Theme: None
Words: 72
Blocks: 30
Splynter here.
I took a look and found the last Peter A. Collins puzzle on Wed., June 3rd, 2009 - before my time here at the blog. This one took longer than I planned, lots of names and places, but it had those "gettable" moments, and one central grid climber -
8. "It seems unreal to me!" : I CAN ONLY IMAGINE
And away we GO ~!
ACROSS:
1. Peace offering? : NOBEL PRIZE - good start; I didn't get it until the Z from ZAG came
11. __ jure : IPSO - Latin, "by operation of law" - Lemonade knows more
15. Subversive : UN-AMERICAN - eh, I suppose
16. Orthodontic challenges : GAPS - I had braces as a teenager, just as they were becoming "acceptable" - my teeth were mis-aligned, but no "gaps"
17. Modern era : DIGITAL AGE - knew it was "- AGE", but computer didn't fit....
18. The Sakmara flows into it : URAL - map #1
19. Party follower? : GOER party-go-er
20. The Musketeers, e.g. : MEN - long clue, short answer
21. Venetian marketplace : RIALTO
23. Big name in China : Zhou ENLAI - first premier of the People's Republic of China - I defer to C.C. on this
25. Cotton-pickin' : DOGGONE - thought it was Southern drawl, but it's in the dictionary as is - Damn "lite", so to speak
27. "Dracula" director Browning : TOD - never heard of him
29. Contrarian : NAYSAYER - a person who habitually expresses pessimisitc feelings...ooh
32. Eco-friendly border : GREENBELT - at first I thought "huh?", but here's the skinny
36. Produce : SIRE - I don't think of being a father as "producing" kids, but....
37. "The Professor and the Madman" subj. : OED "A tale of murder, mystery, and the making of the Oxford-English Dictionary" - never heard of it
38. Not seasonal : ALL YEAR
41. "Collages" novelist : NIN - Anais
42. Oscar-winning Whitaker role : AMIN - Idi
44. Read the wrong way : MISJUDGED
46. Ledger entry : LINE ITEM
49. Grooved whale : SEI - new to me; here's a pic
50. Small Australian omnivore : BUSHRAT - also new to me; pic #2
52. Place for boarders : DEPOT - meh on this, too - boarding a train....
56. 1998 NFL Comeback Player of the Year : FLUTIE - Doug, from the NFL (and CFL) when he was with the Buffalo Bills
58. Prattle : GAB
60. Heavy wind : TUBA - D'oh~! - I had gale, gust, etc. - we're talking orchestra
61. Infrequently spotted : RARE
62. Official report : WHITE PAPER - here's the Wiki
65. GM worker : ENGR - engineer
66. Apple that's Minnesota's state fruit : HONEYCRISP - according to Wiki, it was 'developed'
67. Morse morsels : DAHS - Morse code, dits & dahs
68. Teases too much, maybe : OVER-STYLES - as in hair, like this....
DOWN:
