Theme: None
Total words: 72
Total blocks: 29
Great to see a collaboration borne out of our interview. Brad, who now has a regular monthly Saturday Stumper with Newsday, mentioned to me last time that he's co-constructed quite a few puzzles with Doug since then.
This puzzle features eight 10-letter & six 9-letter entries, mostly triple-stacked in each corner:
1A. Single-season RBI record-holder since 1930 : HACK WILSON. Total 191 RBIs in 1930. Hall of Famer. I was aware of his existence and this card, but couldn't recall his name.
15A. Not beyond belief : IMAGINABLE. REASONABLE fit too.
17A. Elementary level : FIRST GRADE. Needed crossing help.
60A. Knocking 'em dead : IN RARE FORM. Nice clue/answer.
65A. Rambo, notably : ONE MAN ARMY. Loved this one also.
67A. Circumscribes : DELINEATES
10D. Sewing circle? : NEEDLE HOLE. Why question mark?
12D. First actress to play Yente in Broadway's "Fiddler on the Roof" : BEA ARTHUR. And EMMYS (53D. Pair on the résumé of 12-Down).
13D. Wheels in a cave : BATMOBILE. In "Batman".
14D. Like many a jalopy : RUST-EATEN. New word to me.
30D. Years in which Picasso's art took a somber turn : BLUE PERIOD. Gorgeous entry.
32D. Any of the "Ocean's" movies, e.g. : HEIST FILM. Was quite fond of those silly "Ocean's" movies.
33D. Upstart : ARRIVISTE. Is it same to nouveau riche?
34D. Ultra-reliable team members : MAINSTAYS. Ah, we have quite a few on our blog. Ultra-reliable!
How long do you normally spend on a Saturday themeless? I punted after 35 minutes.
Across:
11. This ans. is one : ABBR. The word "ans" is abbreviated. I've seen similar gimmick for ACROSS.
16. __ de soie: bridal gown fabric : PEAU. Literally "skin" in French. Soie = Silk.
18. Focus of some H.S. prep courses : SATs
19. Nagano Olympics torch lighter : ITO (Midori). Japanese Figure skater. Stumped me. I wanted ALI. Silly!
20. "Cinderella" opener? : CEE. Letter C in Cinderella.
21. Like season 8 of "Dallas" : DREAMT. Didn't come immediately.
23. Light-footed woman : SYLPH. We've seen the "slender, graceful woman" clue before.
25. Esmeralda's goat in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" : DJALI. Nope! Way too hard a name for me.
28. Salty delicacy : ROE
29. Dealt with a fatal error, perhaps : REBOOTED. Computer "fatal error". Al might get this one immediately.
31. Sched. gap letters : TBA
32. Skywalker player : HAMILL (Mark). Have never seen "Star Wars".
35. Eastern theatrical style : NOH. Literally "ability". Same character as Chinese.
36. Gambler's voucher : CHIT
37. "Moriae Encomium" author : ERASMUS (Desiderius). Not familiar with "Moriae Encomium", an essay translated as "The Praise of Folly" or "In Praise of More" a la Wikipedia.
39. Ochlocracy : MOB RULE. Greek "oshlos" = Mob.
41. Bulb output, maybe : IRIS. Thought of IDEA.
42. "... and too many to mention" letters : ETC
44. Holly of Hollywood : LAUREN. She looks familiar. Nice clue.
45. Stray, in a way : SIN. "In a way", yes.
46. Reacts to an affront, maybe : SPUTTERS
48. Living room sets : TVS
49. Temporary tattoo dye : HENNA
50. Put forward : STATE
54. Less flabby : FITTER. Wanted FIRMER.
56. Bad liar's giveaway : TIC
58. Lap dog, briefly : POM
59. "By Jove!" : I SAY
64. About 5.88 trillion mi. : LT-YR (Light-year). Got me.
66. High point in a Western? : MESA. Sure was not thinking of those small plateau.
Down:
