Words: 73 (missing Q)
Blocks: 30
I was really excited to work on this puzzle, as I missed the 'extra'
row from Mr. Steinberg's last Saturday contribution back on Feb 8th. It
was hard to miss the extra column this time, seeing that the top row is
numbered 1-16....and, of course, there has to be triple spanner stacks
in a grid from David on a Saturday. Alas, the top stack refused to
budge, and unlike that crossword from February, the 'shorter' crossings
were of no help whatsoever for me today. Blew up my personal time, and
caved into Google for one of the longer answers, but that did not help
get me any further along. I also think that once I fried my brain
trying to solve this beast, answers that should have been obvious were
no longer clear. Oh well. Gotta take a beating once in a while to
remind me that it's Saturday. The spanners;
1. Really frighten : SCARE THE PANTS OFF
17. 2010 Eminem/Rihanna #1 hit with the lyric "Just gonna stand there and hear me cry" : LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE - this was my Google; I like Eminem, but not all his stuff, and this one was not in my wheelhouse
18. "Despicable Me 2" company : UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
17. 2010 Eminem/Rihanna #1 hit with the lyric "Just gonna stand there and hear me cry" : LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE - this was my Google; I like Eminem, but not all his stuff, and this one was not in my wheelhouse
18. "Despicable Me 2" company : UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
61. Elgar work with an as yet unsolved musical theme : ENIGMA VARIATIONS - never heard of it, but there were enough crossings to make this one plausible
65. Threat in Season 3 of "24" : BIOLOGICAL WEAPON - dah~! I got the first word, but weapon was not forthcoming; got brain-locked on TOXIN and POISON
66. Ways to get high : EXTENSION LADDERS - this one, I got
65. Threat in Season 3 of "24" : BIOLOGICAL WEAPON - dah~! I got the first word, but weapon was not forthcoming; got brain-locked on TOXIN and POISON
66. Ways to get high : EXTENSION LADDERS - this one, I got
!
~
D
R
A
W
N
O
ACROSS:
19. Something to grab : RIDE
20. Eponymous magazine founder Eric : UTNE - ugh - one of those answers I "knew", but it was not coming to me after the brain cells got tired
21. Ruler's domain? : ROOST - the "?" made me think tape measure ruler; getting caught up in a singular definition caused me all sorts of grief today
22. Barred furniture : CRIBS - I am moving into a new "crib" this weekend; sharing a house with Gary, a buddy of mine. The house is on the water in a 'suburb' of Riverhead called Flanders - half way between UPS and the restaurants...I'm so excited
30. Pickup spots? : SCRUFFS
- again, I got slowed down thinking this was the truck definition of
pick-up; this time, it's the neck of your pet, the 'optimum' place to
pick them up
34. City with a Pumpkin Run classic car show : OCALA
36. Baguette surfaces : FACETS - argh~! CRUSTS fit, since this is the definition I was stuck on; instead it's the diamond cut
34. City with a Pumpkin Run classic car show : OCALA
36. Baguette surfaces : FACETS - argh~! CRUSTS fit, since this is the definition I was stuck on; instead it's the diamond cut
39. Valuable deposit : LODE
40. From square one, to Severus : DE NOVO - this week, my Latin failed me
41. Shock : JOLT - ugh, I had BOLT, and did not get the ta-DA~!
42. One may be blonde : ALE
43. Hard : SEVERE
44. Fortune's 2012 Businessperson of the Year : BEZOS - the man behind Amazon
45. Badly deteriorated : FAR GONE
47. Complete : ENTIRE
49. Uber : ULTRA
51. Means : AGENT - meh
53. Grand Canyon ride : BURRO - because ASS, MULE and DONKEY didn't fit
56. Quantum theory pioneer : BOHR
59. GI chow : MREs
DOWN:
1. Musical connector : SLUR
3. Real page-turner? : AVID READER - I had "BOOK" for AVID, thinking "real", as opposed to an eReader
4. Wake-up call : REVEILLE
5. Nice time for toasting : ETE - I went with EVE, but I figured it was the Frawnche city of Nice
6. Robin's family : THRUSH
7. "I have broke your __ to say so!": "The Tempest" : HEST - ugh.
