IPB Continues To Puzzle

Okay, some of us (ahem, Schnookie) were disinclined to blog tonight’s NYT puzzle effort because certain other parties (ahem, Pookie) finished first, but after realizing Pookie would still be struggling blindly with the left-hand side of the grid without her help, Schnookie finally relented. (Pookie, at this point in this narrative, raises her eyebrows in haughty disbelief.)

Unlike last week’s puzzle, this one contained only real words, so that was a marked improvement. However, it wasn’t especially difficult — are they getting easier, or are we getting better at this? It only took us 36 minutes (while eating dinner and splitting a bottle of wine) by the “Master and Commander” DVD clock, as opposed to our traditional 56 minutes, and that’s a time we’ve been getting for the last few months. A bit disappointing. Get on that, Shortz!

So how did it play out? Schnookie started out strong, cracking the SW corner with ease, while Boomer and Pookie struggled a bit to get themselves started. (At a point where Schnookie had filled a good 15% of the grid, Boomer had gotten exactly two answers.) The key to unlocking that corner for Schnookie was knowing both the actors (41D, “Sobieski of ‘Joan of Arc’” [Leelee] and 43D, “Most-nominated Best Actor (eight times)” [O'Toole]) and hitting the three answers in the downs that started with “U” — 46D, 44D and 28D. Some clueage was needed to kick-start Pookie and Boomer (for O’Toole, “The greatest man to ever breathe!”), as Schnookie plowed through the NW corner, thanks to 30A, “Shade of red”, being one of her favorite words, “Claret”. A little clueage was also needed to get Boomer and Pookie through that corner, too, including 2D, “Title city in a 1983 George Strait hit” that Schnookie unlocked for them with the hint, “I had a very traumatic time there during my one trip to Texas”. (Don’t be too concerned about that trauma — it involved simply having to drive straight on a highway that happened to have a lot of merging, on-ramp traffic.)

It was at this point that Pookie took a stranglehold on the puzzle. She surged through the SE corner, getting a toehold by figuring 56A (”Invite letters”) couldn’t be RSVP because 58A (”Like porridge”) probably had to end with a “Y” (thereby making 56A “BYOB), and breaking it on 36D, “Starchy bite” (Tater tot). When she announced she had finished that corner, Schnookie, panicking that she was falling behind, demanded a clue for 39A, “Kind of service”. As it turns out, one of Boomer’s very favorite expressions when we’ve done a heavy day of house- or yardwork, is “We’ve done yoeman’s work!” So the fact that the answer was “Yoeman” was both funny and extremely depressing that we didn’t all immediately enter it.

We all went on relatively even footing into the NE corner, but Schnookie was reeling from the SE-corner surge by Pookie. Misled by wanting to make 5D, “Check for credibility, in modern lingo” (”Giggletest”? Really?), something that started with “Google”, Schnookie struggled. Pookie luckily misspelled “Google” and got 18A, “Alley oops”, (”Gutterball”) and it was all downhill from there. And so she finished first, having to actually spot Schnookie a clue (she was so blinded by rage for having not finished first that she couldn’t think straight at that point) for the last word she was missing, 5A (”Small wonders”), which was, ironically “Gifted kids”. Gifted Schnookie was not tonight. But she vows revenge — next Saturday Pookie will be lucky to get any help from her!

Oh, and in other news, Boomer resumed her rightful place bringing up the rear, announcing with no small crankiness, “I’m not even close to being done” as Pookie and Schnookie smugly declared this yet another too-easy puzzle for a Saturday.