Thursday, April 30, 2015, Herre Schouwerwou

0:20:48

Another somewhat quiet Thursday theme today - rhyming proper name homonyms of common words given wacky clues. The first one I got was CHERWEAR (12D: Clothing line from an Oscar-winning singer?) (shareware). Another, better one, is POEHLERBARE (19A: Naked "Parks and Recreation" star?) (polar bear). I wonder if that was the seed for this whole idea? It certainly wasn't HERRKERR (39D: The Galloping Gourmet in Germany?) (hair care), or BELLEHEIR (20D: Offspring of Beauty?) (Bel Air?), but it could, I suppose, have been THOREAUFAIR (61A: Event at Walden Pond?) (thoroughfare). I guess it's fine. I just didn't wow me.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the puzzle, though. I liked a lot of the non-theme sixes, sevens and eights. Well, eight. DISROBED (7D: Stripped was good), NONMETAL (41D: Any of about 18 elements on the periodic table) was odd. "About 18 elements?" It's interesting to think that all the other elements are metals, and even more interesting to think that some are questionable. So ok, maybe I do like both eights.

The middle had DOWEL, CADENCE, FREAKY, and HOKUM (45A: Balderdash), all of which were good. MUFFLES (46D: Quiets) was nice, SPRUCES (69A: Neatens (up)) made me think of Frannie, because she likes to use that term. She also likes HANKERS (18A: Longs), btw. ALDENTE (68A: Firm, in a way) and ORIGAMI (15A: Paper work not usually done at the office) (I actually tried "a resume" in there for a few moments) have good clues, and I liked the Lyndon Johnson quote leading to WARTIME. Poor guy didn't get his wish.

Overall, I really like the fill, and the theme is fine, sooo.... good Thursday!

- Horace


p.s. This month has flown by, and Colum takes over again tomorrow. See you in June!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015, Daniel Landman

29:35

Frannie here. When Horace asked me to take over for the day, I started to think about an angle for the review, and then it hit me: how about a RECTANGLE! That's when the review really started to take shape.

The whole thing went right along for me except the NW corner. I got stuck on both foreign language clues, believe it or not. I entered ellA where DONA belongs and it took me a few moments to back out of that one (so to speak). 14A. 2013-'14 N.B.A. All-Star Joakim was NOAH help to me at all. And, while trying to figure out 1A, I was certainly using expressions of frustration abroad of my own, just not the correct (or printable) ones! (ACHS).

Theme-wise I thought the puzzle held up pretty well. I thought Huygens was probably enjoying it. I am a big fan of PARALLELOGRAM, both the word and the shape. Two lines that never meet. We should be able to come up with a joke that has that as an element or punchline, shouldn't we? What do you call two building additions? Pair o ells? Okay, that might need some more work. But it does feature our old crosswordese friend ELL! The shape theme clues helped me get 54A. "Wake Up With AL" co-host. I am not familiar with the show, but I had three of the four letters for 58A. GEAR, geometrically, so I knew the bottom right corner had to be an R, and the only unused letter remaining in the theme clues was K, so I put those in the correct circles and immediately realized the answer was ROKER. Ha!

On a SIDENOTE (11D. Incidental remark), there were a few clunkers. To wit: 50D. Nearing midnight (ELEVEN), which I found unlovely and uninspired. Another non-favorite was 66A. Symbol of authority (REIN). Meh. There also a couple of POOR fillers like SDAK, GTE, and LIRR. I'm fairly sure Huygens is not going to like38D. Lumbago (BACKPAIN) due to troubling associations, but you have to admit Lumbago is a pretty great word.

On the DOS side (13D. Commendable activities), there were several fun clues. I quite enjoyed 69A. Excels over, in slang (OWNS). It was nice to be reminded of Lady ELAINE, from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood (53D), and who doesn't love ERNIE (18A. Resident of 123 Sesame Street)? 71A. Halves of an old item? (EXES) is also humorous. Once I got ellA out of DONA's spot, the clever HANGAR (3D. Jet setting) went in and lead to the completion of the puzzle.

In sum, a LARGELY (55A. For the most part) satisfying theme plus some amusing clues to round out the puzzle.

