google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Feb 4th, 2012, James Sajdak

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Feb 4, 2012

Saturday, Feb 4th, 2012, James Sajdak

Theme: None

Words: 68

Blocks: 32

I'm DEAF ~!!! Just came back from a live show, great bands, including my buddy's original tunes group, "Evil Eye", which I think played out for the first time tonight. Came home, jumped right into this puzzle, and it was a "BEHEMOTH"....Lots of really obscure names and concepts, some I had to drag up from the depths of my brain. Looked bleak, but in the end, I finished under my personal time, but not without red-letter help in the SE corner - I just did not know three foreign words and a fictional (?) city. Oh well, every now and then I need to be 'sacked' by a Saturday constructor.

Two spanners, one climber;

17A. Blue chip, e.g. : SOUND INVESTMENT - A list of some; and speaking of --- BLUE --- Sorry, BarryG....Brady needs to get sacked, too ~!

55A. Fitness ideal : PICTURE OF HEALTH - Here's my guys playing tonight - such a picture of health, right???

8D. "You look familiar ..." : HAVE WE MET BEFORE? Didn't try this line with any of the "metal chicks" that were there tonight - they all seemed to be "taken"

Onward ~!

ACROSS:

1. Monster : BEHEMOTH - I like MONSTER, the drink; it's what I have when I go out instead of anything alcoholic

9. "Doesn't anyone else see this?" : IS IT ME ?

15. Ivory tower milieu : ACADEMIA

16. Ottoman officials : PASHAs

19. It's south of Vesuvius : ETNA

20. Vermont ski resort : OKEMO - trail map....how's the skiing, HeartRx ?

21. Bar choice : SODA - these days, it's my choice if I don't smuggle in a Monster

22. URL part : DOT - Had "COM" first

23. Lamb kin : EWE

24. Flushed : RED

25. Small change, maybe : ONES - Had "CENT" first

27. Réunion attendee : FRERE - Had "ONCLE" first; the é implies French, so I went with Uncle, turned out to be Brother

29. Job transfer consequence, for short : RELOcation

30. Winner of the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Music : NED ROREM - One of those "seen it in crosswords before" answers

32. Incan herd members : LLAMAS - I think they look cool, but I like their camel cousins better

34. Artisan : TRADESMAN - I consider myself a tradesman; actually have some work to post to my other blog

36. Horn of Africa native : SOMALI

39. Disney character voiced by Robby Benson : THE BEAST - Er, this guy

43. Spacewalks, for short : EVAs - Extra Vehicular Activities

44. Bargaining side : LABOR - Right now, I am on "THIS" side of the bargaining table; I am still waiting to hear about the "DARK SIDE" (management) position....

46. Uruguay's Punta del __ : ESTE

47. Pump choice: Abbr. : REGular - Gasoline, octane

48. Augsburger's article : DER - Not "EIN"

49. Neapolitan crowd? : TRE - Italian 'three'

50. Spring bloomer : IRIS - Not "LILY"

52. Soft bunches : TUFTS - tough clue to understand until you get it; 'soft bunches' of what?

54. Foot massage expert? : POET - Anyone else think of Pulp Fiction here ?  Poetry is usually written in "feet", a basic metrical unit in Western verse

58. 17th/18th-century division of New France : ACADIA

59. Motel posting : ROOM RATE

60. Grammer with Emmys : KELSEY - This guy, who won for Frasier, the show and the character; he's not a Grammy with an Emmer....

61. Intern, often : E.R. DOCTOR

DOWN:

1. Adaptation words : BASED ON - like the film was a adapted from the book; "Bladerunner" was BASED ON Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

2. Transition zone between plant communities : ECOTONE - Straight up definition

3. Obsessed : HAUNTED

4. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA - another name from the depths of my crossword knowledge

5. NSAID, e.g. : MED - Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drug

6. "__ babbino caro": "Oh my beloved father" (Puccini) : O MIO - Tough to parse in the vertical

7. Monkeyed (with) : TINKERED

9. __ fatso: bit of Archie Bunker language-mangling : IPSO

10. Didn't play : SAT

11. Creeds : -ISMs

12. Euclidean proposal : THEOREM

13. Honoree of a six-meter-high Johannesburg statue : MANDELA

14. Oaxaca y Veracruz : ESTADOS

18. Part of FEMA: Abbr. : EMER

26. Guayaquil girls: Abbr. : SRTAs

27. Delicate : FRAIL

28. Iconic bull : ELMER - El Tor? El Cid? Oh, DUH....



29. Indian princess : RANEE

31. Team that plays in Fla.'s Amway Center : ORLando

33. Chocolate companion? : LABrador - the dogs, my friends

35. An abbreviation of : SHORT FOR

36. LPGA star who is the youngest living World Golf Hall of Fame inductee : SE RI PAK - total unknown, but a great CW fill; more HERE

