0:14:50
I like this theme of "Water, water everywhere." Who doesn't love a Coleridge reference right in the middle of his crossword puzzle? And the water molecules... well, I don't know about you, but I liked those too. It's just a pity that one of Handel's "Water Music" suites isn't in EMAJ (19A: Key of Haydn's Symphony No. 12 or 29).
Perhaps I'm reading too much into things again, but I enjoyed the other watery references in this puzzle, like HOTBATH (7D: Relaxing conclusion to a long, hard day), ARUBA (One of the ABC Islands), and the unusual clue, 58A: Down a sub, e.g. for EAT.
In other news, I liked seeing TYCHOBRAHE (29D: Astronomer who coined the word "nova") (questionable) in the grid, as well as EXHORT (37A: Urge strongly), and PATHOS (49D: Pity). And I loved the clever, musical-ish clue for SEEME (53D: Note accompanying an F, maybe).
All in all, a pretty clean puzzle, and a fun one, right up to the ending of 73A: "This looks bad!" (OHGOD). IMHO (68A: Texter's disclaimer), that was hilarious.
- Horace
p.s. Starting today (and when we remember), we're going to assign a cumulative score for each constructor with at least two puzzles in this blog. This is the second puzzle we've seen by Jeff Chen, and we are happy to report that he is now 2-0.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013, Joel Fagliano
0:15:32
This one was all over the place and, unless we're missing something, themeless. It had odd variants like HOODOO (22D: Jinx) instead of the more common voodoo, and AWMAN (9D: "This is the worst!") instead of the all-to-common adman. And we've got UNAPT (40D: Not fitting) (don't we wish!), and STET and ESTE... no "eel," but then, you can't have everything.
On the plus side, we could find some enjoyment in the utter absurdity of UCANTTOUCHTHIS (51A: Signature song for MC Hammer) crossing OHOLYNIGHT (31D: Carol with the words "hear the angel voices"). It's May, in 2013, right? And not December, 1990?
We liked NEATNIKS (39D: Tidy types), SLOSH (65A: Wade noisily), and MEME (18A: Viral phenomenon), and the puzzle did require a little more effort than most Mondays (we actually got to pass it back and forth once or twice!), so on balance, it comes out slightly ahead.
- Horace
p.s. We did miss the theme. The answers for 20A, 3D, 38A, 31D, and 51A start with the five vowels.
p.p.s. I almost liked it better before learning that.
This one was all over the place and, unless we're missing something, themeless. It had odd variants like HOODOO (22D: Jinx) instead of the more common voodoo, and AWMAN (9D: "This is the worst!") instead of the all-to-common adman. And we've got UNAPT (40D: Not fitting) (don't we wish!), and STET and ESTE... no "eel," but then, you can't have everything.
On the plus side, we could find some enjoyment in the utter absurdity of UCANTTOUCHTHIS (51A: Signature song for MC Hammer) crossing OHOLYNIGHT (31D: Carol with the words "hear the angel voices"). It's May, in 2013, right? And not December, 1990?
We liked NEATNIKS (39D: Tidy types), SLOSH (65A: Wade noisily), and MEME (18A: Viral phenomenon), and the puzzle did require a little more effort than most Mondays (we actually got to pass it back and forth once or twice!), so on balance, it comes out slightly ahead.
- Horace
p.s. We did miss the theme. The answers for 20A, 3D, 38A, 31D, and 51A start with the five vowels.
p.p.s. I almost liked it better before learning that.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013, Alan Arbesfeld
1:32:54
CRUNCH TIME
Another fun Sunday puzzle. Even though there were several answers that I just didn't know (ORIBIS (30A: Small African antelopes) (how many of those are there?), OYER (49A: Court hearing) (wanted "oyez"), ESNE (35A: Feudal laborer) (wanted SERF, of course), SEATO (89A: Defense grp. that disbanded in 1977), RUDI (105A: Designer Gernreich), MRES (125A: G. I. rations) - and that's just the acrosses! - we still enjoyed this one. And have you ever heard "tapas" in the singular? (114A: Toledo tidbit / TAPA) or heard anyone say 87A: Not give ____ ARAP? (I like how the C sitting just above tries to correct the saying...) As I look through it now, there really does seem to be a lot of crosswordese, but even with all that, we still smiled a lot more than we frowned while solving this.
