Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X)
Blocks: 32
OK, is it just me, or was this one way too easy for a Julian Lim
puzzle~? Perhaps there were enough clues in my wheelhouse to have the
right number of crossings in the right places to cruise right on through
in less than half my personal allotted time - and that includes an
additional minute to find the one letter I had wrong before the ta-DA~!
was mine. All the proper names filled via perps and educated WAGs,
too. Hey, I'll take it~! Triple 10-letter corners in both across and
down, with two more 10's and two 9's;
25a. Sidecar ingredient : TRIPLE SEC - Yesterday marked 4,242 days for me - which in terms of "The Hitch-hiker's Guide the Galaxy" must have some significance....
44a. Dairy Queen offerings : BLIZZARDS
7d. Where Ulysses rests : GRANT'S TOMB - oh, I thought it was George Washington....Bugs Bunny humor
30d. Emulates a bad waiter? : CUTS IN LINE - I'm linking this song again, since this is one of the lines
Paul Simon The Afterlife @ 2:10
~!ACROSS:
1. "The Winds of War" actress : ALI MACGRAW
11. Bon __ : MOT - it was this or "AMI". And I went with the latter.
14. "Love in the First Degree" all-female group : BANANARAMA - I know of very few female groups, and not too many of them are 10 letters long; the song title made no difference to me
15. Emotion betrayer : TONE
16. Knocked out : ELIMINATED
17. Emergency op : EVACuation
18. Emblem : TOTEM - HA~! Anon-T and I had a small discussion about the "Cricket Bat" in Spinal Tap; the manager refers to it as "totemistic; a good solid piece of lumber in your hand....is useful"
11. Bon __ : MOT - it was this or "AMI". And I went with the latter.
14. "Love in the First Degree" all-female group : BANANARAMA - I know of very few female groups, and not too many of them are 10 letters long; the song title made no difference to me
15. Emotion betrayer : TONE
16. Knocked out : ELIMINATED
17. Emergency op : EVACuation
18. Emblem : TOTEM - HA~! Anon-T and I had a small discussion about the "Cricket Bat" in Spinal Tap; the manager refers to it as "totemistic; a good solid piece of lumber in your hand....is useful"
19. New Mexican? : NENE - not fooled, but I thought it was "BEBE"
20. Ho Chi __ City : MINH - gimme
21. Busts, e.g. : ART - too easy
23. "The Legend of Zelda" currency : RUPEES - don't know this, but I had half the letters from the Downs
31. Jump __ : START
32. Happy __: old snack brand mascot : HO HO
20. Ho Chi __ City : MINH - gimme
21. Busts, e.g. : ART - too easy
23. "The Legend of Zelda" currency : RUPEES - don't know this, but I had half the letters from the Downs
31. Jump __ : START
32. Happy __: old snack brand mascot : HO HO
33. Pulls some strings? : STRUMS
- I had a feeling it was on this wavelength, but for me, a strum is
striking the strings; to pull them usually gives you an artificial harmonic - or maybe it's a semi-reference to a PULL-off and hammer-on
technique....
35. Slovenia neighbor, to the IOC : CRO - via perps; not much into this Olympics, tho I did see Water Polo, Field Hockey (that's icing~!) and Men's Singles Badminton - love me some badminton~!
36. Singer Lambert with the album "Trespassing" : ADAM - perps
37. Angiography concern : AORTA - I WAGed this over "HEART"
38. Crisply and detached, to an orch. : STACcato
39. Talks acronym : TED - Nailed it; their site
40. Tops : AT MOST - "Tops" in this sense reminds me of "Die Hard" and the Feds on the gunship helicopters; scene 328, here
41. Driver's protest : HONK - this is what I figured, but by now, I was thinking it was way too easy
42. Mine finder : SONAR
46. Publisher Ochs : ADOLPH - I had ADO--H
48. "__ won't!" : "NO I..."
49. Quo warranto, e.g. : WRIT - this filled via ALL perps
50. Short-lived '80s sports org. : USFL - I tried MISL; we had the NY Arrows, right here on L.I., playing at the Nassau Coliseum; their goalie was Shep Messing, and he had a fitness club mere miles from my house
35. Slovenia neighbor, to the IOC : CRO - via perps; not much into this Olympics, tho I did see Water Polo, Field Hockey (that's icing~!) and Men's Singles Badminton - love me some badminton~!
