Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

Solid, fun Tuesday puzzle by Lynn Lempel with the theme of “Phrases That Become Other Phrases You’ve Never Heard Before When You Add an N after the First S You Come Across When Reading the Phrase From Left to Right”.

18A. Competitive noshers’ event? (SNACKRACE).  A quote from Richard Shea of Major League Eating: “Gas is approaching $5 a gallon, tomatoes are unsafe to eat, but the Mustard Yellow Belt is on American soil. Joey Chestnut is an agent of change”.

23A. One cured of a sleep disorder? (SNORELOSER)

35A. Sarcastic comment? (SNIDELINE)

48A. Brushoff from the Ottomans? (TURKEYSNUB)

53A. Terrible-twos tantrums? (BABYSNITS)

I had a bit of trouble with the top left corner because of two wrong answers I typed in confidently.

3D. Speaker’s art (ORATORY).  I put ORATION which I think also makes sense.

4D. Cold and raw (WINTRY).  I put WINTER which doesn’t really make sense.

Those two errors cost me some time.  Speaking of time, I am not getting any faster whatsoever.  I do 4 or 5 dailies everyday and try to go as fast as I can but rarely break 5 minutes.  And I think the only puzzles I do break 5 minutes on are the Newsday puzzles which tend to be the easiest of the bunch.  When I’m doing a NYT Monday or Tuesday I look at the timer once I’ve got the top portion done and I’m usually already over 2 minutes.  I just can’t imagine coming close to finishing a 15×15 grid in that amount of time.  Not that speed is all that important and I don’t think I’ll be competing for any division titles in next year’s ACPT but just once I’d like to finish a NYT puzzle in under 3 minutes.

26A. Cyberjunk (SPAM).  Did you have the gmail?  Ever notice when you go into your spam folder there’s always an add/link at the top of the page for some Spam recipe?  Today mine has Spam Primavera.  I have to say, Spam is actually pretty tasty.

61A. Low-tech office recorder (STENO).  My favorite clue in the puzzle.  Of course, one might argue there is nothing more technologically advanced than a human being.

63A. Bassoonists’ buys (REEDS).  Bassoonists are Brian’s favorite type of musicians.

1D. Apple on a desk (MAC).  We have a Mac and a PC.  The PC is old and slow.  The Mac is a Mac.  I don’t know, I want to like the Mac.  All the cool kids like the Mac.  But I just don’t.  When I’m typing something on the PC and I press the End key, the cursor goes to the end of the line.  On the Mac the pressing of the End key makes the whole page scroll down and puts my cursor in an alternate universe.  Things should just work the way they should work and that’s how they should work.

Lollapuzzoola 2008 is full speed ahead.  We have some great constructors making some puzzles for us and we’ll reveal the final list on the next podcast.  Does anybody have a favorite snack item they’d like to see there?  Perhaps something that aids in puzzle solving?  Like peanut butter cups.

Next stop, Wednesday.

First off, I should tell you all my no-google streak is over. Barry C. Silk’s Sunday puzzle was the crusher. The puzzle had what I call a Nexus of Ryan’s Ignorance with the crossings of SPOOR, SKIRR and OBOLS. I knew none of these words. I still know none of these words. Oh, well. 13 in a row including 2 Fridays and 2 Saturdays isn’t too bad. Plus, Barry has generously offered to construct a puzzle for us for Lollapuzzoola ‘08 (registration now open).

Today’s Gilbert H. Ludwig offering was lots of fun with a theme of “Women, Their Relationship with Men and Why They’re Smiling About It”.

20A. 1934 title role for Ginger Rogers (THEGAYDIVORCEE)

35A. 1934 title role for Jeanette MacDonald (THEMERRYWIDOW)

51A. 1975 title role for Lynn Redgrave (THEHAPPYHOOKER). I’m not sure if anybody else noticed this but the word “hooker” appears in today’s New York Times crossword puzzle. No, seriously. It’s in the answer for 51 across.

Other clues that caught my eye:

23A. 8 1/2″ x 14″ paper size (LEGAL). For those of you who don’t know, I have a mind-numbing, soul-sucking job at a law firm. I have been there for over 6 months and have yet to print a single thing on legal-sized paper.

