Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

To continue a subject from yesterday’s post, I’m very glad to see I’m not the only one confused by Kris Kristofferson.  Here are a couple of other facts that may help to enlighten the situation.  First, Kris Kristofferson’s birth name was Kristoffer Kristofferson.  Second, as Joon, Squirrel of Discord pointed out, there is a character in Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie named Chris Christopherson.  He was the captain of the barge Simeon Winthrop.  So there you go.  Hope that helps.

Today’s Steve Dobis puzzle has the central answer ELOCUTION PHRASE which reminded me a of a great scene from Singin’ in the Rain.

The rest of the theme was:

17A. Informal greeting (HOW GOES IT).

30A. At times (NOW AND AGAIN).

47A. One not using the company cafeteria, maybe (BROWN BAGGER).

64A. Bay Area concert venue (COW PALACE).  The last time I was in San Francisco there were signs all over the place advertising a reptile expo at the Cow Palace.  Plus, and this is why you’ve got to love the Bay Area, they will be hosting 6 straight weekends of a Jehovah’s Witness convention followed by a body art expo, roller derby playoffs and a gun show.

Other highlights:

63A. PC-less Internet hookup, once (WEB TV).  This still exists, sort of.  It’s now called MSN TV.  I’m not sure why anybody would want this.  Trying to get the internet to work on your TV seems much more complicated than just using a computer.

71A. Sonic the Hedgehog’s company (SEGA).  Remember when SEGA had the best gaming machines?  The Sega Genesis was a huge hit.  I never bought one but I did buy a Sega Dreamcast which was a huge flop and precipitated Sega getting out of the console manufacturing business.  As a bit of history, I also bought a Turbo Grafx 16 back in the late 80’s which was completely trounced in the marketplace by the Sega Genesis.  So, to sum up, I usually don’t know what I’m talking about.

14A.  Sea dog’s libation (GROG).  I’ll admit it, I used to enjoy B.C. when I was a kid and my favorite character was Grog.  He was kind of like Animal from the Muppets.  At least that’s what I thought back then.  I haven’t read it in years.  Is it horrible?  Is it good?  Is it the same thing as The Wizard of Id?  Turns out there was also a Grog video game for the Colecovision.  That’s right, the Colecovision.  It was called B.C.’s Quest for Tires II – Grog’s Revenge.

54D. Pale shade of violet (LILAC).  Brian, the wives and I were playing a game called A to Z last night.  Long story short, I had to name things that were naturally blue.  I said the ocean.  Brian said I was wrong and that the ocean just reflects the color of the sky.  But isn’t that how all color works?  How light or whatever is reflected off of something determines its color?  Right?  Clearly, I’m color blind and I don’t know what I’m talking about but I still think I’m right.

Fun puzzle.

Next stop, Wednesday.

It’s the sixtieth episode of Fill Me In! Can you believe it? We can’t. But this episode, like so many others, includes all your favorite segments:

• Viewer mail
• How to pronounce Xan Vongsathorn’s name
• Contests
• No answers from Mike Nothnagel

Wait a minute, what? What happened there? Oh, see Mike didn’t write to us until after we’d finished recording the show. This happens sometimes. You’ll just have to see where this new plot twist takes us.

Otherwise, we have new opinions on the second Sunday puzzle, we have some of the same old information about Lollapuzzoola 2, and we probably screwed up the sound effects because we were too exhausted to actually check whether we were doing it right!

So here it is, launching at almost four in the morning (because Brian is an insomniac), Episode 60.

 

 Fill Me In #060: There's a bobcat in our bag. [36:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Zzzzzz…

Ok, we’re losers.  We let a spoiler for Sunday’s puzzle slip into our Facebook feed.  Sorry about that.  Won’t happen again.

I’ll tell you what will happen again.  Lollapuzzoola!  Segue!  Yes, Lollapuzzoola 2: The Son of Puzzoola is taking place on Saturday, August 22 right here in Queens.  $20 to enter.  Click the “Pay Now” button on left side of the screen.

Today’s Paula Gamache puzzle featured a fun GOOD, BETTER and BEST theme.

17A. Seven or eight hours, typically (GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP).

