Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

I’m supposed to be asleep now. I’m working overnight tonight so I was supposed to stay up all last night and be asleep now in preparation. Instead, I fell asleep around midnight and woke up, refreshed, around 8am. This does not bode well. I feel great now but at 2am tonight I’ll be in a very bad mood. Looking forward to it.

On another note, Brian and I are very confused. We are being bombarded by spam from Russia. It comes from all different email addresses and the comments consist of question marks. That’s all. And maybe a few commas. We don’t get it. What’s their endgame? Why is our spam filter not filtering it out?

On to today’s Allan E. Parrish puzzle. A fun puzzle although I didn’t figure out the theme until after I was done. Each theme answer contains a word consisting of the letters A-B-E-R. That’s the theme, right? I’m not missing anything?

20A. Bitter-tasting vegetable (BROCCOLI RABE). At some point during my solving process my brain lost the ability to correctly spell BROCCOLI. It became convinced the correct spelling was BROCCILI. It didn’t matter that the author of “The Human Comedy” became William SARIYAN. I’m hoping my brain never makes this mistake again as it will prove to be quite embarrassing at my weekly vegetable spelling parties.

32A. “Young Indian brave” in a 1960 Johnny Preston #1 hit (RUNNING BEAR). I had 100% never heard of the song, the singer or the brave. Turns out, it’s a pretty cool song and, now that I’ve listened to it, will certainly be stuck in my head for at least a week. Please enjoy.

41A. Least acceptable amount (BARE MINIMUM). At 2am tonight this is what I’ll be doing.

54A. Country singer with a hit sitcom (REBA MCENTIRE). Good god! The IMDB is down! I can’t look up anything. Who co-starred in this sitcom? When was it on? How many episodes were produced? I don’t know any of it! Help!

Other highlights:

16A. “The Yankee Years” co-writer (TORRE). Less than a week until baseball season begins. Joe TORRE will be leading my beloved Dodgers to hopefully another division championship. I will, once again, be tracking their record when mentioned in the puzzle. I know it’s a feature that everyone sorely misses during the offseason but, rest easy, only a few more days to go.

23A. Steps nonchalantly (SASHAYS). I also don’t know how to spell SASHAYS. But, unlike BROCCOLI, I don’t think I ever knew how spell it.

24A. Common commemorative items (PLATES). Has anybody seen the commercial for the Obama commemorative plate? Well, you should.

39D. Tubular pasta (RIGATONI).  Tubular pasta is also teen speak for very bitchin’ pasta.

Nice Tuesday puzzle by Mr. Parrish.

Think of me with sympathy tonight.

Next stop, Wednesday.

Another great puzzle by one of our favorite constructors, Andrea Carla Michaels, Master of the Mondays. If you’ve never listened to our interview with her on Fill Me In do yourself a favor and give it a listen. She’s charming and hilarious as all hell.

I, personally, had a slight hiccup with this puzzle. For 36A. ___-bitty (ITTY). I put ITSY. My incredibly cute 1 1/2 year old niece did a rendition of the Itsy Bitsy Spider last weekend complete with adorable improvised choreography and the song’s been stuck in my head since then. I was trying to continue my streak of sub-four minute Monday solving times so I wasn’t reading the clues very carefully and the crossing word of UTERI (29D. Wombs) is not a word I encounter most days. It took me an extra five minutes to figure out where I went wrong. Dan Feyer, Winner of the C Division, Winner of the B Division had no such problems as he finished in 1:52.

The theme:

17A. Small hotel room specification (SINGLE OCCUPANCY). This immediately made me think of the capsule hotels in Japan. This picture of a capsule at the Capsule Inn Akihabara looks eerily like a microwave with a bed but maybe I’ve seen too many Japanese horror movies. I’ll definitely stay in one when I eventually go to Japan. You can’t beat US$40/night.  I’ll make sure to bring my copy of “How You Know You’re Being Microwaved: 10 Warning Signs”.

