Plan C (Sunday brunch June 23, 2013)

Sometimes you just need to have a backup plan to your backup plan.  I thought we were all set.  On the way back to the hotel after my mother's birthday party Saturday, I spotted an IHOP right next to the parkway on-ramp.  We'd sleep in, stop there for brunch, and get right on the way home.

We pulled in Sunday morning.  A few people outside, but it didn't look crowded inside.  Perfect.  We got out of the car, walked up, and one of the outside people, who was in an IHOP uniform, told us the restaurant wasn't open yet: the grand opening would be Tuesday.  Plan B was the other IHOP on US 1.  Drive over there, see a dozen people outside waiting for a table.  At that point, nobody wanted to wait, so we grabbed bagels and coffee and got up the road.  We made another stop three hours later, and there was no question what we'd order: pancakes, eggs, bacon, biscuits, french toast.  If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Puzzles were (mostly) easier this weekend.

The New York Times has a straight cryptic by Rosalie Moskovitch.  The solution is below the fold.  Deb Amlen was on her vacation, so Thomas Gaffney has comment at Wordplay.  I was not all that impressed.

The Wall Street Journal has a Spell Weaver variety crossword by Mike Shenk.  They added bars to the grid, sacrificing aesthetics in the interest of making it easier for solvers to figure out where to put the answers.  Interestingly, I got most of the lower half before making much in the way of inroads on the upper half.  Usually I start with a bunch of answers scattered through the grid.

Falcon is still on vacation, so he has a temporary post for the National Post puzzle.  You'll be seeing stars after you finish it, and it's not because it's difficult.  Seeing as how Falcon gave me my first crossword blogging gig, I'll put a quick solution up in the comments there as soon as I find my copy of the puzzle

Nathan Curtis's latest deserves its own post, so I'll blog on that Thursday.

Work vs. play (Sunday brunch: October 14, 2012)

In the shameless pursuit of traffic (and new solvers for the The Nation cryptic), I've already posted the solution to the NYT variety puzzle, a straight cryptic by Rosalie Moscovitch.  I thought the puzzle was something of a grind (which was Deb Amlen's conclusion about one of Moscovitch's earlier works).  Deb's blog will include her commentary on this puzzle Sunday.

If you're a regular solver of the Times puzzles, welcome.  I think you'll find this week's cryptic in The Nation to be a much more rewarding use of your time.  It's about equal in difficulty, but the cluing is much more artful.  You'll feel you've had a recreation, instead of a chore.

Patrick Berry is equally artful in the construction of his puzzles.  Solvers over at the Wall Street Journal were raving about his latest one, called "Telescopes."  Not only has he checked every letter both across and down, there's a quote that emerges at the end.  That's amazing.

The regular weekly cryptic in the National Post is blogged by Falcon.  This week's puzzle has three fifteens and a couple of question marks, so it should be an interesting solve.

If you eat dessert first... (New York Times cryptic crossword solution 10/14/2012)

From the traffic stats, I know there are some of you who want solutions right away: especially you New York Times solvers.  Even though brunch isn't officially served until 10:00 tomorrow, I'll be happy to welcome you into the kitchen tonight.  Your solution to the Rosalie Moscovitch cryptic crossword from the Sunday New York Times is below the fold.

After you're done with that, grab a cup of coffee and hang around a while.  You'll find links to other interesting puzzles including the weekly cryptics in The Nation (the raison d'être for this blog), the great variety puzzles in the weekend Wall Street Journal, the Hex cryptics in the National Post (excellent for novice solvers), and more.  The Nation puzzles are linked here on Thursdays with annotated solutions the following Monday.  A varying menu of brunch puzzles are served every weekend.   Please click, comment, and join the community.

Rosalie Moscovitch is a new constructor to me.  After looking her up (and ordering her book "What's in a Word"), I was hoping for a few more puns in this puzzle.  No such luck.  21d might be hard for some of you younger solvers: I suggest you ask your parents for help.  Otherwise, it's a tough puzzle, with a few clever clues but nothing to knock your socks off.

As for the post title, now that I qualify as one of those old coots who has used a 21d, I felt no guilt at having an ice cream cone for dinner after training camp in Delaware last month.  The UD Ag school has a dairy and micro-creamery, located right next to the ice rink.  After a real good skate, and putting about a hundred pucks down to try and ingrain a new face-off mechanic, a beer would have been nice, but the ice cream was even better.  I chose a flavor called "All Nighter": coffee ice cream with cookie dough, crushed Oreos, and fudge—it was great.  Darn right I had the waffle cone too!

solution below the fold