Theme: None
Total block: 31
Total words: 72
This grid looked so solver-friendly to me in the beginning, with the seemingly accessible word breaks/crossings. And I did fill in oodles of blanks. But the tricky clues abound. I avoided a few minefields. Still got myself hopelessly mired in the lower left corner.
I buy eggs every week, yet I could not come up with DOZENS for 63A: Egg buys. I felt like a stupid goose. Shouldn't "What caring people give" (49D: A HOOT) have a question mark? I've only heard of "I don't give A HOOT". Never mind, even if it had a ? hint, I don't think A HOOT would jump into me. I was totally in the "love" and "attention" direction. Those are what really caring people give. Such a wicked clue for my innocent mind. I need a steroid injection to hit Barry's curveball, too much spin.
I read Barry's answers on the seed word immediately after I finished the puzzle. Was surprised that it's PARRAFFIN WAX and not RATSO RIZZO. What's your favorite clue today? Mine is "Offer?" for HITMAN.
Across:
1A: Has a gift for: EXCELS AT. First entry with an scrabbly X splash.
9A: Not impromptu: STAGED. "Impromptu" is also a title of a movie about the love affair between George Sand and Chopin.
15A: Sci-fi portal: STARGATE. No idea. Looks cool.
16A: Brightly colored bird: ORIOLE
17A: Gladiator weapons: TRIDENTS. Russell Crowe's "Gladitor" is using a knife or a sword. I don't remeber seeing him with TRIDENTS.
18A: Loved 'un: DARLIN. Chiang Kai-Shek and his wife Soong May-Ling were famous for calling each other "Darling", which was scorned upon as bourgeois trait in China. Soong was educated in Wellesley College.
19A: Jutland native: DANE
20A: Woman in an insect name: KATY. No idea. What insect?
23A: Pelvic bone: SACRUM. "Holy (bone)" in Greek. Plural is sacra.
25A: Originate, as a river: RISE. I felt dumb. I had ???E in place for a long time.
26A: Mother of Issac: SARAH
30A: "I beg indulgence": HUMOR ME. Does ALLOW ME carry the same meaning?
32A: Capitol group: STATE SENATE. Piece of cake.
34A: Only pres. born in Missouri: HST. Can't be ABE or IKE since I already got the S from SNAG (35D: Complication).
37A: For the full time: TO TERM. Need your help. I don't get this answer at all.
38A: Lizard with a dewlap: IGUANA. Very ugly.
41A: Candlemaker's supply: PARAFFIN WAX. Another letter X at the edge of the grid. How surprising: they are edible. PARAFFIN was clued as "Candle wax" in our old puzzle before.
45A: More or less: OF A SORT. I struck out on this multiple fill.
47A: New Wave band __ Boingo: OINGO. Unknown to me. What is the significance of their name?
48A: Actor whose '70s-'80s sitcom character was cross-dresser: FARR (Jamie). No idea. He played Corporal (later Sergeant) Maxwell Klinger in M*A*S*H.
50A: Offer?: HITMAN. Off, verb, to kill. Off-er = HITMAN. I understood the trick immediately, but I wanted KILLER.
52A: Sch. in Athens: OHIO U. Brutal. I figured Athens here is not the Greek Athens, but I had no idea where it is. Wikipedia says Matt Lauer & Paul Newman are Ohio University alumni.
54A: Does, perhaps: DEER. Doe, a DEER, a female DEER. Nice clue.
55A: Plagiarize: CRIB. Forgot the "Plagiarize" meaning of CRIB.
59A: Hose part: NOZZLE. Three Z's in this thorny corner.
61A: Bit of steamy prose: MASH NOTE. Somehow I associate MASH NOTE with something romantic and sentimental. You know, like what George Sand wrote to Chopin: "I love you strongly, exclusively and steadfastly". The clue "Bit of steamy prose" brought to mind those sexual text-messages Detroit mayor Kilpatrick sent to his chief of staff.
64A: "Wanna bet?": I DOUBT IT. Did not get it immediately either.
65A: Lacking a key: ATONAL. Musical key.
66A: Message sent home from a shy freshman?: SEND CASH. "Shy" here refers to short on cash.
Down:
1D: Cornerstone abbr.: ESTD. Nailed it immediately.
2D: More, commercially: XTRA
3D: Number one son?: CAIN. Biblical first son. Can't fool me.
4D: German earth: ERDE. We discussed this last time when Mahler's "Das Lied von der ERDE" (The Song of the Earth") appeared. But I forgot completely. Wanted something like TERRA.
5D: Shirt designation: Abbr.: LGE
6D: Onetime "Drink it and sleep!" sloganeer: SANKA. No idea. Kraft decaf coffee. I hate anything decaf, low-fat/no-fat, low-carb.
7D: Case at the embassy: ATTACHE. Love this two-layered clue. I can picture a military ATTACHE carrying an ATTACHE case, full of secret spy information.
8D: Trial: TEST RUN
9D: Grass rolls: SOD. Nice clue. SOD comes in rolls.
10D: Disney World transport: TRAM. Have never been to Disney World.
