Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

First off, I’ve been rehearsing, going to work, going to sleep and going back to rehearsal all week.  It’s 4:30am and I’m kinda falling asleep at work now so I apologize in advance if my post is incoherent.

Second off, what’s up with the bottom left corners lately?  After being stumped for a while in yesterday’s BLC I took a ridiculously long time to solve the BLC in today’s Pete Muller puzzle.

51A. One who believes humans descended from extraterrestrials (RAELIAN).  Never heard of this.  I knew I was going to have to get it through crosses.  Raelism is pretty fascinating and, apparently, is the largest UFO religion in the world.

53A. Image in the Notre Dame de Paris (ANGE).  I don’t know what this answer means.  Is it French?

48D. More there? (SANER).  This was the big one.  Once I figured this out the rest fell into place.  It took me about 45 minutes to figure it out though.  My first idea was a suffix of THERE such as THERESOEVER or something like that.  My next idea was the word MORE translated into a language they use over THERE.  I don’t know how the correct answer popped into my head but we can all breathe a sigh of relief that it did.

Something else in that corner was 59A. With 27-Across, it collapsed in 2008 (BEAR).  27A was STEARNS.  I worked for BEAR STEARNS for about 3 years.  The overnight, weekend shift.  They had the most ridiculous dress code.  Dress shirts, ties, slacks and dress shoes 24/7.  So, at 3am on a Sunday, I’m sitting there wearing a suit.  I hated this policy and came up with a silent but effective protest.  I wore exactly the same thing every shift for about 2 years.  Same shirt, pants and Dilbert xmas tie.  After about a year of this, someone came up to me, stared at my chest and said, “Hey, nice tie!”  In the end my protest worked.  I got fired.

Oh yes, the theme.  A quote puzzle.  Haven’t seen on of those for a while.  This quote comes from Allan Meltzer.  CAPITALISM WITHOUT FAILURE IS LIKE RELIGION WITHOUT SIN.    It was pretty easy to figure out especially since WITHOUT showed up twice.

6A. Waldorf salad ingredient (WALNUT).  I can’t think of Waldorf salads without thinking of the Waldorf salad episode of Faulty Towers.  Celery!  Apples!  Walnuts!  Grapes!  Here’s a bit of the episode.

Ok, back to trying to stay awake.

Next stop, Friday.

Last week on the office, Michael went on a business trip to Canada.  Once he got there, he was very excited to meet and talk with the concierge.  I’m not 100% sure what he thought a concierge was but he did believe they were “schooled in the fine arts of fanciness and pleasure”.  He actually got a lot farther with the concierge than I thought he would and the night ended in a classic “walk of shame”.  Why am I mentioning this?  Because Michael Scott doesn’t know anything about concierges and I don’t know anything about college sports.  Which brings us to today’s Peter A. Collins puzzle.

The theme answers were anagrams of college sports teams.  Oh yes, in addition to not knowing anything about college sports I’m also not very good at anagrams.  Having said all that, the section I had the most trouble with had no theme answers at all.  But first, the theme:

23A. Jacket material for a mixed-up North Carolina athlete? (LEATHER).  LEATHER is an anagram for the North Carolina THE EARLs.

37A. Oenophile, as a mixed-up Michigan athlete? (WINE LOVER).  WINE LOVER is an anagram for the Michigan ELVER WINOs.

56A. Flew by, as a mixed-up Michigan State athlete? (RAN PAST).  RAN PAST is an anagram for the Michigan State ASP RANTs.

10D. Jargon from a mixed-up Florida athlete? (ARGOT).  ARGOT is an anagram for the Florida GROATs.

55D. Apply to the skin, as on a mixed-up U.C.L.A. athlete? (RUB IN).  RUB IN is an anagram for the UCLA I BURNs.

So, that was pretty tough but at least now I can have an intelligent conversation with various dudes about college athletics.

The bottom left:

Sweet mercy!  This was tough.  This corner definitely had at least one foot in Thursday/Friday.

21D. Study of please (HEDONICS).  I put HEDONISM first.  That screwed things up for a while.  The M in HEDONISM made it almost impossible for me to come up with REPRESS for 54A. Sit on.

41A. Classic batting game (ONEACAT).  I have no idea what this is.  I don’t even know what a batting game is.  You mean, like baseball?

