A good-and-tough one for me, but ultimately doable. Spent about half the time staring at the SW corner. Those bakery gizmos combined with PORTLIEST, JIGGLES, TORPID, USTINOV, and GARGANTUA made me guilty about my morning bagel and cream cheese, though.
Matt | 10.27.06 - 7:18 am | #

I'm usually not good at remembering which actor was in which movie, but I had help this time:

When the new "King Kong" came out, the newspaper where I work got daily e-mails from some crank demanding that we remove Jack Black's name from the credits in our movie listings. I would like to thank this person. It's nice to have a one-across gimme late in the week.
mnemonica | 10.27.06 - 7:33 am | #

The only thing I remember about King Kong (ads) besides that computer-generated ape is Jack Black's goofy mug. Nice to start a reasonably tough puzzle with a gimme.

How could I NOT have noticed JIGGLED alongside ANATOMY? Here I was, focused on the arboreal symmetry of SYCAMORE and FORESTER, when I could have been enjoying more stimulating imagery.

SEINERS / NEGRI / RIN absolutely killed me. I was imagining evil fur-traders going out in ships called SEALERS... which, even if such a term existed, wouldn't be "fishing" vessels, I suppose - but SEALERS is much more colorful fill, I think (as BALLS would have been at 5D).

Michael
Michael | Homepage | 10.27.06 - 10:03 am | #

In my solving, I've found that there's a strong correlation between the difficulty of a puzzle and the number of actors/actresses/roles that appear in it. This one had at least 4 or 5, besides some other famous names...ugh. No, I didn't remember 1-Across off the clue. I'm clueless on putting faces to movies, unless it's especially memorable. Not my favorite words in there, but a challenge is always fun.

Now some quick vague advice (Now, with 1/3 less clichés!):
I had a couple blank blocks towards the end of this one. However, this time around, I didn't panic and brain-freeze when locked into a seemingly impossible corner. That's encouraging for anyone who's been in that position - take a deep breath, look over every clue in that block, find one you can make at least a guess at, and try something. Even a wrong answer can dredge up a new idea which can break through the gridlock.
I find it's getting easier to get beyond mental blocks now, even if it takes a little time and a lot of trial and error (or vice-versa).

When you have to look something up or see a new word, file it away in the mental attic somewhere (No, not behind that dusty box of postcards and Bee Gees albums, you'll never find it there). At least a couple answers in this one (including one of the dreaded actresses) came solely from seeing them in past puzzles. Same thing goes for clever clues. Eventually, with more information to start with ("Hey, I remember that one!"), the late-week puzzles will fall a bit easier, even if it is like melting a glacier with a Zippo lighter.
Howard B | 10.27.06 - 11:55 am | #