Joseph Knecht

 Farmers' Market Each Spring we can't wait for the Misty Valley truck farm to open, and we usually stop there on Sundays after church.  Their Eastern Shore Silver Queen corn is to die for and their cantaloupes are the sweetest! And it looks like today's veteran constructors Hoang-Kim Vu and Jessica Zetzman do their shopping for themers at a local farmer's market, ever on the look out for fresh, tasty local puns. And depending on the venue you might hear  these quips [followed unpunned explanations] ... 17. At the market, farmers often __: SWAP MEATS .  "I'll trade you a pound of this HAM for that T-BONE steak".   [Merriam-Websters ]. 28. At the orchard, farmers are often __: WORKING IN PEARS .  " BOSC me no questions ANJOU 'll get no lies".  [How small farmers can work together to improve their situation] . 48. In the field, farmers often specialize i...

Let's Party! This marks the 12th appearance on the Corner for constructor Hoang-Kim Vu .  For a bio-bit on Vu I refer you to Husker's March 18th 2023 review .  His collaborator Jasper Davidoff is making his LAT debut but he has had at least one other puzzle published in Universal Crosswords on June 25, 2021.  Today they invite us to three different types of celebrations and they've eavesdropped on the types of conversations we're likely to hear at each, as revealed by ... 59A. Political platforms, and an apt title for this puzzle?: PARTY LINES .  ... the clue"political platforms" has nothing to do with politics, -- rather it's a metaphor for the theme clues,  each of which describe 2 snippets of conversation, which are then filled by a type of PARTY and typical LINES that you might hear at each: 17A. "Pour the tea!" and "Let's pick a new topic of conversation!"?: SOCIAL CUES .  An ...

  Silent Movie - The Card Game Rabbit Rabbit.  Care to try your luck at cards? Husband and wife team Hoang-Kim Vu and Jessica Zetzman are veteran constructors for the NYT and Vu has published here as recently as last Thursday .  But today is their first pairing on the Corner. and they have some new tricks up their sleeves.  We'd better start by calling 'em: 62A . With 66-Across , images played in silent films, and what one might use to play the games in the first parts of the answers to the starred clues?: TITLE . 66A . See 62-Across : CARDS . Spreading their themers on the table, we quickly see the names of 4 films or videos that begin with the TITLE of a CARD game: 23A. *Channing Tatum film series featuring strippers: MAGIC MIKE . Bling wise this clue was not a good opening.   No trailer for this one, as I'm sure Merl Reagle would agree that a flick on male strippers wouldn't pass the Margaret Farrar "Sunday Mor...