Theme: Twisted NEWS, North, East, West, South describing the DIRECTION of the fill. Each of the ten (10!) theme answers represent a way to read, West to east (left to right); east to west (right to left) ; north to south (top to bottom) and south to north (bottom to top). See a simple diagram here. English for example is East, Hebrew West, Chinese South ,and ancient Korean North. What an wonderfully creative grid, which really makes you shake up your thought process and see things upside down and backwards. All theme answers are connected by the clecho: APT. And the answers flow around the edge of the grid.
Lemonade here, and we have back to back corner denizen puzzles, so let us see what the dynamic duo have wrought.
1A. Aptly, Chinese, e.g.: ASIAN. East Asian. The inscrutable East and an immediate shout out to C.C.'s heritage.
6A. Aptly, Park Avenue area: SIDE. The East Side of Manhattan; everything west of Fifth avenue is West Side, everything east...
10A. Aptly, New Jersey beach phenomenon: WIND. East wind. The wind blowing to the ocean. They even named an airline based in Trenton, EASTWIND AIRLINES.
37A. "Apt" geographical element needed to complete the answers to 10 of this puzzle's clues: DIRECTION. The unifier smack dab in the middle.
67A. Aptly, Israeli-occupied territory: KNAB. The West Bank, written right to left as Israelis and Arabs alike do.
68A. Aptly, Oval Office site: GNIW. The West Wing of the White House and a long running TV show. Also, present occupant accused of moving the country from right to left.
69A. Aptly, Hollywood locale: TSAOC. The West Coast, California here I come.
1D. Aptly, about 5 percent of the Earth's surface: ACIREMA. North America, bottom to top.
13D. Aptly, Pierre's state: DAKOTA. South Dakota, read top to bottom. Pierre is the capital.
45D. Aptly, "Happy Talk" musical: PACIFIC. South Pacific, the Broadway Musical.
46D. Aptly, Pyongyang resident: NAEROK. North Korean form this CITY .
Across:
14. Treinta ÷ seis: CINCO. Thirty divided by six equals five, Spanish lesson 1.
15. Some Neruda works: ODES. CA has given us some of PABLO NERUDA'S work.
16. Conscription category: ONE-A. Draft status.
17. "What else __?": IS NEW. The structure of this puzzle is new.
18. Tour de force: FEAT. A major accomplishment, like have a puzzle published.
19. Terrible: WACK. This is such a cool clue, really current slang meaning awful, slowly derived from wacky, with the "H" removed to distinguish it from whacked, the mob version of killed.
20. Bona fide: REAL. Literally in good faith in Latin.
21. Wall makeup, maybe: STONES. Gee, I thought PINK FLOYD sang this SONG .
23. Intl. commerce group: WTO. World Trade Organization.
24. Anger: ENRAGE. I hope none of you were put off by the extra layer of thought required to solve this puzzle.
26. Main vessel: SEA BOAT. Once again, the bounding main, and a beautiful PAINTING.
28. '60s chic: MOD. MEMORIES?
29. Virgil contemporary: OVID. A Roman poet, who had his own course back when I was studying Latin. Speaking of Latin, 32A. Earth, to 29-Across: TERRA. And, 33A. 29-Across's "__ amatoria": ARS. The Art of Love, which you can read part of translated for you in this LINK. I guess it would be a Friday so I could give a little Latin Lesson.
34. Contradict: BELIE.
36. Pop-ups, perhaps: ADS. Does anyone not have a pop-up blocker?
40. Diamond stat: RBI. Baseball, not gemstone.
42. Assault: STORM. I always associate this usage with a tower.
43. Spot in a poker game: PIP. The little things there are three of on a trey.
46. Isn't far from reaching: NEARS.
48. Like some blog comments: Abbr.: ANON. Another great inside joke from our constructors; I feel like I am watching an episode of the old George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.
49. Peruvian pronoun: ESA. Feminine, ESO, masculine.
50. "So soon?": ALREADY. You are back, oh oh.
53. Kind of acid: NITRIC. A highly corrosive acid; horrible. Want to make SOME?
55. Width measure: EEE. My clue Bigfoot?
56. Relax: GO EASY.
59. European wine area: ASTI.
60. "Shoot!": RATS. This was tricky for me.
