Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

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Today’s Friday puzzle is by one of our favorites, Mike Nothnagel, Penpal Extraordinaire and Constructor of the Friday Puzzle.  It’s been a while since Mike constructed a Friday puzzle for the Times as his last one was on January 16th.  Not surprisingly, the wait was worth it.  An excellently constructed, medium-hard puzzle with lots of fun fill.

13A. “I’m not done yet!” (THERES MORE).  My high school principal used to shout this all the time at pep rallies.  Everybody would watch the cheerleaders then we’d all leave as Mr. Beale got up to make a speech.  He used to get pretty livid about the whole thing.  At least he had some personality though.  Our vice principal, Dr. Edwards, was like a piece of carpeting with a mustache and glasses.  We always assumed he got his doctorate in attendance.

17A. Oscar-nomiated portrayer of Frida Kahlo (SALMA HAYEK).  Even though I haven’t seen the movie this was a gimmie.  I’m not familiar with much of SALMA’s work but she has been really funny on 30 Rock.

21A. What a player may mean by knocking on the table (I PASS).  In what game?  Bridge, maybe?  All I know is in poker a knock means “I check”.

28A. Baby shower gift (ONSIE).  Lots of our friends are having kids.  There seems to be a new one popping out every week.  Yikes.

35A. Something not on the menu (SPECIAL).  Doug Peterson, Crossword Gentleman and Man About Town mentioned In-N-Out in yesterday’s comments.  In-N-Out has a not so secret second menu with great items like Protein Style burgers and The Flying Dutchman.  My favorite item on the secret menu is Animal Style Fries.  Fries covered with grilled onions, cheese and special sauce.  Delicious.  Now I’m hungry.  Doug!  Maybe you should bring some.

37A. Roll top? (SCHMEAR).  Great clue.  I had an odd experience with this as I put SESAMES which was wrong but showed up lower down in the puzzle with OPEN SESAME (60A. Passage enabler).

56A. Comics character with a “gang” (BAZOOKA JOE).  I don’t think I understand who BAZOOKA JOE is.  Does he actually have his own comic strip?  Or does he just appear on the inside of bubble gum wrappers?

3D. Wasn’t full of holes (HELD WATER).  This reminds me of the end of My Cousin Vinny.

Vinny: Does the defense’s case hold water?

Mona Lisa Vito: No!  The defense is wrong!

Vinny: Are you sure?

Mona Lisa Vito: I’m positive.

I love that movie.

15D. Plumber seen in an arcade (MARIO).  Super Mario Bros. for the original Nintendo still ranks as one of the best games of all time.  How much fun was it to find all those hidden coins and passages?  I spent hours on that game.  I finally was able to finish it after I figured out how to get unlimited lives by jumping on a turtle in a special way.  (Yet another reason why my high school experience was a social experiment gone awry.)

21D. Mayo sauce? (IRISH WHISKEY).  Ok, I’m clueless on this one.  Please explain.

41D. Like many beachgoers (BRONZED).  Not me.  I have two switches: fish belly white and beet red.

47D. Square things (REPAY).  Great, great clue.  You see, I thought “square” was a noun but it’s actually a verb and…well, I guess you’ve figured that out also but, you’ve got to admit, that’s a great clue.

56D. It comes after the last number (BOW).  My favorite clue in the puzzle.

If you’d like to thank Mike Nothnagel in person for this wonderful puzzle come to Lollapuzzoola 2.  Not only will he be there but he’s constructing a puzzle for us as well.

Next stop, Saturday.

What would you guys like to have for snacks at Lollapuzzoola 2?  Last year we had, among other items, Oreos (which were a big hit) and Capri Sun juice sacks (which were barely touched).  We also had a few people bring stuff.  The Great Howard Barkin, Knower of All Things brought the extremely delicious Banana Split Creme Oreos that were described as cremey on the box.  That word creeped us all out but it didn’t stop me from eating my fair share.  So what would you guys like have this year?  In addition, we’d like to encourage you to bring snacks of your own to share.  For those of you coming from out of town we’d love some regional specialties.  Is anybody coming from Chicago?  I’m a big fan of deep dish.