22D. Defeat by a stroke? (OUTSWIM). Nice misdirection here. Thought this was about golf.

39A. Emperor killed on the Ides of March (CAESAR). Here’s the famous scene as it appeared in the 1623 Folio.

Sooth. Beware the Ides of March.

Caes. What man is that?

Br. A Sooth-sayer bids you beware the Ides of March

Caes. Set him before me, let me see his face.

Cassi. Fellow, come from the throng, look vpon Caesar.

Caes. What sayst thou to me now? Speak once againe:

Sooth. Beware the Ides of March.

Caes. He is a Dreamer, let vs leaue him: Passe.

17A. Rev. ___ (Bible ver.) (STD). Somebody’s going to have to explain this one to me.

50A. Slow, in music (LENTO). Is there some sort of list out there for these musical terms. Every time I see one it seems like the very first time I’m seeing it.

28A. Song that begins “My country, ’tis of thee” (AMERICA). It took me way too long to come up with the answer to this one.

49A. Like pantyhose (SHEER). Shouldn’t this be, Like some pantyhose? Or is all pantyhose sheer? Or should I just stop talking about pantyhose?

On a non-crossword related topic, has anybody seen the incredibly disturbing movie Funny Games? It’s by the director of Caché. We watched it last night, really enjoyed it and spent quite a while discussing what the ultimate message of the movie was. I’d love anybody else’s perspective.

Next stop, Tuesday.

Once again it’s way too late and I haven’t solved the puzzle. I have most of this Barry C. Silk offering but a few choice clues continue to stump me. I’m not ready to give up on my no-google streak yet but it’s not looking good.

The theme is ACROSS THE BOARD and the theme answers have circled letters that spell out the names of chess pieces. Keep in mind, I haven’t checked these answers yet so they may be wrong.

22A. November 5, in Britain (GUYFAWKESNIGHT). KNIGHT is hidden in there or as I call it, the horsey guy.

29A. Wild sheep of the western United States (ROCKYMOUNTAINBIGHORN). KING.

44A. Best actor of 1991 (SIRANTHONYHOPKINS). For Silence of the Lambs. ROOK.

59A. It’s quite different from the high-school variety (PROFESSIONALWRESTLING). PAWN.

77A. Viking, for one (PUBLISHINGCOMPANY). BISHOP.

91A. Army supply officer (QUARTERMASTERGENERAL). QUEEN.

102A. Egg roll topping, perhaps (CHINESEMUSTARD). CHESS. This is a weird clue. I’ve never had an egg roll topped with Chinese mustard. I always dip egg rolls into Chinese mustard.

Ok, here’s what I don’t have yet.

20A. Injustice (RA__EA_). What is this? The crosses are 8D. Natural bristle (A_N), 9D. Year that Michelangelo began work on “David” (M_I), 12D. Illinois city, site of the last Lincoln-Douglas debate (A_TON). Could that be Alton? Akton? No clue.

56A. Trail to follow (SP_O_). Spool? Sprol? Spoon? The crosses are no help. 47D. Ancient Greek coins (OB_LS). OBALS? 43D. Go rapidly (SKI_R). I may have something wrong here. The only word that I know of that fits is SKIER and that doesn’t make sense with the clue.

67A. Eurasian ducks (_MEWS). Smews? I didn’t even know there were Eurasian ducks.

62D. Capri, e.g., to a Capriote (I_OLO). I figure this is a foreign word that means homeland or home or something of that nature.

I have everything else. So I’m going to have a nice sleep, wake up, sit back down here and everything should become crystal clear. Hopefully, I’ll update this post at some point with the report of my latest no-google.

In the meantime, did I mention registration is open for Lollapuzzoola 2008?

Next stop, Monday.

This post will be much like last Saturday’s post. I’m still in the midst of solving this Todd McClary puzzle and the time has come for me to go to bed. I’m not ready to give in to google so I’ll discuss what I have so far. Please keep in mind, I realize all of these answers may be incorrect.

I have bits of all 4 corners. In the top left:

1A. Thrill (BLOWAWAY). Possibly correct. I have some crosses that seem to work. 4D. Disguise part (WIG). I can’t think of any other 3 letter disguise part. 6D. Make tired (WEAR). Total guess. 7D. Rosa damascena product (ATTAR). Another guess. Not surprisingly, I have no clue what rosa damascena is. Is it a person? A flower? A pasta sauce? But it might have something to do with roses and my crossword memory reminds me that ATTAR also is rose-related. So there you go. Welcome to my process.

