Monday, November 16, 2015 Robert E. Lee Morris

Theme: More than a job - Four types of jobs.

61A. Employment opportunity, and a hint to the first word of the answers to starred clues : JOB OPENING

17A. *Malicious prank : DIRTY TRICK. Dirty Job...but somebody's got to do it.

37A. *Winter storm school closing : SNOW DAY. Snow Job. Deceptive flattery.

11D. *Humor among friends : INSIDE JOKE. Inside Job. Most big heists require someone on the inside.

27D. *Employee who does the firing : HATCHET MAN. Hatchet Job. A calculated attempt to ruin someone's reputation.

Argyle here. Good theme but the rest seemed inconsistent. No real stinkers but some clues and answers that weren't Monday friendly. YRMV.

Across:

1. Honolulu "howdy" : "ALOHA" to our friends on the islands.

6. Cozy eatery : CAFÉ

10. Exasperated sound : [SIGH!]

14. Access the Internet : LOG ON

15. Word-of-mouth : ORAL

16. Merely : ONLY

19. Memo writer's "Pronto!" : ASAP. (As Soon As Possible) and it better be PDQ.

20. White Monopoly bills : ONES

21. Church recess : APSE

22. Sarcastic in a mean way : SNIDE

23. Approximately 3.26 light-years : PARSEC

25. One doing simple math : ADDER. One who adds.

26. Written in few words : SHORT. ?

28. Has __ for news : A NOSE

30. Flood : SPATE

31. Trumpeter Alpert : HERB

33. Spanish eyes : OJOs

36. House cat, e.g. : PET

40. Cries of pain : OW!s

41. Part of IRA: Abbr. : ACCT.

43. Corrida cheers : ¡OLÉ!s

44. Like the old bucket of song : OAKEN

46. The __ Boys: fictional detectives : HARDY

48. Moorehead of "Bewitched" : AGNES. CSO to Irish Miss.

49. Last Greek letter : OMEGA

51. Speak sharply to : SNAP AT

54. Fall guy : PATSY

55. Japanese detective Mr. __ : MOTO. There were eight films in the Mr. Moto series.

56. Director Kazan : ELIA. Elia Kazan (1909 – 2003)

60. Bombeck of household humor : ERMA. Erma Bombeck (1927 – 1996)

63. Iranian currency : RIAL

64. Similar (to) : AKIN

65. Govt.-backed investment : T-NOTE. 'Treasury Note'

66. Ill-fated Boleyn : ANNE. (Second wife of King Henry VIII)

67. George Eliot's "Adam __" : BEDE. Published in 1859.

68. Boat with an outrigger : CANOE

Down:

1. Gucci of fashion : ALDO. I'm not on a first name basis with the man.

2. Pork cut : LOIN

3. Storybook meanie : OGRE

4. Trendy club : HOT SPOT

5. " ... have you __ wool?" : ANY. Three bags full.

6. The "C" in USMC : CORPS. Semper Fi!

7. Get up : ARISE

8. Kings, queens and jacks : FACE CARDS

9. Antlered grazer : ELK

10. Son-of-a-gun : SO AND SO

12. Forest clearing : GLADE

13. Really keyed up : HYPER. Hyper-agitated fits the bill.

18. Small fruit pie : TART

22. __ Paulo, Brazil : SÃO. According to Times magazine, São Paulo has the world’s worst daily traffic jams. Who knew?

24. Greek war god : ARES

26. Design detail, briefly : SPEC. Specification this time, not speculation.

29. L.A. Clippers' org. : NBA. (National Basketball Association)

30. Place for a mani-pedi : SPA

31. "Gee whiz!" : "HOLY SMOKE!"

32. Barnyard female : EWE

34. Has obligations : OWEs

35. Govt.-issued ID : SSN. (Social Security number)

38. Drop (off) : NOD. My specialty.

39. Discipline using mats : YOGA

42. Bric-a-brac disposal event : TAG SALE

45. Rabbit ears : ANTENNA

47. Unit of hope or light : RAY

48. Per person : A POP

49. "Aida," for one : OPERA

50. County on San Francisco Bay : MARIN

52. "I pass" : "NO BID". Probably no face cards.

53. Make amends : ATONE

57. Animal Crackers feline : LION

58. Really digging, as a hobby : INTO. Or like archaeology.

59. "A Death in the Family" author James : AGEE. James Agee (1909 – 1955)

61. Quick poke : JAB

62. List-ending abbr. : ETC. (et cetera) "and other things"

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Ergo (Husker Chuck), who was quite active on our blog last year. How's the new job, Chuck?

