Theme: None
Words: 72
Blocks: 30
Hello, gang ~! I was fooled into thinking this was a "walk in the park" but I simply could not WAG my way through the NE corner, despite having a pretty good foot-hold. I blogged Doug's last offering just over a month ago, and did well on that one - I must have made him mad....
Onward ~!
ACROSS:
1. They're dirty pool : CHEAP SHOTS - reminds me of this Addams Family scene
11. WNBA positions : CTRs - not fooled by the "W", but still a WAG, since basketball is not my thing
15. Muse of sacred music : POLYHYMNIA - I got it, even with "HY_N" to start; a little background
16. Brest milk : LAIT - LOTS of great, subtle DF cluing today, a play on breast - or is it just me?
17. Does a bit of informal polling : ASKS AROUND
18. Paquin of "True Blood" : ANNA - so not into the latest Vampire thing - I was happy with "Underworld" and Kate Beckinsale
19. Note : SEE
20. Puzzle (out) : SUSS - Clued exclusively for us "Corner" types
21. Model born Lesley Hornby : TWIGGY - Did not know this; I know of her, but not part of my world
23. Equinox mo. : SEPtember - closing in on hockey season ~!
24. Accepted : NORMAL
25. "GoodFellas" Oscar winner : PESCI - this one was a real gimme; I was just watching "My Cousin Vinny" and they mentioned this in the commercial break
28. Reckon, in the boonies : SPOSE - as in "I s'pose y'all city folk?"
30. OR abbr. : NEG - wha? I thought it was EKG; I mean, I get it, but does the Operating Room doc say "NEG"? And blood (type) isn't ONLY in the OR....meh
32. One who's done stretches? : EX-CON - nailed it
33. Texas Rangers CEO : NOLAN RYAN - did not know this, knew him only as a pitcher
35. Leap on blades : AXEL
36. Story writer/poet Grace who studied with Auden : PALEY - her
37. Classic Leontyne Price role : AIDA - here
38. Honey Ryder and Xenia Onatopp, e.g. : BOND GIRLS - "Bond, James Bond" - my top three Bond Girls; (1) - (2) - (3) - what's yours? Sorry ladies....
