Wednesday, November 30, 2016, Molly Young

0:09:00

I am big fan of this puzzle. I enjoyed it while solving, and I enjoyed it anew while looking it over just now. I really like the "i-___" theme, many of the answers are interesting words, and the clueing was clever and amusing. Let's dig right in, shall we?

First of all, the IBALL-related theme. We've got no revealer, per se, but the six theme answers (running both horizontally and vertically, which I also like) are all marked with the "from Apple?" tag, so a revealer isn't really necessary. They're all amusing, and some are even a bit daring - ILIFT (14A: New push-up bra from Apple?) and ILASH (66A: New whip from Apple?). Those answers, and others like TWEE (67A: So, so cute), 29A: "Get. Out. Of. Here!" (OMG), TEED (34D: Plenty angry, with "off"), and even TED (55A: Kind of talk) give the puzzle a youthful feel. (ARIL, IBID, and ORE notwithstanding, but at least those have straightforward, almost understandingly apologetic clues.)

Lots of great words in the fill - THREATEN (6D: Jeopardize), FORETOLD (42A: Predicted), LEGION (56A: Numerous), DISPOSE (41D: Scrap, with "of"), RAPPORT (39D: Friendly relationship), and others. Many of the clues made me smile, like 68A: Massage joints (SPAS), 69A: Money makers (MINTS), and the symmetrical MOM and DAD clues - "Having a baby makes one." That's a nice touch. Ms. Young states in her brief commentary on xwordinfo that she constructs by hand, and the care that she puts into her work is plainly evident, as this puzzle SHINES.

1A: Rings up? (HALOS) I will give an A-. My first solid answer was IBID (10A: Footnote abbr.) which, in hindsight, probably could have been something else just as easily.

I could go on, but I'll just call attention to two more things. First, the amusing recurrence of OFTEN after Colum's comment on yesterday's puzzle. And BOTA (30A: Leather bag for wine), which was new to me, but which makes the "Bota Box" brand of wine make much more sense. It's always so nice when one's leisure activities end up bringing new information or understanding. It reminds me of all that I learned from Monty Python when I was younger. Some of which I only understood years later.

My month's up, and Colum takes over tomorrow. May December be filled with many more puzzles like this one. Happy Solving!

- Horace

Tuesday, November 29, 2016, Jacob Stulberg

0:07:39 (F.W.O.E.)

A tribute to one of my favorite books, THEJOYOFCOOKING, which is 85 years old this month! My well-worn copy comes off its shelf at least weekly to sit on the counter and help out with one thing or another. Most recently, it was rolled biscuits, to go with turkey soup. Mmm.... biscuits... I've never made TURKISH DELIGHT or CORNRELISH, but I do use a zester from time to time.

So good theme, but was there any other ENERGETIC (11D: Peppy) fill? Some. PENITENCE (8D: Display of remorse) is fancy, and I enjoyed seeing the word LIABLE (49D: Apt (to)). The "(to)" in its clue seemed appropriate, but do we really need the "on" in 6D: Commit arson on (TORCH)? Maybe. It is a Tuesday, after all. And speaking of a Tuesday, I was tripped up today by the Jewish cross of HAMAN (35A: Purim villain) and MOSAICLAW (36D: Contents of the Torah). Goyem that I am, I was not at all familiar with HAMAN, and guessed, somewhat amusingly, hopefully, "jOSAICLAW," I guess thinking it was something like "Josannah-ic." Sheesh. What a maroon.

Anywho... 1A: Croquet needs (PEGS) was tricky. I'll give it a B. My first confident entry was ATOP (5A: On), which, were I to grade it, would get a C-. But I don't.

Overall, I guess I wish for more to honor the book. The recipes are related by their mood - zest, delight, relish, and "joy," come to think of it. Well, ok, that's cute, but I don't like the split answer. And for this we have kind of a lot of crosswordsy-type stuff: ECRU, ASP, CLIO, ADO, ORCA, ENO, NAS, ARF, YALIE & ELIHU, NTH, AHA, etc. I like REDEYE (30A: It might end with an early touchdown) (great!), but there was a little too little of that today. 