Today’s puzzle was by our good friend Ashish Vengsarkar who contributed a puzzle to last year’s Zoola.  The theme was hinted at with two long answers.

16A. Profanities (and a hint to this puzzle’s anomalies) FOUR LETTER WORDS.

51A. Record holders? (and a punny hint to this puzzle’s anomalies) REPEAT OFFENDERS.

First off, I only vaguely know what the word anomaly means.  I’m sure I’ve used it in conversation before but I doubt I could give an adequate definition so let’s clear that up right away.

ANOMALY – Deviation or departure from the normal or common order, form, or rule.

In this case the anomalies were words spelled with one letter repeated four times.

1A. Facility (EEEE). Ease.

8A. Signals (QQQQ). Cues.

19A. Peer group? (IIII). Eyes.

20A. Razz (TTTT). Tease.

47A. Garden sights (BBBB). Bees.

49A. Is behind (OOOO). Owes.

61A. “Man oh man!” (GGGG). Jeez.

63A. Hip (YYYY). Wise.

This was an excellently done theme and it provided a nice Aha! moment.  Mine came towards the bottom when I realized OWES wasn’t working.  What other letters would have worked with the theme I wonder.

CCCC – Seas.

JJJJ – Jays

LLLL – Ells

PPPP – Peas or pees

TTTT – Teas

UUUU – Youse

WWWW – Double Youse

XXXX – Exes

Am I missing any?

Other highlights:

34A. Alley of Moo (OOP).  I really have no idea what this means.  But I’ve been doing crosswords long enough to know that when I see the word Alley I’m probably entering in OOP.

38A. Many “Star Wars” fighters (DROIDS).  This was a little misleading to me because there are a number of items in the Star Wars universe that have “fighter” in the their name.  Xwing Fighter.  Tie Fighter.  Ywing Fighter.  I never would have thought of DROIDS.  Now if the clue was something like “Many mechanical beings whose TranLang III Communicator modules combined with their AA-1 VerboBrains make them ideal for protocol” I probably would have figured it out right away.

40A. Blood, e.g. (GANGSTER).  Great clue.

43A. Some people in a tree (ANCESTOR).  What? Did I just fall off the word search truck?  This was a gimmie.

4D. Like H.P. Lovecraft among all popular writers? (EERIEST).  This seems a little subjective, doesn’t it?  Is that what the question mark in the clue means?  Subjectivity?

5D. Show types (MATINEES).  Another great clue.

55D. Actress Williams of the 1960s-’70s (EDY).  Yowza!  Here she is on Carson in 1973.

Great puzzle today, Ashish.

Next stop, Friday.

I am cramming as much Italian into my brain as possible before our trip.  I want to get the basics down and understand at least a little bit as I think it’ll make our time in Italy more enjoyable.  To that end I was hoping to write this entire post in Italian but, so far, all I know how to say is, “the boy is underneath the airplane” and I couldn’t figure out how to tie that into today’s puzzle.

In other news, what is the past tense of the verb “sync”?  Is it sank?  As in, I sank my iPod.

Anyway, onto today’s Tim Wescott puzzle which featured a theme that, a first glance, seemed to be about crap baseball players.  At second glance it still seems to be about crap baseball players but with the added twist that there is one crap baseball player from each MLB Division.

The baseball players show up in circled boxes that are part of longer answers.

17A. Argue forcibly (MAKE A STRONG CASE).  ASTRO.  The Astros are currently 51-49 and in 3rd place in the NL Central.

28A. Pesticide spreader, e.g. (CROP SPRAYER). RAY.  The Rays are currently 55-46 and in 3rd place in the AL East.

48A. Terse (SHORT WINDED). TWIN.  The Twins are currently 51-50 and in 3rd place in the AL Central.

61A. Where Olaf I or Olaf II sat (NORWEGIAN THRONE).  GIANT.  The Giants are currently 54-46 and tied for 2nd/3rd place in the NL West.

11D. Juicer remnants (ORANGE RINDS).  RANGER.  The Rangers are currently 56-42 and in 2nd place in the AL West.

