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, January 20, 2009

Title: Attention to Details
Author: Patrick Blindauer
Theme: Wordplay theme in which D is added to the end of two-word phrases

• 17a: Site of a hospital auction? (BIDDING WARD).


• 28a: Gradual curve in the road? (GENTLE BEND). my favorite of the theme answers. nice base phrase, and a good clue-answer pairing for the modified version.


• 48a: Perform some physical therapy? (MUSCLE MEND).


• 61a: Tiny greeting from Hallmark? (COMPACT CARD).


• 11d: Work for the military police? (BASE TEND).


• 38d: Group that plays during finals week? (TEST BAND).

not the world's most exciting theme, but well-executed with six rock-solid theme answers. the only thing i didn't like about it was having the two vertical entries which weren't longer than the other down answers—indeed, they're each in 3x8 stacks. the stacks are nice, but i actually had some difficulty determining that they were part of the theme, especially since the puzzle is fairly loaded with ? clues in the fill.

i was kind of expecting this puzzle to have something to do with the inauguration, but maybe that's because i expect everything to have something to do with the inauguration. i can't remember an inauguration this anticipated.

Sunny Spots:

• 34d: Plant tissue (XYLEM). i've always loved this word. i mean... it starts with X, and then goes later in the alphabet from there. good stuff. it gets much more crossword play than its counterpart, PHLOEM.

Sundries:

• 1a: What some people do to enter united states? (ELOPE). okay, that's a tortured clue. i did figure it out, and almost smiled. i think i'll give it the "clever but tortured" tag.


• 6a: Storybook elephant (BABAR). also a major particle physics experiment at SLAC.


• 14a: 2008 French Open and Wimbledon champ (NADAL). NADAL is great, but i was pretty bummed that he took out roger federer at wimbledon. but it was the greatest tennis match i've ever seen, so there's that consolation.


• 15a: Hoopster Danny (AINGE). he's now the GM of the boston celtics.


• 16a: Ex of Mickey, Artie, and Frank (AVA gardner). i don't know who any of those guys are, but i recognize this clue from having seen it in many forms before.


• 19a: Where to find a father-to-be: Abbr. (SEM). seminary. tricky clue. it seems cruel to combine misdirection with a not-very-common abbreviation on a tuesday.


• 22a: Caterpillar competitor (DEERE). i guess caterpillar makes farm equipment? or maybe lawnmowers?


• 24a: 1970 John Wayne film (RIO LOBO). there are at least three RIO ___ john wayne movies. i needed the B to figure the rest of this one out.


• 27a: ___ Beach, South Carolina (MYRTLE). i've been there, and yet i didn't get this even after i had MYR_L_. why? because i was misreading it as "southern california." duh.


• 33a: Novartis product (GAS-X). wasn't this one of the central answers in PB2's "big ten" friday puzzle from last october? i liked that one a lot.


• 35a: "Winter of Artifice" writer (anais NIN). not a work i'm familiar with, but there are only so many ways to clue NIN.


• 40a: Blah? (YADDA). in the sense that YADDA YADDA YADDA is roughly synonymous with "blah blah blah." this is a stretch, but i guess with the ? it's okay.


• 46a: Comic strip character who loves Dick (TESS). that's TESS trueheart and dick tracy, but this clue is definitely getting the "sexual innuendo" tag.


• 57a: "It's ___ real!" (BEEN). i liked this a lot: it's a fun way of cluing a boring word.


• 66a: Dry (UNWET). yuck.


• 68a: With 69-Across, Valentine's Day gift (RED/ROSES). don't get me started.


• 1d: Sportscaster with the catchphrase "Oh, my!" (dick ENBERG). i got this instantly, but is it really a catchphrase? it's so... uncatchy. ENBERG is perfectly inoffensive, but he's not exactly memorable.


• 2d: Actress Kazan (LAINIE). no relation to director elia. i think.


• 3d: Like some favorites (ODDS-ON). not sure i've ever seen this fill. it looks like ODD SON in the grid.


• 5d: Member of the Whiffenpoofs (ELI). the poofs are yale's premier all-male a cappella group. i wish i didn't know that, but i do.


• 6d: Bug planter's break-in (BAG JOB). i didn't know whether to sort this into "sunny spots" or "suns of bitches," so i split the difference. cool-looking phrase, but i've never heard of it.


• 9d: The A of A&M (AGR). yuck.


• 13d: Cross-dressing star of "The Royal Tour" on Broadway (DAME EDNA). the clue says "star," but apparently she's a fictional character. i did not know that.


• 18d: Prize that Sartre declined (NOBEL). i wonder if sartre gets jealous that his lover NIN is in crosswords so much more often than he is. i mean, she never did anything as cool as declining the NOBEL prize.


• 25d: About 9.46 trillion km (LTYR). i still hate this answer. the standard way of abbreviating "light-year" is just ly. at the very least, it should get a "Var." tag.


• 41d: Many people bank on them (ATMS). i've noticed that when the clue refers to the answer using a pronoun ("it" or "them") and contains a figure of speech, it's usually supposed to be interpreted literally rather than figuratively.


• 45d: His epitaph says "That's all folks" (mel BLANC). the guy who voiced bugs bunny, among thousands of other characters. interesting trivia.


