Theme: COLORFUL ANIMALS
17A: Colorful marine mammal: BLUE WHALE
37A: Colorful ruminant: RED DEER
58A: Colorful kodiak: BROWN BEAR
11D: Colorful reptile: GREEN SNAKE
29D: Colorful farm animal: BLACK SHEEP
Here are more subdued colors:
6D: Horse shade: ROAN
25D: Harbor hazard: SAND BAR
20D: Made of mud: EARTHEN
62A: Natural tone: ECRU
Let's see how many animals we've got here: WHALE, DEER, BEAR, SHEEP, SNAKE, BURRO, ROAN (Horse), BABE (the Ox, or the Pig), ALBEE, LEERAT, ABATTOIR, BOARDED. Total 12, plus yesterday's 8. I think I've had enough. No more animal tomorrow please!
I love the structure of this animal puzzle, and I really admire Ed Voile's ingenuity in building a DEN at the very center of the puzzle as an anchor. Superb!
CHOPPY is how I describe my solving experience this morning. The weather was very calm when I started the sail, but it got stormy when I met ANGER. BURRO (letter B) would not yield, and ABATTOIR simply refused to give me a hint of his name. So I had A_ATTOIR staring at me for eons. I decided to turn around clockwise and found the SKIN corner to be very thin and easy to crumble. The lower right DRUG corner was very weak too. I think I conquered it in less than 1 minute.
Then the weather turned tempestuous again. I had no idea what was KILOBAR, did not know BERBER, forgot URIAH, have never met PADDY. I did not get panicky though. I stayed cool and collected, and I made several educated guesses. In the end, they turned out to be correct. I think this is probably how experienced solvers tackle their puzzles. They may not know every entry of the crossword, but they have no problem ferreting out every fill. I definitely need to train myself to be more disciplined and refrain from checking on dictionary or flirting with google too impulsively.
Oh, a quick question for those who solve the TMS crossword from Chicago Tribune newspaper: Who is the author for last Saturday's themeless puzzle (April 26)? Is it Josiah Breward or Ed Voile? Or is the author name not printed in your paper?
ACROSS:
1A: Second to none: BEST. Great crossing of BABE & BEST. The Bambino is indeed the best of all time, isn't he? See also 59D: Slugger's stat: RBI. Good touch. The Ortiz jersey hex would probably send Babe spinning in his grave. Doe any one know what is Babe's career RBI number?
5A: Caspian feeder: URAL. The URAL River. Or the URAL Mountains. Again, I love how ALL & SOLE intersects in this corner.
9A: Madden: ANGER
16A: Pack animal: BURRO. A small donkey.
19A: Best players: A TEAM
25A: Crisp crackers: SALTINES
27A: "Seascape" playwright: ALBEE (Edward). He is still alive!
30A: Tom and Dennis of golf: WATSONS. Both of them are Senior PGA tour pros. The golf world now belongs to our bad boy Bubba WATSON!
31A: Tuesday in movie: WELD. Unknown to me. Pure guess. Another actress. Why did she change her name into Tuesday?
32A: Cozy room: DEN. Terrific fill! I do hate the crossing of DEN and DENOTE though.
33A: In a can in England: TINNED
36A: Actress Gabor: EVA. Or this beautiful "Desperate Housewife" actress (EVA Longoria).
42A: Tavern: BAR. Good to see ALE in the same grid with BAR, though I think PUB would probably be a more accurate companion.
44A: Pressure unit: KILOBAR. It's "a unit of pressure, equal to 1000 bars (14,500 pounds per square inch; equivalent to 100 megapascals). Abbreviation: kb". I am not fond of the intersection of BAR, KILOBAR, SANDBAR.
46A: White-sale buy: SHEET
47A: Certain New Yorker: UP STATER
49A: Aberdeen's river: DEE. Saw this clue before. The river is in Scotland.
52A: Got on: BOARDED. I don't get this one. Why? Can you give me an example?