77A: Jobs in technology (STEVE), 39D: Nursery gift? (GREEN[THU]MB), 106D: 50-page book, maybe? (U[SAT]LAS), 6A: Turning point at the station? (GASCAP), and 43A: Food to go? (STE[WED]EDPRUNES) were all quite good. And Frannie was happy to get ONEON (13D: Situation after a leadoff single) on her own.
Enjoyed the pairings of SPATS (1A: Fancy footwear) and SPATE (75D: Flurry), and 22D: Amérique du ___ (SUD) and ETAT[SUN]IS (94A: ____ d'Amérique). I'm never sure, but I like to think that pairs like that are done on purpose. Maybe thinking that spats/spate was intentional is pushing it, but, well, I'm still entertained...
Lastly, ONELLAMA (59A: Priest, in an Ogden Nash poem) was a gimme for us, as my dad likes to recite that poem from time to time. Any puzzle that mentions Nash, SYD (5D: Barrett of Pink Floyd), BETTY[FRI]EDAN (93A: Big name in feminism), and CRIS (111D: Sportscaster Collinsworth) is all right in our book.
- Horace
CRUNCH TIME
Another fun Sunday puzzle. Even though there were several answers that I just didn't know (ORIBIS (30A: Small African antelopes) (how many of those are there?), OYER (49A: Court hearing) (wanted "oyez"), ESNE (35A: Feudal laborer) (wanted SERF, of course), SEATO (89A: Defense grp. that disbanded in 1977), RUDI (105A: Designer Gernreich), MRES (125A: G. I. rations) - and that's just the acrosses! - we still enjoyed this one. And have you ever heard "tapas" in the singular? (114A: Toledo tidbit / TAPA) or heard anyone say 87A: Not give ____ ARAP? (I like how the C sitting just above tries to correct the saying...) As I look through it now, there really does seem to be a lot of crosswordese, but even with all that, we still smiled a lot more than we frowned while solving this.
77A: Jobs in technology (STEVE), 39D: Nursery gift? (GREEN[THU]MB), 106D: 50-page book, maybe? (U[SAT]LAS), 6A: Turning point at the station? (GASCAP), and 43A: Food to go? (STE[WED]EDPRUNES) were all quite good. And Frannie was happy to get ONEON (13D: Situation after a leadoff single) on her own.
Enjoyed the pairings of SPATS (1A: Fancy footwear) and SPATE (75D: Flurry), and 22D: Amérique du ___ (SUD) and ETAT[SUN]IS (94A: ____ d'Amérique). I'm never sure, but I like to think that pairs like that are done on purpose. Maybe thinking that spats/spate was intentional is pushing it, but, well, I'm still entertained...
Lastly, ONELLAMA (59A: Priest, in an Ogden Nash poem) was a gimme for us, as my dad likes to recite that poem from time to time. Any puzzle that mentions Nash, SYD (5D: Barrett of Pink Floyd), BETTY[FRI]EDAN (93A: Big name in feminism), and CRIS (111D: Sportscaster Collinsworth) is all right in our book.
- Horace
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013, Doug Peterson and Brad Wilber
0:56:32
Not bad, but a few things left me a little cold. Let's start with the good.
Frannie thought of RIPVANWINKLE (25A: Ne'er-do-well who stayed out for a long time?) pretty much immediately, and from there things flowed pretty well. 15A: Yarn suppliers? (RACONTEURS) was nice, but INARTISTIC (17A: Lacking in drawing power?), while given a good clue, just felt a little too, I don't know... inartistic? Enjoyed TRICE (1D: Twinkling), and INTERIM (5D: Stopgap).
We were stranded for a little while over in the NE until Frannie got the very nice, old-timey SKATEKEYS (12D: Quaint toe clamp tighteners) (remember those?), and SOLARLAMP (13D: Green light?) eventually dawned on me. ASST (11A: Right hand: Abbr.) took forever to see, and I loved TKOS (16A: What severe cuts may result in, briefly) when that finally hit me.
I am a little surprised that neither of us has ever heard of NURSERATCHED (44A: #5 of the American Film Institute's all-time top 100 movie villains), but not at all surprised that the same is true of OLIN (55A: "Alias" actress), REDD (53D: "Tennessee Waltz" lyricist ____ Stewart), and SYMS (38A: Sylvia of jazz).
It's nice that they came up with something other than "Blackbird" for ANI, and the clue 51D: Impressionism? means that I can't hate APERY too, too much, but, well, I don't know... it was fine. It wasn't great.
- Horace
Not bad, but a few things left me a little cold. Let's start with the good.
