(Note from C.C.: Cruciverb & some your local papers have the incorrect grid, hence the perplexing comments in Splynter's write-up. Here is the correct answer grid. Splynter's grid looks like this. A pair of symmetrically placed letters, the D in HOSTED (33A, clued as "Moderated") and the M in MAILED (37A, clued as "Sent") were accidentally blacked out. Two missing Down entries: EDU (31D, clued as "URL ending") & HMO (32D, clued as "Wellness gp."). Please click here for the correct Across Lite file.)
Theme: None
Words: 68
Blocks: 31
Ah, so this is what it feels like to get beaten up mentally....took me an extra 2 minutes beyond my 'personal' allotted time, and that was after switching over to red-letter after two passes, and all too pale. There was just too much vagueness and/or ambiguity in the clues for me. Plus, there's what I would call "orphaned" letters ( no perpendicular crossing clues ) in this puzzle, which I thought was a construction no-no, found in the 11-letter spanners;
30A. Does some wedding planning : SETS THE DATE - meh, I filled this in early, and it stayed, but doesn't really strike me as "some" wedding planning; more like THE wedding plan
36A. Where a collector may browse : ANTIQUE SHOP
So onward with what 35acrossed me....
ACROSS:
1. Letter in red and violet : SHORT E - dah~! filled this and still didn't get it, until the separation between the T & E came to me; rĕd and violĕt
7. Moves right for, say : LETS PASS - how annoying is it when someone is cruising at 55-60 in the fast lane? Please, please, move right, and let us pass ~!
15. One-dimensional : LINEAR - I overthought this; AutoCAD-wise, a line has a starting point, and a direction, hence more than 'one' dimension....
16. Even further evidence : EXHIBIT C - when your first two examples are just not enough
17. Ideal conditions : OPTIMA - filled it, didn't like it, had to keep it.
18. Sailor : SEAFARER
19. __ Mints : THIN - stuck on "breath" and "junior", but like Calvin said in the comic strip the other day, I had to write really small to get it to fit....
20. Came out with something : SAID IT - and I am not going to SAY IT....
22. Daisy __ : MAE
23. Friend, in slang : HOMIE
25. Reacts to errors, maybe : BOOS - sporting events; in hockey, it's usually a response to poor officiating
26. Only : MERE
27. Used : SPENT
28. Burma's first prime minister : U NU - this guy
29. 1956 title monster : RODAN - oh yeah, nailed it~!
31. Chilean island south of Tierra del Fuego : HOSTE - map
35. Suffered : AILED
40. Little sedative? : TRANQuilizer - ugh, I guess
41. Uppermost number, sometimes : XII - the last "I" was there, and so I switched to Roman numeral thinking, and then the clock fell off the wall and clocked me in the head; 12, at the top of the dial
42. Take out, in a way : EJECT - THROW out, yes; take out = EVICT, ERASE, EXTRACT....
47. Implores : BEGS
48. '70s TV co-host : CHER - with Sonny, so long ago
49. Court game using mallets : ROQUE - the Wiki; sounds like fun - I will have to build one in the big space in the backyard where the old shed once stood
50. Mirror : APE - new clue for an old fill
51. Bluish purples : MAUVES - in my part of the world, mauve is reddish purple, so this one was blank a very long time; according to the standard RGB numbers, there is more B than R
53. Repeated words from one who's been rebuffed : BUTS - but, but, but....
54. "Can't use it" : NOT FOR ME
56. Sign up : ENLIST - had ENROLL, screwed me up for a long time
58. Laura Innes's "ER" role : DR. WEAVER - didn't watch, couldn't begin to guess - but once I had D_WEAVER, the "R" was the only logical solution
59. Unification Church member : MOONIE - can you guess where the name came into play from this link?
60. Most thickset : STOUTEST - I mis-read this about 3 times before I saw thick SET - so I was trying DUMBEST, etc.
61. Aim : INTEND - the verb; I aim to please with my blogging.
Down:
1. Armadillo relatives : SLOTHS
2. Rap : HIP-HOP - meh, two different musical genres, if you ask me - then again, the Beastie Boys ain't "gangsta" rap; R.I.P. Adam Yauch
3. Prompt : ON TIME
4. Get to slow down : REIN IN
5. One may be worn with a kilt : TAM - hey, I got one, first pass ~!
6. Significant stretches : ERAS
7. Tissue problems : LESIONS
8. Removed : EXED OUT - and spelled out, this time
9. Rama IX subjects : THAIs - Mentally mired in Ramses, and therefore Egyptian thoughts kept popping up; also, isn't there a space program that has a name like this, too - Husker?
