Wednesday, August 22 - Patrick Blindauer

It's almost 11:00 and I should be in bed already...this will be a short post.

Today's puzzle is by Patrick Blindauer--the constructor of several incredibly clever recent New York Sun puzzles. Apparently Patrick saves his tricks (which included an acrostic, a chess game, and a word search) for the Sun.

The theme is straightforward...revealed at 61A: Singles bar repertoire (and a hint to 17-, 24-, 36- and 52-Across) (PICKUP LINES). Each of the four theme answers refers to some kind of pickup.

17A: McGarrett's TV catchphrase (Book 'em, Danno!). I honestly don't think I ever saw Hawaii Five-O, but I knew the phrase.

24A: Question for a hitchhiker (Need a lift?). Never, never, never pick up a hitchhiker. The mom in me had to say that.

36A: Shout from the phone (It's for you!). Since the girls moved out, it's always for me.

52A: Chevy truck slogan, once (Like a Rock). I thought that slogan was still being used.

I'm always impressed by vertical stacks--in this case, three seven-letter words in each corner.

In the northwest: 1D: Side story (subplot), 2D: Apportion, as costs (prorate), and 3D: Rubs oil on (anoints).

In the northeast, we have 11D: Tall wardrobe (armoire), 12D: Succeeds in a big way (goes far), and 13D: Yachting event (regatta). Both armoire and regatta are tasty morsels that don't appear in puzzles on a regular basis.

The southwest offerings are 39D: Me-first (selfish), 40D: Property recipient, in law (alienee), and 41D: Hardly a celebrity (unknown). In more than twenty years in law, I never heard the word alienee...I wanted grantee there. Unknown...good to see in a puzzle, with the K and W.

Wrapping up with the southeast stacks: 44D: Chanter (intoner), 45D: Least ruffled (coolest), and 46D: General pardon (amnesty). All good ones.

I can't believe I tripped up on 55A: John of London (Elton). I'm a big Elton John fan, and I didn't see that's where he was going. My first thought was along the lines of a loo. When I had A*TO* (because I though 50D: Secluded valley was dale, rather than dell), I tried ASTOR. Good Brit name.

One of these days I will remember that Nanki-Poo's father (5A) is Mikado, and I won't have to rely on crosses to get it.

Some of my favorites:

29A: Biblical landing spot (Ararat). I just like the word and am glad I remember it from my Bible reading.

47A: Cause of odd weather (El Niño). Another Spanish phrase appears at 9D: "Gracias" response (de nada).

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



See you tomorrow.

Linda G

Tuesday, August 21 - Tom Heilman

I don't recall seeing Tom Heilman as a NYT constructor. I wonder if we have another debut on our hands.

The theme of the puzzle is revealed at 60D, clued simply as Theme of this puzzle (bees). The four theme answers are:

17A: Police ploys (sting operations).

30A: End-of-day spousal salutation (Honey, I'm home).

46A: "Call when you get the chance" (Give me a buzz).

62A: Bogart/Hepburn film (The African Queen). I've definitely heard of it, but I don't think I've ever seen it. It may be one to add to the Netflix queue.

I didn't even notice there was a theme until I got to 60D...I was just workin' the puzzle.

I like the four long down answers--each a two-word phrase that adds some pizzazz to the grid.

8D: What a welcome sight relieves (sore eyes).

10D: Lofted approaches to the green (chip shots).

36D: Social workers' work (case loads). I'll be full time the first of September, so mine will be picking up soon. Wednesday we break ground on our new permanent supportive housing project, which will provide 23 studio apartments for chronically homeless adults with mental and/or physical disabilities. While we're in the building process, I'll be developing protocols, designing forms, and taking referrals. We're very close to our fundraising goal, which will allow us to build without having to mortgage the property.

41D: Pastries in "Sweeney Todd" (meat pies). Didn't see Sweeney Todd, so I wonder about the significance of the meat pies. Were they that big a part of the movie?

There were a few things I didn't know, but all were easy to get from crosses.

22A: Omar of TV's "House" (Epps).

