Friday, November 18, 2016, Peter Wentz

0:20:12 (F.W.O.E.)

My years-long drift away from politics and modern popular culture, while blissful in many ways, is my undoing in the world of competitive crossword solving. Not that daily solving is or should be competitive, mind you, but I think ahead to the A.C.P.T. and the trouble you get into by having a single error! Well, today it was JCOLE (42D: Rapper with #1 albums in 2011, 2013 and 2014) crossing JONI (42A: Senator Ernst) - neither of which have I ever heard of.

But as I said, daily crossword solving is not competitive. It is, by contrast, one of the simple, relaxing pleasures that I enjoy while not thinking about politics or modern popular culture. And this chunky grid from Mr. Wentz afforded me twenty minutes of happy diversion.

1A: Go over again, as one's writing? (BACKSPACE) is okay. I'll give it a B+. My first entry, though, was not until 24A: Trending (HOT). From that one, three-letter entry, I was able to posit KMARTS (13D: Some big boxes), which led to other educated guesses, OMSK (10A: Site of Dostoyevsky's exile) and OBAMA (17A: Noted 1983 graduate of Columbia), and I was off and running.

I thought the central slanting stack was quite strong, and laughed out loud at GINGERBREAD (30A: Material for a seasonal house) when it finally became clear to me. The spelling of CONDOLEEZZARICE (8D: One of Augusta National's first two female members) (Darla Moore is the other) was surprising, but the crosses worked it all out. I don't particularly like KOD (36A: Put down on canvas?), because it assumes an apostrophe. That's unusual, right? I'm not just making that up? I mean, assumed periods (NCIS) and assumed spaces (BYANOSE) are one thing, but apostrophes seem different to me somehow. But that's a small thing. Overall, this was a quality Friday.

- Horace

Thursday, November 17, 2016, Timothy Polin and Joe Krozel

14:40 (F.W.O.E.)

Strange grid today, with a totally unchecked word. The theme is, I guess, pyramids, or ancient Egypt, and thematic fill includes PYRAMIDSCHEME (17A: Common scam), TOMBRAIDER (21D: Video game featuring an archaeologist heroine), PHARAOHANT (23D: Insect with multi-queen colonies), TUT (28A: King of the 18th dynasty), the afore-referred-to, unchecked MUMMY, and, possibly, LOOTERS, LAWBREAKERS, CAGEDUP, and ALIENS (45A: Builders of the pyramids). Just kidding about that last clue, but I've gotta believe they were thinking about that.

I don't know about you, but this one didn't wow me. I like the wide open feel of the horizontally symmetrical X, and I like some of the fill, like the pair of public utility clues: MEGAWATTS (5D: Power plant quantity), and WATERMAINS (7D: Hookups for hydrants), and the science crossing of BERYL (3D: Color akin to turquoise) and RAREGAS (14A: Krypton, for one). I also enjoyed the clues for SOCKETS (13D: Eyes, shoulders and knees have them) (gross), CARE (9D: Give a rip), and the tricky 21A: Nice ideas come from them (TETES). Ideas formed in the city of Nice, that is. Heh.

On the other hand, I don't really like "22A: Leave in a bad way" for STRAP. Are they talking about whipping someone with a strap? Yikes.

My error came at the ABBA (33A: Bishop's title in the Coptic Church) and OPERASERIA (4D: Work not of the buffa style) cross. I went with the French ABBe, and "Opera Serie" seemed like plausible French as well, but "buffa," I see, should have indicated Italian. Oh well... tough cross.

1A: Mitch who wrote the best seller "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" (ALBOM) gets a C-. Don't read, don't believe in Heaven. My first confident answer was PEEPER (11A: Tree frog with a distinctive call).

So meh from me. The unchecked word was rather bluntly clued, and I guess the puzzles hidden charms remained sealed off from me.

- Horace

p.s. I chose the photo of Harold Ramis that I thought looked most like Colum. :)

Wednesday, November 16, 2016, Jim Peredo

DNF

Yeah... when I got down to 65A: Cool, in the 1960s (GROOVY), I had no crosses and I put in "far out," which, of course, is wrong. Not wrong wrong, but puzzle wrong. The trouble was that I got everything else in that corner from the Across clues, and never went back. I suppose I could have said "Finished with Six Errors," but at that point, why bother?

