Theme: None
Total blocks: 36
Total words: 72
Of all the 24 Robert H. Wolfe puzzles I've blogged, most are late-week puzzles, several are Sundays. Interesting background, veterinarian.
I liked the three grid-spinning Across fills:
17A: "Maybe I can help?": WHAT'S THE PROBLEM
37A: "Now we're getting somewhere": THAT'S MORE LIKE IT
56A: Statement of intolerance: I WON'T STAND FOR IT
I also liked the sequential clue order of F-STOP (23D: Photo setting) and OPS (24D: Photo finishes?). My favorite clue today is DEM (13D: Party people: Abbr.). Brought to mind the infamous Harold Ford for Senator attack ad. "I met Harold at a Playboy party... Harold, call me!". Ford is a DEM.
I don't get SEE FIT (60A: Decide is best) though. Can you explain to me the clue? The grammar confuses me.
Across:
1A: Begins energetically: WADES IN
8A: Went up: SCALED. Why? I've only heard of "scale down". Thought of SPIKED.
16A: Boom: THRIVE
19A: Philippine bread: PESO. Had no idea that PESO is a currency in the Philippines. Wanted NAAN, thinking maybe the Indian bread is enjoyed there too.
20A: Common opening: DEAR SIRS
21A: French possessive: SES. His/her/its.
22A: Add more brown to, say: REDYE
23A: Cat's pajamas?: FUR. Cute.
24A: Where the 'eart is?: 'OME. Home is where the heart is. letter H is dropped in Cockney accent.
26A: Reckon, rurally: S'POSE. Big stumper.
31A: Removed, in a way: SCRAPED OFF
36A: Jobs for underwriters, briefly: IPOS. And ARBS ( 10D: Wall St. hedgers).
39A: Farm drier: OAST. I thought OAST is used for brewery only.
40A: Soft drink order: EXTRA LARGE. Had trouble obtaining this answer. Might have gotten it if it were clued as egg-related.
41A: "Bah!": PSHAW. I always say "Shoot".
43A: Caesar's tax form?: MXL. 1040. Great clue.
45A: Levi's "Christ Stopped at __": EBOLI. See the book cover. So close to E COLI.
49A: Suffix with amyl: ASE. I am used to "Enzyme ending" clue. Amylase is a kind of enzymes too, says the dictionary. Hopefully I will remember it next time.
50A: Try to get in the running: NOMINATE
54A: "Thanks, __": "Are you hungry?" response: I ATE
61A: Commonly receding boundary: HAIRLINE
63A: Words from one closing a door, perhaps: TOO LATE
Down:
2D: "That's the spot": AAH. Ah, massage.
3D: More frequent changes reduce its likelihood: DIAPER RASH. Have never changed a diaper in my life.
4D: Major followers? ETTES. Majorettes.
6D: Comparison words: IS TO
7D: Book before Esth.: NEH. After Ezra.
8D: Prospective adoptee: STRAY
9D: Tasks: CHORES
11D: 1953 Caron film: LILI. "1958 Caron film" would be GIGI.
18D: Walker, briefly: PED (Pedestrian)
21D: For example: SUCH AS
22D: Electron transfer process, often: REDOX. RED(duction) + OX(idation). Unknown to me. I actually misread the clue as "Electric transfer process".
25D: Kid's enthusiastic "I do!": ME, ME
27D: Burrowing rabbitlike mammal: PIKA. Not familiar with this rabbit at all.
28D: Style of Mozart's "Idomeneo": OPERA SERIA. No idea. It's Italian for serious drama. Opposite "opera buffa", the comic drama.
29D: Elegantly done: SOIGNE. Cary Grant had the SOIGNE charm.
30D: Colorado's __ Park: ESTES. Not named after Senator Kevauver, often clued as "Adlai's running mate".
32D: Kofi __ Annan: ATTA. No idea. It means "Twin" in his native language. Annan has a twin brother. They share the middle name.
33D: Boxer's scrap: ORT
34D: Atom-splitting Novelist: FERMI (Enrico). I forgot his name again. He won Nobel Physics in 1938.
38D: Bugged?: ILL. D'oh, I was picturing wiretapping.
42D: Entered: WENT IN. Wanted CAME IN.
47D: Six-time N.L. home run champ: OTT. I like clues with trivia. Mel OTT had a total 511 home runs.
48D: Wife of Jacob: LEAH. Rachel is his other wife.
