google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday May 2, 2009 Alan Olschwang

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May 2, 2009

Saturday May 2, 2009 Alan Olschwang

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

Total words: 72

Read Alan Olschwang interview if he is new to you.

From time to time, I do miss Mr. Olschwang's weekly quip/quote puzzle. Don't you? There is a certain wit and warmth in his work. I will never forget his "Play Ball" TMS puzzle. He placed each ball player in their proper diamond position in the grid. Very impressive.

I was so happy to see his byline this morning. And I had a fantastic start. Filled in the long 17A and the intersecting ACHOO (3D: Cold burst?) immediately and with authority. Didn't we just have a similar ACHOO clue in LAT? Or I might have seen it in Paul's "Clever Clue of the Month" prelims shortlist.

There are eight 9-letter words in the grid, two in each quadrant, none has the annoying RE, ER, EST, ED, ING affix as our old puzzles did. And I like the four 15-letter fills. 58A was an unknown to me:

17A: Where many strings are pulled: BEHIND THE SCENES

27A: Fall opportunities for high school seniors: EARLY ADMISSIONS

58A: Former Boer republic: ORANGE FREE STATE

8D: Classic ghost story: A CHRISTMAS CAROL

I did encounter pockets of trouble later on. But I had fun penning in and then wite-outing my reckless guesses. I am definitely getting better dealing with Rich Norris. His mind can't be as deep as ... hmm... existentialism.

Across:

1A: The Pleiades' Alcyone, for one: GIANT STAR. Easy guess. I've never heard of the Alcyone Star. Wikipedia says it's in the constellation Taurus. About 440 light years from earth. And it's the brightest in the Pleisades open cluster. It's named after the mythological figure Alcyone, one of the mythological Pleiades. I don't know the heck what I just wrote.

10A: Bag opening?: DOGGY. Good clue.

15A: Touching base: IN CONTACT

16A: Dull thing, in slang: SNORE. Oh really? I did not know this. I do lots of SNORES every day then, including soaking our morning glory seeds earlier.

19A: Street address: BRO. Clever clue. Definitely trickier than the direct "Address in the 'hood". And MADAM (32A: Polite title).

22A: Shellac: STOMP. And TROMP (53A: Shellac). I like the pair.

25A: Turbulent waters: RIPS. New definition to me. Last time RIP was clued as "Fiber flaw".

27A: German aviation pioneer Lilienthal: OTTO. The German Glider King. New name to me also. Wow, OTTO is not Auto, but "wealth" in German.

29A: Like some felonies: CLASS A. The most severe felony, right? Imprison for life penalty.

31A: China biggie: SPODE. Named after the English potter Josiah SPODE. I knew immediately the clue is asking for porcelain, but I forgot the brand name. It appeared in our puzzle before.

34A: Branch headquarters?: TREES. Nailed the answer in a NY second.

36A: Inflate: PAD. Did not come to me readily.

40A: Cotillion honoree: DEB. Forgot the meaning of "Cotillion".

41A: Making a crossing: ASEA. Obtained the answer with Down fill help. My first thought was XING.

42A: Sense of style: TASTE. She had style.

43A: Flash: GLINT

45A: Often-allergic attack: ASTHMA. The th in Isthmus is silent too. Both are of Greek origins.

47A: This, in Toledo: ESTO

48A: Not pizzicato: ARCO. No idea. It means "With a bow. Used chiefly as a direction to indicate the resumption of bowing after a pizzicato passage." And dictionary defines pizzicato as "played by plucking the strings with the finger instead of using the bow, as on a violin". So one is with bow (ARCO), the other not.

49A: Battle of Endor fighters of film: EWOKS. Finally I remembered this Star Wars character. Endor is the forested moon EWOKS live.

55A: Ernst contemparary: ARP (Jean). Max Ernst & Jean ARP. Dadaism pioneers.

57A: Chem. unit: MOL. No idea. Molecular?

62A: Out of, as work: NOT AT. Hmm, NOT AT work does not equal "Out of work" to me.

63A: It's pitched at a stake: HORSESHOE. Struggled again. HORSESHOE related clue and answer always give me troubles.

64A: Dreams, to some: OMENS. Yes, indeed, "to some". What's the strangest dream you've ever had? I had an encounter with Phil Mickelson in my dream one night, after his 2004 Masters.

65A: Like an imposition: A LOT TO ASK. I got the answer with down fill help.

Down:

1D: Pop singing brothers from the Isle of Man: GIBBS. What's the origin of their band name The Bee Gees? I did not know they are from the Isle of Man.