37. Not neat : OVER ICE - Hell, NO, right Tin???

38. Mysteriously enchanting : MAGICAL

40. Elaine's home, in Arthurian legend : ASTOLAT - CAMELOT fit, which didn't help; here's the WIKI

41. Close overlap of fugue voices : STRETTO - New musical term for me; again, the WIKI

42. Ring around a crib? : TEETHER - cute, the baby's mouthpiece

45. Score words for a pair : ADUE

51. Criteria: Abbr. : STDs

52. Caterer's delivery : TRAY

53. Like many horses : SHOD - not "SHOW"

54. Seurat's Seine scene : PARC - DAH ~!! F'n French got me again; I tried BANC, thought I was all clever....

56. Road reversal, familiarly : UIE - seen it as "UEY", too, but essentially, a U-TURN

57. Punk rock offshoot : EMO

Also wanted to add that the other bands that played tonight were an Iron Maiden cover band, "Live After Death", and a Zeppelin cover band, "Black Dog" - check them out, too ~!!

Answer grid.

Splynter

54 comments:

fermatprime said...

Hi all!

I seem to be getting better at these Saturday monsters. Thanks James and Splynter!

Fave answer, of course: THEOREM. Also liked POET when I finally understood it. (Of course, there are THEOREMs in any mathematical endeavor!)

Was very tired and relaxed, so some long ones just flew in. However, I Googled twice. Tsk!

Time to try to get to sleep. Up since 10 AM.

Happy weekend!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

I had to just keep chipping away at this puzzle a little bit at a time until I finally got the job done.

The SE corner was by far the hardest. Did not know ASTOLAT, PARC or STRETTO, couldn't remember which character Robby Benson played (until I got plenty of perp help), the clues for TEETHER and ERDOCTOR were cute, but challenging, and the clue for POET was just plain evil.

Elsewhere, OKEMO, ECOTONE and SERIPAK were also complete unknowns that required all the perps to get, although I thought ECOTONE might be ECOZONE for awhile.

Hand up for COM instead of DOT at first.

Really hate UIE. Of all the possible ways to spell it, that's gotta be the most awkward looking.

And in closing...

GO PATS!!! ^_^

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Technical DNF today, had to get red letter help where ASTOLAT, STRETTO, and POET all mash together. The first two were simply unknown, and the light came on waaay too slowly at "foot massage expert?". Hand up for CAMELOT.

Also needed a boost at ECOTONE, never heard of it. SE RI PAK is too obscure for me, but that one had good perps.

Yep, a professional-strength Saturday! I again express my amazement at Splynter's willingness to blog the toughies.

Jacel said...

I am glad to hear that I am not the only one that had trouble with this Saturday puzzle. There were many unknowns for me--ASTOLAT, OKEMO, ECOTONE, SERIPAK, and the list goes on.

I still don't understand the clueing for POET

Splynter said...

Hi There~!

Ooops~! I meant to explain the foot meaning for poetry - too much Pulp Fiction on my mind. I updated the blog now - thanks Jacel ~!

Splynter

Tinbeni said...

Splynter: Excellent write-up!

DNF on this "Anti-Avatar" grid.

My "Bar choice" would NEVER be with SODA.
Then, after I entered the blasphemy, OVER-ICE,
I just wasn't interested in finishing.

Cheers!

desper-otto said...

Greetings Saturday Solvers! Stormy today in SE Texas.

Durn! Spent way too much time on this one, and worked my way to a DNF. ECOTONE, OKEMO and SERIPAK were unknown, but perpable. Originally had LOWER for a bargaining side, but LABOR finally appeared.

I was really stuck in the SE. Wagged PARC correctly, STRETTO correctly, ASTELAT incorrectly, and sat wondering what PEET could mean. The light didn't come on until I read Splynter's explanation.

Well done, James and Splynter.

Avg Joe said...

Good morning from the snowbound zone. We've had 5-6" so far, it's still snowing, and the wind is blowing at 25-30 mph. IOW, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

VERY hard puzzle. I did prevail with my #2 Ticonderoga, but it wasn't pretty or easy. In addition to the DNK's already noted, I had craftsman for tradesman for a looooong time and would not give it up (I still think it's a better answer). Agree that UIE is just plain ugly, but it had to be despite its weirdness.

