Tuesday, April 30, 2019, Erik Agard

9:04 FWOE

Today's theme packs a one-two punch thanks to a GROUP of SHOTS with the word shot left off and the word cat written in in crayon. Wait, that's something completely different. The four starred answers are common two word phrases, each word of which makes another common phrase when combined with the word SHOT. For example, we have 17A: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band with the hits "The Flame" and "I want you to want me" (CHEAPTRICK), which gives us CHEAP SHOT and TRICK SHOT, thematically. My favorite is often a DOUBLE SHOT - of rye whiskey. :)

I made my false step at UTEP (Lone Star State Sch.), for which I confidently and erroneously entered UTEx. The other answers in the area seemed to fill themselves in and I never checked the crossing down. A HEADSLAP ensued when I saw what had happened. Some hotshot. :(

I thought this was a very smooth solving puzzle overall with excellent clue-answer harmony throughout. Some of my favorites were
City choker (SMOG)
"The very IDEA!"
"'Believe it', as a retort" (WAY)
and my favorite, "Had a little lamb, say?" (ATE). Ha!

Fill-wise, I enjoyed ALOHA, FAKEDEEP, SPLASH, MAYICUTIN, GULLIBLE, and BUBBA.

The only parting shot I'll take is that RAYON doesn't feel like silk - not by a LONG SHOT.

~Frannie.

Monday, April 29, 2019, Andrew Kingsley

7:39

I like the theme revealer today, GETCRACKING, but while great as an answer for the clue "Hop to it," I found it less than exactly apt for "what to do to the various eggs in this puzzle's shaded squares." Maybe I'm being too literal, but there are no eggs in the shaded squares, only three birds and one prehistoric reptile. I suppose we could assume "eggs" understood, but I don't take an egg, if I can avoid it. I do like the popped up letter that creates the crack in each theme answer. If you get rid of the "S" from DINO[S]AUR, the popped up letters spell ROC - not even scrambled - and then you could add a mythological egg to your basket. I also wondered if ROE could be considered bonus theme material.

In the lower half of the grid, I enjoyed the sweet run of COCOA, TOBERLONE, LATTE,and KIMCHI, mmmm, Kimchi... Too bad TOASTING wasn't clued with marshmallows for the pig out pentfecta! As it happens, not one of these fine treats calls for an egg.

Boy, oh boy there are a lot of men in this puzzle. There are at least 18 males, both IRL and fictional: OLAF, Red ADAIR, ICHIRO Suzuki, MRT, Peter RODINO, ANDY, LEIF Ericson, Jon SECADA, LAD, DOC, Clark KENT, NATE Silver, FOUR Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Alexander PAYNE, ISAAC, Citizen KANE, Ang LEE, and, as a bonus, GILLETTE ("'The best a man can get' solganeer"). Maybe they are cheaper by the dozen.

~Frannie.

Sunday, April 28, 2019, Brendan Emmett Quigley

WORDS OF INTRODUCTION

Maybe I’m missing something big in the theme, but for me, it is barely a thing worth mentioning. I will, though, in an effort to both explain it and show, perhaps, my lack of understanding of it. Take, for example, KOHINOORDIAMOND, clued as “KIND words?” First of all, the very existence of this named diamond is only on the edges of my knowledge (and caring). That it can, or should, presumably, be broken down into four parts, “Koh I Noor Diamond,” is a new realization, and maybe then a language barrier enters the picture, but why those four parts have any relation to the word “KIND,” or, indeed, should fall under the title “Words of Introduction” is not clear to me. Sure, I see that the first letter of each part spells KIND, but why? Is it just a way to give us four letters of the answer? … The other theme answers are similarly random.

So let us look for meaning, or at least fun and excitement, in the other areas of the puzzle.

I did enjoy learning the trivia that ANKARA is said to have been founded by King Midas, and also in that NW corner, the clues “Earns a bronze?” (SUNS) and “Opinion piece?” (ITHINK) were fun.

In the NE corner, ABCB (Rhyme scheme of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” was a bit outré, but CRACKER (What Polly wants) was entertaining. And who knew an EEL could swim backward!? More good trivia! And speaking of trivia, how ‘bout that REUEL (Moses’s father-in-law)? How many of you dropped that right in without crosses? Not this guy!

