Ryan and Brian do Crosswords

After failing to no-google and being generally useless on the past two Friday puzzles I’ve returned to my no-googling ways for this Jim Page offering.  Sure, it took me two hours longer than The Great Howard Barkin, Knower of All Things but who’s timing?

Fun puzzle with a mini theme of “Easy does it!” showing up in two clues.  The two 15-letter answers criscrossed through the center of the grid. TAKE A DEEP BREATH and WHATS THE BIG RUSH.  Interesting answers as while both could certainly be substituted for “Easy does it”, the attitude of the speaker is very different.  TAKE A DEEP BREATH is usually said to help the person who’s rushing.  WHATS THE BIG RUSH is usually said in annoyance after being knocked down by the same guy you just tried to help.  There’s gratitude for you.

I started off really quickly in the top right:

1D. Actor voicing the mayor on “Family Guy” (ADAM WEST).  Boy, if I got this wrong that would have been more embarrassing than the time I got kicked out of Cuba for using Castro’s beach towel.  (And cue clip…no clip…hmm, thought we had a clip.)

2D. Aussie with purple hair and ornate glasses (DAME EDNA).  No idea how I got this right away as I don’t know the fourth thing about DAME EDNA.  (The first 3 being the aussie, purple hair and ornate glasses things.)

3D. Be too reserved? (OVER BOOK).  Clever.

After getting those 3 downs the top right corner dried up and ending up being the last section of the puzzle I completed.  The key to finally figuring it out was:

5D. Stretch in a seat (TERM).  This took me forever.  I figured it wouldn’t have anything to do with relaxing in a chair.  I did, however, think it was referring to whatever it is that helps stretch the seat of your pants.  SEAM or TRIM seemed the most likely.  Clearly, I know nothing about pants construction.

Once I got that, the rest fell right into place.

14A. Companion of Hearst at San Simeon castle (DAVIES).  I went on a tour of Hearst Castle with some college buddies of mine during our freshman year.  At some point I used the term “butt cleavage” when referring to a tapestry and that sent us all into hysterics.  I don’t remember much else.

17A. Dualistic diety (AMEN RA).  I don’t know what this means.

Other highlights:

42A. “Good Guys Wear Black” star, 1978 (NORRIS).  I was going to add the obligatory Chuck Norris facts but instead here are some of my favorite Chuck Norris movie taglines:

• A Bean Store Dolly and a Million Miler…They Had an 18 Wheeler…And a Grudge
• The C.I.A. can’t afford John T. Booker… alive.
• He hears the silence. He see’s the darkness. He’s the only one who can stop the killing.
• In a world of choices, for one man there is no choice . . . he must face THE OCTAGON
• Chuck Norris doesn’t need a weapon… he is a weapon!
• The king of martial arts versus a bionic killing machine!
• The toughest cop in the world…. just got tougher.
• Heroes hit hardest.
• A walking weapon that never misses!

And my personal favorite:

• Chuck Norris Explodes Across the Screen!

49A. Drink with a straw (MALT).  Nice misdirection here as I put SUCK here first.

7D. Sammy nicknamed “The Red Rocker” (HAGAR).  I know of exactly one musician named Sammy.

8D. 1977 memoir set at Harvard (ONEL).  Got this right away.  For you podcast listeners, this is called applied knowledge.

28D. Ballpark concessionaire’s offerings (SODAS).  Wasn’t crazy about this specific clue and non-specific answer.

42D. Some chips (NACHOS).  There aren’t many things I enjoy more than a nice plate of nachos.

Fun puzzle and it’s great to be back in the no-google fold.

Next stop, Saturday.

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For reasons too stupid to go into I’ve been at work since 10:30 but I won’t be able to be on the clock and get paid until 1:00.  Pain in the ass rules.  On the upside, I’ve taken this time to solve Chuck Hamilton’s fun Thursday puzzle.  Took me a while, exactly 41 minutes according to the applet.

56A. What the ends of 20-, 35- and 42-Across are, collectively (DIRECTORS SHOUT).

20A. So-called “fox fires” (NORTHERN LIGHTS).

35A. Recording device (VIDEO CAMERA).

42A. Certain lawsuit (CLASS ACTION).

I used to do a lot of extra work.  There was one director who would never say, “Action”.  He always said, “…and go” or something like that.  This irritated me.  If you’ve gotten to the point in your career where you’re at the helm of a multi-million dollar movie why wouldn’t you take that opportunity to shout “Action”.  Why even bother being a director if you’re not going to do that?

