Theme: None
Total words: 72. Total blocks: 32
Avg Word Len: 5.36. Missing: J Q X Z
This puzzle is anchored by triple stacks of 10s in each quadrant of the grid. All multi-words:
1A. Parts counterparts : LABOR COSTS. Car repairs.
15A. Lemon source : USED CAR LOT. Was thinking of the fruit.
17A. One lacking bias : RADIAL TIRE. Of course political "bias" came to mind. Not tire. I like how the 3 car references piled on top of one another. We also have FIN (22A. Old El Dorado feature). Would be a perfect puzzle for car nuts Argyle to blog.
58A. Holiday bloom : EASTER LILY. Nice full answer.
61A. Minor considerations? : LITTLE ONES. Great clue.
63A. Poky activity happens at it : SNAIL'S PACE. Tricky "it".
12D. Conscience : MORAL SENSE. Dennis has some, mostly just MOREL sense.
13D. Ann Landers or Abigail Van Buren : TWIN SISTER
14D. Legendary swimmer : SEA SERPENT. Mythical.
25D. Show compassion : HAVE A HEART
26D. Challenging area at Augusta National, as it's facetiously called : AMEN CORNER. Nailed it. Refers to holes No. 11, 12 & 13. We also have PARS (33D. Links numbers). Augusta National is par 72.
27D. In direct confrontation : NOSE TO NOSE
Multi-words are sure zippier than single long words. Not necessarily easier to ferret out though. Misleading clues abound today. Harvey's wit and humor are in full play.
FYI, Nancy Salomon told me a few weeks ago that it is Harvey who originated the phrase Utah Formation, referring those 5 black square clusters in the grid edges. Don "Hard G" Gagliardo calls the shape Idaho Potato. So evocative.
Across:
11. Vital team members : EMTS. Vital organs. The clue needs an abbr. hint.
16. Actor who turned down the role of Dr. Shepherd on "Grey's Anatomy" : LOWE. Rob Lowe I gather.
18. Spotlit opera event : ARIA
19. Joint with a cap : KNEE. Saw this clue before. Still like it.
20. Stumper's concern : VOTER. Was thinking of "puzzle" stumper, not one who makes stump speech.
21. Summer goals for some : TANS
23. Unspoken part of the Godfather's "offers"? : OR ELSE. Couldn't keep "make him an offer he can't refuse" out of my mind.
25. "One sec ..." : HANG ON
29. Neil Young song about Kent State : OHIO
31. Mister : SIR
32. Le Pew's pursuit : AMOUR
33. High fashion label : PRADA. Loved "The Devil Wears Prada".
34. Super vision? : ESP. Nice clue.
35. Endows, as with power : VESTS
36. Kleptomaniac film monkey : ABU. No idea. The monkey in Disney's "Aladdin". Kleptomaniac is one who is addicted to stealing.
37. 14th-century Florentine exile : DANTE. Oh, I thought he lived in a much earlier period.
39. Hydrocarbon ending : ENE
40. Fourth in a series : APRIL. No problem!
42. "Hedda Gabler" playwright : IBSEN (Henrik)
43. Undertaking : ACT
44. Closing : LAST
45. Common chuckwalla habitat : DESERT. Looks ugly.
46. They may be shod : HOOVES. Good clue.
48. The boss usually doesn't want to hear them : NOS. Do you say "No" to your boss?
49. Bald eagle cousin : ERNE
50. Curly hair, say : TRAIT. Mine is straight.
53. Quarter of a yard : SPAN. Was calculating in paper and got 9 inches.
57. Quotation abbr. : ANON
60. Kick back : REST
62. Extremely, in Amiens : TRES. Don't know where Amiens is. Somewhere in France I suppose.
Down:
1. Lie low : LURK
2. Simile center : AS AN. Wise as an owl.
3. Only native Englishman ever named Doctor of the Church by a pope : BEDE. Stumped. Wikipedia says he's often referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede.
4. Comic strip dog : ODIE. Also CALVIN (6. Comics character who said "Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help"). From "Calvin and Hobbes". Got me.
5. 1986 GE takeover : RCA. New trivia to me.
7. "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" dramatist : ORTON (Joe). Not familiar with the drama or the author.
8. Fine cut : SLIT. Was picturing meat. Lovely clue.
9. Zipped : TORE
10. Olympics no-no : STEROID
11. Send : ELATE. "Darling, you send me..."
22. On the block : FOR SALE
24. Rock crew : ROADIES. Rock band.
28. __ feeling : GUT
29. Shuttle path : ORBIT. Hey, Husker Gary!
30. Arrest, with "in" : HAUL
38. Tchr.'s notation : ABS. Absent, right? I've never attended school here. Don't know the notation abbrs. Rich prepared us for Tchr = Teacher earlier.
41. Some Cassatt works : PASTELS. Sweet fill for Clear Ayes.
45. "No kidding!" : DO TELL
47. Lets off steam : VENTS
48. Capone associate : NITTI (Frank). Uh uh, don't recall his name. "The Untouchables" is quite good.
51. Shower : RAIN."Showers, e.g." would be a better clue. Yes?
52. Hollywood canine : ASTA
53. Pen repast : SLOP. Oink, oink, soupy & tasty!
54. Cóctel fruit : PINA. Cóctel is Spanish for "cocktail".
55. Novelist Waugh : ALEC
56. Place to find IBM : NYSE. My favorite clue today. IBM the company, not the product.
59. Scale tones : RES
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total words: 72. Total blocks: 32
Avg Word Len: 5.36. Missing: J Q X Z
This puzzle is anchored by triple stacks of 10s in each quadrant of the grid. All multi-words:
1A. Parts counterparts : LABOR COSTS. Car repairs.
15A. Lemon source : USED CAR LOT. Was thinking of the fruit.
17A. One lacking bias : RADIAL TIRE. Of course political "bias" came to mind. Not tire. I like how the 3 car references piled on top of one another. We also have FIN (22A. Old El Dorado feature). Would be a perfect puzzle for car nuts Argyle to blog.
58A. Holiday bloom : EASTER LILY. Nice full answer.
61A. Minor considerations? : LITTLE ONES. Great clue.
63A. Poky activity happens at it : SNAIL'S PACE. Tricky "it".
