Theme: 51 Pickup - Roman numeral LI (51) is inserted into familiar phrases.
22A. Space cadet's selection?: OB(LI)VIOUS CHOICE. Obvious Choice.
30A. "Let's go, Mr. North": COME ON O(LI)VER. Come on Over. Olive North.
52A. Fish-eating bird's dessert?: PE(LI)CAN PIE. Pecan Pie.
61A. Powell's portrait painter?: CO(LI)N ARTIST. Con Artist. Colin Powell.
76A. Badly neglected vehicle?: SQUA(LI)D CAR. Squad Car.
95A. Scores kept by Cinderella's godmother?: FAIRY TAL(LI)ES. Fairy Tales.
109A. Ultimate caterer?: THE LAST SUPP(LI)ER. The Last Supper.
3D. Seasoning for kielbasa?:PO(LI)SH SPICE. Posh Spice (of the Spice Girls).
14D. Sarah's campaign strategist?: PA(LI)N HANDLER. Panhandler.
57D. Lassie's luggage carrier?: COL(LI)E PORTER. Cole Porter.
66D. Analgesic for a post-snorkeling headache?: CORAL RE(LI)EF. Coral Reef.
And CII (54D. MXX ÷ X). 1020÷ 10= 102. It doubles the theme number 51 and connects two of the theme answers. Neat!
Quintessential Dan Naddor puzzle: very heavy themage, clever, entertaining & bold wordplay. I counted a total of 129 theme squares among the 11 entries. We don't often see Down theme answers overlapping each other.
An unusual number of people names in the grid though. Fortunately most of them are recognizable. I did have to peek at the cheat sheet for a few obscure ones.
I suspect Dan got the theme inspiration during his 51 birthday celebration. Alas, I can not just send him an email now and ask. But I was comforted by the fact that he celebrated his last birthday with us on Oct 16, 2009, and he knew he was adored and respected.
Across:
1. Flavorful: SAPID. Boy, the third appearance in the past 8 days. Still sounds "insipid"/"vapid" to me. Do read this funny "How I Met My Wife" Bill G brought to us a while ago (sorry for the wrong credit yesterday, Bill.)
6. Tennyson poem that begins "He clasps the crag with crooked hands": THE EAGLE. Got the answer from crosses.
14. Scorecard numbers: PARS. Another golf term is CART (61D. Golf rental). Dan loves golf.
18. Leachman who is the oldest "Dancing With the Stars" contestant to date: CLORIS. Nope. Have never heard of this lady.
20. Is guaranteed to work: CAN'T FAIL
21. Ike's mate: MAMIE. And BESS (70D. 21-Across predecessor). Bess Truman.
24. Fly on the wind: GLIDE
25. Buddy: PAISANO. Paysan is French for "peasant".
26. Madre's boy: NINO.
27. Coleridge storyteller: MARINER. Albatross the wearisome burden (also the golf score) is derived from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
29. USNA grad: ENS (Ensign)
34. Bridge site: NOSE. Of course I was picturing a real bridge, not the ridge of my nose.
35. "So that's it!": OHO. Crossing OOH (36D. "I'm amazed!").
37. Sporty Pontiac: GTO
38. Start of Caesar's boast: VENI. "Veni, vidi, vici"
39. Crack reaction: HA HA
40. Novelist Susan: SONTAG. Long time lover of Annie Leibovitz.
44. Inclined: LEANT. Oh, I thought it's leaned.
46. Burrowing rodents of Central and South America: PACAS. No idea. Dictionary says this rodent is almost tailless and valued as food.
47. Vatican Palace painter: RAPHAEL. The Italian Renaissance painter.
49. Had in mind: MEANT
50. "Meet the Fockers" actor: DE NIRO (Robert). Fun movie.
51. Judo sash: OBI
55. Blush: REDDEN
56. Muhammad's birthplace: MECCA. Hence the annual Hajj to Mecca.
58. Swoon: FAINT
59. Gloom: PALL
60. Promise, for one: OLEO. The Promise brand margarine.
65. Creamy shade: ECRU
69. Angle iron: L-BAR. In the form of an L (90 degree bend)
71. Like tortoiseshell: HORNY. Man, Dennis/Carol would have fun kidding with Dan about his clue.
72. Like Niagara Falls: AROAR. I like the two consecutive "Like ...".
73. Large envelope: MAILER
80. Needle: RIB
81. Sign up: ENLIST
82. Lion-colored: TAWNY
83. Water polo teams, e.g.: HEPTADS. Heptad is a group of seven.
85. Chicago suburb: NILES. Unknown to me.
86. Merited: RATED
87. Back fin: DORSAL. Learned from doing Xword.
89. Isinglass: MICA
90. Org. concerned with PCBs: EPA
92. Piece of work: ERG. Normally clued as "Unit of work".
94. Casa pet, perhaps: GATO. Spanish for "cat". Los Gatos (CA) means "The Cats".
101. Pitching stat: ERA
103. Going on and on: ETERNAL
105. "Charity thou __ lie": Stephen Crane: ART A. Was ignorant of the poem.
