Words: 70
Blocks: 26
Hi there~! Hope your morning solve was a tough, but enjoyable one - this is my first time analyzing a Mr. Wiesenberg construction in the year I have been here at the blog, and I either knew his answers, or I was completely lost - and no 51D. was going to help. Triple stacks of 11- and 10-letters in a classic pinwheel frame, most of which came easy with a few letters; it was the middle "stairs" that did me in - yes, I cheated today. oh well.... ONWARD with some of the longer strings -
17A. Western Hemisphere group : THE AMERICAS - we'll start with a map - one that everyone should be familiar with....so I went with an "ALT" (q.v. 45A) light pollution version
53A. Skinny : ECTOMORPHIC - I thought this guy was an "Ectomorph", and he ain't skinny
14D. Opalescent gems : MOONSTONES - sounds cool, like they came from the moon, but they're found right here on Earth
25D. Snooze : GRAB SOME Z'S - just great fill here - I got it from the crossing "ZEE"
I already said it, my Orthorunican friends~!!!
ACROSS:
1. "See ya!" : I'M OUTTA HERE - nice start, since I was not going anywhere until I was finished; I did have to wait until I had some downs filled first. Reminds me of Dennis Miller's sign off on SNL, 4 rows down here
12. Part of an org. : MEMber
15. Overprotective governments : NANNY STATES
16. Simpson judge : ITO
18. HBO alternative : SHO - Showtime TV - their website is www.sho.com
19. Ruman of Marx Brothers films : SIG
20. Wing: Pref. : PTER - as in Pterodactyl - this fella
21. Good sense : REASON
23. Place for a Valentine's Day gift : VASE - "Aww, you brought that tall man some flowers..." - OK, what movie, huh? huh?
24. Puts (in) conditionally : PENCILS - as in "he pencils in a tentative lunch time"
25. "Brighton Rock" author : GREENE - actually, the whole middle section was Proper names, and I knew none of them
28. Guinevere's lover : LANCELOT - well, OK, I know this one, but had to wait for some perps
29. "Conjuring" author James : RANDI
30. Siesta time : TARDE - OK, total unknown for me - I tried ONE PM, since I thought the clue was asking for a specific moment; I am guessing this means "late"~??? A little help here, with my language barrier (Added late: It's "afternoon".)
31. Trip taker of a kind : EGO
32. "__ boy!" : ATTA
33. Fur sources : MINKS
34. Not backin' : AGIN'
35. Short life story? : BIO
36. "South Pacific" Tony winner : PINZA (Ezio) - Unknown to me
37. Jaded : BLASÉ
38. What Balboa called the Pacific : SOUTH SEA - 36A. Pacific clecho, too
40. Lures : TEMPTS
41. Some entrées : ON-RAMPS - now, I figured this out early, because I am familiar with on-ramps and cloverleafs, but I figured since it was "French" in needed to be "On Rampe", or some "ALT" spelling....
42. Hardly a sign of support : HISS; and 54A. Puff adder's warning : SSS - some snake clecho
43. Lorin __, who succeeded Szell as the Cleveland Orchestra's music director : MAAZEL - well, now, I just linked this guy whose CD I "promoted" last week with "1812" - which by the way, was the year we had a war, 200 years ago
44. Cabinet div. : DEPT
45. Alt's opposite : NEU - completely lost on this clue: at first I was looking for the "ALTernative" to ALTitude, but nothing was coming to me; I call it brain-lock when you hit a "Sticking Point" (that is not a "TINE") and you refuse to give up - I am guessing it's German for Old and New - I found this link to a synagogue
48. Taina of "Les Girls" : ELG - Another unknown for me
49. Longtime separatist Sri Lankan group : TAMIL TIGERS - tried PAPER tigers, but I know what a paper tiger is, and it has nothing to do with Sri Lanka
52. Omega counterpart : ZEE - last letter in two alphabets
55. Having another look at : REASSESSING - Great bottom edge fill, with two "E"s, and four "S"s
DOWN:
