Theme: MARGIN OF VICTORY (Winning difference - a small one starts 17-, 26- and 47-Across)
17A: "That fact is worth considering": A POINT WELL TAKEN (basketball/football/tennis)
26A: "Brilliant": A STROKE OF GENIUS (golf)
47A: Wall Street nightmare: A RUN ON THE MARKET (baseball)
Hmm, another scrabbly puzzle. Only one letter Q away from a pangram. 6 K's.
Four 15-letter theme entries. Lovely. No A GOAL for the hockey/soccer fans though.
I am not familiar with A RUN ON THE MARKET. Similar to the stock market crash we just weathered?
I don't understand the clue for LONG (18D: Unlike any vowels in dictionaries?). Is it because all the vowels in the word "dictionaries" have short sounds?
Across:
1A: Hook's mate: SMEE. The pirate in "Peter Pan".
5A: Swedish import: SAAB. GM still owns SAAB, though won't for long.
9A: Letter vender?: SAJAK (Pat). Host of "Wheel of Fortune". I was in the rental let-ter (one who lets) direction.
14A: Utterly unapproachable: COLD AS ICE
16A: Love abroad: AMORE. Italian for "love".
19A: Approaching the hour: TEN TO. I used to say five fifty (5:50) rather than TEN TO six.
20A: Janis's comics mate: ARLO. "ARLO and Janis".
22A: Clandestine maritime org.: ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). The Navy CIA. I simply forgot.
24A: Sgt., for one: NCO
35A: Japanese drama: NOH. Derived from Chinese "Neng", literally "ability". Most NOH characters are masked. Actors are usually males.
36A: Fair-sized fair: EXPO. Nice clue.
37A: Petrol measure: LITRE. Petrol is British for "gas", hence British spelling of LITER.
38A: Angelou's "And Still __": I RISE. Penned in "I SING". Must have confused it with something else.
41A: Places for RNs: ERS. ORS too.
42A: Café container: TASSE. French for "cup". TASSE à café = coffee cup.
43A: Not hit off the ground: TEE UP. You use a tee to TEE UP (i.e., not "hit off the ground") when teeing off. I felt stupid not being able to interpret the clue.
44A: Premature, perhaps: RASH
46A: W. Hemisphere alliance: OAS (Organization of American States).
51A: Shaq's alma mater: LSU (Louisiana State University)
52A: Wall St. wall plaque: MBA. Do they really display their MBA on the wall? Even after this financial meltdown?
53A: Inclusive prefix: AMBI. Prefix for "both", as in ambidextrous.
60A: Middle of three black keys: A FLAT. Easy guess.
67A: Menotti's shepherd boy: AMAHL. "AMAHL and the Night Visitors". Literally "labor"/ "hard work" in Hebrew/Sanskrit. Maybe it's related to AMAH.
68A: "Reach": STICK 'EM UP
69A: Sip or bite: TASTE
70A: Piece of work: TASK
71D: Musician's mailing: DEMO
Down:
1D: Word to a pest: SCAT
2D: Brood: MOPE. Sometimes I feel blue for no reason.
3D: North Carolina campus: ELON. Wow, this Tar Heel State sure gets lots of play lately.
4D: Prose pro: EDITOR. Yes, you are a "Prose pro", Rich!
5D: Old JFK arrival: SST
6D: Bygone audio brand: AIWA. Sony acquired AIWA in 2002, and then discontinued the brand in 2006.
7D: One offering outstanding services?: ACER. Is "service" the same as "serve" in tennis?
8D: Bossy's ringer: BELL. I wonder why a cow is called bossy.
10D: Endangered South American watershed: AMAZONIA. New word to me.
11D: Part of a routine: JOKE. Oh, "comic routine". Not a JOKE that Kathy Griffin is now dating Sarah Palin's 19-year-old almost son-in-law.
12D: War deity: ARES. Greek God of War.
13D: Daily Planet reporter: KENT (Clark)
15D: "That's __!": parental warning: A NO NO
23D: Tina's ex: IKE
25D: Druid, for one: CELT. Druid is ancient CELT. Dictionary says druid is derived from duiwid, dru means "oak", (w)id means "to know". No wonder Druids worshipped oak trees.
26D: Ekberg of "La Dolce Vita": ANITA. I remember this scene. But her name escaped me.
28D: 1960s-'70s South Vietnamese president: THIEU. No idea. This guy was South Vietnam's last president (1965-1975).
29D: Bring to bear: EXERT
30D: Daytime TV mogul: OPRAH. Ennui.
31D: "All that Jazz" choreographer: FOSSE (Bob). Wikipedia says he won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography.
32D: "Not to worry": IT'S OK
33D: Latin bears: URSAE. Mine was URSAS.
34D: Behold, of old: SEEST. Biblically. I was thinking of ECCE, the Latin "behold".
39D: Morning awakener, perhaps: SUNLIGHT. What came to your mind first?
40D: Long poem: EPOS. Literally "tale" in Greek. "Odyssey" is an EPOS. New word to me also.
45D: "I'm thinking ...": HMM
48D: Former Georgia senator Sam: NUNN. Georgia senator from 1972 to 1997.
50D: Took a Grand Canyon trip, say: RAFTED
53D: Latin trio word: AMAT. Amo (I love), amas (You love) & AMAT (He loves).
55A: Tops at the beach: BRAS. So pretty.
57D: Go for: COST
58D: Mennen lotion: AFTA. A pun on "after".
59D: Dollar competitor: AVIS
61D: Togo's capital: LOME. No idea. See this map. They speak French, so Lomé is pronounced like law-MEY.
62D: Carla lily family: ARUM. Learned from doing Xword. Jack-in-the-pulpit belongs to the ARUM family also.
63D: Slip of the finger?: TYPO. Lovely clue.
65D: Seine sight: ILE. French for "island".
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Here is photo of our fellow solver Elissa and her family after bar mitzvah last week. In her words: "You can just see me next to my husband (the handsome guy with the mustache) peeking over my mother's head. In my next life I plan to be tall!"
17A: "That fact is worth considering": A POINT WELL TAKEN (basketball/football/tennis)
26A: "Brilliant": A STROKE OF GENIUS (golf)
47A: Wall Street nightmare: A RUN ON THE MARKET (baseball)
Hmm, another scrabbly puzzle. Only one letter Q away from a pangram. 6 K's.
