Theme: Pyramid Power
18A. Instruction for this puzzle : JOIN THE VEES. It will help tremendously if you know what a 60-Across looks like.
39A. Small, numbered 60-Acrosses : FOUR SIDED DICE. Duh, I was trying to draw a cube by connecting the VEES. It did not end well...
60A. What you'll draw in this grid if you 18-Across with six straight lines : TETRAHEDRON. Like this:
I believe this is Mike Buckley's LAT debut, although he had had several puzzles published elsewhere. This one is just missing a "Q" for a pangram. Marti here, to explore the rest:
Across:
1. Former "Idol" judge, to fans : J-LO. Jennifer Lopez.
4. Head of Slytherin House, in Potter books : SNAPE. Nailed it. Loved the books!
9. "The Hobbit" dragon : SMAUG. Oh dear, what does it say about me when I nailed this one, too? He was slain, and never made it to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
14. Rower's tool : OAR.
15. Fax ancestor : TELEX. Ancestor? Ancestor??? I used to telex to European customers all the time when I first started in biotech. Gawd...I am ancient!!
16. Gdansk dance : POLKA. Nice alliteration in the clue.
17. A, in Acapulco : UNA.
20. Food fish : SALMON.
22. Iris family flowers : CROCI. Only a few more weeks before they start poking their heads out of the ground up here in New England!
23. Leg bone : TIBIA.
24. Inamorato : BEAU.
25. Goes out to sea : EBBS.
29. Bygone dagger : SNEE.
31. Coke competitor : RC COLA.
33. "Really?" responses : OHS.
35. Spanish custard : FLAN. Goya has a package mix that keeps me coming back for more.
38. Curved : ARCED.
42. Five-0 detective, familiarly : DANNO. "Book 'em, Danno!" And 41-Down. Daniel ___ Kim: "Hawaii Five-0" actor : DAE. The original 68-80 TV show had an "O" instead of the "0" in the re-make series.
43. Poet Pound : EZRA.
44. Bill's adventurous partner : TED. "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Metalheads slackers. 1:54
45. Swellhead : EGOIST.
47. Caesar's "I came" : VENI. vidi, vici.
49. "Jeopardy!" creator Griffin : MERV.
50. See from afar : ESPY.
53. Set of eight : OCTAD. I waited for the perps before deciding between OCTAD or OCTet.
57. ___ Sketch: toy : ETCH A. The French-born inventor, Andre Cassagnes, died on January 16 at the age of 86. Did you ever do this with your Etch A Sketch?
59. Pretender : POSEUR. Love that word!
64. ___ Lanka : SRI.
65. Reprimander's slapping spot? : WRIST.
66. Guitarist Eddy : DUANE. I always remember this one. 4:20
67. Actress Ullmann : LIV.
68. Caravan stopovers : OASES. How about a little "Midnight at the Oasis"? 4:00
69. Lustful deity : SATYR.
70. High card : ACE.
Down:
1. Knight game : JOUST. How many of you put "chess" first? (Hand up here.)
2. Hawaii's Pineapple Island : LANAI.
3. Dental brand : ORAL-B. Did you know that the "B" stands for "brush?"
4. Title of a G.B. Shaw play : ST. JOAN.
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5. Broadway light : NEON.
6. Baba who outwitted thieves : ALI.
7. Shilling's five : PENCE.
8. Soldier in a war film, e.g. : EXTRA.
9. What freelancers may work on? : SPEC.ification
10. Star givers, often : MOVIE CRITICS.
11. Stout relative : ALE.
12. "My dog has fleas" instrument : UKE. Marilyn played it so well...
13. ___ guzzler : GAS.
19. Appointment time : HOUR.
21. International contest with a cosmic name : MISS UNIVERSE. Last year's winner was from Rhode Island, Miss Olivia Culpo. Beautiful!
24. Prove otherwise : BELIE.
26. Italian bowling game : BOCCE.
27. Run, as colors : BLEED.
28. Like Eeyore : SAD.
30. Pair in Banff? : EFS. Did the clue fool you?
32. Bounder : CAD.
33. Old enough : OF AGE.
34. ___ among thieves : HONOR.
36. Wood carver : ADZ. (Because "Geppetto" wouldn't fit...)
37. Brazen : NERVY.
40. Children's author Asquith : ROS. I only know her from x-words.
42. BHO, but not GWB : DEM. Barack Hussein Obama, but not George Walker Bush.
46. MIT's newspaper, with "The" : TECH.
48. Tryst at twelve : NOONER. Maybe they are married?
51. Gets rid of : SHEDS.
52. St. Anthony's home : PADUA.
54. Magnetic induction unit : TESLA.
55. Apt first name of Fleming's Goldfinger : AURIC. Au is the chemical symbol of gold.
56. Automatic transmission gear : DRIVE.
58. Skin pictures, briefly : TATS (Tattoos)
59. Doodle's ride : PONY. Yankee Doodle, that is.
60. Not quite a crowd, so they say : TWO. "Two's company, three's a crowd."
61. Swing or jazz follower : ERA. I tried to fit "bumpa," but no (six-sided) dice.
62. "Tain't" rebuttal : TIS. Also, a great memoir by Frank McCourt. Anyone read it?
63. Squealer : RAT.
That's all for now. I have been visiting my BFF of almost 50 years in Florida, and will be back in cold, icy New England this afternoon, where a big Nor'easter is predicted for Friday. Brrrr!
Hugs,
Marti
Notes from C.C.:
Here is a lovely picture of dear Marti with a manatee two days ago. Don't you just love her hair?
Love the hair here too.
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| Marti & Husband (Crimson Tide) |
95 comments:
Morning, all!
I'm guessing the constructor is fan of Dungeons & Dragons (where else would you find four-sided dice?).