- Horace

Monday, November 28, 2016, Kristian House

0:04:46

Hah! This theme made me laugh out loud. A duck, a duck, and a goose are hidden in three long theme answers. TRIBU[TEAL]BUMS, APARTH[EIDER]A, and SWOR[NENE]MIES. Very nice.

The long down fill is full of good answers, too. GUSSIEDUP (11D: Dressed to the nines), NOGOODNIK (34D: Baddie), SLICKERS (41D: Rain jackets), PETUNIA (Flower that's also a girl's name) (could have been so many things…), all of these are strong. And yes, ENACTOR (44D: Legislator) is not good, but I'll take it, because we've also got SCRIMP (23A: Be extremely frugal), ROGUE (43A: Go ____ (no longer follow orders)), and PAGAN (9A: Wiccan or Druid). It's a high-quality grid, I'm telling you. And this is a Monday! I even like the bold ABORC (2D: Multiple-choice options)! And all we PAY is a little ESO HERE, a little ALA there… that kind of thing leaves no SCAR.

1A: Taxis (CABS) gets a C+. The plus is for not cluing it as wine. It was my first confident answer.

Thumbs up, AMIGO, thumbs up.

- Horace

Sunday, November 27, 2016, Matt Ginsberg

MIXOLOGY

I was hoping that the theme would revolve around different mixed drinks, but no – the mix here is two answers, each independently clued, woven into a third answer, also clued. Sometimes, when I was a little stuck, I tried to just solve the combined clue, and then verified with the parts. Nothing particularly funny or entertaining about the theme, just three words. Still, not bad. And since it's Mr. Ginsberg (creator of the crossword-solving computer program "Mr. Fill"), I wondered if the puzzle were just created as a way to test, and possibly improve, Dr. Fill.

I very much enjoyed some of the clues today. 128A: Makes it? (TAGS) brought a big smile. Likewise, TREAT (106D: October option) seemed very youthful. And the third clue/answer in 119A, "network with 303 stations" (P[A]RI[S]ME[T]R[O]) had me stumped for a long time. That whole SW corner was tough, filled as it was with obscure lizards, foreign languages, and proper nouns (AGAMA, EDDAS, TARDE, ADEUX, OMAR, MTADAMS, and OSA). Oh, and 107D: Counterpart of "stand" (HITME). Whew! That took me forever!

Really did not like SNAILED (64A: Moved at a crawl), and there was kind of a lot of SCLERA, ELKO, SERE, APIA, OTERI, NEHI-type stuff. But then there was also flashy fill like EMBLAZON (46A: Adorn brilliantly) and SEXTANTS (95A: Mariners' aids). And I kind of like ATEATON (77A: Overindulged) (perfect for Thanksgiving) and GETAB (57D: Do pretty well gradewise).

1A: They often have small tables (CAFES) was my first answer, and I'll give a C+. And that's maybe what the puzzle should get, too. Or maybe a B-.

- Horace

p.s. You can read Mr. Gaffney's commentary at xwordinfo.com. In it, he tells that Dr. Fill "found the puzzle very easy," because all of the combined words are, in fact, words, and Dr. Fill knows words. He did make one mistake, though, which is odd, but you'll have to click through to read about that.

Saturday, November 26, 2016, Paolo Pasco

untimed

Tough Saturday. Frannie and I passed this one back and forth, which is rare these days. I did most of the top, she most of the bottom, and we both stared long and hard at the last two squares - the cross of NATAL (27A: Brazilian state capital) and LAMPED (28D: Clobbered, in British slang). LAMPED? Really? I call foul. And the other cross, which Frannie eventually got, was AKA (46A: Going by) and CAKEPOP (37D: Snackable treat on a stick). AKA is good, but if CAKEPOP is a thing, it's a thing I don't know.

