0:43:50
Well, at first, I thought this was a silly idea, because once you get the trick, the two sides can be solved almost simultaneously, but we got mired, as you maybe did too, in the SE. I thought that I was so clever by entering "nothing" in for 65A, but it didn't work out the way I thought it should. Finally, Frannie said "It's like it shouldn't even exist at all," and bingo, we were done. I tried getting the puzzle to "check" with empty boxes, but that didn't work, so I put in Xs, and that did.
Overall, the last little gimmick saved this one for me. It's a nice Halloween-y theme, but as stated already, it played a little easy. And there's been so much backward stuff lately. None, none, none, and then all the time. I'm not complaining, but it just seems a little odd.
15A: Not yet delivered (INUTERO) was a nice way to clue that, and I don't think I've ever heard the term 23A: Clusterfist (MISER) before, so that was interesting. Also, I love seeing JSBACH (35A: "St. Matthew Passion" composer, for short) in the grid. Ahhh... Bach...
Lastly, is MITTENS really a 10D: Nickname for a 2012 presidential candidate? I thought that was just our pet name for him!
- Horace.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013, Joel Fagliano
0:26:43
Maybe I'm just a little heady 'cause I'm coming off that cold, but I really enjoyed this one. Right from the get-go, I loved the irreverence of 1A: What quoth the raven? (CAW)(!), and then SPRY (4A: Moving well for one's age) is another great word, and soon enough, the whole puzzle was filled with candy! What's not to like? Of course, I didn't know PUSHIT (9A: 1988 Salt-N-Pepa hit). All I know about Salt-N-Pepa is that Patrick Stewart introduced them when they were on Saturday Night Live, and I always say their name (when on those rare occasions it is required) in his voice, but really, I don't know any of their songs. Maybe they even sang "Push It" on that episode, and maybe I saw it, but did it sink in? No. But did that in any way diminish my appreciation of this puzzle? No.
The main difficulty for me was that I put "INStatE" in for INSPIRE (12D: Give rise to). I was thinking that "RTI" could have stood for the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and I had frankly never heard of BORODIN (27A: "Prince Igor" composer)(another Halloween-y clue?), and that could have had an A in it... in short, I was confused, but "Not I" is not the answer to 31A: "Me neither" (NORI), so, eventually, things got fixed.
There were some fun clues in here. 33A: Breathtaking creatures? (BOAS), 59D: Groovy music (LPS), and 58D: Say "I do" when you don't? (LIE). And 44D: Spare wear (GSTRING) was also nice (eh, Huygens?).
Overall, a very nice Wednesday.
- Horace
Maybe I'm just a little heady 'cause I'm coming off that cold, but I really enjoyed this one. Right from the get-go, I loved the irreverence of 1A: What quoth the raven? (CAW)(!), and then SPRY (4A: Moving well for one's age) is another great word, and soon enough, the whole puzzle was filled with candy! What's not to like? Of course, I didn't know PUSHIT (9A: 1988 Salt-N-Pepa hit). All I know about Salt-N-Pepa is that Patrick Stewart introduced them when they were on Saturday Night Live, and I always say their name (when on those rare occasions it is required) in his voice, but really, I don't know any of their songs. Maybe they even sang "Push It" on that episode, and maybe I saw it, but did it sink in? No. But did that in any way diminish my appreciation of this puzzle? No.
The main difficulty for me was that I put "INStatE" in for INSPIRE (12D: Give rise to). I was thinking that "RTI" could have stood for the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and I had frankly never heard of BORODIN (27A: "Prince Igor" composer)(another Halloween-y clue?), and that could have had an A in it... in short, I was confused, but "Not I" is not the answer to 31A: "Me neither" (NORI), so, eventually, things got fixed.
There were some fun clues in here. 33A: Breathtaking creatures? (BOAS), 59D: Groovy music (LPS), and 58D: Say "I do" when you don't? (LIE). And 44D: Spare wear (GSTRING) was also nice (eh, Huygens?).
Overall, a very nice Wednesday.
