I liked this puzzle too capping off a fun pre-ACPT week. Lots of pop culture from my generation (sort of). I recall Linda and Paul and some write up, but I really don't recall Linda in the Let It Be video. I'll check it out, but I have to give you this really funny link for a parody of ICEICEBABY .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F...h? v=FhbPLu_qDc0
PhillySolver | 02.28.08 - 10:09 pm | #

I loved Patrick's NYT. Had a couple of near gimmes, including THENATURAL. Worked right through until the KIPS/SAL/SKATEOVER which required me to go through the alphabet for that SK.

Good omen for Stamford in Brooklyn that I made no mistakes.
barrywep | 02.28.08 - 10:27 pm | #

I thought I aced this one but I had in a bother instead of pother. Better (thinking roulette wheel) instead of potter. Although monephonic looked like it should be monophonic, I let it slide.
All else in order.
Good luck in Brooklyn.
profphil | 02.28.08 - 10:46 pm | #

I also liked this one and it seemed relatively easy compared to last Fri.

@profphil -- Almost made the same error. Had BOTHER for most of it but couldn't bring myself to go with MONEPHONIC so changed the B to P and crossed my fingers.

Again, good luck to all in Brooklyn.
jae | 02.29.08 - 1:01 am | #

Good luck in Brooklyn, and have fun!

C. C.
C. C. | 02.29.08 - 6:35 am | #

profil - I also was thinking roulette

re NYS: it took me 15 minutes to come up with the gimmick, which was a good one. Even after getting it, it took a while to solve, especially the SE corner. I'm a mathy type, but can't explain why 1 fits the definition, but isn't considered a prime number.
Jan (danjan) | 02.29.08 - 7:07 am | #

> (I thought 1 counted as a prime number, and
> I'm sure one of you mathy people will explain
> why not.)

Two arguments for this:

1) Semantics reason: A prime number is a positive integer with only two factors, one and itself. 1 has one factor.

2) Utilitarian reason: The positive integers have unique prime factorization, which wouldn't be true if 1 were prime. For example, the only way to write 45 as a product of primes (ignoring order) is 3*3*5; if 1 were prime, you'd have 3*5*1, 3*5*1*1, 3*5*1*1*1, and so on.

I was curious to see your thoughts on the NYT puzzle, so sadly I jumped past the spoiler cut before realizing that I'd probably want to do the Sun puzzle on Tournament Friday, and I saw the theme entries. I tried solving without thinking about it, but it just wasn't the same. :-/

See you this weekend!
The Dan | 02.29.08 - 7:24 am | #

Thanks, the Dan - I get it now.

Actually, in light of leap year, I initially thought the Sun theme had to do with divisible by 4 (or not) and the 100/2000 exceptions wouldn't come into play in the grid.
Jan (danjan) | 02.29.08 - 7:52 am | #

Loved both puzzles today and would second your nomination of the Muller/Gordon offering as gimmick of the year. Just when you think every clever theme has been done, Peter and his stable of constructors seem to unearth another!
Evad | 02.29.08 - 8:13 am | #

The Dan already covered it well, but if you are looking for more, there's a great site about prime numbers that answers the question, Why is the number one not prime? (Short answer: it's axiomatic.)

The Pete Muller puzzle was a very enjoyable solve. It took me about as long as any puzzle this year, a half-hour more or less till I caught on to the gimmick. I had the SW corner filled in early, and I didn't realize NEDE was backwards (I don't know Hebrew in either direction). The CLUE part was a little hint, but not much. The Y _ _ A C didn't make much sense for "Accord alternative" but, yes, CAMRY would fit in reverse. Aha! Then it was a matter of discovering the PRIME part of the direction. Bit by bit, it all came together. The dastardly part of the puzzle was having so many of my so-called gimmes not work at all. OPIE, ELM, HMO were all in the grid at one point, but I couldn't figure out why they led nowhere. Well, a terrific puzzle, and kudos to Pete Muller on another creative theme.
JJF | 02.29.08 - 8:23 am | #

Speaking of primes, maybe on February 29 it's worth noting that 2 and 29 are both prime numbers, though a leap day never occurs in a prime-numbered year, of course.

Speaking of February, are you already doing puzzle of the year?!
JJF | 02.29.08 - 8:30 am | #

I learned the hard way nine years ago that one was not a prime number when I missed a question on a sample SAT test that had a different answer if 1 were prime. It is now one of the two questions I always ask students the first week:

1) Is 1 a prime number? (no)

2) Is 0 an integer? (yes, but it is neither positive nor negative)

There was a discussion on the Forum many years ago and one response was that 1 was considered to be an IDENTITY and not a PRIME, but that struck me as a tautology and pretty unsatisfying.

Steve
Steve Manion | 02.29.08 - 8:31 am | #

The NYT wasn't too bad for me-- except for that NW corner-- which took forever. Haven't tried the NYS yet, but will.

And about 1 not being prime-- it's true that '1 is not prime' is part of the definition of 'prime' but this is done so that one can state the unique factorization of integers, which is called 'The Fundamental Theorem Of Arithmetic' for good reason, without any ifs, ands, or buts.
Matt | 02.29.08 - 8:47 am | #

Umm, I mean NE corner.
Matt | 02.29.08 - 8:47 am | #

I too got hung up on SAL and KIPS. Except for that, I finished this Friday's NYT in what for me was record time (no, I'm NOT telling! :-) ).

I was delighted to see that you too thought this week's Chronicle of Higher Ed puzzle was clever. I loved it and even sent it to a friend, who solved it without quite recognizing the theme.

Hope you kick ass in Brooklyn! Best of luck.
cyberdiva | 02.29.08 - 2:37 pm | #

I'm with you on the NYS. If I counted correctly and did my arithmetic right, then I show 71% of all squares are themed. (I'm counting the 2 long answers that aren't reversed.) And 85% of all the white squares are themed. I think these are pretty remarkable numbers. And if that were't enough, it was a fun puzzle to boot. Very tough...took about an hour and a half, but very gratifying to finish (without outside help, though I was tempted a few times). I second your nomination.
kratsman | 02.29.08 - 7:25 pm | #

Good luck, Orange!!
Wendy | Homepage | 02.29.08 - 9:33 pm | #

Yes, good luck to everyone competing!
Alex | Homepage | 02.29.08 - 9:47 pm | #