49D: Lagoon border: ATOLL. Bikini ATOLL is probably the most famous one.
50D: Not final, in law: NISI. Decree NISI. I forgot again.
51D: "Closer" Oscar nominee Clive __: OWEN. "Closer" is one of my favorite movies. Love should not be that complicated though.
52D: Bubbly brand: MOET. The champagne: Moët et Chandon.
53D: Dope: INFO. I was in drug direction.
54D: Personal: Pref: IDIO. Thought it's a "peculiar" prefix, as in idiosyncrasy.
55D: Do to pick: AFRO. I understand hairdo, why "to pick"?
57D: Washington MLBer: NAT. Nationals. The former Expos. They moved in Washington in 2005. Twins used to be based in Washington (Senators).
58D: Money pd. for use of money: INT
59D: Athletic supporter?: TEE. I suppose it could be for football and golf. Tricky clue.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total blocks: 36
Total words: 72
Of all the 24 Robert H. Wolfe puzzles I've blogged, most are late-week puzzles, several are Sundays. Interesting background, veterinarian.
I liked the three grid-spinning Across fills:
17A: "Maybe I can help?": WHAT'S THE PROBLEM
37A: "Now we're getting somewhere": THAT'S MORE LIKE IT
56A: Statement of intolerance: I WON'T STAND FOR IT
I also liked the sequential clue order of F-STOP (23D: Photo setting) and OPS (24D: Photo finishes?). My favorite clue today is DEM (13D: Party people: Abbr.). Brought to mind the infamous Harold Ford for Senator attack ad. "I met Harold at a Playboy party... Harold, call me!". Ford is a DEM.
I don't get SEE FIT (60A: Decide is best) though. Can you explain to me the clue? The grammar confuses me.
Across:
1A: Begins energetically: WADES IN
8A: Went up: SCALED. Why? I've only heard of "scale down". Thought of SPIKED.
16A: Boom: THRIVE
19A: Philippine bread: PESO. Had no idea that PESO is a currency in the Philippines. Wanted NAAN, thinking maybe the Indian bread is enjoyed there too.
20A: Common opening: DEAR SIRS
21A: French possessive: SES. His/her/its.
22A: Add more brown to, say: REDYE
23A: Cat's pajamas?: FUR. Cute.
24A: Where the 'eart is?: 'OME. Home is where the heart is. letter H is dropped in Cockney accent.
26A: Reckon, rurally: S'POSE. Big stumper.
31A: Removed, in a way: SCRAPED OFF
36A: Jobs for underwriters, briefly: IPOS. And ARBS ( 10D: Wall St. hedgers).
39A: Farm drier: OAST. I thought OAST is used for brewery only.
40A: Soft drink order: EXTRA LARGE. Had trouble obtaining this answer. Might have gotten it if it were clued as egg-related.
41A: "Bah!": PSHAW. I always say "Shoot".
43A: Caesar's tax form?: MXL. 1040. Great clue.
45A: Levi's "Christ Stopped at __": EBOLI. See the book cover. So close to E COLI.
49A: Suffix with amyl: ASE. I am used to "Enzyme ending" clue. Amylase is a kind of enzymes too, says the dictionary. Hopefully I will remember it next time.
50A: Try to get in the running: NOMINATE
54A: "Thanks, __": "Are you hungry?" response: I ATE
61A: Commonly receding boundary: HAIRLINE
63A: Words from one closing a door, perhaps: TOO LATE
Down:
2D: "That's the spot": AAH. Ah, massage.
3D: More frequent changes reduce its likelihood: DIAPER RASH. Have never changed a diaper in my life.
4D: Major followers? ETTES. Majorettes.
6D: Comparison words: IS TO
7D: Book before Esth.: NEH. After Ezra.
8D: Prospective adoptee: STRAY
9D: Tasks: CHORES
11D: 1953 Caron film: LILI. "1958 Caron film" would be GIGI.
18D: Walker, briefly: PED (Pedestrian)
21D: For example: SUCH AS
22D: Electron transfer process, often: REDOX. RED(duction) + OX(idation). Unknown to me. I actually misread the clue as "Electric transfer process".
25D: Kid's enthusiastic "I do!": ME, ME
27D: Burrowing rabbitlike mammal: PIKA. Not familiar with this rabbit at all.
28D: Style of Mozart's "Idomeneo": OPERA SERIA. No idea. It's Italian for serious drama. Opposite "opera buffa", the comic drama.
