Theme: Saturday Silk
Words: 72
Blocks: 30
I was mighty tired when I started this puzzle, so I was probably not as sharp as I could have been - but still finished in my allotted time, with only one sneak peek to check if I had a letter correct; I did notice that NONE of the clues were punctuated with a question mark, meaning that there were no "punny" or tongue-in-cheek mis-directing clues today. I thought it was about time we had a puzzle from Barry, too. Quite the "regular" grid, too, only a couple of triple stacks of nines, but four "bears" of (tough to fit) twelve-letter answers, two Across, and two Down, with two 10's as well;
25A. Literally, "may you have the body" : HABEAS CORPUS - legal term; I will let the lawyers handle this one
42A. Last man* to walk on the moon : EUGENE CERNAN - When I saw "GENE", I thought it was the Flight Director of Apollo 13, but he is GENE KRANZ; I'll bet this one was a gimme for Husker Gary
6D. Subject of the 2004 documentary "American Beer" : CRAFT BREWERY - in college, my roommate tried brewing his own; the process was sloppy, but the beer was super strong; two bottles and you were stumbling about
21D. Evert* specialty : BACKHAND SHOT - Chris Evert, tennis star
11D. Indication that money is involved : DOLLAR SIGN - This "$" thing, not the look on some competitor's faces who are about to lose their shirts.
25D. David* with the autobiography "Making Waves" : HASSELHOFF - "The Hoff" - I grew up with him as "Michael Knight", the man who drove K.I.T.T. - that talking Trans Am of the mid-80's, not the lifeguard dude of Baywatch (gag). The Hoff is big in Germany, and he gained some notoriety with his drunken off-camera behavior; also had a stint as a judge on America's Got Talent.
Mr. Silk gave us just enough to finish the puzzle, but there were a LOT of names in this one, both in the clues and answers (*), and I figure you either know them, or you don't
Onward~!
Across:
1. Black-and-white prowlers : SQUAD CARS - I knew this was a police reference, but we don't call them "squad" cars; here they're Cruisers, so this took longer than needed
10. Hit the hay, say : IDIOM - I had AXIOM, but a 12-letter word starting with "X" ??
15. Summons : MUSTERS UP
16. George Jetson's boss* __ G. Spacely : COSMO
17. Southern Christian Leadership Conference president* after King : ABERNATHY
18. Perry* of fashion : ELLIS
19. Alcopop beverage : ZIMA - This drink came out a year after it was legal for me to drink; it was good, but quickly got a 'girl's drink' image
20. Pelt : FUR - dah~! Thought we might be going with the verb here; I tried HIT
21. Wind ensembles usually tune to them : B FLATS
22. Août's season : ETE - if it looks foreign, has three letters, and refers to season, it's this French word for summer - and that's all I'm sayin'
23. 1951 Cooperstown inductee* : OTT - Cooperstown, the baseball Hall of Fame; hence, a three-letter WAG of "OTT" is a good bet
24. Refrain from singing : LA LA - the 'actual' refrain, not the verb to hold back....
30. "Tortilla Flat" co-star* : LAMARR - Hedy, and not "Hedly", from Blazing Saddles
33. See to it : MAKE SURE
34. Delivery gp. : USPS - Yeah, but UPS is better (U.S. Postal Service)
35. Head* of Hollywood : EDITH
37. 1974 Asian Games host : IRAN
38. Risks a court-martial, perhaps : GOES AWOL - Nailed It
40. Brats' opposites : ANGELS
44. 34-Across concerns : LTRs - ah, see, UPS handles Parcels....not letters (well, actually...)
45. Va. summer hours : EDT - Virginia, and Eastern Daylight Time
46. Energy Reorg. Act of 1974 creation : NRC - Nuclear Regulatory Commission
49. Glide : SASHAY - The answer is such a "visual" word; if onomatopoeia is the "imitation of word sound", what do you call the imitation of word image? Onomatoblepsia ??
52. Guff : GAS
53. Miss __: perfume brand : DIOR
54. 25-Down, for one : ACTOR
55. Like most web designers : TECH SAVVY - Can you think of any other "V V" words?
57. Surgical tool : KNIFE - well, duh, I made this too hard for myself
58. Past the point of no return : IN TOO DEEP
59. Helots : SERFS
60. North Carolina locale : EAST COAST - OUTER BANK fit, too, but needs an "S"
DOWN:
1. Pollution portmanteau : SMAZE - Smoke and Haze
2. Unit of quantum information : QUBIT - for the next generation of computers; more here
3. "I'm available" : USE ME - I had "SEE" and "ASK" at first
4. Razor handle : ATRA - a little deflection by calling it the "handle", and not the whole thing, but this is very Crosswordese
5. Scout group : DEN
7. Keen : ASTUTE
8. River originating near Winterberg : RUHR
9. Caleb*, for one : SPY - not a Bible person; more here
10. Arctic sighting : ICE FLOE
12. Ibiza, por ejemplo : ISLA
13. Cut, perhaps : OMIT
14. Matted growth : MOSS
23. Part of a crew : OAR
24. Bar aspirant's hurdle, briefly : LSAT - more legalese
26. Miss by __ : A MILE - I was thinking it was "close", like "A HAIR", or "A NOSE" - nope, a really bad shot
27. Immaculate : PURE
28. Orsk's river : URAL
29. Hatch* and others: Abbr. : SENatorS
30. Feet-first Olympic event : LUGE - looks terrifying (she's doing 74.07mph), but I would love to try it; recall the fatal accident at the Vancouver Olympics. I am planning on a mini-vacation to Frost Valley next weekend; if there is snow, I will go "tubing" - the last time I went, the top layer of snow had frozen, and you could generate quite a lot of speed
31. Not worth __ : A SOU - French coin, 'nuff said
32. Compressed video file format : MPEG
36. HMO members : DOCtorS
39. Brightest star in Scorpius : ANTARES - I got this one; I love studying the stars. This refers to the fact that it rivals the redness of the planet Mars, which in Greek is "ARES"
41. Highly hyped N.L. pitcher Stephen Strasburg*, for one : NATional - I defer to our C.C. (From C.C.: This guy was the most hyped and slam-dunk pick in draft history. His agent is Scott Boras, who also represented A-Rod, Prince Fielder, Barry Zito, etc.)