I was speeding through this one like nobody's business, wondering why we even needed "instructions" at 18A, but then I hit a wall at 39A due to the cross-referential clue. Plus, I had no idea who ROS Asquith was (although I now vaguely remember seeing the name in puzzles before). But once I skipped over that section, the rest of the puzzle ended up being as easy as the first part, and once I got the theme reveal at 60A I was able to quickly go back and finish. Fortunately, I used to be a big D&D player in my ill-spent youth...
Let's see... osgiste?
Good Morning, Marti and friends. Loved your commentary, Marti and some great photos.
Not being a fan of either Harry Potter (GASP!) or The Hobbit, I had to rely on the perps for those answers.
I think of Peter Gunn and DUANE Eddy.
I learned that a Swellhead is not a Big Ego, but an EGOIST.
In honor of 27-D, here is today's QOD: They tend to come out in a colour called "Pants left in wash." ~ Eddie Izzard (Feb. 7, 1962)
This puzzle was a quick romp, although I needed all perps for three answers, DAE, SNAPE and SMAUG. I’m not a fan of The Hobbit or Harry Potter. I loved the theme. It was fun that the V’s were at the Vertices of the tetrahedron. At first I thought of drawing a cube, but FOUR SIDED DICE reminded me that the TETRA part stood for 4 faces, not six.
-We enjoy broiled salmon with miso ginger sauce.
-Ghost Riders in the Sky reminded me that we made goggles by circling our thumbs and index fingers and turning them upside down over our eyes. Did you?
-I thought McCourt’s Tis and Angela’s Ashes were excellent .
Marti welcome back, nice pics but we are not allowed to play with the manatee.
These visual puzzles are always a challenge for me. They did the new Hobbit movie,anyone see it?
Any puzzle with poseur,egoist and state must be trying to tell us something.
We also have a shout out to our Hawaii group with Lanai and like.
Welcome Mike B.
Be safe in the storm all
I was off to an inauspicious start after drawing a blank for the top row but perps eventually came to the rescue. SNEE and EFS were the last to drop (I kept think that "Banff" had something to do with skiing). I have to say I'm blown away by the tetrahedron formed by connecting the Vs. I never would have seen that in a million years. [10:34]
I first read / saw GB Shaw's St. Joan when I was in high school. I loved it.
We probably had two or three Etch-a-Sketches in our house when we were growing up.
I loved the Maria Muldaur piece. Thanks for including it in your commentary, Marti.
I got my summons for jury duty yesterday. I have to appear in less than 2 weeks.
Sure happy it's Thursday!
Good morning, Group! This was a nice romp, though I had trouble parsing JOINT HEVEES. Looked at that for a while before moving on. I still didn't get it until I saw Marti's drawing (or was it C.C.'s) on the grid.
Actually my first thought was JOUST. Then I thought, "What 3-letter answer could possible start with a J?", so I wrote CHESS. Don't over-think it, D-O.
When I hear the name Duane Eddy, the only song that comes to mind was his first hit, Rebel Rouser. I'll show mercy and not link it.
Hahtoolah, with your law degree, there's no way you're going to wind up on a jury. You'll be stricken immediately.
I almost got into trouble on one jury "adventure." I was part of a 30-person panel, and we were sent to the courtroom at 10 AM. There was some type of argument going on, so we were to wait outside the courtroom. At 10:45 the court broke for lunch, and the 30 of us were still left standing in the hallway with nowhere to sit. At 11:35 a juror next to me commented, "This is ridiculous!". I responded, "It's only going to be ridiculous for 10 more minutes." At 11:45 I left and went back to work. I'm not sure how things worked out, but I never heard any more about it.
Good morning everyone,
This sure as Hell was no romp for me today. I got through it (very) slowly, and it eventually came down to two wags to polish it off.
Never heard of FOUR SIDED DICE. but nothing else came to mind and the perps looked good.
TETRAHEDRON ??? is a new word, and likely to be soon forgotten. My wags were the A for TATS & H for TECH. The Tech I was confident about but I thought TITS would be more appropriate for 58D. I went with the A because I knew TETRA was a word form and I never recalled TETRI anything.
POSEUR & DUANE were filled entirely by perps.
TELEX bothered me a bit, because it never compared to a Fax. Telex was only messaging (as I recall) and a Fax has so much more capability.
Asked my DH if a NOONER was in the cards today. Won't bore you with her reply.
Marti, thanks for taking the time to do the write up when you are on R & R.
That's it for today. Have to start buttoning down for the weekend blizzard. One of these days I'm going to get off my butt and spring for a generator.
Hello Puzzlers -
Zoomed right through, nary a speed bump. Unusual theme today, and darned clever if you ask me! Must have been tricky to construct.
Smaug is an old friend, but even so, I haven't been to see the new Hobbit movie. Snape is a hard character to figure out; I'm glad Alan Rickman was cast in that role, he's a good fit. Never played Dungeons & Dragons, so I didn't know they used tetrahedral dice.
Morning, Marti! Yes, we made goggles that way, or binoculars if the moment required them. With a little more effort, we did the "Junior Birdmen" gesture - it takes practice to get your spare fingers to come out right. Here's a sample.
Oh, and Marti, the manatee picture is nice and all that, but does it signal to us that you're out of town - and missing the storm of the year? That is SO NOT FAIR.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Mike Buckley, for an interesting puzzle. Thank you, marti, for the swell review.
This puzzle had some straight-forward stuff and some odd stuff (at least for me).
Got started with a few gimmies like,ALI, TELEX, POLKA, GAS UKE, ALE, and NEON. Then bounced around.
Took me forever to get the theme answers. My first was TETRAHEDRON, with some perps. Finally got enough crosswords to get the other two themes. Not sure I have ever heard of FOUR SIDED DICE. I am sure they are used in some game. The drawing that Marti provided cleared it up.
VENI was easy. I always enjoy Latin stuff. Not french.
My Italian brother-in-law has a BOCCE game.