29D: Elegantly done: SOIGNE. Cary Grant had the SOIGNE charm.
30D: Colorado's __ Park: ESTES. Not named after Senator Kevauver, often clued as "Adlai's running mate".
32D: Kofi __ Annan: ATTA. No idea. It means "Twin" in his native language. Annan has a twin brother. They share the middle name.
33D: Boxer's scrap: ORT
34D: Atom-splitting Novelist: FERMI (Enrico). I forgot his name again. He won Nobel Physics in 1938.
38D: Bugged?: ILL. D'oh, I was picturing wiretapping.
42D: Entered: WENT IN. Wanted CAME IN.
47D: Six-time N.L. home run champ: OTT. I like clues with trivia. Mel OTT had a total 511 home runs.
48D: Wife of Jacob: LEAH. Rachel is his other wife.
49D: Lagoon border: ATOLL. Bikini ATOLL is probably the most famous one.
50D: Not final, in law: NISI. Decree NISI. I forgot again.
51D: "Closer" Oscar nominee Clive __: OWEN. "Closer" is one of my favorite movies. Love should not be that complicated though.
52D: Bubbly brand: MOET. The champagne: Moët et Chandon.
53D: Dope: INFO. I was in drug direction.
54D: Personal: Pref: IDIO. Thought it's a "peculiar" prefix, as in idiosyncrasy.
55D: Do to pick: AFRO. I understand hairdo, why "to pick"?
57D: Washington MLBer: NAT. Nationals. The former Expos. They moved in Washington in 2005. Twins used to be based in Washington (Senators).
58D: Money pd. for use of money: INT
59D: Athletic supporter?: TEE. I suppose it could be for football and golf. Tricky clue.
Answer grid.
C.C.
56 comments:
I read the blog from India - the only catch is that the Times of India is some months behind in syndicating it. So I read this puzzle and the comments ~2 months later.
But interesting nevertheless... I usually complete 95% of the puzzle unaided. Things that stump me are core Americanisms (SSA, Sesno, etc). Abbreviations are really tough to crack. Popular culture and word-fills are easy with the perps.
-borax, Hyderabad, India
Good morning, C.C. and gang - wow. I've got a Rorschach test here. Write-overs all over the place. Started with 'Just a sec' after I got the 'c' in 'cede', and had similar screwups all over. I loved the puzzle, and thought some of the clues were just outstanding, led by 'Caesar's tax form' and 'do to pick', but I really had a struggle to finish it. Unknowns for me were 'opera seria', 'soigne'.
Today is Water a Flower Day.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "There was never a great character who did not sometimes smash the routine regulations and make new ones for himself." -- Industrialist Andrew Carnegie
A couple floral Fun Facts:
- The largest flower in the world is the Rafflesia arnoldii, which can grow to be three feet across and up to twenty-four pounds.
- The smallest flower in the world is the water-meal, which is only 1/42 of an inch long and 1/85 of an inch wide. It weighs approximately the same as two grains of salt.
anon@5:46, what about the online version?
C.C. a 'pick' in this case is something akin to a comb, but larger, that's used on an afro. And 'scale' can mean to climb up, as in 'he scaled the mountain'.
Good morning, all - Wow, those were really doozy clues. Really struggled, especially in the lower quarter. Was almost ready to give up the pen and use a pencil, due to all the overwriting. BUT, I still like the LAT puzzles more than the TMS puzzles.
When Dennis has writeovers....it is difficult!!!
We're going to have a bright, sunny weekend. Fun time!
Good morning, c.c. and all - up early today and, found the puzzle easier than yesterday, of course i did it online but, some i knew, some fell in and some good guessing .
Unknowns were, soigne, pika.
Cat's pajamas? hmmm . . . Do to pick, most clever and Caesar's tax form ? Macchiavelian to me.
Most enjoyable, and i am off to spinning.
You all have a good day !
Decide is best.... I see fit to go ahead with the cookout. Country bumkin slang. She saw fit to wear that horrid dress.
Afro is a hair do of the 70's and 80's. You wore a pick in your hair so you could freshen it up incase it fell. The more you picked it, the bigger it got.
Borax,
I had problem with SESNO too.
Dennis,
The WW today is so you. Living on edge and a penchant for rule-breaking.
Maria,
Good word, Machiavellian. Lee Atwater + Karl Rove.
