What the @#$#?

Created by OnePlusYou

THURSDAY, Jul. 3, 2008 - Keith Talon (LIKE BEGGARS' HANDS / HOME OF THE 1,612-FOOT RIBBON FALLS)

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: Typos - three theme answers are editorial words (and one phrase) that (ironically?) aren't spelled correctly - further, clues are all self-referential, so that the answer becomes in some way self-descriptive

Meh. This was OK. We had a misspelled word puzzle not long ago (a Sunday, I think), so nothing here was surprising, and the clues really made the theme quite obvious - one theme answer even contains the word "error," just in case you were having trouble picking things up. It's also a little disappointing that the first two "errors" in question are not ones that anyone would make. I just typed TYPOGRAPHICAL quickly a few times, and the "I" changed to a "J" once, and I while I did insert an "A" between the "P" and "H," I didn't lose the first "A." In fact, if you touch-type, you know it's really really really hard to make a mistake between "R" and "A." I suppose you might miss the "A", but you are not not not going to squeeze any letter in between the "R" and the "A" - that's a very fluid, very fast, very instinctive letter combo. Further, the theme answers are noun, adjective, and then noun-adjective. And two of the clues are "?" clues, where one isn't. It all just seems a bit loose, a bit off.

Must go quickly. Sister and nephews and brother-in-law arriving any moment for pancakes.

Theme answers:

• 20A: What this answer could use? (proofreadinng)
• 37A: Like this answer's error? (typogrpahical)
• 53A: This answer contains one (mispelled word)

The non-theme parts of this puzzle were very easy. I'm trying to anticipate where people might have had trouble. Maybe in and around the "K"s? Not sure why, but TIKI came to me instantly (15A: _____ bar) and was confirmed by the fairly obvious IKEA (7D: Company founded by Ingvar Kamprad). In the SE, RISKS (49D: Takes a chance on) was pretty easy, which made LATKE (61A: Hanukkah staple) much much easier to turn up than it would have been without the "K" in place. Some stuff I couldn't remember readily - PEPSI is a good example (30D: It "hits the spot" per an old jingle) - but crosses made things simple. I grew up in CA and went to YOSEMITE many times but have no recollection of Ribbon Falls, which made 38D: Home of the 1,612-foot Ribbon Falls (Yosemite) something of a surprise when I finally got it. I don't know if I've ever seen beggars cup their hands outside of the movies, so CUPPED (1D: Like beggars' hands) felt a little weird. If only the MINTER (33A: Coiner) could get together with the beggars ... hmm, I just noticed that this puzzle has both ESTEE (50D: First name in beauty products) and ESTEE ... M (41A: Prize). Ouch.

Listington

• 1A: "_____ Si Bon" (1950s Eartha Kitt hit) - gimme. Here she is:

• 5A: Post-diet, ideally (slim) - wavered between this and THIN for a few seconds
• 14A: Dinosaur National Monument locale (Utah) - only ever been to their airport. Seems like a gorgeous state. I want to go, but ... can you get coffee there?
• 16A: "Scenes of Clerical Life" author, 1858 (Eliot) - and then one hundred years later...
• 17A: 1958 World Cup hero (Pele)
• 24A: With 19-Across, language from which "steak" and "eggs" come (Old Norse) - one of those few times that my academic training has come in very, very handy. This was a gimme.
• 28A: Alaska vacation destination (Denali) - it's a national park and the gigantic mountain found in that national park.
• 32A: Federally funded program since '65 (NEA) - I like "'65" as a way of indication "abbreviation ahead"
• 52A: _____ Jemison, first black woman in space (Mae) - I did not know that ... though something tells me she's been in my crossword before.
• 64A: "_____ Eyes" (1969 hit) ("These") - Ah, the Guess Who. Instant gimme.

