Words: 72 (missing F,J,Q)
Blocks: 30
Mr. Peterson is flying solo this
Saturday, and while this was a challenging and solvable puzzle, there
were too many proper nouns crossing people and places, which takes the
enjoyment out of it, at least for me. Heavy corners today with triple 7's, and
triple 6's on the walls. In the middle we have two 12-letter and 2
9-letter spanners;
19A. Sub : HERO SANDWICH -
slightly redundant in my neck of the woods; if I said I was "going for a
hero sandwich", my friend's would ask me if I was OK.
34A. "Arrow-maker's daughter" in a Longfellow poem : MINNEHAHA - I had no clue, but once I had MINNE----, I recalled hearing this name somewhere. According to Wiki, she's 'another' popular individual in MN
44A. Subject of weekly ratings : TV PROGRAM
55A. Where Superman made his debut : ACTION COMICS
- well, I started with MARVEL COMICS, and I am sure aficionados would
cringe at the thought - Action was originally published under Detective Comics;
it's how we come to have DC Comics today
onward~!
ACROSS:
1. Sign with a sting? : SCORPIO
- I gave this one a moment, considered "road" signs, then decided to
move on - and just as I clicked to the next clue, the astrology meaning
popped into my head, and the V-8 can flew
8. Anatomical blade : SCAPULA - I gave no moment to this one - had to wait on perps; oddly, there were quite a few answers that eluded me this week, and looking back, I am ashamed to admit it.
15. Key keys for many secretaries : HOME ROW - A,S,D,F <-> J,K,L,; - my typing skills have come from AutoCAD, and keeping a daily journal on the computer for the last 9 years; on my laptop, there's literally an indent on the left end of my space bar, the "A" has worn off its key, and I still have trouble hitting comma, period, colons and quotes
16. "Guess again!" : NO SIREE~! - well then, I'll choose HOSIERY~!
8. Anatomical blade : SCAPULA - I gave no moment to this one - had to wait on perps; oddly, there were quite a few answers that eluded me this week, and looking back, I am ashamed to admit it.
15. Key keys for many secretaries : HOME ROW - A,S,D,F <-> J,K,L,; - my typing skills have come from AutoCAD, and keeping a daily journal on the computer for the last 9 years; on my laptop, there's literally an indent on the left end of my space bar, the "A" has worn off its key, and I still have trouble hitting comma, period, colons and quotes
18. Free-spirited locale? : OPEN BAR - free = open, spirits = alcohol; the local locale of the blog is Villa Incognito
21. Yahoo! rival : MSN - Microsoft Network - Internet and Email providers; yep, I went with AOL to start.
22. Bar order : RYE - Dah~! Went with ALE first
23. Certain tributes : ODES
27. Fitness brand : AVIA - my first instinct was this fill, but I had AOL in already; this meant "AA" for 4d., and that looked wrong
30. Big name in Tinseltown tittle-tattle : TMZ - Again, this was my first fill instinct; I call it 'hype' news; I can't stand the commercials, never mind the show. Learning moment; TMZ stands for Thirty-Mile Zone, the 'studio zone' of Hollywood.
32. Soften : RELENT - neatly followed by:
37. Score directive : LENTO - If the next word was ENTOMB, that'd be really cool. Well....
38. __ Arizona : USS - I stared at this way too long; it took the middle "S" before the "Duh" hit me
41. Like the vb. "have" : IRRegular - that's strange; I use the word "have" pretty regularly (From C.C.: Irregular conjugation here.)
