NYT Tuesday 7/28/09 - Give Me Your Answer Do

This Tuesday New York Times crossword turned out a lot easier than Monday's. But as my eight minutes is now about my average for a Tuesday, it was yesterday's strangely troublesome puzzle that was odd.

It definitely helped that today's long answers were straightforward, and once you saw what the pattern was going to be, you had effectively two ways to reach the answer: via the clue and by gauging where in the progression from "yes" to "no", the answer had to fit.

Getting five 15-letter answers into a puzzle is quite an achievement, but distorts other parts of the grid as a consequence: apart from ski suit, all the non-thematic answers are six letters or fewer; 50 of the 76 answers are the three- and four-letter ones we are thoroughly familiar with.

Solving time: 8 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 57d I do {Words said after "... so help you God?"}

Theme

Five colloquial responses, ranging from "yes" to "no":

17a without question {"Sure thing"}
28a in all likelihood {"Chances are good"}
35a maybe yes, maybe no {"It could go either way"}
43a not looking so hot {"Doubtful"}
56a ain't gonna happen {"Forget it!"}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Tony Orbach / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 42 (18.7%) black squares
Answers	76 (average length 4.82)
Theme squares	75 (41.0%)
Scrabble points	296 (average 1.62)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

14a Fonda {Jane of "Monster-in-Law"}. Knew the Jane we were talking about, but not the specific movie. Monster-in-Law is a 2005 romcom also starring J.Lo. Fonda plays a mother-in-law-from-hell, her first movie role after a 15 year absence. Popping The Question 101: never propose in front of your future mother-in-law.



33a I am I {"___ Said" (Neil Diamond hit)}. I am I is a great letter sequence for filling around, but without this Neil Diamond song, you'd be hard-pressed to find a context in which it is used. I Am...I Said was released in 1971 and took four months to write - seemed like a long time, until I thought about the number of times I've spent that long constructing a crossword.



45d Kenny {"South Park" boy}. I obviously haven't seen enough of this show, as I only discovered recently that (despite appearances) South Park isn't a program for kids. Kenny McCormick is the boy that's so enveloped by his parka that his speech is largely unintelligible.

46d On Up {"Movin' ___" ("The Jeffersons" theme)}. I had no idea what the Jeffersons might be, so the clue was no help at all. Turns out The Jeffersons is yet another sitcom, this one running from 1975 to 1985. It was a spin-off of All in the Family, in which the African-American Jeffersons had been neighbors of the Bunkers. The Jeffersons is the longest running series with a predominantly African-American cast in the history of American television.



54d chop {Dojo blow}. I must have come across dojo before, as I recognized it as having something to do with martial arts. It seems a dojo (literally "place of the way") is a training area, originally one attached to a temple.

Noteworthy

4a ASAP {"Stat!"}; 7d PDQ {"Stat!"}; 60d now {"Stat!"}. The first time I've seen the same clue serve for three different answers. A shame stat wasn't an answer, but could you then have come up with a fifth synonym to clue them all with?

3d Mothra {Insect monster of Japanese film}. Until I started solving American crosswords, I only knew of one Japanese film monster: Godzilla. Now I can add Mothra, whom I suspect I first met in the pages of Cranium-Crushing Crosswords. Mothra made her film debut in 1961 and has since appeared in several Toho tokusatsu films.



12d Son {Sequel title starter, sometimes}. As in Son of Dracula, for example - nice inventive cluing.



19d Earl {Banjoist Scruggs}. Surprisingly, I had come across Earl Scruggs before - Magdalen and I both love the bluegrass music of Alison Krauss & Union Station and Scruggs has often been cited as a major influence. Here he is with the versatile Steve Martin.



31d idyls {Pastoral poems}. I thought it so unlikely that idylls would be spelled with one L that I penciled in the answer as idyll - this didn't work out, so I reluctantly concluded the one-L idyl is another idiosyncrasy of American orthography. Yes, if we look at Noah Webster's first (1828) edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language, idyl is the only spelling given - a stance that later lexicographers have backtracked from, listing idyll as more common.

The Rest

1a mum {Tight-lipped}; 8a games {Seven-up and crazy eights}; 13a Ono {Lennon's second wife}; 16a a gogo {Disco-era suffix}; 20a G-sharp {Note in an E major scale}; 21a rap {Word before sheet or music}; 22a Lori {Loughlin of "90210"}; 23a tsar {Bygone despot}; 25a arm {Outfielder's asset}; 34a Dalai {___ Lama}; 41a sweet {Like dessert wines}; 42a util. {Water co., e.g.}; 50a lit {Turned on}; 51a sets {Studio constructions}; 52a nigh {Close by}; 53a USN {Gitmo mil. branch}; 54a couple {Counselor's clients, perhaps}; 62a ideal {Perfect}; 63a yo-yos {Fluctuates wildly}; 64a ire {Ill temper}; 65a moody {Apt to pout}; 66a wept {Had a bawl}; 67a est. {Ballpark fig.}.

1d Mowgli {"The Jungle Book" hero}; 2d unison {Oneness}; 4d A for {Get an ___ effort}; 5d soup {Borscht, e.g.}; 6d ant {Amazon ___ (aggressive insect)}; 8d gasp {Shocked reaction}; 9d agt. {F.B.I. worker: Abbr.}; 10d moi? {"You don't mean ME?!"}; 11d ego {Self-esteem}; 15d aurae {Surrounding glows}; 18d hail {Precipitation that may be the size of golf balls}; 23d time {The so-called fourth dimension}; 24d ski suit {Attire on the slopes}; 25d Ahab {Melville's obsessed captain}; 26d role {Thing to play}; 27d moan {Haunted house sound}; 29d lie to {More than deceive}; 30d lay {Put down}; 32d Dio {God, in Roma}; 35d MSN {AOL alternative}; 36d AWOL {Whom an M.P. hunts}; 37d yeti {Hulking Himalayan of legend}; 38d belt {Asteroid area, e.g.}; 39d mtns. {Range units: Abbr.}; 40d AIG {Bailed-out co. in the news}; 44d osso {___ buco}; 47d hippie {Cheech or Chong persona}; 48d oglers {Gawking sorts}; 49d the Net {Where one might see "OMG" or "TTYL"}; 53d ugly {Hideous}; 55d oast {Brewery dryer}; 56d aim {Deadeye's skill}; 57d I do {Words said after "... so help you God?"}; 58d Neo {Keanu's "The Matrix" role}; 59d tad {Wee bit}; 61d aye {Floor vote}.

NYT Monday 7/27/09 - Parrish Meeting

I found this Monday New York Times crossword a real struggle, taking about twice as long as I normally do: there seemed to be a lot fewer clues than usual that I could solve right away, and I got particularly mired in the NW corner where I knew neither Acela nor Eller.

The other cause of difficulty was the theme, which it took me ages to spot. It didn't hold me up, but I definitely don't think of "perish" and "parish" as being pronounced the same. Magdalen says they are, in America, and someone who thinks that "raw" and "roar" sound alike shouldn't have anything to complain about in this puzzle.

Finally, I hadn't even heard of Maxfield Parrish (1870–1966). I wonder if he's related to the constructor? - certainly it seems no coincidence that Allan E. Parrish should have come up with this theme.

