Thursday, June 19 - Joe Krozel

As soon as I printed out the grid, I knew I would love this puzzle...but I underestimated how crazy it would make me.

Joe Krozel revealed his pack of lies (the black squares in the grid provided a hint) at 56A: Number of clues in this puzzle that contain factual inaccuracies (ten).

It took me some time to figure out the tenth inaccuracy. I was surprised to get the two sports-related lies.

The lies...

14A: Chemical element with the symbol Fe (neon). I know very few of them, but iron is one of them...so that was my first answer.

19A: Former pharmaceutical giant (GTE). I'm not a very good liar, I guess. I had GAF for this one.

24A: Father of Jacob (Esau).

57A: Dwarf planet larger than Pluto (Eris). [UPDATE: Oops! This one wasn't a lie! Thanks to KarmaSartre for pointing that out. The tenth lie was at 1A: France's __ von Bismarck (Otto). If I'd blogged about that answer, I probably would have paid more attention to the clue and realized that von Bismarck isn't a French name!]

8D: Golf great Andre (Agassi). I thought it was quite odd that his name would fit with the letters I already had in place. I really hadn't caught on to the lying bit...having somehow missed the clue at 56-Across.

9D: Standard office-closing time (nine a.m.). Of course, I had five p.m., until none of the crosses would work.

28D: It's more than 90 degrees (acute angle).

47D: Tennis champ Ernie (Els).

49D: Currency of China (yen).

50D: Summer hrs. in N.Y.C. (EST).

I can't even imagine how difficult this one would be to construct. I just loved the long vertical answers spanning the right side of the grid:

11D: One who exhibits pack mentality? (cigarette smoker).

12D: Who quipped "God tells me how the music should sound, but you stand in the way" (Arturo Toscanini).

13D: Job seeker's fashion advice (dress for success).

Other favorites include 18A: Terrible one? (enfant), 26A: Spot (catch a glimpse of), 36A: Crane, e.g. (erector)...I had origami, 39A: Possible name for the first decade of the century (oughts)...the last answer to fall, 42A: Former Romanian leader Ion __ (Iliescu)...[I just saw the LIES in his name], 44A: Nickname on the Houston Rockets starting in 2004 (T-Mac)...for all I knew, that was a lie, 45A: Kind of dog (seeing eye), 52A: Road access regulaators (toll gates), 54A: Always bouncing back (resilient), 5D: Silverstein who wrote and illustrated "The Giving Tree" (Shel)...a favorite, 27D: Bolt (high-tail it), 29D: "Nope, still not right" (guess again) and 30D: Writing that's hard to read (secret code).

Some of the three-letter answers had me stumped...among them 34D: Park of E.E.C.: Abbr. (Eur.). I had read it as E.E.O.C. so had Emp...which caused all kinds of problems in that area.

The entire time I was solving this, I kept thinking about "lies, damn lies and statistics." If you're not familiar with that, you can read about it here.

That's it for tonight. Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Thursday, March 27 - Joe Krozel

Joe Krozel has a solid theme with his Thursday puzzle...three 15-letter answers, wrapped up and revealed at 49D: Word defined by 20-, 36- and 51-Across (crane). All three are clued identically...[See 49-Down]...and the answers are:

20A: Stretch one's neck

36A: Novelist Stephen

51A: Large wading bird

There was nothing forced about the nontheme fill, which included some good long answers. Among my favorites:

18A: Federally guaranteed security (Ginnie Mae).

22A: Showy shrubs (azaleas). They're definitely one of the most beautiful shrubs, but I haven't been able to grow one since I left Florida. In our gardening zone, they're pretty much confined to pots...and that's just not how they're intended to grow.

56A: Private chats (one-on-ones). I'm sure I've never heard it used as a plural before, but it works for me given the overall complexity of the grid.

2D: Faint, in slang (plotz). That's a new one on me.

10D: Engagement agreement (prenup). That took forever to see, even when I had most of the letters in place.

11D: Hard to take? (camera shy). So did this one...I was trying to get something that ended with -ashy.

19D: Wagner princess (Isolde).