56A: Fruit of the mind: IDEAS. Good one, though I prefer the clue to be "Fruit of the brain".
63A: Promoted to excess: HYPED. Oh the Hanna Montana fever. Incredible!
65A: Chinese secret society: TONG. Please! It's "Chinese American secret society"!
DOWN:
2D: Cinder ending?: ELLA. Cinderella.
4D: Grew molars: TEETHED
5D: Lead to seats: USHER. Hmm, I like this USHER and his Confessions. "YEAH!"
9D: Slaughterhouse: ABATTOIR. It's originated from French word ABATTRE (cut down). "Oir" is a noun-forming suffix I gather.
18D: Shout of joy: WHEE. I don't know. I've never shouted "WHEE". I might have cried "Oui, Oui" when I was expecting certain joy on certain occasions.
22D: Irish frieze overcoat: ULSTER. OK, it's " A loose, long overcoat made of heavy, rugged fabric and often belted". I suppose it's named after ULSTER the Irish province. Here is gentleman in his Ulster overcoat. What's he holding in his hands?
28D: Dolly of "Hello, Dolly": LEVI
37D: Backslid: RELAPSED
41D: Caboodle's partner?: KIT. The whole kit and caboodle. See here for its origin.
43D: Icy dessert: SHERBET. Isn't called SORBET in America? Want some Strawberry SHERBET?
45D: North African nomad: BERBER. Totally unknown to me. Hmm, interesting root. BERBER comes from Greek "Barbaros" meaning "barbarians" . It's "a member of a North African, primarily Muslim people living in settled or nomadic tribes from Morocco to Egypt." BERBERS settled in the region called Barbary, which was later conquered by the Arab.
47D: Heep of Dickens: URIAH. Have to commit this name to my memory, somehow!
48D: "Marty" writer Chayesfsky: PADDY. Complete stranger to me. Here is some information about him.
49D: Use a divining rod: DOWSE
52D: Moves up and down: BOBS. Have a look at this Holy Grail of Bobbing Head. Mickey Mantle, early 1960s, made in Japan, with the original box. Be a NODDER and bring this baby home.
53D: Art__: DECO. And the artist is ERTE.
C.C.
17A: Colorful marine mammal: BLUE WHALE
37A: Colorful ruminant: RED DEER
58A: Colorful kodiak: BROWN BEAR
11D: Colorful reptile: GREEN SNAKE
29D: Colorful farm animal: BLACK SHEEP
Here are more subdued colors:
6D: Horse shade: ROAN
25D: Harbor hazard: SAND BAR
20D: Made of mud: EARTHEN
62A: Natural tone: ECRU
Let's see how many animals we've got here: WHALE, DEER, BEAR, SHEEP, SNAKE, BURRO, ROAN (Horse), BABE (the Ox, or the Pig), ALBEE, LEERAT, ABATTOIR, BOARDED. Total 12, plus yesterday's 8. I think I've had enough. No more animal tomorrow please!
I love the structure of this animal puzzle, and I really admire Ed Voile's ingenuity in building a DEN at the very center of the puzzle as an anchor. Superb!
CHOPPY is how I describe my solving experience this morning. The weather was very calm when I started the sail, but it got stormy when I met ANGER. BURRO (letter B) would not yield, and ABATTOIR simply refused to give me a hint of his name. So I had A_ATTOIR staring at me for eons. I decided to turn around clockwise and found the SKIN corner to be very thin and easy to crumble. The lower right DRUG corner was very weak too. I think I conquered it in less than 1 minute.
Then the weather turned tempestuous again. I had no idea what was KILOBAR, did not know BERBER, forgot URIAH, have never met PADDY. I did not get panicky though. I stayed cool and collected, and I made several educated guesses. In the end, they turned out to be correct. I think this is probably how experienced solvers tackle their puzzles. They may not know every entry of the crossword, but they have no problem ferreting out every fill. I definitely need to train myself to be more disciplined and refrain from checking on dictionary or flirting with google too impulsively.
