Theme: None
Total words: 72
Total blocks: 30
Barry placed triple stacks of 11s (all multi-words) on the top and bottom of the puzzle, sandwiched with a single 9 in the middle of the grid:
1A. Symbol of concentration : THINKING CAP. I was picturing a Zen monk meditating.
15A. Noted pier site : SANTA MONICA. Could only think of San Fransisco.
17A. Rap sheet notes? : HIP HOP MUSIC. Not criminal rap sheet. Great answer/clue.
38A. Clearance level : TOP SECRET. Security Clearance.
62A. Stock, usually : LIQUID ASSET. Was thinking of goods instead of shares.
67A. Calcium oxide : CAUSTIC LIME. Both the clue and answer meant nothing to me.
69A. Accepting personal responsibility : ON ONE'S HONOR. Didn't come to me easily.
Barry then stacked most of his 7s (total 11) in Down, paralleling one another. Two pairs of 8s cross each other.
I had a disastrous solving. Never mind-melded with Barry. So many unknowns, unfamiliar references and tricky clues.
Across:
12. Water potential symbol : PSI. Wikipedia says water potential (???) is expressed by Greek letter Psi. Who knows?!
16. Org. offering the Canine Good Citizen program : AKC (American Kennel Club). Gimme for Clear Ayes.
18. Manhattan liquor : RYE
19. Vexation-plus : IRE. Was so vexed that I could not even nail this one.
20. Irish __ : SEA
21. Make potable, in a way : DESALT. Remove salt from sea water.
23. Some phones : RCAS. Drew a blank.
25. Emit coherent light : LASE
28. "Sexy" Beatles woman : SADIE. Thought of "Lovely Rita". Have never heard of "Sexy Sadie".
29. Folded parts : TUCKS
31. The south of France : MIDI. Literally "noon"/"midday". The sun is in the south at noon, hence the synonym.
33. __ fide : BONA
34. Milk sources : TEATS. Wow!
36. Stumblebums : LUMMOXES. Add F, we have confusing "flummox".
40. Pocono and others : RACEWAYS. Hmm, gimme for our Dilbert.
43. Virginie et Floride : ETATS. Virginia and Florida in French.
46. Out of control : AMOK
47. Sound heard very close to your ear : SNIP. When you have haircut.
49. Mexican waters : AGUAS
51. Spoke Abyssinian? : MEWED. Did not know Abyssinian is a breed of cat. Not a pet person.
53. "Don't __ word!" : SAY A
55. -an counterpart : ENNE. As in comedian/comedienne, feminine ending. Got me.
56. Hoped : PRAYED
58. Polish, say : RUB. My mind was in Poland.
60. Memorable time : ERA. Rare gimme.
61. Respectful title : SIR. I wonder if Vidwan penned in SRI.
66. Cologne conjunction : UND. "And" in German.
68. Orgs. with chiefs : PDS. Police Departments, I suppose.
Down:
1. Item for a camp project : T-SHIRT. Ideal grid edge word, full of consonants.
2. Buzz, e.g. : HAIRCUT. Drew a blank also.
3. Good way to go : IN PEACE. Does this refer to death?
4. High degree : NTH
5. Mr. Big's org. on "Get Smart" : KAOS. I simply forgot.
6. Press forward : IMPEL
7. Polite turndown : NO MA'AM
8. Savanna sighting : GNU
9. USSR successor : CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). Not a familiar abbr to me.
10. Biting : ACID
11. Shows impatience, in a way : PACES
12. Seeming contradiction : PARADOX. He always tells lies.
13. View when landing, perhaps : SKYLINE
14. Summer refreshers : ICE TEAS. Again, no D.
22. Spy's doing : SABOTAGE. Nice fill.
24. Old-fashioned tightening tool : SKATE KEY. Mystery answer to me. I've never skated.
26. Historical Oder River region : SILESIA. Located mostly in Poland. Rich in coal and iron-ore. I peeked at the answer sheet.
27. Cabinet dept. : EDUC
30. Store : STOW
32. 2002 Literature Nobelist Kertész : IMRE. Well, I am sure Hahtool knows this fellow. Hungarian Jewish writer. Imre is the Hungarian variation of English name Emery.
35. Places for sweaters? : SPAS. Sweater = One who sweat.
37. Physics leader? : META. Leader of the word metaphysics.
39. Fine and dandy: Abbr. : SYNS. Fine and dandy are synonyms.
40. Increases sharply : RAMPS UP
41. Portmanteau word for a certain native : AMERIND. American Indian.
42. Each of them is "one who, in a perilous emergency, thinks with his legs": Bierce : COWARDS. I used "think with your legs" on the blog once, responding to an Anonymous.
44. Receives on the radio : TUNES IN
45. Italian Riviera resort : SAN REMO. We often see REMO as a partial.
48. Fool's gold : PYRITE
50. Two-__: tandem : SEATER
52. Car battery ignition system pioneer : DELCO. Stumped me last time.
54. Q5 and Q7 : AUDIS
57. Anthropologist Fossey : DIAN. Can never remember her name.
59. "The Well-Tempered Clavier" composer : BACH. Anything classic is beyond me.
63. Locus in __: the place in which (Lat.) : QUO. Quo = Which, correct, Bob/Kazie?
64. SEAL's org. : USN (US Navy). Our ex-governor Jesse Ventura is a former Navy SEAL.
65. Pitch preceder : SLO. Slo-Pitch softball.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total words: 72
Total blocks: 30
Barry placed triple stacks of 11s (all multi-words) on the top and bottom of the puzzle, sandwiched with a single 9 in the middle of the grid:
1A. Symbol of concentration : THINKING CAP. I was picturing a Zen monk meditating.
