Thursday August 20, 2009 Todd McClary

Theme: MIDDLE EARTH (53A: "The Lord of the Rings" region, and a hint to the shared feature of 17-, 28- and 44-Across and 26-Down) - The word EARTH is embedded in each theme entry.

17A: Dispel hostile feelings: CLEAR THE AIR

29A: "Maude" actress: BEATRICE ARTHUR

44A: "Please tell me you're not serious": I DIDN'T HEAR THAT

26D: Scarcities: DEARTHS

Wouldn't it be nice if all the EARTH's were placed in the very middle of each theme answer?

The EARTH in DEARTHS is the only theme entry that is not split between two words. And it's placed in the very middle of the grid and crosses two theme answers.

Once again I jumped around. Got the tie-in answer MIDDLE EARTH first. Then I realized the gimmick immediately, as Pete Muller's INNER EAR grid left a very deep impression on me. Pete split all the EARS between two words. I then climbed upward and filled in all the EARTH immediately. (Updated later: We had a MIDDLE EARTH themed puzzle from Barry Silk on Nov 26, 2008, even the first entry CLEAR THE AIR is the same.)

I will use this strategy for tomorrow's puzzle also. I expect it's a wordplay grid by Dan Naddor and I expect the unifying answer to be placed at the lower right corner.

Granted, the puzzle is designed to be solved from upper left to lower right. Many constructors (like Merl Reagle) tend to place the most sparkliest theme answer or the tie-in theme answer at the end to provide solvers a precious"Aha" moment. But very seldom does the upper left corner crumble easily for me. I have to flit around. I guess I will just do whatever works for me.

There is also a drink sub-theme to make Lois/Argyle happy:

31A: Drink that can follow a shot: CHASER

61A: Item on a cocktail toothpick: OLIVE

24D: Scotch order: NEAT

51D: Malty mugfuls: ALES

All in all, not a difficult Thursday for me. I guessed a lot, and I was right on my guesses.

Across:

1A: Simian: APISH. Silly, I always thought simian is a noun.

11A: Queasy, perhaps: ILL

14A: Where the 4077th MASH served: KOREA. Where are the asterisks? I am used to "M*A*S*H.

15A: Mammy's boy: ABNER. From from comic strip Li'L ABNER. Mammy Yokum.

19A: Bay Area airport: SFO. I had SF? sitting there forever. Didn't know San Francisco International Airport's code.

21A: Sound quality?: SANITY. Got me. Nice clue.

26A: RFK Stadium soccer team: D.C. UNITED. Know this name only because of the Freddy Adu hype. Our local soccer team is called Minnesota Thunder.

30A: Ancient spell caster: MAGE. Short for magician. New word to me.

32A: Oldest of the Fab Four: STARR. Noticed the plural form on the intersecting 23D, so filled in STARR in no time.

34A: Creative pursuit: ART. Nice ART & ART crossing in the center.

35A: Streisand cross-dressing role: YENTL. Yenta is rooted in YENTL.

40A: "Born in __": Cheech Marin film: EAST LA. Another guess. Not familiar with the film. Last time it's clued as ""Chico and the Man" setting, briefly".

48A: Mentored ones: PROTEGES. My first reaction: MENTEES?

49A: Words of resignation: NO HOPE

50A: It may be wireless: ROUTER

59A: Nuevo __: Peru's currency: SOL. Obtained the answer from Across.

60A: Causing chill: EERIE

62A: Trough site: STY. Had a friend working for Kraft Foods for many years. He told me pork is the best meat nutrition-wise.

63A: Raid targets: DRUGS. Couldn't keep "bugs" out of my mind.

64A: Play in the tub: SLOSH

Down:

1D: "Best in Show" org.: AKC (American Kennel Club)

4D: Aquarium frolicker: SEA OTTER. . Just learned that a male otter is a dog, a female is a bitch and a baby is a whelp/pup.

5D: More puzzling: HARDER

6D: Portrayer of an Oz feline: LAHR. Bert LAHR, Cowardly Lion.

