t even have a theme answer to complain about because they were all so good. 

Wow, I’m really waxing poetic here about the puzzle. This was just what I needed to take me out of the drudgery that is unpacking boxes and turning screws.

Bullets:

• I’m not a big poetry person, but SHEL Silverstein (62D) will always have a special place in my heart. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is a brilliant book full of zany, heartfelt poems, and the titular poem is a wonderful idea, beautifully written. 
• I was reminded by some Greek trivia in the puzzle, that HERA (15A: Greek goddess of marriage) and ZEUS (46A: Brother (and husband) of 15-Across) are both husband-wife and brother-sister. (Guess we know where George R.R. Martin got his ideas.) I thought that was an interesting tidbit, and of course, my Greek mythology–loving sister already knew it! 
• I can’t even say how many times I watched “Scooby-Doo” growing up. That was my ultimate comfort show, and I somehow never got tired of watching them unmask a person every time and still being surprised it wasn’t a monster. 
• Seeing ELIZA (31D) in the puzzle makes me want to share this version of “Burn,” which is brilliant. All the singers have such lovely voices and showcase the emotion of the song really well (and of course, Lin Manuel Miranda wrote some incredible additional verses).

Signed, Clare Carroll, the IKEA queen, with too many bruises to count

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Political columnist Matt / SUN 10-23-16 / Competitor of Sapporo Kirin / Early British actress Nell / Target customer of Yelp / Title fictional character who sprang from his Platonic conception of himself

Constructor: Jeff Chen and Ellen Leuschner

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: "Over / Under" — themer clues all begin "Over the" or "Under the," followed by cross-reference to an Across clue that sits directly over or under the themer, respectively. So, figurative phrases using "Over" or "Under" are represented quasi-literally in the grid:

Theme answers:

• NO SPRING CHICKEN (22A: Over the 27-Across [HILL])
• FACING A DEADLINE (34A: Under the 29-Across [GUN])
• BEYOND BELIEF (57A: Over the 62-Across [TOP])
  
• ON THE DOWN LOW (76A: Under the 67-Across [TABLE])
• IN SEVENTH HEAVEN (94A: Over the 104-Across [MOON])
• AT THE LAST MINUTE (112A: Under the 105-Across [WIRE])

Word of the Day: BHT (69D: Food preservative abbr.) —

Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), also known as dibutylhydroxytoluene, is a lipophilic organic compound, chemically a derivative of phenol, that is useful for its antioxidant properties.^[4] European and U.S. regulations allow small amounts to be used as a food additive. In addition to this use, BHT is widely used to prevent oxidation in fluids (e.g. fuel, oil) and other materials where free radicals must be controlled. (wikipedia)

• • •

Theme feels very, very familiar. Which is fine. Bound to happen when you've been solving for decades, as I have. The puzzle is cute and competent and reasonable. Pleasant. Just not that much Fun to solve. It all feels pretty DAD-BLASTED, in that it feels like it came from an era when people might use that term unironically. Or from an era when people wore OPERA COATS, if that's more evocative for you. Plus the fill ... again, totally NYT-normal, but that's not saying much any more. HAH HEEHEE TNUTS OSSA etc. It's all a bit by-the-book and backward-looking. There's a few truly bad things like BOR. ONEI ARAIL DANL EDEL etc., but mostly it's just a deluge of dull and defensible. I spent most of my day alternating between previewing a forthcoming crossword project from Erik Agard and solving the alcohol-themed puzzles in Brendan Emmett Quigley and Francis Heaney's new collection "Drunk Crosswords." It is hard to come back to the NYT after that. Erik and Brendan and Francis are exacting constructors whose work is always current and funny and who put a premium on solver entertainment. Despite the fact that the collections in question are actually quite different from one another (Erik's very hard and conceptually mind-bending, Brendan and Francis's somewhat easier and more conventional), they are both a joy to dip into because of the care, craft, and ambition they evince—things the NYT has too often been lacking. There is nothing really Bad about today's puzzle. But it is backward-looking. It is designed to pass time. To satisfy long-established tastes. There is obviously a reasonably-sized market for such Comfort Puzzles. But the NYT wants to be "the best" (in fact, claims it is "the best"), and you can't be the best by just resting on your laurels and playing the oldies.


