Theme: Nine to One - Six theme-answer nine-letter words, each of which is only a single syllable. Not to mention a pair of eleven-letter unifiers. This brilliant puzzle isn't typical Dan Naddor. It's not typical of anyone or anything. It is special, unique, exquisite, and technically awesome.
23A. *Poker holdings : STRAIGHTS. This is a holding of five cards in sequence, such as 8, 9, 10, J, Q, irrespective of suite.
31A. *Subdued : SQUELCHED. To squeeze, squash and crush something, often before it gets a chance to start moving - nip in the bud.
38A. *Prepared to jog : STRETCHED. Gave the muscles a gentle warm up. Athletes should do this, and musicians, too.
45A. *Stained : SPLOTCHED. A splotch is an irregularly shaped spot, stain or discolored area. Rather an ugly word, I think.
11D. *Pocketed the cue ball : SCRATCHED. Actually, SCRATCH refers to a variety of fouls in cue-sports. This clue is just one case.
30D. *Fortes : STRENGTHS. The word forte, meaning strength, comes to us from Latin, via old French. This puzzle shows us Dan's fortes. All the theme answers start with "S." This & 23A are the only ones to not end in "ED."
And the unifiers:
17A. Feature of the answers to starred clues : NINE LETTERS
55A. Feature of the answers to starred clues : ONE SYLLABLE
Hi gang, It's JzB your humble trombonist, who was lucky enough to finish off a truly wonderful day with this great Dan Naddor offering. The grid looks like a Saturday themeless, but I don't recall ever seeing a weekday puzzle with so much thematic density. Also, four additional 9-letter words in the fill, along with five 7's. Yikes! Of course, this caused a large number of 3 and 4 letter answers. Still the average length is 5.22, which is between Thursday and Friday average.
Across:
1. Sierra Nevada resort : TAHOE. On Crystal bay, near the CA border.
6. Like some checking accounts : NO FEE. One more reason to love my Credit Union.
11. Scand. land : SWE Sweden. Abrv in cl & ans.
14. Observe Yom Kippur : ATONE. Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of ATONEMENT. I'll let one of our resident experts elaborate.
15. Neptune's realm : OCEAN. Neptune is the god of the sea.
16. When repeated, a Latin dance : CHA. Better than "half a dance" I suppose.
19. Children's author/illustrator Asquith : ROS. Unknown to me. You can read about her here.
20. Icky stuff : GLOP.
21. Common flashlight power source : C CELL. Batteries.
22. Endure : LAST Energizer bunnie batteries.
25. Actor Dillon et al. : MATTS. Let's see -- Damon, Smith, Bomer, plus the guys who play bass trombone and tuba in the symphony with me.
26. Hwys. : RDS. I'll take the highway, you take the road, and I'll get to the welcome mat afore ye!
27. Chinese discipline : TAI CHI. There's more to this than just hand-waving. Actually, a lot of body control - a bit like ballet in slow motion. And I love that pink outfit.
28. Cut's partner : PASTE. Word processing.
34. First N.L. 500 home run club member : OTT. Our most likely baseball player shows up with a new fact. I did not know that!
35. Indictment : ACCUSAL. A little legal help, please.
37. "__ pales in Heaven the morning star": Lowell : ERE. The opening line of PHOEBE by James Russell Lowell.
40. Less refined : RUDER.
42. Degree requirements, at times : THESES. The plural of THESIS, a requirement for an advanced degree. To be more refined, I will eschew repeating what said about this word the other day.
43. Convert to leather, as a hide : TAN. Did your parents ever threaten to TAN your hide?
44. Minor cost component : CENTS. Minor parts of U.S.D.
51. Ship of Greek myth : ARGO. I believe it had starched sails. Jason and the Argonauts went on a quest for gold and got fleeced.
52. European toast : SKOAL. Skandinavian - from the Old Norse word for a drinking bowl. Not to be confused with a French toast.
53. Fit : HALE. HALE and hearty. Not to be confused with Laurel and hearty.
54. Living in Fla., maybe : RET. I, OTOH, am RET in MI.
57. Morse unit : DAH. I thought Morse Code was dots and dashes, so this gave me a bit of a pause.
58. Racket : NOISE. The loud sound of a fuzzy ball hitting STRETCHED threads is the tennis racket.
59. More repulsive : VILER. Like some of my attempted humor
60. Many IRA payees : SRS. Only the ones who are RET.
61. Landlord : OWNER.
62. Really dumb : INANE. Like some of my attempted humor.
Down:
1. Zesty flavors : TANGS
2. Leaning : ATILT
3. __ society : HONOR. For the best students.
4. Cocktail preparation phrase : ONE PART. That's the Vermouth. Add to four parts London Dry Gin. Swirl with ice. Pour over skewered olives in a stemmed, slant-sided glass. I suppose other garnishes are optional.
5. Sushi fish : EEL. I'll pass, thank you.
6. Tally symbol : NOTCH. As on bedposts or belt buckles?
7. Large wedding band : OCTET. Here is an example.
9. Viscount's superior : EARL. This rank in the British peerage was first noted in 1440. It was intended to not be hereditary, but nepotism is an awesome force. A baron ranks lower.
10. One-third of ninety? : ENS. Two ENS in six letters.
12. Obligatory joke response : WHO'S THERE? Knock-knock. WHO'S THERE? Banana . . (Does anyone remember elephant jokes?)
13. Park Avenue resident, e.g. : EAST-SIDER. New York City, I guess. I'm from the East Side of Toledo, which has Zero cachet.
18. ER tests : ECGS. Electrocardiograms, aka EKGs.
22. Secular : LAIC. Of or relating to the laity, those not of the clergy.
24. Imagines : IDEATES. Think about it.
25. Young food court loiterer : MALL RAT. Here's the trailer.
27. Afternoon service : TEA. And the perfect way to celebrate your unbirthday - if you're not RUDER than an intruder.
28. Gift shop items on a rotating stand : POSTCARDS. Very true. Dan got me here.
29. Where to see a caboose : AT THE REAR. Of a train, sometimes. Here is Loose Caboose a CHA-CHA by Henry Mancini, from Breakfast at Tiffany's - still my all time favorite movie score album. Great trombone solo by Dick Nash. The movie itself was 11 kinds of horrible, the lovely Audrey Hepburn not withstanding.