• 65A: Irwin who wrote "Rich Man, Poor Man" (Shaw) - I seem to remember this as a major mini-series when I was very young.
• 4D: One of the "Cosby Show" kids (Theo) - I read this new comic yesterday; I think it's meant for kids (like ... preteen), but it's beautiful and really entertaining and made me care about Captain Marvel for the first time in my entire life. It's called something something Captain Marvel, or maybe SHAZAM ... I forget. But it's beautifully illustrated and colored and the story is smart and cheeky in the way that tolerable children's entertainment can be sometimes. Really great stuff. Most stuff aimed at kids, as you might imagine, is dreck. Sub-dreck. O ... why am I telling you this in reference to THEO? Because Captain Marvel's arch-nemesis is Black Adam, whose real name is ... THEO Adam. WHAM! (56D: Pow!)
• 12D: Mother of the stars and the winds (Eos) - usually clued as goddess of the dawn
• 31D: "Was it _____ I saw?" (classic palindrome) ("a rat") - never heard of it, but was able to piece it together really easily
• 35D: Steering system part (tie rod) - bought a new car yesterday. Well, a new very used car. My 1991 Pathfinder needed to be put down, so when a cheap, somewhat younger alternative came my way (quite by accident), I took it. So today is the first day of my new car life. My old car life lasted 17 years - the longest, closest relationship I've had with anyone or thing besides my mom, dad, and sister. Moment of silence ... moving on. Oh, one last thing: when we were cleaning out the years and years of accumulated crap (mostly coins) under the seats of the Pathfinder, my wife turned up ... my wedding ring, which had been missing for over three years.
  
• 37D: Instruction at a horse show (trot) - there was all this kerfuffle last night about pony camp ... apparently it might not happen, which would disappoint Sahra no end, but as long as she's with her best friend that week, I doubt she'll care much.
• 39D: Property divider (hedgerow) - good answer
• 54D: "The Dukes of Hazzard" spinoff ("Enos") - sweeeet.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

WEDNESDAY, Jul. 2, 2008 - Daniel Kantor (KENDO MOTION / TOLKIEN'S THE PRANCING PONY, E.G.)

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "GREEN EGGS AND HAM" (57A: Dr. Seuss book ... or a description of the answers to the three starred clues) - starred clues are descriptions of "green," "eggs," and "ham," respectively

Yesterday I was wondering where my Tuesday puzzle had gone. Well, I found it. It was hiding in Wednesday's slot. Did this puzzle in well under yesterday's time (closer to Monday's), and with zero hesitation, except for a very brief moment where I thought the attorney general in question might be BURR and perhaps there was a variant version of the well-known Hawaiian dance called the HULU (there is a website called "Hulu.com," which is great - lots of high-quality recent tv clips and other videos). But I played it conservatively and went with BARR (35D: Attorney general after Thornburgh) and HULA (39A: Dance with a wiggle), which ended up being correct. Today's theme is wonderful - tight, concise, clear, clever. Not much to say but "good job."

Theme answers:

• 17A: *1986 Newman/Cruise film ("The Color of Money") - in the U.S., yes, this is (a kind of) GREEN
• 26A: *Ritzy delicacy (beluga caviar) - this concept is always confusing to me, as BELUGA is a whale, and whales don't lay eggs... but BELUGA CAVIAR comes from the BELUGA sturgeon found primarily in the Caspian Sea.
• 44A: *Showboating type (grandstander) - HAM ... this definition of HAM seems just a teensy bit off. A bad actor would have been nice here, but perhaps that would have been too insulting. The last thing the NYT wants is an angry letter from Rob Schneider (he fits!).

Not a lot more to say about this puzzle on a general level. My sister and family arrive tomorrow and stay through Saturday, so puzzle commentary will likely get briefer for a few days. Also, I leave for a three-week trip to NZ on the 14th. I have people (I do) covering for me on travel days, but I should be coming to you live from Dunedin (or thereabouts) beginning on the 18th or so. Assuming we don't buy the wrong adapter and explode the laptop. I will take those weeks in NZ to lobby for new crossword words - NZ is horribly under-utilized. Various flora, fauna, and related Maori words could really liven up our language. KEA and TUI alone could do big business in our grids, I think. So ... "RPDTNYTCP" goes international in two weeks. Look for it.

List just in...

