0:07:48
Nice crossing pairs of 15s and 13s, and a two in black squares right in the middle of the grid. Plus, the corners are full of theme material, too - three are 2-related words, and the last has a 2-related clue and references JANUS, the two-faced god who looks backward and forward. Plus, is it just me, or are there a lot of double letters? SOO, SWOONED, TUSSLE, ERR, STEEL, SNOOZE, LAPP, MEESE, and the theme homonym TOO. A very nice accomplishment, in my opinion. All that and the fill is quite good to boot! And is it a pangram?! No, not quite. No F, K or X, but there are plenty of high-point letters all the same.
I was not familiar with ANOUK (2D: Actress Aimée), and I needed the cross to change "alef" to ALIF (58D: First Arabic letter) (Arabic, not Hebrew!), but really, those aren't complaints.
This might be my favorite Monday puzzle ever.
- Horace
Monday, April 7, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014, Patrick Berry
0:45:10
At Times
In an odd turn of events, Horace and I solved this puzzle together alongside two of our co-solvers and frequent commenters. They were working on paper while we applied ourselves via the app. There was a general moratorium on comments while the solving was underway, which was more or less respected by the parties involved. Once all had finished, general discussion ensued, which leaves me with very little to say here and now. But, in case there are other readers out there, here goes.
I, for one, enjoyed the theme today. My favorite of the theme answers was 74A. Farmer, at times? (CHICKENTENDER) followed by 47A. Old-fashioned barber, at times? (FOAMRUBBER). See, the barber rubs foam, but foam rubber is also a thing. Get it?
As a computer nerd, I was pleasantly surprised to see MACRO (62A. Software user's shortcut). I also enjoyed 9D. Person moving against traffic? (NARC). 56D. Goes to court? (ASKOUT) is also real cute.
There was general consensus that 104D. Expiration notice (OBIT) was one of the best answers in the puzzle. Another popular item was 57A. Offensive line striker (CENSOR). Very nice.
Altogether (ha!), it was a fun Sunday puzzle, which has been a little hard to come by lately. Thank you Mr. Berry!
~Frannie
At Times
In an odd turn of events, Horace and I solved this puzzle together alongside two of our co-solvers and frequent commenters. They were working on paper while we applied ourselves via the app. There was a general moratorium on comments while the solving was underway, which was more or less respected by the parties involved. Once all had finished, general discussion ensued, which leaves me with very little to say here and now. But, in case there are other readers out there, here goes.
I, for one, enjoyed the theme today. My favorite of the theme answers was 74A. Farmer, at times? (CHICKENTENDER) followed by 47A. Old-fashioned barber, at times? (FOAMRUBBER). See, the barber rubs foam, but foam rubber is also a thing. Get it?
As a computer nerd, I was pleasantly surprised to see MACRO (62A. Software user's shortcut). I also enjoyed 9D. Person moving against traffic? (NARC). 56D. Goes to court? (ASKOUT) is also real cute.
There was general consensus that 104D. Expiration notice (OBIT) was one of the best answers in the puzzle. Another popular item was 57A. Offensive line striker (CENSOR). Very nice.
Altogether (ha!), it was a fun Sunday puzzle, which has been a little hard to come by lately. Thank you Mr. Berry!
~Frannie
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Saturday, April 5, 2014, Ashton Anderson and James Mulhern
1:01:36
A lovely Saturday grid full of interesting answers. We were saved from a DNF thanks to Frannie putting in the last A of AYLA (24A: Cro-Magnon orphan of literature) and ALEXA (9D: Internet traffic statistics company). We were once acquainted with one of the founders of ALEXA and the Internet Archive, by the way. And yes, I just name-dropped without actually name-dropping.
But back to the grid! PANOPLY (38D: Impressive range), ANATOLIA (36D: It was home to two Wonders of the Ancient World) (The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus), PATTYCAKE (44A: It involves hand-to-hand coordination), MAKEBANK (36D: Earn a load of money, in modern lingo)... all great. The clue for (the full name) TOMKITE (32A: U.S. Open champion whose last name is a toy) was great. And I liked how LEGALIZEIT (18A: Debut Peter Tosh album, and a rallying cry for pot smokers) crossed REEFER (12D: Joint).
So much good. DOOFUS/REEFER/AEROBE all side-by-side... there's almost no slop at all! There's that one square... we got it, but even if we hadn't, I think I'd still love this one.
