NYT Wednesday 3/10/10 - Cost Accountancy

We have now reached the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall - as far south and west as we are going into England on this trip - and will stay here a few days before returning home by way of South Wales. It occurred to me when driving here that we're not only seeing those cruciverbal standbys rias on this trip, but tors as well. Cornwall has done crosswords proud with these innovations. And yes, we can confirm that Cornwall has moors (see discussion of 28-Across in the February 18 puzzle).

Today's New York Times crossword was fairly easy for a Wednesday: I thought I was going to solve the whole thing without working out what the answers had in common, but did see what was happening by means of 55a within cost. I had to consider this answer carefully, as the idiom isn't particularly familiar (doesn't seem to be a dictionary phrase, for example); it is, I'd have thought, more likely to refer to something costing less than estimated rather than reasonably priced per se.

Once I knew what this implied for the theme answers, I quickly double-checked the starts and finishes. The constructor did well to get six nice examples into the grid. This sort of idea - idiomatic phrase suggesting a pattern shown in the remaining theme answers - seems to come up regularly in NYT puzzles.

Solving time: 7 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 26a colorfast {Unable to run}

Solution

Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Theme

Long answers start CO and end ST, indicated by 55a within cost {Reasonably priced ... or a hint to 17-, 19-, 26-, 34-, 42- and 51-Across}.

17a corner post {Key building support}
19a coast-to-coast {Across the entire United States}
26a colorfast {Unable to run}
34a come home to roost {Boomerang, in a way}
42a Condé Nast {Publisher of The New Yorker}
51a count against {Be disadvantageous to}

Crucimetrics [about Crucimetrics]

Compilers	Gary Steinmehl / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 40 (17.8%) black squares
Answers	72 (average length 5.14)
Theme squares	79 (42.7%)
Scrabble points	260 (average 1.41)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Video of the Day



58a Lita {Ex-Runaways guitarist Ford}. Lita Ford is a British-born, American rock musician and singer who was the lead guitarist for The Runaways and achieved popularity for her solo career between the 1980s and late 2000s. The above song Lisa is a single from her 1990 album Stiletto and dedicated to her mother.

The Doctor is IN

1a Ike {President before Jack}. Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.

1d ipecac {Drug for a poisoning victim}. Ipecac is well known emetic.

6d Merc {Chicago exchange, for short}. Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

9d J. Lo {Selena portrayer, familiarly};  J Lo played Selena Quintanilla-Pérez in the movie Selena.

10d ens {Minnesota twins?}. There are two ens (Ns) in Minnesota.

33d Ortega {Salsa brand}. Ortega is a Mexican food brand.

35d Otto {"Beetle Bailey" bulldog}. Otto is a Cruciverbal Canine.

46d Titans {Tennessee gridders}. The Tennessee Titans.

Image of the Day

21a aviso {Dispatch boat}. An aviso ("advice" in Spanish) is a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, surviving particularly in the French navy. A dispatch boat is a small boat designed to carry messages from ship to ship or from ship to shore. French World War I avisos, used also during World War II, had displacement 300-700 tons, speed 13-20 knots, main armament usually of two 100 mm or 138 mm guns or four 100 mm guns. Bigger were colonial avisos Bougainville class, intended for overseas service, shown in the image above.

Other Clues

4a Tampa {City on a bay}; 9a Jeb {One of the Bushes}; 12a Pong {Early Atari offering}; 14a areas {Calculus calculations}; 15a ulna {Bone connected to the supinator muscle}; 16a este {90 degrees from sur}; 22a uttered {Put into words}; 30a more {Seconds, at dinner}; 31a a lie {"That's ___!"}; 32a top ten {Letterman list, e.g.}; 39a at ease {Order to relax}; 40a to a T {Perfectly}; 41a star {Marquee name}; 47a hosanna {Cry of praise}; 50a genii {Guardian spirits}; 59a oboe {___ d'amore (instrument)}; 60a cento {100, in Italy}; 61a seen {In the public eye}; 62a OMG! {"Horrors!," online}; 63a alias {Name registered at many an escort service}; 64a Srs. {Some homecoming float makers: Abbr.}.