27A. 1944 thriller with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck (DOUBLE INDEMNITY). Great movie. And not in a “classic and old so I should like it” kind of way. It really is just a great, engaging movie that holds up well over 60 years later.

47A. Baked dessert with lemon filling, maybe (TRIPLE LAYER CAKE). I don’t think I’ve ever had a lemon layer cake. I’d be interested to know why Andrea went with lemon here rather than with chocolate which is the flavor I always associate with layer cakes. It certainly was a major ingredient in my famous Peppermint Falling Apart Cake which I made for the holidays.

62A. Serious heart surgery (QUADRUPLE BYPASS). Maybe I’ll cut down on the chocolate layer cakes.

And, finally, I don’t if anybody hasn’t seen this video yet but 62D. Shopping channel (QVC) has inspired me to post it here. It’s so rare that you see someone do the truly insane.

I recently found his website where he appears to be alive and well and still working the biz.  That’s good to know.

Great puzzle, Andrea.

Next stop, Tuesday.

Today’s puzzle lives up to the masterful expectations in the byline — Elizabeth Gorski always gives us a new twist and a new delight with her puzzles. She has done a great number of grids that do not demonstrate the standard in rotational symmetry. Today’s is another that offers right-to-left symmetry instead. To me, this serves as an indication of something visual in the end result. So I had my eyes peeled for such a development.

The theme trickles in with a few concept clues:

• 26A. 1951 Oscar-winning film whose title suggests a visitor to the 118-Across : AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
• 45A. Wine enjoyed by 26-Across, maybe : CHATEAU LA FITE
• 52D. Morning refreshment for 26-Across? : CAFE AU LAIT
• 55D. Napoleon’s place, frequented by 26-Across? : PATISSERIE
• 67A. 1971 Oscar-winning film whose title is hinted at nine times in this grid : THE FRENCH CONNECTION

And the big answer:

• 118A. Landmark inaugurated 3/31/1889 whose shape is suggested by nine squares in this puzzle’s completed grid : EIFFEL TOWER

So we have theme-ish entries, with all the French, and then we have a rebus (nine squares), and finally we have a picture — connect the nine squares (if you haven’t already) and get a rough outline of the Eiffel Tower.

Incidentally, the nine squares referenced by 67A are both the acronym (E.T.) and the French word for “and” (the “connection,” it seems). Very clever. Those connections were in the following:

• 10D. Insurance giant / 21A. 1986 self-titled album whose cover was Andy Warhol’s last work : AETNA / ARETHA
• 37D. “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” director, 2007 / 59A. Police dept. employees : LUMET / DETS
• 64D. “Rhyme Pays” rapper / 65D. Work without ___ / 74A. Modern traveler’s purchase : ICE-T / A NET / E-TICKET
• 93A. Chopin’s “Butterfly” or “Winter Wind” / 93D. Light : ETUDE / ETHEREAL
• 98D. RR stop / 94A. Adjust, as a clock : ETAGERES / RESET
• 99A. Bubble over / 101D. Jazzy Waters : SEETHE / ETHEL
• 116A. Beginning / 117D. To be abroad : ONSET / ETRE
• 121D. Pins and needles’ place / 121A. Some collars and jackets : ETUI / ETONS

Sadly, I was not able to no-Google this, as I was stuck with two Trivia Boxes, both in 57A. India’s smallest state (GOA). Got the O, but had no clue. The crossings were of no use to me either: 46D. Long flights (HEGIRAS) and 58D. Royal son of comics (ARN). Never heard of any of that, and since these are not your common, every day words, there was no reasoning it out for me.

We’re going to be putting together our next episode of Fill Me In sometime in the next couple days, and we’ll begin our quest to satisfy the proposed Season Two arc. We’re also in the early stages of getting a dedicated domain set up for the blog, podcast and emails. Start getting bemoresmarter.com in your heads. And don’t waste time looking for the page, because it doesn’t exist yet. But soon, children. Soon.