31. USC or NYU : SCH. Of course, I entered Col. Four Yrs after I entered Col, I was a grad.
32. Prov. on James Bay : QUE. QUEBEC. This is the FR spkg pt of Can.
33. Amer. currency : USD. U.S. Dollars, for those who have the sense.
36. IV units : CCS. Cubic centimeters, a measurement of volume.
39. __ perpetua: Idaho's motto : ESTO. I believe this means "Potatoes forever!"
41. "__ My Heart": 1962 #1 R&B hit for Ray Charles : UNCHAIN. Baby, let me go!
43. Going rate? : TOLL. The fee to travel on a turnpike. This simple pun is an example of what makes Dan's puzzles so delightful. Cf 46 D.
45. Coil of yarn : SKEIN.
46. Western chasers : POSSE. Here they come. A group of insane clowns, perhaps? Cf 43D.
47. Ply : LAYER. I love those seven-ply cakes!
48. "¿__ usted español?" : HABLA. Do you speak Spanish?
49. Paula's "American Idol" replacement : ELLEN. I am proud to say I have NEVER wached it.
50. Steel plow developer : DEERE. Nothing plows like a DEERE!
52. Winter forecast : SNOW. Please, no more. I am SO tired of plowing.
55. John Lennon Museum founder : ONO. A different clue for Yoko. I didn't know there was a John Lennin Museum.
56. VII x VIII : LVI. Roman numeral math. I got it from the perps.
Great fun with this wonderful puzzle from Dan. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I even learned a few things, though I did not do the math.
Answer grid.
Cheers!
23A. *Poker holdings : STRAIGHTS. This is a holding of five cards in sequence, such as 8, 9, 10, J, Q, irrespective of suite.
31A. *Subdued : SQUELCHED. To squeeze, squash and crush something, often before it gets a chance to start moving - nip in the bud.
38A. *Prepared to jog : STRETCHED. Gave the muscles a gentle warm up. Athletes should do this, and musicians, too.
45A. *Stained : SPLOTCHED. A splotch is an irregularly shaped spot, stain or discolored area. Rather an ugly word, I think.
11D. *Pocketed the cue ball : SCRATCHED. Actually, SCRATCH refers to a variety of fouls in cue-sports. This clue is just one case.
30D. *Fortes : STRENGTHS. The word forte, meaning strength, comes to us from Latin, via old French. This puzzle shows us Dan's fortes. All the theme answers start with "S." This & 23A are the only ones to not end in "ED."
And the unifiers:
17A. Feature of the answers to starred clues : NINE LETTERS
55A. Feature of the answers to starred clues : ONE SYLLABLE
Hi gang, It's JzB your humble trombonist, who was lucky enough to finish off a truly wonderful day with this great Dan Naddor offering. The grid looks like a Saturday themeless, but I don't recall ever seeing a weekday puzzle with so much thematic density. Also, four additional 9-letter words in the fill, along with five 7's. Yikes! Of course, this caused a large number of 3 and 4 letter answers. Still the average length is 5.22, which is between Thursday and Friday average.
Across:
1. Sierra Nevada resort : TAHOE. On Crystal bay, near the CA border.
6. Like some checking accounts : NO FEE. One more reason to love my Credit Union.
11. Scand. land : SWE Sweden. Abrv in cl & ans.
14. Observe Yom Kippur : ATONE. Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of ATONEMENT. I'll let one of our resident experts elaborate.
15. Neptune's realm : OCEAN. Neptune is the god of the sea.
16. When repeated, a Latin dance : CHA. Better than "half a dance" I suppose.
19. Children's author/illustrator Asquith : ROS. Unknown to me. You can read about her here.
20. Icky stuff : GLOP.
21. Common flashlight power source : C CELL. Batteries.
22. Endure : LAST Energizer bunnie batteries.
25. Actor Dillon et al. : MATTS. Let's see -- Damon, Smith, Bomer, plus the guys who play bass trombone and tuba in the symphony with me.
26. Hwys. : RDS. I'll take the highway, you take the road, and I'll get to the welcome mat afore ye!
27. Chinese discipline : TAI CHI. There's more to this than just hand-waving. Actually, a lot of body control - a bit like ballet in slow motion. And I love that pink outfit.
28. Cut's partner : PASTE. Word processing.
34. First N.L. 500 home run club member : OTT. Our most likely baseball player shows up with a new fact. I did not know that!
35. Indictment : ACCUSAL. A little legal help, please.
37. "__ pales in Heaven the morning star": Lowell : ERE. The opening line of PHOEBE by James Russell Lowell.
40. Less refined : RUDER.
42. Degree requirements, at times : THESES. The plural of THESIS, a requirement for an advanced degree. To be more refined, I will eschew repeating what said about this word the other day.
43. Convert to leather, as a hide : TAN. Did your parents ever threaten to TAN your hide?
44. Minor cost component : CENTS. Minor parts of U.S.D.
51. Ship of Greek myth : ARGO. I believe it had starched sails. Jason and the Argonauts went on a quest for gold and got fleeced.
52. European toast : SKOAL. Skandinavian - from the Old Norse word for a drinking bowl. Not to be confused with a French toast.
53. Fit : HALE. HALE and hearty. Not to be confused with Laurel and hearty.
54. Living in Fla., maybe : RET. I, OTOH, am RET in MI.
57. Morse unit : DAH. I thought Morse Code was dots and dashes, so this gave me a bit of a pause.
58. Racket : NOISE. The loud sound of a fuzzy ball hitting STRETCHED threads is the tennis racket.
59. More repulsive : VILER. Like some of my attempted humor
60. Many IRA payees : SRS. Only the ones who are RET.
61. Landlord : OWNER.
62. Really dumb : INANE. Like some of my attempted humor.
Down:
1. Zesty flavors : TANGS
2. Leaning : ATILT
3. __ society : HONOR. For the best students.