2d Kosovo {Disputed Balkan territory}; 3d entail {Necessarily involve}; 4d tact {Skill not displayed by asking "Have you put on weight?"}; 5d -aroo {Suffix with buck}; 7d pan out {Prove successful}; 8d a seat {"Save me ___" (latecomer's request)}; 11d bat {Cricketer's need}; 13d gesso {Painter's undercoat}; 15d up-tempo {Musically bouncy}; 18d RST {String after Q}; 20d Torahs {Ark scrolls}; 23d roto- {Prefix with tiller}; 24d Eres {"___ Tu" (1974 hit)}; 25d dent {Make an impression on?}; 27d floe {Penguin's hangout}; 28d aim {Objective}; 29d see to {Get done}; 32d toad {Repulsive sort}; 34d cash {Word before cow or crop}; 36d meas. {Tsp. or tbsp.}; 37d earache {Malady treated with drops}; 38d ton {Whole lot}; 42d cancel {A.T.M. button}; 43d Neils {Simon and Diamond}; 44d Annie's {John Denver's "___ Song"}; 45d sister {Woman with vows}; 48d no I {"___ will not!"}; 49d nunca {Never, in Nogales}; 52d Toni {Literature Nobelist Morrison}; 53d Asta {Terrier in whodunits}; 54d GTOs {Classic Pontiac muscle cars}; 55d woo {Try to win}; 56d IBM {Big Blue}; 57d tog {Dress (up)}.

NYT Tuesday 3/9/10 - Circles of Hell

I'm going to keep today's post relatively short as it's already very late due to the hell known as the red-eye. I'm somewhat sleep-deprived and working with a troublesome internet connection, but will do my best.

Given my wooziness, I made a reasonable job of this Tuesday New York Times crossword: it helped that I recognized the Dante quote from 15-Across and knew what to put in 23-, 40- and 52-Across right away. I've done thematic cryptics involving the same material. 30- and 35-Across came a lot later, simply because I couldn't think of what else there was to say about the theme until I'd got a few crossing letters.

With 72 squares affected by the theme, this idea has to be highly constrained, and yet I don't see too much to complain about in the fill. Note that the grid has the unusual dimensions of 14 columns by 16 rows.

I didn't find any areas particularly troublesome: obviously there were a few things I didn't know, and I've highlighted those below. But the crossings generously resolved any concerns I had.

Solving time: 6 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 48a Arsenio {Hall providing entertainment}

Solution

Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Theme

A quote from Dante's Inferno is referenced as follows.

15a abandon all hope {With 23-Across, famous "opening" line}
23a ye who enter here {See 15-Across}
30a/35a Divine Comedy {Source of 15-/23-Across}
40a the gates of hell {15-/23-Across location}
52a Dante Alighieri {Creator of 30-/35-Across}

Crucimetrics [about Crucimetrics]

Compilers	Jeffrey Wechsler / Will Shortz
Grid	16x14 with 40 (17.9%) black squares
Answers	70 (average length 5.26)
Theme squares	72 (39.1%)
Scrabble points	297 (average 1.61)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Video of the Day



19a Flo {Rapper ___ Rida}. Flo Rida is the nom de rap of American rapper Tramar Dillard. As a teenager, he toured with the hip hop group 2 Live Crew. Later, he appeared in numerous popular rap mixtapes and studio albums, most notably in We the Best in 2006. Mail on Sunday was Flo Rida's solo debut album; its first single "Low", featuring T-Pain which was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from Mail on Sunday: "Elevator" and "In the Ayer" (see video above).

The Doctor is IN

34a Manet {"Olympia" artist}. Olympia hangs in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

48a Arsenio {Hall providing entertainment}. American actor, comedian, and former talk show host Arsenio Hall.

51a Abby {"Dear" columnist}. Dear Abby was founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name Abigail Van Buren.

10d wipe {Cinematic scene-changer}. A wipe gradually replaces one image with another based on a shape such as an edge, expanding circle or turning page.

32d Smiff {Knucklehead ___, Paul Winchell dummy of old TV}. Knucklehead Smiff was one of Paul Winchell's ventriloquist dummies.

Image of the Day

http://www.flickr.com/photos/evpeters/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

5d foo {___ dog (Chinese breed)}. A foo dog or fu dog is one of a closely related dog breeds originating in ancient China that resemble Chinese guardian lions and hence are also called Lion Dogs. Example foo dog breeds are: Pekingese, Pug and Chow Chow.

