Sunday, May 11 - Tony Orbach and Patrick Blindauer

The title of this puzzle...Done With Ease...was definitely not an indication of how quickly the theme would reveal itself. It took me entirely too long to get on the theme wavelength, although the theme answers flowed once I did.

The theme answers are in-the-language phrases (or, in one case, the name of someone I should have known but didn't) that contain a short I sound...for the theme answers, they convert to a long E, and are then clued appropriately.

23A: State of a bottle-fed baby? (no-wean situation).

38A: A platform in front of Elsinore, in "Hamlet"? (original scene).

51A: Massage therapist's office? (feeling station).

67A: Group of yo-yo experts? (Team Duncan). I'm not familiar with Tim Duncan. Not surprising...basketball is not one of my strong suits.

70A: One willing to take a bullet for Martin or Charlie? (Sheen guard). This is the first answer I got...Martin Sheen is one of my favorite actors, and his son's name is well-known...easy to figure out.

91A: Little Bo-Peep's charges? (abandoned sheep). This is the second answer I got. For a time, though, I thought all of them would have EE...and I wondered if Team Duncan was wrong.

99A: Musicians at a marsh? (peat orchestra).

120A: St. Paul sixth graders? (Minnesota Tweens). This was the last to fall. In addition to problems in the southeast corner, I was thinking of St. Paul...as in the saint...not the city.

The theme wraps up with a hint at 93D: Stretch...or a hint to this puzzle's theme? (elongate).

I had to call in the troops to finish the southeast corner. I left the puzzle in Don's hands and he was able to fill in some of the blanks...118A: "Same here!" (so do I), 127A: Brewing needs (tea bags) and 130A: __ Row (Embassy). From there I was able to get 104D: Slide presentation? (amoeba), then 103A: Numerical prefix (octa).

The very last square to fall was the U at the cross of 97A: Turn on an axis (slue) and 87D: Extracted chemical (educt)...both are unfamiliar words that I'm sure I won't ever remember.

Another that I always struggle to recall is 15A: Superman, to his father (Kal-El). I remember that it sounds like a dog food (Kal-Kan)...maybe seeing a picture will help cement it in my mind. Here's the happy family. What a cute baby.

A few of my favorite crosses...28A: Bleacher (peroxide) and 15D: Buzzers (kazoos), 79A: Shade on the French Riviera (azur) and 73D: Like some pyramids (Aztec), 65A: Rouge roulette number (cinq), 66D: Subdue (quash) and 55A: Like a Rolek watch (ersatz) and 43D: Automaker Ferrari (Enzo).

TV and/or film appearances include 25A: Woody Allen title role (Zelig), 87A: Urban area in a Cheech Marin film (East L.A.), 117A: "Road" picture partner for Bob (Bing), 3D: "The Love Boat" actress Lauren (Tewes), 17D: Leslie Caron title role (Lili), 92D: Addie's husband in "As I Lay Dying" (Anse) and 101D: Director Mark of "Earthquake" (Robson).

Literary and other arts are featured in 44A: Contemporary of Duchamp (Arp), 47A: "Doctor Faustus" novelist (Mann), 49A: Jazz virtuoso Garner (Erroll), 57A: Fashion designer Bartley (Luella), 62A: "Puppy Love" singer, 1960 (Anka), 83A: Actor Alain (Delon), 8D: Cuban-born jazz great Sandoval (Arturo), 37D: German biographer __ Ludwig (Emil), 44D: Key of Elgar's Symphony No. 1 (A flat), 48D: "Bye Bye Bye" band, 2000 ('N Sync), 78D: "Luncheon on the Grass" and others (Manets), and 88D: __ of Six" (Joseph Conrad story collection) (A Set). I've never seen this painting before...I can't remember the last time I had a picnic in the nude with two fully-clothed men.

I didn't know the significance of Meadowlands in the clue at 1A: Rooter at the Meadowlands (Jets fan)...once I did, I was pretty impressed with the answer. The J crosses at 1D: with __ Kádár, 1950s-'80s Hungarian leader (Janos).

Until I saw it in print, I never knew the spelling of the clue at 30A: Comme ci, comme ça (so-so). So much more elegant than I was seeing it in my head.