35A. Inventor’s goal (BETTER MOUSETRAP).  I had this game as a kid.  The concept of the game was much better than actually playing it.  Much like many other aspects of my childhood, the memory of it brings forth a lot of frustration, broken pieces and the denial of cheese.

52A. They rarely see the light of day (BEST KEPT SECRETS).  Unless you go on the internet.  Search google for BEST KEPT SECRETS and everybody’s just giving them away.  For instance here is the BEST KEPT SECRET for cooking octopus.  Helpful if you ever want to cook octopus ON THE SLY.

Other highlights:

30A. Kristofferson of music (KRIS).  I don’t understand who KRIS Kristofferson is.  Sometimes I think he’s Kenny Rogers.  Other times he seems more like Kenny Loggins.  But sometimes I’m fooled into thinking he’s Tom Skerritt.  But then he’s a country singer.  And then he’s an actor.  It’s too much.  I don’t get it.

44A. Did nothing (SAT HOME).  Hey, I’m sitting at home right now and look at all that I’m doing.  I edited a podcast, I’m writing a blog, I ate a bowl of Star Trek cereal.  Are these things nothing?  Well, possibly, but that cereal is pretty good.

46A. Rock’s ___ the Hoople (MOTT).  Does this seem a little obscure for a Monday?  How about “Maker of apple sauce”.

1D. Plastic block brand (LEGO).  Has anybody been to Legoland?  Is everything made out of Legos?  Or is everything made to look like it’s made out of Legos?

5D. Self-confident, as a pageant contestant (POISED).  Yes, like Miss Teen South Carolina.

19D. Prepares to streak (STRIPS).  Whatever happened to taking off your clothes and running around a public area as a form of protest?  It just doesn’t happen anymore.  No wonder we can’t get anything done.

Ok, so we’ve got Episode #60 of the podcast coming out tomorrow.  Episode #60!  Holy crap.

And hopefully our commenting systems is working now.  Brian, you should try it out first.

Fun puzzle today.

Next stop, Tuesday.

Brian: Have we started?

Ryan: Our commenting system is screwed up.

Brian: I know. But that won’t stop us from blogging until the OVERAWEs come home.

Ryan: That was a good clue. The fact that the answer started with OV really tricked me.  I was trying to come up with some word like OVINATE.

Brian: Is that a word?

Ryan: It’s possible.

Brian: Did you no-Google this? I had to look up two squares.

Ryan: I did no-google this. In fact, I had a no-google week. The last letter I put in was the Q in TIMOTHY Q MOUSE. What squares did you have to look up?

Brian: I guessed the A between HAARLEM and ADOREE — I mean, it could have been any vowel, and while my first guess was an A, I did look it up.  And I also had to look up the N in MYNAH/NSW.  I still don’t know what either of those is.

Ryan: HAARLEM is actually the source of the name of a neighborhood in Manhattan.  Chelsea.  Isn’t MYNAH a bird that makes fun of you?

Brian: No, that would be ALISON.  And I don’t think your neighborhood joke works without me saying “Oh really? Which neighborhood?”

Ryan: What if I put an ellipsis in there? HAARLEM is actually the source of the name of a neighborhood in Manhattan…Chelsea.

Brian: Maybe… but then it’s like you’re doing stand-up. Which is weird, since you’re a) not a comedian, 2) sitting at your computer, and iii) have no audience.

Ryan: Ok, we’ll try it your way. You know, Brian, HAARLEM is actually the source of the name of neighborhood in Manhattan.

Brian: Oh really? Which neighborhood?

Ryan: Harlem.

Brian: [press start on laugh track]

Ryan: We would be remiss if we didn’t mention this puzzle is by our good friend Barry C. Silk, Friend and Confidante of Doug Peterson, Crossword Gentleman and Man About Town.

Brian: We’ve pointed out Barry’s penchant for baseball clues in his puzzles, and there’s one at 2-Down, although I’m not familiar with him. Cesar CEDENO, five-time Gold Glove winner.  How many Gold Gloves have you won?

Ryan: Which position?

Brian: Sitting at your computer with no audience.

Ryan: Three. And I’ve come in second twice.