My main memory of this puzzle is falling, repeatedly, into pretty deadly traps. I had GO-- at 41D: Silly billy and thought "Silly goat, billy goat ... GOAT!" But no. It's GOOF. Worse (in terms of face-falling) was 95D: Small swigs. I had -IPS so, of course, SIPS. SIPS. Gotta be SIPS. But no. NIPS. Lena says there are no small swigs. Swigs are big. Small swigs are oxymorons. Here is some evidence for her rightness.

Lastly, mistake-wise, I had WA- at 105D: Female W.W. II enlistee and wrote in WAAC, which is literally true for that clue (as much as SIPS was right for [Small swigs]). But no, it's WASP, which is something related to the Air Force, I think. Hang on ... Yep. Women Airforce Service Pilots. So that's a bunch of wrong answers that were very hard to extricate because of being so homologous to the right answers. I just checked with Lena and she said "homologous" is in fact the right word here, so send your complaint letters to her, thanks.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. less than two days left to back Patrick Blindauer's "Piece of Cake Crosswords" project, which I wrote about a couple weeks back. Here's the premise:

"Piece of Cake Crosswords is a proposed yearlong series of easy-but-fun crossword puzzles, one puzzle per week. These will be daily-sized (15×15) crosswords that have fun themes with no sneaky tricks. The grids will be filled with FAMILIAR words, phrases, and names, and they'll be delivered directly to your inbox every Monday morning. Finally: something to look forward to on Monday morning! "

Good easy puzzles are hard to come by. Good for pros and novices. Get on board.

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg heroine / THU 3-31-16 / 1890s vice president Stevenson / Bit of Blues Brothers attire / Jazzman Baker / Spaniard granted right to conquer Florida by Charles V

Constructor: Ellen Leuschner and Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: [Double __?] — all theme clues follow that model (familiar two-word phrases beginning "Double..."), and answers are familiar "___ AND ___" phrases where both blanks are filled with words that mean roughly the same thing as the ___ in the clue. Thus:

Theme answers:

• 17A: Double solitaire? (ONE AND ONLY)
• 21A: Double space? (NULL AND VOID) — not sure how "space" = "null," but ... moving on 
• 33A: Double take? (SNATCH AND GRAB)
• 50A: Double life? (VIM AND VIGOR)
• 55A: Double back? (AID AND ABET) 

Word of the Day: DEER Valley (15A: ___ Valley (Utah ski resort)) —

Deer Valley is an alpine ski resort in the Wasatch Range, located 36 miles (58 km) east of Salt Lake City, in Park City, Utah, United States. The resort, known for its upscale amenities, is consistently ranked among the top ski resorts in North America. // Deer Valley was a venue site during 2002 Winter Olympics, hosting the freestyle moguls, aerial, and alpine slalom events. It also regularly hosts competitions for the International Ski Federation. (wikipedia)

• • •

Wow, that is a lot of wordplay for not very much excitement at all. Still kind of hung up on how NULL = "space," but I'm sure I'll get over it. Easy and dull, with some decent longer answers here and there, but also with some dreadful fill right where you'd expect it (i.e. in the thematically tight spaces—see DELA next to BRYN adjacent to IS SO, for example). The only thing I'm going to remember about this puzzle is Holy Crap there's *another* ADLAI Stevenson. I kept wanting and not wanting ADLAI because it fit and it's the epitome of crosswordesey names so likelihood of its being in this puzzle seemed high, but the date ... the date ... ADLAI ran against Ike so No Way he was Veep in the late 19th century!? But then the answer *was* ADLAI, so I looked it up and whaddyaknow? ADLAI I (now that would be some terrible fill) was Grover Cleveland's running mate the second time around (Cleveland won popular vote three times in a row, but got beat by Benjamin Harrison in the middle there). The two-time loser to Dwight ADLAI (ADLAI II, which would be really Amazingly bad fill!) was the grandson of ADLAI I. I had no idea. None zero none. History!


OVOIDAL is a painful word. Sounds like part of a disease name. The clue on EVA (4D: "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" heroine) is 19 kinds of preposterous. Forget that it's a gratuitous opera clue (the snootiest, most elitist and exclusionary kind of crossword clue), it expects me to have heard of it, and to know who composed it, when it's from, etc. I know none of these things. Buncha German words ... heroine. EV_? No idea. Luckily, the puzzle was so easy that this absurd clue didn't matter. Something about [On-schedule] cluing TIMELY feels off. Word means "appropriately timed," or "relevant to the times," which is not something you'd say about a train or bus. Those things run "on time." Also, what does "stink eye" mean. I think of LEER as an action that's sexual and somewhat lurid, whereas "stink eye" ... I don't know. Sounds like a face you'd make at someone you don't like. "Stink eye" cuts out all implications of lasciviousness, which seems wrong. I think my favorite answer was DRAWS STARES, just because it seems unusual and original. The rest was mediocre and over quickly.

