Theme: SUB (66D. Prefix for the answers to starred clues, and
word needed for those clues to make sense) - The clues for all the
starred entries make sense only if you add SUB in front of them.
17A. *Dive, surface, dive, surface, etc.? : ROUTINE. Sub routine. I did not know the original word "subroutine". Google shows it's a computer term. Tell me more, TTP/D-Otto.
18A. *Lab growth below sea level? : CULTURE. Sub culture.
30A. *Underwater speaker? : WOOFER. Sub woofer. See here.
40A. *Story line for "The Hunt for Red October"? : PLOT. Sub plot.
41A. *Hatch? : ENTRY.
Sub entry. Not famliar with the nautical term "Hatch". Dictionary shows
it's also called "Hatchway": an opeing, usually rectangler, in the deck
through which passngers can pass, cargo can be loaded and unloaded. I
bet Spitzboov nailed this.
42A. *Underwater lateral surface? : SIDE. Sub side.
46A. *Position on naval warfare? : STANCE. Sub stance.
62A. *Sonar reading? : HEADING. Sub heading.
65A. *Message from beneath the surface? : MISSIVE. Sub missive.
4D. *Scenery for "Operation Petticoat"? : SET. Sub set.
C.C. here, pinch-hitting for Lemonade, who can't get the new puzzle because Cruciverb is still down. He'll be back next Friday.
What a tour de force from John Lampkin! This grid reminds me of the CHINESE puzzle I made for the NY Times in September. See here.
Look
how similar the grids are. Both 78 words. Both have a single 9-letter
entry in the central Down. None of our theme entries is more than
7-letter long. However, I only have 9 theme entries. John has 11 today. I
have total 38 black squares, with two cheaters (the black square above
39D AGE and below 34D SWE), John has 34, no cheaters.
He's just a master!
Across:
1. Turn over : CAPSIZE
8. Copes : MAKES DO
15. Banned : ILLEGAL. Great stacked of 7's here.
16. "To reiterate ..." : AS I SAID. Some use "Like I said". I use former. And 5D. "Uncle!" : I GIVE UP. Nice colloquial phrases.
19. Item in a tent : COT
20. French spa town : VICHY. EVIAN a spa town also, right?
22. Some amber orders : ALES
23. Zenith : APOGEE
25. Syria's Bashar al-__ : ASSAD. Now, his phone should be tapped.
28. Lorelei, notably : LURER. I think Kazie saw this sign in person. On the bank of the Rhine. Different spelling there.
34. Invite to one's tree house : ASK UP
37. Wilde's "An __ Husband" : IDEAL. Never read it.
39. At least one : ANY
43. Ages : EON
44. Bob Barker's longtime sidekick Johnny : OLSON
45. Clearance events : SALES
48. Lose it : GO MAD
50. Bivouac : ETAPE. Dictionary says it's rooted in Middle French "estaple", which is further rooted in Middle Dutch "Stapel", meaning "warehouse".
52. Starting lineups : A-TEAMS
56. Toll rd. : TPKE (Turnpike)
59. Nintendo ancestor : ATARI
61. Caviar, e.g. : ROE
67. In real trouble : UP A TREE. John shot this picture in Costa Rica. He said: "The Three-toed Sloth spends most of his life in the tree tops, coming
down only once a week to defecate. And Grampa thinks HE has problems!"
(Please click on the above picture to read John's caption.)
68. Flavored, like some vodka : INFUSED. Why do you infuse vodka?
69. Comebacks: RETORTS
70. Convertible couches : DAYBEDS
Down:
1. Word for a rough date : CIRCA. Oh, antique dating.
2. Throw for __ : A LOOP
3. Demotion in 2006 news : PLUTO. From Ninth planet to a dwarf.
6. More wacky : ZANIER
7. Util. bill item : ELEC
8. Annual parade sponsor : MACY'S
9. Sch. with a Mesa campus : ASU
10. 3,280.8 ft. : KIL (Kilometer)
