Words: 68
Blocks: 28
Oh Wilber~!!
Another solid offering from one of our steady Saturday constructors,
with little in the way of obscure proper names, places and foreign words
(OK, one), and LOTS of hyphenated words/phrases. Triple 10's in
the across, and triple 8's in the down corners with a couple of
climbers of note:
28D. "Act naturally" : BE YOURSELF - which reminds me of this song, with the lyric at 1:35
33D. Italian Baroque painter known for ceiling frescoes : GUIDO RENI - A proper name and foreign, too~! Some history, here at the Wiki
And one spanner:
34A. Alloy used to make knives : MOLYBDENUM STEEL
- Oddly, Tungsten Carbide fit, too; anyone who has bought a circular
saw blade or drill bit is familiar with the latter; guess what I put in
first....
o-N^w-A-r_D ~!~!
ACROSS:
1. Scrapped, at NASA : NO-GO - because "aborted" didn't fit
5. Way to get in : ACCESS CODE
15. Zipped through : ACED
16. Like the cap worn by Annette : MOUSE-EARED - nailed it; Annette Funicello
17. One piggy's portion : NONE
18. Reducing : CURTAILING
19. Big blast : N-TEST - paired with 44D
21. Come down hard : TEEM
22. Smidge : IOTA
23. Sound from your favorite toy? : YIP - small dogs, referred to as "toys" by the AKC
24. Beguile : AMUSE
26. Less clumsy : ABLER
27. Trounce : CLOBBER
29. Unoriginal : TIRED
30. Botanical balm : ALOE
31. It may make honeymooners a bit misty : NIAGARA - HAR-HAR, but
I wasn't misled; one of the most famous honeymoon spots is Niagara
Falls, here in NY (OK, and Canada, too) where the air is constantly
misty; even the tour boats are in on the appeal
39. Throw money around, in a way : OVER-TIP - are you an over-tipper? I am when we go to eat out as a family
40. Jane Austen's aspiring matchmaker : EMMA
41. Gives kudos : LAUDS
43. Hard to read : DEADPAN
45. Becomes disillusioned : SOURS
46. Jumper cable connection point : ANODE - nipple didn't fit
48. "Moreover ..." : AND
49. A passel : TONS - a passel is an indeterminate amount of
something, sort of like a small "gazillion", as in "I have (insert
here) of paperwork to do~!"
50. Lead : STAR - that's l-EE-d, not LeD
51. Navigational aid : CANAL - so is part of your ear an "auditory navigational aid"?
53. Net : AFTER TAXES
56. "Ciao!" : TA-TA
57. Some 19th-century industrialists : RAIL BARONS - I watched
"Ultimate Guide to the Presidents" this week; fascinating how the stuff I
was taught in high school bored me then, and intrigues me now.
58. Picked out of a lineup : IDed
59. "They've rigged this whole thing!" : "THE FIX IS IN~!"
60. Cushy : EASY
DOWN:
1. Device hidden by a concerned parent : NANNY-CAM
2. Red-flowering desert shrub : OCOTILLO
4. Tributes in verse : ODES
5. Old Gremlin maker : AMC - I had the Sportabout Wagon that my father gave me in 1988; it had huge potential that I couldn't see at 17yrs old; 258 straight six
6. High-end fashion designer : COUTURIER
7. Fixes : CURES
8. Name on many compacts : ESTEE
9. Baseball feature : SEAM
10. Twice tre : SEI
11. Fine-tuned : CALIBRATED - I did some searching on the origin; seems to be from the Arabic "qalib", the cast for a bullet
12. Bird that builds hanging nests : ORIOLE - and the bird in Baltimore, too
13. Subject to a trade-in reduction : DENTED - I think the 227,800 miles on my car will put a "dent" in my trade-in value
14. Guest in a library : EDGAR - Nice misdirection; this man, here, and not "user", "reader", "student" - I couldn't think of a 5-letter word
20. Q's neighbor : TAB - on the keyboard, not the phone pad
25. Brasil '66 leader : MENDES
26. What social climbers may put on? : AIRS
29. Patted down : TAMPED - tamped to me sounds "heavier" than
patted; I usually tamp the ground before a concrete pour. What would
the cement guy say if I told him I "patted" it down???
32. Tiny colonist : ANT
35. Briefs not seen in court, hopefully : BVDs - tightie-whities~!
36. Mexican stuffed pastry : EMPANADA
37. Gives off : EMANATES
38. Mrs. Hudson, to Sherlock Holmes : LANDLADY
41. Bath scrubber : LOOFAH
42. Em's title : AUNTIE - Wizard of Oz
44. Erstwhile 19-Across overseer: Abbr. : AEC - Atomic Energy Commission; I know it as Architecture, Engineering, & Construction
45. "Boo!" reaction : START
46. Space Invaders platform : ATARI
47. Largest island in the Cyclades : NAXOS - map, in the middle
50. Pringles competitor : STAX - I have had this one on Saturday before; workable "X"
52. "__ is like kissing your sister": sports chestnut : A TIE
54. You usually don't get one when you ground into a DP : RBI -
by grounding into a double play for the first two outs of the inning
with a man on third who crosses home and scores does not get you a "run
batted in" - uh, right, C.C.?? (From C.C.: Right! The worse thing a player can do is to ground into a double play when bases are loaded.)
