Saturday, September 30, 2017, Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen

untimed, on paper

Today, solving the puzzle in the actual newspaper, on the last full day of our vacation at the seaside, with a full cup of coffee beside me, the first rain of the week tapping at the window behind, and the blue flames of the propane floor-heater softly purring in the next room, well, it was damn near perfect. It was almost unnecessary that the puzzle be any good after such a set-up, but happily, it was!

I don't think I've solved a puzzle on paper since the ACPT, but I really should do it more. I proceed much more cautiously, and it becomes more like a chess game where I try to hold as many possibilities in my head as I can, except that in the case of puzzles, there comes a time when the correct action is knowable, whereas in chess - for me anyway - that certainty never arrives. My first entry today was VARIETAL (1D: Chardonnay or merlot), which was supported by my initial assumptions on VOWED (1A: Swore) and ABIDES (13A: Stomachs), and pretty much confirmed by TEA (24A: Subject of a controversial tax, once). Once all that was in, the NW was quickly done.

IMEANREALLY (18A: "Oh come on") got me out of that quadrant (because LAKSHMI (32A: Hindu goddess of prosperity) sure wasn't going to!) but all I could really get off of that was the MAJOR part of 15D: Setting of "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik." I should probably have been able to guess that it was in G, but, well, when solving in pen, I'm not so willing to make that kind of a guess.

1A: Swore (VOWED) - B+ - It's a fine answer.
Favorite: 53A: Become lightheaded? (GOBLONDE). This got a chortle.
Least: MAYBES (42D: Some R.S.V.P.s) - I don't like this mostly because no one should RSVP as a maybe. Just make up your damn mind and commit already! One way or the other. Think of your poor hosts! Do they set two more places or not?!? They're already stressed out enough as it is without having to deal with you and your "What if something better comes along" attitude! Sheesh! Enough already!

Loved learning about PHLOX (27A: Flower whose name is Greek for "flame"), and RIJKSMUSEUM (49A: Home of Rembrandt's "The Night Watch") was great. Also loved PHSCALE (6A: 7 is in the middle of it) and VJDAY (46D: Time of surrender in '45) for their unexpected run of consonants. Didn't particularly love CENTUPLE, and it is far too painful to be reminded of the end of the OBAMAERA, but overall, this was a very enjoyable puzzle. A great end to a very strong Turn, and a fun month of reviewing. Either Colum or Frannie will take over tomorrow, I'm pretty sure, and I'll see you again in a month or two. Until then, Happy Puzzling!

- Horace

Friday, September 29, 2017, Damon Gulczynski

0:14:30

I was not AVERSE to this puzzle.

The NW corner was a little rough, but I guess that was necessary in order to keep the HOVERBOARDS (2D: Modern transports used while standing) and ITSNOBIGGIE (3D: "Nothing to get worked up about") pairing. It's a good pair, but I don't love MOT used for "zinger." Alone, it just means "word." What kind of a fop do you have to be to say MOT when you mean "bon mot?" And IVS isn't great, but farther down we get GENDERBINARY (20A: Male-or-female) and AROUSE (22A: Electrify), both of which are strong.

I loved the clue for POACH (31A: Appropriate game), which had me wondering what made something appropriate for hunting. Instead it was inappropriate appropriation that they were talking about. Ha! And over in the SW, 36D: Float fixer (SODAJERK) and 45D: Mushroom producers (ABOMBS) gave me similar fits.

1A: Sushi bar fish (AHI) - C. I guessed "eel" here first, which helped nothing.
Favorite: APU (11D: "The Simpsons" character who claims he can recite pi to 40,000 places) - because it made me laugh out loud both when I first read it and then again just now as I typed it in.
Least: The aforementioned MOT.

There's a lot of good in this. OVERTHEHUMP (24D: No longer struggling) beside TELEKINESES (24D: No longer struggling) is another good pair of 11s, and the full PABLONERUDA (18A: Gabriel García Márquez called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century, in any language") is welcome in any puzzle. There's more, too, but I'll leave them for you to find.

Thumbs up!