4. Cocktail preparation phrase : ONE PART. That's the Vermouth. Add to four parts London Dry Gin. Swirl with ice. Pour over skewered olives in a stemmed, slant-sided glass. I suppose other garnishes are optional.
5. Sushi fish : EEL. I'll pass, thank you.
6. Tally symbol : NOTCH. As on bedposts or belt buckles?
7. Large wedding band : OCTET. Here is an example.
9. Viscount's superior : EARL. This rank in the British peerage was first noted in 1440. It was intended to not be hereditary, but nepotism is an awesome force. A baron ranks lower.
10. One-third of ninety? : ENS. Two ENS in six letters.
12. Obligatory joke response : WHO'S THERE? Knock-knock. WHO'S THERE? Banana . . (Does anyone remember elephant jokes?)
13. Park Avenue resident, e.g. : EAST-SIDER. New York City, I guess. I'm from the East Side of Toledo, which has Zero cachet.
18. ER tests : ECGS. Electrocardiograms, aka EKGs.
22. Secular : LAIC. Of or relating to the laity, those not of the clergy.
24. Imagines : IDEATES. Think about it.
25. Young food court loiterer : MALL RAT. Here's the trailer.
27. Afternoon service : TEA. And the perfect way to celebrate your unbirthday - if you're not RUDER than an intruder.
28. Gift shop items on a rotating stand : POSTCARDS. Very true. Dan got me here.
29. Where to see a caboose : AT THE REAR. Of a train, sometimes. Here is Loose Caboose a CHA-CHA by Henry Mancini, from Breakfast at Tiffany's - still my all time favorite movie score album. Great trombone solo by Dick Nash. The movie itself was 11 kinds of horrible, the lovely Audrey Hepburn not withstanding.
31. USC or NYU : SCH. Of course, I entered Col. Four Yrs after I entered Col, I was a grad.
32. Prov. on James Bay : QUE. QUEBEC. This is the FR spkg pt of Can.
33. Amer. currency : USD. U.S. Dollars, for those who have the sense.
36. IV units : CCS. Cubic centimeters, a measurement of volume.
39. __ perpetua: Idaho's motto : ESTO. I believe this means "Potatoes forever!"
41. "__ My Heart": 1962 #1 R&B hit for Ray Charles : UNCHAIN. Baby, let me go!
43. Going rate? : TOLL. The fee to travel on a turnpike. This simple pun is an example of what makes Dan's puzzles so delightful. Cf 46 D.
45. Coil of yarn : SKEIN.
46. Western chasers : POSSE. Here they come. A group of insane clowns, perhaps? Cf 43D.
47. Ply : LAYER. I love those seven-ply cakes!
48. "¿__ usted español?" : HABLA. Do you speak Spanish?
49. Paula's "American Idol" replacement : ELLEN. I am proud to say I have NEVER wached it.
50. Steel plow developer : DEERE. Nothing plows like a DEERE!
52. Winter forecast : SNOW. Please, no more. I am SO tired of plowing.
55. John Lennon Museum founder : ONO. A different clue for Yoko. I didn't know there was a John Lennin Museum.
56. VII x VIII : LVI. Roman numeral math. I got it from the perps.
Great fun with this wonderful puzzle from Dan. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I even learned a few things, though I did not do the math.
Answer grid.
Cheers!
JzB
85 comments:
Good morning, Jazz, C.C. and gang - what a fun Naddor puzzle! (Yes, I know that's redundant.)
There were stretches where I thought, wow, this is pretty easy, even for a Wednesday, and others where I just stared at the paper and waited for something to happen. I screwed up the SE by putting 'able' for 53A, 'Fit', and since the last two letters worked, it took a while to straighten out. Needed perp help for Ros Asquith. 'Mall rat' is just the latest term used to describe kids looking for a place to hang; back in my day, we were called 'drug store cowboys'. As always, I loved the longer answers, especially since they had Dan's unique twist.
Jazz, nice job with the blog. Regarding the morse code, we learned it as dits and dahs, dits being the dots and dahs being the dashes.
Today is Old Stuff Day. Supposedly a day to do something different than the same old stuff. This being roughly my 50th consecutive work day, sounds like a good idea.
Did You Know?:
- In the late nineteenth century and earlier years of the twentieth century, when gramophones or phonographs amplified the sound through large horns, woolen socks were often stuffed in them to cut down the noise; hence the phrase "put a sock in it."
Good morning, JzB and Dan Naddor, always a great combination. Thank you. So much themeage, and a different way to unify. I thought GLOP and SPLOTCHED fit together nicely, as well as USD and CENTS. I also liked the shout out to Roman mythology with the water god NEPTUNE, and GREEK mythology with ARGO and my namesake. The pun in OCTET was also fun.
An INDICTMENT is the formal charging document for a crime, which handed down by a GRAND JURY, then to be heard by a PETIT JURY at trial. In modern times, prosecutors can also begin criminal proceeding by INFORMATION, which bypasses the Grand Jury.
The Martini in the ad is a VODKA MARTINI, I believe.
Blue Dolphin Martini Vodka, Blue Caracao Liqueur, Grapefruit Juice 4 : 1 : 1 Twist
Finally, MALL RATS was Kevin Smith’s follow up to Clerks , which was actually filmed at the convenience store where Smith worked, and both part of his Jay and Silent Bob series.
Lemonade, is Jalmar a secondary name?
Good day folks,
An enjoyable puzzle today that had me a bit perplexed for a while. I had to rely heavily on perps to complete some of the longer fills, but eventually I finished .......... with one screw up. All our flashlights have D Cells so even though I never heard of a EDGS (18D), I went with the D. My second choice would have been E. C was not ever considered. Oh well!