55. Nine-digit fig. : SSN - Crossword standard, the Social Security Number
Splynter
95 comments:
Hello Puzzlers -
Thought this was going to be a walk in the park. Zoomed right through the whole puzz except that darned intractable NE corner. That part really fought back.
For the longest time I had Mickey Ears in there, which led to lots of alternate down answers, all quite wrong. (Magpie, for example). The clue correspondence for Calibrated seems off to me. The clue for Teem seems just plum wrong, period. No online dictionary supported the "come down hard" definition.
Eventually unsnarled the mess, but was surprised to get a Ta Da because of Teem.
Husker from yesterday: I agree, there is nothing you can do to, with, for, or about liver to make it taste good. Blechhhh!
Morning, all!
Like Dudley, I thought this one was going to be easy at first until it rapidly descended into madness. MOLYBDENUM, OCOTILLO, MENDES, NAXOS, STAX and GUIDORENI were all just totally out of my wheelhouse.
I actually managed to bluff my way through most of it, but in the end I went with YAP instead of YIP and had OCOTALLO as a result.
Cannot read the stupid captcha this morning, so I'm going to keep refreshing until I get one I can read...
nice saturday eye opener. took me a while to remember that pringles rival was stax I kept trying to put in lays or wise. eventually the puzzle came together enjoy the weekend.
Good morning, gang - unlike D&B, I had no illusions that this was gonna be easy from the start. Ocotillo?? That one alone took me forever. Then when I got part of ACCESS, I went with ACCESS DOOR, so there was that.
The middle went a little better because my brain, for some reason, has stored MOLYBDENUM, and that gave me a bunch of perp help. EMPANADA I've learned from living down here. Then there was GUIDORENI. My defunct mind read the clue as 'Italian Baroque painter known for ceiling FIASCOS' (hey, I've been sick!), so there was that too. Not that reading it right wouldn't helped.
All in all, a nice, doable, challenging Saturday for me. Brad always makes us think.
Splynter, great write-up; they're always an enjoyable read.
Liver? Uh-uh. The mere thought of liver makes my cheeks touch.
Hope it's a fun weekend for everyone.
The sunrise temperature of 7.8°F here in the beautiful mid-Hudson valley may be the last of the single digits. At least for the foreseeable future.
I certainly didn't expect to finish this one. I had ATEST instead of NTEST so came late to NANNYCAM. And I knew nothing of GUIDORENI, OCOTILLO, or NAXOS. But one perp led to another and the puzzle gradually filled up. But where was the "TaDa!"? For that I had to change YAP to YIP. [18:25]
Splinter, thanks.
I agree about ocotillo, and could not get Guido Reni,combine that with brain freeze trying to spell couturier and I am beat.
My oldest stayed on Naxos during one summer when they were digging in the Cyclades so there was one I got.
Enjoy all. How was the auction Dennis? I hope it does not rain.
Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
I had a pause at Guest in a library, too. But then I remembered EDGAR. “Pound of poetry” used to flummox me, too. Thanks for embedding that pic of OCOTILLO, because I had never heard of it!
This was the song that popped into my head for 28-Down.
Hand up for wondering how “Come down hard” could mean TEEM…
I got hung up in the SE for a while because I wanted “sonar” for my navigational aid at 51-A. Had NRC instead of AEC for my erstwhile 19-Across overseer. When DEADPAN and ANODE finally appeared, I changed it to AES. Well, it made sense to me, anyway. Couldn’t Adlai have overseen the N-TESTs?? Finally figured that one out and immediately got hung up again when I wrote down Run instead of RBI at 54-D. That odd-looking FNX just didn’t seem likely, though. Changed it to RBI and THE FIX IS IN magically appeared, for the finish.
Have a nice weekend everyone!
Great puzzle Brad. Challenging, but quite doable. OCOTILLO, MENDES, NAXOS are words I know, but am vague about. A few preps brought them to mind. I could pick them out of a "multiple guess" test, but not a “fill in the blank” with no word bank.
Splynter I enjoyed your write up, but my computer won't show your pictures. I have more success with the pictures of some bloggers than I do with others.
GUIDO RENI was the only completely unknown, but GUI gave me GUIDO. For me TEEM is quite common Dictionary.com (intr; often foll by down or with rain) to pour in torrents: it's teeming down: ...
I puzzled over ACCESS ____ until I got MOUSE EARED.
I’ve had my fun, now off to my chores.
worked my way through until hit the block of unknowns: Reni, Naxos, STax.
Sergio Mendes and The Brasil 66-- fond memories - peer of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSZ15R2DFBg
"the worse thing a player can do is to ground into a double play"?
Worse than grounding into a triple play?
Good morning to all!
I found Brad Wilber's offering today quite enjoyable, and easier than many Saturdays. Living in the Southwest helped with OCOTILLO and EMPANADA. However, as I had never heard of GUIDO RENI, I missed out on the "tada" because my FIX was oN rather than IN.