42. Loser's metaphor : SHIRT - "lost my shirt when the market crashed"
46. Make lovable : ENDEAR
48. Bolted down : ATE
49. Well-sinewed : ROPY - I went with WIRY to start
50. Face-to-face contest : DUEL - meh, not really - they're about 20 paces apart, at least using pistols. I can see getting in close using swords, but my mind was stuck on boxing, and even chess
51. Cousin of com : ORG - DAH~! I put in EDU, since NET wasn't going to work, nor BIZ, but for some reason, ORG completely eluded me. When I first read the clue, I thought it said c o r n , not com
53. Bud abroad : AMI - Frawnch
61. Red wood, perhaps : HOT COAL - I can walk on hot coals - of course, my shoes are ON
64. Asana accessory : YOGA MAT - I had --AT at the end, was thinking "asada", or grilled "meat", so this one took a while to appear
65. Martha's Vineyard paper since 1846 : GAZETTE
66. Train : EDUCATE
67. Like some Thanksgiving turkeys : TRUSSED - ah, not STUFFED
68. Old-fashioned messages : TELEXES
DOWN:
1. With 63-Down, toy from Tibet : SHIH ; 63. See 1-Down : TZU - First and last; paired clues for bookends
2. Froyo holder : CONE - we have a Frozen Yogurt place in town, but in my head, I see it as "Fro-Yo" ; froyo looks like the Spanish word for a kitchen accessory
3. Old Persian poet : OMAR
4. Pro with a tow truck : REPO MAN
5. Uptight type : PRISS - D'oh, I went with PRUDE, slowed me down
6. Gilbert and Sullivan operetta that satirizes Parliament : IOLANTHE - Never heard of this, so after I filled it in using perps, I went to Wiki
7. "Children of Men" star Clive : OWEN
8. White : SNOWY - This was just a downright awesome one-word Saturday clue/answer
9. Staples staple : COPIER - TONER, PAPER, PENCILS didn't fit, and I was AT Staples today - again, the obvious did not occur to me
10. "Hold on __!" : A SEC
11. Source of a slow leak, perhaps : PINHOLE
12. Sub finisher? : URB - SubURB - I went with ARU first - SubARU
13. Bucolic spot : LEA
14. __ Arann: Irish carrier : AER - Again, seems obvious now that I am done
20. Physician married to Tonya Gromeko : DR. ZHIVAGO
24. "A Bronx Tale" director : DE NIRO
25. Lead on : ENTRAP
26. Dark 'n' __ (rum and ginger beer cocktail) : STORMY
27. Kept occupied : AMUSED
28. Four-armed deity : VISHNU
29. Favorable track position : INSIDE - I'm on the inside track to being recalled to drive for UPS; I've been back on the pre-load side since Jan 10th.
31. Outlet : MART
33. Nevada city : ELKO
35. Verb in first-year Spanish : ESTA
36. Patient request: Abbr. : APPT
40. Trio preceding an exchange : AREA CODE
43. Tightens, as a corset : RELACES
45. Sign of displeasure : GRIMACE - I put GRUMBLE in first; 57% correct
47. Take a turn : ROTATE
52. Beside oneself : RILED
54. Heavy hitter : MOGUL
56. Storable sacks : COTS - ah, that kind of sack
57. It may be heard in Orel arguments : NYET - Russia, that is; I was stuck on the OrAl we had Wednesday, and thought it was a biblical reference
58. Theater giant? : IMAX
59. " The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" co-star Blanchett : CATE
60. Some Fr. martyrs : STEs
61. Lic. number : HGT - I started with D.O.B., which didn't help. The abbr in the clue told me it couldn't be AGE, then a-ha~! either WGT or HGT
62. Shell mover : OAR - dah~! that kind of shell
Splynter(ed), from Wednesday's 11d.
Hello, sports fans! If you are looking for something a bit easier than today’s Doug Peterson brain-cruncher, my team brings you Chicks Dig the Long Ball (with Brent Hartzell) and The Puck Stops Here (at Ridder) (with Karen Kaler). Then for tomorrow, Groundhog Day, we plan yet another surprise for you (still in beta testing). Hope you enjoy these, and are staying warm!
ReplyDeleteMorning, all!
ReplyDeleteYeah, this was definitely a Saturday puzzle. Had S_A_ULA at 8A and threw in SPATULA thinking, "why the heck is that an anatomical blade?" But it fit so well that it took awhile of struggling until I finally took it out.
The tricky clues were fun and didn't cause me much grief today. "Sign with a sting" for SCORPIO, "Free-spirited locale" for OPEN BAR, "Red wood, perhaps" for HOT COAL, "Take a turn" for ROTATE... they all took some thought, but were nice to figure out.
I was proud of myself for getting MINNEHAHA, HERO SANDWICH and ACTION COMICS right off the bat from the clues. DR ZHIVAGO didn't come quite as easily, but I was able to get it with some perp help.
I thought I was finished, but didn't get the *TADA*. After much checking and double-checking, I decided that maybe, just maybe, I had a misspelling at the crossing of IOLANTHA and SARIPAK. And so I did! Tried IOLANTHE and SERIPAK instead and that did the trick. Vaguely heard of the first, totally unaware of the second.
