Deadbeat student at TV's Highland High / SUN 11-4-18 / Torch carrier's announcement / Shiny beetle disliked by fruit growers / Satine's profession in Moulin Rouge / German-Swiss author who won 1946 Nobel in Literature / Greek hero killed by giant scorpion

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (10:36)

THEME: none, somehow... ("UNTHEMED")

Word of the Day: Steve DITKO (37D: Steve who co-created Spider-Man) —

Stephen J. Ditko^[1] (/ˈdɪtkoʊ/; November 2, 1927 – c. June 29, 2018) was an American comics artistand writer best known as the artist and co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics superheroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. [...] During the 1950s, Ditko also drew for Atlas Comics, a forerunner of Marvel Comics. He went on to contribute much significant work to Marvel. In 1966, after being the exclusive artist on The Amazing Spider-Man and the "Doctor Strange" feature in Strange Tales, Ditko left Marvel for reasons he never specified.

Ditko continued to work for Charlton and also DC Comics, including a revamp of the long-running character the Blue Beetle, and creating or co-creating the Question, the Creeper, Shade the Changing Man, and Hawk and Dove. Ditko also began contributing to small independent publishers, where he created Mr. A, a hero reflecting the influence of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. Ditko largely declined to give interviews, saying he preferred to communicate through his work.

Ditko was inducted into the comics industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1990, and into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994. (wikipedia)

• • •

This feels like a cop-out. The Sunday pile must've gotten dangerously low and so they picked up the Batphone (Patphone?) and were like "Help!" And of course, when one of the best constructors on the planet gives you a puzzle, it's gonna be very solid. Nothing to sneeze at. A very solid endeavor. But it pales next to a good themed Sunday (an admittedly hard genre to pull off) and it pales next to a themeless Fri or Sat, which are a. harder, and b. generally filled with more outstanding entries than this thing is. I'd put any random Patrick Berry 15x15 themeless up against this, any day. The only remarkable long entry I see here is "ARE WE DONE HERE?," which I love. Other stuff is perfectly fine, for the most part, but there's very little that seems new or daring or even interesting. AS BIG AS A HOUSE I kinda like, despite the fact that it's the kind of phrase that primarily gets used pejoratively. But entries like FOREST GREEN and WIRE RECORDERS doesn't evoke much of anything, and the rest of the (mostly fine) fill just seems like placeholder stuff. Maybe they're experimenting with the "Easier Themeless" genre? I dunno. But it's not really for me. Not bad. But a let-down. A punt.

["... where Mickey Mouse is 88-Across!"]

There weren't really any problem areas. I had a little trouble getting into the west from up above, despite PET SEMATARY's being a gimme. From below I was blocked by TDGARDEN, the name of which I'd forgotten (58A: Home arena of the Bruins and Celtics)—I had the -AR- and kept wanting something-ARENA (despite the fact that "arena" is in the clue). But once I found DITKO (a gimme for me—I'm teaching his work next week) and KATIE HOLMES (49A: Joey Potter's portrayer on "Dawon's Creek"), even that western section opened right up. A little further east, in the upper-middle of the grid, I had a little trouble dropping down from above because I had completely forgotten (if I ever knew them in the first place) every detail about BEAVIS's life. That clue—32D: Deadbeat student at TV's Highland High—meant absolutely nothing to me. LAWMEN, in that same general area, was also hard, in that it's a vague / quaint term as well as a plural that *doesn't* end in "S" (41D: Wearers of white hats). I have no idea what else to say about this puzzle. FIGEATER was weird? (19D: Shiny beetle disliked by fruit growers) There, I said that.


Hey, if you haven't yet backed the Kickstarter for "The Inkubator," you should get on that. "The Inkubator" will be an ongoing, 2x/month crossword made entirely by women—constructed, edited ... maybe even proofread, I don't know. But it's run by two very talented women—Laura Braunstein and Tracy Bennett—and I'm very excited to see the way they contribute to and challenge the norms of the crossword world. They've already totally crushed their fundraising goal, so this project is *going* to happen. Subscribe. Now. Ooh, better yet, subscribe AND buy subscriptions for friends & family, for the various end-of-year Holidays. I still haven't subscribed myself, because I am preternaturally lazy and procrastinative, but I think I'll fix that now.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Lash with bullwhip / SUN 4-8-18 / Novice parasailer's fear / Ball hit for fielding practice / 1987 action film originally given X rating for violence / Podcast that won 2014 Peabody award / Long-armed climber for short / Instrument whose name means three strings / Bygone channel that aired Veronica Mars

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (very easy except for the actual spoonerisms)

THEME: "Triple Spoonerisms" — Three-word phrases (not including incidental words like "of" and "the") are spoonerized in this weird way where the initial consonant sound of each word is pushed down the line one notch, so ...

Theme answers:

• "Streak of bad luck" becomes BEAK OF LAD STRUCK (24A: What caused the nosebleed on the playground?)
• "The buck stops here" becomes THE STUCK HOPS BEER (30A: Tagline in an ad for Elmer's Glue-Ale?)
• "Hail Mary pass" becomes PALE HAIRY MASS (60A: Description of a yeti?) (if you've got white FUR, you're not "pale," exactly ...)
• "Bearer of glad tidings" becomes TERROR OF BAD GLIDINGS (67A: Novice parasailer's fear?)
• "Stock car races" becomes ROCK STAR CASES (76A: Containers for electric guitars?)
• "The Santa Fe Trail" becomes THE FANTA TRAY SALE (106A: Best place to buy a platter of fruit-flavored sodas?)
• "Feel right at home" becomes HEAL FIGHT AT ROME (114A: Mend fences after Caesar's civil war?)

