Friday, February 20, 2009

Title: Oscar-winning Roles
Author: Jeremy Horwitz
Theme: Fictional roles that won "Oscars" in their fictional universe

• 1a: With 69-Across, Oscar-winning star of "Queen of the Night" in 1992's "The Bodyguard" (RACHEL / MARRON).



• 20a: Oscar-winning star of "Tropic Blunder: The True Story Behind the Making of the Most Expensive Fake True War Story Ever" in 2008's "Tropic Thunder" (TUGG SPEEDMAN).


• 38a: Oscar-winning star of "A World for Two" in 1954's "A Star Is Born" (VICKI LESTER).


• 55a: Oscar-winning star of "To Serve and Protect" in 1997's "In & Out" (CAMERON DRAKE).

Wow, what a way to round out Oscar week. I have to say that, despite the fact that only TUGG SPEEDMAN even sounded familiar, I really like this concept a lot. I found all the other names to be plausible enough, and none of the crossings were that nasty, so it was quite the nice Friday puzzle.

Sundries:

• 11a: Laurence Fishburne series (CSI). Name a series in three letters...


• 14a: One of the Andrews Sisters (MAXENE). I had the MAX and went with MAXINE, but it was soon clear from the crossing that this was not the correct spelling.


• 15a: Fictional spy Rider (ALEX). I'm not familiar with this series of spy novels by Anthony Horowitz.


• 17a: Learned scholar (SAVANT). I always thought a SAVANT was a natural talent more than a scholar, but I guess that's the idiot savant.


• 19a: Unit replaced by the siemens (MHO). 23a: 100 nanojoules (ERG). Our physics fix of the day.


• 27a: Italian composer Antonio (SALIERI). If you've seen "Amadeus", you'll remember this name.



• 33a: The Enforcer's boss (SCARFACE). Is this from the movie "Scarface", or is this some comic I am not aware of? When I see "The Enforcer", I think Dirty Harry movie.


• 36a: Tropical beach garment (SARONG).


• 40a: Coca-Cola offering (FRESCA). Does anyone drink this stuff? I think it's the worst tasting soda I've ever tried. Even worse than Tab.


• 45a: Flat fee (RENT). Very nice clue.


• 48a: "Did it start without me?" (AM I LATE).


• 54a: It gets bigger when stroked or massaged (EGO). Sexual innuendo tag.


• 66a: Balletic opposite of en l'air (A TERRE). If you're not in the air, you're on the ground.


• 7d: Misses at a rodeo (GALS). Another very nice clue.


• 9d: Site of Hercules's first labor (NEMEA). For some reason, my first instinct was NIMES.


• 13d: Decreasing? (IRONING). Very cute.


• 21d: Balenciaga parent company (GUCCI). I've never heard of Balenciaga, but somehow I knew this answer instinctively.


• 23d: Staggered start? (ESS). Cryptic letter clue.


• 25d: Idol (GRAVEN IMAGE). Nice fill.


• 29d: Get angry and defensive (BRISTLE).


• 39d: "Enigma Variations" composer (ELGAR). Elgar is probably most known for his "Pomp and Circumstance" march, played at most graduation processions.



• 40d: Geometric term coined by Benoît Mandelbrot (FRACTAL). Excellent. Get some math geekiness in here. I'm not going to explain them, go here or here for more info.


• 41d: Go back into the ring? (REMARRY). Okay, that's pushing it a bit much. There's often a fine line between clever and over-the-top. It's hard to define, but this one stepped over.


• 46d: Brand of chewing gum (MENTOS). Mentos makes gum? Who knew?Does it do the same thing that the mints do when you add them to Diet Coke?


• 49d: Moises of "Hannah Montana" (ARIAS). This is didn't know, but I didn't need to. And I prefer it over some obscure Italian opera reference.


• 50d: Where the pa'anga is spent (TONGA). Obscure clue, but with T___A, it was easy to guess.


• 52d: Cathouse cheese (MADAM). There's something unsettling about this clue. The use of the word "cheese" in the context of a cathouse sends my mind to places I'd just as soon it not go. "Whorehouse head" would be more suggestive, but at the same time would feel... I don't know... cleaner?


• 53d: Honshu seaport (AKITA). I went with OSAKA first, as I expect we were meant to.