2D: Like some gases: INERT

4D: "There's __ in team": NO I. Michael Jordan originated this quote.

6D: Ave. levels: STDS

7D: Chitlins might be cooked with 'em: TATERS. Another guess. I don't know what "chitlins" is. Looks awful.

10D: U.S. Army medal: DSCS. DSC is Distinguished Service Cross. I forgot what's the difference between DSC and DSM (Distinguished Service Medal). Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration.

11D: Like some grounders: ONE HOP. Joe Mauer homered at his first bat (season debut) last night. Awesome!

12D: Ruined: GONE TO POT. New idiom to me.

13D: Scooby-Doo, for one: GREAT DANE. I did not know his species.

18D: It might be sent from a bridge: SOS

23D: 15th century year: MCDL. Roman 1450.

23D: Dabble in: PLAY AT

26D: __ passu: impartially: PARI. New phrase to me. PARI is a prefix for "equal". Like parity I suppose. PERI is the Persian fairy.

28D: Sizable refs.: OEDS. The Oxford English Dictionary.

30D: Latin I word: AMAS

31D: Oil source: SESAME. Use SESAME oil for my salad.

32D: Tumult: MAELSTROM. I can never remember how to spell this word. Looks so similar to maestro.

33D: Resolve, in a way: ARBITRATE. Strung the answer together with the Across help.

35D: O. T. book: ESTH

37D: Go cautiously: EDGE. Feels like this word needs a preposition.

38D: Letter opener: DEAR. It needs a question mark, doesn't it?

39D: "The Last Time __ Paris": 1954 film: I SAW. Is it a good film?

44D: Reagan speechwriter: NOONAN (Peggy). Gimme. She appears on MSNBC often. I love her Challenger speech the most. The last line "They slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God" poem quote is very moving.

46D: Corrida hero: TORERO. "Hero" refers to main character, not the brave hero hero, right?

48D: Mock: APE. Xword word.

50D: Missouri River city: OMAHA. I wonder if the "Oracle of OMAHA" (Warren Buffett) solves Xword every morning.

51D: Japanese stringed instruments: KOTOS. KOTO is the National instrument of Japan. It actually derived from Chinese zither Zheng. Its kanji 箏 is the same as Chinese character.

52D: Glossy: SLEEK. Wrote down SHINY first.

54D: Exec grps.: MGTS

56D: Gnat, for one: PEST. "Dennis, for one" also.

58D: "Double Fantasy" artist: ONO. Here is the album cover. Do you think May Pang is pretty? She is a John Lennon's "Lost Weekend" girlfriend. She is a Chinese I think.

59D: Loan-insuring org.: FHA (Federal Housing Adminstration). Part of HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). Not a familiar abbreviation to me.

61D: Chicken general: TSO. I had never heard of General TSO's chicken until I came to the US, nor had I heard of Chop Suey or Moo Shu Pork. Those are all Chinese American food. Fortune Cookie was also new to me. Clever idea.

Answer grid.

Happy Birthday, TJ in Osseo.

C.C.

40 comments:

  1. Like some gases: INERT.

    I had the right idea with NOBLE. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get GIANT STAR: I was working on ?N? NEBULA.

    Dull thing, in slang: SNORE. Oh really? I did not know this. I do lots of SNORES every day.

    Did you originally write CHORE?

    Turbulent waters: RIPS.

    Feh. I thought it might be SEAS.

    Sense of style: TASTE.

    I eventually got it but I started with FLAIR. I also had XING for ASEA.

    Flash: GLINT.

    I had SPARK.

    Ernst contemparary: ARP (Jean).

    Got it this time. :)

    Chem. unit: MOL. No idea. Molecular?

    It either refers to a MOLecule or to the fact that a mole of Carbon would be twelve grams of carbon. This word was in the old TMS puzzle.

    Dreams, to some: OMENS. Yes, indeed, "to some". What's the strangest dream you've ever had?

    I thought of GOALS. My first instinct was REVES but there was no hint that it might be a French word. Anyway, I have this recurring dream that I am in high school and I can't find my classes and when I finally find my class there's a test. Maybe all teachers have this dream out of guilt for failing students.

    I actually did take a test today: I took a Chinese listening and reading test. It was easier for me than this puzzle. :)

    Out of, as work: NOT AT.

    Boo. "Out of work" means "unemployed" so I had FIRED.

    Scooby-Doo, for one: GREAT DANE. I did not know his species.

