Theme: Audiovisual Aids - Letters AV are inserted into common phrases.
24A. Salon tool for recalcitrant customers? : STYLING GAVEL. Styling gel.
30A. Not the best purple flower? : SUBPRIME LAVENDER. Subprime lender.
45A. Where the experts hang out? : MAVENS' ROOM. Men's room.
64A. Colorado brewer's rodent mascot? : COORS BEAVER. Coors beer.
77A. Culinary product of a French-Italian region? : SAVOY SAUCE. Soy sauce.
97A. Group that ruins commercials? : AD HAVOC COMMITTEE. Ad hoc committee.
104A. Bad news about a tooth? : TWIN CAVITIES. Twin cities.
15D. Prefer Hitchcock's Bodega Bay classic to his other films? : FAVOR THE BIRDS. For the birds.
52D. Cryptologist's rant? : DECODER RAVING. Decoder ring.
This is Dan's favorite theme type, adding/deleting/substituting letters. If you look at Rich's stats, lots of his Friday & Sunday puzzles have such gimmick.
The grid has 68 blocks (We had 84 last Sunday) and only 134 words. Comparatively low. Dan mentioned his target was shooting for low word count. Quite a few nice long entries, but also a number of abbreviations. V is a tough letter to maneuver.
Across:
1. "This __ fine mess you've gotten us into, Ollie!" : IS A. Easy start.
4. Clean the deck : MOP
7. Military team : CORPS
12. Office teams : STAFFS. Staff can be pluralized, Dennis?
18. Three-time all-star closer Robb : NEN. Here he is. Not many famous people are named NEN, or ROBB.
19. Mandlikova of tennis : HANA. Stranger to me.
20. Blocker in a TV : V-CHIP
21. Note in a B major scale : A-SHARP
22. Hunter attachment? : GATHERER. Hunter-gatherer.
26. Tony winner for her Daisy Mae portrayal in "Li'l Abner" (1956) : EDIE ADAMS. Faintly recall her name.
28. Baroque dance : MINUET
29. Suffix with malt : OSE. Sugar suffix.
33. "Artaxerxes" composer : ARNE (Thomas). I only know his "Rule, Britannia".
34. Statistical hypothesis trial : T TEST. What does T stand for?
35. Word before old, and after it : SAME. Same old same old.
36. Web address letters : GOV
37. Illinois city, site of the last Lincoln-Douglas debate : ALTON. Outside my knowledge zone.
38. M.O. : SYS
39. Birch leaf eater : LUNA MOTH. John Lampkin style picture.
43. Algiers citadel : CASBAH
47. Corrida hero : TORERO
50. Like fifth and sixth : ORDINAL. I actually drew a blank. I can be incredibly dumb.
53. "Mad About You" co-star : REISER (Paul)
56. Golfer Crenshaw : BEN. Smooth putting stroke.
57. Answer skillfully : FIELD
58. Sault __ Marie : STE
61. Boss's address? : E STREET. The E Street Band. Bruce Springsteen The Boss.
62. Give-go link : IT A
63. Pawn : HOCK
66. Cheater's device : CRIB
67. Ike's arena: Abbr. : ETO (European Theater of Operation)
68. Was allowed to pay later : RAN A TAB
69. D-Day craft : LST (Landing Ship Tank)
70. Military chaplain : PADRE
71. Directed : LED
72. Brew made in Zoeterwoude : AMSTEL. Named after the Amstel River. I've never heard of the plant site Zoeterwoude.
73. Super Bowl party centerpiece, briefly : HD TV SET. Clusters of consonants.
75. Short fall? : PRECIP. "Short" indicates "shortened form". Good clue.
82. Semicircular antenna housing : RADOME (Radar Dome)
85. See 46-Down : DETECTOR. And 46D. With 85-Across, beachcomber's device : METAL.
86. "I'm impressed!" : WOW
89. Natasha's partner in crime : BORIS
91. "Rhoda" production co. : MTM. Stands for Mary Tyler Moore.
