(Note: LA Times website does not support circled letters feature. Here is the pdf file of today's puzzle.)
Theme: Country Kitchen - a UN Day Tribute puzzle. Each familiar food phrase contains two 3-letter country codes used by the UN.
23A. Lunch box item : BOLOGNA SANDWICH. Bol: Bolivia. And: Andora.
41A. Sautéed fish entrée : PAN FRIED TROUT. Pan: Panama. Rou: Romania.
48A. Cup-shaped breakfast fare : BRAN MUFFIN. Bra: Brazil. Fin: Finland.
77A. Basil-based topper : PESTO SAUCE. Est: Estonia. Sau: Saudi Arabia.
85A. Honey-coated dish : GLAZED CHICKEN. Aze: Azerbaijan. Ken: Kenya.
103A. Tangy confection : PEPPERMINT CANDY. Per: Peru. Can: Canada.
16D. It's milder than yellowfin : ALBACORE TUNA. Alb: Albania. Tun: Tunisia.
58D. Some links : SWEET SAUSAGE. Swe: Sweden. USA, not AUSA, the first A is for the crossing Aze. John probably could not find a better phrase where all the embedded codes are isolated.
54D. Country __: used by the org. in 65-Across, there are 16 circled in this puzzle : CODES.
65A. Oct. 24, every year : UN DAY. Today.
Great central placements of the odd number lettered CODES & UN DAY.
Some of the codes are not familiar to me. Had to check Wikipedia NATO country code. So has trigram replaced digram or both are in use?
I can''t imagine the amount of research John did for this puzzle. We all can pick a few phrases which contains 2 different country codes. But to pick 8 with no repeat and to make the grid work is daunting.
As usual, no cheater square, only one letter Q away from a pangram. Lots of fun & witty clues, many clechos (highlighted in green) as well.
Across:
1. Breakfast-on-the-run choice : BAGEL
6. On the way : SENT. Mails.
10. Competed in a triathlon : SWAM
14. Moves with the music : SWAYS
19. Building on a 1936 centennial stamp : ALAMO. Was unaware of the trivia.
20. Speed : PACE
21. Plane starter? : AERO. As in aeroplane. And the real PILOT (22. Plane starter).
26. Ready to bloom : IN BUD
27. Shout : YELL
28. One-named Irish singer : ENYA. Bono too.
29. Its formula includes a plus or minus : ION. Because it can be both positive and negative?
30. Mattress giant : SERTA. Sealy is 5-letter as well.
32. Archimedes' shout : EUREKA
34. They may be behind pictures : SAFES. Wall safes are often hidden behind pictures.
36. People in trees, perhaps : NIECES. Family trees.
39. So-called autobiographer of "Before You Leap" : KERMIT. Here's the book cover. I thought the author is a real person
43. Dvorák contemporary : GRIEG (Edvard). Norwegian composer. Of "Peer Gynt Suite" fame.
44. Aegean region where an architectural order began : IONIA. Oh, no wonder the name.
46. False-sounding soap components : LYES
47. Tech sch. near Albany : RPI. Hey, Spitzboov!
50. Prying tool : LEVER
52. Glassmaker's oven : LEHR. Pronounced like "leer". New word to me.
53. Holes a gimme : TAPS IN. No yip.
54. Made 7 into 343, say : CUBED. "Made 1 into 1" could be tricky.
55. __-Rooter : ROTO
56. Rm. coolers : ACs
59. One of two in a Frost poem : ROAD. "The Road Not Taken".
60. Ping maker : SONAR. Dennis said "when a ship or submarine sends out a sonar signal, it's a PING. I was lost. Could only picture Ping golf clubs.