36. Singer Lambert with the album "Trespassing" : ADAM - perps
37. Angiography concern : AORTA - I WAGed this over "HEART"
38. Crisply and detached, to an orch. : STACcato
39. Talks acronym : TED - Nailed it; their site
40. Tops : AT MOST - "Tops" in this sense reminds me of "Die Hard" and the Feds on the gunship helicopters; scene 328, here
41. Driver's protest : HONK - this is what I figured, but by now, I was thinking it was way too easy
42. Mine finder : SONAR
46. Publisher Ochs : ADOLPH - I had ADO--H
48. "__ won't!" : "NO I..."
49. Quo warranto, e.g. : WRIT - this filled via ALL perps
50. Short-lived '80s sports org. : USFL - I tried MISL; we had the NY Arrows, right here on L.I., playing at the Nassau Coliseum; their goalie was Shep Messing, and he had a fitness club mere miles from my house
53. Whimpers : MEWLS
58. Lift : RIDE - ah. I was stuck in the verb sense of "to raise", not "drive"
59. Grammy-winning Santana song : MARIA MARIA
61. Maintain : AVER
62. Regardless : IN ANY EVENT
63. Podded plant : PEA - again, I said....really~?
64. Restraining order, say : DETERRENCE
DOWN:
1. Help with a job : ABET - had the whole phrase last week
2. "Mission: Impossible" theme composer Schifrin : LALO - again, perps
3. Still vying : IN IT
4. Jerry Herman musical : MAME - didn't know it, and "HAIR" didn't work
5. Kind of magnetism : ANIMAL - I like this kind of "attraction"
6. Preserve, in a way : CAN - dah~! Not JAR; that's 100% 33.3% correct
8. Word after going or before hike : RATE - going rate, rate hike
9. Hymn ender : AMEN
10. Bit of fishing attire : WADER
11. Penn, for one : MOVIE ACTOR - that would be Sean Penn; I pondered TRAIN DEPOT (Penn Station, NY)
12. At the store, perhaps : ON AN ERRAND
13. AAPL and GOOG : TECH STOCKS - nailed it
15. Entice : TEMPT
22. Came together again : RESAT
24. Letters before some state names : USS
25. Shout after the last shot : THAT'S A WRAP - I've been on two movie sets
26. Part of Beverly Hills' Golden Triangle : RODEO DRIVE
8. Word after going or before hike : RATE - going rate, rate hike
9. Hymn ender : AMEN
10. Bit of fishing attire : WADER
11. Penn, for one : MOVIE ACTOR - that would be Sean Penn; I pondered TRAIN DEPOT (Penn Station, NY)
12. At the store, perhaps : ON AN ERRAND
13. AAPL and GOOG : TECH STOCKS - nailed it
15. Entice : TEMPT
22. Came together again : RESAT
24. Letters before some state names : USS
25. Shout after the last shot : THAT'S A WRAP - I've been on two movie sets
26. Part of Beverly Hills' Golden Triangle : RODEO DRIVE
it's in the middle
27. "Honestly?!" : "I HAD NO IDEA~!?!"
28. Popular toy, for short : POMeranian
29. Documentarian Morris : ERROL - again, perps, and just the "E" to get
34. __ ball : MATZO
38. Oldies syllable : SHA-na-na, and I went with "TRA" first
40. "Leaves and Navels" artist : ARP - some other examples of the artist's work
38. Oldies syllable : SHA-na-na, and I went with "TRA" first
40. "Leaves and Navels" artist : ARP - some other examples of the artist's work
43. Modify : ALTER - I had EMEND first
45. "The Lion King" composer Hans : ZIMMER - only had to guess the first "M"
47. Sticky : HUMID - like it's been for two weeks here; this has been the worst summer at UPS since my first - and my first was only bad because I had never experienced it before
51. Sound : SANE
52. "Animal House" group : FRAT
54. Gable neighbor : EAVE - carpentry terms~? C'mon....too easy
55. Singer of complex songs : WREN - ah, clever
56. Michael's brother in "Prison Break" : LINC - I figured this show was short lived - I mean, once they got out, what's the point of watching...?
