Mathematics By Frank Longo Crossword Answer Area

LAT 13:06 (Derek)

NYT 5:05 (Amy)

WSJ 14:03 (Laura)

Ryan McCarty's New York Times crossword—Amy's write-up

NY Times crossword solution, 3 10 18, 0310

A bit surprised to find a couple things that were unfamiliar, though yes, it is a(n easyish) Saturday puzzle.1a. [Pilot control?], GAS TAP? Right at 1-Across, that one had me worried the whole puzzle would have obscure things.20a. [Sluggers], BIG BATS? That's a term for baseball players who get a lot of hits or runs? (I pieced together HIGH AND AWAY, more baseball lingo.) Not sure I knew the term GEAR TRAINS, either.

Favorite fill: ICE CAPADES for nostalgic reasons, ORSON BEAN (ditto), HOST CITY, GO FOR A SPIN, ANIMANIACS, BARBARA EDEN (more nostalgia!), and ISLAND-HOPS. And ERMA Bombeck! Don't ask me why I was reading her books, pitched to '70s housewives, as a kid, but but I was so fond of them. The woman was funny.

Not so keen on "IT'S ODD" ("how odd" or "that's odd" feel more right to me), 'TISN'T, plural abbrev SSNS, crosswordese ELIA.

Three things:

23a. [Island dish], POI. Are you kidding me? Crossing ISLAND-HOPS? How hard would it have been to go with [Hawaiian dish]? That there is what you call a noticeable duplication—a 6-letter word that appears in an intersecting clue and answer.
49a. [Ones prepared to drop a few bucks?], HUNTERS. If their families aren't relying on venison to provide their protein through the winter, then eww.
11d. [Virtually every coin], DISC. Name some coins that stray from the usual round form.

3.8 stars from me.

Queena Mewers's & Alex Eaton-Salners's Wall Street Journal crossword, "Extra Helpings" — Laura's write-up

WSJ - 3.10.18 - Mewers & Eaton-Salners - Solution

WSJ – 3.10.18 – Mewers & Eaton-Salners – Solution

Hey! It's Q & A again! I like it when these two collaborate. This time they're giving us some extra helpings … of what?

[23a: What you might find at the bottom of a trick-or-treater's bag?]: RAGGEDY CANDY
[25a: Slam-dancer's bread?]: MOSH PITA
[55a: Essential ingredient for groovy baking?]: FAB FLOUR
[57a: Glow-in-the-dark sandwich cookie?]: URANIUM OREO
[79a: Wedding march remnants?]: CRUSHED RICE
[81a: Off-the-hook Japanese soup stock?]: MAD DASHI
[113a: Nonpoisonous borscht vegetable?]: SAFE BEET
[116a: Breakfast in a jam?]: TRAFFIC SCONE
[127a^R: What's been added to the starred answers]: CALORIES

I thought this was lovely, and nicely executed, in that all of the words generated by adding C-A-L-O-R-I-E-S are foods; MOSH PITA, FAB FLOUR, and URANIUM OREO are particularly funny finds. ACED IT! I'M IN LOVE!

I'm pretty full just thinking about this theme, but let's see if we can squeeze in a wafer-thin mint of commentary on the fill with a minimum of [19d: Snide attitude]: SNARK.

[28d: "Mr Robot" star]: RAMI MALEK. This a great show, with excellent commentary on Our Contemporary Society and Its Technological Issues, plus the star is super hot.
[32a: "Valley of the Dolls" author]: Jacqueline SUSANN. Valley of the Dolls is one of those books/movies, like Peyton Place, that I used to hear grown-ups talk about in scandalized tones (although not really, because I was raised by bohemian college professors), but when I finally read it, my jaded GenX sensibility couldn't understand what the big deal was.
[88d: "Takin' Care of Business" band, for short]: BTO. Did you know that bearded Canadian rockers Bachman-Turner Overdrive's third member (with Randy Bachman and Fred Turner) was not a guy named Steve Overdrive? In actual fact, they got the third word in their name from the title of a trucker magazine. Randy Bachman used to be a member of the other bearded Canadian rocker band, The Guess Who, and was persuaded to form his own band by non-bearded Canadian rocker Neil Young, who also used to be in a band formed of the dudes' last names. 1970s Winnipeg: the heart of rock and roll. And beards.

Daniel Nierenberg's LA Times crossword – Derek's write-up

It's been a torturous week at work, with one emergency after another, so it is at times like this that puzzles become my haven. I think I appreciate puzzles because there is a precision to them: there is not gray area, an answer is either correct or it isn't. Perhaps that is why I have always been attracted to math, or accounting, or recently, computer coding. All require an extreme attention to detail, and I think that helps my weird brain. I am very much looking forward to spending some time with my crossword obsessed friends at the end of the month. I bought my plane ticket!! I registered!! I have a room reservation!! All I need is transportation from LaGuardia and I am good!!

Today's LAT was a welcome respite to this week's insanity. Lot's of interesting fill, yet not to painful. (Write-up for today's Stumper is another story!) A solid 4.3 stars today

Some mentionables:

17A [Black-necked flier]CANADA GOOSE – We call these Canadian Geese here. I suppose either term is correct.
19A [Sportscaster Andrews]ERIN – There is also CNN anchor ERIN Burnett, among others.
20A [Bradlee in "The Post"]BEN – I have yet to see this movie. As of this date, I have only seen 2 of the Best Picture nominees. Most are now available to rent or buy, so perhaps in the coming weeks I will add a few more.
29A [Waterside accomodations]BOATEL – This is a cool entry! There are, needless to say, NONE of these near my house, at least that I know of, but perhaps this is a common thing in, say, Miami or LA?
31A [Lindy relative]JITTERBUG – Also a Learned League answer earlier this week!
42A ["Thunderball" setting]BAHAMAS – Wasn't this the Bond movie with the voodoo themes, also set in and around New Orleans?
56A [Italian cooking staple]TOMATO PUREE – Yes, you put in TOMATO PASTE too!
5D ["Deliverance" co-star of Jon, Burt, and Ronny]NED – As in Ned Beatty, probably more known for his role inSuperman from the 70s, along with Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, and Ronny Cox. Ronny Cox is arguably most famous for his role inTotal Recall. And, no, I have never seenDeliverance!
24D [Mrs. __, head of the kitchen in "Beauty and the Beast]POTTS – This was Angela Lansbury's voice role in the 1991 Disney animated version
39D ["Wolf" channel]CNN – Yes, there is a show calledWolf, hosted by Wolf Blitzer. On most days at 1:00pm. Great clue!
42D [Something in back of a hit?]B-SIDE – This is arguably the best clue in the puzzle!

See you all on March 23!

Frank Longo's Newsday crossword, "Saturday Stumper" – Derek's write-up

Ouch. This one was painful. Lots of GREAT clues in here, but Frank lives up to his Stumper reputation with this one. (Said reputation being Toughest Stumper Constructor!) Usually these really tough ones tend to annoy me, especially when up against a blogging deadline, but this one was truly an enjoyable challenge. Just getting used to the idea of solving some brain-busters in Stamford on Sunday! A solid 4.6 stars for another gem from one of the great constructors of our day.