43. Changes chemically : REACTS
46. "100 years of skin care for life" brand : NIVEA
47. Drifts : ROVES - the verb, not the noun - I could go for some snow drifts; doesn't feel like winter to me
48. Eerie meeting site : CRYPT - I read this as ERIE, and tried CANAL at first....
49. It has a separate men's store opposite its main store in Chicago : SAKS
50. Juvenile outbreak : ACNE
51. Move : STIR
52. Paranormal author* Showalter : GENA
53. Woodworker's groove : DADO
55. Connection : TIE
56. A behavioral sci. : SOCiology
Answer grid.
I counted 12 names in the clues/answers - did you see any I missed ~?
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to naughty girl Lois, who always makes me smile when she stops by. Do something "bad" today, Lois!
Words: 72
Blocks: 30
I was mighty tired when I started this puzzle, so I was probably not as sharp as I could have been - but still finished in my allotted time, with only one sneak peek to check if I had a letter correct; I did notice that NONE of the clues were punctuated with a question mark, meaning that there were no "punny" or tongue-in-cheek mis-directing clues today. I thought it was about time we had a puzzle from Barry, too. Quite the "regular" grid, too, only a couple of triple stacks of nines, but four "bears" of (tough to fit) twelve-letter answers, two Across, and two Down, with two 10's as well;
25A. Literally, "may you have the body" : HABEAS CORPUS - legal term; I will let the lawyers handle this one
42A. Last man* to walk on the moon : EUGENE CERNAN - When I saw "GENE", I thought it was the Flight Director of Apollo 13, but he is GENE KRANZ; I'll bet this one was a gimme for Husker Gary
6D. Subject of the 2004 documentary "American Beer" : CRAFT BREWERY - in college, my roommate tried brewing his own; the process was sloppy, but the beer was super strong; two bottles and you were stumbling about
21D. Evert* specialty : BACKHAND SHOT - Chris Evert, tennis star
11D. Indication that money is involved : DOLLAR SIGN - This "$" thing, not the look on some competitor's faces who are about to lose their shirts.
25D. David* with the autobiography "Making Waves" : HASSELHOFF - "The Hoff" - I grew up with him as "Michael Knight", the man who drove K.I.T.T. - that talking Trans Am of the mid-80's, not the lifeguard dude of Baywatch (gag). The Hoff is big in Germany, and he gained some notoriety with his drunken off-camera behavior; also had a stint as a judge on America's Got Talent.
Mr. Silk gave us just enough to finish the puzzle, but there were a LOT of names in this one, both in the clues and answers (*), and I figure you either know them, or you don't
Onward~!
Across:
1. Black-and-white prowlers : SQUAD CARS - I knew this was a police reference, but we don't call them "squad" cars; here they're Cruisers, so this took longer than needed
10. Hit the hay, say : IDIOM - I had AXIOM, but a 12-letter word starting with "X" ??
15. Summons : MUSTERS UP
16. George Jetson's boss* __ G. Spacely : COSMO
17. Southern Christian Leadership Conference president* after King : ABERNATHY
18. Perry* of fashion : ELLIS
19. Alcopop beverage : ZIMA - This drink came out a year after it was legal for me to drink; it was good, but quickly got a 'girl's drink' image
20. Pelt : FUR - dah~! Thought we might be going with the verb here; I tried HIT
21. Wind ensembles usually tune to them : B FLATS
22. Août's season : ETE - if it looks foreign, has three letters, and refers to season, it's this French word for summer - and that's all I'm sayin'
23. 1951 Cooperstown inductee* : OTT - Cooperstown, the baseball Hall of Fame; hence, a three-letter WAG of "OTT" is a good bet
24. Refrain from singing : LA LA - the 'actual' refrain, not the verb to hold back....
30. "Tortilla Flat" co-star* : LAMARR - Hedy, and not "Hedly", from Blazing Saddles
33. See to it : MAKE SURE
34. Delivery gp. : USPS - Yeah, but UPS is better (U.S. Postal Service)
35. Head* of Hollywood : EDITH
37. 1974 Asian Games host : IRAN
38. Risks a court-martial, perhaps : GOES AWOL - Nailed It
40. Brats' opposites : ANGELS
44. 34-Across concerns : LTRs - ah, see, UPS handles Parcels....not letters (well, actually...)