Also — we want your comments! Don’t be scared, just write what you want! I promise, I won’t go off again, if you decide to flame us. I won’t. Or if I do, it’s just because I want to know more from you. So really, love or hate us, drop a line.

See you Monday!

What’s the opposite of “retroactively”? Because that’s how Joe Krozel’s record-tying puzzle was un-tied. Today’s grid, a nineteen-black-square delight, was set to tie Manny Nosowsky’s standing record for fewest black squares. At least, that was the case when it was designed almost a year ago. But since then, our Facebook friend Kevin G. Der-Hyphen-Youkilis went and invented computers that could create anything, and came up with an eighteen-black-square grid that pre-empted Joe’s. To Joe’s credit — this puzzle does not contain nonsense like UNSAFER.

I was actually able to essentially no-Google this bad boy in about forty minutes. I say “essentially” because I had one Trivia Box that simply required the 26 available guesses to get right. Actually, it only required the first one, as the curious letter in question was an A. That crossing: 42A. Looped vase handle and 43D. Old tombstone abbr. meaning “at the age of.” The two words are ANSA and AETAT. That second thing might not be a word. I don’t know how to parse it. And in this instance, there was barely even a way to discern whether it would be a vowel or consonant. Plenty of things looked similarly mid-spectrum between Right and Wrong for both answers.

Joe talks in great detail in a blog interview with Jim Horne over on Wordplay. It’s a little tech-heavy, but I found it quite interesting. One of the things Joe pointed out was that it was easier to create a minimalist grid with double-stacks of fifteens than with triple-stacks (like Manny Nosowsky’s and Kevin Der’s puzzles had). Joe used four pairs of double stacks, two pairs across and two pairs down. Nice entries, too:

• 15A. Estate taxes, e.g. : INTERNAL REVENUE. No, I have not finished my taxes yet.
• 17A. Grosbeak relatives : SCARLET TANAGERS. I had no clue what these were. And by “these,” I mean both the clue and the answer.
• 50A. Tons of work to do : A LOT ON ONE’S PLATE. This is not the case in my current line of work. I have tons to do and absolutely nothing on my plate. You don’t understand? Clever job I have at the moment.
• 53A. Carnival offerings : PLEASURE CRUISES. I’m not sure I get this. Does this mean Carnival like in Rio? Or like at Coney Island? A pleasure cruise sounds lovely, but it doesn’t sound like something you can get at the fair.
• 2D. Without reservations : UNCONDITIONALLY
• 3D. Try to get a better view : STAND ON ONE’S TOES. Two answers with “on one’s” in them. This may be my only real disappointment in the puzzle.
• 12D. Operator’s line : ONE MOMENT, PLEASE
• 13D. It included the Eastern and Western fronts : EUROPEAN THEATER. Is this related to ETO? That’s about the only new acronym I learned last year, and now clues like this are making me wonder what I think I know.

Plenty here that I didn’t know:

• 4D. Some Spanish murals : SERTS (pictured at right)
• 10D. Prizes for video production : AVAS
• 20A. It’s north of the Dodecanese Islands : SAMOS. I had SAMOA here first, as a total guess. I don’t know what SAMOS is.
• 22A. Joseph ___ Ratzinger, birth name of Pope Benedict XVI : ALOIS. I knew his first and last names. But his middle name? Hey pope, what’s my middle name?
• 22D. Having no aisles, in architecture : APTERAL
• 25A. Nigerian native or language : EDO. It’s not just Old Tokyo anymore.
• 33A. Reactionaries : TORIES. This does nothing to help me understand British politics.
• 38A. Want ad abbr. : EOE. I actually knew this, but since I wasted my time last year on ETO, I don’t know what EOE is.
• 39A. Herbal brew : SAGE TEA. Never heard of it.
• 48A. French shooting match : TIR
• 52D. Title of respect in 8-Down: Abbr. : SRA. Is this just “senora”?

