Words: 70 (missing F,Q,V,X)
Blocks: 26
YES~! This week's offering from Mr. Silk was probably one of the
toughest puzzles he's given us in a long time - IMHO. The low block
count, triple 11- and 10-letter corners and inner pinwheel stacks left
little wiggle room. Not to mention the utter vagueness of the clues and
the clever misdirections - oh, wait, I just did.... There were two
breakthrough answers (*) that got me to the finish - but with a mere 57 seconds left on the clock of my personal time limit. Some of the longer fill:
15a. Riverbend Festival city : CHATTANOOGA - that's odd; Boston in Tennessee?
55a. Egyptian expanse : SINAI DESERT - SAHARA was a tad too long
25. African Union Commission headquarters : ADDIS ABABA - Africa is popular today
14. Part of Larry King's legacy : SUSPENDERS
On(e more week) ward~!!!
ACROSS:
1. Travelocity offering : PACKAGE DEAL*
- 11-letter start, and I'm thinking HOTEL---, PLANE---, etc., and it
wasn't until the third or fourth pass, with a smattering of letters in
place that I finally realized this was a 'general' term
12. Bit of texting tact : PLS - ah, so the "new" language is making its way into crosswordese; PLeaSe
12. Bit of texting tact : PLS - ah, so the "new" language is making its way into crosswordese; PLeaSe
16. Note : I.O.U. - the vagueness; no 'debt' reference
17. Private collectibles? : TOY SOLDIERS - I had the second "O" in place, and PHOTO--- was looking promising, as in Private Detective....
18. Sporty cars : GTs - dah~! Not MGs
19. Mac OS part: Abbr. : SYStem - I'm PC. 'nuf said.
20. Ghostly sound : MOAN
21. Relax : EASE UP
23. Tabloid fodder : DIRT - not ITEM
24. "__ Place" : MELROSE - ARCHIE'S, MILLER'S....strange - Miller Place is right next to Mount Sinai here on Long Island (55a.)
25. Torrid : ABLAZE - Dah~! The "Z" was in place, so I considered SLEAZY - the "Y" led me to PLENTY at 6d., and that just messed up the NW
28. It may be fit for a king : BED LINEN - Har-har~! king-sized bed, that is
29. Mideast monotheistic sect : DRUZE - the Wiki
30. Ramble on : PRATE
31. Taken : HAD - "I've been ___~!"
32. Monopoly needs : DICE - Ugh, really, Mr. Silk~??? The plural vagueness got me
33. "Cool!" : "NEATO~!"
34. Thoughtless procedure? : ROTE - Clever
35. Gross remark? : ICK - not UGH, not ACK ( my last correction before time expired )
36. Difficult : MESSY - like, say, d-i-v-o-r-c-e
37. More sound : HALER - not sAnER - that's 60%, D-Otto~!
38. Vietnam War attack aircraft : SKYHAWKS
40. They're history : GONERS
41. Ed O'Neill sitcom role : AL BUNDY - "Married, with Children" - could only watch so much of it
42. Bottled (up) : PENT
43. Cultural icon making her debut in 1959 : BARBIE - I only saw this upon doing the review; she looks good for 55....
44. Prefix with nautical : AERO - aeronautical
45. Poke : JAB
48. Call for passage : AYE
49. Each of the two longest ones lasted 15 innings : ALL-STAR GAME - they take it way too seriously, then
52. Emmy winner Arthur : BEA
53. Split personality? : CHEERLEADER* - ah, that kind of split
54. Vessel measured in cubits : ARK - three-letter vessel? All I could think of was URN - DAH~!! THAT kind of vessel
DOWN:
1. Election figs. : PCTs - Percentages
2. Gob stopper? : AHOY - Gob being a term for a sailor in this instance
3. Small islands : CAYS - not KEYS, AITS....
4. Board jumpers: Abbr. : KTs - Knights, on Chess boards - the only piece that can 'jump'; makes this today's uber-vagueness winner~!
5. Reduce to mist : ATOMIZE - one of my very few first pass answers
6. In abundance : GALORE
7. Proceed until : END AT
8. "Whatcha __?" : "DOIN'?"
