Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

After Friday’s astonishing 18-black-square feat, I wondered if the week would be topped off with something even more surprising. It was — but that was Lollapuzzoola (hee hee). No, but Saturday’s grid by Natan Last was an enjoyable mostly themeless grid, but I must say, I found it relatively easier than the Friday challenge. In fact, I solved it in my 4th-best ever Saturday time (14:12). And I digitally multitasked, as I uploaded pictures from Lollapuzzoola while doing the puzzle. Amazing.I said this was mostly themeless, and that was because of 6D. Preceder of 46-, 59- and 61-Across. I managed to get this in place thanks to crossings long before I ever solved the lower half of the grid. But in truth, I then wasn’t even sure whether INA (the answer) preceded the clues or answers at 46-, 59- and 61-Across. Although it’s questionable at 46A. Fix (JAM), it became clear that not only would it precede the answers at 59A. Burn state (RAGE) and 61A. Pique (SNIT), but also that I can’t remember what “pique” means. Good for me.

I enjoyed the matching clues at 18A and 19A. Turkey dishes, in that one was YAMS and the other was BOATS. We don’t have a gravy boat at my house, nor at my parents’ house (where Thanksgiving usually takes place for me). We have a ceramic turkey, and the top comes off (the picture at right is sort of what we have, although this is not actually the same thing). I always manage to finish eating my meal before the gravy turkey makes its way to me at the table. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m just not destined for gravy. The truth is that my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal is the day after Thanksgiving (and the several days that follow), when I can eat one of the best sandwiches in the world — the Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwich. This sandwich is fairly common, and the way I do it is this: thick hearty whole wheat bread, several pulled pieces of turkey meat (mostly dark meat), a small amount of stuffing, a reasonable spread of cranberry sauce (if it’s real — if it’s that fake gelatinous stuff, I’m less inclined to use it at all), maybe a drizzle of gravy, and almost definitely an overdose of proper mayonnaise. I think I ate this sandwich for six days following last Thanksgiving.

My favorite thing about this array of similar sandwiches I found online is that all the photos use the same angle — in each, we are closest to the front left corner, and the sandwich seems to angle back (to the right) at about 30 degrees. Is that the standard for optimal sandwich vieweing pleasure?

Lindsay LOHAN made her third appearance in the crossword in three years, this time clued as 51D. Star of “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” 2005. I saw this movie. I was on an airplane traveling either to or from Italy, and it was on. I think it was during the part of the flight where my channel-changing buttons on the armrest didn’t work, and if I was to watch the movies, it was in Italian. I do believe this enhanced “Herbie: Fully Loaded” for me, though. As for Lindsay Lohan, my only question is: Why? Why do we need her? Why is she known? Why why why?

I’m going to see if I can get to Sunday’s puzzle tonight, although the fact that the New York Times website suggests NOT using the applet makes me very wary. I still have to find a way to put up some pictures from Lollapuzzoola, and to make sure that this post lives below the ‘zoola post. So many challenges, and nearly nothing to do for the next 36 hours. How will I survive?

Hey all, it’s 2:45 on Saturday morning. Less than 10 hours till Lollapuzzoola. Brian and I have stayed up way too late making all the last minute adjustments. Hope to see you all there. It should be loads of fun.

I’ve barely looked at Saturday’s puzzle but I won’t really get to it until after our event. There will be a full write up at some point this weekend.

See you soon.

Somehow, we never posted directions to Lollapuzzoola. For those who have come here to figure out how to travel, here’s the story.

The church (where Lollapuzzoola is happening) is located on the corner of 81st St. and 35th Ave. in Queens. The subways that handle this area are:

• 7 to 82nd St./Jackson Heights. This lets off at 82nd and Roosevelt, which is two blocks south of 35th Ave. Walk up 82nd St. those two blocks, turn left, and the church is on the next corner.

Or…

• E or F (express in Queens [usually]) to Roosevelt Ave./74th St.
• R, G or V (local in Queens) to Roosevelt Ave./74th St.

From Roosevelt and 74th, you can do one of these things:

• Walk two blocks north (to 35th Ave.), turn right, walk seven blocks (east) to 81st St.
• Q49 bus goes along 35th Avenue and there’s a stop just after 80th St.
• Q33 bus goes up 83rd St., and there’s a stop just after 35th Ave.
• transfer to the 7 train (upstairs from the terminal) and take it one stop Flushing-bound to 82nd St.

Any problems? You can email us or call Ryan at 917-805-3474. I’m sure he’ll love the fact that I just posted his number on the internet. (Hee hee.)

See you soon!

