Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

Joe Krozel’s work has been the subject of many discussions here at the Be More Smarter offices. Ryan and I think he’s terrific, and we’ve talked both on this blog and on Fill Me In about Joe’s stuff. I was surprised, however, to see his name on a Monday byline. Perhaps he was just trying to hit for the crossword cycle (a puzzle for each day of the week — which Joe did with this publication), but I hope to see him more later in the week. His work is so clever and so frequently breaks the mold that while I enjoyed this puzzle, it left me clamoring for more Joe! More Joe!

And by that, I do not mean JOE THE PLUMBER (35A. 2008 campaign personality). Will Shortz has said that a puzzle needs to have a shelf life of at least five years, which usually means losing the flash-in-the-pan cultural references that confuse the hell out of us once the puzzles appear in compilation books (Gentlemen, I offer you Exhibit A: POSSLQ). I would love to believe that JOE THE PLUMBER is no longer in our brains come 2014. I would love that. I really hope so. Let’s all work hard to forget about him, shall we? Okay — maybe not those of you who are republican or liked that element of McCain’s drive toward the presidency. Seriously, though. It was quite gimmicky, wasn’t it? I mean, his name wasn’t Joe (Sam), and he wasn’t a plumber (a plumber’s assistant). I guess this paragraph isn’t doing a lot to get him out of your heads, is it.

This “someone-the-something” theme had two more entries: 24A. Animated TV character whose best friend is Boots is DORA THE EXPLORER (whose name only rhymes in certain heavily-accented parts of the world) and 50A. Norman Rockwell painting subject of W.W. II (ROSIE THE RIVETER).

Okay, now I’m at the point where I think — hey, this is a Joe Krozel puzzle. Is there something else going on? Is there another layer to this puzzle, something that the average Monday-lover doesn’t notice (and doesn’t need to), but the puzzle enthusiasts of the world (all of us in the Be More Smarter family) would like. Is this puzzle like the May issue of Wired, where everything is/might be/might not be a puzzle? Let’s look further.

There are a ton of two-word entries in this grid:

• 1D. High-priority item : MUST DO
• 5D. Top-secret : HUSH HUSH
• 8D. Coming immediately after, as on TV : UP NEXT
• 10A. Get an ___ effort : E FOR. Okay, I thought you got an A for effort. I know “effort” starts with an E, but it’s a grade. You get a C-minus for quality, but an A for effort. Checking the clue history at xwordinfo.com, I see that there are seven times that A FOR was used in this instance, and today’s entry makes it eight times for E. This is obviously a tough battle between the vowels, so check back here frequently for your updates.
• 11D. Something for nothing, as what a hitchhiker seeks : FREE RIDE
• 18A. Refuse a request : SAY NO
• 21D. March 17 honoree, for short : ST. PAT
• 22A. Valentine candy message : BE MINE
• 36D. Minimum pizza order : ONE SLICE. Clearly, this isn’t about me, where the minimum pizza purchase is usually one medium pie, fully consumed during one meal.
• 45D. “Don’t let it get you down!” : CHIN UP
• 47D. Comfortable (with) : AT HOME
• 48D. Go right at it, as work : LEAP IN
• 54A. Fix permanently, as an interest rate : LOCK IN
• 55A. Helmet from W.W. I or W.W. II : TIN HAT
• 56A. “Beauty ___ the eye…” : IS IN

I’m not seeing a pattern yet. What else… There are several instances of UN in answers: UNTO, UNA, UNAPT, HUNG, UNTITLED, CHIN UP (in reverse). There are also four places where three or more Es are connected either side-by-side or at diagonal corners. But still no hidden meaning.

As I’m staring at the solution, I’m playing Boggle in my head, looking for other patterns or words. I can find several words via consecutive squares (a la Boggle)… STONY, FOODIE, AERATE… What does it mean, Joe, what does it mean!

Hey, speaking of what does it mean — HUMUS? Only one past appearance in the New York Times (Sunday, 2/24/08), and this isn’t mashed chick peas we’re talking about. This is some kind of soil something or other.  It might be the part marked “O” on this diagram. To explain in more detail, it’s not just a rich soil component (5A), but it’s the dirt that’s left after whatever it used to be has broken down as much as it ever will. It’s basically pure dirt now.

And now I wonder if I’ve broken down this puzzle as much as I ever will. Joe Krozel, if you’re out there, let us know — is there a secret message? You don’t have to tell us what it is. But if there is one, we’ll keep looking. Otherwise, you gave us a lovely Monday, and thank you very much. Cheers!

What else… Well, Fill Me In #51 will be out Tuesday morning. Watch for that. And for those of you who participate in the blog and not the podcast, you should know that we’re soon to be adding a Rogue’s Gallery to this site, something of a Who’s Who for the Be More Smarter community. If you read, if you listen, if you post, if you want to be included then you are. Send us an email at rbxblog at gmail dot com with your contribution. We’re basically looking to do something along the lines of photos and bios. The photo does not have to be of you. You can submit anything for a photo, and anything for a bio. Whatever you want. Or nothing, if you’d like to submit nothing. (However, if you have had a nickname bestowed upon you, you may get a Gallery mention automatically.)

Okay, that’s enough for now. See you Tuesday!