I. Love. Karen. Tracey. Puzzles.
smwcross | 10.11.07 - 1:07 am | #

Excellent puzzles from both quarters today--I got a preview of Karen's puzzle a month or so ago and still remember many of the great entries.

The theme in the Times was wonderfully executed--it was the CLOONEY/PHONEY crossing that finally revealed the gimmick. Stared a long time at the [South side?] clue before I thought of the Civil War reference.
Evad | 10.11.07 - 6:18 am | #

I was never sure about "LIMED" for a well-tended lawn. Guessed at "REVE" and got lucky.

But I don't consider Ben Stiller a Frat Pack actor so that took me the longest to get. (In my mind the Frat Pack got its start with "St. Elmo's Fire" and "The Breakfast Club" and I'm pretty sure Ben wasn't in either of those.
Mark | 10.11.07 - 6:34 am | #

The Times puzzle had my favorite kind of theme, in this case, one that literally bends the rules a bit. On the flip side, it also contained actors - far from a strong suit for me. So while it was fun to figure out the theme, I actually had trouble with what the names actually were. At least they were mostly familiar names.

Oh, by the way... REVE and MEW. MEW?!? Wow, where did that one come from? I think they may be starting to scour Scrabble dictionaries and older-style puzzles for added difficulty - those hurt. Ah well, learn something new every day.

Really loved the surprising stuff packed into Karen Tracey's Sun puzzle. How does she do that?
Howard B | 10.11.07 - 7:23 am | #

SW corner of the Times puzzle was a head-scratcher for me. I never realized that BRAN was one of the theme entries, so I was already muddled to some degree-- and ORBED is only sort-of-a-word, IMO. Otherwise, actually, a very enjoyable puzzle.
Matt | 10.11.07 - 7:27 am | #

For "South side" I was thinking PONE, but then got the GR and was thinking GRIT??? No, couldn't be... could it?! I was relieved to discover it wasn't. :-)
P Merrell | Homepage | 10.11.07 - 7:59 am | #

Loved both puzzles. This one lacked Karen's usual long name starting point (unless it was JEANJACQUES).

Didn't catch the theme to Falling Stars until well after i finished. That really slowed me down, but still did a normal Thursday time.
barrywep | 10.11.07 - 9:46 am | #

I knew about the Rock. I also knew REVE despite my abysmal French because of the Steve Wynn owned painting La Reve that he destroyed with his elbow. He also named the nightclub at the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel La Reve.
barrywep | 10.11.07 - 9:58 am | #

Two days in a row that I got slowed at least a hair on the NYT by the assumption that an apparent count mismatch meant a rebus. Must. Check. Assumptions. Definitely a nice puzzle.

I'd encountered this definition of MEW only in the plural, previously (reading enough Mercedes Lackey will do that), so I knew MEW was right when I saw it, having the idea in my head that MEWS is/are where the hunting birds are kept.

I did think we were pushing the envelope a bit on the languages, though. REVE didn't particularly slow me down, though I put IDEE in the first time through. "Una torre pendente" definitely confused me, as I took "pendente" to mean "hanging" and couldn't think of an obvious city with a hanging something-or-other.
Russell Brown | Homepage | 10.11.07 - 10:00 am | #

I'm glad to hear I wasn't alone on the rebus-front in the NYT: I saw CLOONEY happening and thought LOON, then thought birds (title: "Caged Birds"? "La Cage Aux Folles"? - I wonder why my solving time is less than stellar?). I actually liked MEW (I'd never seen it before) as well as SIMPER, KITED, and what felt like a different clue for ENID. As for the RAT, BRAT & FRAT packs, I think Mark is referring to the BRAT pack, which is indeed exemplified by the "St. Elmo's Fire" bunch. The FRAT pack is the latest media creation (kind of like the new micro-neighborhood names that crop up every week in NYC) - it refers to the group of actors who have appeared in the smash comedies of the last 10 years or so: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell etc.
Tony Orbach | 10.11.07 - 10:33 am | #

Thanks for the nice comments! JEANJACQUES was the starting point. The fact that it wasn't a full name was made up for by the excess of good letters. (Besides, the full name wouldn't fit....)
kmtracey | 10.11.07 - 1:15 pm | #

Can anyone explain the 10-10 USA TODAY "RIGHT ANGLES" theme? Thanks.
Anonymous | 10.11.07 - 2:23 pm | #

Then there's the CRAT pack (Barbra Streisand, Martin Sheen, etc.), and the DRAT pack, stars whose name makes you go, "Drat, I won't see that movie." Each of us has our own DRAT pack, with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant heading mine.
Lee Glickstein | 10.11.07 - 2:59 pm | #

Lee, Sandra Bullock's in my Drat Pack, so we'll see if I am able to watch that upcoming movie in which she plays a nutty crossword constructor.
Orange | Homepage | 10.11.07 - 3:30 pm | #

I thought the "NYT Crossword Editor Will" in NY Sun was great -- undoubtedly a little tweak by Gordon.
Jordan | 10.11.07 - 5:22 pm | #

10/10 USA Today:

It looks like the name "Right Angles" refers to the last words in the four answers, SYSTEM, TACTIC, PLAN, and SCHEME, all of which could be considered angles, as in ways of approaching a situation or problem. A lesser used definition of "angle." Get it?
Patrick | 10.11.07 - 6:12 pm | #

Six weeks later ...
Six weeks ago Rex added to his sidebar a pointer to the syndicated puzzle, a friendly gesture to his chronically-challenged readers.
Linda had done something similar months ago.
Please, Orange, please ... how hard can it be?
TimeTraveller | 11.22.07 - 11:07 am | #