15A. Noted pier site : SANTA MONICA. Could only think of San Fransisco.
17A. Rap sheet notes? : HIP HOP MUSIC. Not criminal rap sheet. Great answer/clue.
38A. Clearance level : TOP SECRET. Security Clearance.
62A. Stock, usually : LIQUID ASSET. Was thinking of goods instead of shares.
67A. Calcium oxide : CAUSTIC LIME. Both the clue and answer meant nothing to me.
69A. Accepting personal responsibility : ON ONE'S HONOR. Didn't come to me easily.
Barry then stacked most of his 7s (total 11) in Down, paralleling one another. Two pairs of 8s cross each other.
I had a disastrous solving. Never mind-melded with Barry. So many unknowns, unfamiliar references and tricky clues.
Across:
12. Water potential symbol : PSI. Wikipedia says water potential (???) is expressed by Greek letter Psi. Who knows?!
16. Org. offering the Canine Good Citizen program : AKC (American Kennel Club). Gimme for Clear Ayes.
18. Manhattan liquor : RYE
19. Vexation-plus : IRE. Was so vexed that I could not even nail this one.
20. Irish __ : SEA
21. Make potable, in a way : DESALT. Remove salt from sea water.
23. Some phones : RCAS. Drew a blank.
25. Emit coherent light : LASE
28. "Sexy" Beatles woman : SADIE. Thought of "Lovely Rita". Have never heard of "Sexy Sadie".
29. Folded parts : TUCKS
31. The south of France : MIDI. Literally "noon"/"midday". The sun is in the south at noon, hence the synonym.
33. __ fide : BONA
34. Milk sources : TEATS. Wow!
36. Stumblebums : LUMMOXES. Add F, we have confusing "flummox".
40. Pocono and others : RACEWAYS. Hmm, gimme for our Dilbert.
43. Virginie et Floride : ETATS. Virginia and Florida in French.
46. Out of control : AMOK
47. Sound heard very close to your ear : SNIP. When you have haircut.
49. Mexican waters : AGUAS
51. Spoke Abyssinian? : MEWED. Did not know Abyssinian is a breed of cat. Not a pet person.
53. "Don't __ word!" : SAY A
55. -an counterpart : ENNE. As in comedian/comedienne, feminine ending. Got me.
56. Hoped : PRAYED
58. Polish, say : RUB. My mind was in Poland.
60. Memorable time : ERA. Rare gimme.
61. Respectful title : SIR. I wonder if Vidwan penned in SRI.
66. Cologne conjunction : UND. "And" in German.
68. Orgs. with chiefs : PDS. Police Departments, I suppose.
Down:
1. Item for a camp project : T-SHIRT. Ideal grid edge word, full of consonants.
2. Buzz, e.g. : HAIRCUT. Drew a blank also.
3. Good way to go : IN PEACE. Does this refer to death?
4. High degree : NTH
5. Mr. Big's org. on "Get Smart" : KAOS. I simply forgot.
6. Press forward : IMPEL
7. Polite turndown : NO MA'AM
8. Savanna sighting : GNU
9. USSR successor : CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). Not a familiar abbr to me.
10. Biting : ACID
11. Shows impatience, in a way : PACES
12. Seeming contradiction : PARADOX. He always tells lies.
13. View when landing, perhaps : SKYLINE
14. Summer refreshers : ICE TEAS. Again, no D.
22. Spy's doing : SABOTAGE. Nice fill.
24. Old-fashioned tightening tool : SKATE KEY. Mystery answer to me. I've never skated.
26. Historical Oder River region : SILESIA. Located mostly in Poland. Rich in coal and iron-ore. I peeked at the answer sheet.
27. Cabinet dept. : EDUC
30. Store : STOW
32. 2002 Literature Nobelist Kertész : IMRE. Well, I am sure Hahtool knows this fellow. Hungarian Jewish writer. Imre is the Hungarian variation of English name Emery.
35. Places for sweaters? : SPAS. Sweater = One who sweat.
37. Physics leader? : META. Leader of the word metaphysics.
39. Fine and dandy: Abbr. : SYNS. Fine and dandy are synonyms.
40. Increases sharply : RAMPS UP
41. Portmanteau word for a certain native : AMERIND. American Indian.
42. Each of them is "one who, in a perilous emergency, thinks with his legs": Bierce : COWARDS. I used "think with your legs" on the blog once, responding to an Anonymous.
44. Receives on the radio : TUNES IN
45. Italian Riviera resort : SAN REMO. We often see REMO as a partial.
48. Fool's gold : PYRITE
50. Two-__: tandem : SEATER
52. Car battery ignition system pioneer : DELCO. Stumped me last time.
54. Q5 and Q7 : AUDIS
57. Anthropologist Fossey : DIAN. Can never remember her name.
59. "The Well-Tempered Clavier" composer : BACH. Anything classic is beyond me.
63. Locus in __: the place in which (Lat.) : QUO. Quo = Which, correct, Bob/Kazie?
64. SEAL's org. : USN (US Navy). Our ex-governor Jesse Ventura is a former Navy SEAL.
65. Pitch preceder : SLO. Slo-Pitch softball.
Answer grid.
C.C.
