Theme: Love is Sharing
17A: Start of a quip: LOVE DOES
29A: Part 2 of quip: NOT EXIST
44A: Part 3 of quip: UNLESS IT
58A: End of quip: IS SHARED
This is so similiar to that memorable line in "Into the Wild": Happiness is only real when it's shared.
Anyway, I beg to differ. Unrequited love is not shared, but it does exist.
Nothing exciting about this puzzle. I think "Most senior" is more accurate than just "Senior " for 63A ELDEST. Really liked the clue for PARER (49D: Trimmer). The clue misguided me into thinking LEANER/THINNER.
If you have solved Barry Silk's LA Times themeless puzzle (Feb 21, Saturday), please scroll own and read Dr. Dad's blog post. I apologize for the earlier release. I am aware that some of you have not solved the puzzle yet. Neither have I, as I intended to publish the post here on March 1 Sunday. I had planned to solve it on Saturday myself so I would have fresh memories when I comment. Unfortunately the news was leaked last night and I don't want to dilute the comments into various segments.
Across:
5A: __ d'Isere, France: VAL. The French skiing resort. Literally "Valley of the Isere River".
19A: Hogs the mirror: PRIMPS. Brought back the campus life again. The girl who used to hog our mirror has changed so much.
22A: Also: PLUS. Did not come to me immediately. I am more used to the "Plus" clue for ALSO.
25A: Republican symbol: ELEPHANT. The symbol was created by cartoonist Nast. It first appeard in Harper's Weekly on Nov 7, 1874.
31A: Cover crop: SOY. What exactly is "Cover crop"?
37A: Tippy vessel: CANOE. The Eskimo CANOE is Kayak, "man's boat". Umiak is literally "woman's boat". All those paddlers are men though.
40A: Singer Vallee: RUDY. Vaguely remember this singer. What are his signature songs?
41A: Kin partner: KITH. KITH and kin.
52A: Tracy's Trueheart: TESS. I like this name Trueheart. Ada Lovelace, Baron's daughter, has an affectionate surname too.
55A: Neville and Burr: AARONS. Oh, AARON Neville and Linda Ronstadst made "Don't Know Much" famous. I did not know that.
62A: Selfsame: VERY. I thought "selfsame" means "identical", "the same".
Down:
1D: Ike's opponent: ADLAI. Better than "Loser to Ike". I imagine Illinois was as messy as it is today when ADLAI Stevenson was the governor.
5D: Bluish purple: VIOLET. This puzzle is so boring today. Let's create some silly poems. Roses are red, VIOLETS are blue .... now you finish the last two lines.
10D: Actress Van Devere: TRISH. Easy guess. She was married to George C Scott.
22D: Bases of columns: PLINTHS. I thought of PILLARS first.
25D: Demanded with force: EXACTED. Kim Jong-il has been suspiciously missing.
30D: Stars in Bordeaux: ETOILES. Van Gogh's "La Nuit Etoilée" ("Starry Night"). I wish I could paint my dreams.
36D: Capital of Ecuador: QUITO. ECUADOR was clued as "Quito's country" a week ago. Sucre is their monetary unit.
39D: Computer snag: GLITCH
41D: Israel's parliament: KNESSET. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party won 27 seats (out of a total of 120) in the last election. Does he look charming to you?
45D: Group in a group: SUBSET. I am very confused.
55D: Bart's grandpa: ABE. "The Simpsons". Homer's father.
56D: To a man: ALL. "To a man" is a new phrase to me. Is it similar to "As one man"?
57D: Actor Steiger: ROD. He won Best Actor Oscar for "In the Heat of the Night", my favorite Sidney Poitier movie.
C.C.
17A: Start of a quip: LOVE DOES
29A: Part 2 of quip: NOT EXIST
44A: Part 3 of quip: UNLESS IT
58A: End of quip: IS SHARED
This is so similiar to that memorable line in "Into the Wild": Happiness is only real when it's shared.
Anyway, I beg to differ. Unrequited love is not shared, but it does exist.
Nothing exciting about this puzzle. I think "Most senior" is more accurate than just "Senior " for 63A ELDEST. Really liked the clue for PARER (49D: Trimmer). The clue misguided me into thinking LEANER/THINNER.
If you have solved Barry Silk's LA Times themeless puzzle (Feb 21, Saturday), please scroll own and read Dr. Dad's blog post. I apologize for the earlier release. I am aware that some of you have not solved the puzzle yet. Neither have I, as I intended to publish the post here on March 1 Sunday. I had planned to solve it on Saturday myself so I would have fresh memories when I comment. Unfortunately the news was leaked last night and I don't want to dilute the comments into various segments.
Across:
5A: __ d'Isere, France: VAL. The French skiing resort. Literally "Valley of the Isere River".
19A: Hogs the mirror: PRIMPS. Brought back the campus life again. The girl who used to hog our mirror has changed so much.
