F R I D A Y November 5, 2010 David Poole

Theme: The Social Network — Puns based on social networking websites.


Theme answers:

• 17A: Favorable time to place an online bid? (EBAY WINDOW).
• 27A: Online networking site trainee? (MYSPACE CADET).
• 44A: Detective's job concerning a personal online relationship? (FACEBOOK CASE).
• 58A: Spinner seen in an online video? (YOUTUBE TOP).

Now this is what I'm talking about with theme answers. Each one starts with the name of a social networking site that's a compound word. The second part of the compound word becomes the first part of a familiar two-word phrase and voilà! You've got yourself a solid, consistent theme! Now, there's nothing particularly flashy about the base phrases BAY WINDOW and BOOKCASE, but TUBE TOP and SPACE CADET are awesome. And I'm willing to overlook the lack of sparkliness because of the elegant consistency. Well done theme, sir!

Now, about that middle section …. Wasn't sure I was even going to finish this puzzle with those blank squares staring at me. I had the AB of ABOU (40A: "__ Ben Adhem"), but couldn't remember the rest of it. I know that's lame. That's why I'll cover it later in CW101, so maybe it will be cemented in my brain. Anyway, without that OU in place, and with no idea about 28D: Actress Aimée's last name, I thought I was doomed. [Oops. Turns out her last name is Aimee and her first name is ANOUK.] Also significant is that I read the abbreviation "coll." to mean "college" in (37A: Coll. of 12 signs ). Reasonable, right? Sure, and yet incorrect. Collection. Collection of 12 signs! So basically what we have here is an awkward abbreviation in a clue for an awkward abbreviation. Not this puzzle's finest moment is what I'm saying.

Bullets:

• 5A: Travis of country (TRITT). The minute I saw Travis in the puzzle, I knew I was in trouble. He's one of my favorite musicians of all time and I knew it would be tough to find the exact perfect video to share with you. So I spent, oh, I don't know, an hour maybe? scouring YouTube and found two videos that I really wanted to use, only to discover they're not embeddable. Argh! If you're interested you should go ahead and watch them anyway. (If I coded that right, the videos will open up in a new tab.) But if you don't feel like wandering off, I hope you enjoy this musical interlude. Turn it up!



• 23A: Wellness gp. (HMO). How about "Claim denying gp." or "Money making gp." or "Gp. with really complicated processes but when you call to figure out what the heck you're supposed to do they won't even let you talk to a real person"? I guess that last one would probably be too long.
• 64A: Ones changing locks (DYERS). Or perhaps changing "hair clusters."

• 1D: Effectiveness (TEETH). Nice clue.
• 2D: "Tuesdays With Morrie" author (ALBOM). I read a Mitch Albom book once for a book club. It wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be.
• 3D: Light smoke (CLARO). This is a type of cigar, right?
• 7D: Chinese leader? (INDO-). When I read the clue, I thought to myself "You can't fool me! This is either going to be HARD C or SOFT C!" and then I realized that the word Chinese doesn't start with either a HARD C or a SOFT C. D'oh!
• 8D: Defeated decisively (TROUNCED). I like the word TROUNCED. Say it a couple times in present tense: trounce, trounce, trounce.
• 10D: "__ By Starlight": jazz standard (STELLA). Here's CrossWorld regular Anita O'Day.



• 25D: Suffix with lip- (ASE). Whoa. I have no idea what that means. Hold on. Turns out it's "an enzyme that hydrolyzes glycerides." Oh that lipase.
• 40D: Put oneself at risk, in a way (ABET). I actually tried ANTE here at first and thought, "That's a pretty clever clue for a common crossword word!" Then I saw 57A: Starting stake and knew I had screwed it up.

• 41D: Messed up a hole, maybe (BOGEYED). Gimme gimme gimme! Love the golf stuff! Keep it coming!
• 45D: He played Marty in "Marty" (ERNEST). Never heard of this. I guess because it was before my time. ERNEST Borgnine played the title role in the 1955 film "Marty."
• 50D: Church area (CHOIR). It always freaks me out a little that the place where the CHOIR sings is also called the CHOIR. Seems like the CHOIR should just be the singers and the place they sing should have a different word. As soon as I'm in charge, I'm going to change that.

Crosswordese 101: ABOU Ben Adhem was an Arab Muslim saint and Sufi mystic. For crossword puzzle purposes, though, you don't really need to know that. You just need to know that a poem was written about him by James Henry Leigh Hunt (often known as simply Leigh Hunt). It doesn't come up an awful lot, but it's the only way you'll ever see this particular string of letters clued, so you just need to memorize it!

Other crosswordese in the puzzle that we've already covered:

• 16A: Poi base (TARO).
• 39A: 2007 honor for Hugh Laurie: Abbr. (OBE).
• 61A: Seaside flock (ERNES).
• 29D: 53-Down's homeland (EIRE).
• 53D: Singer born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin (ENYA).