Other Clues

1a tip-off {Telltale sign}; 7a craw {Stick in one's ___}; 11a tuned out {Paid no attention to}; 13a aegis {Protection}; 17a furs {Heavy coats}; 18a homages {Respectful acts}; 20a praises {Says "Nice job!" to}; 28a as it is {"Given the situation ..."}; 29a gel {Alberto VO5 product}; 32a stalk {Support for an ear of corn}; 37a ism {Belief system}; 38a Arabic {Like 10, but not X}; 46a herself {"England hath long been mad, and scarr'd ___": Richmond in "King Richard III"}; 47a MIA {Lost soldier, briefly}; 56a Amati {Family name in early violin-making}; 57a Eve Arden {"Our Miss Brooks" star of 1950s TV}; 58a a pod {Like two peas in ___}; 59a stress {Emphasize}.

1d tubule {Tiny biological channel, as in the kidney}; 2d in a row {Aligned}; 3d pens {Waterman products}; 4d odd {Weird}; 6d fun {Playfulness}; 7d calmer {Not so stormy}; 8d rehash {Go over and over, as arguments}; 9d agog {Spellbound}; 11d taffy {Chewy confection}; 12d Tahiti {Captain Cook landfall of April 1769}; 14d ses {His or her: Fr.}; 16d loses {Comes up short, say}; 20d posit {Suggest}; 21d rein {Restraint}; 22d ante {Amount of money that can be raised?}; 24d have {"What will you ___?"}; 25d egad! {"Zounds!"}; 26d rely {Depend (on)}; 27d elk {Yellowstone roamer}; 30d dash {--}; 31d in me {"I didn't know I had it ___!"}; 33d tech {Lab ___}; 34d MIT {Alex Doonesbury's school, for short}; 35d case {Lawyer's assignment}; 36d obol {Silver coin of ancient Greece}; 38d atria {Open-air lobbies}; 39d resole {Fix, as a boot}; 41d ghetto {___ blaster}; 42d Aeneid {Classic tale in dactylic hexameter}; 43d embeds {Some Iraq war reporters}; 44d libres {Cuba ___ (rum highballs)}; 45d lay in {Store, as supplies}; 48d ADA {Org. that promotes sugarless gum}; 49d Rama {Blue-skinned deity}; 50d snap {Jacket fastener}; 51d -aire {Suffix with Frigid-}; 53d IVs {Hosp. hookups}; 54d get {Acquire}; 55d har {Raucous laugh syllable}.

NYT Monday 3/8/10 - Cheerio!

This Monday New York Times crossword shows how you can do something interesting with what seems an obvious thematic idea ... the four seasons. However, instead of the seasons being in the singular, we have all plurals, implemented as a pair of place names and a pair of people's names.

It reminded me of a very recent Listener Crossword which exploited the much neater naming in British English: if fall is called autumn, every season is exactly six letters long! I wonder that Americans don't favor the British spelling for the sake of cruciverbal neatness.

Talking of Britain, Magdalen and I are about to fly to England for a short break. We start in Devon and Cornwall, which we know from NYT crosswords are home to many moors and also rias. I will try to bring back pictures to prove this! At the end of the week, we'll be attending the annual Listener Crossword Dinner in Chepstow and visiting family.

As I am all set up for the trip, I solved this crossword at the computer - this I think accounts for the shorter than usual solving time. There were no particular trouble spots to negotiate - the puzzle seemed a nice easy warm-up to the week.

Traveling and time differences will disrupt blogging a little for the next few days, but I hope to keep up the regular format. I'll say cheerio {Brit's goodbye} for now, and look forward to resuming from the other side of the pond.

Solving time: 4 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 37a lap {Once around the track}

Solution

Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Theme

Long across answers end with a pluralized season:

16a Colorado Springs {Home of the U.S. Air Force Academy}
27a Buffy Summers {Vampire slayer of film and TV}
45a Wichita Falls {City in 21-Across}
60a Jonathan Winters {Comedic inspiration for Robin Williams}

Crucimetrics [about Crucimetrics]

Compilers	Stanley Newman / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 37 (16.4%) black squares
Answers	74 (average length 5.08)
Theme squares	56 (29.8%)
Scrabble points	295 (average 1.57)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Video of the Day



60a Jonathan Winters {Comedic inspiration for Robin Williams}. Jonathan Winters is an American comedian known early on for his stand-up routines and many classic comedy albums for Verve Records. He appeared in nearly 50 movies and TV shows, notably It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in which he played the trucker Lennie Pike. Winters is one of Robin Williams' idols and appeared in the fourth and last season of Mork & Mindy as Mork & Mindy's child, Mearth. Here they both are on Letterman.

