Merl Reagle, March 29

The “No-Shows” in the title tells me something will be missing from these answers, but I didn’t expect to get so much help from the clues. Apparently thinking we needed hints, Merl helpfully put the dropped letter in parentheses after the clue.

So 22 Across, “Not -so-good news for a groom? (I),” the answer — THE BRIDE’S MAD — is missing an “I.” Restoring the “I” would give you a common wedding term, “The Bridesmaid.” Some of my favorites were 106 Across, “What German newlyweds do? (O)” — EXCHANGE VWS (Volkswagens) — and 122 Across, “What newlyweds might drive away in? (L)” — A LOVELY COUPE.

I liked 89 Across, “What to say  when the cheese finally arrives? (D)” — HERE COMES THE BRIE — even though no one really waits for the cheese to arrive at a wedding. Do they? And I’m pretty sure the central answer to 67 Across — YOUR AWFUL WEDDED WIFE — was a line by the sputtering, stuttering priest in “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”

Special shout-outs to Philly on 98 Across (“Phila. paper” — INQ, for the Inquirer) and 117 Down (“Erving’s nickname” — DR J); and I thought the clue for 119 Down, “Hitchcock film for short” was very clever for a standard crossword answer: NNW (“North by Northwest”).

Finally, 126 Across (“‘Madam, I’m Adam’ addressee) was a reference to one of my favorite types of wordplay, palindromes. The answer is the equally palindromic EVE.

Questions or comments? Twitter me @crosswordkathy

Merl Reagle, March 22

This is one of those puzzles where the same set of letters are added to a common phrase to create a cute theme answer. In this case, you’re actually adding the word “CAR” (thus the puzzle title, “On the Road Again”) to these phrases.

So 23 Across, “Sign outside a cheap hotel?” is SORRY NO CARPETS and 30 Across, “Comment about a kid who prefers the old ‘Tonight’ show?” is LIKE FATHER LIKE CARSON. Those are pretty clever.

But I was less impressed with CARLA CUCARACHA, the answer to 118 Across, “Most popular dance instructor in Mexico?” It seemed forced, as did SOME FRIENDS OF CARMINE, the answer to 103 Across, “Whom Vinny may be seeing tonight?”

Questions or comments? Twitter me @crosswordkathy

New York Times, March 15

I haven’t entered a single letter in the puzzle yet, but judging from the title, I’m going to guess that the theme answers all have an extra “S” at the beginning (“prior esses”). And this is without actually knowing what a “prioress” is, so I looked it up: It’s a nun in charge of a priory. I’ll have to remember that for Scrabble.

We’ll see if I’m right.

Update: I was half right. The themed answers are common two-word phrases with an extra “s” in front of each word. So 23 Across, “Ridiculed someone as loudly as possible?” is SCREAMED SCORN; 57 Across, “Change devices that divert trains to different tracks?” is SWITCH SHUNTS.

One other thing: Once I confirmed my extra “s” theory, it was easy to automatically put an “s” into the first box of every theme answer, thus providing a little extra help with the corresponding down clues.

A couple of shout-outs to my city made me smile: 90 Down, “2008 World Series Winner” and 115 Down, “With 47-Down, Oscar nominee for ‘Ali.” Shame on you if I have to tell you the answers are PHILLIE and WILL SMITH, one of our favorite native sons.

Questions or comments? Twitter me @crosswordkathy

Merl Reagle, March 15

This puzzle is another corny one, pun intended. Reagle often uses puns for his themed answers; this one is all about vegetables.

I’m not a huge pun fan, and sometimes I feel like his are forced. But most of these are OK; a couple even made me smile (21 Across: “Answer me! Was it creamed or boiled?” Answer: THE SPINACH INQUISITION).

The “Veggie plea?” of 51 Across (GIVE PEAS A CHANCE) is borderline tired; it made me think of that faux hippie bumper sticker, “Visualize Whirled Peas.”

Questions or comments? Twitter me @crosswordkathy

Merl Reagle, March 8

I’m not a big fan of puzzles where you have to explain the theme beforehand. In this case, there’s a big block of text before the across clues that’s labeled “How to Play.” It proceeds to tell you that there’s a hidden six-letter word in each of the theme answers, but the letters aren’t necessarily all together. For example, the word “sample” is hidden, left to right, in the phrase “sugar maple.”

That’s kind of a cheesy way to “hide” something, in my opinion, and doesn’t really give me the “Aha!” moment that I’m looking for in a crossword. Even so, I found the hidden word — HIDDEN, wouldn’t you know — in all of the theme answers that otherwise seem completely unrelated (66 Across, IRISH INDEPENDENCE, and 100 Across, HOLIDAY DECORATIONS). And I think you know you’re stretching it when it takes two linked long answers (45 Across, THE LITTLE OLD and 51 Across, LADY FROM PASADENA) to make up one theme entry.

Questions or comments? Twitter me @crosswordkathy