Solving time: 12 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 30a arsenic {As, chemically}

Theme

Phrases ending with the Parrish sound (the puzzle was constructed by Allan E. Parrish).

17a publish or perish {College professor's mantra}
38a Maxfield Parrish {Highly collectible illustrator}
59a Louisiana parish {Lafayette or Orleans}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Allan E. Parrish / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 34 (15.1%) black squares
Answers	74 (average length 5.16)
Theme squares	45 (23.6%)
Scrabble points	301 (average 1.58)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

14a Acela {High-speed train from Boston to Washington}. This was my main cause of problems in the NW. I gather the unlikely sounding Acela Express is a tilting train service that runs at a maximum of 150mph and an average of 86mph. Britain has a poor record with tilting trains: its homegrown APT had ill-fated initial trials and never went into service; the ones that are now in service use the Italian technology of Fiat Ferroviaria.

44a Soo {The upper Midwest's ___ Canals}. If only we'd been to the right great lakes on last week's trip, I'd have known this one: the Soo Canals (two in the United States and one in Canada) allow ships to navigate between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The canals go right by those cities oft-used in cluing STE: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

4d Eller {Aunt from "Oklahoma!"}. Another cause of difficulty in the NW, as I had to make a guess at this unlikely name. Aunt Eller is Laurey Williams's aunt and a respected community leader in Oklahoma! She was played by Charlotte Greenwood in the 1955 film version.



13d Ochs {Adolph who was chief of The New York Times from 1896 to 1935}. I wondered if this was only considered fair game because of where this crossword appears ... or if Adolph Ochs is as famous in America as, say, Lord Beaverbrook is in the UK. Adolph Ochs (1858–1935) rescued the New York Times from oblivion, increasing its circulation from 9,000 (when he purchased it in 1896) to 780,000 by the 1920s.

39d Fritzi {Nancy's 56-Down in the comics}. Another aunt to bedevil me. In the Nancy comic strip, drawn by Ernie Bushmiller, the eponymous Nancy lives with her aunt Fritzi Rich, who's a lot sexier than I expected.

Noteworthy

30a arsenic {As, chemically}. Thanks to their initial capital, chemical elements can be great misleaders in clues. He and I are the most commonly exploited.

34a rte. {G.P.S. offering: Abbr.}. This reminded me of a comic incident during our recent Canadian trip. Driving in Canada from Niagara Falls to Toronto, the rte. offered by our lousy G.P.S. took us onto a highway signed as "To the USA". OK, we thought, this may be the way to a bridge back to the USA, but there must be an exit beforehand to take us where we want to go. No, there was no way out, but luckily we managed to hang a uey before crossing the actual bridge, so got away with just paying the bridge toll and going back through Canadian immigration checks.

43a Osage {___ orange}. I think I've met this one before, but not enough times for me to recall, before getting all the letters from crossings. Osage oranges are North American trees with a fruit that's somewhat like a green orange (but otherwise the trees are not closely related). The trees are also known as bois d'arc, or "bow-wood", because Native Americans used the wood for bows and other weapons.

51d Hunan {Style of Chinese cuisine}. Hunan cuisine is one of eight regional cuisines of China and well-known for its hot spicy flavor, fresh aroma and deep color. Common cooking techniques include stewing, frying, pot-roasting, braising, and smoking.

The Rest

1a mired {Bogged down}; 6a hafts {Sword handles}; 11a Cro {___-Magnon man}; 15a await {Stand in a queue for, say}; 16a Hi-C {Drink with Grabbin' Grape and Smashin' Wild Berry flavors}; 20a equal {Splenda rival}; 21a pranks {Short-sheeting a bed, TP'ing a house, etc.}; 22a fun run {2K race, e.g.}; 25a scent {Bloodhound's trail}; 27a Ono {Yoko of "Double Fantasy"}; 28a Idi {Uganda's ___ Amin}; 35a ramps {Highway entrances and exits, typically}; 37a do no {"First, ___ harm" (medical axiom)}; 42a emir {Kuwaiti chief}; 45a retires {Hits the hay}; 48a Ren {Stimpy's cartoon pal}; 49a Els {Ernie of golf fame}; 50a tenth {Penny vis-à-vis a dime}; 52a get set {Gird oneself}; 54a glazer {Finisher of pottery or cakes}; 57a usage {___ note (dictionary bit)}; 64a inn {Bed-and-breakfast}; 65a éclat {Dazzling effect}; 66a drear {Dull, in poetry}; 67a bet {"Wanna ___?"}; 68a shine {What light bulbs and bootblacks do}; 69a earls {English nobles}.

1d map {Atlas page}; 2d ICU {Critical hosp. area}; 3d Reb {Yank's foe in the Civil War}; 5d daiquiri {Rum and lime juice drink}; 6d ha-ha {LOL, out loud}; 7d awols {Mil. truants}; 8d far {Distant}; 9d tipper {One leaving cash on the table?}; 10d sterns {Backs of boats}; 11d chin {It might be cut by an uppercut}; 12d risk {Jeopardy}; 18d sundae {Dairy Queen order}; 19d rated R {Deemed not suitable for kids}; 22d former {Previous}; 23d untame {Wild}; 24d no exit {1944 Jean-Paul Sartre play}; 26d Caspar {One of the Wise Men}; 29d I'm lost {"Please help me with directions"}; 31d noises {Boom, zoom and vroom}; 32d insole {Cushiony part of a shoe}; 33d co-host {Matt Lauer or Meredith Vieira for "Today"}; 36d PDs {They have precincts: Abbr.}; 40d age gap {Feature of a May-December romance}; 41d renegade {Deserter}; 46d Reese's {___ Peanut Butter Cups}; 47d enrich {Fortify with vitamins, e.g.}; 53d terra {___ incognita}; 54d glib {Fast-talking}; 55d lone {Unaccompanied}; 56d aunt {See 39-Down}; 58d sate {Completely fill}; 60d Ali {Rope-a-dope boxer}; 61d -ier {Suffix with cash}; 62d Sal {"My gal" of song}; 63d hrs. {60-min. periods}.

NPR Puzzle 07/26/09 -- You Need an Ess to Spell Essay

Let's travel out of state to solve today's puzzle:

Name a well-known U.S. city in six letters. Drop the first and fourth letters so the remaining four letters, in order, will name another well-known U.S. city. What cities are these?

Hint: The two cities are in adjoining states.

I was in the car with the dog when I heard the puzzle segment this morning. I quickly discovered why I'm not the fastest solver of the weekly puzzle, even when given sufficient time (in this case, approximately 20 minutes on I-81 coming back from the kennel where Mimi boarded during our vacation). Even while I was supposed to be thinking of 6- and 4-letter cities, I was actually trying to think of what I was going to do for this week's value added puzzle.

As it happened, I got home and found that Henry (still visiting us; he leaves this afternoon to go back to his day job ) and Ross had solved it. They used the same method I'd been using (think of the 4-letter city first...) but had not had the distraction of thinking how to craft some value-added puzzle to chime in with Will's A+ puzzle.

