Words: 72
Blocks: 32
I believe this is Mr.
Sessa's first LAT Saturday puzzle, at least looking back through the
blog. I did see lots of Sunday grids. This one was fun, got stuck only
in the Mid-West, having tried NY METS for the baseball team ( I know,
1962 ), and G-MAN for CZAR. Lots of geography, and I have to admit a
DNF by one letter, the "V" in MORAVIA (and LAVER) - two names I just
didn't know, so I WAGed a "D", then an "N". Bzzzt.
One grid spanner:
38A. Display anger : CLENCH ONE'S FISTS - not something I am prone to doing; biting my lower lip, well that's something else....
two 12-letter fills:
19A. "Don't just sit there!" : "SAY SOMETHING~!" - I had started with "DO...", and ran short on fill
58A. 2005 Christopher Nolan action film : BATMAN BEGINS
- great movie, a well-done adaptation of the comic book vigilante;
still have not seen the final movie of the trilogy. Also a semi-clecho
with 35A., Bruce Wayne's alter-ego
and three 9-letter climbers:
9D. Leave without reason? : BRAINWASH - I get it, but it's not quite right to me
20D. Hairy crawler : TARANTULA - I will not link any pics; but I will link this song from Dusk Til Dawn by Tito & Tarantula
34D. You can't eat with one : CHOPSTICK - had me fooled at first; I thought "you can eat with chopsticks - oh wait, ONE....ah-a~!"
Onward~!
ACROSS:
1. Least likely to be free : BUSIEST
8. Prime time for clammers : EBB TIDE - had LOW tide to start
15. Desperate way to run : ON EMPTY - feel free to link the song from Jackson Browne
16. Unlike bald tires : TREADED - both my van and car are well treaded right now
17. Increases, as production : STEPS UP
18. Bearded ladies and sword swallowers : CARNIES
21. Sunny Day Real Estate's music genre : EMO
22. Rating org. : MPAA - The Motion Picture Association of
America; my brother bought me the Blu-ray '50 years of James Bond'
collection, complete with a "slot" for when Skyfall is available; what,
no $5 off coupon???
27. Ditat __: Arizona's motto : DEUS - once I had some letters, this seemed apt
29. Botox target : BROW - not CHIN
31. Lit out : RAN
32. Biennial games gp. : IOC - International Olympic Committee, every two years; once for Summer, and then for Winter
35. '60s Bruce Wayne portrayer : ADAM WEST - we had this guy on Monday, too
42. Stopped paying attention : ZONED OUT - I had ---ED OUT, and I couldn't think of the phrase....must've zoned out
43. One acting badly : HAM - I put in IMP, and then he appeared at 4D.
44. Unlike the OED : ABR - idged, as we found out yesterday the shelves need to be over-sized for the Oxford English Dictionary
45. Aptly named pope : PIUS - yes, apt
47. Printer's measure : PICA
51. 1969 baseball expansion team : ROYALS - Kansas City; maybe our mid-west guys have been to a game; C.C. might have some interesting tidbit, too (From C.C.: Royals are Husker Gary's team.)
54. Earth : LOAM
57. Malmö Airport carrier : SAS - with a name like Malmö, it had to be Swedish; down at the bottom, here
61. Czech region where Freud was born : MORAVIA - got me; didn't know this at all
64. SkyDome city : TORONTO - and this one I nailed; I get geography right sometimes
65. New York film festival site : TRIBECA - the TRIangle BElow CAnal (Street), NYC.
66. One taking off regularly : AVIATOR - ah, not AIRLINE
67. Historic Venetian basilica : ST. MARKS
68. Words before a disappearing act? : GET LOST
DOWN:
1. Exercised authority over : BOSSED
2. Feral : UNTAME - I get this way watching Salma Hayek lick her leg (@2:52, if you missed it at 20D.)
3. "Toodles!" : "SEE YOU~!"
4. Little devils : IMPS - the bastards keep moving all over the gird
5. Derby setting : EPSOM
6. Campaign in : STUMP
7. Rare medical classification : TYPE AB - blood type
8. Carve in stone : ETCH
10. City east of Lac de Neuchâtel : BERNE
11. Zippy tastes : TANGS
12. Forest part of 2006 : IDI - Forest Whittaker, in this movie
13. Diamond head? : DEE - DAR~! I didn't think of this the first pass - the "D" at the head of the word....
14. Money changers?: Abbr. : EDs - editors, working on Money magazine; anyone go with ATM?
24. Cancún crowd? : TRES
25. Nod, vis-Ã -vis Eden : EAST - more geography, this time Biblical
26. Workers on a hill : ANTS - anyone try REPS, SENS~?
28. __ qua non : SINE
30. Horace work : ODE
33. Anxious med. condition : OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,
like arranging the shampoo bottles with the labels facing out or risk
crashing a 747....I don't know, ask my ex-wife....
