Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

Hello, dear readers. I’m back with some more thoughts on the wonderful world of published crosswords. Since my last post I’ve picked up another 15 or 20 puzzle books, and I hope to review my entire library before I go out of town for the summer. And then I’ll come up with something else to blog about. Soon, I’ll get to the many top constructors who have books of their excellent puzzles; today, several random topics.

First of all, in my debut post I meant to acknowledge the Holiday Shopping Guide put together by Rex and Orange last year. It was a great help when I was starting my ongoing shopping spree.

Speaking of Orange: if anyone reading this does not own her book, what are you waiting for?

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I’ve had a difficult time tearing myself away from a new XBox 360 game this weekend, so my blogs are coming about a little late… What can you do.

New York Times – 3:21
Los Angeles Times – 4:09
CrosSynergy – 3:24
New York Sun – 6:50
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Noses totally stuffed. Head throbbing. Can’t think. Tried to do puzzles anyway.

New York Times – 9:12
Los Angeles Times – 3:19 (I’m beginning to like this better than the New York puzzles…)
New York Sun – 5:16

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My cold is not better. I feel like crap. Over the past week, I managed to twenty-one Monday-level puzzles in a row in under five minutes. I was thrilled with this streak. This morning, I picked one up, and took seven minutes. Now I’m in a bad mood all day. This is not healthy.

And then I took a crack at today’s New York Times puzzle. Five minutes, forty-one seconds. I totally suck.

New York Times – 5:41
New York Sun – 3:40
Los Angeles Times – 3:50
CrosSynergy – gave up after ten minutes with only ten answers filled.

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I can barely see straight… The weekend was full of nephews and noise, today began with a 6:00am wake-up call courtesy of one young Mr. Levi Pontti — oh, so very cute, but oh, so very loud. Tonight, an enjoyable concert but a painfully unfortunate piano. And outside the theater tonight, I happened to see Jon Delfin. I didn’t say hello — Jon, if you read this, I saw you!

I also want to say, before starting in with the puzzles, that we’re getting lots of positive feedback on our podcast. If you haven’t checked it out, try the links to the right. iTunes has it, and you can also listen straight from this site. We’ve done six episodes so far (the next one will be this coming weekend), and we’re having a blast. Email us your thoughts and comments at rbxblog@gmail.com.

Finally — we have a group on Facebook. I don’t know if this links there successfully, but if not, get on your Facebook, and search the groups for one called “Ryan and Brian do Crosswords.”

Anyway. It’s Tuesday. Yesterday kicked my ass, but today, I’m trying again. Here we go…

New York Times – 6:30
New York Sun – 6:45
Los Angeles Times – 6:40

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Yuck, yuck, yuck. And now, extra yuck. The first yucks were for the fact that I’m already exhausted from Podcast Episode #005 (get your download now!), and then that I ate too much Chinese food, and then that I just watched Night At The Museum, which was simplythemosthorriblethingI’veseeninyears.

After that, I tried to to Wednesday’s puzzles.

New York Times – 12:54 (worst Wednesday for me in what feels like centuries — except I’ve only been doing crosswords since early February)
Los Angeles Times – 8:59
New York Sun – 9:55
The Onion – 8:56

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I don’t like the 01-02-03 format of my date headers anymore, so I’m switching to more word-y ones. Feel free to register your complaints.

New York Times – 4:03 (which might be a personal best, using the applet)
CrosSynergy – 10:23
New York Sun – 4:50

New York Times
by Christina Houlihan Kelly; edited by Will Shortz

I spent a bulk of today working on my insanely insane spreadsheet, but have learned quite a bit about Excel in the process. Hooray, Excel! For example, I now have averaged a sub-5-minute Monday over the past twenty Mondays I’ve done.

Today’s puzzle was quick and easy, and I’m starting to think that maybe Tuesday should become my default level of choice. We’ll see. The theme today was barriers, I suppose:

• 20A. Bidding impediment? : AUCTION BLOCK
• 33A. Outdoor meal deterrent? : PICNIC HAMPER
• 44A. Truth obstruction? : REALITY CHECK
• 58A. Metallic element’s obstacle? : ALUMINUM FOIL

I don’t think I’ve ever referred to my campsite trunk as a hamper, always a basket or cooler. But that’s okay… Of course, I parsed it as PICNIC CHAMPER (giving myself an extra C) for some reason, and wondered for a bit what a “champer” was.