Enjoy the day!
This was a tough Sat puzzle. Had to stare at certain ares for a long time before the fills came to me. Like the rest, I thought it was going to be a walk in the park, but, "the fix in in" on this puzzle! Have a good weekend!
AAARRRGGGGGHHHHHH !!!
The Gasparilla Pirates are invading Tampa Bay today.
Here, in Florida, we say: "It's pouring down." So I'm in the WTF camp with TEEM.
(Also in the "there is no way I'd ever eat liver" camp. Mine is already working overtime.)
OCOTILLO, EDGAR (Guest), MOLYBDENUM, NAXOS and GUIDO RENI were learning moments.
I'm sure my "Pirate Grog" will erase them from my brain before the first "beads" are flying today.
Yo, Ho, Ho ... and a Bottle of Rum! Song of the Day
Cheers !!!
What a great Saturday puzzle. I looked around and saw I had no blank cells and so I was done! NANNYCAM hid better than Richard Kimble. Splynter’s summation works for me. MOLYBDENUM? Wow!
Musings
-A NASA phrase that indicates something didn’t work is “NO JOY”. Typical NASA understatement.
-Surely someone will link Buck Owens’ or Ringo Starr’s Act Naturally today
-Parents sometimes need their kids to get them the ACCESS CODE
-Has anyone ever heard/seen ABLER used in a sentence?
-I always forget NIAGARA has 4 syllables and not 3
-A few weeks ago I really OVERTIPPED after hearing the waitress’s (former student) hard luck stories
-I only posted a few of the pLAUDitS that our lurkers offered
-DEADPAN? e.g. Buster Keaton, Steven Wright, and…
-At the car show two weeks ago, I noticed that finding the ANODE for a jump is much harder to find as it is shielded in a plastic box on some newer cars
-Pols always debate how much AFTER TAX income stays with you or goes to the solons in D.C.
-RAIL BARONS and other barons were well shown on this History Channel Series. Play some of the clips
-Old baseball saying about a good hitter – “He could count the SEAMS on a fastball”
-Splynter, I assume you do not have comprehensive insurance on your 227K vehicle ;-)
-Saddam Hussein routinely got nearly 100% of the Iraqi vote. Think the FIX WAS IN?
Abner,
You da man, Mr. Doubleday!!
Good morning all.
I finally brought it kicking and screaming across the finish line. Finally got MOLYBDENUM STEEL, after trying for some time to get some kind of 'hardened' to fit. Diabolical! Wanted ACCESS door or hole before CODE loomed from CALIBRATED. WAGGED NAXOS which helped with AFTER TAXES. NIAGARA was a gimme. Some great phrase fill: THE FIX IS IN and BE YOURSELF.
Kudos to Brad for a fine job.
Shouldn't 51a have been clued with a question mark? The CANAL is merely a waterway. The buoys, range lights, etc. installed to help keep vessels in the channel are the navigation aids.
The CANAL aided in navigating from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes.
Dennis 6:52 -
"The mere thought of liver makes my cheeks touch." Now that's funny!
Not to mention true.
Thank you Brad and thank you Splynter. Turned on red-letter help at an hour,and found I wasn't getting in with my ACCESSCard. GENEtics wasn't going anywhere. Still took me another hour after that. But, stopped to let the dog out, make coffee, let the dog back in, watch the morning news a bit etc. N in MENDES / NIAGARA, and G in GUIDO just before that. Don't think I was really into it this AM, but finally got it done. Perps completely took care of unknowns GUIDO and OCOTILLO.
Scrapped, in the Navy, thrown overboard or deep sixed. Scrapped, at NASA, shot into orbit ? No, NOGO
Splynter, at 57A, ditto. Saw parts of it. There were some real movers and shakers in that position. We'll always remember their names. Like Millard Pierce and Franklin Fillmore. And at 29D, I'm with you. The concrete truck driver might ask you if you used a boa to pat it down. And then laugh about it with his buddies at the beer and shot bar.
Hand up, but tried to reconcile "Come down hard" to TEEM via raining cats and dogs and Biblical frogs/plagues. They were everywhere. "Boo" to START was another one, but I understood it.
Middletown, STAX didn't fool me. But now I have a craving for Wise. Love them. Especially the ones that were browned a little too much. Have never seen them in Chicago stores.
Husker Gary, Marti did post Ringo "Act Naturally." What is she, "Chopped Liver ?" :>)
"Worse than grounding into a triple play?"
Yes, DP just means two outs but a TP is assured of making the highlights reel.
Late to the party today because we marched early again.
Sergio MENDES and OCOTILLO were gimmes. They make fences of OCOTILLO in AZ -- better than barbed wire. Don't think I've ever seen MOLYBDENUM in a cw before. EMPANADA was slow in arriving -- sounds like it should be a city near San Diego.
Gonna be another beautiful day in SE Texas, sunny and upper 70's. Think I'll go out and enjoy it.
Nanny cam??????