75 comments:
This was the hardest puzzle of the year; Barry Silk you have not lost your touch. I really had to use my thinking cap to finish. The wonderful part was it mostly misdirection not obscure words. I was not familiar with AMERIND or CAUSTIC LIME and DELCO was a guess based on the topic, but overall it was very fair and doable, but I had to walk away for a while and come back. Thanks for the work out.
I also was completely misled by –an –enne, and took a while to see the COMEDIAN - COMEDIENNE counterpart.
As for late night experts, puzzling is for fun, not life and death; I use pen and would never have found the blog without google, so it is all good. Happy holiday
I was not familiar with RCA telephones, knowing only that they made TVs and stereos.
I too am not familiar with CAUSTIC LIME or any of the other derivations of limestone, but I do have a business associate trying to sell a Limestone mine in Mexico.
I really enjoyed: Rap sheet notes? : HIP HOP MUSIC, and knew it was music right away. Also, liked: Stock, usually : LIQUID ASSET, speaking of which, I too was a bit shocked by the straight forward use of TEATS. Places for sweaters? : SPAS was fun; as was Fine and dandy: Abbr. : SYNS, which was deception not obscurity.
LUMMOXES is a nice word, and I wanted SPEEDWAY, but it would not fit and RACEWAY did not come easy. New Abyssinian was a cat, but think MEOW not MEW. When I was a kid, they had the local softball league results in the newspaper and I could not understand why a team was called the POLISH CITS, and how they kept their uniforms spiffy and shiny. We have not had a good sound deception since British FLOWER. We also have SNIP and BUZZ, I guess Barry was getting a Haircut when he made this masterpiece. My total unknowns, Historical Oder River region : SILESIA and Literature Nobelist Kertész : IMRE, Hahtool, if you know him, you have me beat.
So in retrospect, maybe not as hard as I thought but it took me 99 minutes counting my hour to
Not too bad for me today. It was certainly a slog, but I managed to make slow and steady progress. At the end I was flummoxed by the MIDI/IMRE crossing, so I tried guessing first O, then E and finally I, at which point I got my "tada!"
Hi there~!
Moved easily through this one, since many of the clues I knew to begin with, and I guess I was onto the misleading clues, too.
Had PYRITE, DELCO, AUDIS, DIAN, BACH, right away, KAOS and T-SHIRT, NO MA'AM, and that gave me all I needed for the long ones.
I know I penned in SRI first;
Tried GOATS for TEATS;
I had IRE first, changed my mind;
Thought gin not RYE for Manhattans (beer drinker, ya know), but my family was big on this drink, and I had Irish ALE to start, too.
Knew it was DESALT, couldn't commit to it...
Liked HAIRCUT and SNIP, but yeah, it's ICED TEA for me...
Spoke Abyssinian? Got it, and loved it!
All the hype surrounding Earl, reinforced the shed to be sure, hardly got rained on - but pray the humidity is done for 2010 now~!
Have a great holiday weekend
all !!!
Splynter
Barry G -
Yeah, I got zapped by MIDI and IMRE as well
Spitzboov - if you stop in, I did a semester at RPI myself - the real party was down the river at SUNY Albany for me, tho....
Splynter
Hello Puzzlers - Whew, that was a thrashing. Had no traction in the NW. Had BASKET for Camp Project, and vast emptiness nearby. The South went better since I had confidence in BACH, PYRITE, and SAY A and could flesh out from there. Had no idea that Audi had models called Q5 & Q7, that sounds like Infiniti to me. So I filled AUTOS.
LASE came as a surprise to me, it's deeply technical - non-tech folks have probably never heard of coherent light. Side note: laser is an acronym chosen by the inventors of the device, and is a noun. I've never read whether the corresponding verb, lase, was an intentional creation or just a bit of luck.
Had to Goog IMRE, that one wasn't coming by itself, and needed red letter help for MIDI which I still don't get.
C.C. - Old-fashioned roller skates didn't have a boot; instead they had adjustable frames designed to clamp firmly onto the sole of a shoe. The mechanism for tightening them used a removeable key, just like a clock winding key. One pair of skates could thus be made to fit a whole bunch of kids. You were supposed to put the skate key in your pocket and not lose it, but it didn't always go that way...
Good Morning All,
RPI- Just down the road and where I saw the Kingston Trio, way back when.
Today- I liked the crossing of TOP SECRET and SABOTAGE. Might have been the seed for the whole puzzle.
I ended up with about 6 black flags(the equivalent of red letters).
Took too long to get RACEWAYS(40A-Pocono) and me a race fan. Didn't think 30D Store would be STOW due to the duplication of the first three letters.
Maybe my THINKING CAP was too tight.
The upper and center left were my undoing. Had all the major clues, but couldn't finish off the lesser clues. For buzz, I was after an ing ending; had no clue about "a good way to go"; and had goats for a milk source. teats??? thought this was a family affair!
But for a letter or twelve, I felt I did okay for a Saturday, especially considering I have been in one of my "stupid" modes all week. Next week I hope my thinking cap is re-ignited, my liquid assets grow, and you good folks won't continue to think of me as a lummox. Happy Labor Day to all.
Image of a nice set of Jersey TEATS.
Good morning everyone.
A super Silky Saturday. A fine capstone to a week of solving. I especially liked the 11 letter stacks, top and bottom, which were fun and fair to fill. Clever clues included those for ÉTATS, MEWED, TOP SECRET, and GNU. IMRE, BACH and COWARDS were WAGS. Had a red letter assist with raceways. No searches were needed.
SILESIA - Has 'Lusatia' at first; whose region partly overlaps lower Silesia.
