Title heroine Strauss opera / TUE 3-2-10 / Brasi enforcer Godfather / Greek gathering spot / Looped handle archaeology / Goat men in Rubens painting

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: THE MONTH OF MARCH — 40A: Period described by the clues and answers to 1- and 72-Across (which are the start and end of a word ladder formed by the answers to the 10 asterisked clues) — word ladder starts with LION (1A: *"In like a ___ ...") and ends with LAMB (72A: *"... out like a ___")


Word of the Day: ARABELLA (10D: Title heroine of a Strauss opera) —

Arabella is a lyric comedy or opera in 3 acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. It was first performed on 1 July 1933, at the Dresden Sächsisches Staatstheater. The opera made its United States debut at the Metropolitan Opera on February 10, 1955 with Eleanor Steber in the title role. // The beautiful but proud Arabella is the daughter of the Waldner family, who face financial ruin unless Arabella marries a rich husband. Arabella hopes to marry for love, not money; but when a loving suitor unexpectedly appears, her happiness is threatened by a web of misunderstanding and deception. (wikipedia)

• • •

Got the theme very early on, but that didn't make the puzzle go much faster. The general nook-and-cranniness, and the prevalence of somewhat wonky short fill, made the grid a minor challenge to get through (for a Tuesday). Once I got LION, and saw that there was a word ladder, I knew we were going to end up at LAMB, so it was all over but the shouting, with "the shouting" being "all the fill I have to get through to get to LAMB." The demanding theme forced a lot of iffy, or at least less-than-great, fill, so I didn't have as much fun as I often have solving Liz Gorski puzzles; but I have to give the puzzle credit for trotting out some unusual and fresh fill in the middle of the four-letter avalanche. I'd never heard of ARABELLA. Loved the colloquial flair of NO PROB (4D: "Easy!") and (especially) GO-TO GUY (46A: Handy man?). That's nice. I think I initially wanted OCTOPUS for that clue. Got very annoyed at the second spelling of CAHN (33D: Songwriter Sammy), but then laughed out loud when I hit the third. Is this the first time all three (crosswordy) CAHNs (CAENs) (CAANs) have shared the same grid? Not a club meeting I'd care to attend again, but this time was fun. Also — both gifts in "Gift of the Magi"?! — FOB (9D: Della's gift in "The Gift of the Magi") / COMB (48A: *Jim's gift in "The Gift of the Magi")) See, that's a constructor (or editor) who's paying attention and adding extra 'zazz to the grid. Always good to have surprises along the way, esp. (as is the case here) when the theme is grasped early and thus holds no real surprises.

The Word Ladder:

• LION
• LOON
• BOON
• BOOB
• BOMB
• COMB
• COMP
• CAMP
• LAMP
• LAMB
  

Lots of partials and junk like 22A: Greek gathering spot (STOA) and 50A: Looped handle in archaeology (ANSA) kept me from loving this one, but I admire the construction and definitely experienced some entertaining surprises along the way. Interesting to see a bunch of "?" clues on a Tuesday. 36D: Provider of a dead giveaway? (TESTAMENT); 53D: Great shakes (SEISM); 26D: Grace period? (AMEN); 28D: Steering committee? (HELMSMEN); 11D: Mint green? (US DOLLARS); 6D: Going places? (LOOS); and of course the aforementioned 46A: Handy man? (GO-TO GUY). These also add interest to a puzzle that could easily have been a rather rote exercise in filling in squares.

[I went looking for "Handy Man," but this seems more appropriate somehow...]

Bullets:

• 20A: Choreographer Twyla (THARP) — she's written some pretty interesting books on creativity. She also went to my alma mater for a while. Also, her last name is just one letter off from my (real) last name. Somehow this stirs affection in me. Maybe that's why I married a woman with the last name of HARPer... curious.
  
• 9A: Goat-men in a Rubens painting (FAUNS) — don't know the painting. Would have pieced it together from [Goat-men], I think. Might have gone with [Mr. Tumnus et al] for my clue, but that might have been a little ... too.
  
• 57A: ___ Brasi, enforcer in "The Godfather" (LUCA) — Garroted (spoiler alert!).
  
• 3D: Ingredient in some potato chips (OLEAN) — Aargh. I went with the (much more appetizing) answer of ONION.
• 41D: Sweet, gooey sandwiches (MOON PIES) — Mmm, no OLEAN here.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Read more...