Too difficult for me today to finish without help. For 49A - well sinewed I put BUFF, for 68A old fashioned messages I went way back in time to TABLETS. 12D Sub finisher - SUBWAY and lastly for 57D Orel Arguments - I couldn't get former pitcher Orel Hershiser out of my head - maybe an argument with the UMPS?
ReplyDeleteA picture of the Minnehaha I know, up on Lake George.
ReplyDeleteRabbit, Rabbit!
ReplyDeleteI was fearing a dreaded second DNF after yesterday's disaster, and almost got my dread. My COTS started out as Manac's CORD, and my turkey was BRAISED or ROASTED. Once OAR showed up, TRUSSED appeared, and everything in CA fell into place.
The really tough spot was dead center in Kansas. I thought the Dr. was going to be one of those afternoon TV talk dudes or perhaps a soap character. Finally had enough perps to see ZHIVAGO.
I dredged up IOLANTHE from who-knows-where, and that confirmed MINNEHAHA. But "Outlet" crossing the LPGA Champ almost did me in. I WAGged MART for the outlet (whew!). That gave me TMZ and SERIPAK, which both looked totally strange. You get no "tada" from the daily paper, so I was surprized when Splynter confirmed them.
This one had "DNF" written (well, unwritten) all over it even though I pulled SCAPULA out of thin air right off the bat. But I plugged away and made some progress (though I had DELI before HERO and DRESSED before TRUSSED). I had CODE but the word "trio" in the clue made me think I needed two more (short) words. It also helped to pull IOLANTHE out of thin air with just a letter or two. But there was no "TaDa!" when I typed in the last letter so I was off on a typo [sic] hunt. Changing COPIES to COPIER did the trick (and RELENT made a lot more sense!)
ReplyDeleteI guess one could quibble over "Heavy hitter" as a clue for MOGUL.
In hindsight none of the answers were especially obscure (with the notable exception of SERIPAK). But that's hindsight for ya.
[18:47]
I always enjoy Doug's puzzles and this was no exception. Tough as nails, but still accessible enough to finish (or at least nearly). Started out with Lea and Aer seemed plausible even though it wasn't the more familiar Lingus. That proved Scapula, which I had suspected. Slid south and filled in Odes, that E gave me Entice (Bzzt), but Stormy just had to be, so Irr showed up and entrap emerged. So it went all the way around.
ReplyDeleteStill, finished with the same failure as Barry, or at least a variation. I instead of A. Siri Pak sounded familiar enough that I went with it and Iolanthi seemed good enough since that was an utter unknown. Ah well. I'll take one bad cell and call it a success.
On the local music scene, the paper had good news this morning. We have a brand new arena in Lincoln, and James Taylor will play it in June. That's enough to get my attention.
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteWell, I finished with some research (Shih Tzu, Se Ri Pak, Gazette, and Dark N Stormy). Really liked clues for Open Bar, Dr. Zhivago, Home row, Hot coal.
But, please help this neophyte! What is the Theme? Is there one? And if DP is the theme, what is the relationship to the "theme" answers? Thank you for your wisdom.
KentuckyKate, welcome to the blog. Saturday, the toughest day of the week, is always themeless. The other days of the week have a theme, but only the Sunday puzzle has a title which gives a clue to the theme. Monday-thru-Friday our bloggers extraordinaire create a fitting "title" for the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThere were many fun misdirections here: scorpio, scapula,shirt, hot coal, shihtzu. SERIPAK was the only unknown. TDNF because I had an s instead of a z in ZHIVAGO and looked up the spelling when I didn't like TMS. Like Splynter, I don't care for TMZ as a show.
ReplyDeleteI am a G&S fan. I have enjoyed IOLANTHE on stage.
We have a MINNEHAHA Street near here. I like the Song of Hiawatha by Longfellow. It is too long to post.
When I taught idioms like "beside oneself" the children liked drawing pictures of the literal meanings, a person standing next to her double, a person hitting the roof with a hammer, a person dumping ice cream on his own head (the treat's on me) etc.
I liked 54D. A heavy hitter is a person predominate in influence or power. A mogul is an important or powerful person.
Hi Everyone ~~
ReplyDeleteWhew! This took just over an hour but it seemed like much longer. As Splynter said, the names really interrupted the flow and were frustrating at times. I managed to finish, with a lucky guess of E at the crossing of IOLANTHE and SERIPAK.
