Monday, November 7, 2016, Bruce Haight

0:05:28

ISEE what you did there, Mr. Haight! Five, two-word answers where the words start with I and C. I think I like the first one the best - INNERCHILD (18A: What might make an adult jump in a pile of leaves), but I appreciate the dig at "big ink" in the clue for INKCARTRIDGE (23A: Home office item that's surprisingly expensive to replace). Heh. And even though the clue for IVORYCOAST says that the name is usually rendered in French, I still tried putting in "Côte d'Ivoire" and even wondered for a while why it didn't fit. Derp.

Aside from the theme, we find nice fill like EMOJI (1D: Symbol like "prayer hands" or "heart eyes") (nice and current), AVIARY (5D: Monkey house : monkeys :: ____ : birds), and ECHOES (10D: Repeats word for word). FIERCE (45D: Ferocious) and FARCE (51D: Many a Monty Python skit) are near rhymes, and ELITE and ELISE stand out as being quite similar in the SE. Not that there's anything wrong with that. FESTAL (47D: Celebratory), on the other hand, is, shall we say, "less than common."

My first entry was ETTA (1A: Jazzy James) (graded a C for being crosswordese, but no lower because, well, Etta James), and I had a few missteps by guessing "epic" for SAGA (34A: Lengthy narrative), and ARTshow for ARTFAIR (44A: Painting exhibition), but those were eventually corrected by crosses. Other than that, the puzzle went right along, as Mondays often do, without much to be troubled by.

Mr. Haight has been known, at least to some, for making "stunt" puzzles, and some reviewers (ahem) have not always been terribly fond of those, but this is a solid Monday, and I'm giving it an enthusiastic thumbs up.

- Horace

p.s. Hi Bruce!

Sunday, November 6, 2016, Joe DiPietro

IT'S ALL AN ELISION

This theme grew on me. The first one I got was SNOWSURPRISE (40A: A foot on the ground in Phoenix?), quickly followed by STUFFOUTTHERE (23A: "Do your taxidermy on the patio instead!"?), and I thought, Meh. But by the time I got down to SIOUXYOUKNOW (92A: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and that's probably it?) I laughed out loud. That's a funny clue/answer pair! Reviewing all the theme answers now, I guess they're all pretty common phrases. The weakest has got to be SIPTOBESQUARE (113A: Slogan for wine geeks?). I just don't think anyone actually says that, and the clue is even more tortured than the usual wacky-type clue. On the other hand, my second favorite is SOURLITTLESECRET (17D: Mystery ingredient in SweeTarts?). People do say "It's our little secret," and the clue/answer pair is funny!

I guess the whole theme would be a little tighter if Mr. DiPietro had been able to keep answers like SPEDAWAY (12D: Left in a hurry), SCREWS (45D: Pressure, so to speak), and STENT (74A: Surgical tube) out of the grid, but not having any other words start with S seems like it would have been nearly impossible.

My first answer today was NADIR (1A: Point of greatest despair). I thought of it immediately, and figured I'd take a chance. I'll give it a B+ for being kind of a fancy word. But even with that quick start, this one ended up playing a bit long for me, mostly because of the opposite corner, the SE. I had entered "Xfactor" with the same bravado, but this time it didn't hold up. ROQUE (102D: Game with mallets played on a hard-surfaced court) was not known to me, and 78D: Drops to the ground? (LITTERS) was tricky.

Overall, I enjoyed this one after all. EIGHTIRON (52D: Rough choice?) ("sand wedge" also fits) was fun, as was DOUP (3D: Prettify). I'm sure eyes will be rolled at REFIX, REVALUE, and SCARER, but these are small necessary evils. I'm giving it a thumbs up!

- Horace

Saturday, November 5, 2016, David Phillips

0:18:54

Beautifully thick corners today smash into each other in the center. There, the horizontals are broken up, but two nice vertical pins - FLATRATEBOX (7D: U.S.P.S. option advertised with the slogan "If it fits, it ships" and STREETSMART (21D: Not going by the book?) hold it together nicely. Not the most exciting entries, maybe, but certainly acceptable.

