Hey Amy, congrats! You win some almond roca. :)
Matt Ginsberg | 07.04.09 - 6:15 pm | #

Nice job, Amy and Tony...looking forward to more collaborations! Solid theme entries in which there were no other (unchanged) Ms. My fav entry was STUD PUFFIN, great fun!

I'm a bit ASEA though on the title, I'm thinking it should be P NO M ? Or am I not parsing M N O P correctly (very likely)?

And welcome Shark to the Fiend's stable of bloggers, very thorough and enjoyable commentary.
Evad | 07.04.09 - 6:16 pm | #

Yay!! Almond roca!
Orange | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 6:17 pm | #

Evad, "Is that an M in that phrase? No, a P."
Orange | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 6:18 pm | #

loved that write-up by the shark (welcome to team orange!) and loved even more that peppy puzzle. yep -- STUDPUFFIN takes the prize, but the smile-factor runs high throughout.

had my first (non-theme) laugh with ACERS... ah, well -- it is wimbledon weekend, isn't it? ;-)

and noticed the language-oriented cluing of ALEUT. nice.

congrats orange and tony -- and keep 'em comin'!

;-)
janie | 07.04.09 - 6:21 pm | #

The ACERS clue was written many months before Steve Manion led the forum discussion of the unreturnability of aces. It made me laugh, too. (The ALEUT clue is Will's.)
Orange | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 6:26 pm | #

Woohoo! Congrats Amy (and Tony of course, even if it's not his debut). Fun stuff. I still like these kinds of puzzles, as they usually invoke some really surreal mental imagery.
I got caught on a typo somewhere in RNAs that took me a while to find, and I kept insisting that BERLIOZ was BERLITZ; my mind didn't want to translate that answer correctly at first. GOUACHE is tough, but just fun to say.
Anyway, congrats again!
Howard B | 07.04.09 - 6:42 pm | #

Congrats on the debut Amy and kudos to the both of you for a job well done !

Welcome aboard Shark ! Nice writeup too.
Anon | 07.04.09 - 7:14 pm | #

When I got to 127a [Like some Swift writing] I already had -RO-IC, and all I could think of was the completely implausible eROtIC. If I'd had "res" like Shark, I'd have been even deeper in the hole. (um, so to speak) (sorry)

I like the mysterious, none-too-vicious Shark, but I can't help wishing Any had done a straight-faced/tongue-in-cheek commentary!

Fun, fun puzzle. Thank you!
Sara | 07.04.09 - 7:17 pm | #

Congrats, Amy & Tony! My favorite clue/entry was FULL PETAL JACKET. It was a consistently fun puzzle, and you can't ask for more than that.
Doug P. | 07.04.09 - 7:22 pm | #

You had me at STUD PUFFIN. All of my favorite topics are here: comics, Disney, baseball, a couple of Canadian APERs, bleach...

Great job.

Wondering about Shark, though...
Crosscan | 07.04.09 - 7:37 pm | #

Genuine and heartfelt congratulations to you Amy and the further proof of your intellect in partnering with Tony. Off to see Philly's fireworks and to enjoy our fabulous weather.
PhillySolver | 07.04.09 - 7:50 pm | #

Loved the puzzle, Amy, but I've got to make a tiny nit. GOUACHE is not really a watercolor technique. Gouache is a water media, true, but watercolor is transparent, while gouache has white pigment added, making it opaque. Acrylic is a water media, also, but no one would call it a watercolor technique. I realize I'm being somewhat pedantic. Sorry, can't help myself.
Linda
Linda Murray | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 7:59 pm | #

Tip of the hat to Amy and Tony! Nice QUILT and ORCA clues. Keep em coming.
Scott Atkinson | 07.04.09 - 8:06 pm | #

Linda, how would the constructors' original GOUACHE clue, [Watercolor alternative], work for you?