11D: Military aviators, collectively: AIR ARM. New to me. Thought of TOP GUN first. I know the navy aviator nickname is wing nut.
12D: "Cactus Flower" Oscar winner: GOLDIE HAWN. She is a Buddhist. I've never seen "Cactus Flower". I liked her "Private Benjamin".
13D: St. __ Mountains: Alaska/Canada range: ELIAS. Here is a map. Foreign to me. Who is St. ELIAS?
14D: Torino tooth: DENTE. As in al DENTE, literally "to the tooth".
21D: Arizona county or its seat: YUMA
23D: Elite Asian mountaineer: SHERPA. I like this new clue.
24D: Recurring theme: MOTIF
26D: Former fast fliers: SSTS. Alliteration again.
27D: Pierre's possessive: A TOI. "Yours". A MOI does not fit.
28D: Dustin Hoffman role: RATSO RIZZO. From "Midnight Cowboy". I am going to netflix the movie. Sounds good.
31D: Zone: REGION
33D: Wreck: SMASH
36D: Classification prefix: TAXO. As in Taxonomy, the science or technique of classification. I simply forgot. Saw this clue somewhere before.
39D: Aussie's school: UNI. Aussi slang for university?
42D: Cause of rage, briefly: ROID. Short for anabolic steroids. ROID rage is a new phrase to me also. I was thinking of road rage, 3 of the letters actually fit.
43D: Greek goddess of the hunt: ARTEMIS. Goddess of moon as well. She is Apollo's twin sister. Diane for the Romans.
44D: Site of NSA headquarters: FT MEADE. In Maryland. CIA is headquartered in Langley, Virginia.
46D: Ready to skate on: FROZEN. I was FROZEN with this clue, could not come up with an answer.
48D: "The Grapes of Wrath" star, 1940: FONDA (Henry). The movie might be difficult for me to understand.
51D: Bad lighting?: ARSON. I was thinking of the bad spotlight like A-Rod has been facing.
53D: Humerus neighbor: ULNA. Nailed it. Often see it clued as "Radius neighbor".
55D: "Closing Bell" network: CNBC. My husband watches "Closing Bell". He likes Maria Bartiromo.
56D: Membership list: ROTA. I only knew roster.
58D: "Little Women" woman: BETH. Meg, Jo, BETH and Amy.
60D: Immigrant's subj.: ESL (English as a second language). Maybe I should have attended this class when I first arrived. They might have corrected my sex/sax problem.
62D: Cabinet dept involved with community planning: HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). Just found out it's established in 1965, during LBJ's presidency.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total block: 31
Total words: 72
This grid looked so solver-friendly to me in the beginning, with the seemingly accessible word breaks/crossings. And I did fill in oodles of blanks. But the tricky clues abound. I avoided a few minefields. Still got myself hopelessly mired in the lower left corner.
I buy eggs every week, yet I could not come up with DOZENS for 63A: Egg buys. I felt like a stupid goose. Shouldn't "What caring people give" (49D: A HOOT) have a question mark? I've only heard of "I don't give A HOOT". Never mind, even if it had a ? hint, I don't think A HOOT would jump into me. I was totally in the "love" and "attention" direction. Those are what really caring people give. Such a wicked clue for my innocent mind. I need a steroid injection to hit Barry's curveball, too much spin.
I read Barry's answers on the seed word immediately after I finished the puzzle. Was surprised that it's PARRAFFIN WAX and not RATSO RIZZO. What's your favorite clue today? Mine is "Offer?" for HITMAN.
Across:
1A: Has a gift for: EXCELS AT. First entry with an scrabbly X splash.
9A: Not impromptu: STAGED. "Impromptu" is also a title of a movie about the love affair between George Sand and Chopin.
15A: Sci-fi portal: STARGATE. No idea. Looks cool.
16A: Brightly colored bird: ORIOLE
17A: Gladiator weapons: TRIDENTS. Russell Crowe's "Gladitor" is using a knife or a sword. I don't remeber seeing him with TRIDENTS.
18A: Loved 'un: DARLIN. Chiang Kai-Shek and his wife Soong May-Ling were famous for calling each other "Darling", which was scorned upon as bourgeois trait in China. Soong was educated in Wellesley College.
19A: Jutland native: DANE
20A: Woman in an insect name: KATY. No idea. What insect?
23A: Pelvic bone: SACRUM. "Holy (bone)" in Greek. Plural is sacra.
25A: Originate, as a river: RISE. I felt dumb. I had ???E in place for a long time.
26A: Mother of Issac: SARAH
30A: "I beg indulgence": HUMOR ME. Does ALLOW ME carry the same meaning?
32A: Capitol group: STATE SENATE. Piece of cake.
34A: Only pres. born in Missouri: HST. Can't be ABE or IKE since I already got the S from SNAG (35D: Complication).
37A: For the full time: TO TERM. Need your help. I don't get this answer at all.
38A: Lizard with a dewlap: IGUANA. Very ugly.
