Theme: None
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 30
Today's grid reminds me of a Saturday themeless by Bruce Venzke and Stella Daily, with grid-spanning triple stacks at the top and bottom. Noticed it has CAUTIONARY TALES also?
Here are six 15-letter fill:
1A. Obsolete item: A THING OF THE PAST. Antiquity is too short. Multi-words continue to pose problems for me.
16A. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and others: CAUTIONARY TALES. Not familiar with Goethe's poem "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" at all.
17A. Pet that's larger than a toy: MINIATURE POODLE
60A. Tax service, familiarly: INTERNAL REVENUE
65A. It may be awakened after a period of inattention: RENEWED INTEREST. Very nice clue/fill.
66A. Retail security staff: STORE DETECTIVES. Another name for security guards?
Definitely a challenging puzzle for me. I think our eased-up phase is officially over.
Across:
18. Group originally named the Jolly Corks: ELKS. Unknown trivia to me. The name derived from a bar trick introduced by the group's organizer.
19. Zaire's Mobutu Sese __: SEKO. In office 1965-1997. I can never remember this guy's name.
20. No longer serving: Abbr.: RET (Retired)
21. Bk. before Job: ESTH (Esther). After Nehemiah. I peeked at my Bible book list.
24. Themes: TOPICS
27. Try to bean, in baseball: THROW AT. Another baseball reference is RBIS (37A. Diamond stats). Throwing at a player's head is really dangerous.
30. Easing of tension: DETENTE. I used to confuse it with international agreement ENTENTE.
31. Roadside grazer: DOE
32. False show: PRETENSE
36. Verdi aria that translates to "It was you": ERI TU. Nailed it. Eri = Were. Tu = You.
41. Hearty entrée: RIB ROAST. And ROE (44A. Caviar, say). And PAO (12D. Kung __ chicken). Hungry?
45. Quantities possessing only magnitude: SCALARS. Escaped me again. Vectors possess magnitude and direction.
50. Seat of Washington's Pierce County: TACOMA. Not familiar with the county name at all. Bing Crosby was born in Tacoma (grew up in Spokane).
51. 1956 Mideast crisis site: SUEZ. The crisis was resulted from Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal.
52. Part of a loop: ARC
57. McAn of shoes: THOM. The brand was named after a Scottish golfer Thomas McCann.
Down:
1. Tiptop: ACME
2. Shadow: TAIL. Verb.
3. Hid out, with "down": HUNKERED
4. "Yea, verily": IT IS SO
5. Actress Vardalos: NIA. She wrote and starred in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".
6. Contracted, as an illness: GOT
7. Burden: ONUS
8. Cab hailer: FARE. Oh, I did not know FARE can refer to a person.
9. Serious trip: TREK
10. Some triangle sides: HYPOTENUSES. Stumped. The side of a right triangle opposite the right angle.
11. WWII zone: ETO (European Theater of Operations)
13. Second man on the moon: ALDRIN (Buzz)
14. Choose: SELECT. Penned in OPT FOR.
15. Safari menace: TSETSE. Waiting for JD to tell us whether she saw TSETSE during her safari exploration.
22. Local govt. unit: TWP (Township). I failed again.
23. Half-baked: HAREBRAINED. Is this rooted in "The Tortoise and The Hare" fable?
25. They may end with 27-Down: OTS. And TDS (27D. Passes may result in them: Abbr.)
26. Equal: PEER. Noun.
29. Alaska and La., once: TERRS
30. Remove pitch stains from: DETAR. Always want UNTAR.
33. Spanish uncle: TIO. Oncle in French.
35. Alice's chronicler: ARLO. D'oh, "Alice's Restaurant". I was thinking of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland".
38. Soviet leader who signed SALT I and II: BREZHNEV (Leonid). In office 1964 to 1982. I only know the Chinese translation of his name.
39. Biennial games org.: IOC (International Olympic Committee). Winter and Summer Olympics are two years apart from each other.