36. Poet's deg. : MFA - Master of Fine Arts
37. Namby-pamby : WIMP
38. Antidrug honcho : CZAR - Um, wouldn't this be the PRO drug honcho?
39. Iberian wolf : LOBO
40. Elision from Eliza : 'ENRY - the omission of the "H" sound;
my parents are both English, still have their accents; so it's "bloody
'ell, lost me glasses" sometimes (From C.C.: Here is a photo of Baby Splynter and his parents.)
 |
41. Québécois's approval : OUI - well, again, with a word like....had to be French
46. "In America" novelist : SONTAG - more here
48. Really enjoys : IS INTO
49. Dantean divisions : CANTOS
50. Put in order : ASSORT
52. Ethiopian map word : ABABA - the capital city, ADDIS ABABA
53. Four-time Wimbledon champ : LAVER - huh, this guy - I see he did it all before I was even born
55. Higher in rank than : ABOVE
56. Worth : MERIT
59. "Serpico" writer Peter : MAAS
60. Net score : GOAL - yeah, we're not seeing any hockey goals this year
61. Range parts: Abbr. : MTs - Mountains
62. Leftover bit : ORT
63. Outer margin : RIM
Splynter
79 comments:
Say Something
Thank you,Rob, for that interesting start to the Saturday comments. Say Something indeed!
I should start every day with Bob Marley.
Greetings!
Didn't expect to 1) Finish puzzle tonight, 2) find that it had been discussed so early.
Anyway, relatively quick, no cheats. Make more of these for Sat., Ed. Thanks for write-up, Splynter. Will check out your links after sleep!
Had Addis before ABABA.
Assume that is Rod LAVER?
Cheers!
This was a struggle for me. Came to read Splynter's review anyway. One learns by doing that..
Winter weather advisory for today. We are ready to stay in today. My daughter has never been to the Northeast. Her brother and his wife took her to NYC (by train) for a first-time tourist, tour. She loved it.
3 of us grandparents babysat one 2-year old. We handled it.
Have a good weekend all,
Montana
The dogs didn't stir until 6:45 this morning. Did they know it was Saturday? Did they know snow was (for the second time in three days) forecast for the beautiful mid-Hudson valley? Or was it that we stayed up an hour later last night.
Anyway, a fun puzzle today but, as is often the case with Saturday puzzles, my first instinct was to run away. And there were, indeed, a few speed bumps but the best puzzles are the ones that reward perseverance, as this one did for me. [15:34]
Morning, all!
Just wanted to point out that you can actually eat with one chopstick if you're eating General Gao's/Tso's chicken and you use it to stab the meat...
This one was mostly smooth but the rough spots defeated me. Had the same problem as others with the MORAVIA/LAVER/ABABA section and ended up with MORITIA/LATER/ABIBA.
The NW corner also utterly confounded me. Couldn't see beyond DO SOMETHING, which obviously didn't fit, and stuck with RAMPS UP until the bitter end. I also went with LORDED instead of BOSSED, which was the final nail in the coffin. Just couldn't get BUSIEST or UNTAME (shouldn't that be UNTAMED?) as a result. I thought 3D might be SEE YOU, but there was just no way for it to fit with everything else wrong going on there.
Ah well...
Good morning everyone,
A rare Saturday attempt to solve for me and like Splynter, one letter short, making it a DNF. My issue was 44A/40D. I had no idea what either clue was and wagged an O ending up with ABO & ENOY. Oh well.
As a big time baseball fan I'm embarrassed to having made three attempts before getting 51A. Started with Pilots, then flirted with Angels before getting Royals.
I enjoyed this puzzle a lot and found it to be somewhat tough, but doable. I do have one nit though, the cluing for 12D. It would have made more sense to me if it read ".... part IN 2006".
I liked ADAM WEST as Batman much more then Mr Nolan.
CHOPSTICK was my fav today. My feeling about the cluing for BRAINWASH is the same as Splynter.
That's it from soon to be snowy Ct. Serttle in this PM and watch the UConn ladies challenge Stanford. Both teams are solid, but Stanford has the advantage of home court and experience. Just hope neither team gets blown out.
Good morning everyone. This had the feel of a Silkie, and was just as tough....but then equally accessible. A total wagfest and dozens of erasures, but it got done.