11. Sonora, por ejemplo : ESTADO. Spanish for "State".
12. King David's predecessor : SAUL. John/Rich must not like Saul Goodman of "Breaking Bad". Better call Saul.
13. Dreadful : DIRE
14. Stanzas of tribute : ODES
21. How some singles play : HARD TO GET. Another gem.
24. Flood : GLUT
26. Vacillate : SWAY
27. IM provider : AOL
29. Fifth of fünf : EINS. fünf is "five" then.
31. Fall flat : FAIL
32. German finale : ENDE
33. Grains used by brewers and bakers : RYES. Bother me so much that you can't pluralize "corn" when other grains can be so. We have red corn, yellow corn, white corn after all. Always "Foot woes".
34. Copycats : APES
35. One in a Vegas row : SLOT
36. Hawaiian coffee-growing district : KONA
38. Cube maker Rubik : ERNO
41. Where Zeno taught : ELEA. Zeno of Elea, the Greek philosopher.
42. Nigerian-born Grammy winner : SADE. Her sister used to sing at a Spanish pub owned by a friend's parents.
44. Mo. for many Libras : OCT
45. Fulfill : SATISFY
47. Must : NEED TO
49. Berth place : MARINA. Loved the clue.
51. Leaves : PAGES. I don't get this clue. "Leafs/pages" through makes sense.
53. Leave one's seat : ARISE
54. Left town, maybe : MOVED
55. Feeder filler : SEEDS
56. Schedule abbr. : THUR. Our Marti Day.
57. Skunk Le Pew : PEPE
58. '50s-'80s pitcher Jim "Kitty" __ : KAAT. He was with the Twins for a long time.
60. Hemmed in by : AMID
63. Discount tag abbr. : IRR. I like Marshalls. You?
64. Entomologist's tool : NET. Entomologists studies insects.
David
Liben-Nowell, a NYT crossword constructor, kindly invited Twin Cities
constructors to a presentation by Matt Ginsberg yesterday at Carleton
College. Matt is the genius behind Dr. Fill, the crossword equivalent of
IBM's Watson. His talk was quite geeky and I only understood a tiny
portion of what he said, but it was so nice to meet with him and thanked
him in person for the free clue database
I've been using for a few years. Also eye-opening to see Dr Fill
accurately solve this Wednesday's NYT in 2 minutes. Matt will present
Carleton's weekly convocation address today. It'll be streamed on line.
Click here.
 |
| Left to Right: George Barany, David Liben-Nowell, Matt Ginsberg, C.C. & Tom Pepper Oct 31, 2013, Carleton College |
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteMade it through this one pretty quickly for a Friday. I actually got half of the theme answers without knowing the theme, and then got the theme just in time to help out with the other theme answers.
Loved the puzzle overall, but was not happy with KIL. I realize that KM is too short to use in a puzzle, but KIL? I'm sure it's valid, but it just didn't look right.
Also, I strongly resisted the crossing of I GIVE UP with ASK UP (and was further surprised to see UP A TREE later on). In fact, I went with SIREN instead of LURER at 28A for awhile just because I "knew" that those crossed answers couldn't both have UP in them. In the end, though, I relented and got the job done.
[htailAi]
SUB-fixes
ReplyDeleteTo enjoy a pole-dancer's ROUTINE,
Consider what the metaphors mean.
Is the pole like our CULTURE,
Narrow, unyielding vulture?
Or is it just being obscene?
The salesman says my hi-fi needs a WOOFER,
And a tweeter, they're sold as a two-fer.
Sounds to me like a PLOT,
Since that's what I've got
A canary and a hound-dog named Blue fer.
A prim miss was asked about ENTRY,
And replied, "It's quite elementary.
I can open the front wide,
To let tradesmen inSIDE,
And rear entrance just for the gentry!"
Cinderella had a satisfied STANCE
She'd left with the prince from dance.
To his castle they were HEADING
More than shoes she'd be shedding.
(Glass slipper? Uh-uh. Underpants.)
The swain mailed his romantic MISSIVE.
Of his intentions he was quite descriptive.