8. Obi-Wan portrayer : EWAN - ARGH~! I went with ALEC (Guiness), and not Mr. McGregor
9. Doesn't measure up : PALES
10. Shakespearean cries : AYs - "I" got this via perps
11. News initials since 1851 : NYT - blasphemy being in the LAT puzzle
12. British classic cars : TOURERS - JAGUARS fit, but didn't jibe with my Googled answer; this word is just a straight fun-sponge
13. Typically 81-digit diversion : SUDOKU - Once I considered 9x9, this came to me
14. Omnium-gatherum : OLIO - a blend of real and fake Latin, meaning a miscellaneous collection. I just discovered there's a heavy metal band of the same name
15. Verizon bundle : FiOS - filled this right in - and then took it out....
16. Film follower? : FEST - FilmFEST
23. Zookeeper's main squeeze? : BOA - har-har
25. Square, in '50s slang, as shown by a four-fingered gesture : L SEVEN
26. __-1: "Ghostbusters" car : ECTO - just about the only clue I was sure of
28. Should it happen that : IF EVER - or is this the new disease from Apple, the iFever~?
29. Locks in a paddock : MANE - ARGHHH~! The hair kind of lock
28. Should it happen that : IF EVER - or is this the new disease from Apple, the iFever~?
29. Locks in a paddock : MANE - ARGHHH~! The hair kind of lock
31. Hard-hit liner, in baseball lingo : FROZEN ROPE - Put in TURF BURNER, and that was just a cluster***k of wrong letters
32. Spanakopita dough : FILO
33. They're often lit : SOTS - I knew this one
34. Norwegian saint : OLAF - i got the OLA- part, but had to wait to see if it was "V" or "F"
35. Fountain output : COLA - ice cream parlor this time
37. Fruit remnant : CORE
40. Depressed area? : DENT
41. Prolonged lament : JEREMIAD - seen this before in crosswords, but it was not coming to me
43. Builder of Jerusalem's First Temple : SOLOMON - total WAG
44. Worth writing home about : BIG
46. Fountain output : GURGLE - think water fountain
48. 1943 Pacific island battle site : TARAWA - new one here, too; you can see it just below the Marshall Islands on this map
50. The Bahamas' __ Islands : ABACO - also new to me; this one's at the top of this map
52. Barbershop part : TENOR
53. Actress Neuwirth : BEBE
54. OS X basis : UNIX
55. Shields may be used in one : RIOT
57. Operation Torch target : ORAN - DAH~! Not Iran; the Wiki, which includes a map
58. Way up : HILL - meh, part II
60. Phishers' fodder: Abbr. : SSNs
62. DOJ pooh-bahs : AGs - Attorneys General at the Department of Justice
63. 180 degrees from I : VII - like this;
32. Spanakopita dough : FILO
33. They're often lit : SOTS - I knew this one
34. Norwegian saint : OLAF - i got the OLA- part, but had to wait to see if it was "V" or "F"
35. Fountain output : COLA - ice cream parlor this time
37. Fruit remnant : CORE
40. Depressed area? : DENT
41. Prolonged lament : JEREMIAD - seen this before in crosswords, but it was not coming to me
43. Builder of Jerusalem's First Temple : SOLOMON - total WAG
44. Worth writing home about : BIG
46. Fountain output : GURGLE - think water fountain
48. 1943 Pacific island battle site : TARAWA - new one here, too; you can see it just below the Marshall Islands on this map
50. The Bahamas' __ Islands : ABACO - also new to me; this one's at the top of this map
52. Barbershop part : TENOR
53. Actress Neuwirth : BEBE
54. OS X basis : UNIX
55. Shields may be used in one : RIOT
57. Operation Torch target : ORAN - DAH~! Not Iran; the Wiki, which includes a map
58. Way up : HILL - meh, part II
60. Phishers' fodder: Abbr. : SSNs
62. DOJ pooh-bahs : AGs - Attorneys General at the Department of Justice
63. 180 degrees from I : VII - like this;
64. 2012 film bear : TED - I've been told to "see it"
Splynter
Good puzzle but recent pop music references are never my favorite.
