Sunday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: October 7, 2018

My time: 26:10.

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This one was a doozy!  Tom McCoy instructs us to "Mind the Gap," because several key phrases containing words that mean something like "interrupt" are in fact interrupted by an extra, circled letter.  The best part is that the other word is interrupted, making the whole clue very meta, defining itself, almost.

So, for example, "another nickname for Old Abe... or a description of the circled letter?" reads as R(S)AIL SPLITTER.  The circled letter, S, "splits" rail.  We also have OUT(Q)ER SPACE, where the Q fills in a space in outer.  Nest is RO(U)OM DIVIDER, NA(A)SAL CAVITY, and so on to the last answer, GRAN(G)D OPENING.  The circled letters, read together, spell square peg.  Because they don't fit!  Now that's some clever puzzle making.  That's the real McCoy!

On to the fill!

I don't watch modern network TV, so I didn't know that "FBI" is a show now.  It started this year, and was created by "Law & Order" GURU Dick Wolf.

There is a caramel candy called a SLO-poke.  I don't think they sell them in my neck of the woods.  Or my in my chronological era.  The original Slo Poke Caramel Pop was first introduced in 1926 by the Holloway Candy Company.

"Part of an auto garage's business" is TOWAGE, not *TOWING.  Ugh.  No one says TOWAGE. This old semi-words make me all AGLARE.

Spidey villain DOC OCK doesn't look as good written out with no spaces.

In baseball terms, a "singleton" means a SOLO HOMER.  That means that Marge is out with the kids for the night.  No, actually it's a home run hit with no one on base.

ERNST Mach was was an Austrian physicist and philosopher, noted for his contributions to physics such as his study of shock waves.

Giuseppe Verdi wrote the 1859 opera Un ballo in maschera, or A Masked Ball.  The plot concerns the assassination in 1792 of King Gustav III of Sweden who was killed as the result of a political conspiracy against him. He was shot while attending a masked ball and died of his wounds thirteen days later.  But I digress.  In the opera, there is an aria called "ERI tu" ("it was you"), sung by Renato as he forgives his wife.

"Like carbon 12, but not carbon 14" is STABLE.  Carbon-12 is of particular importance in its use as the standard from which atomic masses of all nuclides are measured.  Carbon-14's presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method because of its unstable nature.

The eyeball layer SCLERA was uncovered on June 1.

Clever clues: "Venus, but not Serena" is PLANET.  "A lid usually covers it at night" is IRIS.  "Is on the up and up?" is ASCENDS.  "Experts in the field?" is UMPS.  "Visits a school, maybe" is SCUBAS.  "X isn't really one" is BRAND.

This one took a long while because of the inserted letters!  A challenge --- indeed a real bear --- but OSO fun.  In short, AARGH! but also NEATO.  Now I PLAN TO rest until Monday.

Saturday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: October 6, 2018

My time: 16:08.

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Lewis Dean Hyatt can be forgiving for having an inflated sense of SELF-IMPORTANCE after creating this puzzle, with what must have been quite a LABOR INTENSIVE effort.  Look at this fill: OREO THIN, THAT'S THE SPIRIT, EVIL INTENTIONS, EXCAVATES, and more.

The first comedian to appear on the cover of "Time" was Mort SAHL in 1960.  Sahl pioneered a style of social satire which pokes fun at political and current event topics using improvised monologues and only a newspaper as a prop.

The singer with the 2017 #1 R&B album is... SZA??  What the hell is that?  I put *SIA at first.  I'm so out of touch, it's a wonder I have fingers.

For "time for me to shine," I had *I'M UP, but it's I'M ON.  For "buncha" I put *LOTSA but it's LOTTA.

The largest sesamoid bone in the body is the KNEECAP.  What the hell is a sesamoid bone?  It is a bone embedded within a tendon or a muscle.  The name is is derived from the Latin word sesamum ("sesame seed"), due to the small size of most sesamoids.

ARCO has come up before as a gas station, but today it's a musical term meaning the player should return to bowing after playing pizzicato.

I knew that mahi-mahi is also called dolphinfish and other names, but I forgot about DORADO.