106. Ralph Nader in the 2000 election, according to Gore supporters: SPOILER. Indeed.
108. Bit of gaucho gear: RIATA. Or reata.
113. Atlas feature: INSET
114. Abscissa's counterpart: ORDINATE. Had to look up in my dictionary for the meaning of "abscissa".
115. Jungle queen: SHEENA. From "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle".
116. Hungarian castle city: EGER. I wonder if it's a gimme for our Hungarian trombonist Jazzbumpa. I only know Eger the river.
117. Grading period: SEMESTER
118. Hotel amenities: SAFES
Down:
1. Range: SCOPE
2. Wrestler Lou: ALBANO. Nope. Was he very famous?
4. The cornea covers it: IRIS
5. Former NBA center Vlade: DIVAC. A Serbian. I peeked at the answer sheet again.
6. Horned Frogs' sch.: TCU (Texas Christian University). In Ft. Worth.
7. Lacks: HAS NOT
8. Valley Girl's home, perhaps: ENCINO. Spanish for "evergreen". It’s in San Fernando Valley. District of LA. Stumper for me.
9. Culture: Pref.: ETHNO
10. "__ Such As I": Elvis hit: A FOOL
11. Merry, in Metz: GAI. French for "gay".
12. Contractor's ID: LIC (License)
13. Natural environment: ELEMENT
15. Body builder?: AMINO ACID. Builder of protein. Great clue.
16. Carpooling: RIDESHARE. Did the answer come to you immediately?
17. Allow oneself to be persuaded: SEE REASON. New idiom to me.
19. Chinese: Pref.: SINO. As in Sino-American relations.
21. Dugout ldr.: MGR (manager). "Ldr" is such a weird abbreviation for "leader", isn't it?
23. Pah lead-in: OOM. Oom leads the word "Oompah".
28. Bush spokesman Fleischer: ARI. Too smooth a tongue.
31. Easter roller: EGG
32. Russian prince known as "Moneybag": IVAN I. Easy guess. 14th-century Russian prince.
33. Sale, to Seurat: VENTE. French for "sale". Does Seurat here refer to pointillist Georges Seurat or is Seurat is a popular French surname, Kazie?
41. Western wine region: NAPA
42. Simple top: TEE
43. Totally behind: ALL FOR
44. Helped out: LENT A HAND. Nailed it. This fill connects three theme answers.
45. "The Raven" monogram: EAP (Edgar Allan Poe)
46. Spa treatment: PEEL
47. Dallas quarterback Tony: ROMO. Now who's he dating?
48. Brother of Cain: ABEL. Or SETH (the youngest).
49. Jazz flutist Herbie: MANN
50. "Shoot!": DRAT
53. Adverb ending: IAL. The ending of the word adverbial. Not the real adverb LY ending.
59. Movie with a memorable shower scene: PSYCHO. Wish I had not seen it.
63. Penta- minus two: TRI. Shouldn't be "Penta - minus bi-" since they are all prefixes?
64. Corn Belt st.: IND (Indiana)
67. Bust: RAID
68. Cities, informally: URBS
72. Dadaist collection: ARPS. Jean Arp. The Dadaist pioneer.
73. Where the wild things are: MENAGERIE. Awesome entry.
74. Bringing to life: ANIMATING
75. Uptight: ILL AT EASE
76. Keanan of "Step by Step": STACI. No idea. Quite heavy foundation on her forehead, no?
77. Persian Gulf nation: QATAR. Where Al Jazeera is based.
78. German director Boll known for film adaptations of video games: UWE. Man, this guy has a weird name. How do you pronounce UWE?
86. Theater districts: RIALTOS. Another new word to me. This solely refers to those districts around Broadway, right?
87. Indian lentil dish: DAL. Not to my taste. Indian dish is a bit too strong for me.
89. Juilliard deg.: MFA
90. Really bugs: EATS AT
91. Nebraska river: PLATTE. Missouri tributary.
93. "The Quiet American" author: GREENE (Graham)
96. Either Bush, once: YALIE. Both members of Skull and Bones too.
97. __ fat: TRANS
98. Ames sch.: ISU (Iowa State University)
99. "House" actor Omar: EPPS
100. Next year's juniors: SOPHS. Need "briefly" in the clue for abbreviation hint.
102. Tapestry behind which Polonius hid: ARRAS. In "Hamlet''.
104. Rebellious Turner: NAT
107. Intestinal parts: ILEA. Plural of ileum.
110. Realm until 1806: Abbr.: HRE (800 A.D. -1806 A.D.)
111. Teacher's deg.: ED. M (Master of Education)
Updates: In his Facebook, Dan Naddor said: "Don't send me flowers, don't send-in-the-clowns...make my life count. Please donate to Hoag Cancer Center -without them I would have been gone a long time ago." If you are attending the service on Jan 7th, Dan requested "no coats, no ties, no mourning attire, flip flops preferred".