Really?????
pre-YMCA comments-
-I was at a fancy wedding reception where I was only the guitar player/singer and I picked up a deep fat fried, breaded something that I assumed was chicken, fish, cheese or, at worst, cauliflower. Yup, it turned out to be liver – YUK!!. At least I was near the bathroom. My palate has acclimated to many things I hated as a “ute” (pass the broccoli please) but the consumption of that particular organ ain’t one of ‘em. Off the blog, Marti said she would make sure it wasn’t on the menu if I visit her ;-).
-TTP - Oops, our renaissance woman Marti is definitely not chopped liver! Sorry! I gotta get these bifocals adjusted.
-Now we have three puzzles everyday – 1. The puzzle itself. 2. The theme and 3. Deciphering CAPTCHA
My snags were: "molybdenum steel," "dead pan" and "the fix is in." I kept reading the last as one word and could not make sense of it. My only cheat is to look words up in the dictionary when I have the first few letters. That's how I got ocotillo early on. This was challenging enough, but not impossible. Just how I like them!
From the TP highlights reel: Link
mmmm...chopped liver. AKA "pâté" - give me more!
Dennis, I was just sitting here trying to picture which set of "cheeks" you were talking about...
Hi All ~~
I enjoyed this challenge today ~ Thanks Brad Wilber. As always, I learn and am entertained by you, Splynter!
I had many of the same experiences that have already been mentioned, but that won't keep me from repeating some of them. :-) i.e. ACCESS Door before CODE, and Lays / STAX.
~ Everything fell into place ~ even my guessing the O at the crossing of OCOTILLO and MOLYBDENUM STEEL. But then Splynter enlightened me - I FIW due to THE FIX IS 'on' instead of IN. Ah - so close!
~ I thought I was so smart remembering 'Sergio' for 25D - Brazil '66 leader. NIAGARA led me to MENDES.
~ Favorites were BVDS and the misdirection of 14D - Guest in a library - EDGAR. I was really puzzled when 'Patron' didn't fit.
~ For some reason I thought of rain right away at 21A - Come down hard, so TEEM came easily.
~ A few visits to Taco Bell gave me EMPANADAS.
~ I chuckled at your cheeks, Dennis!
Good morning, all! Well, this one was pretty much a train wreck for me. In the end, I ditched the pen-and-paper approach and finished on-line with lots of red letter help. Many “learning moments”, as we like to call them. Thanks for the challenge, Brad. Great write-up as always, Splynter.
MOLYBDENUM STEEL was a complete unknown and I had too few perps to be of much help. Got a chuckle out of BVDS at 35D – and heart palpitations from Splynter’s related link!! One of my few gimmes was Sherlock Holmes’ LANDLADY, the unflappable Mrs. Hudson. One Piggy’s Portion = NONE was cute.
DH and I are planning to go see “Lincoln” tonight. With all the good stuff available on NetFlix, we don’t often go out to a movie, but I think this one is worth seeing in the theater.
Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!
Pretty much what you've all said for me. Unknowns were Ocotillo and Reni, but the perps were all solid enough to go with....well, that and the wag of the I in Yip.
Had enough perps to know it had to be Moly Steel at 34A early on, but had the damndest time spelling it. I mis-remembered that there are 3 consonants grouped as BDN, forgetting about the E. Didn't hurt that my sister used to work in a Moly mine in CO. Factoid: The way Moly is extracted is the ore is crushed, then bathed with a soap solution. The Moly clings to the soap bubbles, rises to the top and is skimmed. There's typically also quite a bit of silver extracted in the process, and sometimes even some gold. In the 70's, that was the primary source of silver in the US.
Forgot to mention Empanadas. Our place is a few miles from a smaller town with a very good Mexican Restaurant. They have an empanada there that's worth committing a minor felony to obtain. Rellenos run a close second.
Also, I'll add my opinion of the cluing for Teem and Canal to the gripe pile. Thought those were pretty weak.
But overall, it was a fun romp and did not induce a headache.
Good morning:
A very challenging Saturday offering, Mr. Wilbur, and a fine expo, Splynter. Other than that, what Tinbeni's Thumper said.
Have a great Saturday.
Googled for RENI (got the first name), EMPANADA, NAXOS,OCOTILLO and had to look for TAB. For me, on Saturday, that's good.
At A TIE, I scratched my head. Stupid expression I've never heard of.
I'm always an overtipper. A job I wouldn't want, serving, though Grandpa Fritz did just that on the Kronprinzessin Cecilie. In my first year of college, we all had to.
Love liver, tongue, heart. I lost my gallbladder to such delicacies.
@Splynter - when I was a kid, there were no videos; makes a big difference.
Marti, chopped liver? Yum! I'm with you. My DIL and I love pate and often serve it when we are together. But my favorite is chopped chicken liver. Sometimes I will order this appetizer in a restaurant and make it my whole meal. Here they serve it with sliced raw veggies and crackers. We're eating out tonight. I think I'll have some. I am not good at making it at home.
I never liked calf's liver when I was a kid. Mom cooked it to death. That generation seemed to like all meat and veggies very well done. When I became an adult and tasted it elsewhere I was pleasantly surprised. I only eat it a few times a year. Although I like it, I prefer pate or chopped chicken liver.
