Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

Ah crap, I totally blew my no-google streak on today’s Barry C. Silk, Friend and Confidante of Doug Peterson, Crossword Gentleman and Man About Town puzzle.  I got so focused on a Nexus of Ryan’s Ignorance and, after unsuccessfully trying every letter combination, I googled it not realizing I had a mistake somewhere else in the grid.

The Nexus:

50A. Riga resident (LETT).  I had L__T.  Two things I didn’t know. 1. Riga is the capital of Latvia.  2. LETT is an archaic word for Latvian.  Now, not to quibble, but shouldn’t we be notified of the archaic angle somewhere in the clue?

48D. George who directed “Miracle on 34th Street” (SEATON).  I had S_ATON and figured it was SEATON but thought it could also be STATON, SHATON, SLATON or SQATON.

38D. Cold northerly winds of southern France (MISTRALS).  I had MIS_RALS and really didn’t have any idea.

The Other Error:

1A. Suffix with social (IZE).  I put ITE and it never occurred to me it was wrong.  The incorrect T gave me TWEI which looked fine to me for the German word for two.  Never having had the opportunity to count in German, the error was not easy to spot.

I got everything else including the fun but difficult theme.

66A. Word defined by 17-, 25-, 35-, 45- and 58-Across (BAR).

LEGAL PROFESSION My first guess: ROYAL PROFESSION

BANISH BY DECREE My first guess: FINISH BY DEGREE

TAP ROOM

UNIT OF PRESSURE My first guess: INCH OF PRESSURE

MUSICAL NOTATION

Other highlights:

4A. Best in mental combat (OUTWIT).  Tricky clue.  I thought it meant best as in “the best” and assumed it would end with EST.

15A.  Time Magazine’s 2007 Invention of the Year (IPHONE).  Seriously, it’s enough with these already.

16A. Jacques Cousteau’s middle name (YVES).  Got this one right away.  How did I do that?  Applied knowledge, baby.

20A. Cockpit datum (AIRSPEED).  Was I the only one who put ALTITUDE here first?

22A. They’re inserted into locks (OARS).  Ok, I knew this wasn’t going to be KEYS but I certainly didn’t know it was going to be OARS.

31A. Influential Greek physician (GALEN).  He wrote three books on bloodletting.  I wonder what was left to cover after the first two.

64A. TV heroine who wielded a chakram as a weapon (XENA).  I did a youtube search for chakram and the first thing that popped up was the following video.  Apparently any time you use a chakram you must immediately flip backwards.  Does anyone know why this is?

Next stop, Friday.