93. Highly caloric : RICH
94. Former "Today" medical expert Art __ : ULENE. No idea.
96. Abba of Israel : EBAN
101. Ohio, e.g.: Abbr. : RIV. OK, river.
102. Enjoys doing : IS INTO
103. Russian Orthodox ruling body : HOLY SYNOD. Nice to know.
108. Rhinestone piano player : LIBERACE
109. Sent to the gallows : HANGED
110. String quartet member : CELLO
111. Get an __ effort : E FOR
112. What's expected : PAR. But birdie is always better.
113. Wool variety : ANGORA
114. Dispatched, as a dragon : SLAIN. Dispatch = Kill.
115. "L.A. Law" actress : DEY (Susan).
116. The orig. 13, e.g. : STs (States)
Down:
1. Eats : INGESTS
2. Naval assignment : SEA DUTY. Any comment, Spitzboov?
3. Côte d'Azur resort : ANTIBES. No idea. A seaport south of Nice.
4. __ Gras : MARDI
5. Wee hr. : ONE AM
6. Pasta topper : PARMESAN
7. Walgreens rival : CVS. I like former.
8. Columbus Day mo. : OCT
9. Run, for one? : RHYME. Run and one rhyme. Good clue.
10. Pier support : PILING
11. PR specialist : SPIN DOC. I've never seen "Spin doctor" abbreviated this way.
12. More judicious : SAGER
13. USAF E-6 : TSGT. Military rank always gives me headache.
14. "Now I understand!" : AHA
16. City in California's Central Valley : FRESNO. And 19. California's Central Valley, e.g. : HEARTLAND.
17. Ill humor : SPLEEN
23. Marching words : HEPS. Marching cadence.
25. New, in Nicaragua : NUEVA
27. Poetry competitions : SLAMs. Stumped me last time.
31. Love, to Virgil : AMOR
32. Turn down : VETO
33. Old orchard spray : ALAR
37. Keep from ending normally : ABORT
40. Sch. founded by Jefferson : UVA (University of Virginia)
41. Wrestling holds : NELSONS
42. Trigger, for one : HORSE. Trigger was Roy Roger's horse.
44. Take the tiller : STEER
45. "Got __?" : MILK
48. Hang it up, so to speak : RETIRE
49. Even if challenged : ON A BET. Did you get it immediately?
50. Be __: assist : OF HELP
51. Mob member : RIOTER
54. Journalist Kupcinet and sportscaster Cross : IRVs
55. "I told you, didn't I?!" : SEE THAT? I like the clue.
59. Precisely : TO A T. Tricky to parse.
60. Some Deco collectibles : ERTEs
61. Fall back : EBB
64. __ santo: Spanish graveyard : CAMPO. Learning moment for me.
65. Light lunch : SALAD
66. Spelunker's spot : CAVE
68. Police operations : RAIDS
70. Recently discontinued retro Chrysler : PT CRUISER. Crazy 4-consonant start.
74. Pair : DUO
76. Number one son? : CAIN. We've seen similar "First lady' for EVE gimmick before.
78. __ Beach, Florida : VERO
79. Neur- ending : OTIC
80. "Ick factor 10!" : YECCH
81. Taught : SCHOOLED
83. MCCLII doubled : MMDIV. 1,250*2=2,504.
84. Ones with a common heritage : ETHNICS
86. Wings eaters' needs : WET NAPS
87. Sandlot game : ONE O' CAT. Kind of baseball game?
88. Garden tools : WEEDERS
89. Krupp with a howitzer named for her : BERTHA. Wow, I never know this origin.
90. Luke's mentor : OBIWAN. "Star Wars".
92. Magic 8 Ball maker : MATTEL
95. Interstellar dist. : LT-YR (Light-year)
97. Carne __: Mexican dish : ASADA
98. "Presto!" cousin : VOILA
99. MGM Resorts casino loyalty program : M LIFE. Nope. No idea. What does M stand for?
100. "Lad ..." : MY BOY. Cute clue.
