Theme: None
Total words: 72
Total blocks: 34
Quintessential Robert Wolfe themeless, with three 15-letter grid spanners and all of them "common enough phrases in daily speech but rarely used in puzzles":
17A. Daydreams: CASTLES IN THE AIR. Awe-inspiring fill.
38A. Reaction to a coincidental entrance: SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. My favorite answer today.
58A. Declaration that's from hunger: I COULD EAT A HORSE. Then we also have ATE (6D. Took in). Tiny flaw. Two forms of the same word (EAT/ATE) should not be allowed in the same grid.
Besides the three grid-spanners, Bob also gives us ten 9-letter entries. He is fond of multi-word answers, so we have plenty today. His playfulness & humor are also in full display. Rafts of misleading clues. My favorite is INFRA (28D. Red head?). Infrared.
Across:
1. "Something's Got a Hold on Me" singer, 1962: ETTA JAMES. Was stumped immediately. Great to see her full name.
10. Bar at the bar: ESTOP. The first bar is verb, "prohibit", the second bar is noun, "the court". We often see it just clued as "Legally prevent".
15. It "ain't what it used to be": Yogi Berra: THE FUTURE. Makes sense.
16. Birch of "Alaska": THORA. Actress Thora Birch. I thought the clue was asking for a particular birch tree in the Alaska. Completely overlooked the quotation mark. Having never heard of the movie "Alaska" did not help.
19. Cry of exhilaration: WHEE
20. Like an irritated person's teeth?: SET ON EDGE. Awesome clue/answer.
21. What U can follow: RST. Alphabetically.
23. White House nickname: RON. Reagan. I wanted IKE.
24. Musician nicknamed "Sugar Lips": HIRT (Al).
27. Try to jab: HIT AT
31. Dose people?: DEM. "Those people" = Them. NY slang I presume. Dis and Dat, Dem and Dose.
34. Like the Indian rhino: ONE-HORNED. Man, it's true. This guy only has one horn.
36. Uncle equal?: I GIVE. V-8 moment for me.
40. Upholstery adornments: TUFTS
41. Plant grafting component: ROOTSTOCK. New word to me.
42. Hampshire's home: STY. Hampshire the breed of pig, characterized by erect ears and a black body with a whitish band around the middle, covering the front legs, according to Wikipedia. I thought it's kind of sheep or goat, Windhover.
43. 1966-67 AFL rushing leader Jim: NANCE. No idea. I bet Barry G/ Mainiac knows. Did not even know England patriots was called Boston Patriots before.
44. DOJ employee: ATTY. DOJ = Depart of Justice.
45. 'Enry's abode: 'OME. Home. The sound H is dropped in the clue/answer. Cockney accent.
47. Ink __: octopus defense: SAC
49. Alfalfa locales: HAYFIELDS. Windhover would love this puzzle.
55. "Verily, thou __ God that hidest thyself" (Isaiah): ART A. Easy guess.
61. It may be metered: VERSE. Fantastic clue.
62. Above: AFORESAID
63. Glacial ridge: ESKER. Simply forgot. We had this fill before.
64. Doesn't draw: STANDS PAT. I don't get the meaning of "draw" here.
Down:
1. Inclusive abbr. : ETC
2. Cold war abatement: THAW
3. Radio host John: TESH. New Ager.
4. Then: AFTER THAT
5. First name in sci-fi: JULES (Verne). "Around the World in Eighty Days".
7. Tousle: MUSS
8. Ohio tribe: ERIE. We also have TETON (29. Dakota dialect). Indian tribes are part of our citizenship test also. There are more than 500 federally recognized tribes in the US. But you only need to know one.
9. Directed: SENT
10. Centric leader: ETHNO. Prefix for "culture".
11. Polish: SHEEN. Noun "Polish". I wanted SHINE.
12. Loathsome sort: TOAD
13. Copier insert: Abbr.: ORIG
14. Skin: PARE. Verb "skin". So tricky.
18. Actionable offense: TORT
22. During, old-style: THRO. How can "through" mean "During"? "Via" to me.
24. Armies: HOSTS. Armies/hosts of.
25. Data, often: INPUT. Not the "Star Trek" guy Data.
26. Like atolls: REEFY. A real word.
30. For this purpose: AD HOC
31. Displacement from a club: DIVOT. D'oh, golf club! Divot is the piece of turf torn up when you strike the ball with an iron.
32. Force out: EVICT. Nice sequential "out" tone to 31D.
33. Braves outfielder Cabrera: MELKY. The Melky Way. He's with the Yankees before. Might be stranger Jayce.
35. Blesses: OKS
36. They may be checked at the door: IDS
37. Be convincing about: GET ACROSS
39. Soissons seasons: ETES. Alliteration. Soissons is city northeast of Paris. Unknown to me. So close in spelling to French fish "poisson".
