Sunday, September 23 - David Levinson Wilk

Good Sunday morning, everyone! Evad behind the blogger desk for a vacationing Linda G. today. And welcome to fall...summer officially ended early this morning with the Autumnal Equinox *sighs* How many of you did all the things during summer that you had hoped to?

Today's theme is a shout out to one of the icons of departing summer, Flip-flops.
The theme entries take phrases that have the word FOR in the middle and switch what precedes the FOR with what follows it; in essence, doing a flip-flop around the word FOR.

The theme entries were a bit awkward, but a few gems were to be found:

- BROKE FOR GO - "Rolled sixes while on Water Works, in Monopoly" which is a pretty long clue for a short phrase...the mathematician in me wonders why Water Works was chosen--it's 12 spaces away from "Go", so one could possibly get there in one roll.
- KEEPS FOR PLAY - "Doesn't throw away, as a stage prop?" I'd prefer a "the" before play to have this make more sense
- COMPLIMENTS FOR FISH - "What a sushi chef loves to hear?" Getting better with this one

- THE BEST FOR WORKOUT - "'8 Minute Abs,' according to some?" Well, not me--I can hardly expect anything taking 8 minutes to be a good workout!
- A DAY FOR KING - "January 15" another good entry
- LOST TIME FOR MAKEUP - "Was late to an appointment at the cosmetician?"
- KNOWLEDGE FOR THIRST - "What scientists working for Gatorade have?" Here, the "for" is trying to work as "about" and isn't as effective
- APPLES FOR BOB - "Dylan not liking Dell computers?" What would Bob Dylan be using a computer for, one wonders?
- ALL FOR FREE - "Like pro bono work?" Hurrah for those who work for the underprivileged!

That's a lot of theme to stuff into a 21x21 grid--125 squares by my count. Despite that, some nice fill ties it all together. JUMBO SIZE and APARTHEID straddle the central theme entry, with the trio of GOOD OMEN (anyone know why the Greeks think birds flying by on the right is one?), UNKEMPT, and NO EVIL; and then the corresponding PARTERRE (which, along with a rear seating section in a theater, can refer to flower beds of different sizes), WISTFUL and HENRY I standing guard at the far corners. I've heard of a papal NUNCIO, but didn't know the term was derived from the Latin for "envoy." Speaking of foreign words, the foreign dictionaries did get a bit of a workout (and more than 8 minutes for me!) this morning: BUONO, JOIE, EIN, BAJA, BASTA, FLOR, FINI, and OUI OUI all find their ways from foreign shores to our puzzle today.

Some good clues--I always enjoy the "40% of fifty?" clue (EFS, or the letter "F"), TOTAL for "Unadulterated" (I think of pure first, but I see that absolute or out-and-out are related meanings), and GOSSIP for "Dish."
COCKLE shells remind me of my father, who loved the Irish ballad of sweet Molly Malone with the line, "Crying cockles and mussels, Alive, Alive-O." We learn that TET is a "Three-day holiday" (American puzzle solvers probably know more about TET than the Vietnamese do!) I also learned about the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Shirley Ann GRAU, who hails from New Orleans. A clunker for me was TENONER, which seems like a made-up word for something a carpenter does at times.

So, here's the filled-in grid. See you folks on Thursday, when I fill in for Linda again. And let's give it up for the other guest bloggers who will guide you through the other puzzles while she is away.

Sunday, July 22 - David Levinson Wilk

The title of the puzzle is Worst Pickup Lines, and they're every bit as bad as the title suggests. In fact, they're so bad...I'm embarrassed to say that I guessed a couple of them without any letters in place.

23A: "Pardon me, are you from the Caribbean? Because..." (Jamaican me crazy).

30A: "I know it's not my business, but if you were a laser..." (you'd be set on stunning).

48A: "Say, is it hot in here...?" (or is it just you). One of the guesses.

66A: "Sorry to bother you, but do you work for NASA? Because..." (you're out of this world).

85A: "Excuse me, I seem to have lost my phone number...?" (Can I have yours). The second one I guessed right, although I wasn't sure if he'd say may or can. 68D: Bathroom powder (talc) confirmed it.

102A: "I don't mean to pry, but are you from Nashville? Because..." (you're the only ten I see). The worst of the bunch.

114A: "Even though we've never met, I'm sure your last name is Campbell. That's because..." (you're mmm mmm good). The third one I guessed correctly.

At least David Levinson Wilk admitted up front that they were bad! But he had plenty of good fill in this one.

19A: So-called "miracle plant" (aloe vera). Nice to see its full name. We usually only get aloe.

25A: Catcher in the World Series' only perfect game (Berra). Everyone in my house was a Yankees fan. I loved Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra.

55A: Hip-shaking dance (cha-cha). Now there's a word you don't see every day.

72A: Dinosaur National Monument site (Colorado). Hey...we're in the New York Times crossword puzzle! Here's a link so you can learn more about it.

121A: Den, often (TV room). In our house, the den is the library. We like books much more than we like television.

122A: It gets a licking (popsicle). Too many letters to be Timex. Although it takes a licking, that's what came to mind.

3D: Amorist (Romeo). I stared at RO**O for entirely too long. Rollo? Rosco?

15D: About 11% (one ninth). A clever math clue...not too difficult.

16D: City that won the first N.F.L. championship, 1920 (Akron, Ohio). I'm sure that reader/commenter Wendy will be happy to see this answer.

17D: Doesn't get bothered by (shrugs off). For some reason, I really liked that.

78D: Easy putt, say (two footer). That would still be a hard putt for me. I took golf lessons three times...I'm done.

94D: Serve well (behoove). One of my favorite professors (I had her for Classical Sociological Theory, Social Problems, and Sex and Gender) used this word, so I can't help but think of her when I see it. She'd almost giggle when she said it...which was often.

It pays to know a bit about music. 34D: Key of Bruckner's Symphony No. 7: Abbr. (E Maj). Otherwise, I'd have thought I had a mistake in 48-A...words don't end in J.

Things I absolutely did not know:

1D: Goya subject (Maja). Isn't in Maia?

12D: Montreal daily (Gazette). I guessed this with the G in place. Woo-hoo!

39A: Collins of '70s funk (Bootsy).

98A: Title teen in a 1990s sitcom (Moesha). Never heard of the show or of her. When I had **ESHA, I guessed Keesha. Hey, it's a good wrong name.

61D: Filmdon's Jean-__ Godard (Luc). When you have the L in place, and it's three letters, Luc is almost a sure thing.

107D: __ des Beaux-Arts (Ecole). I have so much to learn before next year's tournament.

My vote for the most clever clue goes to 79A: Rich with humor (Little). I didn't see that one for a good long while. Also thought that 42A: First name in aviation (Amelia) was clever. I was thinking Martin (as in Martin Marietta, before it became Lockheed Martin).

The clue for 108D: Go postal (snap) was definitely a sign of the times. This wouldn't have been in an early Shortz puzzle. A sad sign of the times.

Ern returns at 65D: Coastal bird. Don't believe it's been around lately. Also back in 70D: Lash of westerns (LaRue).

I thought the answer to 87D: #2, informally (vice) was a bit off. I had veep, and I'm sure I wasn't alone.





There's the grid, and here's my sign-off. Enjoy your Sunday, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G