As has been the case more often than not in 2009, I have found Saturdays easier than Fridays. What is going on? This is very perplexing. Perhaps Ryan can help me figure it out in our next podcast, which may or may not happen in the next few days. We’ll see.

Random thing I just noticed: The edge black squares in this puzzle are in the inverse of the compass points from Joe’s last puzzle. Perhaps he has a grid design throughline. Hm.

See you Sunday!

Aw, man!  One stupid error on this Paula Gamache puzzle put the kibosh on my Friday no-google streak.  I had my grid filled with all kinds of great answers and guesses and words of which I’d never heard but the applet just wouldn’t accept it.  After staring and cycling through the alphabet in various squares for at least 45 minutes I finally broke down and looked at the answer.

1A. Detoured to pay a visit along the way (SWUNG BY).  I misread the tense and put SWING BY.  The incorrect “I” led me to enter INTO IT instead of UP TO IT for 3D. Game.  And the incorrect “N” gave me CANELLA instead of CAPELLA for 15A. One of the 10 brightest stars.  Now, I never questioned SWING BY or INTO IT as the both seemed correct beyond a doubt.  CANELLA certainly sounded like a star even though it is, in fact, a tree.  I focused all my energy on finding an imaginary error in the lower left which led to my frustration which led to my breakdown which led to my eventual answer peeking.

It’s a great puzzle with a grid anchored by BIMBO ERUPTION (34A. Certain sex scandal, in slang).  I have no idea to what sex scandal this refers.  I’m at work and I’m certainly not going to google it.  I can only imagine what kinds of web sites will pop up.  Geez, I never even google ERUPTION when I’m at work.  So, somebody please fill me in.

The first answer I put in was 8D. Transforming Tonka toys (GOBOTS).  I think GOBOTS is an acronym for Cheaper, Smaller, Chintzier, Less Fun Transformers.  I sure had a lot of them when I was a kid.  I really could just sit there all day turning it into a car, then turning it into a robot, then turning it back into a car.  Much more productive than homework.

I don’t really understand 26A. Height of fashion? (MINI).  Shouldn’t it be Length of fashion?

I also got 30A. Shifting sequence (PRNDL) pretty quickly although I couldn’t tell you what the L stands for.  Levitate?  Speaking of that, where are all the flying cars we were promised?  Shouldn’t somebody be working on that?

41A. Not quite mashed (RICED) was a gimmie for me.  I highly recommend ricing your potatoes next time you make a side of mashed.

59A. One way to die (TESTATE).  I was sure this was wrong.  I thought maybe it ended in AGE.  How am I supposed to know what TESTATE means?  What am I, a guy who works in a law firm all night instead of doing the thing he loves?  Oh wait…

11D. Start of a text-message afterthought (BTW).  My wife says this all the time in regular conversation.  Always gets a nice laugh out of people.  Think you know what all the text/chat acronyms mean?  Test yourself here.

12D. Enter like a storm trooper (BUST INTO).  Now, see, if I had looked carefully at this answer I would have known that INTO IT couldn’t have been right.  Oh, well.

37D. Still the most (CALMEST).  Great clue.

And a really great puzzle.  Nice work, Paula.

Next stop, Saturday.

Ah, poetry.  A subject I really and truly no nothing about.  If it wasn’t written by William Shakespeare, Shel Silverstein or Dr. Suess then I can guarantee you I haven’t read it.  My experience with other poets consists entirely of shouting “Wordsworth!” for every poetry-themed Jeopardy answer and constantly looking for the perfect situation to quote Rodney Dangerfield’s line from Back To School, “Maybe she can help straighten out my Longfellow.”  You can imagine my fear when I saw that today’s Edward Safran puzzle had four lines of an Emily Dickinson poem running through it.  Not only that but The Great Howard Barkin, Knower of All Things took almost four and a half American minutes to solve it.  As it turned out, it really wasn’t that bad.  I worked relatively quickly through the grid without any major trouble spots and finished in a touch over 14 minutes.

