Wednesday, July 22nd, 2015 Tom McCoy

Theme: The Deion Sanders Shout-Out

The first word of each theme entry is a prime number, the second word is a period of time. This actually is a blecho from Argyle's blog on Monday ("Not ready for prime time") which is kinda neat.

16A. *It classifies ancient times based on metals : THREE AGE SYSTEM. A very rare cluing misstep here. The three ages are the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Spot the one that isn't a metal. The basis for the system is the material used to make tools.

31A. *Typical worker's break : TWO DAY WEEKEND. Theme entry odd-man out here - the third word of this entry is also a time period, which seems a shame to me.

44A. *Possible reason for marriage counseling : SEVEN YEAR ITCH. And the best possible excuse for posting this iconic image of Tom Ewell from the movie of that name. I'm not sure who the scene-stealing actress in the dress was.

62A.*Justification for eating food that's fallen on the ground : FIVE SECOND RULE. Also depends on where you dropped it, whether anyone has trodden on it, and whether you  have to fight the dog for it.

and the reveal entries:

69A. With 70-Across, prized programming slot ... or a hint to the first two parts of the answers to starred clues : PRIME

70A. See 69-Across : TIME

Merry Wednesday, everyone. Steve here with an unusual 14x16 grid from Tom McCoy. I liked the theme a lot, with the exception of the "WEEKEND" entry comprising two time periods, rather than a single one like the rest. That's my minor nit. Your mileage may vary. This is Tom's second LAT publication, the last one ("MERCURY") sparked a lot of debate here at the Corner.

I'm assuming that the grid dimensions came about due to difficulty finding an acceptable fill around the 63 theme squares - that's quite an impressive number for a midweek puzzle. I tried to fill a 15x15 grid for fun, but the SE and South-Central section with "PRIME" and "TIME" turned out to be a problem. At this point I'd have thrown in the towel, but kudos to Tom for resizing the grid and delivering a really fun Wednesday.

I remember reading that as late as the early twentieth century, the number 1 was considered to be prime, but that apparently made a mess of some mathematical theories so it was quietly dropped and swept under the rug. Poor digit. That leaves these four as the first four primes.

Righty-ho. Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Place for Lightning and Hurricanes : RINK. Respectively, Tampa Bay and Carolina of the NHL

5. Confederate soldiers : GRAYS. I finally remembered how to spell "gray" in US English. Yay!

10. "It's okay, I guess" : MEH

13. Sign : OMEN

14. Screen dot : PIXEL. My laptop has got almost two million of the little blighters.My first computer had eight or so. Or was it two?

15. "Rumble in the Jungle" fighter : ALI. The classic Ali vs. Foreman fight. Ali, the challenger, knocked out the previously-undefeated Foreman for the Heavyweight title.

19. Ancient volume : CODEX. I learned this when I read "The Da Vinci Code". Shame that I filled it in as "CODEC" when my computerese-brain got in the way.

20. Passports, licenses, etc. : IDS

21. "Egad!" : OH NO! Eek!

22. Itty bit : TAD

24. "Green Eggs and Ham" opening : I AM SAM. I've never read this. Perhaps I should.

26. Toward the back : ASTERN

30. Jamaican export : RUM. Cheers! Myers is probably the best-known variety.

36. Seals with pitch : TARS. I'd have gone for a "sailor" type clue here, being as RUM is right next door.

37. Some drafts : ALES. Cheers! Tinbeni's happy today.

38. Frightful cry : EEK! Egad!

40. Fitting : APT

41. Cone droppers : FIRS

43. Where Georgia is : ASIA. An ex-member of the Soviet Union. Here's the flag, I don't recall ever seeing it before:

48. Fictional planet : ORK. Birthplace of Mork.

49. Go downhill : WORSEN

50. "The Kiss" and "The Thinker" : RODINS. Both sculptures by the good Monsieur Auguste. There are three versions of "The Kiss" which are sculpted in marble, and more than 20 of "The Thinker", which are cast in bronze.

53. Soup veggie : PEA. Food! I make mine with a smoked ham hock thrown in for flavor and seasoning.

54. Many a miniseries : EPIC

55. Spoil : MAR

57. Obedience school item : LEASH

65. Genetic info carrier : R.N.A. Compare and contrast with D.N.A. Fill in the "NA" and wait for the crosses.

66. Like Cheerios : OATEN

67. "Paradise Lost" character : ADAM

68. Hankering : YEN

Down:

1. Military prep prog. : R.O.T.C. The Reserve Officer's Training Program.

2. Texter's qualifier : IMHO. In my humble opinion, this now qualifies as crosswordese.

3. Stereotypical sci-fi fan : NERD

4. Joint where kids are welcome? : KNEE. Nice clue!

5. A D will usually lower it: Abbr. : G.P.A.

6. Unbending : RIGID

7. Took a hatchet to : AXED

8. "You got that right!" : YESSIREE! Egads! Eek! Quite a few "exclamations" in the puzzle today.