Goodbye, March.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Inter European soccer powerhouse / THU 3-12-15 / Pearl S. Buck heroine / Ludd from whom Luddites got their name / Marvel supervillain Norman / British W.W. II plane / Heaven's vault studded with stars unutterably bright Shelley

Constructor: Ellen Leuschner and Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: [FIRE] IN THE HOLE (54A: Warning before a detonation … and a hint to 16 of this puzzle's answers) — "holes" (represented by 2x2 black squares in the grid) stand in for the word FIRE in all the answers to which they are adjacent:

Theme answers:

• WILD FIRE
• SPIT FIRE
• FIRE LANE
• FIRE ANTS
• FIRE LIT
• FIRE AXE
• PLAYS WITH FIRE
• GUN FIRE
• MISFIRE
• BONFIRE
• FIREMAN
• FIRE SALE
• FIRE EXIT
• OPEN FIRE
• SURE FIRE

Word of the Day: Norman OSBORN (47D: Marvel super villain Norman ___ a.k.a. the Green Goblin) —

Norman Osborn is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964) as the original and most well-known incarnation of Green Goblin. Originally an amoralindustrialist head of Oscorp and Harry Osborn's father, he took a serum which enhanced his physical abilities and intellect but also drove him to insanity. He adopted a Halloween-themed appearance, dressing in a goblin costume, riding on a bat-shaped "Goblin Glider", and using an arsenal of high-tech weapons, notably grenade-like "Pumpkin Bombs", to terrorize New York City. He is one of Spider-Man's most persistent foes and archenemies, being responsible for numerous tragedies in Spider-Man's life (such as Gwen Stacy's death and the Clone Saga). However, he has also come into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe, and was the focus of the company-wide Dark Reign storyline as the original version of Iron Patriot.

Norman Osborn was played by Willem Dafoe in the 2002 film Spider-Man, and is portrayed by Chris Cooper in the 2014 film The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

In 2009, Norman Osborn was also ranked as IGN's 13th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. (wikipedia)

• • •

Dense and dull. Also, those don't register as "holes" to me. Squares or boxes. The whole thing just lacked pizzazz. It's certainly well executed—very theme-dense, relatively clean. But once you get the "Fire" thing, the surrounding answers become very easy. Then there's this jarring contrast with the large, and largely theme-free, NW and SE corners. It was like solving two separate mini-puzzles, neither of which offered much in the way of excitement. Most of the resistance offered by this puzzle came early, when I couldn't get any traction in the NW (can't believe I forgot Kubrick did "LOLITA"…) (1A: 1962 Kubrick film), and then late, when I couldn't get the answers around the second "hole" to work because it never occurred to me that after the first "FIRE" block I'd see Yet Another "FIRE" block in the same puzzle. I was thinking maybe "Fire and Ice," "Fire and Rain," something. But no. Fire and Fire. In the Hole. And then ASLEW of stuff I could do without, like OLAN, ESS, YES YES, ERNE, ORS, ANODES, IOS, EBON, TUM, ASNER, STRADS, REHEARS (which, like HORSY, feels like a word that's missing an "E" …).


Favorite answer, by far, is SEMI-SOFT (38D: Like Havarti cheese). All the other long answers seem dull, which is too bad, 'cause there are a decent number of them. I also liked some of the clues, such as 57A: Goes on Safari, say for BROWSES, or … no, looks like that's the only one I really like. The rest are fine, just not clever. Again, a solid puzzle, but workmanlike, without real character or sparkle.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Read more...

