Words: 70 (missing Q,W,X)
Blocks: 27
Mr.
Wilber's prolific solo Saturday work is starting to rival that of Mr.
Silk~! We last had a visit from Brad in September. Lots of vagueness
on the first pass, but the Downs gave me a lot of letters to work with,
and I ended up smoking through the puzzle in about half time. Not an
intimidating grid at all, yet a block count that is only one more than
last week's. How deceiving - and just four 9-letter fills comprised the
whole of the 'long' answers;
25a. Highly visible septet : BIG DIPPER - The Big Dipper consists of these seven stars, yet part of the larger constellation Ursa Major
45a. Gig at the brig : GUARD DUTY - I was thinking Jailhouse Rock
10d. Five-time A.L. home run champ : RODRIGUEZ - oh, him
31d. Baryshnikov move : GRAND JETÉ
- Hello~! I couldn't link a male in the pose, it looked too painful;
yet this past Wednesday I played hockey, and the other goalie asked how I
could get so low - I must be almost as flexible....my buddy Bob sent me
this pic from a few years ago
OИMVЯD~!
ACROSS:
1. Jeweler's concerns : SETTINGS
9. Coke product : FRESCA - Coca-cola, that is
15. Passed : OVERTOOK - the kind of passing drivers of cars do; see 7d.
16. "Top Hat" dancer : ROGERS - Ginger - because ASTAIRE did not fit ( the only other dancer I know of that regularly appears in crosswords )
17. How Dickens' novels were first published : SERIALLY - I had S---IALLY, and I thought, SOCIALLY~? Naw, they didn't have Facebook back then....
19. Backwash creator : OAR - I went with "EBB", but it fit better at 48a.
20. Montreal Canadiens' all-time leading point scorer : LaFLEUR
- Guy; I went with Maurice "Rocket" RICHARD first; he scored 50 goals
in 50 games in the '44-45 season, but LaFleur scored 50 goals a season
for 6 straight seasons decades later
22. Toon shopkeeper : APU - The Simpsons
23. Signals one's presence, in a way : RAPS
27. Year in Clement VIII's papacy : MDCI - well, just had to wait on perps, but after the "M" and "I" appeared, I tried the other Roman numerals ( C, D, X, V ) that would work with the "down" answer
28. Piquancy : TANG
29. Silly sorts : GEESE - "Silly Goose~!"
30. Jump back into the fray : RE-ENGAGE
32. Clingy husk : BUR - seems short a letter....
33. Paper fatteners : INSERTS - ah, Newspaper; I
did not get this until I came to do the write-up; our Sunday paper is
about to gain some weight with the holiday season upon us
34. Flips : GOES APE
38. Hot air ballooning watchdog: Abbr. : FAA - we have a drone problem developing over here; they're interfering with JFK airspace
39. Almond confection : MARZIPAN
40. About 1% of the Earth's atmosphere : ARGON - I did not go with RADON; just linked this two weeks ago
43. Engine once known as Live Search : BING - WAG
44. Abbey section : APSE - APSE~? NAVE~? wait on perps
47. Your alternative, at times : ONE'S - seen often in crossword clues
48. Taper off : EBB - ah - that's where it goes....
49. 1974 top ten hit for Carole King : JAZZ MAN - Link away~!
51. Kenyan export : TEA - had the "A", WAGed the "T-E-"
53. Green Giant morsel : NIBLET - toyed with CARROT first
55. Dietary practice : VEGANISM - it may be a practice, but I'm not in the game; I had this for dinner here at A Lure last night
58. Sea along the Balkan peninsula : ADRIATIC - with the first "A", and "C" in place, this dawned on me
59. Letter closing : AS EVER
60. Buoys up : HEARTENS
DOWN:
