0:24:22
Well, where yesterday I felt completely at a loss, today I felt like everything I guessed at turned to gold ("L'Or de la Vie?" no… too sticky). I finished this before Frannie even had a chance to look at it, but while I got through it quickly, I did not especially like it.
Take 2D: Pluto and Bluto, e.g. (TOONS) - I just don't think of them as "toons." "Toons" is too new a word for those old cartoon characters. And then ROUTS (3D: Debacles) - it just doesn't seem perfectly parallel. SPREE (1D: Tear), on the other hand, I like a lot. I had "ShrEd" in there for quite a while, which really slowed down the NW.
Other things I enjoyed were ENTRAILS (19A: Innards) (nice fill, even though it came very quickly), ENHANCE (5D: Intensify), EMANCIPATE (48A: Free) (lots of good "E" words), ELGRECOS (4D: Some Prado hangings) (bonus for full name, slight deduction for pluralization), and GOBANANAS (13D: Flip out). Love that phrase. An old co-worker used to say everything was"cuckoo bananas" when she was stressed. I still smile thinking about that. TIGERMOTH (27D: A woolly bear becomes one), too, was good. I put "MOTH" in at the end immediately, but I couldn't remember the specifier without a few crosses.
So there's a lot I did like, but for some reason, I wasn't loving it while I solved it. Maybe REROOTED rubbed me the wrong way… or STJOE (26A: Missouri city, informally). I suppose that's Saint Joseph, MO? Well, since I'm struggling to justify my less-than-wowed reaction, I guess I'll have to give this one a thumbs up.
- Horace
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014, James Mulhern
0:31:35
When I went through the clues for the first time, I feared not only a DNF, but that half of the squares might be left blank. Then Frannie took it for a while, and when I saw it again there was only the SE left to work out. And work it out, we did, but now I'm left without much of an idea about what to say, other than, I thought it would be impossible and then it was done.
Looking back at it now, I like seeing SAPPHIRE (31A: Star of Bombay, e.g.) in there, and UNUSUALLY (29D: Very, very) looked very very unusual when it was still mostly Us. I asked Frannie, who works in the library for the history of women in America, about HERSTORY (59A: Subject that includes women's suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment) and she said that she had heard it, but that it is in no way mainstream. I guess maybe it's as mainstream as "womyn," which is to say, not very. "Very, very," maybe?... Still, it's fine on a Friday.
Also enjoyed OVERSHARE (17A: Elicit a "T.M.I.") (do we really need the periods there?), and ELSIE (53A: Old pitcher of milk?), but does any LADIESMAN (14A: He may have many lines memorized) actually use "lines?" Does anyone? Perhaps it's oversharing, but I don't remember ever using one without trying to be funny.
It was a fine puzzle overall, I think. Nothing too special, but a decent Friday challenge.
Favorite clue/answer: 44A: À gogo (GALORE).
- Horace
When I went through the clues for the first time, I feared not only a DNF, but that half of the squares might be left blank. Then Frannie took it for a while, and when I saw it again there was only the SE left to work out. And work it out, we did, but now I'm left without much of an idea about what to say, other than, I thought it would be impossible and then it was done.
Looking back at it now, I like seeing SAPPHIRE (31A: Star of Bombay, e.g.) in there, and UNUSUALLY (29D: Very, very) looked very very unusual when it was still mostly Us. I asked Frannie, who works in the library for the history of women in America, about HERSTORY (59A: Subject that includes women's suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment) and she said that she had heard it, but that it is in no way mainstream. I guess maybe it's as mainstream as "womyn," which is to say, not very. "Very, very," maybe?... Still, it's fine on a Friday.
Also enjoyed OVERSHARE (17A: Elicit a "T.M.I.") (do we really need the periods there?), and ELSIE (53A: Old pitcher of milk?), but does any LADIESMAN (14A: He may have many lines memorized) actually use "lines?" Does anyone? Perhaps it's oversharing, but I don't remember ever using one without trying to be funny.
It was a fine puzzle overall, I think. Nothing too special, but a decent Friday challenge.
Favorite clue/answer: 44A: À gogo (GALORE).
- Horace
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014, Anna Shechtman
0:22:12
Forget yesterday. Yesterday was nothing. Yesterday was an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill. This is the best of the week, and it will take something special to knock it out of that position.