PSI(ψ) : water potential symbol - Kind of a weird clue. Seems to be more of a biological terrm than a hydraulic engineering one.
Hope you all have a great weekend.
Tough one for me today. Wanted OMRE and could not make sense of French MIDI. Still makes no sense! Love the tough ones. I also had to go wash the dishes, then return to the puzzle to finish it.
Lemonade,
I'll conduct more interviews when time allows. Too busy lately.
Fermatprime,
I've decided from the very beginning to only cover Rich Norris' LA Times. No Sunday Calendar. Sorry. But do feel free to ask questions if you are stumped by certain clues.
Jeannie,
Yes, Boomer's season started last week. He already had his first big bowling tournament a couple of weeks ago.
Dudley et al,
Thanks for always addressing my questions.
Rose,
Re: "Men are like microwaves, women are like slow-cookers". How so?
Hi CC. PIR is a very unusual race
course - trianglular in shape. It is the home of the PA 500. The three corners have high banking
allowing the NASCARs to go flat out
all the way around.
Thought that PSI meant pounds per inch - water presure.
Have a nice week end all. Very foggy here this AM.
Good Day C.C. and all,
A 2 1/2 Diet Coke puzzle- Great Buzz!-but had to crawl through this puzzle letter by 'wag letter'
The lower half lulled me into a
sense of ease. I think that
'top secret' was the theme for the
top half.
'Fine and dandy' was pretty tricky,
actually,'sicko',but a fav;
so was second to last fill,'snip'
Good feeling of accomplishment. Now to discover who and what
32d and 5d are.
C.C., I think you are amazing! It
is unfathomable to me what your mind has to do, when faced with a puzzle like this. I commend you.
Now on to read comments.
Groan! To say I solved this one would be to claim undiserved bragging rights. We have had some difficult ones lately and this is among the hardest. Went to Mr. G early and stayed late. Also resorted to red letter help in the end.
I got off on the wrong foot by entering "Aldrins" at 2D (as in Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut.) Things went to the bad place very quickly after that. I had unSALT for a long time instead of DESALT. Wanted "retreats" instead of RACEWAY. Suffice it to say, this was not a good one for me. But I did learn some things and hope to remember them next time they appear.
I had the roller skates with a key.
Now I will have that song in my head all day: "I've got a brand new pair of roller skates, and you've got a brand new key." by Melanie Safka. Janis Joplin also sang it according to Google. A co-worker used to sing it a lot. And, yeah, I took it "that way."
Nice morning - cool, clear. It should get to high 80s this afternoon.
Y'all come!
CC, words to a song: 'I got a brand new pair of roller skates and you have a brand new key'. don't know the name of the song tho.
Also, did you ever actually see a "thinking cap"?
Mr.Ed, the song is Brand New Key.
LIMELIGHTS
Well this one was actually enjoyable for us technonerds (we prefer to think of ourselves as renaissance men, but let's call a spade a spade). Once a few of the 3-letter words went in the rest just fell into place.
I mentioned the Soviet Union yesterday, so I knew what came next - CIS (9D), which, together with PACES (11D) gave me THINKING CAP. And SANTA MONICA seemed fair for the LA Times – how many obscure local clues have you seen in the NYTXW? I hesitated for a while with HIP HOP MUSIC, as it seemed too obvious – I had read the clue as Rap Music, and had missed the intended criminal deception...
LASE (25A). This was one of those words that stuck in my craw during high-school physics. LASER is of course an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated (that’s what makes it coherent, i.e., one photon triggers release of the next one, and so on, so they are all in-phase) Emission of Radiation”. Then some bright spark made a back-form of the noun into a verb “Mmm, LASER = one who LASES”. Back-formation, making a new verb by shortening a noun, is common enough in the English language, but doing it with an acronym seems positively naughty.
TEATS (29A). Talking of naughty, when I first came to the US, I was warned about certain words with different meanings. “RUBBER”, for example, is equivalent to “ERASER” in the rest of the English-speaking world, so do not ask your colleague if you can “borrow their rubber”. And in reverse, do not snigger at the name “RANDY”, as it has no sexual connotations in the US. Still, I couldn’t help myself when I was introduced to an esteeemed colleague named WELLCOME BENDER.
But I was caught out in my Chemistry lab when I asked the lab manager whether she had any spare teats. She was shocked of course. The “Teat Pipette” (=”Pasteur Pipette” in US) is so-called because the rubber thing you squeeze at the end to draw liquid looks (and feels) just like one. In this case the word means the same in both dialects, but it’s considered a rather private word (maybe naughty) over here, not so over there.
So sensitized, I hesitated before answering the clue today. On a related note, I was told many years ago by a generally reliable source (my Professor) that the prepositional phrase “at back of”, which is unknown in Brit-land and the Commonwealth, was coined to avoid the use of “behind”, because that too was considered a little too personal/naughty.
I've learned to appreciate this prudishness in U.S. culture - in particular as it applies to TV - the use of "bad' language and showing of explicit sex - is strictly regulated during prime time (violence seems harder to define and limit). I am increasingly shocked at what is permitted in Brit-land while the kiddies are awake. You only get to see the cultured end of the Beeb over here.
CAUSTIC LIME (72A). This is of course the stuff that used to be burned in theaters to put performers in the LIMELIGHT, a phrase that has survived modern technology). I was a Chemistry major (as you say), but caustic lime is actually a pretty rare usage. CAUSTIC SODA is OK (=Sodium Hydroxide), but calcium oxide is better known as QUICK LIME and if you add water (to make Calcium Hydroxide) it quite reasonably becomes SLAKED LIME.
