Dead tree solving - eco edition! 
Best of both worlds - paper and pencil/pen solving, but rather than curled up with the newspaper, you're curled up with your tablet/iPad/Android! Write, even draw, in the grid, directly on the screen. 

Perfect for rebus puzzles, like this one from a recent Thursday NYTimes puzzle. Use a stylus, for the feel of really writing, or just use your fingertip - it is remarkably easy and is your real writing... I filled this one out using my finger - the stylus is just there for show. (The rebus was MAN - as in TAXMAN at 54D...) If you would like to try it out, click on "About Me" on this page and send me an email.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Happy Birthday, Will!

Warmest wishes for your 60th birthday, Mr. Shortz, and many happy returns!
We were just coming back up for air after having spent 3 delightful weeks of playing tourguides and innkeepers to waves of friends from near and far, when what should appear in my Inbox but an email from Andrea Carla Michaels pointing me towards a seemingly endless slew of tribute puzzles.  And here I thought I was actually going to be productive this week...

Well, of course I can't resist, so beauty sleep be damned, full speed ahead!
Here are my musings and tags on the first 3 I tackled...from the King and Queen of Mondays, Tom Pepper and Andrea.
I'll post the others as I am able to steal time away.
At the right is the very apropos KUDOS I get whenever my puzzle is correct - a smiling Will!  Today he has even more reason to smile.

(Please click read more below to read my summaries on the 2 ACME and the Tom Pepper puzzles.)



Where'd Will Go?  by Tom Pepper

Summary
Puzzle completion time
Solve time
Pause time
Total time
tita
10min:51sec
3min:14sec
14min:5sec

Overall comment

Tom - you've outdone yourself!! Absolutely hilarious.
Got BERMUDASHORTZ, and thought - Will is GOINGCOMMANDO!...till I got to BOXERSHORTZ, and realized all is right with the Shortzian world...
Of course, we all remember your classic Monday from last year, making this theme even more of a treasure.
(This puzzle also had a broad age span, as is fitting the honoree, who remembers when we had to DIALO, but can also TWEET with the best of them. Nice of you to refrain from cluing ILL in any other way....the LURING to do so must have been great! (Oh - DNF, btw, thanks to Natick at OVITZ/AZOV. Is AZOV near AZUSA?)

Write overs (word evolution)


22A First of a Latin trio [AMa-->AMO]
28D "The Osbournes" dad [OZZi-->OZZY]
33A Former Disney chief Michael [OrtiZ-->OrIiZ-->OrITZ-->OVITZ]
22D Sea of ___ (arm of the Black Sea) [AZOr-->AZOV]


Naticked by: (DNF)

33A Former Disney chief Michael
22D Sea of ___ (arm of the Black Sea)
General comments

1A Senior moment, e.g. [LAPSE]
tita
I resemble that remark...
15A The March King [SOUSA]
tita
Tom - did you know he was Portuguese?
16A Official in a striped shirt [REF]
tita
Nice with ZEBRAS at 50D
22D Sea of ___ (arm of the Black Sea)[AZOV]
tita
obscure answer
natick
23A Impertinent [SASSY]
tita
Great minds...the King & Queen of Mondays both using this word in their tribute puzzles!
25D Poli-___[SCI]
tita
gimme
33A Former Disney chief Michael [OVITZ]
tita
obscure answer
pop name
natick
34D Figure skater Thomas[DEBI]
tita
obscure answer
sports
35D Sometimes loud hotel amenity[ICEMAKER]
tita
nice clue
Only when your room is right next to it...
36D Defense against a sometimes loud hotel amenity[EARPLUGS]
tita
nice clue
37A One of two in Scrabble [BLANK]
tita
nice clue
39D They're not up for debate[KNOWNS]
tita
nice clue
44A Vietnam's capital [HANOI]
tita
gimme
47A Will, in the Triangle? [BERMUDASHORTZ]
tita
wow
nice clue
Hah!!! Is he GOINGCOMMANDO? (Inside joke - wink-wink...!)
51A Put in danger [IMPERIL]
tita
nice clue
Great word
52A Suitor [WOOER]
tita
nice clue
great word
61A Will, in the ring? [BOXERSHORTZ]
tita
wow
nice clue
Oops - I guess he's NOT GOINGCOMMANDO after all...
3D Mood uplifter[PROZAC]
tita
nice clue
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Happy Birthday Will!  by Andrea Carla Michaels