In the top right:

16A. Avoid extinction, say (ADAPT). If this isn’t the answer, well, it should be.

13D. Game with 40 pieces per side (STRATEGO). Maybe? Never played Stratego but it fits.

22A. ___ sequence (INA). Seems a little easy for a Saturday.

In the bottom left:

36D. Arcade star of the ’80s (MSPACMAN). One of the few I’m fairly certain of. And the crosses seem to work. 50A. “AC360°” channel (CNN). I’ve never seen this show but Anderson Cooper strikes me as ridiculous. 54A. Its logo features a globe on a table (MENSA). I bet Mensa people got this right away. But I suppose Mensa people solved the whole puzzle right away. 59A. Stretches (AREAS). Seems good to me. 61A. Pole position? (NORTH). 44D. Drug store? (STASH).

And in the bottom right:

46A. Owner of the Flickr Web site (YAHOO). This is first one I entered.

47D. One-stanza poem (HAIKU). Second one I entered. Got these both in a matter of seconds and thought I was off to the races. Not so much.

48D. Exposed (OUTED).

62A. Navigation figure (LATITUDE)

And that’s about it. I’ve got a long way to go on this one and my no-google streak is in serious jeopardy. A couple partials:

60A. Snowy locale of song (_____OKE__). This one is driving me nuts. I have a feeling it’s totally obvious but I sure can’t think of it.

12D. Debate format (OPEN_____). OPENFORUM? OPENENDED?

Feel free to give away the answers in the comments. I won’t be checking them until I’ve finished the puzzle. And, this will probably be a daily thing, but I want to remind everybody that registration is open for Lollapuzzoola 2008. Click this link or the button on the left side of the page. I encourage you to sign up early because, quite frankly, it will help us out a great deal to get an idea of how many people will be attending. Thanks a bunch and I hope to see you there.

Brian here, to tack on to Ryan’s post, to give away some answers, and to be generally cranky. Hey, it’s what I do.

I had the pleasure of no-Googling this grid, and found it marginally (and relatively) easier than Friday’s puzzle. Despite that, I thought many of the answers seemed to be words that were vaguely associated with the clues, but I really don’t understand several of them. That is — I don’t understand how some of these clues actually point to the answers.

• 2D. Jungle obstacle : LIANA – What? As far as I can tell, the obstacle of a jungle is the jungle itself. I will never find myself in a jungle thinking, “Oh, I would go through more of this jungle if only those lianas weren’t there.” No. I will stay far away from the jungles altogether. How crazy do you think I am? Also, that this crossed with 19A. Merkel of moviedom made the N a Trivia Box.
• 3D. Five-sided pods : OKRAS – First, isn’t OKRA the plural of OKRA? I thought it was one of those. And they’re pods? I thought they were like peppers… In fact, I thought they were roundishly irregular on the outside; I never noticed that they were five-sided.
• 44D. Drug store? : STASH – I know it has a question mark, which is the nice way to do just about anything you want with a clue. Nonetheless, I don’t like this pairing. Are we to imagine that this is a place to purchase narcotics? Then it’s not a stash. Is the place where you hide your narcotics? Well, then it would be “Drug storage?”, no? Or is it the act of hiding your narcotics, in which case the clue better reads “Store, like drugs.” I dismiss this clue with a wave of my left hand.
• 49D. Common daisy : OXEYE – I never remember this. On the other hand, every time I get that clue about a window (ORIEL being the answer), I want it to be OXEYE. I need to re-file these pages in my head and get OXEYE with the flowers and ORIEL with the windows.

That’s about it from me. There’s a small chance (maybe between 0% and 11%) that Ryan and I will find a way to podcast this weekend. And regardless, I hope to see you all at Lollapuzzoola 2008!

[Update: It's now 5:30 in the morning, I didn't go to sleep and I just no-googled the puzzle.  It's DNA sequence.  Make tired is WIND.  The snowy locale is OLD SMOKEY.  The debate format is OPEN FLOOR.  The two big answers crossing the middle of the grid are YOUCANTWINEMALL and METONESWATERLOO.  Great puzzle and my 13th no-google in a row.  Now, I must sleep.  Next stop, Sunday.]