Interview with Bruce Haight

Those who solve New York Times puzzles regularly and are familiar with Bruce Haight's byline won't be surprised with our bendy puzzle today. Bruce is fond of visual art and noted for his boundary-pushing style.

Bruce also makes super smooth Monday/Tuesday puzzles with heavy themage, as shown in this puzzle we just had earlier this month.

Today is our ninth LAT grid from Bruce. He has had 15 puzzles published by the New York Times since 2013.

I'm astonished that all the theme entries are placed in symmetrical spots. This does not happen often with turning gimmicks. Did you start out this way or did you decide to tighten up your approach in the grid-designing process? 

 

Hi CC !  Actually, I started right off setting up the grid with symmetrical theme entries, but then it was pretty difficult to find entries with the right lengths. I was able to play around with the blocks to make it work.  My initial submission had GOES ON A BENDER as a theme entry,  but Rich nixed that because it wasn't specific enough about what kind of turning was going on.  I thought I would never find an entry to replace that, but then COMING OUT AHEAD popped into my head- the entry turns out and ahead- perfect!

Which section gave you the most trouble in the filling process? Judging by the five Q's, I imagine you had fun in the middle.

Those Q's popped up mostly on their own, probably partly because of the position of that U in TURN A PHRASE- I do remember feeling like Quistmas came early when those appeared!  The area right next to THE FALLS was by far the toughest for me.  The puzzle that Rich accepted had TLINGIT at 49-Down, which Rich could not have been too happy about, but on my own I went back and moved blocks to get rid of that.  I noticed in one of your blogs recently you said something about being glad the LA Times allows 144 words in a Sunday puzzle- I never knew that, and I had a devil of a time getting down to 140 on this one. By the way, CC, do you think you could pull some strings and get them to show water coming out of the "S"  in FALLS for the online solution? And maybe a barrel going down OVER THE FALLS, over and over?  Thanks!   :)

Tell us a bit about yourself. What's your background? And how did you get into crossword construction?

I'm an ophthalmologist in the San Diego area, originally from Wisconsin, and never had much interest in crosswords till 2012 (age 58).  I got a crossword app for my iPad and got hooked. I sent my childhood friend Pete Collins (well-known in the crossword community) an idea for a crossword  theme and he offered to co-construct it with me.  It got rejected, like all of my first 50 puzzles, but eventually I improved.  My Mom loves crosswords, so I got some inspiration from her. I just had my first grandchild, so  I'm  trying to work KEIRA into a puzzle.....

What kind of theme & fill fascinate you and what kind do you try to avoid in your grids?

I love grid art, and I'm fascinated by what I call "constraint" construction - crosswords with low block counts, low number of letters used, one vowel only, 100+ theme letter count, quadruple pangram, etc.  I tend to shy away from intellectual themes - I'm not at all knowledgeable about art, history, geography, etc - that's one reason  I'm a lousy crossword solver.

Which part do you enjoy the most in the construction process: theme development, filling or cluing?

I consider myself mostly a technician, so I like the grid layout and the fill process. I'm always looking for new grid art ideas, but they are tough to come up with and difficult to construct.  I struggle with theme development.   

What kind of reference tools do you use for crossword construction & cluing?

I use xwordinfo, Crossword Tracker, One Look dictionary search, Cruciverb, and Google

Besides crosswords, what else do you do for fun?

In the past I've been big into golf, tennis, bridge,  and backgammon tournaments.  However, since I got into crosswords my other hobbies have suffered. I enjoy playing guitar and piano.  My wife and I love to travel to Europe, and we love movies.  We watch only two TV shows- Downton Abbey and The Voice. 

If you could give one piece of advice to fellow constructors what would it be?

I see constructors complain all the time that too many of their favorite clues were not used.  My suggestion for this problem is to submit two or three clue options for the entries you are really excited about. Rich Norris sent me an Email one time telling me he likes my strategy on that  - he said just put a slash/ mark between the clue options and try to pick options that vary in difficulty.  This improved my clue "success" rate from 50% to 75%, which adds a lot to my enjoyment of puzzle construction.

How have crosswords changed your life?

Well for one thing, they saved my life.  When I got obsessed with crosswords in 2012  I ate less and slept less and lost ten pounds.  My wife thought I had cancer so she made me get a CT scan.  Sure enough, I had an awful type of kidney cancer that is nearly 100% fatal once it gets big, and usually has no symptoms till it's too late.  However, mine was tiny and easily removed, with no sign of it three years later.   The doctors said it was way too small to cause weight loss, so I thank the crossword community (and my wife Liz) for saving my life!