40. Out of line : ASKEW
41. Inseparable : ONE
42. Some rectangular bars : OLEOS - a little ruse here, oleo the fake butter bar in the fridge
43. Feinting spells? : SPARS - meh, I get it, but I think of feinting as part of fencing
44. Ore.'s highest point : Mt. HOOD
46. Broker's advice : BUY - I use Scottrade
47. Any regular on "The View" : CO-HOST - too much estrogen for me
48. Numbers for closers : ERAs - Earned Run Average, a number for Nolan
50. Cone head? : SNO - oh, very good, Sno-Cone - I was not on this wavelength to start
53. __ Bacon: "East of Eden" character : ABRA
54. Got at : INSINUATED
57. Structure on piles : PIER
58. "When pigs fly!" : NOT ON A DARE
59. More than asked : PLED
60. Safari sights : GRASSLANDS - ah - not Gorillllas, Gazelllles, Giraffffes,...
DOWN:
1. They're no. experts : CPAs - Certified Public Accountants - I caught the "." after "no"
2. It may wind up around the house : HOSE - we have two hose bibs, so we do not have to wrap the house, but I have seen this
3. Paul's "The Prize" co-star : ELKE - Paul Newman, Elke Sommer in this movie
4. Bard's interjections : AYs
5. Introduce by degrees : PHASE IN
6. Stack sweetener : SYRUP - pancake stack
7. GP gps. : HMOs
8. Weight : ONUS
9. Can across the pond : TIN - a tin of tobacco, in England and other places on the other side of the Atlantic, affectionately known as the "pond"
10. "I'm afraid the news is not good ..." : SAD TO SAY
11. One may be filed : CLAIM
12. It merged with Zanzibar in 1964 : TANGANYIKA - man, I thought I knew this, but it totally eluded me; map - the Lake is now on the left, Zanzibar to the right
13. Gangbuster's target : RINGLEADER - Rum-runner, etc., but I couldn't "suss" it out
14. Inn time : STAY - Argh~! - Trying too hard on this one
22. Singer of complex songs : WREN - not a DIVA
23. Baste : SCOLD - completely filled in via Perps - otherwise, I might have screwed this one up
24. Phrase of emphasis : NO LESS
25. R&B singer Bryson : PEABO
26. Dow 30 company : EXXON-MOBIL
27. When, in Act Two of "Macbeth," the Porter knocks at the gate : SCENE THREE
28. Caught : SNARED
29. TaquerÃa meat : POLLO - Chicken
31. Irritates, with "at" : GNAWS
34. Far from mellifluous : RASPY - Sassy, no, Rusty, no, Risky, no....
36. At the helm of : PILOTING
39. Nursery sounds : GOOs
40. Like much business? : AS USUAL - Men at Work and a little ditty for you
45. Put away : HOARD
46. Wedding announcement : BANNS - new one for me; and intended notice of marriage
47. Stupefyin' Jones creator : CAPP - Al Capp, Li'l Abner - Wiki
48. First-year Spanish verb : ESTA
49. Mexican waterways : RIOs
50. Persian for "place of" : STAN
51. One needing social work? : NERD
52. Confucius's "Book of __" : ODES
55. Bergen's home: Abbr. : NORway - Second largest city
56. Org. working on bridges : ADA - The fake teeth bridges of the American Dental Association - got it
Answer grid.
Splynter
Words: 72
Blocks: 30
Hello, gang ~! I was fooled into thinking this was a "walk in the park" but I simply could not WAG my way through the NE corner, despite having a pretty good foot-hold. I blogged Doug's last offering just over a month ago, and did well on that one - I must have made him mad....
Onward ~!
ACROSS:
1. They're dirty pool : CHEAP SHOTS - reminds me of this Addams Family scene
11. WNBA positions : CTRs - not fooled by the "W", but still a WAG, since basketball is not my thing
15. Muse of sacred music : POLYHYMNIA - I got it, even with "HY_N" to start; a little background
16. Brest milk : LAIT - LOTS of great, subtle DF cluing today, a play on breast - or is it just me?
17. Does a bit of informal polling : ASKS AROUND
18. Paquin of "True Blood" : ANNA - so not into the latest Vampire thing - I was happy with "Underworld" and Kate Beckinsale
19. Note : SEE
20. Puzzle (out) : SUSS - Clued exclusively for us "Corner" types
21. Model born Lesley Hornby : TWIGGY - Did not know this; I know of her, but not part of my world
23. Equinox mo. : SEPtember - closing in on hockey season ~!
24. Accepted : NORMAL
25. "GoodFellas" Oscar winner : PESCI - this one was a real gimme; I was just watching "My Cousin Vinny" and they mentioned this in the commercial break
28. Reckon, in the boonies : SPOSE - as in "I s'pose y'all city folk?"
30. OR abbr. : NEG - wha? I thought it was EKG; I mean, I get it, but does the Operating Room doc say "NEG"? And blood (type) isn't ONLY in the OR....meh
32. One who's done stretches? : EX-CON - nailed it
33. Texas Rangers CEO : NOLAN RYAN - did not know this, knew him only as a pitcher
35. Leap on blades : AXEL
36. Story writer/poet Grace who studied with Auden : PALEY - her
37. Classic Leontyne Price role : AIDA - here
38. Honey Ryder and Xenia Onatopp, e.g. : BOND GIRLS - "Bond, James Bond" - my top three Bond Girls; (1) - (2) - (3) - what's yours? Sorry ladies....