Word of the Day: Lash LARUE (57A: Lash with a bullwhip) —

Alfred "Lash" LaRue (June 15, 1917–May 21, 1996) was a popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. He had exceptional skill with the bullwhip and taught Harrison Ford how to use a bullwhip for the Indiana Jones movies. LaRue was one of the first recipients of the Golden Boot Awards in 1983. (wikipedia)

• • •

I learned something about spoonerisms today. Now, I love Spoonerisms. I keep an ongoing list of baseball's All-Spoonerism team (ask me about starting pitcher Hill Fuse—he's a firecracker on the mound!). Spoonerisms are fun. Half my day is doing spoonerisms in my head (the other half is anagrams). So I didn't think I had anything to learn about them, but I did, and here it is: they don't work in triplicate. A spoonerism is something you grok immediately, it's pitch perfect, and it is completely dependent on the one-for-one swap. Sound-for-sound. Passing sounds down the chain ... not nearly as satisfying. Also, if my solving and post-solving experience today are any indication, not at all easy to understand. It was like homework trying to figure out what half of these damn themers were supposed to be spoonerisms *of*. It's not that they're not (mostly) clever, it's that I have to *work* to figure them out, which pretty much voids the spoonerism of its spoonerismness. The raucous guffaw of instant recognition is replaced by the pale aha of scribble games. Spoonerisms rule, triple spoonerisms ... rule somewhat less.


And a couple of slightly irksome things about the theme execution on this one. These are definitely peas under the mattress, but ... I can't help being sensitive. First, I got really irked that, in order to find the pre-spoonerized phrase, you *sometimes* had to start with the initial consonant sound on the third word (as with BEAK OF LAD STRUCK), and *sometimes* had to start with the initial consonant sound on the SECOND WORD (as with TERROR OF BAD GLIDINGS). This is nails on chalkboard stuff to me, not just because there's a lack of uniformity, but also because that non-uniformity has no pattern. No symmetry. If first, middle, and last had started on the third word but the rest had started on the second, I could've lived with it. But as it is—it's chaos, man. Then there's THE FANTA TRAY SALE, which is actually one of three winners in today's themer group. But that clue: 106A: Best place to buy a platter of fruit-flavored sodas? ... a SALE is not a "place"!!! It's an event! "Where are you going?" "To the sale." "Uh ... the sale WHERE!?" End scene. I had so much trouble with this answer, for this reason, and also because I had SNORT for 84D: Mock sound of disinterest (SNORE). This left me with THE FANTA TRAY SALT, which I really, really couldn't get despoonerized. I had somehow convinced myself that a SALT was a place ... where you SALT things away? Maybe I'm thinking of "saltcellar," which, it turns out (spoiler alert), is not an actual cellar. At any rate, a SALE is an event, not a place, I have spoken.

The rest of this grid is just fine. Smooth, nice good. I have nothing to say about it because it is all awfully straightforward, and there's nothing particularly scintillating about the fill, though the clue on PENAL CODE is an unquestionmarked doozy (83D: Rules for forming sentences). I had DEPOSE before DEPORT (51D: Kick out), and TRASH HEAP before TRASH PILE (2D: It's a bunch of garbage). HEAP's better. I have no idea why the simple word RESET has this absolutely contorted B.S. "D.C.-speak" clue (5D: Complete policy overhaul, in D.C.-speak). I left the spaces after RE- empty until I got them all from crosses because I couldn't accept that an answer with a clue that dumbly specific could have an answer so basic.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Retired hoopster Odom / FRI 11-10-17 / Human member of old TV trio / Bit of attire for bellhop

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: MESS JACKET (10D: Bit of attire for a bellhop) —

The mess jacket is a type of formal jacket that ends at the waist. It features either a non-fastening double breast cut or a single-breasted version that fastens. The jackets have shawl or peak lapels. Used in military mess dress, during the 1930s it became a popular alternative to the white dinner jacket in hot and tropical weather for black tie occasions. It also was prominently used, in single-breasted form, as part of the uniform for underclassmen at Eton College, leading to the alternate name Eton jacket. A female version of it, called a spencer, was popular during the Regency period. (wikipedia)

• • •

Vintage Berry. Extremely careful, clean, smooth. There's virtually nothing to CARP about here. The answers weren't what you'd call scintillating, but man is it nice to see an exquisitely crafted grid. I found it mostly phenomenally easy, but the metric ton of "?" clues and the fact that I know nothing about sailing (HALF-MAST) or, apparently, bellhop attire (MESS JACKET) meant that I wasn't going to break any records today [update: HALF-MAST refers to the position of a flag ("Standard"), not a sail, my bad]. Still, absolutely no significant trouble spots. In retrospect, DE LA RENTA ended up being a Huge giveaway at 15A: Dominican fashion designer's last name ... because of the way the clue was tied to 16A: ... and first name (OSCAR). I started (naturally) in the NW, so when I saw [... and first name], I had to look at the previous Across, which took me to another section entirely. At that moment, I had enough info to write in his full name. Again, normal (i.e. efficient) solvers Do Not read the Acrosses in order, so the little [... ...] effect in the sequential Acrosses just doesn't land the way it's supposed to, ugh. But today at least I got a free pass into the NE corner, so that was nice. That corner still ended up being the hardest part of the puzzle for me, but I appreciated the assist that the ellipse-linked clues provided.