40. Tennis unit: SET
42. Descartes's conclusion: I AM. "I think, therefore I am" (Cogito, ergo sum).
43. Nashville sch.: TSU (Tennessee State University). No idea. Their nickname is the Tigers.
45. Connecting flights: STAIRS. Of course, my mind flew to the airport. Very clever clue.
46. Customs exemption for an auto: CARNET (kahr-NEY). It's a "customs document a customs document allowing an automobile to be driven at no cost across international borders". New word to me.
47. Customer ID: ACCT NO (Account Number)
49. Czar known as "the Great": PETER I. He reigned from 1682 to1725.
55. Narrow opening: SLIT. Too large (and high) a slit?
56. Normandy river: ORNE (awrn). The D-Day river. And OUSE (58D. York's river). Prounouced like "ooze", meaning "water". Learned both from doing Xword.
59. "Miracle" 1969 World Series winners: METS. The "Miracle Mets", managed by Gil Hodges.
61. Chariot ending?: EER. Charioteer.
62. "Self-Reliance" essayist's monogram: RWE (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
64. Lab caretaker? VET (Veterinarian). Lab here is short for labrador. The question mark did not prevent me from going in the laboratory direction.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 30
Today's grid reminds me of a Saturday themeless by Bruce Venzke and Stella Daily, with grid-spanning triple stacks at the top and bottom. Noticed it has CAUTIONARY TALES also?
Here are six 15-letter fill:
1A. Obsolete item: A THING OF THE PAST. Antiquity is too short. Multi-words continue to pose problems for me.
16A. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and others: CAUTIONARY TALES. Not familiar with Goethe's poem "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" at all.
17A. Pet that's larger than a toy: MINIATURE POODLE
60A. Tax service, familiarly: INTERNAL REVENUE
65A. It may be awakened after a period of inattention: RENEWED INTEREST. Very nice clue/fill.
66A. Retail security staff: STORE DETECTIVES. Another name for security guards?
Definitely a challenging puzzle for me. I think our eased-up phase is officially over.
Across:
18. Group originally named the Jolly Corks: ELKS. Unknown trivia to me. The name derived from a bar trick introduced by the group's organizer.
19. Zaire's Mobutu Sese __: SEKO. In office 1965-1997. I can never remember this guy's name.
20. No longer serving: Abbr.: RET (Retired)
21. Bk. before Job: ESTH (Esther). After Nehemiah. I peeked at my Bible book list.
24. Themes: TOPICS
27. Try to bean, in baseball: THROW AT. Another baseball reference is RBIS (37A. Diamond stats). Throwing at a player's head is really dangerous.
30. Easing of tension: DETENTE. I used to confuse it with international agreement ENTENTE.
31. Roadside grazer: DOE
32. False show: PRETENSE
36. Verdi aria that translates to "It was you": ERI TU. Nailed it. Eri = Were. Tu = You.
41. Hearty entrée: RIB ROAST. And ROE (44A. Caviar, say). And PAO (12D. Kung __ chicken). Hungry?
45. Quantities possessing only magnitude: SCALARS. Escaped me again. Vectors possess magnitude and direction.
50. Seat of Washington's Pierce County: TACOMA. Not familiar with the county name at all. Bing Crosby was born in Tacoma (grew up in Spokane).
51. 1956 Mideast crisis site: SUEZ. The crisis was resulted from Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal.
52. Part of a loop: ARC
57. McAn of shoes: THOM. The brand was named after a Scottish golfer Thomas McCann.
Down:
