Theme: Saturday Silkie
Words: 70
Blocks: 28
Well, sure, we can start 2012 with a Saturday puzzle from Mr. Barry Silk, right??? This one looked awfully sparse after my first pass, with only WATT (wrong) and TAE for my across answers. But then Ricky Nelson showed up, and I literally stagger-stepped my way back up the grid to Soft Pretzel, my last fill - sort of like that moment in a game of checkers when you see a path open up for your last man, and jump all the way to being kinged in your opponent's last row....
So we had a great looking pinwheel of 11's and 9's, with a very neat pair of diagonal blocks in the middle. Two Z's but no J,Q, or X, lots of acronyms. I finished in my personal time, and I did not have to sneak a peek at Google this week - but I did have to review my completed puzzle for my two letters that were wrong - I found them without the red-letter assistance.
On to the first Saturday, and Silkie, of 2012 ~!
Across:
1. Street vendor's offering : SOFT PRETZEL - Very good in NYC - I try to stop and get one from a street vendor, or at least one in MSG when I go to a Ranger Game; my last "fill"
12. Oldie syllable : SHA - Oh yeah, I had this on my first pass, too
15. Later : AFTER A WHILE
16. Internet company with a 2009 IPO : AOL - America On-Line was my first ISP, back in the mid-nineties; seems like a long time for the company to get to Wall Street; their Initial Public Offering.
17. Dark brown raptor : GOLDEN EAGLE - beautiful Image
18. Big fan : NUT - Did a little over-thinking, and considered "JET" for the answer - hey, it really is just a big fan
19. Draft, maybe : ALE - fresh answer for the age-old ale
20. Electrical unit : VOLT - 50/50 on WATT or VOLT, and I am sure there are other electrical units out there of 4-letters, too
21. Poker challenge : I RAISE - I had this on the first pass, too, but was not so confident about it
23. The Blue Demons of the NCAA : DePAUL - pretty cool logo
25. Sneaky pitch : SPITTER - and a little baseball for our host; I will again defer to her for the details of the pitch - hey, I know it involves spit....(Saliva. Spitball was banned in the 1920s.)
26. Meet : SIT - Like government
27. Suffer disgrace : LOSE FACE
28. Virus spreader, at times : EMAIL - Ah, yes, very good clue/ans
31. Worse : DIRER - i know it's a word, but it sounds ugly
32. Low-quality paper : RAG
33. Tops : LIDS - not the verb Tops, in this case
34. Fictional alien adopters : KENTS - never think of Superman as an "alien" - not the Tanners (ALF), not the Smiths (American Dad) and not McConnell (Mork & Mindy)
35. Reporter in the comic strip "Bloom County" : MILO - I thought it was OPUS, the penguin
36. Amer. Airlines Center player : MAVericks, just had to wait on the perps; Dallas
37. Common woes : COLDS
38. Australian exports : OPALS - I did not know this - Link
39. Blockbuster : SMASH HIT - this was a second pass WAG, and I almost changed it when I considered "CAFES" for 31D.
41. Paternity suit evidence : DNA - uh, evidence?? I would have used "test" here
42. Adorns, as a tree : TINSELS
43. Turkey choice : BREAST - Dennis? Lois? I don't go for turkey in this... - oh, lunch meat
46. Like "Rambo" : RATED R & 35D. Movie-rating org. : MPAA - Motion Picture Association of America
47. Fire : ZEAL - when I had the grid filled, I was left with "KEEL" here - and I was thinking in pirate's talk, this would be OK
