Theme: Fun with the 'fun'etic alphabet, NATO style.
Each of the 5 theme answer are familiar abbreviations presented as they would be called out by a pilot on his radio. The ultimate in clecho themeage. This was a puzzle where you either got the gimmick or you were doomed to much hard work. I lucked out and was off to the races. This is our second puzzle from Mr. Anderson who had his debut here the day after Thanksgiving, 2011, where C.C. was generous enough to blog so I could hang with my sons. So what do you think gang? What was your initial reaction? A few tough proper names (no J!) but not many long words, except for two excellent non-theme fill in FACSIMILE and EMPHASIZE. Time to work it.
17A. Brightness measure, to a pilot : INDIA QUEBEC.(11) Brightness as measured in an Intelligence Quotient test.
26A. Green light, to a pilot : OSCAR KILO.(9) OKAY.
39A. It's dropped for a trip, to a pilot : LIMA SIERRA DELTA. (15)Ah the sweet smell of the 60's with the LSD in bloom.
50A. Undergraduate degree, to a pilot : BRAVO ALFA.(9) Bachelor of Arts.
62A. Den centerpiece, to a pilot : TANGO VICTOR. (11) Does anyone still have their TELEVISION as a centerpiece in a room?
No need for a unifier, so lets see the cluing skills....
Across:
1. Knocks the socks off : WOWS. A nice upbeat start.
5. Nab in a sting : ENTRAP. Well, it depends on the sting; the police do not like it when you use this word for their operations, as ENTRAPMENT is forbidden.
11. Airwaves monitoring grp. : FCC. Federal Communications Commission. Foxtrot Charlie Charlie.
14. Wide-mouthed jug : EWER. Veh is mir, this vase keeps showing up.
15. Sister of Venus : SERENA. The legendary tennis sisters.
Each of the 5 theme answer are familiar abbreviations presented as they would be called out by a pilot on his radio. The ultimate in clecho themeage. This was a puzzle where you either got the gimmick or you were doomed to much hard work. I lucked out and was off to the races. This is our second puzzle from Mr. Anderson who had his debut here the day after Thanksgiving, 2011, where C.C. was generous enough to blog so I could hang with my sons. So what do you think gang? What was your initial reaction? A few tough proper names (no J!) but not many long words, except for two excellent non-theme fill in FACSIMILE and EMPHASIZE. Time to work it.
17A. Brightness measure, to a pilot : INDIA QUEBEC.(11) Brightness as measured in an Intelligence Quotient test.
26A. Green light, to a pilot : OSCAR KILO.(9) OKAY.
39A. It's dropped for a trip, to a pilot : LIMA SIERRA DELTA. (15)Ah the sweet smell of the 60's with the LSD in bloom.
50A. Undergraduate degree, to a pilot : BRAVO ALFA.(9) Bachelor of Arts.
62A. Den centerpiece, to a pilot : TANGO VICTOR. (11) Does anyone still have their TELEVISION as a centerpiece in a room?
No need for a unifier, so lets see the cluing skills....
Across:
1. Knocks the socks off : WOWS. A nice upbeat start.
5. Nab in a sting : ENTRAP. Well, it depends on the sting; the police do not like it when you use this word for their operations, as ENTRAPMENT is forbidden.
11. Airwaves monitoring grp. : FCC. Federal Communications Commission. Foxtrot Charlie Charlie.
14. Wide-mouthed jug : EWER. Veh is mir, this vase keeps showing up.
15. Sister of Venus : SERENA. The legendary tennis sisters.
16. RR listing : ARRival.
19. Pool tool : CUE. Rhyme time.
20. Letters after some officers' names : RETired.
21. Ukr. et al, once : SSRS. Okay, time to retire this fill.
22. Let up : EASED.
24. Dangle limply : DROOP. Man, that sounds worse than sagging.
29. Ireland's ___ Féin : SINN. No comment, it would be POLITICAL.
31. State through which the Brahmaputra River flows : ASSAM. Central INDIA.
32. Work on a wall : FRESCO. From the Latin meaning fresh. Don't get fresco with me hearti!
35. Upper limb : ARM. and 68A. It's out on a limb : HAND. I have to hand to him; a mini clecho.
36. Cousin of -esque : ISH. Funny, she did not look SHREWISH.
43. Strike caller : UMPire. Cute clue, and baseball for our F L.
44. Terr. divided in 1889 : DAKota. You take the North, I am keeping the South.
45. Rules of order documenter : ROBERT. Your reading ASSIGNMENT. Judge. "Order in the Court". Groucho. " I'll have a martini."