I think I knew Jason ALDEAN's name before the Las Vegas shooting, but I *definitely* know it now (7D: Jason with the #1 country hit "Dirt Road Anthem"). Terrible way to have your name cross over. Took me a while to get HELLBOY because despite being very familiar with it as a title (I've spent my fair share of time in comic book stores...), I've never read it. Or seen the movie. So "superhero"?—I don't think I knew that he fit into that category (6D: Superhero with hooves and a tail). Had HAD A FIT before HAD A COW, and spelled JIBE wrong, ugh (23A: Match up, as accounts). I resent that both JIBE and GIBE are real words. We should look into fixing that. Confusing. This (from Merriam-Webster) isn't helping!

Lastly, the capital of CROATIA is Zagreb, in case you were wondering (35D: U.N. member whose capital comes last alphabetically).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Historic pueblo near Albuquerque / FRI 10-6-17 / Enfant terrible of children's literature / Catch 22 pilot who repeatedly crashes

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: ACOMA (29D: Historic pueblo near Albuquerque) —

Acoma Pueblo (/ˈækəmə/; Western Keresan: ʔáák’u [ʔɑ́ːk'ù]; Zuni: Hakukya; Navajo: Haak’oh) is a Native American pueblo approximately 60 miles (97 km) west of Albuquerque, New Mexico in the United States. Three villages make up Acoma Pueblo: Sky City (Old Acoma), Acomita, and Mcartys. The Acoma Pueblo tribe is a federally recognized tribal entity. The historical land of Acoma Pueblo totaled roughly 5,000,000 acres (2,000,000 ha). The community retains only 10% of this land, making up the Acoma Indian Reservation. Acoma Pueblo is a National Historic Landmark.
According to the 2010 United States Census, 4,989 people identified as Acoma. The Acoma have continuously occupied the area for more than 800 years, making this one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States (along with Hopi pueblos). Acoma tribal traditions estimate that they have lived in the village for more than two thousand years. (wikipedia)

• • •

Berry's puzzles are never not smooth. A three-stack of 12s crossing another three-stack of 12s, with all involved answers rock solid—impressive. It is becoming increasingly obvious, however, that Berry has zero interest in having his puzzles be current. His cultural frame of reference skews old. Old even for him—I think he's GenX like me, but his puzzles are solidly boomer. All the cultural references are things *I* had to learn from watching old TV and doing crosswords.  I guess if you learn to make puzzles in an era when contemporary references were shunned (i.e. the pre-Shortz era), then maybe it's hard to learn new tricks, especially if you are soooo good at your old ones. But compared to the puzzles of under-40 constructors, this one feels as "Old-fashioned" as having a BARN as your "dance venue" (43D). The only "modern-style" answer has a badly botched clue (8D: Smoked, modern-style). Smoked, modern-style is ... smoked. People still smoke. Lots of 'em. And it's called smoking. Further, vaping is not not not smoking. It is a substitute. I struggled like crazy in that NW corner because I figured "Smoked" had to be slang, as in "beat handily at something." Also got undone by (old) "Catch-22" name, which I knew was crosswordese, but I couldn't remember which crosswordese, and I initially guessed wrong:

And then there was (old) guitar maker: FENDER part easy; first name ... pfft shrug. Wanted LES, but knew that was the other guitar guy (Paul). I would've been deeeeaaaad up there if I hadn't frantically and systematically gone through the orchestra to find any instrument that could fit the -I--AS pattern (8A: Orchestra section that plays mostly harmony). Once I hit VIOLAS, everything else locked in. Rest of puzzle didn't pose nearly as much of a challenge.


Old names get a little out of control in the south. Any puzzle with MOREY Amsterdam (34A: Amsterdam of "The Dick Van Dyke Show") over Vice President DAWES (36A: Coolidge's vice president) crossing JULES from a 23-year-old movie is still busy prepping for Y2K. Had no idea what ACOMA was. Probably seen it before, but certainly couldn't remember. Never ever think of "philosophy" as SOCIAL STUDIES (which is a term I only hear used in relation to middle and high school civics courses), so the SOCIAL part was rough, just as the ACCOUNT part of ACCOUNT HOLDER was rough (32A: Recipient of blank checks). But that makes just two real rough patches. The rest was smooth sailing. And as I say, the grid is pretty impeccable (TINA'S not withstanding). It just ... doesn't want kids on its lawn. Part of me understands. Speaking of kids, I gotta go pick up mine. See ya.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Pacific island Magellan visited in 1521 / FRI 9-1-17 / What ancient Greeks called Hyrcanian Ocean / Period ushered in by Augustus

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (just 'cause of the proper nouns I had Never seen, and some confusing cluing)

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: CEBU (39A: Pacific island Magellan visited in 1521) —

