google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, April 1, 2011, Dan Naddor

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Apr 1, 2011

Friday, April 1, 2011, Dan Naddor

THEME: Oh, those silly backwards Semites. Each of the three theme answers are written beginning on the right and working in the opposite direction. Talk about a puzzle being delivered in my wheel house, not only did I grow up learning Hebrew, but I am left-handed, so doing things backwards comes naturally. I wish I had a video of me trying to Iron. Anyway, welcome back, oops that is me.

17. Start of an aptly expressed linguistic observation: CIBARA DNA WERBEH. HEBREW AND ARABIC. If you read the Hardy Boy mysteries you know all about mirror writing.

31. Observation, part 2: DAER ERA. ARE READ.

45. End of the observation: TFEL OT THGIR MORF.FROM RIGHT TO LEFT.

Hello, it is I, Lemonade, back from a brief hiatus, only to appear where I left off with Dan Naddor, Alava Shalom, and a wonderful April Fool's Day deception. For all those who have complained about too much 3 and 4 letter fill, we have an average word length of almost 6 letters. As always, Dan includes many multi-part answers, with a 10,10, 15 top and bottom. leave it to Dan to do a pseudo quote puzzle in reverse.

All right, on with the show, which just for me features lots of law and Latin, and some really interesting Ukrainian humor.

Across:

1. Lexington and Concord fighters: MILITIAMEN. Oh Dan, how could you do this to a nice guy like me? Every New England child knows they were MINUTEMEN! But it did not fit. (no insensitive jokes about New England men, please Lois and Carol). Both started with MI but there was no way to get 10 letters...

11. XXXV years after the creation of the original Magna Carta: MCCL. Dan liked his Roman numerals to be math exercises, 1215 plus 35 = 1250.

15. Apple consumers?: ADAM AND EVE. A nice deceptive biblical reference, and perhaps a hint to our Hebrew theme.

16. River through Lake Brienz: AARE. How may rivers start with two As?We are back in BERN(E).

19. Duplicated: CLONED. Ah, the new world order.

20. Roma road: STRADA. The Italian version of the Latin word STRATA. My oldest is going back to Gabii for two months in June.

21. Word with sharp or trouble: SHOOTER. SHARP SHOOTER = accurate shot. TROUBLE SHOOTER, an outsider who comes in to fix things.

23. Hand: SAILOR. C'mon, you all know, "All hands on deck!"

24. Leagues: Abbr.: ASSNS, associations.

25. Like performances by the Wallendas: NETLESS, the famous circus FLYERS have lost many of their family because they performed without a net.

27. Place to build: SITE.

28. Flying need: PHOTO ID. This was the trickiest for me, because I got the "oid" part first. When I finally stepped back to realize how this parsed, I felt rather foolish.

30. Is down with: HAS.

32. Source of support: FAN.

35. It's about 325 miles east of Texas's H-Town, with "the": BIG EASY, and a quick hello to our Hebrew scholar, Hahtool (also Hebrew).

36. "Return of the Jedi" dancer: OOLA. You have to be a real Trekkie to know this unhappy DANCER by name.

37. Like Cologne and vicinity: RHENISH. This related to the Rhine valley and perhaps to the post World War I attempt to create an independent state.

39. Condescend: STOOP. I would never stoop to bad puns to entertain!

40. Fowl with a showy mate: PEAHEN. Mr. Peacock, no foul humor, now! Drat.

41. Herbal drink: MINT TEA. A wonderful Dan fill to tease you with the TT in the middle.

43. "Bewitched" witch: ENDORA. Brilliantly played by Agnes Moorehead.

44. Place with swinging doors: SALOON. Gunsmoke, anyone?

49. Abbr. on folk song sheet music: TRAD. Traditional.

50. Listed: ENUMERATED. A nice $5.00 word.

51. They have their pluses and minuses: IONS.

52. Fabled tortoise's trait: STEADINESS. Slow and steady wins the race!

Down:

1. Bud: MAC. So many meanings for bud.

2. First name in tyranny: IDI. An Amin after my own heart.

3. Checkup charges: LAB COSTS. Another multiple word answer causing a weird combination in the middle, ABC.

4. Inviting words before "Want to come over?": I'M ALONE. The wife has gone to shop?

5. Mystical decks: TAROTS.

6. Vacant: INANE. Vacuous, empty, senseless, blank, foolish, vacant, hollow, void, meaningless; enough?

7. Dangerous snake: ADDER. They are poisonous members of the viper family, and the only poisonous snake indigenous to Great Britain, I believe. NC?

8. Darn: MEND. Darn, these socks have another hole in them!

9. Mendes of "Hitch": EVA. Okay, one LINK for the boys. Followed by 11D. Hitched: MARRIED.

10. It may be a scoop: NEWS STORY. More multiples.

12. Plots: CABALS. This word is a form of the Hebrew Kabbalah, which is mysticism and secrets. The usage in English reportedly is associated with the CABAL Ministry under King Charles II, from the last names of the ministers. Sir Thomas Clifford, Lord Arlington, the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Ashley, and Lord Lauderdale.

13. Words to live by: CREDOS. Latin meaning to believe.

14. "The Merry Widow" operettist: LEHAR. We have had this COMPOSER before, in fact DAN, DON G. and BARRY SILK all have used this clue.