Never read a Harry Potter book or a The Hobbit. I was kind of stuck on those. I really enjoy reading, just never got into those types of books. I like mysteries and adventures.
Thought NOONER was clever. Probably a lot of truth in that in some circles.
Very good puzzle. Thank you, Mike.
See you tomorrow in Virginia, or on the way.
Abejo
Yellowrocks - I just re-read the posts and realized the "goggles" started with you, not Marti. Oops! Anyway, we too enjoy broiled salmon with miso ginger sauce. There is a vegetarian restaurant nearby that serves it. If you find yourself in W. Mass, let's plan a stop there. Yum!
I liked Frank McCourt's "Tis", but while reading it I couldn't shake the feeling that the church was more of a hindrance than a help in that time and place.
Ah, the Etch-a-Sketch! What a terrific toy. We never quite managed the Mona Lisa with ours, though. Note: do NOT allow your mean older brother to break open your Etch-a-Sketch. It's very messy.
Thank you Mike Buckley for a very interesting puzzle. After yesterday, I was all set to throw the paper away - glad I didn't. I was not too excited until I got 'tetrahedron' - that was a thunderbolt of caffeine !
Now that's a 'figure' I can relate to, very well ....
I solved the CW but could NEVER have got the drawing, without the blog mistresses help.
Marti, not only are you witty, beautiful and fun, but you are a celebrity. I looked at the pic with the manatee - I can see the T-shirt, but the man's head seems to be missing.... ( not that it matters, I was looking at you anyway...). Lovely DH in the second pic.
I had a tough time with the puzzle. This is the farthest reach of my CIQ. What is a Snape, Smaug, Ros and what the h*** is a BHO ? - some sort of 'other' bacon sandwich ?
My very first puzzle, at age 7, that I got, was 2 pieces of plastic that when rotated correctly, formed a tetrahedron. It took me 5 days of casual fiddling to get the answer. About 5 years ago, I got a Gross of these 2 piece puzzles for $ 500, and gave them away, as a gift, to every friend I met. Now, five years later, I am the only person who still has the puzzle pieces. ( They all threw them away.)
Never gift a person, something that YOU would love to have yourself ....
Gift them something, THEY would love to have themselves ....
(Remember, its not about you, its about them .... )
PS. A 4 sided pyramid, with triangular bases, is a Tetrahedron. A 5 sided pyramid with a square base is a 'square' pyramid. Then pentagonal, hexagonal etc. A Tetrahedron can be bifurcated, infinitely.
Good morning everybody. I had so many write overs that I'm going to give myself a DNF. I had MOVIE RATERS instead of CRITICS and that sort of messed up my whole Eastern Seaboard.
Speaking of which, I understand the NE is supposed to get it really bad. How many inches of snow are they predicting in your areas? My bosses are all scheduled to fly to Albany next week.
Lemonade, I did see The Hobbit. I felt like I was watching the first Lord of the Rings movie all over again, but with some different characters.
Abejo: Glad to see we have another book lover here. I suspect there are many. We could start an online book club :)
Be safe everybody, and have a nice day.
Dudley at 0740 - A vegetarian restaurant that serves broiled salmon ? What do they make it out of - milk casein or tofu ? (lol)
Frank McCourts 'Tis' and 'Angelas ashes' are great books and the latter won the Pulitzer. But they are so depressing. Never a happy item or moment. Is that a major genre in Irish stories.
Anon 8:07 - Good point. I don't claim to understand all the types of vegetarians and/or vegans that exist. This particular restaurant serves only fish and shellfish along with vegetables; the owners themselves call it a vegetarian place. The food's really good!
Speaking of Croci - for about a month now, I've had shoots growing from my daffodils. They're located along a south-facing masonry wall, and so must be a little warmer. They survived the recent below zero temperatures somehow.
ANON @ 8:16Am
Try THe Irish Country Series by Patrick Taylor. The protagonists are a couple of small town doctors practicing in a small village in Northern Ireland. It's a easy, lighthearted read with lots of humorous scenes. It takes place in the '60's.
As an added bonus, at the end of each book, there are a few Irish recipes and you might want to chance one or two.
Fun cluing and a dot to dot (all right, V to V) puzzle was a hoot. Throw in Marti’s write-up as she girds her loins for Snowmageddon (an abrupt change from those fun pix) and it’s all good!
Musings
-SNAPE and SNAUG have never darkened my literary doorstep. Payback for sports and space knowledge?
-You ever feel like you’ve got an OAR on only one side of the boat?
-We are narrowing down the options for POLKA music Joann’s Czech mother wants at her funeral
-It seemed that every meal we ate in Italy offered veal, chicken or SALMON
-I wish I could cure the shin splints that occur around my TIBIA when I walk a long distance
-It was all bottled PEPSI or fountain Coke in my group growing up, no RC
-Young basketball players usually shoot poorly because their shots are flat and not ARCED
-I do remember Bill and Ted bringing back SOH’ CRAYTES from ancient Greece. Otherwise…
-Truly great athletes are EGOISTS and not POSEURS
-The same drug offense can get you hard time or a SLAP ON THE WRIST depending on who you are/hire
-Another great instrumental from my ‘ute! DUANE’s Rebel Rouser was a staple of all our dances
-They say those NEON lights are bright on Broadway!
-EXTRA’s are also villagers and spear carriers
-MOVIE CRITICS hated Stallone’s new Bullet to the Head movie and it had the worst opening gross for all of his movies. Does America need more of this?
-That NOONER might be at the No Tell Motel!
-He blew up his car when he shifted from D for DRIVE to R for Race.
-Dudley, I was a Junior Birdman too!
Anon @ 8:16 am: The most depressing book I ever read was The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.
Marti: Nice write-up, links and current pic with the Manatee.
Glad to hear you visited your BFF. Hope you enjoyed our "cold" Tampa Bay weather.