10. Pan for gold, say : SIFT
11. Gp. found in alleys : PBA - well, I knew it referred to bowling, but that it wasn't ABA, or WBA - I'll bet Boomer know all about the Professional Bowler's Association
12. Reward for an ace : AIR MEDAL - ugh, really???
13. Hydrogenated oil : STEARATE - I had -----RATE, and WAGed from there
14. Checked (for) : SCREENED & clecho 46D. Checked (for) : TESTED
21. Sit next to : ABUT
24. And those that follow, in notes : ET SEQQ - for those who "ugh"ed at this one, we have seen it before on the blog; half way down this page
26. __ operandi : MODI - well, I know it's modUS, but guessed the Latin plural counts, too - method-S of operations.?.?.?
29. Grim character? : REAPER - I like the Family Guy version the best
31. Trilby circlets : HATBANDS - sort of a small Fedora
32. Not favorably written up : ON REPORT - meh, to me, "on report" means probation
33. Second leg : STAGE TWO
34. Cookie holders : TINS
37. Brings to light : EXHUMES
38. Radiation dose unit : SIEVERT - see here
39. Bring in : HIRE
43. Unit of assorted merchandise : JOB LOT
44. Mustang, for one : EQUINE - yeah, but I like the FORD CAR better
45. Interrupts on the floor : CUTS IN
48. Slice : CARVE
51. Zoo protection : MOAT
52. One of two decisive games : SEMI
55. Blaise's blaze : FEU - French for fire; we had one going tonight; and clecho #2 ↓
57. Blaise's brush-off : NON
Answer grid.
Splynter
63 comments:
I had many of the same problems and more. I shopped the FLEA MARKET for collectibles. I had GIVES WAY to let 'em by.
First time in a long time I gave up and hit autofill.
A real toughie. I finished it correctly, no peaking or red letters, in about an hour. I spent the first 10-15 minutes with an almost blank grid. So then I started to lightly pencil in a WAG and cross it with more WAGS. Repeat. Repeat. I had the most WAGS ever on this puzzle.
I agree ON REPORT means subject to disciplinary action, not merely a bad write-up.
AIR MEDAL I had WAR MEDAL first. I was thinking of a bomber pilot so I got it.
Gotta go. I spent too much time already. Busy day. Maybe more later.
Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
Phew! Thank goodness for C.C. ‘s explanation of this bizarre Saturday puzzle. Sometimes I solve on my laptop from the Chicago times site, and sometimes I solve on the iPad using the cruciverb puzzle. Bad choice today! I saw the unchecked squares and thought there must be some hidden theme or trick. When I finally finished, I sat staring at it for the longest time and then gave up and came here to get the scoop.
I got the NW first, but very little else. I finally started backwards from the SE, but I had to gg HOSTE (33A in my puzzle) because that tiny obscure island just wasn’t in my mental database.
Then I had “MOrmon” instead of MOONIE at 61 A for the longest time, and “oddLOT” instead of JOB LOT at 45D. When I figured out 29D REAPER, JOB crossing EJECT made more sense, and the rest of that corner filled in.
I certainly love a challenge, but this one was over the top!
Morning, all!
Gee, compared to yesterday's effort, I thought this one was a real walk in the park...
NOT!
ROQUE, SIEVERT, UNU and FEU were completely unknown to me. I've heard of MODUS operandi but never MODI. Similarly, I've heard of OTIMAL, but thought OPTIMA was a car.
I finally remembered ET SEQQ from a previous puzzle, but still think that extra Q doesn't really belong.
I know what a hatband is, of course, but had no idea what a "trilby" was (I thought it was a place and we were looking for a foreign word for "circlet"). Similarly, I know people from Thailand are collectively called THAIS, but had no idea who Rama IX was.
The NE corner ended up being the hardest, though, until I finally figured out EXHIBIT C and replaced WBA with PBA.
On the bright side, I knew both RODAN and DR WEAVER and enjoyed the tricky clue for XII. Didn't like the clue for EXHUMES nearly a much ("brings to light"? Ewwww...)
Oh, and lest I forgot...
