Thursday, February 28 - Matt Ginsberg

With his most recent puzzle, Matt Ginsberg became one of my top three favorite constructors. With this one, he's moved up to the top two...right up there with Mike Nothnagel.

This was such an enjoyable solve...tough in several spots, but ultimately doable. It's the first Thursday I've finished in some time without resorting to Dogpile.

The theme was fun...contradicting meanings for the same word.

19A: Begin operating or stop operating (go off).

20A: Confirmation or uncertainty (reservation).

30A: Unchanged or novel (original).

38A: Words of praise or words of condemnation (nothing is better).

45A: Approve or penalize (sanction).

55A: Easy to see or impossible to see (transparent).

60A: Entangle or disentangle (ravel).

1D: Last under use or erode under use (wear)...my favorite.

13D: Remaining or gone (left).

52D: Add to or remove from (trim).

59D: Move gracefully or move clumsily (trip).

Fun...just plain fun. I particularly liked the longer nontheme answers:

5D: Grounds for legal action (gravamen). I can't believe that word came to me so easily after all these years.

8D: Revealing garment (minidress).

36D: "No nation is permitted to live in __ with impunity": Jefferson (ignorance). A president can, but not a nation.

40D: Gotham (Big Apple). I wonder if that took anyone else as long to see...I had most of the letters in place, but I was looking for a single word.

Other things I struggled with:

37A: Discussion spots (fora)...putting an S at the end really fouled up 33D: Shenanigans (larks).

42A: TV's Kojak (Theo). I didn't even know he had a first name.

48A: Willie Mays and teammates (Giants). I should have known that...but I needed several letters before I could coax it out of the recesses of my brain.

64A: Comedic title role for Renée Zellweger, 2000 (Irene). I don't think I saw that. While she's a favorite, I can only take Jim Carrey in small doses.

68A: Olaf's girlfriend in Lemony Snicket books (Esme). Neither of the girls were interested in the books...maybe they were too old for them. Anyway, I needed crosses to get her name...her beautiful name.

2D: "Hurlyburly" playwright David (Rabe). Not familiar with either the play or the man.

41D: Dr. __ Hahn of "Grey's Anatomy" (Erica). I haven't seen the show...and sexistly assumed I was looking for the name of a man.

46D: Twinings competitor (Tetley). All I have in my pantry is Celestial Seasonings...which was no help. 50A: Deborah nominated for six Academy Awards (Kerr) gave me the E as the second letter, but I had to go through the alphabet to come up with the answer.

Favorites include:

16A: Dodger All-Star pitcher Eric (Gagne)...don't know him, but I like the name.

35A: Repeated setting for Georges Seurat paintings (Seine)...good guess.

43A: Respectful refusal (no sir).

4D: "Great" czar (Peter I). I knew we were looking at a Roman numeral for the ending because of 27A: Belief in a life of harmony with nature (taoism).

6D: Gary Burghoff role of TV and film (Radar).

9D: It might be spiked (eggnog).

10D: Jiang's husband (Mao).

28D: Welcome to paradise? (aloha). It's probably time for another Hawaii picture. I'll see what I can find in the next couple of days.

31D: Away from the office (not in)...followed by the equally amusing 32D: Don't exist (aren't).

51D: "O, sing to the Lord a new song," for one (Psalm).

53D: Fabled slacker (hare).

I don't remember the last time I finished a post this early...I may even be in bed by 10:00 tonight. I could sure use some beauty sleep.

The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT) is just a couple of days away. I'm really pulling for two former contestants this year...Al Sanders (a Colorado neighbor whose time has come) and fellow blogger Orange...who placed fifth (or thereabouts) a couple of years ago. I'll be with them in spirit...but I'll be here at Madness holding down the blogging fort. JimH will also be there, so I won't be able to challenge him to find crossword stats for a few days.

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



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Sunday, February 3 - Matt Ginsberg

I don't remember the last time I had this much fun solving a crossword puzzle! Matt Ginsberg has definitely moved up to my top three favorite constructors with this one.