12D. Conscience : MORAL SENSE. Dennis has some, mostly just MOREL sense.
13D. Ann Landers or Abigail Van Buren : TWIN SISTER
14D. Legendary swimmer : SEA SERPENT. Mythical.
25D. Show compassion : HAVE A HEART
26D. Challenging area at Augusta National, as it's facetiously called : AMEN CORNER. Nailed it. Refers to holes No. 11, 12 & 13. We also have PARS (33D. Links numbers). Augusta National is par 72.
27D. In direct confrontation : NOSE TO NOSE
Multi-words are sure zippier than single long words. Not necessarily easier to ferret out though. Misleading clues abound today. Harvey's wit and humor are in full play.
FYI, Nancy Salomon told me a few weeks ago that it is Harvey who originated the phrase Utah Formation, referring those 5 black square clusters in the grid edges. Don "Hard G" Gagliardo calls the shape Idaho Potato. So evocative.
Across:
11. Vital team members : EMTS. Vital organs. The clue needs an abbr. hint.
16. Actor who turned down the role of Dr. Shepherd on "Grey's Anatomy" : LOWE. Rob Lowe I gather.
18. Spotlit opera event : ARIA
19. Joint with a cap : KNEE. Saw this clue before. Still like it.
20. Stumper's concern : VOTER. Was thinking of "puzzle" stumper, not one who makes stump speech.
21. Summer goals for some : TANS
23. Unspoken part of the Godfather's "offers"? : OR ELSE. Couldn't keep "make him an offer he can't refuse" out of my mind.
25. "One sec ..." : HANG ON
29. Neil Young song about Kent State : OHIO
31. Mister : SIR
32. Le Pew's pursuit : AMOUR
33. High fashion label : PRADA. Loved "The Devil Wears Prada".
34. Super vision? : ESP. Nice clue.
35. Endows, as with power : VESTS
36. Kleptomaniac film monkey : ABU. No idea. The monkey in Disney's "Aladdin". Kleptomaniac is one who is addicted to stealing.
37. 14th-century Florentine exile : DANTE. Oh, I thought he lived in a much earlier period.
39. Hydrocarbon ending : ENE
40. Fourth in a series : APRIL. No problem!
42. "Hedda Gabler" playwright : IBSEN (Henrik)
43. Undertaking : ACT
44. Closing : LAST
45. Common chuckwalla habitat : DESERT. Looks ugly.
46. They may be shod : HOOVES. Good clue.
48. The boss usually doesn't want to hear them : NOS. Do you say "No" to your boss?
49. Bald eagle cousin : ERNE
50. Curly hair, say : TRAIT. Mine is straight.
53. Quarter of a yard : SPAN. Was calculating in paper and got 9 inches.
57. Quotation abbr. : ANON
60. Kick back : REST
62. Extremely, in Amiens : TRES. Don't know where Amiens is. Somewhere in France I suppose.
Down:
1. Lie low : LURK
2. Simile center : AS AN. Wise as an owl.
3. Only native Englishman ever named Doctor of the Church by a pope : BEDE. Stumped. Wikipedia says he's often referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede.
4. Comic strip dog : ODIE. Also CALVIN (6. Comics character who said "Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help"). From "Calvin and Hobbes". Got me.
5. 1986 GE takeover : RCA. New trivia to me.
7. "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" dramatist : ORTON (Joe). Not familiar with the drama or the author.
8. Fine cut : SLIT. Was picturing meat. Lovely clue.
9. Zipped : TORE
10. Olympics no-no : STEROID
11. Send : ELATE. "Darling, you send me..."
22. On the block : FOR SALE
24. Rock crew : ROADIES. Rock band.
28. __ feeling : GUT
29. Shuttle path : ORBIT. Hey, Husker Gary!
30. Arrest, with "in" : HAUL
38. Tchr.'s notation : ABS. Absent, right? I've never attended school here. Don't know the notation abbrs. Rich prepared us for Tchr = Teacher earlier.
41. Some Cassatt works : PASTELS. Sweet fill for Clear Ayes.
45. "No kidding!" : DO TELL
47. Lets off steam : VENTS
48. Capone associate : NITTI (Frank). Uh uh, don't recall his name. "The Untouchables" is quite good.
51. Shower : RAIN."Showers, e.g." would be a better clue. Yes?
52. Hollywood canine : ASTA
53. Pen repast : SLOP. Oink, oink, soupy & tasty!
54. Cóctel fruit : PINA. Cóctel is Spanish for "cocktail".
55. Novelist Waugh : ALEC
56. Place to find IBM : NYSE. My favorite clue today. IBM the company, not the product.
59. Scale tones : RES
Answer grid.
C.C.
88 comments:
I did not like the tchr's notation:abs clue:answer once I finally got it. That is just not close to common enough, in my opinion. Although perhaps my frustration comes from the fact that I had never heard of Chuckwalla, whose "habit" provides the "s" in the "abs" answer. Is "habit" synonymous with "habitat" now? I don't think so.
Sorry for the double post.
Also looking back, I see that it actually was "habitat" and not "habit."
Weird, I continually misread it.
Ah, yes...'57 Cadillac El Dorado Fins.
This was easier than most Saturday puzzles, but i still found a number of "wrong" answers that filled the empty spaces. I had Poinsettia instead of Easter Lily. Both are holiday blooms. (I first read this clue as holiday broom, so tried halloweens first.)
I also had face-to-face instead of nose-to-nose. I won't tell you what 5 letter word i first thought of that fit into the curly hair clue, but it was a correct response to the clue.
This puzzle also gave me a few "aha" moments. Fin for el dorado feature was one, as was April for fourth in a series.
fun puzzle for a saturday.
Morning, all!
Wow, this may be the first Saturday that it took me longer (by far) to complete the LA Times puzzle than the NYT puzzle. What a bear!
I was almost on the same wavelength as the constructor, but not quite. For example, I guessed early on that 1A involved LABOR as a counterpart to "parts," but just couldn't get the COSTS part until the bitter end. Similarly, I guessed that the "lemons" in 15A were cars, but once again I just couldn't come up with the entire phrase USED CAR LOTS until the end.
Of course, that section wasn't helped by the fact that I had no idea that RADIAL TIRES lacked bias and was instead thinking of some sort of neutral third party. ORTON was a complete unknown to me as well. Fortunately, I got CALVIN early on and was eventually able to guess BEDE, or else I never would have been able to finish that section.