Scott, I love the QUILT clue, too—that one was Will's.
Orange | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 8:13 pm | #

Amy and Tony, great job! Very impressive with 9 theme entries and great fill. Congrats!
Al Sanders | 07.04.09 - 8:16 pm | #

Scott, their original Gouache clue was perfect! Wonder why it was changed? Anyway, as I wrote earlier, I did love the puzzle.
Linda
Linda Murray | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 8:22 pm | #

congrats amy! and well done, tony, too. fun puzzle.
joon | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 8:23 pm | #

Amy, sorry, I quickly saw the name Scott, and looked no further. I did briefly wonder how Scott would know what the original clue was anyway! No matter, your original clue was perfect.
Linda
Linda Murray | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 8:36 pm | #

U-S-A! U-S-A!

I mean, yay, Amy and Tony!
Alex | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 10:16 pm | #

Congrats! Totally better than most substitution themes, and nicely filled too. Any favorite clues that got the axe? Though I guess you could save 'em for the next time...

And well done, Shark...
Dan F | 07.04.09 - 10:31 pm | #

Congratulations, Amy and Tony, for a really nice Sunday puzzle. I liked most of the theme entries and this was a most auspicious debut for you, Amy.

I wrote to you last week when I first heard you were getting a puzzle published and congratulated you then. Your first published puzzle a Sunday New York Times in collaboration with a fine constructor in his own right?

You guys had me from the start.
Bill from NJ | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 10:57 pm | #

so tony, did you teach her the secret handshake, or should i?
joon | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 11:06 pm | #

Congratulations, Amy! What a fantastic debut puzzle!
Brian | Homepage | 07.04.09 - 11:08 pm | #

Amy, That was a superb initial effort. Congrats. And Tony, your usual great job.

It says here that Shark = BEQ (verb tense, switching to other bracket symbols for clues, propensity to grade, consumed with what constitutes a good puzzle, thoroughness, knowledge of multiple editors).

Or maybe The Stig.
KarmaSartre | 07.04.09 - 11:20 pm | #

I'm not usually a big fan of the Sunday themes, but I must say I enjoyed this one a lot. Really good fill and clever/funny (not groaners) theme stuff. Nicely done !
Zzz | 07.04.09 - 11:23 pm | #

Congrats to Amy and Tony, very nice work! I had the same nit as Linda re GOUACHE... The alternative clue would have been much better.

I solved from the top half down, though I often start at the bottom. No problems, though I'd first wanted Kleptos fot KLUTZES, not welcome in the china shop! And possibly Pima cotton for PINA?

Favorite word, ETIOLATE. And I disagree with the Shark on SPELL THE ROSES. It was just fine, as were all the theme choices!
ArtLvr | 07.05.09 - 12:09 am | #

I thought the clue for SPELL THE ROSES was just fine, but I like the Shark's alternative even better.

Congrats, Amy! What a fun puzzle.
Tuning Spork | Homepage | 07.05.09 - 12:32 am | #

Let me add my own congratulations on a well-done puzzle. As a lifelong fan of the Arctic/Antarctic animal exhibits at zoos and aquaria, STUD PUFFIN gets my vote for best theme entry.
ktd | 07.05.09 - 1:53 am | #

Pajama is of Persian, not Indian origin.
Ah well, gotta make iranians AND indians happy.
Mike | 07.05.09 - 7:47 am | #

Felicidades, Amy y Tony. No, I'm not going to continue in Spanish, but I just wanted to find another way to say Congrats.

I really enjoyed the puzzle, though I didn't find it as easy as the Shark did. And I loved the Axl/Pete entry! I especially liked it because it didn't use one of the more common definitions of SPELL.

I look forward to more collaborations from the two of you.
cyberdiva | 07.05.09 - 8:04 am | #

Might as well join the chorus :-) -- fun puzzle, and made me hungry for some GOULASH...
Matt M. | 07.05.09 - 8:35 am | #

Unusual for me to do a Sunday early, and this time, too, I haven't looked at Saturday's yet. But the magazine was nearby when I had a pen, so I started it, and it went so quickly there seemed no point not completing it. I liked the theme, mostly because of the title: it took enough crossings of the theme entries for its meaning to hit me. Nice pun.