57. Make full : SATE
60. City on the Firth of Clyde : AYR - and yes, it was all perps
45. "The Lion King" composer Hans : ZIMMER - only had to guess the first "M"
47. Sticky : HUMID - like it's been for two weeks here; this has been the worst summer at UPS since my first - and my first was only bad because I had never experienced it before
51. Sound : SANE
52. "Animal House" group : FRAT
54. Gable neighbor : EAVE - carpentry terms~? C'mon....too easy
55. Singer of complex songs : WREN - ah, clever
56. Michael's brother in "Prison Break" : LINC - I figured this show was short lived - I mean, once they got out, what's the point of watching...?
57. Make full : SATE
60. City on the Firth of Clyde : AYR - and yes, it was all perps
Splynter
Disasterville! Had to depend on red letters thru 2/3rds of the puzzle! (Did anyone have an urge to put OWEN for 19a?) HEART > STENT > AORTA, RENT > MAME, JAM > CAN. I'll assuage my feelings of inadequacy with some poems.
ReplyDelete{B-, C+, C, B.)
There once was a jerk from CROATIA
Who challenged a pilot, "I'll race ya!"
It was jerk versus jet,
We don't know who won yet,
We lost him somewhere in East Asia!
A whale and a WREN got along,
They both liked to sing COMPLEX SONGS!
When they sang a duet
It was strange as CAN get --
Whale's alto, WREN's bass pleased the throng!
He was waiting to tour past GRANT'S TOMB,
When a FRAT boy CUTS IN LINE, about noon.
His panties didn't bunch,
He offered to share lunch,
"Here's a BANANA, since you must be a baboon!"
Robot cattle were everywhere mocked
They brought zilch on the cow auction block.
The inventor was dejected,
His steers he'd perfected,
His broker told him to invest in TECH STOCK!
Hi Y'all! I came, I saw, I filled it, MEWLing all the way at all the red-letters I produced.
ReplyDeleteMorning, all!
ReplyDelete"OK, is it just me, or was this one way too easy for a Julian Lim puzzle"
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that it might possibly just be you...
This one brutalized me pretty badly, although I did eventually managed to make it through in one piece with no red letter help. I was so proud of myself for getting LALO (it helped that I've been introducing my wife and son to old "Mission Impossible" reruns lately), but there was no way I was going to get ZIMMER or LINC. Also, I HAD NO IDEA that RUPEES were used in the "Legend of Zelda" games. In fact, that whole NE corner almost proved to be my downfall, thanks to having AMI before MOT and TEAR instead of TONE. Also, I'm embarrassed to admit, I went with LAS before USS, despite the fact that aren't actually any states that start with LAS. Regardless, it was a hot mess up there before I finally just nuked everything and started over again.
Elsewhere, I know the snack HOHO but not the mascot and I'm not familiar with a sidecar or its ingredients.
In other news, I'll be traveling next week and probably won't have access to the Internet much (if at all).
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteYup, Julian threw us a softball this morning! I found the east a tad more difficult than the west, but still a romp. REmeT/RESAT was my only writeover. Got temporarily stuck thinking Penn was going to be Ivy-related. Barry, did you mean to say "out on a LIM here?"
ALI MACGRAW was too old for her role in The Winds of War as a supposedly young, free spirit. Robert Mitchum was too old to play a naval officer. Somehow they pulled it off.
Splynter, do you really keep a running count of the sober days, or did you pull out a handy calculator? In either case, congrats on your 4242+ days.
Damn leap years make the calculation complicated but I do know that 4242 is more than 10 years and that is wonderful. I am somewhere in between Splynter and Barry here as HAPPY Ho Ho and ERROL Morris meant nothing even after they were filled. I guess I do not watch many documentaries. I did like some of the cluing very much and knew USFL (thanks DT) and AYR.
ReplyDeleteRESAT did not sit well and I loved herman Wouk's books and cannot agree that puffy Robert and Ali did the book justice.
Happy week end all
Is NENE Spanish? Tried NINO or NINA first, and now there's a replacement for Hawaiian goose in the definitions for nene.
ReplyDeleteTried TELL (as in a failed poker face) for TONE.
Good Morning, everyone.
ReplyDeleteA very doable Saturday: I was adequately confused as I took some of the bait, yet elsewhere I found first responses working. ALI MACGRAW went in first, and I have NO idea how that emerged immediately. Favorites: SONAR, HONK, and WREN. I thought talks acronym was some text shorthand before I got to TED. Thanks, Julian, for a lot of fun.
