Theme: None
Total words: 72
Total blocks: 30
This puzzle is anchored by a grid-spanning 15 crossed by two 10s:
35A. Summertime response to a wave? : HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU? Heat wave.
5D. Puts up gates, say : BABY-PROOFS. I was picturing real gates.
30D. Menacingly complex, as a bureaucracy : KAFKAESQUE. As typified by the works of Franz Kafka.
Today is a good example of how it's the cluing and not obscure words that made a late-week puzzle tough:
14A. Eugene O'Neill character? : CAPITAL O. The O in his name O'Neill. Not any play character.
50D. 2009 U.S. Open champ Glover : LUCAS. "Star Wars" director George would be too easy a clue. Here is our champion Lucas Glover. Ricky Barnes collapsed in the final round.
Lively fill abound in the grid.
Across:
1. Turned to a life of crime : GONE BAD. Figured the end had to be ED. Oops!
8. Become absorbed : OSMOSE. I wanted ENRAPT, which is an adj. Dummy!
15. Scorched : SEARED
16. Order in a preschool classroom : ALPHABET. Of course, I was in the verb "order" line of thinking.
17. NFL coach with the most career postseason wins : LANDRY (Tom). No idea. Longtime Cowboys coach.
18. Grant, for one : LOU. Wanted CIC again, thinking of President Grant.
19. Half of the UAR : SYR. UAR is a union of Syria and Egypt.
20. Surname of 15th/16th-century Pope Alexander VI : BORGIA. Wow, who knows?!
21. Physics units : ERGS. Work units.
23. Not flush : POOR. What kind of flush do you have in mind? Poker? Alignment?
25. Is wistful (for) : LONGS
27. 1959 winner of a record 11 Oscars : BEN-HUR. Brad knows everything about Oscar.
29. Debauchee : RAKE. So is ROUE.
31. In imitation of : A LA
32. Kinsey Institute Library collection : EROTICA. Where is it?
34. Negligible amount : DRIB. Not IOTA.
39. Skeptic's retort : I BET
40. Searched, in a way : FRISKED
41. Six-time Sugar Bowl victors, briefly : LSU. Six-time, is it a record?
42. Literary ID : ISBN
43. Lineups : ARRAYS
47. Preeminent industrialist : TITAN. Would you call Donald Trump a titan?
49. Guernsey, for one : ISLE
51. Citation space-saver : ET AL
52. Sidestepped : DODGED
54. "Royal Pains" network : USA. I've never heard of "Royal Pains".
56. It had a hub at JFK : TWA. Guessed.
57. Took umbrage at : MINDED
58. Familiarize : ACQUAINT
60. Cocktail flavored with orgeat syrup : MAI TAI. Not familiar with the syrup. Wiki says orgreat derived from the Latin hordeata, meaning "made with barley".
61. "Viaducts Break Ranks" painter : PAUL KLEE. Here's the painting. Very abstract.
62. Extra number : ENCORE. Oh, musical number.
63. 6-Down, nowadays : USED CAR. And 6D. Olds introduced in '98 : ALERO.
Down:
1. In abundance : GALORE
2. Call into question : OPPUGN. New word to me.
3. Biomedical research agcy. : NIH
4. Itinerary nos. : ETAs. ETA = Estimated Time of Arrival.
7. Bespeckle : DOT
8. City with the newspaper Aftenposten : OSLO. First encounter with the newspaper.
9. Ambien maker : SEARLE. Also the maker of Celebrex. Now part of Pfizer.
10. Chutney fruit : MANGO. Delicious!
11. Prosaic : ORDINARY
12. Harem : SERAGLIO. Dictionary says it's rooted in Italian serraglio, meaning "animal cage". ODA is Turkish for room.
13. Joseph of ice cream fame : EDY
14. Canaan infiltrator : CALEB. Biblical spy.
20. Big name in candy corn : BRACH'S
22. Word with cake or metal : SHEET
24. Sources : ORIGINS
26. "A Tiger Walks" star : SABU. Was ignorant of film "A Tiger Walks". India-born Actor.