1. Tiptop: ACME
2. Shadow: TAIL. Verb.
3. Hid out, with "down": HUNKERED
4. "Yea, verily": IT IS SO
5. Actress Vardalos: NIA. She wrote and starred in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".
6. Contracted, as an illness: GOT
7. Burden: ONUS
8. Cab hailer: FARE. Oh, I did not know FARE can refer to a person.
9. Serious trip: TREK
10. Some triangle sides: HYPOTENUSES. Stumped. The side of a right triangle opposite the right angle.
11. WWII zone: ETO (European Theater of Operations)
13. Second man on the moon: ALDRIN (Buzz)
14. Choose: SELECT. Penned in OPT FOR.
15. Safari menace: TSETSE. Waiting for JD to tell us whether she saw TSETSE during her safari exploration.
22. Local govt. unit: TWP (Township). I failed again.
23. Half-baked: HAREBRAINED. Is this rooted in "The Tortoise and The Hare" fable?
25. They may end with 27-Down: OTS. And TDS (27D. Passes may result in them: Abbr.)
26. Equal: PEER. Noun.
29. Alaska and La., once: TERRS
30. Remove pitch stains from: DETAR. Always want UNTAR.
33. Spanish uncle: TIO. Oncle in French.
35. Alice's chronicler: ARLO. D'oh, "Alice's Restaurant". I was thinking of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland".
38. Soviet leader who signed SALT I and II: BREZHNEV (Leonid). In office 1964 to 1982. I only know the Chinese translation of his name.
39. Biennial games org.: IOC (International Olympic Committee). Winter and Summer Olympics are two years apart from each other.
40. Tennis unit: SET
42. Descartes's conclusion: I AM. "I think, therefore I am" (Cogito, ergo sum).
43. Nashville sch.: TSU (Tennessee State University). No idea. Their nickname is the Tigers.
45. Connecting flights: STAIRS. Of course, my mind flew to the airport. Very clever clue.
46. Customs exemption for an auto: CARNET (kahr-NEY). It's a "customs document a customs document allowing an automobile to be driven at no cost across international borders". New word to me.
47. Customer ID: ACCT NO (Account Number)
49. Czar known as "the Great": PETER I. He reigned from 1682 to1725.
55. Narrow opening: SLIT. Too large (and high) a slit?
56. Normandy river: ORNE (awrn). The D-Day river. And OUSE (58D. York's river). Prounouced like "ooze", meaning "water". Learned both from doing Xword.
59. "Miracle" 1969 World Series winners: METS. The "Miracle Mets", managed by Gil Hodges.
61. Chariot ending?: EER. Charioteer.
62. "Self-Reliance" essayist's monogram: RWE (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
64. Lab caretaker? VET (Veterinarian). Lab here is short for labrador. The question mark did not prevent me from going in the laboratory direction.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Good morning, C.C. and gang - only have a minute (back to normal soon, I hope), but I loved, loved, loved this puzzle. Great clues, lots of long stacks, several 'aha' moments with perp help. 'Connecting flights' and 'lab caretaker' were great misleading clues. More, please!!
ReplyDeleteC.C., in response to your question re 55D: NO!
Have a great day.
Good morning C.C. and all, a challenging puzzle for me today. I agree that the “dumbing down” of the puzzles seems to be over. This week has certainly had its challenges for me. Fortunately I got 1A and 60A quickly which allowed me to get a lot of the down perps. 22D TWP and 50A TACOMA were a long time in revealing themselves.
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle today with just the right amount of difficulty.
Hope you all have a great Saturday. More rain here in western PA today. Yikes!
Morning, folks!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely more of a challenge today, but not overwhelmingly so. I had a bunch of false starts, including POT ROAST for RIB ROAST, SLOT for SLIT (and no, Megan's dress looks just fine, thank you very much), and INFERNAL REVENUE instead of INTERNAL REVENUE.
Like C. C., I could not remember SEKO to save my life and I still refuse to accept TWP as a valid abbreviation even though I do remember seeing it before.
I don't think there were any other total unknowns for me today, although it took most of the crosses to get both SCALARS and TACOMA. And I couldn't remember who RWE was until I got here and saw C. C.'s write up.
Oh -- and I was extremely proud of myself for actually spelling both HYPOTENUSE and BREZHNEV correctly on my first try!
BarryG,
ReplyDeleteif you have ever driven through rural Ohio,
(Tracy Chapman territory), where the smallest legal government entity is the township, then you have seen the abbreviation TWP on a road marker about every ten miles.
This sounded like a great puzzle. My fellow Kentucky solvers, who couldn't tolerate the recent easy puzzles, would have commence to gnash their teeth. But there is good news in the Herald-Liar this week. We're still Number 1 in the nation. In basketball and death from child abuse, that is. Hmmmm! Could their be a correlation?
