Joseph Knecht

    Moonlighters Two weeks ago we had a REVEAL without any explicit THEMERS .  This week constructor Susan Gelfand gives us four punny THEMERS with no need for a REVEAL - just four people trying to make ends meet by holding down two jobs (or maybe even three!): 20A. Alternate job title for a locksmith?: HAIRDRESSER . (or a THERAPIST ?  Could be a little s TRESS ful). 55A. Alternate job title for a librarian?: LOAN OFFICER .  (or PC TECH SUPPORT? - part of a librarian's job these days). 11D. Alternate job title for a file clerk?: MANICURIST .     (or a HAND Y MAN ?) 29D. Alternate job title for a chiropractor?: DISC JOCKEY . (or a PRO FRISBEE PLAYER ?) Here's some more work for you ... Across: 1. Assorted mockery: JABS .  Much in the news these days.  I'm not sure mockery is the inducement needed to convince everyone to get the JAB .  But if fear of death doesn't do, I don't know what will. 5. "I Know This Much

The Case of the Missing Themers Today's outing is by frequent  contributor David Poole, a mathematician who last appeared on the Corner on July 1 of this year.  Here he was interviewed by C.C. just last September .  I have to admit that I was initially very perplexed by this puzzle's theme: there is a reveal clue, but no actual theme clues for it to reveal (probably old hat for veteran solvers, but not for this relative newbie).  Here it is: 37A. Place to find a date ... and any one of four in this puzzle (circled letters are hints): CORNER STONE . Obviously you often "find a date" on CORNERSTONES and they're usually expressed in Roman numerals .  So Bill was off and running, looking for Roman numerals in the corners, and of course found what he was looking for, as  letters like M , L , I , and V are very common in Crosswords.  But pretty soon I was down in the weeds, then began to have

Regular contributor Mark McClain is back and he's found a way to predict the future using just these themers:   17A. Leaping grab of a would-be homer, say: CIRCUS CATCH .  Alright sports fans,  this panoply of plays will keep you busy for quite a while, so don't forget to come back for the rest of the puzzle: 29A. Christian house of worship in Egypt: COPTIC CHURCH .  The Egyptian Copts founded Christian churches as early as 50 AD .  The Ethiopian Copts may have founded their Churches even earlier as described in the encounter between St. Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch in The Acts of the Apostles 8:26-40.  I had the privilege of meeting two Ethiopian Copts at a conference a few years back.  Sadly, they were there to witness to the widespread persecution of Coptic Christians in their country. 46A. Northern glacial formation: ARCTIC ICECAP .  "Polar ice caps are melting as global warming causes climate change. We lose Arctic sea ice at a r