Words 70 (missing J,Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 26
Boy
was I excited to see a DonG Saturday puzzle. The chunky corners look
made me think it was going to be a tough one, but ultimately, it was
do-able. We have a boat-load of proper names, and a few "Meh"
clues/answers, so my expectation caused a bit of a let down. Oh well.
Mini-theme of corner crossings related to science fact & fiction,
and a central crossing;
21d. "The Dragons of Eden" Pulitzer winner : CARL SAGAN - I have not read the book
37a. What we're made of, per 21-Down : STAR STUFF
- I like shows on Astronomy and Cosmology; I understood that when
massive stars start creating iron in their cores, the beginning of the
end occurs - they go supernova, spewing all the elements out into space
16. With 12-Down, 1995 Hugo Award winner for Best Related Work : I. ASIMOV
12. See 16-Across : A MEMOIR
60. Discoverer of Jupiter's four largest moons : GALILEO
48. Shower component : METEOR - not symmetrical, but just to balance the corners
ONWARD to a Star Trek: TNG universe~!
ACROSS:
1. Probably will : IS APT TO
8. Come before : PREDATE - not PRECEDE
15. Like many a protest : ANTI-WAR
17. Going on, slangily : COOKING
18. Stand for things : ETAGERE - literally, a physical stand, for knick-knacks
19*. "The Road to Wealth" author : ORMAN
20. Opening segment : ACT I - we had this answer last week
22. Deity skilled at archery : AMOR - oops, not EROS
23. It has rail service to ORD and MDW : CTA - Chicago Transit Authority; ORD being the airport code of O'Hare, and MDW for Midway
24. Hawaii's __ Coast : KONA
26. Zippo : NOT ONE
28. Amsterdam features : CANALS - not LEVEES
30. Meat-based sauce : RAGU
32. Shades-wearing TV cousin : ITT - duh-duh-duh dum~! The Addams Family
33. Score update phrase : AT THE HALF - but not in hockey
35. Deck used for readings : TAROT - a deck of cards
39. Place for an ice bed : IGLOO - O, ice E
42. Idylls : PASTORALS - again, we had this last week, but it was pastoralEs
46. Egg __ yung : FOO
47. Salon, for one : eMAG - eh, don't see an abbr. in the clue
49. Like some transfers : IRON-ON
50. Threatening to steal, perhaps : ON BASE - baseball for C.C.; DonG would never live it down had he forgotten
52*. Heroine in Auel's "Earth's Children" books : AYLA - crossing YAP AT irritated me
54. Cpl., for one : NCO
55. Cause some nose-holding : REEK - not ODOR
56*. Brown of publishing : TINA
58. Clip : SHEAR
62. Lab tube : PIPETTE
64. View : OPINION
65. Flighty sort? : AVIATOR
66. Some film clips : TEASERS
67. Submits : TENDERS - as in one's resignation
DOWN:
1*. 1970s Ford president : IACOCCA - of course, he went on to save Chrysler
2. Show contempt for : SNORT AT
3*. Ferocious Flea foe : ATOM ANT
4. Tailless rabbit relative : PIKA
5. Sparkly Skechers style for girls : TWINKLE TOES
6. Salon acquisition : TAN - went with DYE first
7. Reed site : ORGAN - not SWAMP; the other kind of reed
8*. Neoplasticism artist Mondrian : PIET - never heard of this, so I had to do a search - turns out, I consider my style to be of the neoplastic type.
9. Assessment : RATING
10. Spanish pronoun : ESA - hey - guess what~? no Frawnche (OK, etagere)
11. Make cutting remarks about : DIG AT - lots of two-word answers today, too
13. Hockey Hall of Fame city : TORONTO - we are oh so close to the new season
14*. Former surgeon general C. __ Koop : EVERETT
25. DOL division : OSHA - Dept. of Labor, and the Occupational Safety and Health Admin.
27. Cruising : OUT FOR A SPIN
29. "Yes, of course" : AH, SO
31. Classified times : AFTs - I did not get this at first; I had AGES. Now I understand it's AFTernoons, in classified ads
