Words: 70 (missing X)
Blocks: 26
Half of our Dynamic Duo makes his second Saturday appearance for the
LAT, to the best of my knowledge, with an impressive low block count of
only 26, no less. Big chunky 8x5- and 9x6-letter corners, two 10-letter
fills in the middle, and one 15-letter climber, which I did not see at
first glance. Have to admit, had to cheat with red-letters for ONE
lousy cell, and it was NOT in the SE corner, I might add. Still, there
was a gratuitous shoutout to yours truly, and so I am pretty happy
overall. The longer answers;
7. Flying cartoon hero, formally : ROCKET J. SQUIRREL - Before my time; must be hard up for work these days as he's appearing in Geico commercials now
31. Gang leader of old comics : BAZOOKA JOE - The Joe that you will no longer find in the comics wrapped around your Bazooka Bubble gum; the Wiki
43. Stewed : LIQUORED UP - ah, now this is a phrase that I AM familiar with....
10d.~!!!!!
ACROSS:
1. Some daily activities : HABITS
- Let's see; coffee, cigars, Monster energy, cursing, bathing, brushing
teeth - but I did not drink, just for today - but there's a toast to
all at sunset, right Tin~!?
7. Restored vigor to, in a way : REPOTTED - Maybe for the marijuana plant, but most of the people I know who get "re-potted" don't usually show much vigor
15. Big Sur retreat : ESALEN - Sounds like a place I might like to visit; spirituality, holistic healing, and education - more from their website
16. Chef's assortment : OVENWARE - because CUTLERY was too short
17. Philosopher de Beauvoir : SIMONE
18. 1992 Michelle Pfeiffer role : CATWOMAN
19. Wright-Patterson, e.g.: Abbr. : AFB - Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
20. Certain laundry load : DARKS - my first fill
22. "This is just __" : A TEST
23. Titicaca feeders : RIOs - Educated WAG; lake in South America
25. Forest mom : DOE
26. Turning points : CRISES
27. __ Lodge : ECONO - who else went with MOTOR~?
29. "Fats" Waller piano style : STRIDE
7. Restored vigor to, in a way : REPOTTED - Maybe for the marijuana plant, but most of the people I know who get "re-potted" don't usually show much vigor
15. Big Sur retreat : ESALEN - Sounds like a place I might like to visit; spirituality, holistic healing, and education - more from their website
16. Chef's assortment : OVENWARE - because CUTLERY was too short
17. Philosopher de Beauvoir : SIMONE
18. 1992 Michelle Pfeiffer role : CATWOMAN
19. Wright-Patterson, e.g.: Abbr. : AFB - Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
20. Certain laundry load : DARKS - my first fill
22. "This is just __" : A TEST
23. Titicaca feeders : RIOs - Educated WAG; lake in South America
25. Forest mom : DOE
26. Turning points : CRISES
27. __ Lodge : ECONO - who else went with MOTOR~?
29. "Fats" Waller piano style : STRIDE
33. Trick : RUSE
37. Goethe's "The __-King" : ERL - I think I have seen this before in crosswords, but it was all perps today
38. To begin with : FIRSTLY
40. Yvette, e.g. : NOM - Frawnche
41. Soup vegetable : LEEK - My first guess, but I left it blank
45. "Free," in "land of the free" : ADNOUN - New to me - the Wiki says it's an adjective used as a noun
47. Wheat used in health food : SPELT - Nailed it
48. Gets clean : BATHES - nothing to do with "sobriety" getting clean
51. 19th/20th-century civil rights leader __ B. Wells : IDA
53. Marching band? : ARMY - har-har....could've flown without the "?", too, IMO
54. On the wrong side (of) : AFOUL - "He ran afoul of the law."
55. Ceremonial lineup : GRADs - meh
57. Disallow : BAN
58. Common ore of mercury : CINNABAR - My high school paper was called this; not sure picking an ore of a poisonous metal is such a good choice in terms of 'what's good for you'
60. Pin down : LOCATE
62. Form a union : ORGANIZE - Nailed it; but then again, I'm at UPS....
63. Sees the light, maybe : AWAKES - Sorry, but a BIG MEH here - either WAKES, or AWAKENS, but halfway in between~? meh.
64. Like many sales : SEASONAL - Like "Peeps" half off the day after Easter
65. Devote, as time : INVEST
DOWN:
1. 1962 Crystals album with cover art of a biker : HE'S A REBEL - The REBEL part came from perps; the rest was an educated WAG - before my time
2. "Whatever" : "AS IF I CARE"
3. Hoodwink : BAMBOOZLE - Got it with "---OO-E" in place
4. Workers' rights gp. since 1919 : ILO - Dah~! I tried CIO, then AFL; we are looking for the International Labour Organization - and the "O" was "A" for me - my bad cell; in hindsight, SimAne does sound a bit off....