18. Latin term usually abbreviated: ET ALIA. More Latin for and others, ET AL, and our favorite Thursday blogger.

21. Window part: SASH.

22. Early Chinese dynasty: HSIA. No clue, so I read this LINK , C. C., your turn. (Note from C.C.: We can Hsia as Xia in China. Xia Dynstry is China's first prehistoric dynasty, followed by Shang & Zhou.)

25. Canadian young adult fiction author McClintock: NORAH. Nope, did not know this AUTHOR either.

26. Nice summers: ETES . By now a gimme for everybody, i am sure. Nice the French city.

28. Numbers in a corner, often: PAGINATES. Not a gimme, but I have edited a couple of books, and PAGINATION is a popular word in publishing.

29. Texters' amused syllables: HEES. TEE HEE, or HEE HEE?

31. Mexican bread: DINERO Spanish for money, that kind of bread.

32. What an asterisk may indicate: FOOTNOTE. In law books we also have Head Notes.

33. Lotion additive: ALOE. Phew, an easy one.

34. City WSW of Sacramento: NAPA, easy for you left coasters, but there are so many cities in Cali.

35. Lays eyes on: BEHOLDS.

36. Armchair partner: OTTOMAN, not be confused with the Empire which appeared in my last write up.

37. Hall of Fame defensive back Mel: RENFRO. Mel Renfro was number 20 for the Dallas Cowboys for many all-pro years; he played in 4 Super Bowls for the Cowboys, including number VI, where they beat the Dolphins.

38. Like hell: HADEAN. More Latin, ancient Roman HADES.

39. "Edda" author __ Sturluson: SNORRI. We have had reference to this ICELANDIC who influenced many of the early Scandinavian authors.

40. Coat opening?: PETTI. Petticoat Junction, the spin-off from Green Acres.

41. Volcanic fluid: MAGMA. I am not touching that.

42. Perjurer's admission: I LIED. Another law reference, because it is Friday and my day.

44. "Melrose Place" actor: SHUE. This is Andrew the BROTHER of Elizabeth, and for you ladies.

46. Explosive initials: TNT. For my personality?

47. __ judicata: decided case: RES. More law stuff, and Latin, it just means things,

48. Some alarm respondents: Abbr.: FDS, no not Feminine Deodorant Spray, Fire Departments.

Wow, with so many long words there are only 66 clues, so I am through early; hope you enjoyed the Return of the Lemonade and see you on the next page. Oh, I lied about the Ukranian humor, but it is April 1.

Lemonade

83 comments:

creature said...

Leaving early this AM, did puzzle last night. Wow! Dan Naddor!

Had ‘panera’ for longest time; finally went for money, .DINERO. Flying need was a bear to parse, and PAGINATES was filled [except the ‘a’] and I still didn’t know what it was..
I googled : RENFRO; SNORRI; SHUE; NORAH.

HSIA was perped and the ‘f’in 48d was hard to get.

Picked up clue for theme from letter arrangement ‘thg’. That gave me last line ,first, which gave me the ‘f’, then first line and middle.

The fill was certainly not mundane and the cluing was thoughtfully tricky.

How wonderful! Creative! Best ever.!

Have a nice day everyone.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Lemonade and friends You are so luck to get the Dan Naddor puzzle, lemon. I'm running very late this morning so will be back later with my comments.

Happy Anniversary to Windhover and Irish. Many many more happy years together.

QOD: Never think you've seen the last of anything. ~ Eudora Welty

HeartRx said...

RABBIT RABBIT

Good Morning Lemondae, C.C. ET ALIA

Wonderful write-up Lemonade. It was just as if you were right here talking over each clue with me. LOL at the “Ukranian humor”.

Let me ENUMERATE my experiences with this one.

Minute men? Nope MILITIA MEN.

I spent way too long at the beginning, trying to make sense of any of the letter combinations I was getting through the perps. Then I finally saw CIBARA DNA…. and had the light bulb go on. After that I filled in the rest of the quote without even looking at any more clues. So that was kind of a spoiler to this devilishly delightful Dan Naddor.

36A….you have to be a real Trekkie to know this unhappy dancer by name…or a constructor … or an avid crossword puzzle solver….

Have a great day everyone, and a very happy anniversary to you Windhover !

Anonymous said...

I imagine posters here tend to keep comments positive because this is more like a support group than a place where honest critiques of puzzles are made.

So, sorry to be the downer, but today's puzzle is dross.

To Mr. Naddor: If you prefer to create puzzles where answers read from right to left, do so for the Middle East Times.

Dross, Mr. Naddor.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Running late because I had to shovel out the driveway before taking my son to school and wife to the train. Happy April Fool's Day, indeed!

It's a pity that Dan, being dead, will never know the esteem our anonymous poster holds for him. Or maybe not such a pity after all.

Without making personal attacks on the puzzle's creator, I will say this one kicked me seven ways from Sunday and I did not find the experience particularly enjoyable.

Aside from the fact that I just did not get the theme at all while attempting to solve (maybe if HEBREW had been mentioned in the clue itself), I kept stubbing my toes on such "gems" as OOLA (I'm a diehard Trekkie, but not a big fan of Star Wars), RHENISH, HSIA, PAGINATES, HEES, NAPA (didn't know it was a city as well as a valley), RENFRO, HADEAN, and SNORRI.

