Tuesday March 24, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Texas Lolita's Favorite Things (Note: Lolita is a town in Texas, my theme title is just for fun)

17A: Centennial State rock?: COLORADO BOULDER

22A: Wolverine State fire?: MICHIGAN FLINT

35A: Peach State wide open spaces?: GEORGIA PLAINS

47A: Cotton State sculpture?: ALABAMA MOBILE

54A: Cornhusker State Town Car?: NEBRASKA LINCOLN

I like the theme and theme answers. Very clever. I wonder how the constructor would clue Embarrass, Minnesota.

I did not know the nickname for Colorado is "Centennial State". Found out later that it became a state in 1876, 100 years after the the Declaration of Independence, hence the name.

I also like the extra descriptive phrases and trivia that accompany the clues. Feel like I've learned a few new things and I enjoyed very much the new clues, so refreshing. For example:

26A: It will never fly: EMU. It's always "Flightless bird' in our old puzzle.

24D: Bell hit with a padded hammer: GONG. Again, always "Big bell" in TMS Daily.

41D: Dolly, the clone, was one: EWE. Always "Ram's mate".

As LADY (62A: Disney dog") is an answer in the grid, I am not fond of the clue for ROMEO (15: Ladies' man). Come to the Comments section if you have a better idea.

I'd like to make a suggestion today. When you comment, please let me know which clue is your favorite or least favorite and why. Due to my special background, some of humor or subtlety intended by the constructor or editor is lost on me. And I don't want to miss the fun.

Across:

21A: Frontier bases?: OUTPOSTS. I had the ending letters *STS in place, then I thought of OLD WEST. But you can't pluralize OLD WEST, can you?

29A: One in a "Flying" circus act": WALLENDA. Have never heard of "The Flying WALLENDAS". Wikipidia says their name in German, "Die fliegenden Wallenda", is an obvious rhyme on the title of the Wagner opera, "Der fliegende Holländer ("The Flying Dutchman"). Basebal HOFer Honus Wagner's nickname is also "The Flying Dutchman". His T206 is the most valuable baseball card. Record is $2.8 million. Graded, of course.

32A: __ generis: unique: SUI. New to me. Literally "of its own" in Latin. SUI is also a Cantonese surname (XIAO in Mandarin Chinese), as in fashion designer Anna SUI.

51A: Italian veal dish: OSSO BUCO. I've never developed a taste for Italian food or olive oil. Too strong.

53A: Pah preceder: OOM. Did not come to me immediately.

59A: Quaint "Holy moly": EGAD. Is "Glory be" quaint also?

60A: John of England: ELTON. John MAJOR popped into my mind first. It has 5 letters too.

64A: To be, in old Rome: ESSE. Yesterday it's "To be, in Tijuana" (ESTAR), the same lower right corner. Maybe tomorrow we will see "To be, in Tours" (ETRE).

Down:

1D: Juice drink with a hyphenated name: HI-C. Holy cow! Can you believe I've never heard of this brand name? I only drink tea & water. Sometimes I drink soup. Or should I say I "eat" soup?

3D: Minute particles: MOLECULES

4D: One of the deadly sins: SLOTH. Last time this year I was struggling with Williams' "Two-toed sloth (UNAU) and "three-toed sloths (AIS).

7D: O'Neill's "__ for the Misbegotten": A MOON. New play to me. "Misbegotten" sounds like a wrong word President Bush would say.

8D: Blunt rejection: REBUFF. Putin style, NYET, no matter how many times you look into his eyes and search for his soul.

9D: Play the piccolo: TOOTLE. I've never seen a piccolo in person. Wikipedia says piccolo is the highest instrument in the orchestra or band. Now only manufactured in C.

12D: "Rhyme Pays" rapper: ICE-T. Had he spelled his name correctly as ICED - T, he probably would not make so many appearances in crossword.

18D: Bitter complainer: RAILER. Only knew the verb RAIL. I don't like the ER repetition in clue/ANSWER, though I can't think of a better way to clue it.

19D: Words before smoke or flames: UP IN. Stumper. Are both UP IN smoke and UP IN flames slang?

22D: Copy cats?: MEW. Lovely clue. Cats MEW/MEOW.

33D: Like a 12-0 verdict: UNANIMOUS. Reminds me of "12 Angry Men".

34D: Basketball Hall of Famer Dan: ISSEL. No idea. ISSEL, strange name. OK, I will try to connect him with salt, since SEL is French for salt. IS SEL.

37D: Neeson of "Taken": LIAM. Have never seen the movie "Taken". But LIAM was probably a gimme for many. He's been in the news a lot lately due to his wife's tragic death. He also stars in "Rob Roy". And Rob Roy's refusal is NAE (58D). I liked his "Michael Collins" a lot.