There were a few gimmies, but not many: Etch, Tangs, Lobo, Imps, IOC and Enry. Started with Ace for Diamond Head, ramPS UP for 17A, hAAS for 59D and Weak for WIMP. Slowly things began to fill when I started filling in anything that came to mind, starting with EMO. Laver came fairly easily, which gave me Royals, St Marks, then rim, then Ababa. It was a crawl to the finish, but an enjoyable one.
On the Royals question, Alex Gordon is a Lincoln son, so I pay a little attention to him, but I've never been to a game. Not much of a Baseball fan, unfortunately.
Thank you Ed Sessa and thank you Splynter
1A Busiest. I'm not the busiest. Can only read so much. Organized my nuts, screws and nails the other day. Get to go back to work next week.
9D Leave without reason = BRAINWASH and I love it. Although, I know there are plenty of people out there that don't need to be brainwashed to have no ability to reason. Or compromise. Just look to Washington.
34D Chopsticks - Can't eat with one. Yes, like trying to use a tong. Tongs work better.
Tried to make RAMPS UP and SOUPS UP work for 17A Increases, as production, but no, it was STEPS UP.
I was thinking of Barbara Eden, at Nod, vis a vis Eden at 25D
65A TRIBECA. New York has TRIBECA. San Francisco has SOMA. What are other examples of local geographically defined urban areas ?
At 68A Words before a disappearing act ? Now you see it, now you don't. Like when Barbara Eden nods.
I've been to and through Moravia many times. It's near New Castle. Many Amish families near Moravia, New Galilee and Enon Valley. Not so many Moravians though. They are way east near Bethlehem in Lehigh Co. Moravians are somewhere between the plain people (Amish, Mennonites...) and the church people (Lutherans)
Good morning!
Tough, tough, tough. Finally finished, but I wallowed around in the NW for far too long. RAMPS UP looked so solid, and that made the rest of Oregon tough to parse. Otherwise I could have finished in Al Cyone time.
Splynter, thanks for the TRIBECA explanation. I had no idea what it meant. I do know that SOHO is the area SOuth of a mispronounced HOuston. The only parts of NYC I've personally visited are Kennedy and LaGuardia. And Québécois is a resident of Quebec; thus the Frawnch.
I briefly considered ATM, but the clue indicated a plural, so I waited for EDS to show up. Pole Dancer? Stripper? Nope, AVIATOR. I remember when William Bennett was named Drug CZAR, so I knew the position was anti-drug.
52d reminded me of the Final Jeopardy question from last week: One of the 3 national capitals made up of two words that begin with the same letter.
Same problems as Barry G, but I'd like a good explanation of 14D. Even after getting the perps, the only answer to that clue I can think of is CD's. It's those kind of clues that ruin crosswords for me.
14. Money changers?: Abbr. : EDs - editors, working on Money magazine; anyone go with ATM?
Did you mikss the part about Money magazine? We've seen the same type of clue before except it was People magazine,
Well, I finished in record time for a Saturday, but have to confess that 12D IDI made no sense even after the perps confirmed it. 14D EDS was puzzling also. I did have the (correct, as it turns out) idea in my mind, but it seemed too obtuse. I'll be wary of Mr Sessa in future.
TTP (8:20):
NYC acronymical (?) neighborhoods include SoHo (South of Houston), Tribeca, and NoLIta (North of Little Italy). Not to mention NoHo, SoSo, and DUMBO.
Click here for more.
JJM Thanks for the Kindle tip last night. I am dying to try it today after I finish all my Saturday chores.
I was on Ed's wave length for the most part. I finished all but one section in about 6 or 7 minutes so this seemed like a Wed. puzzle to me. The section above MORAVIA held me up. I had TUNED OUT and didn't want to change it, but LOBO had to right and -O-ALS gave my ROYALS, which gave me CZAR.
In addition to TUNED instead of ZONED, I had a hard time accepting ENRY. I know Eliza dropped the H and called her mentor that, but ENRY is not an elision, it is an example or a result of an elision. It is unsual for me to find nits.
TTP @ 8:20 I agree with your very apt comment about BRAINWASH. And as a PA girl, born and bred, I've been to MORAVIA and to Bethlehem. The Moravian Christmas in Bethlehem is lovely.
I'm with Barry too with the Lorded and ramps up misleads-- finally just erased everything that I didn't absolutely know was right-- and looked at it with fresh eyes to get to the finish. Being from midwest, Royals was the easy one, the skydome took a bit: not metro, not silver, not super ... didn't help that seattle and detroit fit in the toronto space.
