Sun., 12/7 Alan Olschwang

[magus]

THEME:   letters of a word in a phrase are scrambled to make a new phrase
   
GOOD ONES:     
eHarmony, e.g.?   MATE MARKET ["meat market" --- seems particularly apt]   
Organized effort to get a different judge?   RECUSE MISSION ["rescue mission"]   
Made a healthier menu choice?   WENT WITH THE FOWL ["went with the flow" but it should read "Made a more healthful menu choice?"]   
Sticks figure   RUBE [had a friend named Reuben who preferred Bob to Rube; can't say I blame him]   
Cutting-edge company?   XACTO   
Brayer group?   ASSES [with apologies to prayer groups]   
Swell pair?   ELLS [getting good at these]   
Pin cushion?   MAT [wrestling]   
Watchdog org.?   ASPCA   
   
BTW:   
Pueblo pronoun   ESO [but not a London pronoun: should've gone with the song "Eso Besso"]   
Bone, to Benito   OSSO [but not to Reginald: should've gone with the menu choice osso buco]   
Throughout   DURING ["throughout" means from beginning to end; "during" could be any span within a time frame]   
   
   
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 puzzle in today's Los Angeles Times is titled "Shades of John D. MacDonald." To mark the 50th anniversary of MacDonald's first detective novel featuring Travis McGee, Reagle included the names of 21 colors. Each color was part of the title of one MacDonald's books. I was impressed with the way Reagle stacked some of the words, e.g., BLUE, ORANGE, BROWN and  LAVENDER, CRIMSON.

I was not impressed with the use of the archaic word SMOTE (for "Struck") and the highly questionable word UNNICE (for "Evil"). I'm pretty sure that UNNICE is an unword. And I've been seeing BRO, ERIE and RESOD in a lot of puzzles recently. Today's was no exception.

Now I'm thinking about getting some John D. MacDonald novels to read.

[Thomps2525]

Mister Magus, I agree that instead of always cluing ESO as a Spanish pronoun, puzzle makers could make the word part of Paul Anka's 1962 hit Eso Beso, but ESO would still be a foreign word. Although it's likely unknown to anyone who does not enjoy multi-player role-playing video games, ESO is also Elder Scrolls Online, the online game based on the series of Elder Scrolls games put out by Bethesda Softworks (which used to be in Bethesda, Maryland, and is now in Rockville but never changed the name). For some weird reason, Bethesda will not allow anyone to view the ESO website without first entering his birthdate. If I ever see that ESO in a puzzle, I'll know I'm getting old!

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/agegate

[magus]

Not all foreign words, Rewind, are objectionable to me --- only those which "never" appear in English discourse, oral or written.  Place names, many of which are Spanish in the U.S., words in titles, foods from menus, words in song titles ("Besame Mucho"), and words that are sometimes used just to be different (nada) are fine.  An unabridged English dictionary is a good reference if in doubt.  However, Xword editors have traditionally allowed virtually any foreign word, usually words that are found in first-year foreign language classes; but some have allowed much less frequently used words.  About five years ago I wrote a monograph for The Forum's general discussion section.  Alas, I am a voice crying out in the wilderness (without the beatification of the original voice, of course).