28. Catering dispenser : URN
33. Murky : TURBID
34. Frequent producer for Eminem : DR DRE
35. Highest degree : HILT. To the hilt.
36. Volcanic glass : OBSIDIAN. Also a new word to me.
37. Frankfurter adjective : TEUTONIC
38. "Not stepping __ the bounds of modesty": Juliet : O'ER
42. Ready to roll : IN GEAR
44. Fifth-century invader of Gaul : ATTILA. The Hun.
45. Hardly a moving picture? : YAWNER. Tricky clue.
46. Group of candidates : SLATE
48. Augment : ADD TO
53. Eva Marie's "On the Waterfront" role : EDIE. Stumper for me.
55. Word heard after a countdown : AULD. "Auld Lang Syne". New Year count.
57. Nice address: Abbr. : MME (Madame). Nice the City in France.
58. "The Simpsons" Squishee seller : APU. The shopkeeper.
59. Pedigree-tracking org. : AKC (American Kennel Club)
Happy 83rd Birthday to our fellow LA Times solver Dot! And a belated Happy 97th Birthday to her husband Irv! Hi there Andrea & Kazie.
C.C.
23 comments:
Morning, all! And a happy birthday to Dot and Irv!
Definitely a challenge today, but ultimately rewarding and enjoyable. It was nice to see stuff like KAFKAESQUE and SERAGLIO in the grid, although I needed almost all of the perps to finally get them.
Once again, the NW corner almost proved my downfall. Had WENT BAD for 1A for the longest time. Finally changed it to GONE BAD. But then I realized that 2D had to be IMPUGN, which left me with GINE BAD. Huh??? I then figured out the trick to 14A and realized that 2D was, in fact, the completely foreign (to me) word, OPPUGN. Gee -- even the spellchecker doesn't recognize it. Go figure.
The other complete unknown was LUCAS. I was having trouble with 61, thinking the name ended with LEE [PINKY LEE???], but once I got KLEE I knew it was PAUL, and that gave me the "A" I needed for LUCAS. It also got me AULD, which was really difficult for me.
Oh -- and I really wanted FOOTLONG for 37D. Pity, that...
DNF, but once I saw that 3-down was OPPUGN, I didn't feel so bad about it. Heck, if they're just gonna make them up, why bother?
Hi There ~!
Great puzzle, and for the first time in a while, a DNF -
Once again, I was on BarryG's wavelength, too, with GINE BAD, and thinking hot dog for frankfurter.
But for me, mis-reading the clues killed me today - I kept looking for a six time SUPER bowl winner, and it wasn't happening, plus the other football clue for LANDRY stumped me....
I saw Literary Nos., not Itinerary, and swore that "Royal Pains" was on TBS - nope. That kept me stuck with SYNE.
TITAN and HILT I get, but...meh.
I had the right "flush" in mind, tho.
Too bad, really, I got some tough ones like "CAPTIAL O" and BABY PROOFS, even WAGed OPPUGN, but....
Splynter
Close but no cigar for me on this wonderful puzzle accompanied by C.C.’s always nice write-up. I had no chance on OPPUGN (of course I wanted IMPUGN) and SABU/ALA/DRIB area got me. Final score – Gary 68 – Puzzle 4. Total testimony to caffeine and persistence today!
Musings
-Worked from bottom up
-Loved cluing for HOTENOUGH…, YAWNER, KAFKAESQUE
-Grant = SOT?
-Thought OSLO might be BONN
-We did a lab measuring TURBIDity in water around here. Murky indeed!
-I have had many kids get nicked handling OBSIDIAN!
-Frankfurter adjective is not FOOTLONG
-Why do I know SERAGLIO? I ain’t got one!!
-Countdown finish? FIRE? SOLD? Nope! Guy Lombardo!
-Klee’s Viaduct painting is high art? My taste must all be in my mouth!