I'll cover Buck Owens' version and just for good measure throw in Ringo as a bonus with this fun little video: Act Naturally.
(Warning: Serious strum synching ahead. Prolly lip synched as well)
Hello weekend warriors. Thanks, Splynter for another yoeman task today. You gave us some fun reading.
I agree, WEES, Brad W. provided us with some chewy fill today and I invite all who live in the East to visit AZ for remarkable views of OCOTILLOS and some tasty EMPANADAS though sadly not like my mother made.
She also taught us to eat and enjoy liver and onions. Yum! Yum! Yum!
Through most of this I was on Brad's wave length until the NE but eventually conquered it after some erasing and starting over. At this moment it is TEEMing with rain! We need it desperately. It will make the OCOTILLO and other desert plants bloom beautifully.
POLYBDENUM STEEL rang a bell so I wonder if it was in a commercial some erstwhile time ago.
Great fun, thank you Brad.
JaveMama:
I believe you will greatly enjoy Lincoln. It is well crafted and Daniel Day Lewis is wonderful in the role.
You all have a stupendous Saturday!
Funny sight: a small flock of birds is taking shelter from the rain under my patio cover.
Good morning! I have a question fr. yesterday's discussion: Sfingi, please explain your "wooden books" remark. It went right over my head!
Hey, I almost got a whole Saturday--a total rare treat for me! Thank you, thank you, Brad! And you too, Splynter, for your always helpful write-up.
I got GUIDO but not RENI, because seeing LEAD as related to acting eluded me, and because like others, I had the FIX IS ON rather than IN. But I can't believe I got MOLYBDENUM STEEL with the help of perps! That felt great!
I agree with Dudley and others about TEEM, by the way.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Willow, don't over-think it. Where does paper come from?
MJ - "my fix was oN..." GUIDO RENO would have done me in as well. Janet's relative ?
Desper-otto, "...upper 70s." Do you have to rub it in ?
Husker Gary - you know you are a guy when you are at the new car show, and you look to see where the battery is..just in case you might have to jump the car.
I wonder what CED is going to post for Ms. Moly B Denum ?
Buck Owens and Roy Clark. "I'm a picking, and I'm a grinnin" Hee Haw brings you Kornfield Kounty characters, pokin' fun.
Help! Help! How in the heck is "come down hard" related to "teem"?
Thank you! Now I get it! Still, that's a lot of books to give away! Who did you give them to, Sfingi? I'd pictured something between a kid's wooden puzzle & one of those cloth books they give to babies. That would have been heavy! Still, 1800 books - fairly heavy load!
A few years ago, a young man near here gave away his granddad's collection, which he'd inherited -2 large roomfuls of books, mainly hardbacks & very old, all in foreign (European) languages. I made several trips & came away w. a trunkful each time. They were musty & very dusty. DH made a new bookcase just for my "new" old books. I haven't read them all yet!
tycanceI can't understand the objection to teeming rain, rain that is coming down hard. I frequently read the word in news articles and books. I don't hear it much in everyday conversation, but I do sometimes. We could accept this as a new word. Instead of objecting to it we could let it enrich our vocabulary.
NEWS ITEM:
Red Cross Opens Hurricane Shelters in Greater New York
October 28, 2012
The effects of Hurricane Sandy are expected to be felt in our area as early as tonight, to be followed over the next few days by high winds, teeming rain and the possibility of snow.
xwillow @11:11 ~ After I got my Kindle almost three years ago, I began hearing the others referred to as "dead tree books."
Re: teem
Not at all uncommon to me though I think "teeming" is more common than "teem" and "teeming rain" is somewhat (though not technically) redundant since rain is usually what's teeming (i.e. coming down hard), as in "Man! It's really teeming out there!"
Anyway, I thought Googlefight would substantiate my belief but . . . not so much.
Marti, Linda, all cheeks would be in play.
Lemonade, I didn't get to the auction and won't be going to the game today. Seems my 'caring is sharing' philosophy wasn't appreciated by my wife, to whom I gave whatever I had. So I've been on caretaker duty.
Husker, 'no joy' is also used in the aviation community, predominately among military pilots, to indicate failure to sight another aircraft. Kind of the opposite of 'tally-ho'.
Sfingi, I'm an over-tipper too. 20% standard for good service, and upwards for outstanding service. Having been both a busboy and waiter for a short stretch in my early days, I appreciate the effort involved. Especially down here, where there's so many high-maintenance customers.
Good afternoon folks,
After my first pass through though, I was sitting on five fills, all two or three letters. Roughly 35 minutes later I had finished the South, most of the central & was staring at the North like it was printed in Russian. So, predictably, a big time DNF.
I remember Sergio Mendes from years back. His gal singer at the time was Astrid Gilberto. Not sure the 1st name is right. They did a song called The Gal from Ipanema (or something like that) It was a favorite.
Benny Wright @9:27AM. You wouldn't be the same person who worked in the Test Dept, 3rd shift, at DCC would you? Then retired from Hamilton Sundstrand.