1. Old living room sets : HI-FIs.
2. Good relations : AMITY
3. "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming," e.g. : CAROL
4. Metric meas. : KGS
5. Shade tree native to the British Isles : WITCH ELM. First encounter with this tree.
6. "Bus Stop" playwright : INGE
7. I-35's southern terminus : LAREDO. Drew a blank. The U.S./Mexico border city.
8. Fed. loan source : SBA
9. GOP segment? : OLD. GOP = Grand Old Party.
11. Basilica section : APSE
22. Divested (of) : RID
24. Goody two shoes : PRISS. "Goody two shoe" is a new idiom to me.
26. Cryer in a sitcom : JON. The "sitcom" here refer to "Two and a Half Men", correct?
27. Quark's milieu : ATOM
36. It's rolled out at a patisserie : CRUST
38. Leave agape : STUN
40. What eHarmony users can avoid : BAR SCENE. Those eHarmony commercials look quite sweet.
43. UPS unit : CTN. Carton I suppose.
46. Byron's "__ Walks in Beauty" : SHE
47. Geisha's mat : TATAMI
51. Left on the bridge : APORT. Can never remember those nautical directions.
52. "It Wasn't All Velvet" memoirist : TORME (Mel). Known as "The Velvet Fog".
55. Big name in TV talk : TYRA (Banks). Her talk show was over in May.
57. Caspian Sea country : IRAN
61. Vane dir. : NNE
62. Seminary subj. : REL
63. Govt. agency with a wing on its seal : FAA. Here is its seal.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total words: 72
Total blocks: 29
Great to see a collaboration borne out of our interview. Brad, who now has a regular monthly Saturday Stumper with Newsday, mentioned to me last time that he's co-constructed quite a few puzzles with Doug since then.
This puzzle features eight 10-letter & six 9-letter entries, mostly triple-stacked in each corner:
1A. Single-season RBI record-holder since 1930 : HACK WILSON. Total 191 RBIs in 1930. Hall of Famer. I was aware of his existence and this card, but couldn't recall his name.
15A. Not beyond belief : IMAGINABLE. REASONABLE fit too.
17A. Elementary level : FIRST GRADE. Needed crossing help.
60A. Knocking 'em dead : IN RARE FORM. Nice clue/answer.
65A. Rambo, notably : ONE MAN ARMY. Loved this one also.
67A. Circumscribes : DELINEATES
10D. Sewing circle? : NEEDLE HOLE. Why question mark?
12D. First actress to play Yente in Broadway's "Fiddler on the Roof" : BEA ARTHUR. And EMMYS (53D. Pair on the résumé of 12-Down).
13D. Wheels in a cave : BATMOBILE. In "Batman".
14D. Like many a jalopy : RUST-EATEN. New word to me.
30D. Years in which Picasso's art took a somber turn : BLUE PERIOD. Gorgeous entry.
32D. Any of the "Ocean's" movies, e.g. : HEIST FILM. Was quite fond of those silly "Ocean's" movies.
33D. Upstart : ARRIVISTE. Is it same to nouveau riche?
34D. Ultra-reliable team members : MAINSTAYS. Ah, we have quite a few on our blog. Ultra-reliable!
How long do you normally spend on a Saturday themeless? I punted after 35 minutes.
Across:
11. This ans. is one : ABBR. The word "ans" is abbreviated. I've seen similar gimmick for ACROSS.
16. __ de soie: bridal gown fabric : PEAU. Literally "skin" in French. Soie = Silk.
18. Focus of some H.S. prep courses : SATs
19. Nagano Olympics torch lighter : ITO (Midori). Japanese Figure skater. Stumped me. I wanted ALI. Silly!
20. "Cinderella" opener? : CEE. Letter C in Cinderella.
21. Like season 8 of "Dallas" : DREAMT. Didn't come immediately.
23. Light-footed woman : SYLPH. We've seen the "slender, graceful woman" clue before.
25. Esmeralda's goat in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" : DJALI. Nope! Way too hard a name for me.
28. Salty delicacy : ROE
29. Dealt with a fatal error, perhaps : REBOOTED. Computer "fatal error". Al might get this one immediately.
31. Sched. gap letters : TBA
32. Skywalker player : HAMILL (Mark). Have never seen "Star Wars".
35. Eastern theatrical style : NOH. Literally "ability". Same character as Chinese.
36. Gambler's voucher : CHIT
37. "Moriae Encomium" author : ERASMUS (Desiderius). Not familiar with "Moriae Encomium", an essay translated as "The Praise of Folly" or "In Praise of More" a la Wikipedia.