Larry the pissed-off puzzler.
Hi CC and Gang,
ReplyDeleteWell, I wanted a more challenging puzzle and sure got one today. Had to do some googling. Had pot roast instead of rib, misspelled Brezhnev. I'm with you CC - wanted Alice in Wonderland. Also didn't know Seko. Never head of scalars??
Are there any other Phillie fans out there who are annoyed that all the world series games will be at 8PM. It just gets too late for me.
Hope everyone has a great Sat!!
Good morning CC, et al., Loved this puzzle too. At first glance I thought this was impossible but little by little it fell into place. Great misdirecting clues and excellent perp assists. Really enjoyed it all.
ReplyDeleteI 'got' a theme here, unintentional perhaps, but loved how truth/fiction are both in this puzzle. 4D It is so, 36A Eri tu,
42D 'I am' are all among
32A pretense, 53A 'if so' and are all 16A 'cautionary tales' depending on who's talkin' and who you believe. Had to laugh then when 66A store detectives showed up with 60A Internal revenue. To end the 'tale' here comes
30A 'detente'. A perfect ending.
Maybe it's my mind 'set' as I just went thru this this week presiding over an NHS ethics hearing for a kid who, already on probation, was caught cheating for the second time. She did not 'fare' well and was de'select'ed. It's 'so-da'ng sad. I hope her 'peer's will take note, as she was only the one who 'got' caught. Now, I'm going to go add to my shoe collection. Is 'thom' still in business?
Enjoy your day.
Agree with Dennis' comments. Took longer than CW's earlier this week but was able to finish without resort to references. Only one strikethrough; had Oise for ORNE. Perps were real helpful such as with BREZHNEV spelling.
ReplyDeleteCC If you get the chance check out the wonderful movie "Fantasia." Mickey Mouse plays the Sorcerer's Apprentice.
ReplyDeleteHad trouble with the rivers, so two googles.
For a mathematician, it took too long to recognize "scalars." Had other conflicting junk in there at first.
All in all, great Saturday puzzle!
Good morning, C.C. and all,
ReplyDeleteIt's been such a treat to have more challenging puzzles the last few days. Today's is my idea of a perfect Saturday cword, with clever cluing, fun words like HYPOTENUSES and HAREBRAINED, and long stacks that were not too obscure. My favorite clue was "connecting flights." I was at the airport for quite awhile before I climbed the STAIRS.
Have a great weekend!
References to harebrained vs hairbrained spelling date back to the 1500s. Apparently hair was an alternate spelling for hare at the time. The "crazed" meaning of the term comes from unthinking "mad march hares" (during mating season).
ReplyDeleteEurovision 73, Spain: Eris tu. Same meaning as ERI TU?
This triangle does not have a hypotenuse.
Happy Saturday!
ReplyDeleteA few months ago, I would never have attempted this puzzle without the red letters turned on but I managed today. Some very clever clues I thought
CC, typo on 45A. That should be "vectors", not "victors."
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was sure an enjoyable movie, wasn't it?
Good Morning!
ReplyDeleteMissed my gym class so that I could finish this puzzle.
A big struggle but I enjoyed it.
Slowly and slowly the long answers revealed themselves: ofcourse red letters and perp helped.
Used google to get the rivers and THOM McAn. Should have looked for BREZHNEV too but I didnt and struggled to get the spelling.
HYPOTENUSES was my first fill (dont know how I remembered) but am mad that SCALARS was my last fill (beautiful clue).
Ofcourse STAIRS had me at the airport for a long time. And like most of you, the question mark didnt deter me from thinking about laboratory. Didnt understand TWP (my fill was MCP for Municipality) and RWE till I read CC's explanations (thank you, CC).
Learning for the day: DETENTE
Lois, your posts are a joy to read.
Feeling lazy now..wondering what to do. DH is fast asleep with strict instructions not to be woken up before 10:30 am (its 9:15 now). Plan to go out for some Indian brunch to a restaurant that we have never tried before.
