Theme: Let's all cut gym class!! No more Phys Ed!
A letter extraction puzzle with PE removed from 4 in the language expression to reveal 4 new phrases clued with whims. This appears to be the first LAT effort for Mr. Landman, who did debut in the NYT on March 18, 2013. They did not give him any write up there, only a picture, so hopefully he will stop by and introduce himself. I was able to suss the theme without the reveal (which was a cute one) though I struggled a bit with 46A. "Sorry, the mayo is put on in advance"? both in solving and placing the missing PE. There was some freshness and interesting medium fill, ARTHRO, BOY TOY. PARFUM, T-STORM, IN HIS HAT, ON DAY ONE, HOT CEREAL and THIRSTILY. Lots of Ps in the solution but not a single PE. The puzzle inspired lots of real and imagined musical reference so we will see what you all think. Let's examine this Friday frolic from frigid Florida.
20A. Franken and Yankovic, for example? : PEALS OF LAUGHTER. (13).
Al Franken comedian turned POLITICIAN, elected as a senator in Minnesota (which also made Jesse the body Ventura governor) was a regular on SNL. Al Yankovic is famous for his song PARODIES. (3:30).
29A. Silver-tongued speaker? : SMOOTH OPERATOR. (12). This clue/fill gave me the theme as the song popped in head when I filled in ORATOR.
We get orator a lot in puzzles.
46A. "Sorry, the mayo is put on in advance"? : IT CAN'T BE HEL
56A. "Heretics only" apartment building ad? : RE
The unifier:
59D. Slangy denial, and a hint to 20-, 29-, 46- and 56-Across : NOPE. You have to parse it as NO PE.
Across:
1. Like some tricks : CHEAP. My CHOICE. (4:53).
6. Beatles nonsense syllables : OBLA. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, more music. Hmm, 16A. Sneeze syllable : CHOO. Ah, I get it. 25A. Song syllable : TRA. A mini-theme?
10. Fighting : AT IT. So many ways to parse these sweet little letters.
14. Sporty Toyota made until 2002 : SUPRA. Any reason we care?
15. Met or Nat : NLER. Baseball fan.
17. Police record listing : PRIOR.
18. Unhappy parking lot discovery : DENT. Unless you a Red Sox fan, you are not referring to Bucky.
19. Soupçon : HINT. With just a soupçon of garlic.
23. Gp. currently chaired by Obama : NSC. National Security Council.
24. One-eighty : UEY. The never ending debate of spelling this car maneuver.
26. Union in D.C., e.g. : STAtion. Trains.
32. __ Men: "Who Let the Dogs Out" band : BAHA. Owen, top these lyrics...
Who let the dogs out?
Who, who, who, who, who?
Who, who, who, who, who?
Who let the dogs out?
Who, who, who, who, who?
Who let the dogs out?
Who, who, who, who, who?
Who let the dogs out ?
Who, who, who, who, who?
Who let the dogs out?
Who, who, who, who, who?
Who let the dogs out ?
35. N.Y.C.-Quebec dir. : NNE. Quebec is closer to New England.
36. A dispersive one is commonly triangular : PRISM. The most famous one?
37. Carbon compound : ENOL. Solid crossword knowledge.
38. Avian abode : AERIE.
41. "Pinocchio" goldfish : CLEO.
42. Numerous, informally : LOTSA.
44. Longtime NBC staple : SNL. Saturday Night Live. Senator Franken?
45. Viewer : EYER. Meh, along with A words, my least favorite type of fill.
50. Wide shoe spec : EEE. Got no word, use letters.
51. Spanish bear : OSO. We get this one often as well.
52. Trattoria suffix : INI. Linguini, rotini etc.
53. A.L. West team, on scoreboards : LAA. Los Angeles Angels.
60. Abe or Dick : PREZ. Lincoln, Nixon. Now they are POTUS.
62. Emailer's "Then again ..." : OTOH. On The Other Hand.
63. Some kids : GOATS.
64. "The foundation of most governments": John Adams : FEAR. Those old guys sat around thinking and writing in those terms. LINK.
65. Novelist Jaffe : RONA. A Radcliffe girl, who died back in 2005.
66. Big name in printers : EPSON. Random, but it fits.
67. Designated driver's choice : COLA. really random, caffeine over booze.
68. Game in which the player is called the Stranger : MYST. If you do not want to see don't
WATCH. (3:21).
