Wednesday, April 16 - Edward Sessa

When I first saw the clues for the theme answers, I was flummoxed. I managed to get the first three, but I still didn't understand the theme...until I had a few letters of the last one.

In a word...clever.

17A: INK (cephalopod spray). This is probably the first crossword puzzle in history that has that as an answer. Maybe JimH will have something to say about that.

25A: IN (social advantage).

43A: I (personal pronoun).

57A: - (disappearing ink).

I told you it was clever.

But Edward Sessa didn't stop with that. Some of his nontheme answers are pretty fine...10A: In a frenzy (amok), 15A: Vacuous (inane), 21A: Vetoes (nixes), 23A: River in a 1957 hit film (Kwai), 42A: Shot with lots of English (massé )...that has to do with billiards, 5D: Of a son or daughter (filial), 6D: It may cause a coma (anoxia)...literally, without oxygen, 10D: Herb of A & M Records (Alpert), 30D: Dispatch boat (aviso), 41D: Coral producer (polyp)...this kind, not the tissue growth, 45D: Ptolemy's lighthouse locale (Pharos), and 56D: Show unfairly (skew).

I was happy to see 37A: Marshmallow candies in Easter baskets (Peeps). I spent the last ten minutes searching for my favorite video of Peeps in the microwave, but I can't find a really good one. For real fun, do it yourself. Put a Peep (the chicken works best...but don't include the chocolate egg) on a plate, microwave on high for 10 seconds. Don't blink or you might miss the best part. I was going to add that they're not really edible after that...but there are some who think they could never be called that. I happen to like Peeps...in moderation. Like maybe one every three years.

Jean Arp appears frequently as an answer in the grid. Today's variation is 1A: Movement branded as "anti-art" (Dada).

Favorite clues...14A: They can be inflated (egos), 61A: Finger, in a way (rat on), 3D: Bonehead (dope), 13D: Drop for the count (Kayo), 26D: Nostalgic number (oldie) and 42D: No-brainer? (moron).

I'm happy to say that Don survived yet another tax season...his most grueling ever. We went out to our favorite Italian restaurant...after a good meal and a couple of glasses of vino, he's sound asleep in the big chair with Barnabas. He'll take the rest of this week off...hopefully most of next week as well. If you know someone who is interested in buying a successful accounting practice in western Colorado, let me know.

[Update: Something is definitely wrong between Blogger and Madness. I've received emails that comments are just disappearing (funny with ink...not with comments) when they're sent to publish. Some get through...others don't. I need to get this straightened out.]

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G