24D. Shake hands (COME TO TERMS). MET.  The Mets are currently 48-51 and in 4th place in the NL East.

Well, I change my mind.  The theme is about five pretty good baseball teams and one woefully awful baseball team, the Mets.  Don’t let that record fool you.  They’re really much worse than that.  They do have a nice stadium though.  I’ve now been to both Citi Field and the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field wins hands down.  It’s not even close.  Yankee Stadium is like a big, cold, concrete and steel mall with absolutely zero food variety.  Citi Field is warm and inviting with some of the best ballpark food I’ve ever had.  Really the only problem Citi Field has is that the Mets play there.

Other highlights:

51A. “Don’t ___ me, bro!” (TASE).  Has anybody not seen this?  If you haven’t here’s your chance.

66A. “___ la Douce” (1963 film) (IRMA).  I posted this clue so I could tell everyone what it means in Italian.  Turns out it’s French.  That reminds me, did you guys read about the Swedish tourists who, while in Italy, typed Carpi instead of Capri into their GPS and ended up in an industrial town in the Northern Italy instead of the resort island off the coast of Southern Italy?  How did they expect to drive to an island anyway?

8D. Yours, in Tours (ATOI).  This isn’t Italian either, is it?

19D. “La Boheme” setting (GARRET).  What’s with all the French?  I’m not going to France.

Nice puzzle today.  The theme was a little random but still nice.  And, to conclude, il bambino è sotto l’aereo.

Next stop, Thursday.

First of all — if you are brand new to Fill Me In, we have created a web page to help you understand what the hell is going on. Check it out — we’ve got explanations, introductions, an episode guide and a FAQ. Send us your suggestions for making it better, bigger, funnier, whatever. Or — if you still have questions, we’d like to hear those as well. You can email us at [rbxblog at gmail dot com].

As for this week’s episode — well, it wasn’t enough for Peter Gordon to be a constructor, an editor, a B Finals contestant in 2008 a contributor to Lollapuzzoola next month, and a winner of several contests here on this very show, we decided it was high time that he took over half of our program with an interview. Sure, we’ve got some Viewer Mail and other nonsense, so there’s plenty for everyone to enjoy.

Here are a few links to some of Peter’s stuff — these are all fantastic, and we can’t recommend these puzzles highly enough.

• a bunch of his books on Barnes & Noble
• help revive the Sun crossword puzzle
• a terrific interview between Peter and New York Times blogger Jim Horne
• AND: Peter’s 96-word crossword puzzle entitled The World’s Worst Crossword

One of Peter’s puzzles will be featured in Lollapuzzoola 2: Son of Puzzoola, so you’ll certainly not want to miss that.

 

 Fill Me In #064: The Peter Gordon Show [39:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So the Zambezi said to the oat…

Episode #64 of Fill Me In has been released and is at large.  It features Peter Gordon quite prominently.  As a matter of fact he pretty much takes over the entire show.  So give it a listen and enjoy.

Today’s puzzle is by Tony “Y-e-e-e-s-s-s” Orbach and features a theme of decreasing expectations.  I will illustrate the theme using the question, “Will this man eventually win an Academy Award?”

17A. “Sure thing” (WITHOUT QUESTION).

28A. “Chances are good” (IN ALL LIKELIHOOD).

35A. “It could go either way” (MAYBE YES MAYBE NO).

43A. “Doubtful” (NOT LOOKING SO HOT).

56A. “Forget it!” (AINT GONNA HAPPEN).

I’ve found that most of my decreased expectations end somewhere in the vicinity of Carrot Top.

Other highlights:

5D. Borscht, e.g. (SOUP).  I spent a lot of my life being scared of borscht.  Probably because of it’s deep purple (is it purple?  I’m color blind) color.  But, you know, I had some recently and it’s quite delicious.  Let’s hear it for beets.

12D. Sequel title starter, sometimes (SON).  You mean like Son of Puzzoola?

23D. The so-called fourth dimension (TIME).  My friends and I played a lot of tag when we were kids.  We made up a rule that when someone wanted a break instead of calling out TIME they’d have to call out “fourth dimension”.  One of the many reasons why my schooling was a social disaster.