61. Bolt down : SECURE. Crossing EAT (62D. Bolt down). Great clechos.
63. Herder's equine : COWPONY. Another new word for me.
66. Waxy-flowered plant : BEGONIA
67. Louisiana language : CREOLE
68. Bygone news medium : CRIER
69. Lewd look : LEER
70. Do one's part : ACT
71. Take-out order? : DELE. Editing "take-out".
72. Crabber and cutter : BOATS. Dictionary says crabber is a boat used in catching crabs.
73. Court clown : JESTER. And 83. __ clown : CLASS.
75. Partner of starts : FITS. Fits and starts.
76. Heavy hammers : MAULS
81. Gp. from which Cuba was suspended from 1962 to 2009 : OAS. Ha ha. I knew this fact.
82. Phone call : RING
84. Cranial recess : SINUS
89. Streetcar name? : DESIRE. "A Streetcar Named Desire".
90. Rocketeer gear : G-SUITS
91. Netlike hair wear : SNOOD. Learned from doing Xword.
92. Tiny sandwich : SLIDER
94. Ill will : SPITE
96. Early riser? : SUN. Lovely clue.
97. Jubilance : GLEE
98. Hip : COOL. And 87. Hip location? : IN SPOT. Where the hip crowd are.
101. Jumped : LEAPT
107. Heavenly body? : ANGEL
108. One with many fans : IDOL
109. Say no to : DENY
110. '60s protest : LIE-IN. Like what John Lennon and Yoko Ono did.
111. Name on a mower : DEERE
112. Puppylike : CUTE. And 113. "Puppy Love" singer : ANKA (Paul).
114. List in the back : INDEX
Down:
1. Labor day output? : BABY. Great clue. Also 4D. Compensation for labor : EMOLUMENT. Another new word for me.
2. Soothing balm : ALOE
3. Shopping mecca : GALLERIA
5. Turtle's basking spot : LOG. Vivid image.
6. Punish, in a way : SPANK
7. Hardly a tough course : EASY A
8. Sweet Sixteen org. : NCAA
9. Pin in the back : TEN. Bowling pin.
10. Prune : SAW OFF
11. "Mad Men" creator Matthew : WEINER. No idea. Any "Mad Men" fans?
12. Episodic story line : ARC
13. Mineralogist with a scale : MOHS. Hardness scale. And 89D. You probably need a scale to tell if it's working : DIET.
14. Apparitions : SPIRITS
15. Concerto in Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" : WINTER. Needed crossing help.
17. Word said while pointing : YOU
18. Not irr. : STD (Standard)
24. First hair remover to be marketed in cream form : NEET. ENYA prevented me from penning in NAIR.
25. Roman goddess of the hunt : DIANA. Artemis in Greek.
31. Rear-__ : ENDER
33. Tediously detailed process : RIGMAROLE. Mainic likes to use this word.
34. Three-time All-Star pitcher Johnny who threw the first major league pitch to Jackie Robinson : SAIN. Interesting trivia. I knew his name only from the poem "First we'll use Spahn/then we'll use Sain/Then an off day/followed by rain...".
35. Dinnerware : SILVER
37. Deliriously happy : EUPHORIC
38. Recipe instruction : STIR
39. CIA rival, once : KGB. Putin was a KGB.
40. Lose money on "Jeopardy!" : ERR
41. Nabokov novel : PNIN. Also learned from doing Xword.
42. Looked at : EYED
44. "Suppose ..." : IF SAY
45. "The Wizard __" : OF ID. Comic strip "The Wizard of ID". I've learned not to recklessly put in OF OZ.
49. Barely winning : UP ONE.
50. Like some eclipses : LUNAR
51. 24/7 auction site : EBAY
52. Crackers : LOCO. Another great clue.
55. Backslid : REGRESSED
56. Blue Devils' gp. : ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference). Blue Devils is Duke's sports team.
57. Liqueurs : CORDIALS. Oh, new meaning of cordial to me.
60. Piques : SNITS
61. Take care of : SEE TO
64. D.C. insiders : POLS
65. River to the Caspian : URAL
66. Defeats : BESTS
68. Hacks : COUGHS. Hack has so many meanings.
69. On sale, say : LESS
72. Judicial seat : BANC. Literally "bench" in French.
73. Author Auel : JEAN
74. Run riot : RAISE CAIN. Not many multi-word today.
75. Verne's traveler : FOGG. Phileas Fogg. "Around the World in Eighty Days". I can never remember his name.
76. Heart : MIDST
77. Appealed : PLED
78. Having a pressing need? : UNIRONED. Nice clue.
79. Contemptible one : CUR
80. Peking add-on : ESE. Pekingese.
82. Do an editor's task, perhaps : RE-TITLE. Rich does re-title some of the Sunday puzzles.
83. Unisex designer cologne : CK ONE. Sparkling fill.
86. It may be under a fly : ZIPPER
88. Link : COUPLE. Both verbs.
92. Move furtively : SLINK
93. Singer of many Weill songs : LENYA
95. "Paradise Lost," e.g. : EPIC. Did you want POEM?