Manny Nosowsky, go buy some white-out. You’ve been bumped to second place in the crossword annals, as Kevin G. Der has constructed a masterpiece of a Friday puzzle containing a record-low 18 black squares.

Baseball is full of unbreakable records. Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. Cy Young’s 511 wins. Ty Cobb’s 4,192 hits. Oops, that’s been broken (Pete Rose has 4,256). Babe Ruth’s 60 — I mean Roger Maris’s — I mean Mark McG– well, I guess all records have the chance to fall. And Manny Nosowsky’s 19-black-square puzzle of March 11, 2005 has been pushed down a spot in the rankings. Should we check Kevin G. Der for steroid abuse?

I almost thought the puzzle was going to be a partial diagramless, there was so much white space. The black squares union is going to file a grievance after this, I assure you. Eightteen? Wow. Two triple stacks of 15-letter answers, and so much 6-, 7- and 8-letter fill — in fact, there were only four 3-letter and eight 4-letter words in the whole grid. The best thing about it so far is that my chances have lessened of facing some four-letter river in India I’ve never heard of before.

So the 15-letter stacks:

• 1A. It has 33 letters : RUSSIAN LANGUAGE – I was off to a stellar start, as I decided immediately that this answer would be (something) ALPHABET.
• 16A. All-Star Game, e.g. : INTER-LEAGUE PLAY – Did anyone watch this year’s All-Star Game? Went 15 innings, I think. And that last run that scored — he wasn’t safe. I heard the managers were about to start using position players as pitchers. And on that subject, don’t you think that baseball coddles pitchers too much now? Or has pitching gotten so much more difficult since the days of pitching mediocrity with folks like Walter Johnson and Cy Young and Christy Mathewson and Warren Spahn and Steve Carlton… So mediocre, those Hall of Fame pitchers who could throw the ball 200 times a night every third or fourth day and not break a sweat. Now, pitchers can’t last more than 60 pitches most of the time, and they all suck and get hurt anyway.
• 17A. As an alternative : OPTIONALLY – Maybe this will be the first word on my list of words I didn’t like very much. We’ll see. As an alternative, I might choose UNSAFER…
• 51A. Pro at protection : INSURANCE BROKER – Not in my family. My wife is dealing with the New York State Insurance Fund on a daily basis to get her worker’s comp case sorted out (that knee injury many months ago was a work injury). Her insurance agent is a disaster. His average return time on any given phone call is about two weeks. Of course, the last two jobs I had writing out transcriptions of music for people tooke me two months, so who am I to talk?
• 53A. Health form field : NEAREST RELATIVE – I never saw this item on a form. I see EMERGENCY CONTACT, but that wasn’t the right answer. Who is my nearest relative? How do you measure nearness? I’m at most 50% genetically similar to each of my parents. I’m potentially more genetically similar to my sisters, although not 100% of course, since we have some rather distinct differences. None of these people is my emergency contact, though, which would be my wife. And she and I are only as genetically similar as two completely unrelated people can be. Geographically speaking, I am currently nearest to my youngest sister. We’re about 30 miles apart. My other sister and my parents are all about 300ish miles away. I have an uncle who is perhaps a bit closer than my youngest sister — he might be 20-25 miles away. I will take any submissions for ideas on how to measure relative nearness.
• 54A. “An Inconvenient Truth” topic : GREENHOUSE GASES – I saw this movie. I liked it, too. Al Gore was quite compelling. I think he would have made a fine, if somewhat limited president. Superior to George W. Bush, I believe, in a lot of ways. I think he would have avoided military conflict, and had that failed, he might have had a rough time dealing with wars. Of course, since Bush was the one who got all these current wars started, it’s quite possible that had Gore’s brother been Governor of Florida, we would be living in a happier world without some of the most idiotic security theatrics imaginable. Really, the TSA seems to have one primary objective: make a whole bunch of almost arbitrary choices and call them rules; then enforce some of them, ignore others, and allow your employees to invent their own whenever they want to; follow this by acting like a complete moron whenever anyone smarter than you comes along (83% of the time); and finally, don’t ever use common sense to deal with any situation. I love the TSA. Bunch of geniuses, they are.

The rest of the puzzle was full of some monster words, many of which had never before appeared in a Will Shortz-era crossword puzzle:

• 24A. Wandered from the direct course : STRAGGLED – I always thought of straggling as more like lagging behind than wandering off. Stragglers seem to be those who arrive late, but perhaps they are late because they were waylaid. (WAYLAID has never appeared in a crossword during the Will Shortz era.)

