Saturday, February 7, 2015, Byron Walden

FWOE (1:08:07)

It was a hard-fought victory today, or so we thought, until we didn't get the "Congratulations!" screen. Turns out we needed the Latin plural for AORTAE (8D: Arterial tree components) and NEWME instead of "new Ms." for 25A: Moniker after a lifestyle change. I don't feel too bad about it, though, because that's got to be one of the weakest squares in a grid filled with a lot of great answers.

Chunky corners held such uncommon answers as BROUHAHA (18A: Hurly-burly), COALESCE (12D: Come together), SEAGLASS (14D: Reclaimed material used in jewelry) (I'm not sure I've seen any such jewelry, but I am a big fan of sea glass. Usually I just see it in jars, I guess.), TVDINNER (50A: Banquet offering) (Hidden capital!), GRIPPE (1D: Producer of a cough and shivers), and RUCHED (2D: Decoratively pleated and gathered, as some bridal gowns) (Thanks, Frannie!), to name just six.

The East was easier than the West for us, today, and held such lovely clues as 49A: Part of a suspended sentence? (EMDASH), 44A: Ball boy? (DESIARNAZJR), 39D: Good for rushes, say (MARSHY), and 32A: Providers of housewarmings? (BOILERS).

Did not love KAYS (40A: Some jewelry stores, informally), and although there are quite a few proper names, I didn't mind it as much as I sometimes do. Although, BOBKERREY, PIM, and HOBBS, are not exactly on the tip of most people's tongues.

Thumbs up overall.

- Horace

Friday, February 6, 2015, Kyle Mahowald

0:36:29

Boy, that SW corner was a toughie! Is it just me, or was LTGEN (45A: Geo. Washington was the U.S.'s first) not what you were expecting? I don't like the way SNAP is clued (55A: Get the picture), and CITRON (39D: Fruit historically used for medicinal purposes) isn't typically used as a fruit name in English, is it? We had "fanBOAT" for quite a while instead of AIRBOAT (42A: Everglades transport), and SCOURGES (38A: Burmese pythons in the Everglades, e.g.) took forever for me to think of, even when I had "___URGES." But, 'though it took up close to half the time, it did eventually come together, and I was very happy to see the "Congratulations!" screen. Whew!

The rest of it seemed a tad on the easy side for a Friday, but not so much so that I'm going to mention it here in the review. :) PANGAEA (32A: It underwent a long, massive breakup) went in without crosses, and Frannie finished up the SE corner before I even saw the puzzle. THISOLDTHING (36A: Question asked modestly in response to "That looks great on you") (or, to "That's some dress you got on there.") made us smile to think of Violet Bick.

Nice little inner theme of RIOT (22D: Real card), YOURETOOMUCH (27A: Comment to a card), OHGROWUP (3D: Response to a puerile joke), and the paired "Took command of" clues (1D: LED & 49A: SPEARHEADS) were fun. 

I felt a confidence beneath the grid, if I may, and was skillfully misled by nouns that I mistook for verbs, as in 11A: Book deals? (BETS) and 36D: Wear without straps (TUBETOP). I smiled at 7D; Tag base, perhaps (TREE), and was "sports fooled" by 21A: The Mariners, e.g. (PROBES), and "audio fooled" by 26A: Studio mixing equipment (PALETTES). D'oh! 

Didn't love SLUED (24D: Swung around). "Nautical term," eh? Well, I've never heard of it. And speaking of nautical terms, EXHILARATE, while being an excellent word on its own, seems a little strong for 15: Buoy. 

Overall, I'd say this gets a thumbs up. It was challenging, and it had many good pieces. 