48. Weed killer : HOE
50. Cy Young Award factor : ERA - again, baseball; this I know - it's Earned Run Average
51. "Blankman" co-star : DAMON WAYANS
54. Head lines? : EEG - Har Har, a regular joke here at the CW Corner
55. Shout before a hurried departure : ABANDON SHIP~!!!! - Funny
56. Inventor's monogram : TAE - Thomas Alva Edison, a regular in grids, too
57. Early rock 'n' roll idol : RICKY NELSON - before my time; go ahead and link away ~!
Down
1. Major account : SAGA - I had the two A's; the "story" account
2. Bygone : OF OLD
3. Va. site of the U.S. Army Women's Museum : Ft. LEE
4. Former British Poet Laureate Hughes : TED
5. Triumph : PREVAIL
6. Expired : RAN OUT
7. "The Seven Year Itch" actor : EWELL
8. Pointer's reference : THAT
9. Slalom move : ZIG - not "ESS"
10. Quote shorteners : ELLIPSES - This .... series of dots; "Frankly my dear..."
11. More wary : LEERIER
12. Health resorts : SANITARIA - plural of Sanitarium - one for ant, perhaps?
13. Rare medical service : HOUSE CALL - or a ring-up from Hugh Laurie??
14. Very close friends : ALTER EGOS - oh so very cute; these friends don't get any "closer"
22. Brady Bill enforcement org. : ATF - Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms; they have no idea I exist - I quit drinking, I quit smoking, and never bought a gun (this might be considered sad)
24. Trident-shaped letters : PSIs - Greek
25. Separates : SORTS - I had PARTS here, like the Red Sea; left me enough to work with
27. Big name in chocolate : LINDT
28. One of more than 5,000 in the United States, per the Census Bureau : ELM STREET
29. Hollywood is in it : MIAMI AREA - Link to a website; we have a few Floridians here at the Corner; tell us more.
30. Head start, say : ADVANTAGE
31. Lunchtime destinations : DELIs
34. Turnip cabbage : KOHLRABI - love this word, but never had the food
37. Cheese originally from Somerset, England : CHEDDAR
38. Like some rural bridges : ONE LANE - Pic #1, Pic #2, and Pic #3
40. Pilot's hdg. : SSE
41. Utilize, as sources : DRAW ON - I changed to drEw on, and had to switch back
43. Type of straw : BENDY - oh, of course, a bendy straw - this thingy
44. Persian sovereigns : SHAHs
45. "Pagliacci" role : TONIO
47. Doze, with "out" : ZONK - I had KONK to start, which gave me my KEEL
49. "Monday Night Football" channel : ESPN
52. Pal : MAC
53. Initials on Elle perfume : YSL - Yves St. Laurent - a Link
Answer grid.
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Here is a picture of Husker Gary golfing yesterday (January 6). He said "The 71F temp shattered the record high for the day and I wish I worn a short-sleeved shirt."
Words: 70
Blocks: 28
Well, sure, we can start 2012 with a Saturday puzzle from Mr. Barry Silk, right??? This one looked awfully sparse after my first pass, with only WATT (wrong) and TAE for my across answers. But then Ricky Nelson showed up, and I literally stagger-stepped my way back up the grid to Soft Pretzel, my last fill - sort of like that moment in a game of checkers when you see a path open up for your last man, and jump all the way to being kinged in your opponent's last row....
So we had a great looking pinwheel of 11's and 9's, with a very neat pair of diagonal blocks in the middle. Two Z's but no J,Q, or X, lots of acronyms. I finished in my personal time, and I did not have to sneak a peek at Google this week - but I did have to review my completed puzzle for my two letters that were wrong - I found them without the red-letter assistance.
On to the first Saturday, and Silkie, of 2012 ~!
Across:
1. Street vendor's offering : SOFT PRETZEL - Very good in NYC - I try to stop and get one from a street vendor, or at least one in MSG when I go to a Ranger Game; my last "fill"
12. Oldie syllable : SHA - Oh yeah, I had this on my first pass, too
15. Later : AFTER A WHILE
16. Internet company with a 2009 IPO : AOL - America On-Line was my first ISP, back in the mid-nineties; seems like a long time for the company to get to Wall Street; their Initial Public Offering.
17. Dark brown raptor : GOLDEN EAGLE - beautiful Image
18. Big fan : NUT - Did a little over-thinking, and considered "JET" for the answer - hey, it really is just a big fan
19. Draft, maybe : ALE - fresh answer for the age-old ale
20. Electrical unit : VOLT - 50/50 on WATT or VOLT, and I am sure there are other electrical units out there of 4-letters, too
21. Poker challenge : I RAISE - I had this on the first pass, too, but was not so confident about it
23. The Blue Demons of the NCAA : DePAUL - pretty cool logo
25. Sneaky pitch : SPITTER - and a little baseball for our host; I will again defer to her for the details of the pitch - hey, I know it involves spit....(Saliva. Spitball was banned in the 1920s.)
26. Meet : SIT - Like government
27. Suffer disgrace : LOSE FACE
28. Virus spreader, at times : EMAIL - Ah, yes, very good clue/ans
31. Worse : DIRER - i know it's a word, but it sounds ugly
32. Low-quality paper : RAG
33. Tops : LIDS - not the verb Tops, in this case
34. Fictional alien adopters : KENTS - never think of Superman as an "alien" - not the Tanners (ALF), not the Smiths (American Dad) and not McConnell (Mork & Mindy)