    Well, technically his species would be "canine familiarus" (ie "domesticated dog") and Great Dane would be his breed. I knew Marmaduke was a Great Dane.

    Glossy: SLEEK. Wrote down SHINY first.

    "Double Fantasy" artist: ONO. Here is the album cover. Do you think May Pang is pretty?

    I saw her on Geraldo once so I'm going to say "Yes" without even looking at the link.

    Martin

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  2. Glossy: SLEEK. Wrote down SHINY first.

    I had SLICK.

    Martin

    ReplyDelete
  3. Martin,
    When you comment, try not to quote my or others' original lines. It makes some of your posts too long. I thought of NOBLE also. But STOMP and ACHOO said "No". As for SNORE, the clue says "Dull thing", I do lots of "dull things" every day. I dream of exams often myself. What are your final scores? When did you see May Pang?

    Clear Ayes,
    The ROAD RAGE movie I was thinking of is not "Falling Down". There are several young girls driving a car in the film.

    Al,
    It ebbs and flows. There are always more posters on Mondays/Tuesdays.

    ReplyDelete
  4. KittyB,
    Don't be so sensitive. Say whatever goes on in your mind. I respect and enjoy every opinion about puzzle or puzzle-inspired topic. Your posts are like daisies, always refreshing and unpretentious.

    Joyce,
    Hello! Great to hear from you.

    Dr Dad,
    Yep! I remember those giddy days. But Pluto is not a planet any more, nor is Senator Arlen Specter is a Republican. Things evolve. I love what we are having right now. Quality posts.

    Buckeye,
    Whatever persimmon driver you are using, I want to have it. Who the heck wants to fade/draw when one can have your wild slice/hook?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I saw May Pang on Geraldo more than twelve years ago back when I was still living in Canada. I wanted COUGH for ACHOO. I don't know my final score on the Chinese test: I assume they will send me the results by e-mail. The reading was easier for me than the listening.

    Martin

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  6. C.C. The Bee Gees are the Brothers Gibb (BGs).

    Didn't know OTTO, but I always guess that whenever it's a German name.

    I think the clue would have been better with the "of" moved over a little: Out, as of work.

    Chitlins = chitterlings, the small intestines prepared as though it was food, similar to tripe. Supposed to be good, but personally, I can't get past the thought of the source.

    For the poetry lovers, here is some pronunciation wordplay from the World Wide Words newsletter that I get each Saturday morning:

    Dearest creature in creation,
    Study English pronunciation.
    I will teach you in my verse
    Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
    I will keep you, Susy, busy,
    Make your head with heat grow dizzy;
    Tear in eye, your dress you'll tear;
    Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.

    For an extended version with two poems, one of spelling, and one of pronunciation, go here: English is difficult.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good moring, All

    First, here is a kyaker negotiating some RIPS and don't forget about RIP tides or RIPS, which are a strong surface flow of waters returning seaward from near the shore (not to be confused with an undertow).

    ReplyDelete
  8. This puzzle kicked my but. I was feeling good after finishing Wed. and Thur. on my own, but then the end of the week came.

    C.C.
    Is the road rage movie "Deathproof"? Another good one is one of S. Speilberg's first films "Duel"

    First time I posted, but have been enjoying the blog for some weeks now.

    Steve in PA.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Martin,
    It's the same with learning every new language. Listening comprehension is always harder.

    Al,
    As always, thank you for the great answers. Keep those cryptic coming. I am not as quick as Kazie, but I am slowly getting there.

    Argyle,
    Great visual image. Xie Xie.

    Steve in PA,
    Yes, yes, it's "Deathproof". Thank you for solving the mystery. I've been bothered for 2 days by the movie title. Welcome on board!

    ReplyDelete
  10. CC: Xie xie for the great puzzle blog!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great Kazie, and kudos on your cryptic clue answers. Plain, of course. Good job! Got home late yesterday, and I missed your solutions earlier as I quickly scanned thru the day's comments.

    I woke up this morning thinking plain must be the answer, with the tie to pain and obvious, but I still couldn't figure out how "first lady" worked into it. Makes sense now, thanks to you.

    Best,

    anon-hp

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  12. Good morning CC et al., This puzzle was another "kick me HERE!" experience. I don't know how you do it, CC. You are totally awesome!

    I enjoyed the May Pang link and esp the man in the background taking 'gold member' to new
    'lengths'. For our viewing pleasure he is wearing a gold lame speedo-type swim suit and to complete his ensemble is sporting a matching long gold chain. Now who said men don't know how to accessorize! I especially like how all the gold stands out against the rugged manly black body hair.