Mike: Thank you for a FUN Thursday. The "V" TETRAHEDRON was very adroit.
Needed every "perp" to get SNAPE, SMAUG, ROS & DAE. (**it happens! you either know them or you don't!)
My responses to "Really?" would probably be YES! (Yup, needed the "perps" to get OHS).
Think I'll check my broken clock ...
Cheers !!!
Dudley, unfortunately, I will be home today, just in time to shovel 2-3 feet of snow tomorrow. They are predicting that this storm may be as bad (or worse) than the "Blizzard of '78." Remember that one?? UGGGHHHH!!!
Tinbeni, "cold" Tampa Bay weather? It was in the mid to upper seventies all week, with cool nights - perfect for getting a nice restful sleep. Loved it!!
My condolences to those in the eye of the upcoming blizzard. We in NE Ohio have had a couple already, but are supposed to be spared the forthcoming one.
I had to print out the puzzle from my computer to draw the tetrahedron. Technically,it is a flattened one, since the center point should be in the air.
I stared at BHO and GWB for a while before I got it. I don't think BHO will catch on like LBJ or FDR.
If you get snowed in with nothing to do, I suggest downloading an ebook unabridged translation of Les Miserables. It is huge! I have been sloshing through it since I saw the movie. But the good parts are sooo good that you forgive Hugo his essays which interupt the plot.
Mari: the most depressing book I ever read was A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. It is set in Mumbai, India in the mid 1970s. Right when you think things can't get worse, they do. Still, I would highly recommend this book. The author is a wonderful writer.
Virginia Sycamore: Les Miserables is one of my favorite books. I read it about once a decade.
Good Morning All - A DNF for me today, but I was close. Thanks Mike - enjoyed it even though it was a toughie for me. I find I am retaining some standards which makes these hard ones a little easier. Marti thanks for great explanation! Clever V connection. We have same type of painted dolphins and turtles in Venice - recent (last year) additions to downtown.
Not into The Hobbit or Harry Potter and couldn't get them with the perps so had to look them up to help.
I was reading 11A as JOINTsomething. Then came up with JOIN TEEPEES lol (well they are triangles - sort of), Didn't get it until reading Marti's comments.
Inamorato was an unknown.
Must remember Poser AND POSEUR.
I did get TETRAHEDRON filling in a few letters after perps had some of it.
Tried to put in ARCHED, never thought about ARCED :(
Got the pair of ff's right away in 30A.
For 28D I started with ASS then changed to SHY. SAD would have helped with RCCOLA and ARCED if I had thought of it.
Loved Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure - A first look at Keanu Reeves - for me anyway.
Dennis - Loved 'One Rough Man'. Will look for more by Brad Taylor. Thanks for the suggestion.
My family in NYS aren't going to get hit to bad - 6 to 12" at 1" an hour. But my brother and sister live in NE and their forecast is 29".
Car is being worked on today, so guess maybe a bike ride is in order.
Have a great Thursday everyone.
Good morning:
For some reason, this was the easiest Friday puzzle I have done in ages. Even though I was unfamiliar with Snape and Smaug and some other fill, the perps made it easy. Thanks, Mike, for a fun Friday, and thanks to our lovely Marti for her fine expo. Sorry you have to return to face the storm, Marti, but we're all in this together! Great pictures.
Mari @ 7:57 - The last weather report I heard was calling for double digit snowfall amounts, but by Monday, I would think roads/airport would be in good shape. The storm is coming Friday through part of Saturday.
Happy Thursday. Stay safe everyone.
So, Irish Miss, is today Thursday or Friday? :)
-Catching up from last night, TTP, thanks for the Moravian chicken pie recipe. It looks delicious.
-Dudley, I have never had broiled salmon with miso ginger sauce in a restaurant. I would love to try yours if I am ever in W. Mass. If you are ever in N. Jersey, you can try mine at Chez Yellowrocks.
-Ever year I was delighted to see my croci popping up through the snow. Two years ago the dang chipmunks tunneled under the plants, eating the bulbs, and leaving the plants themselves still standing. Alas!
-Although McCourt’s books were sad, being a history buff, I ate up learning about that period in Ireland. I'll have to try the Patrick Taylor series. Besides the bathos of many Irish stories (It was a difficult life.) there is also the wonderful Irish sense of humor.
-Again from last night, my Carbon Monoxide alarm was chirping intermittently as others said about theirs. I replaced the batteries twice over a week or two and it still continued to chirp. Although the test button works, I suspect the alarm is defective because it fell down. I vaguely remember that a green light used to flash every now and then to confirm it was working.
Irish Miss, this was the easiest Friday puzzle you've done in ages because it is a Thursday puzzle. Time flies when you're having fun.
Anon @9:50
Are you an Asshole on Thursday or Everyday? :)
POO @ 9:54
It was a joke. She mentioned both Thursday and Friday in her post. Get it? Lighten up! I even put in the obligatory :), so smile!
AnnieB8491, we just ate at Sharkey's in Venice last night! Grilled local grouper - yum! We had a table right on the beach, and watched the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful! I envy anyone who lives in that area, including my BFF - but she worked hard all her life, and truly deserves her retirement.
Carbon Monoxide and smoke detectors chirp because of number of reasons, low batteries, high static electricity, due to low humidity, in the air, excessive dust in the basement or the conduits,which act like smoke particles and smog, which 'upset or set off' the radioactive cesium in the detector in many smoke detectors, and also the possibility that the smoke detector itself may be old, (over 10 years old) and on the blink. Of course you may really have a buildup of CO near the furnace because of inefficient burning or lack of fresh air from inlet manifold clogging or poor functional fan drive, or a hole in the exhaust gas-manifold conduit which recirculates part of the poisoned air back into the house.