Answer grid.
C.C.
22A. Space cadet's selection?: OB(LI)VIOUS CHOICE. Obvious Choice.
30A. "Let's go, Mr. North": COME ON O(LI)VER. Come on Over. Olive North.
52A. Fish-eating bird's dessert?: PE(LI)CAN PIE. Pecan Pie.
61A. Powell's portrait painter?: CO(LI)N ARTIST. Con Artist. Colin Powell.
76A. Badly neglected vehicle?: SQUA(LI)D CAR. Squad Car.
95A. Scores kept by Cinderella's godmother?: FAIRY TAL(LI)ES. Fairy Tales.
109A. Ultimate caterer?: THE LAST SUPP(LI)ER. The Last Supper.
3D. Seasoning for kielbasa?:PO(LI)SH SPICE. Posh Spice (of the Spice Girls).
14D. Sarah's campaign strategist?: PA(LI)N HANDLER. Panhandler.
57D. Lassie's luggage carrier?: COL(LI)E PORTER. Cole Porter.
66D. Analgesic for a post-snorkeling headache?: CORAL RE(LI)EF. Coral Reef.
And CII (54D. MXX ÷ X). 1020÷ 10= 102. It doubles the theme number 51 and connects two of the theme answers. Neat!
Quintessential Dan Naddor puzzle: very heavy themage, clever, entertaining & bold wordplay. I counted a total of 129 theme squares among the 11 entries. We don't often see Down theme answers overlapping each other.
An unusual number of people names in the grid though. Fortunately most of them are recognizable. I did have to peek at the cheat sheet for a few obscure ones.
I suspect Dan got the theme inspiration during his 51 birthday celebration. Alas, I can not just send him an email now and ask. But I was comforted by the fact that he celebrated his last birthday with us on Oct 16, 2009, and he knew he was adored and respected.
Across:
1. Flavorful: SAPID. Boy, the third appearance in the past 8 days. Still sounds "insipid"/"vapid" to me. Do read this funny "How I Met My Wife" Bill G brought to us a while ago (sorry for the wrong credit yesterday, Bill.)
6. Tennyson poem that begins "He clasps the crag with crooked hands": THE EAGLE. Got the answer from crosses.
14. Scorecard numbers: PARS. Another golf term is CART (61D. Golf rental). Dan loves golf.
18. Leachman who is the oldest "Dancing With the Stars" contestant to date: CLORIS. Nope. Have never heard of this lady.
20. Is guaranteed to work: CAN'T FAIL
21. Ike's mate: MAMIE. And BESS (70D. 21-Across predecessor). Bess Truman.
24. Fly on the wind: GLIDE
25. Buddy: PAISANO. Paysan is French for "peasant".
26. Madre's boy: NINO.
27. Coleridge storyteller: MARINER. Albatross the wearisome burden (also the golf score) is derived from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
29. USNA grad: ENS (Ensign)
34. Bridge site: NOSE. Of course I was picturing a real bridge, not the ridge of my nose.
35. "So that's it!": OHO. Crossing OOH (36D. "I'm amazed!").
37. Sporty Pontiac: GTO
38. Start of Caesar's boast: VENI. "Veni, vidi, vici"
39. Crack reaction: HA HA
40. Novelist Susan: SONTAG. Long time lover of Annie Leibovitz.
44. Inclined: LEANT. Oh, I thought it's leaned.
46. Burrowing rodents of Central and South America: PACAS. No idea. Dictionary says this rodent is almost tailless and valued as food.
47. Vatican Palace painter: RAPHAEL. The Italian Renaissance painter.
49. Had in mind: MEANT
50. "Meet the Fockers" actor: DE NIRO (Robert). Fun movie.
51. Judo sash: OBI
55. Blush: REDDEN
56. Muhammad's birthplace: MECCA. Hence the annual Hajj to Mecca.
58. Swoon: FAINT
59. Gloom: PALL
60. Promise, for one: OLEO. The Promise brand margarine.
65. Creamy shade: ECRU
69. Angle iron: L-BAR. In the form of an L (90 degree bend)
71. Like tortoiseshell: HORNY. Man, Dennis/Carol would have fun kidding with Dan about his clue.
72. Like Niagara Falls: AROAR. I like the two consecutive "Like ...".
73. Large envelope: MAILER
80. Needle: RIB
81. Sign up: ENLIST
82. Lion-colored: TAWNY
83. Water polo teams, e.g.: HEPTADS. Heptad is a group of seven.
85. Chicago suburb: NILES. Unknown to me.
86. Merited: RATED
87. Back fin: DORSAL. Learned from doing Xword.
89. Isinglass: MICA
90. Org. concerned with PCBs: EPA
92. Piece of work: ERG. Normally clued as "Unit of work".
94. Casa pet, perhaps: GATO. Spanish for "cat". Los Gatos (CA) means "The Cats".
101. Pitching stat: ERA
103. Going on and on: ETERNAL
105. "Charity thou __ lie": Stephen Crane: ART A. Was ignorant of the poem.