His inamorata was SET
To indulge him, but yet
She doubted him sufficiently contortive.
C.C., It was great to see you and Boomer at Matt's lecture, and too bad you didn't stay for dinner. A couple of points for your loyal readership. (1) Matt's talk today will be less geeky and more accessible, to an audience that includes humanities types in addition to computer science majors. (2) While Dr. Fill will probably be mentioned, the talk will likely cover other topics (otherwise, Matt was keeping the contents very close to the vest). (3) Even if it does not work to catch the live stream, talks are archived and can be accessed later. (4) A portion of our dinner conversation veered to what some call Schrodinger and Matt calls Heisenberg puzles. A brilliant example by our own Tom Pepper (see photo you just posted) is found at http://tinyurl.com/executivepuz and be sure to read the "midrash", reachable from that page, AFTER working the puzzle. Again, great to meet Matt, see you and Tom, and special thanks to David for organizing all this and inviting us.
ReplyDeleteGreetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks for amusing puzzle, John! Loved all of those theme answers! Swell expo, CC.
Happy to have no cheats, but did lots of changing. Hand up for siren.
Leaves/pages of books, same thing, CC.
My original iPad is sick. Methinks I will treat meself to brand new iPad Retina Display!
Cheers!
Cheers!
Thanks for saving the day C.C., and thank you John for a really fun puzzle. It was frustrating when cruciverb did not work.
ReplyDeleteI loved starting with CAPSIZE which led me to SUB.
White rabbit, white rabbit.
Good morning C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteYou did an admirable job on the blog today, C.C. Thanks for the THUR shout out, too! I paused at "Leaves" for PAGES as well. A "leaf" is a page that is printed on both sides, so it was a good misdirection.
I was so impressed with this puzzle. It was just devious enough that I laughed out loud when I finally wended my way down to the unifier.
The real beauty was finding words that had a "sub" prefix, like subwoofer, but the root could be clued separately with the short word for "submarine." (Although, I would have liked the clue for that one to be about a pet dog on board.) By about the third one, I noticed the underwater theme, so I just plopped in the straightforward words and went along for the ride.
TGIF!
Good Morning, C.C., and friends. Today's theme made me think of Spitzboov.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a good sign when I can get 1-Across on the first pass.
Like Barry G, I went with Siren for Lorelei. I was reluctant to change it, but the perps led me to the LURER.
My favorite clue was Word for a Rough Date = CIRCA.
It rained last night, so no trick-or-treaters came to my door. Want some candy?
QOD: Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. ~ Kinky Friedman (Nov. 1, 1944)
[laceyfir]
George,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update on your dinner talk. Wish I had stayed, but I have to be "early to bed & early to rise" for emergencies like today, as it takes me a solid 3 hours to write a weekday post.
Tom's puzzle link here.
Also George, or anyone who wants to make a blue link at the Comments section, here is an instruction.
ReplyDeleteJayce,
I used to have taro dumplings for breakfast. Also, fried sesame balls.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteHere's another hand up for SIREN. I didn't get the SUB theme until the reveal, up to then I thought some of the theme answers were off-the-wall. Nope, below the wall, apparently.
C.C., a subROUTINE is a piece of code that performs a particular, often common, function. Rather than writing the same statements at several locations within a program, that code is separated into a subROUTINE that can be called from other parts of the program whenever that particular function is needed. For example, code that sorts a list into alphabetical order could be a good candidate for a subROUTINE. Pass a list to the subroutine, and it comes back sorted.
The rains have finally moved east, so I can do the 3-mile-march for the first time since Tuesday. Today it's cool with low humidity -- very unusual for this neck of the woods.
Jim Kaat pitched in the major leagues for 25 years and is considered a borderline candidate for the HOF. To me it's a no brainer...he should be elected.
ReplyDeleteHe spent 14 1/2 years with the Wash/Minn organization. He also spent time with the White Sox, Phils, Yankees, & Cardinals. During his career he successfully transitioned from a starting pitcher to a top of the line reliever.