    Good to 'see' you, drdad. Miss you very much. I agree w/Buckeye. Chime in whenever you get the chance.

    Enjoy this gorgeous day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. anon-hp,
    Thanks for the kudos, and c.c., I'm not always so fast--I was lucky yesterday, I think.

    Not so lucky on today's XW. I g'ed all over the place, but mostly fruitlessly. The last g'spot sent me here, so I gave in and here I am.

    The top third of my puzzle was either wrong or blank except GIBBS and YES. I wanted something with nymph in 1A, DILLY instead of DOGGY, and those basically screwed up all the downs in that area. 31A SPODE eluded me too, though I saw that is would be porcelain too. And OEDS didn't even occur to me--I was thinking of references you get before leaving a job to move on. The bottom wasn't so bad, despite a few missing letters.

    I was amused at the notion of OTTO meaning wealth. I have never heard that use. So I looked it up, and found: "den flotten Otto haben", which means "to have the runs". But no mention of wealth, either in the English-German section or vice versa. But maybe it's the origin of the name, like when you get lists of names and their meanings.

    The only RIPS I'm familiar with are the rip tides Argyle mentioned. When we used to surf at Bondi, they always placed the flags (safe surfing areas) away from any rips, but I've seen people carried way out if they got away from those areas.

    Steve in PA,
    Welcome to our corner!

    TJ in Osseo,
    Happy Birthday! Are you counting backwards yet?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Cryptics today, both the same type:

    1)Arizona hill? Same difference(4)
    2)US animator rebuilt health farm(10)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Good Morning All, I got nervous the minute I saw Alan Olschwang's name. This was a tough puzzle for me. I had to abandon the NW early on. I didn't know that the Bee Gees, GIBBS, came from the Isle of Man. I thought that (collard) GREENS were cooked with chitlins'.

    Luckily, I knew 58D ONO and both ORANGE FREE STATE and HORSE SHOE came easily. After that I slowly worked my way back upstairs. I've never heard of PARI, ARCO or MOL.

    Good for Steve, coming up with Deathproof for C.C. I haven't seen it, so wouldn't have been of any help.

    I'm sorry I didn't get back yesterday to say Hi to Dr. Dad or brother Buckeye.

    It will be a very busy day today also. I'm one of the hosts at our yearly local art show. We have over 100 entries. That is pretty good for such a spread-out area.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good morning (or it was until I started the puzzle). I got 8 words. When I saw it was Alan Olschwang, I thought we were in for a quip or a quote!

    Lois (10:20a) LOL - only you would notice a man in a gold lame 'speedo' WAAAAY in the back of a picture!!! You can have the hairy chest -ewww- and the gold chain-ewww again!

    DrDad, so good to see your comment yesterday...come back as soon as you can!

    ClearAyes, you are a busy gal..your area must be a wonderful place to live with all the community doings.:)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Al: The First one is "mesa"...working on th second one...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi C.C. & ..., A very good and hard one today. I used the online in red to check what we came up with and we finally got it in under 40 minutes that way.

    See this link for more detail: Bee Gees
    I have a CD collection from them and I didn't know about the Isle of Man either.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Rats. Good job, Linda, beat me to mesa. Not exactly a hill, but clearly the answer. The second one is Sanatorium, an anagram for US animator.

    Anon-hp

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  20. Hi C.C.

    The closing words used by Ms. Noonan are closely related to those of another poem you are familiar with and a mantra to all old fighter pilots, including myself.

    "And while with silent lifting mind I've trod the high untresspassed sancity of space. Put out my hand and touched the face of God." "High Flight" was written by an American - Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee - who was killed at age 19 while flying a Supermarine Spitfire for the RAF in WWII.

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  21. sancity? sanctity. I need a spill checker.

    ReplyDelete
  22. anon-hp and Linda,
    Thanks! Now I can stop trying to find an anagram for health farm! I had mesa too, and was stuck on the second one. I even g'ed US animation to see what was there, but only two companies showed up and they were obviously wrong. Since then I've been fighting my printer, which won't print two pages on one sheet in the order I want them.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Al: Here`s one for YOU...

    Pesty small tars

    ReplyDelete
  24. I had trouble with this puzzle until I got the bigger clues at the top done. I had to google the German aviation guy and the Orange Free State as well.