Four 15-letter theme entries. Lovely. No A GOAL for the hockey/soccer fans though.
I am not familiar with A RUN ON THE MARKET. Similar to the stock market crash we just weathered?
I don't understand the clue for LONG (18D: Unlike any vowels in dictionaries?). Is it because all the vowels in the word "dictionaries" have short sounds?
Across:
1A: Hook's mate: SMEE. The pirate in "Peter Pan".
5A: Swedish import: SAAB. GM still owns SAAB, though won't for long.
9A: Letter vender?: SAJAK (Pat). Host of "Wheel of Fortune". I was in the rental let-ter (one who lets) direction.
14A: Utterly unapproachable: COLD AS ICE
16A: Love abroad: AMORE. Italian for "love".
19A: Approaching the hour: TEN TO. I used to say five fifty (5:50) rather than TEN TO six.
20A: Janis's comics mate: ARLO. "ARLO and Janis".
22A: Clandestine maritime org.: ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). The Navy CIA. I simply forgot.
24A: Sgt., for one: NCO
35A: Japanese drama: NOH. Derived from Chinese "Neng", literally "ability". Most NOH characters are masked. Actors are usually males.
36A: Fair-sized fair: EXPO. Nice clue.
37A: Petrol measure: LITRE. Petrol is British for "gas", hence British spelling of LITER.
38A: Angelou's "And Still __": I RISE. Penned in "I SING". Must have confused it with something else.
41A: Places for RNs: ERS. ORS too.
42A: Café container: TASSE. French for "cup". TASSE à café = coffee cup.
43A: Not hit off the ground: TEE UP. You use a tee to TEE UP (i.e., not "hit off the ground") when teeing off. I felt stupid not being able to interpret the clue.
44A: Premature, perhaps: RASH
46A: W. Hemisphere alliance: OAS (Organization of American States).
51A: Shaq's alma mater: LSU (Louisiana State University)
52A: Wall St. wall plaque: MBA. Do they really display their MBA on the wall? Even after this financial meltdown?
53A: Inclusive prefix: AMBI. Prefix for "both", as in ambidextrous.
60A: Middle of three black keys: A FLAT. Easy guess.
67A: Menotti's shepherd boy: AMAHL. "AMAHL and the Night Visitors". Literally "labor"/ "hard work" in Hebrew/Sanskrit. Maybe it's related to AMAH.
68A: "Reach": STICK 'EM UP
69A: Sip or bite: TASTE
70A: Piece of work: TASK
71D: Musician's mailing: DEMO
Down:
1D: Word to a pest: SCAT
2D: Brood: MOPE. Sometimes I feel blue for no reason.
3D: North Carolina campus: ELON. Wow, this Tar Heel State sure gets lots of play lately.
4D: Prose pro: EDITOR. Yes, you are a "Prose pro", Rich!
5D: Old JFK arrival: SST
6D: Bygone audio brand: AIWA. Sony acquired AIWA in 2002, and then discontinued the brand in 2006.
7D: One offering outstanding services?: ACER. Is "service" the same as "serve" in tennis?
8D: Bossy's ringer: BELL. I wonder why a cow is called bossy.
10D: Endangered South American watershed: AMAZONIA. New word to me.
11D: Part of a routine: JOKE. Oh, "comic routine". Not a JOKE that Kathy Griffin is now dating Sarah Palin's 19-year-old almost son-in-law.
12D: War deity: ARES. Greek God of War.
13D: Daily Planet reporter: KENT (Clark)
15D: "That's __!": parental warning: A NO NO
23D: Tina's ex: IKE
25D: Druid, for one: CELT. Druid is ancient CELT. Dictionary says druid is derived from duiwid, dru means "oak", (w)id means "to know". No wonder Druids worshipped oak trees.
26D: Ekberg of "La Dolce Vita": ANITA. I remember this scene. But her name escaped me.
28D: 1960s-'70s South Vietnamese president: THIEU. No idea. This guy was South Vietnam's last president (1965-1975).
29D: Bring to bear: EXERT
30D: Daytime TV mogul: OPRAH. Ennui.
31D: "All that Jazz" choreographer: FOSSE (Bob). Wikipedia says he won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography.
32D: "Not to worry": IT'S OK
33D: Latin bears: URSAE. Mine was URSAS.
34D: Behold, of old: SEEST. Biblically. I was thinking of ECCE, the Latin "behold".
39D: Morning awakener, perhaps: SUNLIGHT. What came to your mind first?
40D: Long poem: EPOS. Literally "tale" in Greek. "Odyssey" is an EPOS. New word to me also.
45D: "I'm thinking ...": HMM
48D: Former Georgia senator Sam: NUNN. Georgia senator from 1972 to 1997.
50D: Took a Grand Canyon trip, say: RAFTED
53D: Latin trio word: AMAT. Amo (I love), amas (You love) & AMAT (He loves).
55A: Tops at the beach: BRAS. So pretty.
57D: Go for: COST
58D: Mennen lotion: AFTA. A pun on "after".
59D: Dollar competitor: AVIS
61D: Togo's capital: LOME. No idea. See this map. They speak French, so Lomé is pronounced like law-MEY.
62D: Carla lily family: ARUM. Learned from doing Xword. Jack-in-the-pulpit belongs to the ARUM family also.
63D: Slip of the finger?: TYPO. Lovely clue.
65D: Seine sight: ILE. French for "island".
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Here is photo of our fellow solver Elissa and her family after bar mitzvah last week. In her words: "You can just see me next to my husband (the handsome guy with the mustache) peeking over my mother's head. In my next life I plan to be tall!"
81 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - a good Wednesday puzzle, with an interesting and well-done theme. Once I had 'point', 'stroke' and 'run', I knew it was gonna be something sports-related, but had no idea how they tied together until 64A.
Some great cluing, including 'one offering outstanding services' and 'part of a routine' (I was expecting 'step'). I looked as 'seest' for the longest time before I realized what it was. Also initially thought 'brood' was the noun, as in the young of a family, not the verb. I'm sure Elissa found 'ONI' a no-brainer. Unknowns for me today were 'Janis's comics mate' and 'Togo's capital'.
C.C., thanks for the great picture for 55D, which, coincidently, is what first came to mind for 'Morning awakener, perhaps'.
