Theme: None
Words: 70
Blocks: 28
Words: 70
Blocks: 28
Wow - cruised through this puzzle, rare on any given Saturday, but I just got back from the bars and hanging with the guys, and I am really tired~! It always helps when you score the first word of the grid, though - real confidence booster. Triple stacks of 7's in the corners, and a grid spanner;
36A. Is having unending bad luck : CAN'T CATCH A BREAK - most likely the seed entry;
and two 10-letter climbers;
12D. Take too far : OVEREXTEND - see 29A
28D. Feature of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" : CANNON FIRE - I love this composition, the way it builds and subsides; I have this version; the cannons are powerful enough to blow out matches if you hold them in front of the speakers (so you know now what I did one semester in college)....if you care to, here's a link to the 15+ minutes with chorus and cannons
Onward ~!
1. Exchanged : SWAPPED
8. Hiking hazard : DROP OFF - we talked about this last week
15. Caesar salad basic : ROMAINE - CROUTON fit, too
16. "Grease" in the '90s, say : REVIVAL
17. Small cinema, nowadays : TRIPLEX - what if you parsed this as Triple X ~???
18. Tree-lined walkway : ALAMEDA - I know of the city; here's an image of the actual definition
19. Adams with a Hasselblad : ANSEL - photographer, and his camera - a page of his spectacular images
20. Mrs. Fields brand : TCBY - The Country's Best Yogurt
22. Game to pursue : PREY
23. Places to see buckjumpers : RODEOS - none for me, thanks
25. Brewers, e.g., briefly : NLers - Baseball, the teams here - C.C., did they move from the AL~? (C.C.: Brewers was in American League until 1997. They were called Seattle Pilots when first created, then Selig bought them and moved the team to Milwaukee.)
26. Geometer moth caterpillar : INCHWORM - there was one on my sheets just the other day
29. Final crossing? : STYX - I was going to put this in, thought "nah", and then I got 12D
30. Three-division sports gp. : NCAA
31. Family reunion attendees : NIECES - WAG
33. Builder of Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft : TRW - yes, the same as the credit company
39. Royal son of comics : ARN - Prince Valiant
40. Surgical tool : STYLET
41. Certain Caltech grad: Abbr. : ENGineeR
42. Little TV redhead : OPIE
44. Balanced : EVENED UP
46. Gals : JANES - Dah~!! This one had me going - I have never heard of 46D
48. Set : HARDEN
49. Graceless sorts : OAFS
50. Possibility that's not an option : NO-NO - this was "meh" for me
51. Bar basic : LAGER - not Vodka - I had neither tonight - I left the sloppy drinking to the others, and drove them all home safely
55. Examined the look and feel of : TRIED ON
57. Toscanini was its music director in the 1920s : LA SCALA
59. Waiting, to some : TORTURE - it is for me - traffic lights, shopping lines, getting a little "somethin', somethin' " - alas, not tonight....that is, no lass for me....or is that L'ass because it's me~???
60. Inward journey? : EGO-TRIP
61. Dosage specification : ONE A DAY
62. Pair of fins : TEN-SPOT - fins is slang for five dollar bills
DOWN:
1. Eur. title : SRTA
2. No longer mint : WORN
3. "The Anti-Death League" author : AMIS - More here
4. Party topper : PAPER HAT - not the rare fill I thought it was....
5. Where one might have a sinking feeling : PILLOW - the perps got this; otherwise, it would have been an "ugh" moment
6. Storm hdg. : ENE
7. Skill : DEXTERITY
8. Dull shades : DRABS
9. Depend : RELY
10. Biological duct travelers : OVA
11. Spotted in a troubling way : PIMPLY - Acne, har-har
13. Recording device applied to applause : FADER - I guess; as a musician who records, I know what this is - but my car stereo has one, also