Many things I did not know - mostly youth-oriented: SMAUG, JLO (in ref. to Idol), SNAPE, DANNO (didn't like the old one, haven't watched the new one), LANAI (should know by now), ROS (looked up images. My sister collects children's books with lovely illustrations, not ugly ones). Still don't know BHO or GWB (George Washington Bridge?)
Actually Google DANNO, ROS, LANAI.
Had Five before FOUR, fat before ALE, cRest before ORALB, Wanted Klieg before NEON. How old am I?
Poseur reminded me of a word I recently learned - "frotteur."
Hi Everyone ~~
I wasn't sure what kind of theme the clues were leading to but was able to figure it out after getting JOIN THE VEES. I drew the TETRAHEDRON with four sides but couldn't quite get the other two. Thanks, Marti for explaining it all in a wonderful write-up. I'll bet you're delighted to be returning to our expected blizzard. ;-) As bad or worse than '78? Yikes!
~ Like others have mentioned, SNAPE and SMAUG were all perps.
~ I was hung up for a bit at 8D - 'Soldier in a war film' - EXTRA. I was thinking of some type of war hero.
~ I filled in NEON at 5D and immediately the song "On Broadway" was in my head ... as mentioned by Husker Gary.
~ My first thought for DUANE Eddy was "Because They're Young" - very early 60s, I think.
~ I guess I should prepare in some way for tomorrow's storm - not sure what more there is to do than charge all the various devices. Power outages are expected. So I guess we will just "hunker down" - as they always say!
VirginiaSycamore@9:33- "Technically, it is a flattened one, since the center point should be in the air."
In the air? It's just a representation of a tetrahedron, not an actual one. Or am I missing something.
Marti - This is our 3rd year here (seasonally). We came and stayed at a friends house initially to check out the area, and loved it from the beginning. Great sunsets, quaint downtown, concerts in the park, close to many points of interest. Fun finding little restaurants on the water and going to the beach - even if you have to wear a sweatshirt (like Monday), it's still great - that sun is a shini'n and it feels great!
Stay safe up north.
I tried to connect the vees, but since I didn't know what a tetrahedron looked like, I was criss-crossing vees all over the puzzle!
I downloaded Les Mis on my Kindle a few weeks back. I found it really tedious. Describing it as "essays between plot line" is very true. Now I'm reading Dave Barry's new one, "Lunatics"...pretty silly, but definitely not tedious!
We're expecting rain today. (At least we don't have to shovel it.)
Have a wonderful Thursday.
Marti - Sharky's has a Lobster and Artichoke dip served with grilled flat bread that is to die for - I'll take that with a Corona Lite - viola - Lunch!
Light and easy going for a Thursday.
Enjoyed listening to Ghostriders for the first time in many years.
Barry...wot mean OSGISTE ?
Sounds like everyone in the NE needs to cuddle up and hunker down with a toddy.
Cheers
If someone has already shown these, I apologize.
My New Year resolution was to learn to 'link' on the Blog. So, here goes.
4 sided dice
Thanks Husker, for the detailed explanation.
Montana
It took two tries, but I did learn to LINK something. Husker Gary e-mailed me instructions and I followed them exactly. He must be a teacher!
After being unable to solve yesterday's puzzle, I wondered if I should even attempt today's. I looked at it and had the top left filled in immediately. I kept going. There were some clues I didn't know but the perps filled them in. Wow! I solved a Thursday poser!
I read all the Harry Potter books to be able to discuss them with my grandsons. They enjoyed telling me the 'proper' pronunciation of many of the names in the books and reminding me of characters I needed to remember in the first books when we read later books.
CC and others, I linked today sitting at my computer. Next time I will try on my iPad, although it sounds like it is the same as on a computer.
It is nice here. Have as good a day as you can for where you live,
Montana
Al Cyone - you should be fair to a non-technical -draftsperson.(NTD)
A 'flat' tetrahedron would be how an NTD would describe a 'plan' of the pyramid. What she meant by flat, was that it was 2 dimensional.
Or it could be an isometric view from, say about 60o below the level of the base.- from any direction.
To be further strictly technical, since two triangles are similar and congruent, and the third triangle is somewhat 'plumper' * - one might say that either the 'observer' is not on the exact perpendicular above the pyramid apex, or that the pyramid itself, is not a 'regular' tetrahedron. Of course, we would need one more simultaneous view to confirm either of the conjectures.
* the triangles would of course be depending on the printout configuration of the relative dimensions of the x and y axises.
A puzzle with four v's with Mari blogging? Obvious LINK!
Sorry, I was so concerned with getting the captcha correct, I missed my typo. I meant MarTi.
A great romp today when I finally got to it. Got the theme quickly, several WAGS and perp assists, but got it all out unassisted.
Wonderful pix, Marti!
Our son leaves tonight for Ar so life should be normal again for a few days after that. Sorry, no time to read all comments right now.
Montana,
Excellent job!
Hello, Marti and all. Loved your commentary, Marti and great photos as well.
As others stated, this was a fun romp which filled fairly easily. And though I'm not a Hobbit or Harry Potter fan, managed to perp SNAPE and SMAUG. Have neither read the books nor seen the MOVIEs (Gasp!)
Words I've learned from crosswords: BOCCE, ROS, TATS (Asquith).
I love FLAN!
Is RC COLA really a Coke competitor?
What an entertaining puzzle from Mike Buckley. Thank you.
Not much time as my Sis is still here. Have a lovely Thursday, everyone!
Well, this was another one of those puzzles where I got the whole thing, without "getting" the theme. Clearly spatial stuff is not my forte. And without Montana's link I'd still be wondering what the heck a FOUR-SIDED DICE is, and what it looks like. So many thanks, and to you too, Marti, for giving us the sketch on the puzzle itself. I think I finally "got" it (hopefully).
Another one I got but didn't "get" until Marti explained it was DOODLE'S RIDE. Who the dickens is "Doodle"? Oh, okay, YANKEE!
And I loved both manatee and DH pics, and the cool hair, Marti!
