Ryan and Brian do Crosswords

Excellent Friday puzzle by Brad Wilbur.  Lots of fun fill, clever clues and a few gimmies sprinkled in.

1A. A&W offering (CREAMSODA).  Pretty easy.  ROOT BEER didn’t fit and what else does A&W make?  I went to an A&W restaurant last time I was in Ohio.  It’s great.  They give you a big frosty mug that you can fill over and over again with frothy, delicious root beer.  Paradise.

15A. Worrisome sight at a beach (DORSAL FIN).  Great clue and answer.  Got it pretty quickly because it made perfect sense.

22A. A question of methodology (HOW).  I think this is my favorite clue in the puzzle.  A complex clue that gets distilled into a simple, everyday answer.

33A. Ken McLaughlin’s filly (FLICKA).  Total guess.  If you asked me an hour ago I would have said FLICKA was a dog.

42A. “The Godfather Part II” Oscar winner (DENIRO).  Ok, look, I like the first one better.  I know most people say Part II is better but I don’t buy it.  I love Part II but Part I is just about as perfect a movie as there is.  Here’s a great screen test of Deniro auditioning for the role of Sonny.

48A. Box at the gym? (SAUNA).  This one took me a while.  In fact, this whole corner took me a while.  SAUNA was the key.  Once I got that, everything fell into place.  I’ve never been in a sauna.  I go to a cheap gym that doesn’t actually have one.  But, honestly, I don’t get the appeal.  You sit on orange wood and you sweat.  Ok.  Why would I want to do that?  Explain?

51A. Thing fit for a king (SHEET).  Ok, maybe this is my favorite clue.

55A. Menace in the mirror (TAILGATER).  This is a good one also.  I figured it had something to do with the witch from Sleeping Beauty.  I guess it still could.  Does anybody know what kind of a driver she is?

61A. Poet who’s the subject of Tom Stoppard’s “The Invention of Love” (AE HOUSMAN).  Pickles and I saw this on Broadway.  We’re big Stoppard fans but, yowza, I didn’t understand what the heck was going on.  The program had page after page of backstory and information but who has time to read that before the lights go out?  I bet it’s a great play but I was totally unprepared.

1D. Record holder (CD CASE).  Wait…what?  Doesn’t a CD CASE hold a CD?  Have I been doing it wrong this whole time?

5D. Mercutio speech subject (MAB).  Gimmie.  If it’s Romeo and Juliet and it’s 3 letters then it’s MAB.  Isn’t that one of Newton’s laws?

21D. It stops the swinging, briefly (TKO).  Another great clue.

40D. Couplet (DISTICH).  Hello Saturday word that I’ve never heard of.  What are you doing in my Friday puzzle?  Did you forget to set your clock back?

Great, great, great puzzle.  Perfect Friday.  I was kind of hoping there’d be a James Bond clue today.  Brian and I and the wives are seeing Quantum of Solace tonight.  Here’s a link to a puzzle from a couple of months ago with QofS going right through the center.

Next stop, Saturday.

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