5. Look after : TEND
6. Three-time Masters winner : SNEAD - Sam, of golfing fame
8. Some NASA missions : EVAs - Extra-Vehicular Activities; in other words, space walks ( I know, it's more than just that, HuskerG)
9. Favorite : PET
10. Ahead : ONWARD~! - Thank you, kind sir~!!!
11. Wedding cake specification : TWO-TIER
12. Tones down : TAMES
13. Backspace, usually : ERASE
14. Reasons for as-is sales : DENTS
21. Actress Dawson of "Men in Black II" : ROSARIO - Good movie, but not as good as the first Men In Black - and I am ashamed to admit I have NOT seen "III" yet
24. Wintry commercial prefix : SNO - Sno-Cat, e.g.
26. Spanish sky : CIELO
28. Doubled-over reaction : "`OOF`!"
30. Capitol center : ROTUNDA - Nice slight mis-direction
32. Where some artists' firings occur : KILNs
34. Cook poorly, in a way : UNDERBAKE
35. Ideal pairing : SOULMATES - I sometimes think I have already met her....now for the next step
36. 1980s-'90s Richard Mulligan sitcom : EMPTY NEST - I liked him in "SOAP", and this show was pretty good, too - featuring Kristy McNicol and "Isuzu Joe"
37. Goethe's "The __-King" : ERL - I think I have seen this before in crosswords, but it was all perps today
38. To begin with : FIRSTLY
40. Yvette, e.g. : NOM - Frawnche
41. Soup vegetable : LEEK - My first guess, but I left it blank
45. "Free," in "land of the free" : ADNOUN - New to me - the Wiki says it's an adjective used as a noun
47. Wheat used in health food : SPELT - Nailed it
48. Gets clean : BATHES - nothing to do with "sobriety" getting clean
51. 19th/20th-century civil rights leader __ B. Wells : IDA
53. Marching band? : ARMY - har-har....could've flown without the "?", too, IMO
54. On the wrong side (of) : AFOUL - "He ran afoul of the law."
55. Ceremonial lineup : GRADs - meh
57. Disallow : BAN
58. Common ore of mercury : CINNABAR - My high school paper was called this; not sure picking an ore of a poisonous metal is such a good choice in terms of 'what's good for you'
60. Pin down : LOCATE
62. Form a union : ORGANIZE - Nailed it; but then again, I'm at UPS....
63. Sees the light, maybe : AWAKES - Sorry, but a BIG MEH here - either WAKES, or AWAKENS, but halfway in between~? meh.
64. Like many sales : SEASONAL - Like "Peeps" half off the day after Easter
65. Devote, as time : INVEST
DOWN:
1. 1962 Crystals album with cover art of a biker : HE'S A REBEL - The REBEL part came from perps; the rest was an educated WAG - before my time
2. "Whatever" : "AS IF I CARE"
3. Hoodwink : BAMBOOZLE - Got it with "---OO-E" in place
4. Workers' rights gp. since 1919 : ILO - Dah~! I tried CIO, then AFL; we are looking for the International Labour Organization - and the "O" was "A" for me - my bad cell; in hindsight, SimAne does sound a bit off....
5. Look after : TEND
6. Three-time Masters winner : SNEAD - Sam, of golfing fame
8. Some NASA missions : EVAs - Extra-Vehicular Activities; in other words, space walks ( I know, it's more than just that, HuskerG)
9. Favorite : PET
10. Ahead : ONWARD~! - Thank you, kind sir~!!!
11. Wedding cake specification : TWO-TIER
12. Tones down : TAMES
13. Backspace, usually : ERASE
14. Reasons for as-is sales : DENTS
21. Actress Dawson of "Men in Black II" : ROSARIO - Good movie, but not as good as the first Men In Black - and I am ashamed to admit I have NOT seen "III" yet