22A: Also: PLUS. Did not come to me immediately. I am more used to the "Plus" clue for ALSO.
25A: Republican symbol: ELEPHANT. The symbol was created by cartoonist Nast. It first appeard in Harper's Weekly on Nov 7, 1874.
31A: Cover crop: SOY. What exactly is "Cover crop"?
37A: Tippy vessel: CANOE. The Eskimo CANOE is Kayak, "man's boat". Umiak is literally "woman's boat". All those paddlers are men though.
40A: Singer Vallee: RUDY. Vaguely remember this singer. What are his signature songs?
41A: Kin partner: KITH. KITH and kin.
52A: Tracy's Trueheart: TESS. I like this name Trueheart. Ada Lovelace, Baron's daughter, has an affectionate surname too.
55A: Neville and Burr: AARONS. Oh, AARON Neville and Linda Ronstadst made "Don't Know Much" famous. I did not know that.
62A: Selfsame: VERY. I thought "selfsame" means "identical", "the same".
Down:
1D: Ike's opponent: ADLAI. Better than "Loser to Ike". I imagine Illinois was as messy as it is today when ADLAI Stevenson was the governor.
5D: Bluish purple: VIOLET. This puzzle is so boring today. Let's create some silly poems. Roses are red, VIOLETS are blue .... now you finish the last two lines.
10D: Actress Van Devere: TRISH. Easy guess. She was married to George C Scott.
22D: Bases of columns: PLINTHS. I thought of PILLARS first.
25D: Demanded with force: EXACTED. Kim Jong-il has been suspiciously missing.
30D: Stars in Bordeaux: ETOILES. Van Gogh's "La Nuit Etoilée" ("Starry Night"). I wish I could paint my dreams.
36D: Capital of Ecuador: QUITO. ECUADOR was clued as "Quito's country" a week ago. Sucre is their monetary unit.
39D: Computer snag: GLITCH
41D: Israel's parliament: KNESSET. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party won 27 seats (out of a total of 120) in the last election. Does he look charming to you?
45D: Group in a group: SUBSET. I am very confused.
55D: Bart's grandpa: ABE. "The Simpsons". Homer's father.
56D: To a man: ALL. "To a man" is a new phrase to me. Is it similar to "As one man"?
57D: Actor Steiger: ROD. He won Best Actor Oscar for "In the Heat of the Night", my favorite Sidney Poitier movie.
C.C.
69 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - well, to me, this sets a new low. The only way our puzzles can get easier now is if Williams pre-fills the spaces. Nothing to comment on, other than that 13D should show that it's an abbreviation. Sorry to be bitching, but this is pretty bad. Kazie, you're right on - these should be broadening our vocabulary. And Clear Ayes, yes, I think we're a pretty self-deprecating group (for the most part).
Today is National Pistachio Day, and Tell a Fairy Day.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "If I had my life to live over again, I'd make the same mistakes - only sooner." --Actress Tallulah Bankhead
And today's Fun Fact: Since we just talked about Antarctica, Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica. This ice also represents 70% of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average yearly total precipitation is only about 2". Although covered with ice, it is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.
Dennis,
You are right about the EDS clue. Strange quote. Who would want to repeat their own mistakes? Surprising FF. I learned more from those unexpected facts than I did from today's puzzle. As for your "Oreos belong with milk" example yesterday, do you then say rose belongs to love or rose belong with love?
Argyle,
Re: Ey'as. I think I like the British spelling: Ey'ass.
NYT,
Annabel Michaels is a real name. Thanks for the great links on Solomon and Apologist.
C.C., I think she's saying that she learned from her mistakes, and next time around, she'd learn earlier. And I'd say a rose belongs with love.
Also, in my haste, I left off a word -- it should be 'Tell a Fairy Tale Day.
Sallie,
How is ERGS related to chair design?
Mark in Buenos Aires,
Re: "Venus wobbles orbiting Jupiter´s moon that´s green?" Should I be ENVIOUS of your life in Argentina? So cold here.
Lemonade,
I completely forgot about David Duval. He was very good when I first came to the US. What's your answer to Anonymous @ 10:57pm question: " Does the Marshal Thundering Herd count as a singular name for a football team or a plural?"
Kazie,
Do we have BLOWFLIES/TSETSES in the US? Thank you for the "que" explanation on Senātus Populusque Rōmānus. I was wondering why suffix "que" instead of "et" or some kind of Latin word for "and".
Thea,
I've never tried diagramless. Do you solve it regularly?
Clear Ayes,
The Plath poem presented such a bleak image, with sun being described as "an orange cyclops-eye". But it's so beautifully written. I am very touched. Thanks.
Dennis,
Too bad MAB the Fairy Queen is not in our puzzle today. I think she would tempt men with honeyed pistachios and some unrealizable dreams.