Frannie thought of RIPVANWINKLE (25A: Ne'er-do-well who stayed out for a long time?) pretty much immediately, and from there things flowed pretty well. 15A: Yarn suppliers? (RACONTEURS) was nice, but INARTISTIC (17A: Lacking in drawing power?), while given a good clue, just felt a little too, I don't know... inartistic? Enjoyed TRICE (1D: Twinkling), and INTERIM (5D: Stopgap).
We were stranded for a little while over in the NE until Frannie got the very nice, old-timey SKATEKEYS (12D: Quaint toe clamp tighteners) (remember those?), and SOLARLAMP (13D: Green light?) eventually dawned on me. ASST (11A: Right hand: Abbr.) took forever to see, and I loved TKOS (16A: What severe cuts may result in, briefly) when that finally hit me.
I am a little surprised that neither of us has ever heard of NURSERATCHED (44A: #5 of the American Film Institute's all-time top 100 movie villains), but not at all surprised that the same is true of OLIN (55A: "Alias" actress), REDD (53D: "Tennessee Waltz" lyricist ____ Stewart), and SYMS (38A: Sylvia of jazz).
It's nice that they came up with something other than "Blackbird" for ANI, and the clue 51D: Impressionism? means that I can't hate APERY too, too much, but, well, I don't know... it was fine. It wasn't great.
- Horace
Friday, May 3, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013, David Kwong
0:40:38
As Frannie put it, this puzzle "lacked afflatus." 10A: ____- car (RENTA) and 13A: "____ it?" (ISNT) - boring, and just kind of arbitrary seeming. And consider these four stripes across the puzzle: DAE, KFC, DAG; LAE, AAH, OSHA; STEN, FEN, ENG; DET, AGO, FUR. It just doesn't feel like it's hitting on all cylinders.
I liked certain pieces of it. Enjoyed the clue for HAL (7D: 1968 space movie villain), and I didn't mind 14D: Staying power (LEGS). 42D: Passed out (DEALT) was nice. And I generally like classical references, like ELECTRA and ORESTES (mythological brother and sister), but the Latin was a little drab. IPSE (59D: ____ dixit), and IDEM (instead of IBID) for 56D: Ditto, in footnotes.
The one clue I kept thinking of after we finished was 18D: Cappuccino choice. We both drink a lot of coffee, and we thought to ourselves, "What could that possibly be?" And eventually the answer, which was really the only answer it could possibly be without being "small" or "large" (which would have been terrible) was DECAF. How is it that we can both be so stumped by such an obvious answer? Perhaps there's a research paper in the reason somewhere.
Overall, too much boring WNET and YAWED, and not enough sort-of-clever 62D: It may be said with a raised hand and 48D: Feline in un jardin zoologique.
- Horace
As Frannie put it, this puzzle "lacked afflatus." 10A: ____- car (RENTA) and 13A: "____ it?" (ISNT) - boring, and just kind of arbitrary seeming. And consider these four stripes across the puzzle: DAE, KFC, DAG; LAE, AAH, OSHA; STEN, FEN, ENG; DET, AGO, FUR. It just doesn't feel like it's hitting on all cylinders.
I liked certain pieces of it. Enjoyed the clue for HAL (7D: 1968 space movie villain), and I didn't mind 14D: Staying power (LEGS). 42D: Passed out (DEALT) was nice. And I generally like classical references, like ELECTRA and ORESTES (mythological brother and sister), but the Latin was a little drab. IPSE (59D: ____ dixit), and IDEM (instead of IBID) for 56D: Ditto, in footnotes.
The one clue I kept thinking of after we finished was 18D: Cappuccino choice. We both drink a lot of coffee, and we thought to ourselves, "What could that possibly be?" And eventually the answer, which was really the only answer it could possibly be without being "small" or "large" (which would have been terrible) was DECAF. How is it that we can both be so stumped by such an obvious answer? Perhaps there's a research paper in the reason somewhere.
Overall, too much boring WNET and YAWED, and not enough sort-of-clever 62D: It may be said with a raised hand and 48D: Feline in un jardin zoologique.