24. Wintry commercial prefix : SNO - Sno-Cat, e.g.
26. Spanish sky : CIELO
28. Doubled-over reaction : "`OOF`!"
30. Capitol center : ROTUNDA - Nice slight mis-direction
32. Where some artists' firings occur : KILNs
34. Cook poorly, in a way : UNDERBAKE
35. Ideal pairing : SOULMATES - I sometimes think I have already met her....now for the next step
36. 1980s-'90s Richard Mulligan sitcom : EMPTY NEST - I liked him in "SOAP", and this show was pretty good, too - featuring Kristy McNicol and "Isuzu Joe"
39. Age abbr. : YRs
42. Hawaiian priests : KAHUNAs - I must link Pulp Fiction~!
42. Hawaiian priests : KAHUNAs - I must link Pulp Fiction~!
44. AQI monitor : EPA - Air Quality Index, and the Environmental Protection Agency
46. California city near Bakersfield : DELANO
46. California city near Bakersfield : DELANO
48. Salad bar items : BACOs - Mmmm, Baco's....did anyone else try TONGS, and then get to 50D~?
49. Burning : AFIRE
50. Pacific island nation : TONGA
52. Grover's 1890s vice president : ADLAI - Stevenson, the "I"; I am more familiar with "II", who was 20th century
55. Troubled Mideast region : GAZA - Timely
56. Ready to grow : SOWN - It's harvest time for the sod farms here on L.I.
59. Garbage holder : BIN
61. James, again, briefly : CAV - this one was super MEH - I had to dig deep to get the reference, which is LeBron James, who played for the Cleveland CAValiers, twice - with a stop in Miami in between - and I do NOT like Basketball~!
49. Burning : AFIRE
50. Pacific island nation : TONGA
52. Grover's 1890s vice president : ADLAI - Stevenson, the "I"; I am more familiar with "II", who was 20th century
55. Troubled Mideast region : GAZA - Timely
56. Ready to grow : SOWN - It's harvest time for the sod farms here on L.I.
59. Garbage holder : BIN
61. James, again, briefly : CAV - this one was super MEH - I had to dig deep to get the reference, which is LeBron James, who played for the Cleveland CAValiers, twice - with a stop in Miami in between - and I do NOT like Basketball~!
Splynter
47 comments:
Morning, all!
Definitely a Saturday puzzle. So many pitfalls, so many places to go astray today. And yet, I somehow managed to make it through unassisted and (relatively) unscathed.
Was not familiar with (or simply didn't remember) ESALEN and don't know anything about a early 60's singing group called "Crystals". Fortunately, it was pretty easy to guess the crossing E, since neither HO'S A REBEL, nor HIS A REBEL, nor HAS A REBEL nor HUS A REBEL made much sense...
I can't believe I've spoken English for 45+ years (and been a professional writer for the last 15 or so) and never encountered ADNOUN before. I hang my head in shame. The fact that it crossed the hitherto unknown DELANO (as clued) made it even harder, but the crossing D was the most likely letter to guess.
STRIDE? No idea.
ADLAI? I didn't know there was another "famous" one before the crossword-friendly 1950's presidential candidate.
CAV? What a miserable, miserable clue. The "again" had me looking through the rest of the puzzle in vain for another James reference.
On the bright side, I got CINNABAR with no perp help, loved seeing ROCKET J SQUIRREL (I bought seasons 1 and 2 of "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" on DVD and introduced them to my son), and have sung Der Erlkönig before. And there was lots of other fun stuff today like BAMBOOZLE and BAZOOKA JOE.
Oof! I can't believe I got the whole thing. I was sure that BACOS, ESALEN, STRIDE, ADNOUN, CAV and ROSARIO were all wrong, but couldn't figure out what else they could be. I finally gave up and came here. I'm amazed they were right. Nice shoutout to Splynter at 10d.
I guess I don't go to the salad bar often enough. I still don't know what BACOS is/are, though I suspect it has something to do with bacon. And I learned that an ADNOUN is not a noun seen in ads.
With Don Hard-G's LAT being this difficult, I'm almost afraid to try today's NYT. I regularly get my goose cooked on Saturday.
I can't believe I got the whole thing. ADNOUN was new to me. Like Barry. I am surprised I never heard of it. ESALEN was all perps. I didn't like "James, again, briefly" and needed Splynter to explain CAV.
WAKES is okay by me.
Very enjoyable puzzle, a good challenge, Don. Excellent, witty review, Splynter
We were just discussing potato LEEK soup, vichyssoise, last night. Thanks for the recipe AVG JOE. I make it similarly. There are times when I have substituted all onions for leeks, using onions and potatoes 50/50. Still gets rave reviews. Best cold, but still very good hot.
I thought he was trying to be overly correct with Grover's VP. Grover was Cleveland's middle name. Stephen being his first. Went with Ewing which was Adlai's middle name.
Raymond B.
Good morning Saturday Stalwarts!
