Friday, January 4 - Raymond C. Young

Today's puzzle, by Raymond C. Young, had some tough ones. It also had some really strange ones, but I guess that's to be expected when the grid is stacked with long entries.

First, the gimmes...not very many:

7A: Molly who wrote "Bushwhacked" (Ivins). An admirable woman...she always called it like she saw it.

25A: "In a hurry, are we?" (Where's the fire). Okay, maybe that was a good guess, but that's what immediately came to mind.

40A: Deborah who starred in "Tea and Sympathy" (Kerr). Actress + Deborah will almost always = Kerr.

3D: "__ said many times..." (As I've).

11D: "Now listen!" (See here). There were a lot of fill-in-the-blanks, but I was definitely on his wavelength tonight.

14D: Wits (senses).

37D: "What have__?" (I done). Yet another fill-in.

39D: Meet away from prying eyes (tryst). I think of it more as a noun, but I guess it's also a verb.

There were some mighty strange answers, as well, including:

44A: Observatory doings (telescopy).

6D: Plant on after a wildfire, say (reafforest).

8D: Producing some clouds (vaporific).

10D: Ones without a chance in the world (no-hopers).

But more than enough good-to-great phrases to make up for them. Some of my favorites:

16A: Relations of Homer? (epic tales). If they were referring to Homer Simpson, I would have been out of luck.

23A: Private (one striper). I especially like the clue.

30A: Makes a fraidy-cat (out of) (scares the heck). I had scares the hell, until I couldn't come up with answers for the downs...vaporific and 9D: Fit (in the pink).

34A: Modern marketing aid (email list).

13D: London locale of Prada, Dior, Gucci and Giorgio Armani (Sloane Street).

17D: Gets ready for dinner (sets the table).

24D: Olivia de Havilland film of 1949 (The Heiress).

25D: Pilferers from ships and port warehouses (wharf rats).

26D: Alabaman who wrote the Best Novel of the Century, according to a 1999 Library Journal poll (Harper Lee).

28D: Part of Act IV where Marc Antony resolves to kill Cleopatra (Scene XII).

30D: "The first network for men" sloganeer, once (Spike TV).

Several things I didn't know. Some I got from crosses...a few from Google:

19A: Service for filmgoers (Moviefone). Not familiar with it...not sure if it's one word or two...hyphenated or not.

29A: Forensic indicators of the presence of blood (hemins).

2D: Horse of the Year that won the 1949 Preakness and Belmont (Capot). Two 1949 clues in one puzzle.

4D: Soprano Albanese (Licia).

27D: Foreign title meaning "commander" (Emeer).

35D: Claudia __, 1984 Olympic gold medalist in shot put (Losch).

36D: Tigres del ___, Dominican team that has won the Caribbean World Series nine times (Licey).

Other favorites, in addition to the long phrases, include 1A: Like the reading on a thermometer (scalar), 15A: Camp sight (canoe), 18A: __ river (up the), 21A: Unwavering (steadfast), 22A: Candlemas dessert (crepe), 32A: Cause (perpetrate), 41A: Decorate (embroider), 46A: Parts of mountaineering trips (descents), 5D: Put in to start (anted) and 22D: __ de fraise (creme).

I have a 7:30 meeting tomorrow, so I'd best call it a night. Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Saturday, July 21 - Raymond C. Young

Only twenty-five black squares in this puzzle. On top of that, four horizontal stacks of 10-letter entries top and bottom...and 7-letter vertical stacks left and right.

And only four 3-letter words in the grid!

Mama Mia, that's a spicy puzzle!

I was pretty excited to get 1A: Faux pa? (stepfather) right off the bat. As it turns out, there were very few other gimmes in this one. The others were:

42A: __-Meal (vacuum food storage system) (Seal-a). I'm surprised to see that much detail in a Saturday clue, though.

11D: Italian for "sleeves" (manicotti). Growing up in an Italian household was good for many things, including knowing how to make the best spaghetti sauce, meatballs, lasagne and manicotti.

36D: Dessert Calvin doesn't like in "Calvin and Hobbes" (tapioca). At lunch recess one day, Calvin announces that he has "a thermos full of phlegm." Calvin and Hobbes is my all-time favorite cartoon strip. I'm sure that if I had a son, he would be Calvin...thank you, God.

Some things I absolutely did not know:

16A: Not yours, in Tours (à moi). I need to learn some French basics.

30A: "Moesha" actress Wilson and others (Yvettes). The only Yvette I know is Yvette Mimieux, who played a surfer with epilepsy in an episode of Dr. Kildare. That was more than 40 years ago...why do I remember that but I can't remember why I went into the kitchen?

7D: Special-__ (football players used only in specific situations) (teamers).

8D: French novelist d'Urfé (Honoré).

25D: Abalone (sea ear). That just looked too strange when I had *EAEA*

Good guesses that panned out:

32A: Jump provider: Abbr. (AAA). I had to call AAA a couple of weeks ago when my car wouldn't start. I placed the call at 4:15...they said they'd be there at 6:30. I hope my membership will be more valuable another time.

1D: Stir-fry vegetable (snap pea). Although I first had spinach, then snow pea.

41D: Weave a raised design into (brocade). I know it more as a noun than as a verb, but it works. Having the B in place helped me get 38A: Something often looked for on a rainy day (taxi cab)...which helped me get 23D: Scaling aid (ice axe). I just love how that works.

They stumped me on 15A: Helpful figures? (nine one one). Until I had several of the downs (which, by the way, is how I tackled this puzzle after the gimmes), I was clueless about this.

Because I had stepfather, I had the A in place to help me with 6D: He's a doll (Andy). My grandmother sent a Raggedy Anne and Raggedy Andy for my sister and me...my sister wanted Anne, but I was quite happy to have Andy. I don't know where he is now...

Clever clue award goes to 18A: One given a staff position? (note). I didn't really get that answer. I saw it after I'd filled in all of the downs. But it was clever. Tonight I played a few notes on my piano. I hadn't touched it in almost six weeks. My bad.

And there's the completed grid. It doesn't look so great, but at least the solution isn't spoiled for those who aren't ready to see it.

The weekend's here. Enjoy it.

Linda G