ReplyDeleteMorning, all!
ReplyDeleteThis one was beyond me (at least within the time I had available to do it). The entire bottom section actually came together pretty well, but I was stymied by the ABACO/TAWARA/BOHR/ORAN section. I might have been able to guess BOHR had it not been for the fact that I had IRAN instead of ORAN, but maybe not. ABACO and TAWARA were just completely unknown to me.
Other than that, it was the top three rows that really did me in today. Like Splynter, I finally Googled to get LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE, but all that did was cause me to remove a bunch of wrong answers (NOIR for FEST, UPI for NYT, etc.). There's just no way I was going to guess stuff like TOURERS or HEST or AYS, even with a little help from that one long answer. Omnium-Gatherum? Seriously? And FIOS (which we have) is a "bundle"? CONIC parlor containers? Just too much for me. I finally turned on the red-letter help and flailed around for awhile until I managed to guess all the correct letters. Yay.
Arghhh!
ReplyDeleteI struggled with this one for far too long. Finally had all the spaces filled, but was really worried about ABACO, BOHR and ORAN. Wow, those were correct. What I'd screwed up was SODA where COLA needed be. That made my city OSALA (could'a been) and my blonde an ADE (no idea). DNF. Ya got me, David. Splynter, I feel your pain.
Good lord! That was exactly the cause of my FIW. Too tied to SODA. After almost 2 hours I had everything else, but no ta-da. I weakened and checked a few letters (I use Shortyz Android app), got the C, and figured out the L. D'oh!
DeleteLSEVEN?? I was sure that had to be wrong, so I didn't focus on where the problem really was. Slang goes way back, even to lyrics to Wooly Bully .
Almost nothing came easy. I've read The Tempest and seen it several times, including last weekend, but don't know that line.
Link is messed up it's http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/sam+the+sham+the+pharaohs/wooly+bully_20805651.html
DeleteForget about it!
ReplyDeleteThis is just a bit beyond our solving ways. I lucked out knowing some of the obscure ones but ELOHIM is not easy even for a practicing Jew who hears a midrash every Friday. Some CLUING I still do not get HILL? DR NOVO is a common phrase in appellate law and I think the CONIC parlor refers to the less gruesome ice cream cone at an ice cream parlor.TAWARA and ORAN....
ReplyDeleteah well off to the Taste of Tamarac
Thumper and I wish you all a good morning.
ReplyDeleteWEES about how super slow this was - but an interesting challenge. I got a quick start when I lightly penciled in SCARE THE PANTS OFF, ready to erase when perps didn't confirm. Almost erased it when I put in UPI for NYT, but then it stayed!
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the parlor answer of CONIC I was thinking of a spittoon, but Lemonade's ice cream parlor is a much better explanation. I got a little hung up first putting in ADONAI instead of ELOHIM - with the O being correct in both, but perps helped to correct. Did the same with putting OMAHA in for OCALA - 3/5 letters were right.
I still don't understand the L SEVEN - I do the crossword on paper, so came to the blog wondering where I went wrong - only to find out that was the right answer. I can see how you use Ls to make a square - but don't see where the SEVEN part comes in. Hopefully someone who used that expression in the '50s will clarify.
Thanks Splynter for slogging through this one and David for a challenging puzzle.
ReplyDelete_
|_ |
An "L" and a "7" (like above) pushed together (horizontally) make a square.
Ooops. Looked good before I posted it. I'll try again:
ReplyDelete|_ an "L".
_
| a "7".
Put the "7" to the right of the "L" and it makes a square :)
Darn. I give up...
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteA total DNF. I was looking at a sea of white spaces with a few black spaces after I went through all of the clues. Even "red letter" help didn't do much good.
I felt pretty smug when I filled in the top line correctly, but that feeling was short-lived. The only ones I did know were ENTIRE, TARAWA, BURRO, BEBE, FROZENROPE, FILO and the OLA part of OLAV. Then I had to use alphabet runs with "red letter" help turned on and one GOOGLE look-up. Not very satisfying.