Kazie,
I like your sportless mind EU post yesterday. Have you seen "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind"?
Anonymous @ 7:41am,
I just can't comprehend the grammar for "Decide is best". Is it a verb phrase?
Wolfmom, Lola, Embien & Bill,
Remember the "Half of sex-" for TRI in a Doug Peterson puzzle we had before? The "-" is a sign for prefix.
SKaren,
I tried "The Last of the Mohicans", but I lost interest after a few minutes. Certain movies just do not fascinate me.
Al,
Spam is called 兜售信息 in Chinese.
C.C., yes, a verb phrase, as in, "what did you decide is best for us?"
Dennis,
Ugh. I am still not convinced. Need Kazie/Sallie/Doreen.
Andee,
You google now so you won't need to google tomorrow.
Luxor,
No, I am not a comic fan. Just like the sound of "Holy moley". I worked with a few former Marines in my Pinkerton days, their "full of themselves" BLUSTER PACK attitude and incredible professionalism kept me safe in those dangerous days. And I happen to like both Dennis and Argyle. So, drop the attack on Marines, immediately.
Well, this was a LITTLE better. I did the top half pretty much unaided. The bottom was another story!
HAIRLINE fell in right away. SOIGNE, ARBS, REDOX, and ORT for Boxers scrap, were not in my vocabolary. I meanORT is there, but I have no idea what the reference is here.MOET, I guess is Champagne? Not being very highbrow I've never had much of that. And what I've had was like drinking gingerale.Decide is best> SEEFIT, I guess, is ok, but, the clue is rather "out there" I think.
Oh, OPERASERIA?? OK, if you say so!
I suppose it was a good x word if someone has lived a much more rounded life than me!!
CY'all later
good morning c.c. and all,
great puzzle, really fun. loved the clues for FUR, MXL, HAIRLINE, STRAY, AFRO and ILL. needed perps for SOIGNE, ATTA, NISI. liked TOO LATE at the end.
c.c., try this: do as you see fit/decide is best.
anyone else notice that MOREL is right in the middle, with EXTRA LARGE just under it? on water a flower day, no less.
The first lines fromKiller Queen - (Acapella) are She keeps Moet et Chandon
In a pretty cabinet.
I'm still not over my melt down from yesterday. It took me forever to get the old standard, 23D Photo setting - F-stop, but I did get MXL, which I thought was clever.
2D: "That's the spot": AAH. Ah, massage. It is also the response to someone scratching an itch you can't reach.
Are you that insecure and self- concious that my post re a puzzle clue upset you so much. I didn't mention you at all. Lighten-up ( you told me that, remember).
I don't intend to spar with you either mentally or physically. I will not refer to you in my future posts and don't you refer to me either
C.C.,
Of course I had no idea of your past ordeals. I apologize to you and I will not post any reference to the USMC or it members, neither current or former, in the future.
Jeez, all I can do is laugh. You have a great day.
Good morning all. I've figured out that I could do much better on these late-in-the-week puzzles if I had more confidence. I got quite a few today, but should have gotten quite a few more if I hadn't already decided that these are too hard. That's what we say about poorly achieving students: poor expectations result in poor achievement.
Thought fur for cat's pajamas was a hoot. Didn't get it, but Caesar's tax form is wonderful. Since I have never done my taxes, I skip over. But I have heard of 1040. Also liked hairline. I don't like and still don't really get athletic supporter. Of course I was thinking underwear, if that's what you guys call it.
Cheers.
Wow. Some folks have really gotten testy in the last few weeks. There's an expression that I think may be helpful--one that I learned to have a successful marriage for the last 53 years. "Fight for the kings & queens, but throw away the pawns." I think it's time for some folks to throw away the pawns.
Vern, done. Thanks.
Good morning CC et al., Well, a hammer for me. Misread some clues so badly, like 30D CO's__ PEAK instead of PARK. 'Spose' it'll be better when my eyes uncross. Fav clues were same as Dennis'. Cute!
Melissa: Great catch on the 'morel'
and extra large in the middle of the puzzle. It's a "Denis" puzzle!
Maria: What kind of 'spinning'?
Dennis: interesting F(floral)FF...that smallest flower? fascinating. Wonder how it was ever discovered. And loved how
'ahrnold' is in the name of the biggest one.
Dennis, sometimes all that can be done is just laugh. You're such an 'up and coming' morel guy! I admire both you and Argyle very much.