- Horace
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013, Robert Cirillo
0:08:10
Doesn't this just scream "Tuesday NYT puzzle?" Or maybe even Monday. It's loaded with puzzle-y words like TERNS, EGRET, RHINE, EPEE, ALB, and RUES, yet it keeps you interested with entertaining clues like 8D: Almost any character on "The Big Bang Theory" (DORK), 11A: Car with a checkered past? (CAB), and 19D: Place to get free screwdrivers, say (OPENBAR). It's also got a 25¢ word or two, like ASPERSE (5D: Bad-mouth) or AVERT (12D: Deflect), and then there's at least one nice puzzle flourish like the intersection of BIRTH (13D: Word with canal or control) and BERTH (24A: Ship slip). And I haven't even gotten to the theme yet!
Today's theme is the somewhat common "Word that can follow both halves of..." variety, and it seems like there's a ton of it. Four nines, two eights, and a five-letter revealer. None of the theme answers seem strained, and all of the "house" constructions are common enough, even if "Fire House" is somewhat outdated.
This is a fine early-week puzzle.
- Horace
Doesn't this just scream "Tuesday NYT puzzle?" Or maybe even Monday. It's loaded with puzzle-y words like TERNS, EGRET, RHINE, EPEE, ALB, and RUES, yet it keeps you interested with entertaining clues like 8D: Almost any character on "The Big Bang Theory" (DORK), 11A: Car with a checkered past? (CAB), and 19D: Place to get free screwdrivers, say (OPENBAR). It's also got a 25¢ word or two, like ASPERSE (5D: Bad-mouth) or AVERT (12D: Deflect), and then there's at least one nice puzzle flourish like the intersection of BIRTH (13D: Word with canal or control) and BERTH (24A: Ship slip). And I haven't even gotten to the theme yet!
Today's theme is the somewhat common "Word that can follow both halves of..." variety, and it seems like there's a ton of it. Four nines, two eights, and a five-letter revealer. None of the theme answers seem strained, and all of the "house" constructions are common enough, even if "Fire House" is somewhat outdated.
This is a fine early-week puzzle.
- Horace
Monday, October 28, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013, Ed Sessa
0:07:58
I got WHEREOHWHEREHAS/MYLITTLEDOGGONE (17A: With 62-Across, question in a children's song) very quickly, but didn't see where he had gone until after I was all finished. He's scattered about between the two lines. SPOT, REX, ROVER, MAX, and am I right in thinking that SONIA and ELSIE could also be seen as theme material? Not everyone has male dogs, right?
I thought this a good, clean puzzle with a lot of good fill for a Monday. ROCOCO (15A: Elaborate architectural style), REGALE (27A: Entertain in a festive manner), PLENA (40A: Full political assemblies) - are these Monday words? And there seemed to be a lot of the more crosswordese-type fill, like OREM (34D: City near Provo), REATA (27D: Rodeo rope), and the ubiquitous ELAL (55D: Airline to Israel). I don't include CLU (24D: Gulager of "The Last Picture Show") because I've never, ever heard of him or her.
But I still thought it was decent. It's Monday, after all, and it pushed back a little, at least. I also appreciate the nod to my current illness with ACHOO (9D: Sneezer's sound). That was a nice, touch, and I'm touched, but now it's time to go rest again.
- Horace
I got WHEREOHWHEREHAS/MYLITTLEDOGGONE (17A: With 62-Across, question in a children's song) very quickly, but didn't see where he had gone until after I was all finished. He's scattered about between the two lines. SPOT, REX, ROVER, MAX, and am I right in thinking that SONIA and ELSIE could also be seen as theme material? Not everyone has male dogs, right?
I thought this a good, clean puzzle with a lot of good fill for a Monday. ROCOCO (15A: Elaborate architectural style), REGALE (27A: Entertain in a festive manner), PLENA (40A: Full political assemblies) - are these Monday words? And there seemed to be a lot of the more crosswordese-type fill, like OREM (34D: City near Provo), REATA (27D: Rodeo rope), and the ubiquitous ELAL (55D: Airline to Israel). I don't include CLU (24D: Gulager of "The Last Picture Show") because I've never, ever heard of him or her.
But I still thought it was decent. It's Monday, after all, and it pushed back a little, at least. I also appreciate the nod to my current illness with ACHOO (9D: Sneezer's sound). That was a nice, touch, and I'm touched, but now it's time to go rest again.
- Horace
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013, Brendan Emmett Quigley
1:59:02
WHO'S LEFT?
This took us forever, and was technically a DNF, because the last half hour was spent looking for an error, and I finally ended up running the alphabet to get the first letter of TNT (71A: Great leveler). It's a very nice clue, now that I understand it, but it just wouldn't click today, and I had no idea what 62D: SAG's partner (AFTRA) was. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes.