29D: Russian ballet company (Kirov). I don't know much about ballet, and I know absolutely nothing about Russian ballet.

31D: Outlying community (exurb). I've never heard that word before. Maybe it only applies to large cities.

I really liked 27D: Holder of a dog's name and owner info (ID tag), mostly because I got it. I generally get tripped up by clues like this, but I had most of it from the acrosses.

Nice to see a reference to reader profphil...54A: Univ. lecturer (prof). I'm sure there are many others out there, but he's one I know for sure.

There are several crossword favorites in this puzzle:

15A: Double-reed woodwind (0boe).

20A: Old Russian ruler (Tsar).

21A: Lid trouble (stye)...although it was freshly clued

39A: When said three times, a W.W. II movie (Tora).

69A: "Got it" (I see).

59D: Island garlands (leis). Less than five weeks to Hawaii. If anyone is interested in guest blogging during that time, let me know via the comments section. I'm willing to pay as much as I've been paid for my guest blogging at several sites.

I enjoyed seeing 70D: Full of lip (sassy) in the puzzle. Actually, I don't like the clue near as much as I like the answer. I think sassy is a cool word. When I bought my Solara, a friend described it as a Sassy Old Lady car. He didn't mean that it was an old lady car...it was a car that a Sassy Old Lady would drive.

I'm off to bed. Here's the grid.

See you tomorrow.

Linda G

Monday, August 20 - Lynn Lempel

Clever theme for a Monday...THREE OF A KIND. The five theme answers are all famous trios:

17A: Fortune-seeking trio (Little Pigs).

36A: Grass-eating trio (Billy Goats Gruff). That was one of my favorite stories as a kid, so this was a gimme.

57A: Gift-giver's trio (French Hens). I'm probably not the only solver who wanted the Wise Men in there...wondering what other adjective might make it fit. In retrospect, that would have been clued Gift-giving trio.

11D: Trio at sea (Men in a Tub). Had most of the acrosses, so this was easy.

33D: Trio on the run (Blind Mice). Same thing here.

5D: "Nonsense!" (malarkey). By far, my favorite word in the puzzle. My father didn't swear (my mother once remarked that he wouldn't say shit if he had a mouthful), and this was a word he often used instead of BS.

Symmetrically opposite that, we have 38D: Minor hang-ups (glitches), another good word.

Don't believe I've ever seen 28A: Peru-Bolivia border lake (Titicaca) in a puzzle before. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I needed a couple of crosses to get it.

The only place I bungled was 52A: Respectful tribute. I had eulogy...when the first three letters were revealed to be HOM, I changed it to homily. Finally got to the real answer...homage.

Other good ones:

1A: Town known for witch trials (Salem). It's always nice to get 1-Across.

14A: Politician who wrote "The Audacity of Hope" (Obama). Haven't read it but might. Don read something of his and gave it a good review, but I don't remember if this was the one.

43A: Pedestrian's intersection warning (Don't Walk). We used to think that didn't much matter in this fairly small city, but there have been a lot of pedestrian fatalities in the last year. Maybe folks had better start paying big-city attention.

9D: Peaceful interludes (respites). It's nice to finally have some of those in this house...the joys of an empty nest.

10D: Titillating (erotic). We had erotica the other day...one of two answers clued identically as Thighs may be displayed in it. The other answer was meat case.

46D: Painter Chagall (Marc) is back in the puzzle. He's a favorite, and I expect we'll see him more often. Maybe he'll make it to the next Pantheon.

49D: Alpha's opposite (Omega). Those are two Greek letters I never forget.

The award for most clever clue/answer goes to 1D: They're always underfoot (soles).

45D: Jokester (wag). That doesn't sound even vaguely familiar.

A quick diversion before I get to the grid. In yesterday's comments, I mentioned that Elaine and Mike were officially engaged. Here's a picture of the happy couple, who are planning to wed on July 26, 2008. Mike has a 2-year-old son who's currently living with his Grandma. Once he and Elaine get settled, Franklin will move to his new home. And Don and I will become instant grandparents. They're pretty darn happy, and Don and I are happy for them.

