Wed., 3/4 Don Gagliardo

[magus]

THEME:   RAH hidden in phrases
   
GOOD ONES:     
Stadium supporters {& their cry}   CHEERING SECTION [almost missed the three letters common to the three phrases]   
London home of Constables and Sargents   TATE [note caps and spelling]   
Metalworking union   WELD   
State secrets?   SNITCH   
   
BTW:   
Seeking lodging   LOOKING FOR A HOME [really?  When was the last time lodging was used to mean anything other than hotel accommodations?]   
   
Global financial org.   IMF [it's always going to be the Impossible Mission File to me, just as "William Tell Overture" is the Lone Ranger: child of the Fifties]    
   
Purring snuggler  LAPCAT [maybe it's a word in the feline world, but I'm not buying it]   
   
ATOI and ETRE are not used in English --- only Xwords.   
   
   
RATING:    
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[rbe]

"ATOI and ETRE are not used in English --- only Xwords".

Add ISOLA to that list.

[Thomps2525]

The answer for "Pulling ahead" is FURTHERAWAY. FURTHER originally meant "moreover; in addition; to a greater degree or extent" and FARTHER referred to distance. Because so many millions of people have used FURTHER when they meant FARTHER, such usage has now become acceptable. Dictionaries now say FURTHER is a synonym for FARTHER. I don't like that usage though, nor do I like NAUSEOUS as a synonym for NAUSEATED or COULD CARE LESS as a substitute for COULDN'T CARE LESS. Also, I question if FURTHERAHEAD implies "pulling away." If someone is further ahead---or farther ahead---he has already pulled away.

Today's crossword had eight individual black squares which were not connected to any other black squares, not even diagonally. It's nice to see puzzlemakers experimenting with different patterns. I wonder how easy it would be for someone to create a puzzle in which every black square is separate from the others---no blocks of two or three or four together but each black square unconnected to any others.

[Thomps2525]

The answer for "Additions" was ANDS. I have heard the expression "No ifs, ands or buts" but I was not certain that "and" could properly be used as a noun. Apparently it can not. The Merriam-Webster dictionary does not give any definitions of "and" or "but" as a noun. However, "if" can be a noun meaning "a  stipulation or condition." I will be very unhappy if another puzzle maker uses "and" as a noun...and that's a pretty big if!

[magus]

rbe---

Isola is used in place names, so in my world they are okay.

[rbe]

True, but it wasn't clued as a place name as was ___la Plata. I think the clue asked for the Italian word for island.

[Thomps2525]

I checked with Chico Marx and he confirmed, "At'sa right, 'isola' is-a the Italiano word for-a 'island.'" That clue was probably better than referencing the tiny town of Isola in Mississippi or the board game with that name (short for "Isolation"):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isola_(board_game)