Splynter, my hand is up for an easy Julian Lim. (We probably shouldn't say that for fear of retribution. ;>/) Your guidance was as fine as I expected it would be. Nicely done on 4242 and counting. Spectacular!
Have a great day even though it looks like rain everywhere. I wish we could move it around a little bit and share the "wealth." Stay safe.
I'm with Barry. The NE was a bear but got 'er done but in just under an hour. It was rough even for a Julian Lim. What's become of Saturday Silkies? Seems like forever since we've had one.
ReplyDeleteHad 13d as "archrivals", really slowed me down.
ReplyDeleteI am about to attempt to red letter this Saturday Stumper,
ReplyDeletebut before I do...
Re:Yest,
Thank you Argent @ 8:21PM for the guitar links,
I bookmarked all of them to watch again & again
as I was totally unaware of these exceptional guitarists.
& I must show them to my daughter, who begins College next week to study to be a music teacher...
@Splynter: it may have just been me, but every one of your "too easy"s just cut to the bone--I can't remember the last time a Saturday puzzle wadded me up and threw me away as this one did! Worst Julian Lim ever for me. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteWhew! Was ready to toss this one aside for the record, with only 5 answers after the first pass. Really a challenge, but FIR! Thanks, Julian, for the awakening this morning.
ReplyDeleteNice write-up, Splynter. It's been very HUMID here as well, with pop-up showers every afternoon, and in the low 90's. Can't wait for fall to get here!
WEES about this being a bear - though the South was not nearly as challenging as the North. But I expect any Julian Lim puzzle to be a challenge.
ReplyDeleteThanks Splynter for your blog and congrats on 4242! Every day is a victory! My son showed me that if you keep asking Siri on an Iphone "What is the meaning of life?" eventually she will say "42".
And thanks Julian!
Disaster! Plus I feel out of patience and not with it. I guess it is not Thumper, just me.
ReplyDeleteIt must be you, Splynter, I had to work for this one and enjoyed the labor! GRANTSTOMB/BLIZZARD was a great start but the journey had just begun
ReplyDeleteMusings
-MARIA MARIA and AYR were right! I’m good to go.
-The DQ’s where we go insist BLIZZARDS be served like this
-NFL – one playoff game and you’re ELIMINATED. MLB – usually not
-I’ve Seen fire And I’ve Seen Rain cause a lot of EVAC’s this week
-Saigon is still more used than Ho Chi Minh City. The airport code is still SGN
-Would you HONK or just let this guy CUT IN LINE?
-IN ANY EVENT you will have AT MOST 80 kids in your study hall, Gary
-All NBA teams are IN IT if they are within 20 in the last quarter
-I HAD NO IDEA there was a store on RODEO Drive with $200 socks and $1,200 ties
-After two weeks of very HUMID weather, I had to wear a sweat suit this morning
-An ORCA (_ R _ _) sang that complicated song first
-My dad almost had to die to dry out but made it from 1971 until his death in 2010 without a drink
Greetings to all!
ReplyDeleteOuch! Too many unknown names for me to finish without Google help. But it was a fun ride, and maybe I learned something that I will remember.
Thanks for the expo and links, Splynter. And congrats on 4242. Awesome!
Enjoy the day!
WEES. I found that a lot of the short answers were the worst. Once I got a toehold on the long ones I could guess the rest. Still, it was a turn on the red letters day.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Splynter on the 4242. I once found a days counter as an app in the book THE JOY OF PHP. But as always, today is the only day I have to worry about.
Also, for the newbies to crosswords.
1- The easiest puzzles are on Monday, the hardest is on Saturday, the biggest is on Sunday.
2- 24D, USS goes at the start of a US Navy ship with a state's name.
3- What the heck is a NENE? Is it:
- someone from New Mexico?
- a person who moves to our southern neighbor?
Or
- have the Mexicans imported the Hawaiian goose of that name?
4. GOOG is Google, (now named Alphabet) on NASDAQ and AAPL is Apple.
Google/Alphabet has come out with a new video chat app that can be used on both Android and Apple phones. GOOGLE_DUO
Live Well and Prosper,
VS
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a wide-awake nightmare but stubbornness prevailed and I finally finished w/o help but not without angst. (To those who found it easy, all the more power to you! 🙃). I just couldn't get any footholds for the longest time. Holding onto Disco Ball instead of Matzo was one of my hang-ups and not being able to come up with Blizzards sooner didn't help. I also had Ami forever before Mot showed up. Things finally fell into place and then it all made sense but it was a tough time getting the Tada.