97. Racketeer busters : G-MEN
99. Slobbering comics dog : ODIE
100. Forest cat : LYNX. Hey, dog and cat, consecutively.
101. Little shaver : LAD
102. 67.5 deg. : ENE. This kind of clue often confuses me.
104. Campus URL ending : EDU
105. Old vitamin bottle abbr. : RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances). Now it's RDI (Recommended Daily Intake).
106. Caesar's 151 : CLI
Answer grid.
C.C.
Theme: Country Kitchen - a UN Day Tribute puzzle. Each familiar food phrase contains two 3-letter country codes used by the UN.
23A. Lunch box item : BOLOGNA SANDWICH. Bol: Bolivia. And: Andora.
41A. Sautéed fish entrée : PAN FRIED TROUT. Pan: Panama. Rou: Romania.
48A. Cup-shaped breakfast fare : BRAN MUFFIN. Bra: Brazil. Fin: Finland.
77A. Basil-based topper : PESTO SAUCE. Est: Estonia. Sau: Saudi Arabia.
85A. Honey-coated dish : GLAZED CHICKEN. Aze: Azerbaijan. Ken: Kenya.
103A. Tangy confection : PEPPERMINT CANDY. Per: Peru. Can: Canada.
16D. It's milder than yellowfin : ALBACORE TUNA. Alb: Albania. Tun: Tunisia.
58D. Some links : SWEET SAUSAGE. Swe: Sweden. USA, not AUSA, the first A is for the crossing Aze. John probably could not find a better phrase where all the embedded codes are isolated.
54D. Country __: used by the org. in 65-Across, there are 16 circled in this puzzle : CODES.
65A. Oct. 24, every year : UN DAY. Today.
Great central placements of the odd number lettered CODES & UN DAY.
Some of the codes are not familiar to me. Had to check Wikipedia NATO country code. So has trigram replaced digram or both are in use?
I can''t imagine the amount of research John did for this puzzle. We all can pick a few phrases which contains 2 different country codes. But to pick 8 with no repeat and to make the grid work is daunting.
As usual, no cheater square, only one letter Q away from a pangram. Lots of fun & witty clues, many clechos (highlighted in green) as well.
Across:
1. Breakfast-on-the-run choice : BAGEL
6. On the way : SENT. Mails.
10. Competed in a triathlon : SWAM
14. Moves with the music : SWAYS
19. Building on a 1936 centennial stamp : ALAMO. Was unaware of the trivia.
20. Speed : PACE
21. Plane starter? : AERO. As in aeroplane. And the real PILOT (22. Plane starter).
26. Ready to bloom : IN BUD
27. Shout : YELL
28. One-named Irish singer : ENYA. Bono too.
29. Its formula includes a plus or minus : ION. Because it can be both positive and negative?
30. Mattress giant : SERTA. Sealy is 5-letter as well.
32. Archimedes' shout : EUREKA
34. They may be behind pictures : SAFES. Wall safes are often hidden behind pictures.
36. People in trees, perhaps : NIECES. Family trees.
39. So-called autobiographer of "Before You Leap" : KERMIT. Here's the book cover. I thought the author is a real person
43. Dvorák contemporary : GRIEG (Edvard). Norwegian composer. Of "Peer Gynt Suite" fame.
44. Aegean region where an architectural order began : IONIA. Oh, no wonder the name.
46. False-sounding soap components : LYES
47. Tech sch. near Albany : RPI. Hey, Spitzboov!
50. Prying tool : LEVER
52. Glassmaker's oven : LEHR. Pronounced like "leer". New word to me.
53. Holes a gimme : TAPS IN. No yip.
54. Made 7 into 343, say : CUBED. "Made 1 into 1" could be tricky.
55. __-Rooter : ROTO
56. Rm. coolers : ACs
59. One of two in a Frost poem : ROAD. "The Road Not Taken".
60. Ping maker : SONAR. Dennis said "when a ship or submarine sends out a sonar signal, it's a PING. I was lost. Could only picture Ping golf clubs.