No TA-DA today.
Football day today from noon to past midnight. Some potentially interesting games today like Michigan State vs. Michigan, Ohio State vs. Penn State and a few others.
Have a great day everyone.
Thumper. I was badly beaten, especially by the top 3 across clues, even with an assist from Google. Too many unknowns. Not fun. I gave up.
ReplyDeleteI knew the hand gesture for square from the 50's, but never heard of L SEVEN.
I got FACETS right off. I knew ELOHIM, but forgot it had an H in the middle. A family member attended a school named ELOHIM.
Now that you say so, I may have heard of frozen rope one time, but it does not come readily to mind.
Mom often used "nothing to write home about" meaning MEH.
I wasted far too much time on this with little satisfaction. I should have gone to the gym an hour ago. I'm going now to work off my frustration.
Bah! Humbug!
ReplyDelete"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteSometimes we just have to get beaten up by the constructor - and today was the day. Usually if I google one or two clues to get a foothold, I can manage to perp and wag my way thru; not today! Not even sure how to quantify my ineptitude. About the only sections I had correct were the very lower SW corner; SOTS, FILO and FROZEN ROPE; and a few other random words here and there. I had ALEC, too, in the 8d spot which slowed my progress at the northern portion of the puzzle. In the end I googled at least a half dozen or more answers, and still have a Rorschach image on the grid. Arrgh!
The BEST part of the puzzle was coming here, and reading Splynter's write-up! My fave, of course, was the image used for SLEEK ... !! ;^)
"... recent pop music references are never my favorite."
ReplyDeleteNicely understated.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThumper, Thumper, Thumper. 🐰 🐰 🐰. And, just for good measure, 🙈 🙉 🙊 Amen!
From yesterday, CED, no, I didn't know your birthday fell on National Feral Cat Day. That deserves a very big and loud 🐈 🐱 MEOW!! Hope your birthday was purr-fect!!!
Splynter, you deserve a medal for explaining this so well. As for Mr. Steinberg, you certainly have a way with words.
Have a great day.
Beat-up, humiliated...... DNF due to the top 3 rows. Did get SCAREDTHEPANTSOFF, but had no clue on the other two. Every so often, we need to be put in our places?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Splynter, for a fine write-up. Loved your "Onward" Ladder!
"Means: AGENT"
ReplyDeleteWeak.
"Way up: HILL"
Weak.
"As for Mr. Steinberg, you certainly have a way with words."
ReplyDeleteAs do you, for a terrible Saturday puzzle.
Just terrible.
Good morning! I don't think I have anything new to add except to add my experience to those who thought it was too hard to be enjoyable. Back in the 60s, I never saw or heard of L-7. I can see it makes a square shape but to what purpose? Since a paddock is for horses, I did manage to think of a horse's mane. I never heard of JEREMIAD or ELOHIM. What a slog! Since I never leave a puzzle unfinished or finished incorrectly, I turned on red letters and finally filled in everything else that I hadn't gotten right on my own. Not my idea of Saturday morning fun though. I know I've gotten better at solving over the last few years after finding Crossword Corner but this was still out of my league. Do they have puzzles of this degree of difficulty at the crossword puzzle competitions?
ReplyDeleteSince the Dodgers got ushered out of the playoffs, GO CUBS!
5 bad cells at the top. Knowing Eminem’s repertoire would have helped but was very unlikely. This was a challenge that I consider to be time well spent.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-It took an EXTENSION LADDER to get our frightened kitty out of our tree after neighbor’s 135 lb dog ran over to visit
-We’ve had UTNE before, now I know its origin
-Joann considered CRIBS to be baby jail
-Splynter, there’s a car in that picture?
-BEZOS vs Waltons
-Self-proclaimed AGENT of change
-I will never know how to spell REVEILLE. Of course, Splynter, it’s from réveille (or réveil), the French word for "wake up"
-Me too on ALEC and Ice Cream Parlors with CONIC containers
-I thought it was “AH, there’s the rub” at first
-TCM has run a Back To The Future Film FEST several times this year
-This veteran of the 50’s has never heard of L-SEVEN. Square in my world was denoted by tracing a midair square with index fingers
-How some players today are protecting against FROZEN ROPES
-Greece needs more Euros not FILO
According to Macmillan Dictionary, NBC News and HG, one meaning of AGENT is
ReplyDelete"something that causes change
Soil erosion is a major agent of environmental change."
