Friday, January 18 - Trip Payne

When I saw Trip Payne's name on the byline, I knew I was in some serious trouble. I've never finished one of Trip's puzzles without some help from Dogpile...this makes one more.

This afternoon was absolutely crazy at work. As a result, I'm beat. While this puzzle was tough, it also had some incredibly good fill...and I hate to give it short shrift. So, I'll forego the pictures and see if I can cover the best of it.

Starting with the multiword answers:

14A: Suddenly (all at once)

16A: Steely Dan hit of 1972 (Do It Again). Such a great song...here it is, with some cool graphics.

21A: __ clue (get a). I had not a.

30A: Molière comedy (The Miser).

35A: Properly filed (in order)...initially read that as properly filled.

49A: Classic mystical book by Khalil Gibran (The Prophet). That brings back some old memories. Here's my favorite.

55A: Gulf of Taranto's locale (Ionian Sea).

61A: Have as an appetizer (start with).

12D: Not randomly arranged (in a series).

33D: Be a big success (go far).

That's not to say that I immediately got all of those. Only Do it Again and The Prophet were gimmes...although I got the others (eventually) with crosses.

In addition to multiwords, other fabulous fill included:

1A: Drawing power (magnetism)...great clue besides.

19A: Cunning (sneakiness). I have trouble seeing those two as meaning the same thing. Cunning implies a certain degree of cleverness is involved...sneakiness implies slime.

34A: Filled treat (pierogi). I had a friend whose grandmother made these. It was in the late sixties, but I still remember them.

38A: "Moon Over Parador" star, 1988 (Dreyfuss). Didn't see it, but I sure have liked him in everything I have seen.

44A: "Divine" showbiz nickname (Miss M). Okay, one picture.

9D: Where the wild things are? (menagerie).

11D: Pilgrims leave them (homelands). One word or two?

22D: Earth, en español (tierra).

30D: Beach house arrangement, perhaps (timeshare). Nice to have, especially with the flexibility of a points system. We've sure enjoyed ours.

31D: No longer gloomy (heartened).

32D: Rotary motions (sidespins).

There were quite a few things I didn't know. Some I got from crosses...some from Dogpile.

17A: Villain in the Book of Esther (Haman).

28A: Six-time All-Star third baseman of the 1970s Dodgers (Cey).

37A: "Cooking With Astrology" author (Omarr).

54A: Asian title (Ranee).

58A: Echo, e.g., in Greek myth (Oread).

60A: __ Atomic Dustbin (English rock band) (Ned's).

5D: __ Carinae (hypergiant star) (Eta).

10D: Detective in "The Shanghai Cobra" (Chan). I probably should have known that.

15D: "The Amazing Race" host Keoghan (Phil). Is that the show where people fly (drive, swim, etc.) all over the place to solve some kind of riddle...and win big bucks for doing it?

29D: "Ode to Broken Things" poet (Neruda).

47D: Egypt's Mubarak (Hosni).

Also didn't know 18A: T formation participant (end)...damn sports clues or 52A: Brood : chicken : : parliament : __ (owl). Sometimes you need those short answers to get a corner to make sense.

A couple of old TV friends are back...24A: Georgia __ of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (Engel) and 44D: TV star who said "Stop gabbin' and get me some oats!" (Mr. Ed).

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



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Sunday, November 25 - Trip Payne

I think this may be the first time in my solving history that I've completed a Trip Payne puzzle...I remember struggling through them in some of my New York Times puzzle books earlier on in my solving career.

The puzzle's title, TWO OUT OF THREE, didn't provide much of a clue initially, but I was able to figure it with the first theme answer...each of which consists of several three-letter words, all sharing the same first two letters. The resulting expressions are clued in new, sometimes clever, ways.

24A: Nonsense about a cocktail? (ROB ROY ROT). All of the downs in the northeast corner were easy, giving me this theme answer right away...and a hint to all the rest of them.

25A: Warning about Mel Gibson on a wrestling surface? (MAD MAX MAN MAY MAR MAT).