35. Reporter in the comic strip "Bloom County" : MILO - I thought it was OPUS, the penguin
36. Amer. Airlines Center player : MAVericks, just had to wait on the perps; Dallas
37. Common woes : COLDS
38. Australian exports : OPALS - I did not know this - Link
39. Blockbuster : SMASH HIT - this was a second pass WAG, and I almost changed it when I considered "CAFES" for 31D.
41. Paternity suit evidence : DNA - uh, evidence?? I would have used "test" here
42. Adorns, as a tree : TINSELS
43. Turkey choice : BREAST - Dennis? Lois? I don't go for turkey in this... - oh, lunch meat
46. Like "Rambo" : RATED R & 35D. Movie-rating org. : MPAA - Motion Picture Association of America
47. Fire : ZEAL - when I had the grid filled, I was left with "KEEL" here - and I was thinking in pirate's talk, this would be OK
48. Weed killer : HOE
50. Cy Young Award factor : ERA - again, baseball; this I know - it's Earned Run Average
51. "Blankman" co-star : DAMON WAYANS
54. Head lines? : EEG - Har Har, a regular joke here at the CW Corner
55. Shout before a hurried departure : ABANDON SHIP~!!!! - Funny
56. Inventor's monogram : TAE - Thomas Alva Edison, a regular in grids, too
57. Early rock 'n' roll idol : RICKY NELSON - before my time; go ahead and link away ~!
Down
1. Major account : SAGA - I had the two A's; the "story" account
2. Bygone : OF OLD
3. Va. site of the U.S. Army Women's Museum : Ft. LEE
4. Former British Poet Laureate Hughes : TED
5. Triumph : PREVAIL
6. Expired : RAN OUT
7. "The Seven Year Itch" actor : EWELL
8. Pointer's reference : THAT
9. Slalom move : ZIG - not "ESS"
10. Quote shorteners : ELLIPSES - This .... series of dots; "Frankly my dear..."
11. More wary : LEERIER
12. Health resorts : SANITARIA - plural of Sanitarium - one for ant, perhaps?
13. Rare medical service : HOUSE CALL - or a ring-up from Hugh Laurie??
14. Very close friends : ALTER EGOS - oh so very cute; these friends don't get any "closer"
22. Brady Bill enforcement org. : ATF - Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms; they have no idea I exist - I quit drinking, I quit smoking, and never bought a gun (this might be considered sad)
24. Trident-shaped letters : PSIs - Greek
25. Separates : SORTS - I had PARTS here, like the Red Sea; left me enough to work with
27. Big name in chocolate : LINDT
28. One of more than 5,000 in the United States, per the Census Bureau : ELM STREET
29. Hollywood is in it : MIAMI AREA - Link to a website; we have a few Floridians here at the Corner; tell us more.
30. Head start, say : ADVANTAGE
31. Lunchtime destinations : DELIs
34. Turnip cabbage : KOHLRABI - love this word, but never had the food
37. Cheese originally from Somerset, England : CHEDDAR
38. Like some rural bridges : ONE LANE - Pic #1, Pic #2, and Pic #3
40. Pilot's hdg. : SSE
41. Utilize, as sources : DRAW ON - I changed to drEw on, and had to switch back
43. Type of straw : BENDY - oh, of course, a bendy straw - this thingy
44. Persian sovereigns : SHAHs
45. "Pagliacci" role : TONIO
47. Doze, with "out" : ZONK - I had KONK to start, which gave me my KEEL
49. "Monday Night Football" channel : ESPN
52. Pal : MAC
53. Initials on Elle perfume : YSL - Yves St. Laurent - a Link
Answer grid.
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Here is a picture of Husker Gary golfing yesterday (January 6). He said "The 71F temp shattered the record high for the day and I wish I worn a short-sleeved shirt."
'Morning, Splynter,
ReplyDeleteRemember you said to go ahead. Ricky Nelson link.(2:27)
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteYe gods, this one was brutal! Or, at leas, it started out that way. Just like Splynter, I finished my first pass through the acrosses with WATT (wrong) and TAE and that was about it. I couldn't get any of the downs in the NE either and was getting ready to throw in the towel when I finally got some traction in the lower half of the grid.
There weren't many unknowns today (EWELL and DEPAUL), but the clues were really hard for many of the answers.
As I mentioned, the NE was especially hard for me today. We had the aforementioned EWELL and DEPAUL. I was convinced that 1A was going to be SALT PRETZEL, which irked me since it should be SALTED (like ICE TEA VS. ICED TEA). Of course, it ended up being SOFT instead of SALTED, so all my angst and ire was in vain...
Things to learn/remember:
* There's a Hollywood in Florida
* Golden Eagles are, in fact, brown
Tough one this Saturday. After the first pass I was ready to toss this one out. I did another pass and things started to come together, but very slowly.
ReplyDeleteThere were several unknowns ie: Damon Wayans, kohlrabi, bendy and Tonio. Most of these were obtained by perps and a few wags.
I did like the clue/answers for alter ego, house call and abandon ship.
Have a nice week end.