69. Navigation hazards : REEFS. In Myst?
Down:
1. Airer of debates : C-SPAN.
2. Pitches : HURLS.
3. Protestant denom. : EPISCopalian.
4. Buck tail? : AROO. Buckaroo.
5. Chanel No. 5 bottle word : PARFUM. As opposed to Eau de Cologne.
6. At the start : ON DAY ONE. Nice very fresh fill.
7. Sharp cheese : BLEU. Why is blue in French?
8. Rope quantity : LENGTH.
9. Joint: Pref. : ARTHRO. Like in arthroscopic surgery.
10. Incentive for a warm bath : ACHE.
11. With great eagerness : THIRSTILY. Nice greedy word.
12. Fluoride, for one : ION. Fluorine is an element; fluoride is an ion or a compound which contains the fluoride ion.
13. Little kid : TOT.
21. Soprano Mitchell : LEONA. People made much fun of the soprano on Downton. I did not know this DIVA.
22. Protective cover : TARPaulin.
27. "Nothing __ here" : TO SEE. Familiar phrase with police and lookie lous.
28. Protective cover : ARMOR.
29. Dip option : SALSA. This is just the Spanish word for sauce, though most now associate the term with the spicy sauces.
30. To the point : TERSE. Yes.
31. Not straight : ARCED.
32. Contradict : BELIE.
33. Make __ of: jot down : A NOTE.
34. Breakfast option : HOT CEREAL. How many of you start your winter's day with hot oatmeal, or cream of wheat?
39. Where Yankee Doodle's feather ended up : IN HIS HAT. A song that ended up being an inspiration to the revolutionary troops, and was played at Yorktown when the British surrendered.
40. 1985 Malkovich film : ELENI. Not a well known film, which dealt with a mother's struggles in war time Greece. Never saw it, but it generated wildly disparate review.
43. Shortly : ANON. We have our own.
47. Bit of forecast shorthand : T-STORM. Thunder.
48. Certain young lover, facetiously : BOY TOY. Every cougar wants one.
53. Use temporarily : LEASE.
54. Bach's "The __ Fugue" : ART OF. This MUSIC. (4:49) He made me so nervous.
55. NBA and others : ASSNS. Associations.
57. Poet friend of T.S. : EZRA. Eliot and Pound.
58. A really long time : EONS.
60. Rank below cpl. : PFC. Private First Class.
61. Vintage roadster : REO. And I will end like I began, with this TUNE. (3:41).
Well we are done with another Friday and in the second half of January already, and we have 2 new LAT constructors already. Certainly no controversy with this grid, and a Friday unifier hint to make sure all get the theme. Thanks Daniel, and as we hit anniversary week next week, I want to thank not only C.C. for this blog but all of the hundreds who have created entertainment for us. Lemonade out.
86 comments:
After yesterday’s enthusiastic response to Marcia Brott’s Beasts (and Burdon), with its audio clues and danceable “midrash,” I am encouraged to share two more puzzles that will hopefully challenge and delight the regulars at the Crossword Corner: Loren Smith gives us a Constricted Crossword while Alex Vratsanos offers something For Every Eager Donor. We hope you like these too!
No gym class today! That's right, NO P.E.!
With his PEALS OF LAUGHTER, you can hear Big AL'S glee!
IT CAN'T BE HELPED, they say,
There'll be no laps HELD today --
Instead they'll scan us all for V.D.!
♖✞♖✞♖✞-line separating church and state-♖✞♖✞♖✞
"NOPE, the Devil's a SMOOTH OPERATOR!"
(As an ORATOR, our Rev couldn't be greater!)
"REPENT YE SINNERS," he cries,
Till his voice RENT the skies --
And the downpour deferred his sermon till later!
Big DNF for me. The only word I actually had to look up was ARTHRO, but so many others were WAGs or blind perps that it was really much worse.
Morning, all!
Definitely a mental workout today, but a lot of fun and ultimately solvable. Got the theme about halfway through (before seeing the theme reveal) and that helped. I thought RENT YE SINNERS was a bit weak (and definitely the hardest to figure out), but everything else was spot on.
Once again I went with BAJA instead of BAHA, and once again that messed me up until I fixed it.
My biggest problem area was the tine SW corner. 60D could have been PVC or PVT, had PRES instead of PREZ, thought 67A was a tricky golf clue (wanted WOOD or CLUB), and couldn't think of REO or EZRA at first. I finally switched PRES to PREZ, though, which gave me EZRA and the rest fell quickly after that.
On another note (pun intended), I never believed that Ob-la-di wre truly nonsense syllables. I am convinced that they just wanted to be able to sing "Oh bloody..." (which was a stronger swear word in Britain back then than it is now) and get away with it. Kinda like if somebody wrote a song with the lyrics Ofa-Queue, Ofa-Pee...
Good Morning everyone!
Thanks for the terrific links this morning, Lemony. I have payed MYST for countless hours - nothing like the speed run in the video, I assure you.
I really enjoyed the theme, once I figured out where it was going. IT CAN’T BE HELD was the toughest one for me to figure out the base phrase as well, but was my favorite once I did.