12. Forest part of 2006 : IDI - Forest Whittaker, in this movie
Forest Whittaker portrayed Idi Amin in the movie, "The Last King of Scotland".
Outstanding Saturday offering. Thank you very much.
""Don't just sit there!" : "SAY SOMETHING~!" - I had started with "DO...", and ran short on fill"
Hand up.
"Prime time for clammers : EBB TIDE - had LOW tide to start"
Hand up.
"Botox target : BROW"
Tried "LINE" at first.
"Czech region where Freud was born : MORAVIA - got me; didn't know this at all"
Freud lived here until he and his family moved to Vienna in 1860, when he was nearly 4 years of age. He remained in Vienna for 78 years, then emigrated to London in June of 1938 following the Nazi invasion of Austria and the subsequent -- albeit temporary --detention of his daughter Anna by the Gestapo, which scared him sh@tless.
"Workers on a hill : ANTS - anyone try REPS, SENS~?"
No, because REPS and SENS don't work.
Hello Puzzlers -
Hand up for Ramps up and Lorded in the NW. Took a while to untangle that corner.
Only knew Rod Laver from a mention in the famous Monty Python sketch which pokes fun at Australian wine. Of course, I could not recall the name until it was perped in.
Continuing from yesterday: today for the first time the Blogger interface offered me "View Web Version" on the very first page (on the iPad). This seems to be an improvement. Anybody else?
Good morning:
Like others, had ramps up and wanted lorded but didn't fill it in. I wasn't crazy about some of the cluing but I guess anything goes on Saturdays.
Nice job, Ed Sessa, and good expo, Splynter. Al Cyone, thanks for the identifying link.
Expecting 3-5 inches of snow today. Very cold temps for the week to come. Winter is definitely here.
Have a nice relaxing Saturday.
Hi all,
I haven't done the puzzle yet but wanted to write a note.
Thank you C.C. for your concern.
I am having less pain but still need to use a wheelchair or a walker. Have had several visits to the Dr. My DH takes good care of me.
We still have lots of snow on the ground. I am glad Dan was here to help shovel.
My son, Dan leaves for home today. He has done most of the cooking and as my DH said, we will go back to having toast and coffee when he leaves, He made breakfast Buritos this morning.
I hope you all have a great year in 2013.
Marge
Hello, Splynter et alii. Excellent expo, Splynter, as usual. Thanks.
I very much like Ed Sessa's puzzles as they usually have pizzazz. This one does, too.
BRAINWASH is brilliant! When a person is brainwashed, reasoning leaves them. That's my interpretation.
This started slowly for me and little by little worked itself into a crescendo, the SW first, I recall Rod LAVER and thought CHOPSTICK was cleverly clued. Then slid up in fits and starts. Had TUNED OUT first but LOBO clued me that it was wrong. Loved seeing CZAR instead of TSAR.
Ditat DEUS is in every classroom in either the state seal or the flag.
Shoutout to Dudley at AVIATOR!
UNTAME as an adjective fits feral.
OUI! OUI! This was fun.
Have a beautiful Saturday, everyone!
TTP @ 8:20 AM. "Just look to Washington." Wish I could add my two cents, but I'll not violate the blog rules.
14D, I neglected to mention it in my initial comment.... and even though I figured out the logic, I consider it as vague as 12D.
Splynter, I meant to aks earlier. Do you still have the '67 Mustang? :-)
This looked impossible to me at first glance, but I remembered Marti's advice from a while back and stayed with it. Slowly, slowly all but the SE corner fell into place.
It helped that some of my Austrian family came from MORAVIA although I hadn't realized Freud was born there. But I didn't know the Batman film and had SEATTLE instead of TORONTO. Kept wanting Dante's CIRCLEs of hell before I finally got CANTOS, and kept wanting something like PRESTO for the disappearing act.
Anyway, many thanks for a fun puzzle, Ed. Adorable family pic, Splynter.
Happy memories of visiting ST. MARK'S Square in Venice years and years ago.
Marge, my thoughts are with you and best wishes for an easier 2013.
Ironically, my front tire showed up with a nail embedded in it last night, so we are off to Goodyear's this morning to get new, and hopefully, TREADED tires.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Same here, Splynter except down one level. I had Sigmund born in BOHEMIA and a HEM for a border and so I’ll take my four bad cells and count it as learning.
Musings
-Mitt Romney’s dad George claimed he had gotten BRAINWASHED about Vietnam
-Remnants of a cold have had me running ON EMPTY. Slept in ‘til 10 this morning.
