Monday, December 31, 2018, Brian Thomas

3:32

Ooo!

I do like a set of answers with odd collections of letters. Today's features three Os in a row, and the revealer, appropriately enough, comes at 65A: Another name for O3 (as appropriate to 17-, 25-, 44- and 58-Across?) (OZONE). My favorite today is ITSAZOOOUTTHERE for the zany ____ZOOOUTTH___ in the middle. My least favorite is BOOOFFSTAGE because who wants to think about "boof" again this year? Maybe next year would be soon enough.

Oh, no, wait. That's tomorrow. Definitely still too soon.

There are some oddities for this Monday level puzzle. Some might be annoyed by starting with 1A: Exchange after a lecture, informally (QANDA). This more experienced solver did not have much difficulty with it, but it's a tough go for novices. Similarly with STELMO.

There aren't a ton of interesting clues or answers either. But I enjoyed GEEWHIZ. Also, DROUGHT is one of those one-syllable words that extend to seven letters somehow.

Here's another odd thing with English. __YPT can be completed either by EGYPT or "crypt". How very different those two words are.

In any case, I hope everybody is celebrating tonight in celebration of the outgoing year and in hopes for what the New Year may bring. For anybody reading my little outpouring, here's to you and yours. May 2019 be exciting, interesting, and fulfilling.

- Colum

Sunday, December 30, 2018, Luke Vaughn

"NO DUH!"

Hey, folks! It's coming up on the end of another year here at HaFDtNYTCPFCA, as we like to off-handedly refer to this little endeavor. I like to imagine that we have a little office with venetian blinds and a ceiling fan, and we're sitting in old-timey desk chairs with our collars open and our ties pulled down, fanning ourselves with a Peter Gordon Fireball Crossword book, while we banter about which clues we liked best.

Well, perhaps not, but we do still love to talk about the puzzle, and I guess it's impressive as we near the end of the sixth year of this blog, that we're still going. I hope our readers enjoy our idiosyncratic takes on the puzzle.

Meanwhile, today, we have a theme where the definite article is dropped from a common phrase, which is then clued in a wacky way. As always, the best examples of these are where the words have to change their meaning in a significant way to fit in the new sense. Today's winner (and by a long shot, in my opinion) comes at 36A: Reason for an R rating? (BEHINDSCENES). I love how the first word has transitioned from a preposition to a noun, and it's a ludicrous thought, to have whole scenes in a movie just about the human posterior.

In fact, there was a distinct OUTOFBLUE feeling to the puzzle, what with UNLACE, BRAS, possibly HOTTUB in some circles, and of course, BREST. Too soon?

Other good theme answers included WELLOFFMARK (nice repurposing of "mark" to the name), and SKIRTISSUE.

I will cavil at the following: EAGERER (simply does not exist in usage - I'd say "more eager"), IEST, and the spelling out of BTWO.

There's not a ton of long snazzy extras, but I enjoyed all the Bs in the NW, as well as JAFAR and JUGHEAD just below. Overall, it was a challenging and pretty enjoyable Sunday, which is really what I look for on a lazy day.

- Colum

Saturday, December 29, 2018, Robyn Weintraub

25:21

Today's puzzle was on the easy side for a Saturday - certainly easier for me than yesterday's. Maybe that's the new trend. I am offline at the moment or I would look back at recent Friday and Saturday times to see if it's a trend.

It didn't seem like it was going to be easy at first, since I got almost nothing on my first pass through the across clues, but the downs provided more purchase. My first significant toehold was RUBYSLIPPERS.

TIMEMACHINE was another gettable down. Horace and I were just discussing at dinner last night whether travel would be possible thanks to quantum entanglement. I like to think it will be possible.

Both Horace and I thought "Cry over spilled milk, perhaps" (MOM) was odd, but luckily, the cross with "'Triptych Bleu I, II, III,' e.g." (MIRO) helped clear that up.

As the OLD year PETERSOUT, I reflect on the year of puzzles past. I remember the challenges (one unsolvable by me - 12/1/2018), the tricks, the twists, the LOLs. Maybe puzzles aren't going to save the world, but they add spice to life. LOCHS of good wishes to all for 2019. Happy New Year!

~Frannie.

Friday, December 28, 2018, David Steinberg

39:33

As the first in a triple stack of fifteens, LEADEROFTHEPACK is a nice start, and apt. Apt! The next two in the top triple became clear as I chipped away at the downs. I had heard of an ALFAROMEOSPIDER but I was not familiar with Notorious B.I.G.'s oeuvre GOINGBACKTOCALI.

The bottom triple stack was more of a challenge. Thanks to a few key downs, including the familiar old chestnut Bert CONVY, I was able to guess the middle fifteen, ALLOVERCREATION. But, while I have heard of MATRYOSHKADOLLS, if someone had asked me if I could spell the name of them off the top of my head, I would have said NOMAAM. ALAINRENELESAGE rang a vague bell, once I completed the answer thanks to copious guessing on the downs, but the name didn't leap to mind. I read a bit about the man on the Wikipedia. He seems like an interesting guy. Maybe  I'll read "Gil Blas."

Flanking the fifteens were a COPA other good entries. To wit:
New toy? (PUP) - cute
Pair of nines? (ENS) - fooled again!
Tar (OLDSALT) - both such flavorful nouns
Prepare for a bomb, say (GODEEP) - nicely ambiguity
Brother-to-be (PLEDGE) - I was sidetracked by the religious kind of brother
Place to count sheep (LEA) - It took me too long to put this one to bed

Interesting to learn that AIRMAIL commenced in 1911. So near, and yet so far.