I like the draft clue for GOUACHE much better, too, but it's hard to object to the outcome, since both MW11 and RHUD define it as "opaque watercolors." I don't agree with Shark that it or ONO is obscure. The first is just a vocabulary word, not a culture factoid, ONO is so ubiquitous in puzzles in one clue or another, and anyhow without hanging on every word of Lennon's, I found it hard to get through the era without this one being a gimme. ARAM has been clued this way several times before, so I'd call it crosswordese rather than obscure, and HARING was another gimme. At least in New York City, his graffiti has made him ubiquitous for 25 years.

By the same token, my objection to the puzzle was that it was too filled with gimmes even as easy ones go. I don't think I've finished one faster and without worrying too much about crossings. The one obscure spot for me was the Duran Duran song, I'm guessing RIO rather than RKO, crossing what I imagine must be MILO.
John Haber | Homepage | 07.05.09 - 8:42 am | #

Congratulations on your debut puzzle, Amy! Very nice theme and fill... I enjoyed solving it. Well done, Amy and Tony!
Barry S | 07.05.09 - 8:53 am | #

Brava/o, Amy and Tony! Very nicely done. An enjoyable solve, a well-executed theme, and a clean fill. Who could ask for anything more?

My personal favorite amongst the theme entries was 94-Across, but that's probably because I used to work there. And having spent most of my life in NYC, I can appreciate 51-Across very much :)

Looking forward to seeing more from you!
Deb Amlen | Homepage | 07.05.09 - 10:40 am | #

Oh, I forgot: You'd better share that almond roca, Orange. Matt's wife can seriously bring the thunder with that stuff.
Deb Amlen | Homepage | 07.05.09 - 10:41 am | #

karma, "the shark" isn't BEQ, for whom today's post would certainly not be a "blogging debut." even if you don't count his own thrice-weekly blog on his own puzzles, he guest-blogged for rex earlier this year, to hilarious effect.
joon | Homepage | 07.05.09 - 10:58 am | #

Great debut ! Props to Mr. Orbach.

I toast you both with a Avery Collaboration Not Litigation Ale.
Aleman | 07.05.09 - 10:59 am | #

Linda said, "GOUACHE is not really a watercolor technique. Gouache is a water media, true, but watercolor is transparent, while gouache has white pigment added, making it opaque. Acrylic is a water media, also, but no one would call it a watercolor technique."

Linda is right but I would like to add to her comments. Gouache is a medium or a painting material, not a technique. There are techniques for using gouache, such as dry brush, wet in wet or glazing.

It is a watercolor because it is soluble in water. The same it true of acrylics. Gouache differs from the more traditional and better known watercolor (paints) in that it is opaque, due the inclusion of chalk or zinc oxide. Tempera paints are also watercolor media. I think the confusion arises because the term watercolor is used for both the generic and the specific.

Thus, the original clue, "Watercolor alternative" wouldn't be exactly correct, either, but it's better than calling gouache a technique.

Amy, didn't you recently make a derogatory remark about seeing STUD in a puzzle?
Papa John | 07.05.09 - 11:06 am | #

Nothing to add to everything already written than congrats! Far more smiles than groans, and mostly very fun fill! Outstanding maiden effort!
lorraine | 07.05.09 - 11:21 am | #

I solved the NYT yesterday evening at a concert in the park squinting through the darkness after the sun had set. Soon as I was done, the sky erupted in a brilliant display of fireworks. I don't recall that happening with any other crosswords. Congrats to Team Orbaldo. Very nicely done. I can't wait to see what you do for an encore.

Good work with the blogging, Shark. I agree that working from the SE can sometimes be a good strategy. I think the advantage may be getting a toehold with some easy letters off plurals and other suffixes. I don't think it's because constructors run out of gas when cluing the puzzle, and therefore the clues in the SE are easier. That would imply, among other things, that constructors clue the SE answers last. Speaking for myself, that's not how it works.
john farmer | 07.05.09 - 11:55 am | #

The hallmarks of a good letter-modification theme:
Consistently applied - check
Fun base-phrases - Stud Muffin, Man About Town... CHeck
Funny resulting phrases, wittily written: Stud Puffin and Pan About Town are, IMO, glorious.
Title was a little ho-hum, but it did it's job, that's what's important.

