Sat., 9/13 Barry C. Silk

[magus]

THEME:   none, but 4 triples
   
GOOD ONES:     
Bygone boomers   SST'S [not dead people]   
World of bugs and plants   SPYDOM   [it may not be a defined word but it's used so much it should be]
   
BTW:   
Nursery reactions   AWS [wouldn't that be "oos and ahs" --- AW suggests a Westerners "AW, gee, Ma'am"]   
   
Yesterday, in Paris   HIER [see what I mean about foreign words: is any word in any language okay?  What about swerge or qualiptic?]   
   
Schlep   TOTE [one of my favorite adopted words is schlep because it suggests more than just tote; it suggests a bothersome exertion by a complaining speaker --- which makes me smile]   
   
   
RATING:    
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

SST appears quite frequently in crosswords. I posted a list of the most-used puzzle answers at  http://www.cruciverb.com/index.php?topic=105973.0 and now maybe I should start keeping track of clues. For example, how many different clues have been used for SST? Or LEI or ALOHA or SPA or ALE? Puzzle makers keep using the same short words but they try to avoid using the same clues. They don't want to make it too obvious that they're using certain words over and over. They're not fooling me, though!

[Thomps2525]

Three days after SSTS appeared in a puzzle, SSTS has appeared in a puzzle. The abbreviation is in the September 16 Los Angeles Times crossword, clued with "Former Mach 2 fliers, briefly." The earlier occurrence of the abbreviation was clued with "Bygone boomers." Puzzle makers can keep coming up with different clues for the same Crosswordese words but it doesn't hide the fact that the puzzle answers are much too repetitious.

[magus]

Wow!  You're a tough critic.  I think using new clues for frequently used fill is creative.

[Thomps2525]

I agree that it takes creativity to come up with unusual clues for often-used words such as SST and ALE and IRE, but I would much rather see crossword creators apply their creativity to the words in the puzzle, rather than to the clues. Merl Reagle recently crafted a Sunday crossword with no words shorter than five letters. He used none of the three- and four-letter words that appear far too frequently. I, the tough critic, loved that puzzle.