Many pols with their "foot in mouth" disease become the agents of their own destruction.
I love spanakopita if the filo layers are fresh and crisp. Yum! We have many Greek diners here. I always ask whether or not the spanakopita was baked that same day.
One of the hardest I've seen. I was determined to make it through without red letters or Google. A ton of stuff I've never heard of, but there were enough perps and words shining through the mist to get through it all. Very elegantly constructed.
ReplyDeleteI started from get-go with the help turned on and still struggled.
ReplyDeleteSAM THE SHAM & THE PHAROAHS - 1965 - "Wooly Bully".
Just about the hardest puzzle ever at least for me. I disagree with a LOT of the clueing.
ReplyDeleteI just don't care for puzzles that allow you no foothold whatever. I can just picture Mr. Steinberg going over his clues and making them even more obtuse. Maybe thiat makes him feel good, but I just didn't see the point. There are clues for words I have NEVER seen in over 30 years of solves. Nice.
I have no problem with tough puzzles. But I will compare a Silkie with this mess and take Mr. Silk's approach every time.
AnonymousPVX - Your last two sentences express my feelings precisely! 🍀
ReplyDeleteWhat Moe said.
ReplyDeleteTo me, a constructor like Barry Silk is much preferable to one who just steamroller you like this one did. Mr. Silk is always tough, but usually at least provides a toe hold somewhere so eventually, with perseverance, you have a chance to prevail. There was absolutely no chance on this one, at least for me.
In my high-school days, we often used the L SEVEN sign to described the nerds and others we saw as not fitting in somehow. When you are young, sometimes you can easily be inconsiderate of other's feelings. On the occurrence of my class ' 40 th reunion, the invitation, the last line read "Be there, or be square".
Splinter, what would Mike Rowe say? It's a dirty Job, but someone's gotta do it! We appreciate you much. You had a tough nut to crack today, for sure. Those were some of the sweetest curves I've seen. Great taste!
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteI keep trying Sats and learning bit-by-bit...
1st Pass: NYT, ECTO (love that movie), UNIX, TED, on a ROPE, MRES. After Car Talk, I had OLAF, ALE, LODE, BOA, hit on a ROPE -> stun, not JOLT and BURRO.
After Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me, I got REVieLLE then a bitE @19a fixed my i before e. Then nothing else; Throw in the towel. David, here's my lunch $$.
Thanks Splynter for 'splainin' it.
Wait, what, BOHR? He modeled the atom (and got it wrong-ish; but it's a great model for bonding rules), but it was Schrodinger (w/ a 1/2 dead cat) who Einstein chastised about God playing (loaded?) dice. I'll have to look up BOHR's contribution to QT.
And now for something from someone with way too much time on their hands ECTO-1 Lego (I only watched the 1st 2:38, YMMV)
Y'all have a great Sat! Go Royals; Go Cubs!
Cheers, -T
Hi Y'all! Just when I think I'm getting good at puzzles, this SCARE(d) THE PANTS OFF me. Thought I'd lost it all even with red-letter help. Title of the thing: "Obscure, Obscure, Obscure". Bless you, Splynter, for heroically giving us comfort! This was a real TED (er, bear)!
ReplyDeleteI got most of the far west side beginning with SCARE THE then tried "hell out of me" which immediately turned bloody.
That Rhianna performance with whats-his-name was on TV last week. My short-termed memory retained enough to get the LOVE THE part. For a long time I just had a YY stuck up there though. Strangely enough I got some of the long down spans more easily.
I thought "midrash" was an East Indian Commune.
I've heard of bozos but not BEZOS.
Hand up for Alec.