34. Plucked instrument, to Vivaldi : ARPA - Harp
36. Picked style : AFRO
38. Gas co., e.g. : UTILity
39. Excuse for lateness : I FORGOT - eh. what, you forgot what time to come in~?
40. Lost it : GONE APE
41. Popular hanging-basket flower : LOBELIA
43*. One of the original Mouseketeers : ANNETTE
44. Google map, say : LOCATOR
45. Not always the best roommates : SNORERS
51*. Pulitzer playwright Zoë : AKINS
53. Pester, puppy-style : YAP AT - NIP AT, LAP AT....even after an alphabet run, I did not see this.
57. Cyclotron bits : IONS
59. Lead : HEAD - non-rhyming
61. Be supine : LIE - here's my contribution to "the stars"
63. "__ seen the light!" : I'VE
Splynter
42 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks Don G. and Splynter!
A rare Saturday finish. Had a natick at COOKING and PIKA (what is that?), but otherwise filled in OK. (Took a while, though.) CTA and a few others were perped. TWINKLE TOES was mostly a WAG.
Three hours in the horribly uncomfortable transport chair at the retina specialists. Have dry macular degeneration in left eye. (Oh, goody!)
Definitely time for bed!
Have a great weekend!
Whoops, specialist's.
FIW again. No ta-da, but I had enough wags I didn't bother searching, just hit the check button. I expected PIKA+ORMAN or ESA+ETAGERE, but instead it was niP AT crossing a couple names I didn't know, AYLA & TINA.
GALILEO, that optical stargazer
Ordered lenses of glass from his glazer.
He saw moons in the sky,
And a METEOR pass by,
And now is hailed an astronomical trail blazer!
That prolific writer, Isaac ASIMOV
Could make even limericks appear suave.
He wrote MEMOIR, and fiction,
With scientific diction,
And abjured purple prose, his was more a mauve!
There once was a fellow, CARL SAGAN,
Who offered to thinkers a haven.
He said we're not mere dust,
Oh, no, we are STAR STUFF!
And for that he was branded a pagan!
Morning, all!
Had a lot of trouble getting started in the NW today. Had SNEER AT (which was wrong) and ATOM ANT, and that was about it. The whole right side of the puzzle fell pretty quickly, however, from CARL SAGAN in the middle. I hesitated a bit at IASIMOV (knew the author very well but didn't know the name of his memoir). A little perp help got me going there, though. Everything else on the west side was in my wheelhouse, including PIET, ITT, AYLA, etc.
Back on the left side of the puzzle, I tried tackling the SW corner next and it finally fell with a bit of struggle. LOBELIA was a complete unknown and I had to change ODOR to REEK, but that was pretty much all that held me up.
Back up to the NW, I finally took a guess at TWINKLE TOES, which got me ANTI WAR. I finally decided to take out SNEER AT, and that opened the floodgates. CTA, IACOCCA, PIKA, it was all good after that.
Sorry, make that everything on the EAST side of the puzzle was in my wheelhouse.
Good morning!
This was a quicky from Don Hard-G. It came in ahead of the CTA schedule. Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Galileo, Piet Mondrian, C. Everett Coop, Suze Orman and Lee Iacocca were all in my wheelhouse. That made for a fast solve. Hand up for SNEER AT and PREFACE. I thought the clue read "original Musketeer," and none of those names seemed to fit. Still, it was a fun outing.
Splynter, I also enjoy those science programs about astronomy, geology, vulcanology, climate change. I recently changed my DirecTV package, and in the process lost the Science Channel (Dang it!), but saved $20/month, so I'll live without it.
Buzz kill. Even with Splynter's explanation 31D "afternoons" makes no sense. Really? Afternoons? Perps got it. But having to know the name of a book in crossing "I Asimov a Memoir" seems unfair, even for a Saturday. The "Asimov" portion was intuitive but the rest wasn't. Boo.
Interesting that the Hugo awards were mentioned, since this (to me, at least) fascinating report on this year's Hugos just came out yesterday. BTW, were you aware Ike Asimov published Many books of limericks? I don't know how complete this list is, and a couple contain more than just limericks.
