Fireball 12 minutes
NYT 5:29
LAT Wade – who knows?
CS 7:44 (Sam)
BEQ 8:25 (Matt)
Tausig untimed
Liz Gorski’s New York Times crossword
NYT crossword solution, 6 28 12 0628
Quick blogging, so I can get through this puzzle and the Fireball before I fall asleep. Which, if the way I’m feeling is any indication, will be in about five minutes.
Theme: TIMEFRAME in the middle is a “hint to completing 10 answers in this puzzle.” The 10 answers around the perimeter (FRAME!) of the grid that all seemed weirdly off-base? They are missing their TIME. Autumn ≠ HARVEST—autumn = HARVEST time. HARD time (tough clue: [You might give this to someone you don’t like], and this is “a hard time,” not the hard time a judge might sentence one to), SNACK time (my favorite!), football HALFtime, FEEDING time at the zoo, QUALITY time (nearly put DUALITY here before understanding the theme), PLAY time, NIGHTtime, LEAD time, and ARRIVAL time.
Plus we get VANILLA ICE! And a flimsy PAPER PLATE. No Chinet for Vanilla Ice. More pop culture gimmes for me: BARETTA (main character had a cockatoo, v. memorable for a child), Ashley TISDALE (I know her from the dreadful Disney show my kid watched, The Suite Life, plus she shares a last name with an English prof I had), MANDOLIN (my husband’s in an Old Town School of Folk Music ensemble this quarter with some mandolinists), and the evocative YECCH.
On the down side, ALOOFLY is very nearly a roll-your-own word; aloof is common but its adverb form, not so much. And plural RINSINGS! That’s pretty much all that bugged me, though.
Not sure if this puzzle was considerably harder to grasp than the usual Thursday puzzle or if that single, solitary glass of wine slowed me down. I suspect the latter, but that tough 1-Across clue launched a theme that was, I say, hard to make sense of while in the midst of wrestling with the clues. So much “Well-ll, I guess that sort of works” going on before the TIME thing broke through.
Andrew Ries’s Fireball crossword, “I Melt With You”
Fireball answers 6 28 12
Hey! At a Carleton College spring concert somewhere around 1985, Modern English performed their classic song, “I Melt With You.” In the rain. Out in a field up the hill from campus. And students returning to campus tended to slide down the hill, in the mud. The housekeeping staff was none too pleased that Monday morning, with the mud of a thousand young adults tracked through every stairwell, hall, and bathroom.
But Modern English is not what this puzzle is about. It is, however, the language used in the puzzle! Imagine that. Andrew gives us three rebus squares that go three ways: One metallic element one Across, one metallic element Down, and their alloy in the Diagonal. I freely admit rampant Googling to get through this puzzle. Didn’t know the [“Out of Sync” memoirist], though N’SYNC’s LANCE BASS makes Sync sense in retrospect. Never, ever heard of Crown RUSSE vodka brand, so I had ANGRY for ANTSY at 63d for the longest time. Had no idea that 67d was referring to NIColas Cage rather than cage fighting. Aargh! Had I been more alert, I might’ve guessed that Dickens’ “favourite child” {rebus}FIELD would have a metallic element in the rebus bit and that {COPPER}FIELD was the only suitable guess. That whole bottom right gave me fits.
The theme answers are:
- 20a: CAN{TIN}A crossing 4d: MIS{LEAD} to give you the alloy called solder, which appears in the diagonal GET{S OLDER}.
- 21a: ENV{IRON}MENTAL crossing 7d: GUY {CARBON}NEAU (never heard of him!), putting steel in the diagonal E{STEE L}AUDER.
- 54a: VERACRU{Z INC}IDENT (never heard of it) crossing 56d: {COPPER}FIELD, putting brass in {BRASS}ERIES.
I Googled all three alloys once I had the two metals.
It’s only now that I’m realizing that the grid’s not remotely symmetrical.
NCISLA looks crazy in the grid. That’s N.C.I.S.: L.A.
So. The theme has a brilliance to it conceptually, but it hinges on knowing the Acrosses and Downs. If I’d had IRON and Estee’s STEEL, I don’t know that I would have figured out CARBONneau. I Googled him. Hockey players aren’t household names in this country, unless you’re in Andrew’s Minnesota or its northern neighbor, Canadia.
Four stars.