62. Relative position: RANK. When I started practicing law in Gainesville many years ago, the old southerners would call me Colonel. Not sure why lawyers were so ranked, but I wanted to get a cigar and go cook some fried chicken.
63. "... __ of Bread ...": A LOAF. " A jug of wine, a loaf of bread and thou." A small piece of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and a classic example of ARS AMATORIA.
64. "__ take arms against a sea ...": Hamlet: OR TO. I do loves me my Shakespeare.
"To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep."
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep."
65. Prado display: ARTE. Oops we slipped into Spanish again; this is the premier MUSEUM in Madrid.
66. Morels, e.g.: FUNGI. The perfect inside DF reference from our fearless leader, understood by only the corner, but like the PICTURE we all stand fully at attention to salute you in our best Dennis mode.
No rest though, we have more
Down:
2. Latin agreement: SI SENOR. Tricky, not that Latin, the other one. Yes mister!
3. Machine makeup, informally: INNARDS. Guts to me.
4. Amtrak's bullet train: ACELA . Any of you remaining New Englanders ridden it?
5. Word of impatience: NOW. "I want it on my desk...."
6. Lax: SOFT.
7. Prefix with logical: IDEO. IDEOLOGICAL. I wonder why this was not clued Logical head, to lead into....
8. Heads with lists: DEANS. Department heads who put out the List of Honor Students.
9. Big name in compacts: ESTEE. Lauder the make up queen.
10. Eye-popper response: WOW. My favorite, wowee kazowee.
11. Succinctly: IN A WORD. Very succinctly.
12. Bee drawers: NECTARS. No not little bitty knickers but the plant yummies from which bees make their honey.
21. Break off: SEVER. Like diplomatic ties.
22. Warmed the bench: SAT. Yes this (benchwarmer) was my position when I played basketball.
25. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" setting: GOBI. Chinese: 戈壁, pinyin: Gēbì. Another China reference, and a multi-award winning movie which I found difficult to follow.
27. Certain counter's unit?: BEAN. Bean counter, our euphemism for an accountant.
30. Quebec's Sept-__: ILES. The northernmost seaport in Quebec Province. LINK .
31. Orders: DICTA. From the Latin, I have given you my dicta speech before.
35. Thames landmark: ETON. Crosswordese.
36. Urgent: DIRE. Like STRAITS.
38. It may be dramatic: IRONY. One of many popular literary devices.
39. Luxury hotel: OMNI. They had them in Miami and Atlanta.
40. Freshen one's familiarity with: RELEARN.
41. '70s Robert Blake cop show: BARETTA. Look for his new reality show co-starring Casey Anthony.
43. Public projection: PERSONA. My sarcasm leaves often, non grata.
44. "Are we in?": IS IT A GO. A nice Naddorish misdirection of letters.
47. Slump: SAG.
51. Trendy headgear: DO RAG. I am not sure they are still in.
52. Long: YEARN. I'm burning, yearning for your loving.
54. Foot bone: TALUS. Ankle bone, and the name of Dr. Who's ship?
57. Objector : ANTI. Latin meaning against.
58. Slant, as to a specific audience: SKEW.
61. Graveside sound: SOB. My first thought was why would someone call another an SOB at a graveside.
63. Popeye's behind?: AFT. The sailor man's rear of the ship. Love this clue, what a great laugh to end what for me has been a great ride, with a really creative visual puzzle. Until next time.
Lemonade
1) Constructors' note:
I thought it would be fun to make a theme taking advantage of directional heading of the edge words in the grid. As is usually the case with collaborating, we (mostly Don) developed a central unifier CLOCKWISE, which was changed to DIRECTION at Rich's suggestion. The number of words that can follow the headings are rather limited. We were lucky to get them to join in the corners. Filling was weird at spots, the bottom and left-edge words can be somewhat disorienting.
2) Here is another Hard to Believe picture. Tell in the Comments section who do you think that sweet boy is.
Lemonade,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the detailed and thoughtful post. Nice to see your Chinese character for GOBI, 戈壁. I can imagine how hard for you to follow the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" plot. Spot-on comments on ANON and FUNGI. Poor Dennis has been enduring my onslaught of questions and has never lost his MOREL fiber. Always a Fungi.