Isaac Asimov's Treasury Of Humor 1971
100 Original Limericks 1975 (illustrated by Julien Dedmen)
Lecherous Limericks 1976
More Lecherous Limericks 1976
Still More Lecherous Limericks 1977
Asimov's Sherlockian Limericks 1978
A Grossery of Limericks 1981 (with John Ciardi)
Isaac Asimov's Limericks for Children 1984
Limericks: Too Gross 1985 (with John Ciardi)
Asimov Laughs Again 1993
Isaac Asimov was an amazing man writing in So many areas from serious scientific journals to mystery stories and limericks. Of course it was in science fiction that he first garnered fame, telling stories of robots and dealerships. All the while he was afraid to fly, only twice venturing into the air. If you want more on him I suggest this LINK .
I really enjoyed the puzzle and write up. Thanks guys.
Fun to read your comments Lemonade714 - Asimov has always been my favorite and his memoir is worth the read. With the Sagan book and the Asimov book, crossing the way they did, I wonder if this puzzle started life as a themed puzzle? Or is this just my OPINION / GONEAPE (which would be the symmetrical crossing in the SW)?
Any puzzle that makes a reference to Asimov is a puzzle I'm going to like, but it was a DNF for me. I put down ADAMANT, not ATOMANT, and that killed any chance I had in the NW.
I wonder if the crossing of CARLSAGAN and STARSTUFF, combined with the surrounding black squares, is meant to suggest a Star.
Top three lines were vexing and the ASIMOV combo was torturous with a surname and first initial. SNEER AT, DYE, HARE and ADAM ANT were no help and PIKA…
Musings
-GALILEO cheesed off the Pope when he showed not all things circle the earth
-Even a very small telescope can give you this stunning view of Jupiter and its four largest moons. The Pope won’t mind!
-IACOCCA participated in the production of the Mustang and Pinto. Win some, lose some.
-I got the highest RATINGS possible when teaching but didn’t get one nickel more
-OSHA ear protection could have saved my hearing in this activity in the late 60’s
-ANNETTE Funicello was the face of Mouseketeers and a brave, dignified face for MS from which she died in 2013
-Has anyone tried one of these anti-SNORING appliances?
-In what movie did Barbara Streisand seem to be always involved in ANTIWAR protests?
-We’re off to a wedding two hours away in Iowa. The Lutheran deaconess bride declined to attend her lesbian sister’s wedding in Minneapolis last year but that sister and her wife will attend today’s festivities. Ain’t families grand?
Good Morning:
Nice to see Don G. on a Saturday. The puzzle was chewy in some areas but quite doable. Needed some perps here and there but all fell into place.
Thanks Don G. And Splynter for a pleasant Saturdat sojourn.
Had a lovely family get-together last night at one of our favorite Italian restaurants. My eldest brother's widow and her daughter and SIL were in town, visiting from Maine, so my four sisters and two brothers and spouses and yours truly enjoyed catching up and reminiscing about "back in the day." (One brother and his wife were missing due to vacation.) it was nice to be together as we hadn't seen the Maine family members in quite some time.
Today is the big day at Saratoga. On top of the 50,000 at the race track, several more thousands will be heading to the Performing Arts Center later in the day to see Chicago and Earth, Wind, and Fire perform. The traffic going in and out of Saratoga around 6:00-7:00 will be a nightmare. Over 15,000 people showed up yesterday morning to see American Pharoah's workout. If AP wins The Travers, he will be the first Triple Crown winner to achieve that since Whirlaway in 1941, I believe.
Have a great day.
Sorry, that would be Saturday and It, capitalized.
IAsimov/AMemoir as clued fell flat for me too, Kent, even knowing Isaac Asimov as a Hugo Award winner. Adding just the first initial was a particularly diabolical twist on a clue that called for both the author AND his book.
Re afts, I believe all Splynter was saying is to think of abbreviations of times commonly used in newspaper (classified) ads. Afts for afternoons. E.g. "Part time help wanted: 3 afts/eves wk"
-HP
For those interested in astrology and fans of Carl Eagan and I. Asimov, there was a very interesting book by Immanuel Velikovsky titled Worlds In Collision released in 1950. Carl Eagan was highly critical of his theories, but still, this is a very interesting book that can really get your imagination going.