1. QBs' stats : INTerceptionS - one stat a QB wants to keep really low....
2. When doubled, a fish : MAHI-mahi
3. NASA acceleration unit : ONE G - a measure of the force of Earth's gravity
4. Actress Merkel : UNA
5. Kettledrums: Var. : TYMPANI
6. Safari threat : TSETSE
7. Up __ : A TREE
8. 2009 Broadway revival : HAIR- other 4-letter plays; CATS, RENT
9. Inclusive abbr. : ETC - Et Cetera, and other things from Latin
10. Hits after a screech, probably : REAR-ENDS
11. Core : ESSENCE
12. Perceived Cold War weapons disparity : MISSILE GAP - the space between dart throws, when playing for beer....
13. One studying animals' behavior in their natural habitats : ETHOLOGIST
22. Poker plus, usually : ACE
23. Hindu sacred text : VEDA
24. Cold wear : PARKA
26. Bases : RATIONALE
27. Followings : ENTOURAGES - love the show, too
28. "The Great Caruso" star : LANZA - the movie, here
30. Sticking points : TINES - nice mis-direction for me - I was looking for "bones", or something that holds up a contract negotiation - nope~! Just these
33. Lose : MISPLACE
34. Charity : ALMS
36. Acidity-measuring device : pH METER - I was fairly certain of the "pH" part, but I tried TESTS, then PAPER - but it crossed my other WAG at PAPER (49A.)
37. Rouses to action : BESTIRS
39. Toon whirlwind from Australia, familiarly : TAZ
40. Sneak : TIPTOE - I had " - - - -OE", and thought nah, that's not going to...oh, wait~!
42. Big wheels at sea : HELMS - DAH~!! I was trying to get LINERS and OILERS here - and we were looking for the actual BIG wheel....
44. De Soto's deity : DIOS
45. Classic fruit-flavored drink : NEHI - Crossword favorite, new(ish) clue
46. Ireland, poetically : ERIN
and three closing initialisms -
47. SOS responder : USCG - The United States Coast Guard
50. Common commuting letters : MTA - e.g., Metro Transit Authority
51. Help for lost drivers, for short : GPS - Global Positioning System - once a piece of expensive military equipment, most cars and smart phones now come with one, and I think it's a good idea - so why do I always end up lagging behind some Cidiot (C.C.: I'm such a City idiot. I had to google to see what Splynter means!) lost on his way out to "Wine Country" at the end of Long Island ~????
Splynter
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy Birthday to Annette. Hope all's well.
2) Here is Part Four of Kazie's Spain Travel. Great to see the railway station where she and her husband first met.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy Birthday to Annette. Hope all's well.
2) Here is Part Four of Kazie's Spain Travel. Great to see the railway station where she and her husband first met.
67 comments:
Morning, all!
This one beat me up pretty badly overall, but I managed to hold my own until I got to the SW corner and finally succumbed.
I eventually guessed GREENE (because I know he is an author) and RANDI (because I've head of The Great RANDI even if I've never heard of that particular book), but that's where my good luck ran out down there. Balboa called the Pacific Ocean the SOUTH SEA? If you say so. The clue for ONRAMPS was just too tricky for me, and I couldn't stop thinking about food. MAAZEL? ELG? Nope and nope.
I might have managed if it weren't for the fact that I had GRAB A FEW Zs instead of GRAB SOME ZS. I finally Googled "Lorin" to get MAAZEL and that gave me the foothold I needed to finish.
Elsewhere, ETHOLOGIST and ECTOMORPHIC and SIG were very hard to come up with, but I eventually managed with lots of help from the perps. Thankfully, I've heard of both LANZA and PINZA (although I needed some perps to remember which was which). And I couldn't quite figure out how EGO was a "trip taker of a kind" and not simply a "kind of trip." Do folks commonly refer to people on EGO trips as EGO "trippers" or something? I dunno, just seemed off to me...
Tarde means late as you stated, but it also means afternoon in spanish. This is the intended meaning in this puzzle, a good time to grab some z's
Good morning, Saturday soldiers! We who are about to DNF salute you.
I got sucker-punched with that "Var" after Kettledrums. I knew they were Tympani, but I figured the "Var" called for an alternate spelling -- a second Y. That resulted in RANDY rather than RANDI.
Learning moment: ETHOLOGIST, I would have thought such a person dealt with ethics.
