Fifteen-year-old Caleb Madison is back and his Thursday, September 11 puzzle (answers) has a bit of everything. There are circles, rebus squares, an odd-looking grid, a long answer split across two clues, and a connect-the-dots game to play when you're done. Only KITCHEN SINK seems to be missing.
Poor ELAINE MAY gets tagged as the director of Ishtar again. That colossal box office failure in 1987 ended her directing career. Perhaps future constructors could take pity on a remarkably talented woman and find some kinder clue in the future.
The rebus answers seem to be particularly well executed today, especially the middle and bottom ones. You have to look at them twice to convince your brain that they make sense. Bravo.
We had VLAD the Impaler yesterday and VAMPIRE BAT today. Dracula has certainly been a successful meme. The Bram Stoker novel is great fun to read, especially if you remember it was the progenitor of everything from Anne Rice to Buffy. In case you missed it, I have to mention KarmaSartre's wonderful comment on yesterday's post: "I always thought VLAD would make a good personalized license plate on a Chevy Impala."
It's nice to see IRENE Adler get a mention. Here are my other favorites: "They might be chocolate" for LABS, "Like some six-packs" for ABDOMINAL, and "Yellow squirt" for MUSTARD.
As I mentioned, I'm working on a couple of interviews so I'm not sure if there's going to be a post tomorrow. The next interview will run Friday evening for the Saturday puzzle, and the other will follow soon after.
Fabulous puzzle and theme! Nicely constructed. Great job, Caleb!
Posted by: Barry Silk | September 10, 2008 at 08:15 PM
Joining Barry in cuddos to Caleb. I looked for some more stars, but see that having them in a single row makes it most like the walk of fame.
Posted by: PhillySolver | September 10, 2008 at 08:29 PM
Wow, cool Thursday! So much going on there. Nice work, Caleb!
Posted by: Myles Callum | September 10, 2008 at 08:46 PM
Very clever puzzle in many ways. The center section had me stumped for a while, even though my Chocolate Lab lives for Rest Areas. They have great smells, evidently, and, in Washington, free coffee! SARS was about to slip away for ever, I just barely snatched it from the synapse of oblivion. Some things I learned: EDUCT, TOMA, Dagny Taggart, and the Roy Rogers recipe (I first had "soda" in COLA's spot). I wonder if NSA and NEA have co-appeared before (?).
Caleb, I know its the height of fashion these days, but I hope you never name a daughter Madison. This eventuality may be so far in the future it will no longer be an issue, but since you're precocious in other ways, just thought I'd mention it....
Posted by: KarmaSartre | September 10, 2008 at 09:31 PM
How many times have NSA and NEA appeared together? You know I had to look it up:
Thursday, September 11, 2008 — Caleb Madison
Tuesday, December 02, 2003 — Harvey Estes
Sunday, May 20, 2001 — Alan Arbesfeld
And remember, you read it here first!
Posted by: JimH | September 10, 2008 at 09:34 PM
WOW!
Caleb, You are a * and if there is ever a Puzzle Walk of Fame, you will undoubtedly be on it!
My favorite clue: 51D It's often unaccounted for.
And yes, Elaine May deserves better!
(I'm hoping "First name in Erotica" was something young Caleb gleaned from the databases, not from late-night-under-the-covers-with-a-flashlight reading!)
Posted by: andrea carla michaels | September 11, 2008 at 01:35 AM
It's a beauty, this puzzle! Congrats, Caleb... I was glad that ASTARTE was crossed with NOSTARCH, because it gave me a toehold for all the rest. The other two rebus squares were equally great, including the clues, and the balanced long themes very impressive!
Happy to find (Julia) Child again, since she eluded me some months ago, as well as all the other ladies referenced here, real and fictional. Loved the bat and bad guys too...
Posted by: ArtLvr | September 11, 2008 at 01:47 AM
I had no idea that my grandmother's name, IRENE Adler, was also a character in Sherlock Holmes. Where have I been? Must rectify that.
What a wild ride this puzzle was. I feel so stupid not grasping that there were a couple of rebus answers, because those were the only areas where I was stalling, and I thought I knew the answers to at least the top and bottom ones. Jeez, what elixir do I need to take to have it dawn on me?
ACM, I laughed about ANAIS Nin too, for the same reason! But since a boy's gotta learn sometime about pleasing a woman, she's as good an instructor as any. ;)
Posted by: Wendy | September 11, 2008 at 05:17 AM
Very nice puzzle, but when I first looked at the empty grid on this 9/11 morning, all I could see were falling towers.
Posted by: Robert Kern | September 11, 2008 at 07:42 AM
wendy, don't be too hard on yourself. it was much tougher today to cotton onto the rebus than usual, because
a) there were only three rebus squares, and
b) there was already a lot going on thematically, to say the least. usually a rebus puzzle contains at most one additional theme answer, not four (and circled squares in the shape of a star to boot!).
it took me a while, too, even though i knew ASTARTE had to be right. "but it doesn't fit!" i kept telling myself.
Posted by: joon | September 11, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Nice puzzle Caleb. On Monday I was wondering who would carry the Thursday slot and what kind of stunt we might see. Star concept was a good way to go. -Joe
Posted by: Joe Krozel | September 11, 2008 at 02:07 PM
Thanks so much everyone! I'm glad you liked the puzzle. Great to get kudos from everyone, but especially great vet constructors like Joe, Myles and Andrea!
Again, glad you all liked it.
Caleb
Posted by: CalebM | September 11, 2008 at 04:41 PM
*and HOW COULD I FORGET! Barry Silk!
Posted by: calebM | September 11, 2008 at 04:42 PM
Yes, Wendy - you must get out your Sherlock Holmes and read the Irene Adler stories! She was quite the babe, not to mention extremely crafty and talented to boot.
Excellent puzzle today - multilevel fun! Thanks, Caleb!
Jim, can't wait for the upcoming interviews. You have my curiosity piqued.
Posted by: PondGirl | September 11, 2008 at 06:54 PM
Lots of layering, great cross-generational clues and not easy (those darn stars). Really enjoyed and hope to see you again.
Posted by: rich mcgill | September 12, 2008 at 07:53 AM