The SE corner was also tough, especially after I confidently put in POINSETTIA at 58A. SNAILSPACE and LITTLEONES remained stubbornly invisible for the longest time, but I was finally able to remember NITTI which opened it up a bit down there.
All in all, a good, solid and quite challenging puzzle. Lots to love, although I agree that we could have used a different clue for ABS.
Good morning, C.C. and gang - I've always enjoyed the cleverness of Harvey Estes' puzzles, and this one had it in spades.
I got bogged down immediately in the NW, even after quickly filling in several of the downs. I thought the deception of those three long acrosses was about as good as it gets. After that, I managed to make headway with perp help, but I still screwed up 25A with 'hold on' instead of 'hang on'. Lots more comment-worthy, but I'm about outta time.
Rojo, if this is your first time posting on the blog (I don't recall seeing your name before), welcome. As to the 'abs' answer, I would think it's a fairly common abbreviation among teachers, but I'll let someone from our teacher pool expand on that.
Today is our town's Oktoberfest, and as one of the organizers, I'm expecting a pretty full day. Hope it's a great one for everybody, and that you get to do something fun.
In those tiny, little (redundant to make a point) squares in the grade book, "A" and "P" is all you have room for ("A"=absent, "P"= Present.)
But we`re talking "What can I clue this random group of letters I`ve created as"...
Hi all~~!!
This was a real tough one, but not that I couldnt solve it - I like it when my brain is all "warm and tingly" after racking it for some answers - for example, I too, was looking for a third party for RADIAL TIRE, and so I was in "CIVIC something" mode for a while.
USED CAR LOTS made me smile, as did LABOR COSTS once it dawned on me - and I make a living off labor costs, but I think in terms of material, and not parts...
Need to post this image, SEA SERPENT since it was a great answer for legendary swimmer, and I was thinking Louganis...one of my favorite album covers.
CALVIN & Hobbes was one of the best comic strips ever, and I think at one time I was a member of the G.R.O.S.S. club - anyone remember that?
Enjoy the weekend -
Splynter
Splynter, you're right about Calvin & Hobbes - truly one of the best. I was given a big anthology of the strips for Christmas one year, and I'm constantly pulling it out and amusing myself (the anthology, Lois).
Not enough 'Aha!', too many "Aw, c'mon'.
And before anyone takes me to task, I thouhgt the construction was great but some of the cluing....
Good morning C.C. and all.
Fairly tough puzzle. Many misleading clues. Had sparse fill on the first pass, but got a toehold in the SE with EASTER LILY. Then gradually worked back to the top. The NW was last to fall. Needed red letter help with ORTON which also then gave RADIAL TIRE and the aha moment about no bias. Questioned ELATE for 'send'. WAGS included ESP, DANTE, ENE, and NOS. Loved clueing for APRIL and FIN. Had 'horses' before HOOVES. Assumed 54d was about coctail, so guessed PIÑA.
Enjoy the weekend.
Chicago girl: Rhymes with public?
Splynter and Dennis:
Both hands up for Calvin & Hobbes. My all time favorite was the Sunday strip where they ended up in a heap at the bottom of the hill and Calvin says, " We don't want to learn anything from this.".
Words to live by.
Dodo, from last night:
When the Crossword Corner reunion finally takes place, I want to talk to you. Thanks for your comments.
Tough for me -- a "2" on my open-ended scale (number of consults with Dr Google). Got quite a few right off the bat, but too scattered to help get more. But eventually everything fell quickly into place. After seeing 53A: SPAN fall into place, I noticed that the span of my right hand was exactly 9 inches, a comfortable octave. I concur wholeheartedly re Calvin and Hobbes, but didn't remember that G.R.O.S.S. allowed any members other than Calvin & Hobbes. I think my favorite clue was the El Dorado fin, and thought that ELATE for "send" was a stretch, although that immediately popped Sam Cooke into my head and the clue was justified.
Get Rid Of Slimy girlS, if I remember correctly...
The Northwest corner did me in today. The only perps I had were asan, odie and steroid. They were not enough to get me moving. The rest of the puzzle came together pretty quickly, but I couldn't wrap it up. I don't think I ever would have gotten radial tire. It's relationship to bias does not make sense to me.
Had a bit of a time in the southwest because I initially entered face to face instead of nose to nose.
Have a nice weekend folks. It's going to be a stellar one in the NE.
C.C. Wonderful write-up.
Barry G. You got the G.R.O.S.S. perfectly, lol and you covered my solving experience to a 'T'.
My fave CALVIN was when he was selling "Quick Kick in the Pants, $1.00" ... Hobbes asked "How's business?" and he replied (sic) "Lousy, and I don't understand ... it's the one thing everybody needs."
RCA & NYSE were gimmies (I spend way too much time watching CNBC).
Didn't know (don't care) that Rob LOWE turned down a 'Grey's Anatomy" role.
Learned ORTON wrote a play I'll never see.
Liked the dogs, ODIE & ASTA.
Agree with Argyle, too few AHA moments ... too many Aw C'mon's.
Got them all OK in 37 minutes. The NW corner, as yesterday, was the last to yield. This one definitely took some patient care and thought. The longer solutions are always challenging, especially when there are a lot of them.
Well the puzzle did have 'em.
Our ANON who likes to LURK.
One thing I have learned over the past year is to trust my GUT reaction to a clue. Before, esp. on Saturday, I would hesitate to write in an answer.
Off HOOVES, ERNE and ANON, I just wrote in NOSE TO NOSE.
Ann & Abigail, I remembered were TWIN SISTERs.
From the 'P' in APRIL (yup, the 4th month) I got PASTELS.
I'd say my solving experience and FUN level has gone up 100%.
Thank you, C.C.
Thanks CC
Looking out from my bedroom window, the barometer indicates that yesterday's high pressure zone is receding - a distinctly APOLITICAL day seems to be in the forecast.
I recall more than 30 years ago, "Public Service" ads on the Beeb telling us that "Radials and Cross-Plies do not mix", followed by some scary screeching sounds. Today was the first time I put that information to use.
