Sunday, February 28, 2021, Brad Wiegmann

CROSSWORD BUFF

Hah! An entertaining Sunday theme today. My favorite is probably "When the nudist club was founded?" MANYMOONSAGO, but "Where the nudist club orchestra plays its concerts?" BOTTOMLESSPIT also made me chuckle. And it's nice that it finishes up with FULLYRECOVERED (How people returned from a week at the nudist club?). A cute theme, well-crafted. 

I also thought the opening tribute to the late Jeopardy host was nice - TREBEK (Man who had all the answers?). At the last A.C.P.T. I went to I was in the crowd when Will Shortz taped a well-wishing greeting to him. Have you all been watching the guest hosts? I thought Jennings was very good - he comes across as a genuinely kind, very smart guy. This new host - the executive producer, I think - isn't bad either, but he's not in Jennings' league. 

Yes, they are distantly related to ostrich and emu.

KNOSSOS (Site of the Minotaur's Labyrinth) was tough. I knew it was in Crete, but I did not have specifics beyond that. Until now. :) Also in the "place names I didn't know" category was MORIA (Balrog's home in "The Lord of the Rings"). 

Care to take a guess at what the world's three highest capital cities in the ANDES are? The only one I know for sure is Quito, Equador. Is La Paz, Bolivia another one? Yes! It's the highest, actually. OK, so I knew two. The third is Bogotá, Columbia. I probably wouldn't have come up with that one. After that, you have to cross the Atlantic for number four - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

When I see answers like INABIT (Soon), it makes me wonder if constructors collect words and/or phrases that can easily be adjusted if necessary. This entry could be expanded to "inhabit," for example. And IMALONE could be changed to "abalone." LADLES could be "ladies." You get the idea. Any constructors want to weigh in on whether or not that's part of the secret formula?

So another week ends today - or begins, if you look at it that way - and Frannie takes over tomorrow to start the month of March. Last March brought lockdowns. Here's hoping that, along with flowers and warmer weather, this March brings the beginning of the end of this long, strange season suffering.

Happy puzzling, and I'll see you in a few.

- Horace

p.s. "Humbugs?" BEES. Excellent. 

p.p.s. Debut alert! And a nice one, too! Congrats.

Saturday, February 27, 2021, Yacob Yonas

I love seeing this kind of open grid on a Saturday. Wide-open corners, chunky feel ... it would have looked slightly more daunting, I think, if the central diagonal were shorter, but even so, it looks very nice. That said, it was one of those very rare Saturday's when things just fell into place very quickly. 

 

I immediately thought of "b-ball is life" for 1A, so it wasn't hard, after LAS ("____ Mañanitas" (Mexican birthday song)), LOVETT (Four-time Grammy winner Lyle) and FACEPALM ([I'm such an idiot!]) fell in, to change it slightly to BALLISLIFE. OK, maybe FACEPALM went in once I had the F ... sometimes it's hard to remember.

One piece of that quadrant that took longer was the chuckle-worthy C/AP "Set for the afternoon?" and TEASERVICE. Nice. And although I didn't know "Renato's wife in Verdi's 'Un Ballo in Maschera,'" I always enjoy seeing the name AMELIA. BITEME, on the other hand, was a bit of a shock for this old prude.

MOONBEAM (Night light) was cute, ASCIIART (... \_(^.^)_/) was interesting, but there were many that just seemed kind of straightforward. SOLARCAR (Vehicle equipped with photovoltaic cells) and FINEDINING (Opposite of cheap eats), for example. Then there were a few that we've seen quite recently, like DATAMINE (Dig for insights, digitally) and MEETCUTE (Trope seen in rom-coms). And very few, like MASER (Atomic clock timekeeper) and ISIDORA (George Sand title heroine), that were truly Saturday-level.

I whipped through this in 0:08:24, which for me, on a Saturday, feels quite fast. I liked it fine - especially the fun bits, like EASYA (School softball?) - but it's always a little disappointing to be done with it so fast on the weekend.

What'd you think of it?

- Horace

Friday, February 26, 2021, Chuck Deodene

A lovely triple-stack and two 15-pins anchor this lovely Friday themeless. What a lovely early start to the weekend! Let's dig in, starting with the biggies -

SPACETELESCOPES (Things used by star witnesses?) is a beautiful C/AP, and one that can lead to SCENICPANORAMAS even more vast than those available at the Grand Canyon!