• 62d: Full house sign (SRO). Standing Room Only. I never knew this before doing crosswords. New Hampshire doesn't have a lot of standing room only shows, I guess.

Only one more week of Sun puzzles. This is a mixed blessing for me, as I will miss the quality puzzles terribly. But I'm not sure I'm going to miss blogging them. Don't get me wrong, it's been fun, but it can also be a chore. Without the help of Joon and Norrin2, I'd have bailed long ago. It will be nice to have a break.

Thanks for listening.

- Pete M.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Title: International Film Festival
Author: Jerzy Whitmore
Theme: Best Picture winners whose title begins with a nationality

• 4d: Best Picture of 1996, with "The" (ENGLISH PATIENT). based on the novel by michael ondaatje, which i'm told is quite good.


• 7d: Best Picture of 1971, with "The" (FRENCH CONNECTION). the french lieutenant's woman wouldn't fit, it's from the wrong year, and it didn't win best picture.


• 19d: Best Picture of 1999 (AMERICAN BEAUTY). i've actually seen this one, which is saying something. (i don't normally watch movies.) not only that, i loved it. it's my second-favorite movie ever. so a big thumbs-up here.

a nice, tight, little theme. this is the second consecutive oscar-themed puzzle, and i read yesterday (on a crossword blog—where else would i have heard it?) that it's oscar week. does that mean we're in for a whole week of these? i hope not, but it's not nearly as depressing as the thought that we only have another week and a half's worth of sun puzzles at all.

it's also the second consecutive 15x16 puzzle, to accommodate the 16-letter FRENCH CONNECTION. but this one was symmetric.

Sunny Spots:

• 21d: Poles on the equator, maybe? (EXPATS). this clue made me smile. just brilliant! indeed, the equator does not pass through poland.

Sundries:

• 16a: Hollywood agent Emanuel whose brother Rahm is the White House chief of staff (ARI). somebody told me this factoid a few months ago. i can no longer remember who. but this might have beaten the ENC clue from last week for the "largest clue length/answer length ratio" record.


• 17a: Goes on a bender (BINGES). booze tag, i guess.


• 18a: One who makes fancy invitations, maybe (ENGRAVER). i wouldn't have minded an albrecht dürer clue here.


• 26a: Title for some dignitaries (EXCELLENCY). i think if you're good enough at whatever it is you do, you should get to be called "your EXCELLENCY." peter gordon, for instance, should have this title.


• 28a: "Exodus" novelist (URIS). neither this clue, nor 34d: Contemporary of Moses (KAREEM), has anything to do with the old testament.


• 31a: With 50-Across, investor's option (ROTH/IRA). nice to see the whole thing in here. it's almost always just IRA.


• 33a: Punches up, as punch (SPIKES). good clue. booze tag x2.


• 42a: Order from a bar regular, with "the" (USUAL). souse it up! i'm going to be three sheets to the wind by the time i'm done blogging this puzzle.


• 44a: "Hardcore troubadour" Steve (EARLE). learned this name from crosswords. he's some kind of country rocker. i prefer baseball hall-of-famer EARLE combs myself.


• 53a: Host of the 1980 Winter Olympics (LAKE PLACID). also some kind of 3rd-rate horror movie from the recent past, i think.


• 59a: Mathematical minima and maxima (EXTREMA). this was a very X-ful puzzle.


• 63a: Device for making grooves in wood (ROUTER). this clue is so last millennium.


• 70a: Hoover or Roosevelt, e.g. (DAM). i had DEM here for a second, even though i've seen this exact clue somewhere else in the past week.


• 2d: News agcy. owned by the Unification Church (UPI). i did not know that. is this common knowledge?


• 3d: Hall of Fame quarterback Dawson (LEN). i've been seeing this guy's name a lot recently, for no really good reason. he was the MVP of super bowl IV, just in case you ever find yourself doing this sporcle quiz.


• 5d: Copped thing (PLEA). i so wanted this to be FEEL.


• 8d: Strong-legged Armstrong (LANCE). okay, cute clue, though i bet his arms are also a lot stronger than mine.


• 24d: Fire up (AROUSE). such restraint shown in the cluing here. no sexual innuendo to be found.


• 40d: Snake-oil salesman's offering (ELIXIR). good word, fun clue.


