Theme: Now where did I leave that MAN?
Five very successful authors who happen to have first names ending with "MAN" are clued with those letters lopped off, and returned only when we learn they are there, but cannot be seen per the unifier. All the theme except the unifier are present in Down answers, and the grid has a left to right mirror symmetry. Mr. Collins is a very prolific constructor, (INTERVIEW) both alone and with collaborators, though this appears to be the first puzzle effort for Mr. Samulak, who may be a teacher also from Michigan. A confusing, challenging Friday with lots of 3 letter fill but some interesting clues, and a really fabulous theme. Isn't it amazing how constructors notice five authors whose first names all ended in MAN and whose names fit his grid? If you do the acrosses first, you must have been wondering if somehow a themeless snuck in the door until you saw 60A. Lots of nice 7 and 9 letter fill. I am curious what the corner will think.
3D. *"Midnight's Children" author : SAL
5D. *"Armies of the Night" author : NOR
10D. *"Breakfast at Tiffany's" author : TRU
12D. *"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" author : SHER
25D. *"The Caine Mutiny" author : HER
Well the * may have helped, but here was the unifier:
60A. H.G. Wells (herbert, not herman) classic, and a hint to this puzzle's theme found in the answers to starred clues : THE INVISIBLE MAN. I love how this makes such perfect sense as the MAN is there, you just can't see it.
Across:
1. Like the Knights Templar : MASONIC. This fraternal organization symbolized by the compass, square and capital G claims its origins from the building of King Solomon's Temple. My family were all Mason, and my uncle taught masonry in trade school.
8. Performers, e.g. : ARTISTS. Many masons are artists but not performers, and watching many of the new shows this season on television, it seems many performers are not artists.
15. In : A LA MODE. This is a phrase which was quite common in 40's and 50's literature to show something was stylish, but it is mostly associated with Pie nowadays. Which made 2D. Mobile home?: Abbr. : ALAbama trickier, but Mowbeel (ph) is a coastal city in that fine state.
16. Kiss offerer : HERSHEY. From Hershey, PA.
17. Unit often counted : CALORIE. When dieting became popular, counting calories was the first theory, though it ignored other issues. It is true if you eat 1000 calories per day you will lose weight, and go crazy.
18. Big rigs : HAULERS.
19. Cowboy Tony : ROMO. Poor Tony Romo stuck on America's team and always losing the big one. SAD. (0:44).
20. Writer of creamy messages : ICER. It took me almost two hours to understand this refers to the person whop writes the message on top of the cake. DO'H(2:04) Skip the ad.
21. Lion's prey : GNU. Who knew?
23. Ancient Greek storage vessel : AMPHORA.
27. Hook, line and sinker : ALL. A fishy image.
30. Mantegna's "Criminal Minds" role : ROSSI. LINK.(1:38).
32. The Once-___: "The Lorax" character : LER.
33. March of Dimes' original crusade : POLIO. Almost eradicated by Salk and others, but on the rebound. My grandfather suffered as a child in Poland, and they buried his leg with him standing up to keep it from twisting. It did not help.
35. Leaded fuel component : ETHYL. I will let our scientists tell you about this.
36. Rush discovery : ORE. No, not something from Mr. Limbaugh, or a Canadian band, but like the Gold Rush.
37. Pizza places : OVENS. Nice clue, as they all go there.
38. Wimbledon champ before Pete : ANDRE. Agassi; has anyone read his controversial autobiography?
39. It didn't get its no. until 1939 : WWI. Yes, I believe it was the Great War, and the War to end all Wars until they showed they could do better.
40. Urban cruisers : TAXIS. Another nice clue.
41. "___ see" : SO I. Did you?