9. Job listing letters : EOE
10. Accepted : AGREED TO
11. The Explorers of the Atlantic 10 Conf. : LaSALLE
12. Catalog : PIGEONHOLE
13. Mythological daydreamer : LOTUS EATER - more here
22. Indian honorific : SRI
23. Floor : DAZE - the verb, not the noun
24. Substantive : MEATY
26. Construction worker : BRICKLAYER - got a new wood working project to do at a restaurant on the east end of L.I. called "A Lure", so this wash-out weekend will be spent doing CAD work; the Rook Table is on hold
27. Sore loser's comment : LUCKY BREAK
28. Source of many orders : BRASS - I threw in "SARGE" - that's 0%, D-Otto
30. Irksome : PESKY
33. One of the Nehru Planetarium cities : NEW DELHI
6. In abundance : GALORE
7. Proceed until : END AT
8. "Whatcha __?" : "DOIN'?"
9. Job listing letters : EOE
10. Accepted : AGREED TO
11. The Explorers of the Atlantic 10 Conf. : LaSALLE
12. Catalog : PIGEONHOLE
13. Mythological daydreamer : LOTUS EATER - more here
22. Indian honorific : SRI
23. Floor : DAZE - the verb, not the noun
24. Substantive : MEATY
26. Construction worker : BRICKLAYER - got a new wood working project to do at a restaurant on the east end of L.I. called "A Lure", so this wash-out weekend will be spent doing CAD work; the Rook Table is on hold
27. Sore loser's comment : LUCKY BREAK
28. Source of many orders : BRASS - I threw in "SARGE" - that's 0%, D-Otto
30. Irksome : PESKY
33. One of the Nehru Planetarium cities : NEW DELHI
34. Carry on : RANT
36. More than just zealots : MANIACS - fanatics was one too many
37. Award winner : HONOREE
39. Where some routes meet : HUB - ALL of Suffolk County's Eastern UPS routes meet at our HUB, which is more of a TERMINAL, actually
40. Predecessor of Nelson : GERALD - Vice Presidents, Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller
42. __ dish : PETRI - Hey~! I got one~!
44. Perplexed : ASEA
45. Alaska's state gem : JADE
46. From Hawaii, say: Abbr. : AMERican - argh~!!! Yes, anything from Hawaii is STILL American
47. Hall of Fame pitcher Blyleven : BERT - I'll have to dig out my old baseball sticker albums - I actually KNEW this one, C.C.~!
50. Novelist Deighton : LEN
51. Energy : GAS
Splynter
64 comments:
Why are there CHEERLEADERS in football, not baseball?
Baseball is rarely exciting with no brawl.
I guess girls won't exclaim
For an ALL-STAR GAME,
If players want first, second, third base and all!
Better than yesterday anyway. After the first pass, I had 18 words filled in. That was looking sparse, so I turned on red letters. 9 of my entries went red! :'( With red's help, I at least finished without having to look anything up.
Private collectibles -- did you first think "dildos are collectible privates"?
Source of orders -- Menus (restaurant), saint (holy orders), wives (most everything else)?
I think the Hawaii clue was to purposely baffle a certain Group Which Must Not Be Named!
Cryptic clues.
Morning, all!
This one had me bleeding from the eyes after awhile. My experience mirrored Splynter's in that the vague cluing really messed me up.
I eventually muddled my way through the bottom half (after finally pulling DRUZE out of somewhere and making a WAG at SKYHAWKS). But the top half (especially the NE and NW corners) remained stubbornly blank. I couldn't decide if 18A would be MGS or GTS. I had no idea what a "board jumper" was. Was a "small island" a CAY or an AIT? A three letter word for "Taken"? Gob stopper? Wouldn't "texting tact" be IMO? Would a "River Bend" city be somewhere in OHIO?
I don't recall how I eventually managed to do it, but things finally did start to piece themselves together after the 8th or 9th pass through the top section. It might have been BED LINEN and MELROSE, which were enough to let me guess at LASALLE. Whatever the case, I did manage to finish unassisted, although I still had no idea what a "board jumper" was or what KTS stood for. Knights, huh? Suuuuuure...
Where is Barry G. and why hasn't he posted his omnipotent comment yet ?
Maybe we should call him and wake him up.
Aha, there he is.
Alls well with the world ...