Sunday, Nov 15, 2015 Bruce Haight

Theme:  "Going on a Bender" - Each of the eight theme entries takes a 90-degree turn.

1A & 6D: Gets hitched : TAKES THE PLUNGE. That's how our TTP got his avatar name.

 

7A & 12D:  Unpopular party gal : DEBBIE DOWNER. Not familiar with this phrase.

13A & 17D. Goes 0 for 20, say : HITS A SLUMP

43D & 65A. PRESS FORWARD. This is where I cottoned onto the gimmick.

48A & 51D: How some Niagara stunts are done : OVER THE FALLS

 

76D & 99A: Passenger's direction at the corner : HANG A RIGHT. Also an easy corner.

74D & 100A: Play a trick (on) : PUT ONE ACROSS

68D & 101A: More than breaking even : COMING OUT AHEAD. A few tricky clues in that corner.

Reveal entry:

58A. Wax eloquent ... and what to do to solve eight puzzle clues : TURN A PHRASE

Across Lite does not allow empty clues, so Rich normally uses a dash to indicate that there's no clue for that word. Dashes often hint at a turning gimmick.

None of the turning phrases is random. Every themer has a key word indicating a downward or forward turn. 

The total symmetry added an extra layer elegance to this grid. It also made filling challenging for the fun-loving Bruce.

Across:

18. Get some fresh air : BREATHE. I just turn to NPR for Terry Gross. 

20. Complained : RAILED

21. Drives unsteadily : WEAVES

22. Give an edge to : SHARPEN. And  81. Giving an edge to : HONING

 23. Maestro Toscanini : ARTURO. My very first entry.

24. Half of a storybook duo : HANSEL. Same letter as Gretel.

25. Knocks in the theater : PANS

26. Seafood entrée : PRAWNS. Isn't strange that PRAWN is plurable but not SHRIMP? Same food.

28. Put an edge on : WHET

30. Big Ten sch. : PSU. The Nittany Lions. All crosses for me.

31. "The Simpsons" disco guy : STU

32. Director's cry : PLACES. I wanted ACTION. When does a director shout "Places"?

33. Already : BY NOW

35. Growth period : BOOM

36. Former South African president for whom a gold coin is named : KRUGER. The coin is  Krugerrand. Named after this guy Paul Kruger. Both stranger to me.

37. Caine captain : QUEEG

38. Stopped lying? : SAT UP. I thought of AROSE first. At least I was in the right direction.

39. One may be personal : TRAINER. And 71. They may be seconded : MOTIONS. Quite a few clue echoes in this puzzle.

41. Harold's film partner : KUMAR

42. Leading : FIRST

43. Book intros : PROLOGS

44. Wisecracks : QUIPS

45. Pac-Man feature : MAZE

46. Call it a night : RETIRE

47. Salad veggies : CUKES. Trader Joe's has these wonderful Persian cucumbers. So crisp and tender.

 

52. Buttermilk rider : EVANS. And 78. Trigger rider : ROGERS

 

53. Bee output : QUILT. Sewing bee! I just can't keep my mind of beeswax.

54. Rains cats and dogs : POURS

56. Zebra on a court : REF

57. Link clicker's destination : SITE

 

60. "The Clan of the Cave Bear" heroine : AYLA. This has become a gimme for me.

61. __-Cat : SNO

62. Beauty's admirer : BEAST. Beauty and the Beast.

63. Hardly seaworthy : LEAKY

64. Divulge : SPILL

 

67. Violin-playing comedian : BENNY. Drew a blank. Sadly I don't know much about Jack Benny. I do know his age though.

68. Price-fixing bloc : CARTEL

69. Spots to crash on the road : INNS

70. Physics particle : QUARK

72. Hogties : BINDS

74. __ willow : PUSSY

75. "Now We Are Six" author : A. A. MILNE. Big fat gimme.

76. __ Sack : HACKY

77. Extremely : QUITE

78. Confrontations : RUN-INS

79. Vanquishers of kings : ACES. Oh, poker.

80. "Designing Women" actress Annie : POTTS.