42. Determination : RESOLVE.
45. Alp ending : INE. Okay, am I the only one who thought of marti landing on her tush at the end of a run in the Alps?
46. Fleece sources : EWES. Youse guys get this one? or perhaps, 51D. Farm female : HEN.
48. People : SOULS.
49. Lines at the hosp. : EEGS. ElectroEncephaloGrams. They appear as lines on a graph.
50. Oscar winners' lines : THANK YOUS. Simple, but elegant answer.
53. On top of things : AWARE. We try here.
56. Make it right : ATONE. back to the sins?
66. "...by yonder blessed ___ I swear": Romeo : MOON.Act II, Scene 2, the balcony scene.
67. Muse of Hughes : ERATO. Langston Hughes. I know my Muses, just not my Hugheses.
68. Author Bagnold : ENID. A CW regular and a non-theme author, best known in the US for National Velvet, which became the movie which launched Elizabeth Taylor's career.
69. Squealed : SANG. The dirty rat, sang like a canary!
70. Sharp rival : XEROX. The old tricky product name deception, I wonder who they copied this clue from?
71. Thickness measures : MILS. .0001 inch. I had this one wired.
Down:
1. Buddy : MAC.
4. "Typee" sequel : OMOO. Gotta love those vowels.
6. Hit the road, say : IDIOM. Jack, and don't you come back no more, no more.
7. Hard part of mathematics? : CEE. Exceedingly tricky for a three letter fill as the letter is pronounced as hard C.
8. "What a relief!" : AHH. Plop, plop, fizz fizz?
9. Show again : REAIR. Yes the Alka Seltzer commercial often was re-aired.
11. ___ Royale: Lake Superior national park : ISLE. As with many, we get a shout out to the constructors' home state of MICHIGAN here.
13. Thrice, in Rx's : TER. Ter in die, mean three in a day in Latin, is also known as TID in scrips.
14. Part of CBS: Abbr. : SYStem.
21. ___ monkey : GREASE. I get the grease part, but why monkey, for that matter why monkey wrench, and why monkey around? Well I know why, but why call it that?
22. "This is a bad time" : NOT NOW. But it must be now!
24. Continues despite hardship : PLOWS ON.
26. Radar of TV : O'REILLY. Of grape Nehi fame on M*A*S*H.
28. Common boot feature : LINING. But who among us would ever wear a common boot?
29. They affect stock prices : LOSSES. Which then create losses in the stock prices, the circle of investing, though making or losing money does not always decide a stock price.
31. UAR member : SYRia. No politics.
34. Fertility clinic cells : OVA. here we are in three letter land, like munchkins.
43. That, in Oaxaca : ESA. Spanish is spoken in this Mexican town.
44. Brandy letters : VSO. Very Special Old, like many of you on the blog.
47. Quaint memory aid : STRING. FACTOID?
49. Respect : ESTEEM.
52. "Friendly skies" co. : UAL. United Airlines
53. Casino fixtures : ATMS. Automated Teller Machines; I know I will win it all back and more, I just need to keep playing!
54. "Halt!" : WHOA. What Gamblers Anonymous would tell you, also appropriate for Tonto and the Lone ranger.
55. Near-eternity : AEON. Charlize Theron, an artist?
57. Upscale hotel chain : OMNI.
58. Get exactly right : NAIL. Our own C.C.'s favorite expression when getting a tricky clue. I nailed it!
59. Culminates : ENDS.
61. Annoy : VEX. What we get by many anons, but we never show our
62. Anger : IRE.
63. Men's patriotic org. : SAR. Sons of the American Revolution, is a SOCIETY; I grew up in New England and when I started school, I was told Mrs. Sochor was a DAR, I was 6 but did the math and that meant she was at least 170 years old, she did look it. She was only 88.
64. Skater Midori : ITO. A truly appropriate tribute to dear CA who along with Robin were the FIGURE SKATERS on the Corner.
65. Enclose, in a way : BOX. Well I guess I have boxed myself into a Corner, which is where you are at, so it is time for me to go; Joe and Peter, thank you and for the rest, the sense of community here is awesome. be well and be careful.
Lemonade
57 comments:
Morning, all!