Have a great Saturday, everyone.
Lois, good to see you still are the best at digesting and regurgitating the essence of each puzzle. There some really nice misdirections, like Alice's chronicler: ARLO- did anyone not think of Wonderland first? We get ARLO often, but this was a nice, new version. I also enjoyed Connecting flights: STAIRS, and Lab caretaker? VET. My grandson is LAB/BOXER mix,and I have been spending this week with a Labradoodle at the office. Sidney thinks he is a lap dog. Labs are the sweetest dogs. I have pictures, but I do not know how to insert a link other than from the web, help?
ReplyDeleteI learned a new word, Customs exemption for an auto: CARNET, and was reminded of why I hated Physics with: Quantities possessing only magnitude: SCALARS.
I know many complain when there are lots of proper names or obscure things, but IMHO this is the learning part of doing puzzles, and we all have our particular weaknesses and strengths, I think a solver ends up with a very eclectic knowledge of everything from Astrology to Zoology, including sports and entertainment. It also gives us a chance to express our reactions, which IMHO is what makes a BLOG a BLOG instead of just an answer sheet.
Enjoy
Good Morning All, Saturdays may be themeless...BUT...1A let us know that the eased up puzzles were A THING OF THE PAST. 15A CAUTIONARY TALES could mean a hidden theme, "Watch out what you wish for, you just might get it". Hopefully, previous simple puzzles were a PRETENSE. Then comes the caveat IT IS SO. Finally, there should be some RENEWED INTEREST from a lot of the bloggers.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was a tough one for me, but I managed to get through it (mostly) with a lot of perp help. I don't think Embien was the only one starting with the Downs today. How could anybody get those six 15 letter fills without having at least a few perps to aid them?
Fills I didn't know were SEKO, TWP, SCALARS, CARNET and RWE. The crossing of SCALARS and CARNET could have been any one of a dozen letters, so I left it blank until coming here and getting the C.
OTOH, HYPOTENUSE was a gimme. After 50+ years, the Pythagorean theorem is still tucked away in my brain. In case you've forgotten, "the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the two adjacent sides."
I was rather proud that I also remembered BREZHNEV..at least how to spell it.
Lemonade, Yes, indeedy!
C.C. Is there an LAT email address that we can let them/Rich Norris know we like these more challenging puzzles?
A really challenging puzzle for a change! I knew Brezhnev, and hypotenuses came to me pretty quickly. The fills got scalars. Wanted hairbrained. The longer ones were pretty hard, but once I got miniature poodle, it went quickly.
ReplyDeleteI like the more challenging puzzles and enjoyed this one a lot.
Son from Alabama is coming today for a week-long visit, so I might not have time for the puzzles next week.
Hi c.c. and all:
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle! When I first saw it with 6 fill-ins of 15 letters I thought I might not even try. But, I persevered and little by little finished it without help except perp help that is. I had two letters wrong, Scalers instead of Scalars and Demar instead of Detar. Both spellings from Hypotenuses and Brezhnev came from the perps. Like some of you I was at the airport too and it took forever to see stairs. And yes I too was thinking of Alice in Wonderland! So much fun to do today and glad that I went for it.
Have a wonderful day everyone!
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteAnother tough puzzle today. Triple 15 stacks are awfully intimidating. Took a while to get traction, but finally made it through, with lots of perp help. Had some wrong spelling of Krushev at first, and several other false starts.
Now that simple HAREBRAINED puzzles are A THING OF THE PAST, we'll have RENEWED INTEREST.
Though, I always want to spell it HAIRBRAINED.
I agree with Dennis, on all counts. However, that dress would look terrible on me.
We had a great concert last night. Not perfect, by any means, but a nice performance, good sized crowd and an enthusiastic standing O at the end. Quite a thrill to play "lovely, lovely Ludwig van."
My response to C. A.'s poem post yesterday:
AFTER (THE CONCERT)
Oh the littles that remain!
Echos of chords in my brain,
Whirr of strings; buzz of reeds
And brass, if you please.