1. Underwhelming : SO-SO
2. She played Principal McGee in "Grease" : EVE ARDEN
3. View providers : TERRACES
4. Prefix with athlete : TRI - TRIathlete
5. Right-leaning type?: Abbr. : ITALicS - see above
6. Bourbon Street city, informally : NOLA - New Orleans, LousianA
7. Drivers can be seen in them : GOLF BAGS - nailed it; did not confuse the 'club' with the 'car controller'
8. Broad view : SKYLINE
9. Mountebank : FRAUD - filled via perps; did not have any clue (except to consider the Alp, Mont Blanc ); a swindler
11. A BMOC may have a big one : EGO - speaking of EGOs, see above
12. Colorful cover-up : SERAPE - total WAG, total win~!
13. Brunch order : CREPES - anyone try OMELET~?
14. Guarantee : ASSURE
21. Whisking target : EGG - and, uh, see above
24. Miss badly : PINE FOR - I went with LONG at first; I am holding out hope for my blue-eyed girl still
26. Blofeld's cat, in Bond films : PERSIAN - I think Mr. Bigglesworth was a great way to satire the whole thing
27. Picture of health? : MRI - we've seen this before; the "?" denotes the slight mis-direction
28. "I'm off!" : "TA-TA~!"
34. Largest moon of Jupiter : GANYMEDE - I love watching shows on the probes we've sent out to explore the solar system; this one took 6 years to get there, but had some great moments
35. Fondness : APPETITE - for Destruction? Great album cover, which was, of course, banned
+Appetite+for+Destruction+Censored.jpg){kind=link}
36. Submits, as an exam paper : PASSES IN
- HANDS IN was not enough; but then again, I remember we used to "pass
in" exams by handing them to the person at the desk in front of us
37. Topeka-to-Peoria dir. : ENE - I threw in NNE
39. Bar __ : MITZVAH - this should have come easier than it did
40. Handout from a chair : AGENDA - I knew what direction this was pointing, but I spent Tuesday helping my buddy Adam move, and he has a 13 month-old son, so there was this image of baby food flying....
41. 40th anniversary symbols : RUBIES - an educated WAG after the "R" showed; I knew it was not Diamond, but a little further on than, say, "wood"; here's the list
42. Unintelligible talk : GABBLE - I had GARBLE in place; EBB fixed that
43. Sawyer of old comics : BUZ - the other "missing a letter" answer
46. "Antiques Roadshow" expert : DATER - carbon dater? Now that's an antique~!
47. Booth warning sign : ON AIR
50. Onetime capital of the Mughal Empire : AGRA - seems sensible, now that I look at it
52. Pacers and Ramblers : AMCs - nailed it - but then again, I owned a Concord Sportabout
54. Bk. of the Torah : LEV
56. Baseball's Ryan Zimmerman or Jordan Zimmermann, briefly : NAT - I defer to our baseball-starved but fearless leader, C.C. on these answers (From C.C.: Here is a good old article about them. The former is a little (2 millions?) behind Derek Jeter in this 2013 list.
There's always room for dessert~!
With Thanksgiving just a few days away, allow me to pick up on Lemonade's invitation from yesterday and thank Brad Wilber for a wonderful puzzle (more about that below) and for his invigoration of the Chronicle of Higher Education crossword franchise as the editor since June; Splynter for his entertaining and comprehensive writeup; my friend and Minnesota neighbor C.C. for setting up and maintaining this blog, her welcoming attitude, and her own remarkable creativity and productivity as a constructor; and you the blog's readership for your insights, witticisms, and indulgences.
ReplyDeleteSo much to like today. We are used to seeing AROD compressed to 4 letters, but 10-Down spells out his last name. Who else had darker thoughts when seeing "Coke" in the clue for 9-Across? Tricky clues for EGO, GEESE, GOLF_BAG, and MRI, among others. All in all, enjoyable and enlightening.
After this themeless workout, those of you who are still in a puzzling mood may want to check out two puzzles with a November 22 theme. Both are anniversaries, one joyous, the other somber. Respectively, they are Coin of the Musical Realm and Too Soon?. Each puzzle has accompanying commentary that can be read after solving it. Hope one or both interests you!