Oh, a quick question for those who solve the TMS crossword from Chicago Tribune newspaper: Who is the author for last Saturday's themeless puzzle (April 26)? Is it Josiah Breward or Ed Voile? Or is the author name not printed in your paper?
ACROSS:
1A: Second to none: BEST. Great crossing of BABE & BEST. The Bambino is indeed the best of all time, isn't he? See also 59D: Slugger's stat: RBI. Good touch. The Ortiz jersey hex would probably send Babe spinning in his grave. Doe any one know what is Babe's career RBI number?
5A: Caspian feeder: URAL. The URAL River. Or the URAL Mountains. Again, I love how ALL & SOLE intersects in this corner.
9A: Madden: ANGER
16A: Pack animal: BURRO. A small donkey.
19A: Best players: A TEAM
25A: Crisp crackers: SALTINES
27A: "Seascape" playwright: ALBEE (Edward). He is still alive!
30A: Tom and Dennis of golf: WATSONS. Both of them are Senior PGA tour pros. The golf world now belongs to our bad boy Bubba WATSON!
31A: Tuesday in movie: WELD. Unknown to me. Pure guess. Another actress. Why did she change her name into Tuesday?
32A: Cozy room: DEN. Terrific fill! I do hate the crossing of DEN and DENOTE though.
33A: In a can in England: TINNED
36A: Actress Gabor: EVA. Or this beautiful "Desperate Housewife" actress (EVA Longoria).
42A: Tavern: BAR. Good to see ALE in the same grid with BAR, though I think PUB would probably be a more accurate companion.
44A: Pressure unit: KILOBAR. It's "a unit of pressure, equal to 1000 bars (14,500 pounds per square inch; equivalent to 100 megapascals). Abbreviation: kb". I am not fond of the intersection of BAR, KILOBAR, SANDBAR.
46A: White-sale buy: SHEET
47A: Certain New Yorker: UP STATER
49A: Aberdeen's river: DEE. Saw this clue before. The river is in Scotland.
52A: Got on: BOARDED. I don't get this one. Why? Can you give me an example?
56A: Fruit of the mind: IDEAS. Good one, though I prefer the clue to be "Fruit of the brain".
63A: Promoted to excess: HYPED. Oh the Hanna Montana fever. Incredible!
65A: Chinese secret society: TONG. Please! It's "Chinese American secret society"!
DOWN:
2D: Cinder ending?: ELLA. Cinderella.
4D: Grew molars: TEETHED
5D: Lead to seats: USHER. Hmm, I like this USHER and his Confessions. "YEAH!"
9D: Slaughterhouse: ABATTOIR. It's originated from French word ABATTRE (cut down). "Oir" is a noun-forming suffix I gather.
18D: Shout of joy: WHEE. I don't know. I've never shouted "WHEE". I might have cried "Oui, Oui" when I was expecting certain joy on certain occasions.
22D: Irish frieze overcoat: ULSTER. OK, it's " A loose, long overcoat made of heavy, rugged fabric and often belted". I suppose it's named after ULSTER the Irish province. Here is gentleman in his Ulster overcoat. What's he holding in his hands?
28D: Dolly of "Hello, Dolly": LEVI
37D: Backslid: RELAPSED
41D: Caboodle's partner?: KIT. The whole kit and caboodle. See here for its origin.
43D: Icy dessert: SHERBET. Isn't called SORBET in America? Want some Strawberry SHERBET?
45D: North African nomad: BERBER. Totally unknown to me. Hmm, interesting root. BERBER comes from Greek "Barbaros" meaning "barbarians" . It's "a member of a North African, primarily Muslim people living in settled or nomadic tribes from Morocco to Egypt." BERBERS settled in the region called Barbary, which was later conquered by the Arab.
47D: Heep of Dickens: URIAH. Have to commit this name to my memory, somehow!
48D: "Marty" writer Chayesfsky: PADDY. Complete stranger to me. Here is some information about him.