OTOH, I did not enjoy the fill at all. It started out on a bad note for me with AROO, OBLA, NLER, ARTHRO and CHOO. Then on line 5, we get NSC – UEY – TRA – STA mirrored by the equally awful EEE – OSO – INI – LAA at line 11. Throw in EPISC, ASSNS and the partials TO SEE, A NOTE and ART OF and you have a nose-scrunching masterpiece.
Oh well, there's always tomorrow to look forward to...
Good morning!
Made it through this one in better than normal Friday time, but things did start to slow down in the south. Hand up for PVT and PRES. Actually got the theme before the reveal -- not a first for me, but close.
Lemon, I've seen people spell it BLUE, but I've only ever seen BLEU on the package.
This puzzle and corresponding write up verified the fact that I'm an infant (maybe newborn) in the crossword world. NOPE = No P.E.? I'm not sure my mind would have ever gone there if I gave it a day to concentrate just on that. The good news is I can only get better. Sigh! Re Frigid Florida - the inside of my house was 60 when I awoke this AM. 20 degrees colder than usual!
Whew! This one had "DNF" written all over it. Hand up for PVT and PRES (PVT led to VETO instead of FEAR). Also had SEER before EYER. I first thought that NOPE meant "No P" (and PALS OF LAUGHTER (sorta) made sense). Then I figured out that both P and E were missing. Still, there was a huge hole in the East Central and the Southern Central. I should have remembered CLEO as Pinocchio was a favorite. And I was sure I should have understood the clue for PRISM but it came late and only with perps. Down South I guessed at RONA but was late coming up with MYST (a game I actually enjoyed back in the day). All in all a very satisfying puzzle, coming in just under the wire.
[27:00]
Good morning everybody. This was definately a Friday level puzzle for me. There were a couple of clues that really gave me a hard time. And the missing PE theme was hard for me to figure out.
I liked the clue for 63A: Some kids: GOATS.
Some of the clues seemed a little "young" for me. I don't know much email slang, and I've never played MYST.
Have a great weekend!
Definitely required many WAGs today. Complete unknowns were MYST, OTOH, LEONA Mitchel, ARTOF fugue, ELENI.
I knew the BAHA men because I once thought they were from the Baja Peninsula. Wrong. They are from the Bahamas
I thought 20A would be ALS OF A FEATHER but nothing worked. UEY or UIE. STA or STN. I know how they start but have to wait to finish them.
Good Morning:
This was a FIW due to orthro/arthro which I didn't catch after not getting the TaDa.
Nice write-up, Lemon, and congrats to Mr. Landman on his debut.
I agree with Marti's assessment of the fill and, other than that, I'll defer to my good pal, Thumper.
Have a great Friday.
Devilish theme that made me laugh out loud for RE(PE)NTYESINNERS and ITCANTBEHELD (1:53). SE was a challenge but the puzzle was very satisfying at the end.
Musings
-Some kids are very happy on NO PE days in school
-Our unhappily married apt. neighbors were always AT IT
-This Omaha family had 633 PRIORS
-I used PRISMS for years to introduce the visible spectrum - ROYGBIV
-Is RONA Jaffe less obscure than SLATS Marion?
-HURL is a frequent verb in baseball as in “He hurled (threw, tossed, spun, pitched, fashioned, twirled) a no hitter”
-Eau de toilet? Literal translation can be tough ;-)
-Teachers ON DAY ONE had better not be looking for adolescent friends
-Some ACHING athletes opt for the opposite of a warm bath
-“I’m just gonna HANG with my peeps”
-I don’t think a car LEASE would ever make sense for me
- I quoted wacky Diane Chambers here two years ago (I looked it up): “Oh, my most recent work. It's a sort of feminist odyssey, experimental in places, in tone akin to Saroyan, with a soupcon of Gide, and a hearty nod to Clifford Odets!”
-Who sang, “I have my books, And my poetry to protect me; I am shielded in my ARMOR, Hiding in my room, safe within my womb. I touch no one and no one touches me.”
@Barry G.....
interesting, very interesting!
the song is now an earworm for me today, but makes perfectly good sense...after all these years!!
Hi gang -
Wow - only 10 comments so late in the morning? What can that mean?
Very mixed feelings about this puzzle. Lots of good stuff here, and a theme too difficult even for a Friday. Even after I realized it was removed PE, I couldn't figure out where to place them the last two theme ans.
But the big downer is that I count no fewer than 13 examples of really lame fill. EYER is the least of it, AROO probably the worst, though there's LOTSA keen competition at that end. And "Carbon compound," though it almost always means ENOL, is an awful clue.
Well, not everything Bach wrote was a masterpiece, either.
Today is our 23rd wedding anniversary [Yep - we got married on a Thursday] and Gloria and I both got each other the same card.
Cool regards!
JzB
Husker, that would be S & G.
HG - I Am A Rock, Simon & Garfunkel.