Morning all,
ReplyDeleteWell. I'm not going to say that I hated this puzzle. But I am not the type of person who would know that there was an actor named EWELL in an old movie called Seven Year Itch. Same goes for TONIO/Pagliacci role. I don't understand pointer's reference/THAT, meet/SIT or Big fan/NUT. Maybe someone who lives in Miami would know that there is a resort there called Hollywood. I don't. But I understand that a CW editor has to try to please all solvers, however impossible that may be.
After the Ed Sessa CW of awhile back, I decided to start keeping closer track of the constructors. So, three categories: first, those I know I will enjoy whether I finish or not.(Marti) 2.Maybe, if I feel up to it and I have the time (Bob Klahn)and 3.Not for me. I'll pass next time. (Ed Sessa and now Barry Silk.)
'Nuff said. Sorry this is so long. Maybe the following will make up for it.
WOMEN TAKE OVER, SOLVE WORLD'S PROBLEMS
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteTough going for sure. First pass was bleak, like a few lichens clinging to bare tundra. A few good guesses got the South going, and from there it was a fill like a swimming pool, from the bottom and very slowly.
Never heard of DAMON WAYANS. Where do these things come from?
Ultimately managed a no-peeky, which I figure is pretty good for a Saturday Silkie.
Puzzling is such a personal experience; like everyone else my first pass all I had was two answers, but my gimmes were EWELL and DEPAUL. SEVEN YEAR ITCH is a very cute movie where the poor married man is tempted by Marilyn Monroe. It also was where the classic upskirt photo of MM was shot.
ReplyDeleteDepaul's men's basketball team long coached by Ray Meyer (and later his son Joey) was a perennial power.
Anyway, Barry Silk always makes you want to quit, but then there are little pieces here and there and then amazingly it is finished without google or red letters. My favorite Saturdays.
Thanks Splynter and BS. HG you play more golf than we do in Florida; enjoy
Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteYep, it was a tough nut to crack. Same hangups as others, plus some original inventions of my own:
"Arc" instead of ZIG for the slalom move.
"Kiwis" instead of OPALS for the Oz exports.
"RBI" instead of ERA for the baseball thingy...
(Notice the ELLIPSIS needed above. Otherwise my list would be way over the 20 line limit here.)
Len, thanks - you are too nice. But even constructors that I usually really love can sometimes offer up a puzzle that just doesn't ring my chimes. Today's was a perfect case in point!
Have a wonderful Saturday, everyone.
My experience mirrored Splynter's. I couldn't get traction anywhere until RICKY finally showed up, and my last fill was SOFTPRETZEL.
ReplyDeleteAlong the way my LAPSED subscription RANOUT, my COVERED bridge had only ONELANE, and PARTS became SORTS.
But, surprise, I allow myself 30 minutes on Saturdays, and I came in under that, so life is good. I do wish the Barnacle would print the name of the constructor. I didn't know it was a Silkie until I got here...just a toughie.
Now we're off to bike 10 miles 'round the hood.
Good morning Splynter and Saturday Silkie Solvers all. I always groan when I see Barry Silk on a Saturday because I know it will be tough. I've learned, though, that he always leaves ma a way in somewhere near the middle. For me, it was ATF and figuring that there was a high probability of 11d ending in IER. That let me see SPITTER and LOSE FACE. OPALS was a gimme and the whole east side filled from there. EMAIL, PSIS, ERA and TAE opened up the other side and I gradually expanded from there.
ReplyDeleteCoal instead of ZEAL, which gave me conk instead of ZONK almost did me in, but bondy just wasn't going to stay. A mental run of the alphabet yielded BENDY and then the Z was obvious.
Thanks Barry S for a great puzzle.
Tres difficile, but fun. Well worth the effort, Mr. Silk. Great blog, Splynter.
ReplyDeleteBendy straw? I was thinking of our hay/straw discussion. Just before looking up the blog, I realized "drinking straw" . . .Pagliacci is one of my favorite operas, maybe #1... When I point, I refer to THAT thing over there. . . Parliament is often said to SIT instead of meet. . .I am a big fan of x word puzzles and language, hence I am a crossword NUT. . . I didn't realize opals came from Oz, but a few perps suggested it.. . With Netflix I am watching many movies that were before my time or before I was old enough to care about them.
What a great Saturday Silkie to start my weekend! My favorite puzzles are challenging but gettable and this was a great example. LINDT and TONIO only unknowns.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-The W in eWell gave me AFTERAWHILE and VOLT, which gave me PREVAIL, (ellipsis)
-Check this out for a Big Fan company (rated R?)
-Granddaughter beat me at poker last night. She was drawing 4 cards and getting 3 of a kind all night! IRAISE you papa.
-Gaylord Perry rode his SPITTER into the Hall Of Fame
-TINSEL as a verb?
-I thought of HEADLINES as the que outside women’s bathrooms. Why don’t they put in more stalls for them?
