Friday, 6/25/10

NYT 6:09 (joon—across lite)
WSJ untimed (PG)
CS untimed
LAT untimed (PG)
CHE not this week, i think

the scoobies are out in full force this week, so i decided to pitch in even though i’ve been on blogging paternity leave. puzzlegirl will be back later tonight/tomorrow morning with the WSJ and LAT.

Robin Schulman and Byron Walden’s New York Times crossword—joon’s review

surprise! you weren’t expecting a rebus on a friday, were you? i know i wasn’t. plus it’s byron (i don’t know robin, but sources tell me she’s byron’s blushing bride), it’s a weekend, it’s a 70-word grid. all of that seems to lull you into the notion that it’ll be a usual freestyle. and yet… i smoked out the rebus pretty quick in that NW corner when nothing else would make TV_L into a logical answer. but of course, when byron’s name is on the byline (even in a non-solo capacity), you know you’re in for a workout anyway. and so i was.

so the theme, appropriately enough for a puzzle co-constructed by a newlywed couple, is an I DO rebus. there are nine rebus squares asymmetrically placed around the grid, but the highlight is the 15-letter, 10-word answer taking up only five squares at 34a, the {Abba hit of 1976}: [I DO] [I DO] [I DO] [I DO] [I DO]. that’s 150% more committal than the hit broadway show with carol burnett and rock hudson! other rebus answers:

• {Native Australian winds} are DIDGER[IDO]OS. this is an awesome answer, first of all. second of all, the clue did just enough to throw me off—or maybe it was the clue and the byron byline. but i was definitely thinking, “oh god, he wants us to know the name of some dry wind that blows in from the snowy mountains after the monsoon season.” glad i was wrong.
• {Davy Jones or any other Monkee} was a TV [IDO]L. as i said, this was the clue that “broke open” the rebus for me, not that the puzzle immediately fell apart or anything.
• {Ballpark fare} is a delicious CHIL[I DO]G. the word break even goes in the right place here. i’m amused that this answer sits atop ATE KOSHER.
• {Good place for a smoke} is indeed a HUM[IDO]R. wonderful clue. yes, it’s a good place to store a cigar (i think?), just not a good place to smoke it (i think?). truth be told, the only thing i know about humidors is that they use one to store the baseballs used at coors field in denver.
• {Teen drivers?} are the LIB[IDO]S that drive adolescents to … uh, whatever it is kids do these days. another terrific clue.
• the {Shower holder} is the MA[ID O]F HONOR who traditionally holds a bridal shower. aw, extra theme! this one’s all nuptial-like, see.
• {Spanish man’s name that means “peaceful”} is PLAC[IDO]. this one’s real, real easy if you know the rebus already, as it’s a cognate of the english word “placid.” but when i first got here, i was mighty stumped.
• {Bribed} is PA[ID O]FF.
• {George Sand title heroine} is IS[IDO]RA. yikes, i don’t think i could’ve told you anything she wrote. i don’t even remember her real name! sic transit quizbowl knowledge. ah, wikipedia to the rescue: it’s amantine aurore lucille dupin.
• {Some snowmobiles} are SK[IDO]OS. if you say so.
• {Punctilious type, slangily} is an [I-DO]TTER. i don’t believe i’ve ever heard this particular word, spoken slangily or otherwise. is there such a thing as a t-crosser? anyway, i do love the word punctilious. (hey, stop snickering. i heard that. i’m right here, you know.)
• {Accepted} is SA[ID O]K TO. man, that took a while to parse.
• {Birthstone for most Leos} is PER[IDO]T. should i admit that i only know the name of this gem from final fantasy IX? no? okay, i’ll keep it under my hat then.

tough stuff (luckily not including any dry wind of the australian outback):