• 1A: "The aristocrat of pears" (bosc) - whose (absurd) quote is that? Pear in four letters = BOSC. One of the few SC-ending words that isn't DISC or an abbreviation.
• 23A: Vintner's valley (Napa) - started to write in ASTI when I thought 4D: Milk sources (coconuts) had something to do with COCOA...
• 31A: Woodworking tool (router) - ADZ? Is it ADZ? ADZ won't fit. But ... ADZ!
• 33A: Marvelous, in slang (fab) - also, a detergent.
• 36A and 46D: Symbols of industry (ants)(logos) - check it out - an ant logo:

• 51A: Alternative to Gmail (AOL) - AOL is a minor crossword god, and can apparently be clued a bijillion ways.
• 62A: "Never follow" sloganeer, once (Audi) - ooh, a bygone slogan. Those are always good.
• 63A: Gin flavorer (sloe) - it's gin season. Too bad I will be spending most of it in a NZ winter (yeah, it's winter Down There).
• 6D: Disposition pick-me-up (Prozac) - um ... this clue seems wrong, or at least mis-leading. Prozac is not cocaine or no-doz. It is not (as I understand it ...) fast-acting, so "pick-me-up" seems way way off.
• 7D: Label in a bibliophile's catalog (rare) - This bibliophile does not use this label. Not that I don't have some RARE books.
• 9D: Mag mogul beginning in the '50s (Hef) - easy. He has a good short nickname that you see in crosswords from time to time.
• 11D: Kendo motion (lunge) - is Kendo a martial art? Aha, "the way of the sword." Yes. I would show you video, but I just tried to watch a championship, and it was terminally boring (how is that possible!?), so I'll spare you.
• 19D: Language of Kuala Lumpur (Malay) - Kuala Lumpur used to have the tallest buildings in the world (Petronas Towers), but have since been overtaken by Shanghai and Taipei.
• 24D: Like early night election returns (partial) - wanted PRE-something for a few seconds.
• 26D: Grill option, for short (brat) - I don't think I saw this; it would have thrown me, despite the fact that I've been eating pseudo-brats on a regular basis this summer (Tofurky does much more than ridiculous fake turkey)
• 38D: Tolkien's The Prancing Pony, e.g. (inn) - I have no recollection of this. Luckily (for someone) the nerd factor on Tolkien fans is so incredibly high that there is a detailed description of this inn over at Wikipedia.
• 44D: Dolphins Hall-of-Fame QB Bob (Griese) - QB when I was a kid. I'm surprised his name doesn't appear more often. A potentially useful six-letter "G"-word.
• 51D: Gelatin substitute (agar) - one of the few ultra-crosswordy bits of fill today. Well, I guess there is SLOE. And EMIT. And A TON. And ALOE and OGLE and EONS and LUTE and IRATE and STYES and OSAGE. Hmm, I guess this puzzle gets a lot of credit for making me forget how much crosswordy fill it actually does have.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

TUESDAY, Jul. 1, 2008 - Ken Bessette (COBBLERS' FORMS / HORSE-RACING DEVOTEES, SLANGILY)

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: uh ... let's see ... what sound like common phrases starting with "a"-words are actually phrases in which "a" is being used as an indefinite article

Ouch. Yesterday's Monday took me as long as a Tuesday and today's Tuesday took me as long as a Thursday (mid-6s). This is due almost entirely to the NW corner, which held the key to unlocking the theme (such as it is), but also held two words that left me agape and agog, even after (eventually) I solved them:

2D: Objets d'art (virtu) - I ... I ... and here I thought I knew something about art. I have this weird sense of déjà vu, like maybe I've complained about this word before, or at least seen it before, but ... nothing about it says "art," nothing about it says "plural," no one but no one uses it ever. Ever. No, you don't use it, shut up. PS this is the second definition of VIRTU, the first of which is "love or appreciation for ... objets d'art." Ugh.

4D: Cobblers' forms (lasts) - the very word "cobbler" makes me laugh. I know they still exist, and it's an important (and dying) craft, but still, "cobbler" ... it's Dickensian. LASTS is a verb to me. The definition of "LAST" is "A block or form shaped like a human foot and used in making or repairing shoes." It is, as you might guess, very very far down the possible meanings of "LAST" in the dictionary. There is a British unit of volume or weight, which is ever farther down the list.