Here's a new thing for me.  I thought HEARTS AND MINDS was a phrase dating from the Iraq War, but it turns out it was appropriated (unwisely, perhaps) from a quote by LBJ on the Vietnam War.  There was a 1974 documentary on the Vietnam War bearing this title.

"Galvanized, chemically" is ZINCED.  That looks so odd I was sure it was wrong.

I also had misgivings about SLICED AND DICED for "broke down for careful analysis."  That is one of the dictionary definitions, but I have always thought of it as just hacking something up, even if figuratively, but without regard to figuring it out.

For "assembly line pioneer" I put *FORD but it's our old sparring buddy, Ransom Eli OLDS.

Lionel Ritchie has a song called "You ARE."  Never heard of it.  It's pretty glossy AOR stuff.

DREXEL University, near Penn, came up on April 9, but I forgot all about it.

Clever clues: "Make rent" is TATTER.  "R.E.M. show?" is DREAM.  "It made a big splash in 2001" is MIR.  "What isn't legal for copying" is LTR --- I guess letter size isn't legal size.  That's not so much clever as it is obscure.  "Like some pans" is SCATHING.

I really enjoyed this one!  Great clues, impressive fill, not too difficult.  The chance to challenge myself with quality crosswords like these is what DRIVES me onward.

Friday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: October 5, 2018

My time: 10:31, very speedy!

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Robyn Weintraub is responsible for this themeless Friday.  AND WE'RE OFF, with a fun meta clue to start ("exclamation appropriate for 1 Across").  I didn't SET A RECORD today, but I'm proud of my effort.   Great fill, including the modern and unusual entries like OPEN-SOURCE, FLASH MOB, PERIWINKLE, MIND MELD, and COLD ONE ("brewski").

"Place for a shrine" is APSE, like a recessed niche in architecture.  Usually they have domed roofs or have an archway entrance.  Sometimes I forget that this isn't the nave, or the central part of a church, rectangular with aisles.

For "perfumery measure" I put *GRAMS but it's DRAMS.  A dram in perfumery, unlike in the alcohol business, is about 1/8 of an ounce.

The cheese Pecorino Romano, if genuine, comes from sheep, specifically a EWE.

Roger TANEY (pronounced Tawny) was the fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 1836 to 1864. He delivered the majority opinion in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, that ruled, among other things, that African Americans could not be considered citizens, whether free or slave.  The reasoning was that since they were considered inferior at the time the United States Constitution was drafted, they could not ex post facto be granted citizenship.

The ankle bone is called the talus, part of the tarsus group which has appeared a few times.  The plural of talus is TALI.

"Family Ties" mom ELYSE Keaton last appeared on March 27.

I learned that Verizon acquired AOL in 2015 on April 12.

Clever clues: "Series finale" is ET AL.  "You might use it in dressing" is STALE BREAD.  "Props for a Broadway play?" is TONY.   "VIP section?" is PERSON --- that word is a section of the abbreviation.  "King maker" is SERTA --- now that's a funny one.  "Military leader known for being chicken?" is GENERAL TSO. "Honey bunch?" is WORKER BEES.  "One who's got game... but shouldn't" is POACHER.  "Like a kid in a candy store, e.g." is CLICHE.

This was a terrific puzzle.  I loved the funny clues and the fresh fill.  There was nothing in it to ENRAGE the solver, even a SCHMO like me.

Thursday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: October 4, 2018

My time: 9:39, quite good!

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Joon Pahk served up this fun and bubbly puzzle, which makes a pun off the part of some cocktails SODA MIXER (the clue reads "ingredient in some cocktails," and that's not quite right in my opinion; the mixer part is a description, not part of an ingredient).

Anyway, this indicates that the last word in five themed clues are anagrams (mixes) of SODA brands.  "It might pop out of a kid's mouth" is BUBBLE GUM (for Mug root beer).  JUDAS PRIEST is a mix of Sprite.  GAS PIPES mixes up Pepsi.  The pun clue "swinger's club" is BASEBALL BAT, for Tab.

I did not know MARC ECKO, designer whose brand features a rhinoceros logo.  Although I think I've leafed through his youth culture magazine, Complex.  Anyway, that's a mixer of Coke.