Nice shoutout at 10-D, Splynter! I smiled when that one appeared.
I also did a stutter step at ADNOUN. But with A*NOUN in place, DELANO seemed right. I wondered if the town were named after Roosevelt, but I see it was actually named after the Secretary of the Interior at the time, Columbus Delano.
BAMBOOZLE was my first thought at 3-D, but I waited until I had enough perps filled in to be sure.
ROCKET J. SQUIRREL was a gimme - has anyone seen him showing up in Geico commercials lately? I wonder if the Gecko is finally going to get canned?
d-otto, good luck with the NYT today - it was a beaut!
I was so excited because I finished my first Saturday puzzle. I came to the blog and, what the heck, I have a different puzzle! And the answer grid for yesterday's puzzle is different! That sure burst my bubble.
Have a great day.
Pat
SPELT? Hey I never heard of it (nor DELANO nor ESALEN nor that ADLAI nor SIMONE nor STRIDE nor ADNOUN) and so I went with SOUPMATES and SPEPT which look silly now in this one-cell miss on Don’s wonderful puzzle! WASHES/SAMOA was a waste of time too
Musings
-I always wondered about BJ’s friend’s Mort’s odd fashion choice
-Daughters still use pricey Calaphon OVENWARE we bought them
-Rotten Tomatoes gave Halle Berry’s CATWOMAN movie a 9% rating her, uh, wardrobe was aces with me
-Keep Calm – This is just A TEST
-Girls date the REBEL but usually don’t marry him or regret doing so
-My mother used to say MYOB with “TEND to your own knitting”
-Neil’s walk on the moon was an EVA as part of the Apollo 11 mission not a mission itself. C’mon Don ;-)
-Woodhouse Ford in Blair, NE had your DENTS in “as is” vehicles this spring
-The teacher across the hall yesterday had gone to her 5 YR reunion this summer while I had gone to my 50th
-James again? Loved it, but not at first
I actually laughed out loud when I saw onward!
A tough workout today Don. Right up there on a difficulty level with a Silkie. Took forever to get a toehold. First fill was kilns, second was EPA and third was tongs (BZZZT). The wrong end of the #2 saw a lot of action. Also fell into the washes/Samoa trap. Final cell was that D in Delano, and that was purely a wag. But hey, it was right.
Also enjoyed that leek instead of the ever present pea as a soup veggie. I don't mind vichisoise cold, but much prefer it hot. Especially left over. It melds so nicely after a day in the fridge.
I remember DELANO as the site of VOA's transmitter "farm" back in my Navy days. We didn't have a radio network line on Guam, and had to rely on the shortwave broadcasts from DELANO. When VOA wasn't using one of their frequencies for their propaganda, they'd broadcast American Forces Network programming. They weren't just being nice. If they had gone "dark," Radio Moscow would have come up on that channel. We got a monthly schedule from VOA as to the hours and frequencies where we could tune in the AFN broadcasts. We had a bank of six Collins R390 receivers tied to a discriminator which would automatically select the one with the strongest, clearest signal at any given moment. DELANO was the last active VOA site, and it was shut down just a few years ago.
Marti, you're absolutely right. I struggled and struggled with the NYT, and still failed in the NE. [Sigh]
Good Morning:
This was the most difficult Saturday in a long time, for me, anyway. The Northeast corner just wouldn't yield for the longest time but, when it did, it was really quite obvious. I did finish w/o help but I think I set a new record for the time it took to get that TADA.
Smiled at the CSO to Splynter. Didn't care much for adnoun, Never heard of Esalen, Bazooka Joe, Rocket J. Squirrel, or bacos (bacon bits, yes, bacos, no). That said, nicely done, Mr G., even though I struggled mightily and kudos to Splynter for a witty and spot-on expo.
Have a great day.
Happy Saturday everybody!
Wow, what a slog this was! DNF due to the stubborn SE corner and my refusal to give up on ADAMS (ADLAI). Having to know the name of an 1800s VP is just dastardly, devious, and demented Donald....
My biggest moment of shame, however, was having to do an alphabet run to get DELANO, since I lived in Bakersfield for 13 YRS....
Also was absolutely convinced that the healthy wheat was SPENT (SPELT?)....
Bright spot, of course, was the shout-out to Splynter at 10D....
Favorite answer = ROCKET J. SQUIRREL....
Hands up for not knowing ADNOUN, and one of my majors was English....
Oh well, I've INVESTed enough time on the puzzle, now off to get some work done - Doc out
Greetings, Weekend Warriors! ONWARD, Splynter!
