Sun., 11/23 Patti Varol

[magus]

THEME:   first word of phrase can follow GIVING
   
GOOD ONES:    
Important theme for THE HOLIDAYS…   GIVING   
End-of-letter letters   ENC   
Driving force?   ENGINE   
Start to commute?   TELE   
   
BTW:   
Unlikely lawyer in a 1992 film   VINNY [my pick for the funniest movie ever]   
   
AMOI is just never used in English, though it is often fill for Xword constructors.   
   
An English teacher once told me that there is no such thing as a pure synonym; what would she say about MOIL and toil, I wonder.   
   
   
RATING:   
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

Merl Reagle's crossword in today's Los Angeles Times is titled "Twice-Told Tails." Each theme answer ends with repeated letters. Examples: RINTINTIN, DADOORONRON, CHIHUAHUA, HONOLULULULU and KINGKAMEHAMEHA.

Reagle has said that he creates his puzzles without the aid of computer software. I've noticed that he often winds up with weird strings of letters and then has to find a way to clue them. Today he has INA ("___ nutshell"), INB ("Bach's Mass ___ Minor"), PPD ("Game-delay abbr."), RTENO ("66, for one: abbr.") and ZIN ("Fruity red wine, familiarly").  But who knows? Maybe the Crossword Compiler program couldn't have done any better.