PUTAFACETOANAME (Meet somebody you've heard lots about) is a common expression, but for me it doesn't mean a whole lot. I can't always bring to mind the faces of people even after I've met them. I think I read that Oliver Sacks had a similar condition - perhaps even a worse case of it. Is this ODD confession a CRYFORATTENTION from one with a little too much Amour de SOI? Could be. And speaking of self-expression, ARTISTICLICENSE (Creator's leeway) is one permit you don't want to let lapse!

Sven and Ole go fishing. It’s such a great day, they rent a boat so they can fish from the middle of the lake. They row out, drop their lines, and before you know it, they're catching fish, one after another after another. They can’t believe what a great fishing spot they found.

Sven says, “This is the best fishing spot in the county. It’s just too bad we didn’t bring some paint.”

Ole asks, “Paint? Why should you want paint, to go fishing?”

“Well Ole, don’t you see, so we can paint an “X” in the bottom of the boat, so we can find this spot next time.”

Ole laughs at him. “Sven, don’t be such a dummy! Next time, what if they give us a different boat?”

I thought TACTIC (Bit of strategy) was a fine start today, and off of that I loved the unexpected straightforwardness of CARGO (Boatload), which crossed the cleverly-clued COMBS (Makers of parts). I tried "Zoomer" before SKYPER (One having a certain video chat), and SCENICoverlookS before SCENICPANORAMAS, but other than that, things went slowly but surely along.

TAW (Large marble) is a classic example of a KOFCA-esque word. (New definition in our glossary!) TAT, on the other hand, I would call classic crosswordese. 

IMBECILE (Dolt) always reminds me (happily) of The Three Stooges, and SHETLAND (Northernmost part of the U.K.) reminds me (somewhat bluntly) of the fine British TV mystery called SHETLAND.

Overall, as I said up top, a lovely Friday themeless. It put me in a good mood, which is a nice way to go into the (almost) weekend. I hope you enjoyed it too.

- Horace

Thursday, February 25, 2021, Dylan Schiff

Ginvermurbartar ... bartar murginver ... barver targinmur ... When this was over, did you, like me, try to make sense of the doubled letters? Well, if you did, and you got something that made sense, let me know.

Chances are that the doubling trick is all there is. Which is not a complaint. I like the trick. I think, though, that it's normal for us crazy crosswording types to keep looking for one more layer. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it isn't. 

So anyway, this week's Thursday trick is revealed by DOUBLEDOWN (Blackjack bet ... or a hint to applying the five shaded regions in this puzzle). The "hint to applying" seems slightly odd wording to me, but the RUB (Central difficulty) (Nice that this is in the exact center of the grid) is that the letters in the shaded squares must be doubled for the answer to make sense. For 6D: Stethescope detection, that means doubling the last three letters to get HEARTMUR[MUR]. And for 41D: Former first and second lady it means doubling the first three for BAR[BAR]ABUSH. 

I didn't realize that STEAKTAR[TAR]E was often topped with a raw egg yolk. Was it conceived as a prank? Or some kind of a hazing ritual? Who in their right mind would willingly eat such a thing?

Speaking of dumb ideas, learning that TONTO is Spanish for "stupid" kind of takes some of the air out of the whole Lone Ranger and Tonto pairing, doesn't it? 

ALLIE (Holden's late brother in "The Catcher in the Rye") was a very tough get, and ELI (Director Roth of cinema's Splat Pack) was absolutely no help to me. ONERS (Single-take shots, in film lingo) is not great, and I've never heard anyone say JUKE (Vintage diner fixture, in brief) instead of the full jukebox. (Why would you? Jukebox is so fun to say!) But it is a rare puzzle that does not fray a bit at the seams, and although I sometimes say OGEES, I enjoyed the trick, and I enjoyed the puzzle.

- Horace

Wednesday, February 24, 2021, Andrew J. Ries

It took me quite a long while (ok, maybe a minute or two) to understand what was going on with today's theme. The circled letters at first didn't make any sense. Well, "evil," of course, did, but I read "oz" as an abbreviation for ounce, "dre" seemed like an odd collection of letters, and even "who," pronounced as if simply plucked from "whole" meant nothing to me. I spent time trying to make these fragments sound like a PARADOX when compared to the more normal "evil," "ruth," and "no." Finally, it got through my FATS head that the "aural hint" was that PARADOX sounds like "pair of docs," and then it all made sense. Sheesh!

