New York Times, Aug. 29

I am not a jogger. Never have been, never will be. Which is why, when I saw the title of today’s puzzle, physical exercise never entered my mind — but mental exercise did.

At first, “Going for a Run” made me think the theme answers would contain alphabetic runs of letters, like DEF or NOP. Then I inadvertently solved the last theme answer first — YEAR ZERO (“Beginning of time?” 120 Across) — and it was hard not to notice the Y-Z symmetry of the two words.

I got suspicious and looked at the immediately preceding theme clue, 117 Across: “Annual sports event since 1997.” Hmmmm. The ESPN X-Games are about that old. A few more moments and I had it: WINTER X-GAMES. Bingo. Each theme answer would have an alphabetical pairing: W-X, Y-Z.

The italicized clues spoke to the subtlety of the theme. And I can’t imagine how long it might have taken constructor Derek Bowman to come up with all the pairings. (What would he have done if the Winter X-Games hadn’t been invented?)

So, starting alphabetically (and numerically, in the upper left corner), the theme answers are: ARMY BRAT (“Kid constantly switching schools, maybe,” 22 Across); CARBON DATING (“Age-revealing method,” 23 Across); EXHAUST FANS (“Stale air removers,” 29 Across); GRAY HAIRS (“Supposed results of stress,” 33 Across); INSIDE JOB (“Embezzlement, e.g.,” 58 Across); and KITTY LITTER (“Pet shop purchase,” 60 Across).

Also: MIXED NUTS (“Party bowlful,” 68 Across); OUTER PLANET (“Pluto, e.g., before it was plutoed,” 78 Across); QUICK READ (“Harlequin romance, e.g.,” 81 Across); SPEED TRAP (“Leadfoot’s downfall,” 101 Across); USED VEHICLE (“It’s got some miles on it,” 106 Across); and the aforementioned WINTER X-GAMES and YEAR ZERO.

Unwitting Theme Answer Dept.: “Newer, as a car” (42 Across) is a LATE MODEL, which follows the “Going for a Run” idea though it’s not an actual theme answer.

Project Runway Dept.: Can you tell I’ve never seen this show? I couldn’t figure out how “Diane” was going to fit into the four squares of 111 Down (“Von Furstenberg of fashion”). It’s EGON.

Noshable Clue Dept.: SESAME (122 Across) is not “_____ Street” or “Open _____,” but a “Bagel request.”

Great Trivia Dept.: “Where the limbo dance originated?” (57 Down) is TRINIDAD. I had no idea. I would have guessed “The Love Boat.”

Questions or comments? Tweet me @crosswordkathy.

So I’m out of town this weekend and am blogging via iPhone. Please excuse the typos.

This puzzle’s clever title, a play on “Film Noir,” is a literal reference to the theme answers: Each is a movie title missing an “R.” So a “Film about a corrida participant put to pasture?” is AGING BULL (19 Across).

Other films are about … “a small-minded lady” — PETTY WOMAN (28 Across); “an embarrassingly one-sided tennis match?” — A THOUSAND ACES (44 Across); “decorative furniture elements being blown off with dynamite?” — BEDKNOBS AND BOOMSTICKS (67 Across); “a demonic horse” — MY FIEND FLICKA (93 Across); “drink garnishes” — OLIVE TWIST (112 Across); “a seedy Hollywood bar?” — MULHOLLAND DIVE (121 Across); and “skinned knuckles” — FIST BLOOD (126 Across).

And, finally, a film about “a candy-sharing confederate?” is THE GUMBALL ALLY (23 Across), though I didn’t get the reference. My brother-in-law said it was a Burt Reynolds movie with a car race. Well, that narrows it down. Update: It doesn’t actually star Burt Reynolds, though you can get a 2-for-1 DVD with “The Gumball Rally” and “Cannonball Run 2,” which does star Burt.

Home of the Saints Dept.: St. Francis gets all the press, but “St. Clare’s home” (64 Down) is also ASSISI, which I happened to visit a few months ago while in Italy. I wanted to post my photo of the basilica (multimedia blogging!) but alas the picture is on my laptop, not my phone. Update: Photo posted!