Oofa! This one caused me some serious grief, but it was definitely worth the effort. I figured something was up when I got TRU CAPOTE and it didn't take too long to get the theme reveal at 60A. Knowing the theme didn't help as much as I had hoped, though, since (a) I didn't know SHERMAN ALEXIE (I tried ALEXIS when I got enough perps to make a guess), (b) I only know Mr. RUHDIE for his "Satanic Verses" and (c) I didn't know who wrote "The Caine Mutiny."
Speaking of "The Cain Mutiny," the entire center section is what nearly killed me today. I couldn't think of WOUK and went with HESSE instead. Well, I tried to. I actually only got as far as HESS before running out of letters, but left it in anyway. I also had PLODS ON instead of PLOWS ON, which is a bit more reasonable than HESS. Add in SOP instead of VSO at 44D and you can imagine the jumble of impossible words I ended up with at the end.
I finally realized that SOP and HESSE couldn't be right when I realized that 50A had to be THANK YOUS. I stuck in VSO right away, but still didn't know who the correct author was and therefore just changed the last letter to get me HESK. That obviously wasn't right, so I went with HOOK. When I figured out SOULS at 48A, that got changed to HOUK. What the heck was DHI, though?
At that point, I finally remembered Mr. WOUK and that got me DWI at 39A. What does Driving While intoxicated have to do with anything? Oh, yeah -- it's PLOW and not PLOD. Gotcha...
Tough puzzle today. If you don't know your authors you are in for a DNF. Had rerun instead of reair, had pal instead of mac and it took me forever to figure out the hard part of mathematics. I had the same problem as you Barry, I knew all the authors but had no idea who wrote The Caine Mutiny. There sure was a little bit of head scratching and pencil chewing but in the end we finally prevailed. Have a good weekend everybody.
Howdy folks,
No sugarcoating this beauty .... I got my rear kicked good. A quick recap ... South- got it done. Central - got about 2/3's. North- Forget about it!
The NW was impossible. For 1D, I had PAL 4D I did have OMOO and the rest were ?????????. The NE wasn't much better. And what is really upsetting is for once in a blue moon, I had figured out the theme. Not knowing the authors for 3D & 12D hurt, but the cluing in this section was totally out of my wheelhouse today. I mean, IDIOM, CEE ...
Oh well, I'll get revenge tomorrow. I hope.
TGIF
Hi Y'all, A really interesting puzzle! I confess I would not have been able to do it without my handy Kindle to come up with the authors and unifier. The only author I knew and have read was HERman WOUK. (Loved Marjorie Morningstar.) My only error was PLOdS ON. DWI had meaning so I left it.
I figured out the second syllable of each name was dropped at SAL but the light didn't dawn for a few seconds after the unifier. What!? Oh, how clever!
As for ERATO, I was thinking of Howard HUGHES and HUGH Hefner as the HUGHES. Nobody more erotic than they!
I could be DAR, I guess. Have the papers for an ancestor who served. He was a 17-yr-old orphaned indentured servant sent to the war by his master in LIEU of a relative. He never learned to read or write, signed with an X for his pension application many years later.
My second night sitting, dozing, coughing in my recliner because its easier to breathe than flat.
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. I just Loved, Loved, Loved this Friday fare. I knew all the authors with the exception of Sherman Alexie. At first I was concerned when I the names wouldn't fit, then TRU(man) CAPOTE showed me the light. Getting the author's names actually helped me with the unifier.
SALman RUSHDIE recently published his memoir, entitled Joseph Anton. It recounts his live in exile after the death threats from his first novel, Satanic Verses. He took the name Joseph Anton after his two favorite authors - Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekov.
A shout out to Abejo with MASONIC, maybe?
I thought ALL of mathematics was hard! Just kidding! (Besides, ALL showed up elsewhere in the puzzle.)
I recently had a very "unpleasant" experience with UAL (United Airlines). The company even used that word in a letter to me after they denied having any record of loosing, then damaging my luggage. The saga continues. I haven't given up my fight with the airline yet.
QOD: A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. ~ Dwight David Eisenhower.
Good morning Lemonade, C.C., and fellow strugglers.