106. Ralph Nader in the 2000 election, according to Gore supporters: SPOILER. Indeed.
108. Bit of gaucho gear: RIATA. Or reata.
113. Atlas feature: INSET
114. Abscissa's counterpart: ORDINATE. Had to look up in my dictionary for the meaning of "abscissa".
115. Jungle queen: SHEENA. From "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle".
116. Hungarian castle city: EGER. I wonder if it's a gimme for our Hungarian trombonist Jazzbumpa. I only know Eger the river.
117. Grading period: SEMESTER
118. Hotel amenities: SAFES
Down:
1. Range: SCOPE
2. Wrestler Lou: ALBANO. Nope. Was he very famous?
4. The cornea covers it: IRIS
5. Former NBA center Vlade: DIVAC. A Serbian. I peeked at the answer sheet again.
6. Horned Frogs' sch.: TCU (Texas Christian University). In Ft. Worth.
7. Lacks: HAS NOT
8. Valley Girl's home, perhaps: ENCINO. Spanish for "evergreen". It’s in San Fernando Valley. District of LA. Stumper for me.
9. Culture: Pref.: ETHNO
10. "__ Such As I": Elvis hit: A FOOL
11. Merry, in Metz: GAI. French for "gay".
12. Contractor's ID: LIC (License)
13. Natural environment: ELEMENT
15. Body builder?: AMINO ACID. Builder of protein. Great clue.
16. Carpooling: RIDESHARE. Did the answer come to you immediately?
17. Allow oneself to be persuaded: SEE REASON. New idiom to me.
19. Chinese: Pref.: SINO. As in Sino-American relations.
21. Dugout ldr.: MGR (manager). "Ldr" is such a weird abbreviation for "leader", isn't it?
23. Pah lead-in: OOM. Oom leads the word "Oompah".
28. Bush spokesman Fleischer: ARI. Too smooth a tongue.
31. Easter roller: EGG
32. Russian prince known as "Moneybag": IVAN I. Easy guess. 14th-century Russian prince.
33. Sale, to Seurat: VENTE. French for "sale". Does Seurat here refer to pointillist Georges Seurat or is Seurat is a popular French surname, Kazie?
41. Western wine region: NAPA
42. Simple top: TEE
43. Totally behind: ALL FOR
44. Helped out: LENT A HAND. Nailed it. This fill connects three theme answers.
45. "The Raven" monogram: EAP (Edgar Allan Poe)
46. Spa treatment: PEEL
47. Dallas quarterback Tony: ROMO. Now who's he dating?
48. Brother of Cain: ABEL. Or SETH (the youngest).
49. Jazz flutist Herbie: MANN
50. "Shoot!": DRAT
53. Adverb ending: IAL. The ending of the word adverbial. Not the real adverb LY ending.
59. Movie with a memorable shower scene: PSYCHO. Wish I had not seen it.
63. Penta- minus two: TRI. Shouldn't be "Penta - minus bi-" since they are all prefixes?
64. Corn Belt st.: IND (Indiana)
67. Bust: RAID
68. Cities, informally: URBS
72. Dadaist collection: ARPS. Jean Arp. The Dadaist pioneer.
73. Where the wild things are: MENAGERIE. Awesome entry.
74. Bringing to life: ANIMATING
75. Uptight: ILL AT EASE
76. Keanan of "Step by Step": STACI. No idea. Quite heavy foundation on her forehead, no?
77. Persian Gulf nation: QATAR. Where Al Jazeera is based.
78. German director Boll known for film adaptations of video games: UWE. Man, this guy has a weird name. How do you pronounce UWE?
86. Theater districts: RIALTOS. Another new word to me. This solely refers to those districts around Broadway, right?
87. Indian lentil dish: DAL. Not to my taste. Indian dish is a bit too strong for me.
89. Juilliard deg.: MFA
90. Really bugs: EATS AT
91. Nebraska river: PLATTE. Missouri tributary.
93. "The Quiet American" author: GREENE (Graham)
96. Either Bush, once: YALIE. Both members of Skull and Bones too.
97. __ fat: TRANS
98. Ames sch.: ISU (Iowa State University)
99. "House" actor Omar: EPPS
100. Next year's juniors: SOPHS. Need "briefly" in the clue for abbreviation hint.
102. Tapestry behind which Polonius hid: ARRAS. In "Hamlet''.
104. Rebellious Turner: NAT
107. Intestinal parts: ILEA. Plural of ileum.
110. Realm until 1806: Abbr.: HRE (800 A.D. -1806 A.D.)
111. Teacher's deg.: ED. M (Master of Education)
Updates: In his Facebook, Dan Naddor said: "Don't send me flowers, don't send-in-the-clowns...make my life count. Please donate to Hoag Cancer Center -without them I would have been gone a long time ago." If you are attending the service on Jan 7th, Dan requested "no coats, no ties, no mourning attire, flip flops preferred".