The lines of poetry are:

A LITTLE MADNESS
IN THE SPRING
IS WHOLESOME
EVEN FOR THE KING

An apt bit of verse since it is now officially Spring.  It certainly doesn’t feel like Spring here in New York as it’s still in the 40s.  The 40s is not Spring, the 40s is Winter.  Although I can deal with the 40s in March I find the chill to be completely unacceptable in April.  I do not like watching baseball in footie pajamas.

On to the prose sections of the puzzle.

Without a doubt my favorite answer today was KNOTTS (4D. Funnyman Don).  Don Knotts was just funny.  In everything.  I spent a great deal of my youth watching The Reluctant Astronaut and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken over and over again.  If I knew Don Knotts was in something I’d sit and watch it no matter how bad it was.  And Hot Lead and Cold Feet was pretty bad.  I may have watched him a little too much as I’ve incorporated his little nose sniff into my everyday life which irritates my wife to no end.  Here’s a clip of him giving a speech from Mr. Chicken.

Other highlights:

5D. Dimwit, in Yiddish slang (GOLEM).  This, I didn’t know.  I thought a GOLEM was a big monster made out of clay.

59A. Chew the scenery (EMOTE).  I will never understand why EMOTE is defined as bad acting in the New York Times.  Aren’t actors supposed to show emotion?

8D. Singer with the 2008 gold record “And Winter Came…” (ENYA).  I didn’t even flinch.  Four letters + singer + (season or water or movement) = ENYA

10D. Double ___ (ENTENDRE).  In the end, this one fit very nicely.  It certainly looked like it was going to be too long but after putting it in, then taking it out, then putting it in again I began to feel much better.  I was really able to get behind it and once Len Barker came across it I knew I had inserted it correctly.

Very nice puzzle by Mr. Safran.

Next stop, Friday.

Today’s Jerry E. Rosman puzzle contains the crossword theme equivalent of a tongue-twister.  Except, instead of my tongue being twisted it was my brain that ended up in contortions.  I kept spelling the theme words incorrectly and lost the ability to distinguish where the first word ended and the second began.  To make matters worse, I got off to an immediate bad start with 1-Down.

1D. Florida city, for short (BOCA).  I put COPA.  As in the Copacabana.  You know, from the Barry Manilow song.  The one about the night club that’s the hottest spot north of Havana.  You know, the one where music and passion were always the fashion.  Definitely not to be confused with the Groucho Marx movie of the same name.

Anyway, the COPA could be located in Florida (it is north of Havana after all) but it most certainly is not a city.  So, in short, I don’t know what I was thinking.  The C in COPA gave me COLE instead of BOLE for 1A. Tree trunk which would have worked out fine if COLE actually meant “tree trunk”.  It doesn’t, it means cabbage.  Turns out BOLE does mean “tree trunk”.  Nobody bothered to tell me this either before or during the puzzle so I had to figure it out for myself.  Isn’t that a fine how do you do.

Now, the P in COPA screwed up the first theme answer but it screwed it up in a way that made it look like it could be correct.  Damn you, Manilow!

17A. Debugs computer programs, e.g. (CATCHES GLITCHES).  I, of course, had PATCHES GLITCHES which, honestly, seems more correct.  If you catch a glitch does that imply you’re debugging it?  Or does it imply that you’ve merely noticed it and leaving it up to the IT guy to fix the darn thing so you can get out of here at a decent hour and home in time for your stories?  I say the latter but who am I to argue with Barry Manilow.

24A. Responds to rashes (SCRATCHES ITCHES).  A quick google image search of “Manilow Rashes” turns up this picture:

Who is that, Richard Simmons?