102. "Congratulations" writer, maybe : ICER
105. "Stop-__": UGK hit : 'N-GO. First encounter with the hip hop duo UGK (Underground Kingz). Rappers drive me crazy with their free spelling.
106. Yalie : ELI
107. Michael, to Kirk : SON. Michael Douglas has been through a lot.
Thanks for the entertainment, Dan. To quote your buddy Jerome, "Great puzzle, Duck!".
C.C.
36 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - what a bittersweet day, more bitter than sweet with this, the last of Dan's published puzzles. What a fun ride he's taken us on, huh? I wish I'd kept the emails we exchanged, because his love of life and great sense of humor came through them loud and clear. Thanks, Dan, for giving us so much enjoyment and sharing a bit of your life with us. You're truly missed.
As to the puzzle, this is classic Naddor as C.C. points out; great 'add letters' theme, great clues. A sterling finale.
I've got more, but we've got an early-morning softball practice. Hopefully, back later.
Morning, all!
Seeing the final Dan Naddor puzzle was definitely a bittersweet experience for me. I really loved the clever theme today, although it drove me crazy until I finally figured out what it was. And much of the cluing was fresh and enjoyable as well.
Unfortunately, I also had to suffer through such "gems" as STAFFS, NEN, TTEST, RADOME, ULENE, RIV, HEPS, SEETHAT, ETHNICS, MLIFE, and NGO, which sucked much of the joy out of the experience.
Ah, well. Even if this wasn't my favorite puzzle, I can still honestly say that Dan will be forever and truly missed.
Good Morning, C.C. and friends. As others have noted, this was indeed a bitter-sweet moment, knowing that this is the last of Mr. Naddor's puzzles. I had had fun with this one and caught on to the theme with M(AV)EN'S ROOM.
My favorite clue was Number One Son = CAIN. Heir fits into the spaces provided all to well.
I also liked "Congratulations" Writer, Maybe = ICER. When I graduated, the baker wrote "Congradulations" on my cake. No one noticed the misspelling until it was time to cut the cake!
QOD: That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history it the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach. ~ Aldous Huxley
Hello all!
Great last puzzle from Dan. Nice write-up, C. C.
Theme readily apparent. Lots of fun.
Here is something else pertaining to Ayn Rand
My rheumatologist and my tax man are getting senile, it would seem. (1) The former scared me to death over concern for my liver (after CT scan of heart), which had become cirrhotic 26 years ago. Well, it seems that this disease never vanishes. However, my liver tests were fine! (2) The latter did not read both pages of my Excel file and misconstrued many of my questions. Also, repeatedly asked same questions. Anyway, taxes all in and I fell asleep at 11PM working the puzzle! Wow!
Bill G--You are only person who, like me, thinks The Good Wife is worth watching. Or maybe most everyone missed my blog query. (Annette, hope you have decided nor to deep six yours!)
Hi again. Just read Saturday's blog. Interesting puzzle. Favorite answer KAFKAESQUE.
Husker--Did you read about my saga with State of CA taxes last year? With a separate letter I paid that off, too Friday. Am glad you were able to correct your problem. The amazing thing is that in Nebraska they are prompt!
Good Morning C.C. et al.
Yes, it was sad to see the last of “new” Dan Naddor’s puzzles. But thanks to Rich’s list, we will always have a treasure trove to go back to.
As always, you are the pillar of enlightenment, C.C. For 35A “Word before old, and after it”, I was really scratching the old noggin. I had filled in SAME from perps, and wondered what the expression “It SAME” meant. LOL
53A Paul REISER is becoming familiar again, as he has a new show that I caught the other night. SAME old, SAME old…
RADOME gave me fits. I’m sure our military vets were glad for a gimme, though…
When I filled in S - - OY SAUCE, the light came on when I looked back at the puzzle title, and it was a slow but steady fill after that.
