New York Times crossword Feb. 27 / Constructed by Peter A. Collins

Please pardon the typos. I am blogging from the passenger seat of a car traveling down I-95 from Boston to Philly. (Hooray for VirginMobile Mi-Fi!) It also means my grid is so messy from trying to write on a potholed road that I’m not going to post a photo of the puzzle, which is somewhat visual.

The black squares in the grid form a pair of “V”s, reflecting the “V-2″ title. (The German V-2 rocket was the progenitor of all modern rockets, according to Wikipedia.) “V-2″ also refers to several double-V theme answers: John McCain and John Kerry are VIETNAM VETS (27 Across); “‘Wedding Crashers’ co-star, 2005″ is VINCE VAUGHN (73 Across); “Keepers of the flame?” are VESTAL VIRGINS (107 Across); “The other way around” is VICE-VERSA (4 Down); “Plant with purple flowers” is a VINCA VINE (16 Down); “Weekly since 1955, with ‘The’” is VILLAGE VOICE (59 Down); and a “Vessel seen just below the surface?” is a VARICOSE VEIN (63 Down).

What? No V FOR VENDETTA? I guess that pesky conjunction keeps it from being a true V-2. But there was an implied V-2 in “Word on either side of ‘a’”: VIS (63 Across). Then there was the simply clued “V” _ the Roman numeral for FIVE (104 Down). And the single letters in the valleys of each black-squared V-shape were Vs: SOV (“U.S.S.R. part: Abbr.” 89 Down) and OLAV (“Royal name in Norway,” 39 Down).

Travelogue Dept.: We got a glimpse of the CHARLES (“River crossed by Longfellow Bridge,” 42 Across) from Storrow Drive on our way into Boston. We’ve been gone for about 36 hours, which means our cat will undoubtedly be saying FEED ME (“What ‘Arf! Arf!’ or ‘Meow!’ may mean,” 55 Across) when we get home. Only if you haven’t destroyed the couch, Phoebe.

Onward and Upward Dept.: “Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, once, on ‘S.N.L.’” were COANCHORS (79 Across) until they moved on to the sitcoms “30 Rock” and “Parks and Rec.”

Generation Gap Dept.: “___-X” (53 Down) was not GEN-X, as this proud Gen-Xer initially thought, but the much more bloated GAS-X.

Questions or comments? Tweet me @crosswordkathy or visit my Facebook page.

New York Times crossword Feb. 20 / Constructed by Elizabeth C. Gorski

Wow, this one took me forever to get. I thought “Wunderbar!” was going to be another rebus puzzle, one that squeezed the word BAR into a single square (or used a long dash as a symbol for a bar). But after realizing that didn’t quite work — there was always one extra letter to squeeze in — I looked at the three black spaces that adjoined each of these answer. Actual “bars” had been scattered throughout the puzzle.

The BAR in front of 26 Across (“Band whose 1998 song ‘One Week’ was #1 for one week”) provides the first three letters in (BAR)ENAKED LADIES. Likewise, the BAR in front of 46 Across (“Pear variety”) contains the first three letters in (BAR)TLETT; and the BAR at the end of 48 Across (“Milky Way, for one”) provides the last word in the answer CHOCOLATE (BAR).

Others: “Onetime head of the Medellin drug cartel” (66 Across) is PABLO ESCO(BAR); that BAR is reused as the lead-in to (BAR)BIE AND KEN (“Mattel announced their breakup in 2004,” 69 Across). A “Classic western slugfest” is a (BAR)ROOM BRAWL (84 Across); “It’s just below a B” is a SPACE(BAR) (87 Across); and “Plan on ordering a drink, say” is BELLY UP TO THE (BAR) (109 Across).

There were Down BARs, too. The BAR above 27 Down (“Sharply reprimanded”) yields (BAR)KED AT; above 28 Down (“Just”), it forms (BAR)ELY. Using the BAR below 99 Down (“Cravat holder”) gives you TIE (BAR); below 88 Down (“Lounge in many a hotel”), it yields PIANO (BAR).

Drinking Problem (?) Dept.: It was hard not to notice that this was the second “bar” theme in as many weeks. Last week’s puzzle (“Bargaining”) added the word BAR to common phrases.

Bienvenida Home Dept.: A shout-out to my dear friend Hilary, who left her cozy home in Barcelona to come visit The City of Brotherly Love. For her, a fluent Spanish speaker and doctoral candidate in Spanish literature, I will point out the use of PESETA (“Currency replaced by the Euro,” 124 Across) and GOL (“Football score abroad,” 75 Down). Although we all know that last word is really spelled GOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLL!

Fun Words Dept.: Don’t think I have ever had any reason, crossword-related or not, to spell BALALAIKAS (“Three-stringed instruments,” 100 Across). And the “Noted parent in the tabloids” is OCTOMOM (21 Across).

Stumped Me Dept.: Could not get the first letter of 39 Across/Down (“Reduced amount?” and “Jails, in British slang,” respectively). Anyone?

Questions or comments? Tweet me @crosswordkathy or visit my Facebook page.

New York Times crossword Feb. 13 / Constructed by Ian Livengood

Sorry for the late post. It was one of those rare Sundays when I had to work, but at least it was a fun story.