The southeast could have been a total disaster, but I dredged up TAMIL TIGERS from somewhere in my store of useless knowledge. That changed my PH PAPER to PH METER and gave me the toehold I needed.
So, I filled the grid, but still got a dreaded DNF. Hope you fared better.
Good morning Saturday Solvers. Thanks for your explanations, Splynter.
This one was easier, for me, than most Saturdays... until I hit the 'California' area of the puzzle. Like Barry, I wanted food for those entrees, didn't know GREENE, didn't associate RANDI with "Conjuring" and didn't know ELG. Fortunately, I saw many performances of the Cleveland orchestra led by Lorin MAAZEL, but I wanted to spell it MAeZEL until I finally figured out ENTOURAGES from BIO, ATTA, ZEE and SSS.
VEDA was a complete unknown. I wanted Vasu or Vesa, but RANsI just wasn't looking right. I finally reread the clue for 29a and made the connection from "Conjuring" to magician to RANDI. VEDA still didn't ring a bell, but it had to be right.
We were in Sri Lanka in 2005 when the TAMIL TIGERS were active in the north part of the island. We were docked in Colombo, which is pretty far south. None of the tours went into the areas where there was any rebel activity. Personally, I think crossing a street in Colombo was probably more dangerous.
Definite DNF today. I only got about half this one on my own, and a bit more after using Splynter's help in several key places. Maybe it's a Saturday thing--the Sudoku stumped me today too.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Hello Puzzlers -
Managed to pull off a no-peeky, but just barely. Made a few solid guesses that established some good ground, then explored from there.
Knew Lorin Maazel, since I have a CD of Cleveland Symphony playing the New World Symphony, one of my favorites. Last to fall was ETHOLOGIST, which just looks wrong.
Happy Saturday
Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
Thanks for the detailed explanations, Splynter! I totally agree with you about all the proper names packed in here - especially with LANZA crossing PINZA. We always see James RANDI clued as "Amazing" something, so that one threw me off for a bit.
The SE is where I finally got my toehold and clawed my way back to the top. pH METER was a gimme, because the clue was looking for a "device". When I finally finished, it was about 5 min shorter than my usual Sat times, so I was quite surprised. It seemed a lot more difficult as I was solving it.
Kazie, you and your DH look just a pleased and happy now, as you probably did when you first met at that train station!
Off to tackle the weeds...
Good Saturday challenge but a few too many obscure proper nouns. I believe the ALT opposite- "NEU" is an electrical reference - alt, or the hot wire and neu, the neutral.
Alt as opposite of NEU doesn't make sense to me as an electrical reference, but if you Google Alt vs NEU, you will find a bunch of Youtube videos in German that compare old vs new.
This definitely rates a 9.0 on my Weird Shit-O-Meter.
Correct Splynter?
Alt and neu are definitely old and new in German. Remember Ludwig's castle, Neuschwanstein? It means new swan stone--a new castle in the same valley as his parents' Hohen Schwangau
Marti,
Actually on that day in 1971, things didn't get so rosy until during the train trip that followed that first meeting!
Good morning:
This was a DNF for me due to not knowing 19A and not coming up with 3D. All other dicey areas were solved by perps or wags.
Congrats, Michael, for a Saturday stumper (for me, anyway) and to Splynter for a fine expo.
Kazie, enjoyed your pictures very much.
I think Sheldon is either performing or presenting on Sunday!s Tony Awards.
Hello, weekenders. Thanks, Splynter, for unveiling today's mysteries.
anon@7:26 is right about TARDE meaning afternoon.
Actually under an hour on a Saturday is quite remarkable for me especially when white covers the landscape.
Being the dedicated grammarian,I started with IM OUT OF HERE but soon erased it and NANNY STATES has been cited quite often recently so that worked and THE AMERICAS surprised me in its simplicity.
The NE fell cell by cell as I slowly parsed out the long columns but MOONSTONES came easily.
The main sticking points were the names as MAAZEL is totally new for me though GREENE is familiar just not that title and don't recall RANDI at all. Still a DNF in three places, SIG, TYMPANI, INTS as I filled MIA at 19A. it sounded good. And RANDs not RANDI.
Like Splynter I expected a French entree and didn't parse ON RAMPS. And TAMIL TIGERS was in the news for a few years. Pure guesswork for me on ECTOMORPHIC and ETHOLOGIST.