1676 Virginia uprising / MON 3-1-10 / Woman presiding at banquet / Cosmetic applied with damp sponge / Poetic chapter for Ezra Pound

Constructor: Brendan Emmett Quigley

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: Top o' the mornin' — long (vertical!) theme answers all begin with breakfast foods


Word of the Day: BACON'S REBELLION (3D: 1676 Virginia uprising) —

(1676) a civil revolt in Virginia that sprang from colonial disagreement over response to an Indian uprising. Nathaniel Bacon (1647-76), a member of the Virginia Council, organized forces that violated Gov. Sir William Berkeley's orders and took indiscriminate offensive actions against neighboring Indian tribes, friendly or otherwise. When Berkeley removed Bacon from his council seat, Bacon's forces marched on Jamestown, burned it, and drove Berkeley out of town. The rebellion ended following Bacon's death from dysentery. After the episode, British regulars were stationed permanently in the colony. (US Military Dictionary)

• • •

Here's my one criticism of this puzzle: I don't think most people would have TOAST and PANCAKEs at the same meal. Other than that ... I'm really impressed. Brendan is my friend and frequent correspondent, and he's generally a fantastic constructor, but I don't think of him as a Monday constructor. At all. And yet this one, for all its crazy long (and original) answers and weird grid shenanigans, came in at 3:07, which is actually a little fast for me for a Monday. Further: I haven't been this entertained by a Monday puzzle ... well, since I don't know when. Maybe Patrick Blindauer's "Dollar Bill" puzzle a couple years back. I didn't even know what the theme was while I was solving. I just kept muttering "holy crap" to myself as one eye-popping entry after another kept coming into view. Every one of the theme answers is a total winner:

Theme answers:

• 3D: 1676 Virginia uprising (BACON'S REBELLION)
  
• 5D: Woman presiding at a banquet (TOASTMISTRESS)
  
• 19D: Cosmetic applied with a damp sponge (PANCAKE MAKEUP)
  
• 11D: Photo-filled reading matter in the living room (COFFEE TABLE BOOK)
  

And then there's four long Acrosses to boot. One (ultra) minor inconsistency: in their answers, BACON, TOAST, and PANCAKE have nothing to do with edibles, while COFFEE, even as a modifier of TABLE, still remains connected to its consumable form. See, I told you it was (ultra) minor. Honestly, I'm just trying to find issues to make sure I maintain perspective, because I flat-out love this puzzle. Ooh, one other issue: SERIN (8D: Small finch)!?!?! My fairly birdy wife didn't know it. I certainly didn't know it. I just looked at all the crosses and thought, "Must be right." Oh, and another thing: I IN!?!?! That is officially the roughest partial I've ever seen anywhere ever, esp. so close to ONE I. HA ha. This puzzle even has my erstwhile most hated "word" PFUI in it (23A: "Bah, humbug!"). Weird — I just didn't notice any of these small issues while I was solving. I was too blown away by the majesty of the long stuff. Funny how good concept and Great execution can make blemishes fade to near imperceptibility.

By the way, Brendan thinks I'm an idiot for liking this puzzle so much. It's technically from much earlier in his career — he submitted it almost ten years ago ("Pre-9/11!") and Will has hung on to it until now, for some reason. Maybe BEQ's embarrassed by the smattering of weak fill, or the arbitrarily vertical theme answers, or ... I don't know what. But I like what I like. And I liked this. So there.

Bullets:

• 36A: Fancy (HIGH FALUTIN') — yeah, that's pretty regal. I mean, he throws four of these long Acrosses down, and they don't even have anything to do with the theme. Just ... bonus fanciness.
  
• 18A: Unrealized gain on a investment (PAPER PROFIT) — more long goodness.
  
• 29A: Detective, in slang (SHAMUS) — great hard-boiled detective word. Spade uses the word to describe himself. Wife asked, "isn't that a whale?" Yes, more than one SHAMU = SHAMUS.
  
• 64A: They measure the tonnage of trucks (WEIGH SCALES) — got the WEIGH, but had to get the rest from crosses, as only WEIGH STATION was coming to mind.
  
• 37D: Costing nothing, in Cologne (FREI) — Sadly, FREI always makes me think of concentrations camps (and the phrase "Arbeit Macht FREI" commonly seen at their entry gates). On a lighter note, MCCOY (9A: The real ___) always makes me think of this:

• 49A: Kettledrum (TIMBAL) — not sure how I know this, but very glad I did. This and SERIN (and maybe BACON'S REBELLION) are the words I can see possibly giving people trouble today.
  
• 30D: Terse critiques (UGHS) — Yes. I've issued many such critiques. Not today.
  
• 15A: Nerve (MOXIE) — One of the great words in the English language. It's upbeat and old-fashioned and a little sparkly, with a patina of practical optimism: "You've got MOXIE, kid!" Love it.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Read more...