“Angela Olson Halsted” and “Doug Peterson”’s Los Angeles Times Crossword Puzzle – Wade’s review
It’s been an open secret among the cologne-scented [what I used to think “cognoscenti” meant: a bunch of perfumed French people who thought they were better than everybody else because they smelled good] for years that the PuzzleGirl/Peterson duo is a pre-fab marketing creation, an adorable, page-view-generating duo of the Lesser Osmond genus engineered to sell product, and that the real brains behind these puzzle creations—the Phil Spector behind their Shields and Yarnell, the Sir Francis Bacon behind their Shakespeare—is PuzzleHusband, more commonly known as:
Jeff.
Few in the crossworld have achieved one-name notoriety (I’m the only other person who comes to my mind, and even I usually require a Roe-v-me-esque clue to figure out who I am), but Jeff is, well:
Jeff.
Just Jeff.
And if any of you constructors (I’m looking particularly at the hat trick of Patricks) aspire to one-name status, this puzzle represents the standard you need to be aiming for. Just look at this thing and marvel! By the time you’re done, there are hardly any blank spaces, and it’s got loads of those question-mark clues that always make me picture the sadsack Mexican guy in that old TV show who shrugs and says “I know nothing!”
It’s got HOSS in it.
Everybody loves Hoss. (I worked on a song cycle for a while about various famous-ish people, and the only unifying theme was that all the songs had to have “son of a bitch” in the title. I had one called “Harold Bloom Was a Lonesome Son of Bitch” and one about Hoss called “Dan Blocker Was a Great Big Grinnin’ Son of a Bitch.” I don’t remember the point of it or of anything else.) Hoss was born in NE Texas, moved way the hell to the NW part of Texas as a kid, and went to college in SW Texas, but, alas, died before he could ever live in SE Texas…which is where we find him today in the puzzle. And if you think that’s a coincidence you’re in denial because this is a Jeff puzzle and that shit don’t just happen by accident.
Not in a Jeff.
That reminds me of a joke I just made up. What did the Cartwright brothers write on the wilted cabbage in the refrigerator on the set of the Ponderosa after they ate all the good stuff before Pa had had any lunch?
“Forlorn green”!
The theme of the puzzle is taking somebody’s name and sticking a word in between their first and last names to make it funny and then playing all innocent by asking a question like you don’t know how it got there (“I know nothing!”)
It’s basically Jeff making fun of beloved people who never did anything to him and then hiding behind PuzzleGirl/Peterson.
- 20A: Tree-hugging actress? [DORIS EARTHDAY] (I get her mixed up with the Flying Nun and Shirley Temple and Dinah Shore all at the same time.)
- 33A: Inner-tubing actress? [ROSA WATERPARKS] (Good documentary about her, “From Selma to Schlitterbahn.”)
- 40A: Poor-shooting comedy star? [LUCILLE AIRBALL] (I read the clue as “pool” shooting at first and tried to go for EIGHTBALL. Jeff’s answer is better.)
- 57A: Pontiac driving basketball player [LARRY FIREBIRD] (I’m still stuck on the Flying Nun and the incomprehensible notion that such a show existed.)
The rumor is the NY Times, who think they patented the crossword puzzle or something, rejected this one because “There must be thousands of names that could be used for this sort of wordplay!”
Thousands? Really? Thousands?
In fact there are four, and they are in this puzzle, and if you can think of another one, Mr. Will “Eat My” Shortz, I’d like to hear it.
This is the greatest puzzle in the world. I give it thousands of stars.
Raymond Hamel’s CrosSynergy/Washington Post crossword, “Chucked It In” – Sam Donaldson’s review
CS solution, June 28
Yesterday I complained about a “slow” solving time of 7:33. Now that I’m clocking in today with a time of 7:44, I’m starting to think my solving skills are devolving. If I’m at 8 minutes or longer tomorrow, I’ll officially consider it a slump. (Uh oh, those sound like ominous words.)
Today’s puzzle features four two-word terms where the first word is synonymous with “chucked:”
- 20-Across: I have heard of the slang use of TOSSED SALAD before, but not as [Military ribbons, in slang].
- 56-Across: I’ll say this about a PITCHED ROOF: [It has a gable at both ends]. As it happens, that’s about all I can say about a pitched roof.
- 11-Down: THROWN SILK is a [Twisted thread variety] that implies it’s manufactured by heaving it up against a hard surface until it weaves together.
