As I commented elsewhere on July 6:

If I see one more US senator clue...

Almost enough to spoil this one. Almost.

Its a 16x15. I think Ashish has supersized his puzzles other times.
Crosscan | 07.08.09 - 11:46 pm | #

I suppose John Glenn was in space before he was a Senator...
Matt | 07.09.09 - 6:04 am | #

Many Republican Senators appear to be Space Cadets, but thinking 'astronaut' limited the choice, however, had it been Governors, the one closet to being in orbit would be Palin.

I've read some Medieval history and have yet to see a reference to a Ye Olde Faire, IFEAR.
miguel | 07.09.09 - 6:40 am | #

this one does have a construction challenge of its own -- in the way two sets of theme fill overlap by *nine* letters. pretty cool!

and i'll confess that CERN entered my consciousness after reading angels and demons. no, dan brown is not even a remote fave, but i do enjoy a cheap (yet "well-made") genre read every now and then...

congrats, ashish!

;-)
janie | 07.09.09 - 7:35 am | #

Miguel, Renaissance Faires are strictly a 20th/21st century phenomenon. It's where wenches and squires go to eat turkey legs and watch jugglers.
Orange | Homepage | 07.09.09 - 7:52 am | #

Thanks for all the comments and feedback.

Some solvers had difficulty at the PAGET/GARN intersection – I could have removed that annoying guess (G) with PAW AT crossing WARN, and EMTS becoming AMTS. Didn’t like AMTS too much, and felt either PAGET or GARN would be familiar, hence made a conscious choice.

@crossscan: Will keep Canadian solvers in mind the next time around! :-) [and as you guessed, 16x15 supersizing was required due to the 14-letter FIRSTAMENDMENT]

@janie: When I built the grid, I don't recall what came first, the need to get the long crossing downs (TENNISPROS, et al) or the overlapping theme entries!

For those who love this anagram cluing game, here are a few theme entries that were left on the chopping block (total number of letters in the answer in parenthesis): EMIT (12), TADA! (14), DOOM (12), TEAL (11).
Ashish | 07.09.09 - 11:15 am | #

Okay, let's play "Guess Tomorrow's CS Theme"! I say the title is "Yardwork" and the theme entries are
HAYDN SOLO = [Recital piece from a Mozart contemporary?]
MY DAD AS A HATTER = [Autobiography by a milliner's son?]
CAPTAIN SLY DOG = [Nickname for a devious team leader?]

... okay, so it's not great (or symmetrical), but seriously, how long are they going to keep up the "measurement" theme?

If there weren't enough puzzles for everyone today, I have a new alt.crossword available here, and there's a new Kaidoku on the Kaidoku blog.
Alex | Homepage | 07.09.09 - 11:36 am | #

Amy,

I wanted to congratulate you on your terrific blog. I am a "beginner" crossword fan, and I focus mostly on NYT Monday-Wednesday (but have only ever finished a Monday - and even then...). Everyday, I work on the crossword and then go to your blog to read your analysis - always interesting and entertaining.

On Sundays, I work on the NYT mag puzzle - often not solving more than a dozen words. This week (still working on it), I had more success than usual and just commented last night how much I was enjoying that crossword...only to see today that you designed it! So double congrats, and thanks for a great blog.

best regards,
Josh (Providence, RI)
Josh | 07.09.09 - 11:40 am | #

I learned GARN from crosswords, but never heard of the actress. Why not a PAGET Brewster clue? At least she's currently (Thursday-)famous...

Amy (and BEQ), thanks for the heads-up on the Hex cryptics! Looks like a reprint of this, but prettier, since it's a Puzzlewright production. Gonna try some of the recent Puzzlers before ordering, though... I don't think it's a book for cryptic newbies, despite Amy's encouragement. :)

CrosSynergy guys, nicely done! Three in a row - and my solve times were almost identical for all three, so I'd say your cluing is just right.
Dan F | 07.09.09 - 11:48 am | #

alex, i'm waiting for the FURLONG insertion theme. not too many english units of length left, are there? and i actually really like your YD theme. how about:

HEY DATING BILL = ["Yo, are you really going out with Clinton?"]
joon | 07.09.09 - 11:59 am | #

Dan F, you should love the Puzzlers. I'm not a whiz at them—they often take me 45 minutes or more, and often require more than one sitting to unravel. That's as opposed to maybe 9 to 15 minutes for an NYT cryptic. As a high-speed solver, I'm sure you can appreciate the luxury of working a puzzle that takes longer than a month of Saturday NYTs! It's a ridiculously cheap form of entertainment, and the slower you are, the more hours of enjoyment you can wring out of the book.

Josh, your crossword skills will get so much stronger with repetition (keep working!) and learning. So many people have attested to crossword blogs' power to improve their skills. You learn crosswordese, the repeater words that show up again and again. You get wise to the constructors' favorite cluing tricks. Thanks for your congrats, and see you around.

Ashish: I think I've got your DATA and DOOM ones but I'm still contemplating the other two. EMIT isn't TIME TRAVELER, is it? The TRAVELER part doesn't quite feel like a cryptic hint to me.
Orange | Homepage | 07.09.09 - 12:15 pm | #

EMIT was too nerdy and slightly inconsistent visa vis the rest of the entries - TIME REVERSAL (for the sci-fi and physics fans)!

TEAL was the only good one (IMHO).
Ashish | 07.09.09 - 2:06 pm | #

Hats off to Ashish for the fun anagrams - and thanks to those who noticed and liked the CrosSynergy triple play. Thanks too to Doug and Patrick for letting me play along.

Joon, I tried to make FURLONG work, but all that's there is the actor who plays the kid in "Terminator 2" - and EDWARDFURLONGANDMRSSIMPSON and EDWARDFURLONGSCISSORHANDS are a bit long for a daily...

Tony
Tony Orbach | 07.09.09 - 2:21 pm | #

When I saw Ben's Ink Well first theme and saw LIZ and MICHAEL my mind went to JACKSON and TAYLOR, forgive me. I think the ORGASM at the beginning started that thought process.
*David* | 07.09.09 - 3:08 pm | #

another "d'oh!" moment where cs is concerned. "...inch" (peterson tuesday), "...mile" (blindauer wednesday), and "...foot..." (orbach thursday).

quel trifecta!

;-)
janie | 07.09.09 - 4:14 pm | #

Many Republican Senators appear to be Space Cadets, but thinking 'astronaut' limited the choice, however, had it been Governors, the one closet to being in orbit would be Palin.

Well, she can see outer space from her house, so that qualifies her as an astronaut.

(Couldn't resist, sorry)
Alex | Homepage | 07.09.09 - 6:22 pm | #

Does ROSEBUD really count as a spoiler if it refers to the first fifteen seconds of the movie? It's not like the clue disclosed that it was the sl--
T Campbell | Homepage | 07.11.09 - 4:21 am | #