New York Times, Monday, December 30, 2019

One of my favorite activities as a boy was to eavesdrop on my dad and his cronies, drinking beer and playing penny-ante poker. The first time I heard one of his buddies exclaim, "Call me butter … cause I'm on a roll!" I cracked up. And it still inspires a chuckle over a half-century later. That was the inspiration for this puzzle — things you find on a roll. Perhaps it will inspire new sayings for card players like, "Call me aluminum foil … cause I'm on a roll!" Then again, maybe not.

This is one of my favorite tried-and-true theme types, reminding me of the game "Tribond," where you're given three seemingly disparate things and have to find the connection. I can often figure it out, and if I can't, there's a head-slapping moment when I realize that I should have. I've taken to making up my own cards containing the most tenuous of bonds, and when they stump people, I eat the card and walk away in maniacal laughter.

My game nights have been sparsely attended these days.

MARGARINE … HONOR STUDENT … ALUMINUM FOIL … I'll take "Things that can be found ON A ROLL," Alex. It reminded me of another puzzle that generated an a-ha so memorable that I still remember it six years later. Today's concept works, although it wasn't as sharp as I would have liked. Why?

• MARGARINE is perfect. It makes you think, giving a nice click when you come up with the idea of a dinner roll.
• HONOR STUDENT is on a class roll, but why an honor student? Aren't all students on a class roll?
• ALUMINUM FOIL's roll is more literal, wrapped around a cardboard roll. Not as interesting.
• MONEY CLIP? I had to look up the dictionary definition to remind myself that "roll" can be slang for a wad of money. I kept getting stuck on the idea of a literal roll of cash, like the ones mobsters carry around. Using anything but a rubber band for those would just be gauche.

Fun bonuses in DOOR DIE (speaking of mobsters), REC ROOM, ARMORED, CAROUSEL, ORBITERS. Not worth the tricky crossings of OTT/TSE, ARAL/RIA, and OON and INE, though. These have huge potential to turn off newer solvers and/or deprive them of their victory door die punch. I'd have asked for revisions on the first two, since they're too easy for a newb solver to get wrong. OTS/SSE is a simple fix to make it less error-prone, but there are other non-gluey solutions available, given some light massaging.

All in all, a fun Monday idea that didn't quite hold up to the previous incarnation, with a couple of trouble spots.

ADDED NOTE: Jim Horne pointed out that it's the "honor roll," not a "class roll," so HONOR STUDENT is appropriate. Fairly obvious which one of us is the honor student.