32D. God, in Roma (DIO).  We just bought our tickets for the Vatican Museums. (Yes, I know they’re not technically in Rome.)  I cannot believe we’re going to see the Sistine Chapel.  I haven’t been able to wrap my head around that yet.

49D. Where one might see “OMG or “TTYL” (THE NET).  We would also have accepted A SERIES OF TUBES.

Great puzzle today.

Next stop, Wednesday.

Thanks to Brian, we now have a page dedicated to Fill Me In: A Crossword Podcast.  It should give you all the information you need to know to either start listening to the show (heavens, some of you haven’t started yet?) or to simply enhance your knowledge of everybody’s favorite weekly audio wrap up of the world of puzzles.

Today’s Monday puzzle is by Allan E. Parrish and features a theme that would seem completely random if constructed by anyone else.

17A. College professor’s mantra (PUBLISH OR PERISH).

38A. Highly collectible illustrator (MAXFIELD PARRISH).

59A. Lafayette or Orleans (LOUISIANA PARISH).

I think this is fun although I’ve never heard of MAXFIELD PARRISH.  The following should change that:

I’ve been thinking of entries I could use if I created a puzzle using my name and I’ve come up with these three:

• HECHTOMETER
• WHAT THE HECHT
• I’M SORRY, COULD YOU REPEAT THAT? H-E-K-T?  IS THAT RIGHT? NO?  OK, WELL, WHERE DOES THE “I” GO?  THERE’S NO “I”?  LISTEN, BUDDY, ARE YOU SCREWING WITH ME?  YOU KNOW, MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUST CALL BACK LATER.  I REALLY DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS. [dial tone]

It may need some work.

Other highlights:

27A. Yoko of “Double Fantasy” (ONO).  This clue seems to contain much more information than is necessary.  Is there somebody else named Yoko who shows up in crosswords?

54A. Finisher of potter or cakes (GLAZER).  Ok, I’ll admit it.  I’m totally addicted to the show, Amazing Wedding Cakes.  You should see this guy make buttercream flowers.  Crazy.  I’ve searched for the video online but, alas, no luck.

64A. Bed-and-breakfast (INN).  You know, I think these are two different things.

18D. Dairy Queen order (SUNDAE).  Why is Dairy Queen so good?  How come there aren’t any DQ’s in NYC?  You’re telling me I’ve got to go to Jersey to get a Peanut Buster Parfait?

And, now, a quick Lollapuzzoola update.  We have our official list of constructors.  And here it is (in no particular order):

• Brendan Emmett Quigley
• Todd McClary
• Brian Cimmet
• Doug Peterson
• Peter Gordon
• Mike Nothnagel

If you haven’t signed up yet we sure hope you will soon.

Next stop, Tuesday.

Was I supposed to do 7 < (2+6) < 9 or something like that? I never know how Ryan’s fuzzy math works.

This is going to be a short blog for two reasons. One, I’m writing it, and I’m just not as interesting as Ryan. And two, because it’s late, and I’m exhausted. However, I did this puzzle earlier today, and it was quite a bit of fun. It was designed by part-time first baseman for the Boston Red Sox, part-time something-or-other for Pixar (please, tell me what it is you do there!), Kevin G. Der-Hyphen-Youkilis.

You may remember Kevin’s wonder week a while back where he first trounced everyone with his fewest black squares record-breaking puzzle — which was followed shortly by the one where you fold the grid into a paper airplane. Awesome! Kevin once again dazzles here with a jumbo-sized 23×23 grid of vertical symmetry (unlike the standard rotational symmetry of most crosswords) AND it’s got circles in it (at least, in the Across Lite version) AND it’s a rebus AND it has a ton of theme answers AND the rebus squares make a shape AND it all ties together (AND if you want, you can still fold it into a paper airplane, although that has nothing to do with the theme).