Many times sitting to rehearse;
Sometimes cracking on a high note
Chelli struggling o'er and o'er;
Oboe tuning to the score;
playing, counting -- nothing more.
But just now in the concert hall,
Beethoven, Liszt, Bizet enthralled.
Holy yikes. That is ghastly. I think I outdid myself, in an underachieving kind of way.
We have Nate and Em today. Mom and Dad are going to the Michigan - Penn St. game.
Cheers!
JzB the doggerel inflicting trombonist
Al,
ReplyDeleteIt seems that "eri tu' = You were. Eris tu = "You are". Tense difference.
Clear Ayes,
I've forwarded you Rich's email address. But do write to your local newspaper Features Editor and tell him/her you like LAT puzzle.
DCannon,
Remember Linda said her mom takes cinnamon tea every day? It's good for arthritis.
I do suggest all of you consider the benefits of Cinnamon , as it has many uses for the human body.
ReplyDeleteWindhover,
ReplyDeleteHave you downloaded Across Lite? You can then go to Cruciverb's website and obtain the LAT puzzle there.
Bill B,
I've corrected the vectors mistake. Thanks.
Lemonade,
You can upload your photos to Picasa, then link from there.
EddyB,
ReplyDeleteNo need to go blue. Just email your photo to me at crosswordc@gmail.com.
Dr. G,
I don't know. How is O+ Different from O- personality wise? Great to see you again.
Decent xword today. I've also liked the greater challenge level toward the end of this week. I find that long stacks can be pretty intimidating, but once one falls (for me it was "miniature poodle" too), the going gets so much easier. I'm happy to report that I found today's doable in my usual old fashioned way, completely offline, and in pen. Still, it was a bit of a slog fest for me, at about 30 minutes or so. Definitely some clever clues there to stimulate the little gray cells.
ReplyDeleteOK, off to more ditch-digging for me this morn. Have to work on cutting out a big old tree stump too. Good exercise for me though. I've been making slow but steady progress, getting ready for that new landscaping later.
Enjoy the weekend, all.
Best,
anon-hp
Since I'm relatively new to this, maybe some of you could answer some questions for me. Most of us show up in blue. Some in gray. Why would someone choose to do that? Some show up as anonymous with no name, some as anonymous with their name signed. It's all confusing to me.
ReplyDeleteJazzbumpa, Not ghastly at all, I smiled out loud (?) at your poem. I thought it hit the memory mark very well.
ReplyDeleteBill G, Most of us show up in blue. Some in gray. Why would someone choose to do that?. Some Gray people don't know how, or choose not to sign up for a Google account and go blue. Others might prefer not to have any personal information available on the web, even if it is just a name. Why anonymous?...I have no idea except that once in a while it is the means of making snarky comments without being identified. Of course there is really no difference between "Name/URL" or "Anonymous" posting. Anyone can use any name in either kind of post. The only protection a poster has to keep others from using their name is to have a Google account and post in blue.
Try to make this quick as I have to go shopping for my mom and then have some errands to run with the husband and a long to do list for the next week.
ReplyDeleteWhooHoo...a REAL puzzle to puzzle over and head scratch and aha. Loved this! Yesterday was good too but there were no hangups and Gonzaga was a given because my favorite cousin works in the law office there.
This was tremendous fun and I definitely needed perp help after my first fearful scan of it...only never heard of TWP(put TWN first) and SCALARS, which filled itself in and I left it. I did start with POT ROAST but that came out pretty quickly and no hangup with RWE...a logical guess. The bottom half filled in quickley and the top was a bit a struggle, but no outside help and a feeling of immense satifaction at its completion.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is my favorite piece from Fantasia along with Night on Bald Mountain. I have a large Mickey as the apprentice collection of Christmas ornaments that is added to each year.
WH...so sorry for your loss of a real puzzle and PJB thank you, that was kind.
Things will still be hit and miss depending on how much I can get caught up with each week as we evaluate what the hubby is able to do.
Had a terrific time at a lovely pumpkin patch with our granddaughter and parents yesterday and I found a stellar pumpkin that I am very much looking forward to carving. For now, the little things are important.