In Will's on-air puzzle, he'd asked the player to fill in two blanks in each sentence; the word to fill the first blank would be a single syllable, the second answer was the first word plus a long A sound, phonetically. Risk/risque, etc.

Here's what I'm going to try: Same puzzle, only with a long E sound instead of the long A. Let's see how I do, okay?

The golfer nearly hit a _________ on his way to making a ________ .

The liquor store doesn't ______ that they don't _________ . . .

. . . that __________ of _____________ .

You should take care of that _________ and not drink any more __________ .

They are saying a ________ at the little church on the ________ .

The boxing fans were _________ there to see __________ .

Please _______ that tray down near the __________ .

The platoon needed a certain _______ of transport for its ________ .

There was a little _________ on the costume of the __________ dancer.

The owner of the theater was pleased to see that there wasn't a ________ on the new _______ .

It's just like __________ not to _________ when there's a deadline.

It's no longer cool or _______ to be a __________ .

This type of ______ is particularly fond of eating that type of __________ .

You don't need brute ________ to __________ how this puzzle will end.

NYT Sunday 7/26/09 - Knights to Remember

We got home safely from our Canadian trip on Saturday evening, in time for a pot of tea and the Sunday New York Times crossword. Even though there were three of us solving it, the puzzle took us longer than my average time, perhaps because the grid was supersized at 23x23, with 170 answers to work through. Henry returns to Philly this afternoon, so I'll go back to solo solving for the foreseeable future.

Although we got some of the long thematic answers pretty quickly, it wasn't till we ran into the first answer affected by a rebus square (pumps iron, I think) that we realized the concept behind the rather odd grid: this has mirror, rather than rotational, symmetry. For space reasons, the Knights of the Round Table (estimated at between 12 and 150 or more) have to be represented by just five sirs.

Solving time: 50 mins (with Magdalen and Henry, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 83a rehem {Bring up, perhaps}

Theme

The King Arthur legend, hinted at by the title "Story Circle". The round table is represented by five sirs (the knights) in a circle of rebus squares:

38a sires {Fathers}
40a aesir {Norse pantheon}
72a Sirius {Part of Canis Major}
73a yes sir {Boot camp affirmative}
101a desired {Popular}
18d pumps iron {Does some heavy lifting}
19d fire siren {Red alert?}
72d sirloins {Some steaks}
74d siroccos {Hot desert winds}
88d Yasir {Chairman Arafat}

Six titles are thematically related:

137a Sword in the Stone {1963 animated film with the song "Higitus Figitus," with "The"}



143a Quest for Camelot {1998 animated film featuring the voice of Pierce Brosnan}



2d Excalibur {1981 film in which Helen Mirren plays a sorceress}



4d A Connecticut Yankee, 12d in King Arthur's Court {1889 Twain novel}



14d Knights of, 76d the Round Table {1953 Ava Gardner film ... as depicted elsewhere in this puzzle?}



71d Mists of Avalon {2001 Anjelica Huston miniseries, with "The"}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Kevin G. Der / Will Shortz
Grid	23x23 with 99 (18.7%) black squares
Answers	170 (average length 5.06)
Theme squares	115 (26.7%)
Scrabble points	687 (average 1.60)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Feature	Pangrammatic

New To Me

16a Texaco {Sky Chief company}. Magdalen solved this without my noticing, so I only now discover I have no clue what the Sky Chief connection is. I gather Texaco's main brands of gasoline were Fire Chief (regular gasoline, dispensed from a red gas pump) and Sky Chief (higher octane, dispensed from a silver gas pump). These brands seem to have been superseded in 1982.

50a Erica {Longtime Susan Lucci role}. Magdalen got this one too, and said I should go look Susan Lucci up. The reference here is to her role as Erica Kane in the soap All My Children; something she's done for nearly 40 years - wow! Susan is supposedly the highest-paid actor in daytime television.



69a kombu {Dried seaweed popular in Japanese cuisine}. None of us had come across kombu before, an edible kelp cultivated on ropes in the seas of China, Japan, and Korea. It's apparently used extensively in Japanese cuisine, being one of the main ingredients of the soup stock dashi.

85a Yao {7'6" Ming}. Magdalen thought I should have heard of the basketball player Yao Ming, and indeed his description does seem familiar now - I just didn't remember the name. It seems a body that tall isn't without its problems, as Yao has been plagued by injuries.

94d Esai {Lou's "La Bamba" co-star}. Esai Morales crops up so frequently, I'm now familiar with the name, but not necessarily every role he's been associated with. In this biopic about the life of Ritchie Valens (played by Lou Diamond Phillips), Esai plays Ritchie's half-brother Bob Morales.



Noteworthy

26a chain {Word with mail or letter}. This is a cool clue, because the association with letter makes you think of the postal sense of mail, not what knight's might wear.

32a nips {Tweaks}. I'm still not completely convinced of the equivalence here, although the clue and answer are close in meaning: tweaking seems to imply either twisting or pulling, which I'm not sure nipping does, necessarily.

45a nub {Center}. We ran into a red herring here: the clue can lead equally well to hub.

83a rehem {Bring up, perhaps}. We all liked this neat misleading clue ... once it was explained to us. To bring up a dress (ie make it shorter), you need to rehem it.

92a tat {One side of an exchange}. A reference to "tit for tat".

136a Eva {Operatic heroine wooed by Beckmesser}. Beckmesser is the buffoonish town clerk in Die Meistersinger through which Wagner caricatures the musical establishment. Wagner's ideals are expressed through the knight Walter (and his coach Hans Sachs), who we see singing to Eva and the assembled company here.



11d dos {Things first on the way up?}. This is the most baffling clue I've seen for some time. I'm guessing this may have to do with solfa notation (do re mi fa so la ti do) in which dos are the first notes on the way up the octave. But then they're also the first notes on the way down, so I'm not completely satisfied with my explanation - readers?



44d ROTC {Drilling grp.}; 86d ADA {Drilling grp.}. A neat cluing trick which can't be that hard to achieve in a puzzle with 170 answers.

63d Ille {"Winnie ___ Pu"}. This refers to the Latin translation of Winnie-the-Pooh, first published in 1958. It was the first foreign-language book to feature on the New York Times Best Seller List, and (not surprisingly) has been the only Latin one.

97d Nils {Rocker Lofgren}. We can't let a reference to Nils Lofgren pass without playing something for his number one fan Coffee Jones. Is he the only famous Nils?



101d dorm {Temple structure?}. Nice concealment of a proper name at the start of the clue. We came up with several answers like dais before twigging the reference to Temple University.

106d coma {Result of going out?}. Another beautifully misleading clue.

117d Leonora {Heroine in Verdi's "Il Trovatore"}. Leonora is possibly the most-used name for operatic heroines. There are Leonoras in Fidelio and La forza del destino as well as Il Trovatore. As Henry points out, the latter is the opera used so deliciously in A Night at the Opera (1935).



123d ashcan {Antisub weapon}. Ashcan is the slang term for a depth charge, originally being similar in shape (if not size) to the domestic receptacle.