First, the long answers:

• 2D. 1981 film in which Helen Mirren plays a sorceress : EXCALIBUR
• 4D & 12D. 1889 Twain novel : A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT. This was a my breakthrough. The title came to me, even though I’ve never read the book. Go figure.
• 14D & 76 D. 1953 Ava Gardner film … as depicted elsewhere in this puzzle? : KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
• 71D. 2001 Anjelica Huston miniseries, with “The” : MISTS OF AVALON. Wait. Was this part of the theme? I have no idea what this show is.
• 137A. 1963 animated film with the song “Higitus Figitus,” with “The” : SWORD IN THE STONE. For way too long, as a child, I thought this title was “Sword AND the Stone.” I don’t know what that movie would be about, but probably a sword and a stone singing and dancing together as they traipse across medieval Europe.
• 143A. 1998 animated film featuring the voice of Pierce Brosnan : QUEST FOR CAMELOT. Never heard of this. Camelot? Yes. B.C.’s Quest For Tires? Yes. Quest for Camelot? No.

Then we also had five circles in the grid which, if you drew a line connecting them all, you’d make a larger circle (technically a pentagon — unless you didn’t connect the dots in sequence, in which case you make either a star or a lopsided nothing of a shape). Each circle had SIR in it — making a very clever round table of knighted gentlemen. Lovely.

I kept trying to blur my vision to see if the rest of the black squares of the grid made a picture — like it was one of those illusions that if you stare long enough, it becomes a painting or something? Can you people do those? I can’t. I have a totally messed up left eye, and I cannot do those fancy magic eye things for the life of me. I think it’s all a hoax, and you are in on it, just to mess with me. Am I right?

Okay — this is it for now. Ryan might add to this in the morning. More likely, he’ll be coming over to the BeMoreSmarter studios to record Episode 64. Tune in.

And register for Lollapuzzoola! Just four weeks away! Hurrah!

See you Monday.

Hold on, let me look at the calendar.  Yes, it’s true, we are now officially 4 weeks away from Lollapuzzoola.  We’re starting to gather up our fabulous prizes.  Sure, some will be more fabulous than others but they will all have a degree of fabulousness.  But the only way you can win a fabulous Lollapuzzoola prize is to come to Lollapuzzoola.

Today’s puzzle is by Vic [insert sound effect here] “The Gavel” Fleming (pictured at right) and it was a bit easier than most Saturdays.  I made a few leaps of faith that turned out to be correct and got it done in about 45 minutes.

Quite a fun solve with four 15-letter answers.

17A. Inquire about a union contract? (PROPOSE MARRIAGE).  I was on to this pretty quickly but I couldn’t figure out the phrasing.  I knew it ended with MARRIAGE but I was convinced it started with ASK.  I thought maybe it was ASK INTO MARRIAGE which, oddly, is not a phrase nor does it make sense.

39A. They benefit personally (VESTED INTERESTS).  VESTED INTERESTS, that’s a phrase I use but if Jay Leno came by and asked me to define it I think I’d be at a loss.  Then I’d tell him he’s not funny.

60A. Meteorological shocker? (ELECTRICAL STORM).  Seriously, what else could this be?

7D. Losing the fuzz? (COMING INTO FOCUS).  Great clue and answer although I really wanted it to be about evading the police.

Other highlights:

1A. Brand seen near razors (AFTA).  I don’t know what this means.  What is AFTA?  Is it after shave?  According to google, it’s the Association for Temperate Agroforestry.  Why would that be near a razor?

26A. Alter in a clothing store? (RETAG).  Hey, I got this without any crosses.  And I never go clothes shopping.  No, seriously, I never go.  I pretty much wear the same thing everyday.  Ask Brian.  I’d tell you to ask my wife but I don’t like to remind her.

35A. Quarter master? (NUMISMATIST).  This one was a pretty big leap for me.  I’d heard the word but had no idea how to spell it.  So I just sounded it out like they do in a spelling bee and wrote it in there and it was right.  And that is the manner in which I roll.

44A. Filled treats (OREOS).  I guess if I had never solved a crossword puzzle before thin one would have been a little tougher.