On the plus side, there were some great clues like that for tufts and ER doctor.

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning Splynter and friends. Wow! This was a toughie. I got a toe hold in the NE, worked diagonally down to the SW, branched back up to the blanks I had left in the NW, and stared forever at a mess in the SE.

I had RackRATE, wanted Camelot but couldn't make it mesh with anything else, THEETHER ring was not among any of the possible fill I considered, and STRETTO was a total unknown. Since we just had PARC a few days ago, and we seem to get these odd entries in bunches, I gave it a shot. That, and finally giving up on real feet and thinking about poetic feet, gave me just enough to see some of the other stuff and finish up.

SODA? OVER ICE? I knew Tinbeni's Avatar was going to have fits about that!

Angostura said...

Tin-
Do you really not bother to finish a puzzle because it has SODA and OVERICE in it, or are you just kidding?

Yellowrocks said...

I am glad I am in good company with all the others who used a little help. I wagged OKEMO and SERIPAK from perps. I knew ATR-LAT and STR-TTO, but not those pesky middle vowels. I can't beleive I was suckered by POET. It used to be that whenever a clue with FOOT or FEET was difficult, I thought of POET or poetry. After this whipping, I will rememeber.

My immediate thought for 19A was ETNA, but I was not at all convinced that ECOTONE was a word, so I Googled it.

Tinbeni, I though of you at OVERICE and SODA. Matri,I thought of you at OKEMO.

Dennis, I am so happy for you with your good news.

Irish Miss said...

Good morning all:

This was a slow go. DNF because of Astolat and stretto-never heard of either before. Oh well, let 's see what tomorrow brings. Hoping for BLUE skies in Indianapolis!

Happy Saturday, everyone.

Off topic, if anyone wants to see a hilarious video of a prank involving a mannequins head, let me know and I'll forward it.

Irish Miss said...

Sorry, Splynter-nice write-up.

Husker Gary said...

I love long, gettable fills and this one had ‘em. EDNA/ETNA gave me a toehold and off I went on a circuitous but successful quest.

Musings
-I’ve heard it said that some parts of the country love pro football and some college. We’re in the latter category here. I’ll watch, but meh…
-I will root for North Platte, NE’s Danny Woodhead
-Many ivory tower peeps I know are worth much less than many bricklayers and carpenters (ARTISANS) I have known
-It’s STOWE or nothing for me. Learning moment.
-My musical bar first had a CODA
-I just bought a new GMC ACADIA
-Frasier is that rare TV fare that is smart and clever
-Wanted ecoZone but I knew eTna was right
-Aleve is my NSAID friend
-Korean women now dominate the LPGA
-Ditto on AJ’s weather and Grumpy’s solving pattern

Avg Joe said...

Gary, it does look like it might not be as bad as advertised. The current MAP has us on the SW edge of the heavier snowfall and you on the north of the worst of it. Moreover, the size of the storm is far less than expected. I heard Stapleton had 20" yesterday and they're completely in the clear now. So....hopefully this won't last all day and we can start to dig out by late afternoon.

desper-otto said...

Irish Miss, you shouldn't be sorry that Splynter had a nice write-up! :) I enjoy his write-ups. I always find them to be educational. Oh, and I'll have a peek at your funny video. Thanx.

HeartRx said...

Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.

Wow, I thought this was one of the easier Saturdays in recent memory. Didn’t even see some of the clever down clues like “Ring around the crib? For TEETHER until I read your write-up, Splynter. OKEMO is not one of my favorite mountains. I’m with Husker Gary in favoring Stowe!

Loved seeing THE PICTURE OF HEALTH. And I agree with Avg. Joe about “craftsman” instead of TRADESMAN. But it was not to be…

I hope all our bloggers out in the heartland stay safe in that storm!

Husker Gary said...

Joe, the snow is moderating here too but wind is coming up. Here is picture of my backyard including the grill I have used this week. It’s hard to believe I went out golfing 4 times since Monday and had my underground sprinklers going twice.

Oh well, I go to the Y three times per week to keep up some semblance of physical fitness and flexibility so I can deal with this. Joann has a list of why she keeps me around and moving snow, fixing computers and killing spiders are at the top of the list.

The neighbor’s St. Bernard/Pyrenees mix is out romping around and loving this.

It’s such a waste Marti, as this town is as flat as a tortilla.

Irish Miss said...