Things I liked - TINFOILHAT (56A: Stereotypical wear for a crackpot theorist), CARAMELS (10D: Sticky treats), TERENCE (38D: Ancient playwright who specialized in New Comedy), NIGERIA (35D: Country of 180+ million people that has never participated in the Winter Olympics) (interesting), ATEASE (44D: Chilling), and TIGRIS (25D: River flowing from the Garden of Eden, in the Bible).

Things I didn't like RURALIST (34D: Definitely not a city slicker), MOMMAS (30D: May honorees, colloquially), MAGE (15A: Dungeons & Dragons class), the repetition of "up" in PRIEDUP and RARESUP, the backward cross-reference in 1D and 4D, and the two entries mentioned at the start.

1A: Facebook acquired it in 2014 for $19.3 billion (WHATSAPP) gets a C. It should have been my first answer, but I couldn't come up with the name immediately, so THEMARTIAN ended up being my first confident answer.

I guess I'm a little down on this one overall. I didn't particularly like the long diagonal of black squares that cut the grid in half, there were those dislikes, and I don't know... it just didn't do it for me. Not all bad, of course, but not my perfect Saturday puzzle.

- Horace

Friday, November 25, 2016, Patrick Berry

0:21:33

Patrick Berry is back today with a typically high-quality puzzle. It took me quite a while to get going in this one - I think my first truly confident answer might have been HAMLET (40D: Play containing the line "Good night, sweet prince"), which gave me HORATIO (37D: Speaker of the line in 40-Down), and I worked my way back up to the top from there. I finished the puzzle where it began, in the NE, where ALCOHOLRUB (13A: Sore muscle treatment) (not a thing I know about) and TRAWL (19A: Drag out of a bed?) (nice!) were very slow to come. In fact, the very last thing I figured out was the excellent 1D: Immersive experience (BAPTISM).

Lots and lots of good seven through ten letter fill. PARTIALITY (17A: Special fondness), SCRAPES (3D: Difficult situations), BRITANNICA (35A: Pax ____ (century preceding W.W. I)), HEAVENSENT (40A: Arriving at just the right moment), and SPACESUITS (56A: Landing gear?) were all quite good. And I like the idea of ALEXANDERS (24D: Creamy cocktails), but I've never actually made myself one. It just always seems like such a waste to use only an egg white. What do you do with the yolk? Make custard?

BYPRODUCTS (15D: Unlooked-for results) was another nice long answer. TAX RETURN (34A: Prepared statement) had a fun clue. There was a lot to like.

1A: Strongly disparage (BASH) I will give a B-. Why? BECAUSE. 

Very little to complain about. Thumbs up.

- Horace

Thursday, November 24, 2016, Brian J. MacDonald

0:12:39

Happy Thanksgiving, Dear Reader! If you are like me, this puzzle will have taken you less time than a Thursday grid usually does, leaving you plenty of time to both cook, and eat, a lot of turkey! But first, since you blew through this so quickly, let's take a minute or two to review it. That way, you'll be prepared when the table talk turns, as it inevitably will, to the New York Times crossword puzzle.

The theme revolves around pronouncing both letters of STATE POSTALCODES before a regular word to make a common expression. That sounds more cumbersome than it really is, so let's show an example. My favorite is 44A: *Air passenger request, maybe (ILLINOISSEAT). That's I-L-seat, or "aisle seat." Get it?

So there's the main course. What about the sides? Well, there are lots of good ones on this table. First of all, who knew Gregory Peck was in the OMEN? And I thought 33D: Victim of murder one (ABEL) was cute. RATFINKS (4D: Stoolies) and ALLSMILES (11D: Happy as a clam) are both strong, and I enjoyed the SASSY-ness of SMELLTEST (34D: Basic scrutiny), GOTOTOWN (40D: Really have at it), and ONPAPER (42D: In theory). Not to mention NOT (65A: "As if!") and BEEF (20A: Gripe).

1A: Male hedgehogs (BOARS) is somewhat interesting. I'll give it a B. My first confident answer was ROSSI (22A: Martini's partner). Overall, I enjoyed this Thursday puzzle. Now go enjoy some turkey, goose, tofurkey, duck, stuffing, or whatever you like most to eat!

- Horace