Sunday, July 15 - Patrick Berry

Sunday's puzzle, In the Beginning, by Patrick Berry, features eight theme answers, each an ordinary phrase with IN inserted at the beginning, then cleverly clued.

23A: Dire proof-of-purchase slip (invoice of doom).

28A: What Dr. Frankenstein tried to do? (instill life).

36A: Bored kayaker's movements? (indifferent strokes). This was the first theme answer I got. After that, I put IN at the beginning of each theme answer...made it a teensy bit easier.

56A: Much-needed windfall? (income to the rescue).

74A: Like workers' salaries under a miserly boss? (increase resistant). This was the hardest one for me. More about that in a minute.

91A: Hogwarts? (invocational school).

102A: Sharply focused Warsaw residents? (intent Poles).

112A: Clairvoyants' charges? (intuition fees).

I found this to be an entertaining puzzle. Not overly challenging, but it had enough spicy fill to hold my interest.

Problem areas:

The Biggest One, referred to above, resulted from my refusal to let go of the walrus at 58D: "I am the __" (Beatles lyric). Having that carved in stone meant that 74A was increase resistunt. I wasn't sure if the NYT had misspelled resistunt or walras. The worst thing was that all this time I was singing the damn song in my head. "I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the walrus." Duh! (12A: "Well, yeah!"). Once I put in eggman, that whole section began to make sense. Now 61A: Unable to relax could be on edge, which I so wanted it to be.

40D: Some government bonds (T-notes). I had T-bills at first, causing future problems for on edge. By way of clarification...T-notes a/k/a (96A: Nickname preceder) treasury notes.

25A: Annual celebration for a Catholic (name day). I was raised Roman Catholic, and I don't remember ever celebrating it. Maybe there wasn't a Saint Linda...so when would I have celebrated it? According to this, some people celebrate name days instead of birthdays. As if!

82A: Portion of a flight (stair) really threw me. Because I had the AIR in place, I was sure it had something to do with an airline flight. Just what they'd intended.

The ones I really liked...for whatever reason:

3D: Care (give a darn). Just because...and I like multiple word answers.

24D: Three-sided blade (epee). A never-seen-by-me clue for a word that we see all the time.

46D: One who's done stretches? (ex-con). I just love the cleverness of that one. I was thinking yoga, pilates, other fitness things. Sharings its X was 54A: Battle of Hastings participant (Saxon). Couldn't remember that but was able to guess based on the letters I had.

88A: Missouri city (Joplin). Only on a Sunday. Earlier in the week, Scott or Janis would be in the clue.

92D: Book printer's no-no (orphan). I'm sure we won't find any orphans (or widows, the other no-no) in Amy's book. If you haven't ordered your copy, get on the stick. It's chock-full of tips from a master solver.

111A: One who's expected to deliver? (Messiah). I know several women who have recently given (or who will soon give) birth. That's the kind of delivery I was thinking.

79D: Structure finished during Titus' reign (Colosseum). It's such a good-looking word, sitting there in the southeast corner, and it opened things up big time.

The award for the grossest clue of the puzzle goes to 104D: Lice-to-be (nits). How disgusting! It's a good thing I solve in the evening instead of morning. This definitely wouldn't pass the breakfast test, especially if I was eating...never mind.

And for the most progressive clue...66A: Water pipes (bongs). It's a good thing I read a lot in the 70s, or I wouldn't know what they were.

I'd be remiss if I failed to mention 68A: Less ripe (greener) because it reminds me of fellow blogger, Robert, known to most of you as Green Genius, loyal fan (and blogger) of the New York Sun. After a week spent lolling on the beach, he'll be back at his post on Monday.

And I'll be back at mine tomorrow night.