It is very rare that a crossword creator will make a puzzle with several two-word phrases and a word which can be combined with either word in those phrases to form a new phrase. Such puzzles require a lot of effort. Gareth Bain's New York Times crossword is such a puzzle. The central answer is the title of a 1967 Beatles hit, ALLYOUNEEDISLOVE. "Love" can be combined with either half of four two-word phrases: CHILDSEAT, BIRDSNEST, MATCHGAME and LIFESTORY.
Brand names used to be taboo in crosswords. Bain's puzzle today includes ALPO, MITA and PLAX. C.C. Burnickel's puzzle in today's Los Angeles Times includes ORECK, OREO, OPEL, LAYS, STP and CAPN (as in Cap'n Crunch cereal). The theme of Burnickel's crossword is HEROSANDWICH. The word "hero" is sandwiched amidst the letters of BEACHEROSION, DOASTHEROMANSDO and FEATHERONESNEST. And now I'm suddenly hungry.
Both crosswords also included some French words. Bain used MLLE and AOUT ("Month before septembre"). Burnickel used ECLAT, FRANC, OUTRE and ETVOILA ("Pierre's 'And there you have it!'").
The 13x13 NEA crossword, as is typical, has no theme and contains several over-used words: AGE, AGO, ELO, ERA, ERE, OATH, ODD, ODE and ORE. The theme answers in the Universal crossword are DANGERPOINT, HAZARDLIGHT, BOMBTHREATS and ATONESPERIL. Now I'm not only hungry---I'm frightened!
