Saturday, Nov 19, 2011 Bruce Venzke

Theme: None

Words: 68

Blocks: 37

Well, I have to say, yesterday's puzzle took longer than today's - two Bruce constructors in a row, and I guess I was on Bruce Venzke's wavelength, even at this hour of the morning. Truly, my only hang ups were at a couple of DOWN clues. I hope your Saturday solve was just as inspiring, and for those persons who dared try a Saturday for the first time, this grid was a good jumping off point~!

Double symmetry, which I don't often see, with corners of triple sevens, and;

Two grid spanners -

29. First of an old film septet : ROAD TO SINGAPORE - A comedy series that included six other locations, and three main stars - Bing Crosby (who will be crooning in my parent's house for the holidays), Dorothy Lamour (who I don't know), and Bob Hope, who was more a comedian for me than a movie star - never saw any of his films

38. Hold back : KEEP AT A DISTANCE

and two of 13-letters -

19. Obviously fearful : WHITE AS A SHEET - not that I had GHOST to start, but I did the DOWN clues to begin, which gave me "H" from ROTHS at 10D - but I also had the "E" from ULEES at 11D.

51. Howls skyward : BAYS AT THE MOON - which makes me think of this classic song from Ozzy Osbourne, and the number of letters is the same, but...."Listen in awe, and you'll hear him - link to the song"

Half a dozen abbreviations in the three-letter answers, and quite a bit of musical variety, as well

Yes, No, Maybe, Not ???

ACROSS:

1. Quinine target : MALARIA - well, I wanted "LEG ache" or something like that, since we had this in the Jeff Chen "Q" puzzle from Sunday....

8. Smartened (up) : SPRUCED - right before your date gets to the door, one would "spruce up" the place - I haven't had to do much sprucing, lately....

15. Hard to nail down : EVASIVE

16. When parents don't want a teen to be home? : TOO LATE

17. Equity complaint : "NOT FAIR~!"

18. "Don't Wanna Lose You" singer : ESTEFAN - Gloria, and I will link this one to offset my Ozzy indulgence

21. Like some jokes : TASTELESS - I just used this word in last Saturday's blog

22. Red Ryder ammo : BBs - oh, we are getting close to that classic seasonal movie (clip) - always brings a smile~!! Also - 35D. Shooter insert : PEA

25. Richard Marx label : EMI

26. Crude amt. : BBL - short for Barrel, and I know this corner has had a long discussion on why this is so in the past

36. Drawer : ARTIST - nice misdirection, but I has some letters from the DOWN clues, including the ending -ST, so I was not fooled.

37. Freezes over : ICES UP

42. "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" announcer Hall : EDD

43. Spring sign : BUD - Not LEO,




that's a summer sign, but a flower bud - got me for a second; over-thinking on Saturday is usually the norm (and I just learned that

44. Do some needling : SEW

45. Doughnut-shaped treat : LIFESAVER - candy, and a corporate plug - not that I like them

55. Rolling service station? : TEA CART

56. They were the Browns before they moved from St. Louis : ORIOLES - this was once my favorite baseball team, because I liked their old logo

58. High-speed contest : AIR-RACE - tragic incident in Reno on Sept. 16th

59. More restless : ANTSIER

60. Crept : SNEAKED, and 8D. Enter stealthily : STEAL IN

61. Sages : NESTORS - a reference to the wisest Greek of the Trojan War

DOWN:

1. "So many __, so little time": Mae West : MEN

2. Declare : AVOW - start with AV_ _, wait on the perps

3. Stucco strip : LATH

4. Comparable to a fiddle : "AS FIT as a fiddle"

5. Gaucho gear : RIATA

6. Wrigley Field features : IVIES - Baseball

7. Does some lawn maintenance : AERATES

9. Western group : POSSE

10. Some IRAs : ROTHS

11. "__ Gold": 1997 film : ULEE'S - becoming a crossword staple

12. Bookstore area, often : CAFE

13. French political division : ETAT - French for state - Lemonade is Mr. French around here

14. Outdoor shelter : DEN - I had HUT, thinking of this crew

20. Event before finals : SEMI - meh, it's a bit off for me

22. Gas neighbor : BRAKE - ah, the pedals on the floor of your car, truck, van, etc. - again, I was over-thinking it

23. Made holes : BORED

24. Full : SATED

26. Some crew members, casually : BO'S'NS - nautical term Boatswains

27. Giants manager Bochy : BRUCE - More baseball, and a self-shout-out for Mr. Venzke - hey, I try and do the same in every puzzle I have constructed....SPY and RICH work so well

28. Romantic toon mammal : LEPEW - doesn't this clue sound like it's asking for "SKUNK" ???

30. Roller coaster element : DIP - not CAR

31. Defense agency since Nov. 2001 : TSA - I am sure they're hiring for the holiday season

32. Baseball's Little Giant : OTT - and yet more baseball - do we long for April already ???

33. They're often in a mess : GIs - General Infantry - OOPS, totally wrong my whole life - the soldiers that eat in the mess tent

34. Patriot __ : ACT

39. Looked out for? : ABETTED - the "lookout" is charged with aiding and abetting during a crime

40. Attic collection : DUST - no need to over-think again

41. Gem State native : IDAHOAN - The Gem State - good site to know for future puzzles - bookmark the link now ~!

45. Wet suit material : LYCRA

46. "Wicked Game" singer Chris : ISAAK - and another musical link, this one is raunchy - at least it was when it came out

47. Burlesque : FARCE

48. Sci-fi pioneer : VERNE - Jules, who some believe had visions of the future, and could see the things he wrote about long before they were invented - or did he just inspire them?