I mean, seriously -- if you're going to go with a mind bending trick for the theme answers, at least have the decency to make the perps a bit less obscure.

[To be continued...]

Barry G. said...

Aside from the boatload of obscurities described above, I also had problems with the clues for some of the non-obscure answers. Like "Volcanic fluid" for MAGMA. No, Magma is what you call it when it's still underground. When it comes out of a volcano, it's called LAVA. Or "plots" for CABALS. That's probably completely accurate, but I've only ever seen CABAL refer to the group plotting and not the plot itself. "Vacant" for INANE may, once again, be perfectly accurate, but it's certainly not common usage.

And, on top of all that, I had to deal with being absolutely sure that 1A just had to be MINUTEMEN and therefore being confinced that today's April Fool's Day gimmick had something to do with creative misspelling or added letters. I was similarly convinced that ANON was correct for 49A, which hid the whole SW corner from view. I finally had to turn on the red letter help and start guessing letters to solve this.

[To be continued...]

Barry G. said...

I was going to complain about PHOTOID not being a real word, but then I came here and saw it was actually PHOTO ID. Not Dan's fault, but an indication of how fried my brain was by the end of the puzzle...

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

A BIG DNF today, never even gained a foothold. For Wellenda's performance, I thought "witless." little did I realize it was I. Nuff said... have no meaningful contribution today. Dan beat me up bad.

Just a follow up from late posts yesterday..... I have a real dilemma this weekend when Kentucky & UConn meet. Being from Ct, I'm in UConn's corner, but every time the Wildcats have won the NCAA tournament, the Yankees have gone on to win the World Series. HMMMM.

TGIF

Another ANON said...

I will be succint, and this is honest criticism. I agree with the previous anon. I saw Dan Naddor (RIP) and was excited. Silly me. 2 golden hours gone down the drain. Maybe he should have had the Cyrillic alphabet. As for the rest of you bloggers today, enjoy your mutual admiration society - really.

Splynter said...

Hi There ~!

Aside from our usual INANE ANON comments, this one was brilliant -

I think it was ADAM AND EVE above DNA that clued me into the backwards spelling, and since I started with MILITIA MEN, the NW was solid -

Gotcha, DAN, because you didn't get me ~!

And I think this might have qualified as a Saturday theme puzzle, there certainly was some obscurity.

I had to red-letter the L in MCCL, as it could ONLY by C,X,V, and I - oh wait, forgot 50.

Sorry, but I liked this one - a refreshing challenge....

Splynter

Anonymous said...

@ Barry:

I didn't mean to disrespect a deceased man. For that, I apologize.

Now...I have created a list of phrases that should never be used because they are inane (out of respect for the deceased Mr. Naddor, I chose the sugar-coated adjective "inane" instead of a more apt descriptor):

1)“to be honest,” “to tell you the truth,” and all variations thereof;
2) “it goes without saying” and “needless to say”;
3) “far from me to say”
4) “in this day and age”
5) “I’m sorry to say but”
6) “at the end of the day”
7) “when all is said and done”

So, Barry, thank you for #8: "seven ways from Sunday."

Mike said...

Right to left. D'oh!

Thanks!

Sadly, even after all that time I spent studying Hebrew, I still just don't get it.

Nuts.

Anonymous said...

Pretty new to Crosswords. Have to say I just started reading the comments. How sad I am to discover Mr. Naddor is no longer living. I was delighted by the inventive genius of the puzz today; even though I could not solve 1/2 of it! Thank You Mr. Naddor. And thanks for the April Fool puzz I'll always remember on my Crossword journey!!!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Lemon; thanks for your bright and interesting commentary.

WH - Happy Anniversary

What a nice treat to get a classic Naddor challenge on April Fool's Day. Couldn't for the life of me make any sense from the letter combinations in the theme fill spaces until I focussed on 'rbeh' and read it backwords and saw Dan's 'HEBREW AND ARABIC' "observation". This greatly facilitated the rest of the solve. Thought PHOTO ID and IONS WERE CLEVER. I appreciated the bright and fresh fill of RHENISH, SNORRI, ET ALIA, and PAGINATE. Keeps us on the edge.

MARRIED - Here is a tug married up to a barge shipment of coal.

Tinbeni said...

Lemonade; Super write-up.

Never got on Dan's wavelenght.
Finally just punted my Ink-Blot Test across the room.

DNF ... not even close.

Windhover, Happy Anniversary!
Seems to me April 1st brings a lot of activity for you. I hope they are all healthy.

At least the Sun has returned.

Cheers at Sunset.

See y'all in a couple of weeks.

Hahtoolah said...

This was probably the most difficult puzzle in my memory! What an April Fool's joke to be played on us.

Like others, I confidently started with Minute Men. Unfortunately, many of those letters fell in the correct spaces.

Like Mike, my knowledge of Hebrew wasn't helpful here.

Nice Cuppa said...

Thanks Lemonade and Dan, RIP

@Anon -the posters on this site are often critical, but they take time to explain why they didn't like or didn't get the puzzle. Simply telling us you thought this puzzle was "inane", "dross", or worse, is not useful to anyone.

@Lemonade - I noted you used "Semitic" in its proper and general sense.

Yes, the ADDER is the only poisonous snake native to the British Isles.

I too wrestled with MINUTEMEN for far too long, thinking the play started there.