Cebu (/seˈbuː/; Cebuano: Lalawigan sa Sugbu, Filipino: Lalawigan ng Cebu) is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas (Region VII) region, and consisting of the main island itself and 167 surrounding islands and islets. Its capital is Cebu City, the oldest city and first capital of the Philippines, which is politically independent from the provincial government. Cebu City forms part of the Cebu Metropolitan Area together with four neighboring cities (Danao City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City and Talisay City) and eight other local government units. Mactan-Cebu International Airport, located in Mactan Island, is the second busiest airport in the Philippines. (wikipedia)

• • •

Just too much stuff I'd never heard of to be really enjoyable, and this is coming from someone who Nailed 1D: Alistair ___, "The Guns of Navarone" novelist (MACLEAN) (ugh). My proper noun ignorance is really not your or anyone else's problem, and this grid is, in most ways, quite lovely and elegant, especially through the middle. But I've never heard of KORBEL, ever, or of CEBU, ever, so struggling to get them and eventually getting them did not leave an "aha!" feeling, but rather ... there was more of a dull thud sound. And then you try to convince me that TRINI is something other than old-school crosswordese [Singer Lopez]? (3D: Certain Caribbean islander, informally) I don't know. It's a very well-made grid, but Berry's puzzles are starting to feel old to me. Not old bad or old stale, but old ... like, GEORGE WILL old (33A: Newspaper columnist who wrote the book "Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball"). Culturally centered in a bygone era. Not PAX ROMANA bygone, but back there somewhere. So I admire their architectural beauty but increasingly don't really want to live inside them.

[10D: Unlikely winner at the Masters]

There's a METHANOL now? Inferred that one only after getting several crosses (1-Across struggle often means overall struggle). Totally doubted MACLEAN and thought briefly 17A: Clytemnestra's half sister (HELEN) was MEDEA. And I am literally in the middle of a New Yorker article that discusses the Oresteia at length, so botching a clue with Clytemnestra in it really hurts. I also literally said PAX ROMANA out loud today in class (13A: Period ushered in by Augustus), but somehow failed to look at the clue early (when it would've helped me), so despite dropping 1- and 2-Down in quickly, the NW was a mess. And then, because KORBEL meant nothing to me, I couldn't really turn the corner effectively into the center. And then of course I had TOM for JIM (9D: Huck's pal), so that was unfun. I have never heard anyone say MARKER PEN (32A: Soft-headed writer?), so that one just hurts (my ears and eyes and sensibilities). Thank god GEORGE WILL was a gimme, or I might still be doing this puzzle. Had ENSNARL at 41A: Become tangled (SNARL UP), which Really hurt, because it led to GULLS at 37D: Easy marks (DUPES). OPERA BOXES aren't anything I'm familiar with, so they were hard to get to from 49A: What a theater's grand tier is divided into. Had RTE instead of ETA at 50D: GPS guess. I basically stepped in every hole I could, and when you add that to the hot KORBEL-CEBU action, the result is a rather limping and anemic effort on my part.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. speaking of the old feel of this puzzle: AMC is absolutely not not not a 5D: Cable channel for cinephiles. It *used* to be that, but its programming took a significantly different turn FIFTEEN YEARS AGO ... ugh. Cinephiles watch TCM and FilmStruck. I know because ... I just know.

P.P.S. phrasing on the clue at 38A: What the ancient Greeks called the Hyrcanian Ocean is wicked confusing. Makes it sound like "Hyrcanian Ocean" is a current thing that we're supposed to guess the ancient Greek name of, not vice versa. [Ancient Greeks called it "the Hyrcanian Ocean"]. Confusion, eliminated.

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Libertarian pundit Neal / SUN 8-6-17 / Malodorous animal / Governess at Thornfield / 1997 action film set on plane / Fruit mentioned in Odyssey / Choice for online gamer / Pharma watchdog / Chicago based fraternal order / Longtime retailer hurt by Amazon / Revolver in roaring twenties slang

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Anchors Away!" — boat puns, (ah)oy...

Theme answers:

• GALLEONS OF MILK (gallons) (24A: Sailing vessels that Cap'n Crunch might commandeer?)
• WARSHIPS AT THE ALTAR (worships) (31A: Heavily armored vessels getting married?)
• ROCK 'EM SOCK 'EM ROWBOATS (robots) (54A: Kids' game in which small vessels attack each other?)
• SEMI TRAWLER (trailer) (66A: Fishing vessel that can pull only half a net behind it?)
• AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YACHT (yet) (76A: Recreational vessel that's never left the harbor?)
• DIRTY DOUBLE CRUISER (crosser) (100A: Luxury vessel with a pair of decks, both of which need swabbing?)
• APPLE FREIGHTER (fritter) (111A: Cargo vessel full of iPads?) 