Some fun clues today. Favorites were:
Ens/ one third of ninety
toll/ going rate
octet/ large wedding band
Jazz, as usual, a very entertaining write up with enjoyable links.
Enjoy your Tuesday,
Hondo
Thank you, Jazz, for an excellent write up.
Good puzzle today. I was worried early on with all the blank space but after my workout and more caffeine, the brain finally kicked in. Very enjoyable!
32 degrees felt like spring this morning. A couple of cold days coming up but 40s over the weekend! We'll be in shorts up here!
Have a good day everyone!
I'm afraid I don't get Large wedding band : OCTET.
It seems OCTET refers to an eight prong setting, not the size of the ring. If it refers to eight musicians, mavbe.
Argyle, yeah, I think he was going for the musical band angle. At least, that was my thought.
Argyle,
Re: OCTET.The link is just Jazzbumpa's typical humor!
Husker Gary,
So what does "Husker" mean? I always associate it with corns.
Good Morning, folks! Really enjoyed this Dan Naddor puzzle. Too bad he is gone. Great write-up Jazz. Enjoyed the caboose link. Thanks for posting, C.C.
I got TAHOE first and EEL, but the others weren't obvious so I went south and started with OWNER. All that filled in pretty easily, except for HABLA. I forgot it started with an H. As a result I had ABLE for HALE. My spanish is pretty much restricted to one word, CERVEZA.
Really like the theme answers, nine letters and one syllable. really clever.
28D was good, POSTCARDS. That is one of my hobbies, sending postcards to friends and family whenever I travel.
To Argyle: OCTET seemed to me to refer to a musical group.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
I'm celebrating: a rare Dan Naddor that I got with no lookups! Thoroughly enjoyed JZB's write-up too. LOL at his ESTO comment.
The NW was hardest for me, not ever having played poker, STRAIGHTS came very slowly. I also had SEEMS before NO FEE occurred to me and I changed to FEELS. I've never heard of ECGs, and wanted EKGs in the worst way. I have no idea of NY geography and EASTSIDER only evolved from perps. LAYER took a while too since I always spelled SKOLL that way.
Otherwise it all fell in fairly easily.
Hey, Jazz, are you a man, or woman? Do you actully play trombone? Please let me know. Bye, bye!
Jazz; Wonderful write-up !!!
WOW ... A Dan Naddor FUN Wednesday.
I agree with Dennis, ONE-PART seemed easy ... then I thought it was Friday. oy veh!
Last to fall was that HONOR Society.
I was ATILT in that NW corner.
My fave (of course) was SKOAL.
Thanks,Dennis for the trivia about the sock, was unaware. Didn't know the term "mall rats". Got the theme almost immediately but actually had difficulty with the answers to the clues. Liked it!
Apropos of yesterday's conversation, tonight at 10:00pm on the Travel Channel is a one-hour segment on bacon dishes. I'll be watching with a drool bucket.
Wow! What an elegant puzzle! It was even more impressive when the second unifier appeared! Editors must not have noted the day of the week but it was very “gettable with effort.”
Musings
-Nice Job Jazz! French Toast and Tennis Racket!!
-My flashlights use D Cells and I never DAHed
-At every meal, my father-in-law would say, “Eat Hearty, not Laurel!”
-Shaken or stirred? Nope, ONEPART.
-Cut and DRIED, nope PASTE
-I don’t usually associate OCTET’s with pop music
-Cabooses have gone the way of the buggy whip
-I need to get STRETCHED for Y today.
-I had nice 18 holes in spectacular 62F weather yesterday. Sunrise today = 9F. Yikes!
-Favorite grandfather knock knock. Who’s there? Olive. Olive who? Olive you!
Happy Hump Day, all. Great write up, JzB. I'll have to go back and check out the links.
Dan's simple but clever puns and misdirections slowed me down but didn't stop me. OCTET would have except that the perps gave it away. ROS was a total unknown, but it probably was to Dan, too, until he Googled for something to clue a fill he was stuck with.
Hand up for wanting EKG, but now I'm wondering how it ever got abbreviated EKG in the first place. I guess I'll have to Google it.
Morse units? DIT, DAH or DOT. Put in the 'D' and let the perps fill. Same with the power source. I filled in _CELL and knew it would be 'C' or 'D' since there aren't enough spaces for 'AA' or 'AAA'. There are a few other cells, such as 'N' but they aren't common for flashlights.
Thank you, Dan, for a delightful Wednesday.
C.C. Corn Husks are the green plant material that cover an ear of corn on the stalk. Before mechanized farming where combines pick, husk and shell the corn on the move, farmers picked the ear and removed the husk by hand and tossed the ears into a waiting horse drawn wagon. Hence, the name Corn Huskers shown in this picture.
Nebraska took its (no apostrophe Kazie!) nickname from that skill and still holds annual competitions.
To close the loop on modern corn husking, here is a Corn Picking 2010 video replete with a country song full of farm country philosophy.
If you choose to watch some of the video, notice the equipment that is worth millions of dollars. These farmers run HUGE operations with risks (weather, prices, insects, etc) that would make a Las Vegas bookie quit the business.
Hi There ~!
Yeah, me too, I had DRIED before PASTE, and here's my "two CENTS"....
I was thinking this was a better octet, too - ah, JzB, you got me, and I still laugh at the Blazing Saddles speech - watching the movie on regular TV, I never saw the TOLL booth scene - thanks for the new laugh ~!
I was very proud of the fact that back in high school, I was able to win the longest word of one syllable contest with STRENGTHS - and Dan goes and finds five more, then writes them into a crossword AND adds the unifiers, too - it's an HONOR to work his puzzles ~!
eddyB, I'm rooting for the Canucks - the f*^%$ing NY Rangers (of midtown, not the EAST SIDE) keep throwing away one-goal games - I'm playing hockey today...
Splynter
Hi gang -
Actually, I was playing it straight with OCTET. This page shows the octet picture I linked - 6th one in the first row. The second one also says octet if you hover over it. I don't know nuthin' 'bout no jewelry, so I take this stuff on faith.