43. Requirement: NEED
45. Not worthless: OF USE
46. Sebastian Coe, e.g. : MILER
48. Sounded amazed: AAHED. Oohed too.
49. Swarming spot: HIVE. Alliteration
50. They can be high or low: ACES. Don't know cards. TIDE does not fit. Several tricky "they" or "it" in today's puzzle.
51. Walled English city: YORK. No idea. My hometown Xi'An is walled too.
52. Where cows chow down: LEAS. Loved the three "ow"s.
53. Bats: DAFT. Of course I was thinking of baseball bats/HITS.
54. Acropolis sight: STOA. The Greek portico.
56. Under-the-sink item: TRAP. What trap?
57. Land of plenty?: ASIA. Plenty of people. Natural resources too.
59. Hal Foster prince: ARN. I am used to the "Prince Valiant's son" clue. Was ignorant of the creator of the strip.
60. Summer hrs. at MIT: EDT (Eastern Daylight-saving Time)
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total words: 72
Total blocks: 34
Quintessential Robert Wolfe themeless, with three 15-letter grid spanners and all of them "common enough phrases in daily speech but rarely used in puzzles":
17A. Daydreams: CASTLES IN THE AIR. Awe-inspiring fill.
38A. Reaction to a coincidental entrance: SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. My favorite answer today.
58A. Declaration that's from hunger: I COULD EAT A HORSE. Then we also have ATE (6D. Took in). Tiny flaw. Two forms of the same word (EAT/ATE) should not be allowed in the same grid.
Besides the three grid-spanners, Bob also gives us ten 9-letter entries. He is fond of multi-word answers, so we have plenty today. His playfulness & humor are also in full display. Rafts of misleading clues. My favorite is INFRA (28D. Red head?). Infrared.
Across:
1. "Something's Got a Hold on Me" singer, 1962: ETTA JAMES. Was stumped immediately. Great to see her full name.
10. Bar at the bar: ESTOP. The first bar is verb, "prohibit", the second bar is noun, "the court". We often see it just clued as "Legally prevent".
15. It "ain't what it used to be": Yogi Berra: THE FUTURE. Makes sense.
16. Birch of "Alaska": THORA. Actress Thora Birch. I thought the clue was asking for a particular birch tree in the Alaska. Completely overlooked the quotation mark. Having never heard of the movie "Alaska" did not help.
19. Cry of exhilaration: WHEE
20. Like an irritated person's teeth?: SET ON EDGE. Awesome clue/answer.
21. What U can follow: RST. Alphabetically.
23. White House nickname: RON. Reagan. I wanted IKE.
24. Musician nicknamed "Sugar Lips": HIRT (Al).
27. Try to jab: HIT AT
31. Dose people?: DEM. "Those people" = Them. NY slang I presume. Dis and Dat, Dem and Dose.
34. Like the Indian rhino: ONE-HORNED. Man, it's true. This guy only has one horn.
36. Uncle equal?: I GIVE. V-8 moment for me.
40. Upholstery adornments: TUFTS
41. Plant grafting component: ROOTSTOCK. New word to me.
42. Hampshire's home: STY. Hampshire the breed of pig, characterized by erect ears and a black body with a whitish band around the middle, covering the front legs, according to Wikipedia. I thought it's kind of sheep or goat, Windhover.
43. 1966-67 AFL rushing leader Jim: NANCE. No idea. I bet Barry G/ Mainiac knows. Did not even know England patriots was called Boston Patriots before.
44. DOJ employee: ATTY. DOJ = Depart of Justice.
45. 'Enry's abode: 'OME. Home. The sound H is dropped in the clue/answer. Cockney accent.
47. Ink __: octopus defense: SAC
49. Alfalfa locales: HAYFIELDS. Windhover would love this puzzle.
55. "Verily, thou __ God that hidest thyself" (Isaiah): ART A. Easy guess.
61. It may be metered: VERSE. Fantastic clue.
62. Above: AFORESAID
63. Glacial ridge: ESKER. Simply forgot. We had this fill before.
64. Doesn't draw: STANDS PAT. I don't get the meaning of "draw" here.
Down:
1. Inclusive abbr. : ETC
2. Cold war abatement: THAW
3. Radio host John: TESH. New Ager.
4. Then: AFTER THAT
5. First name in sci-fi: JULES (Verne). "Around the World in Eighty Days".
7. Tousle: MUSS
8. Ohio tribe: ERIE. We also have TETON (29. Dakota dialect). Indian tribes are part of our citizenship test also. There are more than 500 federally recognized tribes in the US. But you only need to know one.
