Monday, December 7, 2020, Barbara Lin

 6:16

Cheerio, dear readers! Frannie here, taking over from Colum and Horace after two weeks of great reviews that have kept them OCTOPI'd and you entertained, but today is the day we PASSTHETORCH. No, my friends, Horace did not "'Hand me a flashlight,'" but he did hand over the figurative keyboard and say to me, "it's your week to write the review, Frannie." As always, I've got some big brogans to fill, literally and figuratively, but I'm going to try to ACEIT. My first step in that direction is starting early. It's only Sunday evening and I've completed Monday's puzzle and I'm writing the review. EPIC! 

Today's theme clue/answer pairs feature words that have different meanings in British and American English. The clues contain the American version of the word and the answers are common phrases that contain the corresponding British TERM. Clear as cling film? Perhaps an example will help. At 17A, "Traveled by subway?" is WENTDOWNTHETUBE. Or how about the comical "Use French fries as legal tender"? CASHINONESCHIPS. Ha. 

It crossed my mind that this is just the kind of theme an EXPAT might come up with. Dare I POSIT an American flying from OHARE - or sailing by BOAT - to the Cayman Islands for some much needed TAXRELIEF, asking a hotel concierge, "CANIGETALIFT?" and being directed to a bank of elevators as the genesis of the idea? IDO dare. And I salute that person. She's one smart biscuit. 

~Frannie.

Sunday, December 6, 2020, Tony Orbach

GET OUT OF HERE! 

Or, to put it another way, "Here, get [take] out 'of.'" We here at HAFDTNYTCPFCA love a wackily clued theme, and this re-purposing of familiar phrases where the word "of" has been removed suits me just fine. 

The central STREAMCONSCIOUSNESS (Knowing everything that's available to view on Netflix?) is perfect for this shut-in, streaming era. And I also chuckled at COMEDYERRORS (Stand-up's bombs?). In all there are nine theme answers, and I don't have a problem with any of them. So very well done there. 

Aside from the theme entries, there's nothing over nine letters long, and even then, there are only two of those, so it's a little light on bonus material. Luckily, both of the nines are very good - MINDBLOWN ("Whoa!"), and the topical DEARSANTA (Start of a seasonal request). 

I like the look of ISSHE (Joe Jackson's "____ Really Going Out With Him?") in the center, but I got a little ANG OUI when I FWOE'd on "105D: Exclamations of regret." I had entered oYS, and, regrettably, did not know the name of the "Peninsula shared by Italy, Slovenia and Croatia" (ISTRIA). (Who exclaims "Ay" when they are regretful?) Nor did I know "Actor Rutger of "Blind Fury," (HAUER), so I found that whole SW corner very tricky. 

Overall, though, things moved right along, and I enjoyed it all right up until that last corner. So Thumbs Up.

Frannie takes the reins of this sleigh tomorrow, and I'll be back for the week containing Christmas. I hope your December is going as well as it possibly can be.

- Horace

Saturday, December 5, 2020, Brendan Emmett Quigley

0:10:43

Brendan Emmett Quigley's byline used to strike fear into me, but today's puzzle went along quite nicely. First of all, it's a lovely grid, with the diamond pattern and the dot right in the middle, and a pleasing grid always puts me in a good frame of mind when starting a puzzle. Second - and this might strike many readers as unnecessary to say, let alone write down - I followed Dan Feyer's advice, given at the end of the recent Boswords Themeless League tournament (in which he finished a surprising third to Paolo Pasco (1st) and Tyler Hinman), which was to "use the letters you already have." I used to simply run through all the Across clues and then the Down clues, and then I'd get to work trying to add where I had some answers. More recently, I've tried the "Downs only" approach said to be a faster way to solve, especially in early week puzzles. But today, I went with the 8-time A.C.P.T. champ's advice and tried to work the crosses as soon as I had any foothold at all, and judging by my time - which, for me, is quite good for a Saturday - I'd say it worked well. (Is that the method you employed yesterday, Ms. Clark, to achieve your blistering 4:15 Friday time?)

