Sunday, 8/7/11

NYT 8:01 
LAT 7:33 
Reagle 7:19 
WaPo 8:11 (pannonica) 
CS 6:56 (Sam) 
BG mia

Tony Orbach and Janie Smulyan’s New York Times crossword, “Good to Go”

NY Times crossword solution, 8 7 11 "Good to Go"

Yay! Go, Janie, go! This puzzle marks Janie’s debut as a published NYT crossword constructor. Is there anyone else in the club of “people who made their debuts with Sunday puzzles coauthored by Tony Orbach,” or is it just me and Janie? I bet there are others, as Tony is a total peach to work with.

The “Good to Go” theme has made GOOD go away from assorted phrases. The results range from okay to humorous, and we do like a theme that brings the humor. Who would like to see how efficient a HOUSEKEEPING SEAL is? I’m thinking he’s going to leave puddles on all your furniture. At the bar mitzvah, CHARLIE BROWN hears “today, YOU’RE A MAN.” THE ERA OF “FEELINGS,” whoa-whoa-whoa feelings. “I’M INTO…SOMETHING.”

Lots of the expected light touches throughout the puzzle (I say “expected” because Tony and Janie both swing toward the whimsy direction). For example, TORSO is clued as [Six-pack holder?] (as in six-pack abs). I recently had to clue ALFA and I wish I’d thought of [Romeo’s predecessor?]. The northwest corner features GET A GRIP and SHEESH, plus two great clues for throwaway 3-letter answers: TET is clued expansively as [Holiday celebrated with banh chung cakes], and SRI is an [Asian title that’s an anagram of an English one]. I also like [“2, 4, 6, 8 – Who do we appreciate?,” e.g.] for YELL. Nice fill includes ON THE GO, George COSTANZA, DAS BOOT (newly out on Blu-Ray, I hear), FABERGE egg, TOWNIE, and HETERO.

Four stars.

Merl Reagle’s syndicated/Philadelphia Inquirer crossword, “Take Two Vitamins”

Merl Reagle crossword answers, 8 7 11 "Take Two Vitamins"

So, I solved the puzzle and then went to the kitchen to write “vitamin D” on the grocery list. Thanks for the reminder, Merl! This week’s theme is names and phrases that start or end with two separately pronounced letters that are both vitamins:

• 22a. [Where “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951) takes place] = WASHINGTON, D.C. Cute to have OBAMA in the same corner.
• 24a. [Legendary sky bandit] = D.B. COOPER. He was just in the news this week. Something about his niece telling the FBI what his real initials were?
• 31a. [It might be your type] = AB NEGATIVE.
• 35a. [Part of a recovery prog.] = AA MEETING.
• 47a. [Blues great] = B.B. KING.
• 52a. [Trucker tracker] = CB RADIO.
• 60a. [Prosecutor-to-be, perhaps] = DEPUTY D.A. Is this different from an assistant D.A.?
• 70a. [1966 Raquel Welch film] = ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.
• 83a. [Sound system staple] = CD PLAYER.
• 92a. [Stuart Little’s creator] = E.B. WHITE.
• 96a. [“Constant Craving” singer] = K.D. LANG (though she prefers all lowercase). Love her All You Can Eat album, a great K.D. CD.
• 105a. [“A Shropshire Lad” poet] = A.E. HOUSMAN.
• 108a. [“Tulips and Chimneys” poet] = E.E. CUMMINGS. Another poet and another lowercase person. Imagine if Mr. T’s A-Team character had gone by b.a. baracus.
• 118a, 121a. [“Get Down Tonight” group, with 121 Across] = K.C. AND THE / SUNSHINE BAND. Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight.

That’s 14 answers spanning 15 entries. Yes, a lot of the theme answers are short, but there are a zillion (i.e., 15) of them.

Mildly surprising to have DIETED at 41a ([Reduced, in a way]) in close proximity to 15d: [Country ruled by a diet] (JAPAN), though the diets in question are entirely distinct words.

Mildly distracting to have other answers that start or end with one or two vitamin letters, like BASF, APB, ORAL-B, A LEAK, and A KID. Plus all the partials—those last two in this paragraph’s list, plus AN EGG, OWE A, AND I, I WAS A, and SUE THE. Too much! 85d: REDAM/[Stop again, as a river] isn’t a partial but it sure ain’t pretty either.

Least familiar and yet utterly charming item: 111d: GANDY [___ dancer (old slang for a railroad worker)]. Here, take a gander at the gandy dancer Wikipedia entry.