9. Directed: SENT
10. Centric leader: ETHNO. Prefix for "culture".
11. Polish: SHEEN. Noun "Polish". I wanted SHINE.
12. Loathsome sort: TOAD
13. Copier insert: Abbr.: ORIG
14. Skin: PARE. Verb "skin". So tricky.
18. Actionable offense: TORT
22. During, old-style: THRO. How can "through" mean "During"? "Via" to me.
24. Armies: HOSTS. Armies/hosts of.
25. Data, often: INPUT. Not the "Star Trek" guy Data.
26. Like atolls: REEFY. A real word.
30. For this purpose: AD HOC
31. Displacement from a club: DIVOT. D'oh, golf club! Divot is the piece of turf torn up when you strike the ball with an iron.
32. Force out: EVICT. Nice sequential "out" tone to 31D.
33. Braves outfielder Cabrera: MELKY. The Melky Way. He's with the Yankees before. Might be stranger Jayce.
35. Blesses: OKS
36. They may be checked at the door: IDS
37. Be convincing about: GET ACROSS
39. Soissons seasons: ETES. Alliteration. Soissons is city northeast of Paris. Unknown to me. So close in spelling to French fish "poisson".
43. Requirement: NEED
45. Not worthless: OF USE
46. Sebastian Coe, e.g. : MILER
48. Sounded amazed: AAHED. Oohed too.
49. Swarming spot: HIVE. Alliteration
50. They can be high or low: ACES. Don't know cards. TIDE does not fit. Several tricky "they" or "it" in today's puzzle.
51. Walled English city: YORK. No idea. My hometown Xi'An is walled too.
52. Where cows chow down: LEAS. Loved the three "ow"s.
53. Bats: DAFT. Of course I was thinking of baseball bats/HITS.
54. Acropolis sight: STOA. The Greek portico.
56. Under-the-sink item: TRAP. What trap?
57. Land of plenty?: ASIA. Plenty of people. Natural resources too.
59. Hal Foster prince: ARN. I am used to the "Prince Valiant's son" clue. Was ignorant of the creator of the strip.
60. Summer hrs. at MIT: EDT (Eastern Daylight-saving Time)
Answer grid.
C.C.
61 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - boy, I had a great time with this puzzle; great, long fills and enough deception to last a week. At least seven 'gotchas' for me, anyway.
I did get off to a good start, knowing Etta James and Yogi's quote which led to 'Castles'; unfortunately, I then confidently put 'Castles in the sky' which created a nice ink blot in the NE. Not knowing 'Thora' Birch and putting 'Ike' for 'White House nickname' just exacerbated things up there. Then I had 'afterward' for 4D, 'Then', and like C.C., put 'shine' for 'polish'.
Out-clevered myself again with 'Lenin' for 'Red head', 'MDs' for 'Dose people'.
Never heard of 'thro' (during, old style), and I'm older than fluids, so it must be really old.
All in all, even though the finished product looks like it was out in the rain, I thought today's offering was just outstanding. The only discordant note for me was 'reefy', even though it's a word.
C.C., 'doesn't draw' is a card term, meaning 'to not take any cards', or stand pat. And here's a picture of a sink trap, designed to 'trap' things that might fall into the drain
Dear CC, You are brilliant. Many congratulations! Sorry I couldn't blog sooner. Tough week. I found this puzzle to be very difficult. Keyed in too many wrong answers and (gasp) had to resort to red letters. Favorite answer: I COULD EAT A HORSE (got it right away).
The meaning of STANDS PAT refers to poker. You do not draw a new card.
Have a happy weekend all!
Dennis--Guess you are just not old enough. There are many uses of thro' (meaning during) to be found. Here is a lullaby for children:
Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee
All thro' the night
Guardian angels God will lend thee
All thro' the night
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping
Hill and vale in slumber steeping
Love alone his watch is keeping
All thro' the night
Hark! a solemn bell is ringing
Clear thro' the night
Thou, my love, art heav'nward winging
Home thro' the night
Earthly dust from off thee shaken
Soul immortal, thou shalt waken
With thy last dim hourney taken
Home thro' the night
Words public domain
fermatprime, so it's used the same as 'thru'?
When you look at this blank grid, then experience that the 15's are the easiest answers, well ... they yielded some traction.
Write-overs, Ike, shine, coral (reefy? WTF!) and Lenin for that Red Head.
In NYese, isn't DEM guys, "Dos" people? No 'e'?