Of course, it doesn't hurt to know a few things, too, and I was helped by remembering what QUARTERRESTS looked like (Squiggly musical symbols), and being aware enough of recent news to guess that the Vespa mandarinia was better known as a MURDERHORNET - once I had that MUR in place. I'm sorry to say, however, that I am not familiar with GEORGESMILEY (Long-running fictional hero who made his debut in "Call for the Dead"), which might have helped in the SE, where I spent my last few minutes.

I enjoyed the clue for MOTHERNATURE (Woman of the world?), and "One getting in on the hustle?" was cute for DANCER. And I couldn't help but notice that BARBEQUE contains the constructor's initials. I'm guessing he noticed that, too, otherwise he might have been more willing to try something else up in that NE corner to get rid of IDED, IDEATE, TETRAD, and ETAILERS, none of which is very scintillating. But I guess LIMBER and REDTIDE are ok.

Overall, I thought this was a smooth Saturday. There was a little glue (OTC, TAI, IVE, LUNESTA), but there were enough laughs (Dessert you might be "liable" to eat? (TORTE)) and ahas (One found among the reeds (OBOIST)) to make the small sacrifices worthwhile.

- Horace

Friday, December 4, 2020, Patti Varol and Doug Peterson

0:11:29

11-stacks in the corners - it must be the weekend. I thought all six of them were good, but my favorite is probably MINISTERING (Tending (to)) because it is so uncommon. I don't think I've ever seen it in a crossword before. Indeed, a check on xword info confirms this is its first appearance in the NYTX (and also Ms. Varol's first byline - congratulations!). It's also the first appearance of GRETAGERWIG's full name, but her first name was in just last month (with her last name in the clue), and since I used a photo of her to illustrate that post, I was able to fill it in today with only a few crosses. 

 

Can you believe that "Unforgettable ... With Love" is almost thirty years old? Sure, IGOTANAME is almost fifty, but that does seem pretty old, whereas I remember that video of NATALIECOLE singing with her father as though it came out maybe ten years ago. Sigh. I guess if you look around, it's a little bit of an older vibe, with CASSETTES (Tapes, say), ALIENS (1986 sci-fi film sequel) and FAGEN (Steely Dan singer Donald) also in the grid. (Of course, if all the cultural references were from the 2010s, I'd never complete a single crossword!)

Regular readers will know we here at HAFDTNYTCPFCA enjoy trivia like "World's deepest river" (THECONGO), and "Survivor at the end of 'Hamlet'" (HORATIO). For the latter, I initially thought of Fortinbras, but he only strong arms (see what I did there?) his way in at the end, whereas HORATIO actually survived the Act V bloodbath. 

It's funny about trivia clues, though, because there are definitely different levels. A reference to perhaps the most famous play in the English language, or the "world's deepest river," are certainly things that most people either ought to know, or ought to be happy to know, don't you think?. "Los Angeles suburb bordering Griffith Park" (GLENDALE), on the other hand, doesn't feel quite as satisfying. And I don't think I'm just being a SORELOSER for not knowing it. 

Lots of "double clues" in this one. Or, single clues with two answers. What should those be called? Like "Young woman" used for both LASS and DAMSEL, or "Long-legged waders" for IBISES and HERONS. The second example is more dastardly, because both (and egrets, for that matter) have the same number of letters!

Overall, this seemed a fine Friday. Not exceptional, but good.

- Horace

 

Thursday, December 3, 2020, Jake Halperin

0:11:21

So today, Thursday the 3rd, we get a puzzle featuring FRIDAYTHE[13]TH as the first theme answer, and two more examples (all from CINEMA, if you want to look at it that way ... remember going to the movies? ... sigh) of a 13 rebus in APOLLO[13] and OCEANS[13]. 

At first I thought it was rather an UNLUCKYBREAK that it could not at least run on the 13th of some month, but it does have the rebus aspect, which you would expect to find on a Thursday, and I don't think there's a Thursday the 13th until January 2022. Not that a Thursday the 13th is anything anyway.

Which brings me to my second question - why is the revealer UNLUCKYBREAK? Is it because the 13 - thought by some to be an unlucky number (which is, in itself, absurd) - is used as a broken B? Or is it referring to the theme answers themselves? APOLLO13 had problems, yes, but was it unlucky? And I don't think I ever saw OCEANS13 - did the team not win out at the end of that one? ... so many questions.