41A: Candlemaker's supply: PARAFFIN WAX. Another letter X at the edge of the grid. How surprising: they are edible. PARAFFIN was clued as "Candle wax" in our old puzzle before.
45A: More or less: OF A SORT. I struck out on this multiple fill.
47A: New Wave band __ Boingo: OINGO. Unknown to me. What is the significance of their name?
48A: Actor whose '70s-'80s sitcom character was cross-dresser: FARR (Jamie). No idea. He played Corporal (later Sergeant) Maxwell Klinger in M*A*S*H.
50A: Offer?: HITMAN. Off, verb, to kill. Off-er = HITMAN. I understood the trick immediately, but I wanted KILLER.
52A: Sch. in Athens: OHIO U. Brutal. I figured Athens here is not the Greek Athens, but I had no idea where it is. Wikipedia says Matt Lauer & Paul Newman are Ohio University alumni.
54A: Does, perhaps: DEER. Doe, a DEER, a female DEER. Nice clue.
55A: Plagiarize: CRIB. Forgot the "Plagiarize" meaning of CRIB.
59A: Hose part: NOZZLE. Three Z's in this thorny corner.
61A: Bit of steamy prose: MASH NOTE. Somehow I associate MASH NOTE with something romantic and sentimental. You know, like what George Sand wrote to Chopin: "I love you strongly, exclusively and steadfastly". The clue "Bit of steamy prose" brought to mind those sexual text-messages Detroit mayor Kilpatrick sent to his chief of staff.
64A: "Wanna bet?": I DOUBT IT. Did not get it immediately either.
65A: Lacking a key: ATONAL. Musical key.
66A: Message sent home from a shy freshman?: SEND CASH. "Shy" here refers to short on cash.
Down:
1D: Cornerstone abbr.: ESTD. Nailed it immediately.
2D: More, commercially: XTRA
3D: Number one son?: CAIN. Biblical first son. Can't fool me.
4D: German earth: ERDE. We discussed this last time when Mahler's "Das Lied von der ERDE" (The Song of the Earth") appeared. But I forgot completely. Wanted something like TERRA.
5D: Shirt designation: Abbr.: LGE
6D: Onetime "Drink it and sleep!" sloganeer: SANKA. No idea. Kraft decaf coffee. I hate anything decaf, low-fat/no-fat, low-carb.
7D: Case at the embassy: ATTACHE. Love this two-layered clue. I can picture a military ATTACHE carrying an ATTACHE case, full of secret spy information.
8D: Trial: TEST RUN
9D: Grass rolls: SOD. Nice clue. SOD comes in rolls.
10D: Disney World transport: TRAM. Have never been to Disney World.
11D: Military aviators, collectively: AIR ARM. New to me. Thought of TOP GUN first. I know the navy aviator nickname is wing nut.
12D: "Cactus Flower" Oscar winner: GOLDIE HAWN. She is a Buddhist. I've never seen "Cactus Flower". I liked her "Private Benjamin".
13D: St. __ Mountains: Alaska/Canada range: ELIAS. Here is a map. Foreign to me. Who is St. ELIAS?
14D: Torino tooth: DENTE. As in al DENTE, literally "to the tooth".
21D: Arizona county or its seat: YUMA
23D: Elite Asian mountaineer: SHERPA. I like this new clue.
24D: Recurring theme: MOTIF
26D: Former fast fliers: SSTS. Alliteration again.
27D: Pierre's possessive: A TOI. "Yours". A MOI does not fit.
28D: Dustin Hoffman role: RATSO RIZZO. From "Midnight Cowboy". I am going to netflix the movie. Sounds good.
31D: Zone: REGION
33D: Wreck: SMASH
36D: Classification prefix: TAXO. As in Taxonomy, the science or technique of classification. I simply forgot. Saw this clue somewhere before.
39D: Aussie's school: UNI. Aussi slang for university?
42D: Cause of rage, briefly: ROID. Short for anabolic steroids. ROID rage is a new phrase to me also. I was thinking of road rage, 3 of the letters actually fit.
43D: Greek goddess of the hunt: ARTEMIS. Goddess of moon as well. She is Apollo's twin sister. Diane for the Romans.
44D: Site of NSA headquarters: FT MEADE. In Maryland. CIA is headquartered in Langley, Virginia.
46D: Ready to skate on: FROZEN. I was FROZEN with this clue, could not come up with an answer.
48D: "The Grapes of Wrath" star, 1940: FONDA (Henry). The movie might be difficult for me to understand.
51D: Bad lighting?: ARSON. I was thinking of the bad spotlight like A-Rod has been facing.
53D: Humerus neighbor: ULNA. Nailed it. Often see it clued as "Radius neighbor".
55D: "Closing Bell" network: CNBC. My husband watches "Closing Bell". He likes Maria Bartiromo.
56D: Membership list: ROTA. I only knew roster.
58D: "Little Women" woman: BETH. Meg, Jo, BETH and Amy.
60D: Immigrant's subj.: ESL (English as a second language). Maybe I should have attended this class when I first arrived. They might have corrected my sex/sax problem.