Word of the Day: Neal BOORTZ (12D: Libertarian pundit Neal) —

Neal A Boortz, Jr. (born April 6, 1945) is an American author, attorney, and former Libertarian radio host. His nationally syndicated talk show, The Neal Boortz Show, which ended in 2013, was carried throughout the United States. It was ranked seventh in overall listeners, with more than 4.25 million per week. The content of the show included politics, current events, social issues, and topics of interest, which Boortz discussed with callers, correspondents and guests. Boortz touched on many controversial topics and referred to himself as an "equal opportunity offender." [ooh, original] (wikipedia)

• • •

Wow, this is startlingly mediocre work from the Best Constructor On The Planet™. Terrible boat puns. Just ... off. Unfunny. Dumb. I guess ROCK 'EM SOCK 'EM ROWBOATS has some charm, but SEMI-TRAWLER? GALLEONS OF MILK? These are bad. Come on. They are. Even if  you like puns, you shouldn't like these that much. This is the kind of puzzle I associate with people whose skills never made it out of the '80s. AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YACHT doesn't even make sense grammatically. Also, if it's AIN'T, then it's NOTHIN', that's the rule. The worst part for me, from a purely personal taste standpoint, was that the place I struggled most was made strugglesome by some libertarian guy I'd never heard of. "He has [...] caused a stir among some Southerners, by coining the term "Flaggots" during his frequent jabs at them and at Confederate issues (such as governmental support of the Confederate flag)" (wikipedia). Great. Great. Sure. Lovely. Wonderful. "He has repeatedly stated his belief that global climate change is not man-made" (wikipedia). Wow, you don't say. Fascinating. Keep these wonderful folks coming, NYT. They make the puzzle delightful. (sidenote: if the puzzle had been better overall, I wouldn't have had the time or inclination to care about one stupid name).


Beyond BOORTZ, that NE corner was rough for me. Stupidly put in AMA at 26D: Pharma watchdog (FDA). Couldn't make sense of [Testing times]'s frame of reference (ORDEALS). Couldn't parse NUMEROUNO. Thought it was D.C.'s National PARK (baseball?) (15D: MALL). Rough all over. But the rest was pretty dang easy. No idea what "soubise" meant, so ONIONY took some doing (64D: Like soubise sauce). No idea Houdini's actual last name was WEISS (69D: Ehrich ___ ak.a. Houdini). Never thought of SEARS as particular hurt by Amazon, any more than every other retailer on the planet has been "hurt by Amazon." Had SAKE on my mind (from yesterday's puzzle) so I managed to put that in instead of SUMO this time (119A: Staple of Shinto rituals). Best clue / answer was probably 77D: It may help remove a curse (TAPE DELAY). Very tricky, very satisfying wordplay. Bravo. You can scuttle the rest of this puzzle, though.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Beach grass that prevents erosion / FRI 7-14-17 / Onetime owner of Skype / Short-legged item of furniture / Playwright who wrote Hell is full of musical amateurs

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: SEA OATS (13D: Beach grass that prevents erosion) —

Uniola paniculata or sea oats, also known as seaside oats, araña, and arroz de costa, is a tall subtropical grass that is an important component of coastal sand dune and beach plant communities in the southeastern United States, eastern Mexico and some Caribbean islands. Its large seed heads that turn golden brown in late summer give the plant its common name. Its tall leaves trap wind-blown sand and promote sand dune growth, while its deep roots and extensive rhizomes act to stabilize them, so the plant helps protect beaches and property from damage due to high winds, storm surges and tides. It also provides food and habitat for birds, small animals and insects. (wikipedia)

• • •

The one downside of being a constructor as immensely talented as Patrick Berry is that, well, when you lay down a SEA OATS people can *really* see, touch, taste, and feel the SEA OATS. The only place where I struggled even in the slightest was in and around and all over the SEA OATS, so my brain now believes this to be "the SEA OATS puzzle" even though SEA OATS is only one moderately-sized, literally marginal answer. Everything else about this grid is so smooth, so unforced, so well known, generally, that something pulled deep from the bottom of the fauna well really, really stands out. But focusing on that one answer is ridiculously unfair, not just because (as I said) it's all alone in its strangeness, but because despite its strangeness, it's actually a real thing. The clue wasn't bad, the answer wasn't some implausible phrase or super-olde-timey character actor's name. It's just a word I didn't know, which is fine. It will be the answer (I bet) that is the most unfamiliar to solvers. But so what? It Was Crossed Fairly. Rare and fairly crossed is all I ask my "???" fill to be.


Another reason I don't remember the non-SEA OATS part of this puzzle very well is that I finished it in 4:24. And at 5am?! It's dark and raining out, and both wife and daughter are out of town. Perhaps I have discovered my optimal solving conditions: darkness and utter solitude. Sadly, those conditions would probably be highly sub-optimal for my non-solving life, so I'll just enjoy this little solving success while I have it. I guessed SCRAP right away (1D: Throw away), confirmed it with PIPES (22A: Singing ability, informally), and I was off. Had STATE, threw down BANKS, and then "confirmed" it with ... BALKED (27A: Made objections). Oh well, can't expect all your first guesses to be good ones. Luckily SILVER LININGS went down supereasy, and I could sneak into the SW from down under. Swept back up and solved on a SW-to-NE diagonal, going through that center stack faster than I've ever gone through any largish stack in my life. Only resistance was back end of HARBOR MASTERS, and all I needed was a few crosses to pick that up. Lucky to remember DOANS pills (from '80s TV ads, I think). Despite ON FILM before ON TAPE (and the aforementioned oceanside disaster that was SEA OATS), the NE succumbed pretty easily. That left the SE, where the horrible clue on NHL (47A: Montreal is part of it: Abbr.) stalled me a bit, but not much. Once I got SWORE and SHAW in there, the corner fell quickly.