So in the end, as much as I enjoy a rebus, the theme left me flat. Elsewhere, I thought PUNINTENDED was fun (and it makes me wonder if I could think of more "un-" words that could be turned into something wacky with the addition of a single letter), the factoid about IDAHO (The U.S. Forest Service owns about 38% of it) was interesting, and ... that's about it for stuff I liked. But, well, ... I guess it's always nice to have Constitutional refreshers like "Sixth Amendment right" (COUNSEL).

On the GRIEF side, POTTOP is not a thing anyone has ever said (and speaking of that, does anybody actually say "TOT up?"), an ACORN is not a particularly "Hard nut to crack," and "Busts" seems a bit of a stretch for TAMES. I suppose that in IDAHO they might talk of "busting broncos" ... That cross with EZER Weizman, who once headed the Israeli Air Force, was my last square. 

So overall, I guess it just seemed a little USUAL to me.

- Horace

Wednesday, December 2, 2020, Will Nediger

0:06:47

"Skin," "peel," "zest," and "rind" - all words for the outer edge of a FRUIT, and all formed by the first two and last two letters of the long theme entries. 

When we're talking about a lemon, they all mean pretty much the same thing, but you'd never talk about the rind of an apple, or the zest of a grape. Although I usually think of zest as the grated outer rind, not the rind itself. It only becomes zest when it's been removed. Is that how you think of it? Same with "peel," I guess. So in the end it's a little strange, but at the same time, it kind of seems ok, right? Because when you first got to the revealer, you instantly understood it.

So that's my professional opinion, "It kind of seems ok" - taking into consideration, of course, that I am not a professional reviewer. There's no paywall or "Donate" button on this page. If you want to make me into a professional, you're going to have to try a little harder than that. :)

So anyway, I like that the four theme entries are so very different from one another. SKETCHESOFSPAIN is an album, PEAGRAVEL is a mundane landscaping element, ZEITGEIST is a slightly arcane, highfalutin word, and then we've got the parental command, RIGHTTHISSECOND! If you're the type of person who likes to try to figure out a puzzle's theme as you go along with your solve, good luck to you today. SHEESH!

In other news, the NYTX continues its campaign to legitimize NOSOAP as an actual expression, and not just part of a famous joke. To that I say, "NOSOAP, Mr. Shortz!" 

And I did not know "Film auteur Miyazaki"'s first name was HAYAO, so that needed crosses.

Lots of nice fill today - THEWAVES (always nice to have references to Virginia Woolf and/or the beach), IRISHSEA (another SCENIC beach reference), COLOGNE, HERALDS, WRITHES, AVOWAL, RIOTOUS, and ZEPHYR. And I like the conversational OHSNAP and MAKEME side-by-side up in the NW.

Overall, I liked this one fine. Or should I say "It kind of seems ok." Yes, that's much more professional.

- Horace

Tuesday, December 1, 2020, Byron Walden

 0:06:20

Huge, theme today! Four grid-spanning fifteens and two nine-letter entries, all crossing and making the grid look like a plaid shirt. The middle looks especially impressive with those three "REC" centers all run through by PRESSURECOOKERS. It seems like Mr. Walden himself is the one bragging WHATMORECANISAY at the end. And what, indeed? That's some really nice work on the theme.

It makes me sad that I didn't know this from the clue.

So what happens to "everything else" when you use forty percent of your white squares for thematic fill? Well, often it's a kind of TRAP that makes you resort to legalese, (EMBAR), old video games (GALAGA), and televangelists (OSTEEN). But that's not the case today. Well ... obviously it is, but really that's about the extent of the weirdness, and that's not all that bad. It's really just "edge material" for crosswords. There's the stuff everybody knows, or ought to know, and then there's the edge material that some solvers will know - and possibly love - but others will need crosses for. What I'm trying to say is that it's not outright junk fill like CHANGETO (replace with), which is rather ADHOC (Formed for a particular purpose). 

But along with the forced concessions there are some NIFTY entries like CONSORTS, REPUBLIC, and LITIGANT. And I thought PAWNS had a particularly nice clue (Half the pieces in a chess set). I waited to fill it in, expecting either "black" or "white," but when I got the second letter (A) from ADIN, I had to re-think things.

Quite a good Tuesday. 

- Horace