But let's get back to those corners. With the possible exceptions of TIRO (25A: Cicero's longtime servant and scribe), ANTA (37A: Nonprofit Broadway production grp.) (maybe more well-known by those in NYC), and TYNE (8D: Northumberland river), the fill was all good, and sometimes great. Take, for example STARDATE (31D: Enterprise standard). That's an excellent clue for a fun answer. And in that same SW we get SCABBARD (28D: Blade holder), ULTERIOR (30D: Intentionally hidden), and the ever-popular trivia, MONROVIA (29D: Only African capital named after a U.S. president). That's a quality stack!

1A: Take stock? (SHOPLIFT) gets an A-. The deduction is for the question mark. It's Saturday! Why must they cheapen these great clues?! Another such was 52A: Conservationist's field? (PRESERVE). Boy was that a tough one! I so wanted "preservation," but the making of preserves is also a method of conservation... well, ok. Maybe that question mark is more justified, but I still think on Saturday we could live without it.

ICECAP (19A: Martian feature) was tricky, MARINERS (50A: Other than the Nationals, only current Major League Baseball team never to have played in a World Series) was interesting trivia, and COHERER (36D: Device used to detect radio waves) could have been any old word. The only way it was getting entered by me was by getting all the crosses, which, fortunately, I could do.

A quality grid, and an enthusiastic thumbs up.

- Horace

Friday, November 4, 2016, David Steinberg

0:15:38

One of the youngest puzzle constructors working today gives us a juvenile-ish mini-theme of MARIJUANA-based clues to start this Friday puzzle. First we have 1A: Pot remnant (SHARD) (B), then 6A: Pot part (ANTE), then 10A: Anagram of "pots" (STOP), then simply 15A: Pot (MARIJUANA). Three misleading clues and one that hits the nail right on the head. Or is that just my own juvenile mind skewing what were three perfectly innocent clues? But 1A could have been "ashes," 6A could have been "leaf," and 10A could have been "opts," "tops," or "post." Not that that last one has much to do with the plant.

Other amusingly misleading clues today include 41A: Cutting edge producer (STROP), 31D: Top part of a trunk, for short (PEC) (nice one!), and 19A: Professional boxer? (MOVER). 26D: Caesar dressing? (TOGAS) is ok, too.

I like many of the long Down answers. ABOVEWATER (3D: Solvent), STOWAWAY (36D: Nautical nuisance) (lots of Ws down in that area!), SNOWCRAB (37D: Bright orange seafood delicacy), and SUNDRESS (10D: Informal summer wear) in particular.

The central 15 of HOTSTONEMASSAGE (35A: Spa treatment favored by rock fans?) didn't do much for me, nor did EILAT or JAPED. But EGOBOOSTER, CHEAPDATE, SLOWDANCE, ASKANYONE, and WOWJUSTWOW are all solid. That's a lot of good and not too much bad. Thumbs up!

- Horace

Thursday, November 3, 2016, Mel Rosen

0:15:45

OK, I finished, but I don't know why we have the AG rebus. Four theme entries, each containing a pair of AG rebuses. And all the downs that run through the rebuses, of course. Is it something having to do with silver? Is it the anniversary of statehood for Nevada? Is it about the Attorney General? ...  Let's move on.

1A today is a gross one. I was not familiar with the name "CALFS-foot jelly," but it makes perfect sense that it should be aspic. I had aspic once, many years ago. It was fine. I'll give the answer a B for interestingness. My first (very confident) answer was HELL (10A: Where to go "for the company," per Mark Twain). Frannie and I use that old quote frequently. (The corollary is "Heaven for atmosphere.")

Some nice fill in STEER[AG]E (5D: Inexpensive way to go) (this word will always make me think of Arthur Stieglitz, just as "6A: Draft" meaning SWIG will always make me think of Keats - "O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been / Cool'd a long age in the deep-delvèd earth"), HASHT[AG] (10D: Part of a tweet), and FLORISTS (37D: Glad handlers?) (gladiola, I presume), and some TIRED fill in IONE, AVEO, CANA, ATVS, and TAUS. I actually kind of enjoyed OJAI (36A: City whose name sounds like a surprised greeting),

but I'm not sure what to make of the strange pair of SALTII (6D: Carter/Brezhnev pact) and JAMESII (49A: English king deposed in the Glorious Revolution). BTW, I'm so nul in English history that I needed both crosses to get the number. For those of you as uninformed as me, there were two King Jameses in England. James I and James II. In Scotland, however, there were six of them, but don't get too sure of yourself, because the last Scottish King James became James I of England. Egad…

And speaking of "egad," I did not love ENTRAIN (sorry, Dad), EDERLE, LEGGO, or ABYSM (66A: "In the dark backward and ____ of time?": Shak.) (huh?).