82. Large vessel : VAT. First thought is URN.

85. Collar : NAB

86. Staff note : MEMO

87. Motley, as a crew : RAGTAG

88. Options list : MENU

89. Matured : GREW UP

91. Ewan's "Moulin Rouge!" co-star : NICOLE. Gimme.

94. Fill with crayons : COLOR IN

96. Commercial charge : AD RATE. And 15. Plugs for tubes? : TV SPOTS

97. Charm : ENAMOR

98. "I'm okay with that" : SUITS ME

Down:

1. Recipe amts. : TBSPs

2. Buddhist who has attained Nirvana : ARHAT. Wiki said it's Sanskrit for "one who is worthy". My landlord in Shanghai completely ruined Buddhism for me. He drank every night. He also burned incense and chanted every night.

3. Reeves of "The Lake House" : KEANU

4. Wave catchers? : EARS. Lovely clue.

5. Indy letters : STP

 

7. Bureau division : DRAWER

8. Merits : EARNS

9. Comic's routines : BITS

10. __-ray Disc : BLU

11. Comparative suffix : IER

13. Cops : HEAT

14. Creator of Q and M : IAN. James Bond.

16. Escorts to the door : SEES OUT

 

19. Infuriates : ENRAGES

21. "That was a close one!" : WHEW

27. Taiwan-based computer company : ACER. Our monitor. Great quality.

29. Monopolize : HOG

32. Group below abbots : PRIORS

33. Removes from the schedule : BUMPS

34. Affirmative votes : YEAs

35. Having less coverage : BARER

36. Tigers Hall of Fame outfielder Al : KALINE.  And 39. Two-time U.S. Open champ : TREVINO. I nailed both. Just saw Lee Trevino at the 3M this summer. He was surprisingly quiet that day. A bit name heavy in this area.

37. "Shh" : QUIET PLEASE. What a great entry.

38. Hat stats : SIZES

40. __ cuff: shoulder muscles : ROTATOR

41. One of Fran's puppets : KUKLA

42. Only NFL quarterback with more than 10,000 pass attempts : FAVRE. I'd not have played for the Vikings.

 44. "Jaws" shark hunter : QUINT. Unknown to me.

45. Timid : MOUSY

47. Junkyard dogs : CURS

49. Fitting comment? : TRY IT ON. Lovely clue/answer.

50. Greek : HELLENE

53. Campus areas : QUADS

54. Popular frat activity : PRANK

55. Like some chards : OAKY. Wine. I kept thinking of the veggie.

58. Shore fliers : TERNS

59. Name of eight English kings : HENRY

60. Typically wet times : APRILs

62. Toss about, as ideas : BANDY

64. Filling fully : SATING

66. Flirtatious signals : WINKS

67. Arrests : BUSTS

 

70. Pack it in : QUIT

71. Rock band 10,000 __ : MANIACS. No idea. Of course I thought of 10,000 lakes for MN.

72. Captain Morgan rival : BACARDI

73. Emotionally cold type : ICEBERG

 

75. Close relative : AUNT

77. Iranian holy city : QOM

80. Toon skunk Le Pew : PEPE

81. Anaheim team, in sportscasts : HALOS. Angels.

82. Frost lines? : VERSE. Robert Frost.

83. Jungian principle : ANIMA

84. Pitched well? : TUNED. This corner was hard for me.

86. Many a shelter resident : MUTT

87. Cowboys quarterback Tony : ROMO

88. Light-loving flier : MOTH

90. Nursery noise : WAH

92. Business magazine : INC

93. Monopoly token : CAR

95. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone : LIA. This I learned from the Wayne R. Williams era. We had this all the time.

C.C.

Saturday, Nov 14th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,V,Z)

Blocks: 32

I blew through this Silkie in less than half my personal time - and did not have a whole bunch to work with after my first across pass.  There were some crossings that indicated my original ideas might hold water (e.g. 15a.), and then there were plenty of clues that were in my "wheelhouse", as we say.  Triple 10-letter corners in the across, triple 9-letter corners in the downs, and two more 10's inside;

10. Predator known for its piercing call : SCREECH OWL - intimidating

27. Florida surfing mecca : COCOA BEACH - I only got as far south as Jacksonville

half a league ONWARD~! (thx Steve~!)