Brian: Impressive.  I once led the league in consecutive meals without leaving my desk chair, but that’s a rather dubious distinction.

Ryan: That might account for the dead mice.

Brian: Yeah, the room smells a little mousey right now.  Oh well, what are you going to do?  Hey — what happened to our plans to recreate the magic of Walter MATTHAU and Jack Lemmon by putting on our own production of “The Odd Couple”?

Ryan: I’m all for it, we just need to find some pigeon sisters.  What did you think of the theme? SECRET INGREDIENTS.

Brian: Good, although I’ve never cooked with JASMINE. I thought that was just a candle fragrance.

Ryan: I’ve made a lot of JASMINE rice.  I like themes like this. They may not be the most exciting but once you figure it out, it makes it easy to fill in those blank circle squares.

Brian: Yes, I was able to do some of the ingredients before solving the entries they were hidden in. Except I tried SALT instead of DILL. Which is fine in a puzzle (if you can erase it), but terrible in actual cooking.  I might have liked to see the long entries (those hiding the ingredients) have something clever about them, rather than just be long entries.  Like puns about cooking or something.

Ryan: Well, I think, technically, you can eat any of the theme answers.

Brian: Oh, and I have. I took a bite out of JAMES A MICHENER just the other day.

Ryan: EMIL and EMAILS both appear in the grid. Is there some sort of theme idea there? EMILS EMAILS.

Brian: What about TEASE and ATEASE?  Maybe the theme was actually “Added As”

Ryan: I was thinking about a theme for a new puzzle.

Brian: Hey — HAARLEM also has an added A.

Ryan: I was thinking more along the lines of 17A. Computer correspondence of Zapotek (EMILS EMAILS)…25A. Money repeatedly used to get cartoonist Keane out of jail (BILS BAILS).

Brian: Get back at a flirt (TEASE A TEASE).  Not quite the same…

Ryan: Could be a different theme though. Something else to look out for in Barry’s puzzles are Beach Boys references.

Brian: I have to say — I don’t know WENDY. I tried to make RHONDA fit in there. Was that the Beach Boys?

Ryan: I think the song you’re thinking of is Help Me Rhonda. Which may or may not be an actual song that may or may not have been performed by the Beach Boys.

Brian: I understand that Barry C. Silk, FACODPCGAMAT is not going to attend Lollapuzzoola 2 because of a Beach Boys concert? He is a die-hard fan.

Ryan Yes, they are his favorite group. I wasn’t aware they were still performing.

Brian: We’ll have to perform some Beach Boys hits at Lollapuzzoola just to make him jealous. Whaddya say?

Ryan: You know me, as long as I get to play the keytar I’m happy. Well, we should start wrapping this up, we have to be in the studio tomorrow to record a podcast.

Brian: I know — seven hours from now, we’ll be creating audio gold.

Ryan: Good puzzle today.

Brian: Yes. And I especially liked it because my nephew (and owner of my birthday) SOLOMON appears there at 25-Across.

Ryan: I enjoyed YODELS at 107-Down.

Brian: I enjoy Yodels any time of day.

Ryan:  Two reminders.  Sign up for Lollapuzzoola.  You’ll be incredibly glad you did.  And, if you’re cheesed off by the absence of the Second Sunday Puzzle from the NYT Magazine, sign our petition.

Next stop, Monday.

I’d like to open this post with two thoughts.

One is: Thank you, Ellen Ripstein! You came to see the show I’m working on (I’m a pianist for “Tin Pan Alley Rag,” now playing Off-Broadway). How cool is that? I’m sorry I wasn’t able to socialize after the show, but as we’re still previewing, I attend the post-show production meetings every night. To anyone else who might come see the show — please let me know that you’re coming. If I’m not stuck in a meeting, I’ll try to pop out and say hello!

Two is: Why do I have an easier time with Saturday puzzles than with Friday puzzles? I don’t get it. This seems to be more than a fluke. Every single weekend, I find myself solving a Saturday in relatively normal time, whereas the Fridays confound the hell out of me.