I actually got a beg fat DNF on this one because I incorrectly guessed ROQUA at 51A and had TASTED instead of TESTED at 48D. When I didn't get the *TADA* I went through the entire grid 3 or 4 times looking for my error(s), but TASTED looked perfectly fine and my eyes just glazed over at ROQUA since I simply didn't know what it was.
Uncle! Uncle! I give up! I managed to get six fills correct. Even getting headstarts from Splynter didn't help today. You deserve a MEDAL for blogging this monster, Splynter!
Pedestrian effort all around.
For the person who wrote up today’s puzzle: Where did you come up with the following?
“31. Chilean island south of Tierra del Fuego : HOSTE”
“35. Suffered : AILED”
Proofread your work, please.
And for the person who created the puzzle:
“40. Little sedative? : TRANQ”
Poor.
"32. Not favorably written up : ON REPORT"
Poor.
Anon, don't get snarky if you haven't paid attention. There are two versions of this puzzle.
My puzzle isn't the same as this one. My 31a clue is Chilean island south of Tierra del fuego
I am confused. Your answer grid doesn't match the grid of my puzzle. Very weird.
Good morning:
This is one of the most difficult Saturday offerings I have ever solved. I did finish, but not w/o help. I can't say I liked a lot of the clues and the fill, but Joe D certainly provided a daunting challenge. Thanks, Splynter, for your great expo.
Another scorcher today-90's and high humidity. The dog days of August, I guess.
Happy Saturday.
Xv'er here. Bound and determined not to have two Saturday's in a row with DNF. Two hours and three minutes. RED LETTER help for the very last letter. Argh !
7A Moves Right For = LETSPASS. How about that clue/answer Desper-Otto ? That's Texan for "Drive Friendly" on the FM roads... 1A clue Armadillos. Texas speed bumps. Sorry about the visual on that, but I SAIDIT anyway.
16A EXHIBITC. OK, Thank goodness for the perps. Ditto 28A UNU
18A ANTIQUESHOP and 45D JOBLOT were easy for me with the respective Q and J. Parents had an 18A and went to many auctions. Dad often bought joblots.
56A Can't use it NOThanks fit first but became NOTFORME with the F in 57D FEU and the R in 50D CARVE. Julia Child. Pot au feu does not need to be carved. It should be fork tender.
51A ROQUE ? Need write up help on that. 61A - MOONIE... moanee... DOH !
43d Bring in = HIRE. Saturday clue. Monday clue = Bring on
Last fill was the crossing I in SIEVERT and XII. Red letter help for this one. Will read the write up after I post.
Liked the same clue for 14D and 48D. Can't find a theme. Time to post and read the write up.
I solved mine on line today because I needed red letter help, so I was aware of the two grids. Thanks Splynter for spearheading the comments.
This solve was not fun, but I bulled my way through it for the experience. There was some interesting fill. Some SEAFARERS are "Mustangs'. Mustangs are former ENLISTED personnel who have become commissioned officers. Who knew U NU?. I wagged it because he was an early secretary general of the UN. Never heard of SIEVERT. Finally sussed the French fill FEU and NON. Seems like we're over reaching on the Q's - ETSEQQ, TANQ, ROQUE??? The letter in 'red' and 'violet' is 'e'. The vowel sound is SHORT E. With the flap of the 2 published versions, I'm guessing there was some difficulty cobbling this one together and getting it finalized. (Did learn the name of another island tho - HOSTE. Thanks to Splynter's map.)
Have a great day and weekend.
Whew, what a chore! I nailed the “wrong” puzzle (four orphan cells looked funny) with decent guesses after a tough start but I think the correct version might have been easier (HOSTE?). Oh well, we got some rain, it’s 20°F cooler, there’s a nice breeze, we’ve opened up the house and my back feels better than it has in years!
Musings
-How do you get wrong grids AND correct clues for the wrong answers (Beta version?)?
-Niece SET THE DATE and fiancé came home drunk and said “NOT FOR ME!” earlier this week.
-A lady going 50 mph for 10 miles held up three of us last night. I passed two cars and got behind her and then, you guessed it, she immediately signaled to turn. HONK!!!
-LINEAR not PLANAR, CHER not CHET (I know, not in the 70’s), TINS not JARS, JOB LOT not ODD LOT, wasted time looking for a surname instead of abbr. DR., REIN IN not RETARD, Double Q’s were hard to put in and coupled with TRANQ?,
-Junior Mints came to me first too. Who dropped one into a patient during surgery?
-QB’s get more cheers and BOOS than they deserve.