I had lots of trouble in the top middle:

9D. “Wake Up Little ___” (SUSIE).  I put SHEBA.  My mistake was SHEBA is already awake and simply needs to come back.  While SUSIE is there but asleep.

5A. Parents (FOLKS).  I wanted this to be REARS but knew that was wrong after I solved 58D. Parent (REAR).  REARS did support my theory of REELS for 8D. Falls (over) (KEELS).

7D. Represent by drawing (LIMN).  LIMN is a made up word.

18A. Yosemite rock features (DOMES).  Yes, I put CRAGS here first.  Like you didn’t.  Here’s a picture of me on top of North Dome from our 2007 trip to Yosemite.  I like this picture because it makes me look like I’m in much better shape than I actually am.

I also had a lot of trouble in the bottom right.

44D. ___ Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts landmark since 1838 (NEDS).  Never heard of this but here’s a picture in case it actually exists.

52A. List in an insurance report, maybe (DENTS).  I was reading LIST as a verb.  This created confusion.

54A. Socratic student (TUTEE).  Is TUTEE something specific to Socrates?  Not sure why Socratic is necessary for the clue.

62A. B.C. neighbor (ALTA).  My first instinct was to think of a comic strip that is printed alongside B.C.  Luckily, I’m learning to never trust my instincts.  I’ve also learned my instincts are rarely Canadian.

Something that is confusing to me:

11D. Take-home? (LEFTOVERS).  Is this suggesting that take-home is a synonym for leftovers?  I don’t think it is.  I don’t get this.

Next stop, Friday.

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I was so pleased to find myself completing this Steven L. Zisser debut puzzle in six minutes that I had to double-check my calendar to make sure it was Thursday.

It’s not. Six minutes is a lovely time for a Wednesday, and that is, in fact, what today is. Wednesday. All day long. Including my sleeping in, my eating leftovers, my researching recipes and my playing World of Warcraft. Yes, I’m unemployed, and my wife will be out of the house all day. What else am I supposed to do?

Mr. Zisser has given us four wonderful clues, the theme of which is hidden within our very own brains:

• 16A. Meteor shower : PLANETARIUM
• 22A. Country bowers : FIDDLE PLAYERS
• 46A. Farm towers : TEAMS OF HORSES
• 56A. South American flower : AMAZON RIVER

What, huh? Yes, I too thought that it was showers like rainstorms, towers like tall buildings, flowers like plants and bowers like whatever bowers are — but it’s OH not OW, as Jim Horne so efficiently put in the title of his blog post. (Yes, Jim is hosting a new blog over on the New York Times web site. We think Jim is great and his blog is great, so even if you like his stuff better than ours and you abandon us for all time, we will feel good inside for helping out a great guy like Jim.)

Today was “free taco day” at Taco Bell, which is apparently named for someone (46D. Glen Bell’s fast food : TACOS). I had no idea. I don’t know where I thought the “bell” part came from, but there you have it. What I didn’t have today was a free taco. Someone stole a base in the World Series, and Taco Bell gave away free tacos as a result of it. The fact that there will have been, by tomorrow night, approximately 48 hours between the top and bottom halves of the sixth inning of Game Five is unnecessarily enough for me to despise this year’s World Series. The fact that it’s the Phillies (well, okay) against the Devil Rays (I will not give into their new name, they are a fake team) is what was enough to begin with.

(My apologies here to our friend PhillySolver who, at least by virtue of his handle, might have some allegiance to the Phillies.)

The rest of the grid kind of trickled together for me. Not too exciting, not too frustrating. There was one area that caused me some grief, but I either knew the stuff or guessed right. BOLA/ALAR/LAO was a triumvirate of nonsense in my head, despite having seen at least two of those words before in puzzles.

I’m going to open the floor here to anyone’s comments, as well as the possibility that Ryan might chime in and offer a few thoughts and/or pictures. Ryan, use this font.

See you Thursday!

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Fun, toe-tapping puzzle by Allan E. Parrish.  Took me a little while to figure out what was going on with the theme.

38A. Activity exemplified in the ’60s by the ends of 17-, 28-, 48- and 64-Across (DANCING).

60s dancing styles is just one of the many topics of which I’m completely ignorant.  Wikipedia has detailed descriptions of each dance.  I was going to copy them here but they are rather long and in the interest of space I will only copy what I feel to be the essence of the dance.

17A. Dickens lad (OLIVER TWIST).  The Twist:  The torso may be squared.