Today’s puzzle by Trip Payne (pictured at right — picture stolen from Facebook) was really no problem at all, save for one Trivia Box. Some of the longer entries were total gimmes, which was a quick start for me:

• 1A. Rock samples : DEMO TAPES. I knew it was about rocks. It was a question of DEMO TAPES vs. DEMO REELS, but either way, piece of cake.
• 21D. It begins with an E (in two ways) : EYE CHART. Awesome clue and answer.
• 35A. Start of a confession : BLESS ME FATHER. I’m not religious, and even when I was, I was Jewish (emphasis on the -ish). Why do I know this answer? Movies, I assume. But it was a gimme.
• 43A. Influential 1996 video game : TOMB RAIDER. I’ve never played this game. Never. Not once. Not even a little bit.
• 46A. Yellow squares, often : POST-ITS. The picture at right is a Post-It mosaic (see 37D) of Ray Charles, as put together by Dave Alvarez. This kind of thing, like the Rubik’s Cube art Ryan posted a few days ago — these just amaze me. That people can come up with the idea AND execute it. Amazing.
• 58A. Contents of a certain household box : CAT LITTER. We have two cats. One is sweet and wonderful and cozy and delightful and named Jack. The other is evil and rotten and vindictive and hates Jack and is named Blueberry. We just got a new cat tree (multi-level perch with a scratching post up the middle and carpeted shelves for feline reclination). There’s four levels for the cats to sit on. Jack will find a spot and get comfy, and next thing you know, Blueberry is biting her and clawing her and making poor Jack miserable. Jack might hate us because we haven’t gotten rid of Blueberry yet. Does anyone want an evil, vindictive cat who hates other cats?

A few spots that were trickier, but still barely Friday-tricky:

• 19A. Author of “Time’s Arrow,” 1991, a novel written in reverse chronological order : AMIS. Never heard of it. Is it better than “Benjamin Button”?
• 36D. Milky : LACTEAL
• 37D. Multipart art : MOSAICS. Good one.
• 41D. Agent of change : REVISER. I’m not a big fan of crossword entries that are start with RE-. Nor am I a fan of crossword entries that end with -ER. This entry also crossed into the Zone of Awkward Non-Words with UVA (47A. Sch. founded by a president) and MCIV (Year that Acre fell in the First Crusade). Reviser is also a board game. This is a picture from one of the many steps required to make a move. It looks like it might be a bit trickier than Reversi (which seems similar, and is also an anagram).

Awesome entry:

• 32D. Is in Athens? : IOTAS. That first word isn’t “is” — it’s the plural form of the letter I.

My Trivia Box was the M between MCIV and METZ (50D. Birthplace of poet Paul Verlaine). By laws of Roman numerals, it’s either M, D or C. And my guess was Metz, even though I’d never heard of it and DETZ could be a place, too.

It’s been a long week, and I’m pooped. So this is it for now. See you Sunday!

I’ve been doing a ton of late-week puzzles lately, mostly themeless, and I feel like I’m getting better. Then this Lynn Lempel puzzle shows up on my desk, and I go back to being the idiot I’m known to be. I didn’t just have to Google an answer on this, I had to give up and search out two full sections that I found utterly confusing.

Before I get to those, let’s discuss some of the awesome answers from this puzzle:

• 11D. Techies affiliated with a major electronics chain : GEEK SQUAD. I warch “Chuck” on television, so NERD HERD popped into my head. Of course, that’s fictional. But I know the Geek Squad because one of their cars lives in my neighborhood. I see it from time to time, and I want to take my laptop to them and say “why does this shut down after about 20 minutes of use no matter what?” Sadly, the times that I have my broken laptop with me and the times that there are geeks in the Geek Squad car don’t ever seem to coincide.
• 17A. One calling about a tower, maybe : AAA MEMBER. Of course this is “tower” as in “one who tows,” not “place where Rapunzel lives.” I have changed my own FLAT tire (1A. What a 17-Across might get assistance with) twice, but I don’t know that I’ve called Triple A before.
• 20A. Ellen of “Ocean’s Thirteen” : BARKIN. Why wasn’t this clued as “great crossword solver, and knower of all things”? Howard, you should write in and complain to someone. Anyway, I liked the first of the Ocean movies best. And I mean the first of the Clooney/Pitt/Damon ones. I never saw the real original one. But I like buddy movies and I like heist movies. Maybe it’s because my life lacks both buddies and heists. I don’t know. Ms. Barkin is the one in the pink dress. Lynn Lempel is the one in the blue dress on the other side of Al Pacino. The guy peeking between Al and Lynn is allegedly Crosscan.
• 40A. Kangaroo carrier? : QANTAS. I guess the question mark debate continues… Why here? Are we to believe that “kangaroo” is slang for Australian? Maybe. I totally tanked on QANTAS as an answer on one of the first puzzles I did since starting this whole blog thing with Ryan last year. I haven’t forgotten it since.

