one more thing
it's a yea/boo kinda thing.
i heard back from the NYT on two of my puzzles. one was rejected, but the other was "not quite rejected."
meaning that will shortz says if i change one of my theme answers, he'd like to see it again. of course changing a theme answer means ripping out the fill and redoing that, then re-cluing -- not to mention finding a suitable replacement for the offending answer... not so easy!
so i'm working on that. thought i'd solicit some help from those of you who do puzzles.
if you're hoping to do my puzzle when it hits the Times, don't read any further. the next bit will give away they puzzle.
so the theme of the puzzle is One More Thing; in it i add "ps" to recognizable phrases that are "in the language" as the cruciverbalists say.
the ones that Will likes are:
USE THE FORCEPS LUKE
BUILT RAMPS TOUGH
COOKING WITH GASPS
ASPS FOR ME
LONG TIME NO SEEPS
BULLET PROOF CARPS
the one he didn't like is CRAMPS FOR MIDTERMS
due to the specific rules of puzzling, i need to find a replacement that's the same length (17 letters). it has to be the sort of thing no one would mind reading at the breakfast table (no rum/rumps, for example). it has to be built on a phrase most people would know and the phrase when it gets the extra "ps" must make sense and be funny. a good way to tell if it makes sense is to try and think up a clue for it. if you can't, there's your answer.
the best i've come up with so far are:
CASUALTIES OF WARPS, but that's a little ugly to think about (war, casualties) and it doesn't make a ton of sense. there's probably some clue about people in shanty towns, but it's a stretch.
BEEPS IN ONE'S BONNET, but it's not real great. it could work with a clue like, "honks under your hat?" or "secret amish pages?" just don't love it, though.
now, some of you are saying... those are good, what's the issue? the issue is CRAMPS FOR MIDTERMS was rejected as not quite a recognizable enough phrase. the standards are HIGH. i've got a near-winner here after over a year of effort. don't want to blow it.
some of the ps words i'm playing with are:
ski/skips
lam/lamps
war/warps
tar/tarps
bum/bumps (no butt jokes allowed)
was/wasps
swam/swamps
bee/beeps
to/tops
there are others (cyclo/cyclops!), but the above are the most fertile i've come up with. if you come up with your own, that's great -- the ps has to be at the end of the word, though (no alms/psalms or tahoe/tapshoe).
it also can't use one of the words i've used in the clues listed above (car/ram/force/see/as/gas) unless i change one of those.
welcome to my world.
Well, I don't have the time to come up with phrases that meet your requirements, but I like the theme. Here are some more words that you probably already thought of, but perhaps not. Maybe something in here will stir your interest.
bedlam (ps)
chi (ps)
dot com (ps)
gram (ps)
hi (ps) as in "please say hips for me" (damn ... 18 letters!)
pro (ps)
ram (ps)
swam (ps)
tar (ps)