As to your question on 7D, Don originally clued IDEO as "Conceptual beginning?". Rich probably wanted to ease up the clues around the theme entry area. The fun "Popeye's behind?" is also Don's brainchild.
WOW. Just... WOW.
ReplyDeleteI caught the theme early on. Or, at least, I thought I caught it early on. I mean, I figured out the directions were needed to fill in the missing words in the answers, but it wasn't until the bitter end that I figured out that the directions also indicated the direction the answers were actually written. I was left staring at a bunch of letters that made no sense whatsoever, despite the fact that the perps were all solid.
It didn't even occur to me that there might be some sort of gimmick involved since, well, this is the LA Times puzzle and they don't do gimmicks in the LA Times puzzle. No rebuses, no backwards words, etc. Fortunately, I've done enough NYT puzzles where gimmicks are pretty common that I finally realized what was going on and finished the puzzle very quickly after that.
Other than that, the puzzle was pretty straightforward (thankfully). I wasn't particularly fond of SEA BOAT, not because of the clue, but simply because it doesn't sound like a real word. I suppose you could say SEA BOAT to distinguish it from, say, a gravy boat, but does anybody ever actually say SEA BOAT?
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteSuper puzzle Don and CC. Really enjoyed the reverse directions! Great write-up Lemonade! Very funny. You were kidding about the TARDIS, right?
Do not understand the MOREL references. Please refresh my memory!
In case anyone likes Torchwood, it's on again Friday on Starz, strangely enough. Also, there is a Miss Marple on PBS, Sunday. I adore Agatha Christie!
Definitely time for bed, now that I have managed to do in the huge fly that has been annoying me for hours.
Happy weekend!
Good Morning, Lemonade, C.C., and friends. Wow! What can I say. On the first pass, I was fully prepared to say this was over my head. Then, slowly, I began to fill in the spaces. After getting (south) PACIFIC, I realized we were looking for a direction, but the light bulb didn't go on until I reached the West KNAB!
ReplyDeleteTerrific puzzle! I was also amused by the "in" jokes and laughed when I filled in ANON and MOREL.
I also loved seeing INNARDS as an answer. For some reason, that word always makes me laugh.
I originally tried ASIA for the local of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but had to change it after I realized 1-Across was ASIAN. Loved that movie.
Definitely Friday clueings, with ESTEE being a big name in compact. Great mislead!
Thanks for the Sultans of Swing clip, Lemonade. I am a big fan of Mark Knopfler. Did you know Dire Straits had asked Vince Gill to join the band way back when ...?
QOD: I don't even butter my bread; I consider that cooking. ~ Katherine Cebrian
Ferma:
ReplyDeleteSince no one else has stepped up: here's a go:
If you clicked on the picture L714 linked, you noticed that the morel mushroom closely resembles a certain male appendage. At some time in past blog history (WH said, redundantly) the word morel was in the puzzle, the appropriate image linked, and someone, Lois I believe, referred to Dennis as a "very morel guy", simultaneously playing on the similarity between 'morel' and 'moral' and creating the double entendre.
The episode will be featured prominently, I'm sure, when the Official History of the Crossword Corner Blog is published, decades from now.
Lastly, a serious mushroom hunter might actually experience "la petite mort" if he or she stumbled on the cache pictured. It is quite a find.
WH:
ReplyDeleteYou silver tongued devil, you so skillfully maneuvered through the minefield of morels, yet still conveying their place in our history and inserting a reference to la petite mort: classic!
OMG what a ride! I got ACIREMA and wondered what in the world it was. West WING finally gave me the theme and it all came out. Wow!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-I first thought Park Ave was on the SIDE of the monopoly board (grasping at straws)
-SEABOAT? ROADCAR? AIRPLANE?
-A colleague once asked a favor and I said, “What’s the magic word?” and she quickly replied, “Now!”. We still laugh about that.
-Drawers took a while
-DORAGS complement some of the clown outfits I see on the streets. How do you keep pants up that are below your Popeye backside?