1. Jog : NUDGE - as in the brain, when you're short on crossword answers....
2. With 3-Down, deli order : ONION, and
3. See 2-Down : BAGEL - I prefer 'everything', personally
4. Qatar, for example : EMIRATE
5. Umpire's cry : LET - Tennis, not baseball - I, of course, had "~OUT!~"
6. London pusher's vehicle : PRAM - baby, not drugs - that would be a Jag with "bling"
7. Worked (up) : RILED
9. Bit of evasion : ZAG - it's Zig in the other direction
10. What some bars supply : ENERGY - ugh, I get it, as in protein bar
11. Dewlapped reptiles : IGUANAS - I miss my good buddy Zeus
12. Negotiating during a truce : PARLEYING - love this
13. Gaiter relative : SPAT - oh, these "things"
14. Vigeland Park city : OSLO - had the S, WAGed it
22. Cyclades island : IOS - map #2
24. New York college whose team is the Gaels : IONA
26. Bill for software? : GATES - as in William Henry III of Microsoft
28. Hotel rm. option : DBL - double, the room/bed size
30. Presque Isle State Park's lake : ERIE - had the - - IE, WAGed it, too
31. Tear : REND
32. SportsCenter highlight : GOAL - eddy, SJ couldn't close out the Red Wings; can Vancouver finish off the Predators?
33. Do __ ... : RE MI, musical notes
34. City nicknamed "Auld Reekie" : EDINBURGH - here's the castle; love 'em
35. Dramatist Rice : ELMER
39. Foyt and Cronin : AJs
40. Felt remorse for : RUED
43. Fixes : NEUTERS - ouch ~!
45. Regarding what's taken in : DIETARY
47. Grammar best-seller "Woe __" : IS I
48. "Tommy" rockers : THE WHO - not a big fan; I prefer Led Zeppelin & Blue Oyster Cult
51. What tots might go after? : TATER-tots, those little potato nuggets
53. Learner : PUPIL - I tried too hard with TUTEE
54. Like some with sedentary lifestyles : OBESE - if you don't watch your DIETARY intake....
55. Painters' protection : TARPS - diamonds, too
56. "High Noon" director Zinnemann : FRED
57. Lang of Smallville : LANA - Superman's story, as a teenager, and his GF
59. Ottoman governors : BEYS
63. __ lane : HOV - High Occupancy Vehicle - a long way to go for "car pool" - I miss the days before "PC" euphemisms
64. Agt.'s cut : PCT - Agents, and percentage
What? No FRENCH ~? Oh, wait, Parley....
Splynter
43 comments:
HI ALL,
Tough one today! Big surprise!
Have to go to bed early, as tomorrow, for me, is Mother's Day.
Clear Ayes--yes, read the Colfer book, and some others. Was not that impressed. But who could replace wonderful Douglas?
Nice blog, Splynter. Will go back for the urls later.
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to stop cruciverb from skipping the fill-ins? I hate this.
Happy weekend all!
PS--never heard of a HONEYCRISP apple. Do they have them in California?
Good morning, Splynter, C.C. and gang - first off, Splynter, you're a great addition to the blog team; it's like you've been doing it for years. Great read.
As to the puzzle, I had to go to the NE to get a foothold, but then I was able to kinda walk my way around the rest of it and by the time I got back to the NW, I had enough perps to cover it. I had a couple of problems along the way, the most noteworthy of which was putting 'dsl' for 'Hotel rm. option'. 'Honey Crisps' was a gimme - C.C. had mentioned before that they were her favorite apples and I tried them; she's right, they're outstanding.
Clever cluing here too, including 'Bill for software', 'What tots might go after' (remember our tater tots discussion?)and 'Peace Offering'. Nice way to start the weekend.
Speaking of weekends, have a great one; do something fun!
Morning, all!
Real brutal puzzle today, especially compared to yesterday's effort. Between the uber-tricky cluing and the obscure answers (SEI? BUSH RAT?), I was knocked around pretty badly. I did manage to finish unassisted (finally), so I guess it couldn't have been that bad, but it sure felt undoable until the bitter end.
Nice to see Doug FLUTIE in the puzzle again, although I couldn't get him via the clue alone.
I used to love HONEY CRISP apples when they started importing them here a few years ago, but they were really expensive ($2.99/lb or more) and I found that their quality varied widely (sometimes sweet and crisp, sometimes mushy and bland). Now I eat Jazz apples instead, which are almost as sweet, just as crisp and a bit cheaper.
Had to really slog it out today. For some reason, I wanted "Brodie" for "Flutie" and was thinking of "Edinboro" University (PA), which threw off my SE. Finally, got it all.
Hi,
A note from the constructor: I liked Rich's clue for 1-Across ("Peace offering?"), but I wished he'd used mine. I had "Tutu won one". I just like the way it sounds when you say it.
Pete Collins
Hello Puzzlers - Good to hear from you, Pete! Yes, I like the sound of Tutu won one - brilliant.
I had to fill a lot of WAGS on this one. Some paid off, like OSLO, some caused jams, like GALE. Had to get red letter help at the TOD IONA cross. Had OVERSTATED for a long time even though it mostly didn't match the clue.
I worked at a local apple orchard for a few years. We grew about a dozen varieties, including HONEY CRISP. I don't like them very much; successful ones are too sweet, and they have a taste that I can only described as "manufactured".
Pete, I agree -- just an outstanding clue. Your puzzles are consistently among the most clever I (try to) solve. You should publish a collection.