    C.C., being originally from the south, I can honestly say I have never had chitlins, but I have had hog jowls, (with or without teeth), greens, and cornbread for New Year's day. It's okay. In elementary school they always served a big bowl of beans with a glob of mustard on top, with greens and corn bread. Ewwwww. I brown-bagged it through most of my school days. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi C.C. and all,

    Not to bad of a time today. Needed some dictionary help, but still didn't complete until checking here. As others didn't get SNORE or NOT AT.

    Here is some early Bee Gee's. Robin Gibb is in the blue blazer, Barry Gibb is in the gray blazer, and Maurice is behind the piano. How Can You Mend a Broken HeartDouble Fantasy album was released shortly before John Lennon's death. Probably one of his greatest. I marked the resurgence of John Lennon as a musician instead of a house husband. There are may thought provoking song from this album. Woman A love song for Yoko, to Beautiful Boy which was a promise to Sean which unfortunately John was not able to keep. Listening to the lyrics of the latter always affects me. The material to Double Fantasy came from telephone conversations to Yoko from John begging to come home from his Lost Weekend. I really loved the album but did not care so much for Yoko's contributions.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi everyone,

    I'm with you Clear Ayes. When I saw we had an Alan Olschwang on Saturday my heart sank. I ended up doing the puzzle on line at the regular level. I did finish, but it was a struggle.

    Rip didn't seem complete without tide attached. Thanks for the link, Argyle. I didn't realize that rough waters were called rips.

    As for, "Not At", for out of work, "Feh!", as Barry G. would say.

    Did the LAT always carry these constructors? If they're just trying to make us feel at home, no thanks. The exception being Barry Silk, of course.

    Gotta go soak my synapses. TTFN

    ReplyDelete
  27. You've got a good memory, CC. The clue for ACHOO was: Cold snap. It was from a puzzle in February - I don't know which one. It was on the long list of clever clues for that month. It didn't make it to the final six.

    Paul

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  28. Hello C.C. & all,
    Thank you C.C. and Kazie for the happy birthday wishes. Not quite to the point of counting backward, yet!

    This puzzle was a toughie today. Finished on line with lots of "red" help. The answer/clue "not at" and "out of work" was really, really bad, and just spoiled the puzzle.

    Tomorrow's another grid!

    TJ in Osseo

    ReplyDelete
  29. I got through the puzzle, but did it on line with the red. I didn't think I would get much help from Mr. G so I just started putting in possibilities. Lo and Behold a black letter or two would come up. NOT exactly fair, but I am not declaring a victory, just a good learning session. :o)
    I was kicking myself over 'spode' because my brain was going for the country. I was surprised by 'stomp' and 'tromp' in the same puzzle. My favorite clue was 'branch headquarters'. Though not a theme puzzle it was much easier for me than the "nix on" puzzle from the other day.

    Thanks Crockett, At this age I have lots of memories. I try to remember that I can still add to the old ones, I am not dead yet. With that said I am going on an Alaskan cruise on the
    9th for a week. I will be with a group, but by myself on the excursions. I can talk to anyone so it should be fun.

    Al, I love the wordplay. It really makes me appreciate CC's efforts all the more.

    Hello to Steve, welcome to the group. DrDad, glad to see you chime in.

    I am off. Have to get a birthday gift for my son-in-law. We share a birthday so I am always invited for dinner on that day, tomorrow. Catch you all on Monday.

    ReplyDelete
  30. 34:29 today. Whew! I don't have many puzzles that are successfully completed but take over 30 minutes. I eventually got there, but the journey was filled with RIPS and pitfalls. I got STOMPed and TROMPed, for sure, but I kept plugging away until it was done.

    I was led astray by filling in DETECTIVE where GREAT DANE belonged (I think Scooby-Doo is some kind of detective, right? I've never seen the show and only know he's a dog.)

    The only thing that saved me was filling in all the 15's with few crosses (A CHRISTMAS CAROL and ORANGE FREE STATE were the easiest. I got ORANGE FREE STATE largely courtesy of Yoko, FHA and General TSO, and then A CHRISTMAS CAROL off the A in STAR and the R from ORANGE FREE STATE).

    The shorter stuff was a lot tougher (but that's usually the case--the longest answers are typically the easiest to come by).

    ReplyDelete
  31. @Linda, this is the only answer I can come up with for "pesty small tars":

    Petty

    It's to be annoying (pesty), it is concerned with small issues, and is a minor ship's officer roughly equivalent to a sergeant(tars = sailors). Although, I have a feeling that it may not really be the correct answer...