Sun is finally out, so we’ll take advantage of a lovely day and do something outside. Have a great one, everybody!
(This was my original post, which appeared and magically disappeared. Glad I had copied it.)
Hello all!
Great last puzzle from Dan. Fine write-up, C. C.
Theme readily apparent. Lots of fun.
Here is something else pertaining to Ayn Rand.
My rheumatologist and my tax man are getting senile, it would seem. (1) The former scared me to death over concern for my liver (after CT scan of heart), which had become cirrhotic 26 years ago. Well, it seems that this disease never vanishes. However, my liver tests were fine! (2) The latter did not read both pages of my Excel file and misconstrued many of my questions. Also, repeatedly asked same questions. Anyway, taxes all in and I fell asleep at 11PM working the puzzle! Wow!
Good morning everyone. C.C. thanks for posting all the info about Dan's puzzles.
Agree with the previous comments on Dan's puzzles. I usually could get on his 'wave length' and today was no exception. Just have to be patient and let your brain loose a little. Did it on-line because our paper doesn't carry the LAT puzzle. ALTON was a complete WAG because it was one of the few 5-letter IL cities I could remember. I liked the clueing for 35a SAME. Finally got the theming mode with ADHavOCCOMMITTEE. Then COORSBEavER fell. Filled in AV in the other unknown theme slots and the solve came home. Also like his shot at SUB PRIME LavENDER. Thanks, Dan.
C.C. My first naval assignment (orders) was SEA DUTY aboard a Fletcher Class destroyer. Haze gray and underway!
Belated Happy Birthday greetings to Dot and Irv.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Hello Puzzlers - Dan definitely didn't let me have it easy today. The title gave me the hunch we would be stuffing AV into words, but still, had to work to finish.
I don't know how familiar RADOME is in the real world. It's common in aviation, though. I've installed lots of them, and some are easier than others...
Heart: you've got sun today? We've got dark overcast and gusty winds here!
Thanks for clearing up the mysteries, C.C. These big puzzles must add a lot to your blog time, then there's all that puzzle compilation today - many thanks for all that effort!
C.C. et al, What a nice way to finish out Dan’s string – a sterling puzzle whose theme was fun and helpful! Didn’t get it until COORSBEAVER! The N in oNeocat/uleNe only WAG. Got it!
Musings
-“Another fine mess…” I remember being said by Ollie, not addressed to him
-Thought TV Blocker would be Dan
-Pepe Le Pew’s romantic come-on was “Come with me to the Casbah!”
-Give AND Go? Not so much
-No idea on RADOME , ULENE or ANTIBES but perps stepped up!
-spinDOC not spinner
-Did anyone here ever play the sandlot games WORKUP or 500?
-Fermat – yes, I followed your tax saga. I about fell over when Lincoln said they needed another $2,000 from me but Lois and I worked it out very amicably (if she tells me Monday that she meant NOW and not NOT!)
Good Morning All, I finished this one later last night. I went to sleep with a smile on my face.
My favorite theme entry was 104A TWIN CAVITIES. No particular reason, all the others were terrific, but this one just struck my funny bone. Favorite fill was 61A Boss's address/E STREET.
I always found a little frustration with Dan's abbreviations. 95D LTYR?...Yikes! But he was also kind enough to give a little something with the perps to keep it "gettable". I knew Art ULENE and LIBERACE.
Without a little frustration, the puzzles wouldn't have been much fun. Dan Naddor provided just the right amount of challenge, frustration, cleverness and lots of lightbulb laughs.
Hello all.
Yes, of course, I meant Atlas Shrugged. I had been talking about it all week. I even explained to Abejo why I was re-reading the book.
Last night when I hit Preview, everything dissappeared. I reentered half of the comment and
hit Publish.
Thanks Ferm.
Hope that it isn't raing In Long Beach. Time for the GP.
Take care.
fermatprime, in answer to your question, I haven't watched "The Good Wife". It comes on at 10PM when I am usually getting ready for bed. Like you, I often have problems going to sleep, so I read for about an hour. (My Kindle has a "Kandle Light", so I don't disturb GAH.) Reading seems to help me relax and get into the sleep mode.