• {Yossarian’s tentmate in “Catch-22”} is one of the non-bobby ORRs. there’s also a john boyd ORR who won the nobel peace prize some time in the mid-20th century. it’s good to be aware of these guys if you do a lot of crosswords, because there’s only so many times an editor is willing to go with {Bruin legend Bobby}. having said that, i recommend that you go ahead and read catch-22 anyway, because it’s great. bleak, hilarious, poignant, and exquisitely crafted. it’s american fiction at its finest.
• {“It Don’t Come Easy” singer, 1971} is one of the non-kenneth STARRs. uh, i actually have no idea who this is. brenda? is that a STARR? it’s not bart, i know that.
• {Nautically equipped, in a way} is PONTOONED. man, rough clue. and i’m also not in love with this particular inflected form. there are a couple of other wince-worthy ones (FROTHERS and PROFANERS are the worst wincifiers).
• {“Bird” with a flexible nose} is a valiant attempt to conceal the old SST. indeed, they do have droopy-looking noses.
• {Bellini opera set in the English Civil War} is I PURITANI. whoa, highbrow. not one of the, say, 30 or 50 best-known operas. but the clue makes it guessable if you have some of the crossing letters.
• {Mythological thread-cutter} is ATROPOS, the oldest of the fates. clotho spins the thread, lachesis measures it, and atropos applies the snippy-snip. elsewhere in greek mythology, we have {“Dawn of the ___ fingers …”: The Odyssey} to clue ROSY. yup, that’s a well-known first line, all right.
• {Gâteau des ___ (Mardi Gras dessert)} is a new clue for ROIS (french kings). i didn’t make the connection until just now, but yes, i’ve had that dessert and it was called king cake.
• {“I am,” in Italy}? ouch. not up on my italian, so this could have been anything… i was kind of distressed to discover through crosses that it was SONO, which is much, much better-known to english speakers as a prefix.
• {Short and disconnected: Abbr.} is STAC., i.e. staccato.
• {Final section of T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”} is PART V. i’m not sure why this was my first answer in the grid. i’m sure i haven’t read that poem since 12th grade, and i couldn’t tell you how or why i knew it had 5 parts.

awesome clue roundup (aside from the ones i already singled out for the rebus answers):

• {Bug detection devices?} are PALPS. i didn’t figure this out until after i had all the letters. yup, they’re detection devices used by bugs, not devices for detecting bugs.
• {February 4th, to some?} is the SILENT R in the 4th position of “febyooary.” wait, no. don’t count me among the “some” in the clue.
• {Chick magnet?} for HEN? okay, it’s a stretch, but it’s funny.
• {They might break up a plot} are the HOES used to break up dirt in a garden plot. i couldn’t figure out how to pluralize george lucas, and plus he wouldn’t fit into four squares anyway even with the rebus action going.
• {Turning point?} is a nice literal definition of EDDY. by the way, next time you see EDDY in a grid (and it will be soon, i’d imagine), check to see if it’s on the bottom row or rightmost column. more than half the time, it will be.

okay, joon out. how’d this puzzle treat you—fair friday or brutal byron? were you spanish inquisitioned by the rebus?
Updated Friday morning:

Joon Pahk and Andrea Carla Michaels’s Wall Street Journal crossword—PuzzleGirl’s review

I haven’t been doing the Sunday-sized puzzles lately. I just don’t enjoy them as much as the 15x15s — they just seem too big and I mostly feel like I just slog through them. So I was psyched to see the names of two of my favorite constructors on this one. Have I ever mentioned that I totally suck at anagramming? I do. Shouldn’t that be something I’m good at? It seems like it should. And yet … no. Luckily, though, the words anagrammed in this puzzle were all short enough that even I didn’t have too much trouble with them. Also, I’m not a big geography person. But I have heard of all but one of these capitals. It’s a pretty good day for me, all things considered, is what I’m saying.

Theme answers:

• 23A: City square in Bolivia? (LA PAZ PLAZA).
• 25A: Couples in France? (PARIS PAIRS).
• 35A: Creature in the Philippines? (MANILA ANIMAL).
• 48A: Eye part in Albania? (TIRANE RETINA).
• 62A: Post in Peru? (LIMA MAIL).
• 75A: Aria in Norway? (OSLO SOLO).
• 82A: Hot spots in the Bahamas? (NASSAU SAUNAS).
• 101A: Scottish lords in Greece? (ATHENS THANES).
• 113A: Fur coats in Belarus? (MINSK MINKS).
• 115A: Creep in South Korea? (SEOUL LOUSE).

A lot of the cluing in this puzzle is pretty tricky, but with the theme answers relatively easy to put together, I ended up solving this one quickly and had a lot of fun doing it. Stuff I didn’t know includes:

• KEPI [39A: Topper for de Gaulle]. When neither chapeau nor beret fit, I knew I was hosed.
• NELS [76A: Wilco guitarist Cline]. Not exactly BEQ territory with the music reference, but not a band that I’m familiar with.
• 47D: Montreal Expos legend Tim RAINES. Damn you, Andrea, for being such a sporty girl and always using so many sports clues. [wink!]

I do believe the clue for THE RAM [27A: Sign for May Day babies] is wrong. Aren’t May Day babies Taureans? I’m pretty sure they are. And I’m pretty sure Taurus is the bull and Aries is the ram. Feel free to jump in here if you actually know anything about this stuff. I’m no expert. I laughed out loud at the clue for PANTS [26D: Donald Duck’s lack]. And who isn’t happy to see a reference to soccer?! [61A: Side of a soccer field? (TEAM).] U-S-A! U-S-A!