-THAT girl
-I had ancestors who spent time at the TB Sanitarium in Grand Island, NE
-ZONE out ain’t quite ZONK out
On our world travels my LW likes to collect a small trinket from each country. You know, stuff like Columbian Emeralds, Indian Rubies, South African Diamonds... so Australian OPALS was an easy fill. Coober Pedy, South Australia, is often called the Opal Capital of the World.
ReplyDeleteOof Dah! Brutal!
ReplyDeleteI can't remember a puzzle that had less fill after a complete first pass. Even the answers I felt good about, like TAE and YSL, didn't have enough cross support to allow me to fill them in. The only full answer I had after that first pass was HOE. Finally I just started throwing wags in and with a few dozen erasures it came together without Goog or blanks. Did NOT like bendy, but there was so much other great stuff to more than compensate.
Fantastic pic of a golden eagle, Splynter. A while back someone (PK?) talked about Bryce Canyon. Another must see spot is the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. If you want to see Golden Eagles aplenty, that's one of the best places in the world. It's also one of the most impressive canyons out there. It's not huge, but the steep drop is nothing short of awesome.
Addendum
ReplyDelete-Tin, my golfing is coming to an end but that day in the picture shattered the record for high temps in Eastern Nebraska! Reality looms around the corner.
-I am more cautious than some of you who go through the whole puzzle (first pass) and then work from there. I get an anchor (EWELL today) and work out from letters in which I have some confidence.
-Anon from last night – Yes, detasseling is the process of hybridizing seed corn and has generated varieties that today can yield 200+ bushels/acre dryland corn and 300+ under irrigation.
-Great info Splynter! I helped my SIL frame in his basement last weekend, which will eventually be our bedroom, and thought of how I wish you could help!
-Old joke along those lines-
Motel Clerk –“I’ll give you a discount if you’re willing to make your own bed.”
Customer – “Sure, I’ll do that!”
Motel Clerk – “Okay, here’s a hammer and some lumber.”
Good Morning All, I'm surprised I have a morning to work on the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteLike Splynter, I got stumped on 47D)KONK instead of ZONK and wound up with KEEN crossing DREW ON and ONENANE...which made no sense at all!
The SE kept me confused for a while with blanks where 33A)LIDS, 36A)MAVS and 42A)TINSELS should go. I worked it out eventually, but it was rough.
Tom EWELL came easy as Marilyn Monroe's co-star in The Seven-Year Itch. In steamy New York, Ms. M kept her fresh underwear in her refrigerator and drove the married Ewell out of his mind.
I also knew DAYMON WAYONS as the co-creator of the TV show "In Living Color", which introduced Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, was choreographed by Rosie Perez and even had Jennifer Lopez and Carrie Ann Inaba (DWTS) as members of their dance troupe.
RICKY NELSON was definitely "in my time", all the time!
Moving is for the birds! The best part about the new (for us) house is that it is 1511 SF. The worst part is that it is 1511 SF. Moving date is tentatively 1/29. We'll see ??
It'll work out CA. When we moved 5 years ago after 22 years, we tossed over half our worldly possessions. I can honestly say that there is only one item that I wished I had kept. The rest was just crap that took up space. Hope it all goes well and that it doesn't wear you out too badly.
ReplyDeletehi all. enjoyed the puzzle had to google too much. didn't know Rambo was r-rated! Also my puzzle says it is Don Gagliardo? What is a perp? Toad
ReplyDeleteAnonymous toad, you must be doing the puzzle in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. They've been attributing every puzzle this year to Don Gagliardo. 'Perp' is short for perpendicular, or a crossing clue.
ReplyDeleteSplynter: Wonderful write-up!
ReplyDeleteFirst pass, I almost put it down.
Barry Silk has had my "number" for quite a long time.
But I often solve from the bottom to the top.
I used a BENDY straw this week. (Hey, I had a milkshake. Don't tell Avatar).
Alas, I RAN-OUT of time. Hit the 2 Mug Java limit.
Ink Blot again looks like a cat (not THAT word).
Grumpy: I saw a Discovery show about Coober Pity. A couple was expanding their underground home and found an Opal worth about $300K. I think they like their new (wider) two-steps to the kitchen.
Tiny nit: AOL went IPO the FIRST TIME in 1992.
The 2009 IPO was when it was spun-off from(by) Time Warner.
It was called "AOL-IPO, Take Two!"
len: Hollywood, FL is a CITY of 140,000.
Cheers to all at Sunset!
Husker:
ReplyDeleteWhen its 50 degrees, around here, the Snowbirds from Michigan walk around in "Shorts and a T-Shirt."
Like the white socks.
If they were black, then you'd look like the retiree's down here.
