Arkady Renko is back in Martin Cruz Smith‘s Stalin’s Ghost, a superlative look at Russia today. Bands of racist thugs roam the streets, idolizing the veterans of the second Chechen war, while vilifying the losers of the first. Russian society is painted as a world seesawing between the sane who’ve remembered their manners and the [...]

Continue reading...

This is a whodunit, albeit one of the more genteel ones you are likely to come across. There is a murder, there is always a murder, but the sheriff who sets out to solve the case is a gentle man, a little harried by his domestic partner and a newly-orphaned feline. Bill Crider‘s book is [...]

Continue reading...

This crossword definitely has some “Hidden Body Parts”. Hidden in this solution are ten body parts: “Lip”, “Rib”, Ear”, Jaw”, “Gum”, “Eye”, “Toe”, “Arm”, Leg” and “Ear”. We also saw “Emeer” as a variation of “Emir” again. Someone ought to revoke Shortz’s orthographic licence here!

Continue reading...

What do you get when you mix body parts and freeway terminology? Why, “Carpal Tunnels”, “Carotid Arteries” and “Dental Bridges”, of course. All answers for “Body Parts Never Driven Through”, “Body Parts Never Driven On” and “Body Parts Never Driven Over”, respectively. Pretty decent for a Wednesday puzzle. Shortz gives a nod to John Irving’s [...]

Continue reading...

This crossword had very few black spaces in it, but it was very straightforward and didn’t present much of a challenge. Plenty of compound words: “Papa Smurf”, “Ice Skater”, “Rupp Arena”, “I Goofed”, “Apollo VIII”, “Tire Irons” and “Easy To See”, but none too hard for us to get. Ho hum, may the next one [...]

Continue reading...