Talking of wrestling, I was very proud of "SECONDERS" for "Numbers [as in one who numbs] in the corner, often", until it no longer fit.

Otherwise, tough but fair.

NC

Denny said...

Wow. For about 45 minutes I thought this was the most hellish puzzle and the late Mr. Naddor was a nudge and I was a complete idiot. Then, staring at the final line of the theme, 45 across, it suddenly hit me why all those letter combinations had looked wrong and had me questioning each perp that created yet another letter combination that simply did not exist in the English language. IT WAS BACKWARDS!!!

Suddenly, the puzzle was a delight, the late Mr. Naddor was a kind and humorous and clever man and I was a genius!

I do, however, agree with Barry G.'s comments about the imprecise nature of many clues and answers.

Somehow, though, managed to finish it, which makes me feel smart, and if it takes an hour of my life to make feel that way (and a modest measure of Googling), well, it costs a lot more on a shrink's couch!

Zcarguy said...

Hello all,
I was fooled by this one,, it could've been done in
GRAFTALAZIAN language and I would've had a better chance at solving it..!!

kazie said...

I concur wholeheartedly with Barry G. This whole CW was a mean trick. I struggled literally for over an hour trying to make sense of the backwards words, knowing the theme would be my only hope, when even after googling all the names, still had no idea.

Never got past PAL for 1D and VIPER 7D to arrive at 1A. Was so disgusted on seeing Lemon's revelation of the backwardness in his intro, I couldn't even face going through all the rest of the blog. I know there are some here, who in deference to the dead, will praise Dan to the hilt for this one, but I hated every moment I wasted on it. Sorry.

Razz said...

Hi CC & Gang,

BIG L you made it look EASY

My favorite was the junction of MAC with ADAMANDEVE. Just pure Dan...

Off to watch the subs race on this beautiful April day

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning. Good to see you back at your normal Friday slot, Lemonade.

Happy anniversary, WH and Irish.

As soon as I opened the paper and saw Dan Naddor and April 1 on the same page, I knew this was going to be one helluva bumpy ride. Little did I realize...

What little fill I had told me that the theme was either jumbled or backwards or in Latin. Enough of the first line finally emerged to see backwards AND ARABIC. From there I filled the rest of the theme. PAGINATES took soom undoing of PAGeNoTES to finally see. I've seen 'pagination' before so decided it might be related. ENDORA confirmed I was on the right track, although RHENISH just emerged through perps.

The other sticky spot was AAR e,n or o and the MCC whatever. Since I had never heard of LEHAR, that turned into a 'best guess' exercise. I finally settled on MCCL and AARO which gave me LOHAR. Looked good to me but unfortunately it kept me from completeing Dan's masterpiece.

Do we have one more from Dan?

eddyB said...

Hi.
Puzzle was pretty straight forward
except for the obvervation. That took some time.
Yippie! Got to 2nd seed. Now to hold on.
Take care in the NE. Doppler radar
looks messy.
Pinochle today.

eddy

JD said...

Good morning Lemonade, C.C. and all,

Seeing that this was a Dan Naddor puzzle, I was ready for a long sit.Barry, well said.I really could not have finished this no matter how much time or Googling ..too many words when in place I did not know:paginates, oola, rhenish, trad, cabals..but I sure liked trying.

Even the easy ones were iffy. I got the tea, but had to fill magma and ottoman to fill in mint.
strada, I thought via something, or Appian.

Happy anniversary Windhover!

Have a lovely day all.

windhover said...

Out here in flyover country, we have a saying:
"If it's easy, everybody would be doing it."

Folks, check your calendar. It's Friday, AND it's April 1st. You were maybe expecting an ego builder from the late great trickster, Dan? If you don't finish a puzzle, is the spent wasted?

OTOH,
Thanks for the good wishes. We've been hitched 5 years today, although we (as our Baptist friends call it) lived in sin for 15 years before that. Come to think of it, we still are. Original Sin, that is. ;}

Hondo:
Both UConn and UK are teams that peaked and jelled at the right time. Should be a good game.

erieruth said...

Too hard for me ... but this blog explains it all ... Thanks so much.

Bummer...Today is the last day the Jumble will be in the SJ Merc.

Have a great weekend

HeartRx said...

Tin, I hope you have a great time in Zagreb, but I suspect there will also be some "work" involved? Just a little?

Has anyone done the NYT puzzle today? Very interesting...

Anonymous said...

erieruth, the jumble isn't going anywhere. It was an April Fool's joke (April Fool is the answer to the Jumble).

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

I've run out of V8 cans. Even worse, Costco is out of strawberries, but that is a different story.

Biggest DNF Ever. Hate to say this about one of Dan's, but it was 95% slog, 5% fun. If not for SNORRI - who I actually happen to know of - there would have been no foothold anywhere.

I cordially dislike quip/quote/comment themes, and running one in reverse does not help. Might as well have been "ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" Crossing with made-up partials -- not so nice. Brilliant construction, for sure, but not any kind of pleasant solve.

___OTOID is still hanging there in front of me.

I guess I can't complain about H-town, since I go to T-town every Saturday. Did not go to town today.

Anon and Another Anon. I challenge you to start your own puzzle blog, and keep it running smoothly every day for several years. Then come back, and we'll compare notes. And visitor count.