- 29-Down: The [Name in TV credits] is that of a CAST MEMBER. I think I might have liked [Name in credits] better, only because the “TV” part had me thinking there had to be something unique to television in the answer. And yet there are cast members in live theater and films too.
I guess you’d have to look to one of the alt weekly puzzles for a play on “upchucked.” Anyway, this “chuck” puzzle is chock full of interesting fill, like LET’S GO, Nelson MANDELA, LACKEY, SYMPHONY, and RELIEVER. I was flummoxed by SEAL ANTS, the [Insects that can be trained to play horns]. Oh wait, that’s SEALANTS, clued as [Some are used for dentures]. Maybe that explains it. But hey, I struggled with SET BY as the answer to [Save for the future]. I think of “set by” more as “placed next to,” so I never really thought this answer was right despite crossings that confirmed it. The other entry that gave me pause was NARD as the [Aromatic ointment]. I’m familiar with the Nard Dog, but no so much plain old “nard.”
Favorite entry = SAN DIEGO, the [Home of the Padres]. I visit there every October for a conference. You wanna know the easiest job in America? San Diego weather reporter. “Sunny and 75” will get you there at least 300 days per year. Favorite clue = [Some are liberal] for ARTS.
Brendan Quigley’s blog puzzle “Finding God” — Matt’s review
BEQ • 6/28/12 • "Finding God" • solution
No sacred cows with BEQ, not even at the risk of angering the Higher Power! In today’s blog puzzle he conceals four holy names inside four nonsense phrases:
20-a [One wanted for murder in Macedonia’s capital?] = SKOPJE SUSPECT. I’ve heard of Skopje because there was a famous chess tournament there in the 1970s, but it’s certainly one of the tougher European capitals, and also one of the Scrabbliest. And there’s JESUS in the middle.
27-a [Sisters who cannot be trusted?] = THIEVISH NUNS. Is “thievish” really a word? I’ll look it up. Yes, it is. The Hindu god VISHNU hides within.
43-a [“Here’s the very man who wrote ‘Fuck You’!”?] = CEE LO HIMSELF. And there’s ELOHIM in the middle, which I believe is a Hebrew word for God? I’ll look it up. Yes, it is.
51-a [“I can’t believe I fell for that malarkey!”?] = IT WAS ALL A HOAX, with ALLAH concealed.
I’m not particularly well-churched, but I think there’s a bit of inconsistency with the theme: ELOHIM and ALLAH refer to the one supreme capital-G God, and Vishnu is also the supreme deity. But Jesus is a prophet like Moses or Muhammad, so perhaps the top entry should just have concealed GOD? Or maybe Vishnu being outside of the realm of monotheism gives us a little wiggle room to claim a theme hodgepodge? OK, I’ll buy that; SKOPJE SUSPECT is a nice phrase, too, so thumbs-up on the theme.
TOM SWIFTY is awesome at 3-down, as is THE USUAL (and its clue) at 9-down. And TO BE EXACT at 33-down. SHLEP at 24-d is a spelling I’d need to see a (var.) tag on, though.
At 39-a [Cristiano Ronaldo highlight] is GOAL, though he didn’t score yesterday. Actually, nobody on either Portugal or Spain scored yesterday, or even came that close. In 120 minutes. Not that it bothered me or anything.
Fun puzzle, give it a bunch of stars like I did.
Ben Tausig’s Ink Well/Chicago Reader crossword, “Full of It”
Ink Well crossword solution, 6 28 12 "Full of It"
The circled letters in the otherwise unrelated theme answers all spell out things that can be STUFFED:
- 17a. [Slang term for a 24-ounce beer], TALL BOY. Stuffed toy. Not every stuffed toy is a stuffed animal.
- 24a. [Beat up], SHOT TO HELL. Stuffed shell. Yum. Too hot to cook any such food, plus too labor-intensive.
- 36a. [Celebrity’s fashion consultant], PERSONAL SHOPPER. I had PERSONAL STYLIST because any schmo can line up a personal shopper at an upscale department store (they just hope you’ll spend a lot of money on the clothes they find). And celebs use personal stylists to develop the right look for them, from clothes to accessories and makeup. One of the three Miami Heat hotshots on The View yesterday was praised by the women for always looking sharply dressed, and he said he had a personal stylist but he was “not going to give her credit.” I think he meant that he wasn’t going to go public with her name, because how shoddy is that wording? Thanks, I owe it all to the stylist I’m not giving credit to?