It's a lovely day here, so it is time to get out and enjoy it.
Good morning, C.C. and Sunday peeps all. It's really sad to see Dan's puzzles come to an end. Thank's, Dan, for a great experience in puzzle solving.
SUBPRIME LAVENDER emerged and gave me the theme. From there it was fairly easy to get the remaining theme entries. The SE was slow to fill, as I had never heard of ONE O'CAT, ULENE wasn't ringing a bell and I wanted 'due' instead of PAR. WETNAPS finally rescued me from a DNF, with the 'N' crossing in the above clues being a wag, but it was the only letter that looked plausible to me.
Radomes are sometimes hemispheres, but more often are other shapes. Like Dudley, I've installed hundreds, from a few inches across to over twenty feet (but never on an airplane). I'll leave those to you, Dudley.
Thank you, Fermatprime for the link. I read "Atlas Shrugged" and "Fountainhead" in the late sixties and saw the movie Friday night. interesting parallels to current events.
eddyb, re: Atlas Shrugged. You made a comment on Tuesday 4/12 and a couple of comments on Wednesday 4/13 about re-reading the book. Nothing on Thursday or Friday and then you posted a vague comment on Saturday evening expecting readers to remember what you were talking about three days earlier. In the future, do yourself a favor and take a few extra seconds to let us know what you're talking about.
Is there a title for each LAT puzzle published with the puzzle or are we supposed to guess what it is? My paper doesn't publish a title. Just wondering...any help would be appreciated.
A new crossword addict,Mary Lou
MaryLou, welcome. And no, there's no theme given except for Sunday. Our crack team of bloggers, occasionally with C.C.'s help, comes up with an appropriate theme title each day.
Dudley, yes, the sun was shining, so we headed to the big box store for fertilizer, grass seed etc. As soon as we pulled in, the sky let loose. Within half an hour, the sun was out again! Yay!
I forgot to mention that my favorite theme entry was DECODER RAVING. As Clear Ayes said, no particular reason...just struck the funny bone.
I also remembered Art ULENE, because he always had a health segment on one of the local Boston news channels. Problem was, I entered it as LUene at first. Thank goodness for Dan's ever helpful perps to straighten me out.
This was a really enjoyable Sunday puzzle; tough but fair. Figuring out the theme definitely helped me with the solving. Excellent writeup, C.C.
Fermatprime, yes The Good Wife is a favorite. Always an entertaining story plus her character is so thoughtful and honest.
Yes, I played workup and 500. Also, over-the-line and something my friend called Indian Ball.
Hello everybody. Well, if this puzzle had been on paper I would not have been able to finish it. By doing it on line, which is the only way to do it here on Sundays, I cheated a lot. Sure, I filled in all the blanks, but even after doing so I still didn't know what some of them meant or who they were. For example, I would never have figured out or parsed LTYR, NGO, MLIFE, TTEST, NEN, ONEOCAT, or ULENE. So yes, this was a hard puzzle indeed, and a DNF for me. I did, however, greatly appreciate the theme and other sneaky niceties in the cluing. Love love loved "Word before old, and after it". Still chuckling. There were a few gimmes, such as RADOME, FRESNO, IS A, and GATHERER, without which I could never even have gotten a foothold. Altogether a fun, funny, mind-expanding experience. Best wishes to you all.
Well, it has been an exhilarating ride Dan took us on. I won't forget the trip. But Dan's got off the train to go and pursue other things. I have a hope and a kind of nice little dream that one of our own here at The Corner can fill the space Dan left behind. We have two new wonderful constructors in our midst... C.C. and HeartRex. And I'm believing that they will give us the same kind of joy and fun that Dan did. In fact, I'm sure of it.
Hello.
The Indy Lights race is over so I'll comment again.