If I have to PICA nit, I'd say that MISDO for "Screw up" isn't great, but overall this is a solid Saturday.

~Frannie.

Thursday, December 27, 2018, Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen

40:16 DNF

I didn't know the Carolina tribe that allied with the colonists in the American Revolution (CATAWBA), and I could not get the missing letter at the cross with 26A "'You sti-i-i-ink'" (BOO), even after several tries. I still didn't understand why the answer to 26A was boo, but Horace explained that the clue referred not to stink as in PU, which was all I could think of, but a "you're no good at what you're doing" kind of stink. Derp.

I had another big slow down in the mid east. I fell right into the trap laid for me by the constructors by putting in sAW for "Something with teeth" instead of the correct JAW. That made it difficult for me to get JETSTREAM, which, in turn made it difficult for me to complete the side section. Well, that and the fact that I couldn't get OMEGA (Rolex rival) or PALO (Texas' ___ Duro Canyon) without most of the crosses. I thought it was very clever and well-placed misdirection to have "Rival of Cassio" (IAGO) in the same section with Rolex and Omega.

Today's grid shape is part of the theme. The black squares near the center form the shape of a air craft that appears to be emitting a diagonal run of rebus squares to form a literal [CON]TRAIL. Higher up in the grid, we have SKYWRITER as bonus material.

A few of the highlights for me were "Monomaniac of fiction" (AHAB),
"Hall of fame" (MONTY) - ha! - and "Bunch of lovers?" (ROSES) is particularly nice.

Although some of the rest of the puzzle left me flat (GEAROIL, MOLERAT, YESITIS, BASSI, ARA, NOWI, SONE, TOALL), I do appreciate the craft. :)

~Frannie.

Wednesday, December 26, 2018, Howard Barkin

8:10

While I wouldn't call this puzzle a CINCH, exactly, I did seem to be on the same wave length as Mr. Barkin this morning. There were only three "knowables" that I didn't know (NAOMI, REESE, and JESSE). I even knew KFC (One of the Yum! brands) thanks to our friend's annual Kentucky Derby party. Although, I just read the Derby's sponsor is, as of 2018, Woodford Reserve. Now that's what I call apt. :) CHIA (___ Pet) and GINSU (Kind of knife in old infomercials) were squarely in my wheelhouse. If you're like me and you have a soft spot for the infomercials of old, check out this great song by Steve Goodman called "Vegematic".

I quite enjoyed the theme today, although I didn't fully appreciate its scope until after the solve. Each clue suggests a more appropriate star for a movie based on his or her last name for which the theme answer is a synonym. For example, "Movie that really should have featured Anne Archer?" is ROBINHOOD. My favorite is "Movie that really should have featured Vin Diesel?" (BEETLEJUICE). Ha! I thought SPIDERMAN for Weaver (as in Sigourney), while not a wreck(nid), was an itsy bitsy stretch. Too much?

One clue/answer pair I particularly liked was "Little untruth"(FIB). It's the kind of clue/answer pair I enjoy because the clue is written so that the answer must be what it is, if you see what I mean. In this case, one could guess another three-letter word that means untruth (lie), but the clue is written in such a way that you know the answer is FIB; even if you don't know it right away, you know it when you get it. I also enjoyed the couple of self-referential crossword puzzle clues "Ref. that added 'cruciverbalist' (a person who does crosswords) in 2006" (OED) and "Pencil after lots of crosswords" (NUB).

Other PROS:
"Unpleasant strain?" (ECOLI)
"American, Asia, and Europe (but not Africa)" (BANDS)
"Miner matters" (ORES)
"Bit of graphic language?" (EMOJI) - LOL.

I've got to ASIAGO and get to some ADULTING. Later.

~Frannie.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018, Bruce Haight

8:49

If you like Christmas and all its trimmings, yule really like today's theme. :) The revealer is a seasonal song (OTANNENBAUM) that hints at traditional decking for the holiday pine. The last words in four other answers give us a JUDYGARLAND, a SUGARCANE, an LOSANGELESANGEL, all topped with a MOVIESTAR. Lovely.

There's an avalanche of other theme-related fill:
"Jesus to Mary" (SON)
"Wonderment" (AWE)
"'Once in ___ David's City' (carol)" (ROYAL)
"Seasonal song" (NOEL)
"December 25, informally" (XMAS)
And, as a bonus, a trinity of crossword darlings: EDNA, ERMA, ERTE. :)

Mr. Haight doesn't disappoint this Christmas; he delivers once again with his signature clever cluing. In a crossover from the holiday theme category, we have the entertaining "Deteriorated ... or started out like Santa on December 24?" (WENTSOUTH) - Ha! We also get a nice twist with "A step above the minors" (ADULTHOOD), the interesting "Lab culture site" (AGARPLATE), and my favorite: "Range for yodelers" (ALPS). YAY! :)

I liked "Cakes and ____" (ALE) as it brings to mind one of my favorite authors, W. Somerset Maugham. I also liked "Expert" (MAVEN) and "Debauched sorts" (ROUES).

Funny to see OHYOU again so soon (think yesterday) and speaking of repeats, what about ATTA (Lead-in to girl or boy)? That one sure is having a hey day. Today marks its third appearance this month. The gift that keeps on giving. :)

Happy holiday!
~Frannie.