46. Gorp consumer : HIKER. GORP, more letters, everyone remember?
49. Lyric poet Teasdale : SARA. POET. It was really great to hear from Clear Ayes.
53. Watching : EYING. Oh goody, an eye reference.
57. Hem over, say : RESEW. Hmm, kinda like an A word.
58. William Saroyan's son : ARAM. Nope, means NOTHING to me.
60. 1988 noir remake : DOA. Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan in happier days, redoing the old solve my own murder plot. The 50's versions starred Edmond O'Brien. NCIS did one as well.
61. Mono- relative : UNI. Only one way to understand this clue.
66. ___ Perce tribe : NEZ. Not to be confused the eyeglasses. The name comes from the French meaning pierced nose, though it was the Chinook who used piercings. A Columbia river tribe hounded and chased by the US Cavalry in 1877.
67. Crew activity : OARING. I used to go with me 'Oney, right Steve?
69. Funny shirt, perhaps : TEE. Hee.
70. Loud metallic sounds : WHANGS. Man, where are Carol and Lois when you need them to tell us the morel of this untold story.
71. "A Death in the Family" author : AGEE. The must mean the work of the author James Agee, not the great arc in Batman by Jim Starlin in the 80s.
Down:
1. Strange : WEIRD. All this work and we are only half way home.
2. Title holder : OWNER. Not the champ, but the poor chump who bought a home in 2006.
3. Closely affiliated with : WED TO. I don't know, I am not married to this fill.
4. Indian honorific : SRI. has the root meaning of radiance, or diffusing light, much like the English word "illuminate" (per wiki).
5. ABA titles : ESQS. Esquires, for our lawyer ref.
6. Cell using a synapse : NEURON. Mine are not synapsing on all cylinders.
7. Locks of Love donation : TRESS. This GROUP.The shed a new light on an old problem, to keep kids from wigging out.
8. Gray in an outfit : REBel.
9. Game show purchase : AN E. Pat, Vanna....
10. Three-time '70s ABA champs : PACERS. They moved lock stock and three pint shot into the NBA, but they are losing Larry Bird, exec of the year.
11. Xerox, e.g. : FACSIMILE. One of the lawyers I work with will never use the word 'fax.' Nice fill.
12. Mean, and then some : CRUEL.
13. Words to live by : CREDO.
18. Edible suspensions : ASPICS. I always thought aspics were just ICK, but maybe you like PIG TROTTERS
23. Dossier initials : AKA. Also Known As.
25. Tasmanian mount : OSSA. I have a devil of time recalling this 5000 foot mount off of Oz.
27. Vocalist Vikke : CARR. She really had many HITS. (2:43). Any favorites?
28. Capital north of Addis Ababa : ASMARA. Capital of ERITREA.
30. "Haven't the foggiest" : NO IDEA. I hear you dude.
32. Winter bane : FLU. InFLUenza.
33. Canyon viewpoint : RIM. time for a rim shot?
34. Play up : EMPHASIZE. Like this PIC of Marion Cotillard, who was great in Midnight in Paris.
35. Old flood insurance? : ARK. I Noah where he got this clue, very cute.
37. The Bosporus, e.g.: Abbr : STRait. The name comes form mythology just in time for this MOVIE which is I guess bombing.
38. One may be in the ring : HAT. This clue is old....
40. '50s-'60s chief justice Warren : EARL. The justice who surprised Ike.
