Ryan solves the NYT, Tues 8-26-8
Very excited. I just bought us a new computer. We’ve had our computer for 6 or 7 years now and it’s a chore to get anything done. Even as I write this, the letters appear at some point well after I’ve typed them. The new one should be shipping out early next week and should make podcasting and blogging much easier.
On to this enjoyable Nancy Salomon puzzle. The theme answers were clued only as Rose. Last week there was similar puzzle where the theme answers were clued as Jack. Hmm, Jack and Rose, the two lead characters from Titanic. This leads me to wonder if there’s ever been a theme that’s stretched across multiple puzzles.
20A. Rose (AMERICANBEAUTY)
36A. Rose (CHARLIEHUSTLE). Will Pete Rose ever be in the Hall of Fame? Does he deserve to be? Certainly on stats alone he does. But the rules clearly state that if you bet on baseball you’re going to be banned from the game. I think I’d have more sympathy for him if he wasn’t such a jerk.
57A. Rose (TOOKTOONESFEET)
Lots of fun fill including:
15A. The New Yorker cartoonist Peter (ARNO). Hey, I learned this from crossword puzzles!
69A. Runs, hits or errors (STAT). Another baseball clue. I’ll take this opportunity to mention two things. One, Joe Torre was mentioned in last Friday’s puzzle and the Dodgers lost. So they are now 4-2 since May 19th when referenced in the puzzle. That loss leads me to my second item. Last week I taunted Phillies fan Barry C. Silk, Friend and Confidante to Doug Peterson, Crossword Gentleman and Man About Town after the Dodgers swept the Phillies in a 4 game series. Well, the Phils returned the favor and swept LA right out of the state of Pennsylvania. So congrats to Barry and that should teach me to keep my mouth shut.
2D. Monopoly avenue (ATLANTIC). A few years ago I became aware of a Monopoly championship. I don’t know how the heck you can be better than someone else at Monopoly but clearly I don’t understand the nuances of the game. Anyway, the championship was held at a city full of casinos. Las Vegas. That doesn’t make a bit of sense to me. All the streets in the game are named after Atlantic City streets. Why would you hold a Monopoly event in Vegas? (At this point I was going to write, “That’s like holding a ____ event in ____” but I can’t for the life of me think of another board game or city that would satisfy those blanks.)
6D. Some spears (BROCCOLI). Great clue. Had me stumped until the very last. According to xwordinfo this is only the second appearance of BROCCOLI in the Shortz era.
9D. Symptom of hypothermia (BLUELIPS). Had NUMBNESS (which is a word) and BLUENESS (which very well might not be a word) here first.
45D. They’re relayed in relays (BATONS). I was not a fan of the Olympic commentators. They all seemed to be way too excited and happy any time an athlete (or relay team) screwed up. On another Olympic note I wish we could have heard stories of the athletes that come to the games knowing they have no chance of winning. They train hard, they’re elite athletes but come to the games just to compete and represent their countries. I find that fascinating.
I also find it fascinating that somehow the weekend is over and I have to go to work tonight. Ah, well.
Next stop, Wednesday.