I expect you are thinking “takes a Limey to write that drivel”. Different etymologies, of course. The Lime above comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “clay”, and the only related word that has survived is the stuff you (might) put on your garden – LOAM. Lime the fruit, which you named us after, is of Latin origin.
PSI (12A). Finally, talking of water, I interpreted PSI as an abbreviation of “Pounds per Square Inch”, the standard unit of water pressure.
Good Morning All, Barry Silk was in top form today! Fortunately I got (3D)IN PEACE, (4D) NTH and (5D) KAOS, which helped me with 1(A) THINKING CAP.
(15A) SANTA MONICA Pier was kind of a gimme (at least with three letters in place). GAH and I would often take visitors there. They always got a kick out of seeing/riding the carousel that was featured in the movie "The Sting". We also saw Cirque du Soleil at the pier when it was a much smaller (and less expensive) show.
My first thought for 31A was SUD de France. It didn't fit of course, and after I got the beginning M, I remembered MIDI. (Hope that helps, chapstick52.) 32D IMRE?..no idea..it came totally from the perps. (26D) SILESIA was also a "perps only" fill.
I loved seeing SKATE KEY. My first skates were similar to the photo and I wore my key on a rubber band on my wrist. OK, here's the song.
As Lemonade pointed out, puzzle are for fun. Whether we solve in ink, pencil, or online, the liklihood of mistakes and corrections is always there. Our newspaper usually doesn't arrive until after 10 AM, so I solve online via cruciverb. Except for most Mondays and Tuesdays, I ALWAYS have to go back and correct something. Sure, I like it better if I don't have to look up a clue reference, but I've used Google and always try to learn something from it. Once in a while I succeed.
Good morning C.C., and all.
What a wonderful puzzle Barry Silk gave us today! Love words like LUMMOXES, PARADOX, and AMOK. TUCKS two days in a row, very differently clued.
Living in SoCal and nailing SANTA MONICA pier was a definite ASSET for an easy ride through the NW. Loved the clues 17A: "Rap sheet notes?" and 39D: "Fine and dandy: Abbr.".
Perps got me through the rest of the puzzle, except for the cross of MIDI and SILESIA, both unknowns. I went with "e", alas it was "I". Thanks for clearing that up for me, C.C.
I do take exception to the clue for 56A: "Hoped" for PRAYED.
To hope is to desire, to wish, to want and expect.
To pray is to ask, implore, beseech, or make supplication.
So one may hope, one may pray, or one may hope and pray. Simply MHO.
I, too, had roller skates with a key, which was on a string to hang around my neck, to keep from losing it.
Enjoy the day!
@cuppa, but then again, to us, bloody just means you have a cut that needs a band-aid, pants are what you wear on the outside, a fanny refers to a non-gender-specific gluteus maximus, and shag just refers to the length of hair or carpeting...
How about smoking a fag in England as opposed to "smoking" one here?!
Dennis, thanks.
Nice Cuppa,
blah, blah, blah, blah, ad infinitum.
No time to read yesterday's blog until now. Does anyone remember the Skyscraper ice cream cones from Isaly's? It could definitely give those MOREL mushrooms a run for their money, especially if you've ever watched someone eating one...!
Hopefully, I'll be back with comments on today's puzzle after taking care of some errands before I find the time to do it. It sounds like a toughy!
good morning c.c. and all,
just WOW. whatta great puzzle. themeless has never been my favorite, except when barry silk is involved - he is the master.
speaking of which, c.c., your mastery at deciphering challenging puzzles never ceases to amaze me. your explanations cleared up -an counterpart, and the fine and dandy clue. i stared at rub for polish, say, for a long time before the aha moment. loved the fresh clue for spas.
'think with your legs,' great line.
'go in peace,' is a phrase spoken by both eli in the old testament, and by jesus in the new - and probably others i'm forgetting. so it has a biblical connotation but could be used by anyone, and does not refer to death, but just meaning .. well ... go in peace.
lemonade makes an excellent point about google being responsible for most of us finding this blog. in fact any time the question is posed here, the inevitable response is 'googling for an answer.' anon, if you're still here, how did you find us?
it's also true that web surfing for an answer very often inspires learning such that next time you won't need to google. today i surfed to learn more about dian fossey, even though in that case i knew the answer. learning, by any means, always strengthens your solving skills.
Spitzboova,
Notice the resemblance between psi and the Trident carried by King Neptune?
@Al and Anon
Indeed, I agree that phrases such as "I'm just popping outside for a fag" and "Where did you find that great fanny-pack?" do not travel well.
They are all potential banana skins, but I think I can handle those. It's the more subtle/cultural ones that can cause problems.
And, um, when I think of some I'll write some more...
M.J.-
I had the same thought about hope and pray. Pray imparts a strong sense of urgency, that hope does not. Thanks for bringing it up.
I enjoy using a pen- it is easier for me and easier to read. Of course,I wind up with black blobs,
from time to time, but what the heck
Melissa Bee,
Read your profile; you have the most way-out music and books listed as your favorites. How old are you anyway?
A Barry Silk creation on a Saturday is a trial. I shall remember that. (Hey, maybe some constructor will clue "trial" that way.)
I used to use pen, but the puzzle would sometimes be an awful mess when I was done. Anyway, Google is your friend, if you're curious enough. I am, and that's one of the reasons I bought an iPad to keep in the livingroom. My husband and I are always wondering about things, like "Is that actor still alive?" or "Did that show get cancelled?" The iPad fits in with crossword puzzles perfectly.
