Comments on: Friday, 3/19/10

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:12:34 +0000

Loved loved loved the Trip Payne puzzle. So glad we’re getting another one soon!

Has the “Big One” hit Cruciverb this time?

By: ePeterso2

ePeterso2 — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:16:09 +0000

I thoroughly enjoyed Trip’s Something Different #3 puzzle today. I hadn’t seen these before, so this was a very pleasant surprise! I still can’t believe that 9A and 22A were the first entries I made in the grid …

Along those lines, I was wondering if y’all could help me track down a particular puzzle that I once had but can no longer find. It was in an April edition of Games Magazine several years ago – possibly as early as 2000. I think the puzzle was called “Duh”, and it had clue/answer pairs like so:

[Like the wind] WINDY
[Born anew] NEWBORN

Does anyone know which issue this was in? Better yet, might anyone be able to help me find a copy? Thanks -eP

By: John Haber

John Haber — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:47:07 +0000

Ah, yes, thanks. You know, though, I don’t like things I find obscure when we seem to have to know it or recognize it (like Joyner), but in a clue like this, it’s pretty obvious we’re not supposed to recognize the title. At some point, it’s just supposed to hit us that, hey, ELIA seems to fit, and, gee, that really does sound like it must be an essay. (If it were fiction, it’d be pretty postmodern judging by its title.)

By: joon

joon — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:27:30 +0000

john, i assure you that amy is familiar with ELIA as the pen name of charles lamb. i think she was just commenting that the titles of the individual essays of ELIA are unfamiliar. even so, had the clue been {“The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers” essayist} instead of {“The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers” writer}, i bet she would’ve instafilled it.

By: John Haber

John Haber — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:53:34 +0000

“The Paper” sounded obvious from the clue’s subject, but I swear I don’t remember it, so that part was a bit hard. At the end, I was dying to come here to find out what Joyner/Kersee is about, since I had no idea. But a good puzzle.

I’m amazed that Amy hasn’t heard of the essays of Elia. I guess it shows how much has changed in more than one sector. Aside from schools, where intro to lit once meant pretty much Romanticism, ELIA was crosswordese for a lot longer. (Lamb was also famous at one time for Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary. I always laughed at the sound of “lambs’ tails.”) I can’t say I’ve ever finished an essay by Charles Lamb, but I sure got used to it as crossword filler!

By: Quentinc

Quentinc — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:33:35 +0000

A very smooth, enjoyable puzzle. And it didn’t hurt that it was an easy solve for a Friday. My only hitch was that I was certain Patty Hearst’s alter ego was TANYA, which led me to wonder if spies used CYNICAMERAS (I would, if I were a spy).

By: Howard B

Howard B — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:22:02 +0000

THEPAPER / ALICANTE were both mysteries for me, so that corner took a little while to unravel. After a bit, ended up with THEPA?ER and ALICA?TE. The Parer??? Nah… Pacer? Thank goodness for the context clue. I suspect a Newsday Stumper version of this puzzle would not have been so kind ;).