Saturday, 11/24

November 24th, 2007 · No Comments

NYT 6:40
LAT tba
Newsday tba
CS tba

When I was in Hollywood for Merv Griffin’s Crosswords, I didn’t see a single movie star. I will, however, be having dinner Saturday with two stars—Al Sanders and Tyler Hinman from Wordplay. Al and his son are in town for a youth hockey tournament this weekend and Tyler lives about 12 blocks away from me, so we’re all going out to eat. While I would, of course, be delighted to crush Tyler and Al at the crossword tournament, they’re both uncommonly genial guys.

Hey, remember that song that played over the closing credits in Wordplay, “If You Don’t Come Across (I’m Gonna Be Down)”? The guy who wrote that, Vic Fleming, is the constructor of the Saturday New York Times crossword. The highlight of the fill, for me, is MEL’S DINER, where the sitcom Alice took place ([1976-85 sitcom setting]). And a mini-theme (our second sports mini-theme in a row in the NYT) is always welcome—here it’s the TOURING PROS ([Open competitors, often]) who may show up on the [Display at a golf tournament], or LEADERBOARD.

Favorite clues: A [Common bank deposit?] isn’t silt or money, but O POSITIVE blood. TAVERNS are [Where things may be neatly ordered]; clunky wording for a mixed-drink reference, but necessary for the mislead (and I don’t want anything to interfere with a good mislead!). CAROMS are [Results of some glances], as on a billiards table. [Drop off] is nice and vague—GO TO SLEEP. Two political bits, with a POWER BASE ([Source of political support]) and [Filibustered, say] for RAN ON. Are COLD SORES ready for prime time? [They may accompany fevers], sure, but the herpes virus doesn’t get much play in the Times crossword. (Not that I object to such fill.) [They frequently become locked] clues HORNS. [Called for] sounds like a verb but isn’t: it’s NECESSARY.

In the “names you may or may not know” category: The [”Happy Days Are Here Again” composer] is Milton AGER; hmm, that doesn’t ring a bell at all. I also didn’t know [Israeli opera conductor Daniel] OREN. [Lash with a whip] is B-movie cowboy Lash LARUE. There are three jocks—Monica SELES is a [Three-time 1990s French Open winner], Hideo NOMO is the [Pitcher who was the 1995 N.L. Rookie of the Year], and the last name of [1980s-’90s N.B.A. star Danny] is AINGE. JARED Diamond is the [author of the 1998 Pulitzer-winning book, “Guns, Germs, and Steel”]—I’ve never read his books but enjoyed his magazine articles in Discover back in the day. Then there are five people clues in a row, 38- through 43-Down: David JANSSEN was the [Star of TV’s “The Fugitive”], the [King of pop] is CAROLE King (love the clue!), O’HARA is the [”Ten North Frederick” novelist], REGAN is the [Duke of Cornwall’s wife] in King Lear, and [Massey of film] is crosswordese ILONA.

Source: Saturday, 11/24