Desper-Otto @9:18

Would be happy to forward the video but your email is not on your profile page. My email is available if you want to let me know yours.

Spitzboov said...

Good Morning Splynter and all.

Had much the same solving (lack of) experience as Grumpy and others. After getting the grid spanning vertical, progress became possible. First visit to Mr. G in weeks; for ASTOLAT, SERIPAK, OKEMO. Avalon seemed to fit at 58a for a while, but then discovered it had to be ACADIA. Even DER wasn't easy because of inflection - der dem den das des die were all early possibilities.

Have a great day.

CrossEyedDave said...

Jumping the gun again, (it will take me all day to do a Sat. puzzle)but the 2/2 blog woke me out of a deep sleep at 4am with the realization that in my link (Bizarre behavior 2/2 6:53, sheep cyclone)the car might be a Volkswagen "rabbit." (very spooky- Ref:Bill G 2/2 1:21pm)

I wanted to see the clip again, but YouTube took it down due to their policy on "harmful activities?"(very curious) So now the only way to see it is on Ray William Johnson =3 (WARNING - offensive language & bathroom humor) a site that reviews viral video's of the week.

Re: David Steinberg 3/3 5:43
click on his (blue) name to see his website. "Remarkable" (if he did this all by himself, it's going to give me an inferiority complex.)

Zcarguy said...

Morning Splynter, all

This was hard LABOR for a sunny Saturday
but with patience and a couple of G visits it
fell together until the very bottom , had SHOW
horses, and forced ER WORKER into the picture
That gave me ASTOLAK and STRETTE , they looked
fine, never heard of either.

My Remi Martin XO is always neat.
Soda is a no no in our home

Go Pats, I'm not a Pats fan , but the Giants
beat my Niners .

Y'all have a good day!

beat my Niners grrrrr

Zcarguy said...

Irish Miss,

I'm game for that video.

Lucina said...

Hello, puzzlers. Thank you, Splynter, for blogging the "toughies" as someone mentioned.

Like Marti, I thought this was one of the easiest Saturday puzzles in recent memory.

Once I skipped around and found some SHORT fill, then the long ONES emerged. Had a struggle with SER I PAK, POET, and looked up ASTOLOT.

Hand up for BANC and did not know STRETTO.

Yes, Tin, I knew OVER ICE would frost you.

Liked seeing ACADIA and ACADEMIA.

Waiting for my grandbaby now as parents are going to the Golf Tournament.

Have a beautiful Saturday and stay safe all you in the storm's path.

Vairnut said...

Very tough for me this Saturday. Went thru the first pass and had one word- KELSEY. Second pass got the NE solved. Chipped away from there. Lots of DNK's today. I had to use both CW dictionary and Yahoo quite a bit, but I did manage to correctly fill in all the blanks. Quite a workout today- and I am not a PICTURE OF HEALTH!

Misty said...

Yep, what everybody else said. This toughie broke my winning streak for this week. That SE corner was just a bear (or maybe a BEAST). I feel most stupid about not getting ER DOCTOR for intern. With the four months my husband spent in hospitals after his stroke, not to mention many other emergency runs, you'd think I'd have remembered that most of the doctors we've seen are interns. But no, I put in 'Errander' (someone who runs errands?)--all the while wondering if that was an actual word.

Ironically, I did end up in the ER again last night, not with DH but with an 80 year old dinner guest who tripped on the step separating our living room from our dining area, and fell while carrying a ceramic plate. This gashed his hand badly enough to require stitches. We were incredibly lucky that he didn't break a leg or a hip. Needless to say, I was too anxious to ask if the E.R. doctor was an intern.

Anyway, thanks Mr. Sajdak and Splynter, and have a great weekend everybody!

Paul said...

Had a lot of trouble with this one. But Se Ri Pak was a nobrainer for me. "Total unknown"? Methinks somebody doesn't really follow golf.

Anoa Bob said...

Boom! Nailed ASTOLAT! I had a crush on a waitress where I was bartending during grad school. Her name was Elaine and I tried to impress her by (mis)quoting

Elaine the fair, Elaine the lovely [sic], Elaine the lily maid of ASTOLAT.

She looked at me like maybe I was brain damaged (she was a nursing student interning in an ER). I guess I should have tried HAVE WE MET BEFORE.

Happy ending though---things worked out later on.

eddyB said...

Hello,

This and That:

Football season was over when Denver beat Pittsburgh. But, I heard something about a game tomorrow.

Will be watching Pittsburgh at New Jersey play hockey.