Splynter et al, I’d like my humble pie alamode please! Dramatists, directors, novelists, obscure rivers and parks, etc. gave me fits, but with a few strategic look-ups augmented by lovely write-up I did finish and used this as a nice learning exercise. There were some clever clues – TUBA (not gale), LET (not out), GATES
Musings
-Getting MISJUDGED led me to believe I would work from the middle out like yesterday. Not so much!
-TCM installment of Movie Moguls last night showed Bogie, Bacall, et al in front of the HUAC committee. “Have you no shame, senator?” Very UNAMERICAN!
-Party LINE? Nope!
-I always think of RIALTO as a theater
-Doug Flutie’s daughter is now a Patriot’s cheerleader.
-Jog is not AMBLE
-I know some dewlapped people (new word for me!)
-Parleying?
-Kazie, know any 2-legged BUSHRATS?
-FORE!
Good Morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
Great write-up, Splynter! I laughed out loud at your link to the "bushrat". I must have been on your wavelength today, because I also thought of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" when I saw PARLEYING, never heard of a SEI whale, and winced when I saw "NEUTERS"!
This one kicked me around quite a bit, but eventually things started to emerge. But, with all the lookups it was, after all, a DNF.
Have a great day everyone!
Loved the picture of the Bush Rat
Good morning all. Good write-up, Splynter.
What a stinker! Lots of misdirection, some real clever clueing , and a couple mehs. Really hard to get a foothold, but finally got the top. I've been to Vigeland's park so OSLO was a gimme. Great fascinating sculptures - a must-see if you ever get to Oslo. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE gave entry into the south. WAGS included RIALTO and EDINBURGH. Most head scratchers turned out to be quite clever: NOBEL PRIZE, TATER, DEPOT, TUBA, and OVER STYLES. Had to White Gunk 'gale' (tuba), 'let' (out), and 'fib' (zag). BH helped with HONEY CRISP. I thought MEN and ENGR were dully clued. Overall, a good Saturday stumper.
Wishing all you mothers a great weekend.
Pete: a great job. Thanks for visiting.
I will add this blog to my favorites, it is great.
Good Morning All,
Splynter, great job! I felt the same about UNAMERICAN. Looked up HONEYCRISP {Lots of perps were not helping} and LANA. Lots of Perps and Wags. Really enjoyed the NOBEL PRIZE, DEPOT and NEUTERS clues; Peter, your alternate clue probably would have stopped me- simply brilliant!
I never would have expected 68A clue or answer out of a guy; sexist? Guilty! Shame on me.
A real challenging Saturday puzzle, Peter. Thanks.
Have a nice Derby Day everyone.
Great blog, Splynter, and great puzzle, Peter. I like your original clue for NOBEL PRIZE, but I can see some tie in and misdirection with 12d with Rich's alternative.
Unlike HuskerGary, the middle is where I finally found a way to get started. GATES was my first entry, followed by AJS, then RUED. That gave me ALL YEAR and I was off and... crawling. It took too long, but it finally came together.
I'm not familiar with HONEY CRISP apples.
I kept looking for an error in the NE corner, as I was sure PARLEYING was spelled PARLaYING, but was confident with DOGGONE. I finally decided there weren't any other changes I could make to come up with a different word, accepted PARLEYING and pronounced the puzzle finished.
Lots of clever clues today.
Hello.
Wonderful misdirection in the clues. Loved the challenge.
Not too worried about the Sharks.
Detroit has to win two games on SJ ice. No OT was the problem. Van and
SJ in the conference finals.
Am worried about bloggers who are going to the dentist. A 16 yo home-town girl died during work on her wisdom tooth during surgery.
Take care.
Don't you hate it when so much is stuf you never heard of?
Good Morning All, I started out with 1A/NUDGE, 3A/BAGEL and 2A/ONION. They gave me a good base for NOBEL PRIZE and then UNAMERICAN.
I also remembered HONEY CRISP as C.C.'s favorite and entered it at 66A. I prefer Pink Lady apples myself.
fermatprime, I've seen HONEY CRISPS at Costco.
When I got around to 9D, I wanted I CANNOT IMAGINE. I already had I CAN and GIN. I just couldn't make the stuff in the middle fit.
Thar middle stuff with ELMER, ALL YEAR, GREEN----, and BUSH --- took the most time to settle up. Finally got it with no "g's" and a couple of WAGs.