21D: Designer for Jackie Kennedy (Cassini). Everything he designed for her worked beautifully. He was a classic designer...she was a classic First Lady.

27D: What "knock knock" may mean (let me in). At first I thought it would have something to do with a joke. I'm sure I'm not alone there.

31D: Celebrated Sigmund Freud patient (Dora). A much better clue than the more current Explorer.

32D: Oscar-winning song from "A Star Is Born" (Evergreen). I absolutely loved that movie and cried hysterically for hours after it ended. I may have told this story before...I stopped at the Chevrolet dealership on my way home, and it was obvious I'd been crying. The salesman brought me some coffee...and I ended up buying my Camaro. Anyway, here's Barbra Streisand singing Evergreen...accompanied by Kris Kristofferson.

37D: Perfect-game pitcher Don (Larsen). I didn't know it, but I had enough letters to guess correctly.

38D: Graph of the equation y = ax2 + bx + c (parabola). I couldn't explain that if my life depended on it...the clue or the answer.

43D: Leave in a hurry, slangily (bug out).

There were a couple of things I didn't know and couldn't have gotten without crosses.

6A: A good breakfast, but a bad supper, according to Francis Bacon (hope). I don't have a clue what he meant by that. If you do, I'm sure there are several of us who'd like to know.

15A: Robert of "The Sopranos" (Iler). Never saw the show.

46A: "Donald's Cousin __" (1939 Disney cartoon) (Gus). Never heard of him, but he fit.

50D: Best and Ferber (Ednas).

52D: Black cuckoos (anis). We have several birds in this puzzle. In addition to crane, this guy is joined by crossword regular erne, appearing at 9D: Marine eagle.

Favorite clues include 25A: Diamond setting (ball park), 40A: It's often played before playing (anthem)...nice tie-in there..., 62A: Unlikely valentine swappers (exes) and 47D: Dukes (fists)...as in, put up yours.

Also wanted to mention 42A: Cary Grant played a male one in 1949 (War Bride)...mainly because I downloaded this picture. I've seen several Cary Grant movies, but that's not one of them.

Well, this was supposed to be a short post, but I guess I got carried away. Now I'll be late getting to bed...must do better tomorrow.

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Thursday, December 6 - Joe Krozel

I'm having trouble getting my brain to engage. I solved the puzzle about three hours ago, then stretched out on the couch for a catnap before blogging. Turned out to be much more than a short snooze, and now I just want to crawl into bed.

So a very enjoyable puzzle is getting short shrift tonight.

The theme...ON AND OFF...appears in three long answers. Three very clever long answers.

20A: Cry from Santa (on Comet, on Cupid).

38A: Sporadic (on again off again).

52A: Some theater (off off Broadway).

In addition to what I thought were better-than-average theme answers, there was some better-than-average fill, including a couple of long entries:

11D: Locked up (behind bars). I managed to get this with very few letters in place...don't know how.

26D: Center of power (oval office). Reminds me of a scene from The American President, one of my favorite movies. Add it to your list if you haven't already seen it.

Chevrolet makes two appearances in today's puzzle. 19A: Chevy offering (Tahoe) and 18D: Classic Chevy offering (Impala). My parents bought a brand new Impala station wagon when I was in junior high school...the very first new car we'd ever owned. I remember my excitement as I told a friend that it was the first 1965 car we'd had...couldn't figure out why she was laughing. I knew what I meant.

I'm always happy to see references to Hawaii...24A: You can hear it coming and going (aloha)...and multiword answers:

17A: Scolding (talking to).

43A: Extremely (ever so).

60A: Not allowing for compromise (all or none)...my favorite of the bunch.

6D: Circus (Big Top).

35D: Grow impatient with (tire of).

I enjoyed seeing 40D: Personification (avatar)...as well as 54D: Modern writing (blog).

Other favorites include 9D: Dense (obtuse)...despite the fact that I kept seeing the clue as Denise, 21D: Wine order (carafe), 24D: Pipe tobacco has it (aroma), 29D: Disco-era suffix (a-go-go) and 33D: Ecclesiastical council (synod).