39. Ochlocracy : MOB RULE. Greek "oshlos" = Mob.
41. Bulb output, maybe : IRIS. Thought of IDEA.
42. "... and too many to mention" letters : ETC
44. Holly of Hollywood : LAUREN. She looks familiar. Nice clue.
45. Stray, in a way : SIN. "In a way", yes.
46. Reacts to an affront, maybe : SPUTTERS
48. Living room sets : TVS
49. Temporary tattoo dye : HENNA
50. Put forward : STATE
54. Less flabby : FITTER. Wanted FIRMER.
56. Bad liar's giveaway : TIC
58. Lap dog, briefly : POM
59. "By Jove!" : I SAY
64. About 5.88 trillion mi. : LT-YR (Light-year). Got me.
66. High point in a Western? : MESA. Sure was not thinking of those small plateau.
Down:
1. Old living room sets : HI-FIs.
2. Good relations : AMITY
3. "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming," e.g. : CAROL
4. Metric meas. : KGS
5. Shade tree native to the British Isles : WITCH ELM. First encounter with this tree.
6. "Bus Stop" playwright : INGE
7. I-35's southern terminus : LAREDO. Drew a blank. The U.S./Mexico border city.
8. Fed. loan source : SBA
9. GOP segment? : OLD. GOP = Grand Old Party.
11. Basilica section : APSE
22. Divested (of) : RID
24. Goody two shoes : PRISS. "Goody two shoe" is a new idiom to me.
26. Cryer in a sitcom : JON. The "sitcom" here refer to "Two and a Half Men", correct?
27. Quark's milieu : ATOM
36. It's rolled out at a patisserie : CRUST
38. Leave agape : STUN
40. What eHarmony users can avoid : BAR SCENE. Those eHarmony commercials look quite sweet.
43. UPS unit : CTN. Carton I suppose.
46. Byron's "__ Walks in Beauty" : SHE
47. Geisha's mat : TATAMI
51. Left on the bridge : APORT. Can never remember those nautical directions.
52. "It Wasn't All Velvet" memoirist : TORME (Mel). Known as "The Velvet Fog".
55. Big name in TV talk : TYRA (Banks). Her talk show was over in May.
57. Caspian Sea country : IRAN
61. Vane dir. : NNE
62. Seminary subj. : REL
63. Govt. agency with a wing on its seal : FAA. Here is its seal.
Answer grid.
C.C.
44 comments:
I'm disappearing for a week, but I thought I'd let you all know: I got a call from Joe. He'll be back from Afghanistan on the 21st. Obviously, that'll be part of my trip.
I enjoyed reading last night's wordplay.
C.C., Argyle and Folk,
Good Morning.
I've been doing many of the puzzles I missed and read Lemonade's quote, 'et tu, Brute' and laughed 'cause it came to my mind, also. I felt like putting this one in as I felt victorious going to the hospital, seeing and conquering...then doing pretty much the same with solving numerous puzzles in a row (Yes,I missed them because I was in the The Mayo Clinic Hospital and with the myriad of tests I underwent, I simply couldn't focus.) I'm still pretty exhausted so I haven't had the energy to write my reaction statements, but I've missed you guys.
VENI, VEDI,VICI
Have a great weekend all.
Oh, and I really enjoyed today's puzzle. If I can, I'll write a bit about it later.
-----------------------------
Good Morning Gungy! Very cool! Sounds like you have something wonderful going on!
-----------------------------
I'm out.
Morning, all!
Short on time today. This puzzle had a lot of goodness in it ("Wheels in a Cave" was my favorite), but the WTF factor was awfully high. HACK WILSON? WITCH ELM? PEAU? DJALI??? Oy! And then, of course, there were my self-inflicted problems with putting IDEA instead of IRIS, FIRMER instead of FITTER, EGAD instead of ISAY, and IN FINE FORM (followed by IN GOOD FORM) instead of IN RARE FORM.
As I said, there was a lot to love about this puzzle, but it was a struggle with too many unpleasant spots.
Good morning, C.C. and gang - as with Barry, I'm squeezed for time, so this'll be mercifully brief.