-When I worked in a clothing store, the size for STOUTEST boys was Husky.
-We were ON TIME (even with lady in second musing) last night in Lincoln and daughters who live there were 10 minutes late.
-RAMA is a word I have never heard in my NASA reading but it might refer to this sighting by NASA.
-I remember the PBA on TV with Don Carter, Carmen Salvino, et al on Saturdays of my youth.
-In what movie did the Jimmy Cagney character repeatedly tell the Henry Fonda character to put SEAFARERS ON REPORT?
-YR, sorry you did not PEAK this morning ;-)
Wowza!!!
This was one tough cookie (and it was in a TIN, not a jar). I put it down after about twenty minutes and went for a ten-mile bike ride. It was somehow much easier when I got back home.
Marti, I was on your wavelength today with MORMON and ODDLOT. My whole eastern seaboard was a mess.
I definitely rate this one as the toughest Saturday LAT in a long, long time. Glad it's over.
Wow! i never thought i would hear that Argyle hit the autosolve button! One of my daughters recently changed her ring tones. The "rec'd text" is now the exact same sound as "solve letter." Every time she gets a text, i feel like i cheated!
SPLYNTER! You must tell me how you got a different link colors!
25A reacts to errors maybe, i had blank O blank S, DOH'S,, of course! (really screwed up everything around it!)
Air Medal
You have to really soar to get one of these!
Husker Gary, Re: Junior Mints Q (too easy, the real question is was it heads or tails?)
Jimmy Cagney & Henry Fonda? were they ever in any other movie together?
UNU?
Who knew?
Wanted to be the 1st to say it.
Now, back to finish the puzzle.
Wasn't there an ABC of bowling? Something like American Bowling Congress?
So, Husker, who said "Not for me", the niece or the fiance? Oh, and hand up for PLANAR before LINEAR.
WEES. All I can add is a reference to one clue in the warmup puzzle in our paper today. This was a "Bile producer". Way too obscure and not a lot of fun.
On a brighter note, I took a hint from Lemon and changed my avatar after finding an odd tomato in my garden last night. I'm not sure about gender, but it seems to be excited.
Just went back and re-read the intro notes and looked at the alt grid. That would have been a little easier without the orphans.
And yes, DO. It was American Bowling Congress. That was the only answer I could come up with even though I knew it was wrong from the crosses.
good morning!
i had the right puzzle on ChiTrib site but WEES about all of it!
i guess my day can only get easier after that bear of a puzzle. i finished with two dings of the autosolve (@CEDave - exactly why i stopped using that ringtone for texts, lol!)
thanx argyle for the beasties link - my favorite!
have a lovely weekend all!
XV'er back again.
WOW, glad I only knew of the Chicago Tribune website ! Mr DiPietro, I think your puzzle is going to get some unabashed bashing today, and surely not all of it deserved. Pray tell, how many of your original clues were hardened ? OK, don't tell. Probably not a good idea to critique the editor. Timely for the the London Olympics, 47D clue might have been Jumps the queue.
And Splynter, thanks for the write ups and links. This puzzle must have been disconcerting to even a seasoned contributor. No wonder it AILED you ! I agree, plenty of ambiguous and vague clues. Good thing I don't rely MEREly on knowledge to solve puzzles. Abstract thinking is both a blessing and a curse.
Mari, et al, doesn't Chicago's ABC 7 Sunday morning anchor bear a resemblence to Barry G ? Barry, I'm sure you don't see any likeness at all...
http://blogs.suntimes.com/media/2010/07/ben_bradley_and_eric_horng_get.html
As to the clechos at 57D and 59D with Blaise... The only Blaise I've ever heard of was Pascal, so it was a quick leap to French...
HG @ 10:14 ~~ I believe the movie was Mr. Roberts, yes?
Musings 2
-Niece comes from a very humble home with a very weak (and then absent) step-father. He comes from money and became enamored of her in college as a fellow athlete. They both have degrees but she has a dead end job. She and her mom are now contacting friends and family and trying to cancel all that they can. Better that she finds out now!
-Yes, Cagney and Fonda were in a movie together
-Junior Mint (1:19) scene and answer.
-Joe, did you get enough rain last night to stave off mandatory rationing? The .15” in our gauge is brown from all the dust that had settled in it after 50 rainless days. Ya get what ya get!
We got .20" Gary. Don't know what Lincoln got. So in the past 7-10 days we've had .75, .18, .22 and now .20. Not even enough to shrink the cracks in the soil.