- Horace
A lovely Saturday grid full of interesting answers. We were saved from a DNF thanks to Frannie putting in the last A of AYLA (24A: Cro-Magnon orphan of literature) and ALEXA (9D: Internet traffic statistics company). We were once acquainted with one of the founders of ALEXA and the Internet Archive, by the way. And yes, I just name-dropped without actually name-dropping.
But back to the grid! PANOPLY (38D: Impressive range), ANATOLIA (36D: It was home to two Wonders of the Ancient World) (The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus), PATTYCAKE (44A: It involves hand-to-hand coordination), MAKEBANK (36D: Earn a load of money, in modern lingo)... all great. The clue for (the full name) TOMKITE (32A: U.S. Open champion whose last name is a toy) was great. And I liked how LEGALIZEIT (18A: Debut Peter Tosh album, and a rallying cry for pot smokers) crossed REEFER (12D: Joint).
So much good. DOOFUS/REEFER/AEROBE all side-by-side... there's almost no slop at all! There's that one square... we got it, but even if we hadn't, I think I'd still love this one.
- Horace
Friday, April 4, 2014
Friday, April 4, 2014, 2014, Martin Ashwood-Smith and Joe Krozel
1:06:07
Today we had help from ET59 on this double quad-stack. It was a bit uneven, but many of the 15s are quite nice today. SINGINGTOGETHER (18A: Doing the rounds?) and SACRIFICIALLAMB (58A: One given up for good?) are both clever, and others are perfectly normal. The top and the bottom are the weakest. Frannie and I weren't familiar with ADELAIDESLAMENT (16A: Frank Loesser show tune), but luckily ET59 was.
Lots of names I wasn't familiar with today, like ADAIR (2D: "Love and Death on Long Island" novelist Gilbert) (you know it's obscure when you need to give the first name), LANI (5D: Activist Guinier), SAMMYFAIN (30D: Songwriters Hall of Fame member who wrote "April Love"), SMOOT (56D: Utah senator who co-sponsored a tariff act), and maybe even a few others. And while we're at it, TERNES (3D: Lead-tin alloys)?
EXORCIST (36D: One getting rid of possessions?) was expecially nice, no? And I also liked ELIGIBLE (4D: Unmarried, say).
OK, I'm very tired. That's all I've got.
- Horace
Today we had help from ET59 on this double quad-stack. It was a bit uneven, but many of the 15s are quite nice today. SINGINGTOGETHER (18A: Doing the rounds?) and SACRIFICIALLAMB (58A: One given up for good?) are both clever, and others are perfectly normal. The top and the bottom are the weakest. Frannie and I weren't familiar with ADELAIDESLAMENT (16A: Frank Loesser show tune), but luckily ET59 was.
Lots of names I wasn't familiar with today, like ADAIR (2D: "Love and Death on Long Island" novelist Gilbert) (you know it's obscure when you need to give the first name), LANI (5D: Activist Guinier), SAMMYFAIN (30D: Songwriters Hall of Fame member who wrote "April Love"), SMOOT (56D: Utah senator who co-sponsored a tariff act), and maybe even a few others. And while we're at it, TERNES (3D: Lead-tin alloys)?
EXORCIST (36D: One getting rid of possessions?) was expecially nice, no? And I also liked ELIGIBLE (4D: Unmarried, say).
OK, I'm very tired. That's all I've got.
- Horace
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014, David Benkof and Jeff Chen
0:19:10
So the theme is "Cha-cha-cha Changes?" Four theme answers, all beginning with "CHA?" Sure. Why not?*
As Huygens has remarked in the past, it seems a little odd to have seasonal references off-season, and 17A: December display (CHANUKAHMENORAH) falls into that category. It's not bad fill, it's just a little odd in April. CHAOSTHEORY (24A: Mathematical field that includes the so-called "butterfly effect"), on the other hand, is a favorite subject, so I'm quite happy with that. And CHARLOTTEBRONTE (38A: One of literature's "three sisters") is welcome, too. Coincidentally, I just photographed several first editions of the Bronte sisters, many of which were attributed to their alter-egos, the Bell brothers. Charlotte's was "Currer." Lastly, I suppose, I should note the "Huygens material" clue of the final theme entry CHAINSMOKED (44A: Went from butt to butt?).
In non-fill, I love seeing LAILAALI (62A: Boxer who competed on "Dancing With the Stars") in full. It looks so crazy! I've never heard of SHAN (50D: Young-adult fiction author Darren), and BAAS (53D: Farm cries) isn't the greatest, but on the whole I thought this was a pretty clean grid. I actually like the "quote clue" GETTHIS (22D: "Would you believe …") but maybe only because it reminds me of Maxwell Smart. The paired "Zodiac symbols" were nice (I'm a RAM, myself), and the multiple compounds FANBOY, COPCAR, RIBCAGE and LABRAT were fine with me. Overall, a decent Thursday.