In closing, I want to again thank our gracious host, and (without spoiling it) mention that today's New York Times puzzle by David Steinberg has a shout-out to her. It is for you to decide whether or not that was intentional!
Thanks Brad. Thanks Splynter. Not in the mood, for seafood ?
ReplyDeleteI liked SKYLINES intersecting SETTINGS.
Hand up for Richard.
Carole King - Jazzman Great composition, horns, piano, voice, beat.
Never heard of GABBLE. BABBLE yes. GABBLE no.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteTypical Saturday fare for me today. Got through most of the clever cluing and obscure answers in one piece (proud of myself for knowing GRAND JETE, NOLA and GANYMEDE, totally guessed at LAFLEUR based on the perps).
One spot that totally killed me, though was the crossing of BUZ (who?) with JAZZMAN (what?). It didn't help that I had BORK instead of BORG at first, so couldn't see BING to save my life. I'm also embarrassed to admit I went with BAR MITSVAH instead of BAR MITSVAH, despite the fact that I should know better.
I finally got that area worked out by running the alphabet and deciding that BUZ could be a name and fixing my mistakes. But I still didn't get the TADA. A quick scan of the puzzle revealed that I also misspelled RODRIGUEZ as RODRIGUES. I don't know what I have against the letter Z today...
Although I got EVEARDEN right away I had a little trouble in the NW corner. I knew Dickens' novels were serialized but for some reason didn't want to put in SERIALLY until SKYLINE forced my hand. Then everything fell into place. Good puzzle but solved it faster than one of Mr. Silk's.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteStarted this one slowly, but kept picking up speed as I went along. Only two write-overs today: ENSURE / ASSURE, GARBLE / GABBLE (I'm with TTP on that one.)
I've never seen Grease, but with a couple of letters in place was able to WAG EVE ARDEN. She was a teacher as Our Miss Brooks, so why not a principal?
Splynter, I might have gone with OMELET, but APU was already in place.
Found out yesterday that our phone's been broken for about a week. Wondered why it was so peaceful. I'm off to get a replacement Vonage "box" this morning.
I'm thinkin' Brad has a Yankee bias. There's not only Rodriguez in the puzzle, but his symmetrical partner at 31 down, GRAND JETE, is a pretty sneaky way to work in that DANG JETER!
ReplyDeleteWasn’t sure:
ReplyDeleteAshe or BORG ?
BUR, missing the second “R”?
Muu muu? Caftan? Nope, SERAPE.
Omelet or CREPES for breakfast?
Garble? Babble? Nope, GABBLE.
GMCS or AMCS?
But eventually it all came together. Thanks for the fun write-up, Splynter!
This was quicker than it looked like at first. Many of the same pauses as Marti for word choice, but also had kernel for niblet for the Green Giant morsel. Also initially thought the baseball player was going to be a first and last name like Rod Carew, but the perps corrected me.
ReplyDeleteEntertaining puzzle, Brad! Thanks for the write-up Splynter!
Greetings, Weekend Worders!
ReplyDeleteThis took me a lot longer than it should have although some parts, like the NW filled quickly. I knew Dickens' works were first published SERIALLY and EVEARDEN came easily as Grease is my daughter's favorite movie and she watched it incessantly.
FRESCA and ROGERS took time since I had omelet but ADORES suggested CREPES.
LAFLEUR emerged painfully with the R in place only after RODRIGUEZ dawned on me. I have many relatives with that surname. None are baseball players.
It HEARTENS me that I finished a Brad Wilber puzzle then, too, I have an APPETITIE for MARZIPAN.
APU? Only from crosswords.
My GRAND PLIE gave way to a JETE and I vaguely recalled BUZ Sawyer.
Picture of healt, MRI, was my favorite clue.