45. Va. summer hours : EDT - Virginia, and Eastern Daylight Time
46. Energy Reorg. Act of 1974 creation : NRC - Nuclear Regulatory Commission
49. Glide : SASHAY - The answer is such a "visual" word; if onomatopoeia is the "imitation of word sound", what do you call the imitation of word image? Onomatoblepsia ??
52. Guff : GAS
53. Miss __: perfume brand : DIOR
54. 25-Down, for one : ACTOR
55. Like most web designers : TECH SAVVY - Can you think of any other "V V" words?
57. Surgical tool : KNIFE - well, duh, I made this too hard for myself
58. Past the point of no return : IN TOO DEEP
59. Helots : SERFS
60. North Carolina locale : EAST COAST - OUTER BANK fit, too, but needs an "S"
DOWN:
1. Pollution portmanteau : SMAZE - Smoke and Haze
2. Unit of quantum information : QUBIT - for the next generation of computers; more here
3. "I'm available" : USE ME - I had "SEE" and "ASK" at first
4. Razor handle : ATRA - a little deflection by calling it the "handle", and not the whole thing, but this is very Crosswordese
5. Scout group : DEN
7. Keen : ASTUTE
8. River originating near Winterberg : RUHR
9. Caleb*, for one : SPY - not a Bible person; more here
10. Arctic sighting : ICE FLOE
12. Ibiza, por ejemplo : ISLA
13. Cut, perhaps : OMIT
14. Matted growth : MOSS
23. Part of a crew : OAR
24. Bar aspirant's hurdle, briefly : LSAT - more legalese
26. Miss by __ : A MILE - I was thinking it was "close", like "A HAIR", or "A NOSE" - nope, a really bad shot
27. Immaculate : PURE
28. Orsk's river : URAL
29. Hatch* and others: Abbr. : SENatorS
30. Feet-first Olympic event : LUGE - looks terrifying (she's doing 74.07mph), but I would love to try it; recall the fatal accident at the Vancouver Olympics. I am planning on a mini-vacation to Frost Valley next weekend; if there is snow, I will go "tubing" - the last time I went, the top layer of snow had frozen, and you could generate quite a lot of speed
31. Not worth __ : A SOU - French coin, 'nuff said
32. Compressed video file format : MPEG
36. HMO members : DOCtorS
39. Brightest star in Scorpius : ANTARES - I got this one; I love studying the stars. This refers to the fact that it rivals the redness of the planet Mars, which in Greek is "ARES"
41. Highly hyped N.L. pitcher Stephen Strasburg*, for one : NATional - I defer to our C.C. (From C.C.: This guy was the most hyped and slam-dunk pick in draft history. His agent is Scott Boras, who also represented A-Rod, Prince Fielder, Barry Zito, etc.)
43. Changes chemically : REACTS
46. "100 years of skin care for life" brand : NIVEA
47. Drifts : ROVES - the verb, not the noun - I could go for some snow drifts; doesn't feel like winter to me
48. Eerie meeting site : CRYPT - I read this as ERIE, and tried CANAL at first....
49. It has a separate men's store opposite its main store in Chicago : SAKS
50. Juvenile outbreak : ACNE
51. Move : STIR
52. Paranormal author* Showalter : GENA
53. Woodworker's groove : DADO
55. Connection : TIE
56. A behavioral sci. : SOCiology
Answer grid.
I counted 12 names in the clues/answers - did you see any I missed ~?
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to naughty girl Lois, who always makes me smile when she stops by. Do something "bad" today, Lois!
81 comments:
Greetings!
This took a long time and required some cheating! Perhaps I was just toooo tired. Anyway, some names to obscure. Also, still do not understand-- ANGELS.
Had a very lenghty vascular ultrasound exam today. Very painful. Back killing me. The technician could not be bothered to get a pillow for my back from another room. (The place was practically deserted.)
Beddie bye time!
Morning, all!
This one proved to be too much for me in the end as well. QUBIT crossing ABERNATHY was nasty, but I finally guessed correctly. Also had to guess that "Caleb" was a SPY and that there was a river named RUHR (I thought that was just the name of a region in Germany). Again, though, I was able to get it done.
Did not know EUGENE CERNAN,although I probably should have.
What really killed me, though, was the SE section. I wanted LIP for 52A and just could not accept GAS without turning on the red letter help. That's just not an IDIOM I am familiar with and it just seems wrong. Did not know Miss DIOR or NIVEA. Didn't know who GENA Showalter was/is, either. Couldn't get TECH SAVVY to save my life, especially since I was convinced the clue was tricky and the answer was going to be spider related. Etc., etc., etc. I finally turned on the red letter help and guessed randomly in spots...
Oh, and fermatprime:
My little guy can be a real brat at times during the day, but at night he always looks like a perfect little ANGEL while sleeping...
Hello Saturday Solvers!
I should have guessed that this was a Saturday Silkie. I got pieces of it here and there, and Mr. Silk gave me just enough traction to fill in the holes in my grid.
Like Barry G. I had LIP before GAS and I incorrectly wagged AEC for NRC. But I new DW uses NIVEA and Ms Evert had a BACK HAND SHOT, so everything finally came together...and with 5 minutes of self-allotted solving time still on the clock!
Splynter, enjoyed your Qubit link. I always learn something new from your writeups. Thanx.