Still, a good mental exercise, thanks to Michael Wiesenberg.
More great pics, Kazie. Thank you.
Have a superb Saturday, everyone!
This was a marvelous Saturday exercise... tough but doable w/o Googles. Loved LANZA crossing PINZA.
Had the usual writeovers: PTER/aleo, ONEG/gees, TARDE/onepm, GPS/aaa and ERIN/Eire. Still don't like the Frenchiness of the ONRAMP clue. I was taught that Balboa called it the "Pacific" ocean because it was so calm.
I'm going to use ECTOMORPHIC 3 times in conversation today. Great word.
These past two days have involved teaching my grandson how to play golf and if I have 5 better days than this in the next few years, I'll be ecstatic! I did Friday and today's puzzle and today's delightful torture was before and after 9 holes with Hudson.
Hope to blog after Madagascar 3.
Grandkids take a lot of time and money but you do get to return them!
Hello everybody. Pretty much what desper-otto said about TYMPANI and ETHOLOGIST. What HeartRx said about PH METER. What Rube said about LANZA, PINZA, and ECTOMORPHIC. What several of you said about ON RAMPS. Very few gimmes for me, but enough (barely) to get some TOE holds and eventually solve the whole thing without "cheating." Still don't know who ELG, SIG, and UNA are, and I'm not going to bother to look them up. I'm always amazed at how many 5 and 6-letter words there are that have only one vowel, such as TEMPTS. Stretch is another one. Eeenteresting. Best wishes to you all.
Fun puzzle, Mr. Wiesenberg, even though I had many of the same problems as everybody else. This totally daunted me in the beginning but slowly, miraculously, filled in. It helped to know PINZA and LANZA, but I got RANDI and MAAZEL only from perps. Got TARDE but didn't understand it, and messed up on SIG (had SID. Got ELG but had never heard of her. And so it went--but it was a lot of fun.
Thanks for the write-up, Splynter, and have a great weekend, everybody. I have to attend a Commencement today. Hope the speech is not too lame.
MAHI is not a fish but a dolphin
Hi Again ~!
Seen,
I'm a huge crack dealer now, but I still work here because I love the hours ~!!
Splynter
Like hearti, I found this to be a very difficult puzzle with lots of obscure fill, but then when done i saw the time, it was an average effort and not one of the 45 minute killers. I had trouble with PH METERS, it was one of those light bulb moments. Also, I started trying to spell G force in four letters, forgot about it and did not get it at first when I sae ONEG, as it was after an ONEG SHABBAT .
I vote with ALT, as in my house I heard my father speak often of all the altacockers her knew, and then I roomed with a Neumeister.
Clouds burned away so I am off, enjoy all. Thanks splynt man and Mr. W.
I got about 3/4 of the puzzle quite quickly for me but like others got stuck in the SE (California, I liked that,) Usually, I get only about 10% on a Saturday.
I got fewer correct squares filled on this than ever before. First and second passes through I had MAHI, TYMPANI, LANZA/PINZA and the 15 squares in the SE corner. Thanks, Splynter, for the enlightenment. Unlike most days, the words didn't come to me even with half the letters. Oh, well!
I saw "The Great Caruso" when I was a child and watched "South Pacific" on TV last winter. So that was a gimmee. Loved the Italian names as a child. Ezio Pinza rolled off the tongue.
Drank lots of orange NEHI as a kid.
Huge crack dealer, Splynter? Does that mean you pimp large women? 'Splain yourself.
Hey anonymous, there are two animals called dolphins. One is a mammal and the other is a fish. The fishy one is also known as a mahi mahi, or simply, a mahi. I think the name is Hawaiian. People use it so as to not confuse it with the mammal.
anyone who this represents a legitamite puzzle, is as sick as the author of it
thinks this is a legitamate
BTW, whatever happened to that egotist who used to be on here by the name of Dennis? And a few other PIAs, namely, Clear Eyes Jeanie, and that Chinese broad who has an ego as big as the other guy's
I'm right here.
And the word is 'legitimate', my challenged friend.
