Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

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.