49D: Use a divining rod: DOWSE
52D: Moves up and down: BOBS. Have a look at this Holy Grail of Bobbing Head. Mickey Mantle, early 1960s, made in Japan, with the original box. Be a NODDER and bring this baby home.
53D: Art__: DECO. And the artist is ERTE.
C.C.
58 comments:
Morning, C.C. - a sub-five minute one for me today; everything seemed to fall in place. Not sure about black sheep for a "colorful" farm animal, though.
C.C. you board a flight or board a train; you see in old movies, conductors saying, "all aboard".
Dowse is the correct word for using a diving rod. And New Yorkers do tend to refer to those in the northern part of the state as "upstaters".
Off to the gym - hope it's a great day for everyone. Rainy and cold here.
Good morning bloggers. Liked this one as it was a 100%er for me until I could not remember Dicken's Heep. I have seen this movie so many times and I could not remember Uriah, shame on me. In answer to your question our paper never lists the constructor. It is rainy and cold here today so I guess golf is out today. Hope you all have a great day. See you tomorrow.
Rainy and cold here also. Great day today......about 15 mins and no roadblocks. Must have have been enlightened over the weekend.Everything fell into place so easily that I looked to be sure this wasn't a juniors puzzle!
C.C., my Sat was Ed Voile.
Have a great day.
Dennis,
I agree that BLACK SHEEP is a bit weak here. But it's a minor flaw in an otherwise sparkling theme entries. I always thought of "Get on" as "Get on with your age" or make progress on your work. Thanks for the UPSTATER. I've never heard of it before.
Dick,
Why don't you give your local editor a call? It's inconceivable to me not to know the constructor's name. Saw you went to the game yesterday. Are you rooting for the Pirates or the Phillies?
Bill,
All of our newspapers have Ed Voile as the constructor for Saturday's puzzle. But I am convinced it's NOT.
I am now waiting for our fellow solvers from the Chicago Tribune Newspaper (not the crossword website) to confirm my view.
However, I am not sure if the constructor's name is even shown on their Monday-Saturday puzzle.
A quick puzzle.... I had one mistake... row instead of rut... but I was done quickly... should have taken my time for the Ace :-)
New York has Up Staters and Down Staters. Up Staters are from Albany north and west. Down Staters are WestChester County, NYC and Long Island. New York City is usually only referred to as 'The City" and that usually just means the Island of Manhattan
A cashew is not a true nut in the botanical sense but is called one in the culinary sense. A bar is equal to 14 pounds pressure per square inch. Kilo = 1000 times. Uriah Heep is back! Bad crossing there because you get Uriah Hyped. Had Black Angus (the cow) for a while then quickly changed it. Whee, whee when I was a kid going to the bathroom. To douse is the practice of making something or someone wet with large amounts of liquid. To dowse is to use a divining rod to search for underground water. Spelling is correct.
Only 11 minutes this morning.
Read a poem - one of today's celebrations is Poetry Reading Day.
The man in the ulster appears to be holding a cane but I'm not sure.
This was so easy that I knew there would be some record breaking times. Under 5 is pretty fast! Didn't know "abattoir", and probably won't tomorrow either, but it came about with the perps.
And there's "Tong" again! They just aren't going to let that Chinese 'American' (thank you CC) "Secret" Society have any privacy, are they! They are going to have to change their name! What a rip! Secrets are so hard to keep.
Cold and rainy here too...liquid sunshine! Enjoy!
2,213 career RBI's for The Babe.
cc the Pirates have had 15 seasons under 500 and I really don't expect anything better this season. But alas and alack I will probably root for them although it is difficult. I am curious why you and Dennis felt Blacksheep was weak. Also, my wife is from Watertown, NY and that area is also referred to as upstate by the New Yorkers.
Superfrey,
So you write the word as "Up Stater" rather than "Upstater"? How is your knee?
Drdad,
Thanks for the information. Where did you get Babe's RBI total? I tried hard this morning and all I found were the RBI numbers for a particular season.