ACROSS:

1. Musical group founded by a Civil War vet : BOSTON POPS - not that I knew this, but I was fairly sure it was not "Aerosmith" of the '70s - you can read more about the vet here

11. Some email attachments : PDFs - dah~!  Not PICS, and then not GIFs

15. Symbol for the NFL's Bears : UPPER CASE C - I knew what the logo on the helmet was, just had to wait to see how Mr. Silk was going to phrase/parse "capital C"

16. 1970 Kinks hit : LOLA 

17. School uniform part dating to the 1800s : ETON COLLAR

18. Presently : ANON - think  Shakespeare

19. Strip lighting : NEON - the strip in Las Vegas, e.g.

20. Partly roasted treat : S'MORE

21. Consequences of too many blows : TKOs - Boxing

22. Wing it : AD LIB

24. Larger-than-life types : LEGENDS

26. Big name in investment banking : SACHS - Goldman-Sachs, which is a company that was a client of the architects I once worked for

30. King of pop : CAROLE - not fooled; waited on perps, which helped me remember Carole; I was stuck on Ben E.

31. IRA components : CDs - certificates of deposit - one way your individual retirement account can save money

34. Complex pipes : HOOKAHS - so as a carpenter I was thinking about sink traps, etc.

36. Pitch : TAR

37. Civil Rights Memorial architect : LIN - same artist as the Vietnam Memorial - more on the piece here

38. Tahrir Square city : CAIRO - half perps

39. 1979 Pa. newsmaker : TMI - not "Too Much Information" - this refers to Three Mile Island, the nuclear plant that had a "malfunction" - I recall it being a major news event, but I was 8 and did not understand the implications

40. Altar on high : ARA - the constellation

41. "Happening Now" airer : FOX NEWS - don't care for watching the news in general; I can generate enough of my own bad fortune

43. Lotion letters : SPF - sun protection factor - more here - I see that nylon stockings give an SPF of 2; so protect yourselves, ladies~!

44. Italian road : STRADA - straight translation; need to keep your Italian supercars off the streets of NYC~!

46. Peabody Essex Museum city : SALEM - again, perps

48. Course outlines : SYLLABI - now this one I did know - I had to review the syllabus for my Adult Education AutoCAD class back in 2008 when I was an adjunct at NYU

50. Seat of Greene County, Ohio : XENIA - the "X" was my last letter - how did I miss 42d.~?

54. Long haul : TREK

55. Do away with : ERASE - about the only clue I would define as "weak"

59. Low spots : RUTS

60. Taunt : RIDE

61. Like emus : AUSTRALIAN - LONG-NECKED fit, too....

63. Positive assertion : "I CAN"

64. Ownership issue : CLEAR TITLE - the owner of the restaurants I work at went to closing on his first house yesterday - now it's my turn; I have to close up a window, paint the interior, and strip/poly all the floors

65. Red Rose : PETE - DAH~!!  I am so disappointed I missed this one.  Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds; I am sure C.C. nailed it - are you having baseball withdrawal symptoms~?

66. Home safety feature : HEAT SENSOR - along with motion, what typically triggers your....

13D. Outdoor security item : FLOOD LAMP

DOWN:

1. Lake __ Vista : BUENA

2. Didn't sit around : OPTED

3. String holder : SPOOL

4. __ elbow : TENNIS - I have "high volume" elbow from working at UPS - same condition - see the pic in the 'causes' section; this is what I do for 4-5hrs every morning

5. Tolkien monster : ORC - monster meant it was not "ENT"

6. Base figs. : NCOs - military bases, that is; I went with the carpenter's ESTs

7. Where to get a date : PALM - anyone know where to get the "other" kind of date~?

8. Vigeland Museum city : OSLO - again, perps; Mr. Silk does come up with some unique alternatives to the standard clues

9. Bit of wisdom : PEARL - the same restaurant owner's daughter will be 1yr old on Dec 7th - and her name is Pearl

11. Certain metalworker : PLATER - I've seen enough "How It's Made" episodes on this operation

12. Five-time 1960s Emmy-winning actor : DON KNOTTS

14. Literally, "without lines" : SANS SERIF

23. Crotchety remark : "BAH~!"

25. Atmosphere makeup : GAS

28. Fake : HOAX

29. Potato __ : SKINS - oooh, CHIPS was so close - 20%, but 100% in the right places

31. Museum visit, perhaps : CLASS TRIP

32. Traditional Cajun dish : DIRTY RICE

33. Warned, in a way : SNARLED AT

35. Neighborhood : AREA

41. Rx overseer : FDA

42. "I can remember when the air was clean and __ was dirty": George Burns : SEX

45. Ethylene, for one : ALKENE

47. Legendary speller? : MERLIN - casting spells, that is

49. Cry of domination : "I RULE~!" - huh - iRule; I thought this was Apple's new digital tape measure....

51. Dark times abroad : NUITS

52. Novelist Calvino : ITALO - again, perps and one WAG

53. Longtime Moore co-star : ASNER

56. Completely lost : ASEA

57. Fantasy player's concern : STAT

58. Stumbles, say : ERRS

62. Bolted down : ATE

Splynter