The fill in a large-size is often a sticking point, but this grid is pretty dern rock solid...

You had an issue a while back with ACERS clued re tennis did you have it clued as "Maples" or some such?

DRAGS vs DRAWS was a devilish trick, and yes I fell for it. The bottom-left was the last to fall, lots of general knowledge stuff that wasn't in mine... Also managed to have EDENIC for IRONIC, but that's just me being a bit "special"

Don't see PDA's as awkward BTW

So yes - fun Sunday, it takes something to carry a theme for a whole 9 entries, and my attention span for a whole 140 words!

OT: That Wimbledon final was monumental, only caught the last set (all 30 games of it). Boy!

I'd also suspect someone other than BEQ - he's AFC (with C being for civilization...) Note brevity of his own blog posts.
Gareth | 07.05.09 - 12:54 pm | #

I'm guessing Shark is none other than Shain "Shark" Graves.

Like John, I don't always clue the SE last. I skip around when I'm writing the clues. I also try to avoid having a lot of plurals down there, but it doesn't always work out so well.
Doug P. | 07.05.09 - 12:58 pm | #

Well done, T&A (oh, my)!

You got 9 entries in there and made it look easy.

More, please.
pauer | 07.05.09 - 1:26 pm | #

I don't think the title is supposed to be parsed as "M? No, P!". Seems t'me that "M N O P" means simply "from M to P".

"T&A", pauer? This is the New York Times. Get yer mind out of the Onion! ;-)
Tuning Spork | Homepage | 07.05.09 - 1:39 pm | #

Amy and Tony's puzzle is a great vehicle through which to end my long self-imposed vacation from crossword commenting. I love the fill and the theme, and several of the clues will stick in my mind for quite a while. Kudos richly deserved to a great solving teacher (Amy) and a great guy who let me tag along for a tournament dinner in Brooklyn (Tony).
Brent H (floridaqqq) | Homepage | 07.05.09 - 2:07 pm | #

An overwhelmingly positive response - I'll need to check for PODS!

Thanks everyone, and happy holiday weekend,

Torb(aldo - nice one, Shark!)
Anonymous | 07.05.09 - 4:02 pm | #

Hello everyone, Shark here.

Thanks to Amy for giving me the opportunity to blog her puzzle, and for being such a good sport about my ramblings and my critique!

Shark

p.s.: not BEQ, but hey, thanks for the compliment! :-)
The Shark | 07.05.09 - 5:14 pm | #

Congrats to both of you, Amy and Tony. I really loved your first joint effort and hope we all get to enjoy lots of others in the future!
Jan (danjan) | 07.05.09 - 5:30 pm | #

Congrats Amy on an excellent debut, and Tony on a great puzzle! I enjoyed the theme and lots of great fill. I could have used an easier clue for AARON to help me with GOUACHE (neither into art nor baseball) and I don't much like RNAS but a mere two nits in a Sunday-sized puzzle is an accomplishment. Any more in the pipeline?
kmtracey | 07.05.09 - 6:13 pm | #

Congrats to Orangebach!
Sunday is no mean feat. From GOSH to IRONIC very smooth.
Didn't know LLDS
(are some Mormon lawyers LDS LLDS?)

Speaking of lawyers/sharks, what's up with Shark not commenting on Orca?
andrea carla michaels | Homepage | 07.06.09 - 2:58 am | #

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words.

Thanks, Tony, for collaborating so congenially.

Thanks, Shark, for an utterly fair assessment of the puzzle.

Andrea, you say Orangebach. Shark, you say Torbaldo. I like both!
Orange | Homepage | 07.06.09 - 7:58 am | #

Congratulations!
Thought a lot of the non-theme entries and clues outshone the theme.
Actually like the use of "spell" as in "relieve," so don't see any deduction there.
Jordan | 07.06.09 - 6:29 pm | #