Foe of Mr. Fantastic in comics / SUN 2-15-15 / Colored like ink / Cartoonist who wrote caption well if i called wrong number why did you answer phone / Historic filer for bankruptcy in 2013 / Much-anthologized Frank R. Stockton short story / Miranda warning receiver / Question asked in classic 1970s ads

Constructor: Ellen Leuschner and Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: "Split Ends" — famous phrases that end "___ OR ___"; pre-"OR" slot filled by word that runs normally Across, post-"OR" slot filled by word running Down off the last letter of the preceding word in the phrase. Thus "BE THERE [OR] BE SQUARE" at 1A reads BE THERE and then SQUARE runs Down from the "E" in "BE" …

Theme answers:

• BE THERE [OR] BE SQUARE (1A: "Everyone who's anyone is attending!")
• GO BIG [OR] GO HOME (8A: Shoot of the moon)
• "THE LADY [OR] THE TIGER" (13A: Much-anthologized Frank R. Stockton short story)
• HALF FULL [OR] HALF EMPTY (54A: Proverbial matter of perspective)
• IS IT LIVE [OR] IS IT MEMOREX? (60A: Question asked in classic 1970s ads)
• YOUR MONEY [OR] YOUR LIFE (79A: Stickup line)
• "SHOULD I STAY [OR] SHOULD I GO" (115A: Song by the Clash on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list) 

Word of the Day: William HOWE (112A: William ___, British general in the Revolutionary War) —

William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC (10 August 1729 – 12 July 1814) was a British army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three brothers who enjoyed distinguished military careers. […] He resigned his post as Commander in Chief, North America, in 1778, and returned to England, where he was at times active in the defence of the British Isles. He served for many years in Parliament, and was knighted after his successes in 1776. He inherited the Viscountcy of Howe upon the death of his brother Richard in 1799. He married, but had no children, and the viscountcy was extinguished with his death in 1814. (wikipedia)

• • •

Strangely, I have Valentine's Day plans (or, rather, plans that happen to fall on Valentine's Day), so this will briefer than usual. I said some time ago that the NYT had become very, very reliant on a small group of reliably good constructors, without whom the average quality of the puzzle would fall precipitously. We've seen nearly all said constructors over the past three days (Berry, Steinberg, now Chen). And, predictably, thankfully, mercifully, all three have been delights. I've definitely seen this theme type before (where a themer either heads Down or heads in two directions), but never executed quite this way. Grid symmetry is changed from rotational to mirror, presumably to better accommodate the theme, which is admirably dense but does not overwhelm the grid. The areas without theme material (far SW and SE) make up for it by having a bevy of interesting long Downs. YO LA TENGO! I know for a fact that IRA Kaplan of YO LA TENGO is a crossword solver and fan because he co-constructed a puzzle with ed. Ben Tausig for American Values Crosswords a little while back (if you aren't a subscriber, then you aren't doing one of the very best crosswords in the country—more info here).


The fill in this one has some weak spots, but I didn't notice them nearly as much as I noticed the sparkly medium- and longer-range stuff. Third day in a row with an EYE answer (today, DEADEYES) (89D: Straight shooters?). I don't know what that means. Probably nothing. Except that I noticed. What were the other two… SLEEPY-EYED was yesterday and … oh, right, EYE DOCTOR was the day before that. As you can see, I'm fresh out of interesting observations, so good night.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Read more...

1966 Johnny Rivers hit / TUE 12-25-12 / Create skid marks, perhaps / One with lots of experience / Prison, informally / Combat pilots' missions / Philosopher Kierkegaard / El Prado works

Constructor: Ellen Leuschner and Victor Fleming

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: 48A: LETTERS TO SANTA — three theme answers contain the letters S, A, N, T, and A in that order, as indicated by the disconnected circled letters

Word of the Day: TO —

preposition

1 expressing motion in the direction of (a particular location)

2 identifying the person or thing affected

3 identifying a particular relationship between one person and another

4 indicating that two things are attached

5 concerning or likely to concern (something, esp. something abstract)

6 governing a phrase expressing someone's reaction to something

7 used to introduce the second element in a comparison

• • •

My name is Milo and I'll be your Rex for this crossword. It seems the king himself had a few too many eggnogs last night and needed someone to take his place, and since even Ebenezer Scrooge gives his employees Christmas Day off I decided to cut him some slack. If it's between writing a blog post and being visited in my sleep by three preachy ghosts, I've got no problem dedicating my silent night / holy night to crosswords. Besides, winter break has left me with nothing to procrastinate, so this is a welcome change of pace. On to the crossword!