- Horace

Thursday, February 5, 2015, Mike Buckley

0:18:27

I didn't love it. It's Thursday, and I want something more than 15-letter song names. There, I said it. Plus, the whole thing lacked sparkle. Lots of names I am not familiar with - ERIQ (16A: La Salle of "ER"), SHERRI (23A: ____ Shepherd, former co-host of "The View"), DEEDEE (42A: Clinton aide Myers), SISI (40A: Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-____), OTIS (54A: Milo's partner in film), and RAYE (8D: Madcap Martha). Sure, I should probably know at least a couple of those, and Martha Raye's name sounds familiar even if I couldn't pick her out of a lineup... and really, it's not a crime to include names I don't know, but so many of them in one puzzle? That's a crime. And speaking of names, there are even more that I did know - ADELE, MILNE, ALOU, GERARD, STIEG, KESEY, IVANA, TROI... and then you've got trade names ARNEL, EBAY, SKYY, ICEE, SALS, and ENOTES. That seems like a lot.

On the brighter side, though, I enjoyed PARISIANS (3D: French capitalists?), and ANKLES (50A: They're just over two feet) was lovely. The aforementioned IVANA (14A: Trump caller, once?) was given a funny clue, as was ALOU (33A: Giant Jesus). That last one is my favorite clue today.

But overall, I did not enjoy this one. APERS, EDENS, AVOW... blah. SQYDS (13D: Flooring measure: Abbr.) looks great, and I like the old-timeyness of WHENCE (43A: From what place), but it's not enough.

- Horace

Wednesday, February 4, 2015, Julian Lim

D.N.F.

That's right, DNF. I was stumped by 14A: Green card issuer, informally (AMEX), and I somehow convinced myself that "EnCITES" was equivalent to "inCITES," neither of which was as good as EXCITES (4D: Fires up). Sure, it's only one error, and I could have called "FWOE," but I could not figure it out before going to work, and I looked at the Crossword Fiend to see what the hell was wrong. It's a fine line, I guess, but I feel I can only call FWOE when I can quickly look at the grid and see what was wrong - and usually it's a typo. If I have to look it up, it's a DNF.

So now that we have that out of the way, I can say that it's another one of those "Wacky clues for normal things" kind of theme, and you might remember that it is a type of theme that I usually enjoy. Some of these, however, seem a little more tortured than usual. 17A: Eye an election official? (CHECKOUTCOUNTER) is a bit of a stretch. "Counter?" And 48A: Warning shouted to a lacrosse defenseman? (LOOKOUTPOINT). Yikes. TAKEOUTORDER and WORKOUTROUTINES are both solid, though. Also, all the theme answers hinge on the word "OUT," with the last answer having a bonus second occurrence of the letters. Overall, the theme gets a half-hearted thumbs up.

The fill, on the other hand, has a lot of meh. ONEA, ALII, DIY, TAS... and then there are the gratuitous plurals IOTAS, EWERS, MARKS, STYES. I don't put REARS (22A: They may be paddled) into that lot because of its fine, Huygensy clue.

The sevens are mostly good, though, with FLUNKED (43D: Didn't make the grade?), HOTPINK (47D: Popular color at Victoria's Secret), FINEART (10D: Pricey pieces), and - now that I know it - EXCITES being my favorite. The inner sevens are ok, but not great.

I don't really even mind FIEF (10A: Overlord's domain) and LIEF (42A: Happily, old-style), but I might not get too many supporters there. And isn't it odd how LIE sits just above LIEF? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Oh, I don't know... I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. Let's call it a typical Wednesday wash.

- Horace

Tuesday, February 3, 2015, Joe Krozel

0:13:50

I first looked at this just before nodding off to sleep. I figured, "It's Tuesday, it'll be a breeze," but the Across answers were slightly unusual so I switched over and started with the Downs, and somewhere about halfway through them I fell asleep. Later, when I looked at it again, I picked up where I'd left off, and by the time I got to the bottom, having seen the Across answers out of the corner of my eye the whole way, I finally picked up on it with 69A: AA*P (RETIRED), and then it all made sense.

I like it. It reminds me of that word game where you have things like 52 C. in a D., or 64 S. on a C., and it was fun trying to figure out the acronyms. For some reason, the very common ones were some of the hardest for me to think of. Like 45A: R*I (BATTED) and 13A: I*S (REVENUE), the latter of which I briefly panicked over because I didn't know LUANA (6D: Actress Patten or Anders).