After he retired Jim went into broadcasting. He was with the Yankees for roughly 11/12 years and it was a joy to listen to his broadcasts. Besides having a straight forward no nonsense approach to broadcasting the games, he shared lots of history and some really great stories with the listeners.
If anyone ever has the chance to hear Jim speak, I would highly recommend it. He is a class act.
Thanks for pinch hitting with a great expo,CC. John I enjoyed your puzzle. I solved it by ignoring the under water part. Then after the reveal I mentally added sub to all the answers. Clever theme!
ReplyDeleteI believe a leaf is a sheet of paper in a book or notebook. Being a sheet of paper it can be printed on both sides or be left blank as in a new loose leaf notebook. A page is one side of a sheet of paper in a book.
But informally I often hear page used as a synonym for leaf. The baby ripped a page from the book.
CC, is there really a rule about repeating or three-peating a word like UP in the answers? I never think about that rule so I wasn't thrown off by all the UPs.
Good morning everybody and Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun puzzle for me,e ven though it was a DNF. I just couldn't make out the SE corner, but I don't feel so bad since this is a Friday level puzzle.
There were some excellent clues here and it was very enjoyable.
Off to read all of your comments. Have a great weekend!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, John Lampkin, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the great review.
ReplyDeleteI thought Thursday and Friday should have been switched as far as difficulty level. To me, yesterday's was more difficult than today's. Either way, they were both fun.
I did not get CAPSIZE for quite a while, but I did get CIRCA right off the bat. A LOOP was easy. PLUTO was slow on coming. I was looking for a person. After a while I got CAPSIZE and PLUTO.
The NE corner was a snap. No problem.
Got APOGEE, which gave me GLUT, which gave me LURER.
Saw the asterisks, did not check them out until I got to the SE and figured out that SUB was the word.
All the corners had some long words but they were not difficult once you had a couple letters to get started.
Remembered ERNO Rubik from earlier puzzles.
VICHY was easy. I had the VIC and Y, just wagged an H. I think that was a WW-II french faction that favored the nazis, also.
Hahtoolah: Liked your QOD.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(laratla)
Good morning everyone. Thanks C.C. for a fine intro.
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle today from John. Only stumble was, like others, I had 'siren' before LURER. After sussing HARD TO GET, that was straightened out. Had to white-out 5 squares today.
Didn't follow Jim KAAT when he was pitching but enjoyed his color announcing on the Yankees channel for several years about a decade ago.
Here is an English translation of the Lorelei poem by Heinrich Heine:
ReplyDeleteLorelei
By Heinrich Heine
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
I know not if there is a reason
Why I am so sad at heart.
A legend of bygone ages
Haunts me and will not depart.
The air is cool under nightfall.
The calm Rhine courses its way.
The peak of the mountain is sparkling
With evening's final ray.
The fairest of maidens is sitting
Unwittingly wondrous up there,
Her golden jewels are shining,
She's combing her golden hair.
The comb she holds is golden,
She sings a song as well
Whose melody binds an enthralling
And overpowering spell.
In his little boat, the boatman
Is seized with a savage woe,
He'd rather look up at the mountain
Than down at the rocks below.
I think that the waves will devour
The boatman and boat as one;
And this by her song's sheer power
Fair Lorelei has done.
In addition to all the previous accolades, Jim Kaat was probably the best fielding pitcher of all time. Had he played with better teams and had some more wins I am sure he would be in the Hall of Fame.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads-up C.C. on how to make blue links. Let me kill multiple birds with one stone by seconding the hondohurricane and Lemonade 714 and sharing this link about why Jim Kaat deserves to be in the baseball Hall of Fame. In my opinion, he also deserves to be in more crossword puzzles.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteOn first pass, I thought this would be a lot tougher than it proved to be. It certainly had some bite to it, but was very doable. Another siren before lurer. Loved the clue for circa. Finished w/o help but no TADA as Cruciverb was down; pen and paper to the rescue.
Thank you, John, for a Friday frolic, and thank you, CC, for a great pinch-hitting performance. Nice picture of all the Puzzlers', Par Excellance!