The Rest

1a medal {Do well in the Olympics}; 6a opt in {Choose to take part}; 11a disks {Modern storage sites}; 17a up to snuff {Satisfactory}; 21a one-nil {Low soccer score}; 23a escrow {Place in trust}; 24a guide rail {Stabilizing track}; 25a skeins {Weaver's supply}; 27a Olmos {Actor Edward James ___}; 28a Enron {2001 headline maker}; 30a ingot {It's worth its weight in gold}; 31a LAN {PC linkup}; 33a Cera {Michael of "Juno" and "Superbad"}; 34a nah {"Ixnay"}; 35a kaisers {Bygone leaders}; 41a Dogstar {Another name for 72-Across}; 46a Chico {A Marx brother}; 48a yon {Thither}; 52a Sno {___-Caps (candy)}; 53a ORU {Tulsa sch.}; 54a titan {Largest moon of Saturn}; 55a nag {Subject of a tipster's tip}; 56a Niner {Joe Montana or Jerry Rice, informally}; 57a Ont. {Windsor's home: Abbr.}; 58a bar lines {Additions to a musical staff}; 60a not if {___ but when}; 62a beatific {Blissful}; 64a ace {Crackerjack}; 65a said hello {Expressed a welcome}; 68a NHL {Org. with spring playoffs}; 75a ultra {Fanatic}; 79a exist {Be more than a dream}; 80a lo-fat {Lite}; 82a video {Clip, e.g.}; 84a -ics {Suffix with magnet}; 87a envying {Green-eyed}; 89a C as {___ in Charlie}; 91a Eve {Wall-E's love in "Wall-E"}; 93a adieu {It may be bid}; 95a sax {Big band instrument}; 96a encyc. {It comes in volumes: Abbr.}; 98a Ren {Cartoon pooch}; 99a HRs {Slugger's stat}; 100a nans {Tandoor flatbreads}; 103a iono- {Prefix with sphere}; 104a oar {Galley figure}; 105a stock {Bones may be found in it}; 107a sabot {Cousin of a clog}; 109a Neals {Oscar winner Patricia and others}; 111a uvula {It's found near the tongue}; 113a foes {Achilles and Hector}; 115a irr. {Clothes rack abbr.}; 116a FGs {Gridiron scores: Abbr.}; 117a L. Ron {Scientologist ___ Hubbard}; 118a enamel {Crown covering}; 120a am I late? {"Did you start without me?"}; 124a études {Rachmaninoff's "___-tableaux"}; 127a Java {Island where Sundanese and Madurese are spoken}; 128a OD on {Take too much of, briefly}; 131a gas {Windbag's output}; 132a Isao {Golfer Aoki}; 135a stye {Certain infection}; 141a Ari {___ Gold, character on "Entourage"}; 142a Cal {Stanford's Big Game rival}; 144a biz {Hollywood, with "the"}; 145a tho {Notwithstanding that, for short}; 146a ipso {___ jure (legal term)}; 147a friar {"The Canterbury Tales" traveler}; 148a merc {Gun for hire}; 149a Lee {Loser at Gettysburg}; 150a son {Heir, perhaps}; 151a NSA {Org. in Clancy's "Red Storm Rising"}; 152a yeans {Gives birth to a kid}; 153a rah {Bit of cheer}; 154a ess {Road twist}.

1d mesh {Work together}; 3d Darias {Onetime MTV animated title character and others}; 5d low {Weathercast figure}; 6d otiose {Slothful}; 7d pods {Underwater families}; 8d TSE {Japanese market: Abbr.}; 9d in re {Memo header}; 10d nuance {Subtlety}; 13d seen as {Perceived to be}; 15d Sino- {___-Japanese}; 16d 'tec {Gumshoe}; 17d ugli {Relative of a grapefruit}; 20d flor {Bilbao bloom}; 22d LST {W.W. II vessel}; 27d on-site {Kind of inspection}; 29d Nadine {___ Gordimer, Literature Nobelist}; 35d knob {Aid in finding a station}; 36d aura {Magical glow}; 37d Rhine {River that flows past more than 40 castles}; 39d synod {Bishop's group}; 40d Angie {1973 Rolling Stones #1 hit}; 42d ocean {Davy Jones's locker}; 43d anni {Years in old Rome}; 47d Cassio {One of Iago's victims}; 49d oath {Words of commitment}; 51d ribose {Five-carbon sugar}; 59d labs {Culture areas?}; 60d Nisan {Passover month}; 61d fly in {Arrive by air}; 66d au feu {Pot-___ (French stew)}; 67d ledge {Overhang}; 69d Keiths {Conductor Lockhart and others}; 70d oxcart {Rustic transport}; 77d reveal {Magic trick's climax}; 78d Amen-Ra {Supreme Egyptian deity}; 81d TV set {Soap box?}; 82d vixen {One of Santa's reindeer}; 90d Ayn {___ Rand, developer of Objectivism}; 102d deft {Quick}; 108d Brandt {1971 Peace Nobelist from Germany}; 110d ageism {AARP concern}; 112d vous {"Parlez-___ français?"}; 114d slow-ups {Delays}; 118d ejects {Gives the heave-ho}; 119d Navaho {Arizona native}; 121d ignore {Not pick up}; 122d latria {Highest worship in Catholicism}; 125d eyries {Cliff homes: Var.}; 126d seizes {Takes by force}; 129d does a {___ number on}; 130d or so {About}; 133d stem {What an inflectional ending is added to}; 134d AOLer {Certain netizen}; 137d sq. in. {Area meas.}; 138d iffy {Up in the air}; 139d ears {Canal sites}; 140d etch {Emulate some of Goya's work}.

NYT Saturday 7/25/09 - In The Black

This is an abbreviated form of my usual blog, as I'm currently on vacation in Toronto. Today we got to the Art Gallery of Ontario or AGO for short (Toronto itself is T.O. - Ontarians love their abbrs.). We headed for the Canadian collection, figuring we could see European art anywhere; I enjoyed the twentieth century pictures, primarily by painters known as the Group of Seven, as well as the earlier paintings of Cornelius Krieghoff, which evoke the life of the early settlers.

I finally got down to the waterfront and came across several bizarre creatures I couldn't quite believe existed: black squirrels. Apparently these are a form of the grey squirrel and theirs was the dominant color until the arrival of the European settlers. Now they are the rarer form, except in the northern part of the grey squirrel range (possibly because the black variety are better adapted to the cold).

This Saturday New York Times crossword seemed straightforward, but then I had Henry's help throughout - he was particularly good at getting several 15-letter answers and I know from experience that these are of great value in completing end-of-week puzzles. We enjoyed the many delightful clues, particularly the juxtaposed 46a decaf {Certain joe} and 50a sloppy {Kind of joe}, as well as 47-Down. In view of where we are, it was funny to see 32a Ont. {Home to Stratford: Abbr.}.

This will be my last abbreviated post for a while, as we're returning home tomorrow - normal service will be resumed with Sunday's crossword.