The Venerable Bede is one of the very few characters to have left a written history of the Dark Ages in England - the period between the end of Roman occupation in the 4th Century and the arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066 - the last time the Brits were successfully invaded (we don't consider the Normans French of course, just some displaced Viking who happened to speak French).
According to the famous (humorous) account of British history 1066 and all that , the year 1066 is the ONLY date that every Brit-schoolboy remembers.
Time to sign off quietly, methinks, go and have a nice cuppa, and watch the RYDER CUP - nothing political about that, just good old patriotic fervor.
AMEN to that
NC
Great puzzle today. Makes up for yesterday's bullsh!t puzzle by Atkinson.
CC - Great Blog - Didn't even try the puzzle - just came on board for your blog - hows that for a compliment ?
I was a great admirer of Calvin and Hobbs - and fortuitously, I was even able to meet Bill Watterson - he is a very private person,- but I was lucky to meet him because he lived near Cleveland OH, ... his father is/was a city councilman in nearby Chagrin Falls.
Bill NEVER licensed his products for fuzzy animals or decals or any other commercial 'spin'offs' - that just wasn't his style...
He was asked why he 'stopped' his strip, when it was at the height of its popularity -He said - 'The fun, of writing it just went out of it. It was beginning to feel like work.'
Have a great weekend, to all.
could anyone solve this puzzle without help with answers?
One of the best strips I remember of Calvin and Hobbs, was when Calvin calls the city librarian, on the phone, and asks:
Calvin: I heard this naughty four letter word, that I don't know the meaning of ... but I've forgotten the word ... so could you read me the list of ALL the four letter words,and i'll let you know when you get to it ...?
( Apparently the librarian refuses ...)
Calvin: You won't ? ... Ok, remember that when you ask me to support the next library tax levy...
Good Morning All, Hanging my head low, I admit to DNF. Those NW Acrosses were just beyond my breadth of knowledge. I had BEDE, ODIE, CALVIN, ORTON and STEROID, but they just weren't enough. I just don't think of COSTS being part of the phrase PARTS and LABOR and haven't been on a USED CAR LOT in 30 years. I don't even want to know how many people know that RADIAL TIRES lack bias.
So, :o) other than failing miserably, it was a lot of fun. The bottom 2/3rds of the puzzle filled in pretty quickly.
I particularly liked HAVE A HEART, which Harvey Estes refused to do...but it is Saturday after all. AMEN CORNER was fun to see, as well.
Thank goodness for Mary Cassett's PASTELS at 41D. She was justly famous for her beautiful portraits of mothers and children. She was a one-of-a-kind American woman who joined the French Impressionist movement in the later part of the 19th century and never looked back. She lived in France until her death in 1926.
In addition to enjoying Cassatt's artwork, PASTELS gave me a good start in the SE and saved me from POINSETTIA at 58A.
Nice Cuppa, good luck with the Ryder Cup viewing. GAH is already planning on a long afternoon in the den with the TV. He has such a big crush on Phil Mickelson, that he has to root for the U.S. Tiger Woods?....we'll see. On the other hand he really likes Padraigh Harrington and is hoping for good things for young Rory McIlroy.
Anonymous @10:54am,
Every puzzle is created, edited and blogged with great care. Tell with examples how some clues do not give you "Aha", or how some clues/answers lack in complete parallelism, or the names are just too obscure to you, or the theme simply does not work for you.
Constructive criticism with examples and rationale (rational or not) is always welcome. But go somewhere else to rant if you only have "bullshit". You contribute nothing to our discussion and are incredibly rude to everyone here.
One of the clues I saw in the puzzle, today, that caught my eye was - Chuckwalla.
'wala' or walla' -as a suffix - in the major indian lang. Hindi, means,-... 'of', or ...'from', or .... 'pertaining to'.
Thus 'Bombaywalla - (ancestors ) from Bombay.
'Ginwala' - ancestors, used to own a cotton 'gin'.
'Hirawalla' - was once in the hira- diamond business...
BUT, Chuckwalla ( the now famous lizard ) comes from the spanish Chaca-huala - which is an entirely different entomology ...
Made me chuckle.
Vidwan827
Maybe a Chuckwalla would appreciate a punkawalla.
NC
Good Day C.C. and all,
Thanks for 'clearing up' and
'setting straight',C.C..Its always a pleasant and informative touch.
My first answer was 'Used car lot',
then'lurk',then 'as an';next SW,SE,NE, filling in here and there- finally finished!
I use a pen and generally try to prove an answer with a perp. Often I lightly put in an unproven fill; sometimes it works or else I have a black/blue blob- bruises on the finished piece. All my bruises are in the center of the 'Idaho potato',today; except the 'ov' in 'hooves', in place of horses.
I do feel the worst about 'abs'- I think its clue was originally related to the muscles and the writer/editor/ picked up on 'tchr' from last week and changed to this. to avoid the
'same-o' gripes. Oh well, I'll call it a 'Navajo' clue- ala J.D..
Been out 'out of it' for a couple of days-tried both thurs. and fri. puzzles, and found fri. very difficult,especially.
Glad to have rejoined the world. Now going to read all posts. TaTa.
From last night:
John Lampkin got the 'clever clue of the month' from Paul Stynsberg's Word of the Day for his 9/5/10 "Letters from your parents?" :DNA.
Congratulations John!
I got wind of it in the daily WOTD email.
My efforts on this puzzle were abysmal--I really only got the SW corner totally without googling. after that other parts fell in but slowly, and I was completely stumped on the SE corner, largely due to POINSETTIA, until I came here to cheat.
Gotta run, see y'all later!
Nice Cuppa - well said.
But for others, who are not familiar with the Hindi term 'punka-walla' ...
'punka' or 'pun-kha' , means a hand held or hand propelled fan ( operated by means of a pulley and a long rope,leading. thru a hole above the front door, to the outside of the room, where the punkhawalla sat,... outside of 'hearing distance' ...).
Thus the punkhawala was the laborer, who alternately pulled on, or let the slack of, the rope controlling the approx. 6 foot wide fan, thus an hand propelled and operated overhead fan, for the (employer) occupants inside the room...
In short, what NC was alluding to was, that the Chuckwalla lizard would have 'appreciated' some breeze.
Good morning, C.C. and all
Well, i was able to nail a few today, but i did it online, a little easier that way and i googled a lot.