Thank you to Splynter and Brad for a good time today.
AS EVER. Have a sensational Saturday, everyone!
For 59a: Letter closing, I wanted 'Cool Regards' - but it didn't fit...
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteGB - Nice first paragraph words. I agree whole heartedly.
Easier Saturday than most for me. Fast solve down the E side; then built into the W. Seemed to be on Brad's wavelength with fill like SERAPE and MARZIPAN.
Knew AMCS which invited TEA . Once I converted grand jump to GRAND JETE, the SW quickly filled in. Liked the INSERTS clue. Splynter is right about that.
NOLA - We have eaten at Emeril's NOLA restaurant. Great food and great service.
BIG DIPPER - Not highly viisible to the Aussies and Kiwis
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteHand up for Omelet before Crepes, and Kernel before Niblet. Otherwise zoomed through, except for the SW corner. I suspected Gabble but needed reinforcement from perps to be sure.
Speaking of gabble: years ago I learned a theatrical trick for mimicking background conversational noise on stage. Assuming there are enough people onstage at the time, if half of them just say "rhubarb and garbage" over and over again, to the audience it will sound like normal gabble. That way there's no need for each actor to have a piece of scripted dialog.
Trading my OMELET for CREPES helped unlock the stubborn NE on a learning Saturday.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-The asterism The BIG DIPPER is visible every clear night of the year
-Most famous (only?) mention of FRESCA in a movie?
-AROD’s non-pharmaceutically enhanced HR production has EBBED
-Origin of GINGER ROGERS paean. Not from her.
-We saw great DANCERS with the Rockettes yesterday. BTW, they started in St. Louis as the Missouri Rockets before becoming the Roxyettes at the Roxy Theater in NY and then…
-RAP, RAP, RAP, Penny x 3
-Hit your ball out of bounds and you’ll fine some sandBURS
-Wed. papers full of INSERTS were very heavy for me
-Scroll down to see another big export from KENYA
-Venice vs the Adriatic
-Minimum till farmers no longer need TERRACES to hold the ground in place
-Telling the Pope that GANYMEDE and three other moons were orbiting Jupiter and not Earth got Galileo in trouble
Thanks for a gentle Saturday.
ReplyDeleteBut could someone explain the origin of PEATER. I have never seen it before. It sounds from the context like a mixture of beater and repeat, but I can only find the word in the Urban Dictionary, which, surprise surprise, gives an obscene definition.
Other observations:
Odd that the possessive pronoun "ONE'S" is spelled with an apostrophe, while ITS, THEIRS, YOURS, etc., are not.
I had BOAT PARTY, then GAOL PARTY for "Gig on the Brig" at one point, which gave me RABIES for "40th anniversary symbols" and GOBBLE for "unintelligible talk".
Something had to give, but I am relieved it did not involve a close-up of a man doing a Grand Jeté. Thanks Splynter.
NC
NC:
ReplyDeleteThat's an astute observation about the pronouns and points out another English language quirk, ONES is the plural of one.
Re: peater
ReplyDeleteWhen you win a championship a second year in a row it's a repeat. When you win a third year in a row, it's a three-peat.
"Four-peat" and "five-peat" are not common terms. Nor is "five-peater".
The buzzer's just gone for the washer and I'm happily ignoring it to jot a quick wish for all to have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for crossword puzzles to give me a respite from all the hubbub in my world. There are so many marvelous puzzle creators and then being able to pop in here for explanations always gives me a good laugh or two. I'm off to the suds and really did think that gabbling had to do with turkeys (we've got a huge flock roaming our neighborhood.) The NW corner was my only downfall and I finally overtook the urge to put in "got an A on" and solved the rest. Tata for now.
ReplyDeleteI could say I did this w/o any help if I were to leave out looking up GANYMEDE.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise this was a cool solve, from start to finish. I had BABBLE before GABBLE and GOLF BARS before BAGS. Didn't we all?