I'm a fan of Mr. Quigley's puzzles, and I enjoy seeing his more "unedited" works in The Weekly Dig (or maybe it's just The Dig now - it had the "Weekly," then it didn't, then it did, and then I lost track), a free paper found in boxes around Boston. I've heard he lives in Cambridge, and I keep thinking I'll see him while I'm sitting outside of Crema solving one of his puzzles, but I'm not really sure I'd recognize him, so he'd have to initiate the contact, and, well, that just seems very unlikely... Anyway, in general, I'm a fan, but this one just didn't do it for me. The backward circled name theme just seems odd, and some of the fill is pretty sketchy. I mean, you've almost always got a little, but right off the bat, you've got PCBOARD (1A: Etched computer component). What is that? It's not the mother board, is it? Is it a card? I've helped to build a computer from scratch, and I don't remember any talk of a "PC Board."
And Frannie complained a bit about the word "sacred" in the clue 37A: Attack on sacred custom (LESEMAJESTE). It's more an attack on the monarchy or the state, and sure, the word "sacred" can be used loosely, blah, blah, blah... I guess I'm just in a bad mood after the DNF.
But maybe I'm grousing too much. There was, of course, some very nice fill, too. I liked IMMORTAL (31D: Any Mount Olympus dweller), and it's lucky it was knowable, because I've never heard of MCA (44A: ____ Nashville Records). And speaking of that one, I think the "C" was the last thing put in (aside from the aformentioned "T"), and MACED (32D: Like some rioters) was pretty funny. Not for the rioters, of course, but for us solvers, whoooeeee, it's funny.
Look, I'll level with you, I've got a cold. I hate being sick. I didn't love the puzzle. I hope you did.
- Horace
WHO'S LEFT?
This took us forever, and was technically a DNF, because the last half hour was spent looking for an error, and I finally ended up running the alphabet to get the first letter of TNT (71A: Great leveler). It's a very nice clue, now that I understand it, but it just wouldn't click today, and I had no idea what 62D: SAG's partner (AFTRA) was. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes.
I'm a fan of Mr. Quigley's puzzles, and I enjoy seeing his more "unedited" works in The Weekly Dig (or maybe it's just The Dig now - it had the "Weekly," then it didn't, then it did, and then I lost track), a free paper found in boxes around Boston. I've heard he lives in Cambridge, and I keep thinking I'll see him while I'm sitting outside of Crema solving one of his puzzles, but I'm not really sure I'd recognize him, so he'd have to initiate the contact, and, well, that just seems very unlikely... Anyway, in general, I'm a fan, but this one just didn't do it for me. The backward circled name theme just seems odd, and some of the fill is pretty sketchy. I mean, you've almost always got a little, but right off the bat, you've got PCBOARD (1A: Etched computer component). What is that? It's not the mother board, is it? Is it a card? I've helped to build a computer from scratch, and I don't remember any talk of a "PC Board."
And Frannie complained a bit about the word "sacred" in the clue 37A: Attack on sacred custom (LESEMAJESTE). It's more an attack on the monarchy or the state, and sure, the word "sacred" can be used loosely, blah, blah, blah... I guess I'm just in a bad mood after the DNF.
But maybe I'm grousing too much. There was, of course, some very nice fill, too. I liked IMMORTAL (31D: Any Mount Olympus dweller), and it's lucky it was knowable, because I've never heard of MCA (44A: ____ Nashville Records). And speaking of that one, I think the "C" was the last thing put in (aside from the aformentioned "T"), and MACED (32D: Like some rioters) was pretty funny. Not for the rioters, of course, but for us solvers, whoooeeee, it's funny.
Look, I'll level with you, I've got a cold. I hate being sick. I didn't love the puzzle. I hope you did.
- Horace
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Saturday, October 26, 2013, Barry C. Silk
0:55:10
A lovely Saturday puzzle. Took us just about an hour, which, for us, is a good Saturday time. Good in that it is not too fast or too slow. And it was satisfying. Sure, there's an RST and an IERE here and a NOLOS there, but come on, there's tons of fantastic material, too. So let's get started, shall we?
