SUNDAY, Dec. 16, 2007 - David J. Kahn and Steve Kahn

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Movies You May Have Missed" - every theme answer is a movie with an "L" removed from its title, creating a silly variation, which is clued

Well we're getting snowed in yet again today, though right now everything seems calm - only about an inch on the ground and nothing coming down. Winds seem awfully strong, though. Neighbors' giant trees are really swaying. I just hope the power stays on long enough for me to finish this write-up.

This theme is imaginative, but I just wish the end results had been more humorous or lively. The words you get by removing an "L" are just not that fascinating, and thus the new-fangled titles just sort of lie there. Some are wonderful, but most are just blah. I was really happy with the non-theme fill, however, which includes a lot of unusual words and phrases, and cluing that seemed appropriately Sunday-level. Puzzle's got its share of crosswordese, but most Sunday puzzles do. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to nominate MEDOC (7D: French red) and I DIE (51D: Romeo's last words) for the Pantheon, given their weird recent frequency.

[drawing by Emily Cureton]

Theme answers:

• 24A: Prison movie about a medical miracle? ("Dead Man Waking") - this one I like
• 31A: Tim Allen comedy about unionizing seasonal workers? ("The Santa Cause")
• 50A: Prequel to "Reservoir Dogs?" ("Pup Fiction") - very nice
• 64A: Ingmar Bergman classic narrated by Jacques Cousteau? ("The Seventh Sea")
• 79A: Chaplin comedy about a religious migration? ("The God Rush")
• 98A: Chiller about glass-climbing reptiles? ("Snakes on a Pane")
• 109A: Tom Cruise action thriller about a nasty argument? ("War of the Words")
• 6D: Sci-fi movie about gender discrimination? ("Men in Back")
• 42D: Bogart/Bacall mystery about serious basement dampness? ("The Big Seep")
• 38D: Spoof about the soul of a fraternity? ("Anima House") - made me laugh
• 78D: Lois Lane player of early TV, whose first name is a hint to this puzzle's theme (Noel Neill) - whoever that is.

Did you know that IRENE (57D: Sister of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands) is one of the most common five-letter words in the entire world of crosswords? Unless you construct crosswords, you probably didn't. It's such an innocuous name, and there are so many ways to clue it, that it doesn't stand out the way that, say, ALERO (last Olds model) does. You can find out more about the (recent) history of words in crossword puzzles by subscribing as a Gold Member of Cruciverb.com, which gives you access to their amazing crossword database. I subscribed for the first time only yesterday. It's sickly addictive.

OLIO!