-The CARNIES of my youth were a big deal in our small town
-Sunny Day and EMO seem to be contradictory from what I know of the genre
-I thought AriZona was a misprint before I took the NESTEA plunge
-There is a hilarious scene in Frasier where Niles gets a Botox shot but I can’t find the link
-If you are looking for Olympic ideals, don’t look in the IOC where bribery is a way of doing business
-BATMAN would draw hundreds to the TV set in our dorm in the 60’s
-Yes, C.C., I am a KC Royals fan and they have a good young team now. In my ute, they were the KC Athletics and served mostly as a farm team for the Yankees and then Charlie Finley moved them to Oakland.
-Malmo, Prague and Colon are Nebraska cities just a few miles from here
-The floor in the ST MARK’S cathedral is very uneven due to being built on pilings
-Uno es la compañÃa pero TRES son una multitud
-My friend with OCD had an incredible nightly routine to check doors and the stove burners
-What are you first posters doing up so early/late ;-)?
Hello, Saturday Solvers! Great challenging puzzle, Ed; needed red-letter help to finish. Always enjoy your expo, Splynter. Hand up for having LOW TIDE before EBB TIDE. I frequently risk running ON EMPTY – that annoying little yellow light comes on at the most inconvenient times LOL. Thought the cluing for CHOPSTICK was really clever. As a middle-schooler in the ‘60s, I was crazy about ADAM WEST as Batman. Misread 40D as “Ellison from Eliza” and was completely flummoxed until I re-read it and finally saw “Elision” … D’oh!
We got a lovely 2-3 inches of light, fluffy snow overnight. Perfect day to curl up with the cats, a good book and (of course) a cup of java. I might try downloading the latest offerings from Ken Follett onto the Kindle Fire Santa brought me for Christmas. Has anyone else read any of the “Century” trilogy books?
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Ed Sessa, for the puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for the swell review.
Well, got going very slowly on this puzzle.
Lots of tough ones. Had NARC before CZAR for 38D.
Had EAVY before ENRY for 40D.
Had SPOT before BROW for 29A.
Had RAMPS UP before STEPS UP for 17A.
MORAVIA was actually easy. Had a few letters and then filled it in. I am from Pennsylvania but do not know where Moravia, PA is. When I get back I will look around.
My big complaint, as others have said, is 9D BRAINWASH. I have read all the explanations in the blog. However, "Leave without reason?" makes no sense to me at all. My two cents.
Hope I get well soon. This cold is getting old.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
Really late to the party today because I stayed up really late at my party last night! My brain was a little foggy, but I did finish in normal Saturday time today. Great write-up, Splynter. I loved the picture of you with your mom and dad!
I thought this was a really fun puzzle, with plenty of zip. My favorite was the clue for CHOPSTICK. The one hangup was the M in MPAA. I wasn't sure if it was EPSOn or EPSOM at 5D. Finally WAG'd the M to finish.
Time to hunker down in front of the fire and ride out the storm. Have a great day, everyone!
Hi again~!
Actually, Joe, it was a 1970 fastback Mustang, and when I was about as old as I was in that picture, some kids took it for a joy ride one snowy night in NJ until it ran out of gas. Trust me, I wanted to keep it - but dad was in a wreck during another snowstorm in that car, and so the family got a '69 Cougar - which I loved even more, style-wise, because it had 'roll-up' headlight covers....and then dad wrecked that one, as well....
Splynter
JJM, thanks to you, I downloaded a book from my local library.
Hello everybody. Well, MORAVIA totally killed me today because I put in BOHEMIA and wouldn't let it go, even though ABEBA didn't look right. I had no idea my BTS (instead of MTS), LAMER, and HEM (due to spelling TReBECA incorrectly) were wrong. So FIW.
Hand up for wanting STRIPPER instead of AVIATOR.
Oh yes, Houston has the AstroDome, not the SkyDome. I should have known this one, because I actually watched a Bluejays game at the SkyDome and watched the dome open and close.
Batman Begins was an excellent movie until near the end when it degenerated into the old "two men fighting on a runaway train" cliche.
Yellowrocks, to look up the definition of a word you are reading on your Kindle, touch for a moment the word whose definition you want and a window containing the definition will pop up. That way you don't have to exit out of the book, start up the dictionary, then restart the book.
Misty, I had almost exactly the same thoughts you did when you said, "Kept wanting Dante's CIRCLEs of hell before I finally got CANTOS, and kept wanting something like PRESTO for the disappearing act." Also wanted something like MORNING or EVENING instead of EBB TIDE. Finally BERNE set me straight.
