I am typing this as quietly as I can to accommodate those of you whose partying with 17. __ beverage : ADULT was quite extensive. Happy New Year to all our Crossword Friends here at the Corner! Should Old Acquaintance NOT be forgot!
TITLE: "WHAT HAPPENED THEN" Don and C.C. have a very lovely puzzle to start off our New Year and it became a lot easier for me when I realized the title did NOT have a question mark after it. Rather their theme fills were actual events that occurred 100 years prior to the year which we are now entering.
Husker Gary here on New Year's Day after blogging puzzles on Pearl Harbor Day and The Winter Solstice, I get to do the first one of the year.
The big American event of that year was the entry of the USA into WWI and Don and C.C. even offered a reference to that with these two fills
116. Subject of an act passed in 1917 : SELECTIVE SERVICE
The non-war 1917 theme fills:
22. Fundraising items first sold in 1917 : GIRL SCOUT COOKIES - During rationing in WWII, their fundraisers switched temporarily to calendars
28. Treats inspired by a coal miner in 1917 : MOON-PIES - Somehow these two became a "thing"
42. World Series winner in 1917 : CHICAGO WHITE SOX - With Shoeless Joe Jackson. Two years after this 1917 ad they were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series and became known derisively as the Black Sox.
91. America bought it from Denmark in 1917 : US VIRGIN ISLANDS - Formerly Danish West Indies, includes St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and some minor islands. Almost named for Admiral Dewey.
108. Orphanage founded in 1917 : BOYS TOWN - It used to be a farm 6 miles west of Omaha but is now midtown. BT recently sold much of their farm ground for $37M as it now concentrates on academics and trade programs for Boys AND Girls.
Now let's look at C.C.'s and Don's always wonderful cluing/fill:
Across
1. Olympian queen : HERA
5. Bad attention-getter in a crowded bar : PSST
9. Baker/literacy advocate Wally who hosted "Learn to Read" : AMOS
13. Big name in romance novels : AVON - The Publishing Company
19. Goddess who saved infant Zeus from Cronus : RHEA
20. Hair-raising : SCARY
21. Big do : GALA
25. Additional decision-making factors : ANDS
26. "Don't move" : STAY PUT - The Steelers' left end and tackle are required to STAY PUT until the ball is snapped even if the Patriots jumped. They didn't, so it was a penalty.
27. Person : SOUL
30. Sore spot : LESION
32. Flight parts : STEPS
34. Valencian rice dish : PAELLA - Some pronunciation options: pah-ey-luh, -eyl-yuh, pah-yel-uh; Spanish pah-e-lyah, -e-yah
35. Frame of Elmer, e.g. : CEL - This one signed by Friz Freleng runs $1,400
37. Cpls., e.g. : NCO'S
39. "I get it now!" : AHA
40. Bach's east : OST - Boy's Town ist 30 km zu meiner OST (Boy's Town is 30 km to my east)
41. She plays Watson in "Elementary" : LIU
47. Hoppy brew, for short : IPA
49. More than help with : DO FOR
50. Fabled thorn victim : LION - The Aesop Fable about the slave Androcles whose merciful act was repaid later in the Circus Maximus when the LION spared him
51. "Nice job!" reply : I TRY
52. Bishop's agent : VICAR
55. Site with a Pill Identification Tool : WEB MD
57. Have choice words for : SWEAR AT
59. Modern problem solver : TECHIE - Remember that kid you laughed at in school?
60. Some microbrews : RYE BEERS
62. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" director Anderson : WES