9. Wily : SLY

10. Trig or calc, to a Brit : MATHS. Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy for me. I was surprised to discover that this word has never been used (in the modern era at least) in either the LAT or the NYT crosswords.

11. Colleague of Antonin and Anthony : ELENA. The crosses filled this one in for me, so it's only now I look back and wonder where this came from. All Supreme Court Judges, thank you Google. Wow - and it's only Wednesday? Argyle called it on Monday expecting some unexpected hurdles during the week.

12. Call-home opener : HI MOM! Popular stadium sign text too.

17. Not needed : EXTRA

18. French river to the English Channel : SOMME. I had the "S" so SEINE went in, then quickly came out.

23. "__ more bright ideas?" : ANY

25. Arctic divers : AUKS

26. "__ girl!" : ATTA

27. Cashless deals : SWAPS. Does anyone swap things at a swap meet any more? I think it's all cash. C.C? (From C.C.: Mostly cash. And I do swap things with others at the flea market.)

28. Rich dessert : TORTE. Food! Gimme. As in, gimme more torte.

29. Newspaper figs. : EDS. Rich Norris is our favorite editor.

32. On the lookout : WARY

33. Otherwise : ELSE

34. Stacks like Tupperware : NESTS. Because "teeters uncontrollably in a cupboard with a collection of mismatched lids which cascade on your head when you open aforesaid cupboard" doesn't fit.

35. Unfreeze : DE-ICE

39. Madeline of "Clue" : KAHN. Thank you, crosses. It's very rare that I can fill in an actor without help.

41. Seedless plant : FERN

42. Lefty's writing concern : INK SMEAR. My brother is left-handed. I wanted to tease his writing style when we were kids, but he's two years older than me and he would have done unspeakable things to me. So I kept quiet.

43. __ Jordan : AIR

45. Give expression to : VOICE

46. Stun : AWE

47. Willy Wonka creator Dahl : ROALD. Why on earth for a brief couple of seconds did I think his name was RAOUL and was confused that it wouldn't fit?

50. Prepare beans, Mexican-style : REFRY

51. Weigh in : OPINE

52. Backless sofa : DIVAN

53. Introduction : PROEM. Brand-new to me, and therefore my personal word of the day. Introduction to a book written by the author. I thought it would crop up more due to the convenient vowel progression, but it was last seen in the LAT crossword back in 2008.

56. When Tony sings "Maria" : ACT I. Saving my music link to the end. Worth every saved second.

58. Q.E.D. word : ERAT

59. BMW rival : AUDI

60. Shut angrily : SLAM

61. Iron-rich blood pigment : HEME

63. Bread, at times : SOP

64. Hershey-to-Scranton dir. : NNE. From Chocolatetown, USA to the Electric City.

And .... the grid. See my word of the day the last to fill.

Steve

Notes from C.C.:

1) Congrats to TTP on his retirement! Now he'll have plenty of time to improve his golf and cooking skills. So nice to have you back, pal.

2) Last night Jazzbumpa (Ron) sent me this lovely picture of him and his grandkids. Nate has grown up! Ron said that Nate's team went to the Cal Ripken tournament at Myrtle Beach after this picture was taken and Nate pitched the last couple innings in their last game.

 

In front: Samantha, Emily and Nate.

Behind: Danny, Alexa, me, Amanda, Ryan.

July 2, 2015

Friday, August 22, 2014, Tom McCoy

Theme: Cross-referential Olympics; where is FORD LUXURY MODEL (15) when you need it?