Today is Middle Child's Day.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." -- Comedian Lucille Ball
Today's 'Qute Quotes':
- Moral Indignation: jealousy with a halo. -- H.G. Wells
- Masturbation: Sex with someone you love. -- Woody Allen
Morning All. Was this an extraordinarily hard Wednesday puzzle, or is it just that my brain isn't functioning today due to the lack of sleep? I have done very, very poorly today. About the only response I was sure of on the first, second, third, ... pass was Shaq's alma mater.
We used to watch Shaquille O'Neal play at LSU when he was a student. He left school before graduating to join the NBA, but later returned via night school and did earn his degree.
Birthdays today:
1856 ~ "Diamond Jim" Brady, an American financier (d. 1917)
1881 ~ Cecil B. DeMille, Great American film/epic director. (d. 1959).
1954 ~ Pat Metheny, American musician.
Also on this date: Janis Joplin gave her final concert on this date in 1970 at Harvard University. Sadly, I am just a tad too young to have been able to attend any of her concerts. I do remember listening to her music ~ Pearl was an especially favorite album.
QOD: Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. ~ George Carlin
Morning, C.C. and all,
Lovely puzzle this morning, with some excellent clues already referred to. I got all of the theme answers before I got the theme, which by that time was pretty obvious.
I have not been posting much due to watering chores, but I have been reading the blog most days.
Our drought continues. Yesterday was the 30th day with temps over 97 degrees. Heat indices are running about 110-115 every day. We have had about one inch of rain so far this year.
I am off to take Jean to her therapist this morning. Her depression continues.
Have a great hump day!
Melissa Bee & Jeannie, (from yesterday)
Will Shortz is a wildly avid table tennis player, did you know?
He plays most nights every week and goes to tournaments all the time. Whenever he travels he searches out the local T.T. place and arranges a game!
--Conglo
Good Morning!!
Lots and Lots of unknowns...where to start? Knew Snee and thought SHOO is correct for "Word to a pest". Got A POINT WELL TAKEN and A RUN ON THE MARKET. So my theme was MARGIN OF SUCCESS. And then ofcourse that part was all a mess.
Finallt after 35 mins and lots of red letter help, it was all done.
Thanks CC for the Togo map..I forgot it was in Africa..was thinking Carribean.
And Jessica Alba is a sight to behold.
Have a great day!
Morning, all!
Pretty straightforward puzzle for the most part, but in the end I just couldn't get the "TADA!" indicating I had solved it correctly. Spent 3 or 4 minutes going over every answer and couldn't see the problem. Finally, I changed the difficulty level and saw two red letters where I had put EPIC instead of EPOS. I thought that RUN IN THE MARKET looked a little odd, and I suppose I should have realized that LCU wasn't a real school, but EPIC seemed so right and I've never heard of EPOS before...
Ah, well. Ya can't win them all, right?
To The Amazing Ladies of Northern California, I updated my email. Please let me know when you are meeting next. I'd love to meet all of you..didnt realize that there are so many of us here.
Thank you
Moon et al,
I've just added Elissa's picture and descriptions to the main blog entry. Email me yours crosswordc@gmail.com. I'll link one photo per day. Thanks. The blog "it" tomorrow.
This puzzle was a bit of a slog. I got the theme answers fairly easily, but not the theme until the 'winning difference' clue. So many answers were phrases starting with "A" something or other. Slip of the finger was my favorite clue. Didn't really know that LSU was Shaq's alma mater, but it just popped into my head. Things I'd think I'd know, like ONI, were a mystery. Other things I just plain didn't know, but got with perp help. Some answers I thought were a bit of a 'cheat' - ACER, SEEST.
I'm the middle child. My younger sister is in blue on the left of the picture. My older brother is the fourth from the right. He looks just like our dad.
Hahtool: Great quote from George Carlin and made quite obvious when watching the health care town hall meetings.
Sorry, I meant the blog "it" girl pictures tomorrow.
Hahtool and Elissa,
I agree about the Carlin quote and the HC TH meetings. It's so frustrating that people don't bother to research a bit for themselves, or simply use common sense.
I was slow today too. Had to g'spot NOH, AMAHL, THIEU and LSU. Several other unknowns that were guessable with perp help, except OAS/SEEST--I had SEE IT, wondering why that would be "of old". Enjoyable on the whole though.
c.c.,
I agree that LONG refers to the word dictionaries. Only way it would make sense. Thanks too for the enlargements--it really helps.
What is going on with Kathy Griffin? She looks older than Sarah!
Kazie: Really! Sarah's dob 2/11/64, Kathy's dob 11/4/60. She is 48, almost 30 years older than Levi. Makes her an ober cougar.
Wednesday puzzles are my favorite of the week. They usually are challenging and the cluing is very clever and today’s was no exception. I did have to hit the g-spot for Amahl, and Thieu, but even that didn’t take any fun out of the puzzle. Perp help included oni, nco, noh, tasse, elon, epos and nunn. Luckily I got Lome and arum without even reading the clues as I probably wouldn’t have gotten those. My favorite clues today were “one offering outstanding services” – acer and “letter vendor” – Sajak. I misread the clue “fair sized fair” as fair sized pair and wrote in “cees” Ha! I wanted caffeine for morning awakener perhaps. I guess I have been single too long as “the other thing” you all are eluding to didn’t even enter my mind.
Re: middle child day. Since Tashjo was born a few minutes before me and we have an older sister, does that make her the middle child?
good morning c.c. and all,
another fun puzzle today, a tad tougher than yesterday. great theme entries. never heard of ARLO and janis the comic strip, and like dennis, stared at SEEST for a while before groking it.
c.c. i couldn't agree more about your OPRAH comment, glad you said it first.
conglo, thx, i did not know that.
Morning. Just trying to catch up. Didn't do yesterday's puzzle until almost 5PM. Was pretty easy. Went through it so fast I didn't pay any attention to the theme.
Yesterday involved more painting. Found ants in the bedroom, so I gave them an ant party. (That means putting the Terro out and let them go at it). Heard a hissing sound out front. Discovered our irrigation system had a leak. Dick did a temporary repair and then fixed it last night. Just one of those days:}
Today's puzzle kicked my prat. Needed lots of help. When I checked the blog this AM I got A run on the market. Bingo! That was enough for me to finish it. Never heard of seest.