Other clues I liked...58A: Brown alternative (Yale), 63A: Jawaharial Nehru's daughter (Indira)...definitely a Sunday clue, 95A: 87 or 93 (octane), 4D: Squash, squish or squelch (step on), and 32D: The less you see of this person the better (dieter).

Time to get on with the daily festivities....coffee in the big chair with the boys, watching the birds. Leslie and Candy will be here for dinner...Elaine and Jesse, her new boyfriend, will stop by again on their way back home.

Happy Mother's Day...remember to do something nice for yourself.

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Sunday, March 2 - Patrick Blindauer and Tony Orbach

It was nice to finish a puzzle after yesterday's disaster. The title...Forward Thinking...wasn't much help to me. I ended up with a few theme answers that made absolutely no sense...

...like 1A: Offer for an R.J. Reynolds brand? (Kool-Bid). I had all of the downs, and I knew they were right...so that answer had to be right. But WTF? After getting another couple theme answers, it finally dawned on me...we were to replace one letter in an in-the-language phrase with the next letter in the alphabet. So, Kool-Aid became Kool-Bid...and so on.

The other theme answers:

29A: Papa pad? (Daddyshack)...Caddyshack before the forward thinking.

38A: Canola and sunflower oil? (good fats). It took me forever to see that the original phrase was good eats.

41A: Best fraternity pledge tormentor? (star hazer)...stargazer. At this point, I began to guess part of the answer...in this case, hazer.

52A: Not the most exciting school athletes? (JV drips). Another one I didn't get immediately...IV drips. In retrospect, this was one of the funniest answers.

56A: Social gathering with the Rockettes? (leg party). Party was easy enough to guess, and it wasn't long before leg took the place of keg.

68A: Got sober? (nixed drinks). I filled in drinks immediately, and nixed (rather than mixed) was right behind.

83A: C.I.A. noggins? (spy beans). Soy beans...jeez, I just saw that.

85A: Hit boxer John with a haymaker? (pop Ruiz). Okay, I get pop quiz...but I don't get the rest of it.

93A: Fog in Zurich? (Swiss mist). Swiss Miss...got it.

96A: How-to films for a dairy farm? (milk DVDs). Milk Duds...too funny.

104A: Side view of salmon? (lox profile)...for low profile.

126A: Transcribe some Dickens? (copy Boz). Copy boy? I guess so.

I just checked out The New York Times Crossword in Gothic to see what Donald had to say about the theme. Looks like I missed something big...the swapped letters are in alphabetical order. We started with changing A to B...and ended up changing Y to Z.

Patrick and Tony, you two are just too clever for me.

I sure enjoyed having so many gimmes in the nontheme answers. 12A: 1970 Simon & Garfunkel hit (Cecilia), 19A: Away from a teaching post (on leave), 28A: Top of a platter (Side A)...didn't catch me on it this time, 37A: Sporty Mazda (Miata)...my friend Bev has one, 45A: Jack who said "Just the facts, ma'am" (Webb), 59A: "Like a Rock" singer Bob (Seger), 61A: Cosmetician Lauder and others (Estees), 76A: The lion in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (Aslan), 89A: "Damien" subtitle (Omen II), 116A: Facial growths (goatees), 10D: Nabber's cry (gotcha), 11D: Rather, informally (sorta), 78D: Canned meat brand (SPAM), 98D: Bread for tacos? (dinero) and 99D: Plywood layer (veneer).

Favorite clues include 23A: Cube holder (ice tray), 24A: IUD part (intra), 32A: Composes (calms), 63A: Waste maker (haste), 91A: Head set (eyes), 2D: Enough, for some (once), 16D: The King's "princess" (Lisa Marie), 45D: Locks on a dome (wig), 58D: Plane part (Y axis), 86D: Zoo feature, in England (zed) and 97D: Fife player (Knotts).

There were some things I didn't know...got them from crosses...25A: Realm of Otto von Bismarck (Prussia), 122A: Ice Cube né __ Jackson (O'Shea), 123A: It started around 1100 B.C. (Iron Age), 43D: Lukas of "Witness" (Haas), 80D: Christina in the 2005 revival of "Sweet Charity" (Applegate)...actually guessed that with only a couple letters in place, so I must have heard of her, 106D: Mandela's native tongue (Xhosa) and 107D: Hijacked cruise ship Achille _ (Lauro).