I loved, loved, loved this puzzle 'cause it kicked my ass from one end to the other. I had so many unknowns I thought I'd had a stroke. And I initially thought this one was gonna be a snap because I knew Hack Wilson had the RBI record. Outside of 'Inge', I didn't have one perp off of his name, and I pretty much became re-intimate with the g-spot (never a bad thing) to get through this bear. Loved the long fills, and loved learning a bunch of new stuff.
Gunghy, GREAT news! I hope you'll keep us posted as to how he's doing.
Frenchie, I hope it's nothing serious, although I doubt you went to the Mayo with a head cold.
Argyle, the perfect close last night. Outstanding.
This was an absolutely brilliant puzzle! One of the best in a long, long time. The best clue/answer was dealt with a fatal error (rebooted).
I really wanted to put in "hard" for 4-Across.
Lauren Hunter was in Picket Fences, a short-lived TV show. I tried to fit in Holly Hunter in 44-Down because i think she is better known.
Frenchie, I hope you are well or at least on the mend.
Good morning CC, et al., Interesting puzzle but such a slog. 21A season 8 of Dallas? Are you kidding me? However, there were some cute clues and answers that I would say 'Oh yeah!' to after they came thru... like 52D 'Torme'. Loved 66A 'one man army'. I'd like to check out his guns! And I enjoyed seeing
'Carol' here, next to 'Amity' and crossing 'sylph'..perfect for her. I wanted 'noon' so badly for 66A but 'mesa' was good....
made me think of a take off on Dennis-'in rare form's-'mesa'-chist pun from last night. Didn't know 'mob rule' ochlocracy which is surprising considering where I work.
CC:10D is referring to a sewing circle - like a quilting bee-ladies sit in a circle and sew on their own stuff or work on a quilt together...and the needle hole is a circle. My neighbor still does that and made me a fabulous musical/piano quilt.
Gunghy: safe travels and thank you to your son.
Frenchie: my thoughts are with you. Hope you recover quickly.
Enjoy your day. I'm going to check out the 'bar scene'...charity pool time for a fallen policeman.
Good day folks,
After nailing Hack Wilson, I figured this was going to be a doable puzzle. Boy, was I wrong! There were so many unknowns, I signed onto the Times Web Site and solved it relying on the red letter routine. Basically, I took the easy way out so I do not feel entitled to comment any further today.
Talk to you all on Monday ... Have a good weekend.
Hello Puzzlers - What Dennis said, except that I never heard of Hack Wilson. Could not have finished without Goog and some red letters. Can't believe how long it took to see FAA!
"Wheels in a cave" had me thinking of aged cheese. I'm uneasy putting in an "a" to make APORT, because ASTARBOARD seems so wrong.
All in all a good workout, though, and just right for a Saturday. Cheers!
Good morning to all and good thoughts for Frenchie and Gunghy as you proceed. Also thinking about Fermatprime, in hope of her improvement.
I had 13 googles and many WAGS, not so many knowns. Too many names to be enjoyable. I always forget Mark Hamill's name, get it confused with Harmon, though I know the difference. Was tricked by the sewing circle and also wanted FIRMER for FITTER. Wanted NOON for MESA. My first and only unassisted area was the NE, and the SW was the last to fall.
I've always thought to be a good liar, you have to have a good memory, so as not to forget what you said previously.
Have a great day all!
Some misdirection is always fun, but 36D was just unfair and arguably dishonest. Using ' patisserie' in clue instead of English word ' bakery' implied a French word, but instead we got ' crust.'
That's just cruel.
Good Morning all.
I had a similar solving experience to most of the earlier commenters. There were some fun fills but also some very obscure ones. Got DJALI and LAUREN from the perps but needed red letter help with ARRIVISTE. Was able to avoid the g-spot though. WAGS included LTYR and ATOM. Thought BATMOBILE and MESA were cleverly clued. Definitely not a walk in the park today.
APORT - While PORT means the left side, it is not used in rudder orders to the helm in today's Navy. Rather, more precision is used such as "Come left 10º rudder" or "Left full rudder"; and then usually a new course would be given. Similarly 'right' would be used rather than 'starboard'.