What a treat on my first Saturday back from vacation to have a Don G. puzzle! Amazingly, it filled quickly though ESALEN meant nothing to me and I hoped the perps worked.
All else fell in place but ADNOUN left me wondering. I'm reading Moloka'i by Alan Bremmert and KAHUNA appears often though meaning important or powerful.
DELANO is familiar as the place where Cesar Chavez ORGANIZEd farm workers in the '60s.
Thanks, Splynter, for CAV as I had no idea what that meant since it simply appeared.
Plenty of WAGS in this puzzle but it all made sense. Thank you Don G and Splynter!
Have a great Saturday, everyone!
A lot of discussion about leeks in recent days, but no one has mentioned their pitfalls. Since todays puzzle also mentions "bad cooking," it should be pointed out that improperly prepared leeks lead to a very gritty dinner.
Also, read the Bacos ingrediants list! Fascinating!
Well, I got the top half and then some of this puzzle without cheating, not bad for me, I guess. My first fill was SIMONE--partner of Jean Paul Sartre, if I remember correctly. And my German background kicked in and helped me get Goethe's ERL-KING. Loved seeing two long cartoon items, ROCKET J. SQUIRREL and BAZOOKA JOE. But had trouble with things like ORGANIZE because I was still thinking of those SOUL MATES and their TWO-TIERED WEDDING CAKE.
We're having a Tapas party on our patio tomorrow night and just heard that Hurricane Norbert may be bringing us rain on Sunday. We've had two years without a drop of rain--why tomorrow night of all nights!
Anyway, have a great weekend, everybody!
I would think rain in California is a good reason to throw a party!!
Good afternoon everyone.
Yeah, I chortled too with ON' WARD. Was not up on AD NOUNS. New learning, I guess.
Tough sob today. I think it was mainly me, though. Sometimes the WAGS fall right in. Not today, though.
Port side filled in well enough; starboard side - not so much.
Knew of SPELT but did not know it was a wheat species. Another learning.
CIELO - means sky or heaven. German 'Himmel' also means either sky or heaven. Interesting that English usually uses two separate words for the concepts.
An excellent Saturday pzl! I learned something-- a couple of somethings in fact.
I never came across an ADNOUN before this morning. I see I am not alone, as Yellowrocks and desper-otto and others were surprised. BUT as a professor who sometimes must red pencil student papers, I would have appreciated a heads-up from the parse-patrol when they contrived this sub-category!
And I learned that Rocky Squirrel has a "J" in his name. That little surprise held me up for a very long time while I tried to find a substitute for JOE in the perp. MOE? IOE? ZOE? Nope, it hadda be J.
I was proud of myself that I knew STRIDE right off. I love that swagger in a jazz piano.
But I could do without BACOS. Anything that substitutes for something that is already not good for you has got to come from the devil's kitchen.
Oh, SPELT was also new to me. But I knew ADLAI (the 1st of the line) and ESALEN (a big deal in the '60s, kids).
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Don Gagliardo, for a fine puzzle. Thank you Spynter, for a fine review.
Well, I slogged my way through and got it. Only took me four hours. Used the newspaper and only one inkblot area. That is in the SE. Had EKG for 44D, until EPA became obvious. Tries DIS for 57A, then BAN worked after I changed UNDER DONE to UNDER BAKE.
I, also, have never heard of an ADNOUN. Got it with perps. When I finished I looked it up in my dictionary and it is not there. Must be a new word type. that is what we do, learn, learn, learn.
ESALEN was unknown. Perped it. I used to drive through Big Sur while I lived in California. It is a beautiful area overlooking the Pacific Ocean, south of San Francisco (I think Sur means south).
I also used to drive up the San Joaquin Valley all the time, near Bakersfield, but could not remember DELANO. Of course I was on I-5 and not Route 99. I took 99 once, for a change of pace and promptly got a speeding ticket. Never did that again.
CINNABAR rang a bell once I had a few letters.
Remembered BAZOOKA JOE and ROCKET J SQUIRREL.
KAHUNAS was a gimmie. Every time we installed a new telephone Central Office in Hawaii, Hawaiian Tel would bring in a KAHUNA to bless the exchange prior to cutover. Always thought that interesting.
Now that I have shot half of the day (but it was a fun half of the day), I had better get something done.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(330)
Oh yeah, I forgot, there is also an ADLAI Stevenson, III, son of the presidential candidate and grandson of the Veep. He was in Illinois politics for a while.
Abejo
Hi Y'all! Hard-G lives up to his nickname. This was a hard one, Don. Thanks anyway!