I guess Dan got me again.
@ davewollenberg -
Geeze - nobody's asked me if I was a man since that one strange night long ago on Fire Island. I'm sure you remember.
And I play a lot of trombone. Sat the jazz band played at a homeless benefit, we had a concert performance last night, another coming up on the 12th. Kicked off with this arrngement, nicely plyed here by a H.S group. . Symphony concert on the 11th. Sibelius Violin Concerto and Elgar's Enigma.
Jazz band is going to Chicago, May 5-8. I'd love to see our Chicago friends while there. Drop me line.
Cheers!
JzB who has absolutely nothing in the tank today
ECG is English, EKG comes from German. I don't know how it came to be common here. Maybe the equipment comes from Germany. That's just a guess, though.
Cheers!
JzB who has in fact never been to Fire Island
Hi again ~!
Well, let me just add, JzB, that I have been to Fire Island - they have a very cool boardwalk that shows some of the lovely foliage - it was part of my elementary school's field trips.....
But we never went near "Cherry Grove"....
Splynter
Good Morning All, Wow, just about everything worth saying about Dan Nador's latest puzzle has already been said.....at it is only 8:30-ish in California.
Yarn is sold is 45D/SKEINs. Yarn is made up of "plys", which are individual strands (47d/LAYERs?) that are twisted together. Knitting yarn can be complicated. Then, there is crochet yarn and embroidery floss, which is also plied.
My only comment on OCTET is adding the following link to the 8-piece Irish wedding band The Wondertones, who sound pretty much like most wedding bands I've heard through the years. Formerly "Kerplunk'd", the Wondertones changed their name, apparently in order that they wouldn't be confused with the another band, "Kerplunk". (It's a jungle out there!)
As usual, Jazzbumpa's blogging was terrific.
WOW. what a fantastic, theme-rich puzzle, and an equally fantastic write-up to do it justice. no surprise on either count. very colorful s-------- words, and the bonus nine letters and one syllable unifiers - just brilliant. who's there is great fill, and i got a snicker seeing atone under tahoe. thought i was so smart putting FARE for going rate, but perps set me straight. great clue.
"potatoes forever" … lol. thanks for the ray charles link, love it.
something interesting i learned at tracker school - i knew that the softest hides are made using brains. what i didn't know was that every animal has just enough brains to TAN their own hide. i have been tempted on a few occasions to try it on my kids.
glop. ew. reminds me of those horrible velveeta commercials that were airing while i was pregnant.
i'll drink any martini i'm served, but all parts gin is my favorite.
on a happy note, sometimes good things come in anonymous packages. yesterday i received an envelope full of cash - a few friends wanted to 'pay it forward' after the $$ was stolen from my wallet last week.
Idaho's motto 'Esto perpetua' - ( let it) I perpetuate/ Let it be perpetual.
Jazz, very great writeup !!! ... for a very great puzzle - by a very great puzzlist.... but many solvers ( especially me ) are not that smart - not to take you too seriously. Mild suggestion - the correct answer should also be included.
Good day, Puzzlers!
Brilliant puzzle! Outstanding blogging, Jazz!
What a delight to sprint around this one, had to, to find a toehold and then went to town. Soooo clever!I started with TARTS before TANGS, GIFTCARDS then POST CARDS, and hand up for DCELL.
Very surprised to see DAH instead of dit or dat.
Loved:
going rate, TOLL
one-third of ninety, ENS
TAICHI is difficult as Jazz noted, takes discipline and balance, something I am just now recouping.
We always have music and dancing at weddings but never an OCTET, usually CDs.
Have an amazing Wednesday, everyone!
Question: Why did the (not too educated - ) beauty contestant refuse to represent Idaho, at the Miss America pageant ?
Dennis:
Thanks for the origin of "put a sock in it." Never knew that.
anyone else get blitched and lose their profile pic? for some reason mine disappeared and i had to re-enter it.
Good Afternoon Jazz, CC and All,
This work thingy is getting in the way of my fun, hence the late post.
What a fun puzzle and a rare completion with no help on a Wednesday, and a Naddor to boot. Nice long fills and great cluing.
To top it all off, a superb write up Jazz.
Have a great Hump Day.
Good afternoon everybody.
Jazz, a superb write up. I had many laughs from your wit.
I have trouble with long answers. Did today too. Missed the NINE LETTERS which didn't help the NW side. Have never played poker or shot pool. So was at a disadvantage today.
But it was fun anyway.
Cheers
anon @11:17
Your suggestion is a good one. Alas, I don't always have total control of my faculties in the middle of the night.
Melissa - when I asked about parents tanning your hide, that is DEFINITELY not what I had in mind.
Cheers!
JzB a trombonist of little brain
Good morning JzB, C.C. and all,
Brillant puzzle from the master and a very fun write-up as usual, JzB. Love your humor any day. Thanks for the visual for ninety.
Thank goodness for the few no thought answers(snow, argo, ellen, Tahoe, eel...)so I could perp away at those long ones. I added the ers and the eds just for any foothold in some places which worked for me.One hole short of completion.
Did not fill the C in ecgs, as any battery letter wouldn't look right.
Favorite clues: western chasers and obligatory joke response "who's there?"
In school, if she wasn't a nun, she was a lay teacher, but never really thought of the different forms(laic,laity) of that word.
Melissa, interesting about tanning with brains..funny. You must be a very good friend, but why am I not surprised.
Thx to Lucina, Dennis and Bill for answering my question last night about Medico.
James Russell Lowell's "Phoebe" was not familiar and I was ready to check our more familiar Amy Lowell.
Sorry Jazz, no harbingers of spring yet. How about Amy Lowell's ode to winter and 52D/SNOW.
A Winter Ride
Who shall declare the joy of the running!
Who shall tell of the pleasures of flight!
Springing and spurning the tufts of wild heather,
Sweeping, wide-winged, through the blue dome of light.