- Horace

Thursday, September 28, 2017, Joe Krozel

0:13:55

What an odd, multipart theme today. First of all, there's that note again - which some of you do not see, apparently, and so may not fully realize that the puzzle is missing the letters C and Y in all but the central, revealer. Second of all, there's the PINATA hanging in the middle of the puzzle, filled with CANDY. Pretty nice. But when I got the revealer (even having read the note) I read it as more of a "sound" clue, and thought that the letters K and E would be missing. But then I saw many, many Es, and that one K from KTEL (58A: "Hooked on Classics" label), and I just put off thinking any more about it until after I was finished. An event that was only held up in any significant way by the NW quadrant, where I had entered "ubi" for "2D: Where: Lat." (QUO) (hmpf), which held things up for a while, but which I was forced to re-think after getting ULTIMATEFRISBEE (3D: Widely played sport developed at Amherst College in the 1960s). Ahh... ultimate... I'll probably need two total knee replacements in a few years, but 25 years of all-out ultimate was totally worth it.

1A: Fair (EQUITABLE) - A.
Favorite: Since I don't feel I can use ULTIMATEFRISBEE after going on about it above, I'll pick TOTEMPOLE (17A: Hierarchical structure, metaphorically)
Least: I guess I'll pick on NRA (26A: Org. with millions of members HQ'd in Fairfax, Va.) just for the fun of it.

I liked this odd duck of a puzzle. There's no symmetry, there's unchecked letters, there's total separation between left and right at the top, but overall, I came away with a smile. Even though I'd sooner say "Go jump in a lake" rather than GOJUMPINTHELAKE (12D: "Take a hike!"), and even though I put in "blond ale" before getting AMBERALE (53A: Light brown brew), and even thought I've never heard of TIMS (5D: Popular beige work boots, colloquially) ... it's all good.

Fun Thursday.

- Horace

Wednesday, September 27, 2017, Jacob Stulberg

0:09:23

The THREERINGCIRCUS today consists of a "wire walker," a "fire dancer," and a "glass eater." Me, I guess I've seen a tightrope walker at a circus, but never the other two. And frankly, that last one seems more like a freak show act than a modern day circus act. Furthermore, is "three ring circus" really a phrase that people use?

1A: Power figure? (WATT) - B-.
Favorite: GRIFT (64A: Petty swindle)
Least: KER (51A: Lead-in to plop or plunk)

This puzzle wasn't for me. There was too much old fill, and the longer spots were not very exciting. TAXCLINIC (11D: Accountant's service for low-income individuals)? What is that? And why is it only for low-income individuals? And SELAH (9D: Interjection occurring frequently in Psalms) seems like kind of an outlier. I've never heard that word before in my life. Then there's all this ELOI, LDS, ESSES, AFLCIO, IED, ANC, MAA, and EFS.

MATADOR (39A: One waving a red cape) is good, and I liked GUILE (31A: Artful deception), but overall I did not enjoy this one too much.

- Horace

Tuesday, September 26, 2017, Lynn Lempel and Joy Behar

0:07:50

So, I take it Ms. Behar is a comedian. I had a hunch she was somebody famous when I did not recognize her name as a constructor and saw her paired with Ms. Lempel, who usually works alone. Come to think of it, I think I may have seen her name in a grid somewhere along the way. OK, so we've established that she is someone most people will have heard of. Let's move on.

The comedian names worked into standard phrases are all quite good. PURPLEHART (17A: Comedian Kevin after having a sloppy jelly snack?) is a certainly on the fanciful side, but one could easily imagine BARRFIGHT (51A: Cause of comedian Roseanne's black eye?) coming straight from a news story. Heh.

In addition to the strong theme, we get four nine-letter Down answers that are all interesting. My favorite of those is NOTORIETY (32D: Achievement for Bernie Madoff or Al Capone). We also find plenty of interesting small stuff, like BLITZ (11D: Football rush), IMPEL (4D: Incite to action), STREW (8D: Scatter), HELIX (55D: Half of a genetic molecule), and PYLON (25D: Tall supporting tower).