63. Pile on : ADD - Competence is always punished!
64. Column width unit : PICA - The two typewriter choices we had back in the 60's. Er, that would be 1960's!
71. Slant : BIAS - Good luck finding journalism without a BIAS
72. Gp. once led by Charles Mayo : AMA - This Mayo was the son of the Mayo clinic founder and headed the AMA in 1933
73. Book with entries : LOG - An electronic LOG
74. Black box, e.g. : RECORDER - One recovered from a plane crash
76. Surgical knife : LANCET
78. Desk accessory : BLOTTER
81. Slow period : SLACK - Winter for the golf courses I frequent
84. Split : END IT
85. Serving two purposes : DUAL
86. Starting on : AS OF - AS OF today I should start to lose some weight. If only there were no potato chips! Sigh...
88. Sidestep : AVOID
90. They may be checked at the door : ID'S - Would they really check ID'S for this event?
94. Letters in early dates : BCE - Before Common Era - Used by some to not offend non-Christians
96. Prefix with fiction : ECO
98. Middle __ : AGE
99. Granny : NANA
100. Hubbub : ADO
101. Words of concern : OH DEAR
103. Stern with strings : ISAAC
105. UPS Store customer : SENDER
110. Many antique radios : RCA'S
112. Crumbly English cheese : STILTON - Semi hard, crumbly cheese with characteristic blue streaks
119. Like some ducks? : LAME - One occupies 1600 Pennsylvania today
120. Full of chutzpah : BRASH
121. Philosopher Descartes : RENE
122. Dry runs : TESTS
123. "What __?" : ELSE
124. Sources of pliable wood : YEWS - Utilized thusly (first time I've ever used that word!)
125. Column that's beside the point? : ONES - Like the 6 in 176.932
126. "Immediately!" : STAT
Down
1. Fairy tale heavies : HAGS
2. Ready for publication : EDIT
3. Grandma Moses subject : RURAL LIFE
4. "O Come, __ Faithful" : ALL YE - "Adeste, fideles, laeti triumphantes"
5. Code of conduct : PROTOCOL
6. Moo __ pork : SHU
7. Collectors' goals : SETS - Part of a complete SET of 1961 Topps Baseball cards. I know C.C. and Boomer would love to own this.
8. Shells from stands : TACOS
9. "That's terrible!" : ACK
10. Seriously injures : MAIMS
11. Dairy Queen Blizzard flavor : OREO
12. Online admins : SYSOPS - SYStem OPeratorS
13. Wonder-struck : AGAPE
14. Dunkin' Donuts order : VANILLA CHAI - $1.89 here
15. Yale nickname : OLD ELI
16. Onetime Bahamian pirate base : NASSAU
18. Spice amts. : TSPS
20. Only child, maybe : SOLE HEIR
23. Teleprompter's job : CUING
24. Tagged before reaching, as home : OUT AT - Yer outta there! A C.C. puzzle without baseball? Are you new here?
29. Restless folk? : NATIVES
31. "Ah ... okay" : NOW I SEE and 61. Software glitch : BUG - Well of course, there it is
33. Common meal for a tight budget : PASTA
35. Looped in, briefly : CC'D - Carbon Copy becomes the abbreviation CC and then a past tense verb CC'D as in a copy has been sent. What an elastic language we have.
36. Website with detailed instructions : EHOW
38. Athlete's refreshment? : SHOWER
40. Clearasil competitor : OXY
43. Lethal snake : COBRA
44. Large group : ARMY - This ARMY lost its leader in 2016
45. Like noble gases : INERT
46. Table scrap : ORT
48. Short shot? : PIC - Plural pix
53. Musical with the song "The Gods Love Nubia" : AIDA - From Elton John's and Tim Rice's adaptation of Verdi
54. Joey Votto's team : REDS
56. Rail stop : DEPOT
58. Of __ : somewhat : A SORT
59. Pays attention (to) : TENDS
62. String of engagements : WAR
64. Like some ale : PALE
65. David Bowie's love : IMAN
66. Holiday sides : CANDIED YAMS - This is not haute cuisine, but is a favorite here! and 73. "I'm starving!" : LET' S EAT
68. Change the price of : RETAG
69. Traps during a storm, perhaps : ICES IN
70. Circles of light : CORONAS
71. Diva's reward : BRAVA
75. Star of David displayer : EL AL - Israel's airline
77. El Cantar de mío __: Castilian epic poem : CID
78. Blue Bird vehicle : BUS - Their first one was on a 1927 Ford chassis and is now in the Henry Ford Museum
79. Volcanic flows : LAVAS
80. Member of a small ruling class : OLIGARCH
82. Hustler : CON ARTIST - "Fast Eddie Felson" to us Paul Newman fans
83. Scottish pirate : KIDD
85. Key & Peele, e.g. : DUO
87. Handles skillfully : FINESSES
89. Brit. medal : DSO
92. Flinch, say : REACT
93. "À votre __!" : SANTE - "To your health" en français
94. Fielding error : BOBBLE
95. Like Beethoven's Ninth : CHORAL - Gives me goosebumps
97. 2016 Conn Smythe Trophy recipient Sidney : CROSBY - That's the NHL MVP trophy. I wonder what he got for this performance.