Any one out there interested in buying a '99 Land Rover?

Brian closed a $1 million order.
Another one and the XF is paid in full.

Going down to Poppy Hills courtsey
of Groupon mid-week special. Their greens are green.

Finished Hillerman's Hunting Badger. Started Francis' Crossfire.
JA Jance was a new Ali Reynold out
on Tuesday.

See you Monday. eddy oops

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Fabulous piece of work today! I was at first daunted, as I usually am, by the vast expanses of white space, then trepidation gradually turned to appreciation as I slowly began to fill it in. My final feelings are awe and admiration for how magnificently constructed it is. And of course, I always like terrific long fill such as THEOREM, BEHEMOTH, HAUNTED, MANDELA, SOMALI, ACADIA, and even the dreaded OKEMO. Wow and thank you!

Splynter, your writeup, your links, and your point of view gave me great pleasure also. Thank you.

Sorry I got so pedantic 'n' stuff yesterday.

Best wishes to you all.

Jerome said...

NED ROREM is above TRADESMAN, which anagrams to A SMART NED-

OKEMO- Start of Tonto's ode to the Lone Ranger-

Not so smart-

Quick, Andy, who is an ancient Egytian behemoth?
THE BEAST AT THEBES? THAT'S BEE!
How'd you know that?
BEATS THE heck out of me.

CrazyCat said...

What an OSO (bear) today. Thanks Splynter for clearing it up so concisely.

I finally gave up in desperation and googled SERIPAK and ASTOLAT. My WAG was ASTORIA. TEETHER ring was a stretch. Didn't know STRETTO or ADUE. Had BANC before PARC and didn't know EVAS, although I'm pretty sure I've encountered it before in CWs. I also had ERRANDOR for Intern. What??? All in all a big DNF mess.

OVER ICE made me laugh - knowing that Tinbeni would have strong feelings about that.

Time to start shopping and cooking for Super Bowl. I'll have a New Yorker and a Bostonian in the house. I think I'll just come out of the kitchen for the commercials.

Avg Joe - sending some of my cloudless, 70 degree weather your way.

Steve said...

Wow - this was tough for me today! NE corner seemed pretty straightforward and then nothing until KELSEY. Then back up, down and sideways while various pennies slowly dropped.

I loved the cluing and there were some major obscurities. Finally a couple of WAGS and I was eventually done.

WEES (what everyone else said) about the obscure stuff. Hand up for CAMELOT first. SoliD INVESTMENT held me up for ages.

Great write-up, Splynter. I saw a Led Zep tribute band here in LA called Lez Zeppelin - all girls, and totally awesome! "Roberta Plant" gives Robert a run for his money, and the rest of the band were really, really good.

CrossEyedDave said...

21A Bar Choice: i had neat, then 37D clue "not neat" had me scratching my head forever. Oh Well!

Este skewered camelot.

LOL Tinbeni@7:42

THIS One's for you!"

Irish Miss @9:03 = Yes Please

I tried to Google "youngest inducted into LPGA hall of fame", and about a dozen names came up, none ending with a "K". (very sneaky, a cw clue you can't google)

Husker Gary @9:46

if u fix PC's, can u tell me why if i click a link, then use mouse button to return to the blog, sometimes it goes right back to the link entry, and sometimes it goes back to the top of the page only???

Irish Miss said...

This One's for You @3:08

Be happy to forward but I don't have your email address.

Lucina said...

Steve:
I love your WEES (what everyone said) acronym. Is it original? I'll use it if you don't mind as my usual posts are very late and nearly everyone has commented.

desper-otto said...

CED, your best bet is to right-click the link and then "Open link in new tab" or "Open link in new window." Then when you close the link/window you'll be right back where you left off.

HeartRx, Lucina: You make me feel incompetent with your "easiest Saturday in a long time" expositions!

Lucina said...

desper-otto:
I don't for sure but I suspect that you are a young guy; after you have been doing crosswords for 64 years, (since I was 10) you too will have that ease.

Marti is just smarter than most of us.

HeartRx said...

Desperotto, don't listen to Lucina. There are some puzzles that just chew me up, and when I come here everyone is commenting about how easy they were. So, I know how you feel !!

I forgot to mention earlier, how much I admired the grid design, with those four "+" signs. And only one "finger" on each side, none of them more than three blocks. Very nice!

Serious Anon said...

eddyB-
in re - '99 Land Rover
Which model?
How much? Mileage? What kind of shape is it in? Pix? Was it owned by you or your son?
Any hockey puck dents?