No trick or treaters, but that's not unusual, as I live off the beaten path. Besides that, it was a nasty night, weather-wise.
Have a fun Friday.
My captcha is Iricher. Iwisher!
I hate this dang puzzle… Wait a minute, wow, that’s amazing!! Emily Litella. I’m giving a test as a SUB (how 'bout dat?) today and after that the kids are getting computers off the COW (any guesses on that acronym?) and putting on headphones. Nirvana!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Would my claustrophobia SUBSIDE on the Nautilus?
-BASIC and basic Programming -
10 Input N
20 If N > 10 GOTO 150 (SUB ROUTINE)
30 If N < 150 GOTO 250 (SUB ROUTINE)
-Are there SUB CULURES anymore? Should there be?
-My CAPSIZE is 7 5/8 (I’ll bet somebody beat me to this)
-We non-connoisseurs of water, remember VICHY as the French Gov’t until Hitler was defeated
-LORELEI mermaid character in Beach Blanket Bingo. Feel LURED?
-ASK UP – Mae West never said, “Come up and see me sometime”. She said this to Cary Grant
-Best RETORT ever!
-SLOT Machines? I can throw money off the Platte River Bridge and save the gasoline
-Oops, somebody sent in more kids!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteTook me a while to complete this puzzle, but it was worth the work. The symmetry is just perfection. Nice work, John!
The Sub theme reminds me of this tongue-in-cheek example: my California-based brother arranged for his buddy, a skilled welder, to make a trailer hitch for the car I was to drive from CA to MA (this enabled me to bring a sailboat along for the voyage). The welder insisted that the structure be strong - not merely SUBstantial, but Stantial. That's gotta be stronger...
Morning, C.C., thanks for standing in! Always enjoy your style.
C.C. Great "Pinch-hitting" (one of my favorite past-times).
ReplyDeleteAlways know that when I see the constructor is John Lampkin the V-8 can will come into use.
Got the 'head-smack' at 51-d, Leaves, for PAGES. (clever clue)
Isn't E-TAPE what you use to fix torn pages in your E-Book???
Have a great weekend.
Cheers!!!
Wow! A Friday toughie, but one that was a lot of fun! Thank you, John Lampkin. And thank you, C.C., for 'splaining the complexities of the puzzle structure to us. The longer I'm on the blog, the more I appreciate what an art puzzle construction is.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of John KAAT and was sure that name with 2 As had to be wrong. But he sure is popular on this blog, and so I will try to remember his name.
Has SIREN before LURER too, and although I got EINS I was sure it was wrong until I read C.C.'s explanation. Makes me feel pretty dumb as a native German speaker.
Never occurred to me that there might be a difference between a LEAF and a PAGE in a book. As I said yesterday, this is why I love the blog--learn something new everyday.
We too had only one neighbor family show up for candy--but they were worth it with everyone, including parents, in wonderful pirate costumes. But I too have a feeling that Halloween trick-or-treating is slowly ebbing out as a custom. Sad.
Have a great Friday, everybody!
This was fun!
ReplyDeleteYou have to appreciate the ones that look so tough but turn out to be readily doable. Makes me feel smarter than I am!
It was especially fun to find that the first word I entered at 4D was wrong, and yet it turned out to be the necessary theme word at 66D.
What else is there to say? Oh, yes, like Barry G, I thought the repetition of UP in the NW corner was weird, and I also went for SIREN before LURER--as did umpteen others.
How many have taken the Rhein (Rhine) cruise? I remember sailing past the Lorelei, when the loudspeaker played the cheesiest rendition of the old song, "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten..."
And I like Tinbeni's version of E-TAPE.
Hi Y'all! I SUBmit that I always enjoy John Lampkin's puzzles. Thanks for carrying on in style, C.C.
ReplyDelete"Rough date" was not going out with an abuser, as I feared. Had to perp this.
I thought all the UPs were going to be the theme until I GaVE UP on that idea.
MAKE DO: The story of my life. Make it yourself, MAKE DO or DO without.
Who said, "CULTURE is what one does with what one has?"