Another Saturday Silkie a few sports references a few foriegn words a few legal terms a few obscure clues and a few gimmies that are so easy you just want to kick yourself when you figure them out because you were sure it was a trick question.
Ferma, like Barry's son my little boy(not so little almost as tall as my wife) can be a brat when he does not get what he wants (like when the patriots loose[where did i go wrong raisinga patriots fan in eagles country]) but he can be the exact opposite i.e a perfect angel when he wants something. enjoy the rest of the long weekend monday is presidents day
good morning, weekend warriors. Thanks, Splynter, for shedding light on today's Silkie.
A very happy birthday to you, Lois!
Smooth as silk and I SASHAYED through most of it. HABEASCORPUS was my first fill and a PURE wag followed by HASSELHOFF and for some strange reason ABERNATHY resided in my memory.
But yowza, the SE stopped me cold as GENA Showalter was unknown and hand up for LIP before GAS. Also CHARLOTTE fit at 60A so I resorted to Google for help.
A very painful knee has kept me awake so I shall try to recoup some sleep.
Have a fantastic Saturday, everyone!
This Silky was a great work-out. but fun. My biggest hang up was seeing GULF instead of GUFF. I wagged GINA for52D instead of Lina, so I correctly wrote GAS but didn't know why until I came here.
GAS and GUFF are both nouns that mean foolish or empty talk; nonsense.
Just a few letters gave me Abernathy. I was interested in the Civil Rights movement when I was young.
Our newspapers use squad car, cruiser, and patrol car interchangably.
I DNF due to LA(M)ARR, (M)PEG. I had only heard of JPEG. LA JARR did not make sense. V8 moment. I should have gone through the alphabet to replace the J.
Chickie and Lucina, I am sending healing thoughts for your pain.
Argyle from last night. Of course you are correct about yarrow/ Queen Annes's lace. We have tons of Queen Anne's lace here.
Finished this puzzle with great effort, but upon checking my answers i noticed I didn't change craft brewer(s) to (y)...just a little sloppy I guess. Nailed "tech savvy" and "east coast" right away which greatly helped the SE. Overall fun and challenging.
Hello Puzzlers -
Slow going today. Those thick 12-letter sandwiches were tough to get through. Had to Goog ABERNATHY to break the ice there, I never heard of the guy. Had ROAMS for drifts in the SE, that didn't help. I knew NIVEA but struggled to recall it.
I simply don't get guff=GAS.
Add me to the list of the butt-kickees. Struggled to get all but the NW and SE filled, then had to resort to goog for Abernathy, Gena, Nivea and Cernan. That provided enough perps to fill the rest, but this goes down as a serious humbling for me. Interesting, but too difficult to say it was "fun".
Dudley, it's not Guff in the religious (hall of souls) sense. Instead it's "Don't give me any GUFF about that!" Could just as easily be LIP or GAS.
Finally got around to watching Thursday's Jeopardy! and realized where that whole DON/DAWN discussion started. Where I grew up in the upper Midwest they were different pronunciations, just as Argyle described last night. On the other hand MERRY/MARRY/MARY were all pronounced the same. My college phonetics instructor showed me the error of my ways.
D-O, I figured it was guff in the hassling sense, but I've never heard GAS used that way. Maybe it's old, maybe it's regional.
Here in Middlebury, CT, Ron and lawn rhyme.
Good morning all. Good erudite write-up, Splynter.
Happy Birthday, Lois.
Tough one today. Got all the center across and SW without too much HASSLE. Finally got the NW, SMAZE?, and the NE. Great clue for IDIOM. Had to invoke red letter aid with SOC to finish off the SE. Some deep WAGS: ANTARES, COSMO, and others. RUHR was an educated guess as was URAL. Even though Barry's clues tend to be obscure on Saturday, usually the fill is something I have heard of. Good job as usual.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
RTL, so which do you say? Is it Rahn or Rawn? And do you pahk the cah (park the car) or perhaps paak the caa? I've heard it both ways in the Northeast.
From dictionary.com Slang
GAS
n. nonsense. : Hey, that's about enough of your gas.
IMHO very much akin to hot air.
From Merriam - Webster Dictionary
GUFF
1: nonsense, humbug
2: verbal abuse
Sense #1 of Guff is a synonym of gas as described above.
Interesting thought: The word guff was once used in standard English and in Scots to mean a puff or a whiff of a bad smell. I'm sure that is not it's relationship to gas, but it's a funny thought.
Man, usually I enjoy a Barry Silk puzzle. Rarely finish them but they are enjoyed. If it hadn't been for knowing I could come here and learn something, I'd have given up on this one. Maybe it was last night's Margaritas but I don't think so. I still dont get SMAZE!
Lois, Happy Birthday!
Can't wait to see todays "tale."
Another Saturday Silk. Another Ink Blot explanation from Splynter. Geez, what a mess ...
Since I've had the pleasure of meeting him, --GENE CERNAN was a gimmie. Took a moment to remember the "EU" (formal part) of his first name, EUgene.
But that did give me the "A SOU."
COSMO, ZIMA (like I know the name of any "Alcopop"?) DIOR, NIVEA, GENA total unknowns.
Of course, for "Immaculate" I had NEAT ... I like things NEAT ... then that 'Brats opposite' ANGLES messed that up too.
(Not sure how Immaculate equals PURE, but WTF!)