Liver not on any menu here. Was always a Thurs staple in my youth. I remember quite clearly my mom's threats as my plate remained exactly as served.
liver in any form.....YUK, YUK, YUK! Sorry all you liver lovers. Excellent puzzle today and even better write up. Hope I can decipher the capcha whatevers. I am not a robot. Love this blog!
Tiny colonist:ant
Hahahaha--so funny!
I usually hear it "teeming with rain." For those who didn't get "come down hard," the idea of rain is essential to their understaning. Al C, I agree the -ing form is more common. Teeming is frequently used in other contexts. NYC is teeming with people at Christmas time. The rain forest is teeming with insects. My head is teeming with thoughts that keep me awake.
WooHoo! I finally finished a Saturday Stumper,,, & in pen!!!
But not without help, that NE corner was driving me nuts because i put MickeyEars & come down hard = "slam". So i asked my daughter to help, (no help there,,,) but it intrigued her enough to go search for answers. I did not know it at 1st, but she looked up the Blog, & was teasing me with hints. I didn't catch on until 5A way to enter. I asked her for help, & she said "think electronic", (Don't tell me i cheated,,,, "SHE" cheated...)
Anyway, Orioles was a learning experience, I always thought they were Weaver Birds
& i had never seen a triple play, (until today!)
Good Mornin, fellow puzzlers.
In my early working career, I worked in a metallurgical Laboratory analyzing steels. Most structural steels contain small amounts of Chromium and Molybdenum (about 1% if the first & 0.2 of the later.
$49 for a pair of tighty-whities???!!
LaLa, Thanx 4 gr8 explaination of "wooden"/"dead tree" books! LaLaLaugh Out Loud!
Good Saturday Everyone!
DNF today (thank you NE corner!)
Enjoyed the baseball clues, as usual. Thank you CED for the clip of the Dodgers grounding into a triple play! Unfortunately I won't be attending Spring Training this year due to work obligations....
My cousin and I saw Annette Funicello in a Basque restaurant in Bakersfield CA once - she was in a wheelchair (she suffers from multiple sclerosis). No, we did not have liver, but the boiled tongue and ox tail soup were delicious!
Molybdenum was certainly not a gimme, but it was not an unknown, since it was used in bicycle frames for years before the carbon fiber craze….
Scott Joplin tunes were running through by head as I entered The Fix Is In….
Hello everybody. What a fabulous puzzle today! Took lots of thinking, taking my time, walking away to do other things then coming back to it, and just plain epiphanies. As Mr. Smirnoff might say, "Wot a process!"
Unfortunately, I finished it wrong: had RENTED for 13D, and never did figure out what an ACCESS CORE is. I sure coulda used a V8!
I'll add to the gripe bin my feelings about how CANAL and TEEM were clued. However, I loved the NIAGARA clue!
Wanted HIGH CARBON STEEL for the knife material, and took a long time to sort that out. Finally got _OLY and therefore wanted POLY-something, which was still not right. Sheesh! Molybdenum is such a great word!
I honestly don't know where the 12-volt battery is in my Camry hybrid; I think it's either under the back seat somewhere or down in the trunk where the spare tire and jack are located. Hope I never need a jump!
OK. Not the hardest for a Saturday puzzle. I had to look up types of steel, as who has ever heard of MOLYBDENUM unless they have been making knives?
Even so, I got caught on DENTED. I had RENTED, although that didn't make sense of ACCESS CORE. Getting sloppy, Kf!
I agree EMPANADA sounds like a city near San Diego, or the opening lyric to a Sergio Mendes song.
I confess I do like pâté, and chicken liver is pretty good if cooked very lightly. Mom forever SOURed us on beef or calf liver by invariably over-cooking it. For the same reason I thought I would never again like salmon; I am grateful to have overcome that attitude!
Ever been at a party where someone continues to make the same point over and over? So annoying.
Interesting comments today.While others had difficulties, I absolutely sailed through this in record time. OCOTILLO was a gimme, as I live in AZ. MOLYBDENUM STEEL was a gimme, as I am an auto mechanic. (have to admit that I never knew how to pronounce it until today, tho. It is TEEMing rain today. Only issue encountered was 44D. In my paper, the clue just looks like ERSTWHILE. I condfidently put NEE in. Well, this screwed up the whole SE. After rereading the clue, I got AEC, CANAL, etc. Never heard of EMPANADA. All this week-easy solves except for one area.
Hand up for the same access core/rented boo-boo, as Jayce and Keith F.
My mother was a very good cook but over- cooked most meats and ALL vegetables. God rest her soul, but what she did to asparagus was near-criminal.
For those of you that have never tried (or heard of) an empanada, I'd heartily encourage you to give it a go. We've talked about Cornish pasties on this thread, and pot pie showed up yesterday. An empanada is sort of a cross between the two,but it's deep fried. Not for the calorie conscious, but they are a slice of heaven.
And for those of you that disdain liver.......PHHHHBBLLLT!! :-)
Hi there. I've never used teem to refer to rain; more like, "The rain forest was teeming with critters." I also didn't care for CANAL as a navigation aid. But, it's Saturday, so OK.