62D: Cabinet dept involved with community planning: HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). Just found out it's established in 1965, during LBJ's presidency.
Answer grid.
C.C.
43 comments:
Good morning CC etal,
Not too bad this morning, although I got off to a slow start on the across clues, but hunkered down & nailed a bunch of the downs which helped - all-in-all about a half hour.
CC - Katydid is an insect.
Also "to term" usually refers to a pregnanacy that runs the entire 9 months.
Happy Saturday all!
Chris,
Did you get KATY Immediately? Thanks for TO TERM. I just could not rationalize the clue & answer, thinking of length of term for some STATE SENATORS. Some do work "For the full time".
CC:
Not right off, but once I got the K in SANKA and the Y in YUMA it came to me.
Morning, all!
Believe it or not, this was pretty straightforward for me today -- I finished it in just over 9 minutes, which is pretty good for a Saturday. I didn't even realize it was a Barry Silk puzzle until I came here (I always forget to check the constructor's name while solving).
OHIOU would have caused me a lot of grief it it weren't for the fact that it already caused me a lot of grief earlier this morning in the NYT puzzle (where it was clued as "Athens sch."). And I just saw my very first ORIOLE the other day, so that was fresh in my mind. I was a huge fan of the show "STARGATE" when it was on, so that was a gimme, and the KATYdid is one of the few insects (along with ladybugs and butterflies) that don't totally creep me out.
FT MEADE through me for a bit of a loop. I'd like to say it's because I misread the clue as "Site of NASA headquarters" instead of "Site of NSA headquarters" (which is true), except I still wouldn't have known it. Got it easily enough via the perps, though. Also never heard of the St. ELIAS Mountains, and that was it for unknowns today.
Favorite clue was "Offer" for HITMAN. Least favorite answer was AIR ARM.
Have a great one!
Good Saturday Morning,
C.C., we should have worked together this morning. I got what you missed and you got what I missed. It was funny; I saw Barry's name and headed right to the SW corner filled it easily yet offer? was my last fill(and biggest groan!).
KATYdid was a gimme. Here is what they sound like.
I had airmen at first for 11D.
CC: Up early because family/friends start arriving at 10ish...
had "lady" for 20a...caused probs for a while...got "nozzle" and "dozens" right away...cheated on "parraffinwax" (double "f" threw me)...SE corner was a killer...
See ya`ll Tuesday...and "If you can read, thank a teacher. If you are free to do so...thank a Vet!"
Good morning, C.C. and gang - a really fun puzzle today with some very clever cluing. Favorites were 'offer?', 'does, perhaps', and 'woman in an insect name'.
Like Argyle, when I saw the constructor, I immediately went to the SW and worked backwards; Barry's NW corners always keep me from getting initial traction.
All in all, a great way to start a Saturday.
Today is International Jazz Day and Lucky Penny Day.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "Never feel self-pity, the most destructive emotion there is. How awful to be caught up in the terrible squirrel cage of self."
Even more Fun Facts:
- Lightning strikes the ground about 6,000 times per minute.
- Men are more streamlined than women for swimming, because the female's breasts create a lot of drag. Enough, in fact, that racing suits have been designed with tiny pegs above the breasts to cause disturbance, which decreases the drag.
C.C. My vote for trickiest clue would go to "does, for example" It had me fooled right up to the end into not thinking it was a plural clue with the appearance of a single answer. I just couldn't think of what someone would do. Hitman was a good one too.
"Allow me" is a polite phrase to draw attention to yourself doing something (perhaps chivalrous) for someone, like holding a door open. "Humor me" is more like a request to the other person to do something they might not have otherwise done:
"Pick a card, any card."
"I don't like card tricks."
"Humor me."
It doesn't necessarily have to be steroids, there's another kind of Roid that could make someone somewhat crabby as well...But that's probably TMI (too much information).
On your comment about not taking an ESL course, did you get asked a lot to come over for band practice?
Good morning, all.
Today is gardening day, but since it's only 50 degrees at the moment, a cup of tea and the puzzle seemed like a good way to start the day.
Barry Silk...you devil! After yesterday's puzzle, where I had trouble with 'do to do' you'd think I would have gotten the 'Does, perhaps' clue for DEER. I really need to think about the alternate ways to say words.
I really liked 'Lacking a key' for ATONAL. Usually, clues like this make my 'musical' ears perk up.
I needed help with the D to get both ROID and DEER. I was so fixed on the idea of road rage that I couldn't break away to see the other possibilities.
The movie clues came easily, and I really enjoy that 'aha!' that comes with getting the long answers.
In addition to canning and chocolate making, paraffin wax is also used to coat cucumbers before they are sent to market. It helps to seal in the moisture.
I had difficulties with 37A crossing 23D. Once I got the M in TO TERM, SMASH fell. Once I had SMASH, HIT MAN fell into place, and then I had enough letters to get FT MEADE. Is NSA the National Space Administration?? It took a long time to see that TO TERM was two words. I wanted something related to 'total.'
I didn't know ELIAS, but it came from the fills, and ROTA is not a word I use, so that also came from the fills.