14. Castigates : FLAYS - hey, now, let's not get DF here....
21. Tell the truth, finally : COME CLEAN - or here, for that matter....
24. Give away : DONATE
25. Federal org. with a "Safety Recommendations" Web page : NTSB - here's the page~!
26. Old empire builder : INCA
27. At 6,684 ft., Mt. Mitchell is its highest point : N. CARolina
29. Taken to a table : SEATED
32. Volt maker : CHEVROLET - all electric car - I prefer the Fisker, with it's gas engine designed to charge the batteries only
34. Prego rival : RAGU
35. Sitcom call letters : WKRP - I had -KR-, and was totally lost until I remembered what "call letters" were - radio station IDs
37. TV's Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle, briefly : CSIs - Crime Scene Investigators
38. Stages as it happened : RE-ENACTS
43. Pre-euro currency : PESETA
45. Author DeMille : NELSON - I like his stuff - especially his cop character John Corey
46. Word game : JOTTO - new to me - PHEW~! Dare to try ~!
47. John Carradine's role in "The Ten Commandments" : AARON - Dah~! I had -ARON, and was going through the alphabet - and skipped "A" altogether....
48. Colony's concern : HONEY - Bee colony
50. "A Doll's House" wife : NORA
52. Irving title writer : GARP
53. Film director Petri : ELIO
54. Mesmerized : RAPT
56. Fizzler : DUD - My NY Rangers hockey team turned out to a be a "DUD", losing to the NJ Devils tonight - and so Eddy, we are down to 4-7 games in the 2012 season. I will be rooting for the East coast, since my West coast choice, Vancouver, was eliminated in the first round.
Sadly, I must report that the opportunity to move to Las Vegas has fallen apart - but I have not given up on my plans to move out West - it's just going to have to wait a bit - I thank all of you who offered me a place to stay, and dinner ( AJ, HG ); I am still holding you to that offer~!!!
Splynter
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteShort on time this morning.
Had a lot of trouble getting started on this one in the NW corner. USED for WORN, CARR for AMIS... It was finally ANSEL that got me on the right track.
After that, I made slow but steady progress throughout and actually finished in a quick time for a Saturday. Some unknowns (TRW. JOTTO and ELIO), but nothing the perps couldn't handle.
Good day folks,
ReplyDeleteTwo letters ... both WAGS... did me in today. For 22A I had PREP and 14D FLAPS. I was wary of them, but nothing better came to mind. For square 46 I had an L. Never heard of JOTTO & JANES was a new expression too. I was sure LANES & LOTTO would not survive, but,as I said, nothing else registered.
Well, I was wrong with the P & L today, but fortunately, that was rarely the case during my career.
In spite of my woes, I enjoyer this Saturday test.
The rest of the puzzle was a grind, but I eventually got it done. It was a good workout foe my eraser as well as MOI. Seemed like each section needed a wag or two, but usually were entered with confidence.
Like Barry, short on time today. See you all next week.
So, is this what you were thinking about for 17a?
ReplyDeleteI finished the puzzle except for Jotto and Janes. The TCBY was a local yogurt shop in New Orleans that sold out years ago a nd I guess Mrs. Fields now owns the chain. Now if can only make headway on the Newsday Saturday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteGood workout today, but I finished with a good bit of the time allotment remaining. Nice romp.
ReplyDeleteI, too, had to WAG the J in JANES/JOTTO. And it took awhile for my applause METER to change to a FADER, USED to WORN, and OSHA to NTSB.
What I like most about Saturdays is that there's no theme for me not to get.
Splynter, sorry to hear that your Vegas move was canceled. Or, I guess I should say, postponed.
Happy holiday weekend, all.
Good morning Saturday solvers.
ReplyDeleteGreat writeup, Splynter. Sorry to hear that the Vegas relo is not panning out as planned.
Yup, immediately getting 1a sure helped move this one along. I vaguely recall JOTTO, and have heard JANES as a generic term for women (think GI Joes and GI Janes).
Wanted JPL before perps shoved that aside and gave me TRW.
Lots of good stuff in this one. I really enjoyed it.
Very short leash this morning, so I only popped in briefly. The puzzle: Very challenging. Could not get that J that everyone else had trouble with.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the cancelled move, Splynter. But keep it in mind when it does happen.