I did learn something today. Here is a list of Portmanteau Words. I was surprised at some of them. I suppose one was created especially for this blog - blitch.
TTFN!
MR ED
Criticism accepted - Got carried away trying to make a subtle point. I'll keep 'em shorter in future.
Hi all. Well, I got clobbered. Even after coming here I still couln't make sense of some of the clues/fills. After much scratching of my head (through the fabric of the thinking cap) I think I have made sense out of it all.
Holy moley!
By the way, I think PSI stands for pounds per square inch, which is a measure of pressure. As such, it is not a symbol, it is an abbreviation. After I post this i'm going to look it up; I'll be surprised (and i'll learn something new) if it turns out the Greek letter PSI actually is a symbol for (water) pressure.
Some very cool fills in this puzzle, but I feel many of the clues were so deliberately deceptive (in agreement with Lemonaid714 who used the word deception) as to border on or even cross the line of unfairness. And that just pisses me off.
Another nitpick: The name of the German city is Köln, Cologne being the French name for it. But hey, okay, we call Roma Rome, Napoli Naples, and München Munich, so maybe calling Köln Cologne is fair.
And RCA makes phones???
Sorry, I guess I'm being a sore loser again.
By the way, LASER started out as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Later it became a regular word, laser. Then just as runner is one who runs, and trader is one who trades, the word "lase" was invented as that which a laser does.
Best wishes.
Okay, so I guess RCA does make telephones. Thanks for the link, Lemonaid. Learn learn learn :)
Ooops, Nice Cuppa beat me to it with a well-written explanation of laser and lase. Well said!
Wow, the things one learns here! I just looked it up, and sure enough, Ψ (psi) is a symbol which, among other things, can represent "Water potential in movement of water between plant cells."
I'll stop complaining now :)
Nice Cuppa, "at back of"? He must have been a very Victorian professor to have come up with that phrase. If the towel is on a hook behind the door, I've never heard it said, "The towel is on a hook at back of the door."
I really enjoy British humor. In fact, I have recently been re-watching the Black Adder series...just the best. That reminds me, any country that can come up with Morris dancing and keep it going for five hundred years is OK in my book.
I've only heard PSI (pounds per square inch) in reference to air pressure. OSHA regulations state, "Compressed air shall not be used for cleaning purposes except where reduced to less than 30 psi and then only with effective chip guarding and personal protective equipment.” Before I retired, I heard our postal mechanics and technicians gripe endlessly about the restriction and often (sneakily) readjusted their air hoses to a higher psi.
CAUSTIC LIME reminds me of being here... AT C.C.'S MILIEU.
You can find something in ON ONES HONOR that Dennis hopes to never say... "OH, NO NOONERS?"
Dian Fossey says, "Go IN PEACE, NICE APE" However, HIP HOP MUSIC makes her grumpy. Makes her shout stuff like "HI, HIPPO SCUM!"
Because I'm in need of a LIQUID ASSET, I STEAL SQUID.
Keats and Yeats were part of a poetic trio. Teats was the udder one.
It's TOP SECRET that military brats are TOT CREEPS.
Off to clean my new gnu gun.
Hello All--I don't usually do the Sat. non-themed puzzle. I tried today and failed miserably. I had to come here to get the answers that I didn't have. There were many!!
I did want to comment on a couple of things. Our 4H-ers who raised goats, cows, steers, and sheep always used the proper terms for milking, grooming, and raising of these animals. Teats was one term that they learned early on, especially if they raised goats and cows and had to milk twice a day. No harm in using a correct term.
CA, I had a pair of skates that looked exactly like the ones in your link. They not only fit the soles of your shoes, but extended in length as your shoe size changed. I wore the key around my neck on a string. I skated everywhere before I had a bike in Jr. High.
Jerome,
Oh, my God, your udder poetic trio. Bloody good! Loved your JOHN MAJORITY clue last time also. You can be so DF.
Jerome! I liked your comment on the Udder poet, Teats, better than mine!! Way more fun.
Anon@12:47, "How old are you anyway?", rude and probably none of your melissa beeswax.
Mr Ed@12:22, "blah, blah, blah, blah, ad infinitum", also rude. If you don't like a blue poster's comments you can disagree without being disagreeable. Nice Cuppa@12:57 was very civil in his reply to you.
Actually, I believe it is from the Greek POSEIDEN'S TRIDENT that PSI and water are linked.
I knew the south of France was called the midi but had forgotten why.
Have also been to San Remo for shopping and lunch when I was going to school in Nice, but couldn't think of the name for the puzzle. Doh?
Doreen
It took me a while to find this poem by Willa Cather. Miss Cather was best known for her novels, O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, and My Ántonia, but she also wrote some memorable poetry. Even if you aren't familiar with Shakespeare's The Tempest, the poem still gets its point across.
PARADOX
I knew them both upon Miranda's isle,
Which is of youth a sea-bound seigniory:
Misshapen Caliban, so seeming vile,
And Ariel, proud prince of minstrelsy,
Who did forsake the sunset for my tower
And like a star above my slumber burned.
The night was held in silver chains by power
Of melody, in which all longings yearned--
Star-grasping youth in one wild strain expressed,
Tender as dawn, insistent as the tide;
The heart of night and summer stood confessed.
I rose aglow and flung the lattice wide--
Ah, jest of art, what mockery and pang!
Alack, it was poor Caliban who sang.
