Grid Rage

grid rage: The total frustration that comes from being unable to complete the New York Times Saturday (or Sunday) crossword puzzle. [Nominated by Gene Newman for "Buzzword of the Day"; definition via: a puzzlers.org mailing list]

Some good clues from yesterday's (Saturday) NYT, created by Brian Walden:

Hostile takeover symbol (10): PIRATEFLAG

It's not all fluff (11): MERINGUEPIE

Appropriate (5): COOPT [Gave me some grief]

Put out, in the old days (8): ETHERIZE [Good to know your TS Eliot]

Former carrier to Lima (8): AEROPERU [Not really such a great clue, and I hadn't heard of it, anyway, but once you've written that word down it has a way of echoing in the mind like an Incan wind chime: "aeroperu...aeroperu....aeroperu...aeroperu my apercu..."]

Cole (age 9) told me

Author Silverstein (4): SHEL

But I had already written that one in myself. Really. Cole also offered two six-letter solutions for #1 Across:

(SAHARA and MOJAVE), but I refused to write either in (we were waiting for his violin lesson). "Why?" he asked. "Because I don't know any of the other words in that corner, yet." He wasn't satsified, but I was right: the answer proved to be LIBYAN.

No rage today, but three pen colors and (part of Sunday) were required:

Mistakes requiring significant ink overlay scribbling:

13 Down: Father of Deimos (4): I wrote in MARS immediately, thinking of the moon of the planet. But the answer is ARES.

41 Down: Whodunit necessity (6): I wrote in CORPSE, fully satisified that it would be correct since it went well with PIXAR, just the left of it. But the answer was MOTIVE. Two words with second letter O and final E.

I've noticed in my webserver logs that my entries about crossword puzzles are bringing people to this web site who are searching for answers to older NYT puzzles (they get republished in other newspapers a few weeks later). For example, a good 100 of you have come by looking for the answer to Mrs Reed's creator.

Now, now, it is CHEATING to use the web to search for crossword puzzle answers, friends. You are not allowed to

1) use a pencil

2) ask your wife

3) pick up any book

4) touch a computer

How else can a good case of grid rage settle in?