I slowly PLODdedON, inch by inch, little by little, to a solid DNF.
I didn't know SHERMAN ALEXIE, and those medical tests could be EEGS, EKGS, or ECGS. I WAGged the "C". And I let PLOD stand. Like Barry, I wondered what 1939 had to do with a DWI, but shrugged it off.
Lemonade, thanks for 'splaining ALA as the Mobile home. That wooshed right over my head! Oh, and you got carried away with your zeroes. One mil is .001 inch.
A difficult puzzle - Thank you, Messrs. Samulak and Collins. Thank you Lemonade for a clarifying commentary - your humor alone was worth it.
I think calling Salman Rushdie ..... 'one time enemy of Islam' ... is a little too much. Suppose a nominal Jew, had satirized his original religion ... would you call him anti-Semitic ? ... leave alone, an 'enemy' ? I notice (1) Salman was born 60 days prior to Indian independence. (8/15/1947) (2) his mother was originally Hindu,and (3) he had an eclectic education ... he was educated at the MOST prestigious Catholic school in Bombay. I am relieved that his family did not immigrate to Pakistan (!), and for an Indian, I greatly admire him, not necessarily for his work, but because of his frank, outspoken views vis-a-vis censorship and Freedom of Expression. Hardly any Indians have guts like that...
I thought of Abejo, in 'Masonic' and 'haulers'.
It was interesting to read your post, yesterday, on humans and Bonobos. Although I've known about it before, such ideas keep the blog thought provoking and amusing.
ALT QOD:- I'm starting to give up hope that I'll ever get back that fifty dollars Greece owes me. ~ Gerard Mulligan.
Have a good weekend, you all.
Too many zeroes, sorry. I was referencing the death threats for Rushdie, not he being an enemy.
Brilliant.
As an old fogey (a Very Special Old fogey), I dislike the use of the word, ARTIST, for a musician.
I'll remember the hard CEE if I ever teach math again.
I had AMPHORA almost immediately, which helped tremendously in the central and north areas. I have watched many TV shows about salvaging ancient Greek ships, where they found amphorae, and I have read several historical fiction novels about life in ancient Greece.
One thought on the origin of GREASE monkey per WIKI: In the early stages of the Industrial Revolution young boys scampered along the beams and catwalks of the huge machines, like monkeys, to grease the gears and perform minor repairs.
Link Grease monkey
I had the cart before the horse. Here is Part I posted after Part II
Wow! This was a fabulous Friday puzzle and write up by Lemomy.
I skipped around for a while, finally filling in the bottom 5 rows and getting the reveal. I needed a few perps to jog my memory for the authors, but OUK led me to HERWOUK. With the pattern established I continued apace, completing it in a tad less than my normal Friday time.
Good morning everyone. Appreciate the good intro, Lemonade.
My first impression was this was going to be a daunting solve. But slowly from the bottom up and the center outwards, the fill began. There was a nice alternation of perps which lifted the solve along. HER WOUK was the first theme fill. Always liked "The Caine Mutiny" because of Wouk's apt descriptions of life on a destroyer type vessel (and on which he served in WWII.). There were some terrific clues; among them those for ALA and IDIOM. Always like a puzzle with VEX. ITO was a gimme; BH is a skater. Luckily, I was able to remember AMPHORA. Kudos to Messrs. Samulak and Collins.
GREASE monkey. In the summer during haying season, during my youth, it was my daily job to grease the hay bailer. Do you realize how many zerk fittings there are on the knotters?
Enjoy the day.
Great Friday puzzle.
No crap.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Joe Samulak and Peter Collins, for one great puzzle. Thank you, as well, Lemonade, for an excellent write-up.
First, thank you Hahtoolah and Anony-Mouse, for remembering my avocation. This is the first time I remember the Knights Templar and Masonic being entered in a crossword puzzle. Fermatprime, make sure you tell Harvey about this.
This puzzle was a tough one, to be sure. 1A sure got my attention, but I could not fill it until I had a few perps. Then I could not believe my eyes, MASONIC, wow!
