Monday, February 28, 2022, Zach Sherwin and Andrea Carla Michaels

The first three letters of today's theme entries are repeated later in the entry. Is that a theme? I guess it is. And I'm guessing that the inclusion of two cartoons, one quite old, and two TV shows from the late Eighties and early Nineties means that this is not a common occurrence. That said, OKEFENOKEE and CHINCHILLA are fun words.

The most surprising C/AP for me was "Around 50.25% of the world's adult population" (MEN). I have been operating for quite some time under the belief that there were slightly more women in the world. Is that still true, but most of them are not "adults?" Is it not true? Why put that word "adult" in the clue? According to the United Nations, there are 3,776,294,273 men and 3,710,295,643 women in the world. And according to this article, there are more women than men in the "over sixty" population, because the life expectancy for women is higher. Also, according to that article, the population dynamics are different in different countries. Weird.

Anyhoo, I don't have too much else to talk about in this one. I did enjoy seeing SOLIDS (One side in eight-ball pool) since I played a couple games of that this weekend while on a short vacation. And I also liked seeing TOM in the center of the grid, since that's the name I use when I'm not using a pseudonym. :)

Hope you all enjoyed it. March starts tomorrow, and with it comes the spring. It's something positive to think about when the front page brings nothing but bad news.

- Horace

Sunday, February 27, 2022, Sheldon Polonsky

CINEMAGRAMS

It took me a minute or two, after finishing this puzzle, to understand what the theme was. "Cinemagrams" is a neologism (I imagine) that means, roughly, "a clue composed by rearranging the letters of the answer, a movie title, that has some relationship to the movie." The best one might be "Evil Streep had award" from THEDEVILWEARSPRADA. Streep won a Golden Globe for her part in the movie. Second best is "True fellow is a find" from ITSAWONDERFULLIFE. After that, they start sounding a little more strained. "M. Ryan, what's her yell?" (WHENHARRYMETSALLY), "Re: town fire one night" (THETOWERINGINFERNO), and so on. Anagrams, for me, fall into the same category as palindromes - there are a few very clever ones, but the descent is sharp and quick into really bad ones.

Perhaps it was all the long movie titles that forced some unusual entries, or perhaps I was just having an off day, but whatever the reason, this SOLVE took me about twice as long as Sunday puzzles sometimes do. And as I look for culprits, I find a few things like YESTER (Lead-in to day or year) and VALSPEAK (Slangy SoCal dialect), that may have elicited a GRRR or two, but really, it might have just been the answers I wasn't expecting, like BUREAU (There's one for the U.S. Census), SCOURGE (Source of suffering), and HEREBY (Adverb in many legal documents). 

It might also have been the witty clueing, like "All the kings' men?" for CHESSSET (Nice), "It's a lot in London" for CARPARK, or "Tip of the tongue?" for ESE. That one is very tricky. I think it is referring to the ending "tip" of several language words, like "Chinese," "Portuguese," "Vietnamese," and "Japanese." I might argue that it is ice sheets, and not GLACIERS that have "massive calves," but I guess some glaciers might eventually run out of hillside and end up hitting the ocean.

Did you notice that "tipify" fit in where EMBODY (Be a paragon of) belonged? Yeah, me too. And I loved "Harvard dropouts, maybe?" (ARS) - when I finally got it, that is. (Think: "Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd.") And it even had a little something for our Quebecois friends ("ICI on parle français").

Overall, quite a good, challenging puzzle. Oh yeah, and it had a theme. :)

- Horace

Saturday, February 26, 2022, Ori Brian

It seems to be the thing these days to have stacks in the middle set up like stairs, which allows for more interesting long answers. Today's puzzle doesn't disappoint, with GOSPELTRUTH, SEXPOSITIVE, and the lovely clue at 35A: End of a waiting list? (DESSERTMENU). I was very confused by that last one for a while because I had UVULA in place, and couldn't figure out how the long answer would end in a U.

Another challenging answer came at 29D: Long (SLIMTONONE). Boy, that clue has so many possible interpretations. I guess we're using it here with regards to odds, but it's a stretch. I had _LI_TONON_ for a while, trying to parse it so it could make sense. 

Speaking of crazy tough clues, how about 37A: Use a shuttle, say (TAT). Oof! I would never have thought of lace making when looking at that clue. Fortunately, I got the answer entirely from crossings!

Morocco and its KASBAHs is in here somewhere

So much else here to force the solver to think laterally. 10D: Cry like a kid (BLEAT) - a goat is what's meant here, not a human child. 11D: Person you're in with (CELLMATE) - nearly symmetrically opposed to DIDTIME.

On the other hand, 34D: It makes waves (SEAWATER) is literal to the extreme. They can really get you coming and going!

I'll tip my cap to our constructor (and/or editors) for the clue at 14A: Pianist/composer Schumann (CLARA). Not the more widely known Robert Schumann, her husband, also a pianist and a composer. She was actually more celebrated than her husband for her performing. Her piano concerto no. 2 in F minor is pretty amazing.

I moved pretty quickly through this Saturday, despite the mixups along the way. 7:44. Turning it over tomorrow to Horace, I do not EGRET to say.

- Colum

Friday, February 25, 2022, Damon Gulczynski

What a chunky Scrabbly Friday themeless we have today! So many lovely long answers, I can overlook strange choices like PILAU (that's pilaf for us over here in the Americas, apparently, an alternate spelling that caused me a lot of grief in the SW corner).

I had essentially nothing in the NW corner, and found my true beginning point in the middle North section, with CILIA, LAGS, and ACING. I knew SCATMAN Crothers, but couldn't remember his full name. Most of us will probably recall him from The Shining, but he was also in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and actually got his start as a musician and composer (thus the nickname). 