- Horace
* I feel a bit foolish for having missed this, but the real theme is the difference in the sounds of the "CH"s in the four theme entries. I stand corrected and humbled, and I like this even more now that I realize what they've done.
So the theme is "Cha-cha-cha Changes?" Four theme answers, all beginning with "CHA?" Sure. Why not?*
As Huygens has remarked in the past, it seems a little odd to have seasonal references off-season, and 17A: December display (CHANUKAHMENORAH) falls into that category. It's not bad fill, it's just a little odd in April. CHAOSTHEORY (24A: Mathematical field that includes the so-called "butterfly effect"), on the other hand, is a favorite subject, so I'm quite happy with that. And CHARLOTTEBRONTE (38A: One of literature's "three sisters") is welcome, too. Coincidentally, I just photographed several first editions of the Bronte sisters, many of which were attributed to their alter-egos, the Bell brothers. Charlotte's was "Currer." Lastly, I suppose, I should note the "Huygens material" clue of the final theme entry CHAINSMOKED (44A: Went from butt to butt?).
In non-fill, I love seeing LAILAALI (62A: Boxer who competed on "Dancing With the Stars") in full. It looks so crazy! I've never heard of SHAN (50D: Young-adult fiction author Darren), and BAAS (53D: Farm cries) isn't the greatest, but on the whole I thought this was a pretty clean grid. I actually like the "quote clue" GETTHIS (22D: "Would you believe …") but maybe only because it reminds me of Maxwell Smart. The paired "Zodiac symbols" were nice (I'm a RAM, myself), and the multiple compounds FANBOY, COPCAR, RIBCAGE and LABRAT were fine with me. Overall, a decent Thursday.
- Horace
* I feel a bit foolish for having missed this, but the real theme is the difference in the sounds of the "CH"s in the four theme entries. I stand corrected and humbled, and I like this even more now that I realize what they've done.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Wednesday, April 2, 2014, David Levinson Wilk
0:10:22
Another good one - it's been a good week so far!
Who doesn't like anagrams? Sam Grana, that's who! (Just kidding, Sam, if you exist! (its an anagram)) But seriously, who? We're almost always fans of a goofy theme, and this seems just perfect for a Wednesday. SWORDHILT (17A: Weapon part that's out of this world?) was the least wacky, and because it was the first one I got, it made it difficult to see what was going on. I can no longer remember if I figured it out or if I just kept going and figured it out with the next one, but WETHOODS (17D: Drenched gangsters who are out of the woods?) is so madcap that it had to be figured out. And while we're over there, why is it ECOTONE (10D: Environmental transition area) and not "Eco-zone?" Well… ok… the internets tell me it's from eco + tonos (Greek) meaning "tension." So, it's a place where ecologies are in tension. OK, maybe now I'll remember it.
And one more thing over in that NE quadrant - POTOK (19A: Chaim who created Asher Lev). Never heard of him.
Oh, and speaking of ECOTONEs, I liked seeing JOHNMUIR (5D: Sierra Club founder) in the grid. I didn't particularly like seeing ARMPIT (48A: Lady Schick target) though. And although it didn't bother me, I was a little surprised to see NSFW (59D: Office-inappropriate, in web shorthand) in there.
So there were some oddities, and some partials, but the theme was good, and there's some very good non-theme fill (ASTHMA (54D: Inhaler user's malady), ORIGAMI (24A: Paper tiger, maybe), and others), so overall, a success!
- Horace
Another good one - it's been a good week so far!
Who doesn't like anagrams? Sam Grana, that's who! (Just kidding, Sam, if you exist! (its an anagram)) But seriously, who? We're almost always fans of a goofy theme, and this seems just perfect for a Wednesday. SWORDHILT (17A: Weapon part that's out of this world?) was the least wacky, and because it was the first one I got, it made it difficult to see what was going on. I can no longer remember if I figured it out or if I just kept going and figured it out with the next one, but WETHOODS (17D: Drenched gangsters who are out of the woods?) is so madcap that it had to be figured out. And while we're over there, why is it ECOTONE (10D: Environmental transition area) and not "Eco-zone?" Well… ok… the internets tell me it's from eco + tonos (Greek) meaning "tension." So, it's a place where ecologies are in tension. OK, maybe now I'll remember it.