So here’s my first Area of Doom:

• 41A. Rumble : GANG WAR. You’d think, with my theater background, this would be a gimme (see: West Side Story), but instead I found myself writing in MAN-O-WAR for some reason, and convinced myself it was right. But this wasn’t my worst obstacle…

41D, 33D, 43D, 46A and 50A — these five answers mean nothing to me. They are, respectively, GOREN, BENGHAZI, AMENS, FOR SHAME and GREEN ZONE.

• 41D. Bridge guru : GOREN. Apparently, Charles Goren played bridge. The card game. My parents used to play bridge a lot (maybe they still do), and I never learned it. I don’t know a single thing about it. I used to read the section of the newspaper where they proposed a bridge hand and challenged the reader to come up with the best plays (or something along those lines). I would read the answers and think they were simply making stuff up to sound important. Bid one no trump, three no spades, pass to the east, blah blah blah. Maybe if I understood the ultimate goal, the game would make more sense. This photo represents the only kind of bridge and card combination I can figure out.
• 33D. Libya’s second-largest city : BENGHAZI. Seriously, the second largest city in Libya? I challenge the dumbest 95% of the American population to name any single city in Libya besides the capital. Any city. Okay, even name the capital. Go ahead, I dare you.
• 43D. Famous last words : AMENS. Obviously this is meant to deceive, but I don’t get it. What’s famous about “amen”? I guess it’s a “last word” because it ends a lot of prayers. But does that make it famous? Is the word “the” famous, too?
• 46A. Cry of reproof : FOR SHAME. Apparently, I have to look up “reproof.” Merriam-Webster says it means “criticism for a fault.” Okay. Seems like one of those words someone made up just to make themselves smarter than their neighbor. I should try that. I will now start using words that Ryan doesn’t know.
• 50A. Walled-off enclave in Iraq : GREEN ZONE. I’m just an ignorant fool. I read the news, but I didn’t know this term.

Let’s now explore the other section that I couldn’t get without help, and that was the middle:

• 24A. Formal discussion : COLLOQUY. Holy crap. I got the -OQUY at the end, which should have been the awkwardly difficult part of this word. But the only word I ever heard of that ends this way is SOLILOQUY, which fits neither the boxes nor the clue. How does colloquy mean formal, yet colloquial means informal? Discuss.
• 29D. Mountain passes : GATES. Someone explain this. What mountains have gates to let you through? Tunnels, maybe. Valleys in between? Sure. Gates? I did a Google image search for mountain gates, and came up with pictures of mountains, pictures of gates and pictures of a heavy metal band’s cover art for their album “Rhapsody.” Nothing else useful, though.
• 32A. Like drag shows : CAMPY. I hate drag humor. I don’t think it’s funny, and I don’t think it’s entertaining. I don’t think it’s shocking. I don’t understand why it appeals to some people. It’s men in dresses with makeup and wigs, usually acting more stereotypically over-the-top flaming gay than the least bit feminine. But is it campy? I thought parody and satire could be described as campy. I enjoy a good parody. And campy humor can be fun (see: Christopher Guest movies). But drag shows? Wait — is there something about car racing going on here? Is it that kind of drag? No… I’m just lost.

Okay, on second thought — I looked for a picture to put here, and came across Tim Curry from “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” That’s campy and drag and I enjoyed it. So I’m proven wrong. Voila.

