Ryan solves the NYT, Thu 7-30-9
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.