The INVISIBLE MAN came before all the theme authors. That really helped me with those five. I got TRU CAPOTE, then figured out the MAN was the clue. I think NOR MAILER came next.
I also had PLODS ON for a while. After I got HER WOUK and OREILLY, WWI popped up giving me PLOWS ON.
My toughest corner was the NE. Had AAH instead of AHH for quite a while. Then RE RUN instead of RE AIR. Once I tried those HERSHEY jumped up. I was just through Hershey, PA, in May of this year. Bought some souvenir chocolate and ate it within minutes.
Liked the word IDIOM for 6D. Not a word you usually see in the puzzles.
So, Lemonade, your family were all Masons. Is that operative or speculative?
Anyhow, off to my day.
See you tomorrow. Heading to DeKalb, IL, in the morning for guess what? Yes, a Masonic gathering and Degree work. The Illustrious Order of the Red Cross and the Order of Malta.
Abejo
Good morning:
On the first pass, I think I filled in six answers. But with some serious determination and helpful perps, I finished w/o help, albeit not in a hurry.
The theme was very clever and I knew all of the authors except Sherman Alexie. Herman Wouk is one of my favorites, also. Some of the cluing was devious but I guess that's what Friday puzzles are all about. Thanks, Joe and Peter for a fine tune-up for tomorrow. All we need is a sneaky Silky! Great expo, Lemony!
I am so disappointed in TBBT I could scream! What have they done to our beloved Sheldon and the gang? I don't think I even cracked a smile last night, let alone laugh.
Have a great Friday.
Well, the Sudoku was easy today.
The CW was a DNF bear for me. I actually had heard of all the authors except SHERMAN ALEXIE, but have no idea who wrote what since I never have time to read anything other than magazines. TRU CAPOTE was the only one I filled in before coming here to cheat on the other themes and try some more on my own.
I got stuck early with PAL, RERUN, STOP/WHOA, BUG/VEX, BAG/BOX. So many of the perps, especially names, were unknowns, that between those naticks and bad WAGs, I would have been totally lost without the cheating.
Abejo: Have you reached level of taking the "Luciferian Oath" yet?
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
Thanks for the fun write-up, Lemony. LOL at your comment about the ending of an Alpine run. Interesting links today - I never knew why a string around the finger was supposed to help recall something! And I also thought of C.C. at NAIL.
The theme was really clever, and I knew something was afoot as soon as I saw the unusual grid. I started filling in SALMAN RUSH, and wondered if the theme had something to do with "die". When I got NORMA, I confidently entered NMAI, and was confused how "ler" could be part of the same theme. Then when I filled in LER for the "Once-___" Seuss character, I was all over the place trying to figure it out! Thank goodness for the revealer. It helped me go back and start over again, for an almost record speed run.
TGIF!!
Morning Lemon & gang.
Enjoyed the puzzle.
Local paper is running WRW Xwords again and his clueing this AM reminded me of some of the early conversations on this site. WRW still constructs and edits the same as always. One of today's answers was "I Dream of Jeannie". Then I saw where our own Lolita checked in yesterday, good times remembered.
Thank you CC for always keeping us somewhat grounded.
Hi marti, isn't time for your fall/winter new avatar?
Is there a better scene or actor than this CAINE MUTINY link?
My brain always mixes up Captain Queeg and his strawberries and Queequeg and the whale.
Good morning and happy Friday to all. Wow that was a lot of work today. Lots of smudges, I had omoo right away,then TID for TER threw me off in the NE corner. I worked in home health care , and BID and TID were the normal way to write twice and three times a day. Then I had press on instead of plow on. Oh well I'll live to see another puzzle tomorrow .
To Razz: I thought discussing other puzzles was off limits here, because I solve WRW puzzle after L.A. puzzle so thanks for the spoiler.
Have a great day to all RJW.
Good morning, friends. Thank you, Lemonade, for providing your usual zesty style.
Fabulous!! I loved this puzzle! The east was first to fall and that gave me TRU CAPOTE whose work I love. His skill with language is brilliant.
