Theme: None
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 26
I often look at the empty grid before I attack a puzzle. Today's sure doesn't look too intimidating. No grid spanner or long triple stacks. But it took me eons to gain a toehold.
Tough cluing overall, typified by GAI (20A. "__-Jin": Clavell novel), would be a gimme if it were clued as "Moo goo __ pan". I was ignorant of the book. Gai-Jin is Japanese for "foreigner". Gai = outside. Jin = Person. Same as Chinese character.
The three 9s don't really grab me today, but the eight 8s are solid. My favorites are:
1A. It might make marks on your dog : BBQ GRILL. Hot dog.
15A. "Great job!" : YOU DID IT. Great answer.
58A. Part of a smear campaign : ATTACK AD
Across:
9. Walks quickly : LEGS IT
16. Johnson & Johnson skin care brand : AVEENO. Wikipedia says Aveeno is derived from the scientific name for the common oat, Avena sativa. No wonder oats are featured prominently in their products.
17. Some mousses : HAIR GELS
18. Destinies : KARMAS. Or in sense of "vibes".
19. Auto insurer's request: Abbr. : EST
21. One concerned with bites : DENTIST. Tricky clue.
22. Rate __: be perfect : A TEN
24. Entrapments : SETUPS
26. H.S. support group : PTA
27. Start over, in a way : RESET. Reset a button.
29. Make go away : SHOO
30. Subj. partner : PRED (Predicate). Got me.
31. Geographical parallel : TROPIC. Tropic of Cancer & Tropic of Capricorn.
33. Skunk River city : AMES, IOWA. Home of Iowa State University (The Cyclones). Went there once, but don't remember the Skunk River.
35A. Entirely, with "from" : HEAD TO TOE
37. Utter fiasco : WATERLOO
40. Logo, e.g. : SYMBOL
44. "__ Esau": kids' rhyme book : I SAW. Don't know the book.
45. Advanced : LENT. Oh, like money then.
47. Restaurateur known for satiric wall art : SARDI. Of Sardi's.
48. Recipe amt. : TSP
49. Post product : CEREAL
51. Network meeting point : NODE
52. Ones going to court? : SUITORS. Court = Woo. Of course I was thinking of judge & lawyers.
54. Sony competitor : NEC
56. Japanese band : OBI. Sash band. Not music. Nailed it.
57. Verdi title bandit : ERNANI. Sigh! I can never remember this name.
60. Brought home : NETTED. EARNED has same number of letters.
61. Worst of the worst : FROM HELL
62. Some smart phones : DROIDs. Dennis lost his, in his own store.
63. Spoon : CANOODLE . Sweet.
Down:
1. Without notes : BY HEART. Know something by heart.
2. Bigmouth : BOASTER
3. "Most assuredly" : QUITE SO
4. E. Berlin's land : GDR (German Democratic Republic). Didn't come to me immediately.
5. 1997 Emmy winner for TV's "Rebecca" : RIGG (Diana). Might have got her if the clue were "The Avengers" related.
6. Head lights? : IDEAS. Saw this clue before.
7. Ornamental flowers : LILIES
8. West Point grads: Abbr. : LTS (Lieutenants).
9D. Coleridge, Southey and Wordsworth : LAKE POETS. Is this a well-known term?
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 26
I often look at the empty grid before I attack a puzzle. Today's sure doesn't look too intimidating. No grid spanner or long triple stacks. But it took me eons to gain a toehold.
Tough cluing overall, typified by GAI (20A. "__-Jin": Clavell novel), would be a gimme if it were clued as "Moo goo __ pan". I was ignorant of the book. Gai-Jin is Japanese for "foreigner". Gai = outside. Jin = Person. Same as Chinese character.
The three 9s don't really grab me today, but the eight 8s are solid. My favorites are:
1A. It might make marks on your dog : BBQ GRILL. Hot dog.
15A. "Great job!" : YOU DID IT. Great answer.