Okay...here's the grid you've been waiting for.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Sunday, August 19 - Elizabeth C. Gorski

The theme of Elizabeth Gorski's Sunday puzzle is BURIED TREASURE, with gold (AU) hidden in the puzzle.

The theme is revealed at 26A: With 113-Across, 1972 song lyric hinting at this puzzle's theme: I'VE BEEN A MINER FOR A/ HEART OF GOLD, with theme tie-ins at 64D: Like 113-Across (BY NEIL YOUNG) and 68D: Atomic number of the special parts of this puzzle which, when connected, form a 113-Across (SEVENTY-NINE).

The buried treasure is found in ten squares:

33A: Scene (TABLEAU), crossing with 27D: Lover boy (BEAU).

36A: Victorians, e.g. (AUSSIES)...with 28D: Overseas Mrs. (FRAU).

39A: Outdoor shindigs (LUAUS)...with 34D: Letters from Greece (TAUS).

41A: "Your mother wears army boots!," e.g. (TAUNT)...with 35D: Mideast's House of __ (SAUD).

58A: "Homage to Clio" poet (AUDEN)...with 58D: Author who wrote "One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other" (AUSTEN). An exceptional literary cross.

59A: Some shavers (BRAUNS)...with 54D: Extol (LAUD).

61A: Pianist Claudio (ARRAU)...with 62D: Independent examinations (AUDITS).

77A: Child-care provider (AU PAIR)...with 77D: Sound (AUDIO).

79A: Capital city about an hour by plane from Miami (NASSAU)...with 80D: Carpentry tool (AUGER).

97A: European air hub (DeGAULLE)...with 100D: Park Avenue, for one (AUTO).

This was just plain fun. Once you got the gist of this theme, you pretty much knew that buried treasure would be in the symmetrically opposite square...well, except for one. Those nine squares in the center were the absolute last to fall for me...for that very reason.

A puzzle like this has to have left/right symmetry, similar to Tyler Hinman's a couple of weeks ago. It made it a little harder for me to figure out which square was the opposite, symmetrically speaking, but that didn't diminish from the overall pleasantness of the puzzle.

Clever cluing all over the place...

6A: Strands in a diner (spaghetti). A gimme.

21A: One who keeps a beat? (patrolman).

25A: Just above average (C plus). These typically trip me up, but not today.

83A: Music unlikely to be played at a party (dirge).

106A: It's often "proud" (sponsor).

119A: Jalapeño feature (tilde).

3D: Tropical cave dwellers (fruit bats).

16D: Locked up (in prison).

70D: Kind of platter (pupu).

Several things were unknown to me. I got most of them from the crosses, but had to Google to confirm a letter when the crosses were equally unknown.

45A: Classic Atari game (Asteroids). Not something I ever played.

52A: "Typee" sequel (Omoo). Knew of Omoo, knew that Melville wrote it...just didn't know it was a sequel.

10D: Bill who created the comic strip "Smokey Stover" (Holman). Sorry, I've never heard of Bill Holman or his comic strip.

11D: Missy __ with the 2002 hit "Work It" (Elliott). Easy enough to guess that one, but I had no clue.

17D: Deep black garnets (melanites). Have never heard of them.

66D: 1954 Jean Simmons movie (Desiree).

There's so much more good stuff in this puzzle. How about commenting on one or two of your favorites.

Here's the grid. I'm happy that the heart of gold shows.

And I'm off to bed. See you tomorrow.

Linda G

Saturday, August 18 - Jim Page

I went to a benefit concert last night and didn't get home until 11:00. I dozed off between words, filling in what I knew, Googling a few obscurities, then crashed on the couch. It had been a long day.

Today is our 26th anniversary. I came home last night to a gorgeous arrangement of red roses (always with one yellow rose) from my sweetie. Our favorite coffee shop is doing something special for us this morning. Life is good. Very good.