I worked the short words first then filled in as the longer ones became apparent. AFB was my first fill, then not "light" but DARKS (like my Saturday puzzle moods) & A TEST.
I could see the cartoon character and WAGd BAZOOKA ___ but couldn't think of JOE. It's been a very long while since I chewed bubble gum.
BACOS? They still make BACOS? I used to use them occasionally, but now get real bacon bits for sprinkling on my breakfast scrambled eggs.
As a wheat farmer, I had never heard of SPELT. i Googled it and learned it is now only commonly grown in Europe. No wonder.
Never heard of ESALEN (probably out of my price range) or DELANO.
AD NOUN? If all of us "word" people haven't heard of this, I think they just made it up at Wiki.
Didn't even see "James again, briefly" clue or CAV until Splynter explained them. Disappointing, because as a basketball fan, I would have known that one. Thanks, Splynter, keep on with your one day at a time.
We have a taste of fall today with 65* weather after being in the 90's this last week.
PS.
CAV caught me by surprise. I remember getting the V first of all, and that put me in mind of the Stewart kings of Scotland. I thought maybe the V was a Roman numeral that would make sense of the clue word "again," as regal names are often used again. And there would be the added meaning that JAMES VI of Scotland became also JAMES I of England. This is all just to illustrate how our minds go sailing into the ether when we get hold of the tiniest bit of a word.
Anyway, since the only Jacobean kings who could end in a "V" were, shall we say, the less consequential ones, I had to abandon that chase.
"Erl-king" is mixed language. It should either be "Elf-king" or "Erl-Koenig."
I did store inventories for awhile and therefore knew spelt flour.
Bob's Red Mill Spelt Flour
Anon @ 1:26. ERL KING has become accepted as an English word. Here is a ghoulish poem about Erl King. I, myself, have added the names of the speaker to the translation in CAPS for clarity.
The ERLKING by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
From a translation by Edwin Zeydel
Who rides so late where winds blow wild?
It is the father grasping his child;
He holds the boy embraced in his arm
He clasps him snugly, he keeps him warm.
FATHER: "My son, why cover your face in such fear?"
SON: "O don't you see the ErlKing near?
The ErlKing with his crown and train!"
FATHER: "My son, the mist is on the plain."
ERLKING:"Sweet lad, o come and join me, do!
Such pretty games I'll play with you;
On the shore gay flowers their colors unfold
My mother has made you a garment of gold."
SON: "My father, my father, o can you not hear
The promise the ErlKing breathes in my ear?"
FATHER:"Be calm, stay calm my child, lie low
In withered leaves the night winds blow."
ERLKING:"Will you, sweet lad, come along with me?
My daughters shall care for you tenderly;
In the night my daughters their revelry keep,
They'll rock you and dance you and sing you to sleep."
SON: "My father, my father, o can you not trace
The ErlKing's daughters in that gloomy place?"
FATHER:,"My son, my son, I see it clear
How grey the ancient willows appear."
ERLKING:"I love you, your comeliness charms me, my boy
And if you're not willing, then force I'll employ!"
SON: "Now father, o father, he's seizing my arm
The ErlKing has done me the cruelest harm!"
The father shudders, his ride is wild
In his arms he's holding the shivering child
He reaches home with toil and dread.
In his arms, the child was dead.
Schubert composed an art song with the words of this poem.
Link art song
My "puzzling thoughts" for today:
**was hoping for a Silkie; Don G's gave me fits! Spent my alloted 1 hour and then had to look up a few clues
**was proud to have gotten/remembered ROCKET J SQUIRREL, BAZOOKA JOE, SEASONAL, BAMBOOZLE, TWO TIER and with help from Miss Ellie, HE'S A REBEL, ECONO and CAT WOMAN; and together, we got LIQUORED UP, SOUL MATES and EMPTY NEST (interesting trio to get together, don't you think??!!)
**I guess I am too new here to get the SO of the word "ONWARD", but Splynter, I liked your recap
**Don G, how could you not have found a way to use the letter X and have had a PANGRAM today?
**Hand up for not knowing: ESALEN (but the nude hot-tubbing from 1-3AM sounds interesting); SIMONE; SPELT (had Durum, initially); and DELANO (tried ENCINO even though it's nowhere near Bakersfield)
**perps helped me get ADLAI, BACOS, among several others. Oddly, and while I didn't know the word existed, ADNOUN seemed logical, once I hummed/sang The Star Spangled Banner for 45A!
