John Wrenholt author page

NINETY-ONE … equals TWO TIMES / FIFTEEN, TRIPLED / PLUS ONE?

Double-checking … (2 x 15) x 3 + 1 = 91. Yup, that works.

The real question, though, is why doesn't this puzzle's equation equal FORTY-TWO since that's the answer to life, the universe, and everything? I want answers!

Big-picture questions aside, some amazing clues helped me push aside my confusion about the arbitrary feel of NINETY-ONE as an answer. WINE FRIDGE is already a gold-star entry, and the use of "vintage appliance" will make it age even better. I hadn't heard of a NADA COLADA, but the clue's hint about rhyming sure helped me drink it down.

Saving the best for last, there was some magical alchemy in turning plastic to paper. Now that's a way to elevate the everyday ATM!

I have a difficult time getting over the disappointment of the answer to the equation being an arbitrary number that probably just happened to fit with crossword symmetry — how awesome would it have been if the value had been that of its grid position, like FORTY TWO at 42-Across! — but there's something fun about the playful crossover of math and English.

I've dabbled at BALLOON ARTISTry, and I can vouch for the fact that things blow up. Not just literally in my face, but it turns out that kids explosively bawl when I hand them balloons shaped like dying amoeba.

[Outlet for international travelers]? Electrical plug? AC converter? D'oh, it was "outlet" in the sense of "place that sells things." DUTY-FREE STORE; brilliant!

The third marquee entry, PASSENGER VANS, didn't do as much, especially with a ho-hum clue. I'll take two out of three winners any day, though. That entire middle executed with just a SYS to hold it together? Solid.

I also liked how John made great use of his mid-length slots, GOD MODE such an evocative, descriptive entry.

There was so much crossword glue, though. Minor as it all was, ATA BCE HAR HRE SYS UKE USH ... inelegant. Given that this is a 70-worder, not a high degree of difficulty, I wanted a smoother product.

Thankfully, some amazing clues elevated the solving experience. PUSHPINs as colorful spots on a map. GRANT as a [50s President], that is, on the $50 bill. Even EGG getting a goodie, a common thread between tempera and tempura.

A few clues that might confuse:

• M.O. as STYLE? Think about it in terms of "that's his M.O., that's how he rolls. That's his STYLE." (I can hear all the kids mocking me.)
• How is a STAG one who gets into a seasonal rut? The "rut" is a period of increased sexual desire for STAGs, including combative behaviors and "bugling." That seems like anything but a rut!
• BEAR = [Direction word] ... refers to the stage direction, "exit, pursued by a bear"? Ah! It's in the sense of "bear right."

I enjoyed some of the final touches, LHASA crossing DHAKA so pretty, trivia about a SEAHORSE's prehensile tail, and a throwback to Lucille Ball with the POODLE CUT. There was a lot to love, helping me to overlook some of the gridwork blips.

Drink up everyone, DOWN THE HATCH!

Er, DOWN THE WRONG PIPE!

Would you believe, DOWN THE PIPE?

As in … a perfectly pitched baseball? Isn't that best described by "right across the plate"?

Man, my baseball knowledge is minor league.

It was difficult to figure out if DOWN THE PIPE is a term used in the MLB since so many of the search hits were grammar wonks wonking about the "down the pipe" vs. "down the pike" debate. Most of them described "down the pipe" as "impending," as in "coming down the pipe." No mention of baseball.

Eventually, I did find a site that supports DOWN THE PIPE as a baseball term (warning, NSFW!). Not the most compelling case for featuring it as today's revealer.

That said, the grid presents such a pretty image of appropriate words coming DOWN THE PIPE. It didn't take long to figure out that something was missing in those five answers, but that didn't take away from the aesthetic value. There's something so elegant about the five theme phrases perfectly stair-casing down.

It's bold to kick off your puzzle with HO HUM. I found the gridwork anything but, with such nice bonuses as WATER TOWER, GAS STATION, OIL PLATFORM.

Hey, wait a second. Is this a crossword, or Sim City?

Working in all that long material, plus AIRSHIPS and CLUB SODA — with just a bit of ORO TERA as speed bumps — is SPIRITED work.

It's a shame that OIL PLATFORM wasn't directly tied into the theme somehow. So much potential left on the table, maybe that OIL PLATFORM kicking off an underground PIPEline leading to the GAS STATION? Or perhaps the Brothers Mario and Luigi could have been invoked? (Said the nerd who spent most of his teenage years trying to complete every version of Super Mario Bros. ever released.)

I enjoyed the pleasing visual of those pipes, so regular and regimented, but I was left wondering what could have been.

Debut! John goes out of his WAY to give us a sequence from ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, TWO WAY RADIO, THREE WAY TIE, to … SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY? I thought long and hard about this one. I wondered, is 1, 2, 3, 6 a real sequence? It is cool that it describes the first perfect number, i.e. a number that equals the sum of its factors (1 + 2 + 3 = 6). Let's just go with that.

John's explanation of 1 + 2 + 3 = 6 does make sense, but I wish it had been more clearly spelled out somehow in the puzzle.

Nice gridwork, especially for a debut. It's hard to work in so much bonus material — WALLSAFE, PINGPONG, TOP SECRET (at the TOP of the grid!) and TREESTUMP with a funny beaver-related clue.

Usually, bonus fill is incorporated in the vertical direction, since this allows for more freedom and flexibility. TEABAGS and GET BUSY (admit it, you thought of the euphemism, didn't you? No? Oh. I didn't either.) are relatively easy to work into the grid, for example. Even though they each intersect two themers, there are a good number of black squares breaking things up in those regions. Easy peasy.

But look up at TOP SECRET. Stacking a long answer on top of a themer is not often done, because it forces so many sets of paired letters you have to work with: TO of STOP, ON of HONE, PE of OPEC, etc. It's true that you can put just about anything in that TOP SECRET slot, but you'll always have all those parallel constraints to work around. So it's great execution up there, what with nary a gluey bit.

The bottom does force the ugly EDUC, but what are you gonna do. It's the price of this sort of layout. Given that there were only a few other gluey bits in TYRE, OTRA, SEL, the overall result was pretty good.

The logic of the progression still doesn't sit quite right with me, but overall, I did like the gridwork execution. Neat to see a noob stretch to spruce up a grid like this, while still keeping all the short fill reasonably smooth.