61. Bolt down : SECURE. Crossing EAT (62D. Bolt down). Great clechos.
63. Herder's equine : COWPONY. Another new word for me.
66. Waxy-flowered plant : BEGONIA
67. Louisiana language : CREOLE
68. Bygone news medium : CRIER
69. Lewd look : LEER
70. Do one's part : ACT
71. Take-out order? : DELE. Editing "take-out".
72. Crabber and cutter : BOATS. Dictionary says crabber is a boat used in catching crabs.
73. Court clown : JESTER. And 83. __ clown : CLASS.
75. Partner of starts : FITS. Fits and starts.
76. Heavy hammers : MAULS
81. Gp. from which Cuba was suspended from 1962 to 2009 : OAS. Ha ha. I knew this fact.
82. Phone call : RING
84. Cranial recess : SINUS
89. Streetcar name? : DESIRE. "A Streetcar Named Desire".
90. Rocketeer gear : G-SUITS
91. Netlike hair wear : SNOOD. Learned from doing Xword.
92. Tiny sandwich : SLIDER
94. Ill will : SPITE
96. Early riser? : SUN. Lovely clue.
97. Jubilance : GLEE
98. Hip : COOL. And 87. Hip location? : IN SPOT. Where the hip crowd are.
101. Jumped : LEAPT
107. Heavenly body? : ANGEL
108. One with many fans : IDOL
109. Say no to : DENY
110. '60s protest : LIE-IN. Like what John Lennon and Yoko Ono did.
111. Name on a mower : DEERE
112. Puppylike : CUTE. And 113. "Puppy Love" singer : ANKA (Paul).
114. List in the back : INDEX
Down:
1. Labor day output? : BABY. Great clue. Also 4D. Compensation for labor : EMOLUMENT. Another new word for me.
2. Soothing balm : ALOE
3. Shopping mecca : GALLERIA
5. Turtle's basking spot : LOG. Vivid image.
6. Punish, in a way : SPANK
7. Hardly a tough course : EASY A
8. Sweet Sixteen org. : NCAA
9. Pin in the back : TEN. Bowling pin.
10. Prune : SAW OFF
11. "Mad Men" creator Matthew : WEINER. No idea. Any "Mad Men" fans?
12. Episodic story line : ARC
13. Mineralogist with a scale : MOHS. Hardness scale. And 89D. You probably need a scale to tell if it's working : DIET.
14. Apparitions : SPIRITS
15. Concerto in Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" : WINTER. Needed crossing help.
17. Word said while pointing : YOU
18. Not irr. : STD (Standard)
24. First hair remover to be marketed in cream form : NEET. ENYA prevented me from penning in NAIR.
25. Roman goddess of the hunt : DIANA. Artemis in Greek.
31. Rear-__ : ENDER
33. Tediously detailed process : RIGMAROLE. Mainic likes to use this word.
34. Three-time All-Star pitcher Johnny who threw the first major league pitch to Jackie Robinson : SAIN. Interesting trivia. I knew his name only from the poem "First we'll use Spahn/then we'll use Sain/Then an off day/followed by rain...".
35. Dinnerware : SILVER
37. Deliriously happy : EUPHORIC
38. Recipe instruction : STIR
39. CIA rival, once : KGB. Putin was a KGB.
40. Lose money on "Jeopardy!" : ERR
41. Nabokov novel : PNIN. Also learned from doing Xword.
42. Looked at : EYED
44. "Suppose ..." : IF SAY
45. "The Wizard __" : OF ID. Comic strip "The Wizard of ID". I've learned not to recklessly put in OF OZ.
49. Barely winning : UP ONE.
50. Like some eclipses : LUNAR
51. 24/7 auction site : EBAY
52. Crackers : LOCO. Another great clue.
55. Backslid : REGRESSED
56. Blue Devils' gp. : ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference). Blue Devils is Duke's sports team.
57. Liqueurs : CORDIALS. Oh, new meaning of cordial to me.
60. Piques : SNITS
61. Take care of : SEE TO
64. D.C. insiders : POLS
65. River to the Caspian : URAL
66. Defeats : BESTS
68. Hacks : COUGHS. Hack has so many meanings.
69. On sale, say : LESS
72. Judicial seat : BANC. Literally "bench" in French.
73. Author Auel : JEAN
74. Run riot : RAISE CAIN. Not many multi-word today.
75. Verne's traveler : FOGG. Phileas Fogg. "Around the World in Eighty Days". I can never remember his name.
76. Heart : MIDST
77. Appealed : PLED
78. Having a pressing need? : UNIRONED. Nice clue.
79. Contemptible one : CUR
80. Peking add-on : ESE. Pekingese.
82. Do an editor's task, perhaps : RE-TITLE. Rich does re-title some of the Sunday puzzles.
83. Unisex designer cologne : CK ONE. Sparkling fill.
86. It may be under a fly : ZIPPER
88. Link : COUPLE. Both verbs.
92. Move furtively : SLINK
93. Singer of many Weill songs : LENYA
95. "Paradise Lost," e.g. : EPIC. Did you want POEM?