I've got Verizon but still don't understand FIOS. I think it stands for "fiasco". Earlier this year they quit sending me monthly bills by snail mail. I kept getting these "past due" texts telling me to remit electronically. Don't know how! Couldn't find the right address to remit my check. One check I sent was never cashed. Finally got the right person on the phone after a dozen tries (no exaggeration) who got it straightened out so I again receive a paper bill by snail mail. She said my address was not on the computer and thought I'd forgotten to inform them when I moved this year. I've lived here since 2003 and they had my address in the computer for all those years until Feb. Aaargh!
The only place Ive seen "midrash" is on George Barany's puzzle page. He refers the discussion of the puzzle as the midrash. It's something different from shingles across the mid-section.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, P.K. We've missed ya.
FWIW, today's NYT was just as bad. I kept drawing blanks trying to solve it.
ReplyDeleteI can offer some other uses of L7, just for trivia's sake. (I used to be a music journalist and this stuff still clutters up my memory.)
ReplyDeleteAll-female rock band named L7 from the late '90s: http://l7theband.com/
Paul McCartney & Wings song "C Moon":
It will be L7 and I'd never get to heaven / If I filled my head with glue
Rick James song "Bustin' Out":
L7- just a little too damn straight...
Sex Pistols song "I Wanna Be Me"
Don't wanna be L7 I've had enough of this.
Only about 1/3rd filled when I gave up and turned on the red, which illumed 2/3 of what I had filled in! Too bummed out for poetry. WEES, plus:
ReplyDelete• 18a--I was trying to think of a co. in the movie.
• LADDERS & HILL defs should have been switched or a clecho.
• BITE > RIDE, (ladder-back)CHAIR > CRIBS, WORN OUT > FAR GONE, ET AL > OLIO, et al.
• As an ex-Mormon, ELOHIM was familiar (Adonai would have been, too) but Midrash was from general knowledge.
• I put in AGS at 62d as short for agents, then felt befuddled when AGENT appeared at 51a!
• So what the heck is FIOS!? First dictionary didn't have it, next redirected to Fiber Optics. Fiber Imbrued Optic Satellites?
• 25a, guessed the gesture, but ╔ + ╝ did not help.
• Didn't know spanakopita [A Greek spinach pie made with layers of phyllo and a filling of seasoned spinach, onions, feta, and sometimes eggs.] or FILO [Greek flaky pastry in very thin sheets]. This is what, in cryptic cluing, we call a second level cryptic. >:(
• I know JEREMIAD is from Jeremiah, but I still get it confused with jihad.
• Being a Mason, SOLOMON was a gimme.
Yes-sir-ree...did me in too. Some days and puzzles are like that. I was close though. Haha.
ReplyDeleteKind of gray here in NorCal. Maybe rain? We can only hope.
Now to root for Michigan...University, certainly not state. GO BLUE!
Wishing all a great weekend. May all your favorite teams win.
Well, my memory didn't serve me...
ReplyDeleteI just looked it up (yeah, I'm a total L-SEVEN...) It was BOHR and Heisenberg who argued about particles v. waves. And it, wasn't Schrodinger Einstein chastised, but Heisenberg's uncertainty. I just recall solving Schrodinger's equations to determine the doping for substrate so electrons could tunnel - there's something else I've not used since UNIVERSity.
PK - I feel you re: paper bills. I must be one of the older gen-Xers; I still want paper. Bills, news, books; I can't stand being told what to do by a computer (I tell them what to do!). I'm sure there's something I missed 'cuz I didn't logon to whatever account.
Paper sits there and reminds you to say "Hey, this is still sitting here...; Oh, yeah, I didn't finish that book / pay that bill / solve that puzzle yet."
Cheers, -T
FIOS Fiber Optic Operating System?
ReplyDeletefiw
ReplyDeleteFiOS stands for Fiber Optic Services
For those who don't know, David is the editor of the Orange County Register crossword puzzles. I was lucky enough to get to know him a little bit when he published three puzzles of mine and during that process we exchanged a number of emails. I don't think any of those puzzles were accepted as is. In fact, one of them was almost a total remake. He pushed me to kick the quality of the puzzles up a notch and I enjoyed the work. Okay, yeah, I probably did swear to myself a couple of times.
