Morton J. Mendelson author page
4 puzzles by Morton J. Mendelson
with Jeff Chen comments
| F | A | S | T | S | P | L | I | T | H | O | L | D | ||
| U | S | E | R | U | T | E | R | I | A | M | I | E | ||
| N | A | D | A | M | A | G | I | C | L | I | M | A | ||
| K | N | A | C | K | S | A | S | K | A | F | T | E | R | |
| S | A | N | K | A | I | T | H | E | L | P | ||||
| N | E | R | O | T | E | A | S | E | R | |||||
| P | E | P | G | R | A | S | S | S | O | D | A | |||
| I | S | I | T | A | R | T | K | E | P | T | F | I | T | |
| B | A | L | E | E | D | I | T | H | A | T | E | |||
| B | U | L | L | E | T | O | R | C | A | |||||
| L | A | R | I | A | T | S | T | R | I | P | ||||
| S | A | H | A | R | A | N | S | Y | E | A | H | N | O | |
| L | O | A | F | I | G | I | V | E | C | O | N | K | ||
| A | N | T | I | N | O | D | A | T | O | D | I | E | ||
| B | E | E | B | S | T | O | L | I | S | E | E | R |
| J | E | E | P | L | O | T | S | P | R | A | M | S | ||
| A | C | D | C | D | A | W | N | R | E | G | A | L | ||
| B | O | I | L | T | R | I | O | O | M | A | N | I | ||
| T | A | K | E | S | T | W | O | T | O | T | A | N | ||
| Z | O | M | B | I | E | S | Y | N | E | E | G | G | ||
| I | R | E | N | T | S | M | I | S | S | E | S | |||
| O | D | N | I | G | H | T | I | R | E | N | E | |||
| N | O | U | N | E | C | U | W | I | N | D | ||||
| C | A | R | M | E | N | S | A | N | D | I | E | |||
| L | F | G | A | M | E | T | A | X | A | T | E | |||
| E | R | L | M | A | S | C | T | E | A | R | E | D | ||
| G | O | O | V | E | R | T | H | E | E | D | G | E | ||
| A | T | B | A | T | A | I | D | E | E | S | A | U | ||
| T | H | A | N | E | S | C | A | N | S | A | W | S | ||
| O | S | L | E | R | H | A | M | S | A | Y | E | S |
Darn it, Morton stole my punchline!
It's been a while since we've had a "letters outside the grid" theme. I appreciate that Will spaces them out for bigger impact.
I had a dickens of a time even finishing the puzzle, as the random GO positions made it so tricky. I usually love tricksiness, but wow, was this the uber-tricksiest. Several themers gave a great payoff — CHICA(GO), TAKES TWO TO TAN(GO), (GO)SLINGS in particular. But as a whole, I was left with a feel of inelegance.
Why? Some themers formed regular words/entries without GO, like (GO)SLINGS. Some didn't, like AGESA(GO). GOODNIGHT IRENE didn't resonate with me, not nearly as much as CARMEN SANDIEGO. And why eight GOs? Why some in long answers, some in shorties?
I know, I overthink things way too much. But it is what it is.
This would have been POW! material for me if the grid had looked innocent, all full of themers like SLINGS and CHICA. As it was, it felt a bit haphazard.
Still, a great mental workout, trying my darnedest to remember where those GOs were. Probably will play much more strongly to paper solvers who don't need a square in which to type GO. Kind of nice when a puzzle comes along that makes you appreciate pencil and paper!
| Z | E | S | T | S | T | E | R | N | B | E | A | K | ||
| I | B | I | S | P | O | R | T | O | A | P | S | E | ||
| L | O | T | T | O | N | S | E | T | N | E | A | T | ||
| C | L | A | R | I | N | E | T | U | N | K | E | P | T | |
| H | A | R | A | S | S | G | R | I | N | |||||
| P | L | O | T | I | N | P | O | W | E | R | ||||
| S | T | Y | E | R | R | O | R | S | T | A | D | A | ||
| E | R | E | C | T | Y | A | D | S | E | V | E | R | ||
| L | I | A | R | A | F | R | E | S | H | E | N | E | ||
| L | O | S | E | S | T | O | R | O | A | R | ||||
| P | E | A | R | A | R | A | B | I | C | |||||
| S | C | R | E | E | N | T | A | K | E | F | I | V | E | |
| K | O | O | P | E | V | A | D | E | T | R | O | D | ||
| I | R | M | A | N | A | M | E | R | E | T | R | E | ||
| N | E | O | N | D | R | E | S | S | R | H | Y | S |
Been a while since we've seen a uniclue theme. I like that this one employs two very different meanings for each uniclue, e.g. ZEST and ZILCH are both synonyms for [Zip], but they they're not synonyms of each other. All nine pairs exhibit this quality, my favorite GRIN and GIRDER both clued by [Beam]. Tricksy!
