Saturday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: November 24, 2018

My time: 20:53, not too bad considering.

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David Steinberg designed this themeless that has six grid-spanning Across answers.  It's not the finest Saturday puzzle ever.  It has some good points and some things to carp about.

I liked SWIPER, NO SWIPING!, THE CLAWS COME OUT ("things get ugly"), and HIGH MAINTENANCE ("demanding").

"Cry for attention, maybe" is a pretty vague clue for MEOW, but backed up by science!

Here's a new word for me: SHOJI, the lattice-framed paper screens used as room dividers in Japanese homes.  This clue helped me immediately associate the Japanese TATAMI for the later clue "straw mat."

For "capitol vehicle" I got stuck on it ending in cab, and that slowed me down. I even put in *METRO CAB for a bit, although that's not anything DC-related.  It turns out to be STATE CAR.  That makes much more sense.  Similarly, for "not just down," I got in my head that it might end in out but it's IN A HOLE.

"How some bonds are sold" is AT PAR.  This just means at the bond's face value.

Here's one of the bigger things to carp about.  "Suffers humiliation."  *EATS CROW, obviously, right?  Wrong.  It's EATS DIRT.  No!  No one says this.  Terrible clue.  If you need these letters as an answer, why not put the (more interesting, anyway) clue "suffers from geophagia, say"?  This bad cluing cost me a lot of time.

Did you know KAN is home to the largest grain elevator in the world?

"E-4 and E-5, but not E-3" is NCOS.  E-1 through E-3 are the Junior Enlisted Ranks, from private to specialist.  E-4 is corporal and E-5 is sergeant.

As I am very old and totally out of touch with the Musics of Today, I have never heard of JESSIE J or her song with Nicki Minaj and Arianda Grande, "Bang Bang."  Even though it reached the top ten in fourteen countries, got a Grammy nomination, and went six-times platinum.

Crossing this baffling clue is "specialized."  I couldn't figure out NICHE from this, having reluctantly guessed *NICER (as in a finer, nicer distinction --- weak, I know).

"Drink flavorer" stymied me for a while until I figured out it was ZEST.  In other drink clues, I kept thinking that "drink that competes with Monster" was something like jet fuel but since that's not actually a brand of anything, the answer is RED BULL.

I hate the blank clues, like "___ big" for YEA.

"Big name in shipping" is DHL (last seen on May 29).  Through a series of wrong crossed answers, I had *CEL, surprisingly also a valid answer.

A TARTE Tatin is a fruit-filled pastry that is flipped over onto a plate just before serving.  It's named after the hotel where it was served.

Actor AIDAN Quinn appeared on April 13.  Today we learn he is in the CBS TV show "Elementary."

"Standford rival" is CAL, as in University of California, as discussed on January 28.

I just recently heard of Jean-Baptiste-Camille COROT, in this puzzle, on November 11, as the painter of The Bridge at Narni.  Today he is clued as the painter of Ville d'Avray (which seems to be title shared by more than one work).

Clever clues: "It's not backed up" is IDLE SPECULATION.  "Ancestor of a cell" tries to fool you with hypothetical biology, but it's actually about technology: BEEPER.  "One way to lose your balance?" is ACCOUNTING ERROR.  "Digs in the snow?" is IGLOO; it didn't phase me for a second but I appreciate the pun.  "Trio of mummies" is EMS.  "10/" for OCT is pretty good.

PHEW, I finally got through that.  So, as I said, some fun parts some not so fun parts.  I SRTA liked it.  And now, I'm off.

Friday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: September 21, 2018

My time: 20:06, a minute and a half slower than average.

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Zhouqin Burnikel created this themeless, which gave me a lot of trouble with its unusual fill and vague clues.  I have to admire the inclusion of CRIME BOSS ("El Chapo, notably), DUDE RANCH, STALIN ERA ("1924 to 1953"), ICE PALACE ("skating site"), and others, often with punny clues.

TAOS has come up several times, but here it's TAOS Ski Valley, "one of the highest municipalities in the US" at 9,200 feet.

We all know Fibonacci was an Italian, but did you know he was a PISAN?  Another fun fact: that name was made up in 1838, 600 years after his death.  His real name was Leonardo Pisano Bigollo.

In addition to being fantastic fill, a TATAMI MAT is a rice straw and rush mat covering the floor of a Japanese house or restaurant.

I think "unwanted messages" is a bit deceptively mild for HATE MAIL.

IDA Tarbell was a journalist and lecturer, a muckracker who "took on" Standard Oil by writing an exposé in 1904 called The History of the Standard Oil Company, a book which discussed the corrupt inner practices of the massive trust.  Her book would also lead to the Hepburn Act in 1906 to oversee the railroads, the 1910 Mann-Elkins Act which gave the Interstate Commerce Commission power over oil rates, and the creation of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1914.

I did not know that Sandra Day O'CONNOR wrote a boom called Out of Order: Stories From the History of the Supreme Court.

I also didn't know DRAKE had an 2015 album (called a mixtape by he man himself) called If You're Reading This, It's Too Late.

GOP org. is RNC, also clued as "letter after Senator Richard Burr's name," because he's the Republican senator from North Carolina, in which case it's written R-NC.

MIA is a brand of facial care product made by Clarisonic.

Clever clues: "Gas" is EMPTY WORDS.   "Effect of surplus oil" is ACNE -- I was tricked and thought about shale oil.  "Took courses under pressure" is a very amusing way to say "STRESS ATE."  "Core group?" is SEEDS.  "Baby carriers" is MAMAS.

Well, like yesterday, this one took way too long, but I SUPPOSE at least it didn't come to DEAD END.  At least I finished, so I made it out with my pride INTACT.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

My time: 9:08.

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I liked the "collector" pun theme (for example, "stamp collector" = PASSPORT).  One of the clues doesn't quite ft with the others --- stamp collecting, record collecting, and shell collecting are hobbies, but a "bill collector" is something else entirely.

In general, I thought the clues were unusually vague for a Tuesday; not frustrating or anything, just teasingly vague clues which I think usually belong on a Wednesday or later.

I really liked the original answers STANDING O, BITTER END, and TOOTLE.  "Puff pieces" for PIPES is clever.

For "Japanese floor mat," I had the general idea in my head --- takami?  kotami? --- but it is TATAMI, which sounds like it is a lacy friend (tat + ami).