Windover aka Larry,
Did you write to our editor Wayne R. Williams last time when I published his email address (PuzzlesWRW@aol.com)? He will have to change if he receives sufficient mails. We are not whining. It's constructive criticism.
Wolfmom,
I am not strict minimalist. But I do believe "Less is more". To me, the quality of the posts is more important than the quantity. No need to post more just for the seek of "post more". I don't measure the success of this blog by the number of comments here.
I put comments about today's crossword under Barry's themeless because this post wasn't here earlier. I agree with Dennis about these puzzles getting easier and not expanding our vocabulary (if I caught his drift). Hopefully, his question to Mr. Williams the other day (are you listening?) was heard.
In addition to Pistachio Day and Tell a Fairy Day, it is Levi Strauss' Birthday. And it is For Pete's Sake Day. As I said in the other blog, Enquiring minds want to know: Who the hell is Pete and why should we care?
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I wish our constructors
Used a witty clue.
Good morning C.C.
When I was courting my wife (long since ex) I wrote her a series of poems, Noses are red, eyes are too; it was lots of fun.
I know we sometimes complain about the obscure or arcane clues, but today was just too mechanical.
Yes, David Duval was number one, and Tiger was two; now they made a big deal over Duval making the cut two days in a row. Tiger did not look ready most of the day yesterday, though his first hole back was amazing.
I deliberately left Marshall off my list because they are both plural and do not end in "s" so they are similar to your "I am so confused." You remind me that many of us may not read the comments after 8 or so and miss things. PMT probably did not see my response to his Jazz info, drat.
I understand Denny's is featuring the Nadya Suleman breakfast; it is 14 eggs, no sausage and the person at the table next to you has to pay for the meal.
Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Big chimps
Belong in a Zoo.
The VERY idea of the clue, was to mean self same.
Thursday awaits, JEUDI for those of you who have the day off, enjoy.
Puzzle not as easy for me as it was for Dennis-guess I'm still waking up.
From wikipedia:
Broadly defined, a cover crop is any annual, biennial, or perennial plant grown as a monoculture (one crop type grown together) or polyculture (multiple crop types grown together), to improve any number of conditions associated with sustainable agriculture. Cover crops are fundamental, sustainable tools used to manage soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds (unwanted plants that limit crop production potential), pests (unwanted animals, usually insects, that limit crop production potential), diseases, and diversity and wildlife, in agroecosystems.
Van Gogh clip reminded me of this one. The morphing is amazing.
For awhile I was confusing Frankie Valli with Rudy Vallee. Apparently there are those who feel he may have borrowed his name from Rudy Vallee. See first comment here.
Have a great Thursday.
Morning, all!
I wouldn't say this was the easiest puzzle I've ever done, but it wasn't particularly hard. I got a bit hung up in the north central section when I put ILE instead of VAL for 5A, and it took me way too long to get VIOLET for 5D (I kept thinking LILAC, but it didn't fit). Other than that one section, though, it was smooth sailing.
Aside from VAL, other unknowns today were TRISH and... Well, actually, that was it. My favorite word in the puzzle was PLINTH, since I actually knew what it was. And I agree that EDS was poorly clued.
As for the quote, I tend to agree with it. Unrequited love may exist, but it's not "really" love. It's more just a crush. "True" love must be reciprocated to mean anything. Of course, one might also say that no "true" Scotsman would wear anything under his kilt, but I digress.... ^_^
Just a quick note - in thinking about it, I think it's pretty apparent that these 'easy' puzzles are gonna be the norm, so I'll stop bitching about them out of respect for C.C. She's worked too hard to create this for me to bring a negative tone to the blog first thing in the morning. At some point I have a feeling I'll bid adieu, but until then, I'll try to keep it more positive than negative.
Besides, this blog is still evolving, and no doubt the best is yet to come.
Re: "Pretentious"
We have reached a state in our culture where a presidential candidate who speaks in coherent sentences in
Which the verb tenses agree is labeled "elitist". So by that standard, I would guess that people who work xword puzzles (however easy and repetitious they might be) are by definition "pretentious".
As for my own pretensions, they will be dissolved shortly. I farm for a living (and for life), and in a few minutes I will be slogging around in the mud feeding 200 head of livestock. Does wonders for any delusions of grandeur one might harbor. But there will be other channels open in my small brain as I go about my daily (and much loved) drudgery.
As for these puzzles and this blog, I for one will continue to do the former mainly because they are there and the latter because I find it interesting and entertaining. Speaking of which, even though I don't know her, I miss Lois when she skips a day.
Good Morning C.C. and Co.,
C.C., MMMMM ... Emile Hirsch, many, many milliadonis.
I agree unrequited love is no less real.
You are so sweet to not post a picture of the mirror-hogging girl who has changed so much (I assume you meant a change for the worse).
"Roses are red,
Violet are blue
This puzzle was platitudinous
Boohoo :("
I think GLITCHs are not limited strictly to the realm of computers.