Armies clues HOSTS?
ESKER for Glacial ridge came up somewhere recently, can't remember where.
GET ACROSS going down got the AAHED moment.
Dennis: yep. Seems so.
Comments from past blogs:
Lemonade: I treasure M. C. Beaton books, all three series. But, being female, I like Agatha Raisin the best! (The TV show about H. Macbeth was a travesty.)
Back in the 60s I was considerably younger and slimmer. Had on a somewhat sexy sun dress. Was chosen to get kissed by SHAMU. (Crowd rather small that day. But my kids were impressed!)
CC: Saw your picture! Really cute! Who is anon.? Boomer?
BillG: What did you think of my NCIS theory?
The purpose of a "P" trap is to trap water, thus sealing off fumes from the sewer system. (You would NOT want to be without these little items in your house) Toilets have the same thing built into their structure.
Traps can go by other letter names; "U", "S", to name a few.
Catching other "things" in them is secondary; but can be a life-saver as well.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/repair/house14.htm
Finally read the comments from yesterday.
When I have a DNF, I admit it, re-read the clues / answers for future reference, hopefully learn something and move on.
I realize these puzzles are more FUN when you can complete them.
But, did someone give a certain commenter a wedgie?
hi CC
In 64 across "draw" is a poker term meaning to take a card.
snh, sorry, a little too graphic for our audience. (I, however, saved it.)
Good Morning
An ESKER is a 'ridge' of detritus from glacial outwash. It has more the look of a zig-zag mound of gravel left after the glacier has melted. Wisconsin has lots of eskers. It is not a ridge in the sense of an ARETE.
Hey i am fresh here. I hit upon this chat board I find It truly accessible and it's helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and assist other people like it has helped me.
Cheers, See Ya Later.
dennis: no problem! i hesitated to post it but i saw it yesterday under yahoo's most e-mailed photos. i thought "if it passes yahoo's filter then it might be ok for here"
and when i saw "one horned" i thought it was a great play on words. ya know..horned as both a adj. and a verb!
btw, sorry if i offended anyone before it's removal
I was disturbed by the picture. Oh well, I shouldn't have clicked.
Mary
I can hardly believe I finished this one with no errors, considering how slowly I got any traction on it at all. In the end, it took 73 minutes to do. Lots of very tricky clues, but as usual, the more you get, the easier it is to work out the ones that are left. I found this puzzle to be a real challenge.
Good morning, everyone!
Dennis, glad you enjoyed this one. I found it to be a real slog. Couldn't get anywhere last night and had to g-spot my way through it this morning. MELKY? THORA? REEFY? NANCE was a WAG.
Sheesh!
Bob, I'm with you -- a real challenge, and finally completed!
Have a great Saturday, all!!
Good morning CC and all,
I aahed all the way thro this one. Loved bats:daft, and "speak of the devil". I had so many WAGS only because I could see the words, but had a hard time linking the answer to the clues;e stop,i give,and castles in the air.No tufts in my house!
Enjoyable, but difficult. I had to resort to finishing up with CC's help.Had no idea a Hampshire was a type of pig. Guess I should have used Mr. G.
I wonder if the Crazy Horse monument will pay tribute to all 500 tribes when it is completed. Their museum is already impressive, as is the colossus.
Good Morning All, Yay for ETTA JAMES. Let's all get up and dance! Something's Got A Hold On Me.
Etta made up for REEFY. "That atoll sure is REEFY."....Huh?
The only Cabrera I could think of was Angel. He's a pro golfer and I knew he did belong with the clue for 33D. Thanks for confusing me, GAH.
ESKER, ridge, arete.....so many five letter words for, more or less, the same thing. Needless to say, I always start off with the wrong one.
It took me forever to figure out how IN FRA was related to "Red head"...D'oh!
I knew Hampshire was a pig, so STY was a gimme. I wonder if they are related to Buelingo. Just kidding folks.
CASTLES IN THE AIR was pretty easy for me. Maybe that is because it reminded me of Les Miz and Castle On A Cloud
The lullaby "All THRO" The Night" is an English version of the lovely Welsh song Ar Hyd Y Nos.
There are several poems that use the word THRO'. How about Robert Burns, "Comin' Thro' The Rye"?
Anybody else, other than me, actually ever EAT A HORSE? Not the whole animal of course, just a fillet steak or two. Don't get up on your HIGH HORSE, all you carnivores out there, about how horses are so nice. Steers have big brown eyes too.
THRO, THRU. Both mean THROUGH. However, THRO is archaic. THRU is informal.
REEFY. I think it sounds awkward because it's little used. LEAFY, BEEFY, there would be no quibble there because the words are so common.