My fav REO was Keep On Lovin You especially the lines:
Instead you lay still in the grass
All coiled up and hissin...then you hear the sounds of a rattler
I have mixed emotions about today's puzzle. Some very easy, some obscure and some real head scratchers, but no matter, I always feel good when it's done.
Repent Ye Sinners for some reason made me think of Elmer Gantry.
I was feeling MYSTy-eyed so I did some Googling. One of my favorite early computer games was Infocom's Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It. I didn't realize it dates back to 1987 but I do remember that it came on 5.25" floppy disks (back when they really were floppy).
Anyway, it's apparently available to download though you may need to install some sort of DOS emulator. I think it'll appeal to a lot of my fellow wordsmiths.
BG, a very interesting take on the Beatles though McCartney offered a different HISTORY. I know there is always debate about what they meant in their lyrics, even when you get information from JOHN and PAUL.
June, don't you think the people in Minnesota where it was 40 below zero might lack sympathy when we hit 45 and complain about the cold? Another reader or two and we can have our own South Florida Corner Confab.
GRR day ladies & gents,
This was no fun whatsoever. After reading Lemon's write up and your comments, I'm still not sure I could finish it.
My only success, albeit minor, was the NE & SE corners, but neither gave me the momentum for significant progress.
As such, today's effort was a huge DNF.
I did this puzzle late last night and I wanted to post this before reading any comments. I REALLY enjoyed this puzzle; probably because I figured out the theme by the second theme answer and because I found myself puzzling over some tricky fill before saying "Aha!" as the light bulb went on. The theme seemed tricky and fun. MYST was my first big computer game and it was nice to be reminded of it. IN HIS HAT was fun. Did I say I really liked this puzzle? Thanks Daniel and Lemon.
There's no doubt about it-there's No Pe. I struggled all around, even though I got the clue right away. I guess it's a good thing I didn't finish, because then I can always come here and read the great explanations and then find out what's going on in the comments. There's finally some warmth coming into the Black Hills and I'm so ready for spring. TGIF and thanks for the help.
Happy Friday everybody!
Absolutely a DNF for Da Doc today. Needed lots of red letter HINTs, even after (kinda) sussing the theme. Hands up for thinking it was just no P until oPErator revealed....
LA was a total mess, as I had PVT, PRES, VETO, then tried SODA.... Aarrrgggggghhhh!
Oh well, at least I wagged OBLA correctly....
BLEU cheese is my favorite, although it started out as BRIE....
Finally, looking forward to an easy one tomorrow (HAH!). Maybe it'll be SMOOTH as Silk...?
Morning all,
Can some one explain to me how " ACHE " is an incentive for a warm bath ?
And as far as I'm concerned , only Smooth Orator fits the theme answers , there's no P or E in it .
Zcarguy@12:05:
The next time you ACHE you might want to take a warm bath.
Greetings, Word Warriors! A big salute to you, Lemonade, for revealing the theme as I had not a HINT of an idea.
It was a slog from start to finish though the center filled in quicker than the rest but it was a word for word struggle for me. It didn't help with so many three letter obscurities. OSO and SNL made sense but the others emerged slowly.
The center bottom gave me fits and ultimately a DNF because I missed BOYTOY,OTOH and have never heard of or played MYST. Oh, and Yankee Doodle's feather was IN HIS HAT.
Thanks to watching kiddie movies I did recall CLEO and thought GOATS was cute for kids since that's the literal meaning.
I'm sure that this is a brilliantly constructed puzzle but it didn't do anything for me, I'm sorry to say. But thank you, Mr. Landman.
Have a tremendously wonderful Friday, everyone!
THIRSTILY I searched for something SMOOTH to drink in the grid.
NOPE!!! I'll have to find it elsewhere.
DNF ... but a nice Ink Blot.
When I ACHE, I just want a HOT shower and some Pinch.
Cheers!!!
I'm afraid I'm not a happy camper with this puzzle either. Ironically, I got the SW corner quickly because I know EZRA Pound (taught him for many years). But after that it was only a little here, a little there, none of it ever cohering except eventually the other corners. One funny misread was totally my fault, however. I read 39 D as "Where Yankee Doodle's FATHER ended up" and spent a fair amount of time scratching my head and saying "Yankee Doodle had a FATHER?" I did get it eventually but it shows hot rattled this whole puzzle had me. Oh well, at least I can take comfort in the speed runs of the last three days.
JazzB, congratulations on the wedding anniversary! There's something about hitting the 20s anniversaries that makes you feel as though you finally nailed this marriage thing. My husband and I have our 20th coming up in June, and we're thinking of throwing a party for ourselves!
Have a great Friday, everybody!
Even though I got the NO P E, I couldn't figure out where they went so I only finished with red letters.
Bo Broncos!!!
Dreaded DNF today. I thought I was struggling my way through it, but never sussed out the theme, and without that, "itcantbeheld" and "rentyesinners" didn't appear for me. Even when I got "nope" nothing clicked in terms of a theme. Bottom half of puzzle was too much white for me to overcome. Dang!!