97. Racketeer busters : G-MEN
99. Slobbering comics dog : ODIE
100. Forest cat : LYNX. Hey, dog and cat, consecutively.
101. Little shaver : LAD
102. 67.5 deg. : ENE. This kind of clue often confuses me.
104. Campus URL ending : EDU
105. Old vitamin bottle abbr. : RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances). Now it's RDI (Recommended Daily Intake).
106. Caesar's 151 : CLI
Answer grid.
C.C.
37 comments:
John L. you have a most amazing and complicated mind; in addition to all the clechos highlighted by C.C., and in addition to the awesome theme using so many countries, I am in awe of the incredible subtlety of including 32A. Archimedes' shout : EUREKA, and then his famous quote, 50A. Prying tool : LEVER . You also slip in ,90A. Rocketeer gear: G-SUITS and presto, one letter changed, 97D. Racketeer busters : G-MEN. Applause is not enough. Great wit in clues like: They may be behind pictures : SAFES and False-sounding soap components : LYES/ Wonderful fill such as EMOLUMENT and EUPHORIC, and even mysteriously our new favorite, Mr. GRIEG.
The wonder of this convinces me, I am not meant to construct. But I will be here to solve.
Barry G, , excellent news; Bill G. hang tough, gee where is Colonel G? Frenchie and other insomniacs, try it…
Later
Morning, folks!
Again, I forgot to download the version with circles. And, again, it didn't really matter in the end...
Nice, challenging and fun puzzle. The only real sticking point was in the West, where SWEETSAUSAGE met ACC and COWPONY. That area really gave me FITS for awhile, but I finally just guessed that ACC meant something and that there was a type of horse called a COW PONY. Apparently, I guessed correctly.
EMOLUMENT and LEHR were certainly new words for me today, although fortunately it was taken care of by the perps.
Have a great one!
Good Morning, CC and all. This was a great challenging Sunday puzzle. I was not aware that Today, October 24 is UN DAY. That's why I do puzzles, to keep up on my little tidbits of knowledge in case I am ever on Jeopardy!
I liked the shout out to Louisiana with the CREOLE language and the street car named DESIRE.
Mad Men is one of the few TV shows I watch, so I actually knew Matthew WEINER.
There were some great misleading clues. Some of my favorites today included:
False-Sounding Soap Components = LYES
They May Be Behind Pictures = SAFES.
People in Trees = NIECES.
You are right, Lemonade. It was quite clever to have EUREKA and LEVER in the same puzzle.
QOD: We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid. ~ Benjamin Franklin.
This puzzle is making me hungry.
Isn't 67.5 Degrees NNE?
45 Degrees would be NE, 22.5 degrees past that is NNE is it not?
Hello Puzzlers - Man, what a clever puzzle that was! I'm with Lemonade: seeing a piece of art like that reminds me that I'm not Constructor material.
EMOLUMENT is a new word for me. LEHR I actually knew, since earlier this year I visited the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY. They have lots of lehrs.
Thanks for an "Aha!" write-up, C.C. By the way, the Cruciverb version showed circles this time. It did not do so on the previous circle puzzle, as far as I recall.
Good day everybody!
Anon - No, moving toward East from NE puts you in ENE.
Is North considered zero degrees in navigation then? I was under the impression that east was. Thanks for the correction!
C.C. Most excellent write-up.
Liked the theme enough, thought this was a FUN romp for a Sunday.
Circles were on my newspaper puzzle. Didn't add or take away from my solving experience, which in a way is a BIG PLUS!
(FYI ... I normally hate "circle puzzles" and they come up often in the NYT).
Fave to me was the Frost poem, ROAD not taken. Admit I'm not much of a poetry fan, but that poem is my life motto.