• 32A. Condomless vis-à-vis protected : UNSAFER – Least favorite answer in the grid, hands down. LESS SAFE is the term here. Need an example of why? “Cliff diving is unsafer than eating ice cream.” Makes no sense. Who in their right mind wants to jump off a cliff? No one. It’s not even unsafer, it’s unsensibler.

• 45A. Middle: Prefix : CENTR-
• 47A. Gun, to Guillermo : PISTOLA
• 2D. Open : UNSHUT – Cousin to unsafer. Aren’t words like “safer” and “shut” in a world where you can’t just reverse their meaning with “un”? “Oops — I left the door unshut again!” Kevin G. Der, your grid is amazing, and 18 black squares is phenomenal. But you were stuck (and we were stuck) with some questionable words.
• 13D. Spanish city and province on the Mediterranean : ALICANTE – Sure, I’ve heard of this.
• 29D. Plumber’s job, maybe : REPIPING
• 30D. Idea person : IMAGINER – Along with the unwords above, this -er word needs help… For a completely ridiculous list of words that end in -er and can sound like they have a different meaning, click here.
• 31D. Ancient city to which Paul wrote an Epistle : COLOSSAE – Right next door to Alicante, I think. Here are the driving directions from Alicante to Colossae. Takes about 41 hours. Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords will do a road show someday, and we’ll make this route part of our journey.
• 33D. Angels are sometimes seen over them : FIR TREES
• 36D. “Love is reciprocal ___”: Marcel Proust : TORTURE – Hard to believe that this word has never been in a grid before. This is clearly the most normal of any of the debuts.

Mostly, this was an amazing feat. Kevin G. Der, I am sorry that in some previous podcast, I called you Kevin G. Youkilis. Kevin Youkilis (whose middle name doesn’t start with a G) is the first baseman for the Boston Red Sox. He’s having a great year. He’ll come in 6th in the MVP voting this year, I predict.

Finally, an announcement: Lollapuzzoola is just one day away. Come on by! Read all about it here. Maybe this will make you want to come: We will have crossword celebrities there. People you may have even heard of. Yes, and I’m not talking about Ryan.

See you Saturday!

This Gary J. Whitehead offering had just kind of theme I like.  Once you figure it out it helps you figure out the rest.

68A. Eternal … and a hint to 19-, 34-, 42- and 55-Across (AGELESS).  The rest of the theme clues were everyday phrases with the AGE removed.

19A. Musical group that stays together? (ADHESIVEBAND)

34A. Faith healing service? (MASSTHERAPY)

42A. Stadium’s dome? (SPORTSCOVER).  While I don’t have full blown Olympic fever I have enjoyed watching a little bit here and there.  I wish some of the lesser known sports would make it into the prime time coverage.  Why do they devote a thousand hours a day to the gymnastics?  I get it.  They’re amazing with their flippy-ass jumps and spinny-ass turns but how much can I possibly watch?  Where’s the coverage of the table tennis, judo, kayaking, open water swimming and sailing?  And, most of all, why have I seen no trampoline?

55A. Donation to the Salvation Army? (GARBDISPOSAL)

Other clues that caught my eye:

1A. Capital on Lake Victoria (KAMPALA).  Why do I think that Lake Victoria is in Canada?  Has it recently moved?

33A. Mountain West Conference player (UTE).  I don’t think I know to what this is referring.

49A. City near Dayton (XENIA).  I did a couple of shows at the Human Race Theatre in Dayton which is the only possible reason I knew the answer to this right off.  Here I am in the Nerd.

1D. Intoxicating Polynesian drink (KAVA).  Has anybody ever tried this?

4D. Conseco Fieldhouse team (PACERS).  This one took me a while as I thought  it was the home field for either a minor league baseball team or the U.S. Trampoline Squad.

11D. It’s hot in an Indian restaurant (TANDOOR).  Clever clue.  I definitely thought they were going for a food item.  I’m thinking we should all go out for Indian food after Lollapuzzoola.

23D. How “Moon River” is played (ADAGIO).  I put LEGATO here first.  I was tripped up by the fact that I don’t know what either term means.

27D. Chase scenes, in action films (STAPLE).  I really like the movie Ronin.  I don’t think it gets its just due as kick-ass movie filled with kick-ass car chases.

34D. Ring surface (MAT).  I was really into WWF wrestling when I was a kid.  I kept a legal pad detailing the matches and results.  The same people always won.  It never occured to me that something fishy might be going on.  And then it did occur to me.  And then I stopped watching.

52D. “___ cock-horse to Banbury Cross” (RIDEA).   [Insert cock-horse joke here.]