The puzzle...not so good. Don't get me wrong...the puzzle itself was better than very good, but I was too tired to do well. Maybe too tired to care. As I look it over now...damn! There are some great words in here. I didn't check the grid, so there may very well be some wrong letters here and there.

Of the three long answers, one of them was a gimme/good-guess-that-panned-out. 31A: Face attack (come under fire). The other two needed the help of the downs before they'd come together:

15A: Construction material (corrugated steel).

51A: Early (ahead of schedule). Dooley barked way ahead of schedule this morning...at 3:40 a.m. to be precise. I was in that druggy state of sleep and managed to ignore him. At 4:00, I scolded him to be quiet. Didn't hear another peep out of him until 6:40, a much more appropriate time to awaken.

If I listed all the things I didn't know, it would take forever, so here are just a few:

24A: Feature of some classical architecture (stoa). The only four-letter word I could think of was ogee, and that may not be classical.

50A: "__ Work" (George F. Will best seller) (Men at). Didn't read it and am not familiar with it. If anyone out there suggests that I should read it, I'll take it under advisement.

13D: Banjolike Japanese instrument (samisen).

31D: Eastwood played him in five films (Callahan). I never saw any of the Dirty Harry movies and didn't know his last name...or that he had one.

42D: It rises in the Black Forest (Danube). Of course I know the Danube, just didn't catch it from the clue. Good one.

Some of my favorite wrong answers, although they didn't stay in place for long:

17A: Applies polish to? (edits). I didn't catch the question mark...had daubs. Is that even a word? Anyway, very good/tricky cluing...most appropriate for a Saturday puzzle.

54A: Some bygone roadsters (Datsuns). I don't think of a Datsun as a roadster. I had Model Ts.

56A: Fluish, perhaps (sneezy). I had sickly, so at least the cross at 49D: Sharp rival (Sony) worked with it.

A few of my favorites:

35A: Writ introduction? (habeas).

8D: 1932 Garbo title role (Mata Hari). No doubt Green Genius will be happy to see Mata Hari clued this way. Green Genius is to Mata Hari as Linda G is to Ava Gardner...but for totally different reasons.

10D: Who's a critic? (everyone). One of the few gimmes in this puzzle, and it made me laugh.

Normally seeing the same clue for two answers confuses me, but not when they're one right after another. And these two were funny. At 33D: Thighs may be displayed in it (meat case)...at 34D the answer was (erotica). The answers aren't really all that different...

Here's the grid...



...and I'm out of here. See you tomorrow.

Linda G

Friday, August 17 - Roger Barkan

This was one excellent puzzle...my favorite in a long time.

I don't know if I was just on Roger Barkan's wavelength tonight, but four of the six long answers were gimmes:

1A: You can sink your feet into them (shag carpets)...although I initially thought they were referring to some kind of slippers.

53A: Start of a series (television pilot).

55A: __ diet, food plan emphasizing olive oil, fish, fruit, vegetables and red wine (Mediterranean). This sounds like my kind of eating plan...in fact, that was tonight's dinner.

56A: Gulf war offensive (Desert Storm).

After I had some of the downs in place, I was able to get 12A: Bus line? (step to the rear) and part of 14A: Caribbean cruise port of call (Charlotte Amalie). It's not one I'm familiar with, but I knew Charlotte was the first word...the rest came from crosses.

Other multiple-word clues/answers that I really liked:

17A: Sprinted, perhaps (ran a race).

28A: Comparable to a wet hen (as mad). I had mad as at first but had to think the way they were thinking when they wrote the clue.

32A: Pointed warning? (En Garde). Probably my favorite. There's actually a game by that name!

50A: Major component of kidney stones (uric acid).

14D: Coffee alternative (chai tea). I have to seriously cut back on coffee consumption...heart palpitations that may be aggravated by caffeine. I'm going to try to limit it to just my morning cup. No more iced Americanos in the afternoon. My favorite coffee shop may go out of business. How does chai tea compare caffeine-wise?

12D: It's guarded in a soccer game (shin bone).