Basilica of St. Francis (San Francesco), Assisi, Italy

Awesome Pun Dept.: “Bomb detector?” is a DRAMA CRITIC (16 Down).

Only Time You’ll See Profanity In The Puzzle Dept.: “Beasts of Burden” are ASSES (50 Down).

I Thought It Was A Car Dept.: A “Sailor’s sword” is a CUTLASS (97 Down). Did Oldsmobile know that?

Weird Science Dept.: A “Hybrid farm animal” is a CATTALO (31 Down), which I’m guessing is a cross between cattle and buffalo. Speaking of which, did you hear about the zedonk? Half zebra, half donkey. Seriously. I’d link to it except I cant figure out how to do that on this WordPress app. Update: Here’s the link to the zedonk.

Need A Clue? Dept.: Anyone who had trouble with this puzzle should have consulted the “Web site for cinephiles” (111 Down) — IMDB.

Questions or comments? Tweet me @crosswordkathy.

New York Times, Aug. 15

This puzzle was not exactly hard, and even fun for a little while. Then it threw me for a loop with a handful of cultural references that completely, embarrassingly baffled me — including two theme answers that I solved without understanding what they meant.

This week’s theme tweaks common phrases by doubling the final word (echo!) to create a clever homophone. So a ”Reservation at a Johannesburg restaurant?” isn’t a table for two but a TABLE FOR TUTU, as in Archbishop Desmond (16 Down); “Landlord’s ultimatum?” is RENT OR BYE BYE (60 Down); “Majorcan affirmation?” is the MEDITERRANEAN SI SI (43 Across); “Registering a poodle?” is LICENSING FIFI (67 Across); “Guy holding a Hostess snack cake?” is THE MAN WITH THE HOHO (92 Across); “Words of caution from Rodolfo?” are DON’T TREAD ON MIMI (113 Across); and an “Underachiever’s motto” is MAY IT EVER BE SO-SO (23 Across).

Those last three mystified me. I solved the HoHo one (even though I was a Ding Dong fan myself) but had no idea what it referenced; after looking it up, I now know “The Man with the Hoe” is a poem based on a painting by Jean-Francois Millet. The same thing happened with Rodolfo and Mimi. I solved it because I knew the “Don’t Tread on Me” reference, but the names made sense to me only because they both sounded European. Turns out they’re from “La Boheme.” (I’ve been to one opera in my life, and it wasn’t that one. I think it was “The Marriage of Figaro.”)

But MAY IT EVER BE SO-SO stopped me cold. I didn’t recognize the original phrase (“May it ever be so”), so getting to _ _ Y _ _ EVER BE SO-SO didn’t help. The crossing clues were equally baffling: “Writer of the short story ‘The Overcoat’” (1 Across); “Vladimir Nabokov novel” (27 Across); and “Hersey novel setting” (19 Across). Geez, I thought I was well read. (And since when is a “Group of whales” a GAM (1 Down)? I wrongly put down POD.)

So I caved and looked them up. I suppose if I had read past the introduction of “The Namesake” I might have gotten GOGOL, “The Overcoat” author. (I did read far enough to know the main character is named for Gogol.) The only Hersey novel I know is set in Hiroshima, which didn’t exactly fit. The answer was ADANO, as in “A Bell for Adano.” Similarly, the only Nabokov novel I know is “Lolita,” which didn’t fit the P_ _ N that I had entered. Though it was tempting to enter PORN, turns out the title is PNIN. That seems like something I should have come across in a puzzle by now, and yet it was completely unfamiliar.

Blast from the Past Dept.: “V.J.’s employer” is MTV (6 Down). It stands for video jockey, because when I was in junior high school, they actually played music videos. Not so much today.

Hawkeye and Asterisks Dept.: “Sitcom with three stars” (6 Across) was the extremely clever MASH, as in M*A*S*H.

Just Double-Checking Dept.: I thought someone erred on 58 Down (“Where the driver is driving Miss Daisy”) when the answer turned out to be MOBILE; I was positive Miss Daisy lived in Atlanta. Turns out we were both right. Hoke drives her to Mobile for a party, which I had forgotten about.

Movie of the Week Dept.: The Times got major props for including an “Avatar” clue in the puzzle last winter. This week, they shun baseball Hall of Famer Ty for “Inception” hero Dom (101 Across) to get the answer COBB.