Irish Miss, I almost had a heart attack when you alluded to this as a Friday puzzle. I'm giving a lecture this (Thursday) afternoon and had a terrified moment when I feared I'd missed it yesterday. Whew! Relief! (I get the puzzle days wrong myself all the time).
Finally, I miss having the crocuses (CROCI) that used to be the first things to pop up in the Spring when I lived in Michigan. But believe it or not, I have tulips blooming in pots and in my garden here in southern California at this very moment! Our gardener puts the bulbs in the fridge before Thanksgiving, and plants them after Christmas. Voila!
Have a great day, everybody!
I'm glad every one is back!
Pinto @ 11:07, LOL with the 4 V's link!!
Montana - thanks for the link of the four sided die - wish I had thought to do that in my write-up!! As you can tell by my comment for 39A, I wasn't too familiar with the four-sided variety...
Hi Y'all, Today I rued my decision not to take geometry in school. Had no idea what a TETRAHEDRON was or that there was such a word. I too wanted a "teepee" at first. FOUR-SIDED DICE: You're kidding, right? Well, live and learn! Great puzzle, regardless!
Thanks for your guidance, Marti! Loved the Duane Eddy link and got side-tracked there. Didn't know the name, but knew the music. My head will be twanging all day. "Ghost Riders in the Sky" was a favorite during the cowboy era of my 'ute.
As for connecting the "V's". I looked at those two big bold black "V's" in the puzzle blocks grid and thought those were what I was supposed to connect. DUH! That's a tetrahedron? Oh...?
I had a pair of Elk in Banff. I've been there.
Hondo, tell your wife a day may come when she will wish she'd participated in every NOONER proposal.
I spent a morning being VETted for jury duty for a civil case. They settled at noon and released us. Think they saw me on the jury and knew they'd better take what they could get?
Hello everybody. Pretty much WEES. I got the theme but didn't bother to actually draw any lines.
Fuuny you should mention that reading The Hobbit was much like reading the first book of Lord of the Rings. I felt exactly the same way. I read The Hobbit first, and enjoyed it somewhat, although I often found it to be a slog to go through. Years later I read the Rings and was struck that here again we have a hobbit embarking on a long trek with the objective of saving people. I never made it through book 2 and got bored with it.
No interest in Harry Potter at all, especially after watching the first movie with our grandchildren. It seemed to me all Harry Potter could do was gape with wonder and incomprehension at the goings-on around him.
Best wishes to you all.
Hi gang -
I'm very familiar with Snape and Smaug but didn't know hat J-Lo had been an Idol judge.
Quite a technical construction accomplishment today. A bit easier than the usual Friday, or Thursday.
DANNO - ROS Natick tripped me up.
I saw The Hobbit, Pt I with my son, his kids and their cousin Nate. I loved it. MOVIE CRITICS don't agree.
Every MISS UNIVERSE contest I root for Eccentrica Gallumbits from the planet Eroticon Six. She finishes first, but never seems to win. Every week she looks forward to SATYR day.
Cool regards!
JzB
The longest and most depressing book I've tried lately was "The Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson. It's about the experiences of blacks since the emancipation. I told my daughter, I quit reading it when I realized I was starting to hate white people.
Hello everybody. I enjoyed the puzzle and Marti's writeup. WEES. Like Jayce, I tried reading the Hobbit, got about halfway through it, found it tedious and gave up.
I woke up last night with some constant droning noise off in the distance. It turned out to be police helicopters looking for an ex-policeman who had shot three other policemen, killing one. The whole LA area is on alert looking for this guy and his pickup truck. I guess he got mad for being fired from his police job and is out for revenge.
The four-sided die is called a tetrahedron. In case some of you might be interested, here is some additional information. There are exactly five so-called Platonic solids; that is, solid three-dimensional figures with all sides and angles exactly the same. They've been known since Plato's time and it was proved back then that only these five exist. They include the four-sided one of this puzzle (tetrahedron), a six-sided one that everybody is familiar with (cube), an eight-sided one (octahedron), a 12-sided one (dodecahedron) and a 20-sided one (icosahedron). Here is the Wiki link with pictures and more information. Platonic solids.
JzB, let me guess... Eccentrica's bust size must be 42 -- the answer to life, the universe and everything!
Ooh Anony Mouse, I just went back a re-read your post and realized you were talking about one of my favorite puzzles also. As you said, it's got two congruent funny-looking solid pieces that when put side-by-side correctly, form a triangular pyramid (the tetrahedron of this puzzle). I LOVE that puzzle. Only TWO pieces and almost nobody can do it correctly at first.
Anony Mouse puzzle?
We don't need to know about your personal life. You do fine with informing us as to the correct answers to the puzzles each day and with the history of some of the answers.
Stupid Latin! Why is it not "VINI vidi vici"? Mr. DAE/DAI was no help either.
PENCE had me thinking 18A was going to be "COIN A PHRASE". Then I thought "join the Tees"...as in across+down combination phrases. After getting TETRAHEDRON I tried connecting the "T"s and got no recognizable shape. Just a big mess. Had to turn 10D sideways to get "V"ees. Veni, vidi, vici.
maverick @1:58
I always wonder why is it not "Veni, vidi, veggie"?
"I came, I saw, I had a salad."
Broken clock says it's time to say:
Cheers !!!
Sorry for the mix- up on Thursday/Friday. My only excuse is I was in a hurry to get to an appointment and didn't take the time to proof read. Also, perhaps my brain is addled by the continuous chirping.
Speaking of which, as I needed additional 9V batteries, I went to Bedlam, aka the supermarket-on-the-day-before-a-major-snowstorm-is-expected. Thank goodness I was able to use one of the express lines or I might still be there.
Misty @ 11:25 - I am sorry for giving you such a scare and, forgive me, but your comment struck my funny bone, resulting in an out-loud laugh!