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Everything Else — 1A: Tic __ (TACS); 10A: Arrange in a tournament (SEED); 14A: Eliza's greeting ('ELLO); 15A: 2009 Man Booker International Prize winner Alice (MUNRO); 19A: "__ Almighty": 2007 film (EVAN); 20A: Sacred scroll (TORAH); 21A: Silent (SOUNDLESS); 24A: __ de toilette (EAU); 26A: Nobelist Bohr (NIELS); 31A: What odes do (PRAISE); 34A: 1987 Costner role (NESS); 35A: Hope-Crosby destination (RIO); 36A: Pay for periodic use (RENT); 38A: Afghanistan's Tora __ region (BORA); 42A: Warned, in a way (BEEPED); 47A: Bottom bits (DREGS); 48A: Word before or after pack (RAT); 49A: 27-Down, e.g. (SCH.); 52A: Colorful fish (NEON TETRA); 55A: Kirin beer rival (ASAHI); 60A: Bakery buys (RYES); 62A: Bit of Marx's legacy (QUIP); 63A: It may number in the thousands (CAST); 65A: Agile (SPRY); 4D: Milk source (SOYA); 5D: "I didn't need to know that!" ("TMI!"); 6D: Accumulates (RUNS UP); 9D: Student resenters, perhaps (TOWNIES); 11D: Gather information secretly (EAVESDROP); 12D: Some are named for music genres (ERAS); 13D: Slips into (DONS); 18D: Milk by-products (WHEYS); 22D: Winter mos. (DECS.); 27D: 49-Across from which Buzz Aldrin turned down a full scholarship (MIT); 30D: Fly catcher (TOAD); 31D: 27-Down fig. (PROF.); 32D: Sitcom whose theme song was sung by its star (REBA); 33D: Toastmasters' stock (ANECDOTES); 37D: Albee play, with "The" (ZOO STORY); 38D: Buzzer (BEE); 42D: "Hey, ewe!" (BAA); 43D: Cornerstone abbr. (ESTAB.); 46D: Serious depression (CRATER); 49D: Prepared to take notice? (SAT UP); 51D: Wide-haunched (HIPPY); 52D: Cop stopping traffic? (NARC); 54D: Odd character (RUNE); 56D: Movies with "II" in their titles: Abbr. (SEQS.); 59D: Sub letters (USS).

T H U R S D A Y September 30, 2010 David Poole

Theme: Bird Puns — Bird puns!


Theme answers:

• 18A: Bird bonnet? (ROBIN HOOD).
• 24A: Bird boo-boo? (CARDINAL SIN).
• 34A: Bird brain? (CHICKEN NOODLE).
• 50A: Bird backpackers? (EAGLE SCOUTS).
• 56A: Bird bottoms? (KITE TAILS).

Before we get started, can I please get a big round of applause for SethG? I really appreciate it when he steps in for me at the last minute like that and you all probably enjoy the break from my inanity. Speaking of inanity — or is it insanity? — this J-O-B thing is rough! Yesterday was my first day and I had to be up, showered, dressed (up), and ready to head out the door at 7:30am. It's been a long time is all I'm saying. Then last night I went to PuzzleSon's Back to School Night which lasted from SEVEN until NINE. I could barely keep my eyes open driving home. But the job is going well (thank you all for the good wishes!) and the ol' bank account is going to be ecstatic in a couple weeks, so it's all good!

Today's puzzle is solidly in the "okay" category. I really like the theme and especially like the clue for CHICKEN NOODLE. Kinda wish the other theme clues could have been actual phrases but that's easy for me to say since I wasn't the one actually writing the clues. The fill had a couple sparkles with CHESHIRE and HEINIE (!) (34D: Wonderland cat / 9D: Bum), but clunked pretty heavily in a couple sports like OIL COLOR and RESNAP (38D: Artist's choice / 2D: Close again, as a change purse). I was at a complete loss at the cross of NANA (19D: Zola novel) and LINA (22A: Director Wertmüller). Never heard of LINA and would like to say I've never heard of NANA, but that's not exactly true. I've heard of it but, unfortunately, it didn't actually take up residence in my memory. Sigh.

Bullets:

• 10A: "Once I had ... love and it was __": Blondie lyric (A GAS). This clue is a fun twist on some tired crosswordese.

• 20A: Shows scorn (SNEERS). Much better than "sneery"!
• 39A: Author Silverstein (SHEL). I've said it before and I'll say it again. Do Not get me started on "The Giving Tree."
• 40A: First first name in Olympic gymnastic tens (NADIA). Nadia Comaneci. I remember being completely amazed by her. Man that was a long time ago. (1976!)
• 45A: 1,000 G's (MIL). And again with the G = 1,000 thing. Did y'all get it this time? It's easier when it's just a G and not the letter spelled out (gee).
• 46A: Free TV ad (PSA). Here's a good one I saw just the other day.