Another fine Indian summer day here in the Mohawk Valley of NY.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
This was a tough one (62 minutes), requiring some educated guesses here and there. In the end, I missed one. I considered RUSTEATER for 14D, then RUSTEATEE, but for some reason I never thought of RUSTEATEN. It was the last fill, and I was getting tired by that point, so my patience was lagging. Didn't know 44A, LAUREN, which didn't help. Quite a workout this morning.
Hey all, a late Saturday start for me and a very fun, challenging puzzle that completely shows Brad Wilber’s sensibilities and Doug Peterson’s wit.
You know the Caped Crusader’s biggest fan was involved when you see this great clue: Wheels in a cave : BATMOBILE.
I finally finished but the biggest slow down for me was: ARRIVISTE, a word I do not know which is a perfectly wonderful, real word, and is a perfect example of Brad’s expanding our vocabulary, because the perps were not filling, when from some deep recess of the brain, I put in ERASMUS, and it all finally came together. I do not know looking back why I had such a hard time with IRIS, ISAY and MESA, but I did.
One of the fun thing about very hard puzzles, as expressed by Dennis, is the make you work, and you can have the great satisfaction of filling something like PEAU de SOIE; while I know the French word for skin, I do not know the term, but it felt so right. I had know idea Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming," was a Christmas Carol, can you sing it please? Could not remember TATAMI, though we have seen the clue, and thought the puzzle was being too generous suggesting TYRA was a big name in talk. She is a very pretty woman, though
LAUREN HOLLY has been around for a while, and is on the list of Jim Carrey ex-wives, and in the six-degrees of separation world, was on NCIS with MARK HARMON, who was not in STAR WARS.
I loved the clues and fill HI FIS, and BAR SCENE and miss the comments we used to get from Doug P. and Fred Jackson. Which leads to JL where are you? Still busy? Hey Jerome. Feel better Frenchie, and Fermatprime. Enjoy the week end Gunghy and all the rest.
Try to be here for our pre-thanksgiving, thanksgiving on Wednesdaythe 24th.
BTW, Argyle, I agree with Dennis, your close was inspired, and the comment of the year. All on my blogging day, outstanding!
Lemonade,
I think the carol is a translation of this German one: Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen.
Hey, CC & crew. It was a blast to work with Brad on this one. This puzzle wasn't the first one we collaborated on, but it's the first to be published.
We're both big baseball guys, so we loved putting HACK WILSON at 1-Across. Even if you're not a baseball fan, you have to love that nickname. And if there's anything you really hated, you can blame me, not Brad. :)
Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming, with sheet music and words. There are many versions on YouTube, for a song I've never heard before!
Hi, C.C & all
It's a treat to come back to the specific point where Doug and I first started working together, after my shameless plug for collaborators.
We seem to click in personality and construction process, so we haven't really STOPPED working together since last spring. More to come (some cheers? some groans?). I had actually logged in planning to say "blame ME" for whatever took you the longest. Don't fall on your sword, Doug!
We didn't ask for the Latin name for four-leaf clover, like they did on "Rubicon," at least. I'm just getting caught up on episodes of that.
Good Day C.C. and all,
C.C. thanks for your support-well written.
I found the three long fills in the SW, impossible, even with the few fills, that I had.
Finally, threw in the towel. Glad I did; after I saw the answers. Its a pretty day here and I need to enjoy it.
Going to look at yesterday's last posts.
Have a nice day everyone.
Wow! This one was a toughie! There was a lot to like, a little to hate. I nailed several of the long clues "Hack Wilson", "Batmobile", "Bea Arthur", "Mainstays" and "One Man Army" but did stupid stuff like TBD (determined) instead of TBA. Never did figure out what a "Rusted Ten" could be, but never parsed it differently.
I didn't like "Crust" with a French clue, but it fit so I went with it.
I was fine with "Aport" although it took a looooong time to get off the bridge over the river and start thinking of the one on a ship. There seem to be many nautical terms that are commonly preceded with an "A". "Aport", "Abeam", "Astern", "Alee" come to mind and then there's the crosswordese "Alow" that shows up on occasion.
Frenchie, I hope all is well and that you enjoy catching up with your backlog of puzzels.