Whats up with you people ? I just got up because the cat set off the burglar alarm. Dont you get any hot dates on Friday night ?
Good morning!
Splynter, I was right on your wavelength this morning, but not on Barry Silk's. I was with you on SANER, MGS, ITEM, and AITS (and your math was impeccable).
I had ...DI_R_, so I thought the private collectible might be some type of DIaRy. Down in South Carolina I had inked in ANNAL where GONER needed to be. That brought things in the southeast to a halt for a while.
I recently bought some SUSPENDERS that look like they're made from measuring tape. They're much more comfortable than a belt if you've got to do a lot of bending. Too stretchy to use for measuring, though.
My first thought at "Gob stopper" was AVAST, but that was too long. AHOY is kind of a weak fit, basically just a greeting.
I agree, this is the toughest Saturday Silkie we've seen in some time. But I got it with perseverance and plenty of Wite-Out. And I finished on time. How good is that!
I was also on splynter's wavelength with MGS UGH SANER .This puzzle had so many misdirections it had me spinning. On the first pass I had BEA BERT SRI and DICE. After guessing ADDIS ABABA I got a LUCKY BREAK and the left side fell into place. I WAGged 1A and CAYS fell. I knew 49A had to end in GAME and the bottom started appearing. After working my way up to the NE I was stuck on 24A and 28A. Duh.
I LIVE on MELROSE Drive, not place. I would never have known PLS without the write up.
Unknowns were LASALLE and LOTUS EATER.
Good morning, gang - there's been times here where everyone talked about how easy a puzzle was, but yet I didn't have a speed run. Well, when I finished today's puzzle late last night, I realized it was probably the fastest I ever did a Saturday Silkie.
Maybe there was just a lot of stuff that was in my wheelhouse: SKYHAWKS (had 'em in Vietnam), LASALLE (lived next to Philly), BARBIE (I had a hobby/collectibles stores), CHATTANOOGA and ALLSTAR GAME all jumped out at me, and really gave me the foothold I needed. Certainly not a speed run, but with the exception of SANER instead of HALER for 37A, no mistakes and steady fill.
I absolutely loved the cluing in this one; in particular, I thought 'Private collectibles' and 'Split personality' were brilliant.
Probably my favorite puzzle in quite some time.
From last night, 'LUCY' is worth seeing for special effects/Scarlet Johansson alone.
Have a fun weekend.
Good morning!
It was looking pretty desperate for a while, but I started slowly piecing strings of letters together to fill in some of the longer answers. Funny how having _ERALD in place allowed me to put in a G...I was trying to remember who came before Nelson Mandela. (It was de Klerk.)
I thought "It might be fit for a king" was great for BED LINEN. And "Split personality" for CHEERLEADER was priceless.
I had IMO at 12-A too, BarryG. Eventually I had *NHOLE at 12-D, *SEATER at 13-D and *ENDERS at 14 -D. The light finally dawned when I took out IMO to get a fresh look at that corner.
And I finished with no help or lookups, in just 10 seconds under my allowed Saturday time!
Have a great day, everyone!
Why is the semantic error at 44-Down allowed to go unchallenged? ASEA is not the equivalent of AT SEA.
Magus at Cruciverb
Good morning all.
I had about 25 % done at the half hour mark, diagonally down from HAD to SINAI DESERT, as well having SYS, ATOMIZE, EOE, BEA, ARK, GTS, and SUSPENDERS.
"Part of Larry King's legacy" SUSPENDERS. Funny. I was thinking about his glasses and hunched over manner of sitting.
"Irksome" went from PEttY to PEStY to PESKY.
"Accepted" wasn't gavE inTO. Was on the right track with stun for "floor." Was in left field with "It may be fit for a king." Never heard of ADDISABABA, but AL BUNDY and BERT Blyleven were in my wheelhouse.
My clock says 1 hour, 26 minutes and 10 seconds. And that was after changing the game to regular at the 30 minute mark ! Oh well, glad I stuck with it and didn't throw in the towel.
Anthony Gael Moral @ 8:12, when I filled in ASEA, I shook my head, thinking "Someone is going to challenge that clue, for sure..." Thank you for stepping up!