I would love to go with Lucina for empanadas and chili rellenos; and to enjoy liver, onions and bacon with anybody here who's up for it. Years ago, Barbara and I went with another couple to a swanky restaurant. I ordered sweetbreads. Delicious! I've never had them since.
I thought you might enjoy this slide show from MSNBC. Look-alikes but not twins.
Mission Impossible for me today. I don't know about newlyweds, but my mind was definitely misty. Thanks to Splynter for making some sense of it.
I got the NW block and thought I was in for a speed run. Nope, I ended up with more white squares than filled. I plugged in 18A CondensING. Was cooking it, I guess. Then Crete fit in nicely for the isle.
However, I did get OCOTILLO & MOLYBDENUM. The MOLY came because my husband once sold engines with MOLY coating on the pistons which had to be broken in differently. I was home with a broken vertebrae and handled the phone. I can spell it, but I can't for the life of me SAY it. Bad tongue tangler!
All this talk about liver has given me a hankering for some good ol' liver & onions. I think the reason our mothers over-cooked liver is to get rid of liver flukes or some such nasty parasite.
PK, broken vertebrae? Not a club one wants to belong to. Unfortunately, I'm a member. But still ambulatory, so that's a positive aspect.
Greetings!
Nice Sat. offering, Brad! Swell write-up, Splynter!
Seemed like puzzle was going to be relatively easy, as I had NANNY CAM and OCOTILLO early on. (Super picture of the latter, Splynter!) Many, many years ago I liberated a small OCOTILLO from the desert. They we so plentiful and I was pretty stupid. Unfortunately, it was not happy here.
Was happy that I spelled MOLYBDENUM correctly on first try. Got stuck in the NE corner. So a DNF (red letters needed). Never heard of this sense for TEEM.
Have had TONs of rain here lately. Not so welcome after the frost damage.
Cheers!
I just went to see Les Miserables and lunch afterward with a friend. The movie is a visual smorgasbord! Also divine singing, well maybe not Russel Crowe but he should have E for effort.
Is Escondido the city near San Diego some of you are referring to with EMPANADA? And BTW, they can be filled with tasty meat or fruit.
BillG:
I think you would have enjoyed our lunch at a Bistro near the theater. We each had a paninni sandwich with ham and brie. Excellent!
Another example of our wacky winter weather: Tonight's low is going to be 5 degrees; Wednesday's high is going to be 50!
Spitz, your alma mater's hockey team is playing against Union tonight in the first Mayor's Cup game, at the TU Center in Albany. They are 0-7 against Union in recent match- ups, so I hope they can win this one. (I am not even a hockey fan.)
Does anybody want to feel old? (rhetorical question...I'm guessing we all do). I'm listening to Pandora and they've played a few tunes from The Traveling Willburey's on my chosen station.
The point being, as I listened to Last Night I was struck by the fact that it's been nearly 25 years since this was recorded. Sheesh!!
I'm getting old. Don't know about the rest of you.
Hi everyone. DNF for me. I knew it was N_XOS, but couldn't figure out Lead - ST??, and didn't know RENI. Not bad for me for a Saturday, though. :)
Not a liver lover (remember that I Love Lucy episode where they were putting on a play "Are you my liver? No, Ricky, it's lover!") But I did like the grilled onions and bacon that my Mom would fix along with it.
Ohhhhh empanadas. We have a Mexican bakery about 4 doors down from my office. THE BEST PUMPKIN EMPANADAS EVER!! 8am, hot out of the oven and only 50 cents a piece....heavenly.
Drizzly here today. Sharks just beat Colorado. YAY! Chicago tied in the 1st. This report is for you EddieB. I want to make sure he's in the loop. RIP
Hasta la pasta.
Someone please tell me what the purple clue with one yellow letter means ?
Irish Miss - Thanks for the heads up.
re: TEEMing rain clue. For 'come down hard' I think of it more like raining 'pitchforks and hammer handles'
or 'like a cow standing over a flat rock'.
Fodel: I think that's just the last highlighted word where the blogger (Splynter) stopped and the 'F' is the last letter his cursor was on. If not, I'm sure he can correct me.
Lucina, I would love to have lunch with you.
I just had a video chat with my daughter on my wife's iPhone. Cool! She and my son are in Cancun, Mexico. Tim got the trip though his job and Bonnie tagged along. Jordan is hanging out with us. I am wasting time alternately watching the Lakers and Cash Cab.
Re: Fodel
You were close on the exlanation, Bill, except it was C.C. that provided the grid. The reason for the highlight stays the same.
Just reading the day's posts, and having seen Yellowrocks' remarks at 10:45 and 11:13, I now get the connection between Teem and its clue. There were some online dictionary references to teeming rain as well. I hafta recant my earlier complaint thereunto appertaining. Thanks for turning on the light, YR!
You still can't make me like liver, though.
Make that 11:45 and 12:19 for the above. Got 'fused.
I was just informed my dear friend, Carol, who was in home hospice for the past week has died. She had cancer and was also taking dialysis. I was allowed to visit briefly last Sunday to say goodbye to her. Now she is at peace and free from pain. We served together as officers in the square dance club for many years and became good friends.
