Senate Democrats Are About to Do Something Truly Stupid Senate Democrats Are About to Do Something Truly Stupid
The Louisiana senator could build the Keystone XL pipeline with her bare hands, and it probably still wouldn’t give her the boost she needs to win the runoff.
Nov 13, 2014 / Zoë Carpenter
Pro-Sanctions Group Targets Legal Humanitarian Trade With Iran Pro-Sanctions Group Targets Legal Humanitarian Trade With Iran
United Against Nuclear Iran targets legal trade with Iran as part of its divestment campaign.
Nov 13, 2014 / Eli Clifton and Ali Gharib
The Bad News About Burma The Bad News About Burma
During his second visit, Obama must confront troubling reports of backsliding reforms, attacks on civilians and evidence of war crimes.
Nov 13, 2014 / Daniel P. Sullivan and Foreign Policy In Focus
Free Lunch Free Lunch
A recurrent criticism of our cryptic cluing style has surfaced among some of our test solvers. They don’t like part of the answer to appear as is in the clue. For example: IMPETUS I’m American, having internalized animal energy (7) The answer’s IM is there, in plain sight, at the beginning of the clue. The objection may stem from a feeling that this makes the clue too easy. Of course, by and large, our test solvers are sophisticated cryptic crossword solvers, and their “too easy” may be someone else’s “finally a clue I can solve!” We don’t mind having some “too easy” clues in every puzzle, as we know our solvers’ experience with cryptics ranges all over the map. And in fact, even an experienced solver may need some easy clues to provide an in to an otherwise tough puzzle. Another reason to object is the lack of consistency between different parts of the clue. In the example above, the beginning is given in plain text, as it were, but the remaining two parts of the charade require the solver to start by taking the extra step of finding synonyms or near-synonyms to “American” and “animal.” We admire consistency as much as anyone, but we don’t think it trumps all other considerations. For example, a better surface reading for a clue is reason enough to do this, to produce something that’s either less awkward or more entertaining. We’d rather be consistent with our overall priority (entertainment) than with abstract principles. It’s not that there are no alternatives. For example, we could have used “Yours truly is” instead of “I’m,” but that seems silly. Or perhaps “Instant message American, …” but is using an abbreviation (especially one that may not be familiar to everyone) an improvement? Those are the sorts of conversations we have with each other, and with our test solvers. Once in a while, we do end up giving away part of the answer. Here are some more examples: IONIC One-on-one chat to begin with ancient Greek dialect (5) ITALICIZE Emphasize it with unnatural zeal around here (in Marseilles) (9) LAMASERY Scurrilous smear lay outside Buddhist cloister (8) LINGONBERRY Alien warrior loses head by swallowing stray fruit (11) You will note the giveaway is usually very short, no more than three letters. That’s rather mild in the scheme of things—especially if you compare it to a famous crossword puzzle created by Mark Gottlieb for the 1997 MIT Mystery Hunt. His goal was to make his puzzle harder by breaking a rule all solvers take for granted: that no form of an answer word can appear in its own clue. So Gottlieb used “Mosaic tile” to clue TILE, “Muenster or gouda” to clue MUENSTER, and so on through literally every clue in the puzzle, hiding each answer in plain sight. Now, that’s a free lunch. Today’s clueing challenge: FREEBIE. To comment (and see other readers’ comments), please click on this post’s title and scroll to the bottom of the resulting screen. And now, four links: • The current puzzle • Our puzzle-solving guidelines | PDF • Our e-books (solve past puzzles on your iOS device—many hints provided by the software!) • A Nation puzzle solver’s blog where every one of our clues is explained in detail. This is also where you can post quibbles, questions, kudos or complaints about the current puzzle, as well as ask for hints.
Nov 13, 2014 / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Why Women Should Get the Rest of the Year Off Why Women Should Get the Rest of the Year Off
The average American woman works for “free” for two months thanks to the wage gap and unpaid labor.
Nov 13, 2014 / Bryce Covert
Elizabeth Warren Elected to Senate Leadership Post Elizabeth Warren Elected to Senate Leadership Post
The liberal icon has been tapped to help the party shape policy and battle the GOP in coming years.
Nov 13, 2014 / George Zornick
Here’s a 2014 Mandate: Pass an Amendment to Remove Big Money From Politics Here’s a 2014 Mandate: Pass an Amendment to Remove Big Money From Politics
In red and blue regions, north and south, urban and rural, calls for a constitutional amendent to overturn Citizens United won huge.
Nov 13, 2014 / John Nichols
The Bases of War in the Middle East The Bases of War in the Middle East
Congress is spending billions of dollars on bases in the Middle East, but what role do they really serve?
Nov 13, 2014 / David Vine
Boston Is Already Saying ‘Hell No’ to the 2024 Olympics Boston Is Already Saying ‘Hell No’ to the 2024 Olympics
The United States is pushing to host the 2024 Oympics. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Nov 13, 2014 / Dave Zirin
The Fall of the Berlin Wall, Revisited The Fall of the Berlin Wall, Revisited
Twenty-five years ago, Eric Alterman reminded us that the so-called “experts” were wrong about the Berlin Wall. Some things haven’t changed much.
Nov 12, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman