Monday, November 30, 2020, Emma Craven-Matthews

0:04:15

A tribute puzzle for America's Hat, the Great White North, CANADA! Did you ever wonder how they came up with the country's name? Well, the story I heard is that somebody put all the letters into a hat, and then one person picked one letter at a time and shouted it out - "C, eh, ... N, eh, ..." 

I yearn, you yearn, we all yearn for a coffee URN!

 

So anyhoo, now that you've got that little SCENARIO in your head, we can talk about all the references to Cold Mexico that Ms. Craven-Matthews managed to cram into her Monday debut. There's the capital, OTTAWA, the country itself, also playing the part of revealer, and then a lovely pinwheel of four stereotypically Canadian things - HOCKEYNIGHT (think "Football Night in America," but with skates), TIMHORTONS (think Dunkin' with better coffee and greasier doughnuts), MAPLESYRUP (think Vermont, but even farther north), and SAYINGSORRY (there's no American equivalent). 

In addition to all that "official" theme material, Ms. Craven-Matthews managed to spruce up four more otherwise bland entries with references to Canadia: "D.C. player, formerly a Montreal Expo (NAT), "Toronto-to-Montreal dir." (ENE), "N.Y. airport with many flights to Toronto Pearson" (LGA), and "Weather often associated with Vancouver" (RAIN) (Well, it is home to the Great Bear Rainforest!)

Overall, I liked the clueing (any reference to Zeno of ELEA is ok by me), but I don't really think "Some brandy fruits" is perfect for APRICOTS. As I understand things, brandy isn't made from APRICOTS. Shouldn't the clue be something more like "Some brandied fruits?"

But maybe they do things differently up North, and I don't want to ALIENATE any Canuckleheads, obviously, so I guess I'd better wrap this up. On the whole, I thought it was a beauty.

- Horace

Sunday, November 29, 2020, Eric Berlin

 SIX-PACK

Well, here I am again on this merry-go-round. Do any of you remember the song "Horace, the Horse (On the Merry-Go-Round)"? We had it on 45 and I used to listen to it a lot when I was very young. I guess it might have been one of the (many) influences that led me to realize that situations have more than one interpretation, and perhaps also to realize that my reaction to a situation could be altered by changing the way I look at it and understanding it in a different way. Frannie often says that I can rationalize away any problem. I'm not sure that's entirely true, but it's certainly not false. :)

Anyway, yes, here I am following (or am I leading?) two clever and intelligent bloggers. And since 'tis the season, I will say aloud that I am thankful to have them both as friends, and also thankful that they have helped out with this blogging effort for the past many (going on 8!?) years. 

Today I start my week with a clever mash-up puzzle, wherein six letters from two consecutive words are packed together. "Very short-lived gemstones" are EPHEMERALDS. It's even funnier because (from Wikipedia) "Most emeralds are highly included, so their toughness (resistance to breakage) is classified as generally poor." Well, ok, maybe that only makes it funnier to a geologist's son...

Let's try another gem - "TV quiz program about an epic poem" GILGAMESHSOW ("It's the Gilgamesh Game Show! Test your skill as you rid Inanna's huluppu tree of creatures, and try to hang on to the mikku and the pikku, but watch out for the Bull of Heaven!")

 "Boy, it's going to be a loong week," I hear you groaning.

But seriously, these are quite good. First-rate strategy compressed to FIRSTRATEGY almost sounds like a real word, and the very silly HAMMERINGUE (Pounding on a pie topping), SUPERMANENT (Salon job named after a comic book hero), and OBAMACARENA (Dance celebrating 2010 legislation) are all excellent. And one more thing, I learned that there is a breed of terrier called Airedale. Who knew?

An excellent start to the week. I could go on and on about non-theme material (Dozens of them are sold (EGGS), for example), but it's already getting long, and I've got Sunday chores to attend to. I'll leave the additional praise for you to add in the comments. :)

This review is ATANEND. See you tomorrow!

