Friday, August 1, 2014, Ashton Anderson and James Mulhern

0:40:54

This is a lovely puzzle. Just tiny bits of crosswordsy things like OISE, TIGE, and WSW, but they are overshadowed by tons of great, interesting fill. The NE corner is beautiful. CHACHING (7A: Cash flow statement?) is great, BEANTOWN (18A: The Hub), which we love, of course, is appropriately situated (in the NE), and fun (I tried "Boston, MA" at first), and AIWEIWEI (16A: Winner of the inaugural Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent (2012)) is very up-to-date.

The SW, too, has three nice stacked eights. We enjoy any reference to Columbo - ONAHUNCH (54A: How Columbo often worked), and I just pulled Huygens around on WATERSKIs (56A: Be at the end of one's rope?) yesterday, and on a brand new rope, at that! The end of his old one broke!

The long downs, too, were fresh. TAKETHEFALL (25D: Be a patsy) was one of our first breakthroughs, but TRUSTNOONE (28D: Catchphrase for the paranoid) was one of the last things in. Sometimes it goes that way, I guess.

Lots of fun clues, which is always welcome. 48A: Soft spot (SOFA), 37D: Rush home? (AMRADIO), and 26A: Steel-eyed one? (CARNEGIE), for example. And the French was third-year stuff, with the somewhat inappropriate CUL (2D: French bottom) (it's really closer to "ass"), and 38D: Soupçon (TAD).

Overall, a very enjoyable Friday.

- Horace

Thursday, July 31, 2014, Jill Denny and Jeff Chen

0:28:38

It took us a while to figure this one out, but I feel it was worth the wait. We filled in all rebuses ([SPACE]), but I'm hoping that leaving the boxes unfilled will also work. If one of you tries that, let me know.

When I got to 10A: Captain played by Patrick Stewart (AHAB), I thought for sure that it would be "Picard," and that there was a rebus afoot, but I'm guessing that's exactly what they wanted me to think! Pretty tricky!

The fill started out tough, with the unknown (to me) LOEB (1A: Financial writer Marshall) and ANDREA (9D: Bargnani of the N.B.A.) (ditto), and went through some rough spots, like EARBOB (25A: Dangling piece of jewelry) (ok, ok, it's probably fine). I actually liked DEUS (46A: Mars, e.g.), but Frannie thought it a little "de trop."

Horizontal symmetry always looks a little funny, but it's not that bad.

There's more I should say, but I'm on a tight schedule today, so you'll have to look to our astute commenters for more about this enjoyable start to the Turn.

- Horace

Wednesday, July 30, 2014, Jean O'Conor

0:10:13

Well, call me easy, but I love this kind of silly, false definition theme. MEASURINGCUP (22A: Undergarment fitting device?) is just so absurd. I guess, since Jean O'Conor is female, she was maybe thinking of a bra cup, but my mind went immediately to the "sports cup," which made it even funnier, I think. MICROWAVE (43A: Hardly an attraction for a surfer?) is another funny one, but my favorite might be the last, CHAFINGDISH (56A: Attractive, but annoying date?). That's some quality material right there.

The fill, though it did contain a fair number of threes, was not that bad, I didn't think. I mean, if you're going to start with a three letter answer, it might as well be BLT (1A: Sandwich usually served with mayo). Heck, the theme must have put me in a great mood, because I don't even mind OHHI (19A: "I'm surprised to see you!").

TVCHANNELS (3D: Just 2 to 13, once) was tricky, especially since we never had a channel 13! And the other non-theme ten was also nice - GETAWAYCAR (27D: Aid for a bank heist). There's not much else that stands out - except, perhaps, for GHIA (55D: Karmann ____, classic German sports car) - and yes, there's a fair amount of AVEO, ELEV, SAXE, SIM, HPS, etc., but sue me, I still liked it. It was an enjoyable theme and it put me in a good mood. Can you ask anything else of a Wednesday?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to TOGUP and get to work!

- Horace

Tuesday, July 29, 2014, Timothy Polin

0:07:48

I rather like this plant-based theme. I also like that both Across and Down clues are used for theme material, which always makes it seem a little more complete. Or elegant. Or both. Mr. Polin also managed to squeeze extra plant material into two corners with FERN (14A: Bit of office greenery) and YEWS (56D: Trees for making longbows).

Some highlights: BIKE (10A: Transportation for Mary Poppins or E.T.), SOBERSUP (20A: Gets more clearheaded), JERKS (27A: Ones cutting in line, e.g.), SEXTS (44A: Responds hotly?) (seems like it's been a while since we've had any good Huygens material!), ICEFOG (47A: Atmospheric phenomenon during low temperatures) (sounds so MENACE(S)ing!), ARMANI (53A: Milanese fashion house) (more Huygens material, but in a different way). And that's just the Across clues! In the Downs we see plenty more good stuff, and even the less-than-perfect stuff is salvaged by funny cluing - DEEPER (9D: Like the diving end of a pool vis-à-vis the other end) - or by association - IGETA (30D: Sinatra's "____ Kick Out of You").

Oh, I wasn't going to single out any more answers, but I loved OPIUMDEN (37D: Old-time drug hangout), JOWLS (27D: Features of a droopy face), and Frannie always enjoyed watching "Pimp My Ride" when we could catch it while at a hotel, so XZIBIT (48D: Rapper who hosted MTV's "Pimp My Ride") was fun to have in there, too.

In possibly non-Tuesday material, we have VIRAGO (25A: Shrew), LARUE (52D: Lash ____ of old westerns), and MESTIZA (49A: Mujer of mixed race). Those last two I have never seen before!