58A. “Cheers!” abroad (SALUT).  I put SALUD at first which made 38D. “No more for me, thanks” (IM SET) very difficult.

66A. Peterson of 2003 news (LACI).  Ok, this one I actually knew.  I was fascinated by this case for a while.  I listened to the tapes of Scott Peterson’s phone conversations with Amber Frey.  They are chilling.  He kills his wife and is happily courting this other woman while denying the reality of what’s going on.  But the real reason I wanted to point out this clue is: Scott Peterson is a convicted murderer in California.  He has been convicted of killing his wife and unborn son and resides on death row in San Quentin prison in California.  Scott Peterson gets a lot of marriage proposals and has the lawful right to get married in the state of California if he so wishes.  A man who has been convicted of violating the sanctity of marriage in the most heinous way possible still has the right to marriage.  In California.  What kind of crazy world do we live in?

Okay, I’m off the soapbox.

16A. Plows follow them (ROWS).  Show of hands, who put OXEN here?

My pop culture knowledge really failed me on this puzzle.  I’ve never heard of Patrick MAGEE, ELLA Raines or EWA Aulin.

And one last clue/answer that has me baffled:

46D. Mayo, for one (MES).  Huh?

Next stop, Thursday.

The theme for today’s Richard Chisholm puzzle was all about houses.

59A. What 17-, 23-, 34-, 40- and 47-Across are each composed of (TWO HOUSES).

And the theme answers were two word phrases where each word was also a type of house.  (I think I need to take a class in the theme-describing.)

17A. Police stop (ROAD BLOCK).

23A. Remedy for failed courses, maybe (SUMMER SCHOOL).

34A. Cardinal vis-à-vis Illinois, Indiana or Ohio (STATE BIRD).

40A. Military capbility (FIRE POWER).

47A. Wheeled toy (DOLL CARRIAGE).  Never understood the appeal of the baby dolls and carriages as entertainment.  When you’re a little kid why would you want to pretend you’re taking care of a little kid?  That would be like me carrying around a doll of a nerdy, out-of-work New York actor.  I’d have to set up fake auditions for him and rejection phone calls and what not.  I don’t get it.

20A. Oreo maker (NABISCO).  For some reason, it’s very difficult to find Ding Dongs in our neighborhood.  We searched around for a bit on Friday night with no luck but we did happen upon the Oreo Cakesters which we all agreed were a pretty good Ding Dong substitutes.  Cakey and Oreo-y and cremey.  Yum.

37A. Wray of “King Kong” (FAY).  This is actually a really good movie.  And the first movie that had a score that reflected the action on the screen.  (Maybe Brian or one of our musically-inclined readers can describe that more accurately.)  Here’s something a didn’t know, there’s a colorized version from the 1980s floating around the internet.  Good ol’ colorization.  Ruining classic films for everybody.

Sadly, there will be no podcast this week.  Brian has been sick and I’ve been knee-deep in rehearsals so there just wasn’t any time.  We will be back next week with, we hope, another very special guest.

Next stop, Wednesday.

Before I go in to the details of today’s puzzle, I want to talk for a minute about Sunday’s puzzle and The Simpsons tie-in.  That was awesome!  I watched it with Pickles and kept pausing to say things like, “That’s the music from Wordplay”, “There’s a site called cruciverbalist.com”, “That’s today’s puzzle!”.  So much fun.  It was like a big inside joke for crossword people.  I knew that the Sunday puzzle was going to appear in the episode but I had no idea that there would be hidden messages.  That was great.  Here they are:

Reading diagonally through the grid: DUMB DAD SORRY FOR HIS BET

And taking the first letter of each clue: DEAR LISA YOU MAKE ME SO HAPPY REALLY REALLY REALLY HAPPY SORRY HE TOLD ME I NEEDED A HUNDRED FORTY FOUR LETTERS WHAT WAS MY POINT AGAIN OH RIGHT BOUVIER OR SIMPSON I CHERISH YOU

So cool.  If there are other inside jokes I missed, please let me know.  JimH has a couple of interviews with Merl and Will on the Wordplay blog that will give you a little more insight.

On to today’s Paula Gamache puzzle.  Good, fun Monday puzzle.  The theme involved people who are in dire straits.  (Is that the way you spell “straits” for that meaning?)