I had to dig deep into the recesses of my brain to remember 39D: Nancy Drew's guy (Ned). As I write this, I suddenly remembered his last name...Nickerson.

Needed crosses to get a few things I didn't know...36A: Scala of "The Guns of Navarone" (Gia), 45A: Bordeaux variety (Medoc), 63A: __Wintour, real-life editor on whom "The Devil Wears Prada" is based (Anna), 8D: Austrian painter Schiele (Egon), 25D: "What Is to Be Done/" pamphleteer, 1901 (Lenin), and 32D: "I Still See __" ("Paint Your Wagon" song) (Elisa).

45D: Greek peak (Mt. Ossa) is back after a long absence. Frequent clue [Literary monogram] appears at 13D...this time it's TSE.

Very much liked the tie-in of 57D: MCI and others (anni) and 58D: One of 57-Down, in English (year).

That's it for tonight. Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Thursday, November 15 - Joe Krozel

My favorite things to find in a themed puzzle are anagrams, circles and...palindromes! My first thought, upon seeing what we had in today's puzzle, was that it would be really easy. Once you had a letter in place, you knew how to fill in another square in the grid. That worked with a few of them, but the first one escaped me for far too long.

17A: Palindromic thought about preparing to pay down massive debt (must save vast sum). I'll get to the difficulties after the theme answers.

24A: With 47-Across, palindromic Senate worker looks with amazement upon job payment inconsistency (page gawks at / task wage gap).

61A: Palindromic plan for freshening part of a lab (aerate pipet area). This was my favorite, partly because we had pipet just the other day.

I struggled with most everything in the northwest. I did know 4D: Preceders of spikes in volleyball (sets), but that was about it. Once I guessed 19A: It might set off a light (sensor) , I proceeded to 3D: A.A.A. member?: Abbr. (Assn.)...just seeing the cleverness of that clue now. My original answer for 1A: Eventful times (eras) was correct, although I must have erased it three times.

More difficulties in the northeast. I will never again forget 9A: Prince Valiant's wife (Aleta)...I think we've seen her before, and I'm quite sure we will yet again. Didn't have a clue what they wanted in 16A: Intoxicate (besot). Eventually got the aha moment and realized the answer to 9D: Like some ballots (absentee), giving me 40A: Group-mailing aid (E-list), which for many minutes was missing its first letter.

Struggled briefly with 36A: 1960s singer Terrell (Tammi) because I was putting the accent on the first syllable, and that name didn't ring a bell. Once I figured out how to pronounce it, I was set. Wasn't sure if it ended in a Y or I, though, but a quick check of 37D: "Really?" confirmed it. Is that so? Loved that it crossed at its first S with 41A: "Um...sure" (I guess).

Also liked the cross of 20A: Extra winning opportunities (side bets) and 18D: Play to __ (a draw). Don supplied those two answers...I was getting pretty sleepy.

I'm sure I'll smack myself when someone explains this one...38A: It has M.S.G. in it (NYC). I do not have a clue.

Didn't get 52A: Completely (from A to Z) until I got the Z in place from 55D: Fan's publication (zine).

My first answer for 65A: Role played in films by Chief Thundercloud (Tonto) also got erased a couple of times. I knew that Jay Silverheels played Tonto in the TV series, but it never occured to me that someone else played him in films.

And I can hardly keep my eyes open any more, so I'll wrap it up. Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Thursday, September 13 - Joe Krozel & Victor Fleming

If I'm not mistaken, Victor Fleming is a judge. He teams up with Joe Krozel to give us a puzzle that's laden with legalese.

I had no idea that twenty years as a paralegal would make me a better crossword solver. It did at least one time.

The seven theme answers--each fifteen letters long--all refer to some aspect of the legal process...and they are:

14A: Serious crimes (capital offenses).

17A: Perry Mason line (the defense rests). That's actually a real life line as well.

32A: Order sought by an accused before trial (admission to bail).

39A: Hearing, e.g. (court appearance).

40A: Lawyers' requests at trials (motions to strike).

57A: Equals at a trial (jury of one's peers).

63A: Specialist's offering (expert testimony).

