My guest bloggers rock. It's good to be back but it's nice to know I'm not indispensable. Thanks PhillySolver for being the latest to fill in for me.
Before we get to the Monday puzzle I do want to add my own praise to Spy Glass, the Sunday masterpiece by Elizabeth C. Gorski. All those these answers, symmetrically placed, in chronological order, along with some appropriate glassware. Will Shortz called it "a breathtaking feat of construction." That would be a great quote to add to anyone's résumé, not that Ms. Gorski needs it. What a nice way to ring in the Ian Fleming centennial.
Here's my Favorite Fun Fleming Fact: besides creating Bond, James Bond, he wrote the children's story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Huh? Does this make any sense at all? Think about it. The spy on her majesty's secret service always had a cool car with lots of gadgets and special capabilities. Ditto Chitty. Bond had Pussy Galore and the rest of his suggestively-named Bond Girls. The sex kitten in Chitty Chitty went by the delicious moniker Truly Scrumptious. Yep, all from the same brain.
The Monday, May 26 puzzle by Mark Sherwood (answers) left me squirming in my seat with its oral healthcare theme. Speaking of squirming, SEX gets clued as "reason for an R rating." Sex has undergone a remarkable transformation in just the past few years. Not long ago when you filled out forms you were often asked about your sex. The accepted answers were generally either male or female. Nowadays, people don't have sex, they have gender, a word which formerly had only a technical grammatical meaning mostly useful for studying foreign languages. The result of this queasiness has, as usual, had the opposite of the intended effect. We can't casually say sex because that would deeply offend our prim sensibilities, so now that formerly safe and useful word only has naughty connotations. Ok, I'll dismount my soapbox now.
Two thumbs up for seeing SISKEL and EBERT together again. Theirs is such a wonderful story — the two formerly bitter rivals who become best friends clashing over their shared love of film.
I wonder how many NYC restaurateurs I'm going to have to learn to keep doing these puzzles...
Update: I forgot to mention that the grid pattern on this puzzle, by which I mean the distribution of black squares, is a very popular one. It appears 10 times in my database, making it the fourth most common pattern. I'll have more to say about this in a future post. My Grid Art page shows two lovely Saturday-level grids that each appear 9 times.
re restaurateurs: I saw "Sweet Smell of Success" yesterday and one of the scenes took place in Toots Shor's.
Posted by: Ellen | May 25, 2008 at 08:20 PM
"Nowadays, people don't have sex." How many people did you poll to determine that?
Sorry...my bad.
Always nice to see our minds thinking along the same lines...at least as far as Siskel and Ebert are concerned ; )
Posted by: Linda G | May 25, 2008 at 08:51 PM
I personally belief the MIASMA answer is part of the theme. I mean, have you smelled a dentist office? Felt the unease? Also, why is DENTISTS symmetrically opposite FIREARMS? Maybe Mark is nodding to Memorial Day, or maybe he has had no better luck at the dentist than I.
Jim, do you love JESU, Joy of Man's Desiring as much as I do (which is a lot)? As to NYC restaurants, I am fine with this recent lot, just don't make me spell the last name of the chef at Daniel.
Welcome back. I am enjoying the holiday now, but thanks for the opportunity.
Posted by: PhillySolver | May 25, 2008 at 09:06 PM
"Dental carries the puzzle"? Dude! That pun is definitely a sign of moral decay.
Posted by: Orange | May 25, 2008 at 09:22 PM
re: restaurateurs. I can see the clue now:
31A: Heavyweight Gotham restaurant owner, once: (JACKDEMPSEY).
Generally, I do early week puzzles moving from the NW into the SE, up the East Coast, cutting through the Midlands and into the SW, then finishing in California. At least I try it that way anyway.
Now, I go looking for theme information right away, particularly on Monday and Tuesday. Today I found what I was looking for at 29A and tapped into the theme.
The only question I had was:
IS IT SAFE?
Posted by: Bill from NJ | May 25, 2008 at 10:15 PM
the puzzle didn't entirely agree with me, but that's mostly my fault, not the puzzle's fault. i think.
allow me a brief soapbox moment: in our modern times, there is a distinction between sex and gender. sex is a biological classification: male or female, based on what set of chromosomes/reproductive organs one is equipped with. gender is an emotional state, based on whether one identifies more with masculinity or femininity. a person's sex and gender do not have to be the same, and i can't imagine anything more stressful than coming to that realization about oneself (usually shortly after the onset of puberty). i'm not transgendered, but i know people who are and it must be tough.
Posted by: joon | May 26, 2008 at 05:25 PM
Wow, what an amazing puzzle! All those theme entries, symmetrically placed, in chronological order.
Posted by: dentist sydney | January 06, 2009 at 05:07 AM