IMO, THe Winds of War was one of the most miscast movies ever. As DO said, both Ali MacGraw and Robert Mitchum were too old for their characters but at least Mitchum could act. I loved the novel but watching the movie was distracting, in large part due to Miss MacGraw's wooden and stilted portrayal of Natalie. The only actor who matched the novel's characterization was John Houseman, again, IMO.
Kudos to Mr. Lim for a real mental workout and thanks to Splynter for being our steady steward. Congrats, Splynter, on the 4242 achievement.
Ferm from yesterday; thanks for the well wishes; last night's sleep was uneventful! 😌
Have a great day
Well I thought this would be an easy Lim puzzle after completing the NW even though BANANARAMA and ALI MACGRAW were filled by perps. The NE took a little longer but I filled TECH STOCKS, MINH, & MOT and it fell into place. I died after that. HOHO, ARP, AYR, ADAM, ZIMMER, LINC, ERROL- all unknowns and not filled.
ReplyDeleteTried CRIES for MEWLS, ADAPT for ALTER, KEEP for AVER, and was thinking either RUMBLE___ or SIMPLE___ for the Sidecar clue. Never had one of those drinks or heard anybody order one. Basically, I HAD NO IDEA and was dead in the water.
See you good people tomorrow. Splynter, I noticed the red soles on the photo and I read where somebody got a patent on them. Unbelievable that you can get a patent on a color.
Partly hard and partly easy today. The NE and SW quads emerged slowly but once I had MOT, MINH, HONK and START I just filled in the blanks. The same with the SW though I HAD NO IDEA sidecar was a drink. The word ingredient gave it away. ZIMMER, ERROL and ADOLPH were pure guesses but I could not come up with ALI MACGRAW; had to look her up.
ReplyDeleteChuckled at GRANTSTOMB. Seeing Ulysses I thought "this will be easy for Misty" but then it took an unexpected turn once ART and SEC were in place.
Yes, NENE is Spanish and is used affectionately to mean an adorable, darling baby.
Thank you, Julian Lim, for the challenge today and Splynter for your review. Congratulations on your 4242!!
Have a fabulous day, everyone!
"Happy __: old snack brand mascot : HO HO"
ReplyDelete"Old" Happy Ho-Ho actually died young due to complications from diabetes.
Hi again~!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have the Big Book of AA as an app on my phone, and it opens to my "count" in years, months, days and hours(101,819 on the last one).
Torrential downpours now, looks like the whole weekend. Glad I got the work done early this AM, but now I have to watch the flood waters.
Splynter
I did not use any Wite-Out on this one... but I did use up several inches of that hand-held correction tape stuff! Thank you for helping me through, Splynter, and thanks to Julian for making sure I never get too confident regarding my crossword skills :)
ReplyDeleteChristian Louboutin registered the red sole as the trademark in 2002.
ReplyDeleteHi All:
ReplyDeleteJust you Splynter :-)
It seems I can't get really going on a Sat w/o copious GOOG consultations (1a was one and that's paramount to a full-out cheat!) (I did have ANIMAL, jAr, AMEN, atIT (bzzt) in place and thought of BANANARAMA*).
Thanks Julian for the challenge and yet another learning day. Thanks Splynter for the writeup and SO :-). Great SpinalTap clip. Good on you 4242!
I won't bore with all my missteps but I gotta link the Penn [4:30] I was TEMPT'd with b/f giving up on MagIc_____ (got it from MOT & MINH; it was a lock (and wrong)).
MINH also save'd me from STOCK Tickers or the like.
Getting TRIPLESEC finally made me give up on "Closing Time" or some such for 25d. Though, I guess that would be 'Shout before the last Shot' :-)
Ironically, BLIZZARDS removed a swath of puzzle-white and broke up that area.
Fav: c/a for 30d. I kept thinking of a putting-a-fly-in-your-soup waiter...
24d is runner up and yet another V8 moment.
{B, B-, B-, A}
IM - Glad to hear you got a sweet-dreams sleep.
HG - I'd let him in, not HONK, and, AT MOST, seethe inside. You know he drives a BMW :-)
Cheers, -T
*Good thing the clue had female direction 'cuz those lyrics make me think of Dance the Night Away (Van Halen) [maybe he says 3rd degree, who can tell?]