Good god, this was a difficult Friday puzzle constructed by Mike Nothnagel, Penpal Extraordinaire and Constructor of the Friday Puzzle. Did I mention Mike will be constructing a puzzle for Lollapuzzoola ‘08, our puzzle fest here in New York City? Well, he will be and registration for the fest is open. Just click this link or the Pay Now button on the left side of this page. Only $10 for oodles of fun. Anyway, this puzzle was tough but not tough enough for me as I finished it off in a mere 3 hours 26 minutes and 1 second for my 12th no-google in a row. Didn’t look like it was going to happen for a while as the grid remained more than half empty for the first 2 hours. I even thought there might be rebus in there at one point. I had one error that took me about a half hour to find:

8A. Turndown? (DOGEAR). I had DEGEAR. As in going into a lower gear in a car or on a bike. I had never heard the term before but I don’t know much about cars or bikes so I thought it could be right. The cross was no help. 9D. Glaswegian “Gee!” (OCH). ECH looked just as right to me. I had to cycle through some vowels to finally get this to work. Even after I figured out it was an O I still couldn’t make sense of it. DO GEAR? DOGE AR? D OGEAR? Finally I parsed it correctly to get DOG EAR as in turning down the corner of a page in a book. Nice one, Mike.

1A. Music lovers flip for it (SIDETWO). I put SIDE BEE here first. I figured that was too cutesy to be in the puzzle.

14A. Way off (EXITRAMP). Had me fooled for a while. I was thinking along the lines of “way off the mark”.

17A. It helps you sleep at night (CIRCADIANRHYTHM). This one absolutely tied my brain into knots. I had most of the beginning with C_RC__ and I was convinced it was CIRCLE something. I hope my soul sucking job where I work overnight 3 times a week hasn’t completely screwed up my own circadian rhythms.

31A. Some dolls can do it (NEST). This one was so frustrating I almost threw my applet out the window. I knew it was going to start with an N and end with a T. This eventually had to be filled in with crosses and I remained confused until I thought of the Russian nesting dolls.

33A. Private modes of transportation? (JEEPS). Great clue. Nice aha moment when I figured it out.

38A. Chorus “instrument” in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” (ANVIL). Total guess on my part. I need to learn something about opera if I’m ever going to get better at these puzzles.

45A. Presidential portrait site? (WALLET). Here’s where I thought the rebus might be. I wanted this to be BILLFOLD with OLD all in one square. I was further convinced of this by 40A. Hard to find, in old 13-Down (RARA). That clue was in the center of the grid and had the word OLD. So I raced around to other parts of the grid to see where I could shove OLD. Didn’t really find any. I gave up on this notion after another 45 minutes or so.

56A. “Unfortunately …” (MUCHTOMYCHAGRIN). How do you even fit something like this into a grid? Crazy.

3D. Benedict of “The A-Team” (DIRK). Just last night I read a story in the Onion A.V. Club that mentioned Dirk. Someone else played Face in the pilot. Has anybody watched this show recently? Doesn’t hold up very well.

6D. Began energetically (WADEDIN). I have to say, this one doesn’t do it for me. Wading and energy don’t seem to go together.

10D. Inclusive, as some resorts (GAYFRIENDLY). Well done and perfectly worded.

12D. New York stadium name (ASHE). I suppose everybody already knows this but I think it’s very interesting. Shea Stadium is right next Ashe Stadium in Queens and both names are made up of the same letters. I think that’s a totally bizarre coincidence. Only get to enjoy it a little while longer as Shea Stadium (the worst stadium in which to watch a baseball game) will go the way of the dodo after the season.

22D. Person with a burning resentment? (FIREMARSHAL). Ok, I’ll admit it. I don’t get this. I understand the burning part but why does a fire marshal have resentment?