Should have just put it down at ICE FLOE.
Cheers to all at Sunset!
Virginia, it's like smog (smoke and fog), but instead it's smaze (smoke and haze).
Here in SE Texas I've measured 7.2" of rain in my gauge since February 1st. Got 1.7" since midnight. I'm declaring the drought to be over. The pig is no longer dead!
Just dropped by to say HBTY, Lois.
♫•*¨*•.❤.•*¨*•♫♪•.¸¸•´♫♪♩♬ You MUST be counting the days til Spring Break
Off to see a dear friend in Carmel.Will try to attack the Silkie later.
Desper-Otto: it's Rawn as Awing
Good morning, Splynter, C.C. and gang - great fun today with the latest Silkie. A nice leisurely solve with a lot of the same problems already mentioned, and also several learning moments. I was pleased with myself that I knew Gene Cernan, but there were others, i.e. Gena Showalter, where I needed all the perps.
Lucina my right knee started hurting pretty good the past couple weeks, so I got it xrayed and it's bone-on-bone on one side of it. Doc recommended a cortisone shot, which can last for close to a year. I said I'd think about it, and then he showed me the needle they use, which looks like a stage prop for a Three Stooges bit. Thing's freaking enormous!
Anyway, good luck with your knee, and if you get the shot, DON'T LOOK!
Splynter, great write-up, as always. You truly are a natural.
Lois, while it's not necessary to wish you a Happy Birthday because I know it'll be one for you and probably anyone around you, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY anyway - and please clean up any survivors.
Oh, to be a candle...
Good morning all:
This was a real toughie but finished without help, although it took a looooong! time. Great write-up, Splynter.
A question for constructors: Is it more difficult to construct a non-theme puzzle vs a themed one?
Happy Saturday everyone and Happy Birthday, Lois.
Happy birthday Lois! I'm sure it's nice to have a day off from school to celebrate.
Regarding Don/Dawn, my wife was always amused when one of her students would ask to borrow a pin. They wanted something to write with but pronounced pen as pin. I guess it must be a southern California thing.
Good afternoon everyone.
Happy birthday Lois. Let us know how you celebrated it.
DNF, as usual on a Saturday puzzle. But the few I did write were correct. So that's something like an accomplishment. Had mail for 44 across, which I like better than the correct one. (LTRS)
Thanks for an informative write up, Splynter
Have a great long weekend everyone. And I hope all of you with painful spots heal soon,
Cheers
Aaaaarrrrrgggghhh! (not you, Splynter, but this Silkie was awful).
Morning all,
I was heading to a record time with this one
starting in the NE corner clockwise to the NW.
corner where I hit a wall.
I couldn't let go of Microbrewery at 6D to save
my life , with the exception of Use me at 3D
and Ete at 22A I had nothing filled in
Smaze, Qubit, Abernathy , Zima were too much
for me, not to mention the tricky clue for ATRA.
All and all I'm happy with what I was able to accomplish
and learned a few new words along the way.
Dennis, sorry to hear about your knee, wish you well
Fore ..!
Dennis, I've had that shot. In a shoulder, not a knee. But nonetheless, I've seen the Howitzer syringe you describe in use. It's worth it. The relief is nearly instant and it's also enduring.
Lois,
Happy birthday
Silkie is definitely a noun.
i had: hit the hay=SLEEP
Brats Opp=SAINTS
surgical tool=LASER (and many more)
& only one perp in each to show i was wrong which led to some major cheating just to get to the Blog for learning moments.
Can't wait for Lois to check in...
Meanwhile, since NRC was in there somewhere, i wonder what they would think of THIS
Here in South Dakota, Don and dawn sound the same using the "on" pronunciation. Mary, merry, and marry all sound the same. We are simple, uncomplicated people. ;)
Dennis@10:44
My necrosis of the knee was created during house renovations. My wife threw my daughters drawings into the fully loaded dumpster, & she was so upset that i tried to retrieve them. When i could not climb into it, i tried to open it. Big mistake! The door was held closed by a pole that latches into a clip, when i lifted it from the clip, the weight of the refuse forced the door open causing the pole to swing 180 degrees. It hit my knee like a baseball bat...
Long Story short,,,not only did i have that shot, they used the same needle to remove contaminated fluid first. Quite honestly, i did not hurt that much, and i have been much better for years since, but at the time you would not have known that from my screaming...
Hello.
Funny thing. UPS transports my packages across the country and then turns it over to USPS for home
delivery.
NASCAR season starts tonight with the BUD Shootout @Daytona.
Only one egg in the Decorah, Iowa
nest. Davenport nest has three
eagle eggs.
Had the cortisone shot with THAT
needle in my RT shoulder. Doc said
not to look.
Oh, Pabst has signed Shannon McIntosh to drive their F2000
car this season.
Take care. eddy
Good afternoon. Great write up Splynter. Happy birthday Lois.
I thought I had gotten fairly good at conquering Saturday Silkies, but this one very nearly did me in. Things went very well except in the NW and SE corners. The NW finally came together, and most of the SE, but I had put in DOE instead of NRC (yes, I know 'energy' wouldn't be in the clue and answer, but I put it in anyway) and that gave me Elm St for that eerie place to meet. I knew DADO was solid, was pretty sure SHOT was the correct ending for BACKHAND and was pretty sure that 55a started with TECH (after giving up on getting anything to work with 'arachnids'.