The title...Just Follow Directions...made me think we'd have the four compass points hidden in the theme answers. It was much more brilliant than that.

A note before I tackle the puzzle. Two weeks ago, the AcrossLite version and the paper version differed in their numbering. That's the case again today, and I will again list both numbers, indicating the paper version numbers in red.

My first hint to the theme came with the third clue I read...11A: Pineapple desserts. The only one I could think of was pineapple upside down cake. With only seven squares, it wasn't going to fit. I discovered the theme on a later answer and immediately went back to this. Upside took the first six squares, with cake going down...giving us upside [DOWN] cakes. In the paper version, the C appears in an unnumbered square. Apparently all squares must be numbered for AcrossLite. It did look rather odd to see unnumbered squares in the grid. It was also strange to have a numbered square with no corresponding clue.

The other theme answers are:

29A (28A): Accelerated (picked [UP] speed).

83A (79A): Popular song from Broadway's "The Wiz" (Ease on [DOWN] the Road).

109A (104A): Establishing a business (setting [UP] shop). Thanks, legerepaul, for letting me know I had neglected to mention this one. I kept looking for one in that corner before I blogged...maybe because settings is a word, it didn't catch my eye...as dleif did, for example.

113A (108A): Seinfeld, for one (stand [UP] comic). Before I figured out the theme, I had sitcom in there.

34D (33D): Bad dancer's handicap (two [LEFT] feet). This is the one that finally gave me the theme...and tickled me pink!

35D (34D): "Enough!" (all [RIGHT] already).

41D (40D): Reactionary (extreme [RIGHT] wing).

54D (53D): Quite wrong (out in [LEFT] field).

I would love to know how Matt came up with this idea...and how he was able to execute it without tearing his hair out.

One would think that the fill would have been compromised in order to make this work, but it didn't. Not in the least.

The multiword answers include 5A: Totally accurate (dead on), 21A: 1974 Mocedades hit (Eres Tu)...hear it here, 23A (22A): Careful consideration (hard look), 28A (27A): "Biography" network (A and E), 40A (39A): They're better than one (two heads), 67A (64A): Become part of (join in), 81A (77A): Repeated John Gielgud role (King Lear), 103A (98A): 1997 Jim Carrey film (Liar, Liar), 104A (99A): What a man and a woman become in marriage (one flesh), 112A (107A) Mary Tyler Moore co-star (Ed Asner) and 13D: Na2 CO3 (soda ash).

Other out-of-the-ordinary answers:

20A (19A): Autobiographical short story by Edgar Allan Poe (Eleonora). I know I haven't read it...and it doesn't sound even vaguely familiar.

64A (61A): Dancer Alvin (Ailey).

68A (65A): Imp (gremlin).

88A (83A): Runs (spates).

102A (97A): Sitcom title role for Brandy Norwood (Moesha). Learned that from a previous puzzle.

110A (105A): Hero of Bellini's "I Puritani" (Arturo).

8D: Execrate (despise). I know the meaning isn't very nice, but for some reason I like both of those words.

9D: Bone formation (ostosis).

10D: Mathematical sequence of unknown length (ntuple). That's new to me.

30D (29D): Educator Maria (Montessori). I didn't know her first name, but once I had a couple of letters in place, it became obvious.

37D (36D): Mistress (courtesan).

42D (41D) Flower also called a naked lady (amaryllis). I've never heard it called that.

46D (45D): Unblemished (sterling).

49D (48D) Failings (weaknesses).

64D (61D): Disco term meaning "galore" (a-go-go). Wasn't aware that it meant that.

83D (79D): Subject of the book "Last Flight" (Earhart).

84D (80D): Setting for "Driving Miss Daisy" (Atlanta).

89D (84D): Turkish pooh-bahs (pashas).

91D (86D): Lake __, third-largest lake in Africa (Malawi).