Nothin' says "I'm in fashion" quite like:
"Checkered Shorts, w/Black Socks & Sandals, with a Striped or Paisley Shirt."
(I'm sufferin' ... it'll only hit 74 here today).
Cheers!
A good tough saturday silkie. Whenit comes to soft pretzles the best are in Philadelphia. a street vender selling either Tasty Twisters or Federated. Philly Soft Pretzles are also good, WAWA are not that good.
ReplyDeleteHi There ~!
ReplyDeleteTin, that sound more like it - I knew that AOL was a bit of Time-Warner, and I also knew it was around for some time.
HG - DAH ~!!! I knew about THAT Fan company, and I plumb forgot about it - oh well, there's always another Saturday to blog....(10D) sorry I can't come out and help with the basement, too ~!
Splynter
I almost-solved this the same way Splynter did, but was left with one blank square, not knowing DAMONWAYANS at all, and not remembering TONIO. A very satisfying puzzle, though even a DNF, having started with about 5 initial known fills.
ReplyDeleteRAG paper is actually a high-quality paper...
A rag is also a low quality newspaper.
ReplyDeleteSplynter, the "big fan" image you linked to is technically not a fan, but a compressor. The engine pictured is a turbojet; all air grabbed by the compressor is used for combustion further back. A "fan" is the giant ...um... fan at the front of a turbofan engine -- its job is, primarily, to accelerate a large mass of air rearward, providing most of the engine's thrust and contributing to noise reduction. The fan on the 787's GE engines are over 9' in diameter. I know you're dying for more details.
ReplyDeleteMr. Silk should check his definitions.
ReplyDelete32 across answer for cheap paper is WRONG.
Rag paper is of the Highest quality and compared to regular paper is not "cheap".
He probably figured that rag being discards would make it cheap, wheras the cotton content of rags makes for a superior paper over that made from wood fiber, which is basically your everyday paper.
Good morning Splynter, CC, et al., Ahhh, a hard Silk? Must be Saturday but DIRER than usual. Dick said it best and the only reason I didn't toss it was because it was a Silk. Loved the reference to DePaul. My cousin 6'5 played for them a while back. Never heard of Kohlrabi. Thanks for the links, Splynter. Excellent job. That bridge link was scary! What a mess! I had to laugh at your 43A comment. I'm sure Jiffy Boob came to mind for many of us. BENDY does not make me think of straws nor is HOE a weed killer in my weed garden. Guess it takes all SORTS and depends on what one wants to DRAW ON.It's all good.
ReplyDeleteArgyle; thanks for the Ricky Nelson link. What a loss
Splynter:
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing is that when AOL merged with Time Warner back in 2000, it was AOL that was "the buyer".
AOL had a Mkt.Cap of $200B and Time Warner was around $100B.
(B as in Billion).
At the time it was the largest merger ever.
The merger's collapse was a result not only of the bursting of the "dot-com bubble" but also of the failings by AOL Time Warner management to ever actually integrate the two companies.
When it did the 2nd IPO in 2009, AOL was worth about $3B.
I wonder where the $197 billion went?
Yep, it was a toughie, all right--made my heart sink on first look. Surprisingly, my first break came with KOHLRABI. Our Gourmet Club opted for a German Christmas dinner this year and I was assigned the vegetable dish. Had a heck of a time finding KOHLRABI anywhere, but a friend found some, and it was worth it. Then I got KENT, and then I got stuck. Had to cheat a little to finish.
ReplyDelete@LD, I took "low quality paper" to mean a not very reputable newspaper, often referred to slangily as a RAG.
Thanks for the help, Splynter, and Mr. Silk, give us a break the next time!
LD:
ReplyDeleteThe clue is referring to a cheap NEWSpaper, not the stock.
Between the constructors and the editors there are not many errors
And some others may want to think before writing. The clue for RAG is absolutely correct. "Low-quality
ReplyDeletepaper" references a paper like the Enquirer not a piece of paper.
Don Gagliardo must be spending a fortune!
Len- In today's puzzle the black squares above 49 down and below 19 across are perfect examples of "cheaters". If you take them away it doesn't change the word count. Take any other squares in the puzzle away and it will.
Before reading everyone else's posts, I thought I'd jump in. As is the case on most Saturdays, I missed not having a theme and found the puzzle hard enough that it was out of my league. I needed too much red-letter help for it to be fun. As usual, I'm impressed with Splynter's solving ability and write up.
ReplyDeleteA spitball had slippery spit applied where a pitcher would grip the ball with his index fingers. Because of reduced friction, the ball would have less backspin and tend to drop more than usual. Today's pitchers accomplish the same reduced backspin by throwing a fork ball AKA a split-finger fast ball.