So overall, I don't understand the raison d'être of the theme, and there's a lot I don't particularly love in the fill… so I guess that - even though I love a rebus - I will not give this one a thumbs up.

- Horace

Wednesday, November 2, 2016, Andrew Kingsley

0:08:14

Another African capital learned today, N'Djamena, CHAD, but it was not my first entry - that was JAM (9A: Printer problem). I give 1A a B for geographic reasons. Off of CHAD, however, we get one fine answer, CROWN (1D: Feature of the Budweiser logo), and three slightly obscure answers, HATHA (2D: Kind of yoga), ARBYS (3D: "We have the meats" chain), and DESICA (4D: "Two Women" director). Why do we get these? Because the first part of the theme starts with "whyi:" WHYISARAVENLIKE AWRITINGDESK?

I read Alice in Wonderland and loved it, but I did not remember this riddle, which is apparently quite famous. Googling it brings up a lot, including this puzzle's given answer, BECAUSEPOEWROTE ONBOTHOFTHEM, which was (without the final "of them") the creation of Sam Loyd, a man once called "America's greatest puzzler" by Scientific American. He is also credited with this alternate answer: "Because the notes for which they are noted are not noted for being musical notes." Not bad, but harder, perhaps, to squeeze into a 15x15 grid.

So there's the theme. Quote answers are often opaque, and not our favorites, but the inclusion of the "Mad Hatter riddle" detail might have been enough for some solvers. Not for me.

The fill strains in several areas, with NOGS, AOK, SWEE, and SURER. The cross of TEENER (49A: Typical user of a transistor radio) (really??) and ERAGON (27D: First novel in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle) was my last square, and I wouldn't be surprised if others finished there, too. TEENER?! Sure, I put a transistor under my pillow so I could listen to the ballgames back in the '70s, but has any other teenager used a transistor radio in the past decade? Would any know how to operate one?...

Still, I liked the riddle and its answer, and I enjoyed MILKDUD (I'm still working through that Halloween candy!), TEACOZY (Could, perhaps, have been tied to the theme), DEMEAN (tried "DEMote"), and a few other bits. On balance, thumbs up.

- Horace

Tuesday, November 1, 2016, Ruth Bloomfield Margolin

0:07:57

An odd, rhyming theme today, with a pentad of absurd "possessive country" combinations. TOGOSLOGOS (15A: Commercial symbols in Lomé), which is interesting for exposing many of us to the capital city of Togo, and YEMENSLEMONS (19A: Basis of a refreshing Mideast beverage?), which may or may not be interesting because of the existence of a fruit called the Yemenite citron, which contains no juice vesicles in its segments. Sooo.... not that refreshing a beverage. FRANCESDANCES (36A: Gavotte, minuet and cancan?) is probably my favorite of the answers, both for its reference to France and its alternate reading of "Frances dances," ("Actress McDormand does a slow waltz?").

Another odd feature of this grid is that below the top and above the bottom theme answers, we have a non-theme answer of the exact same length. ALLOSAURUS (18A: Reptile at the top of the Jurassic food chain) is a nice answer. When I was little, I would pit the allosaurus figurine against a t-rex, and when I read this clue I wondered how allosaurus had been declared the top of the food chain, but in reality, the two animals were not on earth at the same time. Ol' T-Rexy wouldn't show up for nearly 100 million years after the last allosaurus keeled over. Still, had they been able to fight, I think the T-Rex would have won.

So anyway... Looking around the grid, I see such colorful answers as SNEEZY, CRIMESPREES, MOUSY, and INNERBEAUTY. And I like the multiple-word entries like ISAYSO, INHERE, TINEAR, and TOPHAT. Those are always slightly more difficult for me to see. I also see bits of glue, like ANIL, AMBI, THOS, and ACA, but overall, I give this odd duck a thumbs up.

INCH (1A: Tailor's unit) I give a C+. I tried "yard" at first, and its incorrectness made EBOLA (5A: African virus) my first correct entry.

Before I go, I'd like to thank Colum for a very entertaining month of puzzle reviews. To me, it really felt like he was firing on all cylinders most of the time. Here's hoping I can step up my game to continue that kind of quality. And maybe, just maybe, we'll get Frannie back in December.

Rabbit, Rabbit, readers. Happy November!

- Horace