41. Shekels : DO RE MI. Cousin of dough.
42. Selling point? : EBAY.
47. "___ seen enough!" : I'VE. No we must march on to the finish.
48. Bow and scrape : KOWTOW. More shout out to our F L; word is borrowed from kòu tóu in Mandarin Chinese (per wiki).
49. Luau garb : SARONG. Did anyone ever do them better than Dorothy Lamour?
50. Force to be borne : BRUNT. I can take it.
51. Zellwinger of "Chicago" : RENEE. She has had an interesting career. LINK.
52. Dickens villain : FAGIN. Oliver Twist.
54. "Hello! I'm..." badge : ID TAG.
55. Nary a soul : NO ONE.
56. Word just before a duel? : GARDE. and right after "EN."
59. Many sports nos. : AVGS. Averages.
63. "That feels great" : AAH. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH, we are almost done.
64. Org. for a marksman : NRA. They aim to please, they are the National Rifle Association.
65. When doubled, a dance : CHA. Cha cha cha, time for me to dance away for another week, be well all.
Answer grid.
Lemonade
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Barry G, the Cal Ripken Jr. of this blog. I know I can always count on him to give me solid feedback on my theme ideas and grid entries. 生日快乐!
62 comments:
Thank you, Stephen, for fine puzzle, with amusing theme. Nice expo, Lemon!
Got a chuckle out of HAND and ARK.
Hadn't done any cheating this week, but
encountered a Natick at ASMARA and ASSAM. (Sob.) Wasn't familiar with WHANG, but, of course, it had to be.
Have been having much difficulty coping, mentally. Depression, confusion, utter sleeplessness, despair, you name it. Finally checked and identified low-grade fever. Mentioned this to dentist after afore-mentioned visit earlier today (very lucky move). She prescribed amoxocyllin and things are looking up.
Do some of you raise phalaenopsis orchids?
Cheers!
Morning, all!
No special birthday plans today, but Sunday I'll be getting the family up early and heading to a huge flea market up north a bit (with a stop at a local pancake house for breakfast). My wife's present to me is her promise to get up without complaining that it's too early...
Challenging puzzle today. Took awhile to get the theme, but once I did I blazed through the theme answers despite the tricky cluing.
I really shot myself in the foot at the start with AWE instead of WOW at 1A and OLLA instead of EWER at 14A. When I got rid of those, I then tried EERIE at 1D.
That corner was nothing compared to the whole ASSAM/ASMARA/DOREMI/ROBERT/STR section, though. That was a real train wreck. I did manage to pull ASSAM out of the ether, but everything else was unknown. And then I finally realized that 41D was looking for a metaphorical term for money in general and not a specific currency and was able to stick in DOREMI. Which still didn't help much, though.
Finally, while looking at _OBE_T at 45A, I decided to try ROBERT just for the heck of it and was very surprised to get the *TADA*. Sure, why not. And now I see that STR is short for Strait. Live and learn. Sad to hear that Prometheus is bombing, btw. I really loved it and was hoping for a sequel...
Nitpick of the day is to agree with Lemonade on ENTRAP. Stings are permitted, but if they involve ENTRAPment the whole thing tends to get thrown out...
Once I saw "Quebec", my old Army days came back and I was on it.
Good Morning, Lemonade and Friends. Interesting puzzle. At some point when I had some partial fills, I realized the gimmick, but wasn't entirely up on the NATO alphabet, but felt good that at least the theme answer word combinations had some logic to them.
I liked the Upper Limb (ARM) and It's Out On a Limb (HAND) combination.
Is there any reason I should know William Saroyan's Son, ARAM?
I had waist-length hair, and when I had it cut, I donated my TRESSes to Locks of Love.
Queen Elizabeth recently met with the Sinn Fein.
Happy Birthday, Barry G. Enjoy your family gathering this weekend.
QOD: A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind. ~ Albert Szent-Gyorgy
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Stephen Anderson, for one tough puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the great review.
This took me quite a while to get. I did not pick up on the phonetic alphabet at first. All those theme answers sure looked mysterious. I think my first one was OSCAR KILO. All the rest appeared easily after that.