Just guessing, but I bet ASSAD's phone IS tapped, C.C. Everyone else's seems to be. What's Merkel UP to that she's so mad about being overheard?
Couldn't remember "siren" so didn't get caught in that trap. Waited for perps.
My DIL sent pictures of her boys in costume at their churches answer to Halloween: "Trunk or Treat". Parishioners decorate their car trunks or tailgates and have a receptacle of candy available. They park in the church lot and kids in costume go to each car for their treats as well as having fun together. At least one of our local churches did that too.
Hello, all! What a lovely surprise to find you, C.C., SUBbing today.
ReplyDeleteJohn Lampkin's name always brings a smile with the promise of fun and enjoyment. This puzzle fit the bill with a clever theme!
I could be mistaken and shall have to research later, but I believe ASU's campus is in Gilbert, AZ. My SIL attended some classes there.
I love all the misdirection and would not have known SAUL from Breaking Bad so I'm glad it was King David's father. Alas, Johnny OLSON was a stranger, too, and so that was a DNF. Drat!
And since Jim KAAT is so well admired, like Misty, I'll try to remember him. The AA in the name didn't confuse me because Dutch names are famous for those double vowels.
Great fun today, thank you John Lampkin and C.C.
Have a great Friday, everyone!
I should have known it would be correct; ASU's Polytechnic campus is in Mesa. I'm glad I checked, though.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried Tom Pepper's "Executive Decision" puzzle? I find it amazing that he was able to come up with two different words for across entry at the dead-center spot in the puzzle. The six down clues all worked with either word. How in heck do you create something like that?
ReplyDeleteKeith Fowler, I flew into Frankfurt and had to get to a medical convention in Dusseldorf a few years ago. So I took the river ferry part of the way and trains the rest. I still remember going by Lorelei and hoping we wouldn't crash on the rocks!
ReplyDeleteTin, LOL over the e-tape!
Like Lucina and Misty, I will try to remember KAAT...
....nope, already forgot his name.
Hello everybody. What a pleasant way to start a new month. Excellent puzzle, terrific writeup by C.C., and interesting comments from you folks.
ReplyDeletePK, I must take issue with you about what you said about Angela Merkel. I think the argument that because you don't like your privacy invaded you must have something to hide, i.e. you must be guilty of something is totally bogus. I have nothing to hide but I nevertheless would never tolerate people entering my house at any time they felt like it without my explicit permission.
Best wishes to you all.
I have to laugh at myself for overthinking what a "rough date" could be. A medjool with a bumpy skin?
ReplyDeleteJayce, I agree with you on the privacy issue. I know I felt violated when we learned the sheriff had been listening to a conversation I had with another law enforcement officer. However, we had been UP to something, we had campaigned against the sheriff two years earlier.
ReplyDeleteAs head of state, I would also expect that Angela Merkel is UP to something or she isn't doing her job. The comment wasn't meant in disrespect. My thought was that she might have made disparaging remarks about Obama that she didn't want him to know.
Curiosity and need to know things coupled with the technological opportunity creates an overwhelming desire to intrude. I know because I once operated a small town switchboard and could have listened in anytime. I don't think there is anyway to regulate what is going on today.
Holy wow, that Tom Pepper "Executive Decision" puzzle is absolutely brilliant!
ReplyDeletePK, you're cool.
ReplyDeleteJayce,
ReplyDeleteI'm with you: I don't want anyone snooping on my rather bland (& these days innocent) personal communications. I believe the idea of privacy includes one's right to control what one means for public consumption.
On a different but connected note, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at Rep. Mike Rogers' statement yesterday. He is the Chair of the (oxymoronic?) House Intelligence Committee, and he is delighted that until recently no one has complained about snooping. He actually said (rhetorically, I think), "You can't have your privacy violated if you don't know your privacy is violated, right?"
Right?!
He is actually confusing success in keeping something's existence secret with the non-existence of that something.
When a law professor disagreed, citing Bishop Berkeley's 18th century example of a tree falling in the forest, Rep. Rogers retorted, "Well, that's a *new* interesting standard in the law."