The last two were gimmes, but I didn't really struggle with any of them. Once I had a few letters in place from the downs, they all just fell nicely into the grid. I can't help but wonder how difficult this must have been for anyone without a legal background.

A few things I didn't know:

2D: Family name in Olympic skiing (Mahre). Never heard of them.

26A: "__ Robin Gray" (classic Scottish ballad) (Auld). Definitely not the Monday clue for that word.

28A: Dr. __ Schneider, historian who was a love interest of Indiana Jones (Elsa). Again, it wouldn't have been such an out-there clue early in the week.

42A: De bene __ (of conditional validity) (esse). Similar words I didn't know were 11D: Mythical mount (Ossa), 13D: What she is in Italy (essa) and 41A: You are, in Aragón (eres). Actually, I do know that one...from this song.

It made me smile to see 4A: Johnny Carson persona (Swami). I don't remember much about him, but I do remember that role.

Favorite clues include 35D: Lucky sorts? (Irish) and 44D: Key component (ivory).

Foreign words that were easy to guess were 22D: Meal, in Milan (pasto) and 37D: French cup (tasse). You know, like antipasto (food served before the meal) and demitasse (little cup).

I liked the crossing of homonyms at 60D: Abbr. on a firm's letterhead (Esq.)...very appropriate for this puzzle...and 65A: Relative of -ish (esque). We have frequently discussed hononyms vs. homophones, but my understanding is that the word homophones more appropriately describes identical letter sounds, such as the C in civil and the S in servant. Either way, I liked it.

I just realized we have a pangram. Damn, these guys are good!

I've never heard the expression if say (8D: Suppose), and I don't quite get 51D: From Nineveh: Abbr. (Assyr). Maybe someone can shed some light on those two.

Time to call it a night. Here's the grid...

...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Thursday, August 23 - Joe Krozel

It's a rare night that I don't blog...I'll spare you the details. I got home at 11:00 and did the puzzle before crashing.

I love homonyms. In grade school they were defined as "words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings."

The eight homonyms, and their crossings at the Down clue, are:

1A: Obstruction at the entrance to a cave, maybe (boulder/bolder). If you're a runner, or if you live in Colorado, you're familiar with the BolderBOULDER, annual 10K race held Memorial Day weekend in Boulder, Colorado. Next year's date is May 26, 2008. You can read more about it here. We've never run that one, although several of our friends have.

8A: Like jail cells (barred/Bard).

24A: Headquartered (based/baste). Other sewing terms in the puzzle include 34A: Tailors (sewers) and 25D: Lowers the cuffs on, maybe (alters).

27A: Point to (bode/bowed).

37A: Seat at a hootenanny (bale/bail).

38A: Place for a guard (border/boarder).

54A: Wiped out (beat/beet). I still am one, and I like to eat the other.

56A: Campsite visitor (bear/bare). I'm sure the bear problems aren't exclusive to Colorado. Not enough food for the big guys, so they're coming awfully close to town. That happened when we were in Yellowstone three years ago...our hikes were very limited.

While only marginally sports-related, I was very proud of the gimme at 14A: Having hit a double (on second).

Hesitated for a bit on 17A: Party of the first part and party of the second part, e.g. (legalese).

I always like seeing X in the grid. 29A: __ Nikolaevich, last czarevitch of Russia (Alexei), crossing at the X with 15D: Neuter (desex).

32A: Big blasts, informally (N-tests). Didn't get it on the across, but I was sure I had something wrong with it started with NT.

I don't know much about golf, but I correctly guessed 2D (Rarely used golf club) as one iron.

Another good guess was 12D: Country named for its location on the globe (Ecuador). That was the first clue I saw and the first word I entered.

Huge gimme at 3D: Picture on a $50 bill (U. S. Grant). I know my currency, so it didn't confuse me that Grant wouldn't fit. I knew he was the man.

Didn't know that Frank Sinatra founded Reprise Records (43D), but it was easy enough to guess when I had S**A*R* in place.

Joining Sinatra in the southeast we have 59A: Individually (ala carte) and 66A: Pretended to be (posed as). I keep seeing it as posedas....some kind of Mexican food?

Also like 39D: Recondite (obscure) in the southwest.