My favorite of the ten-letter answers has to be PHONEBOOTH (28D: DC transformation location). That is a fantastic clue. As Frannie put it, first she thought of Washington, then she thought of a power source. And speaking of power sources, I also enjoyed SOLARARRAY (29D: Collection of green panels) even though the clue was positively pedestrian compared to the previous one. And BATTERYBOX (14D: Its contents provide juice) up in the NE, was pretty weak. The other two up there, LOOKATTHAT (12D: Head-turning cry) and ARRIVELATE (13D: Make a fashionable entrance?) (What about that question mark? I think it makes sense.) were both good.
As for smaller stuff, I loved OOMPH (25D: Juice) for the word that it is, and for its call-back to 14D. And speaking of "call-backs," the 11A: Sing (BLAB)/69A: Sings (NAMESNAMES) pair was quite good. Especially the latter. It was down in the SE that we ended (this morning, after putting it down unfinished last night). BROODMARES (63A: Important stud farm visitors) and ITALIANART (67A: Pre-Raphaelite ideal) just would not come. It didn't help that I had put in "males" at the end of the stud-farm clue, thinking that it might be right. It's funny that "male" and "mare" are just one letter off.
You know, I just looked up Pre-Raphaelite art, and I now think it is a good contender for worst entry in the grid. I mean, "Italian Art" itself, as an answer, is fine, but to say that it is the Pre-Raphaelite ideal is problematic. As I now understand it, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was rebelling against standards of art found in Raphael (an Italian) and Michelangelo (another Italian) in favor of the work of the Quattrocento period, which harkened back to the styles of Roman (ok, sort of Italian) and Greek (not Italian) art. So.... kind of confusing.
But let's not get bogged down. MUTED (36D: Like some colors and cornets) had a nice clue, and howzabout OTTOMAN (45D: Raiser of dogs?)!? Nice! Especially so, after the 40D: Grp. concerned with feeding the kitty (SPCA) clue. It was Frannie who got SINBIN (47D: Penalty box, to sports fans), which neither of us had ever heard, but which is funny. And I have always thought DARK (20A: Giving no performances) a wonderfully descriptive theater term.
Lastly, I looked up ERICAS (46A: Bell heather and tree heath). I didn't know the term, but was not too surprised to learn that it is a genus of flowering plants. We have nieces named Erica and Heather, and it is interesting to learn that their names are basically the same!
- Horace
A lovely Saturday puzzle. Took us just about an hour, which, for us, is a good Saturday time. Good in that it is not too fast or too slow. And it was satisfying. Sure, there's an RST and an IERE here and a NOLOS there, but come on, there's tons of fantastic material, too. So let's get started, shall we?
My favorite of the ten-letter answers has to be PHONEBOOTH (28D: DC transformation location). That is a fantastic clue. As Frannie put it, first she thought of Washington, then she thought of a power source. And speaking of power sources, I also enjoyed SOLARARRAY (29D: Collection of green panels) even though the clue was positively pedestrian compared to the previous one. And BATTERYBOX (14D: Its contents provide juice) up in the NE, was pretty weak. The other two up there, LOOKATTHAT (12D: Head-turning cry) and ARRIVELATE (13D: Make a fashionable entrance?) (What about that question mark? I think it makes sense.) were both good.
As for smaller stuff, I loved OOMPH (25D: Juice) for the word that it is, and for its call-back to 14D. And speaking of "call-backs," the 11A: Sing (BLAB)/69A: Sings (NAMESNAMES) pair was quite good. Especially the latter. It was down in the SE that we ended (this morning, after putting it down unfinished last night). BROODMARES (63A: Important stud farm visitors) and ITALIANART (67A: Pre-Raphaelite ideal) just would not come. It didn't help that I had put in "males" at the end of the stud-farm clue, thinking that it might be right. It's funny that "male" and "mare" are just one letter off.
You know, I just looked up Pre-Raphaelite art, and I now think it is a good contender for worst entry in the grid. I mean, "Italian Art" itself, as an answer, is fine, but to say that it is the Pre-Raphaelite ideal is problematic. As I now understand it, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was rebelling against standards of art found in Raphael (an Italian) and Michelangelo (another Italian) in favor of the work of the Quattrocento period, which harkened back to the styles of Roman (ok, sort of Italian) and Greek (not Italian) art. So.... kind of confusing.