I didn't mind this puzzle. The theme isn't exactly a humdinger, but the revealer was fresh and the three entries were suitably juicy. The fill was nothing to write home about, but it gave us a POP TART and a GIN RUMMY and a DONE DEAL. Maybe it's the sound of carols or the smell of tree, but I'm feeling in the Christmas spirit, and I'm willing to be generous this holiday season and say that I enjoyed the minutes I spent entering letters in these squares, and thank Ellen and Victor for this fine gift.

If I were to complain, though, I might ask why the "to" in the revealer makes sense when the phrase is being reparsed for this theme. The original "to" is used in Sense 1 (see above) but I can't really imagine which option we're supposed to take on with regard to these circled letters. Maybe Sense 5? The letters which spell SANTA do concern (or are likely to concern) Santa, who is certainly "something abstract." Maybe we're supposed to read it as "letters which combine to Santa" in the same way we might say "summing to 100." But who complains on Christmas? LETTERS TO SANTA is a phrase, while "letters are Santa" and "letters spell Santa" are not, so this is fine.

I might also point out, in this hypothetical scenario in which I were complaining, that non-adjacent circled letters are aesthetically iffy and constructionally lazy. It's possible that I would also note that a more restrictive version of this theme with more theme answers and a kick-ass revealer ran in the Times eight years ago today. But SECRET AGENT MAN and SLAM ON THE BRAKES and SEASONED VETERAN are all solid 15s, so that complaint would be uncalled for.

Oh yeah, that reminds me—

Theme answers:

• 20A: 1966 Johnny Rivers hit (SECRET AGENT MAN) — This is my favorite theme answer, and a good example of old pop culture (from the year 29 BM) that is still gettable.

• 25A: Create skid marks, perhaps (SLAM ON THE BRAKES)
• 43A: One with lots of experience (SEASONED VETERAN)

I had a weird solving experience with this one: I started by entering GTOS in the 1D slot, noticed that each theme answer had five circled letters and decided from the S that they would spell SANTA, and then filled in the three theme answers without crosses. I tried to stick SECRET SANTA into the revealer but it wouldn't fit so I went back to Square 1 (literally) and worked from there. I finished only slightly under normal my normal Tuesday time, so this may play more challenging for people who didn't stupidly guess the theme off of one letter, but I've given it a "medium" so as not to offend anyone.

Bullets:

• 37A: Prison, informally (STIR) — Is this a thing? Cruciverb shows that this meaning has never been used for the NYT, and only once before in any publication. I've never heard of it, but a quick search checks out. I liked the clue repeat with the subsequent 38A.
• 39D: Combat pilots' missions (SORTIES) — This word always sounds to me like a drunken pronunciation of "sororities," enough that I've never actually committed its actual meaning to memory. The crosses were all solid, though, so it was no big problem.
• 31D: Philosopher Kierkegaard (SOREN) — Embarrassed to say that I blanked on this one, which put that section of the grid at a standstill until I remembered that the 34A: World workers' assn. (ILO) was just three quarters of my name.
• 46A: El Prado works (ARTE) — You have no idea how convenient it is for constructors that romance languages exist. We can just add Es to things and nobody complains. Also—acronyms, European rivers, and Mel Ott. Seriously, we love that guy.

Signed, Milo Beckman, Acting Regent of CrossWorld

Read more...

Flirty toon Betty / MON 2-13-12 / 1954 Hitchcock thriller / Samuel Beckett play with unseen character / Chicken tikka go-with / Roman poet who wrote To be loved be lovable

Constructor: Ellen Leuschner and Victor Fleming

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: a deer, a female deer — theme answers all end with the sound of "DOE"

Word of the Day: ADEN (31A: Port of Oman) —

Aden [...] is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately a million people. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus. This harbour, Front Bay, was first used by the ancient Kingdom of Awsan between the 5th and 7th centuries BCE. The modern harbour is on the other side of the peninsula. (wikipedia)

• • •

A pretty nice Monday. Fill is generally boring (as it can be in a 78-worder), but the five theme answers are fairly interesting, and I especially like the grid-spanning "WAITING FOR GODOT" in the middle. Had no idea what the theme was til I was done (and I was done in 2:39, which is largely why I never noticed the theme). I always feel that if a puzzle is 78 words, there should be almost no cruddy fill. High word-count grids are easiest to fill, and 78 words is the max. I'm saying this only to explain why stuff like ON YOU and OREG annoy me more on a day like today than on, say, a Friday (I wouldn't like them there either, but I'd understand them). So—stale fill, but solid theme answers and a cute little theme. Fine.