In case you've missed it; "smart student handing in a paper" Clip(1:02)
ReplyDeleteI like most things made from almonds. My favorite danish is a bear claw. Why do I NOT care for MARZIPAN? Those little Mozart balls are so appealing to the eye, but der Geschmack gefällt mir nicht. I Just don't care for the taste. Anybody else in the same boat?
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone:
ReplyDeleteLet to the dance due to decorating for Christmas; today was the only day my helper was available and, boy, do I need help! But it's worth the time and effort because the houses is now very bright and cheerful.
Though I can't say the puzzle added any cheer to my morning. Gabble, passes in, itals??? They may be legitimate but they're grating. Interesting to see fraud next to Rodriguez. This was a FIW due to babble instead of gabble.
Kudos to Brad for a Saturday challenge and to Splynter for the informative expo.
Have a great day.
Sorry. Late not let and I have only one house!
ReplyDeleteLong time lurker (years....), first time poster. Can usually get through Wednesday just fine, and an occasional Thursday......you all amaze me! One of these in 15 minutes seems impossible to some of us!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to all of my morning "friends", and keep those comments coming!
"Puzzling thoughts" . . .
ReplyDeleteOMK @ 12:09 - regarding almonds: I love roasted almonds to snack on, in bear claws, Almond Joy bars, and in cereal, but can't STAND them in cooked dishes;
Argyle @ 12:01 - loved the clip on passing in the paper . . .
TTP @ O Dark Thirty - now that I have the tune JAZZMAN spinning in my head . . . !! I saw the album cover "Tapestry" and thought, JAZZMAN was not on that one. Here is the corrected album cover for that great song. I used to play the piano and had the Tapestry song book. I could play "I Feel the Earth Move" from memory . . .
My only write-overs today were in 37D where I, too had NNE before ENE; 42D where I began with BABBLE before ARGON made GABBLE emerge. Pretty clean, no cheats or Googles. Loved GOLFBAGS for the answer to "Drivers can be seen in them" - though my Driver (a Ping I20) and I have a true, love-hate relationship . . .
Never knew VEGANISM was a word, but I guess to those who are, it is a sort of "religion". Splynter, I liked your shot of a rack of ribs dinner!
Thanks to CC, Brad and everybody else here who provides so much high-quality puzzling, entertainment and communication.
ReplyDeleteHere's a remarkable bird. Lyre bird?
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteBrad kicked my butt, I only got the east coast and bleed ink everywhere else. Thanks Splynter for the writeup and answers...
I got up and made lovely DW an omelet, but still wanted mimosa for 13d (since Bloody Mary didn't fit). APU to the rescue! 1a) m??-rINGS as 1d was mehe to fit with EBB. Right word, wrong c/a.
I've got a nice hambone left over from the company pot-luck that I'm turning in to bean soup. VEGANISM? Not here.
Re: MARZIPAN - I find it too waxy. It makes a cake pretty, but inedible IMHO.
And finally, before anyone gets upset w/ my NOLA "spoiler" from last night (this morning), I had not looked at todays puzzle! Simply serendipitous.
Have a great Saturday!
Cheers, -T
Bill G. - that Lyre Bird watched too much Star Wars :-) C, -T
ReplyDeleteWe are having our Thanksgiving dinner in a couple of hours. Interesting... Instead of our kids adapting to our schedule and the traditional Thanksgiving day, Barbara adapts to their schedule...
ReplyDeleteLike all families I'm guessing, we have much the same food every year. Celery stuffed with cream cheese and minced walnuts, a turkey cooked breast down, a pumpkin pie with the only flavoring being sugar and vanilla, etc. Always the same and always much appreciated and enjoyed.
What A-T said. Marzipan looks better than it tastes, IMHO. That said, I seem to recall liking Mozart balls back in Austria...haven't had one in years.