Solving time: 15 mins (with Henry, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 47d eater {One working on the side?}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Victor Fleming / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 30 (13.3%) black squares
Answers	70 (average length 5.57)
Theme squares	0 (0.0%)
Scrabble points	277 (average 1.42)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

The Clues

1a Afta {Brand seen near razors}; 5a incumbents {They're in seats}; 15a tarp {Cover-up during a shower}; 16a neorealism {Philosophy of Montague or Santayana}; 17a propose marriage {Inquire about a union contract?}; 19a à clef {Roman ___}; 20a tinct {Color faintly}; 21a Ste. {One may be prayed to: Abbr.}; 22a relate {Connect}; 24a noise {Crash accompanier}; 26a retag {Alter in a clothing store?}; 28a swan {Trumpeter with a prominent neck}; 32a Ont. {Home to Stratford: Abbr.}; 35a numismatist {Quarter master?}; 39a vested interests {They benefit personally}; 41a Empire State {East Coast sobriquet}; 42a cab {Crane component}; 43a rose {One symbol of the 41-Across}; 44a Oreos {Filled treats}; 46a decaf {Certain joe}; 50a sloppy {Kind of joe}; 54a beg {Seek change?}; 57a Aaron {Father of Eleazar, in the Bible}; 59a aurae {Psychics claim to see them}; 60a electrical storm {Meteorological shocker?}; 63a nom de plume {Something often written under}; 64a Emme {Model Melissa Aronson, familiarly}; 65a distressed {Hardly happy}; 66a roan {Relative of a chestnut}.

1d at par {For what it's worth}; 2d farce {Play genre}; 3d troll {Sing the parts of in succession}; 4d appear {Be published}; 5d ins. {It'll cover you: Abbr.}; 6d Neet {Brand seen near razors, once}; 7d coming into focus {Losing the fuzz?}; 8d urano- {Heavens: Prefix}; 9d merci {Word of politesse}; 10d Bart's {St. ___ (Caribbean hot spot)}; 11d Eli {"My God!," as cried by King David}; 12d Nias {Actress Long and others}; 13d TSgt {U.S.A.F. NCO}; 14d Smee {Hook go-with?}; 18d oftener {Not so rarely}; 23d étude {Something to practice}; 25d Este {City near Padua}; 27d Amis {"London Fields" novelist, 1989}; 29d Wisc. {Superior setting: Abbr.}; 30d Asta {Hairy clue-sniffer}; 31d NTSB {It may delve into a derailment: Abbr.}; 32d over {Supervising}; 33d Nemo {Seaman whose last words were "God and my country!"}; 34d tsps. {Some are level: Abbr.}; 36d star {Kindergarten "grade"}; 37d metes {Dishes (out)}; 38d areolas {Biological interstices}; 40d tied {Even}; 45d Souter {Brennan's successor on the Supreme Court}; 47d eater {One working on the side?}; 48d carpe {Seize, in a saying}; 49d arils {Edible pomegranate parts}; 51d promo {Many an ad}; 52d Parma {Province next to Piacenza}; 53d Yemen {Mocha setting}; 54d bend {River feature}; 55d Eloi {Wellsian race}; 56d gems {Beauties}; 58d name {It may be dropped}; 61d CDT {Spring setting in Chi-Town}; 62d led {Had the edge}.

NYT Friday 7/24/09 - Ess-ential

This is an abbreviated form of my usual blog, as I'm currently on vacation in Toronto. We're staying in the "Art and Design District" at the delightful Drake Hotel - an imaginatively restored railway hotel where we're really too unhip to stay (but they've been polite enough to tolerate us). It's quirky, but well done quirky, not ugly quirky.

Henry was still struggling to solve his daily ration of London Times puzzles when this New York Times crossword became available. So I solved it on my own and found it one of the easiest Friday puzzles for quite a while. The S-shaped grid is very striking, but I haven't found any specific reason for it.

It's quite a coincidence that this is a Patrick Berry puzzle, as we are currently absorbed in his recent collection Puzzle Masterpieces. These suit us well, as the crosswords use standard American cluing (which advantages Magdalen), but unusual grid constructions typical of the thematic cryptics that Henry and I are used to - all three of us have something to contribute.

Solving time: 24 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 19a peke {Toy from China}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Patrick Berry / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 36 (16.0%) black squares
Answers	62 (average length 6.10)
Theme squares	0 (0.0%)
Scrabble points	293 (average 1.55)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Other Clues

1a no such thing {It doesn't exist}; 12a complain about {Find fault with}; 14a government issue {A soldier's gear, for example}; 16a Amelia {Bloomer after whom bloomers are named}; 17a d'etre {Raison ___}; 18a relet {Rent to another}; 19a peke {Toy from China}; 23a Dan'l {"Young ___ Boone" (short-lived 1970s TV series)}; 24a butt {You might grind it out}; 25a line drives {Fast hits}; 27a spy {With 5-Down, snooping aid}; 28a hashed over {Discussed at length}; 29a cantabile {Musical direction that means "lyrical" in Italian}; 30a Brandon Lee {Actor who debuted in "Kung Fu: The Movie"}; 32a tap {Snooping aid}; 35a slam dances {Activities at punk rock concerts}; 36a ta-ta {"Gotta run!"}; 37a yelp {High bark}; 38a user {End ___}; 39a barmy {Foolish, in British slang}; 40a melon {Fruit salad ingredient}; 42a Paxton {Folk singer Tom with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award}; 43a spiral staircase {It gets you up and around}; 48a see you in court {Words from one who won't settle}; 49a descendants {People in a line}.

1d novelty {Whim-wham}; 2d omelet {It might contain a filling}; 3d sprit {Diagonally set spar}; 4d ulna {Bone involved in pronation}; 5d cam {See 27-Across}; 6d hie {Move quickly}; 7d TNN {Spike's former name}; 8d hat {Ring contents, maybe}; 9d ibid {Bibliog. equivalent of "ditto"}; 10d nose-dive {Calamitous decline}; 11d Gustave {French painter Courbet}; 12d come up {Arise}; 13d Turner {Pulitzer-winning historian Frederick Jackson ___}; 14d garbs {Outfits}; 15d eels {Fish that can move equally well forward and backward}; 19d pistons {Team whose home arena is the Palace of Auburn Hills}; 20d enhance {Better}; 21d Keebler {Company with a tree in its logo}; 22d eddies {Fluid dynamics phenomena}; 25d landau {Convertible carriage}; 26d role {It's assumed}; 28d hand {Bit of assistance}; 29d camporee {Local or regional Boy Scout gathering}; 30d bleeps {Nullifies, as an oath?}; 31d rallied {Made a comeback}; 32d tartars {Medieval conquerors}; 33d at most {Maximally}; 34d Payne {Max of video game fame}; 35d Syms {"___ by Sinatra" (1982 collaborative jazz album)}; 36d taxcut {Reaganomics recommendation}; 39d baron {One addressed as "lord"}; 41d nays {Parliamentary faction}; 42d pica {1/6 of an inch}; 44d loc {Ad ___ (at the place: Abbr.)}; 45d Sue {Good name for a trial lawyer}; 46d tin {Ingredient in Delftware glazing}; 47d and? {"What next?"}.

NPR Puzzle 07/19/09 -- Garner & Earn Our Gratitude

First off, our apologies to Jeff -- he'd posted the answer in the comments section, and we had thought we could restore it today, but Blogger doesn't actually allow for restore. If we'd known, we'd have figured something out.

