Joseph Knecht

  This marks the 138th puzzle that Dr. Ed Sessa has had published in the LA Times, including the one that appeared this past Sunday, the day of after Boomer's passing.  As soon as I saw that Dr. Ed was today's constructor, I knew that many Cornerites would wonder how he is faring in the aftermath of hurricane Ian .  I immediately got in touch with Husker Gary and asked him to contact Dr. Ed for an update.  This is the reply Husker received a few days later: Hi Gary, Like countless others down here our home got hit with a storm surge: damaged roof and six feet of muddy water in the house destroying pretty much everything. My wife and I are now in our third apartment which will be home for up to a year, giving us a chance to decide where to go on a more permanent basis. But certainly not back into any flood zone. Thanks for asking and warm regards to all the wonderful people on the LA Ti...

  Would it Saw or Wood it Knot? This will mark 43rd appearance of David Alfred Bywaters in the LA Times crosswords.  He was one of the first constructors I blogged and I always find his puzzles a delight.  David's puzzles make extensive use of wordplay, with less use of obscure people and places.  Since I have no puzzle to solve on Thursdays I always go to his website for a puzzle.  He hosts one of the most beautiful sites on the web and it's always worth a visit . Today he teases us with 4 clues for the names of SAWS , tools commonly found in a wood shop and then gets his fill by riffing on another meaning of the word SAW :  a MAXIM or PROVERB .  For those interested I've linked pictures of the tools into the clues, and then followed with annotations of David's punny fill: 20A. Band saw ?: UNITED WE STAND .  The Band of Brothers in the 2001 HBO American war drama stood united in their struggle against the tyranny of Hitler in WWII.  The s...

  High Fives Click on Diagram to Enlarge Shannon Rapp , disguised as Nora Sharpe (a riff on Michael Sharp of Rex Parker fame?), is no stranger to the LA Times.  Here's a bit about her , shamelessly plagiarized from Anon -T 's review of her August 31, 2022 puzzle (and his debut to boot). Today Shannon hints at ways that members of underground societies signal their identities to others in their groups in plain sight .   E.g. Freemasons are well-known for their elaborate systems of handshakes to indicate their level in the Masonic hierarchy;   the 1st-4th century mystery religion of Mithraism , a rival to Christianity, called new initiates  syndexioi , those "united by the handshake";   w hen an early  Christian met a stranger on the road he'd reveal his identity by idly drawing a curved line arcing downward in the dirt with  a stick.  If the stranger responded by drawing the other half of a fish they ...