As is usually the case, I had many of the same write-overs and first thoughts as Splynter: AOL/MSN, Entice/ENTRAP, Ale/RYE, Stuffed/TRUSSED. And in my newspaper, also, 51A Cousin of com looked like 'corn.' I guess my comments should have been "WSS." :-)
I was really stumped on 61D - Lic. number - I was thinking of the actual license plate.
Thanks for workout, Doug Peterson - I did enjoy the challenge and thanks, Splynter, for your always delightful write-up!
@ d-o 8:26
ReplyDeleteI think that is Kate's point: Splynter says the theme is DP. Like Kate, I don't get it either, and I don't think of myself as a crossword neophyte. Dense sometimes, though!
DP simply stands for Doug Peterson. Not a theme.
ReplyDeleteThis one started off badly, with only five entries to start. With Dr. Zhivago and some type of sandwich finally got it going.
ReplyDeleteFavorite clues were "Sign with a sting?", "Storable sacks" and "Free Spirited Locale?"
Thanks Doug for a fun puzzle, and Splynter for your always wonderful write-up.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a challenging but doable offering with some fun mis- direction and interesting fill. Like others, I had stuffed before trussed, ale before rye, and entice before entrap. (I'm sure Tin liked the open bar, with rye, to boot!)
Thanks, Doug P., and thanks, Splynter, for an enlightening expo.
Bill G., enjoy your birthday celebration with the family.
Have a relaxing day. My step-daughter is coming to visit tonight and is bringing Chinese food. Yum!
@ Avg Joe 9:20 AM
ReplyDeleteOh. Thanks! Like I said, dense sometimes!
Apologies in advance,,, I am still in yesterday mode. I have been trying to do the entire weeks puzzles in ink, but todays 1 across seemed so simple, & yet I could get none of the corresponding downs. So I am going to go red letter.
ReplyDeleteBut in order to do so, I need to get rid of a few links I had saved thinking you might like them:
Blue Iris @ 8:26pm yest: Definitely a Dr Who fan, but I am a lousy party planner. Best I can suggest is this sonic screwdriver, but I am afraid no one will remember what happened at the party later... (note, turn off before last 17 seconds to avoid some foul language!)
A different view of freefall from space. (I don't know what the 1st pic does, but the second pic is an interesting video...)
Another amazing freefall.
& To all that think Manac & I have a real feud, (we don't) Pls note that dogs are not cats enemies, printers are...
& finally, I hope this makes your day...
Onward to the Saturday Stumper!
(See you l8r...)
It took educated guesses and withdrawals from a deep memory bank to put the “got ‘er done” stamp on this great Saturday offering. I had more trouble/fun with the clever cluing (COTS, APPT, AREA CODE, NYET, HOT COAL, etc) than the proper nouns.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Seinfeld stayed even after low TV ratings for the first three years
-Blade – SCALPEL and Sub – PAR made a mess of NW for a while
-Stacked and LOST HER SHIRT (under the HOSIERY picture) would work too Splynter
-MSNbc had to apologize again for a racially insensitive remark
-TMZ and National Enquirer have broken some big stories despite what people think of them
-Standing above the USS Arizona is very moving
-Women from Japan, China, Korea and Thailand dominate the LPGA
-When I enter craigslist.COM the URL automatically switches to craigslist.ORG
-It is often said that events around Martha’s Vineyard kept Ted Kennedy from being president
-Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn called OMAR’S efforts “dirty Persian poetry”
-Bama footballer HA HA Clinton-Dix. MINNIE’s descendant?
-On Tuesday Staples charged me $200 to chase the demons out of this VAIO laptop
-In my physics, we used a PINHOLE this way
-Doctor? Russian? Who ya gonna call? ZHIVAGO!
-Everybody’s favorite Dark and Stormy
-My OREL argument first had ERAS and WINS
Used red letters a lot today, mostly the same bad starts as Splynter had, but got through without having to do any look-ups. My worst was SHIH TZU, I kept wracking my brain for a toy - yoyo? hula hoop? Rubic cube? Wasn't until perps had filled in the first half that I realized what it was.
ReplyDeleteWe did sort of have a theme: Heroes and Heroines.