41A. Does some mending (PATCHES BRITCHES).  A search for “Manilow Britches” results in:

I’m guessing he’s wearing those britches incorrectly.

54A. Lines up the sewing (MATCHES STITCHES). And a search for “Manilow Stitches” gives us:

This is a Barry Manilow cross stitch pattern.  It is awesome and it can be purchased here.

Been a while since I’ve seen a Barry Manilow crossword theme.  This one was great even though it made me a touch dizzy.

And, finally, I want to mention a brand new crossword blog focusing on the LA Times crossword.  It’s called L.A. Crossword Confidential and it’s written by Angela Halsted, Amy Reynaldo and Michael Sharp.  It’s a lot of fun and you should check it out.  Actually, you probably already have checked it out as I see they have more comments in their first two days than we’ve had all year.

Next stop, Thursday.

LOLOMGWTFPWNZ. We have made it to Season Two. We kept trying to delay the (now, in retrospect) inevitable by doing all those nonsense “bonus” episodes of Season One. Forget it. Here’s the real deal.

In an effort to tread water with our current Nielsen ratings, we have included these shocking things in the Season Two opener:

• Viewer mail
• An interview with a recent constructor (and a short interview at that!)
• Ryan says some doofus-y things
• Brian is a crank
• Pseudo-synthy music that sounds like a half-Seinfeld, half-Will and Grace ripoff
• Seriously — did you think we’d actually grow up or something?

One important link is to the Boston Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Will Shortz (attendant) will be there, as will recent blogger panel superstar Ryan Hecht and current reigning E Division trophy owner Brian Cimmet. Come up to Boston and join us.

Also, enjoy this video compilation of some exciting Jai Alai action.

Enjoy the opening of Season Two!

 

 Fill Me In #46: Season Two "Prem-yah" [32:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Zambezi and oat.

First off, for those who did not read the very end of Brian’s post yesterday, I have accomplished one of my long term crossword goals. I finished Monday’s puzzle in under 4 minutes. 3:45, to be exact. I did it on the applet and every clue I encountered I knew almost immediately. Or, at least, my equivalent of immediately which I realize is vastly different from Dan Feyer, Winner of the C Division, Winner of the B Division’s immediately. I lucked out in that I didn’t come across any of the clues that I wouldn’t have known like “Vientiane’s land” or “Wyoming’s ___ range”. It was pretty cool but I don’t know what my next goal should be as I don’t think I have a realistic chance of ever cracking 3 minutes.

On to today’s Pancho Harrison puzzle which has POLICE hidden in 4 clues. I had more trouble with this than an average Tuesday but I still managed to finish it in about 7 minutes. Here are the cops:

20A. Adolescent boy’s growth (PEACH FUZZ). I had PEACH FUZZ when I was a teen. Along with acne, crooked glasses and that one guy who always punched me in first period. I was quite dreamy.

55A. Bargains for leniency (COPS A PLEA).

10D. Musial’s nickname (STAN THE MAN). It’s almost baseball season. The day after the Boston Crossword Tournament will be the first day of the season. And, once again, I’ll be charting how the Dodgers do when mentioned in the puzzle.

26A. Dehydration may help bring this on (HEAT STROKE). How is it that Coca-Cola simultaneously quenches your thirst and dehydrates you? No wonder they’re so successful. I need to develop a bacon that makes you hungry.

Other highlights:

25A. “I Pity the Fool” star (MR T). Apparently “I Pity the Fool” was an actual reality TV show where T offered advice to fans. Not surprisingly, it lasted only 6 episodes. It had a great tag line though: Because in Every City, There Are Fools to Pity.

6D. Goofball (DOOFUS). Remember what XOM says, “Doofus is just another word for charm.”

21D. J.P. Morgan co. (US STEEL). I’ve worked pretty much the same soul-sucking, mind-numbing job at various institutions. Now I’m at a law firm but for a while I worked in financial institutions. Merrill Lynch…gone! Lehman Brothers…gone! Bear Stearns…gone! The only one still left standing is J.P. Morgan which I believe will soon own everything. Kind of like Taco Bell in Demolition Man.