Ok, 2 more days till Lollapuzzoola 2008.  Hope to see you all there.

Next stop, Friday.

Turns out I do know jack.  And this Allan E. Parrish puzzle proves it.

55D. Word that can define 17- and 59-Across and 11-, 28- and 29-Down (JACK)

17A. See 55-Down (LIFTINGTOOL)

59A. See 55-Down (PLAYINGCARD)

11D. See 55-Down (MALEDONKEY)

28D. See 55-Down (PLUGINSERT)

29D. See 55-Down (MONEY)

Other answers we would have accepted: CHEESE I LIKE ON MY NACHOS, TITLE CHARACTER FROM THE MOVIE JACK and ONE WHO RIPPED IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND.

Other clues that caught my eye:

11A. “Next” network (MTV).  I’ve never heard of this show.  A bit of internet research tells me it combines dating, humiliation and reality television.  Sound like my high school experience.  Well, except for the dating.

15A. Inlay material (NACRE).  How come after all the jokes and parodies of Vanilla Ice nobody ever came up with the line, “Word to your Mother-of-pearl.”?

52A. Talented Zero (MOSTEL).  As a kid I knew Zero Mostel from one thing, The Sesame Street Book of Opposites.

8D. Writer Umberto (ECO).  I tried to read The Name of the Rose once.  About 10 pages in I was totally lost, felt like an idiot and gave up.  Anybody else have a similar experience?  Or do people love this book?

24D. Part of T.W.I.M.C. (WHOM).  To whom it may concern, I’ve never encountered this acronym before.

56D. Modern ice cream flavor (OREO).  This is a weird clue.  Oreos have been around since 1912.  What’s modern about that?  Can’t wait for the 100th anniversary though.  2012 should be one crazy, Oreo-filled year.

3 days till Lollapuzzoola 2008.  Space still available.

Next stop, Thursday.

The theme in today’s Harriet Clifton puzzle reminds me how much my wife and I hate our cellphones.  We’re on Sprint which I believe stands for Stupid Phones RINT.  My wife is fond of saying she’d like to throw her phone across the universe.  Both our phones shut off indiscriminately, stop working at inconvenient times and appear to mock us with their non-workingness.  I’d like to get something like an iPhone, perhaps even an iPhone, but I’m pretty sure Apple is an evil corporation masquerading as a benevolent world savior.

Anyway, on to the puzzle.  The theme details a phone conversation between a trial attorney and a grocer.

20A. “Huh?” (YOUREBREAKINGUP)

25A. Comment after 20-Across (CANYOUHEARMENOW)

44A. Comment after 25-Across (IDIDNTCATCHTHAT)

50A. Comment after 44-Across (ILLTRYREDIALING).  This is the only one I have a problem with as it’s not really an in-the-language phrase.

I would love to hear how the rest of conversation went.  Clearly, the grocer is at a crossroads and I hate being left in suspense like this.

Other clues that caught my eye:

15A. Mrs. Dithers in “Blondie” (CORA).  Things I’ve learned from crosswords.

66A. Head of France? (TETE).  I’m happy to report I’m no longer fooled by the myriad of Tete misdirections: French bean, French noodle, Head of Haiti, etc.

1D. N.Y.C. theater district, for short (BWAY).  Saw Brian’s sister on Broadway last night.  That was awesome.

2D. One of the Saarinens of Finland (EERO).  There’s more than one Saarinen?  Good god.

6D. Burn with an iron (SCORCH).  I don’t know about this one.  Iron doesn’t seem to fit here.

Just a few more days until Lollapuzzoola 2008.

Next stop, Wednesday.

This is the last podcast! (Well, the last one before Lollapuzzoola 2008!!!)

One week of puzzles, and we still found an hour’s worth of material to share with you, gentle viewer. In this week’s show:

• Viewer mail (perhaps still open)
• Madeline Kahn sings
• What Ryan did in 1981
• And maybe two more things…?

We don’t know what else to say. Listen. Enjoy. Share. Zambezi. Oat.

 

 Fill Me In #022: The period goes inside the quote. [58:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Before I get to the puzzle, here’s something my wife and I are debating. How long would it take an average person to run 100 meters? I figured since I walk at about 3 miles an hour it would take me around 1.25 minutes to walk 100 meters. (Brian, please check my math.) But, if I was running, could I do it in under a minute? Under 45 seconds? I’m not particularly fast but I would be willing to paint my sneakers gold if that would shave off some time.