• 59A: "Tootsie" Oscar winner (LANGE). Have you seen her in "Frances"? One of the top three most depressing movies of all time. (The others would be "Leaving Las Vegas" and, I don't know, I can't think of a third one right now because my brain is fried.)
• 63A: Something to take lying down (REST). Sounds like heaven.

• 12D: Traditional song with the line "Je te plumerai" (ALOUETTE). I can't think of this song without hearing "Ginger Grant" singing it on "Gilligan's Island."
• 31D: Miss's equal? (MILE). What's the saying? "A miss is as good as a mile"? Right. What's it mean again? Hmm. Oh, I got it. If you just barely miss something it's not really any better than missing it by a mile because you still missed it. Something like that.

Crosswordese 101:There are generally three ways of cluing ENT. First, as a suffix (e.g., "Suffix with string" or "Suffix with differ"). Second, as an abbreviation for Ear Nose & Throat (e.g., "Sinus specialist, briefly," "Tonsilitis MD," or simply "MD's specialty"). And finally, there is the dreaded tree-creature. I don't know if the tree-creature is actually dreaded, but it sure sounds like it should be. Clues for this ENT will generally include a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien (like today's 57D: Tolkien's Treebeard is one). Other words to look for include "middle-earth" and "Fangorn Forest."

Other crosswordese in the puzzle that we've already covered:

• 23A: Hound over a debt (DUN).
• 54A: Morlock haters (ELOI).
• 60A: Ireland, to poets (ERIN).
• 10D: Oberhausen "Oh!" ("ACH!").
• 19D: Zola novel (NANA).
• 42D: Depilatory brand (NEET).
• 48D: Autumn blooms (ASTERS).

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Everything Else — 1A: Bouillabaisse base (BROTH); 6A: "Coffee Cantata" composer (BACH); 14A: So out it's in (RETRO); 15A: In unison, musically (A DUE); 16A: Caffeine source (COLA); 17A: One of Israel's 12 tribes (ASHER); 26A: Ruby of "A Raisin in the Sun" (DEE); 27A: Favorable times, as for pics (OPS); 28A: Marshland (FEN); 29A: Afternoon services (TEASETS); 31A: Mazda MX-5, familiarly (MIATA); 33A: Granola grains (OATS); 41A: Cardinal Cooke (TERENCE); 49A: Suffix with expert (-ISE); 53A: Cubs, on scoreboards (CHI); 55A: Clawed (TORE AT); 61A: Cuba, to Castro (ISLA); 62A: Polecat relative (OTTER); 64A: It helps you get up (STEP); 65A: Orchestra section (REEDS); 1D: 1997 Depp title role (BRASCO); 3D: Unlisted ones (OTHERS); 4D: Cornered, in a way (TREED); 5D: Frightful (HORRIFIC); 6D: Milky Way, e.g. (BAR); 7D: "Be __": "Help me out" (A DOLL); 8D: Georges Braque, for one (CUBIST); 11D: Considerable amount (GOOD DEAL); 13D: Blue state (SADNESS); 21D: Furtive type (SNEAK); 25D: Get in the game (ANTE); 30D: 16-Across, e.g. (SODA); 32D: Landers with advice (ANN); 35D: Finder's cry (HERE IT IS); 36D: Title (NAME); 37D: Keats or Shelley (ODIST); 39D: Price that's rarely paid (STICKER); 43D: French city near a Chunnel terminus (CALAIS); 44D: Diva, stereotypically (EGOIST); 46D: Mambo bandleader Tito (PUENTE); 47D: Faked, as a fight (STAGED); 51D: Former French textile city (LILLE); 52D: Use the soapbox (ORATE); 58D: Doofus (SAP).

FRIDAY, May 28, 2010 — David Poole

THEME: OOF PRINTS! — "H" dropped from the front of familiar phrases, creating wacky phrases, clued "?"-style


A bouncy and entertaining puzzle, and by far the hardest one of this week so far. I especially like that the constructor cared enough to give us five different theme answers that appear in alphabetical order, with a different vowel leading off the wacky phrase in each instance. There are some ugly abbrevs. in the grid — ECUA, IDENT, and *especially* TOC, which I only just this second figured out ("Table Of Contents") — but most of the rest of the fill is pretty solid, and the theme answers are good enough that the infelicities in the grid hardly matter.