27D. “Diner” co-star, 1982 (KEVINBACON). This is a great, great movie. Even though it foisted Steve Guttenberg onto an innocent viewing public. My favorite scene is Mickey Rourke and the popcorn box. Another great movie and part of Levinson’s Baltimore movies is Tin Men with Danny Devito and Richard Dreyfuss. Wonderful performances by those two. Oddly enough, Richard Dreyfuss was also in the SciFi Channel miniseries Tin Man about, well, the Tin Man. Didn’t see that. I’d rent it on DVD except it has Zooey Deschanel in it. Ms. Deschanel was in two of my worst movie experiences in recent memory, The Happening (or, the Crappening) and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The Happening was just bad and a total waste of time and money. However, Hitchhiker’s took my favorite book ever, stripped everything marvelous out and left me with a loud, grating, insult of a movie. Bleh. But, Diner. Diner’s good. Go watch it.

46D. Force commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia (ARMADA). News to me. This guy sounds Italian. Ok, just did some research. Medina Sidonia is in Southern Spain and possibly the oldest city in Europe. The Duke’s real name was Alonso de Guzmán El Bueno.  Now that sounds Spanish.

57D. “I didn’t need to know that,” informally (TMI).  This is great.  Up until now this has been clued in the Times as some variation on “nuclear accident site”.

Another great Friday puzzle by Mike Nothnagel.

Next stop, Saturday.

Great puzzle by Elizabeth A. Long and my 11th no-google in a row. When will the streak end? I’m guessing tomorrow. But until then you may consider me brilliant.

The theme came pretty quickly to me.

42D. Quits misbehaving … or a literal hint to 4-, 9-, 13-, 49- and 57-Down (SHAPESUP). I figured out the theme before I found this clue mostly because there was a recent puzzle somewhere called Rock Climbing where different rocks were spelled upwards. So I had that on the brain.

4D. Percussion instrument in an orchestra (ELGNAIRT). El Gnairt. Great name for a drummer.

9D. Coterie (ELCRIC). El Cric. Great name for a coterie.

13D. Headliner (RATS)

49D. Unhip person (ERAUQS)

57D. Racetrack (LAVO)

Other clues that caught my eye:

5A. Starr of the Old West (BELLE). I’d never heard of this Bandit Queen.  Jane Russell played her in the undoubtedly wildly inaccurate Montana Belle.

10A. Boom (SPAR). According to thefreedictionary: A wooden or metal pole, such as a boom, yard, or bowsprit, used to support sails and rigging. I’ve got to learn these things if I’m ever going to achieve my lifelong goal of being a man of the sea. As soon as they cure seasickness I’m there. Wouldn’t it be great if someone invented a pill that cured seasickness and grew hair?  Not sure if anybody’s working on those things in tandem but I think it would be a great idea.

19A. Pancake Day is the day before this begins (LENT).  Wow, I really don’t know anything about religion.  Never heard of this.  In other pancake news, have I mentioned IHOP’s cornmeal pancakes here?  Have I mentioned how delicious they are?  Well, if I haven’t I’ll be sure to do it soon.

20A. Make rustle, as foil (CRINKLE).  Hmmm.  Not sure I like this one.  Crinkling up tinfoil doesn’t really make a rustling sound.  Or does it?  May I don’t know what rustling really sounds like.  If anybody knows of a video that shows something rustling please pass on the link.

33A. Colorful lawn or garden fixture (WHIRLIGIG).  I don’t know what this could possibly be.  Is whirligig another name for a gnome?  Or a flamingo?

44A. Something you might want to get to the heart of? (ARTICHOKE).  My wife loves artichokes.

57A. One of TV’s Gilmore Girls (LORELAI).  Is this show any good?  I love watching TV shows on DVD.  I watched the entire run of The Sopranos in about a month.  Now I’m doing the same thing with The West Wing.  Maybe the Gilmore Girls will be next.  You never know.

11D. “The Worst ___ in London” (”Sweeney Todd” song) (PIES).  Sondheim songs don’t really lend themselves to getting stuck in my head and driving me nuts.  This one does though.  There goes the weekend.

28A. Tourist city between Jaipur and Lucknow (AGRA).  Does anybody know of any travel writer jobs for someone who isn’t really a writer and who hasn’t traveled all that much?  Getting paid to travel the world.  Sign me up.

I also want to give a shout out to Doug Peterson, Crossword Gentleman and Man About Town who has a puzzle published in the LA Times today.  Fun puzzle with a TIRE ROTATION theme.  I especially enjoyed 7D. South side? (GRITS).  Love that.  Great job, Doug.

