Ryan solves the NYT, Mon 3-30-9
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.