49. Gives forth : EMITS

50. Nocturnal resting spot : ROOST

51. "__ Green": Kermit's song : BEIN' - OK, here's Kermit, but this one is my favorite

52. Bern's river : AARE - map

53. Variety : OLIO

54. Start to do well? : NE'ER-Do-Well

55. Jobs for grad students : TAs - Teaching Assistants

57. Many SAT takers : SRs - Seniors

Answer grid.

Movin' Right Along ~!!

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our sweet Creature. Thanks for the kindness and caring you've shown to all of us in the past year.

Interview with Bruce R. Sutphin

As Lemonade mentioned in his write-up of today's DROP IN, this is our third Bruce Sutphin puzzle. His previous two Friday grids also involved letter string addition (TAG) & deletion (RS, with a great LOSERS as the last Across entry to tie things together).

Bruce only started constructing in 2010, but you could feel his passion and talent for construction from his theme selections. His desire to constantly improve himself is also evident in his blog comments the last several time he visited us. I look forward to more challenges and fun from Bruce.

How did the LOSERS idea come to you? It's such a brilliant unifier. Very unexpected two consonants dropping.

I had really enjoying a NYT puzzle (12/1/09) by Vic Fleming and Jonah Kagan where they parsed BREAKFAST as BREAK FAST and a couple of times afterward had toyed with similar themes messing with word breaks. Obviously LOSER would have made for more possible theme entries, but I thought I would see what I could come up with for LOSERS. I made a version of this "LOSERS" puzzle and sent it to Rich Norris at the LAT and he rejected it, but commented that the theme was cute and he liked the ONEHOETOWN entry. I redid the whole puzzle keeping that one entry and after some revision had it accepted.

Tell us a bit about your background. How did you get into crossword construction?

I had solved crosswords a bit off and on growing up, but with no regularity. In August 2009 I found all these different blogs and Ryan and Brian's "Fill Me In" Podcast. I was completely hooked. In the spring of 2010 I decided to attempt constructing. My first puzzles weren't very good, but I really enjoyed making them so I kept at it. I came into contact through the blogs with Doug Peterson and he and I started working on a puzzle last summer. Working with him has been a blast, we have a couple puzzles we made together in the LAT pipeline and a couple of others out that we are waiting to hear back on. Although my first 2 puzzles accepted were solo efforts, there is no way I would have made publishable quality puzzles without Doug's support and feedback. He is a true Crossword Gentleman.

Which part do you normally spend the most time on in the construction process: theme brainstorming, gridding or cluing?

I definitely would say the theme brainstorming. Early on I was quick to try and make a puzzle based on half baked or incomplete themes which was setting the puzzles up for failure from the start. I have enjoyed collaborating with Doug (I also have a puzzle in the NYT pipeline I co-constructed with Neville Fogarty) and find that the bouncing of theme ideas and theme entries off someone else makes a huge difference. The gridding obviously poses its own challenges and it can be annoying when things don't quite work out as you want, but I do like finding good entries. I especially like cluing a puzzle and even though it is the last portion of the creation, there isn't a temptation there for me to rush it since the clues are the solvers entry into the puzzle and if they don't grab them, then they might not bother solving the puzzle.

How does constructing change your solving experience? And what kind of themes/fill fascinate you as a solver?

When solving a puzzle, I don't really think that I notice that much difference now. I am far from a speed-solver, but I find that I appreciate themes more when I am done with a puzzle, especially if it is something really unique that I wish I had thought of. All the puzzles with added elements I find interesting, whether it be a picture created, or a neat trick where the entries aren't just entered in the "usual" way. Fresh fill is always great, or even commonplace fill clued in a new and interesting way always gets me. When my first (or even second or third) impression of what a clue wants isn't right, I like that. You can always clue something I don't know in a way so that I won't arrive at it easily, but cluing an entry I know in a tricky way that takes some thought, that's the best .

What puzzles do you solve every day and which constructors do you find most inspiring?

I solve the NYT, LAT, Newsday, and CrosSynergy everyday. I do all the Brendan Emmett Quigley puzzles, the Fireball, WSJ, Boston Globe, Phil Inquirer, Post Puzzler, Matt Gaffney, ISwear, The Onion, InkWell, Chronicle of Higher Education.... I think about 43 a week. They take me a heck of a lot longer than the elite solvers, but I also spend a lot less time on them then I did two years ago. I have seen great improvements in my own solving time. Obviously I am a big fan of Doug Peterson's puzzles. I also think all the stuff put our by BEQ, Matt Gaffney and Peter Gordon is top notch.

Besides crosswords, what are your other interests?

I am a 35 year old married father of 3. I have two daughters 8 and 6 and a 1 year old son. I am a stay at home dad during the day and I teach a mathematics class for a community college at night each semester. I enjoy reading, movies, and getting out to golf when I can.