We see that clue/answer all the time in crosswords, and I think it is actually the old expression (with a hyphen): A-SEA, short for AT SEA. It is no longer used in that sense, though, so I wish it would just disappear for good. Personally, I have taken it out of my own word list, and it doesn't even come up whenever I construct puzzles.
After getting over the initial shock of seeing a Saturday Silkie (not that it was unexpected of course), and after blowing through too many clues without much success, I gradually gained some toeholds (footholds?). And, as I think I mentioned last week, when you do get one of those long fills you get a lot. Then there's the old trick of putting in the final "S" for plural answers (though that can sometimes backfire), and the "ER", "IER" and "EST" for comparatives and superlatives.
A misspelling of DRUZE held me up for awhile in the end but I eventually figured it out.
[16:45]
Hello Puzzlers -
I stared at a sea of white for the longest time, but gradually noticed a few clues whose answers seemed probable - Bea and Ark, for instance. Those two gave BA, from which start I risked putting in Addis Ababa, which saved the day. Last to fall was Pigeonhole, a vertical answer being generally harder to read.
Somehow I got off the track with Skyhawks, simply because I forgot that name was used on a military aircraft. I thought the A-4 was called Skyraider, but that was the name of the much older A-1. My bad.
I kind of expected a Silkie today after Gareth, Steve, Julian right before. Always a satisfying run, as first you think you don't have any answers and slowly you piece it together.
Really got hung up in the NW as I had air fare deal and tin soldiers which had so many of the right letters that it was hard to give up and change gears.
WBS (and Marti) about IMO for the NE.
Thanks Splynter for your write-up. Still wouldn't know what KTS was without it!
Greetings, Super Solvers!
WEES. This commanded a lot of staring before even one fill emerged but one by one it flooded in. I'm happy to have completed 90% but PIGEONHOLE did me in and as Dudley commented, the vertical reading is challenging.
I don't have a problem with ASEA and immediately filled it once I had AERO. It means "toward the sea" more than perplexed but I've seen it used that way. In fact I felt ASEA through most of this puzzle.
Loved the misdirection of CHEERLEADER.
Thanks, Splynter, for KTS. I had no idea of the meaning since it emerged with the long fill. And thanks to Barry Silk for the MEATY challenge today.
Lots to do today.
Have a spectacular Saturday, everyone!
Good Morning:
The reason I like a Silkie Puzzle is the satisfaction of solving is equal to the effort it requires, IMO. I finished w/o help but it took some time, especially West Central and South. As others have mentioned, getting some of the long fill early helps a lot. Fav clue was split personality.
Thank you, Barry, for a challenging, enjoyable Saturday offering and thank you, Splynter, for your always enlightening expo.
Overcast and on and off rain expected for the next
several days. We had 7" in the month of July. I feel so bad for you California folks; I know from the news how dire the drought conditions are.
Have a great day. BTW, from yesterday, Not A Wimp: Thank you for your kind words.
Fermat, if you're reading this, I want to report seeing your 2:20 AM post in yesterday's blog comments. If you're not reading this, then forget that I reported it.
Me, too.
Hi Y'all! I always picture Barry Silk laughing like a MANIAC as he constructs these MESSY puzzles. (He thinks MESSY is a synonym for "difficult", not me.) I got a LUCKY BREAK several times when I typed in a guess and one or two of the letters were black so I could WAG the rest of the word(s). ADDISABABA was one such fill, although it took me a while to come up with ADDIS because I thought it had only one "D" but an "H" in it.
The bottom third came easier for me and I worked my way back up. NE was the last to fill. Perseverance!
I thought mostly helicopters were used in Viet Nam. I thought "gob" was limey slang for mouth. "Put a sock in it" didn't fit.
Poor Larry King probably hopes his brilliant journalistic style is his "legacy". Nope. It's SUSPENDERS.
We are five inches of rain behind for the year. My lovely new green grass turned mostly brown these past two weeks. Oh well, we still have water to drink. I'm afraid to talk to my farmer.
I think Chickie's idea is brilliant.
"we catch the water in our shower while waiting for the hot water."
Right, why let it go down the drain, not accomplishing anything when it can be put to good use. I already have a bucket because the faucet drips. (I rent so I'm not fixing it.) I'll get a couple more buckets; never have to flush again.