58A. Part of a smear campaign : ATTACK AD
Across:
9. Walks quickly : LEGS IT
16. Johnson & Johnson skin care brand : AVEENO. Wikipedia says Aveeno is derived from the scientific name for the common oat, Avena sativa. No wonder oats are featured prominently in their products.
17. Some mousses : HAIR GELS
18. Destinies : KARMAS. Or in sense of "vibes".
19. Auto insurer's request: Abbr. : EST
21. One concerned with bites : DENTIST. Tricky clue.
22. Rate __: be perfect : A TEN
24. Entrapments : SETUPS
26. H.S. support group : PTA
27. Start over, in a way : RESET. Reset a button.
29. Make go away : SHOO
30. Subj. partner : PRED (Predicate). Got me.
31. Geographical parallel : TROPIC. Tropic of Cancer & Tropic of Capricorn.
33. Skunk River city : AMES, IOWA. Home of Iowa State University (The Cyclones). Went there once, but don't remember the Skunk River.
35A. Entirely, with "from" : HEAD TO TOE
37. Utter fiasco : WATERLOO
40. Logo, e.g. : SYMBOL
44. "__ Esau": kids' rhyme book : I SAW. Don't know the book.
45. Advanced : LENT. Oh, like money then.
47. Restaurateur known for satiric wall art : SARDI. Of Sardi's.
48. Recipe amt. : TSP
49. Post product : CEREAL
51. Network meeting point : NODE
52. Ones going to court? : SUITORS. Court = Woo. Of course I was thinking of judge & lawyers.
54. Sony competitor : NEC
56. Japanese band : OBI. Sash band. Not music. Nailed it.
57. Verdi title bandit : ERNANI. Sigh! I can never remember this name.
60. Brought home : NETTED. EARNED has same number of letters.
61. Worst of the worst : FROM HELL
62. Some smart phones : DROIDs. Dennis lost his, in his own store.
63. Spoon : CANOODLE . Sweet.
Down:
1. Without notes : BY HEART. Know something by heart.
2. Bigmouth : BOASTER
3. "Most assuredly" : QUITE SO
4. E. Berlin's land : GDR (German Democratic Republic). Didn't come to me immediately.
5. 1997 Emmy winner for TV's "Rebecca" : RIGG (Diana). Might have got her if the clue were "The Avengers" related.
6. Head lights? : IDEAS. Saw this clue before.
7. Ornamental flowers : LILIES
8. West Point grads: Abbr. : LTS (Lieutenants).
9D. Coleridge, Southey and Wordsworth : LAKE POETS. Is this a well-known term?
10. Mary Ann __, George Eliot's birth name : EVANS. Who knows?!
11. Goldfinger portrayer Fröbe : GERT. Recognized the face, not the name.
12. Part-time, in a way : SEMI-PRO
13. Het up : IN A STEW
14. Taco relative : TOSTADA. Looks yummy.
21. Milano cathedral : DUOMO. No idea. Wiki says it's a generic Italian term for a cathedral church. Derived from Latin "domus", meaning "house".
23. One crying uncle? : NEPHEW. Fun clue.
25. Choice words : THAT ONE
28. Level : TIER
30. Acquaintance of Simon : PIE MAN. "Simple Simon met a pie man...". The nursery rhyme.
32. Revealing numbers : CALLER IDS
34. Edamame beans : SOYS. Edamame is just green soybean in its pod.
36. They don't just sit around : DOERS
37. Giving-up point : WIT'S END. At wit's end.
38. One offering comfort : ASSURER. This puzzle has two ER suffix words.
39. Draw on : TAP INTO. Resource, experience, etc.
41. Put up with : BROOK. New meaning of "brook" to me.
42. Eccentric : ODDBALL
43. Remain in mothballs : LIE IDLE
46. Asian enlightenment doctrine : TANTRA. Sanskrit for "warp", hence "underlying principle". a la dictionary.
49. Shaped like a megaphone : CONED
50. Gave away : LET ON
53. Filmmaker Jacques : TATI. The guy who directed "Mon Oncle".
55. Outfit you don't want to be seen in, briefly : CAMO
58. Jets' org. : AFC. NY Jets. I don't really know which ones belong to AFC or NFC.
59. John who played Sulu in "Star Trek" (2009) : CHO. Very handsome. He's of Korean root, just as Margaret Cho. Cho is a Korean name. Same character as Chinese zhao/cao.