Answer grid.
C.C.
50 comments:
Thank you for the challenges, Dan. You were a true wordsmith.
A Fool Such as I
An apt song for Dan's passing.
Bittersweet solving experience today, for obvious reasons.
The puzzle itself was fine, although it took me waaaay to long to "pick up" what the theme was. I think it was CORAL RELIEF that finally clued me int to what was going on. Fortunately, all the theme answers were perfectly valid stand-alone phrases, so I didn't need to know the theme to get them.
I had one small snag at the crossing of LBAR/BESS/NILES. LBAR and NILES were completely unknown to me (and I couldn't even parse the clue for LBAR). Fortunately, though, I finally realized that 70D was asking for the first lady prior to MAMIE Eisenhower and not for Ike's first wife...
I almost crashed and burned at ORDINATE, however. Neither the clue nor the answer meant anything to me, and I've never heard of a teacher's degree called EDM. I also misspelled 96D as YALEE instead of YALIE, which didn't help any. I finally guessed the "D" and then, when I didn't get the expected "tada!" I went back and checked all my answers until I finally noticed that YALIE was misspelled. If I were solving this on paper instead of online, of course, I never would have noticed my error.
Good morning and all, it was another difficult solve today, but doable with a little help from Mr. G. I never did get the theme, but the theme answers were readily gettable. C.C. your ability to get the themes is outstanding and the tie in to 102 (CII) in 54D was really grand.
The high here today will be 18 degrees so it looks like another good day to do indoor things.
Hope you all have a great Sunday.
A perfect puzzle for me today! Just the right degree of difficulty with a clever theme. (Much more fun for me than the themeless puzzles.) Being a retired math teacher, I recognized Abscissa right away and got ORDINATE with no problem. Crack reaction (HAHA) was clever. I agree that Penta- minus two seemed odd. Anyway, I really enjoyed the theme. It was a nice farewell remembrance of Dan.
Good morning/early afternoon all,
Seven degrees here in the Outer Bluegrass this morning. The cold weather must be keeping everyone away today.
I'm only a week behind today. A friend (you know who you are) has been mailing (snail mail) the puzzles, so I did the Barry Silk puzzle from last Sunday today. Looking forward to this Naddor (RIP) for next Sunday, so I skipped directly to comments.
So what are we calling this new decade? One article I read proposed "Twentyten" rather than "Two thousand ten". Makes sense to me.
I'm still trying to figure out what to call the last decade...
Thinking of Dan this morning after tackling his puzzle. Sorry Dan, the bottom 3rd looked like swiss cheese as it gave me grief. I put in raz for rib and then it went from bad to worse. Couldn't completely fill fairy tailler, the last supplier or coral relief, so I didn't have enough perps to get 'er done. Loved the challenge though.Oh, and I loved reading "The Eagle".
I had never heard of Dan's hometown,Trabuco Canyon. What a beautiful place.
Good Morning All, Oh yes, Dan The Man! He certainly knew how to arrange those impossible (at least to me) answers with perps that would leave at least a little light at the end of the tunnel.
I didn't have any idea about wrestler ALBANO, water polo HEPTADS, STACI Keanan, and forget about "Abscissa counterpart" (HuH??) ORDINATE. There were others too, but those were the ones that sent me G-ing.
I loved this theme. The clues and answers were so clever, but not so obscure that we didn't have a chance to figure it out. LOL, at least, once I got the "LI" connection, it seemed doable.
Other than the theme, I really liked the stack of LEANT and MEANT with the cross of LENT (A HAND).
Windhover, "Twentyten" sounds like the way to go to me too.
Stephen Crane wrote some pretty cynical poetry. He just called them "lines". The one that is referred to today is one of the more cynical ones. It comes from the The Black Riders and Other Lines, published in 1895.
XVI
Charity thou art a lie,
A toy of women,
A pleasure of certain men.
In the presence of justice,
Lo, the walls of the temple
Are visible
Through thy form of sudden shadows.
On the other hand, this is one of my favorite, more hopeful, Crane poems. Having been exposed to Dan Naddor's unassuming, imaginative and humorous personality, I think he might have liked this one.
XVIII
In heaven,
Some little blades of grass
Stood before God.
"What did you do?"
Then all save one of the little blades
Began eagerly to relate
The merits of their lives.
This one stayed a small way behind,
Ashamed.
Presently, God said,
"And what did you do?"