46A. Certain joe (DECAF).  I am at a distinct disadvantage with coffee clues as I never drink coffee.  I will, however, be drinking coffee when we go to Italy.  On that note, Pickles thinks I will take me all of 5 minutes in Rome before I say, “When in Rome…”  I’m guessing it’ll be sooner than that.

50A. Kind of joe (SLOPPY).  Alright, that’s it.  I’m making SLOPPY Joes this weekend.

3D. Sing the parts of in succession (TROLL).  Music people, please explain.

14D. Hook go-with? (SMEE).  This one took me a while but it provided a nice AHA! moment.

45D. Brennan’s successor on the Supreme Court (SOUTER).  I had no idea Eileen Brennan was a Supreme Court Justice.  Good for her!

Next stop, Sunday.

Sometimes I get my hair cut on Friday mornings after work.  I always go to the same place, Astor Hair Designs and there’s always these two guys at the cashier’s desk doing the Friday NYT crossword puzzle in the actual paper.  By the time I get there I’ve usually already finished the puzzle online and I’ve tried repeatedly to engage them in conversation about it.  I don’t want to give away any answers or brag about how I’ve already finished it, but I’d like to acknowledge this shared experience.  Anyway, they want none of it.  I’ve said things like, “Tough one today.” or “How you doing on the puzzle?” or “Ooh, Nothnagel, he makes great puzzles.”  All they do is stare at me and kind of laugh.  So I pay for my haircut and leave.  Maybe they think I’m going to give away answers or something.  The whole thing is very bizarre. I guess the moral of the story is I’m going bald so, eventually, I won’t need to get haircuts and these two guys will be out of my life.

Today’s excellent puzzle is by Patrick Berry.  How does he pluralize his name?  If you see him and members of his family are they the Berrys or the Berries?  Patrick, if you’re reading this please let us know.

Ok, I know I’ve addressed this subject many times before but I feel I must do so again.  Dan Feyer, Winner of the C Division, Winner of the B Division completed his puzzle in 3:35.  How is that possible?  Seriously.  How…is…that…possible?  I solved it in what I feel is a respectable 46:30 but that’s 43 minutes longer than Dan.  There was no single clue in this puzzle that I didn’t have to think over for at least a minute or two.  Dan, what the hell?  Where did you start?  Was there anything you didn’t know?  Or did you just look at 1A. It doesn’t exist and say, “Oh, of course, NO SUCH THING.  I am so much smarter than Ryan it’s ridiculous.  Next time I see him I’ll have to trick him into giving me the deed to his farm. Ha, ha, ha!”  Oy, I just don’t get it.

The puzzle was great with a big open grid in the shape of a backwards S.

12A. Find fault with (COMPLAIN ABOUT).  One of my favorite pastimes.

16A. Bloomer after whom bloomers were named (AMELIA).  The wikipedia entry on bloomers contains this phrase, “a Japanese bloomer is worn over underpanty”.  I may get that on a t-shirt.

19A. Toy from China (PEKE).  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love this clue but shouldn’t isn’t PEKE an abbreviation.

24A. You might grind it out (BUTT).  Just this moment I realized this has to do with cigarettes and not some sort of exercise called Butt Grinding.

25A. Fast hits (LINE DRIVES).  Did you see that Manny Ramirez homerun the other day?  I mean, did you see it?  Pinch hit grand slam on the first pitch.  On Manny Ramirez bobblehead day.  And he hit it into the Mannywood seats.  That was pretty cool.

29A. Musical direction that means “lyrical” in Italian (CANTIBLE).  I’m learning some Italian in anticipation of our trip in September.  Check this out, “un giapponese Bloomer è indossato sopra underpanty”.  That should come in handy.

43A. It gets you up and around (SPIRAL STAIRCASE).  Great clue.  Hasn’t Will Shortz said one of his favorite all-time clues had this same answer? It was by Martin Ashwood-Smith and read, “It turns into a different story”.

48A. Words from one who won’t settle (SEE YOU IN COURT).  This one I actually got pretty quickly.

21A. Company with a tree in its logo (KEEBLER).  I know we’re all supposed think the Oreo is the greatest cookie of all time.  And, yes, it’s quite tasty but if I had to choose I’d go with Fudge Stripes every time.  Fudge Stripes kick ass.