    In all fairness though, it is a little bit of a handicap when you don't know the length of the word (or words) for the answer, usually given in parenthesis after the clue.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Love this blog, C.C. you cracked me up on the 1st comment of 1A The Pleiades, because i GG'd it and
    still came away with nothing except it was a constellation.
    Oh. also 56D Pest how clever that Dennis would come to mind, ha ha !
    Btw i' m glad he is having a blast in Fla.

    New word for me today "rips" had heard of it but now i get the real meaning, thanks Argyle.

    A X'Mas Carol gave me a tough time for the longest time, kept thinking of Agatha Christie.

    China was another one, kept thinking of the Nation

    All in all another good puzzle

    Linda, mille grazie " a thousand thanks " i knew it was going to be some thing silly as that !
    LoL
    I' ll have to up-grade my reading glasses.

    Well, Buckeye, i like the way you shoot, straight from the hip.
    And the Kentucky Derby is on !
    Imbo

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  33. Al: I knew after I posted that I should have put # of letters...if I had...you`d have realized it was the first word in your 12:42 post :)

    What a brother-in-law often is (5)

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  34. Buckeye: "Heart" won the roses! And at 50 to 1!!!

    Al: What a brother in law often is: "Sorry"

    Hasta lunes!

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  35. In for a shower/change, then one more night before we drive up to Orlando to catch the AutoTrain tomorrow. The past 8 days have been absolutely perfect, with not a drop of rain and 80+ temps each day. However, I have no doubt that I'll be 80+ by the time I get home.

    Did the puzzle this morning, and had some struggles, but everything's already been covered. Seems like we're all starting to get in the flow with these puzzles, though.

    Buckeye, you give me way too much credit, but I am extremely fortunate and lucky to have the life I do, and I appreciate every single minute of it.

    Hope it's a great night for everyone.

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  36. Al, What a brother-in-law often is=Uncle. I don't quite understand the rules of these puzzles, but that's what came to my mind.

    Hasta domingo!

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  37. This puzzle was hard work but we got through it with a little googling, which is more than I can say about the one yesterday. It was a lost cause.But we feel pretty proud that we solved this one. Just hope next week they aren't too much harder1

    Dot

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  38. Al, C.C., Linda, Kazie, Lola, et al.: A new cryptic clue for you to ponder. I'd like to note that every word in the clue ties into the solution somehow, as is typical with these puzzles. Good luck!

    Big house brick (7)

    Best,

    Anon-hp (Not Al!)

    P.S. I managed to slog through today's xword on my own this morning with hardly any online help. My favorite clues were "cold blast" and "branch headquarters". "Maelstrom", "snore", and "Spode" provided my best "aha" moments.

    I found "not at" a sorry answer for "out of, as work", like many of you.

    I also found "mgts" as an answer obscure at best. Management usually takes on a plural form without the added "s". "Mgrs" for "managers" would have made more sense as answer to the clue.

    I've only experienced "rip" in that watery sense when "tide" or "current" follow it, despite what dictionaries have to say on the subject. "Rapids" and "white water" are more familiar to me as terms for the sort of watery turbulence that Argyle linked into earlier.

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  39. C.C. you gave me the laugh of the day for Sunday! I was away from the computer this weekend, so I couldn't get to the Saturday puzzle until Sunday evening. When I read the comments, you told me to say whatever goes on in my mind. 95% of the time I could put you all to sleep by talking about what's on my mind! *G* (Envision pages on quilting or compost...) I know; I'm teasing. Thanks for your advice.

    I completed this puzzle, but only because I had red letter help. Clear Ayes and Lois have had pretty much the same response to it that I had. I am beginning to think about the clues differently, but my science education is not adequate.

    Who knew the Gibbs are/were Manx!?

    As for ARCO....I am very aware of the term 'pizzicato,' but not as a string player. I knew that 'legato' didn't fit, but it took me a while to realize they were looking for the opposite bowing technique, so even in a subject I know something about, there can be hangups.

    I figured out SPODE and TREE quickly, but DOGGY took me a while, despite the fact that I understood it was a lead in to 'bag.' RIP escaped me as well.

    I had ------FREESTATE for a while before the SW corner fell and I completed ORANGE.

    This was definitely a challenge. I'll wait to try Sunday's puzzle when I am more awake.

    ReplyDelete
  40. FYI Turbulent Waters, the answer refers to riptides or surfer slang rips-
    And Dull Thing had me stuck as I had a bore -
    And what does Stomp & Tromp have to do with Shellac?

    ReplyDelete

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