We weren't trying to stifle Jeff's enthusiasm, just ask that he respect the rights of others to solve the puzzle on their own, and in their own time.

Anyway, here's the puzzle for this week:

Think of a word starting with G and ending in R. Remove the G and R, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell a synonym of the original word. What words are these?

Ross was off doing the dishes while Henry and I were slogging through a list of words beginning with G and ending with R. We'd even reasoned that if the longer word was a comparative (e.g., greater) we would need one of the internal letters to be a second R. Ross meanwhile solved it pretty easily on his own. Garner & earn (the answer) have that extra R, but as you can see, there is nothing comparative about either word. Henry and I had looked at it, but just didn't see the answer.

I won't even blame sleep deprivation.

All three of us are in Toronto today. We're staying in the arty part of town; our accommodations in The Drake Hotel are charming (the rooms are called "crash pads"), the food even just at the hotel is yummy, and there's lots of desk-like shelving for laptops and the detritus of travel! It is no hardship to post a blog entry from here.

Okay, here's the value-added puzzle for this week. All the answers are words using one B, one S, one T in any order and with any number of vowels. So, if the clue is Red vegetables (5), the answer is BEETS.

Band instruments (5)
TUBAS

Prohibitions (6)
TABOOS

Baby's footware (7)
BOOTIES

Subsides (6)
ABATES

Adjoins (5)
ABUTS

Pierce (4)
STAB

Aids (5)
ABETS

Sew with temporary stitches (5)
BASTE

Dull-witted (6)
OBTUSE

Attractive (poetic) (9)
BEAUTEOUS

Member of the orchestra (6)
OBOIST

Old French shoe (5)
SABOT

Raise (5)
BOOST

Fights (5)
BOUTS

Containers (4)
TUBS

Hit against (4)
STUB

Infatuate (5)
BESOT

Morsels (5)
BITES

NYT Thursday 7/23/09 - Spot the Dog

This is an abbreviated form of my usual blog, as I'm currently on vacation in Ontario. Today we had a beautiful day for experiencing the many ways you can get a shower at Niagara Falls: getting a shower walking to the falls; getting a shower behind the falls; getting a shower at the foot of the falls; getting a shower in a boat in the middle of the falls.

We even got a shower in the one indoor attraction of the day Niagara's Fury: I went in expecting to see a movie, but when they handed out the ubiquitous Niagara Ponchos, realized there was more to it than that. In fact, this ride (of a sort) was an unexpected highlight of the day, and as exciting in its way as the boat trip on Maid of the Mist. We've now relocated to Toronto, where we'll spend a few more days before heading home.

I solved this Thursday New York Times crossword on my own and struggled a bit with the unusual idea. I managed to solve the majority of the puzzle without realizing how the theme clues worked: a clue like {Animal control officer} works almost as well as a clue to catcher as dog catcher. I got Who Let The Dogs Out very late in the day and only then realized the clues were leading to the entry plus a dog (or dogs in the case of the oddball 74-Across). This probably wasn't the most efficient way to go about things, hence the slowish solving time.

Solving time: 24 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 61d nose {It has two holes}

Theme

7d Who Let The Dogs Out {Hit song from 2000 ... and a hint to 10 symmetrically arranged Across answers}. Ten across clues indicate compound words or phrases with one or more dogs; these dogs have been "let out" in the corresponding grid entries:

1a hot dog {Show-off}
9a Devil Dog {U.S. Marine}
15a alpha dog {Leader of the pack}
34a dog catcher {Animal control officer}
36a dog-ear {Folded corner}
46a dog tag {G.I.'s ID}
47a dog breeder {Person who raises and sells pups}
70a lucky dog {One falling into good fortune}
72a salty dog {Old sailor}
74a dog-eat-dog {Cutthroat}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Gary & Stephen Kennedy / Will Shortz
Grid	16x15 with 40 (16.7%) black squares
Answers	85 (average length 4.71)
Theme squares	57 (28.5%)
Scrabble points	333 (average 1.67)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Other Clues

4a meows {Manx cries}; 14a an A {"Wheel of Fortune" purchase}; 16a ovine {Like some flocks}; 17a Ren {Neurotic cartoon character}; 18a depot {End of the line, e.g.}; 19a Lexus {Auto debut of 1989}; 20a maglev {Bullet train type}; 22a like {Go for}; 24a ERs {Hosp. locations}; 25a viscera {Innards}; 27a knee {Common sports injury site}; 28a sit-in {Certain occupation}; 31a Otis {Milo's canine pal}; 32a USSR {See 4-Down}; 33a Troi {"Star Trek" empath}; 37a path {Trail}; 38a Model A {1927-31 Ford}; 42a Petrov {Alexander ___, Russian who popularized a chess opening}; 44a Erin {Hibernia}; 49a Rome {City containing a country}; 50a semi {Big rig}; 53a a job {"Get ___!"}; 54a zoned {Plotted for urban uses}; 55a axes {Cans}; 56a regales {Entertains}; 58a man! {"Holy moly!"}; 59a ATMs {20 places?}; 60a open up {Cry that may accompany pounding}; 64a octal {Using base 8}; 66a poach {Steal}; 68a Ole {___ Miss}; 69a at all {One bit}; 71a SNL {NBC-TV inits.}; 73a otter {Animal in a lodge}.

1d harm {Damage}; 2d One A {Ready to serve}; 3d Tang {Kraft Foods drink}; 4d Made in {With "the" and 32-Across, describing an old Matryoshka doll}; 5d Elevs. {Hgts.}; 6d opp. {Antonym: Abbr.}; 8d satiric {Mocking, in a way}; 9d Dole {Loser to Clinton}; 10d eve {The 31st vis-à-vis the 1st, e.g.}; 11d vixens {She-foxes}; 12d inures {Habituates}; 13d lesser {Inferior}; 21d LVII {Super Bowl of 2023}; 23d Kashmir {K2 locale}; 26d coat {Mac, e.g.}; 27d Kurd {Many a Kirkuk resident}; 28d step {Dance bit}; 29d irae {"Dies ___"}; 30d tort {Injury, in law}; 34d cave art {Lascaux paintings, e.g.}; 35d eon {Long, long time}; 37d por {With 48-Down, for example, south of the border}; 39d Eton {Cornwallis's school}; 40d lame {Pricey fabric}; 41d aged {Yellowing, maybe}; 43d RBIs {Parts of box scores: Abbr.}; 45d Reba {Sitcom with the character B.J.}; 48d ejemplo {See 37-Down}; 49d rose {Shot up}; 50d samoas {Some Girl Scout cookies}; 51d exacta {First-and-second bet}; 52d mental {A little nuts}; 54d zephyr {Feature of a pleasant summer day}; 57d Locke {"Two Treatises of Government" writer}; 59d ally {Friend}; 61d nose {It has two holes}; 62d ulna {Arms runner?}; 63d pelt {Stone, e.g.}; 65d Alt {PC key}; 67d act {Not delay}.

