Monday, July 9 - Dominick Talvacchio

Greetings, fellow Sun solvers. Linda G here, filling in for the vacationing Green Genius while he takes a well-deserved vacation. I'm doing this before I leave for work...my apologies that there will be no pictures with this post. Maybe the next. Note: The finished grid appears in the following post...long story.

Robert always starts his blog this way, so to be consistent...SPOILER WARNING: Don't read any further until you've done today's New York Sun Crossword Puzzle. New York Sun puzzles are every bit as fun and challenging as the more well-known New York Times and they're indisputably better in one way -- they're free. If you'd like to read about an unbiased head-to-head competition between the Sun and the Times puzzles check this out. Or if you're ready to decide for yourself you can download this puzzle and join in on the fun here.

And now...on to today's puzzle, Typewriter Trivia, by Dominick Talvacchio. I've been typing for forty years and have never noticed anything like the four theme clues/answers:

20A: Disposition to credulity (and the longest common word that alternates typing hands) [antiskepticism]. I just had to delete it and type it again, just to make sure that the clue was accurate. It was.

25A: Violet variety (and the longest common word that uses just the right typing hand) [johnny jump-up]. I paid attention the first time around.

42A: Seesaw (and the longest common word that uses just the top typewriter row) [teeter totter].

48A: Knitted farments for women (and the longest common word that uses just the left typing hand) [sweaterdress]. One of my goals in life was to be able to wear a sweaterdress and look good in it. The only time in my life that I was thin enough to pull it off, they weren't in style...not available anywhere. Oh, well. It was a stupid goal...not important in the grand scheme.

One connected clue in the puzzle, and I got it before I even looked at the grid. 15A: With 56-Across, language course final, often (oral/exam).

Some interesting Y-endings. 37A: Full of moxie (gutsy). I love both of those words. And it shares its Y with 22D: Two sheets to the wind? (tipsy). We also have 5D: Cozily warm (toasty), not a word I can get excited about these days. We've been around 100, occasionally getting up to 103, so...not so appealing as it would be in the winter, say.

28D: Day trip, say (jaunt). We took one yesterday, driving 90 miles to Glenwood Springs just to have lunch and do some shopping. There's a really nice hot springs pool there, but we decided to pass on it. Good thing...it was packed. But we had a nice lunch at our favorite brew pub. We didn't get tipsy, though.

Clever clue, albeit somewhat morbid, at 4D: Life or death, e.g. (sentence). I did a double-take at 40A: One who might thank a rubber. I know the Sun is a little more on the edge than the New York Times, but really! Shows where my mind is...the answer (genie) is quite benign!

29D: De-knot (untie) reminds me of the funny t-shirt..."Bad spellers of the world untie."

When I looked over the finished grid, the funniest-looking answer was 46D: Inherently (per se). I saw it as perse and refused to look at the clue until I could figure it out on my own.

I always like to hear what others thought of the puzzle, so feel free to share your thoughts on it...for better or for worse.

I also blog the New York Times at Madness...Crossword and Otherwise and invite you to come check it out.

And I'll be here again tomorrow. Hope to see you then.

Linda G