Now the local weather man is talking about two different storms colliding, giving us a double whammy!
Happy THURSDAY!
To Anonymous (1:55 post)
Most of us enjoy the personal repartee and the generosity of those who make this site such a fine destination.
Lighten up.
QOD: I like long walks, especially when they're taken by people who annoy me. ~Fred Allen
Bill G. - we've got to stop meeting like this .... That's the puzzle, Thank you !!! I now have a puzzle where each of the trapezoidal parts are further bifurcated. So the puzzle consists of 4 IDENTICAL but 'irregular' diamond pyramids.. They have diamond bases, ( - 4 sides and a base), and 2 of them will join up to form the part shown in your link. Think of it as - each of your parts is bifurcated along the diagonal across the base rhombus. Of course, it makes it more difficult, but its a lot of fun - I highly recommend it. You should really read the numerous books by Jerry Slocum, and partners - they have 100's of puzzles in each book. Jerry donated 40,000 puzzles for a puzzle museum at the Univ. of Indiana, at Bloomington. He lives in Long Beach, CA.
Hahtoolah, I have Rohinton Mistry's book, that you mentioned, on the piles on the floor next to our bed. Now I'm wondering whether to shift it down to the basement .... I have actually met another Indian=Amer. author, Thrity Umrigar, who is an Assoc.Prof.in English, here at Case West.Resv.Univ. I read her 'Spaces between us' - Sad, Melodrama, and depressing as Hell. ( virtually). Why can't people write Don't worry, Be happy type of books ? Incidentally, both Mistry and Umrigar are Parsis, a highly educated, affluent, Caucasian anomaly community, mostly around Mumbai.
Good afternoon, all. Nice intro, Marti and great pix.
WEES. Just got back from bridge. Did the cw earlier. Although I didn't get the top 3 acrosses, at first, presumably due to a generation gap, the perps were helpful and I enjoyed the theme. Also liked the 2 long downs. Joined the v's after it was all done. Cool beans.
LMAO at Irish Miss' description of her supermarket visit. Apt.
Have a good rest of the day.
Busy Busy Busy, which made me do the puzzle online & red letter, most unsatisfying. What is a puzzle if you are not puzzled? Filled in the letters easy enough, but the theme escaped me even with the write up until i saw the diagram on the answer grid. Most impressive!
Tx marti!
& Tx Montana, i never saw a 4 sided die before!
42D GWB=a bridge around here!
15A OMG, Telex! My 1st job was assured because i was the only person who knew how to work the dang thingie! (& i did not even know how to type!) That is where i learned to use abbreviations like "mom pls".
I am sorry to hear that people do not want to hear personal comments, as i was about to include another installment of "CED Prolix Corner" about the day i almost met Merv Griffin...
PK: I learned so much from reading The Warmth of Other Suns. As I read it, I kept thinking that the book should be required reading in our high schools.
Anony Mouse: I would still recommend you read A Fine Balance. The writing was terrific and I really became involved in the characters.
Easy puzzle for a Thursday! Thanks, Mike! Terrific write-up, Marti. Always look forward to your efforts!
There are also 4 non-convex regular polyhedra:
Kepler-Pointsot polyhedra.
These are rather difficult to make. (One of my fields has been Mathematical Symmetry, since the 1980s.)
Alt. QOD: In youth we learn; in age we understand."
--Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach,
Austrian writer
Hahtoolah: I too learned a lot from reading "The Warmth of Other Suns". It explained a lot of things I hadn't understood before. If it were required reading in high schools, it would need to be seriously condensed. There was a lot of repetition in the books. I think it would have been easier to read if each person's story was told in a separate segment. I know why she used the back and forth device, but I got very confused about who & what era by it.
I also got so caught up in the story that I couldn't put it down and was reading almost around the clock. When I lapsed into despair, I remembered I was white and stopped reading. I may go back some day and finish it. Not now.
Part of it may have been that I lived in southeast Texas for a while before I was 20 and was treated like I was black because I was a Yankee by a few people.
Good evening everyone.
This was a surprisingly easy puzzle for a Thursday. And enjoyable.
What's not enjoyable is the comments from Anons. We used to avoid replying to any of them, called Trolls. Replies just encourage them, which we don't need. So don't feed the trolls!
Even though I said enjoyable, I DNF. Did get most of it though.
Stay warm and safe all you northers.
Cheers
Hola Everyone, My hangup today was trying to figure out who in the world would give stars besides teachers and mothers. Duh. Even when I had everything in except the V in Movie and the T for Ted the words would just not come to mind.
I had everything else in, but the letter I needed to draw my Tetrahedron. Was it T? Was it ? Oh heck. I came to the Corner to find the final answer. This was not the easiest puzzle I've done, but it was probably one of the most fun to find the shape I needed.
Marti, I loved your pictures and your writeup. I've seen items like the Manatee painted and on display in various cities for a fundraiser. Was the Mantee a fund raiser for an organization or a city? I've seen Snoopy, Fish, and Hearts. All were sooo clever.
I thought the clue for Pony/Doodle's ride was clever.
The start of the puzzle was rocky as I put in Chess for Knight game and Crest for Dental brand. Both had to be changed as soon as I realized that Oar had to be a Rower's tool. My whole line of thinking had to change, but once that NW corner was in the rest of the puzzle was pretty much a smooth ride, except for the V in Movie.
Have a great evening everyone and for those in the eye of the storm, stay safe.
Hahtoolah:
I read A Fine Balance and greatly enjoyed the detailed writing and loved the characters. Sadly, the ending was depressing.
Angela's Ashes is another jewel of fine writing but also depressing, so much so I didn't want to read 'Tis.
Les Miserables stands apart IMHO as a great story for its time and ours, too. I have a wonderful recording of it in 3 CDs narrated by Orson Welles. The story becomes more palatable with his voice changing to adjust to the characters and a female voices the women. I have listened to it numerous times and never tire of it.
