Sunday, August 7, 2016, Samuel A. Donaldson

ANCHOR LINES

Mr. Donaldson, you had me at 23A: "What's in your attic? And do penthouses have better resale value? Find out in today's____" (TOPSTORIES). Definitely got a laugh out of me. In fact, I think that was the answer I liked best of all of the theme entries. There are eight of them, and all but one of them feel completely standard as things a TV news anchor might say. The only one which feels constructed for the purpose of the pun is DETAILSARESKETCHY. Which is pretty amusing anyway.

I know some people might complain that four of the theme answers are ten letters or less, and there are non-theme answers which are that long, but that doesn't bother me. The set up for the theme entries is very clear in the clues, such that you wouldn't get confused on other long answers. I'm not entirely sure I understand 118A: "With more about those defending the accused, our reporter is ____" (STANDINGBY) - is that meant to imply that the defenders are bystanders? I guess so. It feels a little strained.

Still, niggling details aside, I very much enjoyed the theme and the way it was carried out, so one in the plus column there. I hesitantly put in 1A: Fall birthstone (OPAL), which gets a C for being essentially perfectly average. 2D: Doggy (POOCH) was the first answer I was completely certain about, which had the secondary advantage of making me more confident of 1A as well. Bonus points for putting the ASPCA next to our puppy.

There are some very nice areas in the fill today. I particularly like the trio of 9-letter answers in the NE and SW. I do enjoy me some PINEAPPLE on my pizza, so that hardly fooled me at all. 79D: "Up top!" (GIMMEFIVE) is pleasantly colloquial. Other fill I liked included 76D: Historic headline of 1898 (JACCUSE), referring to the l'Affaire Dreyfus and Émile Zola's letter. Right next to that was 77D: Old Irish character (OGHAM), which is an ancient Irish alphabet, one which I have encountered in my reading on the history of the British Isles from 400-650.

Things I didn't like so much: ESTADOS and ETATS. So many useful letters there, so I understand why they find their way into puzzles so frequently. Only both in the same grid? Also ERES.

Then there are the partials: ASNO, ONAT, INAS. Oof.

On the other hand, 62A: Fighting a liar, e.g. (SPOONERISM). This is outstanding cluing and a wonderful answer. No question mark needed. I was off thinking about slander and libel (the former is spoken, the latter is written). Neither was correct. Beautiful.

- Colum

Saturday, August 6, 2016, David Phillips

14:32

A nice ending to the turn, with this outstanding themeless from Mr. Phillips. Unfortunately, today was also the ending to my vacation, so I'm writing this after 7 1/2 hours on the road. We had great weather and a lovely beach house in Delaware to share with family, so only good memories overall.

Anyhoo, this grid is very interesting with the pair of 14-letter marquis answers separated by only one row. 31A: Manipulative use of the Force (JEDIMINDTRICKS) was fairly obvious from the clue, although I was stuck by thinking it would end in "games", so I had to leave the last part of the answer empty for some time. The other, 36A: Someone always good for a few pints? (UNIVERSALDONOR) had me thinking about vampires for a while, so I needed more crosses to get it.

I incorrectly entered the grid with orgieS at 1D: Saturnalia events (FEASTS), but the S gave me SLR, and then AIRFARE (3D: Soaring expense? cute). So I was going to say that SLR was the first answer I was 100% about, but when I entered JEDIMIND____ and had that ____LJ ending at 2D, I questioned myself all over again. Thus, the first answer I was completely certain about was 28D: Gives credit (CITES), an answer after Frannie's heart, I feel certain.

The trio of answers in the NW are very nice. I give 1A: Spontaneous public gathering (FLASHMOB) an A+ for its freshness. I suspect that most flashmobs are not spontaneous, but rather planned out, or at least the ones that make it onto YouTube, in any case. ELIHUYALE presents crosswordese's prime perpetrator in full name format, and ACROBATIC is also nice. LLCOOLJ solved my problem noted above.

The SW corner is not nearly so pretty. NEODADA is a rough collection of unexpected letters, but Googles well enough. Jasper Johns is the archetype, apparently. ODIUM is also not something I recognize I feel much, if ever.

I liked the crossing of GIMLI with DIRKS just above DIAPERPIN. It seemed appropriate. 59A: Activity for when there's nothing going on? (STREAKING) is cute.

My favorite clue and answer is at 12D: One who's green after seeing red (THEHULK). Very succinct, no question mark needed. Well done. The NE was where I finished, with the crossing of CAIRN and CRUE. That's a tough letter to find, but when I had _RUE, there was really only one choice.

How about VROOM? Very nice.