Happy Saturday everybody!
Well, I guess the stars were all aligned for me today, as this was the 3rd Silkie I've been able to solve unaided. Woo-Hoo!
Maybe I'm finally starting to get the hang of this crossword thing....
Like others, I find that it helps immensely to "take out" a questionable answer to give fresh perspective on the grid when stumped....
Write-overs included BOOKING DEAL for PACKAGE DEAL, PEEFECT GAME for ALL STAR GAME, and PETTY for PERKY....
I was also thinking of checkers, not chess, when I first entered KGS (Kings) instead of KTS....
Doc out
PEEFECT? How about PERFECT? (86%, B+ ?)
I never really paid much attention to the constructor's name of the daily LATCWP. My Mom got me into looking when several months ago, she complained to me about the toughness of Barry Silk puzzles. She and I both have the LAT puzzle in our respective daily newspapers, and will often discuss it if the puzzles are challenging. Since Silk's puzzles are usually found on Friday, and Friday's are habitually the toughest puzzle day, I'm now on the lookout for one of his.
Finding a "Silk" on Saturday made me initially think today's would be unbearable. But guess what? Could be a record for me . . . absolutely NO write-overs, erasures, look-ups or cheats! Only one WAG (29A); used several perps to assist getting AHOY, LOTUS EATER, ADDIS ABABA, and JADE. For whatever reason, the words today just jumped out at me.
As I am wont to do with difficult puzzles, I started in the SE; worked my way up the "east coast"; did the SW and Central next, and finished with the NE. I had CAYS and PCTS; figured KTS was the abbr. for Knights (got the board jumper connection to chess right away); and confirmed PACKAGEDEAL. All of the other 10/11's I knew.
So all in all, I enjoyed the challenge and feel pretty smug about solving with no help. But I won't rest on my laurels for long; I'm sure the next "Silkie" will have me scratching my head and calling Mom to complain about his obscure clues! ;^)
This was so MESSY. I patted myself on the back and then went to the NE corner and had a full stop. MGs, IMO, saner (not me), and "no idea Place," got me. Still, Mr. Silk does provide a puzzle the makes me smile (and groan) as I work on it. He is one of my favorites and it always makes me feel chuffed that I've solved one of his puzzles. So, today, I'm "huffed" and came here for the answers, explanations and wise comments everyone else supplies. Thank you and off to do laundry fit for a king (or queen.)
challenging, but good and fair puzzle as usual from mister silk...had AIRLINEDEAL filled in and had to maneuver my way out of that error...knowing LASALLE, ADDISABABA, ALBUNDY and ALLSTARGAME with no help provided a very nice headstart though...hope everybody is well
Well, on my first run-through on this Silkie I only got BEA, LEN, and SRI. What to do--quit right then or cheat? So I went to the blog and saw CHATTANOOGA on the write-up and that helped me fill in the top. Once I got stuck I scrolled down a little on the write-up and got SINAI DESERT and that let me fill in the bottom. So this bit of (okay, huge) cheating helped me fill in a tough Saturday Silkie, and I'll admit that it was fun. And of course I really appreciated Splynter's help and especially the photo of that chess knight since I wouldn't have understood KTS otherwise.
So, not the worst way to start a Saturday. Have a great weekend, everybody!
I don't enjoy doing puzzles that feel as though I should be paid for my time and effort.
Good Morrow
And pardon me, sir….
We are all at sea asea. Those shots across the bow were duly noted. Rum rations have been cancelled (until further notice) and all PENT-up cryptophilia PIGEONHOLEd.
PK:
Thanks for pointing out GOB. It is indeed Brit-slang for MOUTH. And GOB-STOPPER is what you would call a JAW-BREAKER, so I was doubly misdirected by the clue. The phrase GOB-SMACKED is still widely used as an expression of amazement. Like many Brit-slang words, GOB has a legitimate root in a dialect word - a left-over from an old English fringe language - Celtic in this case.
Brits do THE SPLITS rather than A SPLIT, so CHEERLEADER took a while - until the classic BARBIE pose popped into view.
Ah well, mustn't PRATE on.
TTFN
NC
I got the answer to 43 across --Barbie-- and it was downhill from there. I did finally finish after figuring our Chattanooga. I should have seen that. Anyway, good puzzle.
