Ryan solves the NYT, Wed 11-26-8
Ok, I think I get the theme in this Harvey Estes puzzle.
49A. 1958 Spencer Tracy film … and a hint to 20-, 30- and 39-Across (THE LAST HURRAH). The other theme answers end in OLE. That’s it, right? Well, if that isn’t it, I don’t know what the heck it is.
20A. “Zounds!” (HOLY GUACAMOLE). I’ve got to work this into my vernacular.
30A. Eight-time best actor nominee (PETER OTOOLE). Lawrence of Arabia, the most magnificent movie ever made. Nowadays they’d make it with all kinds of crappy CGI but this is the real deal. Big and sandy and marvelous.
39A. Boneless entree (FILET OF SOLE).
Other highlights:
25A. Bank job, e.g. (CAPER). Note to all you constructors out there, CAPER CAPER has never been in the NYT puzzle. Let’s get on that.
41A. Meaning of “one on the city,” in diner lingo (TAP WATER). Wikipedia has a great list of diner lingo.
8A. Funny Fey (TINA). Yes, Tina Fey is funny. But Alec Baldwin is out of control on that show. May be the best performance on TV right now.
32D. Fisherman’s whopper? (TALE). Both Brian and I invite you to play Fish Wrangler with us on Facebook. What are you waiting for?
39D. F.D.R. dog (FALA). Here’s a bit of FDR’s Fala Speech from September 1944:
These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. [laughter] Well, of course, I don’t resent attacks, and my family doesn’t resent attacks — but Fala does resent them. [laughter] You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I had left him behind on the Aleutian Islands and had sent a destroyer back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars — his Scotch soul was furious. [laughter] He has not been the same dog since! [laughter] I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog [laughter].
57D. 49-Across, in this puzzle (OLE). I finally noticed this clue. I guess I was right about the theme. Look how much smarterer I am.
Next stop, Thursday.