28A. Small equine (SHETLAND PONY).  The Pony: Couples do not touch.

48A. Weightlifer’s lift (CLEAN AND JERK).  The Jerk: Check out the dance in a mirror.

64A. Rum/vodka cocktail (BRASS MONKEY).  The Monkey: Straighten to original position.

Other highlights:

26A. Red dye (EOSIN).  Wasn’t he from the Lord of the Rings?  Maybe a nobleman from the House of Eorl?

52A. Oscar winner Marisa (TOMEI).  My Cousin Vinny is just one of those movies.  The whole thing is quotable and the people who love it (myself included) have it memorized to critically irritiating levels.  I always hoped there would be a sequel but it’s probably for the best as it certainly would have sucked.

Jim Horne is back.  The official New York Times Crossword Blog is live.  Looks like it will be a lot of fun.

Next stop, Wednesday.

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Welcome back! Where have you been? We’ve done, like, thirty episodes since you last checked in. Hello!

In this exciting new installment of Fill Me In: A Crossposslossdoss, expect some or all (or none) of the following:

• no interviews!
• two microphones (can you tell?)
• Diet Pepsi Max
• Several puzzles completely ignored due to their high level of difficulty (and our low level of smarterness)

So, what are you waiting for? DOWNLOAD ME, BABY!

 

 Fill Me In Episode #028: Except it might be #029, but we lost the old #028, so this is now #028. [40:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Zambezi and oat.

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After a weekend of fumbling around, staring at blank squares and feeling generally inept I came back today to finish Andrea Carla Michaels and Michael Blake’s Monday puzzle in personal record time.  Go figure.

Enjoyable theme:

55D. Twirl … or a cryptic hint to 20-, 36- and 51-Across? (SPIN)

20A. Aerosol tanning? (SPRAY OF SUNSHINE)

36A. Tiffany showroom? (SPACE OF DIAMONDS)

51A. Babble incoherently? (SPUTTER NONSENSE).  This is a little odd as I think UTTER NONSENSE would have fit the clue as well.

The puzzle also featured three more clues to remind me the Dodgers are not playing in the World Series:

63A. Dodger or Met, for short (NLER).  I continue to actively dislike the crossword-only abbreviations of NLer and ALer.

54D. Baseball’s Hideo (NOMO)

25D. First, second, third or home (BASE).

One clue to remind me of a rough night last night:

7D. Bloated, as the stomach (GASSY).  Not to get too detailed but Pickles made some deliciously spicy chili last night but I ate it too close to bedtime.  The result was horrible, zombie-filled nightmares.  Does anybody know what the connection is between spicy food and bad dreams?

And I enjoyed the two Shakespeare clues:

8D. “___, Brute?” (ET TU).  I have yet to see a good production of Julius Caesar.

32D. “Much ___ About Nothing” (ADO).  One of my favorites.  I saw this in the Park a few years ago with Jimmy Smits as Benedick.  Who the hell knew Jimmy Smits was funny?

A new podcast will be recorded tonight!  New mics!  New topics!  New other stuff!

Next stop, Tuesday.

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Wow, this is just not my weekend.  I still have not finished Friday’s or Saturday’s and I’m currently stuck in the middle of Daniel C. Bryant’s Sunday puzzle.  I am making progress though.  I’ve got Friday down to just a few empty boxes and Saturday’s, thanks to the generous help of our readers, is about 80% done.  I am somewhat confident that I’ll eventually be able to finish Sunday’s.  I’ve been working on it on and off for close to 3 hours and I have about 75% of the grid filled.

The theme is ALL SAINTS’ DAY and it takes normal phrases and adds an ST.

23A. Switch in an orchestra section? (EXCHANGE OF STRINGS)

16D. Add new connections between floors? (PUT ON STAIRS)

57A. Neolithic outlaws? (STONE ARMED BANDITS)

77A. Invisible lost dogs? (ULTRAVIOLET STRAYS)

Those are the only theme clues I’ve figured out so far.

40A. Pilgrim? (HOLY something).

96A. Gets fat? (GOES___STOUT).  Wait…could this be GOES ALL STOUT?  I’m going to try that…ok, maybe.  It could mean 97D. Is honest (with) is LEVELS.

115A. Go-go club? (no idea).  Although I think it might end with STRIP.  Unless it doesn’t.

Favorite clue so far:

71D. Needing a lift? (BRALESS).  Reminds me of the Braless Wonder from Seinfeld who was also the heir to the O’Henry Candy Bar fortune.