ReplyDeleteI recall a famous café in Vienna that was known for its window displays, generally sculpted out of marzipan. I happened to see the display in the 80's, at which time it featured life size marzipan statues of Reagan and Gorbachev, each with nuclear missiles for fingers. It made an impression. It did not look edible...
Chairman Moe @1:25, That's it ! I knew there was something "off" when I linked Jazzman. My sister played the album and 8-track of Tapestry incessantly. Still one of my favorite albums from beginning to end.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous T @ 2:34, Is it possible you are thinking of fondant rather than Marzipan ? Especially with the "waxy" sensation. I get that same texture with most fondant. I eat around it on a wedding cake !
Bill G, enjoy your traditional meal on this non-traditional day !
Dudley - Looks like you can get Mozart Balls for ~$100 from Amazon with shipping. GO APE.
ReplyDeleteBill G. I've been doing Thanksgiving mostly the same for ~7 years. Anyone have a recipe to "kick it up?" I'm looking to you Lucina :-)
If anyone wants, I'll post (or email off-blog) my brined-bird recipe that MIL kicked FIL under the table for raving about it.
Nice storm kicking up, ASSUREs a good nap time!
Cheers, -T
George Barany @5:53
ReplyDeleteNo problem here regarding November 22, 1963 and the "Too Soon?" puzzle.
When I think about that particular day ... I mostly remember it was my Father's 44th birthday.
We didn't light the candles on the cake and sing the Happy Birthday Song to him that night.
Splynter: Excellent write-up & links. Esp. the hockey photo.
Needed ESP to get GRAND JETE & GANYMEDE ... but for whatever reason, I thought this was an easily doable puzzle.
[Probably because I solved it in the afternoon (after our Condo Assn. had a "Garage Sale") and was wide-awake with 3 or 4 Mugs-of-Coffee in me]
Lemon (from last night) ... Nope! The killer is still "on-the-loose" ... but they expect an arrest very soon!
Husker, Avg.Joe & Ergo: As to a certain college football game today. I got to watch the second-half on ESPN.
As for the result ... tears ...
My first "Sunset Toast" was to my Father, who would have been 95 today ... alas he only made it to 70 (and 44 days).
My "second toast" was to the wonderful people here at the Blog.
Great bunch of witty crossword puzzle lovers.
Cheers!!!
Crashed and burned on the solve today. Had to Google for Bing and that darned cat (expecting a name rather than a breed). While those 2 assists opened up broad swaths of territory which filled the grid, I still took a FIW. I'd filled in Babble, and even though Arbon looked very hinky, I accepted that over Gabble. Still do, for that matter. Oy vey!
ReplyDeleteNo worries here Tin. We're having our traditional Thanksgiving meal today as well, and since our son from Iowa City is here, the final minutes of the Iowa Wisconsin game are fully occupying our interests. It's getting interesting with 1:55 to go.
AnonT:
ReplyDeleteI don't have much to add to the traditional Thanksgiving menu except possibly my sister's red chile sauce made with pork. It was my mother's tradition and some use it on potatoes instead of gravy. I can tell you the taste is out of this world, not hot, just savory.
Otherwise it's turkey, ham, garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, yams or sweet potatoes, some with marshmallows some without, cranberry/jello mold with cream cheese and crushed pineapple. Various pies, pumpkin, apple, pecan. Our group varies from 25-35 depending on who's in town and different ones bring something.
Lucina - Yum!
ReplyDelete:-)
Lucina..... I agree with Dudley.... :)
ReplyDeletethelma :)
Dudley & Thelma:
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome to come. Just bring something.
Lucina :) :) thank you..... if my plans weren't carved in stone I would be there..... :) if nothing more than to say hello.... I do hope you and yours have a wonderful day....
ReplyDeletePK.... I hope you are well....
Dennis.... would you like the mammoth puzzle this year ? I would be glad to send it....
To each and everyone I truly wish you all a wonderful and happy turkey day.... :)
thelma :)