Tarrajo: I think you're hilarious! Love you being here.
I'm off to spinning too - probably different than Maria's though.
Enjoy this gorgeous day.
Well, I'm putting on my dunce cap and sitting in the corner today. I had a terrible time with this puzzle. I gave Google a good workout though!!
Thanks to all for the caring remarks:} It does get easier each year. But, it is always there.
Wow, sure a lot of cat fighting going on! Chill out folks.
Going to a T Ball game today. My almost 6 year old grandson is playing. I wonder if it's too early for a couple of drinks before I go? Maybe a water bottle full of vodka. At least the games only last an hour.
Have a great weekend.
I don't think I could have completed this one on paper today, the mid-east had too many unknowns and finally only fell for me with the red letters.
Thought 1040, bugged, and cat's PJ's were clever.
I've seen OAST as the answer for tobacco kiln, so a tobacco farmer's drier made sense to me.
He's entitled to divide up his property as he sees fit, or If we see fit to attend, we'll be there. This expression uses see in the sense of "view as", and fit in the sense of appropriate or apt.
There is also a tee that is used to hold the baseball for pre little league (t-ball) players.
Hey:
For me these Saturdays are easier than Fridays because of the 15 letter answers, which really open up the grid. I also never heard of OPERA SERIA and it apparently was not a universal term.
I do business with Filipinos, so PESO was a gimme; of course if you remember that Spain controlled the islands before we did, it is also logical. Many of the people still have Hispanic last names, e.g. Perez, Tejeda etc.
They used OASTS to dry the tobacco, grown in the shade, on the farms in Connecticut when I was growing up. The former president of U.S. operations for Davidoff, a Swiss maker of luxury goods company including premium Cuban cigars, praised Connecticut shade tobacco as "A nice Connecticut wrapper" and "…very silky, very fine. From a marketing point of view, it is considered at the moment to be one of the best tasting and looking wrappers available" in a Cigar Aficionado article on why the world's best cigars use Connecticut tobacco wrapper leaves. There were miles of cheese cloth looking covers over the tobacco as we drove. My father picked tobacco in high school for 10 cents an hour.
Another digression, sorry....
Melissa B, I do not know whether to bow or shake my head at your perceptive observation of MOREL popping up (so to speak) in our puzzle)
Anyway, I enjoyed the cluing which was both tricky and fair, have a great week end.
M IV
I think I was suffering from Sallie's syndrome today--fear that it was going to be a hammer, so it was. That and too many distractions not being alone. I only got the NW corner and some of the NE, down to REDYE except for SCALED and THRIVE. Other than that I got OME, MXL (favorite clue), INFO, LEAH, ATOLL, INT and HAIRLINE, which I also liked. I was waiting on 21A/D to see if it needed S,M,or T. Then I gave up. I don't like going online and cheating with red, it's a waste of time.
c.c.,
I think I saw that movie, but can't remember it too well.
I had OPT FOR for SEE FIT. They are both idioms. To "see fit" to do something is to decide that it fits your needs, you see it as "fitting" in the situation you're in. "See" is obviously the verb, "fit" must be an adjective, like in the expreession "fit to kill" describing someone's anger.
Good morning CC and all,
Vern, I liked your advice,uh..quote
Again, this c/w was a struggle for me. I am not familiar with eboli, amylase, opera seria, soigne, Kofi Atta..,ort, idio,and the 4 abbreviations. Have trouble with phrases and there were about 14 of them. Like Sallie, I think I lack a bit of confidence on Fri/Sat c/w.
Melissa, good eye!
Beautiful day..lots of graduations
For C.C.
Fit has many meanings and one is "to be suitable to". So to see if something is suitable is to see fit.
The afro hair style (or "do") requires a large comb called a pick to keep it standing up.
My daughter-in-law is from South Korea and spoke almost no English when she arrived here in '95. We met a month later. Your ability to solve these puzzles amazes me!
C.C. I'm not sure what a verb phrase. There are, however, verbal phrases--gerunds (ending in -ing), participles (usually ending in -ed), and infinitives (beginning with to). This clue and answer would qualify as parallel infinitive (verbal) phrases. TO DECIDE is best and TO SEE fit.
I don't see much of a connection in the meanings though. I thought it was not a good clue, but can't think of a better one. Maybe someone else can help out with a better clue.
Luxor: It appears you need to have the last word. Consider that you have it.