The Doctor is IN

39a Ana {Santa ___ winds}. The Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry offshore winds that sweep through Southern California and northern Baja California in late fall and winter.

53a Alan {Chester Arthur's middle name}. Chester Alan Arthur, Prez #21.

56a CNBC {"Mad Money" network}. Mad Money is hosted by Jim Cramer.

14d Ice-T {Rapper/actor on "Law & Order: SVU"}. Ice-T plays detective Fin Tutuola.

42d Sha Na Na {Musical group with its own 1977-81 TV show}. Sha Na Na revive and send up 1950s New York street culture.

57d Bway {Street through Times Sq.}. Broadway.

61d TDs {Six-point scores, for short}. Touchdowns in American football.

63d NEA {Teachers' union, in brief}. The National Education Association is the largest labor union in the USA.

Image of the Day

21a Texas {State that was once a republic}; 45a Wichita Falls {City in 21-Across}. Wichita Falls, TX was named after some falls on the Wichita River. Unfortunately, a flood in 1886 destroyed the original falls. After nearly 100 years of visitors wanting to visit the non-existent falls, the city built an artificial waterfall beside the river in Lucy Park. The recreated falls are 54 feet high and recirculates at 3,500 gallons per minute. They are visible to south-bound traffic on Interstate 44.

Other Clues

1a proper {Capitalized, as a noun}; 7a cassava {Tapioca source}; 14a iron ore {Raw material for a steel factory}; 15a allures {Draws in}; 18a Eve {Adam and ___}; 19a soot {Chimney grime}; 20a to a T {Fit ___ (be perfect on)}; 24a zetas {Letters after epsilons}; 33a cheerio {Brit's goodbye}; 36a nieces {Nephews' counterparts}; 37a lap {Once around the track}; 38a fee {Service charge}; 40a hat {Stetson or sombrero}; 41a arises {Comes into play}; 43a debtors {Writers of i.o.u.'s}; 48a Atari {Big name in video arcades}; 49a Yeats {Literature Nobelist William Butler ___}; 59a goo {Slime}; 65a abandon {Leave high and dry}; 66a ate into {Eroded}; 67a retaste {Take another sip of}; 68a yeasts {Bread bakers' buys}.

1d prove {Show to be true}; 2d Rolex {Watch with a flexible wristband}; 3d Ono {John Lennon's middle name}; 4d por {___ favor (Spanish "please")}; 5d eras {Big slices of history}; 6d re-do {Make over}; 7d castes {Social divisions in India}; 8d alp {Swiss peak}; 9d SLR {Camera type, for short}; 10d suits me {"I have no problem with that"}; 11d Arno {River of Florence}; 12d Vega {Bright northern star}; 13d asst. {Aide: Abbr.}; 17d oozy {Seeping}; 22d Abe {Honest ___ (presidential moniker)}; 23d surfeit {Overabundance}; 25d tunnel {Path for a mole}; 26d amiably {In a cordial way}; 28d fiesta {Big Spanish celebration}; 29d foe {Enemy}; 30d echo {Sound heard in a canyon}; 31d rear {Front's opposite}; 32d SSTs {Old trans-Atlantic jets, for short}; 33d claw {Animal's nail}; 34d Hari {Mata ___ (W.W. I spy)}; 35d epic {Of sweeping proportions}; 39d ADA {Tooth doctors' org.}; 44d Tse {Mao ___-tung}; 46d arcane {Esoteric}; 47d Finn {Huckleberry ___}; 50d agent {Representative}; 51d Torts {Law school course}; 52d so-so {Middling}; 53d ajar {Not quite shut}; 54d lobe {Ear part}; 55d anat. {Sci. course for a doctor-to-be}; 58d cite {Give as an example}; 62d hot {Just off the grill}; 64d 'tis {"___ the season to be jolly"}.