Two final thoughts. I was just listening to [45D] IRA GLASS on a “This American Life” podcast this morning and was telling a friend about it tonight. It’s one of the best ones I’ve ever heard. If you haven’t listened to “Recordings for Someone,” which aired June 13, do yourself a favor and check it out. The first act had me laughing hysterically while walking through the mall on my way to work. It introduces a catch-phrase that should absolutely be a part of our national consciousness. And finally, I choose to believe that ANGIE [30A: 1973 Rolling Stones hit] is a shout-out to me. (Thanks, guys!)

Mark Feldman’s LA Times puzzle—PuzzleGirl’s review

I have to say that I’ve been kind of disappointed with the LA Times puzzle lately. Maybe it’s because I spend too much time focusing on it over at my blog. Whatever it is, it’s no fun. The puzzle got super super easy a little over a year ago. There have been glimmers of an escalation in difficulty a couple times since then, but they always seem to fizzle. I find today’s offering way too easy for a Friday. I actually kind of liked the theme — food puns based on foreign cities — I even let BASEL CHICKEN have a pass, thinking “well, it’s not chicken cacciatore, but I’m sure it’s a thing.” Then I got to JEDDAH CHEESE. That one just doesn’t fit with the rest of the theme answers. Am I being too picky? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.

Theme answers:

• 20A: Swiss poultry dish? (BASEL CHICKEN).
• 27A: Korean menu listing? (SEOUL FOOD).
• 35A: Indian lunch fare? (DELHI SANDWICH).
• 43A: Moroccan hearty meal? (RABAT STEW).
• 52A: Meccan omelet ingredient? (JEDDAH CHEESE).

Much like yesterday’s LAT puzzle, the fill just wasn’t colorful enough to make up for the drab theme for me. I like LEFT JABS (although I’m not crazy about the gratuitous plural) (37D: Right crosses may follow them). And SHANGHAI and BUBBAS have a little sparkle to them (except there’s that plural again) (10D: City near the Yangtze River / 1D: Good ol’ boys). But overall? I expect quite a bit more from my Friday.

Randall J. Hartman’s CrosSynergy/Washington Post puzzle, “Making Progress”—Janie’s review

What a treat of puzzle this is! The “progress” in the title refers to the way the theme clues are doled out. There are five of ’em—and each one leads to 15-letter fill, all of it quality stuff. Randy starts with the letter “B” and with each successive pass, adds another letter to the mix—like this:

• 17A. [B] PERSONALITY TYPE. So many theories, so little time…
• 22A. [BO] ROCK STAR DIDDLEY. Now I read rock star here not literally (because he wasn’t a “rock” musician per se), but in the sense of Mr. Bates’s being one of the music world’s most charismatic innovators. His genres? Rock and roll, rhythm and blues, blues. And he was a major influence in all three. (I wonder if any of his RIFFS are also [Guitar Hero licks].)
• 38A. [BOA] FLAPPER NECKWEAR. Something like this.
• 46A. [BOAR] WARTHOG RELATIVE. Not just another pretty face. Neither the clue fella, nor the fill…
• 55A. [BOARD] GROUP OF ADVISORS. Okay, probably the driest of the theme fill, but something about it is just so solid.

Solid, too, is the non-theme fill. There’s a bit of a sports mini-theme with ROONE [“Wide World of Sports” creator Arledge]; OILER, the [Edmonton skater]; OTS [Fifth quarters in the NFL]; ELEVEN, twistily clued as [Band of Patriots?] (i.e., how many players on a football team? From Boston?…); DINK (a new term to me) for [Drop shot, in tennis]; and the smile-making clue [Peg of the LPGA] for the oft-seen (coulda been yawn-inducing) TEE.

Other tie-ins:

• A-little-education-is-a-good-thing with [Preschool attendee] for CHILD and said child‘s next step, [K-6] ELEM.
• The weekend-comedy shout-outs to SNL [NBC program since 1975] and MAD-TV, its [Fox alternative…]. Remember, too, that SNL was one of the early stomping grounds for Mike Myers, cinema’s SPY by way of [Austin Powers, e.g.] and Wayne’s World denizen, which gave us the word [Babealicious] for HOT. Which seems to be a logical segue to
  
• What-goes-on-under-the-covers with [Bed-in participant] for ONO and [Kinsey research topic] for SEX.

And a gracious good day to one and all!