I might have tried to re-work that wording.

So anyway, now that I've dragged you through that sad story ... the Dr. theme isn't bad. Three are fictional (Dr. Evil, Dr. Who, Dr. No), two are real doctors (Dr. Ruth (Ed.D., Columbia), and Dr. Oz (MD, U. Penn)), and one is the gangsta rap superhero Dr. Dre. All are plenty famous for a puzzle. 

What's more, I really like the "containers" they are found in. I don't think I've ever heard  DEVILSDOZEN ("Satanic" nickname for the number 13) used before, but I find it amusing. I also did not know that the DREADNOUGHT was the predominant style of "W.W. I-era battleship," although I had heard the word. And that's THEWHOLETRUTH.

Left-right symmetry today. Always a little odd. The best of the long downs is HOMEDESIGN (Subject for House Beautiful magazine). TWEETSTORM as been ruined by our moronic previous president, VAPEPEN is something that should never have been invented, and REVENUE (Cash in?) despite its lovely clue, is too corporate. 

WRAITH, GENXER, ELAPSE, and EXTORT, on the other hand, are all fine. 

- Horace

Tuesday, February 23, 2021, Kate Hawkins

Potty humor takes over the puzzle today, with four different words for terlit. It's another "last word means something" theme, as our commenter Jim Kingdon put it yesterday. At the end of the theme answers we find "throne," "head," "John," and "loo." Well, and "mouth," but lets be very clear that that is the revealer. Gross.

In addition to an amusing (if you find toilets amusing) theme, we have several BONUSES in the Down answers. AGITATE, PARADISE, SCEPTER, OCTOPUS, KARAOKE, CLATTER, FAJITA, and Steven COLBERT. Not a bad group! And really, EASTER, NARRATES, and WOUND aren't bad either. Lovely variety of mid-length answers. And the Acrosses are loaded with good stuff, too - ARTISAN, TRAIT, FIANCEE (when will Americans change this spelling to "fiansay?" Or maybe even "fiansayido?" :) ), CAFTAN, TANDEM, and more!

Is IRONTHRONE something to do with Game of Thrones? I suppose I ought to watch that - purely for crosswordical reasons ...

The theme was amusing, the fill was great, and the grid only stretched a bit - SER, SFO, ONUP (sure, it's a partial, but who doesn't smile thinking of that song?), and OKC (? Since when is there a team in Oklahoma City?!). 

Favorite clue: Honeybunch? (BEES) 

Least favorite: Space shuttle supply (AIR). It makes it a little too scary, doesn't it?

Thumbs up from me.

- Horace

Monday, February 22, 2021, Barbara Lin

OK, let's get one thing out of the way right off the bat - I don't like EAUS. It's not a word. If you're naming two French bottled waters and you are looking for a plural of the French word for water, what you should find is "eaux." That's the plural of eau. I suppose we're Americans and we can do what we want with words we find here, but je n'aime pas ça et je vais le combattre jusqu'au bout!

So now that I've got that out of the way, let's grab the chalk and get cracking. We've got POOL-related words scattered all over the place: TOWELRACK, GIMMEABREAK, ONCUE, ONTHEBALL, and OUTOFPOCKET. Really, you'd want them in the pocket, but I know, I know... 

I love the term PEPPERED (Bombarded, as with questions), and I often like my food PEPPERED, so that's win-win. And how funny is it that I just read about the spelling of KYIV earlier today? The Ukranians want that to be the official spelling because it is Ukranian, and Kiev is Russian. Why did I read this? Well, it's because some friends got us a subscription to a food service called "Universal Yums" for Christmas. I put the link in for your convenience, but I hesitate to actually recommend it, and not just because of the name. We got three boxes, with food from Italy, the Netherlands, and most recently, Ukraine. It's somewhat interesting, but the food samples seem a little like something you might get on a plane, and the little booklet with interesting facts about each country often has typos in it - and if you know anything about me, you know I'm a pedant about spelling. :) But honestly, expanding horizons is always a good idea, and I can't knock it entirely. If you're interested, try it yourself and let me know how you like it. 

Anyway, it's a fine Monday. I like pool, and even the tortured fill like OHIOU made me smile. 

Wouldn't it be funny if MANX were the plural of man? :P

 - Horace