Doreen
Dennis- Why are you pullin' our legs? If you're going to state things that you've made up as being true at least leave a hint that you're not being serious. I read this blog to get honest opinions about puzzles and to learn something useful. I don't need to be hornswoggled by your misinformation.
Water a Flower Day... baloney! Why would anyone put more water in a river?
The largest flower in the world is not the Rafflesia arnoldii... It's the Amazon.
And the smallest flower in the world is not the watermeal. There exists no such river. And it could not possilbly be only 1/42 of an inch long by 1/85 of an inch wide anyway!
C.C.- Are you going to stand for this any longer? Yes Arno?
Jerome, you really had me going - well done.
Dennis- In light of yesterday's clue for the Arno river being "Italian flower", I couldn't resist the temptation to be a wiseguy. I'm glad you took it in the spirit of fun. However, if you have the urge to give me a cyber slap upside the head, I understand.
I always enjoy your interesting posts.
see fit.
I think of "fit" as basicly refering to something being able to be located inside something else. Extend that concept to seeing a non-physical thing, such as an idea or a preference, fitting a situation and "to see fit" simply refers to it being suitable. If there are several options, then the one that fits best is first choice.
Calef.
17:13 today. Much easier than Friday's puzzle, but actually not nearly as much fun to solve. My last fill was the 'S' in ASE and OPERA SERIA (never heard of it), and was a pure guess.
I can never keep those chemical/enzyme suffixes straight. ASE, OSE, INE, ANE, (and a lot more). Bah! Too many of them.
My favorite fill was MXL. I thought that was really clever.
c.c., besides tobacco (as @Al and @lemonade said), OAST is also used to dry hops, we have many of them here in Oregon (one of the largest hop-producing areas). They make some pretty good craft beer around here, as well, though I'm primarily a wine drinker these days.
You can see some pictures of traditional OASTS used for drying hops here: Oast House.
The growth of a hop plant is amazing. They are typically trained on wires some 20 feet overhead, and will grow that entire length in a season (farmers say that you can almost see them grow while sitting on your back porch). You can see some typical trellises here: HopsI forgot to mention that I grow some hops in my garden, but they are just ornamental (some friends often harvest the hop buds to make beer).
Basic hair pick
c.c. - thanks , too bad i misspelled it :(
Sallie, just realized you changed your avatar, must have happened while i was away , though the Crab is beautiful, your old avatar was so sweet i miss it.
Lois,
spinningWhat kind of spinning do you do ? (no pun intended)
this is the first time i link anything!
By George, i think i' ve got it !
Jerome -good try !
It's not easy to put one over Dennis, ha, ha,
too bad your," yes arno " gave you away.
Very funny.
Doreen,
Gerunds (verbal nouns) ending in -ing are also technically present participles. These participles can also be gerundives (verbal adjectives). The participles that end in -ed are always past participles of regular verbs and can also be used adjectivally.
e.g. Gerund: Swimming is fun.
Gerundive: The floating dock is high today.
Past participial gerundive: Thatched cottages are picturesque.
Now this is more like it, humor not rancor.
Yes, the time of year: my future daughter-in-law's younger brother has his high school graduation party tonight. Kudos, Jerome.
SOIGNE is a word I associate with the magnificent elegance of old money. I once again think of Newport, Rhode Island and the Vanderbilts.
I have never seen a PIKA, but learned about them during the time I had to play POKEMON with my children and was often cast as PIKACHU . Cute?
Maria, My avatar is of a Sally lightfoot crab. If you click on my email, you'll see why a person at church called it to my attention. And I get a kick out of using it for my "sign".
@jerome: nice one.
@lois and jd: thx.
@lemonade: if it were a snake it woulda .. well, you know. first bow, then headshake.
I used to like these puzzles, if this is the same group that published in the daily Chicago Tribune in the past. I am just an average puzzler and these are mostly over my head. The reasoning for the definititons is way out, in many cases.
How about an alternate puzzle for us average "Janes"?
Jerome,
Re: Flowers. To quote Dennis's comment on Jazzbumpa's colonists & buss connection yesterday: "Sheer genius; just perfect".
Doreen, Andee, Kazie & Calef,
I got SEE FIT. Just had problem understanding the grammar structure of "Decide is best". It does not equate SEE FIT grammar-wise, does it?
Melissa,
Re: MOREL & TOO LATE. Nice observations.