It bugs me that I am going to have to learn French to do crossword puzzles. Luckily, ATOI came from the fills.
I really enjoyed this puzzle. I hope one day that I will be able to get a Barry Silk Saturday puzzle completely finished without any help. What a goal! Until then, I'll keep giving it the old college try.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Hi there!
K-K-Katy was a song in the 30s or 40s….today’s 20A clue eludes to the katydid insect. My assumption is that it ties back to the song.
Ingrid
Good morning to all - Ugh! Really had to use the brain and think out of the box for this puzzle! Had trouble with Artemis - knew she was goddess of moon, woods and nature, but never of 'the hunt'...someone help me understand?
Wanted military aviators to be airmen, but soon found the folly of my thoughts.
Roid is still a completely unknown, even with your definition, CC.
Haven't commented lately due to medical annual exams and tests. Thank heavens for a holiday weekend, no one to poke, probe, needle, or photo for three whole days.
We're finally getting some nice soft steady rainfall and temps in the low 80s instead of the high
50s. The tomatoes like it, also.
Happy Holidays to all, and be thankful to those who serve and have served. My grandson leaves for Afganistan on Monday. On my maternal side, someone in every generation has served in every war except the war of 1812.
Oops, need a spell check. Afghanistan!
@SB; one of the side effects of taking anabolic steroids (to enhance physical performance) is to lose emotional control, which often results in unprovoked anger.
Is NSA the National Space Administration?Nope, that would be the National Security Agency, I believe.
Good morning:
An intimidating but fun puzzle, and like most, I really had to abandon the NW and come back to it. I really enjoyed the use of ATTACHE and its double meaning, as well as bad lighting being ARSON. I thought DOES for DEER was great, but the DO RE MI from yesterday made it easy. I wanted something from the old Charlie Chan movies for number one son, until SANKA popped in my head, and then the corner filled. I certainly remember my uncle and grandmother being all excited that they had a coffee they could drink at night. Before SANKA, they drank POSTUM, which they still sell. Anybody else?
If you recall my son is studying Classical archaeology, TRIDENT was easy; it is part of the RETARIUS, which is a strategy that used a NET also. I believe you see it used in the movie, with the combatant trying to wrest the sword away with net.
Major thunderstorm going on, so no pool for me; enjoy the day.
Interestingly, I am signed in through MOZILLA today, and I get the auto spell check on my post, anyone else use MOZILLA?
I couldn’t complete the puzzle today, but there were some good moments. I knew PARAFFIN WAX, which I used to use when I made jam, but had a little trouble with the spelling. I think it’s a great word for puzzling.
Of course I liked all the ZZZ’s. I didn’t know RATSO RIZZO, (never saw Midnight Cowboy) but the z’s in NOZZLE and DOZENS help me to guess. Also liked DARLIN and Jamie FARR.
I should have done what Argyle and Dennis did (start t the SW corner) because the NW corner totally defeated me, even though I knew STAGED, so I started off feeling stumped. I googled gladiators weapon, and TRIDENT was not on the list, everything I tried was a red letter. I finally just hit the solve button, and then the other words were doable.
I like Barry Silk’s sense of humor. Whenever I get zapped with one of his clever clues, I laugh. Today’s laugh lines were ATTACHE, KATY OHIOU ATONAL A HOOT, HITMAN
On the other hand, DEER and ROID were impossible. Deer is one of those head slappers, but I didn’t know roids till I came here.
Agree with KittyB about learning French. It seems an impossible language for me. But then, most other languages do too. Sadly, my family/culture didn’t think it was important to learn other languages.
It’s a beautiful day here, so maybe I’ll work in the yard little.
Southern Belle, you'll have to keep us posted on your grandson. I'll keep both of you in my prayers. May your tests all provide good results. I hope that you've seen what others have posted: ROID as in slang for 'steroid.'
Barry G., thanks for the NSA info.
I went back to read last night's comments. Linda, you know exactly what we are going through. Mother's refusal to eat is definitely a play to have some control over her life. She is sliding into dementia and wants to be allowed to go 'home,' but home to her means where she lived more than 70 years ago. There is no way we can give her what she wants. She was fine on Monday when I sat with her at lunch. She stopped eating Tuesday and Wednesday, but let me feed her on Friday, when I returned to visit. I've told her that if she isn't strong enough to get into the car she won't be able to go to the graduation, but I doubt she can keep that reason in mind long enough to do any good.
Thank you for your support. I'm right there with you, hoping that when it's our turn, we get to go fast!
Kazie, we haven't reached the hallucination stage yet. I'd like to pass on it, if you don't mind.
Crockett, I'm delighted to share that boat with you. Unfortunately, I think it's come along with a case of CRS! *G*
Clear Ayes, thanks for the music links. I particularly like the theme from The Umbrellas.
Lemonade, 'forfend' is a GREAT word!
Good morning, all. Wow! Even on a Sat., it's hard to one up y'all.
Barry G is right. NSA - National Security Agency.
Lemonade714. Same thing here with the "do to do" and "does" today.