31D: Accessories for a secretary (desk set). This was my first guess, but I erased it in favor of something ending in an S. Once I revised 28A to as mad, I went back to desk set. Generally, when I go with my gut it pays off.

Was stumped by 29D: Language of India with a palindromic name (Malayalam). Didn't have a clue...but was able to fill in any letters I got at the opposite end of the word. Here's an article on it.

The first clue I saw was 19A: Early film actress Pitts (Zasu), so that was the first answer I filled in. I then started working in a circle around it. I don't think I've ever done a puzzle in such a random fashion. Good cross at the Z with 19D: Daydreamed, with "out" (zoned).

Liked seeing 26A: Utah's __ Mountains (Uinta), 13D: "Copacabana" antagonist (Rico), and 26D: Major in astronomy? (Ursa). All good words ending in vowels. The one that seemed strange was 1D: Star performer's reward (standing O). I don't think I've ever heard it referred to that way, and I was sure I had something wrong.

I need to be up early for some lab work. I detest 12-hour fasts. I don't normally eat at this hour...but because I can't, I want to. I'll wake up tomorrow and be totally famished. Mind over matter, I know...

Anyway, here's the grid...

...and I hope to see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Thursday, August 16 - Alan Arbesfeld

I was late getting to the puzzle tonight...an impromptu get-together with a friend and the new man in her life, followed by dinner out with Don. We don't do parties and such very often, but this was enjoyable. We're both very happy for K...her ex was/is a schmuck, IMOO. If you're having an affair, don't lie to your wife when she's on to it and confronts you. We're not stupid. It goes the other way as well.

Okay...on to the puzzle. And a very entertaining puzzle it was.

Loved the theme, revealed at 10A and 37A: FROM/START TO FINISH.

The four theme answers are all common phrases, but the first letter is moved to the last space...then appropriately clued.

18A: Reason to renovate an opera house? (RUST IN MET). Trust in me...that's the only one I'll translate.

20A: One cauterizing a skin blemish? (HEATER OF WART).

54A: Narc operation on Amtrak? (RAILWAYS BUST). This was the one that made the theme make sense.

57A: Dropped "The Simpsons" from the TV schedule? (ENDED BART).

The only clue/answer I didn't like was 5D: Caught congers (eeled). I don't think of eel as a verb...this seemed like a stretch. But I liked the theme so well, I'd be willing to let most anything slide.

Did not know and still do not get:

24D: Sponsorship: Var. (Egis). Should that be all caps?

30D: From the beginning (abovo).

Thought there was a third but I'm not seeing another. Things I didn't know, but they seem to make sense:

36A: Poem about Paris, in part (Iliad). I assume they're talking about Paris, the character, as opposed to the city. Clever.

44A: Hieroglyphic symbol for the ancient Egyptian "M" (owl).

60A: Florence's __ Vecchio (Ponte). Got it from the crosses.

61A: Toni Morrison novel (Sula). I'm not familiar with Morrison's work. Again, the crosses made it happen.

6D: Battle of the __, in the Spanish Civil War (Ebro).

I really liked the vertical stacks in the northwest and the southeast: 1D: Hurry in the direction of (rush to), 2D: Make a stud payment (ante up), and 3D: Climber's chopper (ice axe)...45D: Waiting area (lounge), 46D: Given the boot (ousted), and 47D: Comes out with (utters).

Favorite clues/answers:

45A: Bud's bud (Lou). Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Got it but didn't get it right away.

63A: Tee off (anger). A gimme...I didn't think it was about golf.

64A: Wax remover (Q-tip). Eeee-yewwww. Or however that's spelled.

13D: Boulder hrs. (MST). Mountain Standard Time made it to an earlier puzzle, with a clue that made you think it was about sports.

34D: Big bag of groceries, e.g. (armload)
.

37D: Hot (sexy). A much better clue than we had the other day...like a Playmate of the Month. I had a real issue with that one. I had nude for that one...which all Playmates are. But are they all sexy? I'll concede that some are.

43D: Slopes devotee (ski bum).

I'm ready to call it a night. Here's the grid...

...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G