I couldn't quite come up with John NANCE Garner, US Vice President from 1933-41.  I initially hazarded the guess *VANCE.  More importantly, though, his nickname was "Cactus Jack."

Owner of a name that looks as though it cannot possibly be anything other than a typo, Dave STIEB is a MLB seven-time All-Star, who pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays.  He won the second-highest total of games by a pitcher in the 1980s.

The yacht race known as the America's Cup is the world's oldest international sporting trophy.  The eponymous trophy, also known as the Auld Mug, is named after the AMERICA, the yacht that won it in 1851.  The cup was originally known as the One Hundred Sovereign Cup.

NINA Dobrev is a Bulgarian-born actress who was in the TV shows "The Vampire Diaries" and "Degrassi: The Next Generation."

I remembered that a studio remade the movie ANNIE (in 2014), but I had forgotten the titular character's actor's name: Quvenzhané Wallis.  Whew!  That's a mouthful.

The parable of the Prodigal Son is found in LUKE 15.

"Evil, in Laval" is MAL.  Laval is the third largest city in Quebec.

BASIL is an herb that can come in sweet and holy varieties.  Sweet basil is perhaps the most popular and widely used culinary herb. It grows 12-18 inches tall and foliage color can range from green to purple. Holy basil is a so-called "sacred" herb in some Eastern cultures that self-proclaimed nutritionists often tout as a panacea.  Chefs might call it hot basil.

I'm ashamed to say I already forgot TIM Kaine, senator of Virginia.  I put *TED!

Did you know that a soccer striker is usually number NINE?  I had no idea.

The primitive wind instrument OCARINA came up on August 18.

Clever clues: "Going rates?" is TOLLS.  "Long nap?" is SHAG.   "Phone tapping targets?" is ICONS.  "High Sierra runner" is MAC.  "Server load?" is TRAY.

Whoo, that's a big GLUT of new material.  Time for my EXIT!

Wednesday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: October 3, 2018

My time: 6:52.

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Paul Coulter got his inspiration for this puzzle from both the stars and Greek myth.  CASSIOPEIA was a vain queen of ETHIOPIA, who boasted that she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs, THE NEREIDS.  For this, POSEIDON banished her to the sky (some say chained to a chair, as her daughter was chained and slated to be sacrificed to a sea monster), where we see her constellation today.

As if that weren't enough, the X's scattered throughout the puzzle depict the stars that make up her constellation.

"Presidential perk until 1977" is YACHT.  I am stunned to learn that there was a Sea Force One, the U.S.S. Sequoia, in use from Hoover to Carter, who had it sold in 1977, the fiscally prudent fellow he was.

I'm a big "The Wire" fan, but how am I supposed to know the rank of the tertiary characters?  Jay Landsman was a SGT.  The real Jay Landsman was thin, and the inspiration for detective John Munch, a character from "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

Speaking of Munch, it's no surprise that the Edvard Munch Museum is in OSLO.

For "gives comfort" I put *SUCCORS but it's SOLACES, and that slowed me down.  Likewise, I put *SCARF for "gobble down," and it's the much less common SNARF.

BRYCE Canyon is a National Park in Utah, home to the largest hoodoo collection in the world!

Prince George is Prince William's oldest SON.  Who can keep track of all these royals?

I've never heard of writer ANN Beattie, who seems to have a mixed record.

Muckraker IDA Tarbell was exposed on September 21.

Long, thin mushroom ENOKI was last unearthed on July 18.

That's it for the new stuff.  I might have had the record for today, but got help up at ANN Beattie crossed with *SCARF.  For the theme, I rate this one TEN out of ten.  And now, it's OVER.

Tuesday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: October 2, 2018

My time: 8:52, thirty seconds slower than Tuesday average.

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Paul Coulter made this Tuesday terror, a puzzle I believe to be one of the trickiest Tuesdays in recent memory.

The theme uses musicals --- specifically, the titles of two musicals placed together in one line, and then clued as if they formed one phrase.  Since this is not hinted at anywhere in the puzzle, nor are there any other winks to the musical genre in the grid, it kind of falls flat.