I finally put it aside, did the Saturday Sudoku and the commuter crossword, went to the gym, came back, picked it up again, took one look, changed my wrong entries to NRC and CRYPT and filled my eight empty squares. I swear there must be a crossword solving program running in the background in my brain. Almost every time I'm stumped on one and walk away, i can come back later and easily finish.
Thanks for a great mental workout, Barry.
Here in Boston, Don and Dawn are pronounced the same as well. Mary/merry/marry, however, all have different sounds. Mary has a long "a" to rhyme with "fairy." Marry has a short "a" to rhyme with "bad." And Merry has a short "e" sound to rhyme with "bed."
As I've traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada, people insist on pronouncing my name a if it were spelled "Berry" or "Barey." It's always nice to come back home and have people pronounce it correctly.
thank you, Dennis, for the advice and thank you, yellowrocks, for positive thoughts.
Until now I've resisted seeing the doctor to avoid surgery but if a shot, however painful, will help I'll go.
I sure hope Lois shows up soon. HBD, Lois!
Grumpy1, I've found that method to work for almost any problem. When you "hit the wall" you need to walk away and think/do something else. Your subconscious brain keeps working on the problem. When you return to it, it's suddenly solveable.
That's five. Over and out!
Good afternoon Splynter, C.C. et al.
Whoot! A birthday party for Lois, can I get invited??
Fun puzz, finished w/o any lookups or help. But SPlynter, I think you missed DIOR as a name, so make that thirteen?
Gotta run- spending the weekend out of town with DH. we're going to go play!
Where is Clear Ayes lately?
Always enjoy Mr. Silk's intelligent, well-CRAFTed offerings. And, despite its name-heaviness, he BREWed up another winner here.
Splynter, I saw 4D "Razor handle" ATRA as using the CBer inspired "handle" as slang for "name" rather than being just a part of an ATRA razor.
Irish Miss, I've tried my hand at a few themed puzzles. I have no idea how constructors pull off these non-themed monsters. I wouldn't even know where to start. I think there's some magical formula that is known only to and guarded jealously by a few of the elite constructors.
Took me quite some time today, but eventually got there. Some new stuff for me (QUBIT, SMAZE).
Nice write-up, Splynter, hope you got some rest afterwards.
Now - Summons/MUSTERS UP - can someone help me with an example usage here? I can see "Let's summon/muster up the troops", or "the group was summoned/mustered up", but how would I use precisely summons/musters up? I'm probably being Saturday-morning dumb here, but I truly can't think of a usage that would work.
Splynter - in the UK there was a popsicle brand called "Mivvi". That's the only VV I can come up with off the top of my head.
As kids, we also used "guff" as a synonym for - ahem - gas in the bodily-emanation sense.
Hello everybody. Holy wow, this was a very hard puzzle today. I could not finish it without looking up some of the names.
Like Zcarguy, I wanted microbrewery. I also wanted back hand grip.
After mentally listing various North Carolina locales in my mind, such as Hatteras, the Outer Banks, Raleigh-Durham, etc., I felt a little bit let down by EAST COAST. Heck, New Jersey, for example, has an east coast, too. So I didn't really see EAST COAST as being a locale associated specifically with North Carolina.
Wanted SON for Caleb. At least I knew NIVEA, for some reason. And I nailed EDITH Head.
Has anybody ever had a meeting at or in a CRYPT?
Immediately thought of you, Lucina, when I filled in SASHAY.
Like Avg Joe, I too am a butt-kickee today.
Happy birthday, Lois, and best wishes to you all.
Some words with double Vs.
Navvies
Civvies
Divvies
Flivver
Revved
Savviest
Skivvies
@ steve,
Somehow he always summons the courage to face his demons.
Somehow he always musters up the courage to face his demons.
Does that work?
Steve @ 1:42
How about "one summons/musters up the courage to tackle a difficult task" (like this puzzle!).
Barry giveth and Barry taketh away. HABEAS CORPUS was a big toehold but I was at KITTY HAWK in NC with PSY instead of SOC. No one else thought of that? Oh well, a good time was had by all.
Musings
-Yup, Gene Cernan was a gimme and I have heard this dynamic man speak!
-I knew what prowlers Barry wanted and toyed with CROWN VIC
-NRC not AEC. New atomic plants coming in GA. Even a Chevy Volt has to get power somewhere.
-The point of no return for the Moon missions was very near the Moon where Lunar gravity superseded Earth’s
-The 1930’s movies on TCM pronounce Mary with a very extreme accent that sounds pretentious to me along with dahling
-The light from Antares you see tonight left there about the time Columbus set sail to spend Queen Isabella’s money
Dennie and Lucina,
I had that a cortisone shot with the wicked needle in my left knee last June. It was not at all pleasant, but it brought blessed reilef until the end of October.
My surgery showed diintegrated cartilage and a torn menisces in the left knee. I'll let you know the prognosis on Wed. It didn't hurt at all post op becasue I was inactive. I am still taking it easy, but now as I bend and twist I really do feel it.
I feel for all of you. Salut!
BTW No wonder many of you can not hear the difference we find in DON and DAWN. I read that those people raised without that particular vowel sound do not hear it, even when it is articulated perfectly. That explains why my pronunciation of foreign languages is not nearly exact and why it takes years, if at all, for most foreign born to speak English or other languages like a native.