46A HIKER came easily. I ate a lot of Gorp while hiking the Appalachian Trail with my mother. She made the Gorp. Kind of chocolatey.
WHANGS took a while. I had CLANGS to start.
ASSAM and ASMARA were tough. I wagged ASSAM and perped ASMARA. I read Cutting for Stone recently and Iritrea and Asmara were a part of that book.
Took a while to get DO RE MI. I think we had that a while back.
11D Xerox/FACSIMILE is confusing. The loose term Xerox means to copy something to me. I have never heard the term Xerox in place of FAX.
Happy Birthday to Barry G. Hope you have many, many more.
See you all tomorrow.
Abejo
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
Thanks for the great write-up and interesting links Lemonade!! You always give me something to look forward to on Fridays.
And happy birthday, Barry G!
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._
Glad to hear you will be doing something fun this weekend. Enjoy your day! And thank you for writing up my comments this morning...(^0^)
Hahtoolah, more importantly, is there any reason I should know William Saroyan??
Abejo, I am with you on the Xerox/FACSIMILE clue/ans.
TGIF!!
Good morning everyone. Good commenting, Lemonade.
Bravo Zulu to Stephen. As is my wont on a Friday, I found myself rapidly dropping down to get the 'knowns'. But when BRAVO ALFA fell, I realized how the theme worked, and since,for me, the NATO alphabet is cake, the solve quickly segued to an early in the week difficulty. I Liked the clue for ARK. Liked the long downs, too; FACSIMILE and EMPHASIZE. ARAM seems to be a common first name for Armenians. Had to wait for perps to get the SINN spelling. No lookups were needed.
Have a great day.
Hello Puzzlers -
What Spitz said. It took BRAVO ALFA to uncork the whole biz.
Whenever I get the chance - which means whenever I am in a place which inspires envy - I send one of my flying buddies an India Yankee Fox text. This stands for "In Your Face." it works best when I've flown to some nice resort island, for example.
Waving goodbye to Ireland shortly, sob sniffle.
tango golf india foxtrot
The puzzle and theme, once sussed out, were fabulous but naticky with proper names! I blog as I read the write-up and so let’s see how I did. At least every cell had a resident.
Musings
-QUE _ _ C took a while until Johnny REB appeared
-It’s hard to ENTRAP someone who knows right from wrong. Ugly!
-A real Venus and not mythical today
-I thought the U had come home to roost in USSR, but not so much. Plural yet!
-ASSAM was right! SARA was right! Dang, ARAM, not ARAL. DO RE MI not middle east coinage, duh!
-Surely, this was the most famous part of the most famous FRESCO ever painted
-You want a straight forward vote? Sorry, ROBERT’s Rules of Orders have many escape routes.
-Okay, what movie had this line – “This punch has a little WANG (sp) to it”.
-EWER helped me remember how to spell WEIRD. Dang vowels!
-3 letter abbreviation for a lawyer. I had something else in mind.
-My good friend who flew copters over the RIM into the Grand Canyon told me the place where the skywalk was built is not a pretty part of the canyon.
-Ike, - “Warren was the biggest damnfool mistake I ever made.”
Hi gang -
I too got the theme with ALFA BRAVE, but was still doomed to much hard work since I am not intimate with the NATO phonetic ALFAbet.
A well done puzzle, but to me, the theme is MEH!
Gary - you're probably right about the FRESCO, since that is the image I was expecting.
Got stuck in mythology with VENUS.
OARING seems awfully forced. Don't people with OARS ROW?
Never knew the Pacers belonged to the American Bar Association. Like Groucho, I'll have a Martini.
I loved Vicki Carr's singing, but hated her songs.
Great concert last night, despite a horrible mistake by me. Still no rain, and another 90+ day developing.
I'm pretty much out of it today.
Cool regards!
JzB
Hatoolah -
I like your QOD from a famous (rather than infamous) Hungarian, but Louis Pasteur got there first with, "Chance favors the prepared mind."