We've not seen Ms. Shechtman before, and honestly, I was a little surprised to see a woman's name that I didn't recognize on a Thursday byline. It's just that far fewer women than men construct puzzles. At least that's the sense you get by looking at bylines in the NY Times. Is it wrong of me to think that answers like PANTSUITS (6D: Hillary Clinton wardrobe staples), UTERI (62A: Things twins share), and HELLNO (45A: "Not in a million years!") are more likely to have been written by a woman than a man? (And by the way, that last one might be my favorite "quote" clue ever!) But I'm not saying it to complain. I think it's a good thing. I hope for more puzzles from women - especially Ms. Shechtman!
Today's theme clues were a beautiful misdirection that I only fully understood when I answered my last one - POUNDSIGN (33A: #2). Only then did I realize that the "#" was a part of the clue. Before that, I was trying to think of a relationship between TICTACTOEBOARD (20A: #1), SPACEMARK (#2), and TWITTERHASHTAG (#4), but nothing was coming to mind. Frannie, btw, got that last one. Glancing over at the iPad in a half-asleep stupor, she noticed I had something like "_ A_HFAG" at the end, and said, "Could that F be a T, because that looks a lot like "hashtag." And so it was. I guess that one should have tipped me off to the theme, but it didn't somehow.
But let's move on to the fill, and more specifically, to SHTUP (38A: Sleep with, in slang). !! When I had SH I knew what was coming, but I refused to believe it and made myself do all the crosses. (Knowing the U, though, helped with OUTRE (31D: More than quirky) (great fill!)). Amazing. Also great were EPICNESS (5D: Condition of being awesome, in modern slang), GAYANTHEM (10D: "It's raining men," for one), BUBBLEWRAP (27D: It might pop in the post office) (nice tie-in with the less-good-but-made-better-by-association EURO (7D: Start to pop?)), NEARSHORE (38D: Littoral) (I like this one because I learned it in Latin class), ZINC (3D: Brass section), and more. Good geography clues with EGYPT (29D: Memphis's home) and IONA (60A: Where Macbeth, Malcolm and Duncan are buried)… and you know what? I don't care at all about any of the stuff that's in here just to make the other stuff possible. I'm not even going to mention it. I'm that happy that the other stuff was made possible.
- Horace
Forget yesterday. Yesterday was nothing. Yesterday was an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill. This is the best of the week, and it will take something special to knock it out of that position.
We've not seen Ms. Shechtman before, and honestly, I was a little surprised to see a woman's name that I didn't recognize on a Thursday byline. It's just that far fewer women than men construct puzzles. At least that's the sense you get by looking at bylines in the NY Times. Is it wrong of me to think that answers like PANTSUITS (6D: Hillary Clinton wardrobe staples), UTERI (62A: Things twins share), and HELLNO (45A: "Not in a million years!") are more likely to have been written by a woman than a man? (And by the way, that last one might be my favorite "quote" clue ever!) But I'm not saying it to complain. I think it's a good thing. I hope for more puzzles from women - especially Ms. Shechtman!
Today's theme clues were a beautiful misdirection that I only fully understood when I answered my last one - POUNDSIGN (33A: #2). Only then did I realize that the "#" was a part of the clue. Before that, I was trying to think of a relationship between TICTACTOEBOARD (20A: #1), SPACEMARK (#2), and TWITTERHASHTAG (#4), but nothing was coming to mind. Frannie, btw, got that last one. Glancing over at the iPad in a half-asleep stupor, she noticed I had something like "_ A_HFAG" at the end, and said, "Could that F be a T, because that looks a lot like "hashtag." And so it was. I guess that one should have tipped me off to the theme, but it didn't somehow.
But let's move on to the fill, and more specifically, to SHTUP (38A: Sleep with, in slang). !! When I had SH I knew what was coming, but I refused to believe it and made myself do all the crosses. (Knowing the U, though, helped with OUTRE (31D: More than quirky) (great fill!)). Amazing. Also great were EPICNESS (5D: Condition of being awesome, in modern slang), GAYANTHEM (10D: "It's raining men," for one), BUBBLEWRAP (27D: It might pop in the post office) (nice tie-in with the less-good-but-made-better-by-association EURO (7D: Start to pop?)), NEARSHORE (38D: Littoral) (I like this one because I learned it in Latin class), ZINC (3D: Brass section), and more. Good geography clues with EGYPT (29D: Memphis's home) and IONA (60A: Where Macbeth, Malcolm and Duncan are buried)… and you know what? I don't care at all about any of the stuff that's in here just to make the other stuff possible. I'm not even going to mention it. I'm that happy that the other stuff was made possible.