Answer grid.
C.C.
55 comments:
Hi.
First DNF in a long time. Did about half of it.
Shootouts are the hard way to get
2 points and not very easy on the heart.
take care
What a nice work out for a Saturday; BBQ GRILL and Hot Dog to start the fun was perfect for this puzzle which was not a picnic. Really like many themeless puzzles. There is no one thing I like about this, but it required working the long way around. I have been to SARDI’s many times, and have watched other restaurants copy the tradition, including The Palm. My brother Barry, may he rest in peace, was very thrilled when he and his wife were put on the wall in the Coconut Grove restaurant.
Martha Grimes, who writes the Richard Jury mysteries, has many references to the LAKE POETS which proves you never know where you will learn things.
I also really like CALLER IDS, which was slow because I not think of a word ending RIDS. I also enjoyed the appearance of a recent favorite, CANOODLE. It was one of those efforts, where even DENTIST took some effort.
I have heard BROOK mostly in the negative, like I will not BROOK any more of your back talk. Of course this is perhaps due to my nature.
Overall, a nice early morning exercise. Thanks C. C. EDDY B., you should not give up, it is a grinders puzzle.
Good morning fellow cruciverbalists!
Thanks C. C.
Really hard puzzle for me. But I had DENTIST rather quickly. Like SEANCE yesterday. Gave up and turned on red letters today. Am anxious to get to sleep as I am all aches and pains.
Carol--Very sorry about your friend's cancer. I hope that she can fight it off.
I received the cover for the Intellibed™ mattress! Well, it's a start!
Dear friend who used to ferry me around has hernia in groin, borderline diabetes and high PSA test. His HMO took blood work for last problem and hasn't gotten back to him! Hernia operation in 9 days. He is almost 82 and I am very worried.
Happy weekend, all!
Morning, all!
This one utterly defeated me. Which, I guess, is no surprise, since today's NYT puzzle was also by Mr. Peoples and it utterly defeated me as well. I couldn't even get this one with the help of Google and finally had to reset the skill level and randomly type in letters until they went from red to black.
I actually managed to finally get through the bottom half unassisted, but just couldn't get a toehold in the top half. AMESIOWA remained a mystery until the end, since I was looking for a single word instead of two. "Marks on your dogs" had be thinking about feet, so I had SHOE at the end of 1A (which went well with ENS for "ensigns" at 8D).
I had no idea that HAIR GEL could be considered a type of mousse. In fact, I'm pretty sure it can't. But I've been wrong before. And I can see an auto insurer giving an EST (estimate), but requesting one? Hmmmmm.... Oh, and I tried SNARES and then STINGS before finally getting SETUPS. DUOMO didn't help in the least there. And LAKE POETS? RIGG?? GERT??? AAARGGGHHH!!!
All in all, a cruel and unusual puzzle. There was some good stuff, however. I really liked NEPHEW for "One crying uncle" and DROID and CANOODLE were both fresh. In fact, a lot of the fill was very fresh and enjoyable -- I just couldn't get most of it from the actual clues...
Good day folks,
Count me in as another who got creamed by Mr Peoples. I managed to figure out the NE corner, but the rest is one or two words for each section. For ones going to court I entered debtors. Suiters never entered my mind.
In the SE for Jets org I had NFL, which, to me, is correct. The AFC is a division of the NFL, not an org. But even if I had AFC, it would not have helped one bit.
Enough carping for today. Hell, I got my butt kicked and it wasn't the first time nor will it be the last.
Have a pleasant Saturday. Yankees open today on YES. Even though it's only a preseason game, it is a sign that spring's not far away.
Hi All ~!
You can add me to the list of people who thought the clueing was too far-fetched to be realistic - I agree with BarryG - it's either mousse OR gel, not the same, and the AFC is IN the NFL org....
RIGG, GAI, SARDI, ERNANI? Nope - and by the way, they are all red here in the blog preview, too.