Avg Joe, hilarious avatar! Uh, did you eat it?
I forgot to thank you for the heroic effort today, Splynter. You deserve an AIR MEDAL !!!
I have to admit, I spent more time on the misprinted puzzle today trying to find a "theme", than I did in solving the danged thing. Even though it's a Saturday, I was convinced that those uncrossed cells had a hidden meaning (kind of like the oreo cookie puzzle a while back). Good thing I had nowhere to go and nothing to do today!
Hello everybody. Ugh, ugh, ugh! Meh, meh, meh! Big fat DNF.
My paper had the version with the "orphan" letters, which was not a problem for me. My problem was that I simply couldn't get on the right wavelength, and after many writeovers and much head scratching, I resigned myself to looking some things up and it *still* didn't help me all that much.
EXHIBIT_ needed the perp to know which of 26 possible letters would go in there. Ugh.
Many possible acronyms for the bowling clue; no possible way to know until all three perps were filled. Ugh.
MODI????? Ugh.
TINS, not jars. Okay. You'd get it more easily if you were British, though.
HIRE, not earn. Oh well. *Shrug*
Never did get EJECT. Had EAT IN, which ruined my original, and correct, entry CUTS IN. My fault.
After 2 hours I finally realized I didn't care any more so I quit.
Also: AIR MEDAL, ugh. ON REPORT, ugh. I know I know, ET SEQQ is legitimate, but still ugh.
Would someone be so kind as to tell me the meaning of terms such as "WAGS," "red letter," "a gimme,"
"perps," "DNF," and the other shortcuts you use to tell how you solved the puzzles? Thanks.
Carol,
WAG = wild-ass guess.
Gimme = it was a "given" to me, ie, I knew it was correct.
Perps = the perpendicular words, the cross words.
DNF = did not finish.
Red letter = letters that appear red because they are incorrect, a feature available only when you play on line.
WEES = what everybody else said.
WBS = what Barry (G) said.
Carol, check the "Comments Section Abbrs" under "Olio" on the main page of the blog.
Red letter refers to an on-line version of the puzzle. When they are turned on, any incorrect letter will have a red box around it. In other words -- cheating.
Gimme refers to a clue/answer which the commenter found to be completely obvious and entered the correct answer immediately.
Carol @ 1247, Here goes:
WAGs - wild ass guesses
red letter - when solving on line at the skill level where the site will give you a red letter if you filled incorrectly.
gimme - a real easy fill that you can't miss
perps - perpendicular crossings to the fill you are working on.
DNF - did not finish
WEES - what everyone else said.
WJS - what Jayce said above.
Any more, just ask.
Carol, if you were a fan of this Blog, (& it takes time, in my case 3 seconds) you would know:
WAGS = wild ass guess
red letter = Chicago Tribune LA Times crossword puzzle online "regular" ( as opposed to "Master") solver option.
a gimme,,, (you never played golf?)
Perps, oh somebody else pls explain, im getting tired about crosses...
DNF ( you do not, i repeat DO NOT ever use this abb on this BLOg!!!
Good morning everyone. Glad I was able to come here and find out why my puzzle in the paper didn't match the grid online. Had to go to the computer in search of red letter help. Ugh!
WEES. This puzzle put me in into cranky pants mode.
Thanks for your write up and links Splynter. Got to go. Lots and lots to do today and this puzzle has taken up way too much time.
Have a great weekend one and all!
By the way, does anybody know of anybody who ever got caught with their hand in the cookie tin?
To offset that Britishism, in Britain they would not move right to let someone pass, so that clue would difficult for a Brit, I imagine.
Okay, I'll stop grousing now :)
Speaking of Optima being the name of a car, didja ever notice how many car names end in the letter A? Mostly Japanese ones, I think: Optima, Acura, Maxima, Altima, Azura, etc. I understand they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay people to come up with these names.
Aw crap! you guys are too fast for me!
Re: Mr Roberts link (Tx HG) i love reading IMDB, but never thought to look up Mr. Roberts. You must read the trivia about the stunt actor hired to do the motorcycle scene off the dock!
(CW Constructors,,, do not read about all the different abbreviations for landing craft! I have only just committed LST to memory, i did not know there were about 20 more!)
HG 10:14 LOL I didn't PEEK at the answers this AM. And it's a good thing I didn't PEAK that early, either. It's been an extremely busy day. I peaked about an hour ago and now I'm spent and have to keep going any way. It’s time for a little breather. It's refreshing to catch up with y'all.