• 20D. Guy who needs no 24-Down : BALDY. Well, 24-Down is COMBS (Dopp kit items). I think this 20-Down clue is not very good. It makes no indication that we’re looking for a cutesy name — in fact, I think this clue merits more question mark than the Qantas clue. Also, who uses the word “baldy” anyway? Seems random. Finally, most bald people aren’t fully bald anyway, and combs can still be useful for the back and the sides. To this entry, I say “meh.”

Bottom line, this was a frustrating puzzle. Couldn’t solve it Google-free, which was a disappointment, and even when I learned the answers, I realized I wouldn’t have been able to solve it anyway (which was another disappointment).

In other news, come to Lollapuzzoola 2. It’s going to be legendary.

See you Saturday!

Sorry, friends… Ryan gets the night off once in a while, and I’m forced to step in. Actually, I was almost accosted in the BeMoreSmarter offices today for having contributed nothing to this blog in over a week — they almost took away my ID badge! Don’t they know who I am? Apparently, they don’t…

Anyway, here we are at Thursday. It’s already been a long day for me, and I don’t have much brain power left. But I was able to complete this Bill Zais puzzle in a decent amount of time for me (about ten minutes). Like many Thursdays, this puzzle was themed in a rather unclear way. See — on Mondays and Tuesdays, there’s usually a clue that says something like, “…or a hint to this puzzle’s theme.” As the week progresses, the theme might be slightly less blatant, but perhaps a collection of clever turns of phrase (like in Corey Rubin’s puzzle yesterday).

Today, it’s a whole new theme clarification. Mr. Zais gives us a handful of down answers (yes, the down clues have the theme this time) in which the clue begins with a curious arrow:  <—

What is that about? Strange graphics… Ah, but there’s method to his madness. The five theme answers are terms that begin with numbers — yes, the number of their respective clues! So we have:

• 3D. <— Plastered : SHEETS TO THE WIND. Did you know the origin of this phrase is from boats? Maybe you did. I first heard it when I was a kid (no, I don’t know why, with two parents who didn’t drink much, if at all), and for whatever reason always imagined bedsheets. Rather, it’s that a boat with three sails flapping loose in the breeze will rock somewhat “drunkenly.”
• 5D. <— Gambling game : CARD STUD. Not my favorite form of poker. I like Texas Hold ‘em, but I think I like some of the other seven-card games better. There seems to be more card-related strategy, whereas 5-card stud is almost entirely betting-related strategy. I prefer playing cards to playing chips. Maybe our friend Sammy the Dentist has some insight on the various card games of the world. Sammy — do you read the blog? Or just listen to the podcast?
• 7D. <— Sherlock Holmes novel, with “The” : PERCENT SOLUTION. Never read it. There’s a movie version with Alan Arkin, Laurence Olivier, Robert Duvall and Vanessa Redgrave. And there’s a Stephen Sondheim song featured in the movie as well: “I Never Do Anything Twice.” Cute song. Weird song. Good song.
• 20D. <— One starting a career, perhaps : SOMETHING. Can a thirty-something start a new career? I want to start over again, and I worry that I’m too old. Am I too old?
• 40D. <— Work period : HOUR WEEK. This is why I want to start over again. I am currently working 65-70 hour weeks. At least, that’s what it feels like. I’m out of the house for 70 hours or more each week. What job can I maximize my earnings while doing the least amount of work possible? I’ve just started playing The Sims 3, and in that game, you can have a career in various industries including music, science, literature, and slacking. Yes, slacking. That’s the career path I would like to begin.

This concept reminded me of a Jim Page puzzle from 1995 (I found it in the Wordplay book). Here’s the solution. In Mr. Page’s puzzle, the clue numbers were the clues. For example, 76D. was the answer TROMBONES. Very clever.

I was less thrilled with some of the smaller fill in the grid. OED and ORD (14D. 20-vol. work and 4D. JFK : New York :: ___ : Chicago, respectively), HOO/HEE/VEE, OTB/OTS, AAA, SSS, CPI, NNE, STA/STE… Three-letter words are tough, but most of those used in this grid seemed to skirt around language in favor of crossword-y things that don’t really exist anywhere else.