And I wanted to remind everybody that registration for Lollapuzzoola ‘08 is now open.  August 23rd!  Jackson Heights!  $10!  Be there and be square!  Just follow this link or click the Pay Now button on the left to register.

I enjoyed this Joe Krozel puzzle even though I had a lot of trouble with it. I eventually figured it out for my 10th no-google in a row. This puzzle really was great. Eight 15 letter answers along with eight 2 letter answers. Yes, 2 letter answers. Joe Krozel once again breaks a cardinal crossword construction rule. (He was also the creator of the asymmetrical LIES puzzle.)

The 15 letter answers were 2 deep along the perimeter of the grid and they were:

1A. 1889 Jerome K. Jerome comedy novel (THREEMENINABOAT). This one gave me the most trouble as I’ve never heard of this book. Apparently it’s been in print for only 119 years so you can see why it might have slipped past me. Has anybody out there read this?

16A. Undesirable alternatives (HORNSOFADILEMMA). Hey, friends, it’s Brian posting a few addenda to Ryan’s already thorough notes. This phrase, HORNS OF A DILEMMA, means nothing to me. Dilemmas have horns? I learned years ago that a dilemma is not (as I had previously thought) a basic conundrum, but rather a situation with two opposing (and equally troublesome) options. (Long story short, I wrote a song called “Present Dilemma” with the illustrious Kristen Anderson, and learned that our character’s struggle [what gifts to buy for everyone on his Christmas list] was not a dilemma but rather just a problem.])

61A. Dessert not for the calorie-conscious (CHOCOLATEMOUSSE)

64A. Some awards for accomplishment (HONORARYDEGREES)

1D. Outline (THUMBNAILSKETCH)

2D. Whence the line “A person’s a person, no matter how small” (HORTONHEARSAWHO). Now this book I have read and it’s wonderful. And there should be some sort of law making it illegal to make lousy movies out of beloved Dr. Suess books.

14D. Something customary (AMATTEROFCOURSE)

15D. Pushing beyond proper limits (TAKINGLIBERTIES). This one also bothered me… I have only “taken liberties” with things that don’t have limits, but rather just guidelines — like music from a fake book.

The 2 letter answers were all state abbreviations. There were additional hints on the fabled “notepad” but I never know where to find that and, it turned out, I didn’t need it anyway. Does anybody know how to see the notepad if you’re solving on the applet? I make another plea here that the applet be re-imagined! Wouldn’t it be nice if both the applet and the Across Lite software actually presented the puzzles the way they were meant to appear? That is — all the clues are visible, any author’s notes are visible, and rebuses work in an intuitive normal way (still, with the plus-plus-plus nonsense?)…

23A. Carlo who married Sophia Loren (PONTI). What’s more impressive than marrying Sophia Loren? Marrying Sophia Loren twice. Good for him.

36A. Schubert’s “The ___ King” (ERL). I was pretty well convinced this was wrong. It looks like a misspelling. Not a misspelling. I learned this piece when I was 15. It was the beginning of the end of me having any desire to be a piano student.

57A. Jefferson bills (TWOS). Are these still in circulation? I haven’t seen one since I was a kid. They’re supposed to be bad luck aren’t they? Ryan, there’s one tacked to the bulletin board in our recording studio. How long has it been since our last podcast?

3D. Purview of the I.C.C. (RRS). Ok, RRs are railroads. That much I understand. But ICC? Does that have something to do with the Olympics?

22D. Superior canal locale (INNEREAR). It took me forever to parse this correctly. I thought Innerear was some place with a canal in South America.

31D. Joe who was twice A.L. Manager of the Year (TORRE). The Dodgers do not play today as it’s still the all star break. So they will remain 4-1 when appearing in the puzzle. How about that all star game? 15 innings. In related news, I went to the All Star Fanfest over the weekend. It’s basically a big playground for baseball geeks. I did the video batting cages and got a clean hit off the despicable Curt Schilling. I will post the video as soon as I upload it.

52D. Pixar drawing (TOON). This is a weird clue. I don’t think of Pixar characters as toons. I guess they are but, to me, toons are Bugs Bunny, Roger Rabbit and the like. Not sure why they used Pixar here. My problem with this clue is that Pixar doesn’t do drawings. That’s their whole thing. It’s all digital animation. I appreciate Ryan’s difficulty with “toons,” but mine is with “drawings.”