Jayce, my learning moment today was having to google "medjool." Great crossword puzzle word!!
ReplyDeleteI had to google medjool too. I won't trouble anyone with what I was imagining that to be. It's probably not fit for print. :-)
ReplyDeleteHad a good time with the puzzle. It wasn't as tough as some, but was a crawl from the get go. Circa filled easily, but it was hunt and peck from then on. Very clever and challenging. Thanks John and C.C.
Jace and Keith - I don't know if my privacy is being invaded, but my peace and quiet certainly is by the incessant calls from telemarketers. And now with elections coming up, the robo-calls from the politicians, not to mention their showing up on my doorstep. Less intrusive, but just as annoying, is the dozens of their flyers in my mailbox. I'm already being inundated with flyers from the insurance companies for Medicare supplemental plans.
ReplyDeleteEnd of rant. (-: :-)
Desper-otto and Jaycee,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Tom Pepper's puzzle too, but wondered why it didn't allow for *three* answers at 35A.
This is NOT a spoiler because my extra version is not part of Mr. Pepper's original. But if one jiggles the perps just once more, one can just as easily arrive at ZIPCODE, certainly a third "face of change in America"...
Irish Miss @ 4:06, I have a phone system from OOMA. (Another great crossword possibility!) Anyway, it costs me $3.71 per month, and uses my same old "home phone" number. They have a feature called "Community Blacklist" that other subscribers add to. It includes robo callers, telemarketers etc. Then we have our own "Personal Blacklist" that we can add to. Any time we get a telemarketer call, we look at the caller ID, and add it to our personal blacklist. I get about one or two telemarketer calls a month now…worth its weight in gold!!
ReplyDeleteKeith Fowler @ 4:21, good one!
Keith, the point is that you don't have to jiggle the perp clues at all for the two answers. Both LENO and KENO are "Vegas Attractions." Both BANKS and BACKS can work for "Puts money in the account, say." Both OER and EER could be "Keats contractions." Both LYES and DYES work for "Solutions usually handled with rubber gloves." And both ESPY and ESPN "recognize excellence in athletics." The thing I find amazing is that you can successfully solve the puzzle, but wind up with a totally different result for 35A. And they both fit "A face of change in America." I call that elegant.
ReplyDeleteC.C. Thanks for the rave review, and especially for drawing the parallel to your own fine puzzle. Since I haven't been in puzzle mode over the summer I missed yours. It's nice to break a few rules now and then, like using short theme entries.
ReplyDeleteSUB ROUTINE was the seed and provoked a "hey, wait a minute" when I was filling something else.
Thank you all for the kind words, and happy solving!
John
excellent! Excellent! Excellent!
ReplyDeleteThank you John Lampkin! ( Although, I must admit I started this with the red letters on at 1A because I could not get my brain to turn over...)
This is the kind of puzzle I would want to take on that long plane ride from NJ to Fla. I had great fun diving into all those theme clues/answers.
1st pass filled in about 40%, but ended on that enticing final clue that made some sense of it all. From there, there was no turning back!
Just one question, which one is the sub woofer?
At least it makes more sense than the 1st link!
Hmm, could I be over doing the links?
Desper-o!
ReplyDeleteYes, I got that. But when I said "jiggle the perps," I was assuming we'd jiggle their clues. Not to hard to do, to open them up--when you're not just the solver, but the creator of the whole thing...
Now, if you want to leave it just as it is, that's OK too. But it tickled my fancy into going beyond.
HeartRx @ 4:44 - Thanks for your suggestion, Marti, but I don't want to give up my land line. I have Caller ID, so I don't answer any number I don't recognize but the ringing of the phone is annoying, especially early in the morning. The most annoying thing of all is that 99 % are scams, just like all the emails I get informing me I can share millions of dollars if I only do thus and such.
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday! I finished the puzzle late last night and as expected, enjoyed a John Lampkin puzzle. Thanks for the writeup CC. I got the whole puzzle but even after getting SUB, I don't think I really understood the theme.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why missing Cruciverb should be a big stumbling block. The Mensa site seems to work fine.