And then the long answers started coming into view, starting with MICHELANGELO, and then BUTTHATSJUSTME. So good! I backtracked into the NW corner, where QUEBECOIS was probably a gimme for our friend Philbo, from North of the Border. Perhaps JENESAISQUOS was also straightforward for him! I love it as an answer in the puzzle.

The area in question

And then that answer crosses WILLYOUBEQUIET. Such a good use of the Q. WIKIPEDIA and ALONETIME round out our excellent set of long answers.

The SW corner gave me fits. First off, I couldn't see 43A: Took off on (APED). I so wanted flED. Then I wanted SwIveL at 47A: Go around and around (SPIRAL). Fortunately, that correct I in the incorrect answer led me to ILLBE, then ALLIE, and TABLE. My final letter was changing the F to U in HUEYS.

How fun are the crossings of 53D: Punt, e.g. (BOAT) and 60A: Dugout, e.g. (CANOE). Nicely vague clues for types of water vessels. 

It's funny how one area of a puzzle can be a cinch when others are giving you so much trouble. The NE corner was simplicity itself for this solver, boosted by DANTE, medical knowledge EDEMA, Jewish knowledge SEDER, and Civil War buff trivia (MEADE). But then, there will always be stuff one is GOODAT, and other stuff which might KILL you.

- Colum

Thursday, February 24, 2022, Jake Halperin

I can't believe we're already at the Turn this week. It flew by! Tomorrow is a snow day, I have declared. I am taking a long weekend, and nobody's going to stop me.

But enough about tomorrow, let's look at today. It's a slightly tricksy Thursday puzzle. The theme answers take standard two word phrases where the first word can be used to describe a letter. In these cases, the letter described is both the first letter of the second phrase (which is then doubled) and at the same time described within the clue word.

Boy, that took a lot of words to explain. Could it have been done more succinctly? Undoubtedly. But where would the fun be in that?

Let's take an example: 17A: Wight, e.g.? The answer is LONGIISLAND. The original phrase Long Island, now reinterpreted as an island whose name has a long I. Thus, the Isle of Wight. I'm particularly fond of one of the HARDCCANDIES: the Cadbury Creme Egg. I have one waiting for me right now, a present from my lovely wife, coincidentally given to me today. What are the odds?

See if you can find the Isle in question

It's fun seeing those out of place doubled letters in the theme answers. 

BARBQS on the other hand, feels odd as an answer. It seems to be straddling the fence between "BBQs" and "Barbeques." Thoughts?

Otherwise, I liked BEGATHON and 40D: Gets foggy (STEAMSUP), which could definitely have been clued more bluely, if that's acceptable.

Our family appreciates The Lonely Goatherd, and other songs from The Sound of Music.

5D: Who is this in France (QUI) is such a fun clue. Like 32A: Give it a twirl! (BATON), the answer is referred to in the clue neatly.

Finally, 50D: Celerity (HASTE) will always make me think of the end of the second act of HMS Pinafore. 

"Go, sir, get you hence, to your cabin with celerity..."

Response: "Who's playing Celerity tonight again?"

- Colum

Wednesday, February 23, 2022, Rose Conlon

Is it Wednesday or is it Whensday? Okay, now I'm just being silly. 

Clearly, today's puzzle was a labor of love. It's not often a crossword puzzle constructor sees the progeny of her mind birthed into the world in the New York Times. It's a girl! [Pregnant pause inserted for appropriate groans]. Congratulations on your first baby... um, debut puzzle, Rose Conlon!

The theme today is SIGNFORDELIVERY, what we usually do when something is delivered to our door. Instead, it's reinterpreted by Ms. Conlon as those indications that it's time to rush to the hospital for your child to be born, namely GUTFEELING, THEKICKER, BUMPYRIDE, and WATERBREAK. I had no idea what was going on until I re-examined the whole puzzle. That's a sign of a good delivery, if you ask me.

Meanwhile, we get such flavorful entries like URBANCAVER, something I've never done. But I've definitely been interested in the defunct passageways of no longer used New York subway tunnels. Also, there's the pairing of MANSPLAINS and ROIDRAGE. I really try not to do the former, and there's no risk of the latter, in my case. Really, ITRY!

An ASIAN map of old

I'm amused by HALF crossing ALL.

How many of us have ever said "Get BENT!"? It seems potentially like it might be 1950's slang. In that case, AKELA should feel right at home, once again!

But these are small concerns. FOMO, IDUNNO, CHEROKEE... the puzzle is a lot of fun, and I hope a sign of more good things to come from this constructor!

- Colum

Tuesday, February 22, 2022, Jacob McDermott

Is it TUESDAY or Twosday? I suppose that's the question that this puzzle is not really posing at all. On the other hand, rebuses on a Tuesday? What is the world coming to?

I figured out the rebus nearly immediately in the NW corner, when I hit 21A: Well-trodden, as a path (FOO[TWO]RN), already having the FOO___ in place. It made GRAN[TWO]OD make a lot more sense.

Everywhere I turned, it seemed I was running into rebuses. But what makes me most likely to say "I[TWO]RKS" is the little animation that popped up when I finished the puzzle, showing that the five rebus squares were placed in the shape of the number 2. 

And all because it's taking place on 2/22/22. Happy multiples of 2 day!

Also surprising was the answer at 41A: Shortcut to highlighting the addressbar on most internet browsers (FSIX). Most of the time, I'll see that written out as F6, rather than F-six. Apparently, in Chrome, the shortcut is command-L. 

Questionably the North Pole?

I'll note some answers I liked, such as GRENDEL (reminding me of Harvard Square), A[TWO]RLDSEND, and OPERAGOER. That last one is something I would like to do again soon. I have been to see two staged musicals and a film in the last month, so little to complain about here.

Does anyone still SHIRR an egg? I wouldn't know how.

- Colum