I hope my workout at the Y this morning is not as taxing as this bad boy! My timidity hurt a little as I held back on SWAPPED, WORN, RELY (the less said about Depends, the better), et al before I finished there – “Faint heart ne’er won fair maiden (JANE?).
ReplyDeleteMusings
-My car can pass anything on the road but a TCBY or DQ when Joann is a passenger
-I remember the Milwaukee Braves NLER’s featuring a #44 named AARON. That’s an M not an A on his hat.
-In the lovely song, what is the INCHWORM measuring and not seeing “how beautiful they are”?
-Didn’t we just have LANCET?
-I’ll take your word on OPIE’s hair color. I saw him in B/W and now Ron Howard is essentially bald
-Hand up on traffic lights. I have to go through 3 consecutive ones to go golf and they are NEVER in sync.
-HDG not HDQ makes a difference! NTSB not OSHA. SEATED not SERVED.
-DRABS not GRAYS. BTW, are any of our well read bloggers following the controversy over the book 50 Shades of Grey?
-I was thinking of this Applause Device
-WKRP had one of the best ensembles of all time!
-GARP, ELIO corner was unnaticked by LAGER!
-One prime rib, medium rare for my friend Splynter!
-Today we are off on our 5 hour cemetery run to Boone County Nebraska!
Good morning everyone. Good write-up, Splynter. Sorry about the bump in the road to your 'go west' plans.
ReplyDeleteDaunting at first but did get ANSEL, but no other traction on top. Slithered down to LA SCALA, LAGER, and WKRP and got the whole East going. INCA confirmed CAN'T CATCH A BREAK, which helped leverage the solve into the upper part. Had to RELY on liberal use of WAGS including ONE-A-DAY, STYLET, and ALAMEDA. ARN was a gimme - been reading Prince Valiant for 60 years. I especially liked the clueing for PREY and PIMPLY (which crossed BTW). INCHWORM surely makes me glad we haven't gone metric. Just a few strikethroughs but no lookups were needed.
Have a great day and weekend.
Good morning all:
ReplyDeleteGood effort, Tom, and nice expo, Splynter. Finished w/o help but had a couple of write-overs: OSHA before NTSB, and ecrus before drabs. Overall, a tad easier than a normal Saturday.
Sorry your Vegas plans are on hold, Splynter; maybe things will change down the road.
Husker Gary @ 8:33-Re Fifty Shades of Grey-From what I have read and heard, this series (there are 3 books) is about a young college student who becomes involved with an older man who is into far- from- the-mainstream sexual adventures. It's been hyped to the nth degree and is referred to as "Mommy porn" so that indicates, to a certain degree, the demographic it is appealing to. Suffice it to say, it is not on my to-be-read list but I would be interested to hear the reactions of anyone who has read the books.
Happy Saturday everyone.
Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteMostly a speed run for me, with the exception of the NE. I had "crevice" at 8A because that is the one thing that we always are on the watch for when climbing in the Alps. PIMPLY just wasn't going to fill with that mis-step! I finally took out crevice when nothing else was coming forth, got DRABS (ugh), RELY and OVA. The rest of that corner filled in easily after those.
I didn't even think twice when entering JANES, since I already had ANES from the perps. Unlike Grumpy1, I was thinking of "plain" JANES.
Not the smoothest Saturday stumper, but not bad, either. Have a great day, everyone!
My hiking hazard was a BLISTER but it went away.
ReplyDeleteJane's car.
Fun puzzle that was alot easier than most Saturdays.
ReplyDeleteBut more importantly, GO LA KINGS
( this is the LA Times blog after all)
The VOLT also has a small gas engine to charge the Battery,
ReplyDeletethe LEAF is a total electric car
Tough way to lose a series - one minute into OT. Cup finals start May 30th.
ReplyDeleteer, Ansel used a 8x10 Grafic on a tripod.
eddy
I'm offering a reward of 100 "atta boy's", or "girl's", as the case may be, to anyone who can spot the error in the 1957 Topps Hank Aaron baseball card to which I linked earlier. It looked funny to ever printed and the correct one me and then I googled it and found out that it contains one of the most famous baseball card mistakes is quite valuable.