Thanks, Gary for the neat photo of Jupiter.
Hope American pharaoh' s run will be successful.
Enjoyed Don G' s puzzle, but alas was not totally on his wavelength this time.
This was a challenge for me. Even though I read nearly every clue, the first fills were CTA and Foo. Slowly it unfolded and nearly all cells were filled, but I could not get the I. in Asimov even after having all of the rest. Couldn't remember Piet, and I was looking for the first letter of a surname, not an initial. Ran the alphabet twice, and it finally dawned on me. Couldn't help but wonder if the choice in titling was a subliminal nod to "I Robot". That left the K in Cooking and Piku. Again ran the alphabet and settled on the K. More than a little surprised to find out it was correct.
Have to brag about my daughter who won a Hugo last Saturday night for co-editor of the fanzine, Journey Planet. Anonymous G
I had a very hard time with this puzzle. I had to look up so many of the proper names, and STILL had difficulty solving it. At least I did know C. EVERETT Coop and GALILEO right away. Hard hard hard for me.
Congratulations to your daughter, Anonymous.
Hello, friends!
Late to the party as I had to take a couple of breaks and return to the puzzle refreshed. Still, the NW was difficult. The NE, and south filled completely and quickly. Knew EVERETT and ASIMOV and having looked up PIET, had the I.
Loved that CARL SAGAN crossed STAR STUFF.
CSO to Dudley at AVIATOR!
Knew IACOCCA but misspelled it, IoCOCCA and that held me back a very long time.
No idea about ATOM ANT or PIKA.
Thank you, Don G and Splynter. Today was challenging but wonderful.
I hope you are all having a delightful Saturday!
Congratulations Anon G. Anyone who wins a Hugo award deserves a link. I was glad to see that Orphan Black won an award. I thought it was a great show and Tatiana Maslany's performance(s) was a tour de force. For those unfamiliar with the show, she plays half a dozen clones, each with a distinct personality, appearance, and accent.
Would 16A and 12D be considered a "super-natick"?
It seemed to make the NE a lot more difficult. I did solve, but I had to check the spelling of "etagere" to be sure.
See ya Monday.
Yes, very do-able for a Saturday pzl. But I agree with those who complain of having to know that the I.ASIMOV answer required his initial "I. Shouldn't we expect an abbreviation to be signaled in the clue? This didn't interfere with a final "Ta-Da," but it forced me to hesitate a longish time after the NE perps had closed everything in.
Thanks, Mr. Google, for the Hugo link.
Anonymous G
Thanks, Jayce.
Anonymous G
Some people seem to be confused about the Isaac Asimov answers. His name is not abbreviated; the answer is the full title of his memoir ("I Asimov: A Memoir"). Although it *is* a little confusing - the book's cover seems to indicate the title is "I. Asimov: A Memoir", whereas Amazon gives the title as "I, Asimov: A Memoir" (period versus comma). The latter makes more sense as it calls to mind Asimov's famous short story collection "I, Robot". In any event, while the Carl Sagan entry is a person's name, the IAsimov entry is a partial book title.
The clue is therefore fair & accurate, although "Hugo Award Winner" is vague, as an answer to that could be a work (in this case) or an author. As an entry, I suppose it's a bit obscure - not to me, I've read the memoir more than once and I adore it! - but certainly more obscure than his Foundation series or his Robot novels.
We just returned yesterday from WV. We rented a delightful fully furnished house keeping cabin in the woods with my younger sister. We had a lovely restful time catching up. Irish Miss, I know what you mean. Family is great. Wednesday we toured the Antietam (Sharpsburg) battlefield in MD. I am far more mobile than I was when we went to PA last month. And .... I square danced last night after the 4 and half hour drive with no prob. I missed my grandson who loves military history and would have been in his glory there.
I kept up by reading all your comments this week on my Kindle, but didn't have the puzzle itself or my password to reply. I was dying to join the fewer/less fray to speak for the minority opinion.