Back to that NHL clue. Yes, the Montreal Canadiens are in the NHL, but you would never, ever, ever have the following clue: [Los Angeles is part of it: Abbr.] for NHL. Or for NBA or MLB, for that matter. It's a major metro area; presumably it's a part of Lots of things. Come on. Anyway, this is a very impressive grid, even if no one answer really stands out. My favorite thing about it was crushing it. I'll take a smooth, clean, largely uneventful Berry puzzle any day (but especially Friday). The only (tiny) flaw, from a structural standpoint, is how much the grid relies on plurals. ALL the long central answers (Across and Down) are plurals, as are several more 8+ answers. Plurals are real words, so there's no real harm done. They're a useful constructing crutch, but it's odd to see So Many of them here. I doubt anyone but me noticed, though. Have a nice day.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Neologism coined by Cole Porter / FRI 5-5-17 / 1962 Organization of American States expellee / Scoopers for taramasalata / River bisecting Orsk / White notes in Monopoly

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: GNEISS (51A: Banded metamorphic rock) —

Gneiss (pronunciation: /ˈnaɪs/) is a common distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks. It is often foliated (composed of layers of sheet-like planar structures). The foliations are characterized by alternating darker and lighter colored bands, called "gneissic banding". (wikipedia)

• • •

I feel like some of the zip has gone out of Patrick Berry's puzzles of late. They are still elegantly made, but they feel staler and more plodding. I love YOU'RE FREE TO GO and I GOT THIS, BANG BANG and SOUNDBITE, but that middle stack, with an -ING over an -ING and ... whatever SHIP OF THE LINE is (?!?) ... is just dull. The corners don't add much to the party either. He's still the greatest living constructor, probably, but it's been a while since I went *Damn*!. Felt like I struggled a lot, especially in the area of SHIP OF THE LINE (again, ?!?) and MISDO (a word I hate So Hard, as no one uses it or says it ever ever ever)—really really wanted the latter to be MINCE, and even changed 32A: World's oldest currency still in use to FRANC STERLING just to make it happen (briefly). Yes, I am serious. And yet somehow I finished in 5:39, which is definitely on the fast side for me, for Friday. Not lightning, but snappy. Strange to have that disconnect between feeling (struggle) and actuality (speeding).


To me TRUMBO is the Orioles' DH, so I was really unsure filling in 7A: Title role for Bryan Cranston in a 2015 biopic. Last biopic I remember him in involved ... maybe LBJ? Or was that on stage? Ooh, looks like stage *then* TV movie. TRUMBO is the blacklisted screenwriter guy, right? Yes. Dalton TRUMBO. Anyway, I had TRU- and wrote in TRUMAN. 2/3 correct! Didn't know what the first vowel was in DELOVELY, but RESIN solved that. Couldn't understand 34A: Grate catches? even after I got it down to HEE-S. Even now I'm not sure. Do you "catch" your (high?) HEELS in "grates" ... on the sidewalk? My first answer here was ASHES, and this will also be true for tens of 1000s of solvers today. Grates catch ASHES. That's just what they do. ASHES was a crossword reflex. Anyway, I don't think I MISDO'd anything else.


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Sister brand of Ortho / FRI 4-7-17 / Bread spread whose tagline is Love it hate it / Brush alternative / Onetime Chicago Outfi establishment / Druidic monument / American candy company since 1904 / Clown Prince of Denmark

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: LARRUP (2D: Beat soundly) —

verb

informal

verb: larrup; 3rd person present: larrups; past tense: larruped; past participle: larruped; gerund or present participle: larruping

1. thrash or whip (someone). (google)

• • •

About the most unpleasant Berry experience I've had in a while, for multiple reasons. The first is not his fault—this is a Saturday puzzle. Saturday plus. My time was north of my usual Saturday by a good amount. It wasn't just the NW corner—where I was dead-stopped for minutes at the end. It was all over. Just hard / weird cluing and (often) odd answers. Terribly horribly impossibly misplaced on a Friday. Then there's the fill, which has a frame of reference so dated and a general palette so ecru that solving felt like slogging through a very old person's dusty attic. Everything's old and there's no air. No, change that—it's *possible* I'd find some joy in a dusty attic. There was no feeling of aha or breakthrough or anything today. Answers like FIRESCREENS (do those go in front of fires? Seriously these answers are So Plain I barely know what they do) and HOUSECLEANS and CRADLE SONGS (What Are Those??? I have a child, and yet ... this is not a phrase I know. Do. You. Mean. Lullabies!?!?!). Runnin' ___ was never gonna be anything but Runnin' REBS (I went to lots of Fresno State / UNLV games as a kid). So discovering UTES was ... pffft. Not fun. Just "Oh, right, they also are "Runnin'" somehow." Lots of impressively long answers flowing through the middle, but ... didn't matter. Solving this was highly unpleasant. TELNET? BADEN? BORGE!?!? What year is it?