Elaine is hanging in there. Thanks again for all of the good wishes. We disconnected our home phone because of unwanted calls, and I never answer unknown calls on my cell phone. I hope that will do the trick. It looks as though she won't be getting any of her personal belongings back...fortunately, she didn't leave anything really valuable behind. But she's looking for work here, and she needed some suitable clothes. Our shopping day was fun...and a huge success.

[Update: Keep your fingers crossed. As of last night, Howard Barkin, a guest blogger and commenter here at Madness, is in second place at ACPT. Howard is an all-around nice guy...and an ace solver to boot. Way to go, Howard!]

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Saturday, February 16 - Tony Orbach

I think this is the first Tony Orbach puzzle since I've been blogging, but he frequently comments at Diary of a Crossword Fiend. Tony also collaborated with Patrick Blindauer on Rear Axle, which appeared on my birthday/Father's Day...a tough puzzle that was fun to solve.

Today's was tough, and not as much fun for me. There were some great answers, and the clues were appropriate for a Saturday puzzle...but there were so many things that were complete unknowns to me.

Orange had difficulty with this one as well...I know because I finally gave up and checked out her blog to get some answers that I couldn't get from Dogpile.

The best of the best:

8A: Post boxes? (cereals). I don't think of cereal in plural form, but that was my first guess. The ? just put that connection...Post/cereal...in my head.

16A: Piece of silver, say (utensil). That took some time to get because of an error at 13D: Isn't very visible (lies low)...had lays low, so utensil didn't make itself clear.

20A: Many-sided problems (hydras).

32A: Patron of Paris (Genevieve). I didn't know that.

45A: Mother of Hyacinth, in myth (Clio)...and I didn't remember that. I remembered that she was one of the Muses, but not which one.

49A: Slew (passel). I've heard the word used, but I've never seen it in print and thought it would end in -LE. I was pretty sure that 42D: They work the earth (tiller) was correct, though, so I tried -EL.

52A: Touch-related (tactual)...not sensual or tactile, my first and second tries.

53A: Part of a special delivery? (triplet). Good one.

54A: Be quite enough for (satiate)...a word I've always liked.

55A: Amscray (vamoose)...I had get lost for too long.

57A: Give a bad name (slander). Slander is verbal...libel is written. That's still filed away from my years in law.

58A: "On Your Toes" composer (Rodgers).

9D: C2H4 (ethylene). That came together with a few letters in place.

12D: Singer of "A Foggy Day" in "A Damsel in Distress" (Astaire).

22D: Caused to be scored, as a run (drove in).

33D: Big Mac request (no cheese). Does anyone order a Big Mac if they don't want cheese? I have never eaten a Big Mac in my life. Once I saw the calories and fat content (540, 30 grams)...no way. A big slab of something sweet would be worth that, but not a fast food hamburger.

37D: Nearest, to Nero (proxima).

40D: Lessen (assuage).

52D: Peter or Paul, but not Mary (Tsar). I've seen that very same clue before, yet it wouldn't come to me. It didn't help that I had it beginning with SS because of the sensual error...see above.

And now...the many answers that were complete unknowns:

15A: Thinner option (Acutone). Is that something like acetone? Anyway, I was looking for something having to do with being/getting thinner...size six was my first guess. [Update: Oops...it's just like acetone. In fact, it is acetone. I was thinking of a soup tureen for 3D, so spelled it with a U.]

17A: Lab tube (burette). I learned and remembered pipette...now I'll have to remember this one, which will only confuse me in the future.

22A: "Rugrats" baby (Dil). Have never (thankfully) seen Rugrats.

25A: One of the Gandhis (Sonia).

26A: Golden fish stocked in ornamental pools (orfe). I could only think of koi ponds and tried to come up with a plural that ended in E.

27A: Christening spot (prow). I was thinking of a person...that would be head. Prow sounded so foreign last night, but it's sounding familiar now...but I'm still leaving it in this section.

28A: Nottingham's river (Trent). I may have known that at one time, but I will definitely remember it in the future.

