Ryan solves the NYT, Thu 8-28-8
I can’t believe it but our computer has already been shipped. I just ordered it Monday night. According to the tracking info it’ll arrive either today or Friday. Very excited. Along those lines, does anybody have experience with Dell customer service? I’m just wondering how easy it will be to get the computer fixed when it inevitably goes kerflooey.
The mystery of Senior Orange Pants has been solved. I have confirmation of his identity from no less than 3 separate sources. But since SOP has not personally revealed himself to me I will keep his alter ego secret…for now.
Did anybody catch Will Shortz on the Colbert Report? I was hoping it would be an actual interview rather than just a one-liner but it was still cool to see him there.
On to today’s Sheldon Benardo puzzle. I made a mistake, couldn’t find it and eventually had too look at the answer on xwordinfo.
38D. Liquid fat (OLEIN). I put OLEAN. You know, the fake fat that gives you GI distress. I’ve never heard of olein before but apparently it’s a naturally occurring oily yellow liquid. I guess that’s where Olean got its name. Personally, if I invented a product that I wanted to people to ingest I probably wouldn’t name it after a naturally occurring oily yellow liquid. Anyway, that crossed with 49A. ___ light: Var. (KLEIG) and KLEAG looked just as correct to me. Oh well, I was able to get the rest of this enjoyable puzzle.
The theme:
53A. Punny hint to answering 20-Across, 11-Down and 29-Down (ANEYEFORANI).
20A. Historical 1976 miniseries (EYECLAUDIUS). I may be remembering this incorrectly but my brother watched this when we were kids and I seem to recall some type of narrator who stood at a podium and introduced the different episodes. And he looked like Harvey Korman. So I thought the show was a comedy. But it wasn’t funny. Does anybody know what I’m talking about?
11D. Classic 1947 detective novel (EYETHEJURY)
29D. Bygone political slogan (EYELIKEIKE)
Other clues that caught my eye:
24A. Toy at the beach (KITE). I was sure this was PAIL.
61A. After-lunch bite (OREO). Hey, look, a fun new way to clue everybody’s favorite cookie. Had me fooled. I put NOSH. The Great Howard Barkin, Knower of All Things and reigning Lollapuzzoola Champion brought Banana Split Creme Oreos to our puzzlefest. We were all kind of grossed out by the description on the box which included the word “cremey” and my wife was grossed out by the actual flavor of the Oreos but, I have to say, I really liked them. And a rather sizeable box was completely emptied by the time Lollapuzzoola was over so I’d have to say they were a hit. The Onion AV Club did a taste test on them earlier this month. Along the same lines, does anybody have a favorite Oreo variation: Cakesters, Strawberry Milkshake, Double Stuf Peanut Butter Creme, Reduced Fat?
I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this post a little short. I spent all night at work printing out useless documents and now it’s just about time to go. I did want to make a quick shout out to Barry C. Silk, Friend and Confidante of Doug Peterson, Crossword Gentleman and Man About Town for his Wednesday LA Times puzzle. It had a great JOE MONTANA (BIG SKY COUNTRY) theme and somehow he managed to work in the word BUXOM. Nice job, Barry.
Next stop, Friday.