Another gimme at 40D: Shoulder muscle (rotator). After more than six months of physical therapy for my left arm, I should know that one. I'm pleased to say that the pain is almost completely gone and I have made a lot of progress with range of motion...not 100% yet, but I'm getting there.

Here's the grid. I like the way the homonym pairs do a little stair-step kind of thing. It's easier to see that when it's colored.





I'll be back tonight.

Linda G

Thursday, July 26 - Joe Krozel

A show of hands, please...how many of you groaned l-o-u-d-l-y when you saw thirteen across entries clued simply as [ - ]? I know I did. But when it started to come together, the aha moments started coming in waves.

You really had to think outside the box to get this one. I noticed immediately that all thirteen [ - ] words were left justified (as it were), but that didn't tip me off. It wasn't until *CAS*Y at 41-Across that I realized what was going on.

The thirteen theme answers are two entries each. The [ - ] appears as the first clue (at the left word), and the actual clue appears as the clue for the words that are right justified. Huh?

1A, clued at 10A: Opposite of all (not one). Actually, one not if you read them left to right. For consistency's sake, I'll do them all this way.

13A, clued at 15A: Loser (also ran). I never heard this expression before doing crossword puzzles. Now I see it pretty often.

16A, clued at 18A: Try, as something new (test out). If you'd like to test out something new...like guest blogging at Madness...just let me know.

19A, clued at 22A: Like some low-rise buildings (three story).

26A, clued at 30A: Places where fans may gather to watch a game (sports bars).

34A, clued at 36A: Noted 1829 West Point graduate (Robert E. Lee). This was first clue that something was up. I was pretty sure that was the answer, but it just wouldn't fit at 36-Across.

37A, clued at 40A: Deem appropriate (see fit).

41A, clued at 44A: Irish playwright who wrote "The Shadow of a Gunman" (Sean O'Casey). Once I had some of the downs over at the left side, I saw that O'Casey belonged over there, and I was on a roll.

45A, clued at 47A: Countryman of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (West German).

51A, clued at 55A: Target of chondrolaryngoplasty surgery (Adam's apple).

59A, clued at 62A: Barely (by a nose).

63A, clued at 65A: Comforting words (it's okay). I got plenty of those today from several readers. Thank you all. As I said in a comment to Wednesday's puzzle, there have been references made (on this blog and others) about the virtual family that exists among crossword bloggers. It's very true, and I'm grateful for each and every one of you.

66A, clued at 68A: What some browsers browse (the net).

That was tough to explain, but I hope you were able to follow my train of thought.

I thought this puzzle was borderline brilliant. So many of the theme answers were just simple words--only three or four letters. That would have made for a boring puzzle if not for the way they were connected.

There were only a few things I didn't know. 49A: Long-billed wading bird (snipe). I wanted egret or heron..don't they have long bills? Also didn't know 60A: English king who was the youngest son of William the Conqueror (Henry I), and 38D: Early American patriot Silas (Deane). Sports isn't the only area of weakness for me. You can add history, physics and French, among other things, to the list.

Outside of the theme answers, I really liked 6D: One way to buy things (on credit). I'm embarrassed to say that it was a gimme. I put everything on my credit card. It beats writing checks all over town. I get cash back rewards from Visa (which I put into my savings account) and I don't charge more than I can pay when the bill comes in.

Also liked 39D: Guests may be greeted with them (open arms). I don't remember the last time we had guests, but I'm sure that's how they were greeted.

Was very happy to see that 33D: Blockage fix was stent...as opposed to fiber.

The award for most clever clue goes to 43D: Magazine locale (arsenal). Like most of you, I was thinking about the magazines I read...RealSimple, More, National Geographic, Readers Digest and Guideposts (in no particular order).

Here's the completed grid...



...and I need to wrap this up. I have physical therapy at 8:20, which means I need to get up early and get moving. I do have more movement in my left arm, but it's nowhere near full range of motion. I get impatient and want it to be better NOW, so I can get back to lifting weights. Hawaii in two months, ACPT in seven months...the pressure is mounting.

See you tomorrow.

Linda G