Loved the clue for CHOPSTICK! Second favorite was the clue for BRAINWASHED (after the brainwashing, he was left there, alone and without his reason.) The French call it Brain Cramming.
Hand up for LORDED and RAMPS UP.
Got through it with
TOO MUCH help from Google.
Thanks, Splynter.
Got DH involved with Sky Dome and Royals.
RAMPS UP ..me too.
Couldn't see ZONED OUT for the longest time.
Have a great day, all.
Abejo, the Moravia PA that I was referring to is just an hour and a half south of Edinboro down I-79, then over to the south side of New Castle. It is probably considered part of New Castle now. Just like if I suggested you go to Cloverdale, IL, you might not know where it is, but if I said "the area to the west of the intersection of Gary Ave and Army Trail RD", you would know right where I'm talking about. Most people would call that area either Hanover Park or Carol Stream, but it's really Cloverdale.
Yellowrocks was referring to the Bethlehem area where the Moravians settled. Pennsylvania, thanks to William Penn, has an interesting history of towns and areas where groups and sects could settle and be free of religious persecution. Some with funny names, like Intercourse, or Harmony.
As to Leave Without reason, do you remember the movie Telefon with Charles Bronson ? The "sleeper agents" were brainwashed to mindlessly attack government entities when they heard certain coded words, notably lines from a Robert Frost poem "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." Those sleeper agents were left without the ability to think, or reason, about what they were doing. I liked that movie.
Thank you D-O and Al. I knew SOHO (NYC) but had never heard of DUMBO. I'm sure there are other areas that locals have names for certain city areas.
Husker Gary, did you see that Fearless Frankie led the Ohio Bobcats to an overwhelming victory yesterday ? Never did really understand why he was fired at Big Red. I wonder how long he will stay at Ohio U.
JavaMama:
I hope you enjoy the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. Fall of Giants is very good and so far Winter of the World is also enjoyable. I'm in the middle of that one now.
I believe others from the Corner have read them as well.
Lucina and JavaMama: I enjoyed Fall of Giants very much; I have Winter of the World but have not started it yet.
Has been snowing for the last few hours. Glad I don't have to go anywhere.
Thanks, Jayce at 12:56. That's handy. I always look up words that I guess from context, usually correctly.It fixes them in my mind so that I can use them in crosswords. I like to savor the words and language as well as the story.
Marge--I hope that you can concoct a way to have decent breakfasts! Feel better soon!!
Husker--That's not late for me!
Jayce--I somehow doubt that YR needs to look up words! BTW, same thing works on iPad.
Got a kick out of BRAINWASH. Hand up for wanting to squeeze in CircleS for CANTOS.
I enjoyed this Saturday puzzle more than most. The clue for BRAINWASH left me flummoxed but with everybody's input, it finally makes sense. The same with EDS for 'Moneychangers.' Too clever for me the first time through. Thank goodness for red letters.
Desper-otto, was it you last night that mentioned turning off Wi-fi to conserve battery life? I tried it on my Nook and it really seems to help. Thanks.
Irish Miss, I remember the snow from when I went to Cornell. I woud really enjoy it for the first couple of times in November/December. When it was still snowing in March, I was pretty tired of it. There was a big hill to climb to the main part of campus from the freshman dorms. That was a big struggle with the snow and ice. We would sneak a tray out of the cafeteria under our coats and slide down the hill on them. Good fun.
Silly question: how does one turn off WIFI? Do you mean on the device itself? I have yet to familiarize myself with my NOOK.
Jayce 1:08 pm--I guess great minds run in the same channel--even when they're not quite right! Glad to be on the same wavelength.
With all the language purists who post here I am surprised that no one took up my nit. Elision is an omission or deletion not the word thus formed. Dropping the H or the H itself is the elision or deletion, 'ENRY is not.
Lucina, not a silly question at all. Yes, you turn it off on the device itself, on the Nook. There is probably a "Tool" icon to tap to bring up the menu to turn the Wi-fi off and on. Since it is essentially a two-way radio, it does consume battery power. You only need it when you are accessing the internet (to browse, buy, and download). You don't need it while you are reading.
By the way, on my Kindle, if I happen to have Wi-fi turned off and forgot that it is off, as soon as I try to browse for books it reminds me and conveniently lets me consent to turn it on then and there.
Usually I leave it turned on, because I so often like to get onto the internet with it to check stuff.
Yellowrocks, no need to take up your nit, because I agree with you.
Thanks..yellow rocks.. I always learn so much by reading this blog...I did not understand the clue until you explained that..