Theme answers:

• 17A: It's kneaded at a bakery (BREAD DOUGH)
• 23A: "Doonesbury" cartoonist (GARRY TRUDEAU)
• 35A: Samuel Beckett play with an unseen character ("WAITING FOR GODOT")
• 47A: Vito Corleone portrayer (MARLON BRANDO)
• 57A: 1954 Hitchcock thriller ("REAR WINDOW") — went through a big Grace Kelly phase in grad school. This remains one of my very favorite movies. Curiously, and perhaps unexpectedly, my big Grace Kelly phase was followed closely by my big Mamie Van Doren phase.
  

Bullets:

• 15A: Flirty toon Betty ___ (BOOP) — big thumbs-up to the phrase "flirty toon"
• 29A: Roman poet who wrote "To be loved, be lovable" (OVID) — this was from his treatise on picking up hot chicks entitled Ars amatoria (roughly translated, it means "hot piece of ass")
• 37D: Chicken tikka go-with (NAAN) — the puzzle remains the only place I ever see the term "go-with." Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have some tea and chocolate (my "Downton Abbey" go-withs).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Read more...

1924 Edna Ferber novel / MON 7-11-11 / 1972 Bill Withers hit / Pair of cymbals operated by pedal / Holder of birdseed / Icy expanse redundantly

Constructor: Ellen Leuschner

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Redundantly" — common two-word phrases that are (allegedly) redundant, with every clue ending, "redundantly"


Word of the Day: "SO BIG" (62A: 1924 Edna Ferber novel) —

So Big is a 1924 novel written by Edna Ferber. The book was inspired by the life of Antje Paarlberg in the Dutch community of South Holland, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1925. (wikipedia)

• • •

Seems like a fine Monday puzzle, though I've heard some summaries that were Not At All brief, so I'm not buying that one as much as the others. "Brief" is a relative term. A summary is by definition briefER than its object, but, depending on context, might not feel "brief" at all. Anyhoo, it's no big deal. I mean SOUTH is not literally DOWN except by map conventions. I suppose you could pick any of these apart if you really wanted to, but that seems mean-spirited and dark-hearted. My time was actually a little slower than normal, but I made some stupid mistakes and a Lot of typos, so I doubt this is any harder (or easier) than your typical (very easy) Monday.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Place of refuge, redundantly (SAFE HAVEN)
  
• 29A: Icy expanse, redundantly (FROZEN TUNDRA)
  
• 47A: Synopsis, redundantly (BRIEF SUMMARY)
  
• 64A: Where snowbirds head, redundantly (DOWN SOUTH)
  

Here's how a speed solver can go badly awry on a Monday:

• Get confused by the gendering of 1D: Cowgirl's rope (LASSO)—no reason the rope can't belong to a girl, but in a world where the generic is usually masculine (sexist convention, but convention nonetheless), "girl" triggers thoughts of "there's a *girl's* rope?"
• Think that the "celebrity" in 8D: Celebrity is a person (RENOWN)
• Go with SNOBBY before SNOOTY (28D: Having one's nose in the air)
• Spell RAZE "RASE" (31D: Bulldoze)
• Fail to adjust the size of clue box to its biggest setting and thus not be able to read the full clue at 37A: 2006 title film character who says "Pamela! I no find you attractive anymore! ... Not!" (BORAT)
• Try I FORGET before I FORGOT (44D: Excuse for a lapse)
• Assume 55D: Pair of cymbals operated by a pedal is an S-ending plural (HI-HAT)
• Fail, until the bitter end, to understand what 33D: Dead center? was all about (TOMB)

Bullets:

• 29D: Holder of birdseed (FEEDER) — how is this different from [Birdseed holder]. Did you want me to think the answer was ERIC? If so, no dice!
  
• 7D: Like a car with 20,000 miles on its odometer (USED) — that's a long (and arbitrary) way to go for USED.
  
• 35D: Lighter-than-air aircraft (DIRIGIBLE) — Nice word. Is the helium considered part of the aircraft? Or is it considered something you put *in* the DIRIGIBLE (e.g. I don't consider gas, oil, transmission fluid as part of the car). Because the "aircraft" is "lighter-than-air" only with the helium inside.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Read more...