"Megacorporation? (1996, 1970)" is BIG COMPANY.  "BIG" is a 1996 adaptation of the Tom Hanks movie.  "COMPANY" is a 1970 musical by Stephen Sondheim, about a single man unable to commit to a relationship.

"Pomade? (1968, 1972)" is HAIR GREASE.  That's my favorite one.  "Supreme Court that's corrupt? (2003, 1982)" is WICKED NINE.  "NINE" is based on the film 81/2 and focuses on a middle-aged film director who is facing a creative block.  Finally, there's "Melted? (2018, 2012)", which is FROZEN, ONCE.  "ONCE" is based on an earlier film of the same name and centers around two struggling musicians in Ireland who fall in love.

Musicals!  Not something I know a lot about.  But it's the total lack of a capper or punchline or twist on this theme that leaves me cold.

"N's in Athens" are NUS, nu being the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet and written ν.  

A new word to me is BASTE, not the cooking term, but meaning "to sew with long loose stitches in order to hold something in place temporarily."

Apparently, the language TAGALOG gave us the word "boondocks."  It is from the word bundok, meaning mountain.

I spent way, way too much time with *USMA at "Annapolis org."  It's USNA, U.S. Naval Academy, not Military Academy!  That was just stupid.

I've heard of STERE, a cubic meter, but I needed help getting there in the puzzle.

If I ever heard of DOBBS FERRY, a village in Westchester, New York, the county where I was born, it was decades ago and long forgotten.

The SEGO lily is Utah's state flower.  Fun fact: The soft, bulbous root of the sego lily was collected and eaten in the mid 1800's during a crop-devouring plague of crickets in Utah.

Did you know A-ROD was a third baseman?  Well, I didn't!  He was also a shortstop.

We all know what an AÇAÍ berry is, but I didn't know there was a Brazilian dish called ACAI na tigela.  Meaning "aćaí in the bowl," it is served frozen as a smoothie in a bowl or glass, and is commonly topped with granola and banana, and then mixed with other fruits and guaraná syrup.

The part of the War of 1812 that was fought on LAKE ERIE took place in 1813.  It was the first unqualified defeat of a British naval squadron in history.  In it, Oliver Hazard Perry led a fleet of nine American ships to victory over a squadron of six British warships.

For "lady of Spain," I put *DAMA but it's DONA.  This crossed my error with *USMA, which was unfortunate.

The Teatro alla SCALA, the opera house in Milan, last appeared on August 3.

Actress SELA Ward of The Fugitive last appeared on April 24.

Clever clues: "Deer sir?" is STAG.  "Carte that comes before the course" is MENU.  "Fall setting" is EDEN --- I had *EDGE at first.

Man, this one was A BIT difficult!  I did not care a FIG for the theme. 

Monday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: October 1, 2018

My time: 5:52.

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Chuck Deodene probably wondered "Can I?" to himself before daring to construct this puzzle.  The old "doomsayer's assertion" THE END / IS NIGH runs across the middle.  Accordingly, four themed answers end in the sound /nī/.  DRAMATIS PERSONAE (pronounced correctly) and SULTAN OF BRUNEI, for example.

Two themed answers require special blog attention: the FIGHTING ILLINI ("college team from the land of Lincoln"), last seen on November 26, 2017.  It came up three times before, and I'm proud to say I wrote it in posthaste.  But I'm not familiar with the BATTLE OF THE SINAI.  There were actually two such named battles.  The first engagement in 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, ended with Israeli forces crossing the Suez Canal.  The earlier "battle" was a series of attacks, in 1948, part of Operation Horev during the Arab-Israeli War.

"NYC subway inits." is IRT, as in Interborough Rapid Transit.  This was a private comnpany that was acquired by the city in 1940.

Claudio ARRAU was a Chilean pianist widely considered one of the greatest pianist of the twentieth century.

Maya Angelou is not someone I've read widely.  And Still I RISE is her third volume of poetry, published in 1978.

I nearly got architect Frank GEHRY this time, but spelled his name *GERRY.

SOBA noodles were last featured on May 5.  I've eaten some since!  They're great!