The little blade answered, "Oh my Lord,
Memory is bitter to me,
For, if I did good deeds,
I know not of them."
Then God, in all His splendor,
Arose from His throne.
"Oh, best little blade of grass!" He said.
This puzzle is too hard.
Windhover forgot the third option
to the silly arguement about what
to call this decade. My old algebra teacher would call it two
thousand AND ten.
Good morning C.C. and all,
As Barry G. stated, a bittersweet solve today, yet a real treat. Eleven theme answers, with some overlapping is outstanding. I caught the theme early on which helped with a number of unknown names. My only snag was in the NW as ALBANO and DIVAC were complete unknowns, and I had SCalE for 1D. When I finally corrected that error, the B&V popped out as the OBVIOUS last two letters to complete 22A, and PAISANO also appeared. Favorite clues were 39A: Crack reaction, and 60A: Promise, for one.
C.C.-Thank you for another fine job with the blog today! You often add clarity to the answers that I may have been able to fill in, but don't completely understand. Per your query, Rialto refers to any theater district, so Broadway in NYC is a Rialto, but is not exclusive. Also, I believe SOPHS is legitimate without abbr. in the clue. The same with "frosh" for freshmen. They are colloquial expressions frequently used in American speech.
Wish I could can some of our good weather and send it to those in colder regions!
Enjoy the day!
Re: 2010
According to last evenings newscast the standard has been set by past practice.
In the 1700s we said 17 76,
the 1800s 18 12,
the 1900s 19 45
etc
so we are now
20 10
Susie:
While I agree with Anon (never thought I'd write those words) that the argu(e)ment over what to call the decade is "silly" (for two reasons: (1) call it whatever the hell you want and (2) some phrase will soon come into common usage whatever we individually choose to call it), the examples you cite, while all correct, are incomplete. For example, while people then did in fact say " 19 07 ", I never heard anyone say "20 07". Common usage was "two thousand (and) seven.
Could we now get back to some noncontroversial topics like religion or politics?
RIP, DN.
Pardon me, what is 51 Pickup?
Clueless
@clueless anon The Roman numeral for 51 (LI) is added to various phrases to make new wacky phrases. The 51 is "picked up" by the old to make the new. This is a variation of the kid's "52 pickup" card "game" where all of the cards in a normal deck of cards are scattered and then picked up. Never understood why that was supposed to bu fun/ny.
WTF. First it was CA and now MJ.
Since I don't seem to count, GTH.
eddyB
We continue our countdown of Dan Naddor puzzles in the pipeline, and as described by C.C., this is quintessential Naddor; if you did not like his style, you will complain and think it too hard, but if you persevere and keep an open mind to wit and misdirection and a theme, it all falls in place, with a tremendous satisfaction when you finish.
pai•sa•no (p -zä n ) also pai•san (-zän )
n. pl. pai•sa•nos also pai•sans
1. A countryman; a compatriot.
2. Slang A friend; a pal.
Is like Landesman (which sounds like lahnceman) more than a peasant, but an implicit BUDDY, as a fellow traveler.
Captain Lou Albano was a multi-media star, who was not much of wrestler, but became a manger and promoter and an actor, and an important figure in my kids’ lives, when he was transformed into the live action Mario for Super Mario Brothers. He died not too long ago.
@eddyb Don't understand your rant. Sounds like you feel dissed for some reason. Care to communicate about it?
EddyB, did MJ or I, or anybody else say something to offend you, or possibly didn't respond to a comment? I'm at a loss here.
Today's puzzle was tough, but enjoyable. I was looking into the fills as clues into Dan Naddor's personality, and tricky mind!
It took me about an hour to complete, but then I did it while watching the Steeler/Dolphin game and had to stop to wave my Terrible Towel a few times!
Perps and red letters helped me finish, but I did have to google 70D because the only "____ Lingus" I could think of was more than 3 letters... and I couldn't figure out what AES meant once it was there. For the other non-world travelers here, AER Lingus is Ireland's National Airline.
It is: eddyb688@gmail.com, if anyone cares. Nothing more to be said.
eddyB
@CA. I can't use your email link
via your profile to contact you. I need another link.
eddyB
@Crockett1947. The same for you.
Your email link on your profile
won't open. I keep getting an error message. ?
eddyb
EddyB, I sent you an email via gmail @12:09. You should be able to Reply to it. Also, I was editing my profile for a new avatar a little while ago, so that may be why you couldn't use it. Sorry, but the gmail is the only contact address I give out here.
EddyB-I don't have a g-mail account, so I'll communicate here. Please forgive me for anythiing I have said or done to offend you. I would never purposely be unkind to anyone on this blog.
C.C.,
As far as I know, SEURAT would be referring to the artist--I know of no others.