My favorite Ricky Nelson song. It's happy and has a catchy tune and rhythm. Mary Lou
As of 9:00 am PST, Blogger wouldn't let me post anything or even Preview. The conundrum is that if you can read this, it means it is no longer a problem. If not, you won't see it.
Bill G.
Hello.
ReplyDeleteSaute kohlrabi leaves with bacon
and shave bulb on top.
Another way to tell snowbirds.
They drive their rented Caddies
5 mph and can barely see over the hood.
Merry Xmas to all of my Orthodox
friends.
eddy
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Barry Silk, for a great, but extremely difficult, puzzle. I got it, but it took hours.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Splynter, for the write-up.
Thanks, Argyle, for the Ricky Nelson link. He was a good entertainer. I think he died in a DC-3 crash, wasn't it? Old vintage airplane.
This puzzle was tough to get started. My first answer was DNA crossing with BREAST. Then got ONE LANE and SHAHS. ABANDON SHIP appeared.
The rest was a word here and a word there. It took me hours.
Enjoyed KOHLRABI. I grow it every year. One of my favorite vegetables. Cooked or raw.
Probably the only reason I was able to finish this was the fact that all words, as far as I can tell, were English. No french, spanish, or anything else. Thank You, Barry!
Tomorrow will be helping a transplant from Wisconsin move from Hyde Park to Arlington Heights. He and his wife are college students and need the help. He is a brother freemason. That is what we do in a fraternity, help each other.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Good, tough Saturday. Nice write-up there, Splynter - my grid looked much like yours after the first pass through.
ReplyDeleteMy toe-hold was ABANDON SHIP and then backwards and upwards. Wanted SALT like @Barry G until LTL?? looked mighty unlikely.
The Cheddar Gorge in Somerset and the caves close by are beautiful, the "real" Cheddar cheese does a "Rambo" on most of the imitators.
The comments (mine included) over RAG illustrate what to me is one of the joys of crosswords: interpreting the clue as the constructor intended, and admiring the constructor's sneaky obfuscation. I (and LD, and maybe others) saw "low-quality paper" as wanting an adjective referring to the paper itself, and once I had that thought firmly fixed in my mind, I never changed it until I saw Anonymous's response. AHA! Barry wanted the NOUN, not the adjective, and further misled us by NOT specifying "A low-quality paper." I've gotten pretty good at considering verbs vs nouns, number and tense, etc., and you can bet I'll remember this as well. Wonderful puzzle, sir.
ReplyDeleteTin, that was the first comment from my daughter alos when I sent her the golf picture.
ReplyDelete“Hey, dad, nothing says ‘I’m retired’ like long white socks!” she wrote. I live in short socks during the summer but wear long socks under my jeans and sweats in the winter. I didn’t think I would be shedding my sweats but I soon realized I would! I have not and will not ever wear socks with sandals. I have some pride!
BTW long black basketball socks are now very fashionable on the court and take some getting used to like the very baggy shorts.
BTW2 the makers of those R-rated Big Fans linked above are headquartered in KY which is WH’s current home state and the home state of my progenitors. Hmmm…
When a Silkie appears, my brain must cringe in a corner and refuse to come out! I couldn't even get MAVs when I had watched them get beat in that arena last week.
ReplyDeleteOn the first pass I got Zig, SHA, AOL, NUT and HOUSECALL and thought I was on a roll. Got DNA, BREAST, HOE, CHEDDAR and TAE then the brain quit. Usually, with a little help from Splynter, I can get going on the puzzle and get most of it. Not today. Thanks anyway, Splynter. At least, I was not alone.
Could see EWELL's face but no name. The first I knew Ricky was an idol was when he died, so didn't think of him. I was too busy with babies to idolize anyone.
Only ever ate hot dogs from a street vendor.
- PK -
Is it just me, or does SANITARIA conjure up a mental image of illness with despair? On the other hand, resort is a place to have fun! Didn't like the clue on this. Thought of the right answer when I had SAN, but thought, surely not.
ReplyDelete- PK -
@PK - I remember when I first heard the word "sanitorium" I assumed it was (as they were then termed, in non-PC days) another word for a lunatic asylum - I assumed you were sent to a sanitorium to "get sane". No problem with the clue/answer here though.
ReplyDeleteCruise liner jazz trio-
ReplyDeleteABANDONSHIP
Frank wrote his autobiography in SANITARIA. "I, A SINATRA"
SANITARIA is also a crazy diva's song in Latin.
AFTERAWHILE is where Captain Ahab went in Australia.
Hello everybody. My first pass through this puzzle left a lot of white space and very little filled in. I almost tossed it in the trash, but something urged me to give it one more look. I had to google some things before I could get anywhere. I could see Tom Ewell's face in my mind but couldn't remember his name. Google time. Got Damon Wayans by googling Blankman, and so on. Then I was able to finish. My emotional reaction went from "screw it," though "well, okay," to "wow that was a hell of a puzzle." My compliments to Mr. Silk. Best wishes to you all.