Impressed with myself, taken by Yrs Truly, after completing Mr. Silk's opus today with only one lookup!
SUSPENDERS was my first grok. My first real toe-hold was the SW corner where I worked my way up from ARK, BEA, and AYE to each of the longer fills. That's about the time I pulled my one cheat--to land CHATTANOOGA. Once I got that in place, the NW corner tumbled.
My final corner was the NE. Mr. Silk's choice of words that could break into two parts at different places was a clever delaying stunt, but I sniffed out the answers anyway.
So, let's hear it for ME! Yay!
Anyone?
...
Any one?
Yes,
AHOY was most cleverly clued, I thought.
Glad I remembered the alternate spelling of KEYS,
and that I didn't bother rationalizing KTS,
and that I parsed the reason for a singular ALL STAR GAME.
... and, just by-the-by, let the word go forth that I love the adjective PESKY.
Started at 4 a.m. in the SF airport and finished Barry’s and the NYT’s puzzle en route to here in Minneapolis, hoping we’ll be home by 4:30 after 9 fun days in the Pacific NW. Both were fun to do and I was not about to pay $10 for 3 hours of WIFI on the plane.
Musings
-Jerry tries to beat the lie detector about watching MELROSE Place
-I resisted DRUID (hardly Mideast) for DRU_ _ and was rewarded
-We saw a a reconditioned A-4 SKYHAWK at the financially troubled Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon (home of the Spruce Goose)
-This latest Ed O’Neil role goes down much easier than the one in the puzzle
-Willy Wonka GOBSTOPPERS were my first thought
-KTS with no hint of abbr.?
-Kids loved the soda straw ATOMIZERS I had them make
-It was easy/lazy to PIGEONHOLE people on our recent tour until we talked to them
-I was a BRICKLAYER for 8 summers. My back is still upset!
-We had to fly to Seattle through MSP because it is a hub
-Be careful about your JADE
-All-Star Game and splits had to make C.C. think of one of her favorites
-Harmon Killebrew who pulled a groin muscle in the 1968 classic and thought his career might be over
Mark Twain on travel
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
-How true! Not only did we see much new country, but our tour had Japanese, Thais, Indonesians, Aussies, Canadians and, gulp, even New Englanders! What a way to widen your horizons. Some of ‘em haven’t ever heard of the Cornhuskers and don’t even care if they win a football game. No, really! ;-)
-We fly out of MSP in a half hour and it’ll feel great to be home and I’ll post some pix when I’m up to it.
Just realized I am directionally challenged . . . meant to say in my earlier post that I finished up in the NW corner, not NE.
Ol' Man Keith @ 1:48 - assuming there is no sarcasm in your comment, then "YAY"! Good job!!
Ol' Man Keith @ 1:56 - PESKY is a good adj. I like FEISTY. My better half is FEISTY. And BLONDE. Sometimes that can lead to an overdose and hangover though! ;^)
Today's limerick:
After fixing my Corn Flakes and milk,
I began today's crossword by Silk.
But it ended so quick,
That I thought I'd been tricked;
It's the first time with his I felt bilked!!
Chmn Moe @2:17
Excellent limerick, and it scans beautifully!
~Kf
Hello everybody. As I do with most or all Barry Silk Saturday puzzles, I chipped away little by little, progressing slowly toward the solve. For some reason I simply could not get the NW corner; I think it's because upon seeing PIG as the first 3 letters of 12D I couldn't rid myself of the idea of swine. Of course, wanting 'inventory' in that spot caused me no end of grief for far too long, in spite of the fact it is one letter too few anyway. I dug myself into that hole and just couldn't get out.
Really enjoyed the puzzle otherwise; patted myself on the back for actually seeing through some of the strong misdirection. For example, for some reason I just knew that "fit for a king" had something to do with beds, but I wanted 'sheet' instead of LINEN. A Saturday morning well spent.
Thank you, Splynter, for your always insightful writeup, and best wishes to you all.
OMK @ 2:25
Thanks, my pleasure!
What Irish Miss Said Yesterday = WIMSY :)
Mr. Moe, it's been my experience that Silk puzzles are almost always on Saturday. When have you seen one or more on Friday? I can't remember... Otherwise, what Jayce said.