HERO SANDWICH, Superman's ACTION COMICS, MINNEHAH, DR. ZHIVAGO, IOLANTHE, and most TV PROGRAMs have both hero and heroine. The only long fill without a connection is AREA CODE.
-The Norm mentioned Scapula.
Splynter: Wonderful write-up & links.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was going to be a breeze after I entered SCORPIO & SCAPULA right-off-the-bat.
WRONG!!! ... but a beautiful Rorschach Ink Blot / DNF.
Faves today (of course) were RYE, 'Dark-n-STORMY' at the OPEN-BAR.
Yup, OPEN-BAR is probably my "ALL-TIME" favorite crossword answer. Go figure ...
(I'm still hoping to see Dimple Pinch Scotch someday).
Cheers!!!
Greetings, Super Solvers!
ReplyDeleteMy theme for this was "Going back to school." Many learning moments popped up, some of which I had to research. SERIPAK, definitely required help and I was fairly certain of Clive OWEN but looked it up anyway.
IOLANTHE was a complete unknown for me though I'm sure Keith will ace it.
And even though I read Superman's exploits from a very early age, I did not recall ACTION COMICS. However, the entire east end filled surprisingly fast all the way from SCAPULA to TELEXES.
MINNEHAHA brought fond memories of my trip to Minnesota although the Falls were dry when we visited.
This was a somewhat fun slow and illuminating slog. I appreciate the many details learned from Doug Peterson.
I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday and I'll read you all later!
solved it, but had to put it down for an hour...bad form smokescreen, IMO, by not implying abbreviated answers in the clues for TMZ, TVPROGRAM and DRZHIVAGO...case can even be made for MSN's clue being a bit much of a ruse
ReplyDeleteWOW! Definite DNF even with my crossword dictionary. Today and yesterday were real 'pull your hair out' workouts for a novice.
ReplyDeleteHowever, what I have learned is that completion of even a Monday puzzle depends on your core knowledge base. So I'll just keep plugging away.
Have a great Saturday!
Well, I am still trying to fit "scalpel" into 8A, but I had enough sense to give up.
ReplyDeleteI saw a video a couple of days ago, & knowing the 1st of the Month tradition on the Blog about "rabbit, rabbit" I thought about posting it, but had some reservations about offending anyone...
So I asked daughter #3 this AM as I was driving her to play practice, & she was aware of it, saying it is an internet sensation! No one should be offended by it. (I had never seen it, so I assume you haven't either.)
So, being CED, what else can I do but post it. (hey it's better than carrying around a rabbits foot, sheesh!) How to help a rabbit pass gas!
(No offense intended...)
Saturday is a killer. It took a long time, but the perps and a few NSWAGs (non-scientific wild ass guesses) and a lot of erasures ultimately filled in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteI have a long lost cousin by the name of Doug Peterson, but I doubt if this Doug is my cousin. It's a shame that we lose touch with family when the older generation of aunts and uncles pass on and the cousins scatter to the winds.
It looks as if Splynter had many of the same difficulties as I did on this, my usual Saturday slog. If it weren't for red letters, I probably wouldn't even attempt these.
ReplyDeleteTime for a short nap and then lunch with all of the people in my avatar photo. I'll report back...
From my brother-in-law, country singer/songwriter Dean Dobbins:
Two Japanese businessmen were talking during their dip in the hot baths at the Tokyo Onsen. "Hi denori-san, I have unpleasant news for you. Your wife is dishonoring you." Upset, Hi denori asked for more information. "Moreover, she is dishonoring you with a foreigner who is of the Jewish faith." Shocked, Hi denori went home to confront his wife. "I am told you are dishonoring me with a foreigner of the Jewish faith."
"That is a lie!" she replied, outraged. "Oy! Where did you hear such mishegass?"
Like Tinbeni, "I thought this was going to be a breeze after I entered SCORPIO & SCAPULA right-off-the-bat". Hand up for AOL and ALE.
ReplyDeleteI had to resort to red letters and Google so many times that it took the enjoyment out of the puzzle. But it is Saturday!
My nit for the day is RELACES for TIGHTENS AS A CORSET. I wanted LACES UP as I see no indication in the clue that we are tightening AGAIN! You might relace shoes to tighten them up but when you originally lace up a corset you are tightening it. At least that's what it looks like in any movies, pictures I have seen. Thankfully I do not have any experience with corsets!!LOL.
Happy Saturday to all.