ZCarguy:
I do not understand your comment about only SMOOTH ORATOR working, as ALS OF LAUGHTER, IT CAN'T BE HELD AND RENT YE SINNERS also have the "PE" removed from the original phrases.
I Googled "Pinocchio Goldfish," (it's not cheating if it's something you used to know, is it?) Well, it doesn't matter because then I Googled every other name in the puzzle, finished it, & still could not figure out the theme.
In the following link, cross out PE Teacher, & put "Friday puzzle constructor."
Happy 23rd Jzb, (I hope I didn't send you the same card...)
Ah, very satisfying. Very tough.
Before dealing with the theme, I thought my first long answers (ALS OF LAUGHTER and IT CAN'T BE HELD) were just awkward. Only with SMOOTH OPERATOR did I twig onto the missing letters. Then RENT YE SINNERS turned out to be my favorite.
The SE corner was the final bit to yield, mainly because I couldn't crack LINGER, couldn't get away from the narrowest meaning for "Hang"-- although I knew it had to be something other than "suspending an object."
PS. Thanks to Big Easy for explaining BAHA. I thought it just a bad transliteration of BAJA too.
PPS. Misty, you gave me a frisson, as I marveled at what your age must be-- having had Ezra Pound as your pupil. I had to re-read your message @12:29.
Nice one! Liked the puzzle and great write-up Lemonade.
ZCarguy - it says "NO PE", not "NO P OR E" in which case you would have a point. You're adding an interpretation which isn't actually there.
@Barry G - my Dad caused my mother some consternation when he taught me a jolly little rhyme when I was about four, to whit:
"I chased a bug around a tree
I'll have his blood, he knows I will".
One way to introduce your infant to "bugger" and "bloody" :)
KF, rather funny picturing Misty teaching Ezra Pound (if she had he might have turned out better) but her wording prompted the same thought in me.
While this site has never been a criticism site like Rex Parker's, I cannot help but notice marti is the only one to comment on the fill today. Our crowd is generally ready to scream bloody murder if a theme concept is too obscure, but seldom do we get any dialogue on the fill in general. I was hoping we would get some response to marti's thoughts, especially as she is a constructor. It seems we just do not get many comments at all; perhaps the "if you can't say anything nice" school of thought
Steve, more cultural insight. Did you go to public school?
JazzBumpa:
Congratulations on your anniversary! I hope you plan something huge.
Why would anyone offer anything but praise for a puzzle?
Zcarguy did and was quickly told he didn't have a valid point.
I, however, agree with Zcarguy.
Who has the authority to say the reveal is NO 'PE'? Why shouldn't it say NO P E? It actually reads "NOPE". If it is up to the solver to parse it, then we can parse it any way we wish. So Zcarguy and I can parse it as to say NO P E and therefore the theme entries should have neither a P or an E in the answer.
YMMV.
Here is a clip of the USS Gonzalez making a UEY.
BTW - I agree with Marti's comments about the puzzle.
HeartRx, I agree. This was not fun. When I finally parsed an answer, it was not AHA, but OH NO.
It seems many solvers were less than thrilled with it.
Zcarguy & PK:
I'm in your corner since the other three themes have an 'E' in them.
Lemon:
I'm glad this isn't a "criticism site like Rex Parker's" where the blog write-up generally is about "how terrible the constructor did at their job" to provide us our daily enjoyment (crossword-fix).
Jazz: Happy 23rd Anniversary. My first Sunset toast is to you and Gloria!
Cheers!!!
Oops. In my profession "teaching Joyce" is of course shorthand for teaching Joyce's works. And I for sure would have given Ezra Pound some tough words on politics in the day, if I had actually "taught" him.
The problem with that argument PK is that parsing it the way you suggest does not work, whereas parsing it as No PE does work. Further, it was not a question of ZCarguy not having a valid point, his reading of the puzzle with no P and no E and yours does have a logical base, but my comment and those of the others merely point out the puzzle makes sense with the PE being removed from the 4 phrases. My job in writing up a puzzle is to present an explanation that makes the puzzle work. I do not have the benefit of any communication with the constructor or the editor. To put it in more black and white terms, if an algebraic equation can be read to have 5 + 5 = 10, as well as read to show 5 + 5 = 8, I would put forth the first solution.
As for criticism, people here complain, nit pick and grouse over themes all of the time, but seldom do we have a direct negative comment on fill such as provided earlier today by marti. I see a couple have since agreed with her comments; I am just curious what you all think about when you solve. Theme? Fill? Cluing? Grid design?
As you can tell by my write ups, I really do focus on what I like in a puzzle because to me each one is work of art, beyond my abilities, some awesomely so. I also perhaps go about trying to draw out people in discussions the wrong way as seen by PK's response to my saying that it was NO PE, because that to me is the only way the puzzle works because as Tin points out there are Es in the others, so no P or E would be inconsistent.