Questions or comments? Tweet me @crosswordkathy.

New York Times, Aug. 8

Meh. A perfectly serviceable puzzle, with some clever answers, and yet … sigh. It just left me feeling a bit wanting.

The “3×8″ in the title refers to eight answers that each had three letters circled. The letters turned out to spell common abbreviations, like FBI or CIA; the theme answers were witty definitions of the abbreviations. For instance, 48 Down (“Cross of ‘Desperate Housewives’”) is MARCIA, with the CIA circled (sorry, my fonts aren’t that fancy); then 50 Down (“See circled letters in 48-Down”) is ESPIONAGE GROUP.

Others: 1 Across (“One-named teen idol of the late ’50s/early ’60s”) is FABIAN;  111 Across, referencing FBI, is CRIME FIGHTERS. 13 Down (“They can always be counted on”) is ABACI; 61 Across, referencing ABC, is LOST NETWORK (which I hope means “Lost” the TV show and not an abysmal place in the Nielsen ratings). 96 Down (“Prevent”) is ESTOP; 22 Across, referencing ESP, is TELEPATH’S GIFT. 79 Down (“Laze”) is LOLL; 39 Across, referencing LOL, is WEB GIGGLE. 62 Down (“Rash remedies”) is TALCS; 70 Across, referencing TLC, is R.N. SPECIALTY (for nurses). 89 Down (“Wee”) is the understatement-of-the-year ATOMIC; 88 Across, referencing ATM, is the very clever CASH CACHE. And 65 Across (“Very reverent”) is PIOUS; 16 Down, referencing IOU, is PROMISSARY NOTE.

Hard to explain, but somehow my normal aha! moment was more like an oh-yeah moment with this puzzle. I think I would have been slightly more impressed if each word containing the abbreviation had the letters all in a row, as was the case in PIOUS and LOLL, but not ABACI or ATOMIC.

Formalities Dept.: 54 Down (“Candy giant, informally”) is NESTLE’S, which I thought was its full, formal name. Turns out the official name is simply NESTLE. (See also: Tiffany & Co.)

Questions or comments? Tweet me @crosswordkathy.

New York Times, Aug. 1

Today’s entertaining puzzle wasn’t so much about bargaining as it was about swapping. The theme answers require you to swap out the long “ee” sound of common two-word phrases for an “ay” sound — much like the title swaps out the “ee” sound in the common phrase “Plea Bargaining” for the “ay” sound to make “Play Bargaining.” (Oh say, can you say?)

The puzzle had an impressive 10 theme answers, including these four across: WEIGH THREE KINGS (“Put a few monarchs on the scale,” 21 Across); SHARPEI PEN (“Wrinkly-dog holder?” 29 Across); GENERAL LEI (“Floral garland for whoever?” 105 Across); and TO BAY OR NOT TO BAY (“Indecisive wolf’s question?” 114 Across).

The six down answers were SHOPPING SPRAY (“Mist from a mall?” 15 Down); VALET GIRL (“Miss who parks cars?” 27 Down); CHEZ DEVIL (“In hell?” 33 Down); THE GIVING TRAY (“Generous carhop’s prop?” 56 Down); FANCY FRAY (“Brawl at a ball?” 58 Down); and JAY STRING (“Leno’s necklace?” 62 Down).

Had to Think About It For a Minute Dept.: The “Only thing between you and an open window?” (32 Down) is an ICON, but it took me a minute to understand he meant a computer desktop window.

Moving On From Nuclear Catastrophes Dept.: “‘I didn’t need to know that,’ in modern lingo” (119 Down) is TMI — Too Much Information. Glad we’re moving on from Three Mile Island.

Aural Tricks Dept.: “Blew by a drummer, maybe” (57 Across) is not about marching faster than the percussion section, but about a flute-like instrument and colonial pageantry: FIFED. (And that’s probably as close as this puzzle gets to a Philly shout-out.)

Is There Really a Past Tense of this Verb? Dept.: “Played the tourist” (59 Across) is SIGHTSAW. Of course it makes sense as the past tense of “sightsee,” but have you actually ever heard someone say it?

Questions or comments? Tweet me @crosswordkathy.