Monday, January 31, 2022, Eric Bornstein

Monday has reared its ugly head, and I find myself late home from work after a busy day in the hospital. Fortunately, a fun and slightly tougher than usual puzzle awaited me.

The theme is revealed at 56- and 58A (PARTING / WORDS). We get three examples of phrases where you can find letters across the gap between the two words which are ways of saying "good-bye!" RADIO / STATION hides "adios," DATA / TABLE hides "ta-ta," and SLATE / ROOF hides "later!" I like the concept a lot, but I think the first one is the strongest. The other two are fine but lack a certain vim and vigor.

Also, once the theme is figured out with the revealer, did we really need the circles? The age old question lives on.

The rest of the puzzle has some lovely answers. The two long down answers are both quite evocative, with TRIPLEPLAY and GUANTANAMO. I also liked MEDALLED, although in this household, we much prefer to use the term "podiumed." 

OROMEO

10D: Fake name given by Odysseus to the Cyclops (NOBODY) was always one of my favorite parts of the story, although the follow-up where he blinds the poor fellow (and really it was all his fault to begin with, and many of his crewmates ended up dead because of it) seems overly vicious. Also, it leads to Poseidon making him stay away from home for twenty years or whatever.

I would also like to point out that if I tried to do a HEADSTAND, it would end up with me being PASSEDOUT, so the words are well placed symmetry-wise.

Answers like CRAMER, NBCTV, and deciding between MEDICAre and MEDICAID slowed me down somewhat. But an enjoyable Monday over all.

- Colum

Sunday, January 30, 2022, Ross Trudeau

WATCH YOUR STEP!

Hey folks! Glad to be back, although once again I've got very big shoes to fill. Frannie's really stepped up her game.

And speaking of steps, I read the wrong thing into the title and therefore struggled for quite a while with the theme. I was convinced the answers would take move up or down a row, or multiple rows, so I kept on looking for places where that might happen. It didn't help that I could tell that some of the answers had too many letters to fit into their row. It also took a while for me to find the "-" clues in some of the down answers which would have helped a bit, at least.

After trying ORCHEStraS at 46A: Sources of music in musicals (ORCHES[TRAP]ITS), and then working backwards from the end, I finally figured out the rebus. Interestingly enough, I went to two different musicals this week, one on Broadway (Hadestown) and one traveling Broadway tour in Schenectady (Come From Away), and neither of them used pits. In both cases, the orchestra/band was on stage. I liked both, but the second more than the first. After getting the rebus, I still missed the extra step, thinking that perhaps 14D: Circus apparatus would be "FLYING[TRAP]." Later on, I came back and filled in the left over EZE.

It's a lovely theme: in each case after the rebus "trap," there's a black square, then the remainder of the answer, creating five TRAPDOORS in the puzzle. Only CON[TRAP] TIONS (fitting given the theme of the puzzle) has the "trap" occurring within a single syllable. EX[TRAP] OINTS is apt (apt!) for this time of year. Crazy that Tom Brady retired this week. Thought he'd play into his 50s, the way he's been going.

Sargent MURAL in the BPL

Clues I enjoyed:

3D: Gets out of a grave situation? (RESURRECTS).

57D: Slice, for one (ORANGESODA).

91D: One being coddled, maybe (EGG) - hah!

Things I didn't love: SPICER (I mean, better this sort of clue than the former press secretary, but still).

Fun start to the week. See you tomorrow!

- Colum

Saturday, January 29, 2022, Andrew Ries and Caitlin Reid

ALOHA, dear Readers. I hope you enjoyed the AVAST amount of delightful misdirection in today's clues as much as I did. Thanks to the trixy clues, I must have started in the wrong semantic category for the correct answers about 85% of the time. Some examples:

"Ticks off" - angers instead of tallies (COUNTS). 

"Get on" - embark rather than grow older (AGE).

"Bolted" - took off rather than fastened on (RAN). 

"Shucks" - expression of modesty rather than unwrap (HULLS)

"Underground line" - subway instead of stone way (SEAM). 

"Court feat of 2003 and 2015" - in this case, I bounced around from the Supreme Court to the basketball court until I finally netted SERENASLAM 

In addition to the ambiguous clues, there were some excellent non-QMC clues including "It's subject to inflation in the auto industry" (AIRBAG), "Area of recession" (HAIRLINE), "Name-dropping word" (NEE), and "New York city" (ROME). The R of the latter was my last entry, thanks, in part, to my lack of Karate Kid knowledge. I was able to get it when I finally paid attention to the clue's capitalization and realized the clue meant a city in New York, not a name for New York City. Derp. My favorite clue of the day, though, was a QMC: "Catchy communication, for short?" (APB) - ha! 

Add to all of the great stuff above plenty of  unusual (to me) fill like "Ciudad official" (ALCALDE), "Bygone Japanese coin" (RIN),"Certain landing pad" (HELISTOP), and "___ artist (film professional)" (FOLEY) - and you've got yourself a fine Saturday puzzle. 

~Frannie.

Friday, January 28, 2022, Jem Burch

My solv'sperience was pretty routine for a Friday: I didn't get much at first, but then, little by little, I got more. :) My one trouble spot was in northeast corner - again. I had a doubtful QIN ("Chinese dynasty in which the terra-cotta army was built") and was unsure about ANO because of the "Brazil" specification. Since, for crossword purposes, the Spanish and Portuguese words for 'year' are the same, the specification of Brazil made me question my answer. So, with the two top spots in doubt, and being unclear both about what feature of Al Jazeera was wanted and how to interpret the clue "Chopped liver, so to speak," things bogged down a bit. Also, I'm not quite sure why, but I didn't really like FEARED for "Like bogeymen." I considered it, but resisted putting it in until I had to. In that same vein, I found DOOMS for "Sentences", not INAPT exactly, but also not the greatest match. Same with SIMMEREDDOWN for "Regained one's composure." 