Cheers!
JzB
For a while I was not on the constructor's wave length. I pecked around until I got TANGOVECTOR mostly from perps. AHA! Then I was off to the races.
WEES about the puns. Funny.
I agree about ENTRAP.
I thought of FACSIMILE in its orginal meaning, just an exact copy. It doesn't have to be a FAX tranmitted or sent by a FAX machine.
Think of the phrase, {or a reasonable facsimile thereof)
Happy Birthday, Barry. Have a great weekend.
Merriam Webster gives this example sentence for facsimile: The family resemblance is so strong that the boy is virtually a pint-size facsimile of his father.
WOW! This took me forever, including a walk to mull it over, a trip to the G-spot when I'd given up, and a lesson in military speak. I actually did get B.A. on my own, and after filling in as many of the others as I could, had to look up SIERRA, INDIA and KILO. But figuring out what was going on with the theme took ages. I also faltered with AWES/ALIEN for 1-A/D, and the NE corner was hard too with trying ADAGE and CREED before CREDO.
Yesterday I tried to post, but really had nothing nice to say so gave up when it wouldn't appear here for some reason. A busy day meant I just did other things instead.
Barry G,
Happy Birthday!
Jazzbumpa: I guess that just goes to show that there is nothing new under the sun!
Can someone explain Shekels and it's answer of Do Ri Mi?
A propos my failed posting yesterday, it was because I couldn't get beyond the page that keeps asking me to give a smartphone number to use on my google account (?).
I am beginning to object to the assumption, now in the AARP mag too, that everyone pays those exorbitant fees to have a smart phone. I only use my Tracfone when I'm out on my own, on the road, etc. I mean, who wants to be attached at the ear to a phone all the time? I certainly don't, and my phone provides me with more than enough minutes each year for $100 and what I don't use carries over and builds up.
End of rant!
Musings 2
-Alternate alternate QOD from Sam Goldwyn – “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
-WANG answer (2:37). Very funny scene with WANG near the end.
-Sistine Chapel was crowded and noisy but AWESOME and not in the way that this adjective has become devalued in today’s parlance. “Mr. Schlapfer, this gum is awesome!” Really?
-Rent, download or borrow the video The Agony and the Ecstasy or read the fabulous book to get a true sense of Michelangelo’s herculean effort to satisfy the tyrannical Pope Julius II. I did both and loved them both.
-I wonder if W thinks the same of John Roberts today as Ike did of Earl Warren.
-ASSAM was in the USA Today puzzle today also.
-DO RE MI is a play on calling money DOUGH. He had a lot of DO RE MI!
-Off to mow and start framing the 23 Florida group pix I have that Joann will allow me to put on a, uh, rather remote wall in the basement.
Good day, Lemonade and friends. Today especially I appreciate your interpretations, L, as I had to work hard on this.
Happy Birthday, Barry G! May you have many more.
I danced around and filled the most obvious until all four corners were completed then the gimmick hit me like a ton of bricks but I never sussed the first initial so thank you for that. I know it was a piece of cake for the pilots and military people, but it seemed nonsensical to me.
Live and learn!
William Saroyan was the first dramatist to win the Pulitzer Prize for The Time of your Life, 1939.
Have a super Friday,everyone!
It was an easy week, but then got my butt kicked today! Simply did not get the pilot theme and ASSAM ROBERT DOREMI didn't help. (and wow - it's not ALPHA?!) Learned a lot today...thanks for the answers!
My synapses have snapped so it took a while to get the WHANG of this one. I started out with 1A as "awes". My spirits DROOPed over OSCARKILO which made no sense to me.
Finally got down to TANGOVICTOR and the voice of my dear departed husband pilot transmitting TANGOCHARLIE blahblahblah over the radio fell on my ears and I had a lightbulb moment. Then I went back up and filled in all the theme answers muy rapido.
Got everything but the NW block so came here and good ol' Lemony WOWS me so I could finish that. Thank you. Really fun puzzle after all, Mr. Anderson!