98D (93D): Month before Iyar (Nisan). According to Wikipedia, Iyar is the eighth month of the civil year and the second month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar.

99D (94D): "Socrate" composer (Satie).

Today was a busy day at Madness...almost 3,000 hits...and I haven't a clue why. For the first few hours this morning, there were between 100 and 120 of you on the site every time I pulled up stats. I know the syndicated puzzle was a bear...that may have had something to do with it. We'll see what Google Analytics has to say in the morning.

Here's the AcrossLite grid...



...and the print version...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Thursday, January 24 - Matt Ginsberg

I loved this puzzle...on so many levels. Matt Ginsberg might become one of my new favorite constructors.

The theme was revealed at 63A, and I didn't have any of the theme answers until then. And it finally began to make sense. When I read the clue [Words missing from the answers to the eight starred clues], it dawned on me why I hadn't been able to figure out 15A: 1961 chart-topper for Ray Charles. HIT THE was the answer to 63A...and the hit song was [HIT THE] (Road, Jack).

The other seven theme answers, which fell into place rather quickly at that point, were:

13A: Party game [HIT THE] (piñata).

19A: Vie for votes [HIT THE] (campaign trail).

37A: Get off to a quick start [HIT THE] (ground running).

55A: Get it exactly [HIT THE] (nail on the head). You gotta love a gimme that long.

62A: Shoot perfectly [HIT THE] (bullseye).

28D: React to gunfire, maybe [HIT THE] (floor).

31D: Fail [HIT THE] (skids).

There were a few things I didn't know, but the crosses were doable...and I managed to finish without resorting to Dogpile. I love when my guesses pan out...that happened a few times as well. Good guesses include:

9A: Phil who sang "Draft Dodger Rag" (Ochs). Had *C*S, and I knew the first letter was a vowel. Guessed the O in the cross at 9D: California hometown of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (Ojai)...not familiar with either show or California. That gave me HCL for 11D: Stomach acid, to a chemist...Hydrochloric acid?

35A: "Mother of all rivers" (Mekong).

59A: Vein locale (coal mine)...although I had gold mine at first.

61A: Classic Studebaker whose name means "forward" in Italian (Avanti).

38D: __ Jeeves of P. G. Wodehouse stories (Reginald). I had enough letters that nothing else would have worked...but I've never heard of the stories.

53D: Walter who wrote "The Hustler" and "The Color of Money" (Tevis). The first letter didn't come easily, though. I was missing something on the cross at 51A: Calif. setting (PST)...finally had my aha moment.

Favorite clues include 27A: You, to you, or me, to me (self), 43A: Swell place? (sea), 3D: Zooid (animal), 14D: Largest of a septet (Asia), 20D: 10 Benjamin Franklins (grand), 26D: Ticker tape letters? (EKG), 30D: Chapter's partner (verse), 58D: Doth own (hath) and 60D: Unsafe? (out).

The best nontheme answers:

18A: How trapeze artists perform (aerially).

31A: Where Wounded Knee is: Abbr. (S. Dak.).

42A: Hockey great Jaromir (Jágr). Never heard of him, but what a great name.

2D: Capt. Sparrow, e.g. (pirate). Not my kind of movie...but he's definitely my kind of pirate.

7D: Morgue ID (toe tag). Morbid, but a good answer.

43D: Mrs. Woody Allen (Soon-Yi). They're definitely not my favorite couple, but her name works well in the grid.

46D: Abominate (loathe). I like both the clue and the answer...great words.

I also liked some of the multiword answers. 40A: Corrida chant (ole ole), 10D: Selected (called on) and 45D: Entertaining (open to)...appropriately deceptive clue for a Thursday. Nice.

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



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Thursday, January 17 - Matt Ginsberg

I don't think I've ever blogged this early in the morning...I hope my brain and fingers will cooperate. The coffee just finished brewing, so that will help.