Obligatory baseball clue that only makes me long more intensely for Spring Training:

72A. Major-league manager Tony (LARUSSA).  This one isn’t too bad as Larussa was the manager of the A’s in 1998 when the Dodgers, behind Gibson’s miracle homerun and Hershiser’s Cy Young pitching, beat them in the Series.

Clue that makes me want to tell people that we got a new sofa:

48A. Got cozy together (CUDDLED UP).  We got a new sofa.

Clue that reminds me of a recent Jeopardy contestant:

64A. Beckett’s “Endgame: ___ in One Act” (A PLAY).  Last week there was a Jeopardy contestant who knew absolutely nothing about theater.  That in itself is not remarkable.  There are plenty of Jeopardy categories of which I’m completely ignorant.  But this guy kept buzzing in (or utilizing his signaling device, as Trebek calls it) on clues in the Complete the Play Title category.  And every single answer he gave was wrong.  I remember three of them:

• Odets’ “Waiting for ___” (What is Guffman?)
• Mamet’s “American ___” (What is Beauty?)
• O’Neill’s “Ah, ___” (What is Calcutta?)

He did not win the game.  (Of course, he could probably finish this puzzle in less than 3 hours so who am I to judge?)

Clue that’s not fair:

33D. “The Naked and the Dead” star, 1958.  I slogged through this entire book.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see the movie so now I can’t answer this clue.  Shouldn’t there be some reward for reading?

So, I still have a lot of blank boxes.  I’ll finish up all three of these weekend puzzles tonight.  Either with google or without.  Brian and I will be doing a podcast tomorrow with our brand new microphones.  I’m certain we’ll discuss why neither of us seem to be getting any smarterer.

Next stop, Monday.

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Wow, I still haven’t finished Friday’s puzzle and hot on the heels of that failure I’m in the middle of having not have finished Saturday’s Karen M. Tracey puzzle.  The grid is chock full of pop culture, most of which I don’t know.

Here’s what I do know (this shouldn’t take long):

5A. Captor of Han Solo (JABBA).  What else could this be?  Boba Fett doesn’t fit.

28A. Park in Ranger Smith’s charge (JELLYSTONE).  A guess but, again, what else could it be?  Was Yogi Bear named after Yogi Berra?  Is there any connection there?

32D. “Six Feet Under” star Peter (KRAUSE).  Not a fan of the show.  So ultra depressing.

41A. “Guerilla Warfare” author, 1961 (CHE GUEVARA).  The ulimate guess of all guesses.  But it fits.

50D. First name in Hollywood gossip (RONA).  Could be her, could be someone else.

35D. One may play at a ballpark (ORGANIST).  One of the few “figure it out” clues that I figured out.  Seems like since the Dodgers got knocked out, the baseball clues have come fast and furious.

23D. Professional shooter, briefly (SLR).  Look at me, I figured something else out.

32A. Decks (KOS).  This is probably right.

9D. They may be patronized (ARTS).  Eh, could be right, could be wrong.

And that is absolutely it.  The rest of the grid lies empty, mocking me in its unfilledness.  There are lots of other fun references to, among others, Sherlock Holmes (2 of them), He-Man, Scrubs, the Matrix and Brunswick stew.  The commonality of all those clues is I don’t have any idea what the answers are.  

I’m sorry I don’t have more to add today but it looks like the NYT has found a new day that is in between Saturday and Sunday where they can stick more difficult puzzles.  Trucial States?  Really?  I’m going to step away from the puzzle for a bit.  Eat some of last night’s lasagna, do some couch sitting and perhaps when I come back all will be clear.  If somehow that happens I will update this post with tales of my derring-do and smarteriness.  But, if not, then:

Next stop, Sunday.

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Ok, super, ultra-fast post today.  I spent all night transcribing stuff at work and I’m about to rip my face off.  I didn’t have too much time to work on Frederick J. Healy’s puzzle but I do know that I’m stuck.

The top left came very quickly.

1A. Subject of the 1989 musical monologue “Bon Appétit!” (JULIA CHILD).  Didn’t even have to think about it.  Boom!

15A. Old torturer (IRON MAIDEN).  First thing that came into my head.  Love when that happens.

17A. Country whose capital is Palikir (MICRONESIA).  This I definitely did not know but I got it through crosses.

I was able to get the top right with:

12D. 1992 film directed by and starring Edward James Olmos (AMERICAN ME).  No idea why I know this.  I’ve never seen it and no nothing about it.  Perhaps I have a whole cache of Edward James Olmos facts that is just waiting to be tapped.  By the way, the -ian suffix works with only two of his names in case you’re keeping track: Edwardian, Jamesian, Olmosian.