Good afternoon Splynter, CC, et al., Just want to thank you all for the sweet happy birthday wishes. I tried doing the puzzle earlier after I regained consciousness but kept getting interrupted w/phone calls, text msgs, and the door bell ringing with flower deliveries. I think I must be dying and everyone knows it but forgot to tell me. The front room looks and smells like a funeral parlor. I'll fool 'em by crackie! I'm gonna out live 'em all and out play each one of 'em. Gotta go. Pool game starts in 30 mins. Gotta go bust some balls.. I mean that only in the kindest way.
Dennis; if you were one of my candles, I'd make sure you were the one that would automatically relight. Party on!
Irish Miss- The most difficult thing in creating a themed puzzle is coming up with a fresh, clever, entertaining theme. The fill can be a bear at times, but it's usually not that hard to do. A non-themed Saturday type puzzle is by far much harder to create because of all the open space to fill. Notice how we see the same constructors on Saturday. It's because most constructors just don't want to deal with the frustration and time to make a Saturday puzzle.
QUBIT- ArQ measurement
In IN TOO DEEP lies a response given by most of us graybeards.
DO I PEE? NOT!
Anoa Bob @ 1:26: Thanks for your thoughts.
Jerome @ 2:00: Thanks so much for your explanation. I can't even imagine how hard puzzle construction is; I wouldn't know where to begin. I think I'll stay in the solving camp; that's hard enough!
Jayce, My one time meeting in a Crypt was at a funeral. It was cold, echoed, and was generally eerie! Nuf said.
Husker, I had both Kitty Hawk and Psy at first. Fixed with the perps, but I couldn't think of anything else that fit any better.
Yellowrocks, Thanks for the good thoughts, and good luck with your appointment on Wednesday.
Fermatprime, Good luck to you, too, with the outcome of your ultrasound exam.
For those of you who are wondering about CA, she has moved to her new home and her last Dr.'s appointment was only about 10 minutes away. She and her DH were spending upwards of four hours round trip to see the Docs and it was at least once a week. She is also close to her family, now. I'm sure she'll be back into the swing of things soon. As you all know it takes a LONG time to get everything in place when you move.
Hola Everyone, I had the same experience as Barry. He always seems to be right on when it comes to solving (or not solving) a puzzle.
Today was a bear for me. I looked up almost all of the names, many obscure for me. I did know Ellis, Ott, Edith Head and Hedy Lamarr, but that's all.
HBTY, Lois, and many, many more. do something really really nice for yourself today.
Our daughter is coming up from Ojai to show her lab at our Western Kennel Club dog show. In our local paper today it is billed as The Westminster of the West. Her lab is half way to her championship.
Have a great President's Day weekend, everyone.
Not worth a sou is appropriate for this day. Today is the last day in France for exchanging Francs for Euros.
I remember Edith Head because it seemed like she received the Oscar for best costumes every year when I was young.
Enjoyed today's puzzle and all your posts.
Whoo-hoo! I finished todays puzzle! True, I had to look several things up. Like othes, I couldnt let go of MICROBREWERY, but I also was sure of SQUADCAR. Looked in the deep recesses of my brain and remembered Ralph ABERNATHY, and EUGENE CERNAN. Bye bye MICRO. Last to fall was the SE corner. Looked up GENA Showalter, that gave me enough to fill in the rest. Whew, my brain is tired!
Argyle & Yellowrocks: You are probably right about QAL and Yarrow. We had QAL growing in the pasture, identified by my husband, which I dug up and brought to my yard flower bed. Later I had yarrow I bought at a nursery. They looked alike to me except for color: QAL-white, yarrow-yellow.
What a fascinating tableau: Lois extinguishing Dennis' candle ... and his springing back to life.
Happy Birthday and many more Lois. It is great to have birthdays and yet to never age.
Dennis, I had the cortisone shot in the knee and it helped for a very long time. Compared to the amniocentesis needle, however, it was not so bad.
beautiful day here, off to the gold course.
I forgot to mention the clue for Edith earlier.
Graffiti seen on the mens room wall of Zach's Bar, Denver, 1977:
"Edith Head gives good wardrobe!"
The only first entry I didn't erase today was SQUADCARS. My patience didn't last long enough to finish. Silk always does me in. Thanks, Splynter.
Jayce: You "nailed" Edith Head? You naughty boy!
Lois: HBD! Ole! Ole! Ole!
I went to an interment in a big crypt. No chairs, so we stood during a long-winded preacher. They had the coffin on one of those telescoping catafalques. The 3-yr.-old granddaughter of the deceased kept escaping and playing on the base of it. I was afraid it would collapse on her. Or grandpa would rise up and smite her parents! I wanted to.
You folks crack me up!
Hi All ~~
I always enjoy a Saturday Silkie but this one was far from smooth! I got a lot of it filled in but it was slow going. I had many of the same struggles mentioned by others but was really stymied by SQUADCARS. I was thinking of skunks "prowling" around trash cans ... sigh. Only after finally looking up QUBIT did I get that corner. I also had to look up ZIMA and GENA. I had LOTS of erasures but it finally came together.
~~ Thank you, Splynter, for filling in the missing pieces ... I discovered two errors after reading your write-up! I agree with "ya know it or ya don't" on all the names today.