-APU looks like a real staple in our xword world
Here is my story about taxes and words. I got a letter from the State of Nebraska yesterday saying I owe $2,000 more in taxes (I filed on Valentine’s Day). I freaked out, got out my forms and after a half hour of checking I found they had made the mistake. It was then I decided to enter the KAFKAESQUE world of the State Department of Revenue. A lovely lady in Lincoln named Lois and I soon worked out the problem and I attached the appropriate forms to an email and sent them in.
Lois responded around noon with this message,
“I have allowed your forms and your balance is NOT zero.”
OMG, I wrote back and said,
“Lois did you mean to use the word NOW instead of NOT?”
She must have worked a half day yesterday and so I have not heard back from her on this second reply. Oh for the want of the correct letter! Tax bureaucrats must be in the habit of typing the word NOT more often than any other!
Goodmorning C.C. et al.
Wow, thanks for enlightening me this morning, C.C. You are absolutely spot on when you mentioned that it was the clueing that made this one such a bear. In addition to the ones you mentioned, I thought the use of an obscure pope instead of his more infamous daughter Lucretia BORGIA was way out there.
And the clue for MAI TAI totally threw me off with “orgeat” syrup.
Even the pharmaceutical companies I am so familiar with gave me fits – Searle is no longer in existence, and I wanted “Sanofi” instead.
Needless to say, I spent a lot of time hitting the g-spot today. But like Barry, I thought it was a great learning experience and quite satisfying when completed. Have a wonderful day everyone!
Good morning C.C. and Saturday solverss. Wow! This was definitely Saturday level!
Barry, I could just about copy your post and describe my miscues except that I never did parse CAPITAL O. I figured with words like OPPUGN and KAFKAESQUE, a name like 'Capitalo' was certainly a possibility.
I debated for a while if it was DRIP/SAPU or DRIB/SABU. I finally chose the 'B' after recalling our discussion recently about dribs and drabs.
Do I remember correctly that Landry, always dressed in suit. tie and hat, never got the Gatorade bath at the end of a game? I seem to recall his players getting ready to do that and he gave them a "Where do you think you'll be playing next year?" look that backed them off.
Happy Saturday:
My experience was similar to those who have posted, I too filled SERAGLIO without knowing why, and had to work to accept OPPUGN, but it not only is a real WORD it is very close to its Latin origin, OPPUGNARE. It just is not an everyday word, which makes this Saturday.
I had the most trouble with was CAPITAL O, where the misdirection completely fooled me.
This was one where I worked hard and felt really good when I finished, thanks Brad and C.C.
FLUSH means loaded with cash, comes from the picture of having so much money, it is overflowing. It has been used this way since the 1600s.
Good Morning C.C. and all
Thanks for the super write-up, C.C..
This puzzle was a real humdinger, but I made it through without look-ups. I had a lot of the aforementioned problems; vowed to persevere and after a nap, I did just that. I don’t generally have the patience to keep on, especially with the sports clues, pharmaceuticals, etc.
Thanks, Brad for the work out.
Now I’m looking forward to Dan’s tomorrow.
HeartRx, glad you’re back.
Happy Birthday, Dot! Stay in touch. Hi to Irv.
Kazie, miss your ‘voice’. Have fun.
Have a nice day everyone.
Hello Puzzlers - Chalk up a DNF for me today. Way too many unknowns. I might have been able to finish with help from Google, but even that is uncertain when a beast like OPPUGN sneaks into camp.
Uncle!
Good Morning All, The NW was my undoing and I had to come here to finish up. I had WENT BAD at 1A and had no idea that CALEB infiltrated into Canaan. OPPUGN?..the mind boggles.
I was sucked into trying to remember the name of any old O'Neill character. Where's the V-8??
It's not so easy to see O'Neill's plays on stage, but a couple of decent movie versions of "Long Day's Journey Into Night" and "Mourning Becomes Electra" are available.
Easier for me was 32A. I figured it had to be a more polite form of PORNO (which didn't fit anyway), so it had to be EROTICA.
I've read "The Trial" and "Metamorphosis", so KAFKAESQUE wasn't much of a jump.
I thought the eight letter Downs, SERAGLIO, OBSIDIAN and TEUTONIC were wonderful.