Al: I, too, thought hemorrhroids (hemriods) was a good answer to the "Cause of rage" clue.
I got "sch. in Athens" - Ohio U, rather quickly, after first looking up University under "Greek" in my A to Z. By the way, Paul Newman did not attend OU. He enrolled and graduated from Keynon College in Gambier, Ohio. (An excellent College.)
Got Thursday OK but missed "Photo finish" (photoGENIC), and "Nobelist Root" (Elihu) yesterday. Got hung up in SE corner today, for some reason. Took forever to "slog" through. Had a devil of a time with 39a. My rag printed the clue like this:
Aussie's s
chool
I thought, "What the hell's a chool?"
But, all's well, that ends well.
Chris in LA. Good to hear from you. Are we still looking for that special someone? Hope things are going well!!
My WOW for today: "People who live in glass houses, shouldn't throw rolling stone that gather no moss".
(Clearayes, didn't Noel Coward sing that?)
I must be off!
Not too bad for a Sat. Air arm was also my least favorite answer. My in laws acutally used to drink Sanka. Foul stuff. I want real coffee. I remember seeing Cactus Flower many years ago. If I remember correctly it was a dumb movie!! My DUH moment was roid. Guess I was looking in the wrong place.
Dennis-I'm in Medford, OR. Actually, Central Point, but no one ever knows where that is.
Time to get a move on. Have a good one all.
That last anonymous was me. Still can't sign in.
Treefrog
Good Morning All, I loved this puzzle! Maybe I just love Barry Silk's puzzles. Either way, this one had just the right amount of tough and easy.
It did help that both GOLDIE HAWN and RATSO RIZZO were gimmes and made for a lot of help with the perps.
KittyB, Yes, we are thinking alike again. My big sticking place was the cross of FT MEADE and DEER. I can't seem to get it through my head that DOES often means "plural female deer" and not necessarily "performs a function". It was a D'OH moment when it finally dawned on me. I also had a minor mental hiccup with ROAD instead of ROID.
C.C. Be prepared that Midnight Cowboy is a disturbing movie. It is a story that will certainly make you appreciate an average middle class life. You might relate to The Grapes of Wrath better than you think. It is about very poor people who lose their farm and try to find a better life elsewhere. I understand that has happened to many people in China who came to Beijing or Shanghai after not being able to keep their farms.
Buckeye, you may be right. Try singing it to the tune of K-K-K-Katy...."P-P-P-People who live in glass houses"..etc.
Dennis, your WOW may be particularly appropriate for those of us who are going through difficult times right now. I always thought jealousy was the most destructive emotion, but self-pity is likely at the root of that one, as it is for most harmful emotions. I try to remember it is never a case of "why me?", but always "Why not me?"
Good morning, everyone!
I filled in the north, middle, and southwest, but really struggled in the southeast. Didn't even notice this was a Barry Silk puzzle until I was finished.
TO TERM is seen when talking about birth. If a human baby is born after a nine month gestation, that is the full expected tome, so it is born TO TERM. Chrisinla game a shorter explanation, I see.
OHIOU was a gimme for this Ohio native.
I still don't grok ROID as a cause of rage, briefly. Anyone? Al, Thank You!
@barryg Good to see you!
@treefrog Never fear, we Oregonians know where Central Point is!
from Dictionary.com: Uni
[yoo-nee] –noun-
Australian Informal.
UNIVERSITY.
Origin: 1895–1900; formed by shortening
The use of contemporary issues like ROID RAGE is what makes a great puzzle. IMO.
Good morning CC and all,
Barry Silk's puzzles are always fun, even if I can never finish them.Goldie Hawn and Ratso Rizzo gave me a good start because all I got in the NW corner was Cain/Dane!
Fav. clues were grass rolls and bad lighting. I still don't get "torino tooth".I'm not familiar with mash note or airarm, and now I know all about the several definitions of roids. Where have I been?
interesting info about paraffin wax. I always try to scrub that stuff off of my cukes. Surprised me that it is used in chocolate too. Soon, my lemon cucumbers will be ready and I won't have to eat wax.
taxis- Greek, meaning arrangement or order
Barry G, have you been gone? I miss your daily analysis of each c/w.
Today was certainly my Lucky Penny Day!! Our washing machine stopped and all the lights were blinking. Water came pouring out which was not fun. Found the little trap which had 3 pennies and 2 screws. Could have been screwed, but it seems to be fixed.
Good morning, C.C. & Gang;
Good puzzle today. I liked the clues that everyone else liked, esp. bad light. I confess to having to hit the G spot for Ft. Meade and Artemis. Jean gave me the Roman answer, Diana, but it obviously did not fit.
I would like to make a mild plea for road and hatman instead of roid and hitman. My theory is that offer is a gentlemen who doffs his hat to ladies, while road rage makes a lot more sense than roid rage. Any takers?
tfrank,
I also had hatman/road. I figured he had his hat in hand offering to do odd jobs.
