Wednesday, November 28 - Ray Fontenot

I could definitely tell it was Wednesday...no zooming through this one, although I was able to finish it without any outside help.

Ray Fontenot's puzzle features a four-part theme. The theme answers are:

22A: What you might do while driving to an unfamiliar place (get lost).

39A: What you might do next? (find a gas station).

55A: What you might do next? (buy a map).

The clue for the last theme answer was contained in Notepad: What you might do eventually to make up for lost time. The answer, diagonally from the northwest...take the shortcut.

I don't always like this kind of theme, but I thought this particular one was entertaining. I kept wanting ask directions to be a theme answer, but who does that?

Oeno appears again this week...and soon enough that I actually remembered it. Today it's at 36A, clued as Vintner's prefix. Other things I learned in previous puzzles and retained long enough to use again include 14A: Brewery fixture (oast), 20A: Bone-related (osteal), 32A: Ancient theaters (odea), 58A: Local lingo (patois), 42A: Water nymph (naiad), and 67A: Gull-like predator (skua). He doesn't look like much of a predator, if you ask me.

Some of the longer fill was on the interesting side.

5D: All out (whole hog)...nice tie-in with 7D: Fat-pig filler (as a).

10D: Volleyball spikes, say (kill shots). I don't know much about volleyball, but this gives me an idea of what it would look like.

35D: Not fixed (adaptable)...that kind of not fixed, as opposed to broken.

41D: Smokeys (troopers).

I'm getting used to the likes of clues like 28A: F equivalent (E sharp). I was going to try to explain this, but I'd just add to the confusion. Maybe someone else can do a better job of it.

Also liked 8D: Welsh breed (Corgi) and 9D: Cause for a blessing? (sneeze). 25D: Able to feel (sensate) looked good running vertically down the middle of the puzzle.

It's always nice to get the first answer, and today's was another gimme. 1A: "Jabberwocky" start ('Twas). For those who can't remember,

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

For some reason, I can still remember that...more than forty years later.

And that's it for today. Here's the grid...

...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Wednesday, August 15 - Ray Fontenot

It's nice to see another of Ray Fontenot's themed puzzles. His last NYT puzzle was the all-day film festival back in June.

I normally don't get too excited about a four-part long theme answer, but this one was fun. The four theme answers spell out a newspaper headline about a workplace mishap:

20A: MAN WHO FELL INTO

34A: UPHOLSTERY

42A: MACHINE NOW

51A: FULLY RECOVERED.

A clever theme, well executed...and plenty of good fill. There's something for everyone in this puzzle, including some learning opportunities for me.

I didn't know 17A: Queen of Carthage who loved Aeneas (Dido), or its cross at the second D...3D: "Celeste __" (aria) (Aida).

41A: Feudal serf (esne).

6D: 1952 Winter Olympics site (Oslo). It was easy enough to figure out, but this is one I should know. After all, I was in utero at the time.

7D: Minnesota's St. __ College (Olaf). This was just a lucky guess. When you're talking Minnesota and a four-letter name, it's either Olav or Olaf.

I had a little trouble in that general area because of an error at 8D: Hand (out). I had dole instead of the correct answer, mete. Once I fixed that, it was easier to get 5A: Mike holder on a film set (boom), 15A: Castaway's spot (isle) and 18A: Part of a blind (slat). None of those were working with dole.

30D: Astronomer Tycho __ (Brahe). Never heard of him.

33D: Close-fitting tartan pants (trews). I need to find a picture of these. Here they are...in Black Watch.

A learning process of another kind was involved with 37A: Mideast ruler: Var. (Amir). I just read this page in Amy Reynaldo's book, How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle. I thought it might be Agha at first, but I persevered. If you don't have this book, you're making your life...at least your puzzling life...more difficult. The book is full of tips and includes more than 60 practice puzzles.