Can someone please explain the "cleverness" others have detected in the clue-- "Red wood, perhaps"-- for HOT COAL? I got the answer, but except in a metaphoric way I don't get why redwood or red wood qualifies as coal. Charcoal briquets, perhaps, but not coal...
ReplyDeleteDoesn't coalification begin with peat? What am I missing?
The rest was fine by me. I particularly liked 1A and 63D. The opening gimmes for me were VISHNU, ATE, and CATE. IOLANTHE came slightly after, as I had to run through some G&S plot lines. Everything else needed to be worked out. I had RENO in mind before LENTO made me go with ELKO. I peeked twice, once to confirm spelling for SCAPULA, and then to double check that SE RI PAK wasn't just something I had made up.
Not one of my favorites today. Cluing was suspect and some of the answers made me say "Huh, Really?".
ReplyDeleteWhen is Spring going to get here????
Came crashing down to earth after my glorious Friday high in getting the whole puzzle without help yesterday. Today only the south and a little of the left filled in before I had to start cheating. I got so rattled I even had to ask my husband how to spell ZHIVAGO. And like Keith, I still don't get HOT COAL for RED WOOD. But you can't win them all. We had a bit of rain yesterday (badly needed) and have sunshine this morning. So, not much to grip about, is there?
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend, everybody!
Keith @1309 - When thinking of the 'red' color from a burning glowing ember, HOT COAL makes sense. An ember is a coal by definition. This fill had me too.
ReplyDeleteSpitzboov @1:56,
ReplyDeleteYes - but that's the ONLY way (metaphoric, very loosely) that red wood might be termed a coal. Because they both can "glow." I get the basic connection, but am still at a loss to see what some have found clever in that.
~Kf
Coal - shortened name for charcoal.
ReplyDeleteDictionaries would be a lot thinner if they only allowed one definition, eh?
Spring is here for a spell in North Jersey today.Hurray! Temps are in the high 40's, too warm for my winter coat. The car wash lines extend out along the highways, so I passed. Being retired maybe I can find a good weekday time. My car color has changed from dark blue to white, as has my winter coat. Alas!
ReplyDeleteG&Sfiamen: With the I and H given, only Iolanthe fit, not my favorite.
As a hiker and camper I love camp fires. Burning wood glows red before it disintegrates into ash. Those hot wood coals are perfect for s'mores.
I wasn't crazy about RED COAL either. I got it but I didn't like it much. Still, it's Saturday and all...
ReplyDeleteI went to the local supermarket that I frequent to get a package of lox, to go on some poppy seed bagels with schmear. I have gotten it many times before. It comes in two sizes, found in an end cap with smoked salmon, etc. But they haven't had it lately. I've asked but apparently not the correct lox czar. The people I've asked immediately assume it's there but I just didn't see it. They will hand me a different package of smoked salmon. When I explain I want something slightly different, they seem to think I'm just a little confused. Maybe so but not about the lox I've gotten there many times before. Oh well, off to a different store...
Anon. G: I was really embarrassed that I did not "get" shih Tzu even when I saw it. I have 2 shih Tzu/poodle mix dogs!
ReplyDeleteEver stared at a camp fire?
ReplyDeleteThe HOT COALs of the Red Wood burning?
Where RED COAL appeared to Bill G. is another story all together.
Evening All,
ReplyDeleteWell this one beat me up pretty good.
It all started with putting in shar pei. I always misspell shih tzu and think that's not allowed. The only clue I know for 20D is Lara. The rest of the crosses were just too tough today. 61A got me also, I'm thinking Cedar, Fir, maybe Mahogany? Open Bar I got...Must be Tin's influence! All around DNF but a workout.
Hi again~!
ReplyDeleteYa know, I was going to comment in the write-up about how I was not thrilled about HOT COAL, either, since I usually sit by the fire at least once a week; when the wood gets 'red', to me, that's an ember - then it turns to ash. I would not consider 'red wood' as 'hot coal' - I even went and looked at what Argyle suggested - charcoal. meh.
Splynter
Hi Y'all! I managed to fill this but it was not fun. I was certainly not on Doug's wave length. Thank you red-letters. Valiant blogging, Splynter!
ReplyDeleteI thought the clue "kept occupied" for AMUSED was very vague. And I said a bad word about the clue for AREA CODE when it emerged. Apt but annoying.