20A. Demand legal restitution after injury (SUE FOR DAMAGES).

33A. Seek compassionate treatment (BEG FOR MERCY).

41A. What drought victims might do (PRAY FOR RAIN).

56A. Take unnecessary risks (ASK FOR TROUBLE).

Term that I need to use more in my everyday life:

36A. Big talker (GAS BAG).  What a great term.  I know many GAS BAGS.  There was one lady I worked with at my old job.  I called her the Fairy Tale Wino because, well, she dressed like a wino who lives in a fairy tale.  Lots of crazy, layered clothing and all very, brightly colored.  Anyway, she would never shut up.  She was one of those people who whenever somebody famous died she had to be the first one to let everybody know.  She’d read it on the internet and then announce it to the room.  Like she was the town crier or something.  When the Detroit Tigers were in the playoffs she would go on and on about how big a Tigers fan she was.  The when Cal Ripken was inducted into the Hall of Fame she went on and on about how big an Orioles fan she was.  There were times when I just needed her to shut up.  And, now that I no longer see her, as crazy as it sounds, I miss her.  She did liven up the day.

Here’s something I didn’t know:

10D. Almost any part of the Michelin Man (TIRES).  I guess it never occurred to me that those rolls of fat were all tires.  Does anybody know the story behind this guy?  Did someone stack a bunch of tires one day and they just suddenly came to life?  Is it a regular guy (like a prince or something) that’s forced to live with a horrible curse?  Is he from outer space?  Is he related to Grimace?  What are his intentions on Earth?  Does he truly mean well or is he merely softening us up in anticipation of the arrival of his overlords?  What isn’t he telling us?

In a bit of personal news, my show, The Cherry Orchard opens up on Friday.  Only 4 performances, it’s up at Columbia U and the tickets are free.  You can reserve tickets by following this link.  All the details and showtimes are there too.  Please let me know if you decide to come so I can say hi and maybe we can hang out afterwards.

Next stop, Tuesday.

Keeping with our current trend of lame-o weekend entries, here’s another quick one about today’s Merle Reagle puzzle.  I don’t know all the backstory, but I do know that Merl and Will will be appearing on the Simpsons tonight.  The title was a sly nod to that: SOUNDS LIKE SOMEBODY I KNOW.  There may be other references to the Simpsons or tonight’s episode that I’m not picking up on. (Ok, well I see D’OH.)

This will be a bit of a watershed event for me as Will Shortz is the first person I’ve met who will be on the Simpsons.  (Haven’t had a chance to meet Merl yet.  Hopefully at the next ACPT.)

The theme answers were a lot of fun with MARISA PTOMAINE, RAYMOND CHANNELER, MONICA ZEALOUS, and LINDSAY LOWHAND (my personal favorite), among others.

Besides being a Meshed foundation in lace I have no idea what a RESEAU is.  And I don’t know why GATT would be letters of commerce.

Ok, sorry for the brief posts this weekend.  With Cherry Orchard rehearsals, Quantum of Solace, and birthday parties, this has been quite the busy few days.

Can’t wait to see the Simpsons tonight.

Next stop, Monday.

Gaaaaah!  One letter away from a no-google!  I had TALE OF TEARS instead of VALE OF TEARS and just couldn’t figure out the error.  Unbelievable.  I got all the toughies: CADUCEI, ALBALONGA, JASPERFFORDE.  And got tripped up on something I’d actually heard of.  Son of a…

So, that’s frustrating.  And, since I’ve spent all morning trying to solve Karen M. Tracey’s puzzle I don’t have any time left to blog about it.  I’m off to rehearsal.

My full review of Quantum of Solace will be forthcoming.

Next stop, Sunday.

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.

This Allan E. Parrish puzzle was quite a struggle for me.  I had a hard time finding the theme and the whole thing took me almost an hour to finish.  That being said, it was a fun puzzle with an enjoyable, if somewhat random, theme.  It seemed random to me because I couldn’t glean a pattern for the way the circles X’s were placed in the grid.  Was there one?

In today’s puzzle we learned three meanings for XXX:

TIC TAC TOE WINNER (see Wargames)

POISON WARNING (see Looney Tunes cartoons)

THIRTY IN OLD ROME (see Cicero)

I’d add pictures and whatnot here but I’m at work and searching for XXX would probably get me fired.