And one more thing over in that NE quadrant - POTOK (19A: Chaim who created Asher Lev). Never heard of him.
Oh, and speaking of ECOTONEs, I liked seeing JOHNMUIR (5D: Sierra Club founder) in the grid. I didn't particularly like seeing ARMPIT (48A: Lady Schick target) though. And although it didn't bother me, I was a little surprised to see NSFW (59D: Office-inappropriate, in web shorthand) in there.
So there were some oddities, and some partials, but the theme was good, and there's some very good non-theme fill (ASTHMA (54D: Inhaler user's malady), ORIGAMI (24A: Paper tiger, maybe), and others), so overall, a success!
- Horace
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014, Andrew Reynolds
0:10:41
I love it! I did this last night, very late and very tired, and I didn't fully realize the theme. Today I find that the Ts have won! It was exactly BESTTHREE/OUTOFFIVE (17A: With 56-Across, common format for a wager), and how did he know that the middle T would decide it? What if I had chosen all Hs except that one? Well… I didn't. Did you?
It's a very busy day, and I don't have time to talk about how great this was right now, but I'll add more later tonight. I'll just say again, TAILS won in my puzzle. Did anyone get HEADS??
OK, I'm back now. Colum, our frequent commenter, got all Hs, and HEADS! I think that the "best three out of five" thing is fair enough, especially with a coin toss. If someone says, "Let's flip a coin for it" and then loses, I can imagine them saying "Best two out of three" or, if they lose that, too, "Best three out of five." I don't have any problem with that, I just wondered if it were statistically likely that people would put in some Ts and some Hs, and then end up having the last one settle it, like we did. Also, what if people go with MELT (32D: Diner menu item) instead of MALT, but RILE (28D: Antagonize) instead of RIDE? I suppose they'll eventually choose a T or an H to start 37A: and then they'll make the necessary changes... Hmm... very complex.
I'd take a lot of slop with a malleable puzzle like this, but I don't have to, because there isn't much. I don't love SKAT (5A: Game with a 32-card deck) as fill, but maybe only because I don't know the game. ENOS (13D: Officer on TV's "The Dukes of Hazzard"), on the other hand, might bother some folks, seeing as it's, what? 25 or 30-year-old bad TV trivia, but it's right in my wheelhouse (I knew it immediately since "Hogg" was ruled out by a cross) so I don't mind it a bit. UNPIN and MISDO aren't the absolute greatest, but they're not terribly terrible either, and I kind of like BENDY (60A: Like some straws), because who doesn't say that?
Again, I loved it, but it worked for me. Colum didn't love it, maybe partly because it didn't work for him. Anybody else?
- Horace
I love it! I did this last night, very late and very tired, and I didn't fully realize the theme. Today I find that the Ts have won! It was exactly BESTTHREE/OUTOFFIVE (17A: With 56-Across, common format for a wager), and how did he know that the middle T would decide it? What if I had chosen all Hs except that one? Well… I didn't. Did you?
It's a very busy day, and I don't have time to talk about how great this was right now, but I'll add more later tonight. I'll just say again, TAILS won in my puzzle. Did anyone get HEADS??
OK, I'm back now. Colum, our frequent commenter, got all Hs, and HEADS! I think that the "best three out of five" thing is fair enough, especially with a coin toss. If someone says, "Let's flip a coin for it" and then loses, I can imagine them saying "Best two out of three" or, if they lose that, too, "Best three out of five." I don't have any problem with that, I just wondered if it were statistically likely that people would put in some Ts and some Hs, and then end up having the last one settle it, like we did. Also, what if people go with MELT (32D: Diner menu item) instead of MALT, but RILE (28D: Antagonize) instead of RIDE? I suppose they'll eventually choose a T or an H to start 37A: and then they'll make the necessary changes... Hmm... very complex.
I'd take a lot of slop with a malleable puzzle like this, but I don't have to, because there isn't much. I don't love SKAT (5A: Game with a 32-card deck) as fill, but maybe only because I don't know the game. ENOS (13D: Officer on TV's "The Dukes of Hazzard"), on the other hand, might bother some folks, seeing as it's, what? 25 or 30-year-old bad TV trivia, but it's right in my wheelhouse (I knew it immediately since "Hogg" was ruled out by a cross) so I don't mind it a bit. UNPIN and MISDO aren't the absolute greatest, but they're not terribly terrible either, and I kind of like BENDY (60A: Like some straws), because who doesn't say that?
Again, I loved it, but it worked for me. Colum didn't love it, maybe partly because it didn't work for him. Anybody else?
- Horace
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