Gary, didn't your paper have 'Abbr.' on the board jumpers clue? Maybe it was left out by accident? (Barbara says, 'On accident.' She also stands on line rather than in line.)
Splynter, realized I did not thank you for your informative expo. Mea culpa! Many thanks! Did your "On(e more week) ward !!!" Have any other significance in your life or just another Silkie over and done?
Keith, I'll bite. Yay!
Husker, thanks for the jade guide. I'm guessing the string of jade beads my daughter brought me from New Zealand are real. They are so heavy I couldn't wear them very much. Glad your trip was fun and mind broadening. I loved trips to the NW.
I got hung up on board jumpers being skate or snow boarders. I like to watch them on TV. Couldn't figure out how KTS was connected when it perped in unless they were using "kites" for propulsion.
Bill G. @ 3:02 - as I said in my reply, I never really paid that much attention to who constructs the LATCWP on a daily basis. I just seem to recall the first time - in this case, from my 85 year old mother - I heard the name Barry Silk, was on a Friday puzzle. But I could be mistaken.
Now that I follow this blog (been here as a lurker and poster since late June/early July 2014) I will definitely be noticing!
Chariman Moe @ 11:27, I agree with Bill G. We usually see Barry Silk puzzles on Saturdays, not Fridays. In fact, the last time we saw a weekday puzzle from him was back in 2010. (1/20/10)
And @ 2:17, loved your limerick - as Ol' Man Keith said, it does scan perfectly!
BTW, Ol' Man Keith: yay, you!
There once was a gentleman from Azerbaijan
Whose limericks simply did not scan.
He would say, "Please don't whine"
when he'd end the last line
Quite suddenly.
Jayce...ummm...hmmm...oh, never mind.
I did pretty well on the last two Silkies but got my comeuppance on this one. Someone said they had 18 words when they went to RED LETTERs. SO did I although some were wrong.
I found this whilst visiting a few limerick sites - really clever:
It's a mathematical equation that translates into a perfectly scanned limerick. Try to solve first but; the equation and solution can be found here.
About 5 words on the 1st pass, but picking at it revealed the whole SE!
It gave me enough confidence to cheat my way thru to the NW corner...
GobStopper?
HG, I had to check out your soda straw atomizer.
I was only familiar with the F4 Phantom, which happens to have the same amount of letters as Skyhawk...
Looks cramped in there...
CED ..... I wanted phantom also.... :) my brother was a crew chief on them .... tho I don't remember which F it was :) :)
thelma :)
Well, I finished this one (with no red letters or lookups), but it took me a while. Had some write-overs: saner before HALER, pep before GAS, tin soldiers before TOY SOLDIERS/ There were also a lot of perp solves. Never heard of ADDIS ABABA and didn't think of MELROSE place until there were some perps (never watched that show). Wondered what KTS could stand for, so it was nice when Splynter explained it.
I agree with what a few of you said about ASEA. I think that just means that you're on the ocean or sea.
FERMAT, I also read your Friday post.
Splynter: Wonderful write-up & links.
When it comes to Saturday Silky's "You-Da-Man!"
Solved this over 3 Put-Downs (meaning, I put the puzzle down 3 times ... and came back to it later).
First one was the best ... I chuckled at PACKAGE DEAL. Gal-Pal asker "What's so funny?"
I told her and she said "I got a package deal!"
And I was waylaid (and gladly put the puzzle down. lol)
If I remember correctly, last month I solved the Saturday Silky after about a "Month-of-Sundays" getting my Ass kicked by Barry Silk.
I gave up even trying his puzzles for quite a while.
So todays solve was very unexpected and satisfying ... in more ways than one.
OMK - Yeah!!!
Husker: Glad to hear you had a great trip!
A "toast" to All at Sunset.
Cheers!!!
I try to avoid killing animals, even insects, except for flies, mosquitoes, fleas, etc. I remember riding in a car as a child on a country road in Virginia. There was a box turtle crossing the road. Whoever was driving the car made a conscious effort to swerve to try to run over the turtle. Geez...