1A: Fruity soft drink (NEHI) - C-. Starting off with an old standby. This answer has been used 79 times* since Will Shortz took over as editor of the puzzle, but this is the first time that this clue has been used, and it tricked me until I had the first two crosses.
Favorite: GOAPE (54D: What Tarzan's friends advised him to do?) - Hah!
Least: There's almost nothing to complain about in this puzzle, so I'm not going to do it!

Very strong Tuesday. My only real trouble came at the cross of SUSIE and LOIS, and sometimes proper names can be tricky like that, but it was inferable, so I was able to finish without incident.

So far, so good this week. Just like we like.

- Horace

Monday, September 25, 2017, Bruce Haight

0:03:59

An amusing start to the week, with rhyming two-word phrases. I smiled at all of them, but had the hardest time coming up with HOTSY/TOTSY (sophisticated). I don't know what that says about me, and I'll thank you not to opine on the subject. :)

My favorite answer today is CYYOUNG (24A: Award named for the winningest pitcher of all time) because, obvious as it is, I had not read the clue until after entering the double Y, and I was already starting to re-think 2D: Book that might require a key to open (DIARY). "Hmm... I've seen locks on old bibles, I think, and what about... nope, never mind, the clue has the word "pitcher" in it. We're good."

Not much long stuff, but BULLMOOSE (8D: Symbol of Teddy Roosevelt's political party) and FOURSPEED (33D: Like most manual transmissions in the 1970s and '80s) were fine. I enjoyed DIURNAL (43A: Active during the daytime), which crossed the fun SCULPTS (50A: Produces a large body of work?). TWIRL (34D: Spin, as a baton) was fancy, and MARTYRS (26A: Ones sacrificing for a cause) has that nice string of letters at the end.

1A: Puff ____ (snake) (ADDER) - C+.
Favorite: 32A: She raised Cain (EVE) - Simple, but amusing
Least: hmmm... maybe ORD (20A: California's old Fort ____). It's just a little esoteric for a Monday. On the other hand, I think I may have played disc golf at that old Fort, so maybe I shouldn't give it such a hard time. :)

Oh well, me and my AMIE are on vacation this week, but as usual for us, we've got an agenda, and if I'm going to be one who ADHERES to his HONEYDO list, I should probably shut the ol' laptop and AMBLE over to the toolbox. I enjoyed this puzzle. Fun theme, with no need for a revealer. Good start to the week.

- Horace

Sunday, September 24, 2017, Alan Arbesfeld

STATE LINES

The jokey theme answers today made me smile, but not laugh out loud, if you know what I mean. My favorite was the last one - OHTOBEINENGLAND (117A: Midwest state secedes and will join the United Kingdom?), and my least favorite was "50A: Whistler from two Eastern states?" (MAANDPAKETTLE). It just doesn't make any sense.

I've always liked the term BEELINE (122A: Direct route), but I have never heard TOPHOLE (52D: First-rate, in British slang). And speaking of compound or multiple-part answers, I found TDBANK (53A: Financial institution whose parent company is Canadian) tricky and boring, but AAMEETING (42D: Part of a recovery effort) tricky and satisfying. See also: 65D: Getting help getting clean (INREHAB).

1A: Tennis world since 1968 (OPENERA) - C. If you've been doing the NYTX for a while, or if you care about professional tennis, you were probably able to drop this in. If not, it might have been tricky.
Favorite: SPARE (40A: Fifth wheel). Tricky! Also, Take stock? (POACH) was quite good, too.
Least: LOAMY (85D: Like some fertile soil). Is there fertile soil that isn't called "loam?"

Overall, I enjoyed this one. It seemed like there were a lot of those "multi-part" answers that I was discussing before - PASTLIVES, INADAY, IMBROKE (24D: "You'll have to pay for me"), MADESENSE, CALLSIN, ONSTAGE, POSEDAS, ISHALL, ILIED, and OTRAVEZ, for example. The cluing was good, and there wasn't too much glue. I actually smiled as I dropped in ETUI. It's sort of like an inside joke for regular solvers. "Hey, here's this old chestnut..." and then later we got EEL too. When you're actually enjoying those kinds of answers, you know EVERYTHINGSOK.

Hope this puzzle found you in a similar state of mind. :)

- Horace