Everything mortal has moments immortal,
Swift and God-gifted, immeasurably bright.
So with the stretch of the white road before me,
Shining snowcrystals rainbowed by the sun,
Fields that are white, stained with long, cool, blue shadows,
Strong with the strength of my horse as we run.
Joy in the touch of the wind and the sunlight!
Joy! With the vigorous earth I am one.
Great puzzle, with just a few gripes.
I agree with others here -- most flashlights use d-cells, so to me, a c-cell would not be a "common" power source for a flashlight.
And I too never learned "dah" as a Morse Code reference, but I've been doing crosswords now long enough to know that apparently there are a lot of variations out there.
Could get absolutely nothing in NW at first except OCEAN so moved on and came back later. Thus, I thought for the longest time the theme must have something to do with the words having the letters "ch" in them, since the first three I got had them.
One final small gripe: This was more like 4 separate little crossword puzzles owing to the blocking created by the black squares, so success in one area didn't offer much perp help in the others. When I returned to the NW, all I had to help me out was the "t" in PASTE and an errant "c" in CREATED, which I'm sure I probably wasn't alone in filling in instead of IDEATED.
But somehow, I toughed it out and ended up finishing and corrected that mistake.
Still, it always strikes me as somewhat of a cheap trick when constructors do that, as it seems like it saves constructors the difficulty of having to integrate all of the vertical and horizontal words.
Love your blog. A cup of coffee and my attempt at finishing the puzzles together make for a wonderful, stimulating, educational morning.
Just wanted to comment on your inturpretation of today's 7D. I thought it referred to the music group playing for the wedding reception, not the size of the ring. Oh, well.
Hi.
First. Real nice Naddor puzzle. No
problems.
Splyter. Your team and my team both
won OT and SO games last night. I have to stop watching them because of my heart. Agree that Vancouver will probably win conference.
Calgary vs Chicago on TV tonight.
Take care.
cherylptts, welcome to the blog; hope you continue to post.
And I believe your interpretation of 7D is correct.
Even though I got 17A nine letters, I still didn’t get the one syllable tie in until that answer emerged. I thought this was a great Dan Naddor puzzle. I always need a little help though and had to hit the g-spot for Ros Asquith. I also had a little trouble as I read the clue “stained” as “strained” at first. I also had “rawer” for ruder so that slowed me up a little bit too. My favorite today was 1/3 of ninety – ens…very clever.
Jazz, a very fun write up today. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a picture post of Matt Damon.
Melissa, what a wonderful thing your friends did for you. Also, I just looked up tracking school. Were you learning how to track man? I may have to take that course!
All That!! After sleeping a little late and taking the dog for a walk, everything seems to have been said. I did think that it would fit better tomorrow, but that's an opinion and not worth the paper it's (Yeah, one's there) not even printed on.
My take on ECG/EKG: There is also an EEG and in the rush of an emergency, using EKG would eliminate confusion over shouted orders.
I just assumed 7D was a musical band. Didn't help, OCTET wouldn't come.
My nitpick: Tahoe is a lake with over 40 miles of shoreline. If you google Tahoe Resort, you get Tahoe shores, Tahoe pines, Resort at Tahoe, Resort of Tahoe; but the first actual Tahoe Resort that shows up is on Lake George, NY. How about 'vacation destination'??
Have a good rest of the day, all
Good Day C.C.,Jazz and all,
Jazz, nice write-up. Still need to check some links.Thanks.
This was another puzzle that I studied for a while, after finishing. The theme, with unifiers, was brillant. I finished w/o look-ups; and all questions have been answered by my fellow posters, including shared favs.
It is close to being my all time fav puzzle. Thanks Dan.
CA, thanks for your great poem.
'Everything mortal has moments immortal'- took me to when I wasn't so chicken,and my horses were alive and full of vigor.
'Strong with the strength of my horse as we run'.Thanks.
Also, nice knitting link. Are you a knitter? Off and on, I will pick up yarn and needles and a spinner.
Dennis, I'm glad you asked about the JALMAR post. I assume it is Lemonade.
Back later.
Have a nice day everyone.
Just had to thank Jazz for a terrific write up! Loved the French Toast link...now I'm hungry. Filled in the OCTET clue but didn't actually think of a band at a wedding until I came here...Doh!
I am always thrilled to find a Dan Naddor puzzle and this was exceptional. I did some of Dennis' head scratching and put in, erased, and then reentered many of the same letters...like Jeannie I started with RAWER and I had to rethink as I figured out the perps.
We hung the Show yesterday and so today I am finally allowing myself a bit relaxation after a very focused 2 months of work...YAY!
A good Wednesday to you all.
Hello everybody. I haven't yet read your comments, but I have to say right off the bat that I loved this puzzle. JazzB stated it so well: "It is special, unique, exquisite, and technically awesome." I totally agree.
Once I had 31A, 38A, 45A, and 11D in, I thought all answers to the starred clues would end with CHED, which hindered my getting 23A and 30D for a while.
Now I'll read what yawl had to say and maybe say some more. Latah ...
Good Afternoon Jazzbumpa, C.C. et al.
I actually worked this little gem at 6:00 this morning. Before I could post my comments, we had a couple of brief power surges that knocked me off line.
By now, everything has been said. So I'll just add my thanks to our dear Jazzb for his humorous and informative blog, and wistful thanks to Dan Naddor, who must be looking down and smiling at us all for enjoying his clever puzzle.
Have a great evening, everyone!
That was an unusual puzzle for a Wednesday. Well, unusual for most any day I'm guessing. I really enjoyed it. For some reason I had trouble reading WHOSTHERE going down though it was filled in with crossing words.
Yesterday, we were contemplating peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Today I cut up a perfectly-ripe banana with some blueberries from Costco, covered them with some half and half and added a little bit of sugar. Nice treat. Soon I'll be hungry again and have some leftovers from the soul food restaurant. It was all OK but the cornbread was really good.