I think Ryan and I are going to do a Saturday-Sunday-Monday podcast sometime Monday night, so keep your iPods peeled for it…

CrosSynergy: Abracadabra!
by Patrick Blindauer

Not only did the central clue (and structural concept behind this puzzle) totally stall me, but once I finally filled it in, I had no idea what it even meant. That, to me, signifies a sadly unsatisfying puzzle. 40A. Magician, and word whose ten letters make up every answer in this puzzle. It seems I’m looking for a five-letter magician’s name and a ten-letter word (which may or may not have anything to do with said magician)… Right?

The answer is PRESTIDIGITATOR. I have no idea how to parse that. Hold on a moment, while I ask Wikipedia…

[time passed: about four minutes]

Okay, I’m back and with the answer. We are not looking for a five-letter magician’s name (who is PREST, I wondered?) and a ten-letter word (IDIGITATOR is not a word). Apparently, PRESTIDIGITATOR is a word in itself that means magician and only contains ten letters [A, D, E, G, I, O, P, R, S, T] which then make up the rest of the grid.

Ah, yes. How wonderful. Presto-chango, and when was I ever to have learned that ridiculous word?

New York Sun: Green-lighting
by Michael Langwald; edited by Peter Gordon

This was cute and fun, and rejuvenated me after my disappointing turn on the CrosSynergy. Here, 69A. Middleman (and a hint to this puzzle’s theme), which is a GO-BETWEEN, serves as the set-up for all the long answers:

• 17A. Word of encouragement : YOU GO, GIRL!
• 21A. 1984 #1 hit for Prince and the Revolution : LET’S GO CRAZY
• 31A. Carousel : MERRY-GO-ROUND
• 48A. Carefree : HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
• 64A. “That subject is off-limits” : DON’T GO THERE

Straightforward and enjoyable. Thank you, as always, New York Sun.

New York Times
by Manny Nosowsky; edited by Will Shortz

Nope. Can’t do it. Thanks for playing.

New York Sun
by Ogden Porter; edited by Peter Gordon

FIVE MINUTES AND THREE SECONDS.

There is something amiss in the universe. Either today’s New York Sun puzzle is actually a Monday-level puzzle mistakenly run on a Friday, or… I don’t know what else.

Okay, actually it’s because I know more about musical theater than I’d like to admit, and the long clues were gimmes to me:

• 17A. With 21-Across, play that the musical “Kiss Me, Kate” was adapted from : THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
• 26A. Play that the musical “I Do, I Do!” was adapted from : THE FOURPOSTER
• 43A. Movie that the musical “Sugar” was adapted from : SOME LIKE IT HOT
• 49A. Opera that the musical “Rent” was adapted from : LA BOHEME
• 59A. Movie that the musical “Applause” was adapted from : ALL ABOUT EVE

But even the rest of the clues weren’t that difficult — although, granted, I had all the crossings from the “easy” long clues. So to consistent NYS solvers (and not Dan Feyer, who I know also knows a lot about musical theater): How easy was this puzzle, relative to other NYS? Clearly much easier than a Friday, even without a knowledge of musical theater sources. Weigh in, would you?

Haven’t started on the 25-foot deal yet… Not sure exactly how to begin. I suppose at the left edge, since it apparently gets harder as it progresses rightward. I have some work to do over the weekend (i.e. taxes), so we’ll see what happens. The wife is still rehabbing her knee, so I’m tending to her needs as well. Late Wednesday night, though, I tackled the Thursday challenges. Or, at least, some of them. (I still think that the Sun puzzles are out of my league.)

Also, I’m trying to use different colors for clue answers… Brown yesterday, purple today. We’ll see what I eventually like.