I too had "rowing" until I KOWTOWed. Don't like OARING at all. Sounds ignorant.
ASSAM is near where my niece and her family live, but I can't find their village on the map.
Happy birthday, Barry! Belated happy anniversary, Spitz!
Fermatprime: I had the same problem years ago. My doctor prescribed an antidepressant. When I went back again, he asked if it cured me. I said, "No, but I'm a lot happier about being sick all the time." Finally, got antibiotics and got better.
Loved the theme! TangoVictor was my a-ha moment. Filled in WHANG, but once I was finished I had to check the dictionary. Sure enough: "whang of gongs and cymbals"...my Friday learning moment.
Happy Birthday, Barry.
Off to earn my do-re-mi...
Good morning:
Happy Birthday, Barry G.
Nice offering, Mr. Anderson, and nice expo Lemony. I had some difficulty, not knowing the lingo, but eventually finished w/o help. Didn't like oaring at all.
Abejo, did you like Cutting For Stone? I loved it.
It's supposed to be 90 here today which is cool compared to other parts of the country.
Happy Friday to all.
Barry G - I forgot, Happy Birthday!
Anon Bob @ 10:21 Re: Alfa; there is no error. See this site: NATO Alphabet. That is what they taught us in ROTC in 1956, that's what our Navy uses, and that was the name of my Task Group: Alfa.. I am in the 2nd ship in the left column.
Knocked me out. I worked hard and burned some grey cells until my moment of discovery on Oscar Kilo. I will be looking for SEA with the same enthusiasm as I have for Barry.
RC327570
anon/bob, I also had a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment when I saw 'alfa', as I too had always used 'alpha'. But Spitz is correct, and if it's also good enough for the FAA, it's certainly good enough for me.
Great puzzle, lots of fun solving this one.
Good Afternoon to all and happy Fri. Happy birthday Barry G. Not a fan of this one,lots of poor 3 letter stuff and bad Abbr. That's learning though, I did'nt like the clue for 56D as leaving out the en part is not tricky,but improper to me. Have a great weekend to all RJW.
I too was concerned about the xerox/facsimile issue but it makes sense if you take onto account the original meaning of facsimile.
Not so sure about a sarong being associated with a luau. Maybe a grass skirt. Sarong seems just so wrong.
The NATO phonetic alphabet was designed to be used by a variety of nations with varying languages. That is why the first letter of the alphabet is spelled ALFA. It has been bastardized by many people but it remains ALFA.
Spitz,
Is that you waving in the picture?
someone has to do it migh some of ht aswell be me.among the lower class?WHANG has a more familiar connotation ?
comet, seti and now alfa. All wrong. Tut, tut.
Well, I consider this the hardest, most impossible puzzle I've ever done because I've never heard of NATO alphabet (thanks Spitzboov for the link) and know nothing about pilot signals. So even though I got some long answers like FACSIMILE and EMPHASIZE early on, it did no good whatsoever. Crummy way to start a sunny Friday, on a day when we're incredibly worried about our Colorado relatives who've had to evacuate, etc.
Have a good birthday, Barry G. Yours is often the first post I read each day, and it gets me off to a great start.
Fermatprime, my thoughts are with you and I hope you'll feel better soon!
Personal ads from the Sunshine State. Part I
Foxy Lady
Sexy, fashion-conscious blue-haired beauty, 80's, slim, 5'4' (used to be 5'6'), Searching for sharp-looking, sharp-dressing companion. Matching white shoes and belt a plus.
LONG-TERM COMMITMENT:
Recent widow who has just buried fourth husband,and am looking for someone to round out a six-unit plot. Dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath not a problem.
SERENITY NOW:
I am into solitude, long walks, sunrises, the ocean, yoga and meditation. If you are the silent type, let's get together,take our hearing aids out and enjoy quiet times.
Part II
BEATLES OR STONES?
I still like to rock, still like to cruise in my Camaro on Saturday nights and still like to play the guitar. If you were a groovy chick, or are now a groovy hen, let's get together and listen to my eight-track tapes.