Happy March 32nd,
JzB the HADIAN trombonist

cherylptts said...

Being a quilter, the first thing I noticed about this puzzle was how great it looked empty. And I must say, mine stayed that way for quite some time. Very difficult for a newbie.
It was beyond me, but must say I do appreciate Mr. Nadder's sense of humor on this April Fool's Day. Sorry to hear he has left this earth. Still trying to figure out "mac", and am learing that apple seldom refers to computers. Have a great day--no fooling.

Lucina said...

Good day, Lemonade, ET ALIA!

Happy Anniversary Windhover and Irish! and many more.

Yowza! Yowza! Yowza! I actually did not think about April Fools Day just thought it was Dan being tricky.

Since MINUTE_MEN didn't fit I slinked down to the SE corner and sashayed through it. Didn't recall OOLA but she emerged easily and I saw gibberish again at 45A.???

Went back up and slogged through it with the downs and MILITAMEN jumped out at me as well as ADAMANDEVE. it never occurred to me to read backwards just thought it was a madeup language.

Finally I Ggled the names Mel RENFRO, NORAH, SNORRI and LEHAR.

I can'[t say it was great fun but I do enjoy a challenge and this was most definitely that.

Have fantastic April Fools Day, everyone!

Mainiac said...

Afternoon Lemonade, CC and All,

Put me in the DNF club. I can blame part of the reason on the storm. What a mess. So was this puzzle. I was excited at first when I wrote in Militia Men and Adam and Eve seeing Dan's name on it. Then the brakes came on. After getting a few perps crossing the themes I was in WTF frame of mind. Never remotely thought to read right to left. Oh well. Not the first time I've had a Naddor ass kicking.

Great write-up Lemonade.

Happy Anniversary Irish and Windhover! You crazy kids keep it between the lines! (or should I say linens?)

Back to plowin'

TGIF

Husker Gary said...

Hi all, I have been doing the LA puzzle everyday for almost 2 years and have never run into this device. I usually count on the long fills to help and the juxtaposition of the letters frustrated me and I had most of Barry G’s complaints but am becoming more and more open to linguistic possibilities and I will puzzle on. Lemon’s write-up was a treat as well! I wish Windhover a happy anniversary and agree with his “Flyover Country” comment.

I turned down a sub job last night for a teacher whose room is a zoo and so I thought I could play golf today. However, the sub lady called at 7:15 (I was still sleeping) desperate to get a sub for the tech guy here and so I agreed and got to school one minute before class. I have been running on a weird circadian rhythm since then and might add some musings later.

Sunny and WINDY here on the Great Plains but 70’s will be here on the weekend. Fore!

Jeannie said...

I actually winced when I logged onto the puzzle and saw Dan Naddor’s name and realizing it was a Friday. Not a great day to pick to get back into the solving routine. Google must have made a lot of money off me today. I had never heard of the words rhenish or paginates, so at least I learned something today. I finally did catch on to the “backwards” theme when I saw daer era. Somehow that one jumped out at me. I am really good at figuring out the Roman numeral clues, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember the magna carta date as 1215. Once I hit the g-spot for that I was able to get that one. Oola, cabals, HSIA, and Res all came via a lot of red letter help and the perps. All in all it was a DNF but l do admire Dan’s effort in putting this puzzle together.

MFCounselor, you did a marvelous job blogging this one!

Heartrx, what is the significance of “rabbit, rabbit”?

Tinbeni, enjoy your business trip.

WH, thoroughly enjoy your day with your sweetie.

Nona rehtona tey said...

? siht si aixelsyd fo mrof tahW

.scino-rorriM

LaLaLinda said...

Hi Everyone ~~

WOW ~~ even looking up many of the answers, I found this puzzle impossible to complete. I agree with Barry and Kazie ... the backwards entries were tough enough, and then there were SO many unknowns. It took me a long time and it just wasn't any fun. I did like the clue for ADAM AND EVE even though it took me a while to see it. That, at least, is fair ... but words like RHENISH and HSIA?

I enjoyed your write-up, Lemonade. You did a great job on this one!

~~ Our 'winter storm' never materialized ~~

~~ THE HONDO HURRICANE ~~ I really think you should be in UCONN'S corner this weekend! ;-)

Enjoy the weekend!

dasbarn said...

I actually completed this entire puzzle correctly and still had no idea what I was looking at, an entirely new experience for me. Thanks for the help.

Bill G. said...

Like many others, I had a real tough time with this puzzle. It seemed like a themeless Saturday to me. If I had figured out the theme early on, I probably would have done better. So I ended up admiring it but not enjoying it very much.

Well, the Lakers have been doing well and the Dodgers are tied for first place.

VTQUILTMOM said...

Wow! Happy April Fools Day! Between the weather here today in VT and Dan Naddor's puzzle, I'm surprised I have any hair left on my head.
Needed tons of red letter help to finish but was so happy when I filled in the SE corner and had a few in the NW corner... along with what seems like the obligatory Minute Men. I stuck an 'a' in hoping it was a mutant spelling of minutiae maybe. When 'I'm alone' finally filled in, the light bulb when on for militia. But... that middle section was horrendous even after I figured out the 3rd part of the clue.

Thank you, Dan, for a great April Fool's puzzle and the tremendous workout this morning... since I didn't get to the gym!

I see I need an updated quilt icon now that it's April!!

thehondohurricane said...