Tis u Splynter. I had a similar solving experience to Barry's this time, as I often do. Sometimes I'm on more on your wavelength though.
ReplyDeleteOn this one, I found way, way too many trivially uninteresting proper names for my taste. It was challenging, yes, but not a very satisfying solve for me. I managed to muck my way thru offline and (mostly) unassisted eventually. My write-over tile count was pretty ugly at 29.
I'd like to see more words that expand one's vocabulary in these puzzles. Seems the current trend focuses more on expanding one's grasp of trivia and pop-culture. That's ok to a point, but what's keeping constructors from challenging/advancing our vocabulary skills as well? The only takeaway vocabulary-wise for me in today's x-word was the foreign word nene, as an alternate for the more common nina or nino. As usual, almost all the longer fill is made up proper names, common words or short phrases. Not a single dollar word answer among them.
Curmudgeonly anon!
TRIPLE SEC is a sweet, orange flavored liqueur that's been distilled three times. There's a good chance you've had it if you've drank a Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Kamikaze, Long Island Iced Tea, or a Mai Tai. You might also know Triple Sec as Gran Marnier or Cointreau. When I worked as a fill-in bartender we used a lot it. Especially with vodka and tequila based drinks. Just a splash or two does it.
ReplyDeleteOnly the Swedes-
Sweden now has a phone number. Yes, a phone number. Swedish volunteers answer your call and talk about anything you'd like. Friendly folks. The number is +46 771 793 336
ET IN ARCANIA EGO.............
ReplyDeleteNATICK! - that's Natick Factorial, for you mathematicians.
BAILIWICK to the power of -42. WHAT WAS THE QUESTION?
"Unbelievable that you can get a patent on a color."
ReplyDeleteIt is unbelievable that a color could be confused for a process.
Patent, trademark, copyright are as different as rotini, ziti, and cannelloni. It's helpful to learn the difference before you use it in a sentence.
awesome saturday puzzle...roughly one hour, minus a ~10 minute mental break...was convinced penn was something ivy league related
ReplyDeleteConsolation prize should be Grand Marnier (with Triple Sec) over fresh strawberries.Yummy. Today's crisis passed by noon. But my adrenalin effects will last all day. Without running a shopping errand a glass of Merlot will suffice.
ReplyDeleteGotta agree (partly) with Splynter: this was really way too easy for Mr. Lim.
ReplyDeleteEasy, that is, until it wasn't. I was surprised for a while that the fills seemed to flow easily. There weren't many gimmes, but my WAGs produced good results. Ah, but then, after completing about 75%, I bogged down - in the NE corner. I mean, how many three letter fills can follow "Bon"? I went with TON for a good while, which helped me fill 12D with ON AN ERRAND, but nothing else. The latter at least helped me change 12D from HUN to CRO. Eventually I broke through. The needed insight was realizing that the tag end of 11D, ACTOR, was not the end of a longer word like REACTOR or CONTRACTOR.
Argent, from yesterday - THANK YOU! Thanks for the leads to the female guitarists. I'm looking forward to treating my ears to some fresh sounds by real artists. Much appreciated.
"According to the decision, Christian Louboutin introduced his signature red sole in 1992 and registered the red-lacquered outsole as a trademark in 2008. In a news release, YSL says that its shoe collections have included styles with red (and other colored) outsoles since the 1970s." Per google.
ReplyDeleteTough one, lots of misleading clues as per the usual.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if people were serious about NENE, but NENE is Spanish for baby.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was tough for me but I finally got it with only one red letter cheat.
I found this just about at my limit without help. If I weren't chilling out all afternoon with plenty of solving time, I never would have gotten it.
ReplyDeleteNC - Thanks to the Vulgons we'll have to wait for the mice to finish Earth 2.0 before knowing that.
ReplyDeleteSo Natick! Is N*NA*NAT*NATI*.... :-)
Just finished my ERRAND - we now have food for the week. And, C. Moe, I got me another nap-inducing 22oz Stone IPA (two actually :-)).
Cheers, -T
Argent,
ReplyDeleteI've had a little time this morning to hear (& see) some clips of the ladies you posted for me and Bill G. Marvelous!
As I listened to each one, each in turn became my favorite. The bluegrass of Ms. Anderson is both impressive and beguiling. (She also has a fine sense of humor.)