- Horace
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013, Josh Knapp
1:11:17
Technically, a DNF, but really, we did finish, but we had an error. Shouldn't there be a slightly mitigated title for that sort of thing? DNFC (Did Not Finish Correctly?), or DNFCUBIOAEBNTEW (Did Not Finish Correctly Until Being Informed Of An Error But Not Told Exactly Where?... ok, maybe that's a little cumbersome.) I mean, we eventually figured it out, but it took about twenty-five minutes for us to discover that CHACO (48A: New Mexico's ____ Canyon) isn't spelled Chaqa. The Q is sort of understandable, maybe, but I don't know how Frannie let my misspelling of WONTONS (44D: Soup dumplings) stand for so long.
Other than that, we liked the puzzle just fine. Decent theme, and some fun clues and answers. Liked seeing ROFL (46D: Modern response to hilarity) in there, and COPIOUS (2D: Plentiful), EXISTENT (6D: In the real world), INSTEAD (22D: Alternatively), and AMIDST (47D: In), are all semi-normal words that are not often included in puzzles. At least not in my limited experience. SCREWIT (38D: "Forget that!") was unusual, and NITWITS (21A: Mental lightweights) was nice.
MELVIN (8D: Director Van Peebles), 50A: "American Pie" actress Tara (REID), and SAOTOME (12D: Island off the Gabonese coast) are all only vaguely familiar, but that's ok, I guess. You can't know everything.
- Horace
Technically, a DNF, but really, we did finish, but we had an error. Shouldn't there be a slightly mitigated title for that sort of thing? DNFC (Did Not Finish Correctly?), or DNFCUBIOAEBNTEW (Did Not Finish Correctly Until Being Informed Of An Error But Not Told Exactly Where?... ok, maybe that's a little cumbersome.) I mean, we eventually figured it out, but it took about twenty-five minutes for us to discover that CHACO (48A: New Mexico's ____ Canyon) isn't spelled Chaqa. The Q is sort of understandable, maybe, but I don't know how Frannie let my misspelling of WONTONS (44D: Soup dumplings) stand for so long.
Other than that, we liked the puzzle just fine. Decent theme, and some fun clues and answers. Liked seeing ROFL (46D: Modern response to hilarity) in there, and COPIOUS (2D: Plentiful), EXISTENT (6D: In the real world), INSTEAD (22D: Alternatively), and AMIDST (47D: In), are all semi-normal words that are not often included in puzzles. At least not in my limited experience. SCREWIT (38D: "Forget that!") was unusual, and NITWITS (21A: Mental lightweights) was nice.
MELVIN (8D: Director Van Peebles), 50A: "American Pie" actress Tara (REID), and SAOTOME (12D: Island off the Gabonese coast) are all only vaguely familiar, but that's ok, I guess. You can't know everything.
- Horace
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013, Paula Gamache
0:29:58
An interesting puzzle. Frannie was bothered by AGLARE, AFLOW, APLOT, ALEVEL, and others, and I tend to dislike brand names (PURELL, AFLAC, PIELS), FELID (34A: Member of the cat family) is somewhat painful, and it felt a little heavy on the awkward small stuff, but even with all those complaints, I still came out with an ok feeling about the puzzle. I didn't love it, but I think it was kind of a cool idea.
Some of the clueing was nice. 38A: Gray head? (LEE) took us a while to figure out even after we had all the letters (Think "Civil War"). 61D: Short winter holiday? (XMAS) was cryptic-ish. And we liked seeing LUMMOX in there. I'm going to have to look up 58A: Clodhopper, as I wasn't really sure of that word before. One of Frannie's favorites was 68A: Look like a creep (LEER).
Again, the theme was cool, and we liked the symmetrical HULAS and ALOHA. Some good stuff, some bad stuff. How's that for thorough, critical insight?
- Horace
An interesting puzzle. Frannie was bothered by AGLARE, AFLOW, APLOT, ALEVEL, and others, and I tend to dislike brand names (PURELL, AFLAC, PIELS), FELID (34A: Member of the cat family) is somewhat painful, and it felt a little heavy on the awkward small stuff, but even with all those complaints, I still came out with an ok feeling about the puzzle. I didn't love it, but I think it was kind of a cool idea.
Some of the clueing was nice. 38A: Gray head? (LEE) took us a while to figure out even after we had all the letters (Think "Civil War"). 61D: Short winter holiday? (XMAS) was cryptic-ish. And we liked seeing LUMMOX in there. I'm going to have to look up 58A: Clodhopper, as I wasn't really sure of that word before. One of Frannie's favorites was 68A: Look like a creep (LEER).
Again, the theme was cool, and we liked the symmetrical HULAS and ALOHA. Some good stuff, some bad stuff. How's that for thorough, critical insight?
- Horace
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