Pole Dance
by Patrick Blindauer
edited by Mike Shenk
April 2, 2010

Full answers available on WSJ's crossword puzzle page.

Theme: Geomagnetic reversal comes early & suddenly.
PANNED THE BUCK {23A Gave Bambi a bad review?}- passed
BOSUN TRACK {38A Career path for a petty officer?}- bonus
FROST LAWS {49A Rules concerning cold cases?}- front lawns
PUNNY CAT {58A Hipster who's a quipster?}- pussy
CHARITY CANE {68A Support for the sympathetic?}- case
CLONE COMBAT {76A Conflict between truly identical twins}- close. Can something be more identical? Yes, if you put it to music. Apparently identical twins aren't.
SASSY CAM {89A Impertinent Hockey Hall of Famer Neely?}- nanny
FUSSY GIRL {98A Lass who's hard to please?}- funny
NEW AGE TASK {108A Endeavor for Enya?}- sewage tank
DETROIT PINTOS {125A Painted ponies from Michigan?}- Pistons


Crosswordpuzzlese: Yeah or Nay?
Elizabeth Gorski says that crosswordese doesn't exist. I disagree, it's like pornography, you know it when you see it. Or for a more operational definition, facts to commit to memory because you're Gonna See Them Again:
ERATO {40A Muse of love poetry} & her sisters.
Everything about Arthur ASHE {56D “Off the Court” autobiographer} & Yoko ONO {127D Walking on Thin Ice” singer}.
ILER {5D Robert of “The Sopranos”} – We better hope that R.I. gets a new gig once this one runs its cultural course.
&
TSAR{24D Pre-Lenin leader} – Although the editor is on record as saying he prefers Czar. [1st question under Ask? Will]


News To Me: 6
BICEPS {29A “Guns”} - All over the Web. Nothing definitive.
INDRA {46A God of war and storms, in Hinduism}
NAS {61A”Illmatic” rapper} - debut album
OTO {37D Native Oklahoman}
TASM {60D Loc. of some devils} - as in Tasmania?
OILY {122D Pinguid} - Who doesn't envision a greasy penguin?
Small world. Friday evening my hubby uses guns in conversation, in reference to the shirt policy at his gym. I'd never heard the word before that day. Then on Sunday, I read that “Blue denoted .... the raincloak of Indra, the war and fertility god of the Hindus.” in The Healing Power of Color by Betty Wood [Destiny 1984/1992] p15. Ditto.


Admissions of Defeat: 2 of 7
While I admire the puzzle's puns & plays, i.e. C CUP {34D Support spec} or SENS {19D D.C. 100}, I get cranky when a 48 year-old song [ESO BESO {75A 1962 Paul Anka hit}] crosses a local politician [CORY {71D Newark mayor Booker}] or when two actors intersect [OLMOS {57A “Battlestar Gallactica” star}/OSSIE{45D Ruby's longtime husband}]. Surprisingly I got those right, despite the fact that OSSIE has nothing to do with and is not even spelled the same as Ozzy Osbourne. So, while my score was two technically, I took a flyer on seven squares & really should have gotten RIDS {81A Clears} from ?I?S. If you don't know that DALASI is {83D Gambia's monetary unit} there's not much you can do. But for not getting a simple English word there is no one to crank at but oneself.


Commentary: Delay
Apologies. I am aware that predictability is a plus for posting. However, this weekend has not been my favorite few days.
--- The joy is that animals live with us. ---
--- The sorrow is that they do not live as long as us. ---
Paraphrased from somewhere. On to more cheerful topics.


ACPT Countdown Clock: 349 days
Friday, April 2, 2010, to Friday, March 18, 2011.


Constructor's Corner: Patrick Blindauer
“My latest 'word baby' started out even more complicated with all 4 directions in play. N would become E, E become S, S become W, and W become N, but it became clear pretty quickly that it would be hard to
find a decent set of theme answers (it's especially tough to change a vowel to a consonant or a consonant to a vowel). I narrowed the scope by focusing on N and S, thought of the title, and was on my way. Sort of.

“I found a few good entries on my own off the top of my head, but I figured there were more waiting to be discovered. So I turned to my friend the computer to help me find all the possibilities; I doubt I would've ever found NEWAGETASK on my own. FWIW, I replaced every S in my word list with *, replaced every N with S, and replaced every * with N, which switched all the N's with all the S's. Then I compared this new list with the original and kept only those words on both lists, which gave me possible theme words upon which to build. A favorite unused theme answer: THEBRADYBUSCH (13).”

Thank you Mr. Blindauer

Katherine Walcott
Puzzle Fan