- Horace

Saturday, November 28, 2020, Nam Jin Yoon

7:42

Today's offering is Mr. Yoon's second puzzle in the NYT, and I think it bodes well for his future in this area. His debut was three months ago, with a grid that looked very similar to this one, with the 6 black squares sets of steps on each side to create the cascading long answers. We liked the first effort quite a lot, but I think this one is better!

Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). 1A: Move to a later date, say (TIMETRAVEL) is such a great clue and answer. I dropped in "reschedule" and immediately took it out when I saw 10D had to be LES. It still took me some time to finish the rest of that corner. I also love 5D: Fabled beneficiary of a nap (TORTOISE). I thought briefly of Rip Van Winkle, only nobody would feel he was better off for his prolonged snooze.

In the middle, I liked FAIRSFAIR, a lovely bit of colloquialism. I smiled at 23D: One of a pair of interrogators (BADCOP). The whole SW corner is marvelous, with PLACEBOS, FROGPRINCE, and CARRELS, which made me think of where I first met Frannie, and through her, Horace. What a lovely way life has of creating opportunities for like-minded people to get to know one another.

The last TSAR, also Queen Elizabeth's 4th cousin once removed

Donna TARTT was a gimme for me, although I never read "The Secret History." I did read "The Goldfinch" and did not love it as much as many other people seem to have. Nor have I seen the movie. 13D: They're on the tip of your tongue (TASTEBUDS) was straightforward because I had many of the crosses in place already.

And let's give a nod and a smile to 55A: One who passes the bar? (TEETOTALER). That's fine cluing.

This is a very smooth grid and solve, and I enjoyed it immensely. What more can you ask for on a Saturday morning?

Enjoy the next two weeks of my infinitely superior co-bloggers, and I'll see you in December!

- Colum

Friday, November 27, 2020, Robyn Weintraub

7:25

How lucky can one guy get? Already a good week from a crossword perspective, and on top of that I get a creation of Ms. Weintraub’s for a Friday themeless! Also, it’s been a good week from a non-crossword perspective, just to be clear. We had a lovely Thanksgiving day yesterday, replete with way too much food. Sadly, the chocolate hazelnut pie was overdone (I thought I had turned the heat down as per the recipe, but unfortunately, I must not have pressed the final button...), but the rest of the meal was delectable.

Speaking of delectable, this puzzle was a delight. I had all but the final NE corner finished in about 3:30, and thought I was well on the way to a new record for a Friday, but that last section stumped me for a while.

I’d never heard of EEKAMOUSE, but I love the entry, and it led me to Wikipedia, as always. Apparently, it was the name of a horse he routinely bet on, and became his nickname, and then his chosen stage name. Sitting right below the classic British rock group STONEHENGE (which always reminds me of Spinal Tap), and crossed by NENE, there’s a strong musical connection going on here.

How about that clue at 26D: Page seen in a wedding album (RINGBEARER)? That’s some fine clueing. Similarly clever is the nearly symmetric 9D: Spot removers (ADBLOCKERS). Two very fine non-QMCs.

I’ve never had BANANASFOSTER before

I’ve often wondered about CFLAT, which only ever shows up in crossword puzzles in reference to harps. For those less musically inclined, the key is equivalent to B major, only instead of being notated with 5 sharps, it is notated with 7 flats (every single note). Thus it is cumbersome to interpret as you’re reading it.  In any event, key signatures are a boon to the modern constructor.

BILLTHECAT... well. Remember comic strips? Sunday funnies? Don’t see much of them any more, although our local paper still carries them. I enjoyed Bloom County back in the day, carrying shades of Doonesbury and Pogo. I never much liked Bill, though.

Here’s hoping for an equally fun Saturday. HINTHINT!

- Colum

Thursday, November 26, 2020, Neville Fogarty

11:07

Happy Thanksgiving to all! And truly I have a lot to be thankful for, enough that it overshadows not being able to be with family today. Being aware of what you are grateful for is a good step towards enlightenment.