I have read Fall of Giants and Winter of the World.. Still liked Pillars of the Earth the best. The mini-series was exceptional.
Klily:
I agree! Pillars of the Earth is Ken Follett's best book, bar none, although he is a masterful writer and I enjoy them all. I've read that one three times.
Now I'm going to babysit my granddaughters as their parents have a date night.
Thank you, JAYCE. I have to work on that.
Bill G @ 2:34-snow has finally stopped. It's very pretty to look at right now but I know what you mean about the long winter. Many a year we have had snow in April and even May. We will probably pay the piper for last winter which was practically snow-free. On the positive side, the ski resorts are off to a good start.
YR and Jayce, regarding elision, I missed it the first time around but since you brought it up again, it makes sense to me too.
Lucina, I see Jayce just answered your question. I just reminded myself how I figured how to do it. With my Nook, there is a little battery symbol in the bottom-right corner. Touching it brings up 'Quick Settings' where one of the choices allows you to toggle the Wi-Fi off and on as well as check a couple of other settings. Also, if you push the little horseshoe at the bottom, it brings up the main menu. The choice on the right is 'Settings' where one of the choice is 'Wireless' where you can also toggle Wi-Fi on and off. I had been leaving it on not knowing any better. Since I've turned it off, the battery is staying charged much longer. I haven't figured out anything to do with my Nook where I want it on except to buy a new book.
Jayce, that brings up a question that maybe you can answer. What do you do with your device other than buy and read books? I'm sure my Nook will do some other neat stuff that I haven't figured out yet.
Bill G, in addition to searching for, buying, downloading, and reading books, I use my Kindle's web browser to look up various items of information to answer random questions as they arise, such as "What's on TV tonight?" or "Does anybody make osso buco with lamb shank?" or "What does an oast look like?" or "Where have I seen that actor before?" I also read this blog with it and check my email when a computer is not handy.
Your welcome Yellowrocks. Glad I could help. I'm a self taught techno/computer-geek. You should see what I've done to my daughter's iPad. I jailbroke it (which BTW is totally legal) and now all her friends come to me asking me to do theirs because of all the "cool" things she can do with hers.
Today's puzzle: My favorite clue today..." You can't eat with just one". That was extremely clever.
I don't post on this blog very often, but I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading through it. I come almost every day after I have worked on the xword. Sometimes it seems easy and other times hard. I enjoy the comments so much, and I especially like the camaraderie of the posters. It's such a nice change from some of the nasty venting on other blogs.
Today was a toughie from Ed Sessa. DNF for me. Splynter did a good job writing it up. Lots of tricks with words.
NARC started me off on the wrong foot, and I never did quite recover. I got BRAINWASH, but the cluing seemed a little off to me, too.
Great clue for CHOPSTICK! We had sushi at our new Japanese Steakhouse last night, and it was good, even in the middle of the northern plains!
I may be too bummed to blog tomorrow, after kids go home, and life gets back into the usual routine. I will have to come here to be cheered up!
EdieB, how nice to hear from you, and I hope you'll join in anytime you feel like it. We always love hearing from our quiet(er) members! Have a great New Year!
Hello! JM, I read Fall of Giants, 1st in the trilogy. It was excellent. Have you read other Ken Follets?
Bill G @ 4:09: The "little horseshoe" at the bottom of a Nook is a lowercase sans-serif "n" (as in Nook). I've had a Nook Simple Touch (NST) for over a year (it was a gift) and just received the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight (NSTG) so re-gifted the NST to Mom. Of course now there is the Nook HD and HD+ so one must be careful when giving advice on how they work. All that said, I love my Nook and won't leave home without it!
Lucina, Irish Miss and Klilly, thanks so much for your take on the Ken Follett books -- sounds like I will definitely enjoy them. I agree with you that Pillars of the Earth was a an excellent read.
Another author I like is Tom Robbins (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Still Life with Woodpecker). He's not for everyone, but I get a kick out his quirky sense of humor. For instance, he describes one character as having "a smile like the first scratch on a new car."
Also, appreciate the hints from all you Kindle / Nook users. I'll try to keep them in mind as I get familiar with my new toy.
Hi, Willow -- I was still typing my previous comments when you posted (I'm a real slow poke!) Yes, I've read quite a few of Folletts' other books, including the spy novels (Eye of the Needle, Key to Rebecca, Man from St. Petersburg, Triple and others). Enjoyed them all. He really knows how to immerse the reader in whatever world he's created.
Anyone else remember this Say something ? OK maybe a stretch but who cares?