Good afternoon to all and happy Sat. Thanks Splynter for your write-up. I thought this was a tough but doable puzzle. I definetly had a few learning moments. Thank you Mr.Weisenberg. To: Anon @ 1:23 and 1:24 maybe you should take a couple steps back and use it as a learning moment before being so snarky,especially when your to afraid to identify yourself! Have a great weekend to all. RJW
I'm just curious about 2 things:
(1) what does Anonymous @ 1:23 mean by not legitimate, and
(2) why does he/she think this puzzle is not legitimate?
To Dennis I am legitimately disapointed I was all set to sit down and watch the Belmont today with a nice cold beer,and then when it was over say " I'll have another." I don't even know if I can watch it now.RJW.
Thanks, Denis. Good for you! And Ron Worden, nicely done.
Happy birthday, Annette! I just realized I'd forgotten that.
Dennis, I took a closer, long look at your avatar photo and it sure is pretty. It is lovely where you live.
NEHI- Word omitted in the final version of the Keats ode "TO a Grasshopper"
Dang, Jerome, that was shoot-coffee-out-one's-nose funny!
Happy birthday, Annette.
Jerome:
LOL! Too funny!
Maybe if anon@1:23 actually did the puzzle he might learn to spell and a few other things as well.
Michael left some Easter eggs all over the puzzle that were easy to get and helped unravel this legitimate gem! All the proper nouns in the SW nearly did me in but I got ‘er done.
Musings
-TV sports talking heads coined the phrase INT’S
-OJ not Homer! I remember the “Dancing Ito’s”
-PENCIL ME IN for that tee time but if something comes up with my grandkids…
-Take two “Atta Boys” out of petty compliments
-South Pacific took on racism long before it was front and center in the public consciousness
-Mission Space at EPCOT generates 2.5 g’s
-I have been a rear ender and a rear endee
-Upon ordering a NEHI at a tough Army bar, Radar eschewed a straw, stating, “We don’t use straws at the front fellah!”
-An ETHOLOGY course I took discussed homosexual ducks
-We hiked up to and down from Neuschwanstein in our salad days
-You spot very few ECTOMORPHS at Wal Mart
p.s Madagascar 3 is a hoot for ALL ages!
Only letters missed was the Z in PINZA / LANZA and the G in ONEG / SIG.
Overall pretty tough. SW corner was hard because it took me a while to get GREENE. I originally had 38a as EARTHSEA but realized that made no sense at all. Then I changed it to MOUTHSEA. Baby steps my friends.
Was anyone else thinking of the Pokémon item MOONSTONE? I had no idea it was an actual real thing.
I don`t fell quite so badly about all the problems I had after reading your comments. But you know, I learn the most from Thursday through Sunday. Retention is another matter (except for water!)
Lemonade 714: When I observe ONEG with friends and family, I tease the children and call it "eggnog." BTW, I never have a problem with 3, full meals a day...in fact, Taco Bell invented "fourth meal" in my honor!
PK: Funny comment about "huge crack dealer..."
BTWII: To be "illegitimate" is to be "bastard". The snarky anon is certainly illegitimate!
Jerome @ 2:21, you made it worth my while just to come back and fill myself in on the comments!! NEHI, indeed. That's about the status of the weeds I was tackling today...
Annette, happy, happy birthday!
:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:
In honor of Kazie's photos of the Alhambra in Spain, here is one of the prettiest pieces of classical guitar music you'll ever hear. It's Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Albeniz played by John Williams.
John28man: Is your name a biblical reference?
Hi all,
The puzzle was a minus for me, but enjoyed reading the blogs,etc.
Your pictures are realy great Kazie, they seem to have many beautiful large cathedrals and other famous places.
I saw 'The Great Caruso' and 'South Pacific' in the late 40's and 50'so they were one of the few things I knew in the puzzle. Mario Lanza had a great voice (I was hoping someone would give us a link to his music.) He died so young,like Caruso.
Have a good weekend all!
Marge
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Michael W., for a swell Saturday puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for the swell review.
I liked this better than Friday's, which I never finished. Too busy to concentrate.
My first answer was ITO, for 16A.
Headed South for some short answers. Got a few and bounced all over for a while.
My first long answers to get were RATIONALES and ENTOURAGES. GRAB SOME ZS came a little later.