29A. Local or regional Boy Scout gathering (CAMPOREE).  I spent most of my childhood terrified of everything.  Hence I missed out on fun things like Boy Scouts, Little League and the development of social skills.

35D. “___ by Sinatra” (1982 collaborative jazz album) (SYMS).  Ah, I get it, SYMS is somebody’s name.  This really had me confused.

47A. What next? Saturday.

Forgive me if I’m typing too slow, but I’m eating some cereal, and I would hate for it to get soggy. Isn’t that the worst? When things come up while you’re enjoying what should be a crunchy cereal (in this case, Rice Chex), and you get too caught up in your puzzle, your Facebook, your blogging, and the next thing you know, you have Rice Mush instead?

Also, who’s coming to Lollapuzzoola? It’s never too late to sign up. We have awesome puzzles in store, designed by some awesome constructors — Peter Gordon, Mike Nothnagel, Doug Peterson, Todd McClary… This is going to be off the charts.

(Rice cereal is awesome. Just awesome.)

Who had trouble sorting out the business in today’s puzzle? This was a great (if slightly inconsistent) theme. It gave me an “aha!” moment, which is rare, and which I love. Most of the fill is short stuff (nothing over seven letters, it seems, with one notable exception), which led to a lot of quick entries for me… Except, a number of them didn’t seem to quite fit the clues — that number being ten. Let’s look closer.

7D. Hit song from 2000… and a hint to 10 symmetrically arranged Across answers : WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?

In “The Tin Pan Alley Rag,” a play for which I’m currently playing piano, Scott Joplin tells Irving Berlin that his “Play A Simple Melody” is inescapable. I feel the same way about “Who Let The Dogs Out” — try as I might, I hear it everywhere. My least favorite incarnations are in commercials or movie trailers where they make it actually about dogs. That wasn’t clever the first time, and it’s still not clever. Stop doing it.

How about those 10 symmetrically placed answers? Well, there are ten entries in the grid that, to make proper sense, need to be reunited with their canine friends.

• 1A. Show-off : HOT [DOG]. As for the other kind of hot dog, Ryan and I are looking for quality soup recipes that include hot dogs. Any suggestions?
• 9A. U.S. Marine : DEVIL [DOG]. Didn’t know this term. I just know the snack cakes.
• 15A. Leader of the pack : ALPHA [DOG]. Who has seen Up, the brilliant new Pixar movie? Crossword genius Kevin G. Der-Hyphen-Youkilis worked on it. Kevin, if you’re reading this, please tell me what exactly you did on the movie. I want to be able to watch the movie again and point to something and say “That! That’s what Kevin did!” Oh, I bring it up because there are a bunch of dogs in the film, and one of them is named Alpha. That’s all.
• 34A. Animal control officer : [DOG] CATCHER
  
• 36A. Folded corner : [DOG] EAR
• 46A. G.I.’s ID : [DOG] TAG. Not only a tricky theme entry, but 100% abbreviations in the clue, 0% abbreviations in the answer. Not sure I like that…
• 47A. Person who raises and sells pups : [DOG] BREEDER
• 70A. One falling into good fortune : LUCKY [DOG]
• 72A. Old sailor : SALTY [DOG]. Didn’t know this one either.
• 74A. Cutthroat : [DOG] EAT [DOG]. Here’s where my issue with the consistency comes up. Why, suddenly, do we get an entry that requires two dogs to make sense? It made me think of Merl Reagle’s puzzle in the 2009 ACPT, where each theme entry was a pig-related pun — except one of them had two puns. I’m on the fence about this. If you set up a convention, you should stick to it, right? Well, what if you can double your fun by breaking your own rules? I don’t know… What do you think?

All in all, this was an enjoyable Thursday. I liked that the grid was super-sized (16 squares from top to bottom, to accommodate the long theme entry), I liked that the theme was secret and not really revealed until you revealed the whole thing at once, and I liked that I was able to do it in just 1.78 MOOT (multiples of Orange’s time).

Lollapuzzoola. Be there. Or I’ll let your dogs out.