The 4:00PM thunderstorm/rain shower has already begun . . . enjoy the weekend, all
Today's Limerick:
When solving crosswords, I always take pride,
In never seeking a word book or guide;
Since I'd never heard the word SPELT,
Thought maybe a "rat I had smellt";
I will take it, nonetheless, all in STRIDE!
Thanks, Yellowrocks, for the art song link!
Am I the only one who thinks it a shame that old mellerdrammer parodies and silent movie accompanists have ruined me forever for Herr Schubert's dramatic style?
This was a tough one. I did complete the puzzle with only one mistake: SOUPMATES instead of SOULMATES. I should have looked at SPEPT and SOUP a little harder. DOH!
Loved ROCKET J SQUIRREL.
The inclusion of Rockey's full name today gave me a pleasant lingering nostalgic memory for the day, similar to an earworm. Growing up I had a close friend that was sort of a class clown. He earned the nickname Squirrelly at a young age. By high school, that transmogrified to "Rocket J", but he was never called Rocky.
As an adult he had his share of demons, but he was always endearing. 12 steps helped him recover from most, but he ultimately succumbed to cancer 12 years ago. Still, he helped countless others on the road to sobriety before he was ultimately freed.
Thanks for the memory, Don G. It was melancholy, but pleasant. And fare thee well Rocket J. You were truly a good man!
Pat (@pje) - that's a shame - where do you get your puzzles?
One eye on the football and one on the puzzle probably slowed me up, but WEES about ADNOUN, I'd never heard of BACOS and I had a reasonably stab with ROCKEY considering, as Barry would say, not in my wheelhouse.
Eventually picked it apart, so a good Saturday.
My favorite clue was "James, again, briefly" which I thought was ingenious, and just goes to show you can't please all of the people, all of the time.
Thanks for the expo Splynter - ONWARD!
WEES, including ADNOUN & ONWARD. Knew KAHUNA from Sherman's Lagoon. The Seattle Times puzzle today (which is NYT with 6-week delay for cheapskates like me) had 'Schubert's The ___ King". Isn't it bad enough when two puzzles have the same English word, without going to German (or Scandinavian)?!
No limericks today, so look who's in the Grammarian Bar!
▦ The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.
▩ A synonym ambles into a pub.
▦ A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to drink.
▩ A hyperbole totally ripped into this bar and destroyed everything.
▦ A run on sentence walks into a bar it is thirsty.
▩ Falling slowly, softly falling, the chiasmus collapsed to the bar floor.
▦ A group of homophones wok inn two a barre. Ewe think they wood of scene it write their.
▦ The Oxford Comma dropped out of a debate at the bar that included his parents, Ayn Rand and the Bishop of Canterbury.
Here's a whole list of jokes like this. A slightly different list is here, which has a bunch more in the comments.
I got through this one and without help, but boy it was a slog! I left it more than once for a break. Is ADNOUN really a word? Not when I went to school. Hated the fill for JAMES, AGAIN, BIEFLY. I spent far too much of a beautiful Saturday on this puzzle. Much rather have a Silkie!
I just got this from my Jewish BIL, the retired pediatrician and country singer/songwriter, Dean Dobbins.
The year is 2016 and the United States has elected the first female Jewish president, Susan Goldfarb.
She calls up her mother a few weeks after election day and says,
'So, Mom, I assume you'll be coming to my inauguration?'
'I don't think so. It's a ten hour drive, your father isn't as young as he used to be and my arthritis is acting up again.'
'Don't worry about it Mom, I'll send Air Force One to pick you up and take you home. And a limousine will pick you up at your door.'
'I don't know. Everybody will be so fancy-schmantzy; what on earth would I wear?'
Susan replies, 'I'll make sure you have a wonderful gown custom-made by the best designer in New York.'
'Honey,' Mom complains, 'you know I can't eat those rich foods you and your friends like to eat.'
The President-to-be responds, 'Don't worry Mom. The entire affair is going to be handled by the best caterer in New York,
kosher all the way. Mom, I really want you to come.'
So Mom reluctantly agrees and on January 20, 2017, Susan Goldfarb is being sworn in as President of the United States.
In the front row sits the new President's mother, who leans over to a senator sitting next to her and says,
'You see that woman over there with her hand on the Torah, becoming President of the United States?
The Senator whispers back, 'Yes I do.'
Mom says proudly, "Her brother is a doctor".
@Owen - my favorite:
The bartender says "we don't serve faster-than-light particles in here"
Two Gigg's bosons walk into a bar.