Still don't know what bias has to do with a radial tire.
I ' m a Neil Young fan, recently i went to see him at the Hard Rock Cafe`, and for any of you fans out there, he is as good as ever, he is excellent !
Dante, had no idea he was ever in exile but i learned it today , been reading about him this morning.
As a matter of fact i do have The Divine Comedy at home and only read bits and pieces here and there, ( it's quite heavy reading ) but i' ll be reading some more now.
i only remember the first line always: " Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita . . .
(in the middle of the road of our lives . . .)
Heavy, heavy !
Had some interrruptions, so it is afternoon now and sunny, a good power walk is what i need .
A good afternoon to ya'll.
I was surprised at the ease of the puzzle for a saturday,, I needed help on Bede , Dante , Nitti , other than that it was a speed run , being a big fan of the Masters, AMEN CORNER was a gimmie, and that did in the entire SW corner,, didn't like SPAN, since a yard itself can be a span ,,tried FOOT and STEP neither worked.
I thought IBM was part of the DOW not NYSE
as a used car guy myself , I always find it offensive to refer a lemon to the used car industry ,, since the Lemon Law only applies to New Cars. Then again am BIASed.
Have a goog weekend all.
I enjoyed the puzzle. I thought was fun. I just can't figure out how SPAN is quarter of a yard? Little help? Thanks!
Hello, C.C. and cyber friends.
Wow! I ws on Harvey Estes' wave length for most of this and was surprised at how quickly it filled.
Like Tinbeni, I follow my GUT feeling on Saturday puzzles.
My first fill was TWINSISTER in the NE and then the crosses just flowed out. IBSEN is a xwd fav and ESP, SIR, ARIA came easily then the blanks almost filled themselves.
The same with the SE as PASTELS for Mary Cassatt was a given and that helped with the long fills, EASTERLILY, LITTLEONES, and SNAILSPACE.
But then the SW stopped me in my tracks as, of course, I had no idea about AMENCORNER, though I had CORNER but had to, drat, Ggle it.
Then it all fell in place but it didn't help that I, too, had HOLDON but once HANGON emerged, the rest filled in.
I love Calvin and Hobbes! It's too bad it ended.
I assume everyone knows PINA (with a tilde) means pineapple.
Must go. A long telephone conversation interrupted me. Have a terrific Saturday all!
Good afternoon everyone.
Got very little of this puzzle done; came here to see what all I missed. Surely did miss all the car references.
To Splinter, Dennis, Windhover, Mike and Vidwan827: I too am a Calvin & Hobbes fan. My Mac's name is Calvin and my documents live under Hobbes' picture. Dennis, I'll have to get a copy of the book and amuse myself too.
Cheers
boborlaurie- A yard is 36 inches. A span is 9 inches. 9 is a quarter of 36.
Good morning C.C. and all,
Rarely am I able to finish a Sat xwd(6th in a series, depending how you see it), but I sure learn a lot. Today was no exception. First run thru I had poinsietta and hold on, but they were easily fixed, unlike putting Orson (Welles)in lieu of the still unknown Orton.
Lots of ah-ha's! C.C. & Argyle, thx for explanation of fin.
So many creative fun clues: lemon source, legendary swimmer...
Dennis @ 7:33-ha,ha
Wik Wak,I love your line from last night:"I don't chastise the puzzle creator for my poor vocabulary."
Lucina, thx for explaining picaresque
Have a lovely day. Hope nobody is treading water.
Hi all.
Faster solve than yesterday.
ABsolutly had to laugh at ANON and
LURK.
Only Ortons I know run the Vermont Country Store.
Now its time for Navy vs AF and then the race in Miami.
Take care.
Hi again ~!
Scrounged around for my old clippings of some Calvin & Hobbes, found one of my favorites, where he spends the whole strip making snowballs, then declares in the last frame that the "day after Christmas is going to be epic"...
and I am an 'honorary member' of G.R.O.S.S. - right on, Barry !
Splynter
Jerome - you're right - but may I add an extra point ?
One fourth of a yard = 1 / 4 th of 36 inches = 9 inches.
A 'span' - was originally meant to be the distance of an outstretched palm - ... the distance between the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinky, when fully stretched out ... back in the days when 'rulers' or other measuring instruments were not commonly available. Thus people used their hands ( palms ) to measure a width or length of cloth, as we sometimes do even today.
This is now generally / universally agreed to, to be about 9 inches, hence the present fixed dimensions of the 'span'.
Ofcourse, 'span', in another context, also refers to the distance between two supports, ( of a bridge etc.) , which is not relevant in this clue - and just confuses matters.
Hello everybody. I can't say it better than Argyle did:
"Not enough 'Aha!', too many 'Aw, c'mon'."
ELATE for "send" is an example of an 'Aw, c'mon.' The relation didn't come to me until the voice of Sam Cooke singing "You Send Me" arose in my head. Just think, what if the lyricist had written "You Elate Me" instead! LOL
I had to look up quite a few otherwise unknowns to me, such as ORTON, DANTE, and BEDE.
This is one of those puzzles that are basically impossible to fill from the clues, and yet after being filled in, looking at the clues as arising from the answers rather than the answers coming from the clues, the intent can be seen. I guess that is the nature of misdirection. I just don't like quantity and the extent of it today: too many misleading clues and some of them mislead too far.
At least I can take some satisfaction in knowing IBSEN, OHIO, and DESERT right away. I wanted VOTES instead of VOTER until STEROID cleared that up.
My hand is up for loving the Calvin and Hobbes strip. My hand also is up for over-confidently pencilling in POINSETTIA for 58A.
To clear it up for those of you who don't get the "bias" connection with RADIAL TIRE, radial tires are called that because their "ply" is radial, in contrast to the "biased ply" tires that radial ply tires superceded.
Best wishes to you all.
Span explainer, isn't that the way you estimate another measurement? Hmm....nine inches?
Anon:
In. Your. Dreams.
Oh wait, its the distance from the tip of the thumb and the tip of the forefinger. Hmmm...nevermind.
I don't try the Saturday puzzles because they're usually too hard for me and I miss the enjoyment of a theme. For those of you who feel that way, there is a hard puzzle with a theme waiting for you at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 1, 2010 by Julian Lim titled "Square Measures." It was a struggle for me but I just finished. The theme was very unusual. I'd never seen one like it before. There is another clever one from a couple of months ago called "The Big Bend."