LaLinda,

Fear not, I'll be pulling for UConn, both men and women. Wouldn't another duo championship be great?

Yankees can do it on their own w/o mystical assistance.

HeartRx said...

Jeannie, remember our discussion on December 1st? If you say "rabbit, rabbit" (some say "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit") on the first of the month, first thing in the morning, it is supposed to bring you luck for the entire month.

Unfortunately, I forgot to do it on January 1 (I blame the hangover for that)...if I had, I would be lucky all year!

Lucina said...

I'm sure Dan Naddor, wherever he is, is laughing uproariously at our fumbling! April Fools day, indeed!

Grumpy 1 said...

HeartRx, I checked out the NYT CW after your comment. WOW! Anyone that disliked this one is going to HATE! that one. By the time I figured out the 'gimmick', the grid was so messed up I had to print another one. Some really clever cluing made it even tougher.

Fave clue in this puzzle has to be 'Apple consumers'/ADAM AND EVE.

kazie said...

All simmered down now.

Lemonade,
After I was calm enough to take it all in, and filled in the back to front theme answers, I was able to pretty much finish the rest alone before reading your blog, which was well done, as usual.

I guess I just don't like being beaten so badly.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, I tried and I tried, but things didn't work out well for me today. Barry summed up my feelings almost exactly. This was a real April Fool on me.

I did want to thank Lemonade for the great writeup and comments about the puzzle.

Also I wanted to wish WH and Irish a very Happy Anniversary. Enjoy your day to the fullest.

Lovely weather again today and our fence is finished. Now, the concrete company is jacking out the old sidewalk that has been lifted by tree roots, so we'll have workmen here all next week, also.

Annette said...

I had most of the same frustrations as everyone else, but once I caught on to the R-L fill, most of my blanks were filled from that. I did still have to do some red letter guessing to finish, but I don't feel so beat up about it.

Knowing we're getting to the end of Dan's puzzles, and what he was going through while constructing them makes me read them with a different slant, and feel sad. Words today that hit me hardest were LAB COSTS, I'M ALONE, and mostly "Source of support": FAN brought me to tears...

Lemonade, thanks for parsing PHOTO ID for me. Oh, I did make it to ROK BRGR last week. Wow, those are huge burgers! I liked the upscale feel of the place. It almost felt like a steakhouse, rather than a burger joint.

HeartRx, I was told to steer clear of saying "Rabitt, rabitt" on April 1st because it would have the reverse effect!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Well, this was one heck of a hard puzzle! I can hardly believe I got through it and solved all of it without having to look anything up. As many of you have said, once the backwards stuff is figured out and filled in, a lot more becomes possible. Even after filling it all in, I still didn't understand some of it.

Hands up for parsing PHOTO ID as PHOTOID, like "factoid" or "android." Didn't see it until reading your wonderful writeup, Lemonade.

Once I got IM for 4D, I could hardly restrain myself from filling in HORNY for the rest.

For some odd reason SNORRI (at first I mispelled it as SNORRY) emerged, like a lumbering Grendel, from the dark recesses of my mind.

The one and only true gimme for me was LEHAR. Everything else was obtained only through a painstaking, step-by-step, across-and-down process.

Best wishes to you all.

Unknown said...

I gave up on this one!
April Fools Day is not high on my list of fun days.
I really hope that everyoe else found this one a fun run. Crosswords can be fun as well as interesting. I am not one to complain about the constructor. They do what they do and that is that.
I am on the way to an art show, so I won't be going back to finish. I am not that dedicated.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Thanks for the blog today, Lemonade.

Anonymous said...

Dan Naddor at his best!!

Anonymous said...

Good evening everyone.

Lemonade, I don't know how you did it. This was a real a- - kisser. (Of course I am right handed and never studied Hebrew. DNF.

Interesting run of comments. I agree that magma is not volcanic fluid (1st DH was a geologist, that's my source.)
Did get militiamen –from 2nd DH here present. Nine whole answers!

Congratulations to Windhover and the Irish for 20 (or 5) years of MARRIAGE.

Thanks, C.C. for this most addictive blog.

Cheers
(it's time!)

Jayce said...

kazie, I hear ya. I don't like being beaten badly either, and have groused about it on here several times. I once commented on here about how I realized that, deep down, I must harbor a sore loser. I've been working on that, but still don't like being beaten if I feel it was due to lack of fairness. Beat me fair and square and I'm okay with that. Cheating arouses my ire quickly.

Hahtoolah said...

Thanks for the shout-out this morning, Lemonade. This had me flummoxed so much that I forgot your kind words. Shabbat Shalom!

dodo said...

Hello All,

Creature, Icould copy your comment almost word for word. We might have been solving this together!
I even googled the same words! A great puzzle!

Now I'll read the rest of the comments.

Later.

kazie said...

WH,
Congratulations on 20 years of togetherness, official or not. After all, what's a piece of paper in the light of a durable relationship such as yours?

April 12 is the 40th since the day DH and I met. It's also the day I fly out to spend three weeks with our son and d-i-l this year. DH wouldn't leave the office long enough to go, and I feel bad about leaving that day, but couldn't arrange it any other way to fit between other commitments.

Jayce,
Thanks for understanding. I like to avoid google whenever possible, and Dan's superior knowledge base always seems to send me there, so I should be used to that by now.

