Saturday, October 31, 2020, Stella Zawistowski

DNF

An apt puzzle for Halloween, full of tricks and treats! Unfortunately, for this solver, more of the former than the latter. Due to a complete kerflummoxing in the southeast, I couldn't finish the puzzle today - not and still have time to write the review and celebrate Halloween. After the timer hit one hour, I decided to call it and look at the solution. I do not like to give up on a puzzle, and if it hadn't been for the review, I wouldn't have done it, but I was getting nowhere fast. 

After I saw the answers, I wasn't too surprised that I had been stumped by some of them. Some were beyond my ken, and in some cases, I shot myself in the foot. For example, I misread the clue "Hyper-" as if it were followed by a blank (Hyper-____), not as a synonym for the prefix 'hyper-" (ULTRA). Derp. Also, I needed a complete REDO: I could not get past "copy" for "Edit menu option." I also had "race' instead of SCUD (a much more interesting word!) and 'ace' where PRO ("Crackerjack") belonged. You can see why I was doomed! Coming up with CAERPHILLY with all those errors was, I'm afraid, impossible - although oddly, at one point I did try 'philadelphia.' In the treat category in that corner was DISPOSSESS for "Strip of ownership." I couldn't think of the intended meaning of 'Strip,' but once I saw the answer, I thought it was a very good clue. 

The northeast section also took me a long time. The only clue in that section I had any confidence in was SCARAB. When I finally got RADISHES for "Sources of crunch for a salad", the S and the R of those two answers make it possible for me to think of SCAR (Disney villain based on King Claudius) across the top, which finally, finally gave me CARAPACE. Another treat! 

The easiest section for me was the northwest. I enjoyed "Like hen's teeth" (SCARCE) and ACCENTAIGU ("´, in French," despite the difficult-to-make out accent mark in the clue). I also liked the C/APs, "Hiss at a Congressional hearing." (ALGER) and "It's a thing in Mexico" (COSA). I thought ECHOER was a little weak ("Parrot, in a way") and not an answer I'd repeat. :)

Getting EGOTRIP at 9D (Activity of self-interest) and CASTER in the small connector section between the northwest and north east sections, gave me PA_ for the fun "puzzle" clue at 31A: "Product that becomes an item to which it's applied after shifting the last letter one spot down in the alphabet." Once there was only one letter left to guess, I was able to figure it out (PAM [pan]). Next easiest for me was the southwest, probably thanks to MATTRESS and LAWNSALE both of which I got immediately from the clues.

AEROSOL for "Form of graffiti" seemed like a bit of a dirty trick to this solver. I also thought STUN for "Wow, just wow," was a rotten egg, but it *is* a Saturday puzzle, and one must take ones lumps. Another problem for me was the limited amount of material connecting the sections. It was almost as if there were four separate puzzles. Thought of that way, I got a 75%, or a CEE rather than an F - but still something of an ICEBATH. I'm disappointed, but of course, part of the point of solving the puzzle and writing the review is that it gives us pumpkin fun to talk about. 

Creep it real, dear Readers, and enjoy the Kandy KORN.

~Frannie.

Friday, October 30, 2020, Trenton Charlson

35:11

Not that it's all about time, but mine is a little slow because I had to finish the puzzle while attending a virtual retirement party. Trying to do two things at once has never been my strength! 

Thanks to those in favor (the AYES), support from over a doorway (LINTEL), and "unprincipled" behavior (AMORAL), I was able to make short work of the southwest, even though I didn't know NERUDA or ELEANOR from the clues. A little bit of MEAD didn't hurt, either. 

The last corner to fall was the south east. Eventually, I was able to dig SILEX out of dusty brain cupboard, which gave me the lovely looking XEROXES, which, in turn,  made it possible for me to get KEANE ("Margaret ___, artist known for painting subjects with big eyes") and JASONFOX ("10-year-old boy of comics with glasses and blond hair"), neither of whom was familiar to me. 

It took longer for me to get DESADE ("'Philosophy in the Bedroom' writner, 1795") than it should have, not because I'm an DeSade expert, but the combination of the date and the title should have clicked sooner. I was also duped for an unnecessarily long time by "Half of Italy" (MEZZO). Derp. 

In between the first and the last, I enjoyed some unusual fill and some fun clues. I liked NODRAMA (Obama), NAZARENE, NATTERS, BRISK, and AMULET. DEITIES looks okay when written horizontally, but it sure looked weird as a Down entry. I liked the clue, "Fine example?" for LATEFEE. 

I thought the plural of ROOTBEERS for "Floats are often made with them" was a little odd, and while I did get the answer to "Dip for a French dip" (JUS), and I do know what "jus" is, I don't really get the clue, but on the whole, GOODJOB!