40. Out of line : ASKEW
41. Inseparable : ONE
42. Some rectangular bars : OLEOS - a little ruse here, oleo the fake butter bar in the fridge
43. Feinting spells? : SPARS - meh, I get it, but I think of feinting as part of fencing
44. Ore.'s highest point : Mt. HOOD
46. Broker's advice : BUY - I use Scottrade
47. Any regular on "The View" : CO-HOST - too much estrogen for me
48. Numbers for closers : ERAs - Earned Run Average, a number for Nolan
50. Cone head? : SNO - oh, very good, Sno-Cone - I was not on this wavelength to start
53. __ Bacon: "East of Eden" character : ABRA
54. Got at : INSINUATED
57. Structure on piles : PIER
58. "When pigs fly!" : NOT ON A DARE
59. More than asked : PLED
60. Safari sights : GRASSLANDS - ah - not Gorillllas, Gazelllles, Giraffffes,...
DOWN:
1. They're no. experts : CPAs - Certified Public Accountants - I caught the "." after "no"
2. It may wind up around the house : HOSE - we have two hose bibs, so we do not have to wrap the house, but I have seen this
3. Paul's "The Prize" co-star : ELKE - Paul Newman, Elke Sommer in this movie
4. Bard's interjections : AYs
5. Introduce by degrees : PHASE IN
6. Stack sweetener : SYRUP - pancake stack
7. GP gps. : HMOs
8. Weight : ONUS
9. Can across the pond : TIN - a tin of tobacco, in England and other places on the other side of the Atlantic, affectionately known as the "pond"
10. "I'm afraid the news is not good ..." : SAD TO SAY
11. One may be filed : CLAIM
12. It merged with Zanzibar in 1964 : TANGANYIKA - man, I thought I knew this, but it totally eluded me; map - the Lake is now on the left, Zanzibar to the right
13. Gangbuster's target : RINGLEADER - Rum-runner, etc., but I couldn't "suss" it out
14. Inn time : STAY - Argh~! - Trying too hard on this one
22. Singer of complex songs : WREN - not a DIVA
23. Baste : SCOLD - completely filled in via Perps - otherwise, I might have screwed this one up
24. Phrase of emphasis : NO LESS
25. R&B singer Bryson : PEABO
26. Dow 30 company : EXXON-MOBIL
27. When, in Act Two of "Macbeth," the Porter knocks at the gate : SCENE THREE
28. Caught : SNARED
29. TaquerÃa meat : POLLO - Chicken
31. Irritates, with "at" : GNAWS
34. Far from mellifluous : RASPY - Sassy, no, Rusty, no, Risky, no....
36. At the helm of : PILOTING
39. Nursery sounds : GOOs
40. Like much business? : AS USUAL - Men at Work and a little ditty for you
45. Put away : HOARD
46. Wedding announcement : BANNS - new one for me; and intended notice of marriage
47. Stupefyin' Jones creator : CAPP - Al Capp, Li'l Abner - Wiki
48. First-year Spanish verb : ESTA
49. Mexican waterways : RIOs
50. Persian for "place of" : STAN
51. One needing social work? : NERD
52. Confucius's "Book of __" : ODES
55. Bergen's home: Abbr. : NORway - Second largest city
56. Org. working on bridges : ADA - The fake teeth bridges of the American Dental Association - got it
Answer grid.
Splynter
30 comments:
Morning, all!
Definitely not a walk in the park for me today. The trouble started right in the NW corner, where POLYHYMNIA was a complete unknown. It didn't help that I had MASS instead of ONUS and LOO instead of TIN for crosses. I eventually got it sorted out, but it took awhile.
PEABO and ABRA were additional complete unknown, but fortunately the perps weren't too hard to SUSS out.
What nearly killed me, though, was the crossing of TANGANYIKA and NEG. With TANGA_YIKA in place, I figured I must have made a mistake somewhere, since I've never heard of a country ending in YIKA. I figured the missing letter was E (for EEG), but that seemed completely unprouncable and didn't get me the *tada* I was waiting for. I finally ran through every letter of the alphabet without much hope, since I knew I must have a mistake elsewhere, and was therefore very surprised when N turned out to be the magic letter. NEG? Meh.