8D: Microscopic crime scene clue, briefly: DNA

9D: Retiree's abundance: LEISURE. Agree?

10D: Knightly news?: ERRANTRY. New word to me. Nice play on Nightly News.

11D: Where it originally was: IN SITU. Latin.

12D: Crane, at times: LIFTER. I was picturing an Origami crane.

13D: Bentsen who said to Quayle, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy": LLOYD. Because Dan Quayle had constantly been comparing himself to Kennedy. I was aware of the quote. Did not know who said it though.

22D: Fed, research agency: NIH (National Institutes of Health). Can never remember this name.

23D: Selectric typewriters, e.g.: IBMS

27D: Chess move you can make once: CASTLE. Another guess.

29D: Pure: CHASTE. Crossing CHASER.

33D: Cashed in: REDEEMED

36D: Hold spellbound: ENTHRALL

37D: Big Apple neighborhood near the Bowery: NOHO. Short for North of Houston Street. SOHO is South of Houston Street.

41D: More likely to explode: ANGRIER

42D: "Dog the Bounty Hunter" airer: A AND E. It jumped into me immediately after I had ND filled. I am really good at guessing now.

44D: 1950 classic sci-fi short story book: I ROBOT. By Isaac Asimov.

45D: To twice the degree: DOUBLY. Had trouble understanding the grammar of the clue.

46D: Cousin from an "altogether ooky" family: ITT. From "The Addams Family"

47D: Events with some very short rides: RODEOS

48D: Publicity: PRESS

54D: "In My Bed" R&B group __ Hill: DRU. Have never heard of this band.

55D: Archeologist's subject: DIG

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a happy photo from our fellow solver Lemonade. From left to right: his son, Lemonade, his other son & his nephew.

C.C.

Interview with Samuel A. Donaldson

When publicly called a "has-been" by President Bush during a news briefing several years ago, ABC's Sam A. Donaldson retorted: "Better to have been a has-been than a never was."

But the future belongs to another Samuel A. Donaldson, our crossword constructor today. He is a professor at the University of Washington, and a lawyer.

Mr. Donaldson burst into the crossword scene on Oct 2, 2008 when he made the debut with NY Times. Since then, he has been published by NY Sun, Chronicle of High Education, USA Today & LA Times.

I read this interview after I am done with today's CLOSING ACTS puzzle, and found his behind-the-scene creating process insightful and his take on potential groaners fascinating. Alas, most of his proud multiple-words gave me troubles today.

We'd better learn quickly how his mind works. He seems to have been struck by a Muse and is very inspired. I expect we will see more of his puzzles in the future.

What is the inspiration for this puzzle? What are the other theme answers that failed to make the cut?

I’m not sure what got me thinking about a puzzle featuring celebrities with one name. I suppose it might have come to me while watching “The Soup” or reading Entertainment Weekly, but I think I’m supposed to be ashamed to admit that. Anyway, in researching names I realized that the population of mononymous celebrities is dominated by singers. So I narrowed the theme to phrases ending with the name of a singer. I liked the idea because it gave me a lot of options to play with—some of my favorites left on the cutting room floor include JELLYFISH STING and APPLE BRANDY.

I went through a lot of drafts before submitting the puzzle to Rich Norris. The version I submitted had a fun title (“Closing Acts”) but a weak payoff entry: the word SINGERS appeared in the grid’s center with the clue “People found at the ends of 17-, 53-,….” Of course, the problem is that the LA Times puzzle runs without a title, so Rich suggested re-working the grid to make CLOSING ACTS the payoff entry. That forced me to change some of the theme entries, but it all worked out. I like that the final version has a balance of men and women and a little variety in musical styles. Although this is my second LA Times puzzle in print, it was the first one to be accepted by Rich, so I was especially delighted when I got the good news.

What are your favorite fills in this grid? Which one(s) do you think might raise a few eyebrows among the solvers?