• 27A: Wine made from the moscato bianco grape (Asti) - Pantheon-bound
• 28A: O.K.: Var. (indorse) - ouuuuuuuuuch.
• 19D: Toothed, botanically (dentate)
• 30A: Global warming? (detente) - nice, poetic pairing.
• 45A: Court pseudonym (Roe) - crafty; I had DOE.
• 38A: I.S.P. of note (AOL) - that's Internet Service Provider; if you didn't know that, now you do. Don't forget. You'll see it again.
• 53A: Onetime host of "Classic Concentration" (Trebek) - before my time. The show, not Trebek, who is, of course, an icon.
• 55A: Home of Chennai (India) - my geography is much weaker than it should be. I'm getting myself an Atlas for Xmas in hopes of remedying this problem, at least slightly.
• 58A: Airports (dromes) - really? I thought a DROME was just any kind of structure where, say, animals (hippoDROME) or bicycles (veloDROME) might race.
• 60A: "Answer the question" ("yes or no") - it's truly remarkable how often some variation of YES appears in the puzzle - YESES, SAY YES, YES OR NO, YES/NO, etc.
• 67A: Brick holder (hod) - I have the strangest affection for this word, and I honestly don't understand it.
• 73D: With 69-Down, not just hard of hearing (stone / deaf) - nice intersecting two-parter.
• 77A: Meal with bitter herbs (seder) - see also 90A: Like the letters on a dreidel (Hebrew).
• 87A: Conductor _____-Pekka Salonen (Esa) - another one to remember. He is current the musical director of the L.A. Philharmonic.
• 88A: Game resembling crazy eights (Uno) - I feel like Crazy Eights should be capitalized, even though I know that's not so. UNO is a great family card game; requires thought and skill, and yet my seven-year-old can beat me.
• 107A: Private telephone channel (tie line) - unknown to me.
• 114A: Thingum (item) - yuck. ITEM is not sufficiently colloquial here, given that clue.
• 115A: Jealous Olympian (Hera) - now That's an accurate clue.
• 116A: Skull and Bones member, e.g. (Eli) - Pantheonic! As university allegiances go, the NYT puzzle skews heavily Yale-ward.
• 121A: Hens, but not roosters (layers) - beware of LAYERS in your clue, where its different potential meanings can trip you up (see also FLOWER, BEAN, etc.)
• 4D: Jazz guitar great Herb _____ (Ellis) - unknown to me.
• 8D: Had thirds, maybe (overate) - I just had fifths of orange rolls, so ... yeah, OVERATE. It could have been worse. I could have had NINTHS (94D: Odd shares).
• 49D: Medieval hymn start (Dies) - as in "Dies Irae"; medieval answers tend to be gimmes for me, but I'm a professional, so don't feel bad.
• 82D: Pizzeria in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" (Sal's) - In addition to SAL Bando and SAL Mineo, this pizzeria is a frequent denizen of the grid. Possibly the single most prominent fictional business. I'm prepared to be proven wrong.
• 91D: Vampy wear (boa) - just love the word "vampy"
• 108A: "It's _____" (Pet Shop Boys hit) ("a Sin") - easily the best synth pop band ever. This song is infectious.
  
• 97D: Kitchen attraction (aroma) - I've had this clue before, and still couldn't get it quickly. I was thinking "uh ... a really cool blender? Viking stove?" Etc. My house has an AROMA that's a mix of orange rolls and Christmas tree.

Happy blizzard to the NE, and happy Sunday to everyone else.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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MONDAY, Oct. 8, 2007 - Steve Kahn

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: metal + body part

This felt like a Tuesday puzzle, and a moderately challenging one at that. First 3 Across answers yielded nothing, which almost never happens on Monday. The grid structure is kind of brutal, with only one tiny way out of both the NW and the SE corners. Then there's wide open middle, chock full of slightly strange words composed of super-common letters. I was just swimming in the middle of that puzzle. Oh, and the theme ... is fine, but figuring it out for some reason didn't make getting subsequent theme answers easier. Did puzzle on paper, in bed, so I don't know how long it took. But longer than usual, that's for sure.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Bond villain (Goldfinger)
• 29A: Certain trout (steelhead)
• 42A: Classic blues musician (Leadbelly)
• 52A: Patriarchal gorilla (silverback)

Favorite answers:

46D: Filmdom's Close (Glenn)

I had just finished comparing the Yankees to Glenn Close's character in "Fatal Attraction" last night (see yesterday's Comments) when I lay down to do this puzzle. So this answer made me laugh, though it also felt ominous. Close's character's name in that movie: Alex.


31D: When repeated, cry by Shakespeare's Richard III ("A horse!")

Fantastic answer, though mildly tough for a Monday

Other answers that felt troublesome:

1A: Witty sorts (wags) - another coincidence: just had a longish conversation last night with friends about the origin of the term "scallywag." OK, this isn't really a coincidence, since WAG does not derive from "scallywag," but still. They both have WAG in them.

How did the term "scallywag" come up? One of my friends was telling a story about a colleague of his who was lecturing to a room full of students about the Reconstruction Era South. The professor kept talking about "carpetbaggers" and "scallywags." He finally realized that maybe his students weren't familiar with these terms, and so he asked the class, "You know what a 'carpetbagger' is, right? Who knows what 'carpetbaggers' are?" To which one girl, having tentatively raised her hand, answered: "Lesbians?"

5A: Make sense (add up) - had to get multiple crosses before I figured this out!

