Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

I foolishly launched the applet before telling it to “enlarge the grid.” I’m not exactly sure why the applet isn’t designed to automatically enlarge the grid for Sunday… Or maybe it is, and I’ve never dared try? Regardless, by the time the enlarged grid showed up, I was already in at 0:41. So I’m calling my no-Google time at 17:50, and enjoying my work.

One of the problems with solving some Sunday puzzles in the applet is that there’s no good way to quick-glance the clue list for an explanation. In this puzzle, there were seven circled letters (another delay for me was trying to figure out how to read “the notepad” from the applet… Had to launch a separate window with Across Lite to find that info). According to the notepad:

When this puzzle is done, the seven circles will contain the letters from A to G. Starting with A, connect them alphabetically with one continuous line, and you’ll get an image of a 39-Across.

Clearly that wasn’t going to happen on the applet either. And the long answers were clued only with years and stars, so I was a little lost at the outset. Now, I’m no Howard Barkin (knower of all things), but I think I might have come in under fifteen minutes if I hadn’t wasted time enlarging the grid, trying to find the notepad, trying to launch Across Lite, or been unable to scan the clue list… Next week — no applet for Sunday. Bah, applet!

Not bah, at all, this puzzle by Elizabeth C. Gorski. What a marvelous puzzle, what lovely construction. Nice work, Ms. Gorski. Thank you! Despite the applet, I enjoyed this little gem, the theme of which is clued at 72D. Bond common to the answers to the six starred clues (JAMES). The theme, apparently, Special Agent 007. Those starred clues were years and ranges of years… Once the first one became apparent, the rest were easy:

• 3D. 1962-67; 1971 : SEAN CONNERY — What happened to 1983’s Never Say Never Again? Connery is the definitive James Bond, in my opinion, despite his Bondian career existing almost exclusively before I was born. I also love Connery’s voice, and try (from time to time) to do an imitation of it, saying ridiculous things. I know I’m not alone in that game, but I’m also not a television or radio star, so no one has heard it. Perhaps on the next blog… But only if Ryan improves his Jack Nicholson efforts.
• 23A. 1969 : GEORGE LAZENBY — Never saw any of his movies, Bond or otherwise. I have only heard that he was a poor choice.
• 48A. 1973-1985 : ROGER MOORE — Moore seemed to fit his time (the 1970s and early 1980s), if not the character of the movies themselves. I don’t really think much of the efforts toward “dashing” or “suave” or anything like that from the 1970s. Such big hair, such strange fashion — the free love years certainly made Bond’s life easier, but in retrospect, I think those movies may have hurt his reputation.
• 68A. 1987-1989 : TIMOTHY DALTON – This was the 1980s effort at getting away from the aging Roger Moore image. Didn’t really work, as far as I could see. Dalton was about as suave as an uncooked side of bacon.
• 115A. 1995-2002 : PIERCE BROSNAN – Finally, the franchise got a reliable new face, and the first lady-killer of the bunch since Connery. Brosnan was born to be James Bond, despite his earlier successes on television and in film. Even his real name, “Pierce Brosnan” sounds like it could be a secret British agent. Hmm… I wonder if he is…
• 71D. 2006- : DANIEL CRAIG — I saw Casino Royale recently, and nearly fell asleep. I like Daniel Craig, but he needs to stop smirking and clenching his teeth together and actually do something. Pretty eyes, I’m sure, but I need more before I can get excited for the next movie.

And the two other related clues:

• 39A. [See instructions in notepad] : MARTINI – No references in the grid to how Bond liked to take his drink, unless you go with 19D. Shakes up (AGITATED) as a stretch. I never bothered to figure out the A-B-C-D-E-F-G thing, although now that I look at it, of course it connects-the-dots its way to the shape of a martini glass.
• 90A. Writer born May 28, 1908 : IAN FLEMING – That he also wrote “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” astounds me.

The rest of the grid had fairly general fill, but no need to get splashy with the eight theme answers (nine, if you count JAMES) — and the theme answers were more or less in chronological order within the grid (the possible exception being Daniel Craig, whose name only ends after Pierce Brosnan’s).

I still don’t know if Ryan and I are going to try and podcast long-distance tomorrow or Monday. We’ll certainly tell all four of you that read this blog, and then we’ll see what happens next.