ReplyDeleteHusker, just a guess here. I don't think Hank Aaron was a southpaw.
ReplyDeleteHG, ooh ooh! as Horshack used to say while waving his hand on Welcome Back Kotter. It shows Hammerin' Hank with a left-hand batting stance while I'm pretty sure he was right-handed.
ReplyDeleteHello, weekend warriors! Thanks, Splynter, for your efforts and I'm sorry to see your plans DROP OFF.
ReplyDeleteThis was more fun than I anticipated. Loved the misdirection throughout the puzzle especially STYX, PIMPLY, and like the rest of you hesitated at JANES but thought of JANE DOE and never heard of JOTTO.
Had CANNONSHOT first then FIRE emerged. Luckily some easy fill, NORA, HONEY, DUD and OPIE helped to complete the SW.
DRABS replaced GRAYS and ALAMEDA seeped out of my brain cells. Spanish is well represented with SRTA, ALMEDA, and Pesetas.
Great fun to day, Tom Hellman. Thank you.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend, everyone!
Started out like an INCHWORM, very slowly, but letter by letter it
Yes, this was easier for me than most Saturday's but, as always, I miss a clever theme.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing the name of my favorite old sitcom.
Splynter, sorry about the missed opportunity. I hope everything will work out for the best in the long run.
Well, I don't know how that last sentence dropped down. It should have been in the first paragraph! Technology mystifies me.
ReplyDeleteHello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteHow ya been?
Husker: after a quick scan, I see that you're still waiting for Marigolds.
Started the puzzle last night, too tired for synapses to fire, had to give up at the 20% level. Picked up again in the AM, and zoomed through! What a difference rest makes.
Happy Saturday
Fun, if slightly easy, Saturday puzzle. Got hung-up on the PIMPLY/PREY crossing at the end... my only problem, but shouldn't have been.
ReplyDeleteNTSB was like my 3rd choice there with NLRB being on of the others. STYLET is new to me. Never knew what kind of moth an INCHWORM was. Didn't know where Toscanini was before Philadelphia. Had forgotten that the Brewers used to be the Seattle Pilots. DEXTERITY is a great word.
Much good info in today's puzzle, and an enjoyable solve.
Husker, I'll bet Ansel would know.
ReplyDeleteYup, Hammerin' Hank hit right handed. It looked funny to me and the. I noticed the backwards 4 on his uniform.
ReplyDeleteAnd yup #2 Dudley, I sang about those myopic inchworms in grade school as a round. It's a real earworm and so I won't link!
Reporting from the road in central Nebraska this is Husker Gary.
Janes is also used to refer to women in a song in "Guys and Dolls".
ReplyDeleteDoreen
Well, I never thought I'd long for a Saturday Silkie, but this morning's Heilman did me in. Never did get the NE corner until I cheated. Should have gotten Alameda--there's an Alameda Gardens in Gibraltar that my husband and I visited on our honeymoon. But I found this really tough, even though I enjoyed two Tchaikovsky clues in a single puzzle with an Ibsen as a bonus.
ReplyDeleteBill G. 11:40, this has to be the first time I ever saw a Horshack quote. Loved it! Splynter, I'll keep my fingers crossed that you will get to Las Vegas, and when you do, I'll bet you'll stay there!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Still trying to do the puzzle, but have to stop if i am to mow the grass b/4 it rains. Took a break for lunch & read last nights comments.
ReplyDeleteBill G. interesting, dark roast has less caffeine? (that explains why i can still sleep nites) yet i dunno, there is a lot of controversy on the subject.
todays, puzzle, so far i did the top 10% & all i have is romaine. (don't tell me if i am wrong.)
Hello everybody. Jeez, I started playing that Jotto game and got hooked. Be back soon ...
ReplyDeleteArgyle, who is Ansel mentioned at 12:20? Adams?
ReplyDeleteSure, he'd recognize it was a reversed photo.
ReplyDeleteGary: You didn't need to link it. I'll still be "measuring the marigolds" in my head all day!