-Time to get moving – my daughter into her new home that is.
Great writeup for a tricky puzzle. I figured out the DIRECTION thing and quickly got the "Apt" clues, but never noticed they were linked around the perimeter. My last, reluctant, fill was SEABOAT, which makes no sense to me, either.
ReplyDeleteOur newspaper butchered the "÷" in the 14A clue, so I had to fuss with 30 and 6 for a second to get a 5-letter answer; didn't take long.
One quibble about winds -- wind direction is reported by the direction from which it originates. Thus the East wind in New Joisey blows _from_ the ocean, not _to_ the ocean.
And finally, I usually learn a new word from every puzzle; today's was WACK, which I'll probably never use again.
Good Morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteI hinted last night that we were in for a fun puzzle today, because I already knew that it was one of C.C. and Don's creations. But little did I know just how fun it would be!
Great write-up, Lemon, and your "picture" of the grid directions was worth a thousand words.
I had all the theme entries filled, but sat staring at the blank center of the grid, trying to figure out the gimmick. I saw that some entries read upside down, some backwards, and some were just normal fill. When DIRECTION finally emerged, I had to slap myself upside the head, D'oh!!!
Thanks, C.C. and Don, for a fun filled Friday fest !!
Great puzzle, Don and CC. Loved your write-up, Lemonade. Like Barry I had these five weird words across the bottom and west side and was sure the perps were correct. I had to give up and go to the blog to learn how to read them.
ReplyDeleteI think it was Creature who said she thought she saw me in square dance promotions. I doubt it. I have danced in Japan, Nova Scotia, New Brunwick (Canada), ME, CT, NY, DE, VA, NC, and NJ and I did old fashioned Appalachian square dancing in WV, but I do all my promotional work locally in Morris Co. NJ. We danced on the Cape May-Lewes ferry in a gale. One, two, stagger, stagger, stagger. What a hoot! I forgot my pettipants (dancer's gear) and the wind kept blowing my full skirt up ala Marilyn Monroe on the grate.
63. Popeye's behind?: AFT I was thinking since he was a sailor I first put SIX.
ReplyDeleteLateshow Fun Facts by Dave Letterman
Until 1947, the winner of the Masters Golf Tournament received a green jacket and a matching fez.
During a nine month strike in 2002, The Weather Channel broadcast reruns.
Mike, I agree the east wind on the Jersey shore blows from the ocean. That's how we get our cooling breeze and is why we go there on hot days.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that the young fellow in the photo is Argyle.
ReplyDeleteThe latest trendy head gear are the Fascinators that the Duchess of Cambridge wears so well.
Wow is right! Great puzzle--if you "got" it, and L714, wonderful interpretation of it. C.C.amazes me.
ReplyDeleteI am a DNF, due to having COUP/FEAT, ARGUE/BELIE, which gave me AGES/ILES, and lots of complete blanks in the mid-north and center, including DIRECTION. I was sure that SEVER had to begin with DE-, so that never filled in for me. I did OK on the south and NW, but never figured out the varying direction of the spellings, and like someone else said, a lot of the letters made no sense.
This was definitely a Friday.
Loved this one! Took some mind-stretching and thinking differently. Bring on more gimmicks!
ReplyDeleteI think your "sweet boy" pic is Boomer.
ReplyDeleteNever having been to the East Coast, I had no idea about wind in New Jersey, thought of boardwalks and such. In Sydney, we used to refer to southerly busters, which always brought bad weather from the south, or nor-easters, which usually weren't so bad.
ReplyDeleteGrateful for the link to Dire Straits, I'd never heard of them, if you can believe that. Where was I?
Very informative write up. Thanks, Lemonade. Tough puzzle!
ReplyDeleteWOWZA!! This sure was fun. Thanks C.C. and Don for a fantastic puzzle and Lemonade for a really great write up. I guess the "trick" was so successful since we so seldom see such devices in LAT puzzles. I finally figured it out when GNIW emerged and I knew it just had to be 'wing'.
ReplyDeleteSI SENOR, a puzzle with a 'morel' DIRECTION makes me YEARN for the DF days of yore. I'd better GO EASY on this or I might ENRAGE some in the RANKs.