"Does he look charming to you?" The ones who look charming make me wariest.
Lemonade714, I saw your post about jazz. Perhaps you'll be able to join us for one of this season's remaining performances. The last one with Ron Carter's Quartet was fantastic.
There has been complaining of late about how easy the puzzles have been, I would like to take a moment and thank them for that. My daughters have joined me in helping to solve the puzzles and while my vocabulary hasn't expanded much but theirs has and I think that is a great gift! Plus I get to spend quality time with my girls and we can laugh and have fun. I know that eventually the hammers will return until then I'm going to enjoy our time together.
Love song for today's theme: that cruciverbalist's favorite, Ebb Tide.
Rose are red,
Violets are blue,
To thine own self,
You must be true.
Polonius
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am bored
And so are you
I agree with Dennis on 13D, unless they thought honchos sounded abbreviated??!
I found this on blow fly distribution: "The species of blow flies covered here occur throughout the contiguous states and in many other temperate regions of the world as well." Also this
Netanyahu was educated here at Harvard and MIT. Maybe that's a reason not to trust his charm?
c.c. yes, envious
If you like blue skies, quality food and cheap booze, then feel envious
Today’s puzzle was very easy. No pauses, no Google, no errors.
The “Live!” section of today’s Tribune contained this article about Amy Reynaldo who wrote the book How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle. She works the SUNDAY NYT puzzle in about 8 ½ minutes!
My middle daughter will be studying in QUITO, Ecuador in the fall. It seems strange to have a currency named “sucre” which means “sugar” in French. Azúcar is the Spanish word for sugar?
@cc…I agree with you that 63A was improperly clued. “Senior” implies a comparison, so for ELDEST, “Most Senior” would have been the proper clue. Example: “Dick Durbin is the senior senator from Illinois, but he is not the most senior member of the Senate.”
@Lemonade714…good comment about Denny’s featured breakfast!
Hi C.C. That was an interesting observation you made today - in unrequited love, love does exist. Does it really - or could it be merely a safe haven for those who thrive on loneliness?
Just a thought. I don't have many.
Hayrake
Here goes from a non-literati,
Dennis. no way, nohow, you cannot say Adieu ever
you must remember , you are a prince now and must behave accordingly.
c.c. you tell him !
Windhover, very eloquent, well said
NYTanonimo, amusing article on the Y for italians
like when immigrants papers were stamped " To NY " they all became Tony s (lol)
But Rudy Valli could have kept his name (Rodolfo) as Rodolfo Valentino did.
C.C., All I know about "erg" is what I've gleaned from xwords. I thought it has to do with workplace safety and comfort. Therefore I thought, and still do, it could mean chair design to reduce something like carpal syndrome.
Dennis, Please don't take your marbles and go home. You are a very important part of the fun of this blog. We enjoy your comments.
Ditto Sallie @ 11:15.
Dennis, make your goodbyes au revoirs and never adieux!
Sallie is thinking of the term ergonomic, the basis for some company names dealing in such furniture, whereas ergs are units of work.
Senior looks like a comparative form, doesn't it? However, "more senior" would make that clearer and the answer would have been ELDER, and "most senior" would definitely have been better for ELDEST.
Ok, let's nip this in the bud. Thanks, but I didn't mean to imply that I was going anywhere imminently (much to the chagrin of some); rather, given my short attention span, if the puzzles stay so relatively easy, I'll no longer have anything meaningful or positive to contribute, and I'll go away for everyone's sake.
Redsmitty, your 8:52 post alone is reason enough for me to stop bitching; thanks.
And Sallie, most of my marbles disappeared long ago.
Sallie:
Ergs and joules are measures of energy; in the case of joules, and I believe ergs as well, electrical energy. The word you are thinking of is "ergonomic" having to do with design, and in some cases the design of chairs.
Windhover
Good morning all,
Darn, I just thought I was growing smarter each week! I see both sides.Like anony @ 10:57 last night,I find most of the puzzles fun and challenging. Some days I learn more than others. Today I learned that a stylobate is not a plinthe, only the pavement on which it sits. "To a man" ... all? That just sounds ridiculous!!I also learned that I have a poor memory that can't remember "Easy as ABC" I always want to put pie!When I remember the ones we've had before,I cheer. Then there are those of you who are so incredibly smart, and want to be challenged. I don't think our newspapers are going to put out more moolah for crosswords during these hard times, and maybe we all should be writing our papers.Most of us actually buy the paper.
The best things I learn are from all of you. Dennis, you'd be sooo missed, and it's true, we need to hear from Lois EVERY day.Every one of you adds something special.I also miss the fun DF chatter.
CC, sorry I can't think of a poem, but "To Sir with Love" was my favorite Sidney Poitier film.
Nytanonimo, loved the Women in art clip AND the article on the Jersey Boys. We saw it in Las Vegas last month.
Good morning, everyone!