ReplyDeleteAs for the puzzle today, very tough and a big time challenge. But certainly doable, and the two stacks of three 16's were about as good as it gets.
Northwest Runner- That's the spirit!
Bill G- They say the ACPT that Will Shortz hosts every year has at least one puzzle that's difficult in the extreme. Puzzle five... I think. The Saturday NYT puzzle is often at least as hard as our puzzle today. Newsday's Saturday Stumper is always the most difficult of all. Peter Gordon's Fireball crosswords are damn near as tough.
Managed to get thru it all unassisted offline, but what a slogfest! Think I burned out my tangential thinking cap today. Worthy of a late week NYT. I'm wigged and wagged out for the week.
ReplyDeleteHave to say though, I thought the cluing tough but fair.
Thanks, Argyle, for clearing that up. I guess I'm glad I have a FIOS. And here I thought the only fiber I had was raisin bran. LOL!
ReplyDeleteAnonT: What really frosted me with Verizon was they charged me a late fee of $5 per month for the three months I was unable to get anyone to straighten this out. I wrote notes and mailed them and tried to get a person by telephone. I won't miss the $15 but its the principle of the thing. I'm an AVID bill payer. The bill comes one day, my check goes out with the next mail.
My second thought on Midrash was it was shingles around the waist but I couldn't fit that in. Apologies to my Jewish friends. I've been seeing too many Terry Bradshaw commercials.
Greetings, friends!
ReplyDeleteOh, my, this was a bear and its name isn't TED! I managed to solve 50% radiating from the SW corner upwards and even got EXTENSION LADDERS. But after that it was all too obscure with only a few that I picked at and knew. Like Splynter I went with ALEC not EWAN and FAST READER instead of AVID READER, a term I often use to describe myself. Guessed OCALA from OC--- and laughed at BOA which I filled. Got CRIBS, too. I should have known DENOVO but it never surfaced. And so on and so forth.
Google was my helpmate today though I do like to do it all myself. Sometimes you're the pigeon and sometimes the statue.
Totally unrelated I have a nit about an error in a book I'm reading. It's Angel Falls by Kirsten Hannah whose other book, The Nightingale, I loved. There's only a dab of Spanish because one of the characters is latina and uses "buenas noches" but it is misspelled as "Buenos noches." I can't understand that mistake in a major publication and a prolific writer like Ms. Hannah. And it isn't just once, but it's repeated several times. End of rant.
I hope you're all having a bright and sunny day! It's been pouring rain here!!!!!
PK@3:20
ReplyDeleteToo funny about midrash and Terry Bradshaw!!!
Happy Saturday??
ReplyDeleteWow that was hard. It scared the pants off me to see all those grid spanners but I got a few in. I feel better coming here and seeing everyone else struggled too, so it's not just me!
Caught the Final Jeopardy question last night and it made me laugh! I thought it was so easy but no one got it.
"When translated, the full name of this Major League baseball team gets you a double redundancy."
The team has changed part of their name a few times in the past few years and it throws people off. The latest name drives me crazy with the redundancy, but no one asked me before they made the change.
Wishing you all a nice weekend!
tawnya
PS - I'm with Bill G for the rest of the playoffs. Go Cubs!
I think 29 across was referring to the mane on a horse. Horses use paddocks.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it was a fine puzzle. And I might have enjoyed it more at 7:30 than 4:00. But that's another story.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this was so far beyond the familiarity level for folks that solve the LAT, that all you can say that's positive is that it dealt out some healthy humility. I feel as though I have a chance with most Saturday puzzles......I've learned a lot since finding this site....But today was like walking into a time warp going back 15 years. Couldn't finish without help. Couldn't enjoy anything.
That said....Go Cubs!
Just when you think you are 'smarter than the average bear' a sucker like this comes around.