Have a great weekend all of you!

Clear Ayes said...

Good Afternoon All, after reading the blog comments, I'm not sure if I should be pleased or aggravated that I haven't had time for today's puzzle. I love Dan Naddor's work, but this one sounded like a real trial. How apropos that Lemonade did the wonderful write-up.

Now that California is having a break from rain and wind, errands, shopping, outside work and social plans have come on like gangbusters.

Yesterday we were supposed to get a replacement for GAH's lost drivers license, but we had a surprise at the Sonora DMV.. "Closed for Cesar Chavez Day." There hadn't been any notice on their website (I'd checked for their hours) and nothing in the newspaper. Phooey!

Haircut today and friends to dinner this evening. Tomorrow is a "girl"friend's 90th birthday party. I'm helping out, so it will be an all day affair.

For WH and the Irish You're Still The One.

Tinbeni said...

HeartRx:
Yeah there will be A WHOLE LOT of work. Maybe a little "play."
It is Tax Season.

But the people there are wonderful.

Watching it go from Winter to Spring will be a fun change of pace.

But I will be able to get the Crossword Puzzle on-line. Should be available first thing each morning.

eddyB
# 2 seed is great.
(And you weren't catching #1).

Windhover, How many lambs do you expect this year?

Off to watch the Sunset.

Cheers y'all !!!

Jerome said...

Great puzzle Duck! Yeah, I know... I feel like smackin' 'em, too.

Oh well. But as Hahtool says,
Shabbat Shalom!

Hahtoolah said...

Kazie: Congratulations of 40 years with your DH. This Sunday (April 3) marks 29 years since my DH and I met.

Lemonade's comment about the ADDER being the only poisonous snake in Britain reminded me of the old BBC show BLACK ADDER.

dodo said...

Well, well, I just read everybody's two-cents worth and I'm still the last poster so far!

I never thanked you, Lemon, for your great blog. And Happy Anniversary, Windhover.

After a glimpse of those THREE LONG ENTRIES, none of which I got I thought I'd DNF. But then I decided I'd tackle the short downs. I always solve both ways as I go so it turned out that I did get quite a few. Lehar was a gimme and like you, Jayce, Snorri has been hiding somewhere in my memory and popped out. When all the letters were in, and after much puzzling over what I was sure there was some mistake with those theme(?) entries, I cam here and Caramba!, I even had all the backward letter in the right places. Just assumed it was my mistake!

Lemonade714 said...

Many Happy returns Larry, and thank you all for the good comments. It is amazing to me how often a puzzle appears tailor made for me to blog.

Shabbat Shalom to all. שבת השלומי

dodo said...

Well, I WAS the last poster but I guess I took too long with the #2 comment and several got in while I wasn't looking!

I did have some help, however. I don't use the red letter grid and I never know the constuctor till I'm finished, but I did use the dictionary to be sure of cabal and I looked up the Magna Carta date.

Scotty said...

Spitzboov - Thanks for your video of the "hitched" tug on the Ohio at LOUISVILLE!! In my day "getting hitched" was vernacular for getting married. The minute I looked at the screen I knew it had to be L'ville. That's where I live and that is such a familiar scene. Grew up on the Mighty Mississippi and my engineer father did a lot of river related work, particularly bridges.
Today's puzzle was definitely a DNF for me, but I tried.

HeartRx said...

Kazie, I just made your moussaka recipe for dinner this evening. I started around 3:00 this afternoon, and after constantly cleaning up as the "sous chef", DH finally looked at me and asked "Don't they have 'Moussaka Helper' in a box??"

Annette, so now you know how MY year is going: didn't say it on Jan 1, but made SURE to say it on Apr 1...

Jayce at 4:06, tsk tsk...(but that's exactly the fleeting thought that crossed my mind on 4D).

Dot said...

I can never solve the Friday puzzles with their tricky clueing, so I checked the blog first to see what it was today. If I hadn't done that, I would never have solved it. Even so, I had to google several names.

Happy anniversary, WH. 3/30 was Irv's 97th birthday. The family will celebrate his and my birthday (4/16) on April 9th. The only date all month when all can get together. Even so, a couple of grandkids will be missing. Looking forward to the occasion. Maybe by then, we won't have any more snow!

Dot

Jayce said...

Good night everybody. May you all have a satisfying weekend. See y'all tomorrow.

Kalendi said...

Whew, that was tough. Friday is usually pretty hard for me, but without this blog it would've been impossible. I like the creativity of the puzzle but not the difficulty, but at least I know where to go for help!

Unknown said...

I didn't appreciate long backwards phrases. I suppose Naddor thought this was funny to provide on April Fools Day, but I didn't. And, no, I didn't read The Hardy Boys books to familiarize myself with the concept. I feel like I wasted my time on this puzzle.

Jerome said...

Kalendi- Friday puzzles are tough for most solvers. Keep at it. The day will come when you face a hard puzzle with confidence.

MJ said...

Good evening to all,

I loved this puzzle, classic Dan Naddor at his best, IMHO. Like HeartRx and Grumpy1, I caught the theme early on with "AND ARABIC" (in reverse), which really helped with the grid. How awesome that Rich Norris chose to publish it on "April Fool's Day!"

This puzzle will be included in my file of all time favorites.

Enjoy the night!

creature said...