This couple got married on the Philly subway on Sunday.

A day ahead of Valentine’s Day, Philly’s mayor married a couple on the subway as it passed a bunch of love-themed rooftop murals. (At left is a photo I took with my iPhone while I was jostling for space and simultaneously trying to take notes; you can read my story here.)

So that’s why it’s now 9:30 p.m. and I’m just starting my post. Luckily, it didn’t take me too long to finish the puzzle; I had my “aha!” moment right after solving my first theme clue: “Area banning pub regulars?” is a NO BAR-FLY ZONE (26 Across). That’s what made me realize the title “Bargaining” needed to be taken literally: Common phrases were “gaining” the word BAR.

Others: “‘Should I say “Come here often?” or “Hey, babe!”‘?” is WHAT’S MY BAR LINE (22 Across); “Lines on a Dan Brown best seller?” is THE DA VINCI BAR CODE (42 Across); “E.T.’s ability to use the lower part of a keyboard?” is ALIEN SPACEBAR CRAFT (53 Across); “Where dimwitted people pay to drink?” is CASH BAR FOR CLUNKERS (75 Across); “Like a former 97-pound weakling?” is SAVED BY THE BARBELL (90 Across); “Dramatic production about Ivory or Dial?” is a SOAP BAR OPERA (103 Across); and “Certain cases of the munchies?” are MARS BAR ATTACKS (114 Across).

Full Names Dept.: The puzzle managed to fit in both AL GORE (“Author of the 2009 book subtitled ‘A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis,’” 119 Across) and AXL ROSE (“‘Welcome to the Jungle’ rocker,” 71 Across). The latter might also have been clued as “Original singer of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine,’” considering the cover that Fergie and Slash did at the Super Bowl last weekend.

Philly Trivia Dept.: “Actor Penn of ‘Van Wilder’” is KAL (33 Across). Kal Penn (born Kalpen Modi) is better known as Kumar in the Harold & Kumar movies and the character on “House” who committed suicide a few seasons ago. He actually taught at the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania in Philly. (Incidentally, that would be also be Penn — and *not* Penn State.) He later took a job as a White House liaison.

Mighter Than The Sword Dept.: Two other “pen” references were PEN NAME (“George Orwell, e.g.,” 16 Down) and STATE PEN (“Attica, e.g., informally,” 3 Down). And speaking of swords, a “Buffalo N.H.L.’er” is a SABRE (101 Down). It’s also the company that bought Dunder Mifflin on “The Office.”

Questions or comments? Tweet me @crosswordkathy or visit my Facebook page.

New York Times crossword Feb. 6 / Constructed by David J. Kahn

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a running joke as the theme in an NYT puzzle. I kinda like it that way; not really a fan. Maybe Will just didn’t want to give us any heavy lifting on Super Bowl Sunday.

The set-up is in the title — “High School Reunion” — and the joke is told through italicized theme clues and answers. It goes like this: “A woman went …” TO SEE A NEW DOCTOR (23 Across). “In his office, she noticed a …” DIPLOMA ON THE WALL (31 Across). “She remembered having a high-school crush on a handsome, dark-haired boy with …” THE SAME NAME (42 Across). “However, this man was balding, gray-haired and …” JUST AVERAGE LOOKING (53 Across).

It continues: “She thought he was much too old to have been her …” CLASSMATE (68 Across). “Nevertheless, she asked him if he had attended her high school, and after he said yes, she asked ‘… ?’” WHEN DID YOU GRADUATE? (79 Across). “He answered, ‘In 1971. But …’” WHY DO YOU ASK? (92 Across). “The woman exclaimed …!” YOU WERE IN MY CLASS! (106 Across).

And the groaner-of-a-punch-line: “He looked at her closely, then asked ‘…?’” WHAT DID YOU TEACH? (118 Across).

Rim shot, please. I guess “faintly amusing” might even be charitable; it’s more like the equivalent of a drawn-out knock-knock joke. (I almost called it a Dixie cup joke until my husband told me he had no idea what that was.) And wouldn’t the year of the doctor’s graduation be on the diploma anyway? Details, details.

Philly-Area Trivia Dept.: “TV Guide’s Pennsylvania headquarters” (8 Down) is RADNOR, an affluent town in a string of Philadelphia suburbs known as the Main Line. TV Guide’s founder, Walter Annenberg, lived in the area and owned The Philadelphia Inquirer for a while. He later sold all his broadcast and publishing endeavors.

24/7 Dept.: “Lands’ End rival” (74 Across) is LL BEAN, whose flagship store in Freeport, Maine, has the biggest duck boot you’ve ever seen and is open 24 hours a day.

Last week's solution substituted the numbers 1-12 for animals in the Chinese zodiac.

Paper Menagerie Dept.: I was curious to see how Will would print the solution for last week’s puzzle, which required squeezing entire animals into single squares. Turns out he substituted the numbers 1 through 12 for the animals and then put a key at the bottom.

Not a bad way to handle it, though I was secretly hoping for itty-bitty pictures of a dragon, monkey and rooster.

Questions or comments? Tweet me @crosswordkathy or visit my Facebook page.