- Colum

Friday, August 5, 2016, Brendan Emmett Quigley

16:41 (FWOE)

I'm going to get my one major complaint out of the way right at the start, because overall I simply loved this puzzle, as is to be expected from this particular creator. But 21D: Some mixtapes (RAPCDS) simply doesn't make any sense to me at all. If somebody can explain to me how the clue leads to that answer, I'll be appreciative. Unfortunately, the C came at the cross of CTA (which honestly I should have guessed, considering it reference Chicago without saying the city's name, in a clear attempt to avoid any duplication from clue to answer). For some reason I chose I instead of C, and that's my error.

The first answer I put in that I was 100% sure about came at 2D: "Army of ___" (recruiting slogan) (ONE). That I recalled from NFL games broadcasts, and allowed me to hazard INORBIT, which didn't seem like it really needed a question mark (15A: Going around the world?). That gave me STENOS (nice reference to Mad Men, taking the clue out of the realm of sexism). I bogged down there.

Only to rebound with 35D: Martial arts weapons that are two sticks connected by a chain (NUNCHAKUS). I went for the Japanese spelling, which worked out for me, rather than the Americanized "nunchucks", which also would have fit. CAHN into NOFAIR, and the southeast corner fell. Lovely answer and clue in 45D: There's nothing to it (NULLSET). I also really liked the way ANI was repurposed away from Star Wars nickname to 62D: What makes nose noise? Hah!

FRED Armisen opened up the SW corner, and the excellent 55A: Real hack? (FLAGRANTFOUL). I slowly worked by way up to JIGGLED from all the crosses, with the last letter found being the initial one. That enabled me to finally see the lovely JELLOSHOT. How about all those Js?

So many fun clues. 11D: Charge that may be high (TREASON) - no question mark needed here! 23D: Opposite of fine print? (SCRAWL). I thought it was clever to put HEIDEN and his 1980 gold medal haul right next to USAUSA!

I almost overlooked one of the best! 19A: Event where kids ask lots of questions, informally (TEENJEOPARDY). So tricky! Of course the kids are asking questions, as they answer the clues on the game show.

1A: Conflicts with combat (HOTWARS) gets a B from me. It's an unusual answer, but the plural is unfortunate.

Great Friday after a good Thursday. Here's looking forward to the end of the turn!

- Colum

Thursday, August 4, 2016, Jonathan M. Kaye

10:48

Oh boy. I was not expecting this theme at all as I worked my way through the grid. It didn't become apparent until 52A: Incapacitated Lincoln? (NAVIGATQR). I was sure of the Q because of QEII (there can be only one longest-reigning British monarch - she's outlasted Queen Victoria by a little over a year at 64 plus years). And how clever: by replacing the O in four car names with a Q, Mr. Kaye has literally represented those cars "incapacitated" by a BOOT, a well-known site in New York.

I wouldn't be able to think of these names purely from their make, but the models are well enough known that I was able to infer them from a few crosses. I like that all four are American (not from any nationalistic preference, but simply for consistency's sake), and that the revealer is at 59D, well at the end of the puzzle. Only once is the Q used in its standard way in the crosses, at QUELLS (a very nice word). The other three, NASDAQ, SHAQ, and QEII are atypical, which adds to the enjoyment.

We also get two very nice 12-letter answers in PRACTICABLE and PRIVATEEYES (the last with a good clue, "Tails, of a sort"), as well as the unusually clued TRIFECTA - who knew you could even bet on Jai alai at all? I like 60A: Queen's mate (DRONEBEE), although it feels a little unnecessary to stick the "bee" on there. It's great that it crosses Queen Elizabeth as well.

Otherwise, there's a surprising amount of crosswordese. ARETE has ceased to be a stumper for me - it's an automatic entry. ESTD, LEI, ELI (along with ELIA), ESAU, and alternately clued ARNE (not from God Save The Queen, sadly, given the other answers in that corner). I don't like the strangely pluralized ANDS at all. TITHER is acceptable, just odd.

1A: Like the Miller beer logo (ASLANT) gets a D-. The clue saves it from an F, but honestly, I'd describe that as "slanted" if I had to, "Italic" otherwise. It's particularly annoying because it crosses ASWIRL. Oof.

The first answer I was 100% convinced I had correct came at 33A: Saints are part of it, for short (NFL). I had already entered ACDC and CANID, but I was reserving final judgement, even though I was over 90% sure of them.

Overall, the theme made this puzzle worthwhile.

- Colum

Wednesday, August 3, 2016, Neville Fogarty

6:45

Another classic rebus (that is, old style rebus) puzzle. We just had one of these last week. I love this sort of thing, and Mr. Fogarty's example of it is very well done. He has chosen four song titles, all of them in the form [gerund] in the [noun], and reinterprets them as placing the gerund inside the noun. All four of the nouns are 4 letters long; even better, two of the answers' gerunds are six letters long because they're missing the G, while the other two are seven letters long with the G. Symmetry is maintained.

