Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

Today marks one month (numerically) before the onset of the 2009 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. The tournament will run for three days (February 27-March 1), and consist primarily of Tyler Hinman and Dan Feyer being really really fast at solving puzzles, and everyone else wondering what they ought to have done with their $300. So join in the fun!

If you looked at my copy of today’s puzzle, you might think that my handwriting needs work. Usually, I am a little bit OCD about clear, precise lettering, particularly in crossword puzzles. I need the letter to not only fit in the box, but fit with a smallish bit of cell padding. No part of the letter may touch the edges of the box (I do overlap the numbers occasionally). Square or cornered letters usually have those lines parallel to the box edges. I have the hardest time with G and S. I don’t know why. I do not put serifs on my I or J. I will often erase a letter and re-enter it if it doesn’t meet my standards. And I recently learned that my mother is the exact same way.

But today, I skipped past all of that. I’m working on developing my pencil speed. I am no Dan Feyer, but I want to show improvement at this year’s tournament. And some people have suggested that writing in lower case letters will speed things up. A lowercase E, for example, is just one swirl. A capital E is four lines. So today, I did this Jim Hyres puzzle in pencil, on paper, and in (mostly) lower case letters. I’m not sure what to do with I vs. L — if I don’t dot the I, the two letters look alike. If I dot the I, I’m taking more time than I’d like. Oh heavens, what shall I do?

Today’s puzzle demonstrates that my lower-case penmanship has indeed been born again. Or borne again? Bornes again. No wait: Bourne again. We have a nice quartet of answers for which the theme is Words That End Two-Word Things or Phrases Where the Second Word Always Sounds the Same, but is Spelled Differently:

• 11D. Heir to a throne, typically : FIRST BORN. Someday, my parents will start a kingdom, and then I will be their heir. I’m looking forward to ruling.
• 17A. Game with “Out of Gas” cards : MILLE BORNES. I used to play this game when I was a kid. I loved it. I don’t remember why I loved it, as is evidenced by the fact that I played it again recently and didn’t really understand the point. But back in the day, it was a huge hit at my house.
• 33D. Like the dust in a dust storm : WIND BORNE. Here’s how dumb I am. I put WIND BLOWN, and couldn’t understand why it was wrong.
• 58A. Robert Ludlum protagonist : JASON BOURNE. I liked the first one, but not so much the second. And I never saw the third one. But I do like that whole Sarah Silverman/Jimmy Kimmel bit about Silverman’s intimate encounters with Matt Damon. Funny stuff. Maybe a video?

I also like the layout of the grid. It looks like, if the black squares made walls, that this would be the floor plan for an art show, perhaps. I’d like to buy the watercolor over where the Z serves as the cross between 51D. PONZI scheme (investment scam) and 62A. Larry MIZE, who won the 1987 Masters. I do wonder if the 1987 Masters are now long ago enough to be totally random, and not really a fair kind of specific for a Tuesday. I mean — twenty-two years ago? Any golfer not named Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Jack Nicklaus or Sam Snead has no business in a Tuesday.

48D. Some bridge seats – this answer always sticks in my mental craw. The answer is usually EASTS or WESTS, but it seems strange to see it as a plural. Unless, of course, you’re talking about duplicate bridge, in which several quartets play bridge with the exact same hands as each other. My parents used to do this. Not only do I not understand any one individual thing about bridge, I really don’t understand how you can play it the same way as ten other tables. I guess then it’s not just having you and your partner win at your table, but you have to best all the other wests in the room.

We also get a stacked pair of cars: 45 A. Alternative to a station wagon or a convertible (SEDAN) and 49A. Convertibles, informally (RAGTOPS). I’ve rarely talked about convertibles in my daily conversations, but I’ve never used the word ragtop, either. I need to up my stakes when it comes to topless cars. And in the vein of mini-themes, we also have a lawn mini-theme, what with 43A. Like newly laid lawns (SODDED) and 64A. Start over with, as a lawn (RESEED). Lawns, to me, are a weird enough thing (being that I don’t have one of my own) that they stick out in the puzzle as an odd pair of clues.

Ryan is apparently “sick” with some sort of “cold.” I don’t believe a word of it. You should listen to our podcast, the most recent episode, and see if you can hear sickness in his voice. I can’t.

See you Wednesday!