Scores
New York Times 18:55
Los Angeles Times 9:30
CrosSynergy 8:09
New York Sun 21:56 (with one gimme)
Wall Street Journal 29:52

New York Times
by David J. Kahn; edited by Will Shortz

Loved this. Absolutely loved this. The only bad part is that I took too much time looking for the gimmicks, I think it added minutes to my (already pathetic) time:

• 64A. What you can find in the grid after completing this puzzle, looking up, down, left, right and diagonally, word search-style : A DOZEN ROSES

And lo and behold, there are a dozen “ROSE” sequences hidden throughout the grid. Oh, such joy. The long center answer at 38A. Classic 1911 children’s novel… with a hint to this puzzle’s theme was THE SECRET GARDEN, which sadly I learned as a musical before I learned it as a book.

I had some trouble with a handful of things in the left area… 38D. One way to get to the top is always always something clever, and never something logical. I have probably missed cutesy clues for T-BAR on more occasions than I can count. A life in Maine apparently did not provide me with enough skiing jargon. And I went with the opposite guess on 39D. “Too great a burden to bear”: Martin Luther King, Jr. by trying to make HOPE work when he was talking about HATE. Up in the top right, my errant choices of ANOL, HARDWOOD and INK for 10D, 11D and 12D led me into all kinds of trouble. If only I knew that ALEPPO was a city in Syria, I might have avoided what felt like hours of cluelessness. (Can one suffer from cluelessness in a crossword puzzle, where one is inundated with clues?)

My Excel spreadsheet is getting out of hand. I’ve included a screen shot here. I think you can right-click and View image… to see it at it’s full resolution.

In other news, I’m making flash cards for myself on words I never remember. I’m starting with the list in Amy Reynaldo’s book, and adding to it as I go through archives of New York Times puzzles. To be fair, I’m not actually sure what my goal is here. I think my goal has many facets: 1) to be more smarter, thank you for playing; 2) to finish higher than 563rd at next year’s ACPT; 3) to complete a full week of New York Times puzzles without the aid of Google, Wikipedia or other internet sources (or any sources, for that matter). Perhaps I also need to buy a book of 1,000,001 useless facts.

Los Angeles Times
by Gary Steinmehl; edited by Rich Norris

Did it in half the time as the New York puzzle, but had about half the fun. It got off to a great start as the 1D. Sound of sawing wood was ZZZ. Initially, I hoped that triple letters or grouped consonants or something would be the trick. Alas, no. Instead, the trick was saved for the last of the down clues, 67D. Word that can precede the first word in the answers to starred clues (SKY). A little boring, and with it as the only throughline for the puzzle, left me wanting more. Maybe this was because of the absolute utter joy I had with the New York Times puzzle. I mean — a dozen roses! So cool!Because I’m more interested in the New York Times than the L.A. puzzle, I’ll just list the long answers here and be done with it:

• 18A. Doing the macarena, e.g. : LINE DANCING
• 23A. Stationery : WRITING PAPER
• 53A. Carefree : LIGHT HEARTED
• 61A. Cannonball origination spot : DIVING BOARD

There you have it.

CrosSynergy: “Ster-linguistics”
by Randolph Ross

Cute puzzle, if a little generic. The title was the most confusing part to me. Is the title a play on some long word I don’t know? Or a phrase I don’t know? Or is it just a random made up hyphenated word to explain that the long answers within the grid will get STER added to them somewhere?

• 17A. Physicians who treat unmarried women? : SPIN[STER] DOCTORS
• 25A. Dictionary reader, at times? : WEB[STER] BROWSER — I think this would have been better clued as “Online dictionary reader” or “Electronic dictionary reader.” The “at times” thing is a clue trick I really don’t care for that much.
• 42A. Those with affection for cool cats? : HIP[STER] HUGGERS
• 55A. Rodent in the rye? : HAM[STER] SANDWICH

Otherwise, there was one little gem within the grid: 36D. Pupil in the 70s? (C STUDENT)… Other than that, fairly straightforward. I was distracted in the middle (and paused the clock) while my wife killed a bumblebee in our foyer. I am deathly afraid of flying insects, and this guy was huge. I am still having a mild coronary, and it’s been twenty minutes.

New York Sun: Themeless Thursday
by Doug Peterson; edited by Peter Gordon

I tried. I let Across Lite show me a few mistakes (not answers, just where squares were wrong), and then I asked for one free answer at 8D. Rose’s home (PBS), which I still don’t understand. I assume there’s someone named Rose who has a show on PBS. Or lives at the station. I don’t know.