Worst was the NW, where CRADLE songs was unknown to me, and LARRUP was unknown to me, and FOOD had its dumb clue (4D: It's picked up in a mess) that could've been / should've been ODOR or TRAY (both better ... jeez, that clue for FOOD? Not funny). FURL without the UN-, always godawful (5D: Roll up). Worst was LARRUP's ending in -UP, which makes 2D: Beat soundly really really really want to be a two-word phrase ending in UP. But jeez, CRADLE SONGS? And with a stupid jokey "?" clue at that. Honestly, the only time during the whole solve where I went "Oh, good one" was at 26D: Fortune reader, maybe (EXEC). I had SEER. Nice. Everything else—root canal. To be clear, expertly made ... but an expertly made root canal (I just had a root canal, so I know whereof).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. I sincerely had to look up just now how "ROLLER" and "brush" are in the same universe? (35D: Brush alternative). It's painting. Right. OK. Man, I'm glad this thing is over. Bet the farm that the *actual* Saturday is easier than this thing.

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Heady stuff / FRI 3-3-17 / Mortal sister of the immortal Stheno and Euryale / Jumpsuit-wearing music group / Champagne grape / "Jaws" locale / "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?" / "Only little people pay taxes" / Dachshund, colloquially

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: An averagely challenging themeless to finish out the week

THEME: Themeless

Word of the Day: DEVO (15A: Jumpsuit-wearing music group) —

Devo (/ˈdiːvoʊ/, originally /diːˈvoʊ/)^[8] is an American rock band that formed in 1973, consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It" and has maintained a cult following throughout its existence.
Devo's music and stage shows mingle kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor and mordantly satirical social commentary. Their often discordant pop songs feature unusual synthetic instrumentation and time signatures that have proven influential on subsequent popular music, particularly new wave, industrial, and alternative rock artists. Devo was also a pioneer of the music video, creating many memorable clips for the LaserDisc format, with "Whip It" getting heavy airplay in the early days of MTV. (Wikipedia)

• • •

Rex is still sick, so you get Laura again. Hi! This was a nice themeless from Patrick Berry (if you are at all interested in how puzzles are constructed, I highly recommend his Crossword Constructor's Handbook). Word of the Day DEVO is, like ASTEROID BELTS, one my favorite 33A: Rock groups that are far out. Lots to like in this grid, including my neighbor BERNIE (3D: First name in 2016 presidential politics), my 90s role model ELAINE (2D: Jerry's ex on TV [and for the record I would like Julia Louis-Dreyfus to play me in a movie]), and the song that will be going through my head for the next week, SUMMERTIME BLUES (7D: 1958 hit song that begins "I'm a-gonna raise a fuss, I'm a-gonna raise a holler").

As with many themelesses (themelessi? themelesstrixes? themelesstropodes?), the solved grid looks way easier than the solving experience was. All three of the middle stack just fell into place right away: the aforementioned ASTEROID BELTS, the MAD TEA PARTY (31A: Where Alice is asked "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?" -- you might recall that Andrew Kingsley used this as the seed for a riddle puzzle last fall), and QUEEN OF MEAN (36A: Sobriquet for the woman who said "Only the little people pay taxes"). In the early 90s I used to walk to work in Manhattan, taking a shortcut through the Midcentury Modern masterpiece PanAm Building (I refuse to call it the MetLife Building), which led into the Beaux-Arts masterpiece Helmsley Building (née New York Central Building), where there was a huge (yuge!) portrait in the lobby of Leona Helmsley, the Queen of Mean herself (in those pre-9/11 days when you could just stroll through office buildings with impunity). She and that era (and tax evasion) are forever linked in my mind with our current president. The north and south of the grid presented a few stumbling blocks -- I had NOAH for ESAU (8D: Biblical polygamist [though weren't they all?]), and could not recall the idiom IN STIR (59A: Doing time).

Bullets:

• ABASES (4A: Brings down) and ABATE (32D: Lose intensity) — As my solving buddy Austin pointed out, having both in the same puzzle seems like an editorial oversight.
• UNICYCLE (22A: Take the wheel?) — Loved the clue for this; very clever misdirection to clue it as a verb instead of a noun. 
• AMITY (4D: ___ Island ("Jaws" locale)) — Had trouble remembering this; I blame the dominance of the Sharknado oeuvre in the current crop of shark movies.
• EEL (48A: Ocean floor burrower) — What's a grid without an EEL?

And let's wind up the evening with ...

• CHARO (23D: Her albums include "Cuchi-Cuchi" and "Olé, Olé")

Signed, Laura Braunstein, Sorceress of CrossWorld

[Follow Laura on Twitter]

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Plumeria creation / SAT 2-4-17 / Sitcom set in Lanford Ill / Best-selling celebrity tell-all book of 1978 / Spica's constellation / Item worn by count on sesame street / They're known as viennese bread in scandinavia / Medieval invader of Spain / Final car built in buick city before its shutdown

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Medium-Easy (hard to start, then super-easy)

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: Plumeria (5D: Plumeria creation => LEI) —

noun

noun: plumeria; plural noun: plumerias

1. a fragrant flowering tropical tree of a genus that includes frangipani. (google)