Liked Sajak, Stick em up, and cost. Had trouble with Avis, wanted Euro. Go figure.
Nice pix Elissa. When I come back in my next life I'm going to be taller too!
Gotta' go do some more painting. Also haircut day:} Would rather go back to bed. My head is fuzzy today. Will try to check back later.
Charlette
Good morning CC et al.,
A good Weds puzzle. Took twice as long as yesterday and at this rate of doubling time every day, by Fri I should finish on Sat - but I'll be LV. Oh well. Darn the luck!
Loved the Fosse ref. He deserves all the awards and more. Crazy about his style. Same unknowns as Dennis and fav clue was 9A letter vendor: Sajak. Loved your thinking, CC. Very creative. Think 43A should be 'teed up' but small matter. Overall, a good puzzle and enjoyable for me. Just hard enough.
Conglo: that's very interesting about Will Shortz. Thanks.
CC: Thanks for that out-freakin-standing pic of Dennis. When will I meet him? I'm always up for a road trip. I've got my equipment all ready: seat belt, parachute, a fast car w/4 on the floor and a
5th under the seat. Guess you better ask him when he's ready to meet me. Short of an astronaut's line of gear or full body armor, he might think of some other equipment he might want to have close by. Might have to change venues too. That much fun may be outlawed in NJ.
Argyle: Santa baby! Great pic of you too. What's going on? Looks like a fun time. Can you tell me if I made your "good" list this year? I've tried really really hard. If so, my chimney is ready whenever you are. Christmas can come anytime.
Enjoy this gorgeous day.
Good morning CC and all,
ICK! I not seeth much to gimme a complete puzzle. Left bottom exposed.Stick em up? I think not. Maybe manana,
Queen Calla Lily (alias Aron)
Doing the puzzle was worth it just to read Maya Angelou's beautiful poem,"Still I Rise"
CC, you are soo good. That picture of Elissa's family is so clear, and Elissa, are you on your tippy toes?????
Treefrog,
I wanted EURO too--didn't know of Dollar car rentals.
melissa B,
I had to look at todays' comics for ARLO and Janis too. I like the other Arlo better!
Elissa,
I g'ed Kathy Griffin, and found they were together for one event, so maybe there's nothing to it. Probably a publicity stunt to benefit both of them.
Just went out to the garden to check on and feed the fish in the pond. Here is my own QoD:
"Anything in the garden that is growing like a weed probably is one."
I didn't seest or seeth (that's with a lisp)
My fav clue was letter vendor? because I got it. Slip of the finger was clever too, but I didn't get it.
I have my side fence lined with Calla Lilies, and they continue to multiply.Unfortunately, they are snail incubators.
Eddy B & Moon,Woo Hoo! The more, the merrier!
Good morning everyone.
Tarrajo and all zucchini lovers – there was a lovely recipe for a ZUCCHINI TINI in our paper today.
First you make zucchini water by taking a LARGE one, grating it, let sit with a pinch of coarse salt for 15 minutes. Then press the water out with hands or wooden spoon. Combine
½ oz of z. water, 2 oz cold sake, 1 oz gin. Shake with ice, strain into chilled glass, and garnish with 1 zucchini slice.
Doesn't that sound yummy? Maybe you could give the job of making z water to LGJ.
C.C., Your comment about saying five fifty rather than ten to six is most likely a result of seeing time digitally. One of the tasks of primary teachers is teaching telling time, using the old fashioned clocks. Not an easy job. Now when someone says to a kid that it's twenty to five, most likely the child will not understand. Sigh.
Cheers
@C.C. A run on the market is when there is some scare, real or imagined, and everyone starts dumping their stocks, causing a drop in price or as we have now, a major recession.
I'm sure, like Kazie, that the intent of the clue was that the vowels in the word dictionary are not long. DictionariEs, however, is pronounced with a long E...
I call foul on the crossing of the Japanese Drama and Vietnamese President clues. When you have a foreign term or name in a puzzle, it should at least have non-foreign perps.
Here are some ruminations on the term bossy for a cow.
@Melissa Bee, yes, a recumbent bike. What could be a more relaxing way to exercise than being in a prone position; you can be lazy and still work out at the same time. Treadmills supposedly give you a more thorough workout, but not if you don't use them because you don't feel like doing it standing up.
Why Ping Pong, by the way? I've never heard it called that before...Although, I agree you can get pretty out of breath playing that if you do it right. Back in college, I needed to have two different kinds of rubber on my table tennis bat, (as ping pong paddles are more properly termed). I wasn't as good with my backhand shots, so I needed that side to be less tacky.
Mornin`: "smee, amore, ten to, zest, expo, litre(spelled wrong, of course), rash, mba, a flat, scat, (part of) amazonia, hmm, ick, bras, ike" were all I could do before coming here...I actually got more on NYT than this, today.
I don`t lie about my age, i just don`t tell it...I know how people pigeon-hole you when they know you`re 103 or from the "sahyouth". My standard comment to anyone I have to tell is "...and if you tell anyone, I`ll hafta kill yah!"
All the zuchini recipes..why not just not plant it?
Sallie: We taught analog clocks right along with digital ones. Our students were required to write the corresponding time for both on tests. Of course that was five years ago, now...
Again, as a very rank amateur constructor (non accepted yet)...sometimes you come up with a letter combo that requires you to really search for a clue... "ten to" might be one of those.
Still have that living/dining room combo stacked with yard sale stuff I have to get priced...I hate it...but it`s stuff I haven`t used in three/four years and I need the space...might not be around much for a few days...just in time for the toughie puzzles!
Jimbo; I have enough faith in you for both of us!
Dennis: You do look self-confident in the pic...Curahee!
Linda, you're a budding constructor? That's great!
By the way, Currahee is the motto of the 506 ARMY airborne regiment (a great outfit); the Marine Corps motto is Semper Fidelis - always faithful.
Dennis: I meant to encourage you with the meaning of currahee...I know you live by Semper Fidelis.
Don`t have a lot of time for constructing...but like to "play" with it. Words are my forte...just can`t spell them... :)
Hi C.C. Your 4:14 yesterday. My new toy is great - I think I've found a lifelong love this time. I just have to get adjusted to her scoot factor - we're always getting to places before we're supposed to get there.
And, thank you very much for asking C.C.