Great wrapup for the pun filled Friday Blog, Argyle. Dan gave us a real masterpiece (no pun there). He definitely falls into the "Gone, but not forgotten" category. I hope he left a few more puzzles.
Good Day C.C. and all,
C.C. thanks for your support-well written.
I found the three long fills in the SW, impossible, even with the few fills, that I had.
Finally, threw in the towel. Glad I did; after I saw the answers. Its a pretty day here and I need to enjoy it.
Going to look at yesterday's last posts.
Gunghy, hope your trip is wonderful. I'll be thinking of you two.
Frenchie,I'm so sorry to hear of your health issues. I hope your message means they are behind you. Please fill us in, when you feel like it.
Have a nice day everyone.
CC: A mnemonic (of sorts) which I use is :"left" and "port" are the shorter words.
"Starboard" and "right" are the longer.
Another: "Elija" came before "Elisha" because the "J" comes before the "S". (that fact is apropos of nothing in todays puzzle but is just another "device" I use.)
Lauren Holly was the love interest in that great American classic "Dumb and Dumber." (Surely I jest!)
C.C., Brad, Doug, et al, we went to a wedding in Omaha last night and drove home in HEAVY snow! Driving in town was worse than the four lane home but this morning the snow is all gone!
This was a slog but only missed one cell dJali and Jon. Well worth the trip but for the longest time my grid looked like a roll call of honest politicians!
Wanted/Correct
CHIP/CHIT
WATT/IRIS
LEANER/LITHER
PET/POM
RUSTYHEAP/RUSTEATEN
HOWTO…/HEISTFILM
PRUDE/PRISS
BARSTOOL/BARSCENE
Arriviste and Peau arrived by default. Hand up for loving BATMOBILE (does anyone remember when campy Batman was a must see on TV in the 60’s?) and TORME clues. I had no idea Bea Arthur was on Broadway but her sitcom Golden Girls remains one of the cleverest and smartest series ever written. Who knew there was life after 50? I did because I am 64!
All in all, a maddening, wonderful experience that coupled with C.C.’s narrative made for a nice companion to my coffee and PBJ which were both long gone by the time I finished.
I am not subbing until Tuesday and so I hope to get back into daily blogging.
Good morning C.C. and all,
I am still laughing at yesterday's clever blogging.WH @10 and Argyle's follow up..superb!
Kudos to Brad and Doug! I have not enjoyed a xwd like this one for a long time. It was just tricky enough to keep me interested to the last fill, mesa (hand up for noon on the 1st go around).
Loved those long word fills; luckily many were gimmes to keep me going.After RUSTEATEN filled itself in, I had to rewrite it to read it!!
Bea Arthur was an a-ha! Many were just plain funny , like batmobile. Djali? really!Quark! Quark!
DH gave me Hack, and Google helped with a few too.
Iris-I've never thought of them as bulbs..rhizomes grow together and get all gnarly, unlike bulbs. My white ones are in full bloom now.
Frenchie, sure hope your tests gave results that you needed to hear. Not knowing is the worst.
Have a lovely weekend all. Thanks, C.C. for a terrific write up. Oh, about jon...I thought that is where people went to cry. No?
correction: yes, there are bulbous irises in drier climates. I guess mine are the creeping rhizome variety.
Argyle,that link of "lo, how a rose..." sounded just like our a capella choir's version. Singing soprano, without proper instruction of how to use my diaphram, led to nodes on my vocal chords - thus ending my singing voice forever.
Husker, I will be thinking of you on Tues while also subbing.
Good Morning All, The NW section was the roughest for me. Who the HACK is HECK WILSON? OK, switch that to "who the heck is HACK?" and I still didn't know him. I had to work backward to get this as my last fill area. Few perps were helpful, so it was finally a G-hit on that one.
I wanted HYMN or CORALE for 3D, WITCH ELM was unknown and I had no idea that I-35 terminated in LAREDO.
Is a (10D) NEEDLE HOLE really shaped like a circle? There may be round ones, but I've only seen an oval-ish needle eye. Can a circle be oval shaped?
I've never seen Two And A Half Men, but I do know who JON Cryer is. I should have gotten 26D sooner. Maybe that would have helped with (25A) DJALI.....NOT!