I think the Sun puzzles are like an insider game… You have to be brilliant to do them, to enjoy them. It’s like a secret society. If you have fun doing the Sun puzzles, you are part of the Crossword Society of the World. I am not a worthy pledge to such an organization. I need to be more smarter. Maybe next year…

New York Times 10:08 (I am an idiot)
Los Angeles Times 8:13
New York Sun 15:30 (I continue to be an idiot — and on Tuesday, no less!)

New York Times
by Steve Salmon, edited by Will Shortz

I am very unhappy with my time. I got the left and center of the grid done in about four minutes. While this is no howardb_42 time, it was certainly lovely by my own standards. But then I hit 37D. A key passage? which I decided was AISLE ISLE. It solved the bottom right for me just fine, but of course screwed up everything else. I’m looking at 42A. Exam for a future Atty. and 45A. “Lohengrin” lass, and I’m thinking they have to be LSAT and ELSA. But my second letters are I and S… What have I done wrong? (In case you read too quickly and missed my error — the answer to 37D is ISLE AISLE, not AISLE ISLE.) (Of course, if you’re reading this at all, you have way too much time on your hands, and you have no business reading anything “too quickly.” RELAX.)

I was also baffled by the top right, where for 10A. Tortilla sandwich, I was stubbornly certain it was TACO. And I know it’s not a sandwich, but technically, neither is a WRAP:

	Main Entry: 1sand·wich
	Pronunciation: \?san(d)-?wich, ?sam-; dialect ?sa?-\
	Function: noun
	Etymology: John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich died
		1792 English diplomat
	Date: 1762

	1a:  two or more slices of bread or a split roll
	     having a filling in between;
	b:   one slice of bread covered with food

	2:   something resembling a sandwich; especially:
	     composite structural material consisting of
	     layers often of high-strength facings bonded
	     to a low strength central core

16A. Breezy greeting also tricked me, as I thought it would be WAVE — far more clever than anything else available. Somehow, this led to a plethora of wrong answers and empty spaces, and I really should have just erased everything and started over. Which I did not. Instead I stared at it for a while. And then a while longer. And then suddenly, I was nearing the ten-minute mark (my current Tuesday average is about 8:30), and I was getting pissed off. WAVE was later replaced with HEYA before finally the correct answer, HIYA.

Ryan has given all the good answers, and included fun pictures from a trip he took. I have no photos, and only a cranky insistence that a wrap isn’t a sandwich. Now I have to take my cat to the vet. I’ll do the rest of the Tuesdays (as many as I can stomach) when I return.

Los Angeles Times
by Michael Langwald, edited by Rich Norris

Not that you can tell, but I have returned.

This was all very straightforward until the left section of the grid, which totally baffled me. In part, this was due to my incorrect answer to 48A. Fuss (TO-DO). In the crossing at 26D. *Fall guy in films?, I had –U-T-OUBLE. I wrongly assumed an R in that last blank to make something-TROUBLE. Hence my incorrect TORO (not much of a fuss, unless you’re the matador), and my complete inability to discover STUNT DOUBLE for 26D.

The rest of the theme had to do with 63D. Casino game, and hint to the theme in last words of answers to starred clues. I was hoping the clue could be a little longer. This wasn’t awkward enough for me.

COME ON. Starred clues? Lots of question marks on long answers? Where was this puzzle published, Los Angeles? Oh, right, it was. Hee hee. Anyway, the answer to 63D was BLACK JACK, of course. And the other themed answers were:

• 17A. *Where hacks wait? (TAXI STAND)
• 39A. *Batter’s success (BASE HIT)
• 11D. *Fruity ice cream treat? (BANANA SPLIT)

The theme was painless, but the execution was rough. Asterisks? And using question marks for non-cryptic clues was lame. I had TAXIST–D for a while for 17A, and reluctantly filled in the correct answer, looking for a play on words that didn’t exist.

Maybe I’ll try the Sun puzzle next… Stay tuned.

New York Sun
by Lee Glickstein, edited by Peter Gordon

Nothing like a crossword puzzle to show me that I have a complete lack of knowledge on just about every subject.