They say (whoever "they" are) "When it rains, it pours" (Ok, I'm stuck in a Morton Salt Ad).
My Gal-Pal, Kris, who's brother died on Oct.15, has her other brother in the hospital with leukemia. Prospects ... not good.
Puts a perspective on the meaning of life and all our diversions.
In addition to the MadMen reference, JL, was the inclusion of IDOL and GLEE and indication of your television watching?
Speaking of GLEE there is currently a bit of a dust-up due to the cover story abour the Glee cast in the current issue of GQ.
@C.C., Different ions can be both positive and negative, but the same ion can only have one or the other charge. For instance: table salt, when dissolved in water, results in one free sodium (Na+) ion for every chlorine (Cl-) ion (ignoring what may already there from chlorination).
An ion doesn't just have to be a single elemental atom; it can also be part of a molecule, and the proportions don't have to be 1:1, either. Sulfuric acid produces two hydrogen (H+) ions and one sulphate (SO₄) ion for each molecule that dissolves.
Now, you can use this information to perform some simple household chemistry and clean your pennies (why you would actually want to is up to you to decide). Vinegar, a weak solution of acetic acid, contains H+ ions in water. If you add salt (containing Cl- ions), this essentially gives you a (weak) hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution along with sodium acetate.
Neither salt or vinegar by themselves will dissolve the corrosion from pennies but the combination of the two does. Then, if you leave the pennies sit, they will turn green. You have now demonstrated one of the effects of acid rain, as what happens to a building with a copper dome. Different acid, but the same principle.
Really loved 71A: Take-out order?. I wanted so much to make it DELI; the "?" probably should have tipped me off. Even when RIGMAROLE (not RIGAMAROLE? Sure enough; that's avariant.) required the "E", it took far too long for my brain to make the switch. Old age sucks.
Ha-ha, Mike! I had the exact same reaction to that section. IF SAY didn't help.
Math is definitely a weakness for me, but somehow I guessed CUBED for 54A right off the bat. Same with EUREKA - I didn't realize I knew who said it. The things we had no idea that we knew...!
Hi, y'all!
This was almost a DNF for me. I reluctantly turned on red-letter and it looked as if I sweat blood over it. To my credit, I did tweak a few things and then turned off red-letters to finish. I didn't do the one with circles, but went back and matched them up, which was wasted effort. Never in a million years would I have sussed out that. Tip o' the hat, Mr. Lampkin.
I knew EMOLUMENT, but I wanted remuneration, which wouldn't fit, of course. ALAMO was a given; ENYA and LENYA were not. GLAZEDCHICKEN didn't cross my mind because I hate sweet chicken. Besides, I could not get FOss out of my mind for the FOGG clue and GSUITS left me high and dry, as well. I also wanted sitIN for 110A, although I knew the down cross would not have an "s" in it.
I see the Rangers and the Giants will be having it out in the W.S. I wanted the Phillies to win, but bring 'em on, anyway!
Tinbeni, I'm sorry to hear about Kris' brother. Prayers.
C.C., et al, What a nice journey today until 5 cells in the SW said, "Wait a minute, pardner!" Damned completion anxiety!
I wish I had gotten Judicial Seat in Lyon or Solon Seat on Seine. I thought of Hacker as a bad golfer, a bad writer, a chopper and a cab driver but never got to cougher.
I have told the probably apocryphal story of Archimedes running naked down the street in my physics classes a hundred times yelling, "Eureka (I have found it!)! I have also quoted him as, "Give a lever long enough and a place to rest it, and I will move the world!"
I had KILL for take out order, SPEARmint, have missed many a ten pin on the alleys, ELE (Elevation) for ENE Beats for Bests, had Rear Entry and Rearended before Rearender "reared" its head, and of course thought Prune was a noun instead of a verb.
I also really wondered what was under that fly. Hmmm... Fly paper, a shortstop, a certain organ.... Zipper was a fun discovery.
We're off to do a chore for my 88 year old mother-in-law!
Good morning C.C. and all,
Stunning puzzle!
Super write up, C.C.Many a-ha's, like the ten pin.Can someone explain "partner of starts= fits" ? And, is CK ONE a Calvin Klein cologne?
Sweet add ons, Lemonade. You caught some of the cleverness that we might not have seen.
Same new words for me: snood, lehr,emolument,& banc.Grieg SHOULD HAVE been a gimme.