But let's not get bogged down. MUTED (36D: Like some colors and cornets) had a nice clue, and howzabout OTTOMAN (45D: Raiser of dogs?)!? Nice! Especially so, after the 40D: Grp. concerned with feeding the kitty (SPCA) clue. It was Frannie who got SINBIN (47D: Penalty box, to sports fans), which neither of us had ever heard, but which is funny. And I have always thought DARK (20A: Giving no performances) a wonderfully descriptive theater term.
Lastly, I looked up ERICAS (46A: Bell heather and tree heath). I didn't know the term, but was not too surprised to learn that it is a genus of flowering plants. We have nieces named Erica and Heather, and it is interesting to learn that their names are basically the same!
- Horace
Friday, October 25, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013, Martin Ashwood-Smith
0:37:36
These quad-stack puzzles are always a little daunting, and when FFF (22A: Blasting, musically) was the first solid thing I put in (I couldn't really believe that the simple, obvious and weird ODE was correct for 21A: Suffix with electr-), I was even more worried. But the bottom went better than the top, and by the end I just plunked down puTSONAPEDESTAL (57A: Idolizes) (soon corrected), and things were looking up.
On a Friday, to me, "things were looking up" can mean having a smattering of disconnected, possible answers, which is pretty much what I had when I handed it over to Frannie. (No side-by-side solve today.) When she handed it back, there were only four or five squares left! Leave it to her to know CHANSONSDEGESTE (56A: Old French epics) and STURM (28A: Tempest, to Theodor). And she very much enjoyed "24A: Bay, say ... or bring to bay (TREE). One of the only things left for me to help with was AXL (33A: ____ Rose), and as soon as that A was in, she called out RANK for 26D: What stars may indicate. In a perfect world, she'd be doing this review, but she's away at a conference, so you're stuck with me again.
These seem like impressive feats, these stacked puzzles, and the cross fill has to be challenging. Today's is decent enough, I think, although why, I wondered, would you clue MEAT with "50D: Sinatra's "Meet ____ the Copa"? It's weird that "meat" rhymes with "meet," but why not just clue with "Flesh?" or "Steak, say" or anything, really, that isn't a partial? Is it just to get Sinatra in there?
I liked SILVERAGE (32D: Second-greatest period in the history of something) quite a bit, and MONIEDMEN (5D: What Hamilton called the wealthy) is a nice term to know. Lastly, nice clue for ORES (14D: Sought after rock group?).
Decent Friday.
- Horace
p.s. The "Crossword Fiend" blog (see sidebar) tells me that MEAT was clued as a partial so as not to duplicate the "meat" in "mincemeat." Fair enough, I guess.
These quad-stack puzzles are always a little daunting, and when FFF (22A: Blasting, musically) was the first solid thing I put in (I couldn't really believe that the simple, obvious and weird ODE was correct for 21A: Suffix with electr-), I was even more worried. But the bottom went better than the top, and by the end I just plunked down puTSONAPEDESTAL (57A: Idolizes) (soon corrected), and things were looking up.
On a Friday, to me, "things were looking up" can mean having a smattering of disconnected, possible answers, which is pretty much what I had when I handed it over to Frannie. (No side-by-side solve today.) When she handed it back, there were only four or five squares left! Leave it to her to know CHANSONSDEGESTE (56A: Old French epics) and STURM (28A: Tempest, to Theodor). And she very much enjoyed "24A: Bay, say ... or bring to bay (TREE). One of the only things left for me to help with was AXL (33A: ____ Rose), and as soon as that A was in, she called out RANK for 26D: What stars may indicate. In a perfect world, she'd be doing this review, but she's away at a conference, so you're stuck with me again.
These seem like impressive feats, these stacked puzzles, and the cross fill has to be challenging. Today's is decent enough, I think, although why, I wondered, would you clue MEAT with "50D: Sinatra's "Meet ____ the Copa"? It's weird that "meat" rhymes with "meet," but why not just clue with "Flesh?" or "Steak, say" or anything, really, that isn't a partial? Is it just to get Sinatra in there?
I liked SILVERAGE (32D: Second-greatest period in the history of something) quite a bit, and MONIEDMEN (5D: What Hamilton called the wealthy) is a nice term to know. Lastly, nice clue for ORES (14D: Sought after rock group?).
Decent Friday.
- Horace
p.s. The "Crossword Fiend" blog (see sidebar) tells me that MEAT was clued as a partial so as not to duplicate the "meat" in "mincemeat." Fair enough, I guess.
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