I'm with Dennis on this one, "...great, long fill..."
I am confused. Angel DIDN'T belong with the clue for 33D.
Hi C.C. & gang, a typical hard one for today(again) - we used our standard method with me online checking our guesses.
RE: (P)Trap under sink? I had a customer call me once with a bad smell that she thought was coming from a downstairs toilet. After caulking around the base of the toilet and the smell didn't go away I remembered that they have an outside sink adjacent to that bathroom and an outside door leads to it.
I suggested running some water in the outside sink to refill the trap, and it worked! Apparently they hadn't used that outside sink in so long that the water in the trap had evaporated.
BTW, I think it's officially called a P trap because the trap pipe looks like a P.
I thought Saturday puzzles were in the future for me...just castles in the air...they always set my teeth on edge. But whee! I did it, even tho it brought a sheen to my upper lip and actually "hirt." I refused to say, "I give up" and determined to stand pat until infra became ultra if necessary. Whew! Now I`m so hungry i could eat a horse. There`s one in the hay field if that dirt farmer doesn`t catch me. Well speak of the devil! Here he comes! (He really is a toad, and uppity! He calls his hay fields "leas".) He wants to know why there are tufts of horse hair all around. I suggested it could be from that old, one-horned goat of his but he said, "No, I sold it to Windover last week." I think I might need an atty.
Windhover IS an old, one-horned goat.
So, Clear Ayes, how was the "horse meat" then? They use that term so often to describe tough, inedible meats, but I'd bet it's all in how it's prepared.
BTW, while working on the puzzle today, I stumbled upon "Paint Your Wagon" just as it was starting. I knew it was a great movie, but had forgotten just how much wonderful DF humor is in it, and how terrific Lee Marvin is at delivering it! I've LOL'd more thro' it than I probably have in the past month.
I work with guys that maintain the reefs off our coastline and first thing on Monday I'm going to ask them whether they ever use the term REEFY. I have a feeling I'm more apt to get an affirmative on the variant "reefer" instead though!
Excellent post, ARBAON!
Was it a photo of Windhover that Dennis had to remove? No wonder, that MAY have been too much for our delicate sensibilities! ;-)
Clear Ayes, there used to be a horse meat market here in Portland. I used their meats for a couple of years -- it was less expensive and not very different in flavor from beef. It's been gone for a long time now.
General complaint: puzzles are more fun when I don't have to cheat so much, and when the clues are not so (*%&^%#%# obscure! This one was no fun, and I even had my smart as a whip wife helping.
C del O
Annette It's too long a story to go into here, but I was about 10 years old and my aunt prepared horse fillet steaks on several occasions. They had a very slight sweet flavor, but were extremely tender and delicious.
There's an interesting Wikipedia article about horse meat, including a note about Portland, Crockett. Apparently, there are no longer any horse slaughter houses in the United States. Just a FYI note, Horse meat is lower in calories, fat and cholesterol than beef, but is higher in protein. Would I eat it again if the opportunity were there? Well, I will eat a fluffy little lamb, so why not? (Don't hate me folks, I'm just not a vegan!)
The wall at YORK is very charming, historic and picturesque, but when you see Xi'an, you have to admit now that's a WALL!. You can rent bicycles and ride the the 8.5 mile perimeter. It is a very impressive structure.
Hi C.C.
When I read the answer for 64. Doesn't draw: STANDS PAT. I don't get the meaning of "draw" here, I realized that it refers to draw poker. If you don't ask for more cards, you "don't draw", and an alternate way to say it is "I'll stand Pat."
Sue
Greetings everybody. I am writing this before I read all your comments, so that I don't forget what I was going to say. Please forgive if I say the same thing another one of you said already.
Yep, C.C., sure enough, Melky is a total stranger to me, a complete unknown. I suck at sports stuff.
LEA(S) got me again! Aaarrrrgh!
In fact, this whole puzzle got me. As I usually do (for no perticular reason) I start with the acrosses in order then go to the downs. Well, by the time I finished reading all the across clues I had nothing! Nothing I tell ya! So I began to feel sort of "Uh oh". Then I started the downs and took a WAG at TESH, thinking "Naw, that's bound to be wrong." Of course I put ISAAC in for First name in sci-fi, and LENIN in for Red head, and didn't get them right until 4 hours later. I had to look up the "Got a Hold On Me" singer, Birch of "Alaska", "Sugar Lips", rushing leader Jim, Sebastian Coe, and of course Braves outfielder Cabrera. Once I had those I was able to make progress. Having the light bulb go off over my head at the three long across entries also helped a lot.