~Frannie.

Thursday, October 29, 2020, Kurt Weller

 21:18

I had an idea of penning my analysis sans symbols barred by 71A's square fillings - a very challenging mission which I quickly gave up on. According to the revealer, the answer NOTNOW, "if read in four pieces" was an aid in solving several clues. I managed to solve the puzzle even though I only partially understood the directive. It all seems so clear in hindsight, but in the race to solve the puzzle as fast as I could (it is my review week), I glossed over the "four pieces" part and understood it as NOT the letters in the word NOW. That was close enough for me to figure out the clues that weren't making sense to me alongside the entries I already had. I did wonder about 12D, though. The clue is "Wrought". Solving it my way, the clue should have been transformed to "rugh", but I could see from the grid that the answer was supposed to be COARSE, so I ignored the problem, finished the puzzle, and mentioned it to Horace. He spelled out the correct reading of 'No T, No W' for me and the fog lifted. It's a clever twist. 

I enjoyed the fact that the revealer didn't reveal exactly which clues needed to be modified, although, it became pretty clear to me after my first passes: the empty squares in my grid were a pretty good indication of where to look. :) I only just realized as I reviewed the puzzle for this review that one of the C/APs that made no sense to me was one of the trick clues: 2D: "Wariest animal" which is apt once you decode it to 'aries animal' (RAM). Apt!

And speaking of PEGASUS, we have a nice HAUL from ancient times with SPARTA, AVE, ARES, and AMO down there in the underworld - with a shout out up high for the HELOTS. 

Elsewhere in the puzzle I enjoyed "Place in office" (INSTALL), the beautifully misleading "Like all prime numbers besides one" (ODD), and "Sound off?" (MUTE). Fill-wise, I liked DOWSE and SCATHE, though one doesn't often see it as a present tense verb: I scathe, you scathe, we scathe ....

Well, amici, that's my REPORT. Vale.  

~Frannie.

Wednesday, October 28, 2020, Peter Gordon

 23:11, FWOE

It's not Sunday, but I found today's NYT crossword puzzle to be a little like "Men in their 40's," TRICKY COMPLICATEDAND disappointing. That last bit is an addition of my own, caused by the FWOE. Most of the puzzle went very smoothly, but I got into stuck in a right FOGBOW in the northwest corner. There was so much I didn't know, including the quote itself - which I was not expecting to start with two adjectives in a row, that's for sure! I also didn't know REMORA, KVELLED, or YETIS, although the last is quite amusing. But it was 4D: "N.Y.S.E. listing: Abbr." that hit me where it HURT. I couldn't figure out what the clue was going for. I guessed COmP (instead of CORP) and ended up with IMAmET at 18A. The latter didn't seem totally impossible, although upon reflection, I was probably confusing it with the word for lodgings for Mosque leaders. :)

So, yes, to get back to theme, which isn't so much a theme as the second half of a quote attributed to a character named Carrie Bradshaw in the show "Sex and the City." I mention this in case, you, like me, dear reader, somehow missed that boat. Here's the quote in full: "Men in their 40s are like the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle TRICKY COMPLICATEDAND YOURENEVER REALLYSURE YOUGOTHERIGHTANSWER." I can't say I really 'get' the quote, but maybe the ANSWER part makes more sense in the context of the show.  

I very much enjoyed the rest of the puzzle. Several snappy C/AP's jumped out at me even as I solved including "Smart, in a way" (HURT), "Sicken with sweetness (CLOY), "A barb might cause it to deflate" (EGO), "Senate rebuke" (ETTU), "Careful effort" (PAINS), "Go (for)" (RETAIL), and my favorite, "Lyon king" (ROI) - ha! And who doesn't love the word FLOUT? 

In short tricky, complicated and fun!

~Frannie.

Tuesday, October 27, 2020, Luci Bresette and David Steinberg

 7:42

Maybe I've spent too much time recently playing Spelling Bee, but today's theme answers reminded me of the game a little bit (emphasis added for emphasis). Each theme clue contains a phrase in all capitals and each corresponding answer uses all and only the letters in that phrase to form answers that are apt vis-a-vis the original phrase. Apt! Is there a word for this particular ILK of letter permutations? I don't know of one, but maybe an example will enrich my anemic prose: 15A: "Apt phrase that uses just the letters of U.S. CAPITOL (POLITICSASUSUAL). Another one, TRAININGSEMINAR drawn from MASTERING was the most apt. I was less sure about the aptness of GETTINGMARRIED for "GRAND TIME" but I suppose everyone's mileage will vary on that front. :)