-disenchanted Wrangler owner, anxiously awaiting the return of the Defender

PS - I consider myself a somewhat decent CW solver, but today's puzzle kicked my rear (as did did yesterday's - though at least I got though that one without help).

CrossEyedDave said...

Desper-otto @3:30

Thank you! that is much more convenient. No more bouncing all over the blog!

Due to the Anons, i also discovered why i could not edit my profile. I went to change my Avatar back from my cat "Toby," and there was my 3D puzzle on the profile??? When i 1st set up my profile, i created a Google+ account that had my 3D crossword. Then somehow, i created a duplicate Google "Blogger" acct. when you post, it automatically takes u 2 "Blogger acct" but below it says "Choose an identity (which i chose google acct) so i "assumed" it was a Google+ acct." Off Blog i had been going to "Google Sign-in" when i should have been going to Google Blogger Sign-in"

Avg Joe said...

Snow report. I just spent 2 1/2 hours plowing our lane and the drives of 3 neighbors. There are drifts over 2 feet deep in places and it is super heavy since the temps have ranged from about 30 to 34 since late last night when it started.

Far from the worst we faced 2 years ago, but no picnic either. For reference, 2 years ago we were snowed in for 2 1/2 days...twice.

God bless John Deere.

Dang Thingy said...

CEDave-
Relax. Someday, your avatar will be but a memory. Hopefully, someone (other than you) will wonder where it's gone...

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side, And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide!
There are a hundred places where I fear
to go, - so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, "There is no memory of him here!"
And so stand stricken, so remembering him!

-EDNA St Vincent Millay

eddyB said...

Serious Anon @4:15.

Waiting for Brian to ok giving you his address. Or seng me yours.


His Rover. Great shape. NO hockey
puck dents! Didn't use it as a trade-in on the Jag.

Rover is in San Mateo. You close?

eddy

Ol' Man Keith said...

POET did me in. Argh, I shouldda known! It's the kind of punny clue that I enjoy, but I never got around to thinking of iambs and trochees on this one.

Spitzboov said...

A couple weeks ago we had the clue for SEA ICE. Here is a Link from the Univ. of Illinois - Urbana depicting a daily time lapse of Northern sea ice from 1978-2006. The North Pole is at the center with Europe and the Baltic Sea near the bottom.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi All ~~

Late getting to the puzzle today but I really enjoyed it. After reading Jayce's post, I thought ... wow, I wish I could say it like that. To quote Jayce, if I may: "I was at first daunted, as I usually am, by the vast expanses of white space, then trepidation gradually turned to appreciation as I slowly began to fill it in." Yep, that was what I wanted to say. Jayce ~ You're cool. :-)

As others have said the SE was the toughest for me. With a few good guesses and some perps that section was completed. The one wrong cell I had was the crossing of SERIPAK and EVAS. I just had no idea so I looked it up and got the 'E.' I had a few write-overs: Puffs/TUFTS, Keemo/OKEMO and On rocks/OVERICE - wrong, either way, Tinbeni!

I really liked a lot of the long answers and the cluing was fun in a number of spots ... POET and ERDOCTOR were my favorites.

A really good write-up, Splynter ... lots of information and so many fun links!

Jayce said...

LaLaLinda, you're cool too. As is everybody here.

Roxie said...

And I'm the coolest of 'em all!
A little dab'll do ya!

CrazyCat said...

OK folks. I know this may be a nit, but I have been STEWing all day about 42D. Ring around a crib, TEETHER??

Back in the olden days when my children were babies, they were called TEETHING rings or PACIFIERS. Does or has anyone actually called them TEETHER rings?

I just used to freeze bagels and give them to my kids to gum on.

Argyle said...

I realize they are all new styles but Google Image, TEETHER.

CrazyCat said...

Argyle - LOL you're right!

If only those (my) damn babies would settle down, get married and have grandchildren, I would know about TEETHERS.

Thanks for showing me the light!

Argyle said...

Amen! They should show some consideration.

Frenchie said...

Hi CC, Splynter and folk,

A good day to all! It's interesting how the weather is so varied across the country. Clearing snow, Ave. Joe! Wow!

Sajdak slung some serious sh_ _ ah, er, surprises at us today! Thanks, it was a good brain workout.

eddyB, you are wheeling and dealing? And for a Jag? What ever happened to the humble Porsche?

Have a great Super Bowl time tomorrow.

Anoa Bob, I think that pick up line had potential!

I'm out.