- Horace
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014, Tim Croce
0:17:06
The best of the week so far. That's not really saying much, but really, this had some fine clueing, and the animal simile theme is one I haven't seen before. The first themer FATASACOW (20A: Scale-busting) was almost jarringly colloquial, as was WUSS (35A: Wimpy sort), but that's a good thing! Especially after the stale and boring start to the week.
Fun clues for ERIC (11D: Holder of a cabinet position), EMBERS (8A: Ones dying in a fire?), TAILS (21D: Half of all flips), and even stalwart STA (4D: Stop on the tracks: Abbr.) is given a fresh clue. On the other hand, I didn't love LAMES (26A: Shoots in the foot, maybe), and I didn't know what OSAGE (47D: _____ orange) was (it's a tree that grows mostly in Texas). I also have never heard the expression BALDASACOOT (17D: Like a chrome-dome), but I'm assuming others have.
As I said, it's the best so far, but I'm still holding out for better things as we enter "the turn."
- Horace
The best of the week so far. That's not really saying much, but really, this had some fine clueing, and the animal simile theme is one I haven't seen before. The first themer FATASACOW (20A: Scale-busting) was almost jarringly colloquial, as was WUSS (35A: Wimpy sort), but that's a good thing! Especially after the stale and boring start to the week.
Fun clues for ERIC (11D: Holder of a cabinet position), EMBERS (8A: Ones dying in a fire?), TAILS (21D: Half of all flips), and even stalwart STA (4D: Stop on the tracks: Abbr.) is given a fresh clue. On the other hand, I didn't love LAMES (26A: Shoots in the foot, maybe), and I didn't know what OSAGE (47D: _____ orange) was (it's a tree that grows mostly in Texas). I also have never heard the expression BALDASACOOT (17D: Like a chrome-dome), but I'm assuming others have.
As I said, it's the best so far, but I'm still holding out for better things as we enter "the turn."
- Horace
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014, James Tuttle
0:10:48
Is a FLIPPHONE (*28A: Samsung or LG product) still a thing? I mean, I still use one (from Motorola) that I bought in 2007, or possibly before, but I thought everything today was an iPhone or an iPhone knockoff. Oh… why do I bother asking? I don't really care.
This is a known theme, and, aside from the possible antiquity of "FLIPPHONE," it's done pretty well. "BOOK" can be added to each part of the compounds in the compound word theme answers. "Flip book." "Phone book." Come to think of it, "phonebook" itself is outdated now, isn't it?
Almost everywhere you look you get a little crosswordese. AMAT (14A: Amo, amas, ____ …) up in the NW, SLO (10D: _____-mo) in the N, SAS (11A: Carrier in the Star Alliance) in the NE, and then you come to my current "least favorite" ATTA (24D: Lead-in to girl) in the W. I am so tired of ATTA.
I will give Mr. Tuttle credit for including quite a bit of theme material today, including a couple of verticals, which, as you heard yesterday, I like. BABYBLUE (3D: *Like many a heartthrob's eyes) might be my favorite themer, actually.
DOSSIER (32A: F.B.I. file, e.g.), PRORATE (42D: Divide appropriately), and ASCENT (12D: Mountain climber's climb) are all interesting words, and not the usual crossword fare, but overall, this had a bit to much OON, INRE, and RTS, for me. Not ADOG, but not great.
- Horace
Is a FLIPPHONE (*28A: Samsung or LG product) still a thing? I mean, I still use one (from Motorola) that I bought in 2007, or possibly before, but I thought everything today was an iPhone or an iPhone knockoff. Oh… why do I bother asking? I don't really care.
This is a known theme, and, aside from the possible antiquity of "FLIPPHONE," it's done pretty well. "BOOK" can be added to each part of the compounds in the compound word theme answers. "Flip book." "Phone book." Come to think of it, "phonebook" itself is outdated now, isn't it?
Almost everywhere you look you get a little crosswordese. AMAT (14A: Amo, amas, ____ …) up in the NW, SLO (10D: _____-mo) in the N, SAS (11A: Carrier in the Star Alliance) in the NE, and then you come to my current "least favorite" ATTA (24D: Lead-in to girl) in the W. I am so tired of ATTA.