One of the reviewers main complaint was that there were
A-List stars in AS. I suspect that he wanted to see Aniston or Heigl in the lead role. ROTFL when I read that.
I have NO time for critics like that or for people who do not sign
their names. Am flattered that some keep track of what I say and
when I say it.
Have a nice day. Back to Long Beach.
One O' Cat seems to be a precursor of the game of workup that Bill G. and I played as kids.
Another game that was popular in early America was "one ol' cat," the name of which was possibly originally a contraction of one hole catapult. In one ol' cat, when a batter is put out, the catcher goes to bat, the pitcher catches, a fielder becomes the pitcher, and other fielders move up in rotation. One ol' cat was often played when there weren't enough players to choose up sides and play townball.
Husker, we played that in our small town, as there were usually not enough kids around to make two teams. We had a very imaginative name for it though... rotation.
Don't know what M in MLIFE or T in TTEST stands for.
Jerome, you are, of course, being very kind. I would never presume that I could even walk in Dan's footsteps, let alone fill his shoes! But when I look at cleverly intricate puzzles like the one you did on Tuesday, I know that there is constant evolution going on.
Remember when a simple "word that can come before / after..." theme was considered perfectly acceptable? Now, it's almost an automatic rejection. So the bar has definitely been lifted, and I know that there are many constructors out there who will meet the challenge. Me? I'm just happy to be part of this wonderful world.
Good day, C.C. and all cyber friends. You amaze me C.C., with your knowledge and passion.
Almost missed this party because I had company today and also went to Church. I love Palm Sunday with its special liturgy.
As has been mentioned, Dan Naddor took us on a breathtaking ride including today. I purposely took my time to savor the cleverness. Usually my toehold starts at the bottom and so there I went and was rewarded with LIBERACE, ADHAVOC COMMITTEE, HOLYSYNOD and Art ULENE whom I remember.
This was RICH with both known and unknown fill and VOILA it came together. I looked only for HANA and NEN as not in one hundred years would I know them.
It has been lovely doing Dan's puzzles and I'm so glad I have you all with whom to share them.
Jerome, include yourself in that list of successors to Dan. You have given us some moments of pleasure, too, my friend.
I hope your Sunday has been super and delightful!
Jerome, I agree about C.C. and Marti, but you're not doing too badly yourself! I'm sure your friend Dan would be pleased to see your puzzles appearing more and more often in the LAT.
Bill G., I had to laugh when I read that you had played over-the-line. Can you tell us the name of your team, or was it just too X-rated to print here? GAH used to play OTL many years ago when we lived in Ventura County. (Those were the days when we thought spending the day running around on a hot sunny beach was good for you.) I don't think there was a team name that would get even a PG rating. You definitely have to leave your "Well! That's offensive!" at home.
Going by the clue, MGM loyalty program, I assume MLIFE is an MGM Life rewards card.
Thanks CC and Farewell to Dan
It seems a little disrespectful (not to say futile) to criticize any of Dan's cluing. Theme was first-rate and great fun. My only criticism was comma-itis in 2 clues:
35A. Word before old, and after it.
Surely the presence of the comma is incorrect or at least an unfair misdirection. As read, it really does ask for a word that can precede "old", and follow "it".
9D. Run, for one? Ditto.
The T-test is a statistical test of whether 2 sub-populations are truly different, and is the ratio of observed differences to the differences expected on the basis of variations in the population as a whole (as well as whether the sample size is big enough). In full it's called the "Student's T-test". "Student" was the pseudonym of an English brewer/part-time mathematician (mini-theme?). I think the letter "t" is arbitrary, but might have meant truth (?).
NC
Jayce,
I called the casino marketing group at MGM - they told me that "M" stands for the parent company "MGM Resorts". The "M-Life" card is good at all of their various hotels, including the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Aria, MGM Grand, etc.