A big DNF due to the south. GRADS? CAV? ugh, those hurt. Was especially disappointed not to get ROTUNDA having spent years as a lobbyist.
ROCKETJSQUIRREL and BAZOOKAJOE were proud (and nostalgic) moments. CINNABAR may prompt a visit to Wikipedia later tonight.
Nebraska defeats McNeese state with 20 seconds left on the clock. Would have paid good money to see HuskerGary's reaction.
Darn. Higg's. Nothing worse than blowing the punchline than putting a typo in a joke :)
PK, I have found many definitions of ADNOUN in various places on the Web, including sample sentences, but, surprisingly, no citations of its actual use in print. I suspect it was dreamed up by persons who study linguistics, not by Wiki. The origin of ADNOUN is centuries old, but its sense has changed. BTW, ADNOUN passes Spell Check. Although I love words, linguistics is kind of esoteric to me and way too deep. As an acquaintance used to say, “Nerds can analyze anything to death.” Today I read many linguistic articles about adjectives used as nouns, such as “the poor” or “the blind.” These particular articles did not call them ADNOUNS. I also read articles about categories of nouns without any reference to ADNOUN. which seems fairly arcane (known or knowable only to the initiate.)
Lucina, I read Molokai by Alan Brennert last week. It was fascinating and enlightening. I have been interested in Father Damien and the work with Hansen’s disease at Molokai for a long time. I was drawn into Rachel’s life’s challenges and admired her courage. The prejudice against lepers was heart breaking. It reminded me of the early hysteria about AIDS. I am glad that the medical field is finding effective treatments for Hansen’s disease.
YR: I was making a joke about ADNOUN.
Steve@7:33: I get the Cincinnati Enquirer. This is the first time they've printed the wrong puzzle and I hope it doesn't happen again. Reading the comments I'm really lost, but I enjoy the discussions anyway.
DH and I spent a lovely evening with friends playing Euchre. It's friendly play, not cut-throat, so it's a laid-back time. We didn't make any money, but that's OK.
Pat
I imagine Steve is happy with Notre Dame's victory over Michigan. Go Irish!
YR:
It's nice to know that Moloka'i is making the rounds and that you enjoyed it if that's really the word since it's a tearjerker for me. I agree with the similarity to AIDS. That's a good point to bring up in the discussion next week.
My family (that is, a part of it) was in Molokai about 4 years ago for a wedding. I'm not sure what prompted my nephew and his bride to choose that setting, but we found it beautiful and relatively undeveloped, very serene and lush with only one small grocery store, a small RC mission and some lovely condos where we stayed.
ALL the food and beverages for the wedding and through the weekend had to be flown from Honolulu.
7 across: those who care for houseplants may repot them from time to time, as they outgrow their pots. This reinvigorates them.
I knew spelt because a glucose-intolerant friend used it as flour. And folks in search of enlightenment, or maybe good drugs, were traipsing off to Esalen in CA back in the 60s.
Hi All!
Well, midnight passed again so ONWARD to Splynter for the answers. I learned a lot I didn't know (esp about LEEKS - thanks for the link CED, I'm using Ave Joe's recipe tomorrow and didn't know how to pre-prepare them).
I started off strong w/ the grid-spanner ROCKETJSQUIRREL and thought, "yes, Don hard-G I've got you in my sight. Muawwwa" etc. Don gets the last laugh. Remember yesterdays (bosc?) pear, that's all I got today. DOE!
BTW - did you know the Simpson's use J as homage to Rocky J. & Bullwinkle (eg. Homer J. Simpson)?
While I've never been to Wright-Pat, I know of it from DOD days at Tinker AFB (oh, and the conspiracy guys say that's where the Roswell aliens went).
D-O: Didn't take you for a sailor. Tell us more about SIGINT :-)
OwenKL & I read the same comic: KAHONAS - the Big One gives them (shark & crab) the gift of being semi-people and walks on the beach.
Steve - the beauty of being dyslexic is I didn't see your typo until you called it out. BTW, that joke is in my top 5 'cuz it take three hyperspace-jumps to "get it."
Cheers, -T
AnonT: My son is at Tinker AFB.
PK - I was in the EIG unit designing networks 93-98. What does your son do there?
TAFB used to be where they tested post-mechanical work worthiness. I recall driving to the office one day and seeing something that hung heavy huge in the sky very much unlike a gold brick.* It was a stealth bomber (totally awesome!). Turned out I knew the guy taking it up for a spin.
Cheers, -T
*apologies to Douglas Adams
Anon-T,
I reposted your last comment.
Please don't use F words on the blog.
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