This was more difficult than the rest of the week for me, but easier and more fun than previous LAT Saturdays. I had to g'spot names I'd forgotten: FARR, FONDA, ARTEMIS, BETH; and FT MEADE, which I didn't know, before the SW fell in. But I gave up on ROTA--totally unknown and had ARGON for ARSON, so didn't get MASHNOTE which is also unfamiliar.
I enjoyed the rest.
KittyB and WM,
I do hope all goes well for you and each of your moms. I lost both my parents when I was only 28 and didn't have a clue about such things. At the time I was guilty of a lot of self pity for not being able to share the rest of my life with them, their not ever seeing their grandkids, etc. But now it seems like it happened for a good reason, with us living here so far away, I could never have tended them had they reached old age. Many of my friends are going through what you are experiencing, and I feel fortunate not to have to do that.
Well duh, I finally got the "offer" and Hitman clue. I had "road" for rage and hatman. Not too bright today I'm afraid :-).
I got stuck on the lower right corner. Still don't get "mashnote".
Well, it's biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast here. No one gets to eat until I finish my puzzle.
Have a great weekend.
Morning all...was thrilled to see a Barry Silk puzzle and was convinced that with time I could solve it...First fill STARGATE w/ LGE and then it sat there all by its lonesome while I filled in the NE and SW corners...never seen Cactus Flower but somehow knew it was Goldie and loved Midnight Cowboy and have no idea why that was the very first Hoffman character I thought of. When the movie first came out it was rated X...unusual at the time and the modern rating system wasn't really in place...not for language but because of the subject matter...a stunning piece of acting and a real start for Jon Voight also.
A few missteps held me up for a while and I finally gave up and came here for 1A then things started to finish up although I didn't know RISE was a river source, and I just thought OHIOU was some unknown Greek word like Ecole in FR...DUH! :o)
I did like the MASH NOTE and Jamie Farr of M*A*S*H in the same puzzle. If I had just filled some of my initial thoughts instead of doubting myself, I would have completed it much sooner...I am, as always, my own worst enemy.
Very challenging and ultimately do-able but not without a lot of mumbling and head scratching...we must all be getting the hang of this finally!
KittyB...my thoughts go out to you as you have the added complication of Dementia...We are not quite dealing with that yet, but I think there is now a tiny bit and the thought about the not eating/drinking as a control thing is probably right on and something I had not thought of...she thinks we are all trying to tell her what to do and that she is capable of making her own decisions. I had a, hopefully, productive discussion with a terrific Nurse Practioner before we left the hospital yesterday and he backed me up...so at least she knows I am trying to help her. Time will tell. I thank everyone for the forum to share this information. I learned quite a bit here over the last few days that has been very helpful and I thank you all...
Treefrog...I know exactly where Central Point and Medford are...an aunt used to live in Medford and we have property just outside of Grants Pass...another unknown.
The fog was still here this morning so it is a great day to paint and I need that, plus I am getting behind on commitments...have a great Memorial Day everyone.
20:50 today. I had ROAD RAGE and kept staring at HAT MAN for the Offer? clue wondering what was up with that. Since I didn't get the "ta-da" screen, I knew I had something wrong, but I didn't catch on to the "briefly" part of the rage clue, so it took a good long while for me to finally figure out the correct answer. Very clever, in retrospect, but drove me up the wall while solving.
@tfrank: the "briefly" part of the clue for the "cause of rage" precludes ROAD as an answer, since ROAD isn't "briefly". I fell into the same trap, initially.
I never know whether the cornerstone entry should be ESTD or ESTB, and even when I knew where Jutland was, I still got it wrong, initially. I kept thinking that B??? might be some form of Baltic before the light went on.
@kazie: I figured the SW corner was a shout out to you, there were so many OZs down there! I'll bet Barry Silk wishes the 'E' in DOZENS and FROZEN could have been a 'Z'! Would have been an awesome block of four Z's.
Lemonade714, When I was a little girl, Grandma used to give us kids a cup of Postum, which made us feel quite grown up. I am rather embarrassed to admit it, but even after I grew up, I used to like Postum once in a while, although a jar would last for a very long time. According to the article on Wikipedia Postum is no longer available. I understand that the Mormon community was quite upset by the demise because of the restriction against drinking caffeinated beverages.
If you know where it still available, please pass on the information. I would (shhh, don't tell anybody!) like to have a jar in the pantry for an occasional regression into childhood.
Just popping in to wish our xchefwalt a very happy birthday today. Please put your worries behind and go out and enjoy your day on either the golf course or the beach! Have a good one!
re St. Elias after whom the mountains are named:
He was a Christian saint of the 5th/6th centuries who was an Arab.
Calef.
Good morning, C.C. & Gang;
Good puzzle today. I liked the clues that everyone else liked, esp. bad light. I confess to having to hit the G spot for Ft. Meade and Artemis. Jean gave me the Roman answer, Diana, but it obviously did not fit.
I would like to make a mild plea for road and hatman instead of roid and hitman. My theory is that offer is a gentlemen who doffs his hat to ladies, while road rage makes a lot more sense than roid rage. Any takers?