Anybody else have a problem with ESTA for "First-year Spanish verb" at 48D? I'm not sure why, but I feel the answer should be an infinitive (ESTAR) instead of a conjugated form.
Good Morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
I admire your courage, Splynter. I had a hard enough time with this one after a good night’s sleep – I can only imagine the fits it would have given me had I tried it last night!
Loved “Brest milk” for LAIT. Great stuff. Like Barry G., I wanted “loo”, instead of TIN.
Did not catch the “.” After “They’re no. experts” until I had my coffee. Boinnng!
TWIGGY was definitely in my ‘era” of the 60’s. She absolutely influenced the fashion scene, with her cute mini-skirts.
27D was kind of a bonus gimme. You know it had to be SCENE something. And with 5 letters, it had to be THREE, seven or eight. So I wagged and got lucky.
Wasn’t crazy about OLEOS being plural…
But all the great phrases like CHEAP SHOTS, ASKS AROUND, PHASE IN, RING LEADER, well, how can you not like this puzzle? Favorite, though, was TANGANYIKA!!
I, too, was hung up on 30A. OR abbr. : NEG. I thought maybe I was wrong about the meaning of OR. Afterall, the VA no longer means the Veterans Administration; it is now the Veterans Affairs. But I will have to remember 30A. because once a clue/answer combination is used, no matter how lame, it will show up again.
Scroll down a little on this site to find out more about Twiggy, poster child for the anorexic look.
Splynter and others,
I really enjoy Saturdays with such consistent, challenging work from pros like Doug and Barry Silk. This really had some great fill and the triple stacks are one of my favorite grids. Thanks DP.
Hello Again ~!
Wow, Argyle, Dita Von Teese is my new favorite - thanks for the link~!
Splynter
Ditto to all that has been said! What a ride this morning.
Thanks, Splynter!
Polyhymnia? Huh? A real unknown to me.
Banns are announcements of pending weddings. They were originally introduced to make sure that no one in the parish had any objections to the union. They are asked 3 times in the weeks before the wedding. I've never known anyone to come forward and object to a union at our church, but there have been some that I've heard of in the past.
Cone head? I loved that one! Sno-cones were one of the delights of my childhood.
I am going to see "The Help" today. As you know, I liked the book, but felt the ending was weak and the characters not fleshed out enough.
Have a lazy Saturday!
Veni, vidi, vici! For every POLYHYMNIA there was a NOLANRYAN and so I got ‘er done pretty easily after SUSSing out some harder fills. Very pleasing on a Saturday!
Musings
-CHEAPSHOTS? Must be approaching an election year.
-TWIGGY's on a crusade against size zero models.
-I’ve watched Goodfellas numerous times and Scorsese said he wanted to both show that the life was violent but just “business as usual” (40Down).
-Robin Ventura learned that you DO NOT charge the mound against a good ole boy like Nolan Ryan!
-My answer would be none of the Bond Girls above – I vote for Ursula Andress
-NOTACHANCE was my first go at NOTONADARE
-A horrible hail storm 2 nights ago here in Eastern Nebraska will generate a gazillion claims. It hit Eppley Airfield and damaged cars, airplanes and one pilot!
-Off to give the lawn a haircut. Everything is still green and growing crazy here in the corn belt!
Happy Saturday, all. Thanks for the great bog and links, Splynter. I didn't have any pebbles getting in my way on this one... I had rock piles to climb over.
CHEAPSHOTS seemed pretty obvious, but really wanted 'loo' at 9d. Finally went with the obvious and realized the other clue was a TIN can. SCOLD didn't seem right, but I've seen 'lambaste' meaning scold, and the perps all fit. Had 'felon' before EX CON, 'Shasta' before MT HOOD (Californians, forgive me for that lapse of memory) and 'carne' before POLLO. I finally managed to SUSS it all out, though.
