typo alert in the NYT--patrick MAGEE won the tony in 1966, not 1996. this didn't affect my solving experience at all, but i noticed it during my post-puzzle google--"how the heck did this actor who died in 1982 win a 1996 tony?" anyway, that answers that. i'm not sure if the online version can still be corrected; presumably it's way too late for the print version.

a lovely thursday puzzle overall. i don't think i understand the COFFEEPOT clue (does it have something to do with the word percolate?), but the grid was really nice. that's two weeks in a row we've had a 72-word thursday. will tuck away ANTA for future reference. (and ANSA.)

i haven't done the NYS yet, but just knowing in advance that it's a KMT ThTh is making my fingers all tingly with anticipation. and i mean that in the least creepy possible way.
joon | 07.30.08 - 11:30 pm | #

Fife is the home of St. Andrews, but I frankly just looked it up after reading your writeup. Firth of Forth is often mentioned in British Open telecasts, but I don't think I have ever heard Fife mentioned.

Steve
Steve Manion | 07.31.08 - 3:59 am | #

Fife (NYT) is familiar from reading Ian Rankin's terrific detective novels, set in Scotland.

I saw the HEAVEN and the HELL, but never noticed the EARTH. There's gotta be a lesson in there somewhere...
Jim in NYC | 07.31.08 - 5:44 am | #

Yes, some coffee pots percolate the water over the grinds to make the morning refresher. My question is why does it start in HEAVEN and end in HELL?
PhillySolver | 07.31.08 - 5:56 am | #

Knowing there is sometimes a hidden theme of pairs in Themeless Thursday, I got to wondering whether TY TREADWAY and BUFFOONERY were connected.

Awesome puzzle from Ms. Tracey and Peter G.
Scott Atkinson | 07.31.08 - 7:49 am | #

Phillysolver, maybe because Heaven is on top and Hell down below?
Norm | 07.31.08 - 9:21 am | #

I love Karen Tracey's themeless puzzles which are often built around long names more obscure (to Orange readers) than the dreamy-eyed Mr. Treadway. LBJRANCH being a gimmee along with Orange's favorite game show host let me speed through this one in record (for me) time.
barrywep | 07.31.08 - 9:43 am | #

The NE corner of the NYT crushed me today - anyone else out there who can commiserate? I usually love names but that spot was a perfect storm for me: LEAVITT, STANTON and AMAHL just would not fall. With the added crosswordese-y ANTA I just sat and stared today! It also did not help that I started with CHORALE in the CANTATA spot.

By the way, RARE EARTH also had a big hit with "I Just Want To Celebrate".

So, the fact that the Karen M. Tracey NYS was easy for me after the personal HELL in the NYT is a testament to something - I don't know what...if it was in the NYT, I really don't know it. BUFFOONERY, SKOKIE/FERGIE, AJSIMON, INDIANCORN - lots and lots to enjoy.
tony orbach | 07.31.08 - 10:15 am | #

I seem to remember ANTA from the Maleska years but I am not sure. Is ANTA pure crosswordese?
Bill from NJ | Homepage | 07.31.08 - 2:02 pm | #

Excellent puzzles in both NY papers today.

Can someone explain the MES entry in the NYS [Figs. in police procedurals]? I'd prefer some reference to the French possessive...
Evad | 07.31.08 - 2:07 pm | #

In "Macbeth," Macduff is the Thane of Fife. In the Sleepwalking Scene, Lady Macbeth expresses guilt about the slaughter of Macduff's wife and children (among the Macbeths' many other crimes):

"The Thane of Fife
Had a wife.
Where is she now?"
Doris | Homepage | 07.31.08 - 2:10 pm | #

MEs are medical examiners. Like Rogers on "Law and Order."
Doris | Homepage | 07.31.08 - 2:12 pm | #

Thanks Doris....never have seen that abbreviation. I guess I should be watching more tv, eh?

Have heard of Mechanical Engineers referred to by that, tho.
Evad | 07.31.08 - 2:19 pm | #

Anyone remember "Quincy, M.E."?
Jim | 07.31.08 - 5:31 pm | #

there's also this anta -- in the fwiw column...

while my time was nothing to write home about, found the times puzzle a *whole* lot easier than karen's in the sun, where i entered "tomfoolery" for "buffoonery" and had some "arch" goin' where the "lbjraNch" ended up. ca va. loved 'em both!

and doris -- ditto the thanks for the "mes" explanation. and i used to enjoy the occasional episode of "quincy" for pity's sake!

;-)

janie
jlsnyc | 07.31.08 - 6:31 pm | #

Awesome Tracey grid as always. Knowing that there is sometimes a hidden theme pair in Themeless Thursdays, I had to wonder whether TY TREADWAY and BUFFOONERY were connected.
Scott Atkinson | 07.31.08 - 7:02 pm | #

I knew Fife. Some time ago I spent a week at St. Andrews University for a scientific meeting. One aspect of County Fife -- and Lowland Scotland -- was set in my memory by a language story. We were staying an a small hotel with a bar downstairs. One of our last nights turned out to be the weekly locals night. The bar was filled with a friendly horde speaking some language that was totally unfamiliar to any of us. I declared to the proprietress, with whom we had gotten friendly, that this was certainly Scots Gaelic. "Oh no," she said, laughing, "That's just Fife English!" The accent is so broad in Fife that to naive American ears (and to the Austrian and Germans in our group) it was if it were a foreign language.

I love your blog. It's guided me to a regular routine of puzzles. I really admire your times particularly in late-week puzzles that do not ever seem to ever stump you.
Mel Park | 07.31.08 - 7:43 pm | #

Mel, glad you've been led astray to having a regular crossword routine! I wonder if the Fifers are bilingual, with comprehensible non-Fife English in addition to Fife English. I mean, I can fake a Southern or Long Island accent... (Thanks for sharing a great Fife anecdote.)

Scott, bite your tongue! Ty is no buffoon. He was very dramatic on One Life to Live as partly evil twins.

Janie, wow, who knew there was a ***FOO*ERY trap??

Jim, I had a crush on Quincy's wry humor when I was a kid.

Bill, ANTA is one of those words I've known for years—from crosswords. And have never encountered outside of crosswords. Does that make it pass the crosswordese purity assay? Probably.
Orange | Homepage | 07.31.08 - 7:53 pm | #