I agree with Anon@9:01 about (36D) patisserie/CRUST. I thought of croissant, éclair and tarte. It didn't help that I had Holly/HUNTER for 44A to begin with. Finally had to go with other perp-assists, but it took a while.
To go along with that, (33D) ARRIVISTE looks like a French word, but the on-line dictionary tells me it has been in English use since 1901. Looks like I've got a century of vocabulary to catch up on.
In spite of my own failings, I still appreciated that this was a tough and (mostly) fair Saturday. Nice going, Brad and Doug.
Happy reunion, Gunghy.
I hope all is well, Frenchie.
Kazie, Milford Sound was definitely "mist shrouded" and drizzly (only rain day). We could barely see the cliffs and waterfalls. I wound up buying a few photo post cards for my scrapbook.
CA: that's an interesting take on needle hole - as being the 'eye' of the needle. I was thinking of the hole the needle makes in the fabric as being round. I've never seen a round 'eye' in a needle either.
Argyle: thanks for the link to that carol. Never heard it or of it before.
Brad & Doug: thanks for dropping in. I think it's funny that each of you is willing to take the blame & fall for hardships, but IMHO neither needs to. It's a good puzzle (clever, cute, and an appropriate level of difficulty) - very suitable for Sat. I, for one, will look forward to your future collaborative offerings.
Greetings Friends! C.C. you constantly amaze me; 35 minutes, really???
I have to say the N, NE, SE and center took me about an hour and hands up for HACKMILTON, Holly HUNTER, and NOON. I thought those all looked good but LAUREN made more sense when BARSCENE appeared.
However, it was great fun to suss out DJALI, DREAMT, NEEDLEHOLE (and I agree, CA, needle holes are oval)and MOBRULE.
BEAARTHUR emerged although had no idea she was Yente; what a loss when she died.
I occasionally watch Three and A Half Men so JON Cryer was familiar.
I've never seen any of the Ocean Films so HEIST was not on my radar.
I finally left the bottom SW blank and came here for solace and answers.
ARRIVISTE is also my new word for today.
Great job Doug and Brad. I look forward to this challenge again.
Santa, you finished perfectly last night.
Frenchie, I hope your test results bring good news.
Gunghy, I'm so happy for you and your son.
I hope you are all enjoying a super Saturday! It's sunny and lovely here.
Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming has long been one of my favorite carols. That and Greensleeves are high on my list.
Lois, "Occam's Razor" on the NEEDLE HOLE. The most straightforward explanation is probably the correct one. You're totally right. A needle makes a circular hole in fabric. Ta-Da! I should know better than to over-complicate a puzzle clue. They most often lead where we should follow. Thanks for the heads-up.
Lois, your remark on ochlocracy is the lol for the day. Thanks, I needed that.
Lo How a Rose Ere Blooming.. has been in my head all day- high school Xmas program- every year- enough, already.
CA I have the same thoughts as you on the puzzle, down to the eye of the needle and the french usage for english word. My thoughts on Tyra as over the line,as well.
I felt anger earlier; now, I think they did some parts quite well,and hope to see another one. The goal should not be to make the puzzle unsolvable, just a stretch;
at least that's how I view it.
There has to be an understanding between the constructor[s] and the solver.
Thanks for your effort fellas.
CA,
That's really too bad about Milford Sound. I guess I was lucky the first time, but when I was there with DH, we just decided not to even bother with the boat trip since it was obvious we'd see nothing.
I agree about the needle eye too, maybe they did mean the hole it makes in the fabric. But they had me confused anyway, thinking of the circle of people. I actually started out with MENDING BEE there. Though why they'd get all social about mending I don't know.
2 & 1/2 Men can be hilarious at times, but you have to be ready to "love to hate" Charlie Sheen. Jon Cryer is a scream in it.
Brad and Doug,
Nice to hear from our two constructors again today.
I'm curious; did anybody else think about Quark from Deep Space 9 for 27Down. Quark's milieu? Clip.
@ Argyle,
I fell for the Quark misdirection, too. It semed reasonable since I already had Hamill with the Star Wars connection and thought there might be some sort of sci-fi subplot. I realised I already hat the "T" and "M" and there wasn't much to chose from.
I was fine with the "Needle Hole" clue. It had a question mark after the clue so I considered that fair warning that it could be "out there" in murky waters. Isn't part of the fun os solving trying to look past the obvious?
