Wed., 8/12. Burnikel & Schlapfer

[magus]

Theme: GERM found in phrases

Good Ones:
Something worth waiting for?   TIP [waiters wait and get tips]
Dateless  STAG
Risks being caught off base  GOES AWOL [I thought baseball --- perhaps because I was up after midnight watching the Yankees lose]
Arresting figure?   COP [not the latest bimbette rage on TV]

BTW:
Pasty-faced  ASHY [should be ashen; ASHY connotes actual cinders]

Not sure why the standard grid rules were not followed given only 4 theme answers of no particular virtue.

RATING:   

[Thomps2525]

The 15 black squares in the middle of the grid formed a smiley face. Not a good smiley face...but it's difficult to approximate a round face by using squares and rectangles.

In motion pictures, companies often pay a fee to have their products shown in various scenes. This is called "product placement." For example, a character may be shown drinking a Diet Coke. Product placement is not used in crossword puzzles. Otherwise, C.C. Burnikel today might have collected some fees from Audi, Drāno, Lysol, Motown, Oreo and Toro. Product names used to be taboo in crosswords and today's included six.

"Graceland middle name" was ARON. In 1935, Vernon and Gladys Presley named their newborn son Elvis Aaron Presley but the middle name was misspelled on his birth certificate and the error was never corrected. Similarly, the name of Orpah Winfrey was misspelled as "Oprah" on her birth certificate. My own middle name is Lee. I just checked my birth certificate and was relieved to see that it was not misspelled as "Lea."

[magus]

1. Come on, T-Man, you didn't notice the attempt at a face in the grid; you found it on a site that gets the answers from the Times.  As I did not notice the eyes and mouth, I tend to think no one else did either.  You know my ego is such that I refuse to allow that others can ever outsmart me.  It's the same with women: I'm always amazed how many of them were and continue to be capable of resisting my charms.

2. Crosswords are better today than when I made them, and some of the old "rules" were as silly as the editors who dreamed them up.  (I was lucky to be edited by Will Weng who actually fixed my work rather than returning it.)  Does it really matter if six famous brands are used if the puzzle is well-made otherwise?

[Thomps2525]

I hate to disillusion you---and you all know I'm not the disillusioner I used to be---but lately there have been quite a few asymmetrical crossword puzzles and I did indeed notice the "face" in the grid. However, you have me beat when it comes to women being unable to resist your charms. I have to admit that I have no charms.