Lemonade,
"Landesman (which sounds like lahnceman)"--Not so, first syllable sounds like the "Lond" in London, then "es" (both letters sounded), plus "Mann" with the same vowel sound as the first syllable. So Landesmann has three syllables in all. Paisan is French for peasant, as C.C. said, but I believe paisano is the same thing in Italian, and all three are used to mean "countryman", as in someone from your area.
I had a tough time and lots of red letter help today. Dan has always got me with the combination of names, and heavy use of culture items I'm unfamiliar with because of sport, or big city-isms I haven't experienced here, like RIALTO, which I'd heard but never knew what it was.
I have never heard of the "52 pick-up" card game. I thought maybe it was a reference to a particular model of truck, so never caught on to what the theme meant. Clever though.
Eddy,
Don't have a cow--we all get overlooked at times, and when I take too long to get here for the first time, I often skim the comments too fast to take them all in thoroughly, because by then there are so many.
Oops: I meant paysan for the French peasant, --a typo.
Also, C.C., UWE rhymes with louver, the "u" sounding like the "ou" and "w" like "v".
@Crockett1947, thank you, Sir.
Clued In
Windhover -
Sorry I was so out of line by commenting on a topic you raised. I didn't mean to interfere with the purpose of this discussion. It won't happen again as I will refrain from ever posting again.
EddyB,
I'd like you to explain your repining.
Kazie et al,
Thanks for the answers.
@eddyb, grow up. not every comment is responded.
Susie,
In the immortal words of Robin Luke,
I stood a-watchin' all night long - I stood a-watchin' all night long
I stood a-watchin' till you went away
You were a girl of many charms - Oh, how I loved you in my arms
I never thought that you would ever go - 'cause I loved you so
CHORUS
Oh, uh, Susie darlin'
I thought you knewYou were all the world to me
All my dreams come true
I stood a-cryin' all night long - I stood a-cryin' all night long
Cryin' wishin' you'd come back to me-ee
Thinking of all the dreams we knew - Now that you're gone they won't
come true
My heart is empty without you - Nothin' there but misery
CHORUS
Now-ow I stand a-watchin' all night long - I stand a-watchin' all night
long
Knowing that life has nothing left for me-ee
I'll wait around most patiently - Hopin' you will return to me
Till that happy day I will always be - Watchin' all night long
Oh, uh, Susie darlin'
I thought you knewYou were all the world to me
All my dreams come true
In all seriousness, dear, I don't see how my response to you was offensive. I was merely pointing out that the examples you cited did not "cover the waterfront", and that the question of what to call the decade, while not of any critical importance, is still being discussed.
While I do like to "stir the s---" on occasion, I am not thin-skinned, and I do not hold a grudge (notable exception - I have not yet forgiven Bush and Cheney, et al), especially in trivial matters.
Please do not go away on my account. We can still be friends, even if we never approach the level of the song lyrics above.
PS:
If you stay, I will agree to call the decade whatever YOU say. Please say you will.
Hello All--Another well constructed, challenging, but fun puzzle by Dan Naddor. We knew there were more puzzles by Dan in the pipeline, but one so soon was a treat. Bittersweet, indeed.
I actually got the theme after the first couple of fills, and that made the rest of the theme answers a bit more doable. I did have to Google Lou Albano, and TCU. I kept wanting to put in our newest Univ., UC Merced. I know that there a lot of horned toads in the central valley and I didn't know of another Univ. that would have such a mascot! I learned something new today.
My favorite somewhat misleading clues-Promise, for one and Body builder.
I had a difficult time justifying the EDM education degree abbreviation. But after thinking about it for a while, we put down EDD for a Doctorate in Education degree, so a Masters in Education would be EDM. Makes sense.
@Crockett. I don't know why either.
I need the xxxx@gmail.com link. Is it crockett1947? The same for CA.
Anyway, I sent C.C. an e-mail and said she could pass my repining.
Hope she got it.
eddyB
@I'm nobody said
And your name is?
eddyB
Hi gang -
What a great puzzle today. Something wonderful to remember Dan by. Had a big smile when I finally sussed the brilliant theme.
Sorry to say I did not know EGER, and do not even recognize the name.
Did get Herbie MANN, though. Saw him perform at U of Toledo about 42 years ago. Sat about 5 feet from him, right on the floor. So close I could see the track marks on the bass players arms.
There is a NILES in Ohio, and another in MI.
I've had a headache all day - can't shake it. Still, was able to finish the puzzle in a few sittings spread over the day. Missed OHO, though. Thought it was an AHA moment. Also went to the oldest grandson, Danny's, 13th (gasp) birthday party.
I think I'll treat myself to a nice slice of PELICAN PIE from THE LAST SUPPLIER. It's the OBLIVIOUS CHOICE.
Cheers!