I really enjoyed the inside jokes in the INNARDS of the puzzle.
Thanks Lemonade for the grid picture.
ReplyDeleteNitric Acid is the NAME of an acid, not a 'kind' of Acid.
ReplyDelete'Kind' of acid ( as in Type - ) would be Amino, Organic, Inorganic, Fruity, Mild/Strong etc.
As an example - A Bosc or Anjou would not be clued as a 'kind' of fruit.
It is the name of a pear. A 'Pear' would be a 'kind' of fruit.
On the other hand, I must confess, that I am not familiar with the laxity or the 'strech' allowed in late week puzzles....
BTW, Nitric is a highly corrosive Acid ( very low Ph ) but there are many more acids, higher up in that category. E.g. Sulfuric Acid etc.
Good Morning All, I don't have a lot of time this morning, but I wanted to stop and congratulate C.C. and Don on Friday's puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI had filled in the NW via the Across perps and didn't really notice that here was something strange at 1D.
I just kept on going until I wound up on the bottom line. I was finishing with the Down fill and finally took a look at the bottom line clues and fill. Pass the V-8 can, please.
I guess I shouldn't be embarrassed as long as I "got" it, but it sure took me a while.
Lots of fun and a big smile at the end of it.
Fermatprime, I hope your dog-rope-door opener is working alright. I know it's not funny to you, but when you wrote it, it came out that way.
Thank you CC and Don for a challenging puzzle. I wasn't sure I could get this one completed until the final letter. Didn't even really understand the theme until I filled in TSEW on the bottom line and knew full well what the answer had to be. That helped me get Korean and made sense of the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the writeup Lemon, and for adding a little blog history as well.
Is it a go?....YES! Atlantis is off!!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Lemonade, CC and all,
I almost gave up on this very clever puzzle, and although I DNF, I gave it my all. And, Lemonade, so did you!! Thanks.
llGood morning everyone. Terrific write-up, Lemonade, and I agree wholeheartedly with your take on the breath of this opus. Great puzzle by C.C. and Don.
ReplyDeleteIn the Northern Hemisphere, 'high pressure' induces flows in a clockwise DIRECTION, which is what this puzzle was. When I finally got left TSAOC, I began to realize the orientation of the border words, allowing me to get NAEROK, and ACIREMA. An early WAG was DICTA. ARS also seemed right for its slot. All in all, a great construction delivering an intense sense of accomplishment when the solve was done.
Chemist @ 0954 Re: 53a 'kind of acid' - NITRIC. Merriam-Webster gives the definition and example of a specific or recognized variety: what kind of car do you drive. I think it was clued correctly and would give the editor some slack here.
Enjoy the day.
Ingenious puzzle! Out-of-the-box theme!
ReplyDeleteBut... I'm just as awed by the fill. From square one, literally, the constructors are constrained by already having used up all the perimeter space. To fill the grid this cleanly takes a superb set of skills and great imagination. You guys are somethin' else!
I think the boy is Don G and what a great doggie.
ReplyDeleteMargo L
I think that fellow is Husker Gary.
ReplyDeleteHello everybody. I add my wowzas and zowies to the cacaphony of wows about this puzzle. Fabulous in so many ways! I didn't catch on to the right-to-left and bottom-to-top direction of the entries until I got TSAOC and couldn't figure out what the heck it was for quite a while. I actually did have KOREAN but I wrote it in top-to-bottom, which gave me fits with (west) BANK, which I just knew had to be right. Well, it was not right, it was left! haha. Anyway, once I finally figured that out the rest became much easier.
ReplyDeleteWanted ARS for Popeye's behind, even though it was already "taken." AFT -- so cute!
Still shaking my head at SEABOAT and WACK, but Lemonade's link shows that SEABOAT is indeed a real word. I'm still shaking my head at WACK, however. That's wacked, man!
Gotta go into the office now. Here's wishing you all a good day.
Hello Puzzlers - The team of DGCC had me guessing for a loooong time on this one, but the light finally came on at TSAOC. Helluva clever puzzle! More, please!