~~ I, too, was held up by the Guff/ Lip/GAS thing in that section.
~~ Lucina ~~ I thought of you with both SASHAY and LALA. :-)
~~ Happy Birthday, Lois ... hope the year brings you much happiness ... in all ways!
Thank you for the kind thoughts, Jayce and Lalalinda. It's a happy day when I can SASHAY through a puzzle and seeing LALA in one makes me happy.
My mother's name was actually Candelaria Caterina but was called Lala all her life.
And the jollity here is infectious!
What is the earliest time that I can get Sunday's puzzle?
Thanks.
Okay, I understand smog/haze = SMAZE but I thought a portmanteau was a bag or suitcase of sorts.. still confused but getting used to that state.
Another question, please. Why are my posts the only ones that show the trash can? Just curious.
Irish Miss - The trash can allows you to delete your post. Only you can delete your own post.
I bet everyone wishes they can see my trash can.
Irish Miss, The trash can is just for you if you need to delete a post. Others cannot delete your post, except for the blog mistress or her designated helpers.
Virginia, my definition of portmanteau is a suitcase or carryall, but also says that it is a combination of two words, forming another word. Therefore Smog/Haze for Smaze.
Irish Miss, Spitzboov posted the answer to your trash can questions while I was typing mine. Sorry about the duplicate.
Irish Miss, when I first saw the trashcan below my post I thought perhaps Blogger was giving me a message about the content. Spitzboov explained it though.
As far as I know, 10:00pm Eastern time is the earliest that the CW is available (on Cruciverb.com)every day of the week.
Hi Again ~!!
Happy B-day lois ~!!!
eddyB, my assignment at UPS is East Hampton, and I load up 2-3 dozen parcels that we drop off at the USPS every day - I asked, but the best explanation I got was "this is the arrangement we have with them"....
HeartRx, I toyed with DIOR, but since the clue referred to a brand name and not a person....
Thanks, Steve, I did get some rest - I think I have heard of Mivvi, BTW - as for the other V V words, Civvies, Skivvies and Revved are the only ones I recognize.
As with North Carolina and BarryG, I am "EAST COAST", and there is a difference in Mary/Marry/Merry...but upstate a DOG is a DOG, but down here it's a DAWG.
Splynter
Hi Guys,
Like LaLaLinda, I was also thinking something like raccoons, skunks, even alley cats. Prowlers made me think of night. I did think of police cars but too long.
The only entries I felt sure of were Ellis, Edith, Angels, Reacts, and Dior.
Oh well, another Saturday DNF.
HBD Lois and I hope that those of you who are suffering find relief soon.
Thanks to all who answered my questions about the trash can and the time the puzzle is available. One of the reasons this blog is so special, IMHO, is the way everyone tries to help and support each other. And the "oldies" make the "newbies" (like me) feel very much at home. Thank you all.
PK, (& others who might be interested)
I spent a year researching wild edible foods, but gave it up when i discovered i will never find a roast beef hero in the woods.
Queen Anne's Lace = wild carrot = delicious
(note the tiny purple flower, center, supposed to represent the blood of Queen Anne when she pricked herself making the lace.)
can be easily misidentified as:
Poison Hemlock = 1 bite = dead real quick
Q.A.Lace has square, furry stems.
P.Hemlock has round smooth stems.
One more ditty, everyone has heard of "leaves of three, let it be." But not to many people have heard "only a dope climbs a hairy rope," which is a reference to old growth poison ivy.
Good evening, folks. Thank you, Barry, for a very tough puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for the write-up.
This was one tough puzzle. I got through most of it. The NW and SE corners were my hangups.
Had a tough time with SMAZE and QUBIT in the NW.
NIVEA, DIOR, and DADO were tough in the SE.
Did this on my IPad on I-55 going to Jacksonville, IL. Now we are on our way home.
Will try to catch the Sunday puzzle.
Tomorrow heading to Rockford after church. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
CED: Thanks for the information. The picture of QAL looks like what I called QAL but never heard it called wild carrot.
The hemlock looks like what we called wild carrot as a kid. I was warned against eating it since I tasted everything. I spray this stuff in my city yard along with poke weed which seeds from a weed patch behind my neighbors'. Maybe I should go discuss the poison factor with my ditsy neighbor. I think poke berries are also poison.
I also fought poison ivy for years after moving here and had a rope up a maple like you show in your picture. Think I've finally got all of it. I usually check it every summer.
I may be doing something wrong but it is now 11:40 and I am unable to get LA Times Sunday puzzle through the Cruciverb app. Would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
Hello Irish - I'm still up, drop me an email if you like. I got the Sunday puzzle about 45 minutes ago.
How is the problem showing up?
PK,
Actually, in springtime, pokeweed shoots can be eaten like asparagus, however, as soon as any part of the plant becomes red, it becomes toxic. For that reason, (and because it doesn't taste like a roast beef hero)i would not dare eat it. However, i hear Dandylion makes a nice salad, and the baked roots make a coffee substitute!
Irish Miss, i too cannot get tomorrows puzzle, it is 12:21 in NJ, maybe because i am trying to get the Chicago puzzle which is an hour earlier than me?
@Grumpy and @Anon - thanks for the usage examples. Was feeling muddle-headed for sure!
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