• 46d: Sierra Nevada offering (PALE ALE). good grief. i'm cutting you off, mister!



• 48d: "10" star (BO DEREK). this was not a best picture winner.


• 54d: Viking rival (AMANA). apparently viking makes appliances. i was definitely looking for a football team here.


• 56d: Members of a firing squad? (AXMEN). i don't think i've heard this term used to describe wielders of metaphorical axes, only literal ones.

Suns of Bitches:

none, surprisingly. this was my fastest tuesday solve in quite some time.

overall, a nice puzzle and a very smooth grid. i don't recognize the constructor's name. if this is a debut, then congratulations to jerzy whitmore. (edited to add: it's not a debut. jerzy whitmore is actually experienced constructor jeremy horwitz in anagrammatic disguise. thanks to orange for the tip-off.)

see you next week.

joon

Monday, November 10, 2008

Title: Season Tickets
Author: Jeremy Horwitz
Theme: Movie titles with seasons in them.

• 20a: 2000 Liev Schreiber film (SPRING FORWARD).


• 28a: 1987 Mark Harmon film (SUMMER SCHOOL).


• 49a: 1978 Ingrid Bergman film (AUTUMN SONATA).


• 59a: 2004 Zooey Deschanel film (WINTER PASSING).

I don't know any of these films, which prevents me from loving the theme but not from liking it. They're all reasonable titles and eminently gettable, so I have no real complaints. It's just unusual for me to have a four-movie theme for which I know none of the four films.

The rest:

• 5a: Easy thing to hit the broadside of (BARN). I like this clue, as it makes use of a colorful expression.



• 9a: Lake by the Ponderosa Ranch (TAHOE).


• 14a: Burn balm (ALOE).


• 18a: Name in Al Hirschfeld drawings (NINA). Didn't know this, but NINA is certainly a name, so it fits fine.


• 33a: "Monty Python's Flying Circus" network (BBC). Name a British network.


• 40a: Flip one's lid (GO APE). Didn't we just have this last week? I'm sure of it, because I commented on how I've never actually seen apes go ape. They always seem pretty reserved to me.


• 54a: TV network formerly known as Pax (ION). Never heard of either one.


• 64a: Synfuel source (SHALE).


• 66a: One who observes (EYER). Yuck. I've opined before about my distaste for forced -ER words.


• 70a: Carmela Soprano portrayer Falco (EDIE). A crossword staple.



• 72a: "Put a tiger in your tank" sloganeer (ESSO).


• 73a: Basketball team owned in part by Jay-Z (NETS). I learned this from crosswords.


• 2d: Bond on the run (ELOPE). Cute. I'm pretty convinced that ELOPE has, on average, the coolest clues of any other word.


• 3d: Simba's sounds (ROARS). Simba of "The Lion King".


• 5d: Bob's costar in the "Road" pictures (BING). Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.



• 9d: Basic ingredient? (TOBACCO). Basic is a brand of cigarettes. I didn't get this right away.


• 26d: Like a bad cat burglar (NOISY). Great clue.


• 27d: Famous spokescow (ELSIE). I just love the word spokescow.


• 29d: Ryan of "Sleepless in Seattle" (MEG). I find Meg Ryan attractive in a girl-next-door way. She's just cute all over.


• 30d: He married him in 1930 (MAO). Very tricky clue for a Monday. He Zizhen was Mao Tse-tung's third wife.


• 33d: Joy of "The View" (BEHAR). I should know this, but I needed crossings.



• 35d: Shipwreck survivors (CASTAWAYS). "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale..."


• 39d: "Search for Tomorrow" character Bergman (STU). I can name exactly three soap opera characters by first name: Erica, Luke, and Laura. That's it. If it's not one of those, then I'm guessing.


• 57d: Language whose name means "people" (INUIT). I had I_UIT before I even saw the clue, so it wasn't much of a challenge.

A fine, uneventful Monday. Not much else to add.

Thanks for listening.

- Pete M.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Title: Reading for a Bit Part
Author: Jeremy Horwitz
Theme: Films based on books in which the book's author makes a cameo appearance

• 18a: 1989 film in which author Stephen King plays a minister (PET SEMATARY).


• 36a: 1999 film in which author John Irving plays a stationmaster, with "The" (CIDER HOUSE RULES).


