Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

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.