Yellowrocks:
I am so sorry about your friend. It hurts as much as for kinfolk to lose friends we have known for years. I'll say prayers for her peaceful transition.
BillG:
I forgot about the aioli (xword staple) which is the main reason I mentioned it and it was delicious. Besides your lunches always make me wish I could join you and Barbara.
I don't know why liver has such a bad rap. If sauted lightly with onions it is a real delicacy.
This was pretty much a fun speed run for me too, with a few exceptions. I figured the knives were STEEL, but I've never heard of that type, so it came slowly through the perps. Same with GUIDO. I do tend to OVERTIP, though. And when I saw TAMPED, I thought of pipe smokers. A co-worker always brings EMPANADAs for pot lucks and bake sales. They are high in demand!
I liked seeing the clue with my name crossing the clue with Gremlin in it. My first car was a light green Gremlin and I loved it! I agree that they were very under appreciated. It wasn't DENTED, but it was held together with a lot of putty, that's to all the rust from the Pittsburgh road salt in the winter.
My next trip to Disney, I need to get a pair of MOUSEEARS. It would be so fun to have ones that Annette Funicello wore! I saw her and Frankie in a concert at the Swap Shop a several years ago. They put on a good show, but I didn't get to meet them.
Yellowrocks, I'm sorry about the loss of your friend, Carol. I bet you've got a lot of great memories of fun times shared!
Dennis, I'm sorry you didn't make the auction or game. I was disappointed I didn't get to see Lemonade there, either. It was a BEAUTIFUL day for the game, and I enjoyed watching the kids (young and old!) get so excited to meet the players. And C.C., I did get some photos of John "Blue Moon" ODOM on the field! I will remember that name now for future puzzles.
So many Gremlins finished out their days as a dirt track racer, thy even made model cars of them. Pic.
YR, I'm sure sorry about your friend. Between relatives and friends, the Corner is going through a sad spell.
Lucina, I don't know if I've ever had aioli, or maybe I've had it and didn't know what it was called. It sounds like something I would like.
YR-So sorry for the loss of your friend. The only thing that can soothe us on the loss of a loved one is that their suffering is over.
YR, so sorry about your friend.
Splynter and C.C., thank you for the write up today. This puzzle took me a long time too. I also had Crete. Is it not considered one of the Cyclades? I had a Rambler station wagon as my first car. My mother's parents always drove AMC products. Thanks for the link to the picture of the Hornet. I didn't realize that they made a 4-door.
Dennis, hope your wife feels better soon. My best friend has been ill for weeks with the flu. Everytime she thinks she has recovered she relapses.
Have a good night all.
Michelle, we were an AMC family too. I recall a Rambler, a blue/white Hornet, a sky blue Pacer, an orange Matador, and a brick red Eagle wagon, in addition to my Gremlin.
Whew! busy day, i did not get to post 1/2 of the silly stuff i wanted to. Like the soap bubble commercial for 4D "loofah."
TTP, I never did get to Ms Molly B Denum,,,, i was too busy trying to stretch "stainlessssteel" in that spot! Just saw a how it's made show on silverware that says the knife handles are hollow, & filled with cement for weight???
Marti, your 7:31 Beatles link was awesome, but i started sidelinking & never came back! (I.E.: 10 underrated beatle songs/10 great beatle drum solos...:)
My daughter showed me something new! frost flowers.
Now i want a fox.
HG @ 9:38 Fried Food!!! Never Never Never play guitar & eat fried food! (it makes the pick so slippery, you can never hold on to it!) On the other hand, it does help make for some lightning fast leads...
CED: No, you don't want a fox. They will kill and eat your cats. They are never really tamed.
My dad bought a mauve Rambler when I was in HS. Loved that car. He was such a crusty old so & so--never would have told me so, but I think he bought that color because he knew I loved anything pink. It didn't occur to me until recently.
My brother went off to college with a Gremlin, which he thought was the spiffiest car on wheels. Everybody teased him mercilessly about it, and he
couldn't understand why.
Bill,
Thanks!
Very sound advice.
Always the educator!
AvgJoe: Jan 2, 1995. Third lumbar vertebrae compression fracture from fall on black ice. Didn't show up on X-rays until the white new bone filled in months later. A half-moon chunk of bone on the inside of the column just was not there. I'm very fortunate to be walking. The remaining vertebrae slanted forward and I told my chicropractor nephew he had to do something about that "knot back there that's killing me". Fortunately, he knew what he was doing (or lucked out) and put it back into alignment. AAAH!
YR, sorry about your friend.
Correction:
Loofah was 41D
PK,,, YOU MADE ME POST IT!!!
(Sorry, i am a hopeless optimist.)
For CED :-)
Oh dear, Yellowrocks, how sad to hear about the loss of your friend. I'm so glad you were able to say goodbye to her. I think that brings peace.
For Manac,
Terribly sorry,
Let me apologize in the only way i know how...
CED
LMFAO
Dan
CED & Manac: Cats never apologize, they just say "i MEANT to do that!"
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