Your Mileage May Vary
by Myles Callum
edited by Mike Shenk
December 11, 2009


I assume most readers also do the NYT's puzzles, yes? In case you missed it, the WSJ's editor switched seats as constructor for the Sunday 12/13/09 puzzle. Com*men*tar*y.


Full answers for this week's puzzle available on WSJ's crossword puzzle page or with the following week's puzzle on WSJ's online Lifestyle page.


Theme: Phrases in which M, P, & G occur in order
MULTIPLY BY EIGHT {23A *How to get 24 from 3}
COME UP AGAINST {41A *Confront}
CAMPFIRE GIRLS {64A *Their motto is “Give Service”}
BUNGEE JUMPING {83A *It involves a leap of faith}
QUIT COMPLAINING {107A *“Whine, whine, whine!”}
HUMPHREY BOGART {16D *Actor who was once a chess hustler}
CAMPAIGN BUTTON {49D *Pol's promo}
MPG {108D What “varies” in position in the answers to the seven starred clues}


Word of the Week: MOUES {75D Annoyed expressions}
Try to say moue without making one.


Brainworm: GATO
{72A Cat, in Castile} Gotten easily from a Dr. Seuss childhood. Alright everyone sing, “Cat, hat. In French chat chapeau. In Spanish, el gato in a sombrero...” Wiki has the end entirely in Spanish, "Cat. Hat./In French, chat chapeau./In Spanish, el gato en un sombrero." When you sing it, both work.


News To Me: 3+
OLLAS {20A Spicy Stews} – We recently bought a pressure cooker, also know as an olla express. Big in Europe but not so much in the US. Our extravagance with energy amazes me.
PARLOUS {61A Fraught with danger} – Not to be confused with garrulous, which is only fraught with boredom.
ARP {63A Colleague of Grunwald and Ernst} – Jean, Alfred, & Max, all Dadas.


Mystery Cross:
SNEE {112A Ko-Ko's dagger} – Not only from the Mikado but apparently Gilbert's inspiration for it.
crossing
ANSA {105D Archaeological handle} – Ansa can also refer to “either of the ends of Saturn's rings which appear to project out from either side of the planet.”


Puzzle Patterns:
The puzzle resounds with visual and content echoes. {85D Echo:IMITATE} One is sloppy; half a dozen is a design choice. The duplication is clearly intentional in the repeat clue for EON & AGES{37A &116A Long time}. In addition, DIAL & RING {74A & 78A Call on the phone} not only repeat the clue but are stacked. The former brings to mind the Benoit College Mindset List. Read it & don't feel old – I dare you. My Mindset moment came in the early 90s when I was working in a college textbook store. One semester *Das Kapital* was required reading for government courses. Next term, it was on the history lists.

I gather it is verboten for a word to appear twice crossword? Mr. Callum had to be tweaking that rule with SALIS {97A Cum grano ____ (with a grain of 29-Down)} & SALT {29D See 97-Across}. Later: this rule was happily whacked upside the head on Thursday's NYT puzzle [12/17/09]. Awesome.

Since I wanted to USE part of one [USE UP {43D Exhaust}] to answer the other [EMPLOYS {17D Puts to work}], I'm calling it an echo.

J.R. saunters in twice with reference to his mother [ELLIE {6D With 25-Down, J.R.'s mother} EWING {25D See 6-Down}] and to the man who portrayed him [LARRYS {87D Holmes and Hagman}]. There is also a letter echo in the EWING/EWELL {28A Tom of “The Seven Year Itch”} cross.

Finally, there is a grand letter cross in the upper left corner.
LAMP {26A Reading aids}
SAMPLE {29A Use bits of one recording in another}
CAMPHOR {34A Moth repellant}
plus FLUME {22A Logging Channel} on top & GALE {39A Big blow} on bottom makes a diagonal string of four As, four Ms, & three Ps. Has anyone ever done a puzzle with the same letter along the diagonal?

Dunno that all these echoes change the solving but they sure make the pondering more fun, hence the extended blog this week.



Opportunities To Learn New Things & Admissions of Defeat: 4 problem spots. (sounds better than a word count.)

Had to look up the name stack of NEUMAN {93A “The Fly” director Kurt}/ETTORE {101A Car designer Bugatti}

Completely missed on the TEENA {5A “Lovergirl” singer __ Marie}/ELLIE cross area.

The QUI {107D On the __ vive} could have gone either way (e or i) and didn't.

When SNEE refused to come together, ANSA was no help.
I try to console myself that two weeks ago I was happy that my mind was working at all.



Taking Issue: ROAN
{19A Reddish-brown} Nope. *Horsewords: The Equine Dictionary* (Trafalgar 1997) defines roan as “a specific color pattern consisting of a uniform mixture of colored and white body hairs.” The colored hairs do not have to be brown ones. The American Roan Horse Association recognizes “blue roan, red roan and bay roan body color.”

As for other uses, Your Dictionary has, “said chiefly of horses.” So we can go with the equine usage.

Nota bene: ROAN was used correctly on Friday, September 11, 2009 {58A Chestnut with white mixed in, e.g.}


Commentary: Is it Product Placement if I don't get anything out of it? As I'm still huddled in the vestiges of the 20th century, I don't have the phone power to evaluate Crosswords for iPhone. I pass this along for people who might be more plugged in. I could see myself doing a crossword on a handheld before reading on one. I've got too much invested in the codex to change now. I did try an iPhone once, which tempted me to get one without a calling plan for the BubbleWrap App. Apparently it has a timer. I was popping too fast to notice.

Later: Ryan, of Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords, comments on iPhone crosswords, Thur 12-17-9. [re all the Laters - see what bonuses I get for procrastinating?]

I would be happy to Place other crossword Products - until such time as I start to I feel used.

Katherine Walcott
Puzzle Fan