I happened to solve Mr. McCoy's debut puzzle last November in the NYT and read his comments about referential clues, so I was somewhat prepared for this style of cluing where there is a hidden word which is the clue for all of the theme answers.  The theme fill are not clued at all until you get 23 down, MERCURY, which also has no independent clue. There are many puzzles being constructed where there is a "meta" solution, a style which is embraced by many especially MATT GAFFNEY. This is not a metapuzzle because the solution is part of the puzzle, but it is conceptually based on the same skills. So the strategy becomes, solve 23 down and then it is a simple definition puzzle. We had a run of Friday puzzles which were variations of the definition puzzle at this time last year (including one from marti, and one similar to today's from Mr. Wechsler) so you all should be ready. Once again we get a Friday with an intricate theme but high word count and many 3/4 letter fill to balance the inherent difficulty. In the longer fill, PEACOCK,  SKEWING,  WRESTLE, CORAL SEA,  LEBANESE, ANTEROOMS,  ESCAPE KEY stand out. This is Mr. McCoy's LAT debut (he has 5 solos at NYT since last November) and I hope he likes the environment and appreciates his audience. He was kind enough to provide some commentary on this puzzle and its genesis, which follows this writeup. Knowing this group and its opinion on cross referential puzzles, I expect many Thumper comments, and a few who will appreciate the simplicity of this grid, with all four theme answers being grid spanners which fill in nicely once you crack the code. It is Friday, so let us all put on our long pants and get to work.


17A. See 23-Down : NEIGHBOR OF VENUS (15). A planetary reference for Mercury.
Study: First rock from the Sun. It orbits the sun in 88 days.

27A. See 23-Down : BAROMETER FILLER (15). An elemental reference for Mercury.
Review: 80 on the periodic table. A neighbor from my childhood murdered his wife injecting mercury into her Nissen doughnuts. (Is the factory closed marti?) She was a big eater. He fed small amounts to himself and  his child and he was free until he got drunk and bragged.

45A. See 23-Down : ROCK STAR FREDDIE (15). A pop culture reference for Mercury.
Listen: (2:17) The voice of Queen, he died young, replaced by Adam Lambert who is a...fine singer.


58A. See 23-Down : DIVINE MESSENGER (15). A pagan mythological reference for Mercury.
Learn: Usually referenced as the 'winged messenger' because of the ankle wings.
and the 'reveal:

23D. Clue for 17-, 27-, 45- and 58-Across : MERCURY (7). They all work.

Across:

1. Draft order : PINT. Well Tin, we start right off with some Ale, and not an order to report for duty. Nice clue for 1A on a Friday.

5. "__-A-Lympics": '70s Hanna/Barbera spoof : LAFF. Really had to dig deep and use some perp help. I would imagine the cross with AKON might be a Natick for some. LINK.

9. "Wicked!" : SWEET. A really appealing clue/fill combo for our New England contingent. The " marks give it away.

14. It's pressed in a corner : ESCAPE KEY. I really liked the visual here. 54A. PC key : ALT. Once again we have our clue and a fill with the same word used in the same context (computer key).

16. Feature of some stickers : AROMA. Scratch and Sniff anyone?

19. "__ So Fine": Chiffons hit : HE'S.

20. Turkic flatbread : NAN. A variant spelling from what we are more accustomed to seeing. No Bobbsey twin on a Friday.

21. Conks out : DIES. Cars, engines etc., hopefully not people.

22. Disadvantage : CON. Pro vs. Con, are any of you list makers for decisions?

23. Cohort of Larry and Curly : MOE. Chairman, who did you pay for so much publicity this week?

24. Sound of disapproval : TSK. Back again so soon; I like to see the pair.

33. Hadn't settled yet : OWED. Being a NYT veteran, the cluing style is heavy with the less common definition of words, but we are all familiar with settling our debts.

34. Paul McCartney title : SIR.

35. Sierra __ : LEONE. An interesting country and history, now the center of the EBOLA outbreak with more than 250 deaths. LINK.

36. Watch readout abbr. : LCD. Liquid Crystal Display.

37. Showy flier : PEACOCK.I have never seen one fly in person though we have many here, and especially at Lion Country Safari. Really pretty sight.

40. Anguish : WOE. I am Friday's child.

41. Tickle : AMUSE. Now where do you keep your fancy?

43. ET carrier, supposedly : UFO. Unidentified Flying Object.

44. Graybacks : REBS. Not a term I know, but easy to guess since we all know the blue and the gray.

49. Elizabeth Darcy __ Bennet : NEE. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen has her own WIKI.

50. Whatever : ANY. Three letters but I needed the perps.

51. Toy power sources : AAS. batteries.

52. Joint high-tech project : WIKI. A vague NYT type clue that is easy only if you have perped the W and the I, the K and the I. Is an online anything considered high-tech?


55. Altar line : I DO. It does alter your life.

63. Downed water, say : DRANK. Tin?

64. Some entryways : ANTEROOMS. I think all entryways are anterooms, not all anterooms are entryways.

65. Having bite : TANGY. I like horseradish.

66. Sister of Luke : LEIA. Star Wars' misguided twins. Mini-theme 26D. "Star Wars" surname : KENOBI. Obi Wan.

67. Tom, Dick and Harry, e.g. : TRIO. I liked these better. Before you go further, who are they?

Down:

1. See 15-Down : PENH. Wow more cross-references. At least there is a clue.15D. With 1-Down, Mekong River capital : PHNOM. Anyone been to Cambodia?