I think we can all agree, though, that solving the rest of the puzzle was fun. The clues are well-written and entertaining. Here are some of my favorites:

"Hershey's foiled confection" (KISS)

"Help with a holdup" (ABET)

"Sleep disrupter in a fairy tale" (PEA)

"Mascara target" (LASH)

It was nice to see our old friend EEL again, this time decked out in style with the clue "Sinuous fish." And I enjoy the fact that "Candy heart sentiment" (LUV) is common enough to make it a crossword entry. 💖

The puzzle also showcased some classic clue tricks. There were a few nicely ambiguous clues like "Things you might open with a click" (PENS). "Hitch, say" (KNOT), and my favorite, "Feed the kitty" (ANTE). There was also fun with capitals in "Dolphin's home" (MIAMI) and "Lightning Bolt" (USAIN), not to mention a straight up pair of matching clues that get good marks: "Grade upgrade" (PLUS) and "Grade downgrade" (MINUS). 

Fill-wise, I liked TABLELINEN, REALM, and KAPUT. I also like HENCE ("Beginning to a logical conclusion"), but I prefer it as another kind of conclusion in the phrase "get thee" 

~Frannie.

Monday, October 26, 2020, Eric Bornstein

 6:10

Today's theme revealer, "Apt command to an 18-, 28- or 47-Across" (GETCRACKING), applies as aptly to this reviewer as it does to the others in the puzzle: CODEBREAKER, STANDUPCOMIC, and CHIROPRACTOR. I liked the clue for chiropractor (Health professional who has your back?), but my favorite answer is STANDUPCOMIC. I wish wise cracking was the kind of cracking I had to get to, but my job is to crack wise about this puzzle. I'll DRY my best. 

But first, perhaps you are wondering why the theme's exhortation to 'get cracking' is also apt for this reviewer. Well, I'll tell you. Mondays are the one day of the week when I have MUCHACHO to do - one might even say toochacho. In an effort to broaden my horizons during the COVID timez, I signed myself up for an online Chinese class. As chance would have it, the class meets every Monday evening for an hour and a half (without a SPACER!). The fabulous folks behind Boswords 2020 Fall Themeless League also chose Monday night for their festivities. To top it off, Mondays are my one day a week in the office, which requires a focus on on-site activities and materials not to mention DASHES to the office and back. So yeah, Mondays aren't EASY and if I'm EVA going to get this review written, I better apply some ELBA grease!

One might occasionally think of the Monday puzzle as a TRAINER of sorts for the more challenging puzzles later in the week, and as such, I think this one is a MODEL. In addition to the entertaining - and apt! - theme, I SEE solid-but-not-stodgy C/A pairs like "Home made of hides" (TEPEE) and "Headings in a playbill" (ACTS) without a lot that one has to DIGAT. It also contains fun fill like NEXUS, HOODLUM, SKEE, and my favorite, BITTEREND. So, high MARX from this reviewer for a solid Monday puzzle!

阿罗哈.

~Frannie.

Sunday, October 25, 2020, Peter A. Collins

AT THE HALLOWEEN PLAY ...

A Sunday puzzle full of holiday pun! Er, I mean fun. The imagined lines from reviews of a Halloween play were all quite good, I thought. My favorite might have been "... Frankenstein had ____" (AVARIETYOFPARTS). Heh. But "... the skeleton gave a ____" (BAREBONESRENDITION) was also quite nice. 

My favorite part was not the theme, however, it was 21D: "Apt thing to wear during allergy season?" (ASHOE). This clue made me laugh out loud, and it is the first to make me go back into our "Favorite clues" list for quite some time. Really, it MADE my morning. Colum was right yesterday about ABCD (Passing options) being gutsy, but I think this was even better.

But I am not surprised, because Mr. Collins is a veteran constructor. Today he presents a nice mix of straightforward clues ("Number of sides on a hendecagon" (ELEVEN) and "Mortar = sand + water + ____" (CEMENT)) with some fun cleverness ("Final destination, perhaps" (POINTB) and "What you're doing at every moment" (AGING) (Too soon!)). He throws in a double double ("Them's fighting words!" (ENGARDE and ITSWAR) and "Tickled" (PLEASED and GLAD)), and just a few bits of crosswordese for good measure ("As I Lay Dying" father (ANSE) and "Capital of Samoa" (APIA)). 

I've NARY a complaint. It's a fine end to what was, overall, quite a good week. Frannie takes over tomorrow, and I'll see you in a few.

- Horace

p.s. Not that I think anyone actually could this year, but I'll say it anyway. Don't forget to vote!