Al, interesting tid bit. My pennies would undoubtedly end up green.
I think CA would have reposted The Road not Taken if she were here. We're all thinking of you, CA!
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
JD, When something moves in jerky fashion, a phrase that describes this is fits and starts. The bead of rain moved down my window pane in fits and starts.
Thanks for the Road Not Taken posting as well.
CKONE was an DNK for me.
"The Road Not Taken" is one of my favorite poems. Also, this, by Stephen Crane:
THE WAYFARER
The wayfarer,
Perceiving the pathway to truth,
Was struck with astonishment.
It was thickly grown with weeds.
"Ha," he said,
"I see that none has passed here
In a long time."
Later he saw that each weed
Was a singular knife.
"Well," he mumbled at last,
"Doubtless there are other roads."
Tinbeni, how awful for you and Kris! The loss of one person so close to her is bad enough, but to be losing a 2nd one so soon after...
For any who may have forgotten, today is the 5 year anniversary of Hurricane Wilma. It may not have been on the same scale as Katrina, but still very devestating to those affected.
Gary, the real fun begins when you explore what's under the ZIPPER!
Yes JD, CK ONE is a Calvin Klein cologne.
Also, "FITS and starts" is a good description of our solving experience later in the week! You have a FIT over a few tricky clues, then get a start (foothold), until the next FIT...
Greetings all,
Thank you C.C. for the upbeat and thorough write up. Great job as always. And thanks Lemonade and you all for the raves. Glad you are having fun with this one.
This was actually my second idea for for a UN Day puzzle. The first was titled "Global Unity" and would have had portmanteaus like MALIECHTENSTEINDIA and MOROCCOSTARICANADA, but Rich found it too dry. He was right of course. It would have been a long list of boring theme clues.
I finished this version back in August, and then, just before publication deadline, thankfully, Rich noticed that one of my theme entries APRICOT JAM [PRI + JAM = Puerto Rico + Jamaica] was problematic. Why? Because although Puerto Rico is indeed on the list of UN Country codes, it is not a UN member. Go figure.
Under pressure, the muse finally smiled after about six horrendous hours of searching and I found PESTO SAUCE, which is stronger anyway.
Today is a great day for me all around, In about an hour, one of my piano student alumni will perform the third movement of my Piano Concerto with the Rockland Symphony Orchestra. The concerto in its entirety has been performed a half dozen times around the country, but it's always a thrill to hear it since it took me a year to compose it. Sort of like giving birth.
Cheers to all with many thanks- John
Goody Day C.C. et al,
HaHa Annette - your explanation of "Fits and Starts" exactly describes my solving experience today. But a great offering by John L.
Loved the clue "People in Trees" for NIECES, made a WAG at WIENER for "Mad Men Creator" and seriously doubted my puzzle-solving skills when PNIN emerged for "Nabokov novel" (But at least I'll have another book to add to my reading list).
After much pencil chewing, I finally finished without any lookups, and lots of "Duh" and "Aha" moments.
Have a great rest of the day, everyone!
JL, so awesome to have all this from your fertile mind in one day. I forgot to mention the ENYA LENYA appearance, thanks DD; and you skirted my GLEE question. Which as H. points out, somehow the world is shocked when professional actors and actresses were photographed in semi-draped and suggestive poses. Wow, what a novel idea. Has anyone been to a mall with high school students in the past 50 years? If Leave it to Beaver were being filmed now the family name would be CLEAVAGE.
Hello, puzzlers.
Happy Sunday.
I'm not quite finished puzzling, about 95% done; Phineas had me in a FOGG for a while, but then the SUN shone through and I finished the entire east side, middle and bottom.
Baby shower to go to, so I wish you all a fantastic Sunday! Back tonight.
Tinbeni, this event next Friday looks like it'd be right up your alley:
Whisky Live
Time for a road trip to Fort Lauderdale, maybe???
Hello everybody, and happy UN Day greetings.
Wow, this was an awesome puzzle! My wife will testify that I must have said "wow" out loud a couple dozen times while working it. You all have expressed the impressive skill of it already.
I confess I got fooled by the 67.5 degrees clue, because I pictured Cartesian coordinates in my engineer's mind and therefore took it to mean NNE. Finally, thinking of the compass points where 0 degrees is north, I got the Aha moment.