Good Morning All, The other on-line solvers who don't use red letter help the last few days of the week are certainly above George Carlin's average line. I'm one of those who goes right to red Thursday through Saturday.
There may not have been any official theme entries for hockey, but both COLD AS ICE and STICK 'EM UP (high-sticking) could have been clued as hockey related. "Canadiens surface?", "Penguins penalty move?"
THIEU followed the South Vietnam's first president Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem's brother, the head of the secret police, Ngo Dinh Nhu was generally believed to be the brains behind his brother's corrupt regime. Nhu's wife, Madame Nhu is probably best remembered for her public remarks on the self-immolation of a Buddhist monk. ICK.
I've never heard of the comic strip "ARLO and Janis", EPOS or LOME. I'm embarrassed to say I'd never read And Still I RISE. Thanks for the link, JD.
Linda, LOL, If you can stick around until you're 103, any pigeon-holing is good-pigeon holing! I've only got 36 more years to go...Yippee, I think I can make it. Let 'em talk!
Dennis, QQ from H.G. Wells - excellent definition of an Anon comment.
Moon, glad to see you in blue.
Elissa, I only have one question. Did your father include the traditional phrase, "Today I am a man." in his bar mitzvah speech?
This puzzle is like doing work. X-word puzzles are supposed to be enjoyable not frustrating like these. It's to be somewhat taxing, but such that you feel a sense of accomplishment by getting the answers yourself. Including using the usual references.
The three 15 letter clues/answers are totally impossible to get, unless you get all of the vertical fills, but then you're not really getting the answer.
Did anybody actually know these answers? Let me know ,please.
James Sajdak couldn't quite get his name in the puzzle but 9A)SAJAK clued as Letter vender? is pretty close all the way around.
Came across this interesting tidbit today about the world's largest xword puzzle. HMM.
Sorry to say Luxor, I got all the long clues before many of the shorter ones today. I too have days like that, where nothing works. After doing puzzles for a while, you have more days that work then don't. It requires a stick-to-it attitude and things get better. But if they are not fun, then just don't do them. Who needs it if you don't like it.
Lots of fun clues including SAJAK, EXPO, TEE UP, TYPO, AVIS. Unknowns were SEEST, THIEU, NOH. Didn't know ANITA, but for some reason just plopped that in right away. Must have been something that stayed in the recesses of my mind from some other time.
I agree that it would be nice if the foreign clues didn't cross each other, but I can see why they might also.
Yep, Oprah and ennui go for me as well.
NYTAnomino, I thought the same thing about the constructor's name. Have you posted before? If not, welcome.
Fun quotes today. Have a good one everyone.
Luxor, Perhaps it can be done earlier in the week but you are holding yourself to an impossible standard, by trying to complete a later-in-the-week puzzle by going Across without using perpendicular help.
Many solvers go either with the Acrosses or Downs to start, but when you run into unknown stumbling blocks, it is perfectly acceptable and definitely NOT cheating to change directions as many times as you need to complete the puzzle.
This morning I had most of the 1 through 13 Down fills. So, for 17A, I had AP-I-T-EL-T-KEN. Then I filled in 18D LONG. That gave me AP-I-T-ELLT-KEN. I looked at 17A clue again, had one of those delightful "Aha!" moments and finished the fill with the familiar (enough) phrase APOINTWELLTAKEN. I never would have gotten it without using the vertical fills. I used the same technique to get the other 15 letter theme fills AND I had three most fun "Aha!" moments.
"but then you're not really getting the answer.". Yes, you really are. Skipping back and forth and switching directions is THE way to get most of those difficult longer fills.
If you get totally stumped, there is always tomorrow or next week. Relax and enjoy.
Good afternoon.
Linda, thanks for putting in analog clock. I tried very hard to remember the correct word, but it wouldn't surface. (But I haven't taught elementary classes since 1980, so I figure that at age 79 I'm allowed to forget all sorts of things.)
NytAnomio: welcome back. Haven't seen you for quite a while. I too mused that Sajak was a clue for the consturctor Sajdak. Only one letter off.
Cheers
I totally agree with everyone who puts Oprah and enniu in the same sentence.
I loved Bob Fosse's work. I've seem All That Jazz several times, starting with the movie as well as on stage.
Good day everyone.
Started out with SMEE, SAAB and NOH...I made some Noh masks in a ceramics class a few years back and have a great book on the subject. I love the beautiful serenity in most of the faces... the first theme answer came easily but then I had to start going back and forth to get enough letters for the aha moment... was trying to figure out the scale on a piano(its been awhile) and filled in the first A which made the FLAT easy. Loved STICK EM UP(sorry JD)as that was easy, remembered AMAHL and the Night Visitors, didn't know I RISE and started out with AMOUR and LITER...once I corrected, it started just filling in...Unknowns...LCU, THIEU, ARLO, OAS...did know TASSE...easy to remember because of Demi-Tasse.
Had a good time with the puzzle but I know I will be banging my head tomorrow through Sat. :oP
C.C. Thank you so much for the link to Elissa's photo...
No meteor shower for us last night. Haze from the fires( we get it either direction from Shasta or down south...BLEH) plus the fog decided to come back last night, so by one am it was an impossible task...although I do love the fog!
Luxor...I agree with CA...not setting solving rules can make the puzzle more enjoyable. I try not to have to look anything up online, but when desparate, I give in. I think that a really good puzzle that has difficult Across fills should have a few Downs that are easy enough to give you chance to at least guess at the answer, based on a few letters and their placement. IMHO
Also...Janis Joplin/Big Brother and the Holding Company played quite frequently at the Filmore and they were often the "fill_in" Band when someone couldn't or didn't show up. Spent many Saturdays nights listening and dancing to her, Jimi Hendrix, Country Joe and the Fish and many others...including a "big" show at Winterland with Donovan...didn't have to partake of any drugs because you had no no choice, breathing in the haze in the auditorium...
Hi C.C. and all -
I didn't do too badly on this, considering that I did not get much sleep last night and had to get up at 5:30 this morning...oh that hurt!! I should not complain though, as it was Joe who had the worst night! Nothing like a colonoscopy prep to ruin a good nights sleep!! Joe's exam was normal, yea!! Can anyone tell me why they make you drink 'THAT' drink at 5:00 pm??? Joe should have done that at noon, the way it worked on him. I didn't ask this morning as I was afraid I would not be able to keep the irritation out of my voice. He really has a bad night, and as far as I can tell there was abolutely no reason for it.