I finally caught up on posts from the last couple of days.
ReplyDelete@Clear Ayes-Thank you for the lovely "After" poem yesterday.
@Jazzbumpa-I liked your "After" (the concert) poem, as well. Very creative. Oh, and LOLed at the "bouncing boobies" from Thursday after many of the earlier posts of that day!
@MamaRuth-may you find strength you never knew you had! You received some excellent advice and input from many here who have faced a similar experience in the past. Best wishes are sent you way!
Back in from my outdoor labors for a little while to cool down; that sun sure is warm today!
ReplyDeleteI saw Bill G.'s post and wanted to respond as one of the semi-regular weekly anonymous posters here (usually just when so inspired on Fridays or Saturdays, or comment, or in the past, for cryptic crosswords clues Al was posting).
Anyway, for me, signing in via an online account is more a general security and spam attracting concern than anything else. So I prefer the anonymous sign-in method, placing an identifying tagline at the end. As Cleareyes said, there's not much protection against others posing as you this way, but so far I have seen little evidence of that happening here. It's true anonymous sign-ins encourage some of the more cowardly types to troll and leave snarky comments, but it's equally true that signing in via a blue username is no guarantee of polite and respectful online behavior.
Best,
anon-hp
I got a real feeling of accomplishment from this puzzle. I like puzzles like these that keep the eraser people in business. On the first run through the clues I could only make a number of decent guesses (many of them wrong like trying to make EQUILATERAL work instead of HYPOTENUSES). On the second pass I was doing a lot of erasing of earlier guesses. But it was great fun gradually getting the perpendiculars to fill in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteSCALARS and CARNET were new words for the day. LIke others, my favorite challenging clue was "Connecting flights".
I would argue that while this week has been tougher, it's still nowhere near the "good old days". I keep a running tally of the time it takes me to do the Monday thru Saturday puzzles, going back to March. Used to be around 30 minutes. Now it's around 26. I also keep a running average of just the last week's 6 puzzles, to compare with my overall average to tell whether the puzzles have been getting easier or harder. This week's average was 22. A couple of weeks ago my week average was 14! I remember when a "tough" week used to be in the mid 30's. So, at least on a personal level, we've got a long way to go, but I do enjoy the improvement in challenge level. Thank you Rich Norris!
JimmyB - your anal statistician.
Hi. I'm new to the crossword business, and like this site. One question, though. What is a PERP?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Hi back. PERP is short for perpendicular and it refers to the letters obtained from crossing words. It was new to me too.
ReplyDeleteHi C.C. & gang, it was back to the old method today, I printed out the puzzle but we didn't get very far quickly so I went online in 'red' and we finished it that way, testing our 'guesses' and polished it off that way...
ReplyDeleteHere's a recipe from America's test kitchen that we're making today :brisket
I can understand Anon-hp's caution about having a Google account. When the whole world might be watching (how's that for vanity on my part?), it can be more than a little intimidating.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, Google seems to have multiple safeguards in place and I have never had a problem with security, or with receiving spam.
For those of you who are considering going blue, the amount of information you make available to be read by others is totally up to you. The minimum is a name, which could be authentic or made-up. For instance my real name is "Clear Ayes" (crazy hippie parents) and "Dennis" is totally fictitious...Just kidding folks. Your avatar can be a photo of yourself, your pet, a flower or a cartoon. It doesn't have to be personal at all.
There is another dynamic at work also. I don't remember seeing a "blue" person be purposefully disrespectful to another poster. I don't post on other blogs, so I don't know what happens there. On this blog we have certainly had disagreements, but we take care not to be personally insulting. Even though the "Blues" are really just as anonymous as any other posters, we know that our posts are ours alone and we have to be responsible for them.
Another advantage of a Blue identity is that it makes it easier to spot PJB (don't want to miss him), or Buckeye (where is he anyway??). Finally, for some odd quirk of human nature, a blue name makes us feel that we know the poster personally. Weird, I know, maybe it is just me.