After four hours I finally gave up. I got everything except STANDSPAT and AFORESAID and their crosses.
Having worked as a plumber for several years in my youth, I knew TRAP as the "U" shaped pipe under the sink. It's actually called a "P" trap because of the shape of it. There are also "U" traps but they are not usually inside a house under a sink. Anyway ...
Saw an interesting TV shjow on PBS about the one-horned rhino. I think the streotypical rhinos that schoolkids draw and that are used as illustrations in books are actually the Indian one-horns, what with their armor-like techtonic-plate hides.
Where I grew up, alfalfa fields were not the same as hay fields, so it took me a long time to get over my mental refusal to accept it as the fill for 49A.
Hopefully I won't forget LEA again! Even though no self-respecting bison would be caught dead in one. LOL (Credit given to whomever said that in a recent blog. Was it you, Lois?)
Well, I could eat a 'orse, so HI'm gonna go 'ome and scrambled some heggs.
Best wishes to you all.
Hello All--Whew!, not Whee was my exclamation for today's puzzle.
I didn't finish all the theme answers, tho I had Castles--and ICould Eat---. I fell into the same traps as many of you did today, so my misdirections caused problems everywhere. My first toe-hold was in the SW corner which I filled in completely. That boosted my ego for about two seconds.
I have put in some new words for my own crossword dictionary. Prince Valient's son, Arn. (I can never remember his name.) I also put in Thora, for Birch of "Alaska". I Googled that but didn't get anything except the tree and a candy and syrup company in Alaska. I even put in the quotation marks!
Speaking of Crossword Dictionaries, my husband gave me an early birthday present. It is the "21st Century Crossword Puzzle Dictionary" by Mark Diehl and Kevin McCann. It is large (815 pages, but has multiple lists of about everything and anything. It will come in handy when I'm stumped on Olympic Games hosts, or number related items among just two of many, many, lists.
Mark Diehl lives here in San Jose and Kevin McCann is the creator of cruciverb.com.
We also heard this week that my Grandson is going to Senegal, West Africa for his two years in the Peace Corp. His official title is "Sustainable Agriculture Agent". Wish him luck.
Congratulations Chickie. Best wishes and best of success to your Sustainable Agriculture Agent!
Mornin' all, LMAO, Windhover!
I have always loved that little Welsh lullaby, but never knew the second verse. I'm sort of glad; it makes the song sad!
I must be improving from associating with all you eggheads here! This didn't seem as hard for me as usual Saturday puzzles! One thing, though. Our paper did not have the last two down clues so I had to check them on Cruciverb.I still had to G for 'Arn', as I have never read Prince Valiant.
The 'Record' did print yesterday's puzzle. Didn't even say they were sorry! When the LAT did that one time, they bent over backwords apologizing!
Now I'm curious about SNH's disappearing post!
Happy Saturday, June 05, 2010
Beautiful sunny day here in paradise, I just came in from the pool getting ready to walk to the ocean.
This is the first puzzle in months which I put down and came back to finish, as such Bob it took me 11 hours and 14 minutes, as I started on cruciverb last night. I was too tired then, and needed the sleep to get my brain around the tough ones.
It was ultimately a very difficult, but doable puzzle, with the same cavils as the rest, and some of the same missteps; I too started with ISAAC (ASIMOV) and think JULES VERNE was hardly a heavyweight, but it was his first name.
I am surprised with all the great sports fan we have as contributors, no one has mentioned that Jim Nance was one athletes who played running back at SYRACUSE during an incredible run of players who, beginning with JIM BROWN, went on to be major stars, including the ill-fated ERNIE DAVIS . NANCE also died young at 49.
Another puzzle with much legal crap, such as “Actionable offense: TORT.” Which refers to a civil action (a lawsuit), which reminds me of a Nero Wolfe novel –same spelling- in which Wolfe traps the killer, who was palming himself off as a law student, but asking how the young man liked drafting torts. I think aging (or ageing) is mostly a time when almost everything reminds you of something, and this reminds me the ocean awaits. Ciao chow
Yes we are all curious what might offend....
Windhover, my grandmother had a favorite saying that I was reminded of by your comment: "It's hotter'n a three-peckered goat". Always liked that one.
For those inquiring minds wondering about the picture I took down, no, it wasn't Windhover in a hay skirt nor was it a picture of our new friend Gary, either of which would violate any standard of decency; it was a picture of a matador getting gored up through his jaw, with the horn coming out his mouth. I thought it was pretty cool, but I've seen too much to think anything's gross, so I erred on the side of caution.
I am soooooo glad that I do the puzzle on paper!!! It would have been impossible to get all the white-out I needed off of the computer screen.