Glad to see there are actually people who do not think Oprah is better than sliced bread. I think I have watched her show 3 times, nuf said.
C.C. thanks for posting the picture of Elissa's family so we can really see the people..great bunch, all look so good!
We woke up to rain, rain and more rain - haven't had any measurable moisture for at least a month.
Just when Dick and his wife are going to meet us tomorrow! I was so hoping for a mild sunny day...that will happen Friday. Anyway, we are meeting Dick and wife for lunch and a tour of the museum that houses the Spruce Goose. We are looking foward to it. I'll be sure to get pictures.
WM,
Thanks for the invite to SF last night. I'll let you know if I ever have the guts to take off that far away!
Luxor,
I got the first one after having TAKEN at the end. I always try to look at the word before it forms, in this case a phrase, and try to make sense from the clue as to what an educated guess might give. Having an idea of the type of phrases they would all be, then helped get the others with just a few perps in ahead of time.
I looked for the meteor shower last night too--twice within the half hour they said it would come, and saw nothing. The stars were out though, so it was clear enough here.
Sallie, thank you for the zucc-tini recipe. It sounds….interesting. Funny you said you should use a BIG one as you won’t believe the monster I unearthed on Monday. I measured it, and it is 19” long and bigger around than a baseball bat! I have no idea how I missed that one!
Linda, sorry for all the zucchini talk this summer. It’s not that I didn’t want zucchini, just not so much of it. I learned my lesson about planting the 10 foot row!
Good afternoon all,
Ladies don't forget Warren when he returns from his trip. He may want to join us.
Luxor-I got three of the long ones. I like to go through and get the 3 letter words/then the blanks/names etc. Then I start filling sections. Just my quirky way of doing it.
WM-we haven't had too much smoke in the Rogue Valley this summer---yet. There are several small fires in the area right now. Some years we get lots of the N CA smoke :p
Lunch time!
CA@12:27 My father mentioned the traditional phrase, "Today I am a man." in his bar mitzvah speech, but only to say he wasn't going to say that. He did say "Today I am a fountain pen." He is quite the comedian.
Lux@12:45: After 4 to 6 perp letters I got the theme answers.
C.C. Thanks for posting the picture.
Lois, yes, we definitely will meet on one of my Quantico runs; the only thing that's been holding it up is that it's taken some time to get my papers, will, etc. in order.
Sallie, a friend of mine who owns a restaurant a few doors down from me hired a freshly-graduated girl to run the register. He soon discovered she couldn't read an analog clock; only digital. And this is a high school graduate. Amazing. Of course, I still don't understand why kids can have calculators in school.
Hayrake, which model 'vette do you have? I loved your line about getting to places before you're supposed to get to them.
Clear Ayes, I just read a story about the Dragon Lady, Madame Nhu. She's living in France and is still very anti-American.
Nytanonimo, welcome back.
WM, we were completely socked in here as well, so no chance to see the meteor shower. Damn shame, as it's always a good one.
Carol, what'd he have to drink at 5? I was pretty much 'clean' by then. Congrats to Joe on the 'normal' results.
11:18 today. I hadn't gotten to the Tuesday puzzle so fired it up last night from cruciverb.com. As I was solving I was thinking "this is a tad hard for a Tuesday, isn't it?" Wasn't until I finished and went to the blog to discover I'd done the Wednesday puzzle by mistake. Had to go back to the archives to get Tuesday's puzzle (7:59 for those keeping track).
This was a fun, fun puzzle. Good, solid theme, I thought. I always love seeing all those 15-square theme entries, and these were pretty easy to get with a couple of crosses.
Off to see Julie & Julia with my wife, so no time to blog.
Dennis, the prep instructions said to take 4 Ducolax tablets at noon with 16 oz of clear liquid (meanwhile still continuing to drink a total of 64 oz of liquids until 5:00) then at 5:00 start drinking the Mirolax mixed in 64 oz of Gatorade. Well, he did all that but nothing happened until 7:00pm and then it went on until 2:30am. He was not a happy camper! I am questioning the timing of all that, why start something that disruptive at that hour?? I'm thinking the ones who write out the instructions are all sadists. I do plan on asking our niece.
I've enjoyed the TAR HEEL state being so well represented in recent puzzles/discussions. Got ELON my first time thru -- then again, it may be the only 4-letter NC university that's not an abbreviation...
I like to waken to the sound of BIRDSONG, especially when windows are open or camping out. I've enjoyed wakening to SUNLIGHT for this fast-passed summer. Alas, my posts will be fewer and further between beginning next week when this TAR HEEL returns to her school library, needing the 5AMALARM for a morning awakener!
Seriously, anyone else having trouble posting? Twice now it kicked me out completely when I hit preview. Then today I couldn't get back on. I am wondering if it is some upgrade I did on Firefox.
Embien, Hope you enjoyed Julie and Julia. PBS ran a special on Julia Child shows yesterday. I missed it, but it is to be rerun several more times. I am hoping to DVR it and watch it later.
Luxor, didn't mean to imply that I got the long words straight out. I always have some down fills first, and with that the long fills often parse out. Once you get one, the others tend to be easier to see.
Elissa, loved the picture. What a nice family you have.
Carol, do you see the Spruce Goose, and if so where? I have always wanted to see it.
Hope this one goes on the post without having to redo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KQ - I had the same problem...it is not you or firefox, but the blogger web server/programing glitch that was just updated. It should be fixed now.
As to the Spruce Goose. The plane is located at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Or. (about 35 miles west of Portland). You can Google it and the web site tells you all about it with pictures too. I have not seen it either and am looking forward to it. The plane was delivered in pieces from Calif. and re-assembled. Interesting to read how they accomplished it.
Well, it's almost time for the glass on wine that's supposed to be good for me.
But I want to comment on Kindle. The iTouch that I got for my b'day is 2½"x4½" by no measurable depth. I agree about using real books, but the Kindle is readable on this device. You can enlarge the print just by moving your fingers apart; turn the page by light finger tap; read it either lengthwise or crosswise just by tilting it.
I find it better for taking to the doctor's office than lugging a whole big book.
So I am putting several books on Kindle.