Other highlights:

6D. National alternative (HERTZ).  A rare instance where I actually demonstrated applied knowledge.  I knew this one right off.  I only had to choose between ALAMO and HERTZ.

11D. Gum choice (CINNAMON).  When did gum become a health food?  It’s all sugar free, good for your teeth, freshen your breath crap.  When I was growing up we had Bubbalicious and Hubba Bubba and Bubble Yum.  It seems like the whole industry has been taken over by the dental lobby.  Anybody ever eat a Froze Toes?  It was a big pink popsicle shaped like a foot with a bubblegum ball for a big toenail.  That’s what I’m talking about.

31A. Virginia local where the C.I.A. is headquartered (MCLEAN).  MCLEAN?  Where the hell is that?  Every spy movie I’ve ever seen puts the CIA in Langley…Ok, I just did a little research on wikipedia and encountered a sentence that simultaneously solves this mystery and makes no sense: Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.

56A. “Time ___” (bygone sci-fi series) (TRAX).  Anybody seen this?  Cop from the future going back in time to hunt down criminals hiding out in the past?  Anybody?  I’m going to guess this was terrible.  I mean, just look at this guy:

22A. McKellen who played Gandalf (IAN).  I leave you today with Ian’s guest bit on Extras.  Too funny.

Next stop, Friday.

Super fast post today.  Work was crazy busy and I’ve only got about 15 minute before I head home.

I enjoyed this Peter A. Collins puzzle.  Love the theme.  Who doesn’t love the RAT PACK?

Although, if Peter Lawford was still alive I bet he wouldn’t be too happy he was left out of the puzzle.  I think my favorite theme answer was putSINATRAnce.  Very fitting.  I would have loved to see Sinatra live but never got the chance.

What I really need to talk about is the middle left section which took me a good 20 minutes all by itself.

30A. Kelly of “One Tree Hill” (MOIRA).  I have no idea who this is or what One Tree Hill might be.

37A. Mule team? (ARMY).  I 100% do not understand this.  Not even a little bit.

25D. Miraculous Medal figure (MARY).  Again, what is this?

43A. Flattened at the poles (OBLATE).  MCCAIN really seemed like the right answer here.  I guess it’s the wrong type of poles.

Somehow I figured all this out but I had to do more guessing than normal for a Wednesday.

2D. Good name for a gemologist? (OPAL).  This one I don’t get.  Who is named OPAL?

Don’t get me wrong though.  My fast post is not adequately reflecting my enjoyment of the puzzle.  Lots of fun fill like WINGTIP, CRANSTON and ITSABET.  And my favorite clue of the day:

11D. Something the U.S. government keeps an eye on (GREAT SEAL).

Alright, I’m going home.  Next stop, Thursday.

Very impressive puzzle by Nancy Salomon and Larry Shearer.  It contained two 15-letter answers that crossed diagonally through the grid.  (The clues were only available on the fabled, gossamer-like Notepad).

1Diagonal. Disappearing (SLIP SLIDING AWAY).

12Diagonal. Proceeding with little effort (RUNNING DOWNHILL).

I have no idea what it might take to coordinate theme answers that intersect with so many other answers but, clearly, Nancy and Larry know what they’re doing.

Other highlights:

29A. OP’s forerunners (KLMN).  Great clue.  At first I thought OP was some old intelligence agency.  Once I had KLM I figured it must be an airline.

33A. Part of ship’s bow (HAWSE).  Here’s my vote for most unhelpful definition of the day: The part of a ship where the hawseholes are located.

37A. Pop’s ___ Pop (IGGY).  I needed crosses for this one.  I couldn’t get past the idea that this was about cereal.

60A. Company that introduced NutraSweet (SEARLE).  Apparently, I’m the only person who cannot stand the taste of this foul, foul invention.  By the way, do you know who was the CEO of SEARLE when NutraSweet was approved?  That’s right, Donald Rumsfeld.  Think about that the next time you enjoy a tall glass of artificially sweetened Freedom Juice.

54D. ___ Gravas, role on Taxi (LATKA).  One of my favorite Andy Kaufman bits:

62D. Pie ___ mode (ALA).  I’m thinking about becoming a baker.

Next stop, Wednesday.