IONA, IOS, OED, SEI and HOV were purely perped. I wouldn't have gotten them otherwise.
Splynter, I still love THE WHO. Not the best video here, but your guys, Blue Oyster Cult, always make me think of more cowbell.
Thanks to Peter for his post. Constructor comments are always a treat.
Good morning Splynter, C.C., et al,
Much too challenging and clever for me. I cheated the whole way thru, enjoyed Splynter's write up immensely, and many of the clues made me smile:produce, read the wrong way, fixes, and heavy wind.
I remember the apple conversation awhile back and remembered C.C.'s favorite.I keep going back to Washington Delicious..always crisp.
Sallie, very funny story last night.
Enjoy the day. I have the 3 grandsons here for awhile today while daughters get together.I may have that glass of wine earlier than usual.Cheers
First it was tornadoes, now flooding. Some folks are having a tough time.
I like Pink Lady apples too.
The Dodgers seem like a second-division team this year with a lousy owner. They do have a player with a 30-game hitting streak so there's at least one reason to watch. The Lakers appear to be in big trouble against the Dallas Mavericks. Sports watching around here hasn't been much fun lately.
Bill, watch the Sharks!!
Just finished catching up on last night’s blog:
Lemonade, I should have searched the earlier blogs before I posted again about Webster Lake. Sorry!
Bill G, very funny talking dog clip!
Jeannie, DH loves his turnip greens, but I won’t even look at them when he cooks some up, southern style, for about 18 hours, until they are a mass of soggy green goo. But your recipe might tempt even me to try them, it sounds so yummy!
Good afternoon everyone.
Great write up, Splinter. I enjoyed your graphic for BUSHRATS so much that I have sent it to DH & son.
Also able to WAG IS I, since it was only 3 letters and about grammar. But although I did get a few and was caught by the ones mentioned, DNF.
Thanks for the comment JD. I posted pretty late.
Already have roses from my son and d-i-l in Manhattan and an intriguing pkg. from my son in MN, so tomorrow is all set. What fun.
I ditto the wish to enjoy the race this evening.
Cheers
HeartRx, are we not suppose to talk about something that has been spoken about before? Really?!?
Please let me know, because I simply don't understand. How would we check everything that mentioned?
Pls Email, if its not something I should be asking about. Thanks.
I can only imagine
Hi, C.C., Argyle and folk,
A quick visit before I start the puzzle today. I can't look at anything as I don't want any hints! (GRIN)
@Manitoba, in answer to your question last night. It's really a very clever tool and this shows a good visual. ADZ.
Hi, C.C., Splynter, et al!
Splynter, I enjoyed your blogging especially since I had the same experiences as you in solving.
What a challenge! Thanks, Peter, and thanks for stopping by. I WAGGED my way through most of it; you know it's Saturday when URAL is clued as "the Sakmara flows into it!"
But in spite of the misdirection, TUBA, OVERSTYLES, NUDGE, etc., etc., I managed to finish though could have used red letters as I misspelled ENLAI,, as ENLAO and ended up with OENA college not IONA and PEYS instead of BEYS.
Peter, I love the original clue for NOBEL PRIZE; the Z was my last fill.
Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Mothers Day tomorrow!
Linda, you should know better. The blog caution about refraining from religious commentary (it's right above the Comment" block) includes contemporary Christian music. At least tell people in advance that it is a Christian music link, so they can decide for themselves if they want to click. I wouldn't have, if I had known.
Hi All ~~
Splynter ~ A fantastic write-up! Great explanations, comments and links. This was a challenge for me and I had to give in to a few look-ups ... EMIRATE, FLUTIE, (I should have had that one!) and BUSH RAT ...loved the pic!
Perps helped a lot with things I wasn't sure of and with a few WAGS I managed to finish. A very enjoyable puzzle ... lots of misdirection and very clever cluing. I can't name a favorite ... there are so many!
Goin' with SOLDAT in the Derby ~~
Enjoy the day ~~
@Splynter,
great job and wonderful to hear your thoughts!
and away we go
Happy mothers day, ladies. I sent flowers to my mother.:)
I hope this weekend proves to be beautiful to everyone.
Frenchie
R.I.P.: SADA Thompson about whom I learned from crossword puzzles. She was 83.