A Stanford law professor was on the one jury I was on. So Hatoolah you might just be the right person for a particular trial. Who knows?
Dinner last night was baked salmon with a butter/soy sauce wash and sesame seeds sprinkled over all. Yum.
Oh well, by popular demand i guess i will have to deep six future installments of CED Prolix Corner. Too bad though, people at my old Alma Mater thought the Merv Griffin story was pretty funny...
Irish Miss 2:27--delighted I gave you a laugh. And I'm back from my lecture with "another" Friday to look forward to. Yay!
CED @ @ 6:31 - You just gave me my second belly laugh of the day!
Misty @ 6:49 - I love your sense of humor!
CED, more Prolix Corner installments, please.
Anony Mouse, we can go on meeting however you like. It's fun. I looked up your Profile and found it to be very sparse. I would enjoy knowing where you live, what you do, interests, etc. Or you could send me an e-mail. Or, I could just shut up and mind my own business.
I brought my relatively new Camry in for its final free service. Next time it will be about $90 unless I decide to take it to my local mechanic where it'll probably be aabout half that. The service manager's name was Oskar Vergara. I told him I liked his sister Sofia. He smiled as if I wasn't the first person to have mentioned that.
@CrossEyedDave - May we hear your story. Did I tell you about the time Hubster met Glen Campbell at a urinal?
@Awol- Anyway, love your cat. We had one like that, a rescue Siamese, who attached itself to my mother and no one else.
Good evening Marti, CC and all,
Very fun puzzle, although I did not grok the theme, and confidently filled in PIG for RAT, which brought me to a definite halt---TETRAHE...? It should have clicked as I created several line designs using basic geometric shapes in a sewing art lesson.
Laughed out loud , Misty, because I had no clue who Doodle was until your post!
Am I smarter than a 6th grader? Debatable!Snape was no problem, but did ask a 6th grader for smaug. There is always one voracious reader in the group.
Marti, loved your pictures and write up, as always...oh, and I love your hair too.
So sorry about more snow for many of you.What did the groundhog say?
Great puzzle Mike Buckley, and great write up Marti. Thank you both.
Long day. Time to call it an evening.
Bill G.
I never heard of, or knew the meaning of "prolix" until a CW about 6 months ago. I thought i would have some fun by seeing how long winded i could be in the Blog's allowed 20 lines, or until some one complained.
Sfingi, i would love to hear your story. I hope your DH did not turn to face Mr. Campbell!
I mentioned late yesterday that I've just started listening to Pandora while I'm typing away on my computer. I found several really good stations including one that features The Manhattan Transfer including others like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald (playing right now), a really good western swing station, old-fashioned country music and a classical guitar station. Anybody else?
CED, feel free to prolix and bloviate away. I enjoy hearing about everybody's experiences.
I prefer to leave the bloviation to the Anons. Meanwhile, in CED Prolix Corner...
I was 12 years old, ( if you do not remember that time, i recommend the movie Stand By Me.) One of several dead end kids growing up in manhattan with nothing to do on a Friday night. We happened to pass by the Merv Griffin Theater, (off Broadway, 49th St i think) & noticed that a large, garage style door at the back of the theater was left open. Such an open door was irresistible to a group of bored 12 year olds.
We made our way inside undetected & found they were in the middle of taping The Merv Griffin Show in front of a live audience. Wanting a better look, we climbed anearby ladder, & found ourselves high above the stage, on the catwalks used to get to the stage lighting.
We watched the show for a while, & quickly got bored again. One of my friends found a bucket. What it was filled with i do not know. (it was dark up there) & my friend left it in the middle of the catwalk. Well, you know what happened next, another friend accidentally kicked the bucket! (no pun intended)
Sorry, 20 lines, must adhere to the rules...
to continue...
All of a sudden there was a flurry of activity from the sound crew! It was like we had stirred up an ant nest! So we beat a hasty retreat down the ladders & out the large garage style door,,, all except me...
I got caught! Two huge burly guys grabbed me & dragged me into the limelight. With one of these Goons on either side of me i was sure my feet were not reaching the floor to walk. They (escorted) me past the stage, & up the right side aisle to the front of the theater. Every face in that audience turned to follow my progress. Merv himself stopped his interview to stare at the kid being dragged up the aisle.
(I wish i could see a replay of that show, but they probably edited that part out.)
When we got to the theater entrance, they brought me in front of the manager. I thought i was doomed! He asked me what i was doing, & how did i get in. But most importantly, he wanted to know why i had snuck in. I told him we wanted to see the show. Not knowing i was up in the catwalks, he informed me that it did not make sense to press charges, because admission was free...
CEDave:
LOL! That is funny and are you leaving us with that cliff hanger? I'll catch it tomorrow.
Gee, all these stories of peoples personal lives...BillG's music, CED'S Merv Griffin adventures...I wonder if they are all irritating Anon, who only seems to want crossword puzzle answers. Speaking of which, I got my comeuppance today. I had trouble with nearly everything. Lots of googling, WAGS, and finally, after work, got it done. Whew!
I'm new here. What are "perps"?
perpendicular
61Rampy, if all Anon wants is puzzle answers, he/she/it can stay on the first page. Second page of comments is reserved for 'anything goes'. If you can tell your life story in 20 lines, or less, welcome. Something funny is much appreciated. If you can direct us to a cat video that's even better.
Its 4 oclock in the morning and the winter cock doeth crow and no answers to the Friday puzzle ? Don't tell me lemonade is sleeping on the job. again ?. If this is some sort of conspiracy to torture all us crossword fans til the last minute, I will not stand for this. I demand a recount. Off with their heads.
Scheduled publication is 6:30 Eastern.
Sorry Argyle, thanks for putting up with an insomniac. Will not bother you again.
Question ; do these posts count towards todays 5 post limit ?
You should sign your name rather than posting anonymously.
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