Embine et al,
Thanks for OAST and other answers.
Doreen et al,
I mean SEE FIT is a perfectly acceptable phrase, but "Decide is best" looks like a sentence.
Anonymous @4:36pm,
The constructors and editor work hard to come up with those "way out" clues.
Hi everyone!
As I waded into this one, I said, "Wait a sec. What's the problem?" Then I saw it was a Robert H. Wolfe puzzle. Pshaw! In the old days this fact alone would have stopped me in my tracks. But I thought, I won't stand for it. It's only a puzzle, and puzzles have solutions, Abbr. ans. I didn't see fit to stop until it was too late, the puzzle was complete.
Lemonade 714: The Pika video was too cute. I guess I'm not the only one who has never heard of one, the spell checker just red-lined the word Pika.
I didn't understand what I had with MXL until I came here. Doh! I've never heard of soigne, and can't figure out how to use it in a sentence.
c.c. I must be having a densa day. "half of sex-" Tri, still doesn't compute. I would appreciate a little elaboration. Thanks.
Vayan con Dios
c.c. Never mind. I just got it. Double Doh!!
c.c.,
"Decide is best" sounds like something is missing, doesn't it? I think if it said "decide it is best" it would be clearer. It could then be followed by "to do something" in the same way as "see fit" would be completed in a sentence.
Melissa,
Very morel catch!
SOIGNÉ comes from the verb soigner=to care for. So I see it as referring to something great care has been taken with--hence "elegantly done" as in the clue. However, I'm not familiar with its usage in English at all. Guess I've never been around people who would use it or merit that description.
Lola said- "It's only a puzzle, and puzzles have solutions." Now you're talkin'! I hope all who consider themselves incapable of doing tough puzzles read Lola's entire first paragraph and take it to heart. Also, give this a try. Look at each entry in Robert's excellent puzzle and read each clue for that entry. Aha! I'll bet almost all the entries now make perfect sense and weren't so tough after all. Sure, there's a little trickiness here and there (don't forget, constructors have a devilish nature) but the words and phrases are mostly obvious.
As you know I don't take the time to solve puzzles on the weekends as I am trying to raise this an 8 year old going on 20, to be a young man. I read the comments though and am really perturbed to attract animosity. That's all I am gonna say about that.
@Dennis, my one flower I have is wsll within 1/42" snd 3." I try to cultivate it, and it seems to work. You might want to send an arborkindaguy to make sure.
Lemonade, apologies for the rancor. I too learned what a Pika was from Pikachu, as I've sold Pokemon cards for a dozen years or so.
Mustang Mel, good catch on morel; never a doubt.
Jerome, it's pretty neat to watch people start to 'sync up' with the LAT puzzles. When we first were switched over, there was a lot of gnashing of teeth, but more and more, people are saying how much they now enjoy the puzzles. I have the utmost respect for all of you who come up with these insanely clever clues.
tarrajo, my compliments on staying above the fray. I wish I had that mentality.
Also, the key for the health of your flower is frequent watering.
Kazie: Thanks for the info on soigne. If it is truly only a French term, shouldn't it have had something to indicate that it was a foreign word? ie. Pierre's well kept treasure. Just a thought. TTFN
@borax and C.C. So where is this SESNO reference? You've got me going.
@jerome The smallest flower is the D in Oregon.
Crockett: Did you mean the Deschutes?
Lola,
I guess I didn't mean to say that soigné isn't used in English, just that I haven't heard it used. We use a lot of French expressions so it probably is acceptable in some circles. It sounds a bit pretentious though. Webster's says it means "well groomed, elegantly maintained". I agree an indication of its French origin might have helped some people.
@Dennis...are you an arborkindaguy with your gardening tips? I have been known to have 2 3/4" thumbs when it comes to that kind of stuff. You?
@lola Nope. The D.
Tarrajo, please ignore the ignoble, ignominious ignominy, by the ignorants that post as Anon. I, for one, as a lurker, smile, and appreciate you wit, and your verbal skills, and have come out of my corner to say, "Way to go girl!", and to say "SHOVE IT!" to the gutless anon posters, those toads.
TJ in Osseo, another five letter suburb of Minneapolis that isn't Edina, which was once asked of me, Ed-e- nah?
Just wanted to point out that the Philippines does use the currency Peso but it's Philippine Pesos not the same pesos that comes to mind when you think south of the border. ^.^
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