The "t-test" is widely used in research. I always assumed (although I could very well be wrong), that "t" refers to the standard deviation from the mean that occurs in random populations. Such populations have a large "tail", with outliers that can vary greatly from the "mean" value. Most often, we would need to apply a "Student's t-distribution" to test various drugs, to determine if the drug actually made a difference in two small, but otherwise identical populations. It was often used at the very beginning of a trial, to determine if more funds could be justified for the project!
I have to stop, because I'm making myself yawwwnn...
Thank you for the explanations of the T test and M life card.
To Jayce and those who may be interested -
What does 'M' in M Life stand for ? According to the MGM website, it stands for 'Moments' ....?!@ ... some sop rewards for those who have lost lots of money (gambling and general hotel spending and such).
What does 'T' in ( Students- ) T test ( or distribution - ) stand for ?
Well, todays whole day has gone by, and nobody answered it, including the math mavens, so here goes ... T is the 'pivotal quantity' or "pivot" - which is a (statistical) function of a probability distribution, which has a defined sample mean, but whose sample distribution does not depend upon its sample parameters ... got it ? It can also equate to a Z function or a g function ( statistical, that is ... not to be confused with 'g' the gravitational constant.). The letter 'T' or the word 'student' has apparently been chosen, arbitrarily. It can only be defined as an equation ... to go in greater detail, would probably give you a headache - ( respectfully said).
To say, that the 'T' function was named for afternoon tea, is like saying the 'pi' function was named after apple pie...
Respectful Regards to Jayce.
HeartRex, Lucina, Clear Ayes- Thanks. But I have my place and I know exactly what it is. On purpose, I'm a bit player on the crossword stage. Now and then I say a line or two. Nothing more or less... ever. We're blessed to be able to enjoy any puzzle from the Los Angeles Times. The Corner has some favorites and Dan was certainly one of them. Don Gagliardo, John Lampkin, Donna Levin are right there as well. AS are others. But, I really believe the new constuctors stepping up are really going to shine. Super novas, talent in the extreme. I can't wait. Mark my words, they are going to be something else!
Holy Synod! What a great puzzle, although I DNF.sigh.Waking up to find a xwd by Dan reminds me of walking into Tiffany's. I can't afford to buy anything, but I love looking at and appreciating the finer things. Dan sure did that.
Zoeterwoude in itself was a puzzle.
Loved the clue highly caloric/rich,
(a nice shout out)
Loved seeing heartland. I think we have at least 3 bloggers who live there. I thought of George Strait, so here is some pure country dedicated to Dan
Good Evening, folks. Well, it has been a long day and weekend. Thank you, Don (RIP) for a great puzzle. It was a pleasure to have partaken in it. Thank you, C.C. for the excellent write-up and the D. Naddor list.
I started this puzzle about 7:00 this morning. Then I went to church. Then I went to a musical at our local high school, "Hairspray," which was excellent. then I went to brass band practice at our church. Then I came home and finished the puzzle. Here I am at 9:45 with a brewski.
The puzzle was difficult, but certainly doable. It just took some hunting and pecking. Clever theme. I did not get it right away. Had all the theme answers first. I knew there was a theme, with deletion of letters, but could not put my finger on it. did not look real hard either.
Thought EDIE ADAMS was good. I think she was Ernie Kovacs wife, until he died. Correct me if I am wrong.
ALTON came easily. I have been there several times. Just across the Mississippi from St. Louis.
Put in MOSQUE for 43A. Then CASBAH became apparent with the perps. We have had that word before in crosswords. I always remember the phrase "Come with me to the Casbah!"
Never played or heard of "ONE O CAT"
To: fermatprime and EddyB: Enjoyed the link and commentary on Ayn Rand and "Atlas Shrugged." As EddyB is, I may just read that again. Enjoyed it the first time, albeit it was a little long.
To Jayce, et al: I am no expert, being schooled in the school of hard knocks, but all I could think of for TTEST was the use of DDAY and HHour. D is for the first letter of the word Day and H is for the first letter of the word Hour. Is it possible that T is for the first letter of the word Test?
With that, I will see you all tomorrow.
Abejo
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