Overall, this was a very good Tuesday.

- Horace

Monday, July 28, 2014, Tom McCoy

0:07:05

Hmm… to me, string isn't cable, and string isn't yarn, and string isn't rope… but I guess I see what they were trying to do. And, to be fair, string has many definitions, none of which, in the dictionary I have at hand, specifically describes the white cotton object I think of when I hear the word. So, fine, have it your way, Mr. McCoy.

Now that we got that out of the way, let's get right to the word SENESCED (37D: Grew old). It's not a Monday word. Neither, probably, is ASSYRIA (52A: Nineveh's land). Nor ADELIE (2D: Penguin variety). I suppose many will, but I did not know that the 64A: Weasley family owl was named ERROL, nor had I ever heard of HEYARNOLD (30A: Nickelodeon show whose protagonist has a football-shaped head), or TRYHARDS (38D: Those who put a lot of effort into social climbing, in modern lingo) - but those lacunae should not surprise anyone who knows me. I didn't take much interest in Harry Potter, I don't have cable, and I certainly don't try to do much social climbing. There, now you know me, too. Happy?

It's funny, I didn't mind this puzzle while I was doing it - I enjoy the word GAUNTLET (12D: Knight's glove), and RIPSAWS (24A: Cutters that cut with the grain) and DEEPS (29A: Watery abysses) are nice. SPARKLER (25D: Hand-held Fourth of July firework) sparkles, and LOSELOSE (17D: Like a catch-22 situation) is good, and I loved the trivia in SUM (19A: 666, for the numbers on a roulette wheel), but the theme, once I paused to figure it out after solving, actually detracted a bit from the overall enjoyment. As stated above, I have a problem with the very idea, and then the phrases themselves are a bit random. ANYLONGER (44A: For even a second more)? VOCABLESSON (59A: Component of a language class, informally). For some reason, the informality annoys me.

I guess I liked more than I disliked, so it gets a thumbs up, but not way up. How's that?

- Horace

Sunday, July 27, 2014, Randolph Ross

WHAT'S MY LINE?

We liked the theme just fine, and we also liked that it was quite a bit tougher than a normal Sunday, but some of the crosses seemed unfair, and there were a lot of obscure answers. Where to begin? Let's start with the killer crosses.

LALO (21A: "Le Roi d'Ys" composer) (ahh, yes, Le Roi d'Y…) and AGITA (29A: Gut feeling?) (this one, we recognized, but still…) both crossing DONAT (17D: Robert who played filmdom's Mr. Chips). Tough.

RAMON (37A: San ____, Calif.) crossing MENLO (31D: College in Atherton, Calif.). Inferable, perhaps, but still tough.

And finally, the one that did us in - LAO (73A: Pathet ____ (old revolutionary group) crossing FALA (68D: F.D.R.'s Scottie). A Laotian group from the '70s crossing a dog that died 62 years ago. Hmpf.

Other obscurities - FEHR (57A: Longtime baseball union exec Donald), FARFEL (99A: Small pellets of noodle dough in Jewish cuisine), LANDAU (44A: Vinyl-roofed car), SAMUEL (61A: ____ de Champlain, founder of Quebec), NORA (60A: Romance novelist Roberts), PRAHA (18A: European capital, to natives), HATLO (20A: Jimmy ____, "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoonist), DEKE (83A: Astronaut Slayton), IED (87A: Iraq War danger, for short), ETHAN (98A: Hunt in "Mission: Impossible"), NOTH (118A: Chris who played Mr. Big on "Sex and the City"), TROCHE (6D: Throat soother), NIOBE (24D: Weeper of myth), AAU (40D: Org. with the Sullivan Award for character, leadership and sportsmanship) … and I could go on. It's not that any of those is unfair in and of itself, but so many? I've only done a few of the Maleska-era puzzles, but this had that kind of a feel. Like they're just cramming things in because they can - because Hey, it's a real thing! It's fair!

Well, ok, it's fair, then, but it isn't fun.

Least favorite clue - 85A: Email virus, power outage, etc. (WOES).
Best clue - 48A: Butler's quarters? (TARA).

Blah.

- Horace

Saturday, July 26, 2014, Julian Lim

0:40:00

A solid Saturday. Some of the clues I saw right through: 24A: Highlander, e.g. (TOYOTA) and 15A: A Ryder (WINONA), and some took forever: 30D: Fire sign? (SIREN) (lovely) and 7D: Common aspiration? (AITCH) (good one! and I was very glad that it wasn't "aahhh" or some variant thereof).

STOP (4D: Cry to a tickler) was fun, ASCETICAL (27D: Like the lifestyle of many a monk) is a lovely word, as are COSSET (40D: Baby) and RICRAC (48A: Zigzag ribbon) (Thanks, Frannie!). STALK (43D: Follow too closely) and MIRROR (38D: Reflect) were clued well, and 19A: Hot stuff (WASABI) was tricky, too.

In the middle, we noted that "SEAmonster" was too short, but once TRYON (32D: Check for size, say) and EES (33D: Some semiconductor experts: Abbr.) (one of the only bits of crosswordese in the grid) went in, SEACREATURE was easy enough to see. It's always nice to have a classical reference, and it's especially nice here to offset JERSEYSHORE (35A: Former hit TV show with the theme song "Get Crazy").

Overall, an enjoyable Saturday puzzle that caps of an outstanding week of dailies. Now, the real kicker will be a great one tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers!

- Horace