Yep, our unwanted phonecalls outnumber our wanted phonecalls by at least two to one.
I'm glad I didn't have to meet anybody at the airport this afternoon. It's been mostly shut down all day.
I enjoyed this one even though I have to claim a DNF. The names in the center did me in.
ReplyDeleteMarti, Will have to look into that OOMA thing. My personal computer guru hasn't heard of it. Please e-mail me with any info. I'd love to drop comcast like a rock!
Irish Miss, This Scam showed up in my Email yest. I only know the sender from High school sports. His email was obviously hacked.
"Hello
I'm in some terrible and horrible situation, I'm stuck in Stockholm,SWEDEN? I was on a short vacation, Unfortunately I was robbed at gun point last night, All cash,including credit card and cell phone was stolen away. I've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all, My flight leaves later today and am having problems settling my bills. I was wondering if you can loan me {$2,250 USD} to pay up the bills and also take a cab to the airport. I'll refund it to you as soon as I arrive home just need to clear my bills. As soon as I get home I'll refund it immediately.
Write me so I can let you know how to have it wired to me.
Am freaked out here
Mark."
That was the actual message.
Where do I get in line to fall for that?
I just came home and .... Read last nights posts. ( I don't have much of a life ....-).
ReplyDeleteOwenKL told me, yesterday, that 4 choices for ingredients for the witches Google Doodle, taken/ selected, two at a time, offers 6 combinations / possibilities. You are absolutely right ...... 4 factorial / 2 factorial x 2 factorial. I never thought of that. Thank you.
YellowRocks , I did not mean that your explanation was convoluted, in the post on Annealing vs. Tempering. Merely that, as you pointed out, many words have rare meanings, and are convoluted enough that they can be exploited by crossword constructors. Like the word, "work or, works", as you pointed out.
A doctor works on a patient. ..... (Preps) for surgery.
A mob guy works on a late payer ....( Reduces), him to a pulp.
A hero with all the 'works' ... The usual ingredients, on a sub.
Microsoft works .... A subroutine or a set of programs
And finally, there is a concept of 'work hardening' , where you repeatedly stress and strain a material, like a thin gold or copper wire, ..... And harden it, by cycles of stress' .... Which would misalign the various molecular lattices.
Thus 'work' could also be clued as physical "tempering". ( without application of heat ....).
When I wrote "convoluted", I did not mean anything necessarily bad ..... Merely rare and diabolical as far as crossword construction was concerned. Didn't mean to offend you, in any manner.
I eat medjool dates, once in a while , .. Doesn't everyone else ? Lol,
Have a nice day all.
I went to the bank this afternoon after a bike ride and picked up five new $100 bills. Really cool! Would anybody like one?
ReplyDeleteManac, maybe you'd like one or two to send to your friend Mark?
I have a friend (I met on the Internet doing puzzles) who has enjoyed writing back to people like your 'Mark' hacker trying to lead them along down a dead-end street. He would write back saying things like, "Oh, that's so sad. I'd be glad to help as long as it's only for a couple of days. Where should I send the money?" Then when he hears back, he responds something like, "Oh, I just ran into a problem with my bank because a couple of deposits haven't cleared. I can only get $1800 by tomorrow. I'm so sorry. Would that help?" Then the next step would involve a mixup on the account number to send it to. Then another small delay. Then...? He has really had good success at leading the scumbags on and on, all the while enjoying the process. Maybe the FBI could get involved or at least direct you to some other agency who might be able to help catch the culprit. At least he had the pleasure of knowing he had gotten the better of his scammer, getting his hopes up while keeping the prize just out of reach.
Bill G. Hell yeah! Just send those C Notes over to me and I'll be sure he gets them ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure everyone else in his address book has gotten that message and truly hope no one is dumb enough to fall for it.
Bummer! Cruciverb is still down!
ReplyDeleteWhat Irish said.
ReplyDeleteThis Cruciverb thing is inconvenient.