JzB the eager (not EGER) trombonist
I was doing the AV Club xword 12 30 09 with no title. The theme words were (Some untrustworthy Canadians?) LIARSOFMONTREAL, (Hotties taken prisoner after a naval battle?) MIAFLEETFOXES, (Globetrotting criminals' run-ins with the law?) INTERPOLBATTLES, (Mythical but easy-to-find bird?) COMMONPHOENIX and (Snuggle in bed with some assassins?) SPOONTHEKILLERS. I have no idea what the theme is. Any help for me?
~ Bill G.
Spies like us.
@eddyb Yes, that is correct for my gmail address.
Barry G, last year was O'9. This year should be O'10; or maybe just 'TEN'.
I feel so uninformed trying to do todays puzzle. What with inclined='leant', angle iron='L-bar', like totoise shell='horny',simple top='tee'. And...realm until 1806:abbr. who knew?
In addition, if the cornea covers the iris, how do we see?
If C.C. didn't post the answers, I would've thought that the whole thing was a joke.
Dennis, you are missing out on some memorable weather here. Enjoy, enjoy!
@BillG:
Each of the AV puzzle theme answers featured names of 3 musicians (many of them rappers, so I didn't know them) who had hit CDs in 2009. The Crossword Fiend website usually blogs those puzzles; C.C. has the link on the first page. Fun, tough puzzles; I do them but not every week.
I'll post re: the LAT shortly--I have croutons backing and soup simmering at the moment.....Sorry for the interruption!
Finally having a chance to sit down for the day and get to the puzzle. What a nice surprise to see Dan's puzzle - it was challenging, but a very enjoyable puzzle. I had red letter help all over the place, but thought it was so very clever. LOVED it.
Clear Ayes, thanks as always for finding just the right poem for the occasion.
Kept warm here today by making Julia Child's Carbonnade a la Flamande - beer braised beef and onions. Oh my. YUM! Don't think I'm going to tackle cooking my way through the whole book, but I am very glad I tackled this recipe! It's basically pot roast with LOTS of onions, braised in pilsner, beef stock and brown sugar for 2 1/2 hours, and then finished with a gravy of the braising liquid, corn starch and wine vinegar. Serve over parslied potatoes or buttered noodles, et viola. Onions get so sweet and caramelly, they just melt in your mouth. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Now, off to finish the dishes, and then relax a little before returning to the post-holiday grind tomorrow. Happy back to work, for those headed that way!
Andrea, could you FedEx some of that this way, to Manhattan Beach? Sure sounds good...
~ Bill G.
Good evening!
"Bittersweet" was used today in several posts about the experience of solving Dan Naddor's wonderful 21x puzzle. My thoughts exactly, wending my way oh-so-slowly through the grid, obLIviouly missing the theme until about the fourth theme answer!
What a treat, yet what a tough one! Loved the eleven theme answers, and struggled with lots of unknowns, but perps bailed me out at almost every turn. I thought "isinglass" was a composer, wanted Ike's mate to be Nixon, and assumed Abcissa was a character in an opera. Woe was me.
Trivia: 79D AER Lingus in the semi-anglicized version of the Irish "Aer Loingeas" which means Air Fleet (or Air Ship), similar to Lufthansa and good old Russian, Aeroflot.
Fave theme answer, reparsed: "Come on, O Liver" which is my daily mantra as I grapple with mine, which functions at about 20% of what it should, ever since my bile ducts went kaput and screwy. Lucky for me, my heart, lungs and most other organs work darn tootin' well!
French word "VENTE" does mean "sale" but it refers to the actual sale (selling) of something. Comes from the verb VENDRE = to sell, If you're looking for a deal, the word you want to see on the shop window is SOLDE or its plural Soldes, or even better, SUPER SOLDE!
Thanks for the Cranes, ClearAyes. Easier to make sense of than the ARPS and SEURATS in the museum!
I often don't bother with the Sunday puzzles because they seem to always take more than an hour. But when I saw it was one of Dan Naddor's I felt I needed to sit down with "an old friend", sort of like you know you should be spending more time with your kids because they grow up so fast and leave the nest all too soon. Of course, my time was well rewarded, especially since I was working in the kitchen (away from my computer) and had to sweat out each challenging clue because I was too lazy to get up and Google-search for answers. Sure, it took me longer, but there's that special satisfaction that comes from figuring things out the hard way. With Dan Naddor's puzzles there's always that moment when the lightbulb turns on and the clue suddenly makes sense. Thanks, Dan, I felt your presence today.
One last post for the day.
Susie, do come back. Windhover is a bit rough around the edges sometimes and his sense of humor takes some getting used to, but he really has a heart of gold (Don't tell him I said so.)
A bit of other disagreement and misunderstanding today, but hopefully the air is clear now.
Thanks to Andrea and PJB. It isn't easy to find a place to squeeze a Stephen Crane poem in. But I sure like to when I can.
Looking forward to a great 20-10, and particularly an easy Monday puzzle for tomorrow.
CA:
Aww Thanks Hon,
Now I'll have to find a song for you, too.
nice post. thanks.
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