~Frannie

Tuesday, April 28, 2015, José Chardiet

0:10:02 (FWOE)

I quickly realized that today would not be a day that I try for a record time. The NW and NE sections of threes went easily enough, and I actually kind of liked the irreverence of 16A: Icky ____ (awful, in baby talk) (POO) (it's so bad it's good), but that thick central section slowed me right down. After trying "money" for DEEDS (4D: Monopoly pile) and "DOnate" for DOGOOD (4A: Contribute to society), I was off to a slow start. But really, that's refreshing on a Tuesday. I used to advocate more often for an increase in difficulty in the early week puzzles, and this seems just about perfect for a Tuesday. At least for me.

In addition to the added difficulty, I really enjoyed some of the unusual cluing and fill in this one. NOOGIE (44D: Painful bit of horseplay) is something you don't see very often in a puzzle, and with BOOBOOS (2D: Owies) and the aforementioned POO, makes a trifecta of childish fill. Then there's stuff like CABOOSES (3D: Ones back on track?) with its excellent clue, the Monopoly "deep cut" POORTAX (41D: Chance card in Monopoly with a $15 fee), and the Simpsons' twofer (sort of) of BART (27A: Cartoon character voiced by Nancy Cartwright) and SETLOOSE (37D: Release, as the hounds).

And we haven't even gotten to the theme yet! Fourteen SQUAREROOTS are scattered around the grid. I realized what was going on somewhere midway through my solve, but as often happens with an early-week theme, it didn't really come into play at all. It's kind of cool.

There was a potentially difficult spot at the crossing of ROHE (54A: Architect Ludwig Mies van der ____), PERES (50D: Israel's Shimon), and STROPHE (61A: Poetic stanza), but the spot that got me was the crossing of SAGETEA (22A: Healthful herbal beverage) and PEG (15D: Good name for a baseball pitcher?). I guess I've seen that SAGETEA before (in puzzles, I mean, never at a coffee shop or tea house), but I couldn't come up with PEG. It just doesn't make sense to me. 

- Horace

Monday, April 27, 2015, Johanna Fenimore

0:04:41

For a while I was thinking that it might be funny to not do a review today, indicating that the puzzle had "left me speechless," but then, well... it probably wouldn't be interpreted that way by everybody, and, well, it's also not that funny. So let's get on with it, shall we?

The only theme answer that literally means, "left speechless" is DUMBSTRUCK, all the other ones mean, more or less, "Wowed," but I guess "left speechless" means that too, so I don't know why I'm fighting with it. I didn't mind it so much while I was solving it, and I like all the expressions, especially GOBSMACKED.

I also liked all the two-word answers in the grid. HECKYES (21A: "You betcha!"), TAKETHAT (8D: "So there!"), ONESEC (45D: "Hold on ...!"), GREEKGOD (37D: Hermes or Hades), and even the partials APTTO (31: Is ____ (probably will)) and NOTOF (28D: ____ this world), the latter because it looks so odd.

I didn't particularly like the "informally" clues - 14D: Precious stringed instrument, informally (STRAD) and 65A: Transylvanian count, informally (DRAC). But on the other hand, I enjoyed CANTO and KNACK, and HOOKAH, so on balance, I'd give this a thumbs up.

- Horace

Sunday, April 26, 2015, Patrick Berry

WHICH IS WISH

An amusing Sunday theme. The "ch" sound is replaced by "sh" in several common phrases, and then clued in a humorous way. Frannie's favorite today was 82A: What I unexpectedly had for breakfast? (MUSHTOMYSURPRISE), and I found SHEAFINSPECTOR (112A: Reviewer of the paperwork?) unexpectedly amusing.

There's a ton of theme here - ten long answers! - and yet the rest of the fill isn't too, too strained. There's HYOID (57A: ____ bone (U-shaped bone above the larynx)) (did you know this one, Colum?), COATI (42D: Raccoonlike animal), ETAIL - is this a real thing or just a puzzle thing, I don't get out enough to know for sure?, and a slew of plurals - but really, there's not much that's objectionable. But why should we be surprised? It's Patrick Berry!

Being a Francophile (or am I just a poseur?), I enjoyed the meeting of POSEUR (122A: Fraud) and METIER (93D: Occupation). French fans also get ETRE (17D: Raison d'____) beside DIOR (16D: New Look pioneer).

Frannie tried "molar" for "2D: It's down in the mouth," but you had to go a little further down for UVULA. And I tried "mattress" for "6D: Sleep on it," but for that one you had to go a little higher - BEDSHEET.