@dennis Be thankful you're not on the left coast. By the time I get the puzzle solved and read through the multitude of comments, it is sometimes difficult to have something new to contribute. It becomes more an exercise in acknowledging the comments that have come before and adding to the ongoing discussion/s amongst this amazing group of people.
I want to chime in on the character of the blog. The repartee of last summer was fun, but it got to be a bit much among a few bloggers. When I returned from my October hiatus, I was confused about what had happened in my absence, and then was pleased to see that the CROSSWORD had once again become the essential focus of our discussions. I appreciate that we have returned to this focus and bow to C.C. in her awesomeness in getting this blog out day-by-day with such unfailing dedication. We vodka you, C.C.
Now, if we could get some decent crosswords to solve!
Have a great Thursday, all.
Good Morning All, As so often happens, I sailed through the top half of the puzzle and tripped a few times toward the bottom. There was nothing that wasn't solvable with the perp help. It wasn't exactly boring. I liked seeing new words like GUISE, ETOILES, GODSPEED and UTOPIA for "paradise", rather than EDEN.
I didn't care for the quip. I don't think love requires sharing, although it does help when sex is involved! Cyrano loved Roxanne, the Phantom loved Cristine, Quasimodo loved Esmeralda and Charlie Brown loved the Little Red-Haired Girl. Great literature depends on unrequited love.
RUDY Vallee was a big star in the '20's and '30's. He was known as The Vagabond Lover...pretty spicy stuff for the 1920's! I don't think there are any hits of his that many people would remember. Early in his career, he took on a college boy image and sang through a megaphone like a college cheerleader at the time would use.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Having octuplets
Is considered a slew.
Oh oh, PromiseMeThis...foot in mouth. Is an older mirror image really "a change for the worse"?
I mention just last night that I like to post timely poems. I've been saving this one for a while. It fits right in with mirrors AND love. How can you love anybody else unless you love (accept) yourself.
The Perfect Friend
Today I found a friend
who knew everything I felt
she knew my weakness
and the problems I've been dealt.
She understood my wonders
and listened to my dreams,
she listened to how I felt about life and love
and knew what it all means.
Not once did she interrupt me
or tell me I was wrong
she understood what I was going through
and promised she'd stay long.
I reached out to this friend,
to show her that I care
to pull her close and let her know
how much I need her there.
I went to hold her hand
to pull her a bit nearer
and I realized this perfect friend I found
was nothing but a mirror.
- Shannen Wrass
Good Morning...C.C. and all.
C.C. I think that you misunderstood my query. I was commenting on the fact that questions are answered quickly and there is less back and forth discussion about ideas, words and concepts in the puzzles. Because the puzzles are more basic in structure than previously, there seems to be less to learn each day and that is what I miss.
I am not nearly as good yet at solving the the puzzles and so, it takes a bit and I look forward to the discussion on this blog. I have ordered the Amy Reynaldo book and some NYTimes puzzles so that I can improve my skills. Even though, like others, I miss puzzles by Barry Silk, Alan P. Olschwang, Verna Suit, etc...I still find the current ones to often be a challenge. My skills, understanding, and appreciation for skillfully crafted puzzles has increased substantially over the last few months due to C.C. and everyone on this blog.
I would have to agree with Crockett that being on the later coast means that there is very little to discuss now withhout being repetetive. Before, you could always nudge something new out to mention or a question posed by C.C. to look up.
Sorry if this upset anyone, especially C.C. and I din't mean we had to have valueless MORE, just for the sake of a longer blog, but there is so little content in the current puzzles for extended discussion.
C.C. I hope the Peer Gynt info yesterday answered your question.
I am sorry for the long post today, but I'll make this it.
DoesItinInk,
Thank you for the link to the Amy Reynaldo interview. It is amazing how fast she does the NYT puzzle, whether weekday or weekend. I particularly enjoyed hearing her thoughts regarding those who claim that speedsters don't enjoy the puzzle as much as those who savor it. I admit that I enjoy timing myself and am generally pleased if I do it in, what for me is, a good time (anything under 10 minutes). I am afraid that I fall into that group that simply cannot manage to write as fast as speedsters like Dennis and I have never, to my recollection, finished a TMS puzzle in less than 5 minutes. If some people get joy out of doing it fast and others like to take it slow, so be it. Some people like to read fast. While capable of it, I do not. I always prefer to savor books.
"Is an older mirror image really "a change for the worse"?"
ClearAyes, No, not necessarily. I just kind of got the impression that C.C. was being euphemistic in saying, "The girl who used to hog our mirror has changed so much". I thought that was kind of her to state it so diplomatically and not post a picture, as I did with Tawny Kitaen.
Hello C.C. 5D: Bluish purple: VIOLET. This puzzle is so boring today. Let's create some silly poems. Roses are red, VIOLETS are blue .... now you finish the last two lines. I finally did a puzzle, using only my head.