I am proud that I got the VISHNU/MINNEHAHA cross. Much of the top half was empty at the time.
We had a family near my hometown who in the 1800's had a statewide famous educator named MINNEHAHA. So they named one of their many children MINNEHAHA and called her Minnie. She was pretty smart and a tough little girl to survive elementary school with that moniker.
Never heard of TMZ. Zhivago followed my typing of Dr. almost by magic as I realized who Tonya Gromeko was. I didn't get 1D until TZUH appeared at the bottom.
Well, it snowed here last night less than an inch. Not enough to shovel. Just enough to be messy.
Merriam Webster defines a coal as a glowing piece of wood from a fire. So the coal is still wood in composition and is red because it is glowing. I don't understand the quibble.
ReplyDeleteGeez, I'm sure glad I didn't enter my first instinct for 15-A, "Key keys for many secretaries."
ReplyDeleteI admit it, off the first 'H' in SHIH ... I 'wanted' to put in 'Her tits' ...
Oh well, it's a beautiful Sunset.
Cheers!!!
Hi, YR,
ReplyDeleteThere was never a question about how people connected red wood to HOT COAL in my mind (and I was apparently the first to challenge it), but only why it is that some particularly "liked" the cluing or found it "fun" or "clever." It just seemed clumsy at best.
Some dictionaries are willing to include wood along with coal under a generic "coal," but many keep the distinction. Two of my dictionaries define ember as "a glowing piece of wood OR coal," and even Merriam Webster defines ember as "a lighted coal: a glowing fragment of coal, coke, wood, or other solid fuel...." To me this first blurs, then reinforces the distinction between wood and coal.
This has grown into more of an issue than it ought to be. Chalk it up to our shared preference for precision and, in this case, a question of taste. I just failed to see what was smart or clever about that misdrection.
Hi Keith,
ReplyDeleteSorry, I couldn't find your email address. I enjoyed being on a "tag team" with you yesterday. It seems that sometimes we were typing simultaneously. I had even looked up the same Gretchen aria in the straight jacket before you posted, but did not link it. What fun to have found a kindred spirit.
This was too good to Pass Up :)
ReplyDeleteAs long as we're quibbling over "Red wood" for HOTCOAL, the coals in my woodstove never get any hotter than orange (in spite of the phrase "red hot").
ReplyDeleteGood one Manac!
ReplyDeleteWe just got back from my birthday lunch at my favorite restaurant. Actually, lunch doesn't do the meal justice. It was a nice dinner served at 2:15 in the afternoon.
I order four appetizers for the eight of us. Two were Bonnie's favorite, Caprese (tomatoes with fresh basil, buffalo mozzarella and olive oil. Barbara and I split up a salad/main dish that included my favorite scallops, shrimp, calamari, etc. Also, ravioli filled with butternut squash and candied basil, fresh-made thin-crust pizza and other stuff. Then they brought a birthday flour-less chocolate cake with raspberry drizzle. Then everybody wanted to split a coffee creme brulee. Delicious! I can't imagine a more satisfying meal.
Nap time...
LMAO Manac! Good one!
ReplyDeleteHmm, I am having trouble topping that one.
Oh wait, I got it...
Yeah, red wood = hot coals rubbed me the wrong way too. & yet red wood as a clue for "embers" seems ok... Why is that?
All this talk of hot coals is making me rethink my fire safety plan...
Actually Cy, red flames are cooler than orange flames. Wiki
ReplyDeleteWay too many proper names. Iolanthe, TMZ, A Bronx Tale, Dark n Stormy ( WAG), Children of Men, Froyo, ROPY, HGD, Tonya Gromeko, Asana: never heard of any of them. I had SHIH TZU and HGT but couldn't make sense of a 'trussed' turkey. SERIPAK and MINNEHAHA were the only ones I knew.
ReplyDeleteEverything fell into place AFTER I googled 6D, 7D, 24D, Superman. Had AIRHOLE for PINHOLE, couldn't remember how to spell ZHIVAGO (WAG ) Nothing came easy on this puzzle.
BillG:
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your birthday dinner was as great as you had hoped. I'm so happy for you!
Big Easy@9:05
Saturday puzzles are supposed to be difficult. If it was a struggle to solve, then the objective was achieved. BTW if you don't know yet, ASANA is any yoga pose usually done on a YOGA MAT.