On to the Paula Gamache puzzle. I almost broke 5 minutes on this one but I had an error with 22A. Fed. auditing agency (GAO). I had NAO as I thought it would start with N as in National but it started with a G as in Governmental. It took me 30 seconds or so to correct it and I ended with a time of 5:19. (Oddly, the exact same amount of time it would take Dan Feyer, Winner of the C Division to finish this puzzle twice while boxing a super-evolved medieval squirrel.)

The theme was completely unknown to me during the solving process and after I was done it took me a good minute or so to figure out what it actually was.

63A. Jerry Garcia fan … or what each part of the answers to the starred clues can take (DEADHEAD). In essence, you can put the word DEAD at the HEAD of each part of the starred answers and you get a valid word or phrase.

16A. *1981 film starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner (BODYHEAT). Dead body and dead heat.

25A. *Hoopster’s complete miss (AIRBALL). Dead air and dead ball.

32A. *Z, alphabetically (LASTLETTER). Dead last and dead letter.

43A. *Painted highway divider (CENTERLINE). Ok, you get it, right?

49A. *Touchdown site (ENDZONE). No, seriously, I’m done explaining it.

Very clever theme but it didn’t help at all with the solving process.

Other clues that caught my eye:

39A. Former Montreal team (EXPOS). You can still sign up for Expos news alerts and scores at sportsillustrated.com.

21D. Team game with infrared-sensitive targets (LASERTAG). I have never played Laser Tag. It seems so goofy. Tell me, am I missing out? Is this something a need to do? I’d especially like to hear from any Lazertron specialists who may be reading.

56D. Funnyman Sandler (ADAM). Funnyman, huh? Clearly, Paula has never seen Waterboy.

Episode #22 of Fill Me In: A Crossword Podcast will be uploaded at some point on Monday. And less than a week until Lollapuzzoola. We actually have some people signed up. Go figure. But there’s plenty more room. Hope to see you there.

Next stop, Tuesday.

Hey all, Ryan here. It’s Sunday morning and after a crazy night of watching Clue (”flames, on the side of my face…”) and eating chicken-fried steak, I’m off to the beach and Brian is heading to the Yankee game. Henceforth and therefore, neither of us have time this morning to blog about Caleb Madison’s fun, movie-themed puzzle. A full write up by one or both of us will be arriving at some point in the evening.

I enjoyed the clever Fade-Outs theme. I figured it out with 71A. Movie about one of Dumbo’s parents? (THEELEPHANTMA) and the rest came fairly easily. Alas, I did not no-google the puzzle. (This just wasn’t my week. I only no-googled 3 of 7.) I did not know 19A. Sugar in tea, e.g. (SOLUTE) or 40D. Writer Buchanan and others (EDNAS) among a couple of others.

Okay, stay tuned tonight for a full write-up. Have a great Sunday.

…And we’re back. And I’m sunburned. Lousy spray-on suntan lotion.

So, the Fade-Outs theme. Very clever. A movie titled was faded-out, leaving off the last letters, creating a new title for a non-existent movie. In addition to the one about Dumbo’s parents there was also:

24A. Movie about a “Sopranos”-like actress from the Mediterranean? (THEMALTESEFALCO). I watch The Maltese Falcon every few years. It’s just a great, great movie.

30A. Movie adaptation of “L.A. Law”? (CALIFORNIASUIT). I’m not sure if I’ve ever watched California Suite all the way through. Is there anybody funnier than Walter Matthau?

39A. Movie about a time-share? (THREEDAYSOFTHECONDO).  Just saw this. It’s not a fantastic movie and is actually kind of ridiculous at times but it’s such a 70s movie. The tight pants, the chest hair, Faye Dunaway. Great fun.

59A. Movie about the coming of difficult times? (AHARDDAYSNIGH). I’ve never seen A Hard Day’s Night. I’m just not a big Beatles guy.

88A. Movie about a narco’s worst dream? (NIGHTOFTHELIVINGDEA). I can still remember watching Night of the Living Dead for the first time. I think I was 11 or 12 and it kept me up for a week.  I just went to find a picture to post and seeing the stills brought all the memories back so I’m skipping it. 

102A. Movie about a bus. on Rodeo Drive? (BEVERLYHILLSCO). I detailed my love for Beverly Hills Cop earlier this week. It was made before Eddie decided to play all the roles in his movies.  You know, when his movies were funny.

113A. Movie about the zoo’s most punctual simian? (ACLOCKWORKORANG). Never seen A Clockwork Orange. It seems too depressing to me.

Alright, that’s it for this one.  I’ve haven’t given this clever puzzle the time it deserves but I need to soak myself in aloe.

Next stop, Monday.