My favorite clue: 45A. Either of two emcees (COHOST) — obviously, this clue is in reference to me and Ryan, and the fact that we’ll be co-hosting Lollapuzzoola 2 in just under two months. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do. It’s going to be awesome.

As many know, the New York Times did not run the second Sunday puzzle in last weekend’s Sunday paper. While there are certainly many sensible and valid reasons why they chose this route, there are also many members of the puzzle community who are frustrated, and want to help show their support of the paper and pledge their interest in reinstating the second Sunday puzzle. To that end, Ryan has set up an online petition. If you feel like signing, please visit this link. And be assured, you do NOT have to sign up for anything in addition to this petition. There may be some pre-checked checkboxes for other offers, but you are welcome to opt out of anything.

I suck at including pictures in my blog posts. I leave that art form to Ryan. The rest of you can jump into the comment world. Talk about anything you like. Ryan and I have a lot more fun with the blog when you all start chattering and we get to join in.

See you Friday!

Our petition to save the Second Sunday Puzzle has absolutely taken the Internet by storm. After only one full day online we already have 5 signatures. And only 2 of those signatures are ours. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next New York Times Magazine is printed entirely in acrostic format.

Today’s puzzle is by Corey Rubin and features a clever TAKE OUT AN AD theme.

16A. Talking like a junkie? (DRUG DICTION).

23A. Agnostic’s display? (SHOW OF DOUBT).

30A. Sunbathing at Ipanema, e.g.? (RIO ACTIVITY).

41A. Rink jewelry? (ROLLER BLING).

47A. Letter carrier’s uniform? (MAILING DRESS).

I thought this was very well done. Corey, if you’re out there, tell us how you came up with the theme. Did you start with TAKE OUT AN AD and try to find phrases that would fit? Or did you happen across an appropriate phrase and work from there?

21A. “The Hot Zone” virus (EBOLA). I enjoyed that Outbreak movie. I’ll watch pretty much anything with Dustin Hoffman in it. Plus it had Rene Russo during those 4 and a half days when she was a big movie star, Cuba Gooding Jr. in of his few performances that doesn’t want to make you rip your face off and Patrick Dempsey during his awkward post-nerd, pre-hunk years.

26A. Vanessa Williams/Brian McKnight duet (LOVE IS). Man, this one took me a while. I had L__EIS and I tried LIFE IS and LIVE IS and LATE IS before I chanced upon the correct answer. Vanessa Williams starred in the absolute worst production of Into The Woods ever. Only time I’ve walked out of a Broadway show.

46A. E-mails from Nigerian princes, e.g. (HOAXES). Seriously, are people still falling for these? I mean, I’m sure we’ve all sent our bank account and social security numbers a few times but, c’mon.

54A. Targets of a Moe Howard poke (EYES). So there’s this Three Stooges movie in pre-production. Sounds very interesting although it’s a little worrisome that the Farrelly Brothers are directing it. Their movies tend to either be good and hilarious or life-shorteningly horrible. At this point Benicio Del Toro is cast as Moe and Jim Carrey is Curly. Is Carrey going to gain weight for the role? Sean Penn was cast as Larry but has recently dropped out which is too bad because he would have been awesome. Paul Giamatti (who I think would make a better Curly) has distanced himself from the role. So who should it be? Who would make the best Larry Fine?

7D. Mayo is part of it (ANO). I was just about to write that I have no idea what this means but I just figured it out. All those years of Spanish have finally paid off. By the way, I put BLT here first.

24D. Blazin’ Blueberry drink brand (HI C). First off, Hi-C is terrible. Secondly, the Coca-Cola Company (which puts out a much tastier beverage called Coca-Cola) refers to the containers that Hi-C comes in as “youth preferred plastic bottles“. What the hell does that mean? Do youths actually have preferences when it comes to bottles? And should someone who actually likes Hi-C be allowed to have a say in anything?

26D. Scientology’s ___ Hubbard (L RON). I read the first two books of his Mission Earth series when I was in high school. I remember enjoying them although I suppose not enough to entice me to read the remaining 8 volumes. Has anybody read these? Are they all about Scientology or are they just science fiction books? I don’t recall being converted to any religion after reading them. Although I may have been. The 11th grade is pretty hazy.

