Hi all. Today post is by committee. Two parts, joon, one part Crosscan. The world of crossword blogging is a little upside down right now, but we'll keep you guys covered. Crosscan uses capitals and joon doesn't, for those keeping score at home.
(joon) this is mike's LAT debut. mike's puzzles are so uniformly excellent. and today was no exception. the only thing i didn't like about it was that it didn't really put up a fight. mike is an excellent clue writer, but almost all of the clues today were entirely straightforward, enabling me to sprint through the puzzle in my fastest saturday time since that brief period last summer when they were all incredibly easy.
highlights from the fill:
Some Diane/Diana music:
51A: "Touch Me in the Morning" singer (ROSS);
61A: Jack's partner in a 1982 #1 John Cougar song (DIANE):
Everything Else 1A: Some pilgrims (HAJIS); 6A: Contests on the road (AWAY GAMES); 15A: Enjoy a victory, say (EXULT); 16A: Ignore, as an insult (RISE ABOVE); 17A: More or less uniform (ALIKE); 18A: Black Sea region (ASIA MINOR); 19A: Holiday pie ingredients (PECANS); 21A: Growth chart data: Abbr. (HTS.); 22A: __ torch (TIKI); 23A: Chateau __ Michelle: world's largest Riesling producer (STE.); 24A: Deem appropriate (SEE FIT); 26A: Indifferent grade (CEE); 27A: Space balls? (ORBS); 29A: 26-Across enhancement (PLUS); 30A: "Holy Toledo!" ("EGADS!"); 32A: Like a ward for some new hospital patients (NEONATAL); 34A: It fits in a lock (OAR); 35A: Chat with someone on the way out? (EXIT INTERVIEW); 39A: Pitcher Dwight Gooden's nickname (DOC); 40A: Home to FDR's presidential library (HYDE PARK); 42A: Showbiz figure (CELEB); 45A: Seattle Slew, vis-à-vis Swale (SIRE); 46A: "The nursery of England's gentlemen" (ETON); 47A: Park in NYC, e.g. (AVE.); 48A: "Oops" elicitors (BONERS); 50A: Like "Spring" from Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" (IN E); 51A: "Touch Me in the Morning" singer (ROSS); 53A: "Oh no!" ("ACK!"); 54A: Parasite (SPONGE); 56A: Church rite site (ALTAR RAIL); 59A: The "Demon Star" (ALGOL); 60A: Passé reception aid (TV ANTENNA); 61A: Jack's partner in a 1982 #1 John Cougar song (DIANE); 62A: Tony award category (SET DESIGN); 63A: Join (ENTER); 1D: Adds in great quantities (HEAPS ON); 2D: Cart's wheel attachment (AXLE TREE); 3D: Part of a kid's lunch from home (JUICE BOX); 4D: Chase on stage (ILKA); 5D: WWII Mark II's (STENS); 6D: First name at Notre Dame (ARA); 7D: Dreamer's activity (WISHFUL THINKING); 8D: In reality (AS IT IS); 9D: Baker's supply (YEAST); 10D: Piece of cheesecake? (GAM); 11D: Somewhat (A BIT); 12D: 1992 Wimbledon runner-up to Steffi (MONICA); 13D: Called forth (EVOKED); 14D: Word on some Emmy awards (SERIES); 20D: Like many a residential system (SEPTIC); 25D: Spark (ELAN); 28D: Nasty (SNIDE); 30D: Wasp's nest site (EAVE); 31D: Complaint (GRIPE); 33D: Distance covered by a first step (A TO B); 34D: Sequences (ORDERS); 36D: Teacher of Adele Varens, in an 1847 novel (EYRE); 37D: Bothering a lot (EATING AT); 38D: "Nope, the other thing" (WRONG ONE); 41D: Pew extension (KNEELER); 42D: Stone figures (CARATS); 43D: Increase in complexity, perhaps (EVOLVE); 44D: Vampire played by Cruise (LESTAT); 45D: Assertion from one who won't be outdone (SO CAN I); 48D: Shows (BARES); 49D: Part of a deck (SPADE); 52D: Golf hazard, often (SAND); 55D: "Enemies, A Love Story" Oscar nominee (OLIN); 57D: 47-Across, e.g. (RTE.); 58D: PC-to-PC system (LAN).
(joon) this is mike's LAT debut. mike's puzzles are so uniformly excellent. and today was no exception. the only thing i didn't like about it was that it didn't really put up a fight. mike is an excellent clue writer, but almost all of the clues today were entirely straightforward, enabling me to sprint through the puzzle in my fastest saturday time since that brief period last summer when they were all incredibly easy.highlights from the fill:
- {Chat with someone on the way out?} is an EXIT INTERVIEW. one of the few clues with some trickery, both for the context of the clue and the fact "chat" wants to be a verb here.