I will give Mr. Tuttle credit for including quite a bit of theme material today, including a couple of verticals, which, as you heard yesterday, I like. BABYBLUE (3D: *Like many a heartthrob's eyes) might be my favorite themer, actually.
DOSSIER (32A: F.B.I. file, e.g.), PRORATE (42D: Divide appropriately), and ASCENT (12D: Mountain climber's climb) are all interesting words, and not the usual crossword fare, but overall, this had a bit to much OON, INRE, and RTS, for me. Not ADOG, but not great.
- Horace
Monday, May 26, 2014
Monday, May 26, 2014, Dan Margolis
0:05:54
Kind of an interesting theme of putting songs into genres that they clearly do not belong in by taking their titles literally. WHITERABBIT (17A: "Hip-hop" song of 1967) is the only one requiring a slight "leap," if you will, by using the fact that rabbits "hip-hop" along. KNOCKONWOOD (29A: "Rap" song of 1965) is more of a 1:1 relationship, and the last two use actual words in the titles. None of the songs was written fewer than 40 years ago, but still, I enjoyed it.
The puzzle as a whole, on the other hand, felt kind of stale. When's the last time "38A: 'No, No' woman of Broadway" (NANETTE) was in production? And "1A: Afternoon TV's Dr. ____" (PHIL) might still be doing a show (I have no idea, really) but his cultural significance has long been in decline, hasn't it?
Furthermore, the AMISH (32A: Mennonite group) are not Mennonites, are they? I thought they were distinct groups? Sure, they're both religious, but I think it would be like calling Congregationalists a Baptist group.
ITNO, AONE, TETRA, OKIES… it didn't have much to grab onto but the theme, and even though I liked it, it wasn't enough.
Favorite clue: 22D: Fictional Tom or real-life Diane (SAWYER).
- Horace
Kind of an interesting theme of putting songs into genres that they clearly do not belong in by taking their titles literally. WHITERABBIT (17A: "Hip-hop" song of 1967) is the only one requiring a slight "leap," if you will, by using the fact that rabbits "hip-hop" along. KNOCKONWOOD (29A: "Rap" song of 1965) is more of a 1:1 relationship, and the last two use actual words in the titles. None of the songs was written fewer than 40 years ago, but still, I enjoyed it.
The puzzle as a whole, on the other hand, felt kind of stale. When's the last time "38A: 'No, No' woman of Broadway" (NANETTE) was in production? And "1A: Afternoon TV's Dr. ____" (PHIL) might still be doing a show (I have no idea, really) but his cultural significance has long been in decline, hasn't it?
Furthermore, the AMISH (32A: Mennonite group) are not Mennonites, are they? I thought they were distinct groups? Sure, they're both religious, but I think it would be like calling Congregationalists a Baptist group.
ITNO, AONE, TETRA, OKIES… it didn't have much to grab onto but the theme, and even though I liked it, it wasn't enough.
Favorite clue: 22D: Fictional Tom or real-life Diane (SAWYER).
- Horace
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014, Dan Schoenholz
0:49:42
CHANGE OF PROGRAM
Fun theme: TV shows homonymized and clued for comic effect.
Frannie's favorite was AWLINTHEFAMILY (110A:
Cobbler's heirloom?), and I think mine was probably THEAWEDCOUPLE (48A: Dumbstruck duo?), but there were a few nice
ones. I also like that the theme answers were both horizontal and vertical.
That's always a nice touch.
The grid is, as usual, filled with familiar friends such as AERIE, EWOK, ALII, ATM, SRA, and the ever-popular STLO
... and there are a few that push the bounds a bit, like ADDL, ACU, and GELEE (38D: Sylist's goop). Is it
really called that? Maybe. I don't get out to the stylist's much. And speaking
of things I don't know, is SALIENCE (14D:
Highlight) a noun that means, more or less, the salient point? "The
salience" of that story was...)? Is that a thing anyone has ever said? I mean, I know it is a word, but it just doesn't seem equivalent to "highlight." Or maybe I'm thinking of "highlight" wrong?
I love the cluing on ENNUI
(81D: Taedium vitae). If you're going there, you might as well go all the
way. The only better way to clue it, for me, would be to include a Baudelaire reference. AGHAST (98D: Left open-mouthed, say) is
a nice word, as is AUSTERE (88D:
Spare). But, I don't know, I think I just don't like Sunday puzzles all that much.
- Horace
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