Ben Zimmer author page
2 puzzles by Ben Zimmer
with Jeff Chen comments
See the 10 answer words debuted by Ben Zimmer.
| S | U | R | E | D | I | D | M | A | C | A | B | R | E | |
| O | V | E | R | U | S | E | I | N | E | R | R | O | R | |
| T | A | X | I | C | A | B | C | A | L | C | I | U | M | |
| H | A | R | S | H | A | C | T | A | ||||||
| P | U | S | S | Y | C | A | T | W | A | D | E | S | ||
| O | P | T | S | U | N | A | G | I | ||||||
| S | T | O | N | E | P | R | E | S | E | A | S | O | N | |
| I | W | O | M | E | A | G | A | I | N | N | C | O | ||
| T | O | P | S | E | C | R | E | T | T | R | A | C | I | |
| I | N | T | R | O | A | F | A | R | ||||||
| G | O | R | D | O | N | O | S | E | E | U | M | S | ||
| T | R | I | O | A | S | H | E | N | ||||||
| H | A | L | C | Y | O | N | M | I | D | D | L | E | C | |
| I | S | E | C | O | N | D | A | K | I | H | I | T | O | |
| S | P | R | O | U | T | S | N | O | N | S | T | O | P |
MIDDLE C … ? CALCIUM has a middle C (4th out of 7 letters). HALCYON, too. TAXICAB and PUSSYCAT's Cs aren't exactly in the middle, but they're middle-ish.
PRESEASON and NO SEE UMS, though? I no C what's going on … um ...
Ah! I missed the "phonetic" part of the MIDDLE C clue. Each of the theme answers has three syllables, and the middles ones are all pronounced "C." I see, neat concept! I did wonder if TAXICAB worked — in my head, the middle syllable is "E." Ben is a professional linguist, though, so I trust that he's right.
BEQ is one of the best constructors in terms of using mid-length slots to their greatest potential. Will Shortz included one of BEQ's themelesses in a collection of favorites, WHAT THE … headlining. I loved SURE DID, ME AGAIN, I SECOND today.
Tough grid to fill, what with eight (!) themers. Note how many down answers had to cross two themers. The west region, for example, forces a U???O pattern, not flexible at all. UP TWO is a common occurrence in bball, but it feels a tad arbitrary, opening things up for UP FOUR or DOWN THREE.
Too much ACTA ECTO ERI ETO NCO ONT WASI, all entries editors call out on their specs sheets, but one could make a case that allowing for so many great pieces of fill like SURE DID sure did make it worth it.
My last phonetic puzzle befuddled a lot of people, floods of solvers writing to ask what the theme was. I wonder how many people will similarly miss today's concept. That'd be a shame since it's a much more than C-worthy idea.
| S | O | C | K | O | A | G | O | G | B | A | S | S | S | T | O | L | I | |||
| A | B | O | I | L | D | E | A | R | U | S | M | A | T | O | K | E | N | |||
| H | O | U | N | D | S | H | A | K | E | D | I | E | M | A | L | I | E | N | ||
| L | E | N | S | H | E | R | N | E | D | F | L | O | U | N | D | E | R | S | ||
| T | H | E | I | R | H | A | R | I | T | A | B | L | A | |||||||
| A | A | M | I | L | N | E | E | D | G | E | D | N | I | E | L | S | E | N | ||
| S | H | I | P | M | E | N | Y | E | S | S | E | S | D | E | L | U | X | E | ||
| I | O | S | T | A | J | F | A | D | P | E | C | |||||||||
| S | Y | S | T | E | M | C | O | U | N | S | E | L | E | D | C | H | E | C | K | |
| A | N | O | M | E | N | T | O | R | R | E | A | I | R | S | ||||||
| S | M | U | D | G | E | T | E | L | U | N | A | R | M | S | ||||||
| S | T | E | R | E | O | S | I | S | T | E | R | L | L | B | ||||||
| M | O | U | S | E | M | A | R | K | E | T | I | N | G | T | O | O | F | A | R | |
| A | R | A | D | O | O | L | E | I | A | L | I | |||||||||
| Y | E | R | T | L | E | W | A | S | A | B | I | M | A | G | P | I | E | S | ||
| I | N | T | E | A | R | S | L | O | B | E | S | A | V | E | R | R | E | D | ||
| Q | U | I | T | E | L | I | N | T | M | E | D | O | C | |||||||
| T | R | O | U | N | C | E | S | T | A | T | E | E | A | R | P | O | S | T | ||
| R | A | B | I | D | E | T | O | N | F | U | Z | Z | Y | M | O | U | T | H | ||
| E | M | I | L | E | L | O | N | G | I | N | R | E | O | S | C | A | R | |||
| S | P | E | A | R | E | P | E | E | T | O | A | D | N | E | H | R | U |
Ben Zimmer! Linguist of fame, WSJ columnist, contributor to The Atlantic. Yeah, yeah, but what matters is that he's now part of the NYT crossword constructors' club. Umberto Eco, Brian Eno and Yoko Ono will teach you the secret handshake shortly, Ben.
Sound changes today … a short A to a short U? No … Wikipedia-ing … "ow"? Apparently there's a "/ou/" sound in phonics. Huh!
For tried-and-true theme types, I prefer when there's a delightful title or rationale for the change. After thinking about the title for a bit — okay, for a lot — I liked how SHIFTING SOUNDS played off of "shifting sands." It's a subtle bit of humor, though, especially for those of us who need a King Joffrey ax to the back of the neck to figure anything out.
I wonder if "How now, brown cow" could have been played upon, somehow? Maybe that would wow.
I didn't laugh at most of the themers, but HOUND SHAKE at least amused — our next-door neighbor's dog loves to houndshake. In self-quarantine times, chasing Toki around is a great source of pleasure.
Most of the others worked more moderately. I missed that FAIR COUCH and FUZZY MOUTH were themers since they almost seemed like real things. Ah, I remember the times our fair couch, back before it became a kids' trampoline ...
Although I enjoyed NED FLOUNDERS — I'm both a Simpson and GoT lover — it felt way too specific. If you're a fan of just one or the other — or even worse, neither — this one will mystify. (Ned Flanders, and Eddard "Ned" Stark.)
I scratched my head over the puzzling HIMBO, then laughed. Connecting "him" and "bimbo" — that's exactly the type of linguistic amusement I was hoping for out of a Ben Zimmer production.
The theme didn't do much for me, but the gridwork was solid enough to give me 15 minutes of entertainment. Welcome to the club, Ben! I'm hoping for more HIMBO-level humor in the future.