I had to go back and recount the themers — were there really nine (!) pairs? That is a ton of material to stuff into one grid.
I once thought about doing a uniclue Sunday puzzle. Why not try it with something simple, like pairs of synonyms? Turns out it's much, much harder than you might think, for a few reasons:
- Any time you have intersecting themers, the region right around that intersection becomes inflexible.
- Think about how many pairs of themers you must have — not want to have, but MUST have, since there are inevitably a bunch of squares that start both an Across and a Down answer.
- With so many pairs strewn about the grid, there are bound to be some intersecting theme answers, making your life even more difficult.
That last point might be the toughest of the three. Check out the middle of the puzzle, where GRIN / GIRDER, AFRESH / AT AN END, SHARE / SEVER, and even TAKE FIVE / TAME all must work together. Talk about constraints! AFRESH is more an oddball than the rest of the themers — and all those crossings force YAD. I think it's a fair answer, but right above AFRESH made for an unsavory finish to my solving experience.
Even just one crossing pair can be so rough. STERN and SPONSOR don't need to work with any other pairs, really, but along with some of the longer fill, it all chokes off that north section something fierce — PORTO, ERST, RTE is a lot of glue — albeit minor — in one area.
But overall, I really liked the concept of one clue defining two intersecting answers, in very different ways.
| A | J | A | R | B | L | O | B | A | C | R | I | D | ||
| C | O | V | E | Y | O | Y | O | B | U | E | N | O | ||
| T | H | E | P | R | I | M | E | S | U | S | P | E | C | T |
| L | A | N | U | T | E | R | U | S | B | O | T | |||
| I | N | G | O | T | S | N | O | T | H | O | M | E | ||
| K | N | E | W | H | E | W | A | S | C | O | O | K | E | D |
| E | A | R | N | L | I | D | R | O | S | S | I | |||
| A | F | T | E | R | H | E | ||||||||
| S | L | E | E | T | A | A | A | G | U | S | H | |||
| W | A | S | G | R | I | L | L | E | D | B | Y | T | H | E |
| A | N | T | O | I | N | E | A | L | M | I | R | A | ||
| P | E | E | G | A | Z | E | B | O | L | I | V | |||
| P | O | L | I | C | E | D | E | T | E | C | T | I | V | E |
| E | N | L | A | I | T | A | T | E | S | T | E | T | ||
| D | E | E | M | S | O | L | A | F | P | Y | R | O |
Debut! Morton gives a punny quip, playing on the word PRIME. Nice to tie together a few bits of police slang, the suspect knowing he was COOKED (had been found out) after getting GRILLED (questioned). The link between PRIME SUSPECT and prime rib is a bit tenuous for my taste, but as a whole, it works all right.
I'm really impressed by Morton's execution. Working with four grid-spanners (15-letter entries) is tough enough, causing many places where you have to deal with two or more themers. When you throw in a fifth themer, it gets even harder.
Usually I would expect most any constructor to have trouble at the ends of grid-spanners, for example where you have to fill around the beginnings and endings of THE PRIME SUSPECT / KNEW HE WAS COOKED. Today's grid is so tough in those spots — you have to fill three adjacent 7-letter slots, all running vertically through those themers.
I had to do a double-take, amazed that Morton was able to skate by with just minor stuff in the four corners. Only STET, PEE, LAN = very impressive. And the fill is not just passable or neutral, either. There's some nice DOTTED I, HEAVE TO, ACT LIKE, AVENGER entries. Well done.
Quip puzzles have to make me laugh out loud or really think in order to make up for their raw difficulty — so tough when you're basically solving a puzzle with only the down clues — but I was impressed with Morton's construction. Extremely impressive for a first time out of the gate.