102. Big name in beauty : ESTEE
103. Relative challenge for some : IN-LAW
104. African capital : CAIRO
106. Lowdown : DIRT - TMZ seems to get it first and right. Ray Rice (corrected from Ray Lewis) was only getting a couple NFL games suspension until TMA produced the actual video of him hitting his wife.
107. Fabled toy makers : ELVES
109. "__ in this together!" : WE'RE
111. Kristoff's pet reindeer in "Frozen" : SVEN
113. Numerical prefix : OCTA
114. Tree squirrel's drey, e.g. : NEST - A drey is literally the name for a squirrel's NEST
117. Slalom curve : ESS - Yup!
118. Dallas-to-Memphis dir. : ENE
Our maiden 2017 Grid
How 'ya gonna kick off 2017 better than C.C. and her masked companion Don Hard G? Alright, I made up that masked part but still, they're great together and singularly!
I hereby resolve to let other voices to be heard! So, have at it!
54 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Don, CC and Husker!
Great puzzle!
Things perped and WAGged were most of the theme answers and: VANILLA CHAI, CID, EHOW, CROSBY and NEST.
Took awhile, but no cheats!
Have a great day!
HG, it was Ray Rice that was caught on video beating his wife in the casino elevator. Ray Lewis beat a murder rap after the Super Bowl held in Atlanta. One was shunned by the NFL, the other has a statue of himself outside the stadium in Baltimore.
Rabbit Rabbit
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.
DNF A whole cluster of errors: CANapED > CANDIED, IMAm > IMAN, pjS > IDS, which left 84a as Ema.T and 77d as C.j indecipherable as ENDIT and CID.
Wilbur: I was very curious about the lick you efforted last night, so glad you rescued it. Uh, I hope your day job pays well.
Guess I should pay attention to mine, too. I put together my first comic strip in years last night. I'm certainly not doing well at poems to start the year off.
{C.}
Said the LION to the VICAR, "Thank you for the feat
Of pulling out those thorns that were embedded in my feet!"
Said the VICAR, "twasn't really me
Credit My master, that I came to thee!"
"In that case, I'll also thank him for sending me a feast!"
Hello Puzzlers -
Nary a speed bump in today's DGCC, though perp help was needed here and there.
Morning Husker, and Happy New Year everybody!
A mini-theme with ADULT beverages, I.P.A., PALE ale, RYE BEERS, CORONAS. Not being a beer-drinker, I have no idea how to blend those into a lick.
Some enticing juxtapositions I failed at poemizing: BOYS TOWN/BRAT, chutzpah/YEWS, HERA/RHEA, COOKIES/MOON PIES.
Would PROTOCOL for a Frenchman cut by an Englishman involve a foreign LESION?
NOW I SEE, SOX is spelt with an O, NO-WISE E!
{C+, C.}
Have you met the hatter who sells hats on the WEBS
Exclusively of rabbit fur, white or dyed bright REDS?
He mostly sells to men who're bald.
By his caps they are enthralled
Because when they're wearing them, they've hare upon their heads!
A bit of ECO-FICTION that may be cause for grief
About a music box that sings carols thru a leaf!
The ornaments of holly
Are meant to be jolly,
But as the battery gives out, it's a dying CHORAL wreath!
Good morning and Happy New Year!