34D. Fare for “kids” (TRIX). Wikipedia has a run down of some recent Trix commercials. See if you can make heads or tails out of it.

In September 1989, Silly Rabbit is Upside Down. In October 1989, Silly Rabbit turned into the real bunny. In November 27, 1994, Trix looks like the chawkboard. In December 1995, Got Milk? advent is fun; first time Silly Rabbit takes the man off. In November 1997, Silly Rabbit loves cops in the commercial. In November 24, 1999, Silly Rabbit puts on the Super Rabbit. In June 2009, Trix has been swirlin’.

56D. Lollapalooza (ONER). Clearly Corey meant Lollapuzzoola as it will be the oneriest thing ever.

And, lastly, Ed McMahon passed away yesterday. I spent much of my youth watching him on either the Tonight Show, TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes or on the envelopes of sweepstake entries. (The only thing we ever won was a set of pot holders. On the upside we used those pot holders for at least 15 years.) He was much more talented than people thought. Here’s Conan’s tribute.

Next stop, Thursday.

Rather than try to pitch our show to any new viewers who might be out there, we’re basically throwing in the towel on this one. The fifty-ninth in this limitless series is now available for downloading or streaming audio — or you can completely ignore it, if that’s your thing.

These subjects are referenced, although probably not to any satisfaction:

• the Coriolis force
• Diet Pepsi (and the resulting bubbles)
• Paul Bunyan’s ox
• Ryan junior high school science teacher had two butts

Of course, we annoy the hell out of you with viewer mail, contests, and an insistent encouragement that you sign up for Lollapuzzoola 2. These are our life blood. These are the days of our lives.

 

 Fill Me In #059: Reduced to a PG-13 rating (now without nudity, foul language, or humor) [38:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Also, we tried to do link to our Save The Second Sunday Puzzle petition here, but it screwed things up in Internet Explorer. So here’s the link instead: Ryan and Brian’s petition.

There has been quite an uproar over the disappearance of the Second Sunday Puzzle in the NYT magazine. To that end we have created a petition for you all to sign that we will eventually send off to magazine@nytimes.com. And you can find that petition here.

On to today’s puzzle by Caleb Madison who we met at the ACPT and is much cooler than the two of us put together. The theme was about different ways to get your teeth knocked out by that guy who hates you.

20A. Slapstick puppet show (PUNCH AND JUDY).

33A. “I’m ready for anything!” (SOCK IT TO ME).

44A. Go get some shuteye (HIT THE SACK).

57A. Yuletide tune (DECK THE HALLS).

So far in my life, I’ve avoided getting punched in the face although I know that could change at any moment. There was a guy in the 7th grade named James who enjoyed punching me in the arm repeatedly until my bicep started to quiver. I would calmly explain to him that his actions were hurting me and that I would prefer that he stopped. I’m not sure if it was the high pitched whine I used to deliver this information or the fact that my Indiana Jones hat was not cocked at the correct angle thus depriving it of its authority but my protestations only served to incite more and more bicep punching. This went on for the first two or three months of junior high school until the fates smiled on me and transferred James and his fists to either another school within our district or, more likely, the bowels of San Quentin. I never found out which but he was never heard from again. James, if you’re reading this, send me a line. I’ve love to catch up.

29A. Kind of tide (LEE). This is kind of a random clue for Tuesday. Shouldn’t it be something like “Popular jeans” or “Fall Guy Majors”?

9D. Co-creator of the Fantastic Four (STAN LEE). For those of you who don’t know, the other co-creator was the great Jack Kirby. It is truly remarkable that such an interesting and ground-breaking series has been given such a crappy movie treatment. This was the book that started the whole Marvel empire and the movies are cheapy, special-effects driven afterthoughts. I vote for a do over.

39D. Worker on a comic book (INKER). INKERs don’t get enough credit and probably will never get enough credit but that’s the way it goes. Here’s Joe Sinnott’s website.

64D. Cup holder? (BRA). Hmm. I don’t get this. Aren’t the cups part of the BRA?

Fun puzzle, Caleb.

Next stop, Wednesday.