42D: Derivatives of it are used in sunscreen: PABA (Para-AminoBenzoic Acid). This word got me again. I wanted ALOE. Dictionary says PABA is "a metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells; used to make dyes and drugs and sun blockers".

43D: Privilege loser, often: ABUSER

44D: Equally yucky: AS BAD

49D: Watery trenches under drawbridges: MOATS. My hometown Xi'An has one of the best preserved city walls in the world.

50D: Italian lawn game: BOCCE. I forgot this game again.

51D: Like Ogden Nash's lama, in a poem: ONE L. It's always "Scott Turow title" in our old puzzle. I like this change.

52D: Big name in video games: SEGA. Only found this morning that SEGA stands for "SErvice GAmes of Japan".

Full Answer Grid.

C.C.

Interview with Rich Norris

Rich Norris is the editor of LA Times Daily Crossword, which replaces TMS Daily edited by Wayne R. Williams in many local newspapers starting today.

He is also a very accomplished crossword constructors. His puzzles have been published by NY Times (186, second only to Manny Nosowsky, stunning!), NY Sun, Newsday, CrosSynergy, Wall Street Journal, etc.

I asked (via email) Mr. Norris a few questions that had been burning in my mind for two weeks. I hope you enjoyed the interview. I did.

Can you tell us a bit about your background? How did you start crossword constructing and then editing?

I've solved puzzles since I was a teenager, but didn't try to make one until many years later, in the '90s. I sent two puzzles to Will Shortz at the NYT. Will's policy of crediting the constructor, which was a new policy at the Times, was certainly an incentive. Luckily, he accepted one. I did a lot of constructing for about six years--as many as 200 puzzles per year in a dozen different markets, including frequent NYT themeless puzzles. I heard in late 1999 that the LA Times editorship was about to be vacant, so I applied and was fortunate enough to land the job. I had learned a lot about editing from my association with Will, who wrote me a nice letter of recommendation. No doubt that helped. ;-)

LA Times puzzles get progressively more difficult as the week goes, while our old TMS Daily are randomly placed. Is that the major difference between the two puzzles? Do you also shun partial fills and "cheater squares" like Williams? What kind of fills are you trying to include or exclude?

I don't know enough about Wayne Williams' TMS puzzle to compare it to mine. I'm aware that he didn't use graduated difficulty, which is a concept I strongly believe in. Solvers come to the newspaper with a broad variety of solving skills. I think graduated difficulty provides the most amount of enjoyment and challenge for the largest number of solvers each week. I also think it helps puzzlers improve their solving skills.

I don't exclude partial phrases, but I do ask constructors to use them in moderation--usually no more than two in a 15x15 puzzle. As for fill, I like contemporary words and phrases. I ask constructors not to overload a grid with proper names, and not to allow two tough names to cross each other. When there is popular culture in a puzzle, I think it should be spread around: music, TV, movies, sports, science, literature, etc.

Can you describe to us what a typical editing process looks like? What percentage of the grid/cluing do you normally rework?

On average, I probably change anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of the clues. The majority of these changes are to adjust difficulty, avoid repeats of recent clues, and improve accuracy. I don't change that many grids, but if there are obscurities or answers that I think are too tough for a particular day of the week, I'll ask constructors to make changes. If they're unable to do it after one or two tries, then I'll help out.

You seem to have a core group of constructors who work for you on regular basis. How do you assign the puzzles to them? Or do they just submit a puzzle and then you rework to decide the difficulty level & allot to a different day?

I hardly ever assign a puzzle. Constructors send me work whenever the Muse visits them. I guess with some, she visits more often. (I think of the Crossword Muse as a "she" in honor of Margaret Farrar.) Constructors are a pretty savvy bunch. Most of them know when they're making a puzzle whether it's a Monday or a Wednesday or a Friday, and they try to clue accordingly. Puzzle placement during the week usually depends on theme difficulty. The simplest, most obvious themes will occur earlier in the week. Wordplay and trickery are generally reserved for the end of the week.

While it's true that some constructor names appear fairly regularly in our puzzles, it's still a wide-open market. I publish an average of 100 different constructors' work every year. This year, in less than four months (I edit about a month ahead), I've already published the work of more than 50 different constructors. You'll also see new constructors regularly. Last year there were 22 debuts.

I saw some of your ACPT photos, you look so serious. What do you do for fun? What would people find one thing that's most surprising about you?

LOL. I'm terrible in front of a still camera. I'm certainly serious about my work, but I don't think of myself as an overly serious person. I think you'll see plenty of playfulness in LA Times clues, especially later in the week.

When I'm not puzzling, I'm probably spending time with my wife, golfing, playing the piano (love Beethoven and the Romantics), shooting pool, or just walking outdoors. My wife also loves the same things I do: puzzles, golf, pool, the outdoors.

Hope this was helpful, and thanks again for asking. I hope you enjoy the puzzles.

Thank you, Mr. Norris.