Previous puzzle had noon and midnight as clues and i had Tours in lieu of hours but found out later.
Stay well, Louis
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I love Silk puzzles
And so do you
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Soooo---
What else is new?
Calef
For those in the mood for a little innocent humor from an age long past, here's a poem about love gone wrong:
THE WIFE WHO SAT UP
In a chair sat a weary wife dozing,
Awaiting her husband’s return;
The clock in the hall struck midnight,
She sighed with the deepest concern.
“The club has the usual attraction
And I am too injured to speak;
But I will, yes, I will sit up for him
If I have to sit up for a week!”
The fire on the hearth burnt lower;
The room became suddenly chilled;
Her heart which was beating and beating,
With stern indignation was filled.
To wait for her husband’s returning,
And give him a piece of her mind
Was the object for which she was yearning,
Yearning and yawning combined.
The clock in the hall struck one first,
And then it struck two, and then three,
And when it struck four, she rose proudly
And said, “It’s an insult to me!”
It was, for the husband had quietly
Sneaked in 15 minutes before.
He made not a sound with the latch-key,
Or in closing his dressing room door.
She found him in peaceful slumber,
Not even the ghost of a snore;
She smothered her deep indignation,
But never sat up any more.
--George Grossmith
Kazie, Did George Grossmith know my ex-husband?
As a "slightly older than middle aged" (now, THAT's euphemistic!) :o) woman, I hopefully thought C.C. meant by "The girl who used to hog our mirror has changed so much." that she has matured beautifully, is secure in her own skin, and no longer needs to PRIMP in order to feel attractive.
Nobody LIKES getting wrinkles, or age spots, or the forces of gravity messing with our personal anatomy, but, as the saying goes...."considering the alternative".....
Roses are red
Violets are blue
The Times Sunday puzzle
Is my Waterloo.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Horses eat grass
And pandas, bamboo.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Aren't violets...violet?
A most lovely hue.
Roses are red
Violets are purple
"Whaddya mean,
Nothing rhymes with purple?"
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Some poems rhyme
And this one does... not.
"Roses are red
Violet are blue
Betcha din't know
Bamboo is grass, too!"
5:48 today. Nothing to comment on except that using the term "honchos" in the clue for 12d: Newspaper honchos (EDS) implies some kind of slangy answer, so I'm not too put out with EDS being the fill.
As for Venn diagrams, my favorite is the one of Yugoslavian dictators and Jackson Five members (the answer, of course, being TITO). Venn Diagram (courtesy Andrea Carla Michaels aka "acme").
Roses are red,
Violets are purple
Sugar is sweet,
And so is maple syrple
courtesy Roger Miller, "Dang Me"
Dennis,
I don't feel our complaining about the crosswords are bad. Constructors and editor need those feedback.
Jimbo,
Roses are red / Violets are blue / I've been waiting / Where are you?
Kazie & Larry,
Thanks for Ergonomics.
Argyle,
Great theme song. What does "To thine own self be true" mean?
An alternate ending to the George Grossmith poem:
She found him in peaceful slumber,
Not even the ghost of a snore;
She smothered him with her pillow,
But never sat up any more.
PromiseMe,
The mirror-hogging girl has gained enormous weight after we graduated from college.
Hayrake,
Unrequited love is not always resulted from loneliness.
Maria,
I've told Dennis about my thoughts. Obviously I am not witty enough to keep him entertained and challenged. Maybe some exotic Maria style adventures can tickle his fancy? Tell us more about yourself. What's the most exciting flight you've had with British Airways? Any special thousand-of- mile-high romantic tryst?
Crockett,
Very well said. See, that's why I said you are special to me. It comforts me that you read every comment so carefully and answer others' inquiries late in the evenings. I caviar you.
Wolfmom,
Sorry I misunderstood you. I think many posters here fail to notice that we've been learning and absorbing so much information from each other that we are becoming better solvers. Thanks for the Peer Gynt information yesterday. I got so much stuff on my mind that I failed to acknowledge you earlier this morning.
Clear Ayes,
With your list, unrequited love suddenly becomes so romantic and desirable.
Kazie,
Can you give me an example on how "Selfsame" is the same as VERY?
Ink,
Sucre is named after a South American independence leader named Antonio Jose de Sucre, according to Wikipedia. It has nothing to do with sugar. How disappointing!
Lemonade,
Harvard Crimson is singular too.
What does "To thine own self be true" mean?
What does it mean to you? To me, it means don't try to be something your not.
Still I wonder. Was the Grinch just being true to himself when he stole Christmas?
Argyle,
I like that ending better--a more modern approach!
c.c.,
self-same and very are the same only when "very" is used as an adjective, and not as an adverb, which is its normal function: You are the VERY person I wanted to see. That is the SELF-SAME thing I was talking about. It's kind of a combination of "same" and the stress pronoun "himself/itself/herself", etc.