I think this particular grid demonstrates three things I try to incorporate in my puzzles because I like them as a solver: (1) multiple-word nontheme entries (I like that I was able to get nine of them into the grid); (2) nontheme entries that are related, (here, APOLOGY and I’M SORRY); (3) scrabbly fill (it’s not always easy getting three Zs to coexist in one grid).

Still, I don’t pretend that the grid is perfectly smooth. I’m a little worried that some solvers will get stuck in the corners of this grid. Like many constructors, I save the corners for last when building the grid—it’s just easier to paint from the center out than from the corners in, because with the latter approach you’ll get stuck way too many times. In this particular case, I think the corners have harder entries. Newer solvers might get flummoxed by SCENA and ICI in the northwest, MALAWI in the northeast, ZIA and ESL in the southwest, and OZARK in the southeast. And I’ll bet $1 that AESIR gets more than a handful of “Huh?”s on your blog.

Abbreviations and partials don’t bother me one bit as a solver, but I know some find them dreadful. So I suspect some of your readers might not like that there are nine abbreviations in this grid, but I’m only mildly embarrassed about one of them (STK). Others will dislike the partials (FLIP A and A VIEW), but I like them as a solver because they often give me a toehold into the grid. If they’re good enough for Merl Reagle they’re good enough for me.

What is your background? How did you get into crossword construction?

I’m a law professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. Most of my teaching and research is in the field of taxation. Lots of people think it’s a mind-numbing discipline, but I firmly believe that if you enjoy word games and logic puzzles you would be surprised how fun (yes, fun) tax law really is. It’s less about numbers and more about language.

For my 40^th birthday, I treated myself by attending the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Anyone who enjoys crosswords and wordplay in general should add the ACPT to his or her bucket list—it’s an amazing weekend. The best part, hands down, is the people—everyone is pleasant and welcoming. It was especially fun to meet some of the constructors whose puzzles I have often enjoyed. When I mentioned to some of them that I had thought about making my own crossword, they all encouraged me to give it a go. So I read up on the subject, devoured all the information available at the Cruciverb website, purchased the Crossword Compiler software, and I was off to the races.

Well, not really. My first several submissions stunk. I didn’t think so then, but looking back at them now I see how flawed they were. They were all (rightly) rejected, but every time the editors took the time to explain—politely—why they didn’t cut the mustard. No one ever told me to stop sending puzzles, so I kept trying. Each one got a little better, and eventually I got my first one accepted. I’m to the point now where I get a decent number of acceptances, but there are still many that miss the cut. Rejections are, for most of us I think, a part of the gig. Editors at the major syndicates like the LA Times receive lots of submissions, and with some puzzle outlets folding it appears the competition is only getting stiffer. So sometimes a puzzle can be fine but still get rejected just because it’s not as stellar as the others.

I mention all of this because I hope it motivates those who have thought about constructing a crossword to give it a try. It ain’t easy, but if you follow the advice of editors and established constructors, one day you’ll break through. It’s fun to see your name in the paper (especially when it’s not in the obituaries or police reports).

As a solver, what kind of puzzles give you the "Wow"? Who are your favorite constructors?

My favorite crosswords do something unexpected or have a layer to them that I might miss if I am not careful. Without giving away the gimmick, I’ll point you to Patrick Berry’s Wall Street Journal crossword from June 19, 2009, as an example. In general, my favorites are the weekend themeless puzzles because they really make me work for the payoff and because, generally, the entries are fresher and peppier.

I am a fan of lots of constructors. Off the top of my head, I can tell you that I smile when see these bylines, either because I know I’m in for a fun solve or because it just seems that I can find that constructor’s wavelength: Patrick Berry, Paula Gamache, Joe Krozel, Caleb Madison, Manny Nosowsky, Trip Payne, Doug Peterson, Merl Reagle, Barry C. Silk, Karen M. Tracey, and Byron Walden. But honestly, there are so many really talented constructors out there; it’s a golden age for crosswords!

What would people find one thing that's most surprising about you?

I have never played a game of Scrabble in my life.