Sallie, if the Calvin and Hobbes book that Dennis mentioned is the same as the one I have, it's a three-volume set. Great stuff! Since Dennis reminded me, I'll have to get it out again.
I've always been a fan of Calvin & Hobbes. I own the complete set of books (I even bought the three-volume hard bound "complete" edition) and named my orange tabby cat "Hobbes."
I think my favorite is the one where Calvin is pounding nails into the coffee table. His mother comes in and yells, "Calvin! What are you doing!?!" To which Calvin responds, "Is that some sort of trick question?"
As the father of a rather precocious 5-year-old, I've come to appreciate that humor all over again (and in a brand new light).
Hi again.
Calvin and Hobbes available @gocomics.com. Calvin is drilling holes in the wall.
Take care.
Jzb.- on your Friday 6:28 blog,
re: C.C.'s rules...What does "llRC" mean?
I have always heard 'snockered', never 'snozzled'.'Snozzled' means someones nose has been altered, I'm guessing.
Thanks for explaining span, all who did. But what I want to know is, how did they come up with nine inches? Mine is only 8 or 8 1/2 if I stretch, and I have long fingers for a woman. In the pre-ruler days, when everyone was smaller, a lot of people must have been getting ripped off with that standard.
Can you imagine if the measurement standard was the one anonymous @2:14 alluded to? It would have made for an interesting day at the market, wouldn't it?
Regarding the abs. abbreviation, in my "grade book", which only ever contained raw scores, the totals of which I converted to grades at the end of each grading period, I used 'a' for absent, and never bothered putting in anything when students were present. I imagine a capital 'A' for a grade could have been distinguishable from my 'a' for absent too, but I never graded that way. I grew up with teachers "marking" rather than grading, and I did that too.
As Jayce ( hmm, that does not refer to 'Our Dear Lord '- does it ?? ) put it -
'Bias' tires have strips ('plies' of cord ) of polyester cloth / reinforced steel wires / kevlar / whatever material - 'laid down' at a 'fixed' angle (generally, 40 to 60 degrees ) from the inner wheel edge ( called 'lip' or 'bead' )- to the outer rim edge( outer 'lip' ).
They also have the strips running, at the same angle, but at the transverse ( think "opposite" ) direction, from the outer rim lip to the inner rim lip.
Since the strips run at an angle, and 'cross' each other - hence the name 'bias ply'.
(This is all under the rubber tread.)
Radial tires have their plies at a 90 degree angle, lip to lip... - perpendicular to the axis of travel-. This reduces the 'rolling' friction, increases traction and thus gives a better fuel economy. It also causes a 'bulging look' - low on air type - vis-a-vis the bias ply tires.
Finally, to the Anon, who has been making all those 'risque' comments - the above offers plenty of material - ' rubbers' , ... 'lip to 'lip', ...90 degree angles,.... 'laid down' and 'strips', ... beads, ...friction,... traction and 'bulging 'look.... the work is all cut out for you ...think of the possibilities.
Kazie - Back in the days, when 'rulers' were not available ... I dont think the merchants at the market place would let you 'measure' the cloth.
Since it was their 'goods' - they 'measured' the cloth for you !!
And the 'hand' ( as in horse height, in UK ), 'foot' and other arbitrary measures - actually were ( the Real )Ruler's hand, foot and pace measures - as in Henry the 8th's hand, foot etc.
But the merchants know their business, better than you ever will, and they had ( and have ) plenty of ways to take advantage of your commercial 'smarts'.
Just for the heck of it-
Cubit- Length from elbow to the tip of the middle finger.
Half cubit- Length of an outstretched hand from tip of the thumb to the tip of one's pinky. Also a "span".
One sixth cubit- Width of the palm.
One twenty forth cubit- Width of the middle finger.
From this we can draw these conclusions-
The guests on CSPAN will always, on your tv screen, seem to be only 9 inches tall.
Noahs ark contained a lot of elbow room and was kept at arms length.
Picasso was Span-ish. Thus a Cubist.
I always measure those guys on C-SPAN with my middle finger.
The mayor, in a southern town, had just appointed his 'best' friend, to be the Commissioner of Weights and Measures - and held a press conference to announce the appointment.
After the swearing-in ceremony, one of the reporters asked the new appointee - 'Hey, Commissioner, how many ounces make a pound ? '.
The Commish replied - 'Hey guys, .... c'mon, give me a break ... I just got the job this afternoon - can't you give me some time to settle in ? '.
Radial bias explainer, the pronunciation of my nickname rhymes with "mace" and "race," although it comes from my initials "J.C." which my family always pronounced to rhyme with "Macy" or "racy" (emphasis on the J not the C.) No relation to that carpenter from Nazareth.
Weights and Measures: Why is it the mayor of a southern town? I don't get it...
Greetings, friends,
Charlie passed away last night. I'm glad I went to see him yesterday, even though he was comatose. He had had so many episodes, even cardiac arrest several times, that I wouldn't have been surprised to find him experiencing yet another comeback today; that's the way it's been. However, he has been spared the malignancy they found a few weeks ago, which would have meant even more suffering! We are all happy for him. R.I.P.
Jayce:
Who, like Jerome, was a Union carpenter.
BTW,
I just checked, and the Full Moon was over a week ago. What other explanation could there be for today's blog?
In other news, the woodwork is now empty.
Windhover, thank you for your kind words. I, too, look forward to some day meeting you and having a talk!
It just occured to me: aren't horses measured in 'hands'? Or is that just in old novels? Is it the equivalent of 9 inches, also? And that brings to mind the British use of 'stone' as a unit of weight. I believe that's still in use, right, NC? 14 lbs.?. I'd like that; my numbers would be lots more pleasing than what they are on my scale!
Hello C.C. and the gang. Just now finishing the puzzle because we spent the glorious morning at the Parish Fair. My daughter got to ride a pony and ferris wheel for the first time, and truly enjoyed all the rides and animals. I had a blast watching her!
To answer your question about saying NO to my boss, it is hard, but I often have to tell that beautiful little girl NO. If I didn't, I would just end up with a spoiled rotten brat.