So anyway, the theme is BATMAN (71A: 1960s TV icon whose name follows a pair of letters found, appropriately, 16 times in this puzzle's Across answers), and I like it a lot. The sixteen pairs are "NA," as in, "Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na BATMAN!" LOL. And as if that weren't enough, we have the bonus BANG, BAM, POW, and WHAM from the fight scenes. Very nice, Mr. Peredo, very nice.

With all that theme material, you'd think things would get a little crossword-y, and there are certainly a few oddities - NITA, ANEG, ADES - but nothing terribly offensive. And on the other hand, we've got attractive bonus fill like TANKINI (5D: Modest two-piece bathing suit), ADONIS (8D: Dreamboat), BALLADEER (10D: Singer of love songs), ANYONE (48D: Question repeatedly posed by Ferris Bueller's teacher) (Ha!), and TABLAS (49D: Indian drums similar to bongos). If a girl I adored in high school hadn't played the tabla, I might have been stumped at the cross with NAE (67A: When doubled, a 2010s dance) (Huh?).

The long theme answers are lively today, too. It's quite a diverse group, from BANGALORE to WHAMMYBAR. And SNORT (54D: Embarrassing laugh accompanier) makes it in for the second day in a row, though I preferred yesterday's alcohol-related clue.

1A: Like a virgin (CHASTE) gets an A-. My first confident entry was NAM (7A: "Apocalypse Now" setting, familiarly). Overall, an entertaining Wednesday.

- Horace

Tuesday, November 15, 2016, David J. Kahn

0:06:12

Holy Cow! It's a Cubs tribute puzzle! It's just 13 days after the Cubs won the World Series, and just three days since Mr. Kahn's last NYT Crossword byline (!), but none of that matters, because, well, it's the Cubs.

This one almost enters the realm of a "stunt puzzle," with so many entries being tied to the theme in any way possible. There are the three fifteens, including WORLDSERIESRING (39A: 2016 award for each Cub), but there's also bonus material like EVERS (16A: Tinker to ____ to Chance (Cubs double play combo)), GOAT (17A: Curse of the Billy ____, Cubs "jinx" that ended in 2016), MOPUP (60A: Finish pitching in a lopsided game), and even RAMPS (49D: Stadium walkways).

And speaking of stadium RAMPS, it was on one of those in Wrigley Field, during a 1984 Pennant drive game vs. the Mets, that Frannie and I, with our "standing room only" tickets, sat and talked. We had gone to the game with other people, as it were, but we connected during a pregame walk through the stands to the IVYCOVEREDWALLS, then sitting on that ramp, then talking all the way home in the back seat of the rented van. The connection was ELECTRIC, and the rest, as they say, is history.

But enough about me, let's get back to the puzzle. It starts and ends Cubs, from 1A: "My Kind of ____ (Chicago Is)" (TOWN) (B) (First confident answer) to SOSA (69A: Cubs slugger with 609 home runs). Sure, we have TIGE (1D: Buster Brown's canine sidekick), CCLIV (30A: The year 254), the very odd-looking, but fine, I guess GOUP (56D: Ascend), and the regrettable STUBBLES (5D: Targets of close shaves?), but hey, whatever. GO CUBS!

- Horace

Monday, November 14, 2016, Zhouqin Burnikel

0:04:27

Animal expressions make up the theme material today. Pretty neat that Ms. Burnikel found four that would work symmetrically, and two of them are fifteens! It's kind of fancy to have two fifteens on a Monday, isn't it?

It's odd, though, that a puzzle focussing on animals would contain a reference to a product that has been deemed to be "Cheap, cruel, and indiscriminate" to animals by the Humane Society of the United States. I know that the puzzle editor probably does not want to take a stand one way or the other, but by casually cluing DCON with "16A: Rodenticide brand with glue traps," the idea is treated as normal. I would have liked "Maker of controversial glue traps" better, but if you want to skirt the whole thing, just say "Rodenticide brand" and leave it at that.