MEMORIES:
I can usually remember Monday through Thursday. If you can remember Friday, Saturday and Sunday, let's put our two heads together.
MINT CONDITION:
Male, 1932 model , high mileage, good condition, some hair, many new parts including hip, knee, cornea, valves. Isn't in running condition, but walks well.
I forgot Lemon the Television in my man cave is not the centerpiece,it hangs on the wall. Mine is the pool table, a full regulation size, BTW. RJW.
Luckily bravo alfa had me see the light. So the puzzle went from whiskey tango foxtrot to lima oscar lima
Just for future reference, I had linked hte Nato alphabet in my opening sentence, that is why the word appears in that BOLD BLUE, each one is a link. If that was not clear, I apologize
Caught onto the theme as you have to know this alphabet to obtain your ham radio license:
http://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/article-phonetic-alphabet.htm
ALFA/alpha discrepancy though, as mentioned by others
had trouble with ARAM/DOREMI crossing and ISH/HAT crossing
at least it was easier than the NYT's today
I decided to research ARAM Saroyan and found he is a writer and poet although I didn't recognize the titles listed.
Notable trivia: his step-father was Walter Mathau and his two children are named Strawberry and Cream. They are also writers and poets.
Hello everybody. Good to 'see' you all this fine Friday. WEES. Lack of familiarity with several of the NATO letters inhibited me, and I almost got sunk by ASMARA. JzB, good question: doesn't anybody just row any more? I learned it is LIMA and OSSA, not limo and osso. I also took the CUE that it is the CUE stick that hits the CUE ball. Best wishes to you all.
Happy birthday, Barry G. I always like reading what you have to say.
Barry G.--happy, happy bday!
Hola Everyone, My first run through netted just a few answers. I put the puzzle aside for a while, came back and filled in everything for Bravo Alfa to emerge. Aha! I had the clue I needed for the theme fillers and was off to the races.
I had many of the same problem areas that Barry did today. By the way--Happy Birthday, Barry. Enjoy your flea market trip this weekend.
There were several Aha moments such as Doremi--Oooh! Do-Re-Mi. Duh!
A great puzzle from Steven Anderson and fine writeup Lemonade.
Kazie, I'm with you on the Smart Phone business. We have friends who can't live without their phones and are quite rude at times because their phone takes precedence over conversations face to face. End of my rant, also.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Fun puzzle and WEES. I knew I was in a little bit of trouble when I had trouble with 1A at first.
Happy birthday Barry G!
Kazie, I think I asked this before but didn't see an answer. The coffee shop I've been enjoying is run by two Kiwis and one Australian. Can you tell the difference in the accents? I can't.
CrazyCat, I agreed with your weather analysis late last night.
Hi All ~~
I had many of the same experiences that have already been mentioned. It was frustrating at first, but then after the "aha" (or 'oho') as we so often see in puzzles, I found this to be very enjoyable. Thanks for a real challenge, Stephen Anderson.
I did have one blank square that I didn't notice until after coming here - I missed the M at the crossing of ARAM and DOREMI. Thanks for a great write-up, Lemonade - I learned lots and enjoyed your comments.
Barry G. ~~ I hope you have a wonderful birthday and find some great stuff at the flea market! I was thinking you might be going to Brimfield, but maybe that's more for antique-hunting. My brother-in-law goes there quite often.
Happy Birthday to our own BG.
Staying Alive is a good thing.
Bill G., while I would not presume to answer for Kz, knowing how big Australia is, and having had friends from NZ, I imagine the answer is the same if you had asked "do Canadians and US people sound the same" it depends. When I listen to Frank Nobilo, he does not sound exactly like Greg Norman.
Rock on, garth.
Kazie, totally agreed about the almost ubiquitous smart phones. I have a Tracfone also and don't even come close to using up all the minutes each year.
Here's a math question I need some help with even though I have the answer. I though it might be right up your alley for some of you. Fermatprime maybe?