Summary
Puzzle completion time
Solve time
Pause time
Total time
tita
12min:29sec
6min:26sec
18min:55sec

Overall comment
tita
I like this one even better than the "Doing 60" puzzle...very funny.
Like the hugs OOOO, like all the "for short(z)”s... and especially like all the "Z"s! Not only the mandatory ones, given the honoree, but all the gratuitous Zs, like ZAZU, OOZE, and of course, ZZZZZ.
(My love of Zs has something to do wiht being named TereZa, I guezz.). Also love all the places you are sending Will.

Write overs (word evolution)

tita
8D Wander about (no, you are not seeing double!) [ROam-->ROVE]
21A You old world duck, you! [rome-->SMEW]  (Malapop!)

General comments
 1A "Hottest Spot North of Havana" [COPA]
tita
googled
pop name
gimme
New test pattern of my mind...thanks Andrea! Also a great 1A.
4D Spray can[AEROSOL]
tita
gimme
9D Donkey or rabbit feature[EAR]
tita
nice clue
12D Arab general bigwig[EMIR]
tita
crosswordese
nice clue
13D Chinese bigwig general[TSO]
tita
crosswordese
nice clue
15A Lots of hugs for Will! [OOOO]
tita
nice clue
Hilarious!
16A University of Indiana grads, for short(z) [ALUMS]
tita
Clever...
20A Congratulations!!! [KUDOS]
tita
nice clue
21A You old world duck, you! [SMEW]
tita
crosswordese
Learned some new xwordese today...
23A ___ Paulo, where you should go for your birthday! [SAO]
tita
Cute... Now, I've been here, and I've been to Copa Cabana Beach in Rio, though not to the COPA of 1A.
27A Will's table tennis tour? [SHORTZCIRCUIT]
tita
nice clue
61A Will's personal chef? [SHORTZORDERCOOK]
tita
nice clue
My absolute fav, especially since we just dropped our friend's son off to start his 3-year stint at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) in Hyde Park! Maybe he can aspire to this position...
30D Jews from Minnesota who make films[COENS]
tita
obscure answer
pop name
33D Domesticates[TAMES]
tita
Wasn't this jsut in hte Doing 60 puz?
34D In incredible shape from playing table tennis[FIT]
tita
nice clue
36A Instrument of the church? [ORGAN]
tita
redirect
37D Bread, in Bombay, where you should go for your birthday![NAN]
tita
Hold on just a minute - isn't it NAAN?? Well, OK, I guess we'll let it slide, in keeping with the situation...
39A Related to an itchy disease [ECZEMAL]
tita
nice clue
Hilarious! I'm lovin' all these Z words!
41A "___ Believer" [IMA]
tita
Oh no - conflicting test patterns - 41A or 1A...
43D Where you should buy your birthday presents[TOYSRUS]
tita
obscure answer
Huh? Oh - AHA! I get it...
44A Huge website, related to Z Magazine [ZNET]
tita
obscure answer
pop name
45D Valley near San Francisco[SILICON]
tita
nice clue
46A Will's little white lies? [SHORTZSTORIES]
tita
nice clue
47D Dance, in Koln, where you should go for your birthday![TANZ]
tita
nice clue
Ulrich will like this clue...
58D Italian city, where you should go for your birthday![ROME]
tita
Malapop!! Had ROME at 21A (Inexplicably...!)

1 comment:

  1. Hi Tita,
    Glad you got a laugh or two out of it! Sorry about the horrible natick! I was under the gun timewise, but I could have spent a little more time on it to deal with its weaknesses. Thank you for your kind comments! I trust you were relieved to find that Will kept his Shortz on all the way through the puzzle! :)
    Take care,
    Tom

    ReplyDelete