I always feel left out when I go to someplace like my favorite local coffee shop and everybody else is busy with their eyeballs or ears glued to their iPhones. Originally, I had a plan to take along my remote from my DVR. Then I could hold it up to my ear and talk and fit in better with the younger hipper crowd. Aha! I just figured out I could bring along my Nook instead. I don't actually read much because it's hard to concentrate but at least I can look more like a member of the e-hoity toity.
Manac, ah yes, Nancy Sinatra. It's a good thing she had a pretty face, nice legs and a well-known last name 'cause she'd never have made it on her voice alone. The definition of a one-trick pony, much like Billy Ray Cyrus. I wonder how many more one-trick ponies we can think of?
Evening all,
Splynter thanks for a great write up today. I found this one easier than the usual Saturday puzzle. I also wanted evening before EBBTiDE. Last one to fill in was 61A, as I did not know MORAVIA.
Glad your party went well Marti.
Watching House reruns tonight, not much else on TV.
I resent that. I am a country music singer, songwriter, actor, philanthropist and a crossword solving fanatic. Why would you single me out ? Don't break my heart. My achy breaky heart. I just don't think it'd understand.
Manac, I liked the Nancy video, I hadn't seen that in a long time!
You bring up an interesting point, BillG, but I believe it's divisible into those that are one hit wonders that were worthy of that fleeting fame and those that either just rode on someone else's coattails or rode a trend of dreck that never worked out.
Frinstance: Thunderclap Neman....or maybe Norman Greenbaum". These musicians were part of the soundtrack of our youth, and deserve that honored place, but were never heard from again.
Then there were others like the Troggs, the Trashmen, the Fuggs and innumerable others that were just capitalizing on something that never was worth a shit in the first place.
There is a difference. Nancy Sinatra was devoid of talent. But not everyone that had one brush with fame falls into that category.
Bill, don't know if this qualifies but it was the only one I ever heard from them on the radio The Look .
May not be your cup of tea but I first heard it over twenty years ago.
Michele, We drove our parents NUTS playing that song over and over when it first came out. Funny how something can dust off a whole lot of cobwebs.
I failed to give adequate credit to the ultimate dreck band of all time: Alex Harvey.
(Trust me, it's not Grammy material, but if your into weird stuff, give a listen. It is good for a laugh.)
test
Avg Joe,
Spirit in the Sky!!
Haven't heard that in a loong time.
Had to sit through the entire song.
Thanks. Ahh... Memories.
Glad you liked it Manac.
OK, I'm gonna go deep into the obscurity file then quit. We have a local radio call in request show here on Sunday mornings. I've gotten to know the host well over the years. 12-15 years ago I called and requested Batdorf and Rodney. The host's response was: "Joe, there's maybe 4 people in town that have heard of them, and you and I are two of them. So no."
Bill,
Had to laugh at your other comment @ 7:24. I have been caught many times trying to answer the phone with a remote or change the channel with the phone by Nicole. She never misses a chance to get a good dig in there at me. Don't know where she gets it from though.
Bill G., here’s my favorite One Trick Pony (3:49), from a guy who certainly does not fit that description. A lot of good music on the album; too bad the movie didn’t do very well.
No words can prepare you for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
I love this blog! For those who answered my questions about crossword terms, I thank you very much. I'm not big on offering my opinion about the puzzles, especially in such agust company, but you have such a wonderful community of followers that I feel comfortable in adding my two cent's worth on today's task at hand. I didn't have time to do it this AM, so I did it very late and I just kept thinking that it couldn't be a Saturday puzzle as it seemed way to easy. Perhaps my brain is in much better shape in the late PM hours. Who knows! I liked it all but for the 9 down.....I've seen the rationales, but still..don't like. What I really do like is seeing what everyone else thinks, so , much as gracias to all you puzzlers, and buenas noches
The Irish Rovers had one song that I think you all would remember- "The Unicorn Song." Would someone link for me...I don't know how to link... Pleeease!
We went to see "Les Mis" yesterday at Theater. Epic on the big screen. Hugh Jackson was very good.
We saw "Trouble With The Curve" on pay-per-view. Enjoyed it, but thought the plot was too predictable.
HG, is the Omaha farm team still the Royals?
Splynter, it seems like your picture with mother and father started a 60s theme today.
This was a doable Sat. puzzle with some twist and turns. Thanks for explaining some fills to me.
Off to bed I go....
The Unicorn Song by the Irish Rovers.
Now off to bed I go, too.
Argyle, Thank you!
Iris,
Omaha is still the AAA affiliate of the Royals but when they built a new stadium, they changed their name to the Omaha Storm Chasers
Done - next day!
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