Good Saturday puzzle, Doug. Tough, but doable, for me.
Good morning Splynter and all.
Got TANGANYIKA right away. Also EXXON MOBILE (AXEL helped), and SCENE THREE. But the other long fills had to await SUSSing out many of the perps. GRASSLANDS seemed right but I thought it was too simple at first. I liked much of the clueing; especially that for LAIT,WREN, ADA, and CLAIM. Learned about the STAN ending. Another fun balanced puzzle by Doug.
Enjoy your weekend.
Well that was fun in the end. Too many names from popular culture, but mostly perped OK. Thanks Splynter.
I accepted feinting in the context of boxing, but only as a nod to the GREATEST (Mr. Ali).
I loved the crossing of EXXON and EXCON. Here's some trivia: The EXXON VALDEZ is now called the "ORIENTAL NICETY" - I would have preferred the "OCCIDENTAL ACCIDENT" or "OCCIDENTAL NEGLIGENCE".
Barry, I preferred your first answer for 9D, although I haven't peed across any pond recently. I put in MASS for 8D, and was mentally preparing a tirade on the difference between mass and weight, before the onus was removed.
I knew TANGANYIKA from my stamp-collecting days. Not done much philately (lately) though. Anyone?
And I knew TWIGGY of course -just about the only model whose real name I know.
MOM, they still read the BANNS 3 times in the Church of England too, but no-one objected in my case - ah well.
I do not consider "GOT AT" to be synonymous with INSINUATED, unless it is used in the reflexive sense - "insinuated oneself into", but it was into clued this way.
NC
Thiught most of the week's clues were fairly easy & doable. Today threw me for a loop.
The neg for Or abbr. is when the surgeon doesn't find the malignancy,etc. he expected.
Hi All ~~
As Grumpy said: tough, but doable. Getting a couple of keys opened up areas for me ... 'RINGLEADER, INSINUATED and ASKSAROUND.' I felt really clever getting LOO for 'Can across the pond.' HAH! POLYHYMNIA crossing AYS caused me to stumble but it was AYS that I questioned ... thinking more of 'Ahs.' All in all this went far more smoothly for me than a usual Saturday.
~~ Agree with the comments on NEG and SCOLD
~~ Really liked Joe Pesci in 'Goodfellas,' but LOVED him in 'Vinny!' I've seen that movie dozens of times.
~~ A few totally unknowns filled in, luckily.
~~ For 24D I had NO LOSS which seemed fine to me since I didn't know Grace PALEY. Saw my goof when I came here.
~~ Husker Gary: Nolan Ryan sure took care of Ventura ... 'noogies'-style!
Thanks, Splynter for another great write-up!
Enjoy the weekend ~~
Hello.
47TG. Very likely to hear "Cheap Shot" being said.
Will be watching the Nationwide race today. Danica will be joined by Maryeve Dufault, a former Price is Right model, who has made quite a name for herself in the ARCA series.
Still keeping it up ... er Down.
75 this AM.
take care. eddy
Grumpy
I agree about "BASTE" for "SCOLD". My MacDictionary lists an [informal dated] meaning of "BASTE" as to "beat soundly", or "thrash". As you say, we do still have "LAMBAST/LAMBASTE", which is closer in meaning to "SCOLD", though the sense is much stronger.
NC
38. Bond Girls my favorite 3 are: Tanya Roberts, Teri Hatcher and Olga Kurylenko.
Fun Facts by Dave Letterman
In addition to x-ray vision, Superman could also guess your weight within 5 pounds.
In Nevada, it's illegal for non magicians to say, "Ta da!"
Splynter; Nice write-up and "Non-DF" links.
DNF ... Self-imposed time limit expired.
OK, if I ever go on a Safari I'll be looking for some Wildebeest. Never came off them.
Never got the South or East Coast.