Cornell Big Red
Dartmouth Big Green
Brown...not Big Brown
C.C. I believe that your expertise, enlightening and often funny comments have spoiled us for the finer things on offer in the xword world. I think you are an amazing person and your insight has been hugely educational for me. I am definitely a better puzzle solver and have a much better understanding of the subtleties of puzzle design thanks to your guidance and of all these fascinating people who blog here.
I don't think that anyone here is pretentious, but are friendly, intelligent, and yes, self-deprecating people who love to learn and share their knowledge. There is a place here for every level of puzzle solver.
My Amy Reynaldo book just arrived!
C.C. thank you so much for your humor and guidance. And I appologise if I sounded snarky.
BTW...the Roses poems a very funny.
C.C. wrote:
Maria, I've told Dennis about my thoughts. Obviously I am not witty enough to keep him entertained and challenged.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Your comments and provocative questions are what's made this blog so great. If anything, I'm sorry to see less and less of them on here anymore.
You're still the spoon that stirs the pot, my supposedly innocent DFette friend, and you really should stop downplaying your own talents.
Ah well, I guess the "mirror hogging girl" is less secure than I would have hoped for her.
Argyle, New verse...Why didn't I think of that solution at the time?
C.C. Let's not go overboard in thinking that unrequited love is romantic and desirable. Look what happened to Cyrano, The Phantom and Quasimodo. Only Charlie Brown survived to love again. Unshared love is great on paper, but it is pretty painful in real life. I was once in love with a man who "wanted to be friends". YUCK! I really was in love, we didn't remain friends and it took a long time to get over it.
"To thine own self be true is a line in Polonius' Advice to Laertes from Hamlet. I had to memorize it in high school (from my Canadian "Grass of Parnassus" poetry book). It is still pretty good advice 400 years later.
So I guessed right, the mirror-hogging girl is now the hog who avoids the mirror at all costs?
Don't answer. Just let me take the flak for that one ;)
"unrequited love suddenly becomes so romantic and desirable"
It's not. Just ask the little ballerina that was pining away for me ... I broke his heart.
The Wikipedia article states that, "According to one noted Venezuelan genealogist, Sucre is a descendant of Charles de Succre(sic), a member of a French-Flemish family appointed by the king of Spain to be governor of Cuba."
I strongly suspect that this ancestor, the governor Charles, was called Charles de Sucre as a reference to the fact that his job was to govern over the sugar production in cuba. Hence, 'Charles de Sucre' ... Charles of the Sugar.
wolfmom, I have requested that Ms. Reynaldo publish her book for Kindle. If she does not, I suppose I will have to order the paper version. A thought just occurred: Perhaps it is full of puzzles to actually do, in which case I would prefer a hard copy.
Clue (8-letters): Good-hearted fire starter?
C.C.
Hey; yes the Harvard Crimson are one; and Argyle's two other ivy leaguers are good, though Brown are the Brown Bears (I grew up near Providence) there are many other, some of which are like Marshall, in that they are plural, but do not end in an "S" for example:
Notre Dame: Fighting Irish; N.C. State: Wolfpack; Nevada: Wolfpack, Illinois: Fighting illini; U. of Massachusetts: Minutemen: Syracuse: Orange: St. Johns: Red Storm; North Texas: Mean Green; Tulsa: Golden Hurricane; North Dakota: Fighting Sioux; Wisconsin-Green Bay: Phoenix; William and Mary: Tribe; Hofstra: Pride; Bucknell: Bison; Centenary College of Louisiana: Gentlemen, Howard: Bison; Union: Dutchmen; Wheaton: Thunder; and St. Francis: Red Flash. There probably more, but that with the earlier ones, exhausts my knowledge.
You make an excellent point about the puzzles being easier because of what we collectively learn from the blog. I also can say personally, I no longer will 'google' if I am stumped for a moment, but will let a question sit and come back to it. There is a sense of accomplishment that is heightened by sharing the process of solving. We all often get an answer correct by the fills, but now we discuss the hard answers, so they become easy because we know what they mean. And we are still doing them and writing, so it is all good.
PromiseMe...you DEFINITELY want the hard copy...lots of puzzles as you progress through the book. I also treated myself to the New York Times ULTIMATE CROSSWORD OMNIBUS...1001 puzzles for about $12...such a deal.(Amazon.com) Maybe some day I will be as good as Dennis and a few others of you.
I think this has been a really productive blog today and it was fun to have C.C. pop in to comment...have missed that. I love Dennis' comment of C.C. being the spoon that stirs the pot.
As long as PromiseMeThis is wearing his flak jacket, we won't worry about him too much when the mirror-hogging girl finds him.
PMT, LOL, I hope you didn't tell the ballerina that you just wanted to be friends!
Lemonade714, I love the name of the Centenary College of Louisiana Gentlemen, but I wonder what kind of record their teams have. They can't be too intimidating.