Want to have a good laugh? Here's a video of a baby enjoying the very simple pleasures.
Denny- You and I must be looking at two different puzzles. Today's grid is wide open, big time. It's miles away from being "four separate little puzzles". In fact, it is very rare to see a Wednesday puzzle this wide open.
As far as a constructor's "cheap trick" goes, that's simply an unwarranted slur. Constructors do not use them and never have. They don't exist. Well, I suppose they do. But only in the mind of a solver who was outwitted by someone much more clever than they.
Jayce:
Being a native "Suthuhnuh,' it`s "ya`ll"
Hello Puzzlers -
I enjoyed the time with Dan today, but managed to get that NW all bollixed up. For one thing, I misread to 4D clue as "cocktail prep phase". FACECARDS fit for 23A before I knew about the theme, and of course I assumed that Yom Kippur was all about partying.
Husker - BIG John Deeres, that's what I'm talkin' about! Around here we don't have that many big flat acres, so harvests are done with much more diminutive equipment. My visit to the Deere factory at Waterloo was a treat - that's where they build the 200 to 400 horsepower tractors, the ones that we just don't see much around here. My Deere tractor is just 46 HP.
Denny -
Think about these aspects of the puzzle: It is special, unique, exquisite, and technically awesome.
When Dan was alive, he commented here occasionally, and one thing he taught us is that there are trade-offs in construction. I alluded to that with word length. It also applies to grid geometry. Look at those stacked nines and fives!
The 15 x 15 grid is a stark limiting factor, yet the the variety of creative output we see in that small universe is amazing.
Jeannie - just for you, my dear.
Cheers!
JzB
Awww Jazz you're sweet. That's just the pick-me-up I needed after today's slog at the office!
Anonymous @ 3:18 PM: Thanks, I know it's "ya'll". I deliberately typed "yawl" as a humorous reference to that word's appearance in a previous puzzle. (It's a type of boat, or ship, like "sloop" or "ketch" or "bark", etc.)
And yes, I know the commas and periods should go inside the quote marks, but I like to put them outside because I think I think they look silly inside. (I often put the period outside the parentheses, too).
(Sometimes inside, too.)
I'm fickle. LOL
Re: knock-knock jokes
Two of my favorites:
Knock. Knock.
Who's there?
Interrupting cow.
(and as the person asks..) Interrupting (you yell "Moooo!) cow who?
the other? You ask the person to start the joke..
Say knock-knock.
O.K. ...knock-knock.
(then you say) Who's there?
(they will look at you and say) "I don't get it"
Hola Everyone, Thank you JazzB for a great writeup and to Dan Naddor for another super puzzle.
I had Goop for Icky stuff and Seems for Strikes one as for the longest time, so the NW area didn't fall until the very end.
I managed to get all of the One Syllable, Nine letter words but it took some doing. I had to look up ROS Asquith and C Cell didn't come readily so I had an empty cell for this answer. Tried Dit and Dot, but Dah came with difficulty. I'm glad to see that others also had to pause here.
I think, since this is Old Stuff Day, that I'll try to get rid of some the old stuff that is clogging up my closets. I've got to start somewhere!
Dennis:
I took your "Old Stuff Day" to heart.
Finally, after over a year, I got Charlie's Estate settled.
It's tough enough when your best friend dies.
Then, when his daughters and brothers, leave it up to you to dispose of the personal "things" it wears on you like "an albatross" around your neck.
Today was a GREAT DAY.
SKOAL to all at Sunset.
Knock, Knock!
Who's There?
Dwayne.
Dwayne who?
Dwayne the bathtub! I'm Dwowning!
Tinbeni, Your post got to me. I'm so touched for you.
Tinbeni, good job, good news!
Hi, amis,
What a great puzzle! HeartRx put it nicely: a little gem! I don't usually wax that enthusiastic about a puzzle, but this Dan Naddor is a wonder! And JazzB, your take on all the puzzles you blog is always informational and very funny, so it's been a very happy A.M. Well, I got it done at a quarter to noon, so that's still A.M. It's taken me this long to get around to reading and commenting and then I kept dozing off.....! No, I wasn't bored, just sleepy! I think!
As usual everything has already been said, so that lets me off the hook. Bill G. I have been giggling along with that baby..and some others! Hysterical , and so cute! Thanx all of you!
Tinbeni,
I had many of the same feelings when disposing of my moms possessions. I truly wished during that time there was a sibling or two to help me. There wasn't.
@Denny
You made some astute observations. Please continue to contribute.
Anon - Ummm, doesn't "Y'all" make more sense than "Ya'll"? I'm just sayin'.
I apologize for the confusion last evening, as I do correct email for a company, and do that directly in their account and forgot to switch back to my own. Ah well, maybe I will see what I am doind again one day
This is for you Windhover.
Y'all
Dudley: Of course it is "Y`all" and when you include everyone, it`s "all y`all!"
"This brilliant puzzle isn't typical Dan Naddor. It's not typical of anyone or anything."
That's great writing, Jazz. There's a lot in those two seemingly simple sentences.
Regarding the dots, dashes, dits and dahs in Morse Code, when you are verbalizing the code, it is much easier to say "abc is di dah, dah di di dit, dah di dah dit" as opposed to saying "dot dash, dash dot dot dot, dash dot dash dot". Try it and see how much less movement of the tongue and mouth is involved using dits and dahs. More modern teaching techniques discourage verbalization of the code and encourage associating the total sound of the combination of tones with the letter rather than going through an intermediate translation step.
I use to be able to send and receive code at 15 words per minute. That is fairly slow compared to people that are really proficient in Morse code.
I see that Philip Roth was honored with the National Humanities Medal today by President Obama. The only one of his works I recall reading was 'Portnoy's Complaint'. It was sometimes referred to as 'The Gripes of Roth'.