13D. Warden player in “Birdman of Alcatraz” (KARL MALDEN).  Is this the one with Clint Eastwood?  Or is that Escape from Alcatraz?

Ok, I’ve got to get out of here.  One clue that doesn’t make much sense:

67A. Thing to swing from (STRIKE ZONE).  Hmmm, I appreciate the play on words here but that’s not really correct.  The batter begins his swing from far outside the strike zone and only enters said zone about a 1/3 of the way through his swing.  The other problem I have with this clue is it’s reminding me of this lousy, disgraceful World Series that’s being played.  Bleh.

I’m really stuck in the bottom left but I will solve that from home.  We now have mics and a mixing board for the next podcast.

The weekend is upon me!

Next stop, Saturday.

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So here is the Thursday puzzle that Patrick Blindauer alluded to on our podcast.  Patrick, once again, has come up with a grid full of fun clues and answers.

First, the theme:

55D. “Marchers” through the answers to the five starred clues (ANTS).

So ANTS marched from left to right down the grid.

14A. *Settler in a pharmacy (ANTACID).  Very clever.  I had no idea what he was going for here.  I kept envisioning some guy in a covered wagon pulling up for some band-aids.

21A. *”___ Island” (FANTASY).  A gimmie.

37A. *B’way hit beginning in ‘88 (PHANTOM).  Just one of those things I know.

48A. *Where Delta Air Lines is headquartered (ATLANTA).  Does Delta make you pay to check baggage now?  What is up with that?  Once you buy a $500 ticket to somewhere you should not be forced to pay another $15 to check your baggage.  If they try to charge me to recline I might have to start taking the train.

61A. *Cast a spell over (ENCHANT).  Just watched Enchanted.  What a great movie!

I just watched a show on the Science HD Channel (who knew we had a Science HD Channel?) about ants.  How the heck do they get that footage?  How do they get the camera that close?  They showed a bunch of ants pinning a grasshopper to a leaf and literally tearing it to pieces and carrying it off to their colony.  Fascinating.  Here’s the schedule for the show.  Highly recommended.

The rest of the puzzle was lots of fun and very well done.  Except for ONE glaring exception.

52D. Yank or Ranger (ALER).  Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick…Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick…Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick…Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick…Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick…Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick…bleh.

Other than that the puzzle was full of great stuff.  As Orange would say, lively fill.

7A. “Men in Black” actor (RIPTORN).  I’ve always liked his name.  If I RIP something then it’s TORN.  His name tells a story.  He was also in Summer Rental and anybody who was in Summer Rental is awesome.

17A. Bawl club? (WEEPERS).

44A. Spilling one’s drink at a shindig, for one (PARTY FOUL).

53A. Product once pitched by Pelé (VIAGRA).  Ok, I have an applet complaint.  At least on my computer at work any letter with an accent shows up as a question mark.  So this clue appeared as Product once pitched by Pel? which was quite confusing.  Who is Pel?  I asked myself.

60A. Bygone McDonald’s mascot (SPEEDEE).  What is Grimace?  I also ask myself.  I think he’s a shake.  This theory is supported by the existence of Uncle O’Grimacey, Grimace’s Irish relative who comes stateside once a year to promote the Shamrock Shake.  Uncle O’Grimacey is the same color as the Shamrock Shake (green) and seems to have a similar consistency as well.  Watch this commercial and judge for your self.

Oh, by the way, I had a Shamrock Shake last March for the first time since I was a kid.  I was not disappointed.  Not only is it a blinding shade of green but it was one of the most delicious items I’ve ever sucked through a straw.

27D. The “Working Girl” girl and others (TESSES).  Yes, kids, it’s true.  There was a time long ago when Harrison Ford made movies that were enjoyable to watch.  Wow, even Harrison doesn’t look like he believes me.

28D. San Luis ___ (OBISPO).  Weird Al Yankovic went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, was a college DJ there and even signed his first recording contract while still a student.  And, yet, there’s barely any mention of him on their website.  What the hey?  You’d think they’d at least name a building after him.  Oddly, the kid on the front of the site looks vaguely like Al.  Maybe it’s a subtle, unspoken nod to the master.

Quite a fun puzzle by Patrick.  If you haven’t listened to our interview with him and you’d like to please click here.

Next stop, Friday.  I’m predicting a Nothnagel.

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