PK, your comment reminds me of the issue I raised about Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. All the music critics immediately associated the title with LSD, especially as the Beatles had drug themes in many songs. John Lennon, who wrote the song said it was from a drawing his son Julian made and not a drug reference.
I guess my point being, if we had
Mr. Landman here and he said, he meant NO PE, not no P or E, would that not trump your view, and make his puzzle work?
SMOOTH ORATOR was my first long answer filled in, and I immediately wrote at the top of the page "-PE". So I was pleased to get the theme answer of NOPE.
Really struggled with the last two theme answers.
Had troble with 39D because I was always taught it was IN HIS CAP, so had to change that. Also had PRES, but changed it.
I ended up pretty proud of myself for finishing a Friday puzzle!
Lemonade714, then "To put it in more black and white terms" why was there no additional information at 17-a, Police record listing / PRIOR?
Let's see...
I mostly agree with Marti as always but...
Lemon: "I cannot help but notice marti is the only one to comment on the fill today."
Hmm..., I thought I had commented on the fill by name and said that I enjoyed some of it, in particular, I mentioned MYST and IN HIS HAT. Marti didn't mention those. Those seemed good to me. I agree with the others Marti commented on but they show up in plenty of other puzzles too, just maybe not in such concentration.
I can see Zcarguy's point but when you compare the theme answers to the "In the language" phrases, I was able to figure out that PE had been removed. If you parse it the other way, the theme answers don't make sense.
I think it's clear that people usually like a puzzle based on how well they did on it. I liked this one because it seemed hard but I was able to figure out most of it. If I start some other puzzle at the upper-left and can't get those answers, I tend to struggle and tend not to enjoy the puzzle as much.
I don't mean these comments in an argumentative way. Like Tin, I like the fact that this place tends to have mostly positive comments and fewer arguments unlike Rex Parker's. Thumper's guideline is a good one most of the time.
I suppose I could have referenced Marti's post as I agreed with her completely on the obscure three letter fill. For me, solving a puzzle is finding the hidden meaning, or double meaning or play on words. Although I understand the constructor's dilemma, there is no thrill in filling UEY, TRA, OBLA, LAA, STA,etc.
I wrote my initial gut reaction to the puzzle this morning, which is unusual for me. I usually only concentrate on the good points, because I know how difficult it is to construct a puzzle, and how little reward there is…monetarily.
The real reward comes from providing some enjoyment and diversion for the solvers that day. In this case, I did enjoy the theme, but the slog of solving overshadowed that, and I just had to state what I felt.
I hope I didn't offend anyone, and I certainly don't want to be compared to some critics who only look for the bad points!!
As far as the theme goes, it is up each solver to decide in their own way, how to parse the theme. For some it will be clear as day, and others will never even look for a theme. That doesn't matter. It's what you take from it and how you feel about finishing or not, that makes a puzzle "good" or "bad" for you as an individual.
For me, this one didn't make the grade.
Hi Y'all! The PK who has posted for over two years did not post the above sentiments. That was copycat PK.
I got nothing but PARFUM in the NW but filled in the NE quite readily and even suspected what the theme would be with SMOOTH ORATOR. "Getting it" that early is unusual for me. The whole puzzle would not have filled for me without red letters, but I got a lot of chuckles from it. Daniel Landman seemed to be on my wavelength so I liked it.
Happy Anniversary, Jazzbumpa! With 23 you are just getting a good start. May you have many more.
Hi y'all !
Worked on this one at various points this morning. Didn't want to change to Regular, but I eventually did.
First off, I'm not a big fan of puzzles that add or subtract letters that we typically see only on Fridays.
I do think there were some great clues and fill, such as HOT CEREAL, THIRSTILY, LINGER, ON DAY ONE and the one I kicked myself for not being able to think of when I first read the clue - IN HIS HAT. I also liked SUPRA. There were a few model years that I really liked.
I'll agree some of the shorter fill was iffy, but I found it no worse that all the shorts we get for various sounds. There are plenty of those that are used that often have different interpretations of the spellings. I think the main objection for me was that there was a lot of this type of short fill in one puzzle.
In my book, the only UEY is HUEY, which is standard military speak for UH-1 "Huey" helicopter. The vehicle maneuver is either a U-turn of a three point turn or a 180.
Anon @ 3:28. Not sure I understand your point or if you were asking for more of an explanation of the answer, but police record listing could either be the entire history (the rap sheet) or a single event on the person's record (a PRIOR).
Happy anniversary Jazzbumpa !
Oh my goodness!! How could I forget to wish you a happy anniversary, Jazzbumpa??? Happy 23rd! On a Thursday, yet!
¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫
My late husband and I were married on a Tuesday, because it was Valentines day (and my birthday.) Boy, did I ever regret that decision - only one gift instead of three every year!
Then DH #2 and I were married on a Thursday - New Year's Day in 2009. So, maybe we will make it for 23 years, too!
How many people other than JzB and marti were married on a day other than Saturday or Sunday?
Did you all have big wedding> Elope?
Yes, many happy returns Ron, start polishing the silver.
PK, someone is hijacking your persona, but is not too clever at it. I can almost always tell it is not you. Isn't this situation much worse than "going blue"? Some of the techies here could explain to you how minimal the risks are. You do not have to reveal anything you have not revealed so far, not even your email address.
-from a PK admirer. Let's knock the fake PKs out of the box!
Lemon @ 1:42 - You must have missed my post at 9:06 re Marti's fill comments.
JazzB - Happy Anniversary to you and Gloria; I hope you celebrate in a special way.
Sorry IM, I did forget to mention it even though I had read it. I guess your Thumper comment was all I recalled
Anon at 4:14: Thank you for your support. I wish I could go blue, but I can't. For one thing, I'm too technically challenged.
Where is Yellowrocks? Sick? Shoulder much worse? Kathy, we worry about you!
TTP @4:06
I've come to the realization that Friday puzzles are:
"Add-a-Letter, Delete-a-Letter, Change-a-Letter ... Create-a-Whacky-Phrase Day."
I didn't like that 10-A, Fighting, clued AT-IT.
I would prefer "One of a pair" for A-TIT.
Plus I always like the grid to have a libation (a liquid that is poured out to honor a god. : an alcoholic drink!)
Scotch or Pinch would make-my-day.
But Ale, Beer, Bourbon, Gin, Rum, Vodka (even Wine) are acceptable.
AAH ... the "Sun is over the yardarm."
Cheers!
Jazz. Happy 23rd. hope you have many more. It gets much better.
BillG@ 9:40AM How can I comment on the fill when I'm looking at a field of white? I got my butt kicked today. Only comment is, I (or it) stunk.
I once, (& only once) tried to create a crossword puzzle. I found it so difficult, that from then on, I had no nits with any fill. Anything is fair game in order to complete the puzzle.
From then on, my only nits are with incomprehensible clues. I would complain about the 26A clue, except it is not a nit per se, it is a Natick. 53A LAA? can't complain, it's a name, & they are always a bitch to solve! Sometimes you have to rely on Perps, & sometimes they fail you. But a Natick crossing Natick, like French crossing French, will always piss me off....
Re: Myst. I spent many an hour trying to solve those games, seems archaic now, but it was fun then. I once accidentally found John Goodman in a hot tub in Riven before the idea of Easter Eggs even existed. I would love to plug in Myst again if I had the time, but I doubt it would run on Windows 8.
Here are some Myst/Riven Easter Eggs I had no idea existed...
If any of you did the Loren Muse Smith puzzle suggested by George, I loved the clue, NYC Country Club and her fill.
The ultimate text message. Modify as required.
“I’m having 1 more beer with Tin. If I’m not home in 1 hour .... read this message again.”
Tin @ 4:42, I have made a mental note to ALWAYS include some libation in future puzzles...that way I know that at least one person will get enjoyment!!
(^0^)
I always thought NLER as clued in 15a referred to the player not the fan.
Lemon @4:13 - First marriage was on a Friday, Nov 24 which was the day after Thanksgiving so we would have a whole weekend for a Honeymoon. Second marriage was on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 1969...we eloped because he said he didn't want to see 8 little heads peering over the church pews. He had 5 and I had 3. The claim to fame on this day is that we came directly home (3 hr drive from Tulsa, OK) and watched Tiny Tim get married on Johnny Carson. No honeymoon this time.
PK (will the real one please standup?) - I too was intimidated, but I took about an hour one evening, and with lots of 'can do' determination, I setup a google ID with google email and now I'm blue. If I can do it, I have faith that you can do it.
Good call KJ!
Friday night tuneagement time
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up,
Please stand up, please stand up?
So, will the real Shady please stand up?
And put one of those fingers on each hand up?
And be proud to be outta your mind and outta control
And one more time, loud as you can, how does it go?
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up,
Please stand up, please stand up?
Guess there's a Slim Shady in all of us
Screw it, let's all stand up!
Not PK - Wasn't thinking Slim Shady, although that's a good alternative. I was of the notion of a little "To Tell The Truth".
Happy 92nd Birthday Betty White!
HeartRx @5:27
That would be appreciated ... as long as a certain "3-letter-word" wasn't included (then I would have a DNF) since I prefer my Dimple Pinch NEAT!
OTOH, since there is ALWAYS a Sunset everyday, at that point I always get enjoyment!!
Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!