I turned on red-letter at 30mins, and got close to finishing, but with words like BROOKED (argh) and LAKE POETS brought me to WIT'S END...oh well...PIE MAN?
And I also agree, the fresh ideas - Cry Uncle - NEPHEW, plus, CANOODLE, DROIDS, CAMO, SEMI-PRO, and TROPIC (for me) were lost in a puzzle that made me cringe, first time in a long, long time....
I had GENETICS for 'marks on your dog', and it made such good sense that I never considered HOT dogs - now THAT ONE I am willing to concede I screwed up on.
This one was a WATERLOO FROM HELL ~!!!!
Splynter
This one kicked my butt. I was definitely not on the same wavelength as Bob Peoples.
When I was ready to call UNCLE I tried something different. I came to the blog comments (sorry CC) for sympathy and a few hints. Lemonade's post was enough to get some traction and have fun with the rest of it.
My favorite clue/answer was 55D Outfit you don't want to be seen in/CAMO.
Splynter,
what is "they are all red here in the blog preview, too."
Hi Again ~!
"They're all red here..." just means my spell check is unfamiliar with these words, Mary - just a small token of "justification" for me that they are not 'ordinary' words - and in this case, names.
Splynter
Hello Puzzlers - I'm down in defeat. DNF for the first time in eons. Waaaay to hard for me - even Googling all the names didn't save me. Rats.
Good morning CC and Saturday Subdued Solvers.
Hand up for getting my butt kicked by Mr Peoples. Dentist was a first pass fill but it looked awfully lonely. An hour of pecking around produced a half filled puzzle. I finally cried Uncle! and turned to Mr Google for help. A few straticically placed lookups (RIGG, GERT and ERNANI)gave me enough to slog through the remainder.
I hope the rest of the day goes better than the puzzle did. I hated not finishing unaided, but overall, I really liked the puzzle and the cluing.
Hi you'll, Toooooooooo tough for me! Skunk River City as a clue didn't seem fair. I knew Iowa but not the city. Why not ask for the state also? Got some of the clues but the maj. left me cold.
Well, I sure am glad to see I’m not the only one who took a beating on this one. Like Barry, I disagree about using “Some mousses” for HAIR GELS. I use mousse all the time, and I think of them as aerosols (which fit perfectly in the answer grid, BTW), not gels.
I also hesitated over EST for auto insurer’s request. But then I remembered the last time I had an accident, they told me to get an estimate from the body shop for the repair.
We studied the LAKE POETS in HS., but I could only fill in POETS at first, and had to get a couple perps before I could dredge LAKE out of the cob-webby recesses.
21D At last! One that came immediately, because I lived in Milano for a while. The DUOMO was “the” meeting spot, next to the Galleria (shopping mall).
I like SUITORS for ones going to “court”, near CANOODLE. Cute. And I thought CALLER IDS was a great clue for “revealing numbers”. I also liked CAMO for “Outfit you don’t want to be seen in”. Clever.
All in all, it was one of the hardest Saturdays I have seen in a long time. But I really enjoyed the challenge, and the satisfaction of getting it done (with a little help from gg). Have a great day everyone!
C.C., et al, UNCLE! 12 empty cells dumped me into the DNF enclave! Corners were triumphs but oh that middle. Even my first fill of DDR for GDR betrayed me although that corner was a success eventually. Poets were not LAUREATES, ornamental flowers were not LILACS, entrapments are not SNARES and Asian enlightenment is not TAOISM. Humility is good for the soul. I think.
Have a great weekend my friends!
Hi all,
It took me an hour to make my way down to the tropics, and had to look up Evans, Gert and duomo ...too rough for me, so DNF. Thought BBQ Grill was clever; in fact, it was all just too clever for me.
Have a lovely day. We have sun...no snow, but is chilly.
Dennis, I'm hoping you had a restful night.
You know you've been at a crossword puzzle too long when you return to a quadrant and remember all the clues without having to look!