SHER ALEXIE was the last to fall and though I had all but the R, finally filled it but not until the blog did the light go on.
AMPHORA was my first fill as I love the classics but doubts settled in when RERUN and REACT seemed plausible. REAIR finally surfaced.
So much to like about this and WEES. You have all noted the details. I, too, thought of Howard Hughes. Langston Hughes is a favorite but was far from my mind. ERATO emerged after VEX then XEROX and BOX.
VSO is what I consider myself now, a very special old. Do you know that when you reach or are near 75 you can leave your shoes on during security check? Yea! Yea! I am easily pleased.
I hope your Friday is fantastic, mis amigos and amigas!
Lemon: Great write-up & links. Very informative.
Started out like Irish Miss, with about 6 answers on my first pass through the clues.
But THE INVISIBLE MAN reveal was a gimmie (since "The Time Machine" wouldn't fit) and I was off
on a "write-over" Ink Blot Test.
(Guess you could say I wanted to 'RE-SOLVE' in the end).
V-8 can smack at ICER and CEE (was thinking 'Cal' for Calculus).
Razz: What Ron Worden said re the WRW puzzles. We get both puzzles in the Tampa Bay Times.
Irish Miss: I'm also waiting for the FIRST TBBT laugh of the season.
and GO YANKEES !!!
Hmmm, maybe some VSO at the Sunset 'toast' for a nice change of pace.
Cheers !!!
Lemony, that link to Bogey is one of my favorite scenes in "The Caine Mutiny."
Oh, and thanks for the reminder - time to start celebrating the holidays!
Lemonade et al,
Clear Ayes obit
Initially daunted, then got a toehold with a few of the authors, then thought I nailed it only to find out that I goofed in 2 letters. Not bad for a Friday morning, so many thanks, Joe and Peter. And you too, for the write-up, Lemonade, and especially for pointing out the grid structure. Showing the grid after the write-up is new, isn't it? It was terrific this morning for showing the aesthetics of the layout!
So what were my goofs? I felt like an idiot for putting IDIAM instead of IDIOM. The problem is that we have a restaurant called TONY ROMA in our area, so I figured that had to be the Cowboy Tony in the puzzle. Duh! I also didn't know Sherman Alexie and so put EKG instead of EEG. Should have known that ALEXIK didn't sound like anybody's name. Double Duh!
But I still had a lot of fun, and after Marti's admonition last week, am going to do my best to be brave and stalwart if tomorrow's puzzle turns out to be a dreaded Silkie!
So have a good day, everybody!
Hi Gang, my wife and I polished off today's puzzle easily -- she knew all of the hard ones...
I thought of this one for: Hit the Road Jack
Hi all!
Thx Joe & Peter for a very fun & challenging cw, and Lemonade for a fine and fun writeup.
Great clues. My favorites being the ones that racked my brain like: hit the road for IDIOM. Duh.....
ORE is so common a cw clue that I got 'smart' for "Rush discovery" and pondered Limbaugh possibilities... :-)
For some reason, I could not get 'urban cruisers', thinking ATVS, etc, until TAXIS loomed into view. Palm to forehead---well, yeah!!!
I got TRUCAPOTE right away, (TRU was Capote's actual nickname, so no sweat) but that caused probs with rest of the theme-- HER WOUK (not HERM?) and NOR MAILER (not NORM?). So I accepted the three-letter first names till I got to SHER ALEXIE -- four letters, not three as in all the rest. LOL I have an enormous amount to learn about cw themes, sub themes, etc., and I'm certainly in the right place. Thank you to all on this blog everyday.
Speaking of which, what is the significance of the outlined letter in a finished puzzle showing the themes, as in today's 's'?
I got all the authors very quickly. Then, the middle came nicely, with the SW & SE corners filling in after. But, I gotta tell you that NW corner beat the #%*@ out of me. That took quite a long time.
Not a big fan of Norman Mailer. His biggest fan... Norman Mailer.