- 47a. [Prepare the bed?], SHOVEL DIRT. Stuffed shirt. Garden bed, not bedroom bed.
- 57a. [Like the circled words that cross 17-, 24-, 36-, and 47-Across], STUFFED.
Likes: FAVELAS, IMHOTEP, PLATYPI, SHOT TO HELL, IRIDIUM, VOLDEMORT, E CLASS, NO PEEKING, MODEL SHIP in a bottle, SHADOW-BOX, and SPORTS FAN. Plus two-in-a-row “quirky director” clues. And look, neither DAS nor DER is clued as a German definite article.
Dislikes: Obscure HORAL ([Every 60 minutes]), Roman DII, O TYPE blood (please, it’s “type O”), and REWIN.
3.75 stars.
Nice, friendly puzzle, on the easy side. Something about it feels familiar. Has something along these lines been done before, or is it that I’m on the constructor’s wavelength, so it feels obvious?
I wished for another, subliminal layer of time-related clues or answers in the center– Not using the missing time gimmick, but evoking time related topics…For example, something about clocks and Dali (the persistence of memory), or about Proust ( In Search of Lost Time). I really wanted the answer to the floppy disks to be “limp clocks”!
Who blogged the LAT today? Shit was hilarious
That was Wade’s writeup. (I just added his name.) First blog post to be in the running for an honorary Orca/Oryx Award.
hilarious!
NY Times was a bit boring, especially after yesterday. One thing I didn’t like – Mott. Does anyone say Mott applesauce? Mott’s.
Out of a sense of fairness, and a desire to avoid even small unintended negativity (since I sometimes indulge in the other kind)–I enjoyed Liz’s puzzle, and inadvertently entered a 2 where I intended a 4. (I pulled on the track pad where I should have pushed, or some such.) My apologies to LIz.
Loved the LAT. Both the puzzle and the write-up were *very* funny. There is an erroneous clue at 61a, though, which should have been {Puzzle constructor and law professor Sam}. Actually Sam and I share the distinction of being law professors whose name was misappropriated by a TV journalist, though I’m not sure how many people remember the CBS Bruce Morton.
Just saw the 1* for the LAT, and boy do I not get it. Not me this time.
Isn’t 1 down ADIDAS, 2 down LABORER, 3 down AMERIGO?????
4 down SETI
Fireball was pretty amazing. Make that totally amazing. First got IRON in 21A, then ALLOY in 76A, then from 1Diagonal realized that the diagonal entries were generally going to contain an alloy of an intersecting across and down. But even knowing the theme, and having some background in metallurgy, no less, it was tough. Had to google the hockey player, and didn’t notice the lack of symmetry until reading the writeup.
I have a feeling Easy D was responding to me. I meant the 1 Star rating by one rater, not 1d. Sorry to create the confusion.
Been off the internet grid for a while… Hi everyone! Also, the NYT was very good in ways that are very obvious…
@EasyD: Yes, of course! Your answers are correct. Wade’s always been a little…touched.
Oops, sorry about that (getting grid wrong). The story on that is I did the puzzle on one computer, then did the writeup on a different one later and had to do the puzzle again. I assumed I knew what I was doing and just did it by acrosses and didn’t check my work. The puzzle looks great if you just read it across.
And I had Puzzlegirl breathing down my neck to finish up at 10 pm though I don’t remember hearing anything at all about a 10:00 Wednesday deadline for a Thursday puzzle. Is there a print version of this blog I’m not aware of?
How will I ever show my face as a Jeff after this?
How can you not know GUY CARBONNEAU??? Actually, I tried to fit GUY LAFLEUR in there. You’ve heard of him right??
Just call me Guy.
LA Times 4 down is misclued. SETI doesn’t have anything to do with UFOs. Is this really how people see SETI? Equivalent to UFO nuts?
@Dook: Read the clue for MOTT. “Applesauce eponym”. Eponym denotes the name from which the brand is derived. Subtle, but absolutely correct. Whether you like the answer itself (or the applesauce, for that matter) is completely up to you :).
I really enjoyed the NY Time. Still have to solve the rest so haven’t read reviews yet.
@Jeffrey: When you tell people to call you ‘Guy’, you have to remind them to pronounce it “Gee” with a hard G, or else incur the wrath of rabid hockey fans.