Two other small problems occurred when I tried HITon instead of HITUP for "Solicit, in slang" and when I entered 'sum' for "Cartesian conclusion" instead of IAM in the southwest. 

On the upside, I surprised myself by remembering JAKES ("'North and South' writer John). Also, I pulled CONDI out of nowhere - so to speak. I enjoyed 

"Source of a big scoop" (LADLE), "Like many a lemon, eventually" (SOLDFORPARTS), and the old fun favorite, "Were present?" (ARE). Another good one was "Kid's cut, perhaps" (OWIE). It seems obvious now, but my first ideas related to haircuts and percentages (?!?). My favorite QMC of the day was "Structure with many layers?" (COOP) - ha! 

I thought we might have a pangram on our hands, but after a closer look, I didn't find an X - someone can check me on that. :) Still, entries such as QATARI, PAJAMAPARTY, and ZEROGRAVITY really JAZZUP the grid  - Z's ABOUND! 

 

~Frannie.

Thursday, January 27, 2022, Lewis Rothlein and Jeff Chen

The tenor of this solve was quite different from yesterday's: unlike my esteemed co-bloggers Horace and Colum, I have no musical knowledge to sustenuto myself in these situations. I did recognize that the symbols in today's grid related to music, but I didn't know exactly what they meant. I thought I had it figured out with NOWH:EREW:E [NOWWHEREWEREWE] but on further examination I found I didn't have the right key and had to moderato my approach. Imagine the trill when I finally did figure it out with RO:MATO:ES (or ROMATOMATOES)! To be more expressivo, the trick is to REPEAT the letters within the marks to produce the whole ensemble. 

As it happens, the motif wasn't the most difficult partita for me. I hit some serious ritardando in the northeast corner thanks to the quartet of tricky clues "Round houses?" (PUBS), "It can be a show-stopper" (REMOTE), "It's measured in feet, not inches" (POEM - another of my weak spots!) , and the surprising UNDOSEND for "Action after a change of mind." I was a little confused by TAR for "Gob" but I looked it up and lo and behold, both can mean "one who operates or navigates a sea going vessel" - major surprise! I also had a little trouble with the answer to "Certain amenities for first-class passengers." Who knew they had arm *and* LEGRESTS? Humoresque, non? :)  

Other high notes included the clue "Preceder of ski or midi" for APRES, "Some long-term plans, in brief" (IRAS), and "Something well-placed?" for OILRIG.

In sum, nowhere near prestissimo today, but con brio.

~Frannie.

Wednesday, January 26, 2022, Michael Schlossberg

If my solve time is anything to go by, I would say that Michael Schlossberg and I see eye to eye. I finished today's puzzle quick as a wink - for me - 6:28. 

As I solved, I payed scant attention to the circled letters, and only realized at the end that they represented a traditional eye chart. I say traditional because when I had my eye exam last October, my eye doctor told me they are mixing it up these days so people don't try to memorize the chart (that's a NONO). I did remember that there's a big E at the top of the chart, but if it hadn't been for the 'message' part of the theme CONGRATULATIONS ONPASSINGYOUR EYETEST, I'm not sure I would have seen the light.

There were a few clues that I thought hit the bull's eye including "Site of a legend" (MAP) and "Coaster" for SLED. The clue "Place to nosh on a knish" (DELI) had a nice ring to it. I thought "End of a college valedictorian's address?" (EDU) was funny, and PATS for "Caresses" amused me, but the apple of my eye was OUI for "Paris accord?" LOL.

CUSP is nice. UPONE out of context is surprising. And how about this double vision? "Member of the Rat Pack?" (DINO) and "Member of the ratite pack?" (EMU) - ha!

And speaking of eyes, what about a puzzle theme "I only have i's for u? Maybe it would have to be, "I only have i's for u's." Could that work? Anyone? 

~Frannie.

And p.s. how about this apt reference in the puzzle? Apt!

Tuesday, January 25, 2022, Ray Brunsberg and Ellen Brunsberg

Greetings dear Readers! After a weekend on the Go, including an OPERA (Tosca, not Fidelio), cold EARS, video clips of TAP and POLKAS at the NYPL, and pop-up ROSES at the train station, we are slowly settling back into regular Life.

As I started the puzzle this morning, my Concentration may not have been at its strongest. I wasn't immediately able to Kerplunk SMIRK in at 1A ("Smug expression"), so I decided upon an alternate Stratego: I switched to the downs where I was quickly able to Connect Four, which, in turn, helped me discover the first of today's theme answers WAROPERATION ("General's responsibility?). Fun!

I hit a bit of Trouble in the next AREA where I gave it my 'all' for "Tide competitor," but that turned out to be an ERA. I felt like a real Mastermind when I was able to drop in ORGAN off the clue "Tongue, but not cheek" and EMS for "Millennium, at the beginning and end?" 

Elsewhere in the puzzle, I found a veritable Candy Land of nice clues like "Wears" for SPORTS and "Medium" for PSYCHIC. I also enjoyed the clue "Passionate learners, to some" for NERDS, as I am Uno of them. 

I thought the clue "Lure (in) for ROPE was a bit of a Twister, and I did have to Scrabble around a bit in the southeast for the answer to "One of the Affleck brothers" because I could only remember Ben. Sorry, CASEY!

Sure, some may say that stuffing one's head full of factoids for eventual use in puzzle solving is a Trivial Pursuit, but I enjoy it. 

~Frannie.