AriadneArts,
No significance to any highlighted letter in the Answer Grid. My mouse happened to stop in the S spot when I took the screen shot earlier this morning.
AriadneArts:
I surmise that there is NO significance to the "outlined letter in the finished puzzle."
Like the little "red home-plate" around the 's' today.
Maybe it's just where the cursor was when the last letter was filled.
Well, that's my story ... and I'm sticking to it. lol
I found this one to be very diffucult for me.
Barry G, I frequently seem to have issues and wrong fills that you do. Maybe its because we both held technical type jobs (carrers?).
NAMES??? A THEME OF NAMES???? AAACK!!!!
That said, I actually had a good time with this one because the perps filled in the theme answers nicely. I had IRK for VEX, which made it hard to put in IRE. And IRK led to KODAK, but the reveal cleared it all up quickly. Hardest fills were the non-theme names.
I've got 3 days of catchup to do. See you all later.
Hi, y'all. I've had password trouble so am late responding. Carol wrote me and told me about CA...the other Lois. I am sooooo very sad and wanted to express my sincerest sympathies to the group who loved her so much. She did have a way of clarifying things, didn't she? She was a caution! And her wonderful appreciation for and plethera of poetry for every occasion, every topic, every mood, amazingly so! I'm so glad the Coven met. What a great memory! I'd love to see a picture if CC can do it. CC, thank you for the obit link. Great picture of her.
Sallie, your poem is perfect. Well done.
Thank you, Carol, for the note. CA will always be remembered fondly. What a lady! What a fighter! What a talent! What 'clear eyes'! My sympathies go out to all who knew her. She will be sorely missed. I have to go now but I will toast to her memory.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AHA! Mystery solved. and I was sooooo reluctant to ask a silly question, lol. Thanks, CC.
Tinbeni, thanks. You're a lot smarter than I. I've been wondering about that one for weeks lol!
Hello everybody, Had to Google at least half of the clues. Knights Templar unknown to me. Got The Invisible Man, but didn't help with the slew of authors. Two clues bugged me "In" for a la mode. Like IN fashion???
And Common boot feature. Lining? Really? WEES about why DWI has a number. Have a good weekend.
Lois,
Here you go. (L-R: Chickie, Carol, Moon, JD, WM and CA seated)
Hi gang -
DNF for me. Walked away from the puzzle and forgot I wasn't done until I saw GREASE in the write up and realized I had never filled it in.
TRU CAPOTE was my first theme entry. Since he was known as TRU, that didn't help much.
Finally caught on, but still had to g-spot SAL and SHER.
Great puzzle but boo hiss on 6&7D.
Concert tonight. Dvorak's 8th. Plus the Overture to Zampa - totally new to me. Nice scoring - lots of colors and variety, and a fun trombone part.
Cheers!
JzB
Wow. That's a wonderful performance of the Dvorak 4th movement.
Here's the rest.
Mvmt 1
Mvmt 2
Mvmt 3
Enjoy!
JzB
28D LINING is a common feature of a boot, not a feature of a common boot. Bad joke!
C.c.
Thank you for posting Lois's (Clear Ayes) obituary. Somehow,it provides a kind of closure but emphasizes the finality. My thoughts have been on her since the announcement.
JazzB - Zampa was one of my favorite classical pieces when I was in college 55 yrs ago. Reminds me a little of Offenbach's style, since Hérold and he were both French. Zampa was a pirate - sounds like a good 'handle' for an avatar, short and distinct, with a hint of being a 'character'.
Started this puzzle in NY this morning. Used lots of red letter help.
Really enjoyed reading the blog as I layover in Minneapolis for 4 hours. Get to MT tonight but not home--4 hours from airport.
Montana
Started this puzzle in NY this morning. Used lots of red letter help.
Really enjoyed reading the blog as I layover in Minneapolis for 4 hours. Get to MT tonight but not home--4 hours from airport.