LAT was great! Clever, different theme; offbeat, fun 6/7 length answers like INDYCAR, CHALUPA and ANTFARM. Played harder than the NYT which was unexpected. Well done Jeff! Oh, PS I got my 70’s TV show crossword-ese in a muddle and hung on resolutely to enoS where HOSS should’ve been…
PPS: Howard and Dook – there’s a joke about that being enough of your applesauce somewhere, but I’m too lazy and unimaginitive to dig for it…
In the NYT puzzle, could 19D Map (out) be just as correct as PLAT, and 25A Cardinal of Rome be UNA? The fill given is PLOT and UNO, repectively.
LAT is good. Whoever completed the grid above should correct the upper left corner.
Note to constrictor and editor: a welder is a piece of equipment, a weldor is the person who operates it, I. E. A weldor who welds with a welder.
@Howard: Oui, Guy rhymes with oui.
I had 42-Down: Taco Bell menu item. C H _ L_ _ A. Really wanted the answer to be CHOLERA.
French GUY has a hard G, like GHEE (butter in India or wherever those tigers melted down)…
Gee–Here I thought all those Canadian hockey players were fans of clarified yak butter.
Tomorrow: How to pronounce “ROY”.
@Jef..er..’Guy’: Next week’s lesson will be the pronunciation of retired goalie Patrick Roy. Oui? Oui not.
Note to Greg: Funny thing about specific definitions. English is flexible. From Webster’s:
Definition of WELDER:
a: one that welds: or
wel·dor : a person whose work is welding
b : a machine used in welding
So you are absolutely correct for (a2 & b), as is the constructor and/or editor for (a1). Funny how we reuse and repurpose words. I like the -OR version. Looks more professional and skillful to me, for some reason.
I want to know if Wade is considering having his own blog called “Just Wade” and if he would consider doing belly bumps with Megan Mullally to promote it? Second the nomination for Orca/Oryx – and a nice puzzle from the actual PG & DP!
Papa John, I had a freeze at that PLOT/PLAT spot as well – went with the O as it seemed the more conventional of the uses. I also was holding out for PLAN at first, which complicated matters. I, too, had left 1A with hopes of sorting it out later, and was probably glancing up there every few seconds while simultaneously fretting over the PL– dilemma, cardinal vs. ordinal, feminine vs. masculine … yet I still can’t understand why I’m a lousy speed solver!
I enjoyed the NYT today. Dook – I paused at MOTT, too, but I see your point, Howard B. PAPER PLATE made me smile. Loved ALOOFLY. Swatted at many in hot, dirty WCs in London one summer.
2 Fantastic BEQ’s this week. Monday was a perfect, aone themeless. Today’s was amazing. Skopje suspect alone was worth the price of admission. I confess I don’t have the slightest idea what 43a means, but I assume it must involve a rock group or rapper. It’s such a clever way of getting to ‘elohim’ that I’m still in for 5 Stars. (There’s someone named Elo. Or is it Eno? I can never remember which is the person, and which is the group, even though people have told me. Is he C. E. Elo?)
@Bruce, Cee Lo Green. Real name Thomas DeCarlo Callaway. Here’s his biggest hit (contains F-word repeatedly but is so dang catchy): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc0mxOXbWIU. My second favorite song last summer after Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”
E.L.O. is short for Electric Light Orchestra from the ’70s, mostly.
Brian Eno is an arty rock producer/composer/musician/whatnot.
Score for getting Wade to do the writeup!!!!!
Loved today’s LA Times…
The themes are a gas to say out loud : EARTH WATER AIR FIRE makes this particularly tight and right on! (Tho I tried WIND for WATER…and LARRY -IR- -IR- held me up to realize the name came second…tric-kay!)
Classssssy to have LAERTES to offset the HORROR (for me) of INDYCAR, USC, OREL, DAN , BTEAM, LARRY?BIRD.
Loved LOVEY, ICK, CHALUPA and FIXUP… Could “hear” Dougela’s voice!
Didn’t know TFAL or MOEN but I don’t get into the kitchen much.
Yes! ORYXes all around!
Can we go for someone who defines surfers as a Webstor? Or a shoemaker as Shoemakor? ‘Nuf of the fakey -or endings!
Had a similar but different reaction to the Fireball. I knew Carbonneau cold (In fact, that gave away the rebus for me), but I could not figure out the STEEL, BRASS, nor the TIN in canTINa; the rebuses are kind of unchecked if you don’t know the components. ( BRASSeries was clued very clearly, I just didn’t know the word).