I loved the clue for SLAP (24A: Indicator of freshness?), and 7A: Like some photographs and cliffs (SCALED) was unusual. 37D: Flip response? (HEADS) was cute, and 41D: "Dagnabbit!" (BYGUM) was nice and old-timey, and "53D: Arm twister's need?" is the best clue I've seen for ULNA. Also, "63D: Unfair?" is very good for RAINY. And it's just icing on the cake that it's followed by 65D: "____ fair!" (NOT). There are other good clues, but I'll save some of them for you to find as you complete this enjoyable Sunday grid for yourself.

- Horace

Saturday, April 25, 2015, James Mulhern

0:25:37

Another fun, tricky puzzle. A couple of gimmes from my teen years helped me get into this one fairly quickly: THEDOORS (15A: 1960s - 70s band that took its name from an Aldous Huxley title) and VONNEGUT (39D: Author who created the fatalistic optometrist Billy Pilgrim). Coincidentally - sort of - Frannie and I recently saw Jim Morrison's grave in Paris. Hi-ho.

And speaking of my younger days, boy oh boy did I dislike Pete Rose in 1975. (It looks like this photo might even have been taken at Fenway.) But nowadays, I side with those who say he should be in the Hall. There, I said it. He was a damn good ball player. (But still I like to imagine that Fisk is holding the ball in his glove here... heh heh heh...)

And one last one from my past - STRATEGO (35A: Capture-the-flag game). Some time ago one of my older brothers confessed that he always let me have red and go first because the red pieces were translucent with a light on behind me. Older brothers... on the bright side, I like to think that losing every game I played - chess, monopoly, basketball, whiffle ball, hockey - until I was about 16 somehow made me into a better game player. I know Knute Rockne or Vince Lombardi or some other famous coach once said "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser," but, well... I don't agree.

So where was I? I guess we could segue from the coaches to XSANDOS (8D: Chalk talk symbols), which I enjoyed, once I got it. And off that, I considered "woosh" and "thuck" before getting TWANG (20A: Sound of an arrow being shot). And I'm not familiar with LOEWE as a "6D: High-end fashion brand), but I see now that it's a Spanish brand that's been around since the mid-ninteenth century! 

I liked DOUBT (55D: "The beacon of the wise," per Shakespeare), I didn't know that MIT was the 61A: Alma mater for Benjamin Netanyahu, or that "lutra" was Latin for OTTER. It's from the word "luo" which means "to wash." I don't think I've ever seen Eminem in a DORAG - it's usually a hoodie or a cap - so I didn't love that one, and 34D: Global superpower? was cute-ish for ATLAS, but also not quite right, it didn't seem. 

And finally, I enjoyed the combo of ETILES (50D: Most plentiful pieces in a certain board game) (I was lost for a while when "pawns" was too short), and RSTLNE (51D: Bonus round freebies on "Wheel of Fortune"). 

An enjoyable Saturday.

- Horace

Friday, April 24, 2015, Joe Kroezel

0:17:26

Man, I loved this one! I got in quickly with STINKSTANKSTUNK (17A: "The three words that describe" the Grinch, in song), and ran from there.

I loved the cluing here, especially 10D: What irregulars go for (LESS), 23D: Otto's preceder (SETTE) (Italian. You were thinking rulers, like me, right?), 35A: Subtractions from the division? (AWOLS), 16D: Heeded a herald, say (HARKED), and many others. I tried "STUCKTOtheRIBS" for "12D: Was satisfying, as a hearty meal", but when that didn't fit, I tried the old crossword standby STUCKTOONESRIBS and what do you know, it stuck!

I ended up in the West (and speaking of that, having a vane visible out my window all through childhood made 29D: N-E-W-S directors? (VANES) quite easy), where the D in IODATE (30A: Disinfect, in a way, as a wound) was an educated guess that panned out. Again it was my youth, and the memory of the orangy-red stain that the iodine eyedropper put on each little sliver or paper cut that gave me the right answer. Because EDELS (28D: Writing brothers Leon and Abraham) was never, ever going to come to me.

The fifteens were all decent, the earlier "ones" comment notwithstanding. Again, I loved the cluing on those, too - 44A: Not discouraging feedback (OPENTOCRITICISM), 2D: One doing the rounds very quickly (AUTOMATICWEAPON), and 3D: Something to level with (TRINITROTOLUENE). Good ol' TNT. You don't see it written out all that much, but it'll level just about anything you put it near. Hah!

It had some odd stuff that I had never heard of (EDELS, OHKAY, DAMES), but they didn't hold me up any, and overall, I really enjoyed it.

- Horace