Theme answers:

• 20A: Works in Satan's museum? (ART OF DARKNESS)
• 27A: "Tell Senator Bayh to take a number? ("EVAN CAN WAIT!")
• 38A: Egotism? (I ESTEEM)
• 47A: Resistance quashers? (OHM WRECKERS)
• 55A: Evidence of a love-hate relationship? (UGHS AND KISSES)

Worst of the lot, by far, is I ESTEEM. I didn't realize it was a theme answer until after I was done — figured it was some odd colloquial phrase I just hadn't heard before. Of all the "HIGH" phrases in the world, you go with "HIGH ESTEEM" as your base phrase?! That's a cop out of the first order. SOCIETY? SCHOOL? ANXIETY? BROW? CHAIR? DEFINITION? FIBER? Etc. etc. etc. Guess ESTEEM's many ultra-common letters were too hard to resist. A shame. Speaking of HIGH phrases ... what is up with the clue on SIERRA (9D: Saw-toothed ridge)? That is a new one on me, though the "ridge" part suggested mountains enough that I was able to piece it together. Can't say I'm thrilled to see SIERRA and CIERA in the same grid (67A: Olds Cutlass model).

Crosswordese 101: BIFF (1A: Willy Loman's favorite son) — crosswords are the only reason I know this bit of literary / theatrical trivia. BIFF also occasionally gets clued as the bully in "Back to the Future." I do not remember this character, but then again I haven't seen "Back to the Future" since it came out in the mid-80s.

What else?

• 36A: One objecting to a called strike (SCAB) — I think the SCAB benefits from the strike. How is he "objecting" to it, exactly? I get that the clue is trying to make you think baseball, but the clue's gotta make sense on some level, esp. w/o a "?" at the end of it.
• 8D: Alhambra wall artwork (MOSAIC) — very nice clue. "Artwork" in clue for answer that crosses ART OF DARKNESS probably should have been rethought, but that's a minor detail.

See you Memorial Day!

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Everything Else — 5A: Clothes lines (SEAMS); 10A: Sweet Sixteen initials (NCAA); 14A: Like some history (ORAL); 15A: Ballade's closing stanza (ENVOI); 16A: Aloe, for one (BALM); 17A: Fictional princess (XENA); 18A: Pretense (GUISE); 19A: First Nations tribe (CREE); 23A: More felicitous (APTER); 25A: "Dies __" (IRAE); 26A: Hugh Capet, par exemple (ROI); 34A: List of chaps. (TOC); 35A: Amarone or Barolo (VINO); 36A: One objecting to a called strike (SCAB); 37A: Where, to Brutus (UBI); 42A: __ Friday's: restaurant (TGI); 43A: Tabula __ (RASA); 45A: Cousin of hibiscus (OKRA); 46A: Three-time NHL MVP (ORR); 51A: Beatty of "Network" (NED); 52A: Andean nation: Abbr. (ECUA.); 53A: Patella sites (KNEES); 61A: 1934 role for Claudette, briefly (CLEO); 62A: Birth cert., e.g. (IDENT.); 63A: Casualty of German reunification (WALL); 66A: "Kinsey" star Neeson (LIAM); 67A: Olds Cutlass model (CIERA); 68A: Syrup brand (EGGO); 69A: Cutting the mustard (ABLE); 70A: Moray catcher (EELER); 71A: Out of concern that (LEST); 1D: Place for letters (BOX); 2D: More than annoyance (IRE); 3D: Santayana defines it as "redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim" (FANATICISM); 4D: Common skirt feature (FLARE); 5D: Utah state flower (SEGO); 6D: Adequate, slangily (ENUF); 7D: Gung-ho (AVID); 8D: Alhambra wall artwork (MOSAIC); 9D: Saw-toothed ridge (SIERRA); 10D: "The Chris Matthews Show" producer (NBC NEWS); 11D: __ package (CARE); 12D: Pub quaffs (ALES); 13D: Central Iowa city (AMES); 21D: Rome's Fontana di __ (TREVI); 22D: Central U.S. state (KAN); 23D: Conductor Toscanini (ARTURO); 24D: Authority (POOBAH); 28D: Contest (VIE); 29D: Yvette's years (ANS); 30D: Far from fine (NOT OK); 31D: Be mature (ACT ONE'S AGE); 32D: "Hear, hear!" ("I AGREE!"); 33D: Cars designed to compete with Corvettes (T-BIRDS); 39D: Scrape together, with "out" (EKE); 40D: Stray (ERR); 41D: Hides (MASKS); 44D: "Totally rad!" ("AWESOME!"); 48D: "His Master's Voice" co. (RCA); 49D: Carol Burnett persona (EUNICE); 50D: One carrying a bag (CADDIE); 54D: Banister post (NEWEL); 55D: The Bruins of the 10-Across (UCLA); 56D: Like con artists (GLIB); 57D: Make sound (HEAL); 58D: Stem-to-stern part (KEEL); 59D: Memo words (IN RE); 60D: High light (STAR); 64D: Some HDTVs (LGS); 65D: Developer's unit (LOT).