3.25 stars. The theme doesn’t have any built-in humor, and the 15-entry theme layout seems to have led to some subpar fill.

Updated Sunday morning:

William I. Johnston’s CrosSynergy/Washington Post crossword, “Sunday Challenge” — Sam Donaldson’s review

CrosSynergy / Washington Post crossword solution, August 7

As has been noted here before, freestyle crosswords typically have no more than 72 words and rarely more than 32 black squares. Today’s Sunday Challenge is a 74/32 puzzle, slightly above the usual limits. If a freestyle has more than 72 words, it needs to have at least one of these three things: (1) super-juicy entries; (2) a “mini-theme” (like a grid that has STARTS WITH A BANG up top and ENDS ON A HIGH NOTE at the bottom); or (3) some crazy “stunt” factor to it (like quadruple-stacked 12-letter entries or some unusual and artistic arrangement of black squares). Today’s puzzle doesn’t appear to have a mini-theme, and there’s no whimsical arrangement of black squares. Yes, there are some nice entries, but I wouldn’t call them “super-juicy” enough to merit departure from the usual limits. So I can’t say I’m a big fan of this grid.

That may seem a bit harsh. After all, take away just two black squares and we’d have a 72/30 puzzle that wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.  Why get all atwitter over two black squares? Fair question. My response: because quality freestyle puzzles should be fun to solve, awe-inspiring to look at, and so smooth they look like they were effortless to construct. The art of the freestyle form is in the ability to mash colorful, evocative entries together without creating obscure crossings, and, generally speaking, longer entries are more colorful. Moreover, when the constructor is not bound by 40–60 squares of theme entries, she or he has the freedom to push the limits. (You know, like using longer entries, preferably ones we have never seen and with some rare letters. We see an abundance of short stuff in themed puzzles, so why not use less of the short stuff in a freestyle?) The limits should be pushed, because usually that’s where the entertainment lies.

Okay, that’s enough. I shouldn’t be harping on this point because it looks like I am picking on this particular crossword too much. As I said, there is some good stuff here. Among my favorites:

• I loved the entry WI-FI HOT SPOT, though the clue, [What warchalking points to], meant nothing to me. According to Wikipedia, “[w]archalking is the drawing of symbols in public places to advertise an open Wi-Fi wireless network. Inspired by hobo symbols, the warchalking marks were conceived by a group of friends in June 2002 and publicised by Matt Jones who designed the set of icons and produced a downloadable document containing them.” Wait, what? Our Matt Jones?
• My next favorite entries were SPOON-FED ([Overindulged, in a way]) and AHEAD OF TIME ([In advance]).
• The GRATEFUL DEAD and LONI ANDERSON seem to be nearly polar opposites. It’s fitting, then, that they appear opposite each other in the grid.
• My guess as to the three hardest entries for most solvers would be ILEX, the [Holly genus], [Conductor Zubin] MEHTA (I thought it was Mehta Zubin instead of Zubin Mehta–oops), and the [Wilderness Road blazer], which is not a four-wheel drive vehicle but Daniel BOONE. Allow Wikipedia to explain: “The Wilderness Road was the principal route used by settlers for more than fifty years to reach Kentucky from the East. In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Fort Chiswell in Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky. It was later lengthened, following Native American trails, to reach the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville. The Wilderness Road was steep and rough, and it could only be traversed on foot or horseback. Despite the adverse conditions, thousands of people used it.”

Anyone else try LAND OF THE FREE as the answer to [America, for many]? Turns out it is also the LAND OF LIBERTY. In any case, it’s quite a land.

Donna Levin’s syndicated Los Angeles Times crossword, “Swordplay”

syndicated LA Times crossword answers, 8 7 11 "Swordplay"

Donna’s puzzle title could easily be changed from “Swordplay” to “S Wordplay,” as that’s the name of the game here. Eight phrases get their first words changed entirely by the addition of an “S” sound to the beginning. I like the consistency of every first word having a broader spelling change aside from the S+ action:

• 23a. [Bathtub ring with no discernible cause?] = SCUM FROM NOWHERE. (Come.)
• 37a. [Schusser’s name traced in the snow?] = SKI SIGNATURE. (Key.) I have no idea what “key signature” means. Husband says it’s a music thing, tells you what key to play in.
• 60a. [“Alas” and “Ah, me”?] = SIGH OPENERS. (Eye.) Thank goodness the dreadful “Ah, me,” which no one ever says, is confined to a clue rather than being a blight upon the grid.
• 70a. [Surveillance satellite?] = SPY IN THE SKY. (Pie.)
• 92a. [Make Oreos?] = STUFF COOKIES. (Tough.)
• 110a. [What grumpy old men might experience?] = SURLY RETIREMENT. (Early.)
• 17d. [Geckos that don’t set their alarm clocks?] = SLEEPIN’ LIZARDS or perhaps SLEEP-IN LIZARDS. (Leapin’.)
• 46d. [Pilots’ milieu?] = SPHERE OF FLYING. (Fear.)