It took some Googling, but somehow I managed to finish. Strange thing was the cluing was so esoteric that often this blog was number one on my results list! (I have a rule in such cases -- I don't enter the blog, but just take the answer if I see it from the brief snippet of preview text Google displays. If it isn't there, I try to use another source.)
For the first half hour, there wasn't an answer I filled in I felt confident about. Which of course meant there wasn't a guess on the perps I could feel good about. And so on.
Have to wonder: CONED? Is that really a word? I wanted conic, but maybe that's the one that isn't a word. Other than that, there wasn't really a clue/answer combo that in hindsight didn't make some sense or that I had to come here to make sense of.
It was the foresight that was the problem.
I congratulate C.C. on getting us through this one, no matter how much cheating she had to do. Definite DNF for me.
I gave up twice. The first time was after having GDR--a gimme, DUOMO, and only a couple of others that were still there and correct after going through the blog. Second time was after finishing the sudoku and coming back and getting all the NE quarter out. Much of the rest I figured a bit at a time as I cheated one clue at a time with the blog. Far too many complete unknowns to enumerate. I did think CAMO was clever after C.C. gave it to me.
I always thought German DEMOCRATIC Republic was oxymoronic, and that contradiction was how I remember it.
This was too hard for me, and with no theme to enjoy, not much fun. I did it with red-letter help. I'm sure reading the blog will be more enjoyable for me.
I agree with Denny and wondered if CONED is a word. Conic certainly is as in the conic sections you study in second-year algebra.
A few additional musings;
Aren't all flowers ornamental?
Never heard ofs included AFC, LAKE POETS, TANTRA, NEC, SARDI, ERNANI.
Have I mentioned before I don't know.like. or ever remember names?
Well enough griping for this week. Enjoy the weekend all of you!
Good Morning All, I really like Diana RIGG, but remembering her 1997 Emmy was one of many WATERLOOs in this puzzle. So was GAI, I SAW (Esau), ERNANI, GERT, DUOMO, TANTRA and CHO. Oh yeah, there were many others that I probably should have figured out like BBQ GRILL. I definitely had to come here to fill in the blanks.
As a sometime user of HAIR GEL, I agree with most of the rest of you. This site says they are different too. Hair mousse vs gel.
Phew, I did know the LAKE POETS and Mary Ann EVANS, but it doesn't surprise me that they were common stoppers
Jeannie from yesterday, I had heard that tomato slices may soon to be a "you have to ask for it item" for hamburgers on many restaurant menus. Salad bars will be pretty scanty too. BTW, the carrot soup sounds tasty. I bet a nice little glop of sour cream topping each bowl would be good too.
Clear Ayes, The Corner has been vindicated by your link to Hair mousse vs. gel link!
I forgot to thank you, C.C., for an outstanding job under extreme pressure !!
One more thought: Traveling in Europe in the '80s messed things up for me on the GDR answer, because I remembered only seeing DDR on the cars, which is how the Germans spelled it (DDR= Deutsche Demokratische Republik).
As a result, 1A was almost the last word to fall for me. It wasn't until I gave up on that that I was able to figure it out (I kept trying to think of what sort of "drill" would leave a mark on a dog -- and that was leading me to the alternate meaning of "dog" as slang for foot, and "drill" as a type of martial exercise. Sometimes, you can overthink these things.)
Yeah, I thought the claim to be the more "democratic" republic was laughable too, but then, that's what communist propaganda was all about.
Hi.
Heard that tomorrow's will have an
Oscar theme. Lots of names.
Funny, people were talking about Ames and how that eagle nest was empty because one of the eagles was
shot. Papa eagle is sitting on the egg this morning at Luther Coll.
He is covered with ice and snow.
Woulda, coulda finished this one
if there wasn't a hockey game.
39 degrees in San Jose presently.
Take care.
Remember, it's only a poem and before anybody gets riled by the last line, let’s accept that, in this case, “the believers” (lower case “b”) means anyone who doesn’t agree with our own philosophical, political or religious views. :o)
O KARMA, Dharma
O KARMA, Dharma, pudding and pie,
gimmie a break before I die:
grant me wisdom, will, & wit,
purity, probity, pluck, & grit.
Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind,
gimmie great abs & a steel-trap mind,
and forgive, Ye Gods, some humble advice--
these little blessings would suffice
to beget an earthly paradise:
make the bad people good--
and the good people nice;
and before our world goes over the brink,
teach the believers how to think.
-Philip Appleman
Count me in as DNF. Ouch is right! I had too many guesses that were incorrect..."Conic", Lake"towns", AFL", etc. etc. Glad that a few of us were all in the same boat.
Speaking of boats - as in "Sit down! Sit down! Sit down! Sit down! Sit down you're rocking the boat"! Off to see a production of "Guys and Dolls" today with a cast of 8-14 yr. olds. The Sky Masterson part is played by a 10 yr.old who does a better job of singing the part than Marlon Brando did in the film! (Brando? What were they thinking?)
The sun is out. Have a great weekend all.
Wow!
Glad to see that I wasn't alone.
The NE was the last to fall for me. Dead poets had me all messed up as well as VIN instead of EST. Tried GER and DEU for GDR.
I'm usually a pencil and paper solver but had to come online today for some red letter help.
Some fun fills once a few more letters got filled in and corrections made.
Have a great rest of the day. I'm off to get some sewing done.
Thanks CC and Bob
Sorry to kick the trend, but I did finish this one unaided, did not reach my wit's end, and enjoyed the challenge. I just took it slow (while watching the Wolves vs. Man U. game on FSC), real slow. Lots of clever clues with "everyday" words/phrases answers, and only a few obscure names.
QUITE SO jumped out early, of course. And I naturally wanted to pen in RIGG (who wouldn't?). But then I had DDR, which is A correct answer, not THE answer; so BBQGRILL took a long time to light up.
The LAKE POETS and DUOMO were shoo-ins for us EUROS.
Took a while to find WATERLOO. The word is lodged in the "Magnificent example of kicking French butt" section of my memory banks, rather than "fiasco".
SPOON=CANOODLE is "informal, dated" - pun intended? - in my MacDictionary.
AMES IOWA might have been clued better. "Home of anthrax?"?
LIEIDLE was practically IMPARSABLE, but got there in the end.
NC
Hello everybody. Wow, this was a hard one today. Took me about 2 hours and many lookups, but I did finish it. Left me feeling rather neutral toward it: some really good clues and fill and some rather lame ones too.
Good ones: BBQGRILL, DENTIST, and CANOODLE. I nailed DENTIST.
So-so ones: KARMAS, NEC, ATEN, and CAMO.
At first I had NES instead of NEC, then wondered what the heck a SAMO is. I wouldn't want to be seen in a CAMO, but I like looking at my wife wearing one.
More later maybe, after I read all your comments.
Denny and NC,
If it had needed DDR, it would have been clued with some German in the clue, viz. Ost Berlin's Land. I thought of that too, of course. And of course, I can almost hear NC saying "Quite so!" with a nice English accent.
Denny,
Don't be fooled, we're subjected to propaganda every day here too--in fact, it's so well done, most of us don't realize that it IS propaganda.
Hi number three ~!
kazie, I said the same thing at the clue for LILIES - uh, aren't all flowers ornamental? Even in the sense of pollination, aren't they ornamental for that very reason?
Again, I finished, but this one was tough, which makes the cynic come out in me....
Splynter
Another example of how we all know and are good at some things and don't know much about other things: I knew Gert Fröbe because I was so impressed with his performance in Goldfinger I read up on him. Also knew Mary Ann Evans from some long-ago literature course. But I did not know Lake Poets, Rigg, or Ernani, for example. Well, I know who Diana Rigg is, but not from that clue.
Sorta like my knowing John Wesley Shipp surprised Clear Ayes the other day. LOL
I agree NEPHEW and DROID were neat-o.
Latah ...
Wait, CAMO isn't short for camisole? I take back what I said earlier! LOL
Hi C.C. & gang,
My wife had to leave early to SLAC for a bowl game like Jeopardy this morning, It's a Science quiz for kids today and they have buzzers like Jeopardy too. She'll take pictures of the events also.