I copied the Chicago Times version to do at the coffee shop. I believe EDU and HMO really helped.
We bake plenty of German Christmas cookies all through December and store them in tins, going back many generations.
Up and at ‘em, again
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Joe D., for one tough puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for the excellent job of debugging it.
Well, I will have to say, this is the toughest puzzle i can ever recall doing. Got it done, but had to cheat a little.
First. Every puzzle should have a few gimmies to get the ball rolling.
Second. This puzzle had a couple squares that were only in one word. The norm is that all squares are in two words. I know a few months ago there was one that had lone squares, but that had a theme and those squares were part of the theme. I think it had to do with milk. ????? Anyhow, I had this version.
Got LINEAR quite easily. Also LETS PASS. SETS THE DATE was a tough one. Perps to the rescue.
I did wag MAUVES. But was not sure it was right until much later.
Some really tough ones in this puzzle: HOMIE, U NU, RODAN, HOSTE, ET SEQQ, ROQUE, THAIS, STEARATE, SIEVERT, HAT BANDS, etc.
Oh well. Off to a wedding this afternoon.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
I had what I guess is the incorrect grid with the two editors, but the clues for 31 across and 35 across worked! They were that Chilean island and suffered from. And I thought today's puzzle was much easier than yesterday's, though I did have to wiki some things. I surely enjoy hearing everyone's reactions and problems.
XV'er here again. Slow day and too hot to be outside.
Carol, another is natick. I knew of Natick, MA but not of it's usage in crossword blogs. I'll offer that it's something so obscure that only a relative small part of the population, or a specialized group, would understand it's meaning. eg SIEVERT. Versus exotery, which is akin to a gimme. I'll defer to all of the seasoned veterans of this blog for a better definition of natick.
Desper-Otto, thanks for pointing Carol to the olio section. Not sure why I never saw that.
Saw the section on posting a link. Here's my first attempt:
NOT Barry
This puzzle was hard for me as it was for most others. I never like Saturday puzzles much so I start with red letters turned on (from the Chicago Trib). I got 'er done but it wasn't much fun. I feel a little obligation to try the puzzle before coming to the blog.
The bear video WAS fun. Mr. Roberts was so much fun I figure I've watched it about three times since it first came out.
I agree. 'Not Barry' looks a lot like real Barry's photo.
A natick is a place in the puzzle where both the answer word and the crossing words are very obscure so it's hard to make any headway.
Afternoon everyone,
This one took up my entire allotted
time of three cups of coffee, but I
did manage to finish. Getting quite a light show here in southern NH. Major
T-storm directly overhead of me now.
Been hit by lightning twice in last ten years here. First one took out all
electronics in the rear of house but my aluminum staging took the brunt of it. The second filled my basement with smoke. I think it hit my chimney
This is not a case of third time's a
charm.No cable but still have internet
We're dog sitting our Daughter's Lab this weekend. Among the toys she brought for his amusement was a really slick device I'd never seen before, and I'd highly recommend it.
If you have a retriever and know the ick factor of throwing slimy tennis balls, get a Chuck-It. It's great. A lot like a hand-held blue rock launcher. You never have to touch the ball and you can toss it a lot further than by hand.
Oh crap! here comes round 4.
Well prepared for most things here
though.
Manac, don't you have grounded lightning rods on your house. Well worth the cost if you have that many strikes on you. We used to live on a hill where we attracted lightning, but the rods siphoned off the charge in most instances.
PK, do you have the lightning rods on your house? If so, wouldn't they work just as well on a pole in an adjacent area?
I've seen Chuck-Its in use on the Strand near the bike path. That's a very clever invention. Looks like fun too.
Can you get in trouble doing crossword puzzles? Yes you can. Trouble
I had the experience of Yellow Rocks-- definitely got caught with my hand in the cookie tin--but just at Christmas when we had tons of different kinds of cookies to keep fresh. Cookies other times were in the jar and didn't last very long.
I'm glad to feel reassured that everyone else also found this to be a bear!!
PK
Thank you for your concern but no
I don't. After the first hit I figured
lightning never strikes the same place
twice. The second was a shocker too
because my house is in a valley surrounded by some towering pine trees
which I thought and which I think Bill G. was saying is that lighting strikes at the highest point nearby.
If I'm wrong Bill, sorry.