Throw in TANAKA, which I have never seen or heard of (6D: 1970s Japanese P.M. Kakuei _____), and I was completely stymied in the N and NW for a while, so the "theme" remained mysterious for much of my solving experience.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Retired general? (a resting officer)
• 37A: Late nobleman? (a count past due)
• 59A: Carillon call? (a peal to the crowd)

OK, about Tuesday puzzles, which I have complained about more than any other day of the week: I heard from a constructor that the times has an 8-9 month Tuesday backlog!? How is that possible? And if it's so, why not raise (high) the bar for Tuesday quality (i.e. reject more Tuesday-ish puzzles)? Today's puzzle is solid in many ways, but the theme is kind of lackluster and some of the fill is a bit forced (esp. for a Tuesday). RIPON? (29D: Wisconsin town where the Republican Party was born) EX-GI????! (7D: W.W. II vet, e.g.). I can't even look at EX-GI without wincing.

• 1A: Kansas City university formerly known as College of Saint Teresa (Avila) - needed crosses to guess this one, then felt stupid as I know this saint's name very well (from grad school) and her most common appellation is "Teresa of AVILA"
• 14A: Gore who wrote "Lincoln" and "1876" (Vidal) - very nice cluing. I was thinking AL or LESLEY, i.e. "Gore" as last name. Gore VIDAL also wrote mysteries under the name "Edgar Box," back in the 1950s. Now you know.
• 15A: Eddie's character in "Beverly Hills Cop" (Axel) - AXEL Foley. Here is his theme:

• 23A: Part of the mailing address to Oral Roberts University (Tulsa, OK) - I like this. Hard to get that "AO" combo in English; be inventive!
• 25A: Field for Dem Bums (Ebbets) - The Brooklyn Dodgers ... I always wanna spell EBBETTS ... thusly!
• 31A: Poetic work by Tennyson (idyl) - wanted "MAUD"; there's such a thing as knowing too much (or so says this book I'm reading, which is fascinating, but which sadly shares its name with a Carnie Wilson memoir about her gastric bypass surgery)

• 44A: Glass-encased item in "Beauty in the Beast" (rose) - that image is weirdly iconic; even *I* remember it (not a big fairy tale fan).
• 48A: Residue locale (ash pit) - is this a thing? Is it like a fire pit? Oh, it's just the area underneath a fireplace hearth. "Pit" is a pretty grandiose word for such a little place.
• 55A: Unit a little longer than an arm's length (ell) - mmm, arcane measurements based on assumed standard lengths of body parts. My favorite. Here's a def:

An old body measure based on the human arm. Although suggestive of the forearm alone, British practice corresponded to the whole arm plus some fraction of the chest, hence a yard or more. It was the reference unit for the old measure in Scotland. Modern usage is primarily with textiles.

• 68A: Seven-year stretch (teens) - wow, that's good. Glad I never saw it. It would have tripped me.
• 10D: Horse-racing devotees, slangily (rail birds) - first, "slangily!" Yay. Second, despite having seen this slang term before, I completely forgot it and had to hack at it with crosses for a long time. Like VIRTU, LASTS, TANAKA, RIPON, and ELL, it seems to come from another era.
• 30D: "Little" Stowe character (Eva) - I know this only from xwords. Ditto ETUI (57D: Decorative sewing kit).
• 33D: Giant glaciers (ice sheets) - OK ... "glaciers" sound much more massive and impressive than "sheets," which I have on my bed. I wanted SHELVES, then actually wrote in SHELFS (!?), then had SHEARS (!!?) ... SHEERS (?) ... etc.
• 39D: General on Chines menus (Tso) - to complete your order, please see 60D: Kung _____ chicken (Pao)
• 47D: Word in many Perry Mason titles ("Case") - I just went through a run of Perry Mason books at my vintage paperback blog. Here's a sample:

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

PS here is a somewhat funny, somewhat self-effacing slam on all of you who found me by googling. Crosswording seen from a non-crossworder's perspective. Please just lurk and/or play nice. I'm definitely not mad (HA ha, I just - accidentally? - typed "I'm definitely mad")