- Willa Cather
Thanks for the picture of the skates and the song, Clear Ayes. I still have my old skate key. It's on a key chain with the rest of the generic household keys.
Doreen
Clear Ayes
Whoops, sorry for that slip. I meant to say "IN BACK OF" (= "BEHIND")
Nice Cuppa, in 84 10/12 years I have heard many words that refer to one's gluteous maximus, none of which have made me blush. Here are just a few: tush, butt, bum, keister, rear-end, behind, seat, rump,ass, and on and on. I'm sure I've heard "in back of", too but usually to describe a site, such as, "the garage is in back of the house".
Oh, and Clearayes, we're insync again: P.S.I. to me refers to air pressure, i.e. how much to put in your tires (that's tyres, cuppa). But I like the psi symbol, too, whatever it means.
Two of my pet peeves:
The use of "in back of" instead of "behind."
The use of "went missing" instead of "disappeared."
Good evening CC, et al., I'm thrilled to get as far as I did on this Silky Smooth and
'Syns'ational Puzzle. Felt like this was pretty international with France, Mexico, and CIS, but also very much a paradox. We were running 'amok' with sexy Sadie but we prayed ourselves back from the depths of the sea and un'educ'ated lummoxes to the heights of the skyline and top secret levels with Santa Monica.
From the very beginning we have yes 'sir' and 'no maam' which is clearly how most run 'amok'. Sexy Sadie is checking out PSI...giving a new slant to pounds per square inch with her 'bona'...
when that 'rub' 'ramps up', ya don't even have to 'say a' word, maybe add a little 'hip hop/music' and then shizam!!! there's an 'acid'ic 'liquid asset'
'impel'led that doesn't burn like a 'caustic lime' at all. Of course this is all fully dependent up 'on one's honor' and her offer. If all goes well, it would be "honor" and "offer" all night long, which is indeed 'a good way to go'...in peace??? It's all good.
Enjoy your night and holiday!
I never used to say "went missing" but I think it's got a fun sort of British sound to it. I think some of their idioms are more fun than ours; things like "Don't get your knickers in a twist." Or words like snogging, shagging, willy, knackered, bloody, bum and lots more I can't think of at the moment. Colorful!
I'm with Bill G. My wife and I think that some British & Aussie phrases are just more fun. We especially like to say "buggah" and do so often, being confident that it's not vulgar in the U.S. We're less certain in England. Any comment, Cuppa?
"Buggah" was fun in Four Weddings and a Funeral, as Hugh Grant was agonizing in the church where he was about marry the wrong woman.
We also like "bloody 'ell" but use it much less.
Daffy - Just curious, is it the Englishness that you dislike in those phrases?
Daffy - Just curious, is it the Englishness that you dislike in those phrases?
No. I didn't know they were Englsh until today. I just thought of them as poor usage similar to "ain't."
Come on, now, y'all is too a word!
I, too, felt there was a strong 'water' relationship between psi(ψ) and Poseidon.
Splynter, I hope your sojurn at the 'tute was positive.
Re: Caustic lime - I learnt that CaO was quicklime.
Re: Brit talk. I once attended a NATO naval exercise briefing involving an amphibious assault in Norwegian waters. The ships had arrived in the operations area and were waiting for the next phase to commence. The British vice admiral in charge inquired, " So what are the ships doing now - just hanging about?" The Americans present all had big grins.
Oh, knackered! I've always like that one. Wish I could remember to use it...God knows I'm in that condition enough!
What was the stuff they put on the bodies of Czar Nicholas and his family to make their remains disappear? Was that caustic lime? Caustic soda? Imagine! that was all in the 20th century! Sounds positively medieval! But how civilised are we even now with that kook in Nevada talking about using "2nd amendment remedies" if Congress doesn't do what she wants?
C.C./Dennis ,I thought you've repeatedly asked that politics be kept off the blog?
The British word bugger certainly has its origin in a word with a vulgar meaning but I don't think any of that is intended in its casual use. More like our 'bug off' but more colourful. Ooh, I forgot sod off, another expression with a vulgar origin. I think that's a little stronger cuss word, probably not for polite company.
Do you find it interesting that it's 'judgement' in England and Canada but 'judgment' in the US? I wonder why.
Sorry to come in late, but it was a challenging puzzle. I had to stop and come back. Words like skate key and KAOS, which were in the depths of my noggin, didn't arise until I had some letters from "perps"? Are those what crossing answers are called?
best bird, thanks for the Portmanteau list. But a favorite, "spork", the spoon + fork is left off. And how in the world does one make a "chork", chopstick + fork?
I got most but WHY -an and -enne, although I got the answers. And an I in midi and imre was a total guess, also the fine and dandy clue.
Virginia, Comedian is a male who makes you laugh. Comedienne is a female who makes you laugh (like Carol Burnett).
Are you from Virginia? Me too originally.
I just came across that old western, Shane, on cable. That's one of the best I think.
Dudley
For Mr Ed's sake, I won't labor this one, but I'll answer your question about the use of the word "bugger" ("buggah" which I guess is how it sounds to you when we say it) in the UK, and Oz too:
Although its formal meaning is to sodomize, the word is found in many phrases that are not considered obscene. They are fine to use around your peers, but not typically in front of young children or your grandmother:
1. "Bugger off!" is obvious enough. But you can also say "Well I'll bugger off then" = "I'm leaving because I'm no longer welcome (or needed)".
2. "Well, you old bugger!" is a form of praise and endearment to a friend or acquaintance. "He's a wily old bugger" is similar.
3. "You poor old bugger!" is an expressions of sympathy (could be to a friend or stranger).