Turning to the classical players, I thought nothing could be better than Sharon Isben's Asturias until I turned to Karin Schaupp. Her rendition of Recuerdos de la Alhambra is so wistful and pure, I realized again that when a player can match the piece with her skill, it's the music that lifts both. Recuerdos is an ideal of nostalgia; hard to imagine anything dreamier...
I'm now listening to Ana Vidovic. Her fingering is superb and seems effortless. I'm keeping her on in the background while I work.
Again, my thanks...
I'm glad you liked the music, Ol' Man Keith! And I appreciate that you took the trouble to let me know you'd checked it out and what your opinions were. Your comments brightened up my day.
ReplyDeleteI found this puzzle to be quite hard and had to look up a lot of stuff. I expect this from a Julian Lim puzzle, especially a Saturday Julian Lim puzzle. There were some gimmees, such as MINH, ADAM, LALO, ZIMMER, and PEA, but those weren't enough to kickstart me. At least I wasn't fooled by "Kind of magnetism" and entered ANIMAL right away, smiling all the while. I was half fooled by "New Mexican" for which I entered NINO then changed it to NINA then changed it to NENE. A very well-constructed puzzle.
ReplyDeleteRe last night's postings: I love and admire Ana Vidovic's work. I also love Albéniz's Asturias. Put the two of them together and I'm in heaven. For a full orchestra version of it, I refer you to this wonderful performance. Put it on the big speakers and turn the volume up to cloud nine.
Congratulations, Splynter, and best wishes to you all.
So, we in Sugar Land have this treasure - Pradeep Anand. He wrote a fun eye-opening (for me anyway) book called An Indian in Cowboy Country about being an unemployed engineer in the crash of '83. He now consults and submits quips to the paper (Houston Chronicle).
ReplyDeleteI'm finishing the paper (and that IPA) and came across Pradeep's quip: (hang tight, NENE makes it puzzlepropos):
A Mexican magician tells his audience he will disappear on the count of three. "Uno, dos..." - and then, poof, he disappears without a tres.
Well, I thought it funny...
Wanna hear about the RUSH fan I met today at the grocery store? I'll jump ahead...., As he & I expounded on each tour we attended his wife was just standing there rolling her eyes surely thinking I HAD NO IDEA there were others...
Back to your regularly scheduled blog.
Cheers, -T
without a tres... Hah!
ReplyDeleteArgent, count me in too. I should have said something sooner. I liked the ladies and their performances. Recuerdos de la Alhambra has always been one of my favorite pieces. I never had the coordination and dexterity to master the tremolo technique needed to play it. Thanks for the links. And let's remember to thank Segovia for introducing people to the classical guitar and the Spanish repertoire that he made well known.
ReplyDeleteNot to be one of those annoying nit-pickers but there are only seven cities in Scotland and Ayr isn't one of them. Perth became the seventh city (again) a few years ago:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-17365611
Although if you'd like to pick nits on my nit-pick you could argue that Ayr has a cathedral which means it is considered an ecclesiastical city - and who could be so picky as to insist on the word "ecclesiastical" being included in the clue?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayr_Cathedral
I'm probably just embarrassed that I needed perps to help get the name of a three letter location on the Clyde. :-(
AnonT:
ReplyDeleteThat is funny! at the count of tres. . .
AnonT, me too! You get my vote for the funniest silly clean joke I've heard in a long time.
ReplyDeletePlease note - The joke is not mine - it's Pradeep's; I was just sharing. Si?
ReplyDelete-T
Sorry, but I found this very challenging, even though I eventually finished it correctly. Perhaps part of it was being on a road trip for two weeks with my lady friend and getting out of practice.
ReplyDeleteI have just enough Spanish knowledge (a year in college) to "know" it had to be nino or nina. Never heard of NENE except in Hawaii as others noted.
No idea about BANANARAMA, LALO, ADOLPH, ADAM, BLIZZARDS, LINC, ERROL, ZIMMER. As Anonymous noted, these don't really expand my vocabulary. Just forgettable bits of trivia.
However, there were also plenty of clever misdirections that made it worth doing. Penn had me thinking only about the university. Ulysses had me thinking of Homer. Popular toy fooled me, too. And letters before state names stumped me almost until the end. I was thinking "ens" for the states that begin with North or New.