Eilssa: Great family picture. It is so special to have so many generations depicted. A true family heirloom.
For those of you who are familiar with LSU, it stands for Louisiana State University. I graduated from the LSU lawschool a few years back, so I know the university all to well.
Here's a clip of Bob Fosse in action. He was a marvelous dancer.
tarrajo: Please, I didn`t mean to imply that you shouldn`t write what you want...the rest of us do...I didn`t realize you didn`t know that zuchinni was like kudzu...(both can grow a foot a day and Kudzu can hardly be eradicated... don`t know about zuchinni.) Kudzo has taken over much of Alabama and Mississippi. Wonder if they are related? :)
@ AL - I'm not positive on this but i believe that the e in dictionaries is actually silent with the last i making the long e sound as the y was changed to i to form the plural. If that is the case none of the letters would have their own long vowel sound.
Fun stuff today - enjoyed the long entries.
I thought the "Cold as ice" juxtaposition with "amore" was very interesting.
1/4
Hey Dennis - long time eh? Your 3:09 - what type of 'vette? It's that red and cream 800 Marauder I bought last month. That baby is fast, hot and beautiful. The answer to every old man's dream I think. Truthfully, it's the next best thing to ******* er, to strapping on that F4U many years ago.
Dennis - 'Scuse me, I forgot to put my name on that last message to you.
Dennis - 'Scuse me, I forgot to put my name on that last message to you.
Just noting today's xword included a sly reference to its creator. If you add a "d" to 9 across, you get the last name of today's puzzle constructor.
-anon-hp
Hello All--The puzzle kicked me around the block today. I had taken it with me to an appointment, couldn't get much on a run through the across and down clues, came home did a little more, went out again. When I got back I decided C.C. was the one to fill in the rest for me. My mind was just not into it today--too many interruptions.
I did get three of the four long clues, but it was the short answers that eluded me today. Arlo, Noh, Amahl, Ambi,Aiwa, and Acer were all elusive. Oh well, there is always tomorrow. Oh right, tomorrow's Thursday. I think I'll go on line to get the red letter help for tomorrow.
I did like Typo, Dollar Competition, and Bossy's ringer. Got those!
Tell me why an MBA Diploma would be called a plaque? My diploma is a paper one which is framed. I consider a plaque something that has been made of metal or wood and then mounted on a wall or a building. I couldn't get that around my thinking even though I had the BA already down.
Elissa, I laughed at your fathers,"Today I am a fountain pen" I can imagine it got a laugh from the audience. He must be quite a character.
Hahtool, you made my day with the Bob Fosse clip, he was definitely, one of a kind. If anybody else is curious, he is the one in the dark suit. His dancing partner in the clip is Tommy Rall, who played Frank(incense) in one of my favorites, "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers".
Elissa, I laughed at the old "Today I am a fountain pen." punchline. I bet nowadays, the line would be, "Today I am a laptop." (or maybe an Ipod or Blackberry)
I didn't realize that the meteor shower would be visible in so many areas. It was supposed to be spectacular around here. GAH and I staggered outside at 2 AM, looked up, the sky was overcast and we turned right around and staggered back inside...so much for meteor showers!
KQ, I've lost more than one post and now I ALWAYS right-click, highlight and "Copy" before I preview. If it does happen to disappear, I can right-click and "Paste" and don't lose anything. Just takes a couple of seconds and it is great insurance.
Carol, thanks for the update on the server problem. I was getting this weird thing saying it couldn't access a certain blog page. Had to log out, erase cookies and do over.
ClearAyes, excellent suggestion on copying before you preview. Haven't had to do that before, but may put that in my routine. Unfortunately, I am not good at short posts, so that is a problem when having to redo. However, I am a fast typist, so that is in my favor.
3 of four,
I'm not sure that I even think of that final syllable in "dictionaries" as a long one--it just looks long. But the pronunciation is that of a short "i". Your reasoning also works though.
Carol,
Maybe that tablet prep isn't as good for everyone. I had no problems, since my bowels are always rather active, shall we say, and so it cleared very quickly. And I was soooh glad to be able to substitute the go-litely with other clear liquids.
A heads-up for people that may not get the circles in Thursday's puzzle.
In 7D, the fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth are the squares that have a circle in them.
Dang Argyle...its 7:23 and I am just printing out the puzzle and have to go start dinner(its been hot today...that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it!). Are you trying to tell us you whipped through the Thursday puzzle in under 20 min? Is there hope for the rest of us?
I'm soooo impressed. :o)
Linda, no offense taken...and please no Kudzu sent this way. I was merely apologizing for the repeat zucchini recipes thrown my way via my "situation." To put it in C.C. and Lois' terms, we're all good.
Elissa, I forgot to comment that your family looks fantastic, and you are correct, your brother is a spitting image of his Father. No one answered my burning question...is Tashajo the middle child?
WM, Good Heavens, No!
I had just downloaded the thing from Across Lite and the circles were there. I know some papers don't show the circles so that's why I posted it. Believe me, I'm no speed solver.
Argyle...ok...I feel better now.
Will start after dinner...
Good evening all.
Three good, solid, fun puzzles so far this week. We're on a roll....
Parsing fill with more than one word still slows me down. 19A TENTO looked so wrong, at first, and 15D's ANONO made me wonder if the theme was "words in Esperanto." The nail salon up the street offers NOCHIP manicures, and after a month of walking past there, I finally had my d'oh moment. I honestly thought is was some patented brand name.
Live and learn.
Misread clue for 52A as Wall Street wall plague but still got the answer.
Re: Kathy Griffin. Many comedians loathe her, but she always plays to a full house & draws a very diverse crowd. Have seen her 3 times and always laughed lots. She has the ability to act as if she just thought of something right there on the spot. very hard to do that....takes a lot of practice to sound unrehearsed. Comics tend to be backbiters, sadly, and I'm not sure why she is so severely criticzed by her "peers." Can you even imagine having Sarah Palin as a mother-in-law?! Regardless of which party you side with, it woud be be a trip and a half...
Chicago is a place where people worship in the cult of all things Oprah. All the fawning by her guests gets so annoying. I only recorded the show when Dr Oz was on. Don't ge me started about her book club! CC had the perfect word...ennui. Ptui would be a good second choice.