In other areas, the clever clue “Ones who can’t change large bills?” for TOUCANS made me almost feel sorry for them. Do you think they’d ever want to? I mean, those things must be heavy!

I guess in the end, I would have been happier if this had been run as a themeless, and all the theme answers been given normal clues.

XOX

- Horace

Saturday, April 27, 2019, Joe Deeney

0:16:57

Another fun Saturday with some challenging, convoluted clues. I particularly enjoyed "Scamper" (DART), "Pain in the ass?" (BRAND) (poor donkey), "Subjective evaluation" (ESSAYEXAM), and "Not permanent" (ACTING). And in the lower right corner, the desire to mislead is almost palpable in both "Start running off?" (GOTOPRESS) and "Fail to come to?" (OVERSLEEP).

We get two fully-named Britons today, with JOHNCLEESE and NEILGAIMAN, and two references to an older Briton in "If thou DOST marry, I'll give thee this plague for they dowry": Hamlet," and ALLISTRUE (Original title of Shakespeare's "Henry VIII" (the latter not used until the First Folio in 1623)). Both are boring titles, but at least "Henry VIII" insists less upon itself.

Interesting that both TNT and DYNAMITES are included today. DITKA is always fun to think about, and he and KNELT (Protested, in a way) remind us that the start of football season is still several months away.

Remember the ATKINSDIET craze? Heh. Almost as irrational, in its way, as the TULIPMANIA. Silly humans.

A couple of specialty terms today in ROLF (Massage deeply) and TAMPS (Presses down), and speaking of that last one, it's time for me to go make myself another espresso. Ahh, Saturday mornings, when I have the LUXURYOFTIME.

- Horace

Friday, April 26, 2019, Kyle Dolan

0:18:56 (F.W.O.E.)

I was worried when I knew I would need a lot of crosses for 1A, and even then, I would be guessing at what might possibly be a song title, but slowly it did come, thanks to a gimme at 1D (SPOT (Help out, in a gym) and crosswordsy standards AKIN (Related) and TARED (Like goods weighed on scales). For the record, I think of the scale as being TARED before the goods are put on it, but perhaps there are variant meanings.  

FLASHCARD (Classic bit of study material) brought back good memories, and ITBURNS (Shout of pain) brought a laugh as I remembered a Simpsons episode where Moe Szyslak yells that as he splashes some holy water up onto his face. Heh.

The inclusion of an answers like HARDASS (Tough, demanding type), HANGRY (Cranky due to lack of food), and SODOM (Scene of biblical destruction) let you know we've reached the weekend. As do clever clues like "Where you might be given the third degree" (GRADSCHOOL) (see also: "Rap mogul of the highest degree?" (DRE) (That's "Dr. DRE" to you)), "Place for an anchor" (DESK) (a news anchor), and "Peak service?" (ACE). And I only just now realized that "It may precede 'copy'" (OVER) must be referring to walkie-talkie talk.

I lost my way today in the NE, where, when faced with _AIA I guessed gAIA as the "Mother of Hermes" (MAIA). At the time, I didn't have the cross (EMBED (One reporting a fight)), and it was only after the bell rang that I went back and noticed the error. Every once in a while, I try to memorize those Greek and Roman genealogies, but there are just so many characters, and it's quite convoluted!

Anyway... I liked much of this one. JOHNDONNE is a favorite, and I wish I knew more about the PEACETOWER in Ottawa. It was interesting to learn a bit of trivia about ICEICEBABY, and words like SIPHON, GAWK, and PYRE are all good. I didn't love the long Downs in the NE (SAUSAGEDOG and PICKSADOOR), and it seems OCEANSPRAY could have been clued a bit more poetically somehow... but overall I enjoyed the challenge.

And finally, just for the record, MAIA is the oldest of the Pleiades, so named because they are the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. According to Homer (according to Wikipedia) "Zeus in the dead of night secretly begot Hermes upon Maia. ... After giving birth to the baby, Maia wrapped him in blankets and went to sleep. The rapidly maturing infant Hermes crawled away to Thessaly, where by nightfall of his first day he stole some of his half-brother Apollo's cattle and invented the lyre from a tortoise shell."