This made today's puzzle my Waterloo, this is a clip from the hit song by Abba.
Good Day{ or what's left or it}C.C.and all,
Ye Gods,C.C., how in the world did you survive that blog? Great Job! in my mind-Impossible. Thanks.
I got the NW, no look-ups, in way over an hour, and dabs of white out. But what is GDR? Thr first time I have ever heard of it.
The SE was unfinished. I had thought of CANOODLE, at first, but the 'c' didn't fit; Ha! TANTRA was new to me; CHO,who? BROOKED, I doubt it; I've looked. AFC,phooey.
Other Stuff: QUITE SO is just a little too British to not have an
'Essex' in the clue, IMO.
As has already been said, what flowers are not ornamental? unless this is again a quasi British term.
NEC- stands for what? How can they be a competitor? who are they?
Also, I didn't think GAI was right.
LEGSIT doesn't get it, but LAKE POETS was in a dim corner of my mind. The overall word usage seems more British, down to GDR which would be more familiar in Europe.
Anyway, those are my thoughts.
Have a nice day everyone.
Hi Everyone ~~
All of my problems and complaints have already been mentioned. Even after having to give in to a number of look-ups, I didn't understand some of the answers. Thank you C.C. for your wonderful write-up. I needed your explanations for some things to make sense, i.e. CALLERIDS ... I was looking at one word. The only answers I felt pretty sure of when I started were DENTIST, SUITORS and PIEMAN. I don't think of SEMIPRO as being 'part-time,' and maybe a better clue for AMES IOWA could have been Skunk River 'location' instead of just 'city.'
I enjoy challenging puzzles but this one was frustrating for me. Oh well ... it is Saturday after all!
Take care ~~ enjoy the evening ~~
@Creature:
GDR stands for "German Democratic Republic" and NEC is a Japanese multinational IT company.
I solve in ink. Easier to see the words and I like the feel of the roller ball. Because of this I learned to never enter a word or phrase unless I'm positive I'm right. Broke that rule right out of the gate. Entered FLEA BITE for BBQ GRILL. That, of course, started my barroom brawl with Mr. Peoples. I never went down, but I'm hurtin'.
Speed solvers are doing this puzzle in 6 minutes.
Good afternoon, C.C. and gang - well, I got through it, but it wasn't pretty and took me a good half-hour, not counting three walk-aways. Each time I came back to it, I was able to fill in a couple more spaces until finally there weren't any left.
I loved the puzzle - good and hard, with awesome cluing. Favorite was 'Outfit you don't want to be seen in.'
Jerome, six minutes? Hell, I spent six minutes just trying to find something to put in the NW.
JD, thanks very much for the thoughts - very considerate of you. Fortunately, it's a rare occurence anymore, and yes, I got a good eight hours last night.
Thanks, Barry- I know I had looked them up. My point was that I felt these were more European/British than American common knowledge. Including Dame Diana RIGG and Jas. Clavell.Even LAKEPOETS and Goldfinger.
I'm accepting defeat with a glass of wine.
After about 40 minutes...sure there were two trips to the kitchen for coffee...I posted my comments, a poem, and went on to load up TurboTax to work on our taxes. Maybe not as challenging as the puzzle, but for today, much more productive.
I'm looking forward to an Academy Award puzzle tomorrow. Fair warning, it will probably be full of names.
Creature, we're a couple of hours earlier than you, but that glass of wine sounds inviting. I be joining you soon.
Jerome, six minutes? How droll! Anything worth doing takes more than six minutes!
DNF here ... glad to see I'm in such classy company!!! I had Flea Bite for 1 across...the *i* fit with ideas...and the *f* I wanted to fit someway-somehow with From Memory...ooops. I had NFL for AFC. But it was fun and I learned some new *stuff*, which I will promply forget...but what the hey!!!
I think the theme of the puzzle should be 61 across...FROMHELL.
Have a wonderful weekend.
I HOPE 'The King's Speech' wins everything for which it is nominated!!!
