Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

Someone’s going to have to help me out here.

I don’t do the puzzle in the applet, because my computer sucks, and the applet takes about a week and a half to load. So I do it either in Across Lite or on paper. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I usually do pretty quick, so I stick with Across Lite if I can. But since the “reveal” code isn’t available, I can’t really check my answers. Sometimes, I go to xwordinfo.com to confirm something, and sometimes I go to waterandwaves.blogspot.com, where applet-name nynynyny posts a JPEG of his solved puzzle (screenshot taken from the applet). These are two quick ways to check your work if you are anti-applet like me.

But I’m scared. The grid at nynynyny’s blog lists, for 10D. Some trophies : LOVING CUPA. Xwordinfo.com says it’s LOVING CUPS. Neither of these things make any sense to me at all, except that some trophies are shaped like cups. (The picture at left features actress Hayden Panettiere, best known for her turn as “Little Girl” in one episode of “Unhappily Ever After,” the failed Bobcat Goldthwait sitcom of the late 1990s. In the photo, she is apparently stuck to the frozen NHL’s Stanley Cup — she must never have seen “A Christmas Story.”)

Otherwise, this Peter A. Collins puzzle has three hidden words (well, obviously hidden, since their letters are circled). Each hidden word is a TREE (64A. Thing hidden in each of the movie names in this puzzle):

• 19A. 1989 Sally Field/Dolly Parton/Shirley MacLaine movie : STEEL MAGNOLIAS (hiding ELM)
  
• 35A. 2000 Martin Lawrence movie : BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE (ASH)
• 50A. 1992 Alec Baldwin/Meg Ryan movie : PRELUDE TO A KISS (OAK)

Peter A. Collins is a fine constructor and Will Shortz (attendant) is a fine editor, but this puzzle leaves me wanting more. Three three-letter trees? That’s it? I want something else. I want more trees. Or trees with longer names. This seems awfully minuscule for a theme.

I think maybe I’m a little on edge about it because I’ve spent the better parts of the last few days trying to come up with good themes for myself. As those who listen to our podcast know, Ryan and I are working to get a puzzle of our own in the New York Times. I’m trying to come up with wonderful clever themes because I am in such awe of all the wonderful themes out there. Today’s puzzle is fine, but it seems barely themed. We needed more movies with more trees. What about HAPPINESS? CROSS OF IRON? EYE WITNESS? CUBE ECHO? (Okay, that last one isn’t a movie. Whatever.)

This leads me to ask — what makes a good theme? Maybe I’m trying too hard to be clever. I should just keep it simple, stupid. Right? On Tuesday, we’ll be posting the next episode of Fill Me In, and with it, two puzzles designed by yours truly. They’re drafts, yes, but I’m working on it. If you have any ideas about themes, put them in the comments below. (And incidentally, if you’re having trouble posting comments, send us an email to rbxblog at gmail dot com and let us know.)

In other news, if there’s anyone out there who wants to write a Wikipedia entry about us, please go ahead and do it.

Current no-Google streak: 2.

See you Tuesday!