Anyone else try TUCKS for upholstery? RNS for dose people? My ex always stored the TRAYs under the sink. Here's my Hampshire, it was a PEN for sure. BROWN was a great runner, it had to be him. Atolls are made of CORAL. Directed? Must be LEAD. And yes, I fell for all the others previously mentioned, too.
Best puzzle in a long time. I worked my A-- off, but everything (Except reefy) was just great when they finally meshed. Heck, a name (HIRT) even became a saving perp.
CA, In 2005, while visiting my sister near Toronto, I was directed to a restaurant and told to order the "Quack and Track." Probably the leanest, most tender steak I've ever eaten. The 'Animals are just people in little fur coats' lobby successfully got all Horsemeat sales and slaughtering banned in the US. They are trying to ban the export of horses for slaughter. The law of unintended results has caused a real upsurge in abandoned horses because of this. A lot of carcasses are ending up in land-fills and rendering plants. Oops, I hope I don't offend anyone too badly.
L714, Have you read Vernes' "From the Earth to the Moon"? He is widely regarded as the 'Father of Science Fiction' due to information he used in that story and in "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" amongst others. Definitely a heavyweight.
Off to search Yahoo.
Never mind Yahoo, I've seen that photo. I chose not to forward it to anyone, so I suspect I would have pulled it too. I was expecting a DF picture of a different Rhino horn.
Wow! This was a really hard one for me--all the proper names. Only one I got immediately was 41A rootstock since I have been looking for a blue rose. I had to give up and come to you guys to finally finish. You are all amazing.
GUNGHY:
Of course you are correct that many think of VERNE as the father of science fiction. I have read five or six of his early books; I should have been more specific with my comment. The clue was "sci-fi," which to me makes the best answer a modern creator of sci-fi, not the progenitor of the genre. When you say it your way, if you consider him first to mix science with fiction, it makes sense, but I was thinking only in regards to a very modern term. It is like tying Edgar Allen Poe to a clue about CSI .
Since I had trial Thursday and Friday, I am just now reading those comments; JEROME, thank you so much for including me in the "PUNK" category - a dream come true.
ROBIN, it was nice to see you stop in (with other of our lost soldiers) to wish CC regards, and I hope your life is where it should be. I am sure I speak for all the punks when I say if you need anything....we are all accessible. The invitation is open to anyone who needs a PUNK or two.
Lo-li-ta, nice to see you back with a little TART back in your sweettart persona, go get 'em.
Speaking of punks, do any one of you read the Bishop Blackie Ryan mysteries?
MB, you good?
good afternoon c.c. and all,
i guess i'm getting a little rusty - yesterday's was the first puzzle i did in a week or so and it did not come together easily. loved it though. i thought today's was slightly easier - but still a nice challenge.
c.c., mostly i wanted to drop in and say CONGRATULATIONS!!! most wonderful news. welcome home.
lemonade ... i don't like to brag. snort.
Thumbs up for the Saturday work out. If I had to mention my time it would be hours too. If I don't have time to finish it after breakfast I find myself coming back for a word or two at a time all day long. It's still fun to finish.
I started with CASTLES IN THE SKY, guessed THEDA Birch and HALFACRES. Been looking at house listings, alfafa fields are probably multi-acres. I also put in MDS and I QUIT, but got a kick out of the DOSE/DEM connection.
Have a good weekend all.
MB!
We all love to brag even the half that is true, which knowing you is the bigger half!
MelissaBee,
Remember the words of Muhammad Ali:
"It ain't braggin' if you can really do it."
windhover .... greatest quote ever ...
Good day, everyone, now that it's almost over. I hope yours has been fun.
I started this xwd in the morning, had about two thirds and then left for a long birthday party lunch. Our group of nine has known each other for more than 50 years, since high school and/or college, so we tend to extend our parties having a noisy grand, good time. What was that about hen parties?
Back to the puzzle. I was on Robert Wolfe's wave length for the bottom, especially with "I could eat a horse" which I've uttered but never in fact done. Then came to a grinding halt in the center because, why else, a sports name, no two sports names and if they're common names I take a stab, but Melky??? Who names a person Melky?
Then "divot" came along; I was thinking of club as an organization, doh; but no, it was the golf club! arrrrgh
Finally, I ggled birch, got the tree, then "actor birch" gave me Thora, a stranger to me.
So this set me on edge I fear all thro' the rest.
A good Saturday challenge today which will yield some notes in my special notebook.
I hope all have a good rest tonight. More misdirection tomorrow I'm sure.
C'mon Lucina, you have to admit that at some point there was some cackling goin' on.