- {Dreamer's activity} is WISHFUL THINKING. a really nice pair of answers crossing in the middle, but this clue (like so many others) was so straightforward that it wasn't hard to put in all fifteen letters here.
- {Part of a kid's lunch from home} is a JUICE BOX. nice scrabbly phrase here, part of the very scrabbly northwest. i bet this is the first entry mike put in the grid, but i wonder if he didn't clue it in reference to the astros' home park. (see also {Contests on the road}, AWAY GAMES.)
- {Cart's wheel attachment} is an AXLE TREE. AXLE came pretty easily here. TREE, not so much.
- {Home to FDR's presidential library} is HYDE PARK. cool answer, and i don't think it would have been a gimme, but for the fact that i had HYDEP___ in place by the time i saw it.
- {"Nope, the other thing"} is "WRONG ONE." love this one.
- {Pew extension} is a KNEELER, and a {Church rite site} is an ALTAR RAIL. neither one of these is tough, but spending a half-dozen hours in church this weekend probably made these even quicker to spring to mind.
- {Like many a residential system} is SEPTIC. now this one took some working of the crossings. i don't think you can hide the unpleasant subject matter of the answer just by making the clue incredibly vague. we're going to see it all in the end anyway, right?
Some Diane/Diana music:
51A: "Touch Me in the Morning" singer (ROSS);
61A: Jack's partner in a 1982 #1 John Cougar song (DIANE):
Everything Else 1A: Some pilgrims (HAJIS); 6A: Contests on the road (AWAY GAMES); 15A: Enjoy a victory, say (EXULT); 16A: Ignore, as an insult (RISE ABOVE); 17A: More or less uniform (ALIKE); 18A: Black Sea region (ASIA MINOR); 19A: Holiday pie ingredients (PECANS); 21A: Growth chart data: Abbr. (HTS.); 22A: __ torch (TIKI); 23A: Chateau __ Michelle: world's largest Riesling producer (STE.); 24A: Deem appropriate (SEE FIT); 26A: Indifferent grade (CEE); 27A: Space balls? (ORBS); 29A: 26-Across enhancement (PLUS); 30A: "Holy Toledo!" ("EGADS!"); 32A: Like a ward for some new hospital patients (NEONATAL); 34A: It fits in a lock (OAR); 35A: Chat with someone on the way out? (EXIT INTERVIEW); 39A: Pitcher Dwight Gooden's nickname (DOC); 40A: Home to FDR's presidential library (HYDE PARK); 42A: Showbiz figure (CELEB); 45A: Seattle Slew, vis-à-vis Swale (SIRE); 46A: "The nursery of England's gentlemen" (ETON); 47A: Park in NYC, e.g. (AVE.); 48A: "Oops" elicitors (BONERS); 50A: Like "Spring" from Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" (IN E); 51A: "Touch Me in the Morning" singer (ROSS); 53A: "Oh no!" ("ACK!"); 54A: Parasite (SPONGE); 56A: Church rite site (ALTAR RAIL); 59A: The "Demon Star" (ALGOL); 60A: Passé reception aid (TV ANTENNA); 61A: Jack's partner in a 1982 #1 John Cougar song (DIANE); 62A: Tony award category (SET DESIGN); 63A: Join (ENTER); 1D: Adds in great quantities (HEAPS ON); 2D: Cart's wheel attachment (AXLE TREE); 3D: Part of a kid's lunch from home (JUICE BOX); 4D: Chase on stage (ILKA); 5D: WWII Mark II's (STENS); 6D: First name at Notre Dame (ARA); 7D: Dreamer's activity (WISHFUL THINKING); 8D: In reality (AS IT IS); 9D: Baker's supply (YEAST); 10D: Piece of cheesecake? (GAM); 11D: Somewhat (A BIT); 12D: 1992 Wimbledon runner-up to Steffi (MONICA); 13D: Called forth (EVOKED); 14D: Word on some Emmy awards (SERIES); 20D: Like many a residential system (SEPTIC); 25D: Spark (ELAN); 28D: Nasty (SNIDE); 30D: Wasp's nest site (EAVE); 31D: Complaint (GRIPE); 33D: Distance covered by a first step (A TO B); 34D: Sequences (ORDERS); 36D: Teacher of Adele Varens, in an 1847 novel (EYRE); 37D: Bothering a lot (EATING AT); 38D: "Nope, the other thing" (WRONG ONE); 41D: Pew extension (KNEELER); 42D: Stone figures (CARATS); 43D: Increase in complexity, perhaps (EVOLVE); 44D: Vampire played by Cruise (LESTAT); 45D: Assertion from one who won't be outdone (SO CAN I); 48D: Shows (BARES); 49D: Part of a deck (SPADE); 52D: Golf hazard, often (SAND); 55D: "Enemies, A Love Story" Oscar nominee (OLIN); 57D: 47-Across, e.g. (RTE.); 58D: PC-to-PC system (LAN).
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