Montana
I read the blog everyday and always learn something new. I had to comment today because I like spitzboov had to grease the kicker baler as well. I grew up on a dairy farm in western NY Since there were not any boys in the family, I also baled the hay, milked the cows and chopped the corn. The two jobs that i hated the most we're fixing fence and greasing the equipment.
Here is a quote for all the teachers on the blog which I am one of
Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.
Jacques Barzun
I must apologize to Mr. Samulak & Mr. Collins, for the 1st time in 9+ months, i did not do the puzzle, & therefore cannot comment on its puzzling nature... It has always been my rule, & something that i always wanted to say to some snarky Anon, that the price of admission to the Blog is to at least "try" to do the puzzle.
I do not blame Lemonade714, it is not his fault that his interesting write up sucked me in before i could attempt on online solve.
I'll just be lurking in the background...
(even though i have 2 pages of notes...)
Wait a sec, if i blogged,,, then i just broke my own rule!!! AAAARRRGGHHH!
I'm still savoring this delightful puzzle. I'm a little under the weather today. I canceled tonight's social engagement and tomorrow's leaf peeping with my sis in PA. By next weekend her area will be past its peak.
Ahh, but I am lying on the couch thinking warm thought of you all. I have a blazing fire in the fireplace and a glass of merlot to ease the pain. A delightful TGIF after all.
I want to give the answer to yesterday's hair-raising puzzle though I'm guessing that the folks who were interested already solved it.
Suppose you have more hares than the hairiest hare has hairs and there are no bald hares. What are your chances that at least two of your hares have the same number of hairs?
Marti answered: The chances would always be 100%. If the hairiest hare has a minimum of two hairs, you have to have "at least" three hares. Since there are no bald hares, the remaining hares match, at one hair apiece because they are not as hairy as the hairiest one. This logic works, not matter how hairy the hairiest hare is.
Desper-otto said: The way I see it, it's a sure thing that at least two hares have the same number of hairs. It wouldn't be certain if there were fewer hares than the hairs on the hairiest hare, but since there are more hares than that, at least two must have the same number.
Hello everybody. I agree with you that this was a hard puzzle. I had many of the same difficulties and aha moments as many of you have described. I feel good that I finally was able to solve it all without any lookups. Hooray for perps! 'Swhy they're called crossword puzzles.
Put in lots of hours of work today, and since I charge by the hour that is a good thing. It kept me away from here, though, until now.
Best wishes and a toast to you all.
Welcome, klilly.
Welcome Klilly. Where in WNY was your farm? Before we moved here we lived for a time in Buffalo and Eden.
Welcome Killy
Very excellent! There is contentment in our house, for another few days anyway, 'cause the Yankees won. Barbara was brought up on Long Island and has been a Yankee fan since the days of Mickey Mantle. I guess it's good that the Dodgers didn't make the playoffs. I don't know if our household could stand the stress of a Dodgers/Yankees World Series.
These last few days have been tough trying to cope with the sad news from our crossword friends. I find myself in a somber, reflective mood that's hard to shake. Then I just found out that a cyber-friend from Sweden is going in the hospital for electroconvulsive shock treatment for severe depression. The possible side effects are daunting. And his sister is on the transplant list for a kidney and pancreas transplant. Geez...
Bill G - There is contentment in this house, also, although it didn't come without several nerve-wracking, nail-biting moments. I have been a Yankee fan since I was very young, having a father and four older brothers leading the band wagon. Congratulations to the Bronx Bombers!
It's very late. Found today's puzzle too difficult for me. Thanks to Lemonade's write-up and friend's comments that made it more enjoyable. Thank you C.C. for posting CA's obit and picture with blog friends. TGIF- Hoping next week does not carry such heavy news.
I had a solid DNF on this one. Had some luck in the a smattering of spots. Just couldn't get my mind settled down enough to stay with it until I turned on red letters.
Does anyone else find that doing the puzzle online doesn't seem to work your brain the same way as when you have a pen in your hand?
Well, I am sticking to that as an excuse. Tomorrow is my favorite day to get the paper. So I have a chance to redeem myself then. Thanks for the great blog, and the write up for today! Good night all
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