And I am grateful for the NYT crossword puzzle (among other things)! The theme is phrases that start with LONG (71A), which are then interpreted as stretched out with each letter taking up two squares. In practice, this means that the letters are repeated in consecutive squares, leading to the very odd looking VVOOWWEELL (18A: Oboe or flute sound - very clever clue, that). Once I finished the puzzle, the program replaced the doubled letters with a stretched out single letter, which looks amazing in the grid.

There are nods to the holiday at 40A: Celebrated Thanksgiving, say (FEASTED) and at 43A: Sight at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (SANTA).

Felipe ALOU

Some fun clues today:

3D: It's commonly used to make a product (TIMESSIGN).

9A: Gym leader? (SOFTG) - took me too long to figure this out, once again.

34A: Something you have up your sleeve (ULNA). Reminds me of the old joke, where does the general keep his armies? Up his sleevies!

64D: Darn, darn, darn! (SEW). So good.

And then there's the trivia of 50A: Early TV network that competed with NBC and CBS (DUMONT). How did I not know about this? DuMont laboratories were responsible for the long life of television sets due to their invention of a longer lifespan for a cathode ray tube. Cavalcade of Stars and The Honeymooners originated on this network. It disappeared in part because it didn't have a radio network on which to build its reputation. All information courtesy of Wikipedia.

Enjoy your celebration and your dinner!

- Colum

Wednesday, November 25, 2020, John Guzzetta and Jeff Chen

5:16

Another entry in the list of themes it is more difficult to explain in words than just to experience during the solve, is as follows:

Ahem.

Two phrases, each of two words, are juxtaposed, in that the second word of the first is a homonym for the first word of the second, and similarly, that the first word of the second is a homonym for the second word of the first.

Many words in the service of blogging.

Thusly, 16A: Prince, e.g. (MALEHEIR) next to 25A: Stamp on an envelope [and 16-Across flipped] (AIRMAIL). I like that each flipped answer is the next to the right and down, making a logical progression, rather than having to search through the grid.

I was uncertain about PLAINTOE, but it Googles well. THYMETEA, as well, comes up readily on my arbiter of widely accepted use.

Alicia KEYS

More impressive is the collection of long down answers: there are eight of length 8 or longer. I am particularly fond of 32D: Signed, sealed or delivered (PASTTENSE). I was not thinking along those lines at all!

39D: Wasn't upright, say (SLOUCHED) is a great clue. 

I very much enjoyed this puzzle. It's odd, but it's pleasing. And it has RYE.

- Colum

Tuesday, November 24, 2020, Caitlin Reid

4:30

Can I just say that we need more puzzles like this one? Three absolutely horrifically brilliant maritime puns, each in standard phrases, each now spanning the grid in a 15-letter answer. My favorite by far was 37A: "Wow, that's a giant sea cow!" (OHTHEHUGEMANATEE). Never mind that the clue and answer don't precisely match. I'll take that ludicrous pun any day.

I started the puzzle in the middle south of the grid, only because 1D directed me there. I knew it would be one of the two OBAMA girls (glad to see their entire name make it into the grid, even if in separate parts), but as always, Malia and SASHA both having five letters, it was safer to leave that section blank until I got back to it. Which, as it turns out, was at the very end of the solve.

This is a finely constructed grid, with much to enjoy, even with the middle section of short answers. I loved 10D: It may be a setup (BLINDDATE), especially right next to 10A: Garment with straps (BRA) and 15D: Nude (BARE). That's quite a setup, if you ask me.

I want to go to there

BATSIGNAL and ITDEPENDS were fun answers to come across. I can't say that I agree that a Deluge and an AVALANCHE are the same thing, except highly metaphorically. One absolutely implies an overwhelming amount of liquid, while the other implies masses of solids. Even if they're both water-based.

Little things made me happy. 24A: Column with an angle (OPED) is a sweet little clue. 30D: Lift provider (UBER) is a sly wink at that company's competitor. And how about 57D: Light wind? (OBOE). Such a great way to make that classic piece of glue shine.

And did I know that a SLOE is also known as a blackthorn?

No. No, I did not.

But now I do, for the short time that it sticks in my brain.

- Colum