Today's puzzle was a piece of cake in the southern half. The northeast was good, but I had trouble with IASIMOV and A MEMOIR. After filling it in and reading the blog I still resented it until Mr. St. John came up with the logical explanation. Thanks, SJSJ.
The NW was the hard part and I had to red letter. After getting the answers I realize it was not that bad. All V8 can moments. Yesterday I was totally defeated and saw that most of you were not. I need to get back in the groove.
Splynter, thank you for posting that glorious photo of LOBELIA. I love those and usually plant them in late Sept. or early Oct. and they last throughout the winter as a sparkling uplift in my patio.
YR:
Good to have you back and glad you had a great time.
anonymous@12:56
Congratulations to your daughter!
Lots of red lettering with PIKA and AFTS, etc. It was mostly fun when I got the correct fill.
16A and 12D were slowly filled in with perps and many red letter runs. When I finally got I. Asimov I had a V8 moment, duh, it's a pun, from I, Robot the book where his short stories played out various scenerios of robots in the future and developed the 3 Laws of Robotics. That the down also had A infront of MEMOIR also made it hard to figure out.
C. EVERETT Koop was easy for me, as I recalled his large influence at the beginning AIDS/HIV epidemic. I tried to find one of the SNL skits where, I believe, he did a cameo, but couldn’t find it. Here is a retrospective interview by Koop on Christian program about the AIDS epidemic and also his Christian values as a doctor.
AIDS
HIS_FAITH
Anonymous G - Congratulations to your daughter on her award.
YR - Glad you enjoyed your week in the woods; I know how much you enjoy the outdoors. Also, that is great news about your mobility and square dancing capabilities. Your dedicated adherence to your rehab has paid off.
I agree with SJSJ, the I in the book title is the pronoun not his initial as he was mirroring his groundbreaking work. I ROBOT.
Pikas are also known as whistle pigs because they (go figure) emit a sharp whistle when alarmed. This warns all their other Pika friends so they can go hide in their burrows in the rocks. I've only seen them above timberline in the Sangres in CO.
Well, I only got about 2/3 of this puzzle, but for me that's not bad for a Saturday, and especially a Don G. Saturday. So I'm content.
Irish Miss, what a wonderful large family you have!
And, oh dear, fermatprime, so sorry to hear bout your eye diagnosis.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
When I saw it was a Don G puzzle i thought, "not a Silkie, I might have a chance!" & while many of the Clue & A were on my wavelength, the NW totally stumped me... (Not knowing Iacocca was the nail in the coffin.)
Still, lots of fun to see Asimov & Sagan & Star Stuff...
Learning moment: The American Pika.
The Chinese Pika.
The Japanese Pika...
While Carl Sagans "made of star stuff" quote is pretty heavy, he did have a lighter side...
Which led to this bad video quality, but hilarious take off on The Johnny Carson Show...
Carl Sagan is one of my recent science heroes. I wish I knew of him and had gotten to meet him when we were both at Cornell. His essay on Eratosthenes and how he calculated the earth's diameter about 2000 years ago is classic stuff. I hope you will watch it and appreciate it as much as I did when my father first showed it to me; appreciate it for both the intelligence of Eratosthenes and Sagan. Sagan's Eratosthenes
I thought I would share another lunch experience today. French? Italian? Wine? No, four crispy Taco Supremes from Taco Bell. Nothing like authentic Mexican food but very tasty in their own way.
Bill, maybe it's local. I gave up on our nearby Taco Bell years ago, overpriced, skimpy. rude service, non too clean. I buy the makings from my supermarket and concoct my own.
Far tastier, fresher, cheaper, fuller and hassle free.
OIC3PO, SJSJ et al. UR2D2U!
All good then.
-HP
Bill G. @ 6:10
Sagan's Eratosthenes is truly inspiring, it makes you think that with a little thought anything is possible.
CED, I enjoyed your Johnny Carson take off on Carl Sagan. Really good. I miss both of them.
Did anyone notice that stars TWINKLE and SPIN, which were parts of the two long down answers?
Thanks, Irish Miss!
Anonymous G
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