Hand up for the send/ELATE clue being a stretch (especially since I never heard that song before), horse for HOOVES, poinsettia for EASTERLILY, and hold on for HANGON. I had no knowledge of the AMENCORNER. This was a tough one for me, but I got most of it eventually. I have 5 letters circled (either unknown or wrong), so not so bad for a Saturday STUMPER. I got that clue right away since my DH's boss is running for Lt. Governor and the primary is today.
Lucina-Thanks for mentioning that PINA is for pineapple. What does the colada part mean?
Thanks to Jayce and RBE for the tire explanations.
Windhover-LOL at your 2:22 comment!
Have a great weekend, y'all.
Dodo, so sorry to hear about Charlie. It is so sad to see our dear friends and relatives pass on, even knowing that they are without pain.I do know that eventually the memories we have shared with our friends put a smile on our face.
Dodo:
Please accept my condolences for your friend. As JD aptly said, it's so hard to lose them and we do always miss them. He was lucky to have you as a friend and comforter.
Vettedoe:
pina colada is pineapple strained or filtered.
Kazie:
I think anon@2:14 might be thinking of a certain male anatomical part (think, morel) which is sometimes humorously referred to as nine inches.
Lucina,
Check the middle paragraph of my 3:07!
I still don't think 9 inches is a realistic estimate of what a medieval man's hand might have measured. And I'd honestly never heard "span" used in that way before. I thought it might be a term in football yards that I was unfamiliar with--another area where my knowledge is next to nil.
Dodo,
Very sorry to hear of your loss. At our age, we will all increasingly have to deal with the passing of many friends, but it never gets any easier.
C.C., yes I not only got ORBIT but PARS from my new obsession was next door along with PRADA et al and I built out from there finishing undefeated in about an hour and a half. The puzzle was challenging but not so esoteric it was impossible. I wouldn't like one of these everyday, however, because even retired, I do have a life. No, really!
C.C. I support your effort to keep the blog apolitical and profanity free (except when it can be somewhat clever!) Foul language is the last refuge for the intellectually challenged.
I didn't start until around 4 pm as we were in Lincoln with our grandchildren and I watched the Sooners beat the hated Longhorns. All right, I like Mack Brown but with all the best High School players in the world in Texas, he ought to be great every year!
Frost tonight but none of that horrible rain our East coast friends are having. You have my sympathy! I saw the horrible effect of flooding in Nashville 3 weeks ago but I know you will bounce back with the help of or in spite of FEMA!
Off to watch Bama and the Gators! God I love college football!
Addendum:
Bama vs Florida AND at the same time -
Oregon vs Utah
Iowa vs Penn State
Colorado vs Georgia
If you see smoke rising off the Platte River, it is my remote being overtaxed!
To Jazzbumpa
Just like the (Dear) Creature@2:56 pm today , I am also confused about the rules of the blog :
Yesterday, you said at 6.28 pm or 1828 HRS E.S.T. via-a-vis Greenwich Mean time ....CC prefers that there be no profanity, no politics, no religion and no llRC -
What in the heck is IIRC ?
Maybe its something I should know, in case I want to practice it. I should hate to go through life, without knowing the esoteric mysteries that 'elate' us and transport us to a higher plane.
Does it involve an animal, mineral, or vegetable ?
Has it been practiced on this blog before ?
If so, how long ago - and how many persons were involved ? Did it require the use of any 'aids' or html-links ?
Finally, please give us an example of a llRG .... to quote Justice Potter - I'll know it, when I see it.
You urgent attention to this eminent (and confusing - )matter will be most deeply appreciated.
In short, I shall not able to go to sleep unless I get to know the answer, and solve the riddle - so, let THAT be on your conscience-
IIRC
If I Recall Correctly
Dodo- Sad to hear, but you're certyainly a dear friend. Thank you for sharing.
Posted by Jazzbumpa to L.A.Times Crossword Corner at October 1, 2010 6:28 PM
" C.C. has a short list of simple rules: no politics, no religion, 5 posts per day, be polite, IIRC. "
Argyle- what is after "be polite,.."
I don't know what "llRC" means.
Bill G. - You are not merely a mathematical genius - you are a darling !! - now I go to bed in peace.
IIRC - If I recall correctly - and I thought it was a mathematical formulae.
Argyle - Thanks for your input - I trust both you and your eponymous town are safe from the travails of the weather.
Creature - every time I see your avatar I see Diana and Psyche and Aphrodite - please for God's sake and for sake of propriety - at least change your name to 'Delicate Creature'.
Hola Everyone, I had the same misdirections that others had today, poinsettia, Hold on, and Horses. Other fills corrected those, but I didn't find my mistake for the Kleptomaniac film monkey until coming here. I had put in Jail for Haul, and not knowing the monkey's name Abi looked ok. I didn't go back to Neil Young's song about Kent State, so my error in not proofing my work.
I didn't have to Google, but did use my CW dictionary for several answers. Same as Googling in the long run!
I liked the answer for Super vision/ESp and Fourth in a series/April. That latter clue gave me Pastels and helped me fill in the whole SE corner.
An insomniac night gave me a very late start today, and a visit from my daughter and her husband kept me from the puzzle until late this afternoon. I was surprised once I got started that I managed to finish it but for the errors already mentioned.
Dodo, I'm so sorry to hear about Charlie. The good memories will be the ones that surface after your initial sorrow.
Dennis, have an Octoberfest beer for me.
Argyle, thank you for the clarification on Fin. I had a question mark after that clue, even after I had the correct fill.
A Saturday puzzle that I can finish without too much hassle is one that gives me a lot of pleasure.
'Delicate Creature', the four letters, I I R C, stand for If I Recall Corectly.
Bill G., We are still high and 'dry'. ;~)
Chickie, you're welcome.
So 34A. Super vision? : ESP. Do you think Super is an abbreviation of supernatural and therefore the ESP abbreviation is valid?
I had an interesting yardage happening last week. I had to buy a yard of Velcro. The young man who was helping me at the Craft store pulled out several boxes with short pieces in them.
One looked about right so I held it up to my nose and stretched out my arm. I told the young man that this was about a yard and that I would take it. He looked flabbergasted! How do you know that is a yard? I told him that I'd been approximating yardage like that for 50 years. He measured it for me and I was only a half inch off.