ReplyDeleteWow! This was a doozy for me for sure. Challenging but satisfying. I confess to some red-letter help. Even so, it took a long time to complete. Very impressive! Thanks for the excellent writeup, Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteI went out to breakfast with my son, daughter and grandson. I won't annoy the ill-tempered, pouty, lurking anon by telling you what I had. However, I will say it's the only café I've been to that served real maple syrup at a reasonable additional cost.
Speaking of cafés etc., has anyone ever had a the server ask if they were left or right handed as the drinks were being served, in order to put them on your preferred side? I experienced that for the first time a few weeks ago and was amazed. It was a pretty rough little local diner/bar that I had never gone to before.
ReplyDeleteHi All ~~
ReplyDeleteAnother great 'Corner' construction! What a great puzzle, C.C. and Don G.! I managed to finish it but didn't understand the five "nonsense" words I ended up with so I came here. Thanks for the grid picture, Lemonade. Then it all made sense! How did I not see it? DUH
~~ I still see DORAGS underneath some baseball caps/ helmets.
~~ I really liked INNARDS and WACK.
~~ ANON and MOREL were fun 'corner' answers.
~~ Hmm ... is the "sweet boy" Grumpy?
Off tomorrow for three weeks on the beach in Rhode island ~~
Take care ~~
Without that 'H' in WACK I couldn't
ReplyDeletefind MY secret answer ...
Scotch!
Tears ...
La La Linda, nope, Grumpy, at that age, was much sweeter than that kid as anyone can see by comparing to my latest retro avatar
ReplyDeleteAccording to C.C.'s Ginger Roots, Sweet Boy is Don G. Clue is 'Hard' (Hard G) to Believe.
ReplyDeleteHere is a clip of a Flash Mob at a Cape Cod Stop and Shop on July 1st.
Once again no time to do the puzzle yet. I will get to it tonight though as it sounds like everyone enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteToday is National Video games day. I myself, am not a “gamer”.
My guess for that cute little guy is Windhover.
Hola Everyone, Well, I tried and I tried, again, but this dynamic duo today did me in. What a great puzzle, though, and I really admire the ingeneous placement of the directional words.
ReplyDeleteI did have Korean in, but spelled from top to bottom in the traditional way. When I realized that the perps wouldn't fit, I tried so hard to find a fitting word for the Korean people that bagan with an N. Duh, V-can, and forehead slap all at once!
And Acirema--what kind of Earth's surface word is that? What a dunce I am not to have seen the backward and upside down words.
Now that I have the answers, nothing seems too far fetched, just couldn't "see" them for the life of me.
I loved the Latin Agreement clue. An aha moment for me. But Citric Acid stayed in place way too long for my own good.
Good job Lemonade, C.C. and Don G.
La La, where to, Newport? Misquamicut Beach?
ReplyDeleteMy parents used to love to tell the story of my shoplifting candy when we were at Misquamicut when I was 18 months old. Only the bottom shelf was at risk. If icould reach it, it was mine.
Grumpy ~~ Love the look ... the missing tooth (teeth) ... very sweet, indeed!
ReplyDeleteLemonade ~~ We stay at a cottage at Misquamicut Beach ... not on the beach but almost across the street. We're not far from the Andrea Hotel. Hoping for sunny days and warm temperatures. Last year it was TOO HOT!
A pop in to congratulate C.C. and Don for a puzzle that set me on my ear...I finally just came here and got Lemonade's perimeter fill and then filled in the interior with no problems at all...I just didn't get it and, even with DIRECTION, it took a long time...I kept wanting to connect the directionality with the actual direction...so KOREAN worked if they write from bottom to top but nothing else followed that particular logic...as usual, I am over thinking...:oP Extraordinary puzzle...WOW!
ReplyDeleteAnd, I'm with Jeannie...I think it is our charming WH...:o)
Good Evening C.C., Lemon and all,
ReplyDeleteI felt I was in a pin the tail on the donkey contest. Yet, slowly, VERY slowly. This puzzle came partially together for me.. WING/GNIW was my tipoff and I was sailing. Hopped in the tub and had memorized the grid by then; dressed and in the car and the only iffy left was WACK. I mentally kept reworking it until I was sure I would be pulled over by the cops. Pulled in the driveway this evening , fed the horses, dogs , grabbed a banana and went for Lemon. WACK it was and it all fell into place. Whew!