4. "Well I'll be buggered!" or "Well bugger me!" = How surprising!
5. "I'll be buggered if I'm doing that!" = I have no intention of doing what you just suggested.
6. "I'm buggered" = I'm tired, similar to "knackered"
7. "Oh bugger!" = I've forgotten to do something, or something just went wrong for that reason. "Bugger, bugger, bugger!" as you noted Hugh Grant saying to the vicar in 3W+1F, is a variant meaning "I've just made a terrible mistake".
There are some more risqué variants, such as "Well bugger me sideways" = expressing a greater level of surprise than #4 above, but I'd better stop there.
But, before Mr. Ed tries to edit me again, I will just end with the etymology. A "bougre" was originally a church heretic, which of course became associated with sinful behavior in general (the sodomy connection came later); it became bulgarus in Latin; which did indeed lead to the name of a certain central European country....poor old buggers!
Good way to go, 3 down, is, I assume, from "Go in Peace to love and serve the Lord." The response to which is, "Thanks be to God!"
Amen to today's puzzle.
Speaking of "Shane"...watched John Wayne in "The Shootist" today...another classic but not yet in the same rarefied atmosphere as "Shane."
I know an older lady who says "It(she,he) weren`t..." and she`s well-read with a fairly good education for her age and up-bringing...
Enjoyed seeing the "Jersey Boys" again on TV tonight.
"Low-self esteem often masquerades as rudeness." Anonymous
Dodo
Thanks for your comments. I did not mean to suggest that Americans individually are prudish in any way, but rather that there is a stronger tendency here for "the powers that be" to impose some kind of ethical/moral high ground.
I think that my Professor actually said that "in back of" (for "behind") was a phrase preferred by Hollywood studios in the days when they still had the "one foot on the ground" convention for amorous bedroom scenes. Whether he suggested that they invented or popularized the phrase I do not know. Dare I ask for your historical perspective here?
And this prudishness thing goes both ways. In the UK, "ass" was (at least until very recently) akin to a donkey, and had nothing to do with the gluteous maximus. That word is "arse". It is similar in pronunciation, but its usage is very different. "Arse" IS considered vulgar/obscene. When President George Bush (the elder) stepped out of Air Force One and said "Let's kick some ass", referring to the Iraqi government, that was considered quite acceptable (linguistically). No Head of State/Prime Minister in Britain would ever have said "kick arse" in public.
Cuppa - Thanks, that was interesting! I spelled (or spelt, if you prefer) "buggah" as I did to show how we pronounce it in daily life, more or less imitating Brit/Oz pronounciation, which we do not to mock but to...well, imitate!
Related story: on a visit to London, my wife and I emerged from the tube to visit a particular pub recommended in the CAMRA guide. It was undergoing renovation and was thus unexpectedly closed...we met the occasion by reading the "closed" sign and saying "Buggah!" aloud on the sidewalk, then wondering whether we ought to have been quieter.
So, thanks for the stamp of approval.
Nice Cuppa, please remember the post limit is five; thanks.
Dudley
Sorry, I'll shut up for today - just felt obligated to answer questions directed at me.
NC
Well I waited for Rose to answer:"Rose,
Re: "Men are like microwaves, women are like slow-cookers". How so?" but since she has posted again, I will venture inti this slippery slope; my oldest brother worte a book many years ago basically contrasting the lessons from ancient chines pillow books with modern thoughts like Kinsey and Masters and Johnson and he use the phrase, Men are Like Fire and Women are like Water; men get hot quickly but burn out quickly also; it takes longer for water to boil, but it stays hot longer. I think that is the concept, sexually.
Lively group, nice puzzle, goos Saturday
Shane is great. High Noon is another classic. But my favorite is Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.
And you can't forget The Outlaw Josey Wales or Unforgiven.
Anyone see the Phenom that is Aroldis Chapman? C.C. knows her baseball...he is amazing.
There have been very few athletes capable of performing like him. He is the Usain Bolt of pitching!
I remember those skates...I hated them!...I could never skate. I could ride like the wind though...
seen, barring injury, he should be the piece that tips the scales for the Reds; as a Phillies fan, I sure don't want to face them for the pennant. That fastball is just sick.
Dennis: don't tell your Phillies that his "out" pitch is a 89mph slider that is unhittable(is that a word). One sports writer wrote "it's just not fair...it's just not fair".
Yeah, I'm looking forward to October baseball.
I remember driving by the Pocono Raceway, so I should have thought of it. But was thinking of the mountains and romantic resorts instead.
After a late start today, having spent most of the day with our d-i-l before seeing her off to join our son permanently again in Germany, I had no mental acuity for this puzzle, and cam here with too many blanks and wrong answers to comment.
However, I have had fun reading all the comments here, and would just like to add that while I read with both amusement and agreement all of Cuppa's examples of BUGGER's colloquial usages, my interpretation of its original meaning was not sodomy. As far as I know, it refers to performing the sexual act with an animal.
I just checked, and in Webster's there's no mention of the bestial behavior, but the OED says: bugger, n. & v.t. (Law) sodomite, man having unnatural intercourse with beast or man...
So maybe the beast part has been lost to the more common variety?
Kazie - Thanks for that definition. I had no idea about the beast aspect in early use.
Cuppa - The reminder about the 5 post limit was from Dennis, not me. It is his duty. For my part, I appreciate your direct response!
About CAMRA: for those not familiar with beer, it stands for Campaign for Real Ales, a British effort to keep craft brewing alive.
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