Sure, we get REV and TER and TORI and DOR and RIMES (53D: Layers of frost) … but for me, a good theme can sometimes trump the fill, and I really like this theme. I like that every single Across is part of it, and as a result, there's nothing objectionable going in that direction. The Downs suffer a bit, but you still find some good there, too, like SLAKED (9D: Quenched), PINOT (7D: Wine grape variety), TEARDROPS (20D: Things "on my guitar" in a 2008 Taylor Swift hit) (I don't know the song, and got it from crosses, but I still like it as fill), and ECCE (62D: Behold, to Cicero). I'm a sucker for Latin fill.

So anyway, as you can see, I enjoyed it. Hope you did too.

- Horace

p.s. ONTARIO? (17A: H*MES). What the?

Monday, February 2, 2015, Jeffrey Wechsler

0:05:59

It's all about NYC in the NYTX today. THEBIGAPPLE's (34A: Empire State Building locale ... or a hint to three letters in 16-, 19-, 52-, and 57-Across) locale gave me a little trouble at first, as I first thought "34th Street? ... 5th Avenue? ... How are they going to work either of those in?" But no, they went with the more general "NYC," which all theme answers contain. And they're all common enough. I particularly like DESTINYCALLS (19A: "I must do this") for some reason (even though it's rare that I like "quotation mark" clues), and TONYCURTIS (16A: "Some Like It Hot" actor) (no, not that kind of "quotation mark" clue...) makes me smile to remember an ongoing argument that I have with Frannie and one of my brothers as to who made the more attractive female. I used to favor Jack Lemon, but Rich liked Tony Curtis. I can't remember which one Frannie chose.

In non-theme material, I am happy to finally know the source of a phrase common to my youth WHATSMYLINE (23D: TV show that popularized the phrase "Is it bigger than a breadbox?"). I remember playing a version of "20 Questions" on long car trips, and we always started with that question. I just assumed it was something people said. And perhaps it was before the show, too, but everyone - or at least everyone over 55 - now associates it with that show. OK. Too much on that topic, maybe... Forgive me, I'm just getting back into this reviewing stuff...

Not too much junk today. A few too many proper nouns in the NE, maybe, but nothing too bad, I guess. I liked seeing AMY (21D: Tan who wrote "The Joy Luck Club") in the grid, and who doesn't like WAFFLES (38D: Dimpled breakfast items)?

Favorite clue: 47A: Aioli, mostly (VOWELS). Who else put "garlic" in right away?

A better Monday than usual, in my opinion.

- Horace

Sunday, February 1, 2015, David Steinberg

This n' That

Overall, I thought this was a more "normal" Steinberg puzzle, making it a good fit for Sunday. My reaction to the theme was hot 'n' cold. I liked 71A. Venti, vignt or zwanzig? (FOREIGNTWENTY), but was less fond of 17D Feathers, pointy bill, long legs, etc.? (HERONMAKEUP).

There were some fun clues, like 28A. Square meal? (RAVIOLI), 59A. Man of letters? (SAJAK), 2D. Three-vowel word that sounds like a fourth vowel (EAU), and 122D. Bit of old French bread (ECU). I liked BUFF (24D. Aficionado), FOSSIL (9D. Old Fogy), and FLORID (40A. Red-faced) in the center north segment, and their neighbor, 15D. Unceremonious removal (HEAVEHO). I enjoyed seeing Mr. Asimov mentioned (39D. Like Isaac Asimov), but it took some crosses before I knew what to enter (PROLIFIC) as he did so many things.

As happens with some regularity, I was duped by the clue that refers to one of its own letters, as in 111D. Circular opening? (SOFTC). When will I learn? The only clue/answer pair I can remember not liking was 104A. Like a dutiful sentry (ONPOST) - valid perhaps, but awkward.

We are late with this review due to a presentation by the NFL (43A. Patriots' and Seahawks' org.) It was MEATPIES and OUNCEs instead of puzzles for us tonight.

Go Pats!

~ Frannie