Favorite clues/answers in the puzzle include:

38A: Ingenuous (naive). I've always liked the word. People who are naive...not so much. Unless it's genuine. Can you be genuinely ingenuous?

5D: Knights' neighbors (Bishops). I got the answer but didn't GET it until I was finished with the puzzle.

9D: Designer McCartney, daughter of Paul and Linda (Stella). A wild guess. I must have seen it somewhere.

11D: Bingo call (B Ten). Best answer of the puzzle.

26D: Twitch (spasm). Another word I just like.

35D: Ignore the alarm? (oversleep). I can't do that very often. Dooley's internal alarm never fails, and he makes sure that we get up.

43D: "Go ahead, tell me" (I give up). I had speak up. A good wrong answer.

Today was a multiple puzzle day. This morning I did the New York Sun...another puzzle extraordinaire by Patrick Blindauer. See Green Genius for the completed grid and commentary.

I recently subscribed to Ben Tausig's Weekly xword group. Today was a Tyler Hinman puzzle that I finished without much difficulty. I'm beginning to think that I'm better suited to morning solving...i.e., with coffee. Amy includes this one in her Tuesday blog, so click on the link above or in the sidebar for commentary on the Hinman puzzle, as well as four or five others.

Here's the Wednesday grid...

...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Tuesday, June 26 - Ray Fontenot

Ray Fontenot isn't a name I'm familiar with. I'm curious to know if this is his inaugural puzzle.

The theme is an all-day film festival...the four theme answers are well-known movies whose last words capture the various "show" times.

20A: First showing at an all-day film festival? (1988) - Tequila Sunrise

25A: Second showing (1970) - Red Sky at Morning

44A: Third showing (1975) - Dog Day Afternoon

49A: Final showing (2004) - After the Sunset

I'm not much of a morning person...and definitely not a sunrise person...but I might have seen Tequila Sunrise--it looks somewhat familiar, and I like Michelle Pfeiffer. I saw the morning and afternoon shows. Liked one, really liked the other. Didn't see After the Sunset and couldn't tell you anything about it.

I always think themes are clever, in large part because I don't think I could come up with one. This was an easy theme, and once you got one theme answer, it was pretty easy to guess at least the endings. I was thinking Tuesday Afternoon at first. Likely confused because Tequila Sunrise was also a song.

[Digression following...At KC's request, I've posted some pictures of Dooley and Barnabas, along with our daughters. You can see them here. Thanks, KC.]

Esau makes another appearance at 53D, clued as Biblical twin. He's joined by Biblical liar (Ananias) at 43D.

Yesterday we had True/False Test. Today they reprise their roles--albeit separately--at 51D: Loyal (true) and 42A: Disloyal (false).

X is in the grid again today...at 57A Graph line (axis) and 49D: Pink-slipped (axed).

Favorite words in the grid:

35A: Crystal-lined rock (geode)

15D: Self-important sorts (tin gods). We all know one (or more) of those.

33D: Eco-friendly (green). I know someone who will be happy to see this answer. Be sure to check out his always-entertaining commentary on the New York Sun puzzle.

38D: San Francisco and environs (Bay area). I just looked at that as one word and wondered what in the world bayarea was...kind of like...well, never mind.

45D: Nissan, once (Datsun). I don't remember when that changed. I used to own a Datsun, I have never owned a Nissan...so it was some time between 1973 and now.

54D: Gallery-filled part of the Big Apple (SoHo). When we were in New York City a few years ago, I learned that Soho meant South of Houston Street...or the area south of Greenwich Village. It was a great place to meander...lots of shops, galleries, cafes, and other places to spend money.

Well, it's now ten of (29D: A little before the hour). Not so! (32D: "That's a lie!"). Okay, it's really ten after...but I wanted to use a couple of answers in a real sentence. I agree, that's pretty lame (2D: Poor, as excuses go). But no harm (52D: Damage) done!

Enough already! Good night...see you tomorrow.

Linda G