The Kindle is great for long flights but the model I test drove didn't bowl this camper over. Other than library books or loaners, i tend to jot lots of marginalia. It's fun when re-reading, sometimes, to see what i scrawled before. Embarassing, other times. Very!
G'night one & all.
Tassajo, Technically, your sister would be the middle child, but she might protest that as she is only a few minutes younger than you are. You could both say you are the younger sisters. Does that work?
@carol: That sounds like the exact procedure I did for my colonoscopy prep except my procedure was at 2PM so I did some Miralax at 6AM the day of the procedure. I didn't have any problems (except the ones you might expect), but then I have a stalwart gastrointestinal system (it has to be that way to survive my lifestyle).
When I did my first colonoscopy five years ago they didn't use the Miralax and Dulcolax, they had us doing enemas (multiple). Ugh, I hated that! The new procedure, though no walk in the park, is a whole lot easier (sorry if that is too much information for the casual blog reader).
@KQ: My wife and I absolutely loved Julie & Julia. I saw a couple of reviews that raved about the Julia Child part of the movie but weren't so impressed with the Amy Adams part. I don't understand those reviews--I suspect they were critics who haven't cooked anything more than a grilled cheese sandwich. We both loved it all.
Anyone who has any interest in food will love the movie, I think.
I don't think our local PBS station is running that Julia Child program, but I'll look for it.
Smiling ear to ear Chickie that works for me! I just give my "other half" of a sib a jab every year as we age. I thought I might add this one to the mix. She loves me unconditionally so I have to find something to "shake" her up.
In today's paper there was an article about s'mores, a bit late for s'mores day, but one thing was interesting.. They said if you prefer drinking your s'mores, the Seattle's Best Cafe at Borders bookstores is serving iced S'more mochas , drizzled with marshmellow and chocolate syrups and topped with a graham cracker. LOL
They also have a recipe for S'more cupcakes(San Jose Mercury News)and choc. zucchini muffins.Tarrajo? The recipe calls for 2 c. grated zukes. I don't think that will even touch your supply.
No, I don't think there is a middle child in your case. I would think that no one got left out. Isn't being the middle child more of having a certain status in the family? The oldest gets privileges and the youngest is babied. The middle child may feel left out at times UNLESS it is a girl and the oldest/youngest are boys...or vice versa.Does this make sense?
Elissa
you do have a wonderful family, and you and your sister look so much like each other and your mom. I have a friend who is a big, broad shouldered, tall blonde man married to small brunette woman, and the daughter looks like him and the son....well you have the idea. life is interesting that way.
Tarrajo, you have a knack...you hit the lucky number. Keep your comments clean...I did have to laugh today at your misreading of the clue "fair sized fair" and then typing in "cees". Now that was funny, as you should have typed in "dees". Dennis?
Elissa, I enjoyed seeing your big family celebration picture. What a cool ceremony for your Dad to finally get to celebrate. I also liked his comment on "becoming a man".
Lois, when do you have to hit the classroom again?
I also saw Julie & Julia today and LOVED it, all of it.I don't understand those reviews either, Embien.I do want that Beef B. recipe(not attemping the spelling); probably can find it on the web.
BTW Tarrajo, that makes you the baby, and therefore spoiled...Janis Joplin was amazing, and the Woodstock 40 years is closing in quickly. I guess it is time for a new avatar. Hmmm
boeuf bourguignon! :)
Gosh, Jeannie, whatever are you talking about?
BTW I am the youngest as well. Anyway, the tickets for Woodstock were 18.00 for the three days, or 6.00 per day, no discount for buying all three days. of course the fence they had built around the field to set up a ticket booth was gone by the time the first 10,000 showed up. what a wonderful mess.
Tarrajo, if you lived in Thailand, the younger twin has to use polite pronouns to the older one; they have different ways of saying you/your, I/me/my etc., depending on age & relative status. Very confusing at first. Fun factoid from being an exchange student there...My host brother sort of resented no longer being the oldest kid, and I bet he made sure the next exchange student was younger by at least a few minutes!
Let us know if you try the z-tini; that Sake is sneaky stuff!
Dennis, the letter Dee comes after the letter Cee...that's all. I think Jerome "pointed" all those out to us just last weak or so.
Embien and JD, Yesterday I was rather critical of the Julie in Julie & Julia. It wasn't that I didn't like Amy Adams in her role. I liked the real-life premise and she was charming. It was just that Meryl Streep as Julia Child, and Stanley Tucci as Paul Child, were so terrific, most of our theater audience was just waiting for another Julia scene. I would love to see Ms. Streep portraying Mrs. Child in a movie that was all Julia, all the time. Some of the critical grousing may be because that, after this movie, there is little chance of that happening.
The food did look luscious, and if there is an Academy Award for "culinary set dresser", I'm sure there will be a nomination.
Here's the recipe for Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguinon. Bon Appetit!
PJB, Exchange student in Thailand? You constantly amaze.
Thanks for all the comments and advice. You all seem pretty wise. I love you all!
lux
Glad to hear that J&J was enjoyed by all. Amy Adams is a fine actress but being in a movie with Ms. Streep would have to be tough. We're hoping to see it this weekend & on a full stomach! @CA, that boeuf bourguignon recipe looks so tempting...anything with lardons in it has to be good. Lardons is a fun word to say, to boot!
Thailand was magical. As the tallest kid in my grade, I was supposed to lead the morning flag raising, but they quickly realized they had a klutz on their hands so the next guy got to perform the task. Always thought he was wearing platform shoes after that. I stooped every morning! The family had two and a half maids, two live-ins; the Dad was an MIT grad, engineer. Not wealthy exactly but household help was cheap then, and the hours spent cooking/marketing every day meant that the food was wonderful. Quite a change from suburban midwestern meat & potatoes meals...Haven't been back since 1979. Only problem was that coconut is my least favorite food, and all desserts were made with it.....¡Ick! Soups made with co'nut are good though... (btw: Chicago is blessed with some very good Thai restaurants.) The family was very traditional, and kindly took me to all sorts of cultural events, including temples, music, art shows &funerals. Great memories....
Sorry to hear the meteor shower was much of a show...Could have been romantic, y'know?
Time to floss! ... Pichai [my Thai name]
Oops, in my hurry to engage in good dental hygiene, i wrote "was" instead of "wasn't" re: the meteor shower.
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