Moving on. I thought DCUNIVERSE (11D: Where Batman and Superman live) was a nice answer, and opposite that, the full PEARLSBUCK (30D: "The Good Earth" author) is also fine. The clue for ENTER (34D: Another name for the return key on a Mac) seems a little odd. I'm writing this on a PC, and my "return key" says "Enter." Was this puzzle originally constructed in the 1980s? Do any keyboards still say "return?"

My first answer was CAMP (1A: Group of tents in the woods), which I will give a B+. I like the clue. Interesting trivia about PUTIN (37A: Foreign president with a black belt in judo).

Overall, except for that one large problem about the glue traps, it was fine.

- Horace

Sunday, November 13, 2016, Joel Fagliano

CLOTHES THAT FIT

Clothing puns. HAH! Nice one, Mr. Fagliano. It's something that seems so improbable, yet when you read all the theme answers you think, why haven't I heard these before? They're so perfect! Well, except maybe for 74A: The plumber wore a ... TUBETOPANDCLOGS. Can you just imagine? I know I'm supposed to think gender-neutral and all, and sure, maybe a female plumber would wear this combination, but the mind travels first, unfortunately, to the stereotypical plumber type, and there's already enough cleavage on view with that image, if you'll pardon me for saying so.

Still, if we're imagining these outfits, the TURTLENECKBOAANDCROCS (62A: The reptile expert wore a ...) would be, perhaps, even more disturbing to see. Hahhahahhaaha... The most plausible, and the funniest, perhaps, is saved for last - 103A: The happily unemployed person wore ... SLACKSANDLOAFERS. "APT!"

So great theme. What else? Well, 1A: Upbeat (CHIPPER) gets a B+. It's both a fun word, and it's the name of one of my brother's dogs. And that's not all - there's lots more to like in this. 1D: One looking to serve mankind?, for example - CANNIBAL. Ha! The word SPRITZED (13D: Applied, as cologne) is a lovely word, and MIASMAS (38D: Noxious emanations) is too, albeit unpleasant in reality. 81A: Two for a buck" (ANTLERS) is cute. TAPENADE (74D: Dip made with olives, capers and anchovies) is delicious. Like I said, lots to like.

LETATCESTMOI (15D: Famed claim from Louis XIV) went right in, but the other French entries - CANARDS (64D: Baseless rumors), SABOTS (35A: Wooden-soled shoes), and PISTES (82D: Downhill ski runs) (tried "slopes") took a few crosses.

There's very little to complain about. Thumbs up!

- Horace

Saturday, November 12, 2106, David J. Kahn

0:26:25

A surprise Saturday rebus today! Well, is it really a rebus puzzle if it only has one rebus square, or is it something else? Either way, it's just the one center square, which I stared at for at least a full minute before the solution hit me. Thinking so much about politics lately, I started by wondering if it could be "second amendment," but then "New York [amen] New York" didn't sound like any song I knew. How much more familiar, on the other hand, is "NEWYORK,NEWYORK," and SECOND[COMMA]NDMENT, too, works better for "15D: Precept about idol worship."

Aside from that 15x13 cross in the center, there are four more 15s tying the whole puzzle together. And on top of that, the corners are pretty wide-open. Now, I've never made a crossword, but it seems to me that this kind of a construction would be quite difficult to fill in cleanly, and sure enough, there's quite few less-than-ideal entries. Take, for example, ISO, EXE, ENE, AFR, OSH, HET, ORC, ROOS, and RIDA. And moving into the longer stuff, we have ESSIE, ASRED, PLANA, REGNAL, EDENIC, and ASLOPE. Kind of a lot.

But on the brighter side, we have the disturbing pair of OPENFIRE (2D: Start to fight) and TEARGAS (Lachrymatory agent), and the always welcome SEXSCENE (15A: Part of a blue book?). Nice clue there. I actually considered trying "exam page" in there. Heh. And speaking of good clues, I really liked "25A: Overnight letter?" for INN. A letter of rooms, that is. And how 'bout "60A: Acting willfully?" TESTATE! Good stuff.

The crossing fifteens are fine, but nothing to write home about. Overall, I guess I come out in favor of this one, but it's not my favorite.

- Horace