2. "That makes sense to me now" : I SEE said the blind the man.

3. Investigator in the USS Cole attack : NCIS. Not

4. Place for a price : TAG. My grandmother made tags in a factory in Southbridge after her husband died.

5. Some Tripoli natives : LEBANESE. Really interesting. The good news is LIBYANS is too short, but they both start with L.

6. One-named "Lonely" singer : AKON. His real name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Bongo Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam.  LISTEN.

7. Supportin' : FER. Not agin. More Lil Abner like speaking.

8. Author Dostoyevsky : FYODOR. Of all of his books , Notes from the Underground was my favorite even if Crime and Punishment is more well known.

9. Except : SAVE. Another NYT type clue, where it is quite correct, but not the usual definition of save. For all our resident poets, I would say it is artistic, "All was quiet, save the chirping of a single cricket."

10. Have difficulty dealing (with) : WRESTLE. I wrestled in grammar school, high school and college.

11. Length of a boring class, so it seems : EON. A new (vague) clue for a crossword staple.

12. Green-egg layer : EMU. I was unaware of this fact; now I know where Dr. Seuss got his inspiration. Kazie, did you have green eggs with your ham?

13. Ph.D. students, perhaps : TAS. Teaching Assistants.

18. Feudal land : FIEF. The word is the basis of the legal term Fee Simple, for real property ownership. If you want to read the HISTORY.

22. Whiting cousin : COD.  Another fishy clue. Cod being the base of most fast food fish dishes.

25. Impeded : SLOWED.

27. Claylike : BOLAR. My learning moment of the day, all perps. The word has not appeared in any puzzle since 1987!

28. "Pleeeeease?" : AW C'MON. Are their enough sports fans here to appreciate THIS. (2:49)

29. Turn down : REDUCE. It took a while, but it is like the volume on you car radio.

30. Don Quixote's aunt : TIA. Just Spanish for aunt.

31. Category : ILK.

32. Rizzuto's Brooklyn counterpart : REESE. Phil and PeeWee, Yankee and Dodger shortstops in the 50's and 60's. They were short but good. HOF material.

37. Foot, in anatomy : PES. Latin word, root word for pedicure, pedestrian etc. No sugar coated  knowledge dispensed here.

38. Not quite right : OFF. I am feeling a tad off today; maybe it was breathing in all the bug spray?

39. Great Barrier Reef setting : CORAL SEA. Off the NE corner of Australia, hopefully Kazie has some stories to tell.

42. Distorting : SKEWING.  I hope I don't skew this up; from the old French escuier: to shy away from.  "When ESPN does polls, the the results are always skewed."

44. Short streets? : RDS. Roads, 'short' meaning abbreviation.

46. Filming unit : TAKE. As in take a picture.

47. Sponge, e.g. : ANIMAL. Living creature.

48. Café customer : EATER. Man, I would rather see this clued Purple People ___.

53. Black : INKY. Another Pac-man shout out?

54. Italian wine region : ASTI. Spumante anyone?

55. Harpsichordist Kipnis : IGOR. Nope not on my radar.

56. Prefix meaning "half" : DEMI. So she is half dark-skinned.

57. Estimate words : OR SO.

58. "Silent Spring" subj. : DDT. DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE

59. Roth __ : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

60. From, in Dutch names : VAN. When people started having surnames, they were often about what they did, who their father was or where they were from. De, Von and others.

61. Suffix with ethyl : ENE. She lived next door to Lucy.

62. "Kidding!" : NOT. I really loved when this fad was in. NOT!

I never know what Friday will bring, and once I got Mercury in the middle, I found this went quickly, overall a challenge and different cluing perspective. Welcome Mr. McCoy and be nice, I want to collaborate with him with a puzzle where Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna are theme answers. Lemonade out. Read his words....

 

Constructor notes:

I’m absolutely thrilled to make my LA Times debut!

In the original submission, the theme entries were NEIGHBOR OF VENUS, DIVINE MESSENGER, QUEEN LEAD SINGER, and METALLIC ELEMENT.  Rich Norris pointed out that METALLIC ELEMENT is not specific enough to make for a very good entry and that QUEEN LEAD SINGER doesn’t work because it really needs to include the name FREDDIE. The original grid also lacked MERCURY as an answer, which Rich realized could be placed in the center intersecting two themers. Therefore, I owe him a big thanks for improving the quality of the theme so much!