Ulster guy, OK, so it's cane. I thought it was golf club before.
Thanks for the DOWSE/DOUSE explanation. My dictionary says that DOWSE can also be spelled as DOUSE when it means to drench something.
I don't get this comment: "Bad crossing there because you get Uriah Hyped". Why?
Which poem do you recommend me to read?
Dick,
I don't think a black-fleece sheep is that common of a farm animal. I've never seen a "BLACK SHEEP" before, have you?
Good morning everyone! I got a late start today. I got MOST of the puzzle but did not know Kilobar or ABATTOIR so I missed a few of those. In my puzzle it only says who it was edited by. Today it was edited by Wayne Robert Williams! I didn't know how to send the link to the blog for Tuesday Weld, did you get it CC? She was a cutie.
Lois,
You finished the puzzle under 5 minutes?
RE: TONG
This only proves my point that Williams NEVER ever has the intention to improve the quality of his puzzle!
Katherine,
Isn't your crossword edited by Williams every day?
I did not google Weld this morning. Had a quick scan after reading your comment. She does look cute.
CC. I never paid any attention to who edited the puzzle until you were asking who composed them, then I looked to see, and all it says it who edited it. I guess he does do it everyday! LOL I wish I could put my little "emoticon" for crazy in here! I just do the puzzle then start getting ready for work, but Monday is my day off. No work today! Yea!
Katherine,
I just sent you an email explaining why not all the photos are linkable to my blog.
Good morning CC et al,(forgot that today),
No, I didn't finish under 5 mins ,but Dennis did (high 5 to you!)...I almost did...under 10 for sure. Renewed my confidence after last week.
As far as "black sheep" go, I agree that they're not that common of a farm animal, but every family I know has one! And it's usually the 3rd child...doesn't mean it's a bad thing, now.
c.c. Your reference on "Kit and caboodle" states
Caboodle was never in common use outside the USA and now has died out everywhere, apart from its use in this phrase.
This is not true as caboodle is used today to refer to makeup cases.
Hope everyone had a nice weekend.
C.C. Beats me as to whether it is "Up Stater" or "Upstater" my guess would be the former. My knee is doing better.... some of the swelling has reduced and I can actually walk now.... Yippee
Good morning. I'm glad to have a nice, normal morning for a change. Busy busy busy last week.
Nice puzzle this morning. Everything fell into place quickly. I thought the intersections of 25D, 42A and 44A was odd-- three BAR's in the same spot? When I saw it, I knew C.C would have something to say about it!
It's supposed to be chilly next few days here, too.
Good morning all,
Again, I'm late for the party! ;o)
A pretty quick one for me today. And I never knew that a cashew isn't really a nut.
superfrey: glad to hear your knee is improving and you're able to walk on it!
dick: root for the Pens! :o)
Rainy start to the week . . . hoping for a warm up and drying out.
Happy Monday everyone.
Dick, I guess I always look at black and white as being absent of color, even though technically that may be incorrect.
Lois, thanks for the comment yesterday; sure would be fun trying...
mkatesq, not the Flyers and Phillies?
dennis:
Born and raised in the Berg, I'll always root for the Pens/Steelers first. Pirates or Phillies - I don't really pay attention to baseball. Shame on me, right? ;o)
Lois,
I misread your comment then. I did not realize that you were talking about Dennis' under 5 minutes.
He is fast, isn't he? I think he once finished a puzzle in 4 1/4 minutes.
NYTanonimo,
Thanks for pointing it out!
Ellie,
It's a crowded & wild & reckless BAR corner there, isn't it?
Mkat,
Is that Tenshi on this new picture?
Dennis,
Have you ever seen a Black Sheep in a Farming House?
cc I seem to remember seeing a black sheep but maybe it was a goat. I am not 100% sure. But the phrase "Black Sheep of the Family" and the nursery rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep" makes a black sheep very doable in my mind.
C.C., yes, I've seen black sheep, both literally and figuratively.