ReplyDeleteA better than usual Saturday solve for me. Everything went smoothly over most of the puzzle except RELY was the only thing I had in the NE corner. I was satisfied with dORA for 50D. Never heard of TCBY, TRW or ALAMEDA. Had fTSB of 25d. Hard to remember whether something is fed or nat.
JANE Doe is a common enough term.
Two of my former best friends have died this week. I have been trying to get information on the latest one for some time. With his death notice, I find he & his wife moved half-way across the country to live with their kids which is why I couldn't find them. So sad when people, who were once so important to you, drift apart. I left first, counter to their wishes. At least, now I have an address for the wife, who was my very best friend in the world.
My thoughts:
ReplyDelete- Ohh, lots of white space. I love that!
- Good, stacks of long fill. I love that!
- Damn, that could be anything.
- Yay! At least I got ANSEL Adams!
- So much white space. I hate that!
- Sheesh, at least I got ARN. Only 3 letters, though, and way over in a corner.
- Hmm, nuttin', dunno, could be any doggone thing, blank blank blankety blank blank.
- Can LASCALA really be right?
- APTITUDE? Nope, DEXTERITY. Well, that X oughta help me.
- It did! Yay! So, it's not USED, after all!
- Finally I know one! CANNONFIRE. Yay! Now I have a foothold.
- Or do I?
- Aha! Duh! Ugh. Oh well, okay. Um, all right. Oh cool! Ha ha! Neat-o clue! All right, if you say so. Um...
- Damn puzzle is pretty damn good...
And so it went, like swooping up and down on 20-foot waves at sea. Unsettling yet ultimately satisfying. Drained and spent.
Thank you!
I started watching an old Laurel and Hardy film called, "Way Out West." In it, there is a vocal group singing this neat old-fashioned song. About half way through it, Stan and Ollie do a little dance routine. Great stuff! At the Ball.
ReplyDeleteWell, I didn't have to look anything up, but it sure took me a long time. I had LA Symph for the longest time, because he conducted the orchestra for Disney's FANTASIA. Not the best first movie to take a 2 1/2 year old to, by the way.
ReplyDeleteAnd what's a WAG?
Miss Beckley, WAG = Wild Ass Guess
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was waaaay over my head, all i got was romaine, but it did lead me to make a nice salad.
BillG: great Laurel & Hardy! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMissBeckley: Disney movies can have some scary parts for little ones, can't they? I read once that some big theatre had to replace all the seats after showing "Snow White" because so many kids wet their pants in the scary wicked witch parts. "Fantasia" was soooo long.
Hi All ~~
ReplyDeleteA nice challenge for this Saturday. I enjoyed it all even with my problems in the NE and SW corners. Like others, I had trouble with the JOTTO-JANE cross but it worked out. For 14D I had 'Flogs' before FLAYS so that held me up for a while. ALAMEDA was new to me. The grid spanner at 36A helped to open up areas and let perps rescue me where I was unsure.
I had the "1812 Overture" going in my head while working on 28D and I was hearing the cymbal crash so of course I tried 'Cymbal..' before finally getting CANNON FIRE. My other write-over was 'Mixer' before LAGER.
My favorites were the clues for PIMPLY, TENSPOT and PREY - clever!
Thanks for a wonderful write-up, Splynter. As always I learned lots and I enjoy your humor and your take on things. I hope your plans for the future work out soon.
Jayce ~ How did you work so long on JOTTO? I tried it but got nowhere. \ o_o / Also, your "journey" through the puzzle @1:59 both amused and exhausted me. ;-)
Enjoy this Memorial Day weekend everyone!
LaLaLinda, I kept doing poorly at that Jotto game, but couldn't stop. Finally now, a couple of hours later, I have gotten tired of it. Was amused but now exhausted, one might say.
ReplyDeleteI agree this puzzle had some wonderful clues. My favorites include the clues and answers TEN SPOT, TORTURE, and STYX, among others. Wanted HOLLOW for the sinking feeling clue; you know, got a sinking feeling in the pit (hollow) of your stomach.
Yes, Fantasia is awfully long. I believe it was Leopold "Stokie" Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. I was told he conducts like that, using hand gestures and not just beating time with a baton, because before becoming a conductor he was an organist.