• 59a: 1996 film in which author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. plays a sad man on the street (MOTHER NIGHT).

This is the kind of interesting trivia that makes for a cool theme. I don't remember the film "Mother Night", but it stars Nick Nolte and gets reasonable reviews on IMDb.

Sunny Spots:

• 1d: Moot (ACADEMIC). I just love the word "moot". Reminds me of a great SNL skit with Jesse Jackson, "The Question is Moot". It may take a couple of minutes to download, but it's worth it.



• 43a: North America's highest mountain (DENALI).


• 2d: Squid (CALAMARI). Nice pair of words ending in "I".


• 39d: Blobby light source (LAVA LAMP).

Sundries:

• 9a: Paddles, maybe (HAZES). "Thank you, sir, may I have another."



• 17a: Singer/actress Lohan (ALI). Lindsay's little sister.


• 22a: Outcast (EXILED). Adds a little Scrabbliness to the NE corner.


• 23a: Arabic for "commander" (EMIR).


• 27a: Snow or blow (COKE). It's been a couple of days since we've had a good drug reference clue. Well, wait no longer.


• 28a: Woman in charge of a bordello (MADAM).


• 30a: "The Pagan Stone" author Roberts (NORA).


• 31a: Phone button (STAR). I had OPER to start. Actually, that's not entirely true. I had MUTE, then OPER.


• 32a: Tabriz residents (IRANIS).


• 34a: Word with feet or shoulder (COLD).


• 48a: Heart of the matter (PITH). Literally.


• 51a: Loco (BATS). I'm sure I'm not the only one who tried NUTS first.


• 55a: Medium relative (ORACLE).


• 57a: Automobile pioneer Gottlieb (DAIMLER).


• 63a: Holiday music (BLUES). I was fooled, going with NOELS. But no, it's the sultry and awesome Billie Holiday.




• 3d: Port-of-Spain setting (TRINIDAD).


• 4d: Hitchcock's first color film (ROPE).


• 5d: Former "At the Movies" cohost (EBERT).


• 7d: Stubborn sort (ASS).


• 8d: Confederate commander at Gettysburg (LEE). Yesterday featured ASS and MEADE; today we ge ASS and LEE. Go figure.


• 10d: Tomfoolery (ANTICS).


• 11d: Big fan (ZEALOT). Part of the Scrabbly NE.


• 12d: Cry of discovery (EUREKA).



• 13d: James Dean's infamous Porsche (SPYDER). Infamous because he died in it, in a head-on collision.


• 19d: Got the gold, e.g. (MEDALED).


• 21d: Grammer part (CRANE). I was little slow on the uptake on this one. The references are to Kelsey Grammer, who played Frasier Crane.


• 25d: One of the Ten Plagues (LOCUSTS).



• 29d: Joan of art (MIRO). Cool clue. Cool artist.


• 38d: Take a piece from (UNARM). We just had a piece twist yesterday, so this one wasn't quite as fresh as it might have been.


• 40d: Steel anniversary (ELEVENTH).


• 44d: Fission gear? (A-BOMBS). That's pussion it a bit, don't you think?


• 45d: Sentence abbreviator (PAROLE).


• 46d: Square figure (STATUE). Good one.



• 47d: "Hand With Reflecting Sphere" artist (ESCHER). Gimme for me. I love Escher's work.


• 49d: Limited financial risk (HEDGED).


• 53d: 1986 Indy 500 champ Bobby (RAHAL). I know almost nothing about auto racing and I know this name, so it must be pretty easy.


• 60d: Point of writing (NIB). The writing tip of a pen.


• 61d: Nancy's role on "Rhoda" (IDA). I didn't know it off the top, but it felt right when I got it.

Suns of Bitches:

Surprisingly, none.

This was a decent Wednesday puzzle for me. Not spectacular, but decent. On the minus side, I'm not crazy about starting off with 3-letter across fill. The NW corner kind of sets the mood for the puzzle, so I prefer a little more flash in that area and in the across clues in general. On the plus side, the down fill was quite good. And, at 72 words, it's getting down into themeless territory for word count, which is a bonus for a mid-week themed puzzle. Add in the interesting theme, and you've got yourself a pretty nice puzzle.

Thanks for listening.

- Pete M.