Outstanding work, C.C. and Don. Can‘t wait til next time. Thanks. Its all been said.
Have a nice evening everyone..
I'm guessing WH. for our boy at barn w/dog.
ReplyDeleteCould it be our Saturday Blogger, Splynter in that adorable picture of a boy and his dog?
ReplyDeleteSpitz, that flash mob was a lot of fun. It always sends shivers down my spine when the piccolos show up near the end. What a great march!
ReplyDeleteI see where Kate and Will have arrived in LA. I hope the photographers don't become too much of a nuisance.
Lemonade, great blogging, as usual. You are a wealth of information.
ReplyDeleteDon G. and C.C., I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. So much fun! I would not be unhappy if RIch Norris accepted more of this type of puzzles, which make one think outside the box.
Enjoy the night!
P.S. I'm thinking Spitzboov is correct, and that is is Don "Hard" G.
Jeannie, Wolfmom, & Creature,
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true that the Windhover is ruggedly handsome, in the grizzled and wrinkled, weather worn fashion of his breed, and that he was moderately cute and was owned by a dog as a boy, he (I) was never as cute as the boy in the picture.
Sorry. Guess again.
Among the amazing things in life is the closeness of the world even as it gets bigger. We have maybe 100 people who comment on any regular basis, and one lives in Southbridge, a small town where my grandmother lived, and another is going to stay in cottage in Misquamicut, which I did as a child. Also, my first foray ubto music business, was booking a college band to play there. The Beverly Tomato no less. We also are having cyber people becoming real on an ever increasing basis, and now we are sharing childhood pics. Awesome. You all have been very nice, though quiet today. Thank you each for the nice words, and CC and DG thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteSpitzboov, I loved the band Flash Mob video. I've seen lots of singing Mobs and would love to be involved...what fun!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a clue myself who the latest "Hard To Believe" boy is, but Spitzboov may very well be right.
WH: Thanks for the explanation!
ReplyDeleteDo not remember who mentioned this, but, In the past the LAT has had puzzles with upside-down words and crazy symbols. Even remember some on the web with a symbol (that required some stupid substitution).
CA and Bill G. - My favorite flash mob is the 1st one I ever saw some time ago which occurred at the railway station in Antwerp. It has had ~24 million viewers so far.
ReplyDeleteSpitz: Thank you so much for flash mob video!
ReplyDeleteNo ime to work the puzzle today, so like the backward clues today, I stopped in here first!
ReplyDeleteWas it a lulu or what?
I checked it as I was reading the blog and decided that it is too late in the day to tax my feeble brain!
WH, I will find a picture and post it.
Good work C.C and D!
Good night, y'al.
Long, busy day for me. I just finally got to read the blog, and am truly blown away by the comments. Thank you so much, everyone. This was really C.C.'s idea, though. She gets the credit for originality. The fill was very difficult. You can tell, because we ended up with three partials, something we try to avoid at all costs. Somehow we made it all work, and reactions have been very positive, I am pleased to say. Thanks also to Rich for helping us to realize the final conception in an understandable way for the solver. The "apt" line is his.
ReplyDeleteI am not the boy in the picture, as someone said. Maybe it is Boomer.
Don, Thank you for stopping by; we really enjoyed this effort and obviously have come a long way as solvers, now sophisticated and curious. Keep them coming! Now where is John Lampkin? Maybe we can have his first themeless...soon!
ReplyDeleteIs it Argyle?
ReplyDeleteTest
ReplyDeleteYou call it creative; I call it bogus. The clues for 1 and 46 down are not, in fact, for 1 and 46 down, but for 33 and 67 up, respectively.
ReplyDeleteThe clues for 67, 68 and 69 across may be for words "across," but not for "across" as we know it; and they are for words that begin in unnumbered squares.
This may be a clever puzzle, but it is not a crossword puzzle as we know it. Puzzles depend on convention, and this one defies convention. The word "aptly" adds nothing to the "directional" clues; they are, in fact, inapt.
Not to mention SEA BOAT, as Barry G. did, and WACK. Those are fouls. This puzzle fouled out.