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.
The theme was Tabloid Twosomes, and some of them were doozies.
It's quite possible that I have some wrong answers in the grid. If that's the case, please feel free to correct me in the comments section. I don't know of any way to check my answers, so I'm counting on readers to let me know.
One more diversion. Every time I see Peter Gordon's email address, I start to giggle. For some reason, I read it (in my mind) as puzz-leed-itor, with the accent on the second syllable. I've always wanted to tell somebody that.
So...here are the theme answers I came up with.
4D: Jen & Ben, or a small candy imperfection? (Pezfleck). This is the one I'm least sure of.
12D: Joan & Douglas, or where birds go to donate throat pouches? (Crawbanks).
21D: Alec & Kim, or a way to describe Moby or Seal? (Baldsinger).
38D: Susan & Tim, or wrap containers? (Saranbins).
46D: Jessica & Hume, or a beach buddy? (Tancrony).
I'm always happy to see some of my favorites in a puzzle. 49A: TV series set on the Ponderosa (Bonanza). If you've read my blog, you know that I was a big Bonanza fan, and I loved Lorne Greene and Michael Landon.
58D: "Hotel Rwanda" costar (Nolte). I love everything about Nick Nolte, but I didn't remember that he was in Hotel Rwanda. That was so intense...I'm not surprised I don't remember details.
I absolutely loved 57A: Abbr. on Manhattan mail (NYNY). Great answer.
25A: Two-syllable foot is a great clue for iamb, which sits atop 30A: Brand found at Petco (Iams).
Another excellent clue at 47A: Woof's counterpart (warp). I wonder how many of you had bark? For those who don't know, warp and woof are terms used in weaving.
72A: Agreeing spouse's words (yes, dear) made me laugh. It's been a joke in our house for almost 30 years. It would take too long to explain it, and it probably wouldn't be funny to anyone else. But it was funny to see it in the puzzle.
I liked the clue for 62D: Flower in a pocketful (posy). It opened up the whole southwest corner. In case you don't remember, it's from Ring Around the Rosie.
I've enjoyed the opportunity to be a Genius. Thanks, Robert, for letting me fill in. Tomorrow's guest blogger is the King of CrossWorld himself, Rex Parker. You won't want to miss it!
Linda G
9 comments:
Looks like the only little blip in the puzzle you've got there is the L in NYlPH/lADONNA (it's an M), which means you nailed all the theme answers perfectly!
Celebrity names and I don't play well together, so I had a heck of a struggle with this one (although BALDSINGER was pretty clever, and just saying PEZ FLECK is sort of silly/fun).
Not only the name collisions, but some of those other words were a bit brutal... RAVELER, DENTATE - gettable, but not really coffee-table conversation. I was (almost) thankful to see HALYARD hanging around.
I do appreciate originality though, and it's a pretty safe bet that none of those theme 'couples' have been seen anywhere, not just in a puzzle ;). Maybe one will make it to your local tabloid.
Thanks, Howard. One mistake in a grid that baffled me isn't too bad.
What's funny is that I know both NYMPH and MADONNA...but when I saw the _ADONNA, an L was the only letter I could think of that would fit. A tribute to my junior high school best friend, I guess ; )
I had a tough time with the celebrity mash-ups on this one, too. I actually had MEOW at first for [Woof's counterpart] and then had to scratch my head at the actual answer (thanks for the explanatory link).
I also notice a slight mistake in your grid where you have ENS/NHS instead of ENL/NHL (enlisted/national hockey league). I use Across Lite to check all of my (seemingly inevitable) booboos.
I have a new appreciation for those people who have to check all those tournament puzzles, both the on-site and mail-in entries. Not easy.
It's pretty funny that puzzling and blogging are far more stressful than my job! Actually, I think that's pretty good.
I didn't realize I could check the grid at Across Lite. Duh...like that only works for the NYT! I'll remember that for future guest blogging opportunities here; )
This was one of the more dandier SUN puzzles. I pretty much guessed who the twosomes were, except for 12D, "Joan & Douglas." A google (am I allowed to do this) turned up Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. I should've thought about _dead_ twosomes.
What baffled me was the answer to 31D, "Multiple of LIX," which was "MIII." If these are Roman numerals, in Arabic numbers they are 59 and 1003. Neither of these numbers are multiples of each other. So what am I missing?
Also, 24A, "H that follows Z," whose answer is "ETA." Can someone explain the connection?
Thanks
A.Y.
A.Y.,
Don't know if you'll see this, but...
1003=59*17, so 1003 is indeed a ("surprising") multiple of 59, and
H (eta) follows Z (zeta) in the Greek alphabet.
Thank you, most recent anonymous poster. I didn't know the answers to A.Y.'s questions. I'm glad you did and that you shared!
To my anonyymous brethren,
Thanks for addressing my concerns. It seems my math is rusty. Maybe I could brush up by doing the "SUN DOKUs." Then again, maybe not, since I read somewhere that some liken "SUN DOKUs" to "Find-the-Word" puzzles.
As for why "ETA" is the "H that follows Z," from your explanation, I see that it's Greek to me.
Thanks again, Anonymous, and thanks to Linda G for sharing her time and insights with us.
A. Y.
Post a Comment