How many perfect squares are divisors of the product 1! x 2! x 3! x 4!...9! ? Hint: The answer is well over 100. (I did all the prime factoring but then I'm not sure what to do to get to the answer.)
Yellowrocks @ 9:50 AM, thanks for your take on "Facsimile". Yes, it makes sense now (phew!!)
Lucina, thanks for the info on WIlliam Saroyan - I will have to check out "The Time of Your Life". I try to read all Pulitzer Prize authors. Most recent one was "Snow" by Orhan Pamuk. It was vaguely reminiscent of Kafka's "The Castle", rather gloomy and with frustratingly pedantic authorities.
I didn't recognize any of the titles when I gg'd his son, but thanks for the trivia about his father-in-law and children!
I enjoyed this one very much. Once I caught on to the alphabet coding, it was a breeze, but even then it was fun to take the two-steps to solve. I particularly liked the clues' puns!
@Spitzboov - Just found out Spitzbuben is another name for Linzer Tarts.
Didn't get it til almost done.
Oaring is not rowing; it's flailing about with an oar.
Funny seeing 2 uses of the abbrev. ABA.
I thought WHANG was a Scottish word.
Sfingi - re: tarts. Don't tell Kazie:-)
Anon @ 1135 - Yeah that's me on the O1 level, port side, sporting the aviator sunglasses.
Bravo Alfa Delta *Delta Alfa Yankee ! On days like this I REALLY appreciate your write-up, Lemonade! Didn't quite finish up; theme did me in.Have to say that it was clever and must have been fun for those who caught on.
HBTY,Barry♪♩♬♫•*¨*•.❤.•*¨*•♫♪
Kazie, I completely agree with you about phones.Do you pay $100 for the whole year? I pay $20 a month.
Fermatprime, hope the meds do the trick.
Bill G,
I think you (or someone) asked if I could distinguish accents from different parts of Oz before. The one notable difference between aussies and kiwis is that the kiwis clip their vowel sounds more, especially the short "i" sound. They like to tell us we say we're from "Seedney", whereas we'd think they say we're from S()dney--with a schwa in the middle.
If you listen to the two people you know, you may be able to tell, knowing what to listen for. The comedy show that introduced those two NZ musicians whose names I forget exaggerated it quite a lot.
Glad I'm not the only one fed up with smart phone culture.
JD,
Yes, my phone has double minutes for life, so I pay $100 each year for 400 minutes, and get 800. If I use a promotion of any sort they give me even more, and they build up each year. So even though my year runs out in September, right now, I still have over 1900 left. As long as you renew each year, you keep getting minutes added on. You can renew more frequently if you need to, but I never do, and the one year rates are the best.
Spitzboov,
I knew it!
Those sunglasses didn't fool me for
a second.
anon
Re Phone plans: I have an AT&T track phone with unlimited talk, texting and internet for $54.00 every 30 days. I had it set up to come out of my credit card once a month...and wound up with a few days "uncovered" until I realized my error and set it up for every 30 days. I thought it was a good plan...it is isn`t it?
Hey, thanks for reminding me i missed the ABA clecho. very clever, also like aram and arm but i am weird that way.
Since its too late to say "Have a happy birthday, Barry," I will say "Have a happy and successful flea market day."
This puzzle was a complete disaster. I don't know the NATO alphabet. Didn't even know enough to guess that was what it was about. And there were too many unknown names. But I'm used to Fridays being DNF.
Dot
Dot,
You weren't the only one who had a hard time today--I did, as well as several others. Hope you and Irv are doing well!
Bill G,
It just occurred to me that NZ actually has far more different accents in their small country than we do in Oz. I noticed that the farther south you go, the more they start to sound like northern English, and right down in Dunedin, it's like being in Scotland. The simple clipped sounds I referred to earlier are more from the north island and the areas in the south island north of Christchurch.
Bill G:
16 choices for power of 2
7 choices for power of 3
3 choices for power of 5
2 choices for power of 7 so that answer is 672.
(This assumes arithmetic is correct. I get
(2^15)(3^6)(5^2)(7) for largest square factor of your product.)
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