It’s an amazing concept and I love an amazing concept. I just wish the clues for the rebus words were a little more straightforward so I could have solved them. 2 of my 3 rough spots were like that. All solvable words, but I could not parse them. Not the best solver here, but pretty solid and this one was just a tick more frustrating than needed.
I’ve been trying to avoid my occasional paroxysms of negativity regarding particular puzzles. But Howard’s post above, and an earlier post from Amy compel me to engage in some musing. Amy and Howard are among the best solvers in the world. This is not flattery; it is objective fact based upon solid empirical evidence. Each has admitted that s/he was unable to solve the puzzle sans outside assistance (i.e. googling). Nor was I. I personally regard a puzzle where I have to google as a “failure”, although I only apply that standard to myself. In fact I never did quite understand where I was supposed to find the “alloys” along the diagonal, even after the explanation. This is despite the fact that the word “Brasserie” is as familiar to me as the word “cafe” since I have hung around Parisian Brasseries since I was 8 years old, and despite the fact that I know, upon reflection, the two metals comprised by each of the three alloys. What does it say about a puzzle when several of the top 1% of solvers are unable to complete it? (I confess to wondering if DanF got it.) It is the easiest thing in the world to construct an unsolvable puzzle, as many have noted. I do not have a definitive answer to my own question, but it is a question which I have been pondering. I do think the puzzle was very clever. I am curious whether anyone else had a similar reaction.
You’re in luck, Bruce! I’m checking the blog from JFK Terminal 5 en route to the Bay Area. I did finish the Fireball, but a third of my nine minutes solving was just figuring out those three-way rebus squares. I only got CARBON when I started brainstorming elements, and the full hockey name rang a faint bell. I agree that Peter sometimes can go too far toward the unsolvable, but the mission of Fireball is to be the hardest puzzle out there. That’s what we’re paying for!
Not to speak for Amy and Howard, but I don’t know how long they typically spend before giving up and googling. It’s entirely possible – perhaps likely – that they could have finished correctly if they were able to spend the time, but you know, family and work and stuff can get in the way. I confess I was about ready to give up on that one too. I still liked it though!
After I read a Wade commentary, and I’m done drying the tears of laughter, I really want him to donate his brain to science.
And what a good day to evoke Roe vs. Himself…
I’ve been meaning to say all day how much I enjoyed your LAT puz, Doug & Angela. Super smooth solvin’! How many is this for you two now?
Had to jump down to the bottom since I haven’t gotten to the Fireball yet, but I look forward to it.
Thanks, Patrick! That’s the 4th Halsted/Peterson mash-up.
Not a fan of the LAT puzzle. Uninspired, really. Fill was OK, but the theme was lame.
@Phil, with the incursions of AIR, FIRE, EARTH, and WATER, a natural quartet from the zodiac (and presumably other classical sources)?
In Chicago, the Halsted/Peterson intersection would be located in Lake Michigan if both streets continued. Except the streets are renamed before they’re discontinued, so I dub thee Angela Clarendon and Doug Elmdale.
Why haven’t you corrected the incorrect “asif” to the correct answer, “ibet.” There’s no such thing as “adadis,” “lasorer,” amirago,” or “seff.”
@Lorraine: Hey, everyone’s human. And anyone who doesn’t know the correct answers (which you obviously do) can find them in the comments.
Of course everyone is human and everyone makes mistakes. So if an error is discovered and it can easily be corrected, why wouldn’t it be corrected? There’s certainly no shame in making a mistake in a crossword puzzle, and there’s no shame in correcting one.
Indeed. But the insane mistakes are a better fit with Wade’s goofball review.
Lorraine, OCD?
Can’t spell CROSSWORD without them!
Regarding your writeup on BEQ’s puzzle, Christians do not consider Jesus just a prophet like Mohammed or Moses. Christians believe there are three persons in one God above all. Jesus is one person of the Holy Trinity of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. So the inclusion in this puzzle is thoroughly legitimate.
I liked the fireball. I kept wanting to fit in PEWTER though. I got that there was a rebus from ENV(IRON)MENTAL, had to google for GUY(CARBON)NEAU, and then STEEL was “obvious”. The other 2 fell pretty quickly. (COPPER)FIELD was definitely a face-palm moment when I saw it.