Some really neat comments.Though similar in many respects, very individualized in others.
No two were exactly alike. We are all for one and one for all,AND we are our own people.
I have such respect for this group as a whole, and indivdually.

WH, Happy Anniversary to you and Irish AND many more.

Tibeni,Hope all goes well; stay in touch.

Dot, what a great event- 97 yrs old! Wish him my best and same to you.

Spitzboov, I, like Scotty, loved seeing the barge at Louisville.

Jeannie, love reading your posts, and glad your show went well and is over.

Dodo, Hey, glad we were on same page!

Lemon, great blog!

Jerome said...

Even after counting to a million and biting my tongue until it damn near fell off, I'm still compelled to say-

When Dan discovered this theme idea I'm quite sure he smiled. He obviously liked it. And just as important, no doubt he hoped and believed solvers would enjoy it too. That's a big part of the joy of constructing, that you can share some fun and a good time with others. This puzzle was an offering to you from him. "Hey guys, let's go for a ride!" It's the way all puzzle makers think. It's the end purpose for what we do. Sharing a little bit of us with you.

I solve many puzzles that I don't care much for. To each their own. But to call this effort by Dan to reach out to you a "mean trick", or that somehow he was "cheating" you, is a horrible misjudgment... or spite... or a stupid attempt at being contrary just to be an ass.

Dennis said...

Good evening, gang - an unbelievably busy day today, and I'm just now getting a chance to post. Most of my comments have been covered already, so I'll just say that I loved this puzzle for its cleverness and difficulty. Perfect for an April 1st. As to the criticisms, I confess that I'm not a 'technical' solver, and I don't get upset over 'ok, if you say so' clues/answers; I figure that any puzzle that passes Rich Norris' standards (and his are tough) is a good one. MJ, I'm with you -- one of my all-time favorite puzzles.

anon@7:28, I don't think this is by any stretch a "support group"; there's been plenty of criticism when a poster felt it was warranted.

Windhover, my friend, congratulations to you and the Irish, and my condolences to her. I hope this coming year is the happiest yet for you two.

Jim in Norfolk said...

God speed Dan, but in my opinion this puzzle STUNK ON A STICK! I think this was the biggest waste of time I have encountered in the three or so years I have been doing crosswords. If there are any remaining contributions from Mr. Naddor I think I'll just move on to the sports section.

Anonymous said...

Bye-bye, Jim.

WikWak said...

@ Kazie (4:42): April 12 is also the 66th since the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. FWIW.

Surprisingly, the backwards lines unwrapped themselves for me early on (I've got you NOW, Dan!).

UNsurprisingly, that was about the only thing that went well. (I take it back, Dan!) This one was not a DNF but it WAS a DNFWC (Did Not Finish With Class). Still enjoyed it, though.

Has anyone signed up for Google's "GMail Motion" today? Cute. Also, The City of Evanston IL was swamped with calls on its 311 line complaining about its new policy of charging residents for snow removal stickers beginning next year. I guess after this year's who-knows-how-many feet of snow the April Fool's article in a neighborhood newspaper didn't seem all that funny...

Lemonade714 said...

I really have to agree with Jerome and question why is there so much hating for a creative puzzle, that was hard. It is upposed to be hard and a learning experience, and it should have opened your minds to not assume you have to left to right.
I loved it and all those who had nice things to say, sleep well. For the others, there so many not right to left clues, you should have been able to keep plugging and get this done.

kazie said...

Marti,
I'm sorry the mess with that recipe got to your DH. It takes a long while, but when done properly, it's worth it. How did you like it once you got to try it? Actually my own recipe is a bit different, but that one I linked was as close as I could find online. It's a bit long to have included it on the blog here.

Dot,
Congratulations to Irv! And later this month to you as well. I will be in Germany on the 16th, so may not get to stop in that day or remember by then. So I hope all goes well on the 9th and you both celebrate as the classy couple I know you are.

Denny said...

Annette, that was a beautiful, keen observation. I don't think too many of caught that. (I wonder how many crossword clues and answers are drawn from the constructor's private life and present situation? The clues must make perfect sense to them in their personal contexts!)

Most poignant of all, as you point out, "Source of support: FANS." Wonder if he'd have still felt that way after reading today's blog comments?

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - It's been a long day, but I did squeeze in this butt-buster of a puzzle. I liked it! It was a challenge, sure, but a fun one. Thanks Dan!

HeartRx sent me the NYT puzzle to do also - if you gripers thought the LAT was hard, don't even attempt this! Yowza! Thanks Marti, that was a workout.

HeartRx said...

Anette, a very poignant comment on Dan Naddor's fill. And Dudley, I am so glad you saw the irony of the NYT-LAT similarities. Dan was certainly an inspiration to all of us wannabe cruciverbalists. I hope the next generation can live up to the bar he has set...

Mojo said...

Two NFL Hall of Famer dbs named Mel
both last names have six letters. I plugged in Blount and wasted an hour

Jalmar said...

MOJO that was tough luck, Blount never came to mind

Anonymous said...

The worst crossword puzzle I've ever done. Worst, most frustrating, annoying, biggest waste of time ever. NO clue to the fact that the long answers were backwards. I thought my newspaper had screwed up the puzzle. Horrible. I like a difficult, creative puzzle....Saturday's are my favorites, but this one was just annoying.