Hmm.. kind of makes me think I should get up off this couch and get my own day started!

- Horace

Thursday, April 25, 2019, Jon Olsen

0:23:08

Boy, this one almost got me! Everything but that middle section went right along - even kind of easy-seeming for a Thursday - but then I don't know how long I fretted over that PIA_ATS and PLY_ section. I knew KAPPA (24A: ____ Alpha Theta, first Greek-letter sorority in the U.S.) and SILVER (30A: Argentina was named after it) had to be right, and what else could "34A: Assents at sea" be except AYES?

I don't know why it took me so long, since the answer was practically spelled out for me with the rest of the themed clues: HAPPYFACE, COLONHYPHEN, PARENTHESIS, and EMOTICONS. At last, I entered the "Elements of a [HAPPYFACE]" into 39A, and finally made sense of "39D: Blot on a landscape" [EYES]ORE, "25D: Perches for some musicians" PIA[NOSE]ATS, and "26D: ____ Rock" PLY[MOUTH]. Whew! LOCO!

Once I had entered the entire words into the squares and finished the puzzle, they turned into the traditional COLONHYPHEN and PARENTHESIS, but I'm not sure whether I could have just entered those elements instead of the words ... probably I could have. If you did, let me know.

I enjoyed seeing the mnemonic "Every good boy does fine," and quickly entered "gclEf," before correcting it to NOTES. And speaking of things musical, I did not realize - or at least did not remember - that the "End of every verse of 'The Star-Spangled Banner'" is BRAVE. Interesting.

A few other tricky clues: 19D: It's more than a fling (HEAVE). Nice. 31D: Center of the Krupp family dynasty (ESSEN). Who? 44D: Raised block of the earth's crust, to a geologist (HORST). OK, if you say so. (Dad, did you drop that one right in?), and 63D: Alternative to Gain (ERA). I take it GAIN is some kind of detergent?

I liked the challenge today. The theme was fun, the rest of it was fine.

- Horace

p.s. It's a debut! Congratulations, Mr. Olsen!

Wednesday, April 24, 2019, Evan Mahnken

0:05:36

When Shakespeare was my age, he'd been dead for a year, as the old joke goes.

The anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, and death, is traditionally celebrated yesterday, April 23rd, but all that is known for certain about his very early life is that he was baptized on April 26, 1564. That he was not born on the 26th is almost certain, and the convenience and tidiness of placing his birth and death on the same date is powerfully attractive. That such a named man existed is unquestioned, and leaving aside the authorship question (so as not to DEFAME anyone), the plays that were collected into that "First Folio" in 1623 have been read, translated, performed, and adapted continually since then. Why, just a few weeks ago, Frannie and I saw a very good, modern-dress version of Romeo and Juliet at the Huntington Theater in Boston. And at tonight, if we were so inclined, we could celebrate our anniversary by seeing a performance of Twelfth Night at the Lyric Stage. You can hardly walk through the theater district in any city without passing one putting on a SHAKESPEAREPLAY!

Today we have four film adaptations, FORBIDDENPLANET (The Tempest), SHESTHEMAN (Twelfth Night), WESTSIDESTORY (Romeo and Juliet), and KISSMEKATE (The Taming of the Shrew). The only one I had never heard of is SHESTHEMAN. And it's also from the only original that I have never seen. Maybe we should change our plans! :)

It's a coherent theme, well done. That Mr. Mahnken was able to find this symmetrical arrangement is, to me anyway, quite impressive. I don't know how these constructors do it!

In the fill I enjoyed the inclusion two additional literary figures, AESOP (52A: Fabulous writer?), and, to a lesser extent, TALESE (59A: Gay of the New Journalism movement). And the crossword darling EMOTES takes on slightly more relevance today. Heck, I suppose even PEN (11D: Write down) could be seen as bonus material.

I liked the all-French-all-the-time OUI (28A: "Bien sûr!"), the pair of "ring figure" clues (CARATS & ALI), the ridiculous "34D: Herd noise" (MOO), and my favorite clue today - 43D: Business whose income is computed quarterly? (ARCADE). That's been in a lot lately, it seems, but they're keeping it fresh!

Sure, there's some MSS, NES, and KOP -type stuff, but overall I enjoyed this one.

- Horace