NYT Wednesday 7/22/09 - No Ordinary Joes

This is an abbreviated form of my usual blog, as I'm currently on vacation in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We were advised to do the Maid of the Mist trip in the afternoon, so the sun's in the right spot to produce the best rainbow effects. However, today's heavy rain (unheard of in these parts, we're told) encouraged us to reschedule that for tomorrow, when the weather should be better.

Henry again aided me in solving this Wednesday New York Times crossword and we knew almost every answer between us: we just needed to check in with Magdalen about 69a teen {Archie or Veronica} - a reference to the Archie Comics characters Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge, we gather.

We found the thematic aspects a bit of a challenge: the theme answers were mostly easy to get, but when they were put into the grid nothing seemed to fit around them. It wasn't until we saw sloppy joes at 64-Across that we realized what the problem was and set about rearranging the Joes to make everything fit. It's a bit unusual, in my experience, for transformed answers not to result in real words in the grid, but the idea has an impeccable logic to it and there is a nice "penny to drop" when you see how the theme works.

Solving time: 12 mins (with Henry and Magdalen, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 19a spur {It may be down at the heel}

Theme

64a sloppy joes {School cafeteria fare ... and a hint to this puzzle's theme}. Joe is mispelled in five names (each of the five possible rearrangements occurs once):

17a Eoj Frasier {Olympic boxing gold medalist of 1964} - Joe Frasier
25a Jeo Namath {Hero of Super Bowl III} - Joe Namath
30a Oje Biden {47th U.S. vice president} - Joe Biden
45a Oej Pesci {Oscar winner of 1990} - Joe Pesci
51a Ejo Cocker {Singer on day three of 1969's Woodstock} - Joe Cocker

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Patrick Blindauer / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 36 (16.0%) black squares
Answers	78 (average length 4.85)
Theme squares	54 (28.6%)
Scrabble points	322 (average 1.70)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Other Clues

1a ammo {It's found in chambers}; 5a trots {Moves quickly}; 10a acid {It was dropped in the '60s}; 14a loaf {Just watch TV, say}; 15a Roxie {Historic San Francisco theater, with "the"}; 16a Edna {Dame ___ Everage (Barry Humphries character)}; 19a spur {It may be down at the heel}; 20a pro tem {For the nonce}; 21a drew {Was in a no-win situation?}; 23a lit {Under the table}; 24a Herod {King in "Jesus Christ Superstar"}; 27a die {Run out of gas, say}; 29a decay {Tooth trouble}; 35a Oteri {Cheri of "Scary Movie"}; 38a lava {Abrasive soap brand}; 39a spend {While away, as time}; 42a trod {Trampled (on)}; 43a erase {Wipe}; 47a pitas {Pockets of dough?}; 50a ash {Light hair color}; 54a of use {Handy}; 59a Nor. {Scand. land}; 60a nein {"No, mein Herr"}; 61a Anubis {Egyptian god with the head of a jackal}; 62a alas {"'Tis a pity"}; 66a cite {Commend, as for outstanding service}; 67a iller {More sick, in dialect}; 68a -iana {Bibliophile's suffix}; 69a teen {Archie or Veronica}; 70a tsars {Winter Palace figures}; 71a stay {Canine order}.

1d aleph {Jewish leader?}; 2d Moore {Roger who played the same role seven times}; 3d major {Paramount}; 4d off to {"___ the races!"}; 5d tram {Disney World transport}; 6d Ros {Cartoonist Chast}; 7d oxide {Nitrous ___}; 8d tie-rod {Steering system component}; 9d serene {Composed}; 10d AES {1950s political inits.}; 11d CD players {Sound system staples}; 12d Inuit {Indigenous Canadian}; 13d Darth {Title before Sidious or Maul}; 18d Reddi {___-wip}; 22d Waco {Steve Martin's birthplace}; 25d jeep {Cherokee, for one}; 26d matte {Certain finish}; 28d IDs {Bouncers check them, briefly}; 30d olé {Cheer for a matador}; 31d jar {Candy holder}; 32d evaporate {Disappear}; 33d basic {Meat-and-potatoes}; 34d Neo {Three-time Keanu Reeves character}; 36d roc {"Arabian Nights" bird}; 37d Idi {Uganda's ___ Amin}; 40d near {By}; 41d DJs {Wedding reception hirees}; 44d Eton {Neighbor of Slough}; 46d phony {Like the 28-Down of underage drinkers}; 48d aces it {Gets 100 on a test}; 49d skills {Learned things}; 51d enact {Pass}; 52d Jolie {Half of Brangelina}; 53d Enola {___ Gay (W.W. II bomber)}; 55d Fujis {Some apples}; 56d U-boat {W.W. II menace}; 57d Siena {___ College, north of Albany, N.Y.}; 58d essay {Lamb piece}; 61d APRs {Loan figs.}; 63d Sen. {Committee member, maybe: Abbr.}; 65d per {Word in a price}.

NYT Tuesday 7/21/09 - Armstrong Tactics

This is an abbreviated form of my usual blog, as I'm currently on vacation in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We were on the road most of the day, but had a chance to view the falls from the American side; I've been reading about them since childhood, so it was wonderful to come and see them firsthand.

We were lucky with the weather and saw the clouds of mist rising from the plunging water from several miles away. When we finally saw them close up, I was struck as much by the total width of the falls as their height (about 173 feet). We have now settled into a B&B on the Canadian side of the falls and will do the Maid of the Mist boat tour tomorrow.

Henry was there to help me solve this New York Times crossword and with his assistance, I was able to finish a Tuesday puzzle in record time. The anniversary of the first moon walk has been much anticipated in the media, so we guessed the theme immediately on seeing 20-Across. The remaining theme answers were very obvious and the non-thematic clues seemed straightforward, even for a Tuesday.

Solving time: 7 mins (with Henry, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 9d stamps {They may come in sheets}

Theme

Answers celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first moon walk on July 21, 1969.

20a MEN WALK ON MOON {New York Times headline of 7/21/69}
28a Neil Armstrong {Subject of a photo beneath 20-Across}
45a WE CAME IN PEACE, 55a FOR ALL MANKIND {Message left by 28-Across for future explorers}

The New York Times's store site shows what their front page of 7/21/69 looked like.

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Donna S. Levin / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 36 (16.0%) black squares
Answers	72 (average length 5.25)
Theme squares	52 (27.5%)
Scrabble points	296 (average 1.57)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Other Clues

1a Irish {Almost half of U.S. immigrants in 1840}; 6a toms {Male tabbies}; 10a Earp {O.K. Corral figure}; 14a Marlo {Actress Thomas}; 15a a rat {Smell ___ (be suspicious)}; 16a Xbox {Console used with the game Halo}; 17a aroar {Like stadiums after touchdowns}; 18a legal pads {Places to put briefs}; 22a SRO {Letters that please angels}; 23a tub {Clumsy boat}; 24a up a {Hoagy Carmichael lyric "___ lazy river ..."}; 25a D.O.A. {1988 Dennis Quaid/Meg Ryan movie}; 32a dolce {La ___ vita}; 33a Henie {Old-time Norwegian skating sensation}; 34a Kiri {Soprano ___ Te Kanawa}; 37a skids {Loses traction}; 40a LSTs {D-Day vessels}; 41a icons {Desktop symbols}; 43a Gotti {The Dapper Don}; 49a irk {Peeve}; 50a alg. {Geom. prerequisite}; 51a Ali {"Aladdin" hero}; 52a Mao {Little Red Book writer}; 59a a fortiori {Even more certain: Lat.}; 61a tilde {Diacritical squiggle}; 62a berg {Sight in the Arctic Ocean}; 63a noon {When morning ends}; 64a Eliot {"Silas Marner" author}; 65a eddy {Whirling water}; 66a esne {Anglo-Saxon laborer}; 67a doors {Opportunities, metaphorically}.