I had lots of trouble with the top half of the puzzle - wanted HEIR for first son and AIRMEN. I did pretty well with the fills on the bottom half. Being in a vacation frame of mind, I didn't have the patience to do this puzzle without red letter and OneAcross help.
Barry: When we worked with folks at NSA back in the 80's and 90's, we made lots of visits to Ft. Meade. We used to say NSA was 'no such agency".
L714: I use Firefox, which I find much more user friendly than IE and the spellcheck feature is essential for me.
C.C. IMHO "The Grapes of Wrath" is a much easier movie to understand than "Midnight Cowboy" and much more meaningful.
I liked "Cactus Flower" - Ingrid Bergman as the Plain Jane receptionist really appealed to me. I saw the play many years ago (in the 60's) in a summerstock theater in the round with Hugh O'Brian. We were sitting in the last row. It was pouring rain and rather than go back outside when he wasn't on stage, Hugh O'Brian stood by the tent exit, right next to me. Needless to say, any scene he wasn't in I didn't see. I was too busy looking at him. So handsome.
I'm off. See you in mid-June.
C.C.
I forgot to tell you yesterday that after viewing your "red hot chili peppers" link, I have marked your IOU "paid in full"!
@elissa Have a FANTASTIC trip!
Clear Ayes, I come here to snag a bit of the humor you and Buckeye spark. "P-P-P-People who live in glass houses" has made me laugh all day.
Ladies, thank you, one and all, for your supportive comments. It helps to hear from others who have experienced having to care for an aging parent. WM, I hope that your mother improves, and is able to return to her customary routines.
I have decided that I am going to have to be the exception that makes the rule. I seem to be the only poster who didn't like the clue for ARSON. My sense of humor must be a little off kilter today.
As for A HOOT, do you remember the ad campaign,"Give a hoot, don't pollute"?
Xchefwalt, Happy Birthday, and many more. I hope you're out having a great time.
Elissa, have a terrific vacation!
Hi c.c. and all!
It was good to see a Barry Silk, but I guess I'm a little out of sync with his mindset. I had ESTB for 1D which had me scratching my head over what a Bane was. Even though I had Rise for 25A it didn't seem right. For 27D I wanted A Moi, but what the heck is a Smate Senate. I corrected to A Toi to make it work, but wasn't sure if this was correct. Like a lot of you I went with Road for rage which produced the Hatman once again. Hmmm!!! I wanted the shy freshman to say,"Need cash." I couldn't figure out what kind of bad light an arsoe was. Oh well, it was fun to chew on this one.
I hope everyone has a great Holiday. The Portland area will have beautiful weather this weekend. A very rare occurrence at this time of year. I suppose it's time to dust off the Bar B Que and head outside. TTFN
Being a single Mom, I take the time with my little guy to enjoy the day with him, so I don't spend time on the x/w puzzle. We went out fishing today in our canoe and he caught a nice Northern pike. My neighbor was good enough to filet it for us and now he wants it for dinner. Xchefwalt...I am looking for some guidance here, but I hope you are lolly-gagging somewhere on a beach in FL. Happy Birthday!
@Dennis regarding those pesky breasts that get in the way of swimming....I was not one of those lucky ladies to be so well endowed. Instead I was part of my schools synchrinized swimming teams so you now know where my limberness and breath control stems from. Thank God it all paid off in the end, so I have been told. Now I can just wear a bikini w/out any "pegs" sewed above the bra of the bikini.
Happy Birthday Xchefwalt!
And Elissa, have a wonderful vacation!
c.c.,
I used to use the word "uni" all the time but now if I do refer to "when I was at uni", people just give me blank looks, so I say "college" instead. At first today I thought it was asking for a particular one, and ANU would have almost fit. (Aust. National Uni. in Canberra)
C.C. - I know you are not 48D my little conceit, but please 30A. Will you like it? 64A.
Went far, down to 48A's home town today, and did mom maintenance. Didn't visit my 40A this time, though. Saw a dead 54A along the side of the hwy - Evidently the work of a 50A. (This is dead critter by the side of the roid . . . uh -- road season.) Worked the puzzle while my 18A LW drove. Very, very well done. Maybe the paragon of unthemed puzzles. Still, my mandatory nit -- 27D. Appropraite symmetry with 35D, though.
Barry pwned (and punned) me with 50A, 54A, and 42D. Must pay more attention to constructors in the future.
Since I am a graduate of the U of 48A's home town (go Rockets) a M.A.C School, 52A (go Bobcats) was a gimmie. 65A music might use a 24D as a unifying feature. I believe it was Paul Hindemith who said no music is truly 65A. Tonality, 45A, will somehow impose itself. Maybe this will help.
Liked the symmetry of the two movie answers. 43D took a long time. I thought it was Athena.
Cheers!
Greetings all. I've been gone on a terrific Elderhostel and then a visit with my husband's son and family. Am just lurking today and tomorrow because I know I am not up to the xwords on those days. Plus it seems to take a while to catch up on sleep.
Lemonade, yes I use Mozilla Firefox, and I need the spell check, which just told me it was to be two words, not one.
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