All four song titles are very well known, and represent the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, and 2000s. I'm actually fond of all four, and would rank them as follows:

1. RASINGININ (Singin in the Rain)
2. WIBLOWINND (Blowin in the Wind)
3. DEROLLINGEP (Rolling in the Deep)
4. DADANCINGRK (Dancing in the Dark)

Your mileage may vary, of course, and I want to emphasize that the relative rankings do not imply that the lower ones are unappreciated.

The fill is pretty good overall. 11D: Where Venice is (LOSANGELES) was deceptive for a while. FOUNDMONEY is an odd phrase, although I see how it fits the clue "Change out of an old pair of pants?" I'm not sure I buy it as a real thing, but the clue is funny. 46A: How many try to capture Bigfoot (ONCAMERA) is very good, but ALOERTER was a tough get. Turns out he captured the gold medal for discus in four consecutive Olympics, from age 20 to 32, which explains why he is the only one ever to have done this.

The NE and SW 4x4 sections are completely isolated, which I don't like. On the other hand, both have an X in them, so that added interest.

1A: Mel who co-wrote "The Christmas Song" (TORME) gets a D+. The Velvet Fog's name is a well-worn piece of crosswordese, and is only redeemed here by a slightly more interesting clue. I entered it as my first answer in the grid, but I was not 100% convinced that it was correct, so the first answer that fit that description for me was 2D: '60s sitcom son (OPIE). Talk about two outdated answers! 1D: Hamlet's relative (TOWN) needed more crosses for me to figure out. Excellent clue.

- Colum

Tuesday, August 2, 2016, Paula Gamache

6:49 (FWOE)

I feel like I've seen a theme like this in the past, but it's been well executed here. We take standard adjectives of the style ____LESS and reinterpret them as describing an individual lacking in something somewhat amusing. None of the theme answers made me laugh out loud, but I chuckled at HELPLESS. There are seven of them, which is impressive.

On the other hand, with all of those theme answers, there's little room for longer fill answers, and very little that sparkles. For example, in the SW corner, all three 6-letter answers going down are proper names (ALBERT, SHANIA, and PASCAL), and the fourth answer is also a proper name (GISELLE)! I never would have remembered the name of that character, but it's preferable to referencing the classic ballet.

10D: It has a tip for players in the game room (POOLCUE) was a clever, if wordy, clue. I like the pair of 7-letter answers in the staggered stack in the middle. ASARULE has a welcome resonance in our little group, it being a favorite saying of Frannie's. I've been reading about the British Isles in the years from 400-650, so PICT came very easily to me.

1A: Reaction to a crack (HAHA) gets a C+. But it wasn't the first entry I was sure about: that came at 1D: Sot's sound (HIC).

My error came at 19A: I mistyped OHMu instead of OHMY, and TRuSTS looked right, so I didn't check it against the clue. Silly mistake.

Anyway, overall, I thought it was solid, just not anything amazing.

- Colum

Monday, August 1, 2016, Kurt Mengel and Jan-Michele Gianette

4:53

The last thing I want on vacation is a TODOLIST. Well, in real life, anyway. In a crossword puzzle, it's fine.

Happy August! It feels like it's been a long time since I last put fingers to keyboard to produce a post for this blog. The family and I are in Rehoboth, Delaware (actually Dewey Beach, but more people have heard of the former) for a week, enjoying the beach. I hope the steadfast readers of this blog have also had enjoyable vacations this summer.

So, for this first Monday of the month, we get a theme of two word phrases where the first word starts with TO- and the second with DO-. The chosen phrases are all solid. TOYDOLLS is acceptable, although I suppose the "toy" is not truly needed. There are dolls that are not toys... or maybe we don't want to go there.

Otherwise, I'll remark on the cluing for 25A: Land, as a plane (TOUCHDOWN) which refers to a two word phrase, as opposed to the event in an American football game, which is a single word. I'm sure there is a large potential list of phrases that fit this pattern (I just came up with "tofu dogs", but with computers nowadays, it's probably not difficult to generate many more), but this list is fine.

I enjoyed the two long down answers TOOTHPASTE and COMETOREST, and the two shorter answers PSYCHOUT and YACHTING. In general the fill is good, although DATER is questionable in my opinion. 15A: Very rich ... or drunk (LOADED) gets a yuk for the clue. I also thought it was amusing to follow up 63A: "Immediately!" (ASAP) with 64A: "I mean ... this instant!" (NOW).

1A: Guacamole, e.g. (DIP) gets a B-. It's solid, but it's a 3-letter answer, which I'd rather not have right at the outset of a puzzle.

My new feature for this month is to identify the first answer I put in that I was 100% solid about - this is often not the same as the first answer I put in at all, which may be a guess or a complete stab in the dark. Today's answer (not surprising for a Monday) was DIP.

- Colum