You and others made an excellent point by noting we have all improved our vocabulary so much that many crosswords seem rather bland to us. It may not be that the crosswords have become so much easier, it is just that we have become much more adept at solving them.
Time to get ready for chorus practice. Have a good evening everyone.
CC and NYTAnonimo - Enjoyed the youTubes of Van Gogh and the changing woman!
JD - You hit the nail on the head. I may not be as good at these puzzles as the regulars.... but I aspire to be.
CC - Got a kick out of your "Confused" Venn Diagram!
Barry used my favorite "roses are red" poem. Am I the only one who thinks of Matthew Broderick when I see Barry's image??
Stanford Cardinal seems like a strange name for a team. Any explanations?
Oh... and I would have had finished the puzzle today if I had only known KITH... never heard of it.
The spoon stirring the pot analogy begs for a DF comment, but I will not give in to it.
No, I won't say it.
Nope.
No way, no how.
Must NOT give in.......
Buckeye, where are you?
@bobr A few years back Stanford was the Indians. The student body wanted something less derogatory to our native peoples, and they had all these red uniforms and such -- ergo, The Cardinal. Anything you ever wanted to know about colleges and nicknames can be found here .
"I hope you didn't tell the ballerina that you just wanted to be friends!"
No, of course not. I told him that I just wanted to do him, but that I didn't really want to be friends.
"Am I the only one who thinks of Matthew Broderick when I see Barry's image?"
I can't speak to that, but I often wonder if I am the only one to whom the word 'beard' comes to mind when I see a picture of Sarah Jessica Parker.
I am sure I am over my limit by now. Apart from that, I think I have also made too many posts.
Good Night!
CC
My atlas is red
My dictionary is blue
My thesaurus is necessary
and so are you
Wolfmom said: it was fun to have C.C. pop in to comment...have missed that.
I'll second that. I think we've all missed it.
Crockett1947:
Thanks for the link, you have certainly blown away my piddling knowledge on the subject. Now I have to ceontemplate the excitement of games involving Battling Bishops, Claim Jumpers (from Hollywood Claifornia, no less), the Eutectic ! (wow a new puzzle word) and the Hardrockers. This is the ultimate fun of learning.
I also agree it is great to see some comments from C.C. during the day; very inspirational.
Sarah Jessica Parker as beard for Matthew Broderick, well there must be some reason to marry her. I personally hate those bestiality sites.
As long as I am being rude, I do remember when I was in college at UConn, we always felt bad for the wives of the UMass guys.
CA: The Centenary is affliated with the Methodist church, hence the idea of gentleness, I guess. They however, refer to themselves more as Gents, so...
As far as being true to yourself, probably a most difficult task, as we all have doubts about who we really are. I think I am Lesbian, but a lot of good it does me.
I think I am hitting my 5, but I just read the post 9:00 pm comments from yesterday, and I do not agree that the group is pretentious; it is just there are so many inside jokes between those of you who have been around, it is initially a little off putting. I read the blog for a long while before I jumped in, in part because there were so many personal zingers it seemed unlikely you all wanted a new view of things. Now, I just say what comes to mind, but I have gotten some positive reinforcement. I have done puzzles since I could read, and always shared them with family, and now that is not convenient, either because people are gone or far away, so it is nice to have a puzzle family again. Like families, we come in various sizes, do not always agree and can laugh a lot at our silliness. It may not be Yoga or Xanax but it is relaxing, and fun.
C.C. I sometimes do the easier diagramless puzzles in the xword books. Trying to solve the clues is only part of the fun, getting the diagram is stimulating too.
I remember the Roger Miller "maple surple" line.
C.C.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Hard to make comments
When I have nothing new
Thanks for waiting
Thank you, Clear Eyes, for the link to the quote. My mother used to quote that & she wrote it in our autograph albums. (who remembers them?) The rest of the quote I think makes it clear as to what it means. "To thine own self be true and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." Is that true, more true or really true?
(Thinking back to the discussion a few days ago.)
Dot
@dot Or truer!
Hey, just a side note to the clue 45 down. The answer is subset, and you gave a link with a picture.
Just so you know that picture itself did not contain any examples of a subset. It was 3 separate events that intersected - that is, at some point they occurred simultaneously.
If there was an event A, a subset B would be completely enclosed in A. Think of it as A is a donut and B is it's hole. Then, B c A, or B is a subset of A.
Now in that case, if B c A, the intersect of A and B would just be B!
Just a little lesson in set theory!
For those buying Amy Reynaldo's (Orange) book, email me and I'll look up the puzzles and send you a copy so you don't have to destroy your book. (It may take me some time to locate this, I'll try....). Her blog is at Diary of a Crossword Fiend
"To thine own self be true"
For aficionados, that was the slogan on the locket in Reba McEntire's "Fancy" (the song about the young girl who became an ... escort). There must be a link around here somewhere....
Aaah, a different version from the one you see on CMT: Fancy
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