38A: Schubert's "Eine Kleine Trauermusik," e.g. (nonet). I've always thought of a nonet in relation to the group, not the piece of music (or number of instruments) that it was written for...duh.

43A: Some apéritifs (Kirs).

50A: Anti-ship missile that skims waves at nearly the speed of sound (Exocet).

8D: Small, deep-fried pork cube (cuchifrito). I guessed the frito part but was clueless about the beginning. Click to enlarge this at your own risk.

49D: __ Nurmi, nine-time track gold medalist in 1920s Olympics (Paavo).

There are a couple of answers that I still don't get. Maybe someone can explain why 18A: A lot of foreign intelligence intercepts is chatter...or 14D: Shooter that may be digital, for short is SLR...or 41D: One using a crib is cheater.

Elaine came into town yesterday, so we'll have some girl time today. We haven't had more than a couple of hours alone since she met Mike, and I'm looking forward to having her here for the week.

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Sunday, June 17 - Tony Orbach & Patrick Blindauer

Tony Orbach and Patrick Blindauer put their heads together on this puzzle--Rear Axle--and came up with a winner. Challenging, but not impossible, and just plain fun.

I ended up with a theme answer that I didn't understand. Once I got the second one, it was clear what was up, Doc!

How did the theme play out? The letters LE are omitted from commonly used phrases, which are then clued in amusing ways.

23A: Yosemite Sam's cursing of Bugs Bunny's food? (dang carrots). This was the one I didn't get until later. Oh! Dangle carrots!

28A: Explanation for why some pillows do weird things? (trick down theory). I did pay attention in class when we learned about the trickle down theory.

47A: Basic food choice? (bread and butter pick). I love bread and butter pickles, so I saw it with only a couple of letters in place.

68A: Short-term worker who causes utter disaster? (the temp of doom). The funniest answer...hands down. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a favorite in this house.

86A: Jazz-loving young entomologist? (Boogie Woogie bug boy). My favorite of the bunch. I enjoyed singing along with Bette Midler's version of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.

112A: Meal for the Three Little Pigs? (family sty dinner). This was the last one to fall into place for me. Family style dinners are not my favorite--I tend to eat way too much.

118A: Work on analytical psychology? (The Jung Book). The psych student in me found this one amusing. In a class called Deconstructing Disney, I saw The Jungle Book in a new light.

Not just great theme answers...there's some pretty terrific fill to boot.

I always enjoy seeing the Beatles and/or their songs clued in the puzzle. They got me on this one, though. 47D: "P.S. I Love You" and "Revolution," e.g. (B sides). Didn't help that I didn't know 55A: Noontime service (sext).

Also didn't know 49D: Bet to win and place (exacta), although I think I saw it in a recent puzzle. The only betting word I know is trifecta--besides JaiAlai, that old puzzle standby.

I love anagrams (so does my friend, Spherical Ham), so it was a real pleasure to see 63D: Position that's an anagram, appropriately, of "notes" (steno). We've had steno a couple of times recently, but this is the best clue ever.

Also liked seeing 18D: "Gilligan's Island" castaway (Mary Ann). She was my favorite of the female characters. The professor was my favorite of the men.

In no particular order, some clever clues that deserve mention:

3D: Stuntwork? (bonsai). Almost laugh-out-loud funny...in a way.

12D: Cover for a grandmother (shawl). I wore shawls in the 70s, but I wouldn't dream of wearing one now!

13D: Hot spot (kiln)

48D: "Be saved!" (Repent!)

61D: Like Limburger cheese (stinky). I have never smelled Limburger cheese, but I think I'd rather not.

90D: Lose in one's drawers (misfile). Too funny. I didn't have a clue where they were going with this one. Saved by the acrosses.

91D: Not oral (on paper). Had written at first--a good wrong answer. And that's all I'm sayin' on that.

I liked the way they clued 34A: "Stupid," in Spanish (!). Mensa is the Latin word for table. According to Wikipedia, the Mensa Society was meant to indicate a round-table society of equals. Does that mean we're all in that 98th percentile?

I could go on and on with this puzzle, but I'm sure the other bloggers will cover the ones I missed.

Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers out there!

Linda G