(apologies to Steinbeck)
DH doesn't really use it much, but one of my dear friends from N.O always writes "Y'all" or "All y'all" in her emails. One evening the girls from the book club decided to stop for a drink at the local restaurant where the ROTC was meeting. The hostess decided it would be fun to introduce all of us, because she is a little matchmaker. After some small talk with the seated gentlemen, my friend blurted out "I don't know where y'all come from, but down south, a gentleman would offer a lady a chair!". You never saw such a quick shuffling of seats in your life!
Bill G @ 2:42, I almost peed my pants laughing at that baby!! OK, I did pee my pants. But don't tell anyone, or they will put me in the home...
Heartrx: Getting in on things "Southern": Three things a southern lady always knows: Where to get her hair and nails done, who has the best coconut cake recipe and how to coax gentility out of the most hardened Yankee oaf! (It`s taught to them/us at their/our Mother`s knee!)
Grumpy 1:
The Gripes of Roth, I love that as it's exactly how I felt after reading Portnoy's Complaint and never read another one of Philip Roth's books again.
it was a glorious 71 degrees here today and I wished all day I could send you all some warmth. I hope the cold is abating somewhat.
I pulled the "Interrupting cow" and "Dwane" knock-knock jokes on my wife and grandson. They went over great!
I've used the "Say knock-knock" reversal for years. Once I pulled it on one of my wise-guy friends. I asked him if he wanted to hear a knock-knock joke. He said OK. I said, "Say knock-knock." He did. I said, "Who's there?" He quickly said "Awg." I asked, "Awg who?" He grinned and said, "Awg go &*#% yourself." He got me.
Hey, y'all! Meant no disrespect to the late great Dan Naddor, and I agree, I could never do what he and the other brilliant constructors do (and I know that without the need for snide reminders).
But I'm sorry, this puzzle was divided into almost discrete sectors -- perhaps not 4, but there's no question the NW was almost wholly separate from the rest of the puzzle.
Maybe it's just the way I tackled it, but almost nothing from the rest of the puzzle crossed into that sector, offering none of the usual toehold effect you get by completing a quadrant.
Seen:
Thanks. I've driven by there many times. Didn't it originally say "Florence Mall", or was it always Y'all?
Never mind. Went back and read the Wiki entry, which I should have done the first time. Good story, and who says politicians can't solve problems?
Tinbeni, SKOAL and a HUG/SMOOCH to you tonight. It's never easy letting go; and tying those last odds and ends together is tough. It's just another closure you might have not been ready for. It seems today was the day. Sleep well my friend.
Heart Heavy, Jeannie.
One more...Here's to Charlie and YOUR friendship of many years!!!
SALUTE!
Anons give me a break, I know I spelled it wrong and did on purpose. Some of you have no sense on how we play on words here.
Arbaon, she definitely has the best manicured nails and coiffed hair, has the men falling all over her, and I'm sure she knows how to make a mean coconut cake1
Bill, delightful baby link.
Hahtool @ 4:59..loved it.
Cherylptts, WELCOME. Come have coffee with us more often.
So. Lake Tahoe IS considered a resort, even though it does have a pop. of roughly 24,000.There are enough motels/hotels/campgrounds for us all to meet there for Hot August Nights.
Jerome -
Thank you, my friend. That means a lot to me.
Tinbeni -
A hard job well done, sir. Sleep well tonight.
I thought the plural of y'all was y'allses.
We rehearsed with our soloist tonight - a Korean girl who is a high school senior. She's terrific - we're going to have a great concert.
Cheers!
JzB
creature, Jayce, Jeannie, Jazz:
Thank You for your comments.
I don't want to sound too maudlin ...
But when it comes to "getting rid of" a family members, or in this case, my best friend's, material things, it can be a bit tough.
That is why I like this Blog.
We share our apporach to the days offering ... but then we share, a bit, about our lives.
I feel like I have a group of friends, who after I complete the LAT crossword puzzle each morning, I get to talk to ...
Y'all are the best.
Yeah, Y'ALL ... that's how we spell it Florida!
Also, I like that we don't complain about a theme, or too much crosswordese, or whatever in a puzzle.
We just LOVE solving ... and sharing a little about our lives, too.
You guys are THE BEST !!!
Denny, if you're still up. My favorite was a NY times that was only connected by little more than 4 full length answers. Basically 9 discrete areas. A couple of the areas had only 2 or 3 squares coming in. I never got a toe-hold on one section, a total DNF. But a cheap trick? No, a well thought out puzzle. I can't complain when my ability is not enough to solve a puzzle. Well, I can and do, but it's not against the constructor.
JzB, your description of this puzzle nailed it! Also, I'm definitely having french toast tomorrow - some of those looked incredible.
Tinbeni, I've been there too. It took hurricane damage to finally get me to go through my mother's things. Sending a toast your way, if you don't mind me doing it with whipped cream flavored vodka...
thehondohurricane, I had a sister offer to help, but I knew she'd breeze through it and throw too much away, then years later lament not having anything of our parents, which she has done several times. It took me longer, but I savored each item and shed lots of tears.
In Pittsburgh, it's YINZ instead of Y'ALL. After being in Florida so long, y'all comes more naturally to me now.
Hahtool, I liked the Dwayne joke!
Annette:
"with whipped cream flavored vodka..."
Well ... that sounds like it would be PERFECT !!!
After Dad ... then Mom died (quite a few years ago) I thought ...
" OK, you only have to look after yourself."
Then ... I forgot "the friends."
Please, say to your best friend tomorrow "I really appeaciate your friendship!!!"
It was, in a sense, a downer, and an upper, today.
Now, that I notice it is after mid-night ...
A lllooonnnnggg walk on my favorite beach is in order at Sunrise in the morning.
Tinbeni:
That is one of the hardest things one has to do after a loved one dies, give away the clothes and other personal effects. I am with you there, my friend.
Hey, everyone, I bought some bacon today. My mouth was watering for some after yesterday's discussion. Another reason to love this blog!
Finally got around to this puzzle. I'm confused-sqelched, scratched, splotched, and stretched are two syllables--unless I'm misremembering grade school english.
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