1d imams {Mosque leaders}; 2d rarer {Less common}; 3d iron-on {Like some patches}; 4d slaw {Cabbage dish}; 5d Horatio {Whom Hamlet calls "A man that Fortune's buffets and rewards / Hast ta'en with equal thanks"}; 6d talk back {Sass, with "to"}; 7d Oreo {McFlurry flavor}; 8d magnum {Large wine bottle}; 9d stamps {They may come in sheets}; 10d Expo {___ 67 (onetime Montreal event)}; 11d abandons {Forsakes}; 12d rod {Reel's partner}; 13d PXs {Stores for G.I.'s}; 19d loath {Reluctant}; 21d lulls {Respites}; 26d on it {Handling the matter}; 27d ages {Matures}; 29d Edina {Minneapolis suburb}; 30d reign {Have the throne}; 31d relic {Archaeologist's find}; 34d kiwi {Fuzzy fruit}; 35d icer {Cupcake finisher}; 36d Rockford {1970s James Garner TV title role}; 38d dopamine {Pleasure-associated neurotransmitter}; 39d stela {Inscribed pillar}; 42d smart {Natty}; 44d tainted {Not pure}; 46d Elaine {Julia's "Seinfeld" role}; 47d igloos {Inuit homes}; 48d Emilio {Estevez of the Brat Pack}; 53d and/or {Choice words}; 54d Odets {"Waiting for Lefty" playwright}; 56d orgy {Bacchanalian revelry}; 57d L. Ron {"Dianetics" author ___ Hubbard}; 58d kilo {D.E.A. seizure, maybe}; 59d Abe {The Rail Splitter}; 60d Fed {G-man}.

NYT Monday 7/20/09 - Beating About The Bushwa

This is an abbreviated form of my usual blog, as I'm currently in vacation mode. Although Henry and Magdalen were available to help with this Monday New York Times crossword, our theory is that solving it together would probably take a lot longer, as the scribe got bombarded with answers thick and fast.

One clue we were all nonplussed by was 54a my eye! {"Oh, bushwa!"} as none of us had encountered "bushwa" before. So I was surprised to find it was actually in my American dictionary, as a euphemism equivalent to B.S.. It may be that the word is only in regional use: an authority on US slang says bushwa derives from "a cowboy corruption of the French bois-de-vache ('dried cow dung').

This wouldn't have mattered too much, except that it crossed with 46d Hoya {Georgetown athlete}. Magdalen knew that the Hoyas are the Georgetown University athletes, but the Brits in the party weren't so lucky. Some people say the nickname derives from a Greek & Latin tag "Hoya Saxa", literally "What Rocks!", though others say this is just bushwa and no one really knows how Hoya came about.

Talking of bushwa, Henry (who knows nearly everything) points out that modern historians are skeptical of Marco Polo's claims and might dispute 65a Asia {Marco Polo crossed it}. How odd is it that the explorer claimed to cross China but didn't describe the Great Wall?

Solving time: 6 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 45d gymnast {One who mounts and dismounts a horse}

Theme

Phrases beginning with parts of a plant, hinted at by 57a plant managers {Factory supervisors ... or a hint to the starts of 20-, 36- and 42-Across}.

20a root of all evil {What the love of money is, they say}
36a stem the tide {Stop a prevailing trend}
42a leaf through {Quickly turn the pages of}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Pancho Harrison / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 38 (16.9%) black squares
Answers	76 (average length 4.92)
Theme squares	48 (25.7%)
Scrabble points	294 (average 1.57)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Other Clues

1a Tom's {"Uncle ___ Cabin"}; 5a warts {Witches' faces have them}; 10a deja {___ vu}; 14a in it {"Put a sock ___!"}; 15a Eliot {Writer T. S. or George}; 16a exam {Midterm, e.g.}; 17a Etna {Sicilian spewer}; 18a Blair {Former British P.M. Tony}; 19a spry {Surprisingly lively for one's age}; 23a prune {Lop off, as branches}; 24a sta. {RR depot}; 25a orc {"The Lord of the Rings" enemy}; 28a see ya {"So long!"}; 31a closer {Ninth-inning pitcher}; 33a rat {Squealer}; 38a Atra {Gillette razor}; 40a a no {"I'll take that as ___"}; 41a TV ad {30-second spot, e.g.}; 47a eso {That: Sp.}; 48a Pancho {Mexican revolutionary ___ Villa}; 49a try on {Check the fit of, as a dress}; 51a HMS {"___ Pinafore"}; 52a ERs {Hospital trauma ctrs.}; 54a my eye! {"Oh, bushwa!"}; 62a shoe {Old woman's home in a nursery rhyme}; 64a Erica {"Fear of Flying" writer Jong}; 65a Asia {Marco Polo crossed it}; 66a ease {Simplicity}; 67a terms {Contract conditions}; 68a teed {Sore, with "off"}; 69a trek {Arduous journey}; 70a sweet {Like Georgia Brown of song}; 71a Esso {"Put a tiger in your tank" brand}.

1d tier {It may hang out in a sports stadium}; 2d on top {First in the rankings}; 3d minor {17-year-old, legally}; 4d status {Condition of affairs}; 5d webfeet {Duck features}; 6d alla {___ breve (2/2 time in music)}; 7d rial {Iranian money}; 8d toils {Works long and hard}; 9d stretch {Seventh-inning ritual}; 10d Desi {Arnaz of "I Love Lucy"}; 11d explosive {Nitroglycerin or dynamite}; 12d jar {Cookie holder}; 13d Amy {"The Joy Luck Club" writer Tan}; 21d ones {George Washingtons}; 22d vale {Low-lying area}; 26d red as {___ a beet}; 27d credo {Belief}; 29d year {Vintage designation}; 30d am not {"I ___ amused!"}; 32d Ott {Hall-of-Famer Mel}; 33d Ralph {Alice's mate on "The Honeymooners"}; 34d A team {First string}; 35d transpose {Make lemons into melons, e.g.?}; 37d tour {Go from gig to gig}; 39d AFC {Steelers' grp.}; 43d the A {Ellington's "Take ___ Train"}; 44d hornets {Big stingers}; 45d gymnast {One who mounts and dismounts a horse}; 46d Hoya {Georgetown athlete}; 50d negate {Nullify}; 53d strew {Spread, as seed}; 55d yeses {Go-aheads}; 56d Eries {Great Lakes Indians}; 58d leek {Cousin of an onion}; 59d mire {Bog}; 60d acme {Summit}; 61d sado- {Lead-in to masochism}; 62d set {Filming site}; 63d har {Part of 33-Down's laugh}.