Hi Again ~!
I liked the alternate clue for NOBEL PRIZE, too~! Thanks for stopping in, PETER.
Thank you all for your compliments, it is my pleasure to blog.
As for the
"And Away We Go~!"
it probably came from Jackie Gleason originally, who for me was Buford T. Justice, but
I was thinking of this at 5:40
Splynter
LaLaLinda, I'm going with Pants on Fire, strictly because I love the name.
HeartRx, creature's on the money -- you certainly did nothing wrong. It's ridiculous to expect people to remember stuff from months ago; hell, I forget answers from last week. Don't give it a second thought.
Uh....did I say Pants on Fire? I meant Animal Kingdom. Yeah, that's it.
Dennis ~~
So much for SOLDAT. I had 'Animal Kingdom' in an exacta and trifecta box, but not to win. There's no glory in that ... and no $$ either ...
JD, I'm sure the Sharks are fun. I've tried to get to like ice hockey and soccer but with limited success. I liked the women's US soccer team with Mia Hamm but that's about all. I went to a LA Kings game years ago. A puck came flying up from the rink and landed under my chair. As I was trying to get it, the thug next to me threw his arm across my throat so I couldn't move and got the puck for himself. Rats!
It's hard to explain why but I enjoy some sports and not others. Hockey? Not so much. Thanks for the invitation though and good luck! (Maybe Eithier will extend his hitting streak and give me something to cheer about.)
I just finished watching The Kentucky Derby. What beautiful animals.
Hello everybody. Holy cow the puzzle today kicked my tail big time. Even looking things up, and there was much I needed to look up, I couldn't finish. Hard hard hard!
Thank you all for providing such informative and entertaining reading yesterday and today.
More later.
Good Evening, folks. Well, kudos to you, Peter for a tough Saturday puzzle. Saturday is usually tough enough, but you made yours tough to the max. Great write-up Splynter. Thanks.
Well, I got most of it, but not all. I tried hard, but to no avail.
Couple of surprise answers, TUBA. I had GALE initially, but it did not mesh. Then it hit me. And, I play the tuba.
Had DOME and GAME for Sportscenter highlight. GOAL finally came.
Had MIDYEAR for a while, then ALLYEAR became obvious.
My big error for a while was CROC for Gaiter relative. I did not think about the spelling of gaiter versus gator for a while. Finally got it. SPAT. That was stupid on my part.
Never did get the NW or the SE. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Hola Everyone, I don't usually try Saturday puzzles,but I tried today. I had to look up too much and did not finish, but I enjoyed all the misdirections. What I did manage to fill in was correct, so when I got to Splynter's excellent write up I just had to plug in missing letters.
I consider a puzzle like today's a learning experience so all is not lost even when not finishing the whole thing.
I filled in Honey Crisp having remembered C.C.'s love for them. Our favorites here are Galas and Fujis. Both are crisp, and not too sweet. I used the last of the apples from our tree to make an apple pie for dessert tomorrow.
We will see three of our four daughters tomorrow.Smile.
A Happy Mother's Day to those of you who celebrate.
Well, Ethier's hitting streak just came to an end as the Dodgers lost. So I'm bereft, both baseball-wise and basketball-wise.
I was smiling internally thinking about what Woopie Goldberg said her mom used to say when she would get angry. "If you do that again, I'll snatch you baldheaded!"
I'm making my signature omelettes for Mother's Day brunch tomorrow.
First, Peter thanks for stopping by and I too loved the sound of TUTU WAS ONE; anon 10:42, no I do not hate it when a puzzle includes new things, that is how we learn.
Heart, or those defending her, I in no way meant her comments were not welcome or worthy, I just thought it was funny how much this obscure lake near where I grew up has been on the blog; in the future, I will email her so nobody will misconstrue my intention. I thought I had made it obvious, I love all comments, and encourage more.
Well, with two straight constructors named Peter, I should leave before any crude humor about playing with our Peters, but I didn't
I love this blog! Thanks, Lemonade for giving me the last laugh of the night.
Good night, everyone; until tomorrow.
The May 7 was a real bummer. Too many obscure answers and therefore no fun at all. I have half a dozen dictionaries and found nothing. It's getting such dumb info that is really worthless .Bad puzzle. M. Sayre Cleveland Ohio
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