I came across a spider trapped in a sink late last night. It was late, I was going to bed and I didn't see a convenient way to get the spider outside. So I washed him down the drain. Just a little while ago, there he was back in the sink again. The little fellow had managed to escape from his watery grave. I was impressed with his will to live so I picked him up with a Kleenex and deposited him outside.
Easiest Silky for me in a while.
Some of the same missteps as others but they were quickly resolved. Filled in suspenders without hesitation and yet I never watched his show.
Bill G, from last night, Telephone solicitors, I have just one word for you....
Caller I.D.
Worth every penny.
Three of my friends were here for lunch at 1:00 and left about an hour ago. We had great fun eating, talking, laughing and just enjoying ourselves. Menu: Corn/squash soup w/thyme
Salad: romaine lettuce w/cucumbers, grape tomatoes & craisins
Rolled taquitos w/chicken filling
Spanish rice
Flan
They seemed to like it.
I just caught up with today's comments as well as last nights and guess what? It's raining again! I couldn't be happier and wish I could send some to Calif. This, I believe, is coming from the Gulf or southern Pacific.
I'm probably going to burn in hell
for this, but......
A young ventriloquist is touring Sweden and, one night, he's doing a show in a small fishing town. With his dummy on his knee, he starts going through his usual dumb blonde jokes.
Suddenly, a blonde woman in the fourth row stands on her chair and starts shouting, "I've heard enough of your stupid blonde jokes. What makes you think you can stereotype Swedish blond women that way? What does the color of a woman's hair have to do with her worth as a human being?
It's men like you who keep women like me from being respected at work and in the community, and from reaching our full potential as people. Its people like you that make others think that all Blondes are dumb! You and your kind continue to perpetuate discrimination against not only blondes, but women in general...pathetically all in the name of humor!"
The embarrassed ventriloquist begins to apologize, and the blonde yells: "You stay out of this! I'm talking to that little B#*&ard on your lap."
Good evening.
Used the Tinman method of 3 put-downs. Finally got it all ending up in the NE, One of Barry's tougher ones, but still having the smooth-as-Silk 'feel'. A pleasure to work on. Favorite clue was for BED LINEN.
Owen - CHEERLEADERS are not needed in baseball because the watchers are already passionate about their team. They don't need a cheerleader to work them up to a frenzy and to explain the need for support. (The niceties of cheerleaders notwithstanding:-))
Fermat. More than 2 read your evening posts. Many bloggers start out their blogging day by reading the wrap-up posts of the night before. Left coasters, let not your hearts be troubled.
Swenglish mom - good to see you back.
Fermat, posting late at nite is not the same as writing in the margins...
Spitz, on the money -- the first thing I do on mornings when I have a chance to look at the blog is to read the previous late night posts.
CED, always love your links. I mentioned here before that I had two back-seat rides in an F-4B between NAS Beaufort and NAS Atlanta, and that rear cockpit is bigger than the A-4's, but it was still tight as hell. Of course, all the restraints don't help things, but I was kinda glad to have them when the pilot did some 'fun things' (at least the part I was conscious for).
Manac, we'll simmer together. And the joke was laugh-out-loud funny.
Manac, I LOVED your joke!
CED, good one!
Lucina, I wish I could've had your lunch leftovers. A good lunch and rain. I'm envious...
BillG:
I believe you would have enjoyed it. I surprised myself with the flan because I hadn't made it for a few years but it was tasty.
Now I'm exhausted so it's off to bed. The rain stopped but even a little is welcome.
fermat': hand up for reading wee hours posts, and an interesting reason for it.
Do you know each blog entry here consists of THREE files?
1),* which is just the write-up, no comments or submission block; at the bottom it has a link to
2) which is just the comments and comment submission block, no write-up; at the top, a link will add the text of the write-up sans pictures,
and 3) which has both the complete write-up and comments, but no submission block. I like the third one because it keeps my place when I refresh, instead of jumping back to the top or bottom of the page; at the bottom it will have links to 1), 2), and to the next day's iteration of this page once it's posted. The only other way to this page is searching through the archive list to the right of the write-up, so it's easier to refresh this page and read any late comments before starting the next day!
* For this blog it's the same as
4) for the current date and constructor; for many blogs these would be different.
URLs got blanked out in that last post, but probably for the best. They were mainly clutter.
I thought split was icecreamman
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