ReplyDeleteWhat did I fill CORRECTLY? ETE, ABACO, MRES, BEZOS, RIO, SCRUFFS, SUDOKU, FROZEN ROPE, BEZOS
What did I fill INCORRECTLY? ALEC for EWAN, GOER for FEST, ASH for ALE, OSAKA for OCALA, SODA for COLE, SUNDAE for GURGLE
What have I never heard of? ELOHIM, L-SEVEN, JEREMIAD, TARAWA ECTO-1, HEST, FIOS, DE NOVO, BEBE, love the way you lie. There is absolutely no way I could have possible completed this puzzle.
I really think Anon @ 3:15 is lying unless he is up on rap music, obsure terms, and watches TMZ.
Lucina & PK- your making fun of my old friend Terry; I have known him since the sixth grade when he and my brother played on the same baseball team and college football together ( along with Phil Robertson of 'Duck Dynasty). Brains? no. He signed to play with LSU but since he made a 12 on the ACT, they wouldn't let him in. So as a consequence he's making an absolute fortune. I wish I were that dumb.
Whew! WEES. This one was SEVERE, SEVERE, SEVERE. (Over)confidently entering ALEC, LACKS, and JAGUARS made me the AGENT of my own downfall at the top, and penciling in CRUSTS messed me up in the middle. At least I got SLUR and ENIGMA VARIATIONS. If it's Elgar, it's either that or Pomp and Circumstance. Red letter help and several alphabet runs rescued me. Double whew!
ReplyDeleteThere's a picture connected to Splynter's explanation of SLEEK? I don't see a link; did someone take it out?
ReplyDeleteBig Easy: I wasn't making fun of Terry Bradshaw. I was making fun of me mistaking the term "midrash". I wouldn't have thought of shingles without good old Terry's spots which have been showing here five or six times an evening. I wish I could have cashed in on my shingles as well as Terry is doing. He's such a fun personality, he doesn't need a higher IQ. No one can laugh at him because he's laughing right along with you. Was he that much fun in person?
ReplyDeleteBig Easy - that's the way I read PK's post too (w/ finger pointed at self). It's the commercial. For the record, I didn't know what midrash meant either (still sounds like you need to scratch your belly).
ReplyDeleteMIL went to school w/ Terry B in Monroe, LA and came across the Duck D. folk too (the kids are prepies, but the elders are for real). Maybe you know the Cole's from Farmerville?
Back to the Cubbies. C, -T
Crap!! Means = agent? One of many poor definitions. Ditch this Steinberg dude!!
ReplyDeleteGood and tough; I cheated too many times to claim victory, but still enjoyed it between other Saturday engagements...
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can find, Despicable Me 2 is by Universal PICTURES, not Universal STUDIOS. The puzzle was poorly constructed on several counts, regardless of the authors stature in puzzledom. I hope others enjoyed it - I did not.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I don't know what you people are complaining about...
ReplyDeleteThis Saturday, being in a rush,
I hit solve for every proper name,
I hit solve for everyplace I never heard of...
I hit solve for anything that was remotely incomprehensible...
& I STILL HAD TROUBLE FINISHING THE 4%$#@&*! Thing!
However ,
My biggest gripe is that Splynter did not link any legs...
Dang it Splynter! Why do you think I try to solve a Saturday Stumper anyway!!!
BigEasy:
ReplyDeleteWhat PK said. I was referring to her reference to the shingles commercial and associating it with midrash sounded quite funny to me.
Who scared the pants off the model with the Porsche before she was censored?
ReplyDeleteLots of complaints from others today. I fear that I may be one of the crankier fans, but my complaints center on things that are horrendously obscure, odd names, or connected with FACETS of pop culture that I don't think are worth paying attention to. The only things that might fall into that category today are UTNE (though I'd see once in puzzles before), RIO (since I never played that version), LSEVEN, and maybe HEST. The song title was completely unknown, but it's made up of common words, so that's not too bad. That's only 4 little words, some doable from perps, out of an incredibly complex and impressive puzzle with 6 16 letter fills. That's not too bad, in my book. It took way too much time, but I have to admit it was fair, though very tough.
ReplyDeleteWAY too many proper names, crossing each other, and uncessary vagueness. Editors should have done a better job with this one or spiked it. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteJayce,
ReplyDeleteI removed the picture due to some email complaints.
It's hard to be Splynter.