41A: Major book about a leader of the lighter industry? (BIG BIC BIZ BIO). Some of these are pretty good tongue twisters.

67A: Hound, typically? (FOE FOR FOX). This was the best...in its pure simplicity.

90A: Why horses are attracted to a witch's headgear? (HAG HAS HAY HAT).

106A: Why guitar-loving Cooke was blue when his gal named her favorite musical instrument? (SAD SAM SAW SAL SAY SAX). I had all the words in my head, but I had a hard time putting them in the proper order.

112A: Witticism about a wrinkly little dog? (PUG PUP PUN). Again, I confused the order. Had PUG PUN, then PUP PUN. Finally confirmed the correct answer/order with the downs.

3D: A nitwit liked the loud noise? (DIP DID DIG DIN).

63D: Complicate commercials for woodworking tools? (ADD ADZ ADS ADO).

While I wasn't particularly crazy about the theme, I'll have to admit it was clever. It also made it easier to get a toehold in every area of the puzzle...once you had a few letters, you could fill in 2/3 of the others.

But the puzzle still gets big points. Much of the fill was superb, with beautifully deceptive cluing [76A: Part of making a crossword].

Some of the best...13A: Diamond points (bases), 22A: Between green and black, maybe (ripe), 28A: Catchy tunes (ditties)...had jingles at first, 38A: Bagel order (schmear), 50A: Like most jigsaw puzzles (diecut), 84A: Half of an animation duo (Hanna)...the first one to come to mind, 116A: Cover, in a way (pave), 13D: Open up, as a topic (broach), 19D: Some crosstown trips (taxi rides), 43D: Making a curling motion with the forefinger, maybe (beckoning), 45D: Like some jeans (button fly)...hate 'em, 46D: To-do pile's place (inbox), 75D: W.W. II American naval cruiser (USS Alaska), 95D: Show off (flaunt), 98D: Feature of some locks (keypad)...I was thinking locks, as in hair, and 101D: "__ is just pink trying to be purple": Whistler (mauve).

Good multiword answers include:

19A: Affected (too-too)...I think that's hyphenated. Took me too long to get that one.

56A: Decent (not bad).

75A: Formerly did (used to).

4D: Apparently do (seem to). That was really difficult when I had jingles for 28A.

11D: Get __ of (a load).

14D: Whenever (any time).

60D: In __ (dazed) (a fog).

64D: End of a James Bond title (Let Die). Don and I started watching Casino Royale earlier tonight. I just couldn't get into it...violence of any kind really doesn't appeal to me.

104D: Rider of the steed Babieca (El Cid).

There were several obscure (to me) answers...I was able to get them from the crosses.

18A: Fashion's Tahari (Elie). Never heard of him/her or the clothing line.

51A: Snow leopard (ounce). Didn't know it was called that. Here's the article that confirmed it for me.

59A: Margaret famous for painting waiflike children with big eyes (Keane). Here's a link to a gallery where you can view (and buy) some of her paintings. I'll pass...the one I liked was $16,000.

69A: Subject of the film "An Unreasonable Man" (Nader). Didn't know that.

85A: Verdi's "Don __" (Carlos).

2D: Its first word translates as "wrath" (Iliad). Know the word, didn't know the translation.

40D: German chancellor Merkel (Angela). Clueless on this one.

100D: Clinton's first defense secretary (Aspin).

102D: Exeunt __ (stage direction) (omnes).

109D: Home to the Dr. Pepper Museum (Waco). I didn't know there was such a thing.

Very much liked 93A: Something "realise" lacks (zed). I'm sure I'm not the only one who had zee until 65D: Wrote a novel, e.g. (prosed) made me realize the error of my ways. And I thought I was clever to get it right off.

Related clues at 36D: R.N.'s locale (ICU) and 117A: Part of the answer to 36-Down (Intensive). Nice to get such a long answer without a struggle.

Well, I'd better git (42D: "Skedaddle!"), but I'll leave you with this thought. Only one month until Christmas!

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G