Highlights:

• 1a. PIE SAFE, [Pastry preserver of the past]. A pleasing 1-Across to usher us into the puzzle.
• 115a. [Failed school curriculum that was the subject of the 1973 book “Why Johnny Can’t Add”] clues NEW MATH. No idea if the math I learned in grade school was the New Math or whatever followed it.
• 19d. [Medical stat?] clues “AT ONCE,” as “stat” means “do it now.” No statistics here.
• 52d. [Walking aids] tricked me. I was thinking of canes rather than dog LEASHES.
• 86d. [Rec room scrape] clues RUG BURN, a super lively answer.
• 89d. [Pen pals’ exchange?] is the OINKING between porcine sty-mates.

I didn’t know BUTANOL (44d: [Experimental biofuel]). I did know LEORA (79a: [Arrowsmith’s first wife]) and TRET (75d: [Deduction for waste]), but I know both of them strictly from crosswords and they do cross at that R; might be a tough crossing for anyone who’s uncertain of these uncommon words.

3.75 stars.

Karen M. Tracey’s Washington Post crossword, “Post Puzzler No. 70” — pannonica’s review

Washington Post Puzzler no. 70 • answers • Karen M. Tracy • 8/7/11

[“Color me confused”] (54a) indeed! I somehow managed to write-up next week’s WaPo Puzzler instead of this one, despite noticing the number discrepancy (71 for 70). Oh, 54a is I DON’T GET IT. But unfortunately you get me again.

So, here we are. How’ve you been? Great! Glad to hear it! What? The puzzle? Right, sure. Uhmm…

Ms. Tracey delivers a strong grid, with some nutritious 10-10 stacks: HARLEQUINS/INSINUATES, CHICKENPOX/TATTERSALL, LORELEI LEE/ANCHORAGES, and I DON’T GET IT/LUNDY’S LANE. I’d never heard of Lundy’s Lane [War of 1812 battle site near Niagara Falls], but I find it interesting to note that the movie Niagara (1953) was in part filmed in that area. In that same year, Marilyn Monroe, star of Niagara, also appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as LORELEI LEE; as the clue for 26d INSINUATES (17a), Carol Channing originated the role in the stage production of 1949. If you’ve never read Anita Loos’ original 1926 novel, I recommend it highly, as its wit and charm are timeless.

The puzzle was a fairly smooth solve. Whatever unknowns or speedbumps I encountered were rather easily compensated for by crossings and surrounding fill. The letter content of the fill itself is pretty darn Scrabbly, with Js, Qs, Zs, Xs, Ks, and more aplenty. As for those temporary impediments, I number the at-first mysterious 45a [Game in which you sometimes eat fruit] PAC-MAN among them, as well as 20a [Eyjafjallajökull output] EJECTA (not ash(es), magma, lava, et al.), 53a [Four-time Pro Bowl tight end Crumpler] ALGE (although “Crumpler” is a great name for a blocking footballer), 25d [Scale with five sharps: Abbr.] B MAJ. (I can never fill in more than the M without crossings on those {A–G}M{AJ/IN} clues), and 44a [Least massive dwarf planet] CERES (I knew it wasn’t Pluto but wasn’t sure if it was Ceres or something else).

There’s something redundant-looking about the stacked OLD PAL/OLE/AXLE on the right flank, as well as ALGE/FEES/TESS in the southwest corner; didn’t sit well with me. I did, however, enjoy the stilted-language SUASION and HITHER neighboring each other in the middle top. The windmilled long entries toward the center were nice too, QUIZZICAL, ZOROASTER, ANONYMITY, LONELY BOY, although I need many crossings to get that last one: [1977 hit for Andrew Gold].

Overall, a very strong puzzle with good, if not overly exciting, cluing. I wonder if next week’s will be any better?