Ugh, what a mess, though a nice Ink Blot.
Hand-up for LOO, 'Can across the pond.'
Took the correction, TIN, as a mini-shoutout, since thats what a lot of you call me.
'SPOSE I'd learn the Muses.
As far as BOND GIRLS goes, I'm with Husker Gary: Ursula, along with Honor (Pussy Galore).
A "Toast-to-all" at Sunset.
Pierce(sp?) Morgan asking a guest about a person writes in her book is a cheap shot or a dirty trick. According to Christine O'Donnell.
The headline on that Nolan Ryan fight with Robin Ventura was, “First Man to Get 6 Hits Off Nolan Ryan in an Inning”.
I now am very curious what Grandma Thomas was doing when she said she was going to go “baste the turkey”. How mad was she at that bird?
I had biscuit tin in my mind for cookie jar in the UK and so never thought about Loo. I wonder what Kazie thought of?
STAN was a great learning moment for me also as many of those countries are Xxxxxstan.
Lawn looks better and so I am heading for the driving range.
Hand up for the LOO, too.
Don't they call it SPARing in fencing and boxing?
I seem to recall hearing "O-NEG" being called out in emergency scenes on tv or movies... Of course, that doesn't mean it's authentic. I'll ask my niece who recently interned in an OR, and just completed her first week as an EMS in the ER!
On "Royal Pains" recently, a character that was a magician said that a professional magician never uses "Ta-da!" because it gilds the lily. The trick should wow the audience on its own, without the prompting of the magician to influence them. I don't care for magic acts at all, so I have no basis for the validity of that, just sharing the comment.
Partway through the east central, I was already forming my apology to the constructor for not caring for today's offering... But once I got past that area (& the NW!), the rest of the puzzle flowed much smoother for me.
I dredged Tanganyika out of the archives, surprisingly. Hand up for wanting Loo instead of Tin, but saw both possibilities and waited for perps. Last to fall was the Y in ays. Did not know Polyhymnia, but it made enough sense to take that flyer. So, finished without assist.
Bond Girl? Hmm. Did not know that Teri Hatcher was on that list. So she'd be one contender. Halle Berry, yup! Dianna Rigg, certainly. Ursula and Honor get honorable mention, but prolly not in the top 5 for me.
Good day, Splynter and all.
Yowza! What a great Saturday offering from Doug Peterson.
Ditto on LOO waaay before TIN and CARNE then POLLO; also had BOND WOMEN and recalled they are always GIRLS.
I definitely remember TWIGGY and checked to ensure that was her given name.
Yes, I thought first-year Spanish verb, ESTA should be an infinitive but we often see Latin, amo, amas, amat as first year verbs.
Loved Brest milk, LAIT, spelled LACT first, then corrected by RING LEADER.
TANGANYIKA was an African nation when I studied fifth grade geography and I always liked the sound of it.
Thank you, Doug; I really like the multi-stacks.
Have a superb Saturday, everyone!
oneg is also a Sabbath gathering/meal.
Thanks for the comments today. If I remember correctly, POLYHYMNIA was the "inspiration" for this one. Her sisters ERATO & CLIO have been in tons of puzzles, so I thought she deserved some love too. Is it her fault that her name's so darn long?
Doug P:
Thank you for stopping to visit. You are not only a great constructor but funny, too!
Can anyone shed light on 32 across?
Slang for stretch: "He did a two-year stretch for armed robbery at San Quentin." So an ex-con has served time in prison or done 'stretches.'
[Facepalm!]
Hello Splynter, and all
I DNF this one. After much too long, I ended up with a couple of corners done and a big space in the center. Many, many unknowns; I didn't succumb to 'loo'though. 'Tin' came to mind instantly . I read a lot of English novels, I guess.
Splendid commentary, Splynter, in spite of it not being a 'walk in the park.'
Hope you're all having a pleasant weekend. dodo
I guess I need to sign in again.
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