I wanted Brahms for Dvorak contemporary, but it wouldn't fit, and only got Grieg once I (after a long time) got KGB.
Rigmarole fooled me too, because I wanted rigamarole.
I rememebered SNOOD from a crossword we had not too long ago, as well as MOHS.
Very cool that YELL and EUREKA touch. I also noticed ENYA and LENYA, which is also very nifty. Lotte Lenya's name is actually explicitly mentioned in the song "Mack the Knife" which is from Kurt Weill's Three-Penny Opera. Nobody can sing that song like Bobby Darin did.
I used to ride a wonderful "cow pony" named Corky, a terrific quarter horse who I'll swear had a wry sense of humor and a big warm heart.
Absolutely most favorite was Labor day output? : BABY. Made me laugh out loud. Lots of admiration and appreciation for the many other punny and clever clues too. Thank you, Mr. Lampkin!
Didn't know which Vivaldi concerto it was without at least one perp, because SUMMER, WINTER, and AUTUMN all have 6 letters and two of those end with ER. I think it was SERTA that did it for me, not SEALY because no season that I know of, in English or in Italian, has an L in it.
By the way, my wife and I made jiaozi last night, for which I thank you, C.C., for the recipe URL. They were really good, but holy cow they were a lot of work to make!
Another by the way remark: the NYT puzzle today totally sucked. LAT rules! This blog rocks! You all are A-one!
Best wishes.
I want to apologize to everybody for taking up this space with my problems rather than my usual insightful :>) comments on the puzzles. Right now I don't have the time or the inclination to do the crosswords and I probably won't have access to a computer for the next month or so. Best wishes to all of you. I really think of many of you as my friends. I appreciate your kind thoughts.
Love, Bill
Bill G., we'll be thinking of you while you're dealing with whatever's keeping you away. Please check in with us when you can! Best wishes to you and your family.
Thanks Husker Gary
Daffy Dill, enjoyed The Wayfarer
Bill, we'll be waiting for you to emerge as a stronger, healthier you.
@Anon from this morning: As Jayce mentioned before, North is set at zero degrees in navigation. We make a careful distinction between magnetic north and true north, but they're quite close to each other on a planetary scale, and they're both labelled zero. East becomes 90 degrees and so on.
It's handy and lucky that the magnetic poles are so close to Earth's axis. There is some evidence that the magnetic poles have been elsewhere in eons past, suggesting that they could wander off again. But such things happen slowly, and we can probably cope better now than in the time of ancient mariners.
First of all thank you for providing the link to this puzzle for those of us who don't get the LAT Sunday puzzle in our paper. I agree Jayce! The NYT puzzle in the Sunday Merc really stunk! Conway Twitty is Conway Twitty...NOT Conw8Twitty.
On the other hand, this puzzle was great fun and oh so clever! My favorite - "Rigmarole". I haven't heard that word since Hector was a pup. Thank you Mr. Lampkin!
Wishing everyone a happy Halloween week. Watch out for any spirits and goblins that may be lurking in Puzzleland...
Yes, we have a spooky night here. Thirty-seven degrees with a cold, damp fog and a waning gibbous moon.
Really late for this party, but had a good time at another one.
I just want to say that in my opinion, John Lampkin is a genius. As C.C. and all of you have cited, this puzzle contains witty puns, is multi-layered and just plain fun to solve.
Hand up, I loved people in trees, NIECES, of which I have many.
And I now know another word that means oven, LEHR joins oast and kiln.
Just superb! Thank you John.
BillG:
Thank you for chiiming in and you need never apologize for baring your soul. That's what friends are for and you are in my prayers.
Tinbeni:
I'm so sorry about Kris's brother; prayers there, too.
Good evening everyone. Away, today so just finished the puzzle.
Nothing new to add to the previous comments except to add to 102d. It was well enough explained by Dudley. If the degrees are assumed to be a direction on the Earth's surface the convention is clockwise from North up to 360º. S is 180º, and W is 270º and so forth. This direction in º is commonly called azimuth.
'Ping' Remember Marko Ramius in "The Hunt for Red October"? "One ping Vasily, One ping only please."
C.C. Thanks for the shoutout for my alma mater.
The Frost poem made me think of this poem I've always liked: The Calf Path by S.W. Foss.
http://www.livingbetter.org/thought/calf.htm
THE CALF PATH .
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