This was moderately difficult for a Thursday puzzle, with [---] appearing as the clue four times. Some of the tougher answers had equally tough words crossing at a questionable letter...things that I expect of a Friday or Saturday. That said, there were an awful lot of gimmes...more later about both of those.

The theme wasn't revealed until the end of the down answers, but we had a clue at 6D: Fill in the __ (a hint to this puzzle's theme) (blank). I had already guessed (correctly, it turned out) one of the theme answers at that point. 55D: What each completed pair of theme answers in this puzzle is (film).

The paired theme answers are:

15A: Jose Cuervo, for one (Tequila) and 16A: --- (Sunrise). Tequila was a gimme, and I don't even drink it. At that point, the Eagle's song came into mind, and I filled in the blank.

34A: Prize (Treasure) and 35A: --- (Island). I didn't immediately guess the blank on this one, and a wrong down answer really threw me...38D: St. __ (common hospital name) was Luke's...I had Mary's.

41A: Brute (Animal) and 42A: --- (Crackers). Absolutely nothing came to mind for that blank.

63A: Of tremendous fervor (Blazing) and 64A: --- (Saddles). Blazing just couldn't come to me, even when I had the Z from 47D: Sauce (booze). Once Saddles appeared, I knew the answer. I didn't see the movie until twenty or more years after its release...it was disgustingly racist and we didn't even watch the whole thing. Were people really so insensitive in the seventies that they found that entertaining?

In addition to Tequila, other gimmes included 8A: 1958 sci-fi classic starring Steve McQueen (The Blob), 24A: Rice dish (pilaf), 27A: Place for a houseplant (sill)...although I don't have a single one on a sill, 39A: Supporters of the arts (patrons), 43A: Altoids holder (tin), 1D: Pivoting razor (Atra), 4D: So last year (out)...the clue made me laugh, 5D: Country singer with the 1997 triple platinum hit "How Do I Live" (Rimes), 12D: It may be on a property (lien), 13D: Bone: It. (osso), 21D: Flexible blade (epee)...so many ways to clue that one, 27D: Parade honoree, briefly (St. Pat)...only because it's appeared that way in the past, 28D: Tabriz native (Irani)...that appears quite often, always clued in slightly different ways, 45D: Risqué beachwear (thongs)...I was going to leave the visual to your imagination, but this one was too good...54D: Famous Mama (Cass) and 56D: Frozen drink brand (Icee).

The 18A: (Most monstrous) (ugliest) crosses were:

17A: Director Ivan (Reitman) and 3D: 1/64 of a checkerboard, maybe: Abbr. (SQIN)...read that as sq. in. and it will make sense. Since I don't know Ivan, he could have been Rentman, Restman, Reltman...and I was clueless on the cross. The additional cross at 19A: Taylor, Wilson or Harding (Ann) fouled up that answer even more.

20A: Rear-__ (ender). I had ended...and the cross at 8D was no help. "Oy, vey!" cause (tsuris). I don't get that one at all.

44A: Saint of dancers (Vitus), with 35D: Dry white (Soave). Not familiar with Vitus (guessed Titus when I had the rest of it), although Soave is beginning to sound slightly familiar this morning.

Things I didn't know but got from crosses include 47A: Letters before gimels (beths), 53A: Jazz's Peterson (Oscar), 58A: 1984 film with the tagline "It's 4 a.m., do you know where your car is?" (Repo Man), 25D: Classic camera (Leica)...I think I should have known that, and 59D: "O patria __" ("Aida" aria) (mia).

I also had a few problems in the southeast corner. 55A: It may be said while crossing the fingers (fib). I had lie, but 57D: Former first lady (Bess) fixed that. Also struggled with 61A: A deadly sin (avarice). That's not on the list that I memorized years ago.

I still can't make any sense of 52D: Boom (spar). Can anyone explain that?

Well, it's time to get ready for work. Barnabas is very [50A: Oh so] disappointed that I didn't sit with him in the big chair this morning.

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G