• 52d: "Annus Mirabilis" poet (john DRYDEN). the "annus mirabilis" is 1666, the year of the great london fire. i'm not sure why they thought that year was so great.


• 62d: Gibraltar bride of 1969 (yoko ONO). i had no idea. gibraltar? really?

Suns of Bitches:

• 43a: "American ___" (Benjamin Nugent book) (NERD). i can't imagine a less helpful clue. there's probably a book called american ___ that i've never heard of for any value of ___.


• 26d: Mrs. ___ of Folgers fame (OLSON). not enough fame, if you ask me, but i've been known not to recognize characters from decades-old commercials. just ask madge, who's soaking in it.


• 39d: "___ Calling" (short-lived Fox series) (TRU). i had trouble with the T here, because the crossing 39a: Glover's specialty (TAP) wasn't doing me any favors. is that danny glover? gary glover? i'm guessing no, but i don't know who it is.

nice puzzle for a tuesday. it's not one of the PB2 outside-the-box specials, but a well-executed puzzle and an enjoyable solve nonetheless.

joon

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Title: The Oys of Yiddish
Author: Ogden Porter (Peter Gordon)
Theme: Wordplay theme in which a word gets an initial S changed to SCH phonetically, sometimes with a spelling change

• 17a: Slovenly hitters? (BATTING SCHLUMPS). i don't think i'm familiar with the word SCHLUMP, although at least it looks like what it sounds like. no "toches" here.


• 35a: Set of ads for cream cheese? (SCHMEAR CAMPAIGN).


• 58a: Carried? (SCHLEPPED AROUND). that does it—i'm adding the sexual innuendo tag. its time has come.

okay, the theme was fine. with a wordplay puzzle with only three theme answers, you can often nitpick about consistency; why does the modified word come first in only two of the three answers? why is there a spelling change in only one answer? etc. but i won't. still, it did seem odd that SCHLEPPED AROUND seems like an actual phrase that somebody might say. in fact, it seems like something i've said.

Sunny Spots:

• 16a: Frisbee maker (WHAM-O). i miss college.


• 42a: "None for me, thanks" ("I'M GOOD"). oh, he's pretty good all right.


• 38d: It's big in a May-December relationship (AGE GAP). my first thought: SUMMER?

Sundries:

• 1a: Make sound (MEND). tough clue right off the bat. this puzzle wasn't as much of a killer as last tuesday's, but it still took me a good long while, slightly longer than most wednesdays. i like this clue, though. even after i had MEN_ i couldn't figure it out.


• 14a: ___ Fun Barbie (1997 doll) (OREO). okay, that's a new OREO clue for me. really? OREO fun barbie?


• 20a: Subsidiary of Hallmark (CRAYOLA). so that you can send greeting cards in crayon.


• 22a: Body of water enclosed by an atoll (LAGOON). this word always reminds me of the scene in a buffy episode from season 2 where willow compares a fish-like monster to the "creature from the blue lagoon." xander corrects her, pointing out, "black lagoon. the creature from the blue lagoon was brooke shields."


• 31a: Wide receiver Welker (WES). did somebody say scrappy?


• 68a: ___ Star (brand of beer) (LONE). i'm sure it is. luckily, LONE star is also lots of other things, including a big old state in the south.


• 3d: Make after expenses (NET). i find it clever that this is next to 4d: Online biz (DOT COM), even though peter gordon doesn't like to cross-reference clues if he can help it.


• 11d: Lincoln's first vice president (hannibal HAMLIN). this guy was just in a theme clue for last thursday's NYT puzzle. i think he hails from paris, maine.


• 34d: "My Two ___" (Paul Reiser sitcom) (DADS). would you believe i also know this from the NYT crossword puzzle? months ago, greg EVIGAN (the other DAD of the title) was the answer to a clue, i think in a tuesday puzzle.


• 40d: With 36-Down, source of great wealth (GOLD/MINE). i wanted this to be CASH/COW, but GOLD MINE is a nice expression too.


• 46d: Two-time Wimbledon winner Gibson (ALTHEA). first black woman to win wimbledon, i think. but she wasn't the addressee of richard lovelace's poem "to ALTHEA from prison," which contains the lines "Stone walls do not a prison make / Nor iron bars a cage."


• 57d: Score after six faults and four aces to start a match (AD IN). and also, the player returning serve is probably really bored by now. i bet ALTHEA gibson didn't serve like that.


• 59d: Two-fifteenths of CCCXC (LII). i did this one by estimation since i already had _II from crosses when i read the clue. one fifteenth of 300 is 20, so this one is somewhat more than 40. in this case, 2/15 of 390 is 52.

Suns of Bitches:

• 23d: Secret agent Leamas in "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" (ALEC). ha. not happening.


• 60d: One million chiliads (EON). chiliads, you say? apparently this is an old (and fancy!) word for 1000 years. that's the thing about peter gordon—he's so obsessed with new clues for common words that you end up with obscurity like this in the same puzzle as clues such as 10d: Day after Wed. and 12d: ___ State Building (Manhattan skyscraper). i gotta say, it's a bit jarring.

other than the clue difficulty going all over the map, this was a pretty enjoyable puzzle. see you next time.

joon