"Who names a person Melky" In some cultures it's the Melky Way.
Lemonade- I failed the 'Punk Test'.
Turns out, I'm still an ageing, left-wing rock and roller that probably cancels out every vote Dennis ever cast.
Home in time for HBO boxing, Cotto vs Yuri....for some championship or another. GAH was nervous that we wouldn't make it in time, but here we are. Whoopee!
Jerome, I wouldn't try to second guess Dennis on his voting record. Maybe it's just out of liking to march to his own drummer, but I've got a notion that he's not adverse to veering off from voting a straight ticket on either side of the aisle.
Busy day today, now that the weather is officially HOT! Lots of stuff going on in the hills. We'll be off and running tomorrow too.
Ooops, almost forgot. Big congratulations to your grandson, Chickie. I really admire young (or old..remember Lillian Carter's Peace Corp stint?) people who want to make a difference for good in the world.
just a couple of comments...
one detail that was lost in translation: in my original comment i DID type "warning graphic!" before the link to the picture. i'm not saying i did not make a mistake, but...
i had a great late spring day today. worked in the garden until a real gully washer hit. went to my brothers new house(his first!) and helped him do some work(he is hoping to move in in 8 weeks). then watched the reds win. btw, we have Orlando Cabrera at shortstop(he is a gold glove winner((twice)).
C.C. : watching the reds beat the nationals in D.C. made me wonder...have you been to The Capitol or even the capital? i have, embarrassingly, not. i had the chance several times, but never made the trip. it is a trip we all should make.
my first stops are: the new WWII memorial and the Smithsonian.
oh yeah, CA, great Etta James link earlier. i watched several others while i was there!
Wow! I thought this was the hardest Saturday puzzle in weeks.
Clear Ayes- I've deep and real respect for Dennis. He's like a wonderful older brother to me. I love the guy. Truly do. It's just an elbow in the side. Little guy to big guy. Trust me, I'm well aware of his beauty.
@SNH, FWIW, that photo was just shown on BBC America on the "Friday Night With Jonathan Ross" talk show. I was a bit surprised to see it there, because in Britain they truly consider the word "bloody" to be offensive (or at least they did at one time). I can see how that pic could disturb people with somewhat more delicate sensitivities.
isn't it ironic that the only blood in the picture is from the bull?!?
in case you care, Julio Aparicio in out of the hospital but unable to speak. the bull is dead.
i'm a punk, so i don't care about either one of them!
since my first comment was removed, do i get a sixth?
just kidding.....good night
Jerome:
Since when are you an Anglophile? We all will fail the PUNK Test, it is for teenagers and while I still have the heart of a teenager (I keep it in a jar near my bed) I no lnger have that sensibility.
Do we know your vitals, DOB etc?
I failed the punk test miserably too. I did, at least, know who Green Day and Avril Lavigne are though.
I'm not the boxing fan in the family. The guy's first name is Yuri, last name Foreman.
Jerome, if I can't trust you.... :o)
Have a good evening all!
This blog is so addicting.
If anybody warns me a picture contains graphic violence, I heed the warning.
SNH, I grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, about seven miles west of Washington D.C. It is a wonderful city to visit. Be sure to include a trip to the Capitol, Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and the Vietnam wall. The NW part is a beautiful city. The Virginia countryside is historic and pretty too, especially in the spring and fall. Avoid the hot, humid summers if you can.
I hear the acronym BOLO used a lot on NCIS. I didn't know what it stood for but I do now.
Do any of you watch and enjoy Friday Night Lights?
CA - Going back to your "not a vegan" claim, I once heard an ominvore say: "Look, if God hadn't intended for people to eat cows, He wouldn't have made them out of steak!"
Well, I thought it was funny.
I know (sigh) when it comes to sports I fall flat on my ..........
well, you know.
Yes, we cackled, we laughed; it was boisterous, the margaritas helped. You can't say septagenarians don't have fun, though.
Chickie, my congratulations, too for your grandson. That is a wonderful thing to do.
Have a very good night, all.
Dudley, I thought it was very funny!
Lemonade714, I am also fond of M.C.Beaton. I've only read the Hamish McBeth ones, and very sporadically, but I will sooner or later get around to the others. I had read they were filming Hamish but didn't know whether it was a movie or tv and I'm sorry it flopped.
Right now I'm catching up on Elizabeth George and enjoying them tremendously. I was heavily into them for a while but I moved and had new routines so they dropped by the wayside. It's good to get back to them.I'm not following the tv series; msy get to that later. I may have posted this before: I just can't reconcile the casting with my images of the protagonists.
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