ReplyDeleteI was feeling so proud after getting almost all of Friday's puzzle on my own except VHone and the math guy and then came todays CW to put me in my place.
ReplyDeleteFirst pass I got only DNA, opals, Kents, and email. Thank you, Splynter, for explaining everything.
Beautiful picture of the eagle. I like to sit on my back porch and watch the hawks gliding around--it looks like so much fun. We've also had a darling owl every winter in our bird house for five years. Sometimes I see him sticking his head out and sunning in the morning, but I usually only see him just before dark when he sticks out his head and then launches for his night of hunting.
Jerome
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time. I tiled windows horizontally so that I could put the completed grid beside your post.
So, if I understand you correctly, there are two cheater squares in this CW. They are there because, even though it would be easy enough to make SAGA and BREAST plural by adding an S, obviously SDEPAUL and SESPN are not going to work. Hence the need for cheater or helper squares.
The technical aspects of how one goes about constructing the grid, as opposed to just coming up with the words and the clues, is something I have only recently began to look at.
So, thanks again for your help and your patience in trying to explain it to me.
Good afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteI wrote covered for Like some rural bridges, and wouldn't let it go. Therefore got only five correct answers, and DNF.
Is it our paper, or is it later than I thought? Mine says the pic of Husker is Jan 12. I believe yesterday was the 6th.
Cheers
Hi All ~~
ReplyDeleteWow ... this was tough even by Silkie standards! BUT...I liked it! I have no time constraints so like Abejo, it took me hours. In the past, even though it seemed impossible, I've been able to complete Barry Silk puzzles if I stuck with them. It seemed that this might be an exception but bit by bit it came together ... very slowly!
I thought many clues/answers were much tougher than usual, i.e. 14D 'Very close friends' - ALTEREGO, 42A 'Adorns as a tree' - TINSELS. Too many tough spots to mention them all ... lots of perpage assistance today!
~~ I had an aunt who lived in Hollywood, Florida and I spent some school vacations there ... Hollywood Beach was beautiful!
~~ Loved HOUSECALL and RAG.
~~ Susan ~ I hope things are going better for you and your husband.
~~ Splynter ~~ a wonderful write-up! Thanks for the clarification and the links.
Enjoy the evening!
Knew EWELL and TAE. Had to work out all the rest. Which I did.
ReplyDeleteEventually.
I didn't complete it. Barry is too hard for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand a couple of clues/answeres.
12A Oldie syllable / SHA. I guess this is for Sha Nah Nah?
40D Pilots Hdg. / SSE? I don't get this.
Rube here, thanks to @Chefwen who told me about this site. Haven't been able to comment on the LAT since @PG closed down her blog some months ago.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoy Barry Silk puzzles and this was another of his charmers. Had some stupid mistakes such as Lemon before EWELL. Jack LemMon used to star in this type of silly movie. This puzz took me quite some time, but DNG and finished in what seemed like normal Saturday time. Stared at cONK for a long time before ZEAL and ZONK appeared for my last letters.
I'm questioning the difficulty level of LAT puzzles these days. More later.
Thanks, Splynter. You've filled a need in Crossworld.
TinoTechie,
ReplyDelete12A : you guessed right, I tried WOP from "do wop wop" first.
hdg - 'heading', any random compass direction. I plug in the four points(N,E,S,W) and see which work.
Rube, glad you finally found us.
Susan:
ReplyDeleteSo I go out and SIT on the patio.
It's around 2:00 pm.
I look up and there is a Hawk, perched on a branch, staring at me, ignoring the squirrels who are barking like crazy at him.
I'm thinkin' geez, these guys have a "death wish."
Then I notice the Hawk had already caught one of their buddies.
After about 20 minutes, I guess he had consumed his lunch, he calmly grasp the remains and flew off (probably to the nest).
Ruby:
I'm glad Chefwen gave you the info.
CrazyCatLady, Sfingi & tuttle also stop by on occasion.
Husker:
There isn't enough $ to get me wearing the long black socks and ultra-long (and baggy) shorts like the basketball players today wear.
'nough said.
Keith Fowler: Is that your real name and real pic? Quite handsome you are! (and if you completed a "Silkie", smart you also are.)If you are rich too, I`ll send you my number! :)
ReplyDeleteBeen gone for a month and a Barry Silk puzzle is quite a welcome home. They always seem so difficult, and with finally finding a starting point they do come together. I love the obscurity of some of the stuff in this puzzle, i.e. Health Resorts, which seems to be Spas to everyone else but Sanataria to Mr. Silk. Really wakes you up!
ReplyDelete