49D. Chilly (ALGID). This is the last word I entered. Not surprising considering it’s made up.

55D. “Fast Money” network (CNBC). I very much enjoyed Jon Stewart’s interview with Jim Cramer. I don’t think all Wall Street people are crooks. In fact, I’m sure only a very few Wall Street people are crooks. But I do think people like Cramer have used our money and our ignorance of inside information to fund their gambling. I thought Jon did a great job showing the real Jim Cramer. Here’s part one:

And here’s part 2:

Next stop, Wednesday.

Although this is Randy Sowell’s 18th puzzle in the New York Times, W.S.E. (Will Shortz Era), it’s his first P.B. (Post-Brian). It’s a fine Monday of a puzzle, and the theme appears to simply be “Do This To A That.” We have four entries that fit such a mold:

• 10D. Participate on Election Day : CAST A VOTE
• 20A. Fix part of dinner with lettuce, carrots, peppers, etc. : TOSS A SALAD
• 36D. Show childish anger : THROW A FIT
• 58A. Prepare to camp : PITCH A TENT

Oh, I get it. It’s not just “do this” to a that, it’s “hold a that, and then forcefully fling your arm outward whilst releasing said that into the air.” Cast, toss, throw, pitch. I can now heave a sigh of relief that there was more to the theme than simply “do this to a that.”

Despite Monday, there were a few things I didn’t know, but only on reviewing my completed grid (I must have gotten these from the crossings, because I don’t even remember the clues):

• 6D. Petty : PICAYUNE. I learned this word about fifteen years ago, when my friend Adam made me aware of a newspaper from his hometown called the Picayune. Oh, here’s a good opportunity to tell a story that has absolutely nothing to do with the puzzle. See — back a long time ago, Adam and I had a ridiculous routine. One of us would burp loudly, and the other would exclaim “Amphenol.” It was a word we learned from a building on the side of the highway. Amphenol. We didn’t know what it was. But it was a funny word. And burping is funny. Anyway, we had this running joke. Flash forward a few years, and *poof* the internet is getting cool. People are doing their own websites. It’s 1995. Whoo-hoo. So this super-popular thing to do was to make a web page that was a series of links to your favorite other sites and news stories. There were templates to make something like your own newspaper, and then all the “articles” would be links to other headlines from CNN and such. Adam’s newspaper was called “Adam’s Picayune” or something like that. My newspaper was called “The Amphenol Rag.” Well, I had that up for about two weeks when I got an email — from the Amphenol company. They emailed me with a cease and desist letter, claiming that I was infringing on their copyright by calling my web page “The Amphenol Rag.” If they only knew how small an audience I would have fifteen years later when I was actually trying to get people to read my pages… Anyway, they sent me that email, and because I was (am) a cocky bastard, I decided not to take my site down. Instead, I changed the heading to “the web page formerly known as The Amphenol Rag.” And then I put a little note and a link to amphenol.com (just as I have here). I wonder if they’ll email me again. What a fun reunion that would be. Amphenol, if you’re out there, drop me a line.
• 25D. Fed. auditing agcy. : GAO. Seriously, I thought the people who audited you were the IRS. I am clearly not prepared for an audit when I don’t even know who to expect.
• 44D. Psychologist/writer LeShan : EDA

That’s a dud way to end this post, I think. Eda. It’s like ending posts with something like “zambezi and oat.” I mean, what the hell is that? Oh, speaking of that — Season Two is on the way. Ryan is editing furiously, and we expect the Season Two premiere to be out within the… day? Okay, we’ll aim for that.

See you Tuesday!

P.S. Ryan solved this Monday puzzle in under four minutes. On the applet. My computer took 1:32 just to open the damn page.