XV'er, that was a great 1st link attempt, (sorry Barry:) Ya Gotta go blue!
Manac, do you live on a mountaintop?
Holy Canoli, i think it's time to get some lightning rods!
Bill G, LoL trouble! True story, i was taking out my garbage last week, & a young mother comes jogging by in the middle of the street pushing a 3 wheel sport baby carriage, & texting on a blackberry!
I said Texting while driving?
She said, No,,, i'm emailing...
OMG! i just went to get a funny lightning strike link to add to my note to manac, & this guy uses tin foil to stay dry, & gets hit twice! once at :30, & again at 1:11
CED
If you missed my post, I live in a valley. And thou lighting strikes
are not funny I'm still chuckling
at your last link. Some stuff you
just can't make up.
Looks like we're going to miss
round 5.
I got the misprint. I use a printout so I can solve and watch TV at the same time. Today it was American Graffiti. Crap, I still couln't finish in that amount of time.
Some words were just plain obscure!
Temp has hit 104 in the Medford area. First time to break 100 in almost 2 years. It can go back to the mid 80's thank you very much.
ON REPORT - On report does not mean on probation or that disciplinary action has been meted out. It amounts to a 'charge' sheet. The XO will review the case and decide on the next step(s). ie. dismiss, or send to Captains Mast , or some other appropriate disposition. The person charged is not necessarily restricted to ship or base unless it is a major charge. The clue is correct as written
Very tough today. Managed to finish but must have been over 2 hours, while watching Olympics. Was really tempted to use red letter help (massive help needed yesterday).
I think the theme for today is "Solver's Reactions":
BOOS, NOTFORME, LETSPASS, SPENT, TESTED, NON, and finally, TRANQ.
Too much was really obscure for my tastes, like Trilby circlets, Burma's first PM, and Rama IX. Not a very enjoyable experience.
Greetings!
Terribly tough puzzle. Red letters after a while. Good expo, as usual, Splynter.
Turns out that yesterday was the "practice" party. Full blown thing since 1 pm today. Couldn't even go swimming due to digestive problems of a high order. Have air conditioner running full blast and am in warmest pjs under the covers. Earplugs in, too. Still awful. Heavy metal band about 17 feet from my bedroom 8 foot window. (Double-pane glass). (Did I mention that I was invited?)
Thanks for reply, Spitzboov. When I was on warfarin I had to have blood drawn every week. (Also, it contains rat killer I have read.)
Cheers!
Greetings, fellow cranks. Splynter, agreed, you deserve a MEDAL for this one.
Sooooo very late to this party as I was at a different one. It was Book Club day and our group was responsible for food, ergo too busy to finish the puzzle. Before leaving I had about 3/4 done all on the west coast.
Luckily I have heard of a trilby and so HAT BAND was not a problem and I sashayed through that corner. But the eastern seaboard gave me fits and I finally ENLISTED help for UNU.
But by then I was really tired so just came for blog help on LETS PASS and EXHIBIT C. Also googled ROQUE and MOONIE to finish the SE.
I have to agree, this was one of the toughest in a long time.
Our book club is always a blast and today was no exception. We had read The Lady of the Rivers by Phillippa Gregory.
Hope your Saturday was as filled with jollity as mine, everyone!
Incidentally, my grid was like Splynter's. Good to know about HOSTE. I'll file that for future use.
buona sera
A gold medal to you Splynter; this was a doozy, and filling in 12 answers didn't get me started, so I played instead. Loved your Family Guy segments.
Husker, you have a GREAT memory. I had forgotten all about that Seinfeld episode.
zoo protection=moat ????
Hi---
Came across your blog yesterday and used it today to see if I missed something with the uncrossed letters. Guess I didn't.
I post LAT commentaries on Cruciverb and like your blog. I asked the site owner to link it, and perhaps you can do the same.
Magus
The stunt man, Jack Lewis, was a good friend and business associate of mine. He was a screenwriter, book author, magazine editor/publisher, long-time Marine and one of the most outrageous people I've ever known. Unfortunately, Jack passed away a couple of years ago in his eighties.
Sadly, I'm anonymous only because I don't know how to be otherwise on this site.
Click on "Name/URL" and type in a name. If you want to go blue, that takes a bit more.
Question: Did you have "In response to..." in your post?
Magnus,
You're linked. See Crossword Links on our front page.
The corner blog is already in Kevin's Daily Crossword list.
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