I thought the fill was boring and the theme was meh...in my opinion anyway. Dunno but lately I've found the NYT puzzles kind of average.
Ugh | 06.30.09 - 1:14 am | #

Seing the theme early made it easy... not bad, but I enjoyed yesterday's much more! This may be a try at a pangram? I didn't count the letters...
ArtLvr | 06.30.09 - 5:26 am | #

Customer: Camembert, perhaps?
Owner: Ah! We have Camembert, yessir.
Customer: (suprised) You do! Excellent.
Owner: Yessir. It's..ah,.....it's a bit runny...
Customer: Oh, I like it runny.
Owner: Well,.. It's very runny, actually, sir.
Customer: No matter. Fetch hither the fromage de la Belle France Camembert s'il vous plaît!
Owner: I...think it's a bit runnier than you'll like it, sir.
Customer: I don't care how **** runny it is. Hand it over with all speed.
Owner: Oooooooooohhh........!
Customer: What now?
Owner: The cat's eaten it.

video
joon | 06.30.09 - 7:36 am | #

Using the NYT applet instead of AL, because I'm not on a public computer where I'd have to download said applet each time... Is there an equivalent to pressing tab (and shift tab) to cycle between entries? A bit of getting used to the applet, though it does appear to be the same as the one for Newsday? Not sure about that tying-together phrase, maybe it could've been ELOCUTION (9), clued as something like ("What the phrase formed by the beginnings of the theme words is used as an exercise in" - that's inelegant but there might be a better way), though central nines are notoriously tricky beasts.
Gareth | 06.30.09 - 8:23 am | #

Gareth, the return/enter key should jump you to the next entry. (I love the NYT applet.0
Orange | Homepage | 06.30.09 - 8:29 am | #

Thanks, Orange. Just used to A.L. Oh, LAT is 5:43 not 4:43... Apologies.

"Pimp My Ride" is hosted by XZIBIT, now that's a tricky entry to fit in a grid. Otherwise the C.S. is as you said Janie, solid but perhaps a little stolid.
Gareth | 06.30.09 - 8:56 am | #

Somebody had XZIBIT in a Saturday NYT. Karen Tracey, 3/3/07.
Orange | Homepage | 06.30.09 - 9:47 am | #

I enjoy the write-ups and appreciate the CS coverage. May I make a suggestion on the citations such as "CS-debut" and "major puzzle first-timer"?

The cruciverb database is a great resource but really not comprehensive. It has many puzzles from the last decade or so, but not all "major" puzzles and not all CS puzzles either. There are gaps. I'd illustrate if only we could do Venn diagrams in Haloscan. Anyway, it just seems iffy to claim a "first" for something when the set of puzzles in the db is not complete. Not to mention, there have been decades of puzzles published before anyone got around to putting them in a db.
john farmer | 06.30.09 - 10:06 am | #

point taken, farmer j. i did state in a recent post that the cs citations go back only as far as 1999 -- and truth is, in solving from a cs book a couple of days ago i encountered fill -- REDNOSED -- that i'd called a cs-debut in one of my posts. hoisted on my own petard, as it were.

that said, when something hasn't appeared in more than a decade, it's pretty durn fresh in my book. and i often check my cruciverb db findings against jim horne's db, which includes data from most of the shortz-era puzzles.

but i do understand you. while you haven't stated it outright, i'm taking it that the actual suggestion is to include a qualifier like "appears to be" when making these observations. don't want to post a permanent disclaimer, but will see what i can do to temper what may be coming across as a too-authoritative tone for not fully-substantiated claims.

thx for the input! you're reading me. you're really reading me!

;-)
janie | 06.30.09 - 10:57 am | #

janie, a pandora's box is completely synonymous with a can of worms; both are metaphors for a source of many troubles. it's true that the pandora's box (the box opened by pandora) also held hope, but a pandora's box, in common usage, does not have to contain any such thing. there is ample dictionary support for this usage. i think CAN OF WORMS is a great entry, and the clue is just perfect. having said that, i agree with you that the CS theme overall was a little blah.
joon | 06.30.09 - 11:31 am | #

Noses. Noses are runny.
Penny | 06.30.09 - 12:45 pm | #

Eyes too. If rheumy.
Penny | 06.30.09 - 12:57 pm | #

Wanted TINT for TONE and ROOKS for KINGS. But aside from that, a kind of easy enjoyable NYT Tuesday.
mike | 06.30.09 - 12:58 pm | #

My LAT today (print version) has the clue for EMS at 25A as ["Mamma Mia!" quartet?] (not "...trio"). I thought it was a great clue. Tricky, though I did have ABBA in the grid already.

Haven't checked the AL version. Gotta run...
john farmer | 06.30.09 - 3:04 pm | #

As a frequenter of New Jersey diners, I can personally attest to the fact that eggs can, indeed, be runny.
mike | 06.30.09 - 3:17 pm | #

Beehive State is Utah's nickname, I think because of the industriousness (I know that's not a word, honest!) of bees and other Utahan groups ;>)

I do know that there's beautiful scenery there.
sallie | Homepage | 06.30.09 - 7:35 pm | #

Sallie, industriousness is too a word. It's industriosity that isn't.
Orange | Homepage | 06.30.09 - 7:56 pm | #

From Randy Newman's "The Beehive State":

I see the gentleman from Utah
Our friendly Beehive State
How can we help you, Utah?
How can we make you great?

Well, we got to irrigate our deserts
So we can get some things to grow
And we got to tell this country about Utah
Cause nobody seems to know
john farmer | 06.30.09 - 8:09 pm | #