• • •

And here I thought a plumeria was where PENs were made. I wish I were joking. I not only put in PEN for 5D: Plumeria creation, I then immediately put PEN in *again* for the very next clue, 6D: Stir. PEN PEN. Wrong wrong. Still, my plan of strafing stacks with first-guess answers on all the short crosses weirdly ended up working, despite those wrong answers (and the also-wrong ATM for 4D: One rolling dough). SMALL (3D: Minor) was right and YENS (7D: Wants) was right, and I figured the 1D: "___ vobiscum" ("the Lord be with you") would start "D" (I could think only of "Deus"), so I stuck that in there too. But I didn't get started in earnest til GALS (26A: Ben-___ (N.F.L. cheerleading squad)) over OLE (28A: Estadio cheer) (both gimmes), then VIRGO. Worked my way up to the long Acrosses from there. Once I finally figured out the Count wore a MONOCLE, "MOMMIE, DEAREST" became obvious, and instantly fixed all my wrong initial guesses on the short Downs (13A: Best-selling celebrity tell-all book of 1978). COMPANION PIECE (14A: Something work-related) was very very hard because the clue has "Work" in it and starts COMPAN- so naturally I wanted COMPANY something. Not knowing what "Plumeria" was meant that COMPANY stayed COMPANY too long. Not knowing CAP'N (by any stretch, at all, at all), also made uncovering COMPANION PIECE super-hard. But once I got out of the top, the puzzle opened up and suddenly became more like a Tuesday. Monday in the middle, Wednesday down below. Ended up finishing in very average time, despite terrible beginning.


"ROSEANNE" (yay!) was the turning point (22A: Sitcom set in Lanford, Ill.). Got it easy (right in my wheelhouse), and then everything underneath it just fell away. After that, I only had minor trouble: writing in SENTRA instead of XTERRA (37D: Nissan model discontinued in 2015); not knowing Hebrew letters (43D: Hebrew letter on a dreidel => SHIN); forgetting the manner in which PEAS were processed for babies (brain just kept going "smashed? smashed? are they smashed?"). But that's it. Puzzle is both easier and less interesting down below—very heavy on the RLSTNE, especially in the SE (!) with ESTEE on the SETTEE eating PASTRIES with her BESTIES. But overall the grid is really lovely, and the clues were suitably tough. I can tolerate a fantastic obscurity like CAP'N Bill Weedles (!?) (8D: ___ Bill Weedles (Land of Oz character)) if surrounding material is fair, and it was. Nice job.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Richard who won Tony for playing Don Quixote / FRI 12-30-16 / Market town in Surrey / Site of Cedar Revolution / King's collaborator / Swimmer in cloudy water / Bovine product mascot

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: Ralph ABERNATHY (9D: King's collaborator) —

Ralph David Abernathy, Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, a minister, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s closest friend. In 1955, he collaborated with King to create the Montgomery Improvement Association, which would lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1957, Abernathy co-founded, and was an executive board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Following the assassination of King, Abernathy became president of the SCLC. As president of the SCLC, he led the Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C. during 1968. Abernathy also served as an advisory committee member of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE). He later returned to the ministry, and in 1989 — the year before his death — Abernathy wrote, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: An Autobiography, a controversial autobiography about his and King's involvement in the civil rights movement. (wikipedia)

• • •

MAN ALIVE this was easy. I paused to sip my chamomile tea and eat one of the oatmeal raisin cookies my daughter made for me and still came in well under 5 minutes. I made virtually no wrong moves. Everything just fell into place. Everywhere I looked, I had just the letters I needed to give me the next answer. The puzzle was annoying in this way—not enough crunch or cleverness in the clues. The only resistance the puzzle offered came from LAST NAMES—not that answer, but from the actual last names KILEY (37A: Richard who won a Tony for playing Don Quixote) (??) and, to a much lesser extent, ABERNATHY (I at least knew the latter, though the clue was sufficiently vague that it took me some time to see which "King" the clue was referring to). No bite in the clues (boo), and all significant resistance from proper nouns (boo). This thing needed better calibration all the way around. Also, KILEY is a sore thumb in this puzzle—several times more obscure than the next most obscure thing in this puzzle (except perhaps CARLA, which is at least a common name) (51A: Thomas who is known as the Queen of Memphis Soul).


I experienced some very minor resistance from both of the sweet "drink" clues. I don't get how a CREAM SODA is "soft" except insofar as it is a "soft drink," in which case that clue really really needs a "?" (1A: It's soft and sweet). And I've never ever heard of a PURPLE COW (28D: Fountain drink containing grape juice and vanilla ice cream). Black cow, yes. Brown cow, I think so. PURPLE COW, never. That "C" (from CARLA) was the last letter I filled in down there. But everything else in the SW was so easy that my fountain drink ignorance was of very little consequence. Middle section of the puzzle was definitely the thorniest, but that's only because that's where the two aforementioned problematic proper nouns (KILEY, ABERNATHY) came together. I had some trouble understanding 43D: Lots of characters? (FONTS) (one of the few truly difficult clues), but I barely remember anything else about this puzzle, so poor a fight did it put up. Guessed CHITS (1D: Vouchers) and ROMEO (2D: "O, I am fortune's fool!" speaker) bam bam, and answers started falling and never stopped. I was even able to back into sections effortlessly. Into PSYCH from the -CH, into RICKMAN from the -MAN. Both those answers blew their respective corners wide open by giving a bank of first letters for me to work with. Finished in the SE, with the "N" in CON EDISON my last letter. The grid seems quite solid (not unexpected for a Patrick Berry puzzle), but the solving experience ... barely happened.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...