CC,
Yes, that's a new picture of Tenshi. :o)
mkatesq I did root for the Pens last night and you see they got win number 2 in the best of seven. Go Pens!
This one was fast and fairly easy for me. Not sub-five minutes but sub-fifteen for sure. I don't think I can write fast enough to complete a puzzle in 5 minutes ;-)
The words I liked: tinned, saltines, ulster, earthen, sandbar, sherbet, upstater, & teethed. These are unusual words for a puzzle and it makes for fun solving.
The Saturday puzzle author was listed as Broward in the SJ Merc. Warm day predicted here in NorCal. Good roadster weather!
superfrey happy to learn that your knee is doing better. If the swelling is going down you are well on the road to recovery.
mkatesq, where did you get Tenshi? We've had two Akitas over the years and are ready for another one.
mh like your roadster!
C.C. - Just my catch on Uriah Heep and Uriah Hyped.
Babe Ruth Stats
You know, now that I think of it, I solved the Saturday puzzle on-line (my paper was really late in arriving). The on-line author was Broward, not sure about the SJ Merc (or as we call it, the "Merky News").
Also forgot to mention kilobar, relapsed, and abattoir in my favorite word list for today.
Thanks Dick. I built it about 10 years ago and it gets driven about 4000 miles a year, mostly to events like Hot August Nights in Reno. Wish I'd had it in high school back in the 60's! Some of my friends still have their cars from that era.
C.C. - Poems? I was partial to Walt Whitman because he wrote in free verse.
mh I know this has nothing to do with crosswords but I love cars and have been involve for years. I currently have a Corvette which really doesn't get driven all that much because of the weather here.
dick: hope the pens sweep! That would be sooo awesome!
dennis: my akita was rescued by ARWNY (Akita Rescue of Western New York) from a local kill shelter because they were going to euthanize him. But, I do know that ARWNY has dogs that are available for adoption. A kennel in Carney's Point has some of the dogs that are available. That's so cool that you had two! I love akitas. Soo wicked smart. :o)
hey y'all...barbe is beard in Fr. barber: place to cut it, barbarian/Berber one who who sports it (was not thought to be civilized in the past..we've moved beyond such preconceptions however)...apart from dickens' Uriah there is the rockin Uriah Heep from back in the day...no rain in sight here, just another smokey day in paradise...
Got the ulster from the song my grandmother use to sing. My name is Solomon Levi. Where he sings about second handed ulsterets and overcoats so fine
This is a fine day for an Ulster!!
This puzzle was a low-kilobar affair for us. We were (White) Knights as we solved it.
We once had a burro - it was friendly and nice and could do the work of ten men.
Dick, what year Vette? I had a '64 and a '66 at various points in my younger years.
Yes, Dick, I was just about to ask the same question as Dennis - what year 'vette? Dennis, those 63 & 64 vettes are becoming valuable, especially the split-window '63. I like the new ones - give me a 2008 Z06 or ZR1 and I'll be very happy.
Thought this was super easy for a Monday. Maybe changing patterns again? 5 1/2 min.
Go Stars!
Dennis an Mh it is a 2004 convertible in Le Mans blue and I bought it because it was the last of that design. In my teen and early twenty years I purchased wrecked Vettes and rehabed them. At one point I had three rehabed 63s in my garage and I was trying to bet $2800 to $3ooo for them and that was a stretch. Today they would probably bring 6 figures.
Dick, the 2004 sounds nice. I've been watching the HDnet Mecum auctions on TV and the '63 vettes can get into 6 figures IF they are rare models with matching numbers. There are still plenty to be had in the $40K - $80K price range which is still amazing.
Drdad,
Thanks for the Babe Ruth link. I like it a lot. Now I got your point on Uriah Heep and Uriah Hyped. Walt Whitman free verse, hmm, that suits my free-thinking and free-talking style. Didn't Bill Clinton give "Leaves of Grass" to Monica?
Dennis and Dick,
I had no idea that there are actually real Black Sheep in this world. I've never seen it. If so, then all the theme entries are perfect now.