10A: Choice word (else) - wanted TRUE

34A: Endless, poetically (eterne) - wow. This form isn't that common even in Olde Poetrye. I knew it, but I teach that stuff. Come on.

37A: Some red wines (clarets) - coulda been MERLOTS

37D: Pole tossed by Scots (caber) - I love All Things Scottish, but could Not retrieve this word. Still looks wrong to me.

Must get to work.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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MONDAY, Jun. 4, 2007 - Steve Kahn

Relative difficulty: Easy - Medium

THEME: R AND R (37A: Break, briefly ... or a hint to this puzzle's theme) - four theme answers are all two-word phrases where both words begin with "R"

There is something VERY unusual about the structure of today's grid - a feature that made it, for me, a little more challenging than your average Monday (though I was only slightly over my average Monday time). That feature? There are very few "corridors" in this grid. In fact, there is only one way out of both the NW and the SE quadrants, and that way is exactly one letter wide in each case (the "E" at the end of 30A: ADOBE and the "A" at the beginning of 42A: ASCOT). Most Monday grids - most grids period - offer multiple ways in and out of major sections. But this grid is oddly escape route-free. I solved this puzzle from the NW, straight down to the SW, up and across the long hallway to the NE, and then straight down to the SE - almost like I was creating a giant reverse "N." I really like this unusual grid shape. Anything that actually gets me to stop and notice a Monday puzzle's construction is impressive.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Company that clears clogged drains (Roto Rooter)
• 58A: Friendly tournament format (round robin)
• 11D: Silver Cloud of autodom (Rolls Royce)
• 27D: Classic kids' show ("Romper Room")

The theme is kind of forgettable. ROCKY RACCOON would have been a welcome entry, but alas, too long. Still, solving this puzzle was fun. Felt like I was finding my way through some weird topiary maze - like in "The Shining," only less scary.

Featured Five

30A: With 48-Across, popular computer product (Adobe / Acrobat)

At first I entered APPLE where ADOBE was supposed to go, but that didn't last long. I really love this answer. It's a very contemporary answer, and a product that many of us have sitting on our computers right now, but I can't remember seeing it the in puzzle recently, if ever - especially not in its complete form. If anyone ever decides to try an "A and A" puzzle, this would be a good theme entry. I only wish "A and A" stood for something (besides, apparently, an auto recycling place in Orlando).

31D: Exhortation at a pub ("Bottoms up!")

Nice, long, colloquial answer. I especially admire that this 9-letter answer (along with another in the NE) runs right alongside a 10-letter theme answer. 8-letter answers parallel the theme answers in the other corners. Seems very adventurous for a Monday, somehow, and gives the grid a more wide-open feel than we're used to seeing in early-week puzzles.

49D: Nurse Espinosa on "Scrubs" (Carla)

An interesting way to come at this common bit of fill. Nurse Espinosa becomes only the second Thursday-night NBC workplace sitcom female character named CARLA to find her way into the grid. So congratulations to her.

12D: Bea Arthur sitcom ("Maude")

Speaking of sitcoms ... I love Bea Arthur. She is very very funny. She gets a hard time, on occasion, for being something of a mannish giant, but her comic timing is impeccable. I would say that she is the main reason I occasionally found myself, against all laws of probability, not only watching but liking "Golden Girls." I would say that, but it would be untrue, as the #1 reason I watched was my massive and undying crush on Ms. Betty White, who is my favorite TV comedy actress of all time. She also, along with Richard Dawson, made "Match Game" a thing of genius.

42D: Ross Perot, in 1992 and 1996 (also-ran)

This answer makes me so happy, because, while it's in many ways a simple statement of fact, it reads like a huge Burn to Mr. Perot. I'm pretty much sure if you asked Mr. Perot to describe what he was in 1992 and 1996, this is not the answer he'd give.

That's all. Gotta go watch the Yankees /Red Sox game. Went to a minor league baseball game today, here in Confluence, NY, which was fun even though The Local Team got blown out. I scored the game, live, in real time, in the program scorecard, just as God intended. This kept me so entertained that I totally forgot to eat popcorn and drink beer.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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