Hello everybody.
Thursaday's puzzle was hard, couldn't finish it without looking stuff up, and still didn't "get" some of the clues/answers. Didn't much like that puzzle.
Friday's puzzle falls into the category of what I would characterize as a masterpiece. Immensely entertaining, challenging, and fun.
Today's puzzle was very hard. Had to goo-goo-la-la many of the entries, but once I finally completed the puzzle (took me well over a very pleasant hour) I had a deep feeling of satisfaction. Very much worth the time and effort. I really got my "money's worth" yesterday and today.
Best wishes to you all. Thank you all for such interesting, humorous, and informative comments.
Kind of snowed in today and attempted the puzzle, that's all I can say about that.
In a deep funk, that's all I can say about that except that I am disappointed in people that I never thought I would have to feel that way about.
BillG, you out there? I am still thinking about you and your recovery.
Jeannie, Hate to hear about your funk. Could it be blamed on your weather situation; especially on a Saturday?
The puzzle isn't necessarily a cozy thing; and definitely not today's. At least for me.
Went to a friend's for supper; pot roast and polenta,with tossed green salad- vanilla ice cream with a super ginger cookie.
Old, old friends; shared updates on other old friends and drove home in the cold rain.
I tried to search for tomato/ basil pie and meatloaf, but when I typed that in nothing happened. I made notes for your nov 17 09 recipes and they came up. Obviously, I'm tech challenged, and I don't want to be a burden. Told my friends about you and your recipes, where you live and what you do. They couldn't believe it.
If they come over anytime soon, I'll show them your picture- told how pretty you are and kind and smart. They can't believe this blog, either. It is really special; as each person on it is.
I may check back, after I get my PJs on. Climb out of it ,if at all possible.
Creature....we Minnesotan's are more than ready for the weather. I have a friend in need that was to come visit and didn't show or call...as you can imagine I cooked most of the day and nothing? No call? I'll throw in the weather card as we did have some today. I am just bummed out as I wanted to see her and her partner really badly. (He's dying). Now I have a basil/tomato pie; meatloaf and macaroni and cheese all to my lonesome. Ask Dennis about the last two. He will concur.
Concur.
Jeannie, are you sure they're ok? Have you tried to reach her/them?
Jeannie, I can't imagine no phone call.I can easily understand your funk. And anyone that knows you, would know you would be cooking all day- plus your kindness and friendship- I still get shocked a bout things like this. Certainly, you will hear of the reason or misunderstanding.
Yeah, I guess you Minnesotans know about weather, alright. Maybe it had something to do with it.
You're just too good. What did you mean "the last two"? Did you mean dishes or people?
Sorry about your friends illness.
You are very special.
Jeannie, I'm sorry to hear that you've been let down by your friends. People saying or doing things to intentionally hurt you are less painful than people you care about disappointing you...
I hope it turns out to just be a miscommunication of some sort, and that they're both okay.
I know a few dozen people on this blog that wish they were there to enjoy that feast with you! I have 3/4 a birthday cake here that I baked for my sister this afternoon that I could bring - and 2 bottles of wine just sitting here, begging to be shared. :-)
Annette
creature, she meant the meatloaf and the mac and cheese.
Good night everyone.
Had very little done on this, so thanks for the answers, C.C..
Gunghy, good thoughts for you and your son and your reunion.
Frenchie, hope you are getting well and feeling better.
Jeannie, what an awful feeling to be left wondering. I hope there's a good and acceptable reason given soon.
Sleep well all.
Hello, everybody,
I feel much the dame about this puzzle as Creature and Jayce. So I'll leave it at that. I felt the same way ax you, CA, about the needle'hole' thing. In the first place if you're talking about the threading place, you're absolutely right,it's no circle, and besides, it's called an 'eye! And sorry, Lois, I guess it too much of a stretch for me to think of a round hole that a needle punches. IMHO.
I have loved "LO, How a Rose" ever since we sang it in HS Glee Club. Those are different words, Argyle, but it may be the translation.
Jeannie, Ill join Annette for your potluck! What a treat that would be! I'm sure you'll find there's some valid reason your friends didn't show.
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