Hello All--A tough, but rewarding puzzle. I only had to look up three things on Google today--names of course. Jolly Corks group, Zaire's Sese and Alice's Chronicler. I, too, was in Wonderland until Google pulled me out through the rabbit hole!
ReplyDeleteI started the top half with so many wrong fills, that I gave up there and gradually filled in the bottom half almost completely. I then felt that I COULD finish this today. The Long fills always are intimidating to me. Scalars was a complete unknown, but filled in with perps, and I misspelled Hare(hair)brained, so it was a bit of a hair-puller until I got straighted out.
Hid out, with "down", with Hunkered as the answer, was a stretch for me. I have always had the connotation of hunkered as sheltering, rather than hiding. I'm sure it can be used both ways.
My favorite clues were Connecting flights, and Equal. After coming out of the Rabbit hole, I landed at the airport.
Have a great weekend everyone. We're watching lots of Football per usual.
C.C.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Picasa information, I did not realize they were saing my blogging pics, but now I will see if I can make things work.
This is Baby Winston .
Did that work?
ReplyDeleteVery good, Clear Ayes, you make a convincing case for going blue here. I haven't wanted to use my usual gmail account for posting in this blog, but it's easy enough for me to set up an alternate one for that purpose.
ReplyDeleteSince "anon-hp" isn't a legal gmail account name (no hyphens allowed), and "anonhp" was already taken, I'm going to go with the more playful "PanGraham" (based on "hp anagram") as my new handle here.
Best,
PanGraham
formerly anon-hp
Lemonade,
ReplyDeleteit looks like your whole album uploaded. There must be a way to load just one.
I started rather hopelessly this morning over breakfast, rushing to see our son before he flies to Germany for two weeks. D-i-l is already over there.
Anyway, it's too late for anyone to be interested in all my missteps, viz.OPT FOR (SELECT), A-ONE (ACME), POT for RIB,etc. But once home again, I started to fix some of them and when the long ones fell in I was impressed, both with the puzzle and my luck in making some correct guesses. My last fill was the C of SCALARS--a word I'm totally unfamiliar with. Have also never seen TWP. I eventually had everything with much guessing and perp help, but no googles.
Major d'oh moment: ARLO--we saw him at the Barrymore Theater in Madison Tuesday night, but I was at the airport twice today--once with son #1, and once for that clue!
OOPS! ARLO wasn't the airport one of course, it was STAIRS. But I was trying to remember if Lewis Carol had a nickname that would fit the clue, probably confused with Charles(?) Lamb. I think I must still be in wonderland!
ReplyDeleteAnd my response to the 55D link was that she has bony knees--something I should actually be jealous of. But hose would have helped, were it not for that slit that makes wearing them impossible.
Jazzbumpa, Your pome brought a smile to my face. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteJanice&Amp;Karen, Welcome. Stay for some great times.
I, of course, liked the Lab-vet combo. We're a lab family and that is a lab puppy in my Avatar. My daughter breeds a couple of litters a year.
WM, it was good to see your post today. I hope your hubby is doing better. Keep us posted.
KZ, thanks, I was afraid the album would upload, I am confused. Ah well, you can all see my picture history.
ReplyDeletePan and Jan and all the rest, send pics to C.C.'s email and we can have them posted since she obviously knows how to do what is apparently beyond me.
Alice's chronicler: ARLO. "Alice's Restaurant"
ReplyDeleteAlice's Restaurant Part I
Alice's Restaurant Part II
Alice's Restaurant III
Hi Lemonade714,
ReplyDeleteI should have mentioned that your pic link worked for me. Cute new pup you've got there.
I'll post some pix of my own in my under my name link here, or maybe email C.C. with a photo, if I get a chance sometime in the coming month. I've posted a public avatar under my name link here for the time being.
See you around next week.
Best,
PanGraham/anon-hp
Got back from a neighborhood dinner party just in time to welcome our almost new friend PanGraham. After all, I did say that I felt like I know the Blue posters personally. I'm amazed that I convinced anyone about anything, but you can be sure that I will be looking out for PanGraham posts in the future.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, Winston is a keeper!
Have a good evening everyone.