TAMIL TIGERS was easy. We have that a lot lately.
Got PTER after TYMPANI hit me between the eyes.
HELMS was excellent. Just took me forever to get it.
Lots of others arrived at by perps. Too many to list.
Four of us are on our way to North Dakota. Stopping for the night at Fridley, MN. Near Minneapolis.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Good afternoon? Splynter,Cc et al.,
This puzzle was definately Sat fare and a DNF for me, but very clever sometimes. Most of the time it was just learning moments and a little more fun than getting boil implants. I did have to laugh at the use of W Sheldon's ECTOMORPHIC
body type theory and then thought of Jim Parsons as a perfect example - also named Sheldon. No need for RE-ASS-ESSING that match. A GPS couldn't find more aSSS for that guy. EGO is a different story tho.
Konrad Lorenz is an ETHOLOGIST we love to study. He gave NANNY STATES a whole new dimension.
I wonder if REARENDS could have MOONSTONES...maybe a rECTOMORPHIC one could...ATTA DEPTh only a MISSLE-GAPologist could find or may need the USCG familiar w/the SOUTH SEA end of things and not the HELMS. Now tHIS'S a NEU level of RE-ASSESSING for sure! I'M OUTTA HERE for A-GIN martini. Enjoy your night.
Bill G.,
Thanks for sharing that beautiful guitar music. We actually bought a CD in Ronda of a local fellow who was playing similar music in a little village square as we walked through. We have enjoyed it a lot since our return, though perhaps he is not as skilled as John Williams, I'm afraid I am ignorant enough not to notice.
Annette,
HBTY, wherever you are! I hope you're able to celebrate it in style.
Happy Birthday, Annette. Wish you many many more.
Kazie: thank you for those wonderful pix. Makes me want to jump on the next plane. I see where the inspiration comes from for their beautiful music.
Jerome 2:20: LOL very clever
PK 1:07: LMAO you crack me up.
Bill G: thank you for that J Wms Alhambra... beyond beautiful. A perfect tribute to Kazie and her pix.
Dennis: your avatar is
OOOOutstanding, so appropriate for you. I'm so glad for you.
Hope Mario Lanza "opens."
Greetings!
Those musical clues made it a doable Saturday for me, sans cheating. Here is
Mario Lanza singing an opera favorite!
Thanks Michael, Splynter.
Have been enjoying your photos, Kazie. Thanks.
HBTY Annette.
Cheers!
Great puzzle and write up today. I have enjoyed reading everyone's posts and trying the links, especially the great guitar links.
I worked on this puzzle during a special, and especially contentious ,session of our diocesan convention. There were voice votes (inconclusive,) standing votes (inconclusive,) counting standing votes, time for the pages to tally, etc. during which I escaped into puzzledom.
So much of this puzzle went very quickly, but I had my come-uppance among all the names is in the SW. I Googled GREENE opening up everything. In hindsight I had thought of 25G as GRAB S- -EZS, and should have known SOME. Unfortunately I discarded that thought. But with G- - ENE, it had to be Greene with no Googling. There is no excuse for a DNF. I even knew South Sea. I am content only when there is no way I could have known. My lame excuse is mindless convention voting makes one brain dead.
Annette, HBTY.
WIMS - (What Irish Miss Said)
DNF
Saturday Stumper
Kazie, great pics...
Lots of gimme's, but could not get a foothold on any of them. So i figured if i DNF anyway, i hit the "solve word" button for every Proper Name. (would have Googled them but the Blog gives better recaps.) Still i was stumped! (I was however very proud of myself for getting "Reassessing" without cheating.) One word on a Saturday Stumper (heavy sigh) Oh well, better than nothing.
LOL HG on the Grandkids...
Luckily my ignorance of French made entree=on ramps easy for me.
Tamil Tigers??? Gimmee a break! I am still trying to find the B.R.A.!
HG @ 3:09, I too am a rear ender/rear endee... But when i think about it, i was on a motorcycle when i got rear ended. & the only time i was a rear ender was when i got cut off, & she gave me the finger! (oops!, i tolerate a lot, but not snarky Anons, & bad manners!)
When I watch the pre-race parade of the horses in the Belmont Stakes (or any big race), I am always impressed with how beautiful those animals are.