As many of you now know, registration for Lollapuzzoola ‘08 is now open. This puzzle fest will be held on August 23rd from 12pm to 4pm. Click this link or the button on the left to register. A mere $10 for all that fun.

Next stop, Thursday.

Hello all. You may now register for Lollapuzzoola ‘08 by following this link or by clicking the button on the left side of the page. The registration fee is $10 and we are accepting payments through Paypal.

We’re going to have puzzles, games, food, drinks, tables, chairs, pencils and, at the end, some sort of a winner. Right now our puzzle constructors include Mike Nothnagel, PEACOTFP and Doug Peterson, CGAMAT. We will update this list as we get more confirmations.

Lollapuzzoola ‘08 will be held on August 23rd from 12pm-4pm at the Community Church in Jackson Heights, Queens, NYC. The address is 81-10 35th Avenue, 11372. We’ll have detailed directions and maps if you need them as the event nears.

At this point we have no idea how many people will be attending so registering early helps us out and we can certainly use all the help we can get. And, along those lines, we have no idea what we’re doing here so if something is unclear or your payment doesn’t go through just email us and we will clear it up as quickly as possible.

We will continue to provide details on this blog and on Fill Me In: A Crossword Podcast as they come in.  Thanks so much for your support.  We hope to see you there.

This Leonard Williams puzzle is my 9th no-google in a row.  A new personal best.  The theme of this puzzle is “Phrases That When Said Aloud Refer to Periods of Time that Occurred Before Right Now”.

20A. Fairy tale’s start (ONCEUPONATIME).  These are also the first words of my favorite musical “Into the Woods”.

34A. Grandpa’s start (WHENIWASABOY)

41A. Mom’s start (BACKINTHEDAY).  Hmm, why does this have to be a woman?

56A. Legend’s start (INYEARSGONEBY)

Everything came pretty quickly to me although I did get tripped up with the crossing of 11D. Bacterium that doesn’t need oxygen (ANAEROBE) and 25A. Thor Heyerdahl craft (RAI).  I don’t believe I’ve heard of either of these things.  To me Thor Heyerdahl means one thing, Kon-Tiki.  Other than that I’m totally in the dark.

40A. Rod’s partner (REEL).  I think I’d like to try my hand at fishing.  How does one start?  Do you have to buy all kinds of stuff or can you rent it?  Didn’t Huck Finn tie a fishing line to his big toe?  Not sure if that would work for me as I’m a pretty diehard sock wearer.

46A. “The Count of Monte ___” (CRISTO).  This is a great book and also a great sandwich.  A hot ham and cheese sandwich on French toast with powdered sugar and syrup for dipping.  Sounds like a sick joke but it is oh so delicious.

67A. Popular Microsoft product (WORD).  Word is the main program I use at my mind-numbing, soul sucking job.  Please, Mr. Shortz, do not mix things I like (crossword puzzles) with things I don’t like (my mind-numbing, soul sucking job).

5D. Anne Rice’s Lestat, for one (VAMPIRE).  Remember all that hoopla over Tom Cruise being in the movie.  Remember how I didn’t care enough to either go see it or read the book?  I did try to read some other book by her about Ramses the Mummy.  Have to say it wasn’t my cup of tea.  To be fair, I don’t drink tea so even if it was my cup I’m probably wouldn’t have liked it anyway.  So what I’m saying is it’s most likely the tea’s fault and not Anne Rice’s.

9D. Where Schwarzenegger was born (AUSTRIA).  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Commando is a great movie.

55D. Law school newbies (ONELS).  No clue what this means.

57D. Geek (NERD).  You don’t think he’s talking about me, do you?

The latest, extremely short episode of the podcast is up.  Learn more details about Lollapuzzoola 08.

Next stop, Wednesday.

Lollapuzzoola 2008 happens on August 23. Write to us for more information or to sign up or to find out getting free stuff from Ryan!

All that, and almost nothing else in this episode of Fill Me In. Enjoy!

 

 Fill Me In #019: No time! No puzzles! [5:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Zambezi and oat.