CA-Just looked up TANTRA, 'cause the wine was first and dicovered
it is a helpmate with Kama Sutra{SP?} to enhance my sex life..well anyone's , I suppose. That lovely word just lying there and I bet all of you knew it all along. Goodness, Bob, Thanks.
Clear Ayes- I agree. But I'm pretty sure that the winner of the A flight speed soving final at this years American Crossword Puzzle Tournament gets ten grand. That's decent enough incentive for the speeders to hone their skills.
Dennis- Yeah, the NW was killer. As I said, I put FLEA BITE for marks on a dog. My other blockheaded Norwegian boner move was entering HELSINKI for AMES IOWA. Where the hell did that come from?
Jayce, you had me wondering what kind of games you and your wife played where she wore camouflage clothing; my mind went all over the place.
Do Norwegians dislike Finns?
Dennis, I was right there with you solving this puppy. I cannot fathom how anyone can do this in 6:05 like Amy Reynolds lists as her time today. In case you all did not notice Bob Peoples did both LAT and NYT today, and many were stumped.
I know many do not like talking about time, but our friend Rex Parker thought yesterday’s puzzle was the hardest LAT Friday this year. And he did not finish this one today.
For those who hav e been around for a while, we had AMES IOWA before in a Dan Naddor puzzle, which is the only reason I am not familiar with the river and have never been to the city, though like Iowa, they had great wrestling teams when I was wrestling in college.
Lemonade, I read "40% harder than any LAT Saturday."
DNF as in Did Not Fancy ,, or. Deffinetly Not Fair
Ad attack .. no. attack ad
Skunk River city ( not locale )
Part time ... Semi Pro ?? Tell that to a Taco Bell cashier
Rigg, Duomo, Evans , Camo, Brooked , Coned, Sardi , etc
And my fav. Revealing Numbers instead of number revealers,
Am sure I'll take my frustration out on Monday and Tuesday's puzzles and finish em in under 5 min .
Jerome, probably not a good place to mention the Norwegian boner move. I'm sure wherever Lois was at 5:16CST, she went "WHAT?!?!"
Heck no, counselor, Huckleberry and I are quite close.
A very special Thank You to CC for placing the Gai-jin explanation at the very top of the introductory comments.
It's not too often that I have to cheat, but today was definitely one of those days. And just that one answer was enough ... entering the GAI after giving up with the puzzle only 40% done, gave me a nice long string of crosses and a completed puzzle.
And I am really, really embararassed about having to do it this way, because for 19 years I actually lived in Japan as a GAI-jin!
Hola Everyone, A DNF for me today. I worked on the puzzle off and on for most of the day and finally gave up. I had most of it done, but the SE corner Attack Ad, From Hell, and Canoodle were only partly filled in. Brooked was an unknown which crossed all three of the above.
My missteps were the same as others made and I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one who had a hard time today.
CA, from yesterday. Sorry, but I don't bet on a sure thing. Since the precipitation came before the cold air, I thought snow was a myth that the weather people were trying to put forward. LOL.
Thank you C.C. for a wonderful writeup.
I think I will come back before chatting about poetry, wine or the Oscars...would seem to be an interruption...which I'm trying very hard to break.This is a group who discusses substance. :-)
It is time for that glass of wine.
well, I certainly did not make any sense. Did not see any comments after 7:03; didn't grok the Huckleberry thing.
CA, I did want to say I enjoyed your poem choice today.And, I am ready to cheat on tomorrow's xwd; I have my Almanac open to the Academy Awards. Alas, it only goes to 1999.
After today's drubbing, I decided to tackle the Sunday CW early, for some sense of exoneration. It took an hour without peeking. I think you'll like it!
G'Night All -
After the first run-through left me with about 10 fills total, I was tempted to just throw in random letters and then turn on the reds... how much worse could I do?!
Things did get a little better the second time through (VERY little), but this was bar none the hardest puzzle I've done since I started with C.C. and the bunch at the Star-Trib! (Been lurking a loooong time before I came out last year.)
Looking forward to a nice easy Sunday, now. :-)
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