A wrinkle in my brain had stored PAUL KLEE as the "Viaducts" artist, and it popped right out.
Happy Birthday, Dot.
Happy Birthday, Dot and Irv!
The NE filled easily, but I had a pretty sparse picket fence for a while everywhere else! After a break, LOTS of perp help, and some WAGs, I did finish - although I realize many of you would consider it a DNF in your books...
I love when obscure words pop into your head out of nowhere, after just a few perps!
I guessed at the P in CAPITALO, but didn't parse it correctly either. I thought it sounded like an odd name for an O'Neill character! Also never considered LOU Grant until all 3 letters filled in.
There were many great misdirections in this puzzle!
Good afternoon C.C. and all.
This puzzle was tough like others this week but more on my wavelength. Agree with C.C. and others about the lively fill. Loved the long downs of KAFKAESQUE, OBSIDIAN, TEUTONIC and SERAGLIO. Aso liked MME, USED CAR, ALPHABET, LOU, and ENCORE. BORGIA was a category on Jeopardy 2 nights ago. OSLO was a gimme. Guernsey is one of four Channel ISLES; Jersey, Alderney and Sark being the others. CAPITAL O was sure a misleading character.
Have a good day.
Hello everybody. I couldn't finish this one. Solved everything but the NW corner, which totally flummoxed me. Simply couldn't get the Eugene O'Neill and preschool classroom fills, nor their crosses, and had WENT BAD instead of GONE BAD, so down in flames I went. Had to look up SABU, and only then did I see ALA. Not happy with DRIB. Put in TECTONIC and then wondered what that had to do with the clue.
I would not call Donald Trump a titan. And "Not flush" first made me think of not lining up evenly. Oppugn is also a new word to me; wanted malign, and then impugn, first.
Anyway, it was a fun struggle. Really glad this blog exists. Also glad for Barry G's comments, because they so often describe my experience, too, but he expresses them more articulately.
Good day Weekend Warriors! Wonderful write up, C.C.
Ditto! Ditto! Ditto! All of you have iterated my experience to day. And yes, it was the obscure cluing although several fill jumped out at me immediately: SABU, SERAGLIO, TWA, and even APU and LANDRY!! In the 70s and 80s I watched sports with my late DH and the Cowboys were on top of the world then.
Alexander VI obscure?? He was only the most corrupt pope of all 236, Lucretia's father and a TV movie has been made about him. Showtime, I believe with Jeremy Irons.
As many of you I had WENTBAD for a very long time and CAPITALO fooled me completely.
A great challenge, Brad Wilber!
Have a fab Saturday, everyone!
Happy birthday, Dot and Irv.
Hi.
It's a friggen shame that the movie
wasn't made 50 years ago.
eddy
Anybody have a clue what movie he's talking about?
Yep, it's another idiot who's read Atlas Shrugged and automatically assumed that HE would fit right in to the ruling class, rather than being a prole.
The sad thing is, usually it's somebody 20 or 21, not someone old enough to know better.
Maybe in your next life, pal.
Anybody know what he's talking about?
Saturday Night at the Movies,
Who cares what picture you see,
When you're hugging with your baby
In the last row in the balcony.
eddyb@5:43, were you referring to the new movie version of "Atlas Shrugged"? I think most of us needed a little more information to figure it out. If you were talking about something else, please elaborate.
Disregarding a couple of anonymous comments, you may have read that a version of the novel has been released and, at least according to Roger Ebert, it is a big bomb, Atlas Flopped.
Anon@6:45, LOL, do they still have balconies in movie theaters? Our local cineplexes are strictly stadium seating.
I wrote a comment and hit exit before I published. So here I go again. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. I wish the weather controller had been more considerate. We went to the Granite City for lunch and when we came out it was snowing hard and the wind was very strong, so, rather than shopping for a dress for our grandson's May wedding, we came home and stayed here. Re. the puzzle, we had the same problems and same unknown words as many of you. I also felt that osmose seemed awkward.
Dot
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