He said that that was one measurement he would have to remember. He'd never seen anyone do that before. You'll have to remember that he works in a yardage and craft store! He was young, though, so I'll give him that as an excuse. LOL.
As for the 9" span. I think that it would be a man's hand span, rather than a woman's span. My husband's hand span is about a half inch longer than mine--almost exactly 9 inches. Remember that these are approximate measurements, also.
Dodo
I'm sorry to hear about Charlie too. My father died nearly 2 years ago; the pain is still there, but not as intense and not all the time.
Anyway, back to your question. Horses were always measured in 'hands' when I was lad - a hand=4 inches - about a palm I suppose. Most Brits still quote their weight in 'stones' (=14 pounds) and pounds. I weight "12-and-a-half stone". And we always drink our beer by the pint (20 fluid ounces, larger than yours). I have always thought in Fahrenheit for "natural" temperatures, but Celsius is taking over in the old country.
For some time a series of "Euro-directives" seemed to be putting an end to all of the Imperial system. But some of it still lingers. People now seem willing to buy their petrol by the litre, but refuse to drink beer except from a pint glass. And we are losing feet, inches and yards; although we still have the mile, mostly because no-one wants to change the speed-limit signs.
"An inch is as good a mile" will soon be lost.
I recall vividly when we changed our monetary system - "decimalization". It seemed exciting at the time (1970). But we ended up losing an enormous store of vocabulary and imagery - our pounds, shillings and pence (another LSD) had served us well since Anglo-Saxon times.
But now the younger generations will never know tuppence (remember Mary Poppins - 'feed the birds, tuppence a bag'), thrup'ny bits, tanners, florins, half-crowns, ten-bob notes, farthings (1/4 of a penny), halfpennies (pronounced 'hape-nis'), to name a few; and phrases such as 'hap'orth' (hape-uth) meaning 'that which can be bought for a halfpenny' and figuratively 'something small but precious". Some of us still 'turn on a sixpence' just as you 'turn on a dime', even though we don't have a sixpenny coin any more.
The loss of vocab/imagery to the European countries who just moved to the Euro may be just as great.
So hold onto your bits, nickels, dimes, Susan B. Antonies, etc., for as long as you can.
Oh dear, I am going on and on. Better stop now.
NC
Anon-8:07 pm,Oct 2
Thank you for your beautiful words
to me. I've seen another complaint on my name; is it you?
As far as 'delicate', I think of myself as strong- as a strong creature. There's no good or bad intent to it; also, it is a play on the sound of my last name.
Today and tomorrow is the annual Old Hometown Fair in Manhattan Beach. There are many booths with jewelry, art, puzzles and other crafts made by local artisans. There are games for young and old. There are many food booths with almost everything from funnel cakes to pepperbellies. I met a friend in the beer garden where I consumed my pepperbelly and a pint of lager. What passed for music (heavy metal) was almost headache inducing. Give me some Hank Williams or Patsy Cline anytime.
Barbara usually gets some jewelry there which is like bringing ice cubes to Eskimos. At least she doesn't go to Tiffany's! She also got a couple of hand-made puzzles for Jordan.
Three young women came up, introduced themselves and reminded me that I had been their math teacher back in about 1975. I remembered their names but they remembered my face better than I remembered theirs. I enjoy hearing from former students, especially if they had enjoyed my math class.
Creature, so that's a play on your last name? Aha! Your last name must be 'Ofhabit.'
No time to do the crossword puzzle today as I was in the process of picking up a new ride. Not as smooth as the vehicle rides. Lots of foolish hoops to jump through and after the week I had at work, It wasn't what I wanted. All is well and "Goldie Locks" is parked in my driveway.
Maria, I am a HUGE Neil Young fan....here is my all time favorite tune of his. It makes me happy.
Dodo, I am so sorry for your loss. We all seem to be accumulating these at late.
Kazie, I worked in a fabric store when I was about 17 and my Mom always taught me to measure fabric that way. I have long arms and was about 1" away from the measurement. There are some interesting ones though...from your elbow to your base of your hand should be your shoe size. I'll be damned but it's right. From your forefinger second knuckle on your pointer to the bridge of your nose should be the length of your nose. For those guys, if the wind is just right....
Jeannie, I'm not familiar with Neil Young and most of his music but I sure like that tune. Thanks.
Bill G, it's just such a lovely, romantic tune. I would love to have the chance to "dance" with someone under that magnificant harvest moon. I urge you to if you can.
You know, we are all probably better off if our anons. (and some others) stay with a black type face. If they went blue, we'd have to hear about their poor, pathetic lives. How sad it would be to keep hearing from people who have nothing else better to do in their lives than put other folks down. Here, they just get ignored or deleted and everybody else moves on.
I know, I'm beating a dead horse, but my point in all the measurement comments has been that in medieval times, people were smaller, and at that time, I reckoned a man's hand might have been smaller than it would be today. Now the 9 inches is probably a fair average, but I doubt it would have been then.
NC,
I relate to a lot of what you said about the monetary language too. In Oz we switched our currency in 1964 or '65 and it was amazing how it threw people especially the older generation. I wasn't sad to see it go, having had to work money math problems in elementary school multiplying £. s. and d.
We also spoke of zacks or deeners (sp?) for sixpence I think it was, and I was fascinated when I went to Europe and found that the currency in Yugoslavia was dinars, and that the origin of the word was Latin denarius for a Roman silver coin. Since then I've found a lot of slang has its roots in classical terminology.
Oz didn't change the weights, measures and temperature readings until after I moved here, so after 1974, so I am still happy to be using lbs and oz.
Nice music by Neil Young, Jeannie. I forgot how much I like him.
Kazie, yes I see we were on the same wave length.
Have a good night everyone!
I've always liked the sound and feel of old British money such as ha-penny, farthing, crown, tuppence, quid, sixpence, etc. The English language is very rich. Don't get your knickers in a twist. Bob's your uncle. Bugger off.
You can get a lot of that in one of my favorite movies, "The Full Monty." The first time I watched it, for the first fifteen minutes, I wished it had subtitles so I could understand it better. The dance scene in the unemployment office is classic!
Bill G,
Yes, British humor definitely has its strengths. I always thought if they spoke more slowly they wouldn't have gotten away with as much as they did in some of those movies. Somehow their "Britishness" made it even naughtier.
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