I always thought of Black Sheep as a figurative undesirable person as in "Black Sheep of the family". Where did you see it Dennis? Vietnam? Also, my question regarding 43D, do you call SHERBET SHERBET or SORBET?
Thomas,
Very interesting etymology. Thanks.
Turns out BARBAR is barbarian in Swedish, aren't you confused by this?
C.C., I have no idea where I saw black sheep, just remember seeing some. Certainly wasn't Vietnam, though; saw lots of black pajamas, but no black sheep.
Sherbet and sorbet are differentiated by dairy product; sherbet contains some, sorbet does not. I think sorbet comes from fruit juices.
Good morning everyone! C.C., I think you're correct in how experienced puzzlers solve the puzzles -- I certainly don't know all the entries usually, but they can be inferred or worked out. For example, I got BERBER by remembering that that was a type of rug. We have a "D River" in Oregon that was once recognized as the world's shortest by Guinness. 52A -- when you get on board a ship or on board a train, you have boarded your conveyance. Thus the conductor's shout of "BOARD" just before departure. I first mis-read 43D as "Icy desert" and just figured I'd work it out, then saw the error of my ways later. Dennis, you must be a speed demon -- great time. See you also explained BOARD. Ed Voile on Saturday here. The fellow in the ulster looks like he's holding a cane to me, also. My favorite poem by e.e. cummings starts, “i thank you god for most this amazing day.” Don’t want to put the whole thing here. Google it for the rest. Have a great Monday!!
mkatesq here is a link for the black sheep pub in Philadelphia. http://www.theblacksheeppub.com/ I was wondering if you could stop by the pub and see if there are any black sheep there.
cc here is a link showing a black sheep. http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2006/05/tiny-tail-for-mothers-day.html
You will probably need to cut and past this into you rowser.
There are exactly four sections of New York State: New York City; the Tri-State Metropolitan area (this includes parts of NJ and Conn); The Island (aka "Lawn Guyland"); and "Upstate" (everything else).
"Upstate" is "any place where you gotta take the Thruway." It's another way of saying "I don't know where it is, but I know it's not on The Island." It's also another way of saying "Why the #@(^$ do you wanna live there?"
I lived in NY State for 35 years, including 13 years in Kingston (aka "Way Upstate" -- 90 miles from NYC). I don't remember ever hearing the term "upstater".
Hi All, I only found this blog last week and have thoroughly enjoyed reading the posts. This puzzle was a fast one for me too, but not as fast as Dennis. More like 10 minutes or so.
C.C. - Babe's career RBI was 2213 over 22 years.
I get the puzzle in the Birmingham (AL) News and the constructor is never listed, nor is the theme.
I have been working crosswords for about 35 years. Hopefully, it will stave off the dreaded Alzheimer's!
Again, I really enjoy this blog!
c.c. and dick--they make a great beer in Belgian pubs--called (you'll like this c.c.) Barbar and is to be drunk only by real Vikings--personally, I would invite Berbers, bearded ones and Conan too to show off their hardihood.
Dick, thank you for the black sheep link, which is an award winning site no less. It has inspired me to create a similar site for this hilarious cat I know named Binky, and I would bet my sweet friendly burro that it will be an award winning site as well. I learn so much from you all ! I'll keep you posted.
52A: Got On = boarded as I boarded the bus.
Dennis,
Thanks for the SHERBET & SORBET explanation.
Crockett1947,
ICY DESERT is a great misread!!! Had no idea that BERBER is a rug. Good to know. Thanks for the poem.
Dick,
OK, Black Sheep do exist! That's a very nice blog. I've only see Black Goat before. That pub looks inviting too. Where did they get the name?
Johnboy,
UPSTATER.Wow! What can I say?
Ol' big Jim,
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.
Thomas,
Hmm, BARBAR, Steamed Mussels and Fries at 1000 Brussels! We can have another Love Boat Party with the Vikings!
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