Watching the race reminded me of the earliest horse race I can remember. It was Silky Sullivan winning the Santa Anita Derby and coming from about 40 lengths back. What a phenomenal come-from-behind runner he was! Do any of you remember him?
WES about this puzzle, but thanks for it anyway and the explanations.
I got much more of it than I usually do on Saturday.
Got tarde by remembering in West Side story Tony says, "Buenos Nochas, Anita." She corrects him and says, "Buenos Tarde."
There used to be a beautiful theater in Sacramento called the Alhambra. It was gorgeous--modeled after the famous one. Everyone loved it and protested and picketed when it was torn down and a Safeway took its place--progress. I still mourn its loss every time I drive by that corner.
Came home from dinner out, flicked on the TV and there was Ezio Pinza singing "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific. Isn't it strange how sometimes reference to something will be followed by another reference?
I had never heard of ZAGNUT until the puzzle the other day. That night I finally Kindled "Lullaby" by the pseudo Robert B. Parker. Spenser mentioned a zagnut. (Thanks, Lemonade, I liked the book.)
The strangest coincidence of double reference was in 1982 when I picked up "Cinnamon Skin" by John D. MacDonald on the way home from taking our Mexican summer exchange students to catch the plane to their home in Yucatan. I bought the book because I liked the author. Had no idea what it was about. "Cinnamon Skin" takes place partly in Yucatan. Before the exchange program, I didn't even realize Yucatan was part of Mexico.
Thank you for the birthday wishes, everyone!
It's very touching considering I haven't been very vocal on the blog lately. I was responsible for a large software upgrade at work that wasn't leaving me with much time or energy to even read the blog very often. My upgrade finished over Memorial Day weekend, so I'm hoping to get back to normal again soon.
The birthday was nice. I spent some time with my 3 month old grandnephew, went shopping, then went out for a nice Italian dinner (at Bravo's, for you locals). The dirty martini knocked me out though!
Hmm, i am not sure if this is the one, but if it is,,, can anyone find pics of the inside?
For Annette,
Sorry i don't know you,
& sorry i'm late
Happy Birthday
Rose, eggnog is too funnu.
Annette happy birthday and many more; good to see you back, I was beginning to worry if your meal with me and JL had soured you on puzzledom. There are so many MIA's here, though we do keep our sweet anons. Dennis welcome to my world.
Why do they tan yucca in Mexico anyway?
Good evening all,
Phew! Just eyeing that interesting grid I knew I would not get far. Could I even begin? I just laughed as I read the 1st clues, so I read a little of the blog and glad I opted to finish scrubbing off the left over paste from the old wallpaper. Not anything I'd like to do again. Mudding went well.Glad we are in no hurry.
Happy Birthday Annette. It will be nice seeing you more often.
Lois, any end of year excitement? Are you off to join the rodeo, or at least have a little horse-play?
wow, the Devils just might win this one too....
Happy birthday Annette.
CrossEyedDave--Yes, that's it but the picture doesn't do it justice. It was pink with a beautiful courtyard with a fountain. The part of the inside I remember the best was the upper balcony foyer. It had beautiful chandeliers, red and gold carpet and a black concert grand piano.
I went to a movie there on my very first date. Great memories of that palace.
It was on Alhambra Boulevard--at least it wasn't renamed Safeway Boulevard.
More info. There is a photo of when it was new (photo button)
Argyle: If you are the one who removed that offensive Anon posting, thank you.
Somebody got to it before me.
Interior shot of theater?
PK @ 1:07,
You are rocking' my world, and this is where this great blog was two years ago. Thanks for that.
Annette: Happy Bithday, darlin'.
Bill G:
I remember Silky Sullivan well; his come from behind didn't play well in the Derby, as I recall he finished 12th.
Live music in Lexington @ Cosmic Charlie's. Life is good.
And first cutting of hay finished @ 5:00.
Work hard, play hard, don't count the costs.
Irish Miss, it was my pleasure; guess he thought if he complimented me, I'd leave it.
Annette, a most Happy Birthday; hope you missed all the rain.
Jayce, thanks, it is beautiful here. We're extremely lucky.
Windhover, great to see you and see that you're enjoying life.
Thank you, Dennis.
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