Lemonade - What do I think about while I'm solving? Same thing I think about the rest of the day. I'm a guy. :-)
Color me weird, but I enjoy them all (puzzles, that is) in varying degrees, and I rarely even think of criticism, let alone voice it. I tried Soduku; I'd rather play in traffic blindfolded. I solve these puzzles (LA Times) because I enjoy them. I do not enjoy the NYT puzzle, do I don't do it, and I never slum with puzzles from elsewhere. One puzzle a day, just like the apple, keeps the (brain) doctor away. Like someone earlier said, YMMV.
That said, I had no idea till I read the blog that the theme was "No PE", or that there was a theme.
Today's (and other "prior" ) argument reminds of what someone (a certain war criminal, if I recall) is reputed to have said: "Academic politics are vicious precisely because there is so little at stake".
As my 88 year old friend said at a party last summer when an argument about some minutiae of politics was raging, "Who gives a s--t, really?"
Remember what we do before Dad takes the T-Bird away?
Thanks for all the kind wishes.
Here's the card.
Oldest granddaughter has a foot problem and an ABT audition on Sunday. We gave her a ride home from school and a bit later had a nice dinner at the Olive Garden.
Cheers!
JzB
Misty: you weren't alone in misreading Yankee Doodle's FATHER. His father does show up in the song, so I was trying IN THE WAR or INFANTRY. As a kid I thought "macaroni" was just in there as a nonsense word, and was pleasantly surprised when a few years ago I found out the real story.
Was anyone else puzzled by trying to parse RENT YES IN PENERS or RENT YES IN NEPERS? (Obviously, I did get it eventually.)
Lemon: my Little Woman & I tied the knot on Thanksgiving, so we have a movable anniversary. The day we elected to renew our vows also turned out to be significant: 9/11/2001.
WILL ONE OF YOU PKs PLEASE GO BLUE, OR ALTER YOUR HANDLE? If you both go blue, we'll at least be able to tell which is which by your avatars!
Almost forgot, Tin,
I bought my first bottle of Pinch yesterday , just had my first pour*
. Wonderful stuff !!
* Note: "Prior" post not fueled by alcohol. :-)
Jazzbumpa, sweet.
Yankee Doodle had a CAP not a hat! That was a problem here.
Susan Davanzo @ 7:58, THANK YOU!! I was trying to figure out why 39-Down just seemed "off" to me. Yes! It was a "cap", not a HAT!
Well, WIKI says that the originator of the idea, if not the exact quote, was one Dr. Wallace Stanley Sayre, though it also states that my guy later claimed it was his.
You can look it up, as some other sage (Yogi?) once said.
You both wrong. It was hat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yankee_Doodle.JPG
Hi Y'all! I guess it's a good thing that there is flattery that comes with imitation. I just realized we haven't heard from Hahtoolhah lately.
I'm watching my favorite NBA team right now. Hope y'all are having fun also.
Anon@4:14 I can always identify the fake PK too. :)
Well, what's the consensus?! Wiki actually has both CAP and HAT. I learned it as CAP! What say the rest of the bloggers?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_Doodle
This is quite an important issue!
Yes, 'cap' seems like the way I remember it too. Still, from Google, there are many versions of it both ways so it's clear that it's not a mistake. I'm guessing the constructor or editor chose whichever way made the rest of that part of the puzzle flow better.
We just got back from tea and biscuits at a neighbor's house. Here's another issue. Are you aware that there is a serious discussion to be had about which is better or proper; to put milk in the cup and add tea or to put tea in the cup and add milk? People swear it makes a difference and whichever way they do it makes it taste better. I can't believe that it makes a noticeable difference but I'm not going to argue with a Brit who thinks otherwise. I think this would be a perfect opportunity for a double-blind taste test. Or, maybe that's already been done...
As whenever there are alternatives, you let the perps decide. Both cap and hat are valid, given the limited data, but only one fits the puzzle.
I don't put milk in my tea but with coffee, I put my half and half in first so I don't have to stir it after I add my coffee.
The PK at 8:30 p.m. can identify the fake PK because IT is the fake. Imitation is more likely a form of bullying. I don't play silly games.
I give up.
PK,
The real PK,
Any one of us can help you set up an account and end all this nonsense.
Hell !! I already have an Avatar
for you.
Good evening, folks. Thank you, Daniel Landman, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
Well, I was quite busy all day and worked on this in bits and pieces.
Finally got done about an hour ago while at the Shrine Temple. Only I missed a few of them, so DNF technically.
Misspelled EPSON. Had an E for the O.
Had BAT BOY instead of BOY TOY. I was thinking of a young lover of baseball.
Liked the theme once I slowly caught on.
Had DANGLE for the longest time instead of LINGER.
Had NNW instead of NNE. My mental map was not working. Fixed it eventually, with TERSE.
Anyhow, I am going to hit the hay.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(25546256 637)
Y'all do know that PK stands for preacher's kid.
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