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteHard puzzle.
Hiking hazzard: Why do people do foolish things? I live near Devil's Lake State Park in South Central Wis. It has high bluffs and many hiking trails and high drop offs. Last week a woman in her 50's went hiking alone and was found at the bottom of a high cliff drop off. She didn't survive. So sad! What about the hundreds of people who are currently trying to climb Mt. Everest. Someone has to put their life in danger to rescue them.
Is the world a better place because people climb to the top of Mt. Everest?
An other coincident in today's puzzle. 45D-Nelson DeMille. The movie version of his book The General's Daughter was on TV this afternoon.
Yes! for Hank Aaron- the Milwaukee Braves won the World Series in 1957. I remember because we were on our honeymoon.
Have a good weekend all!
Marge
Jyce@1:59
ReplyDeleteLOL! Your journey across the puzzle made me tired! But what fun.
Must go have the car washed and it's a gorgeous day today, not a 100s in sight!
Anybody else lose an hour on Jotto today?
ReplyDeleteI did, Mary.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy games. I started to fool around with Jotto and played it three or four times but the interface seemed kind of poorly done and tedious. I'll probably give it another shot or two.
ReplyDeleteA tasty lunch, a BLT from our local independently-owned fast food emporium.
The weather is cool, 65 or so, with blue skies and a light breeze. Time to head out for a short bike ride and the accompanying macchiato.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Tom Heilman, for a very good puzzle. It was a toughie. Thank you, Splytnter, for the write-up, especially for the 1812 overture.
ReplyDeleteJumped around a lot. Could not get a foothold in any area. Got ARN easily. And WKRP and RAGU. ENGR filled. AARON filled for 47D. That helped with ONE A DAY.
I could not focus too much initially on the puzzle. Had a salad last night and there was something bad in it. Suspect the spinach. Food poisoning has grabbed me all day.
Nevertheless, I worked off and on all day and finally got the puzzle. My last area was the NE. ALAMEDA, FLAYS, FADER, and PIMPLY were the tough ones. I used to work in the LA area, so ALAMEDA eventually came to mind. Slowly got them all.
I am going lay down for a while. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.
Abejo
Abejo:
ReplyDeleteIn last nights news a warning was issued against spinach. I believe specifically it was the Private Selection sold at Kroger stores. I hope you did not ingest any of that!
I had every intention of coming to the blog this morning so I could comment before everyone else got involved in other things & didn't come back to read the comments. Yesterday, I had to come to the blog to learn the theme before I could get anywhere. Today, we're not finished yet - too many names.
ReplyDeleteBut I want to thank everyone for sending their good wishes for our anniversary. We had a lovely day.
Special thanks to Jazzbumpa for "Hello Young Lovers". Misty, I never expected to celebrate a fiftieth, so you may get closer to 60 than you anticipate. Looking forward to the Monday puzzle. Its more my speed.
Dot
No late nite bloggers today?
ReplyDeletei feel guilty blogging when i couldn't do the puzzle, but i did have to read all the comments.
Pac man can't catch a break
I was looking for something funny for the only word i got, romaine, but i stopped looking after this pic...
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom H. and Splynter. Puzzle was easier than usual. However, in the interest of time, I googled up NELSON. Loved CANNONFIRE, which came immediately.
I saw a taping of WKRP. Lots of fun. Burt Reynolds came afterwords for his wife!
Entodontist had bad news for infected root canals. Was very blue last night. Then watched two of the "Good Witch" movies recorded on Hallmark TV. The third one conflicted. I really would like to see it.
Does anyone else watch MI-5? It is great entertainment. However, they are always killing off the main characters, except for Harry Pierce.
Harvey came back briefly. Now he is on his way to spend the holiday with his family. He prepared some (wild caught) salmon for my dinners, using my recipe. Easy to eat.
Happy holiday, all!
Why don't you move to the Reno-Sparks area? Beautiful mountains (the Sierra Nevadas), the Truckee River, some casinos, Amazon, UPS and lots of culture. Housing prices are at their lowest. Check it out.
ReplyDelete