Went off the rails in several locations this morning: SCARY/eerie, BRASH/gutsy, RYE BEERS/Pilsners. Finished in good time...with a DNF. Had ICK rather than ACK, and didn't recognize Wally, so IMOS looked good. Bzzzzzt! Apparently he's a better reader than a speller. Thanks Don and CC for a humbling start to the new year.
Didn't understand PIC until you 'splained it, Husker. Thanks.
Forgot to mention, 1917 was the year my dad joined the Navy. Don't think he ever went to sea, though. He wound up working in a plumbing shop somewhere on the East Coast.
Good Morning. The theme was fairly obvious after filling GIRL SCOUT and the COOKIES were under Famous AMOS and over MOON PIES. But I found it a little crunchy for me. The cross of VANILLA CHAI and LIU had me scratching my head. Don't drink coffee or tea and not a movie watcher. Both unknowns. But the hardest fill area was the ECO-BRASH-OLIGARCH section. I've never heard of ECO-fiction, the Cohn-Smythe trophy or CROSBY, kept wanting OLIGARCY (correct spelling is oligarcHy but I didn't know), and BRASY has two 's'. But I got lucky and did it in the end. Joey Votto came up as a total blank and the REDS were perps.
PUERTO RICO & US VIRGIN ISLANDS- give one back to Spain and the other to the BVI. IMHO.
Favorite clue- 119A- we've got a very LAME one, quacking way too much.
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit !
Too many perfectly good answers that turned out to be wrong...and I took way too long to give up on.
Happy New Year to all!
Thanks for a great puzzle, Don and C.C.! Other than the extreme NE, most of the rest came together easily. Sidney CROSBY was 100% perps as I don't follow any professional sports. Thought "Relative challenge for some"/IN-LAWS was clever. Dredging up AVON finally tamed the NE. Thanks for the informative expo and links, Husker Gary.
Enjoy the day!
Good morning!
Great puzzle and expo - thanks Don, CC and Husker!
Fun fills and I learned several things today. A few AHA moments : AMA being led by Mayo and Blue Bird BUS ( how many times have I seen school buses with that in the side? Duh! :)
OLIGARCH and STILTON were unknowns
Favorite was INLAW - I have a few people that are a "Relative challenge" ;)
Never had a VANILLACHAI but do love Dunkin Donuts' Cold Brew - not to be confused with their Iced Coffee. I was yelled at by a BRAT working there when I ordered a "Cold brew iced coffee". She asked ( not very nicely) " Well, which is it? Do you want a cold brew or an iced coffee? They're two different things!" Hmm...
They also irk me with their sweeteners - instead of Splenda, Equal, Sweet 'N Low they use "Yellow, Blue or Pink" to mark the cups. The other day, I ordered a med. Cold Brew, 3 creams, 1 splenda. Somehow this was heard as ". 1 yellow, 2 pink" sweeteners. Way to sweet for me - ACK!!
Happy New Year to all! Wishing you a safe, happy and healthy 2017 :)
Our city is small enough that we don't get a paper on major holidays - so went online today!
Good history lesson for today -- I always like those "This day in history...." blurbs to remind me where we've come from - plus more trivia :)!
Thanks HG for the write-up! and CC and Don G for the puzzle!
Have a relaxing New Year's day!
Good morning all. Nice challenge to start the year. Thank you Don and CC, and Husker Gary. Liked the visuals, although you could have picked a different gif for STAY PUT. :>)
The puzzle was a good diversion to get my mind off of last night's semifinal debacle.
Smooth solve, and the theme answers were rather easily realized.
Joey Votto's team ? No pause. Conn Smythe winner Sidney ? No pause. AKA "Sid the Kid" when he entered the league so young. SYSOPS ? No pause there either but I did have the SY in place.
Asap changed to STAT, SLump to SLACK, miNDS to TENDS, and a few others.
Favorite clues were Shells from stands, Athlete's refreshment, Relative challenge for some.
"I get it now!" : AHA ! Missed the tada by two letters. Had OIL for Frame of Elmer (Overthought it. Surely Elmer must be a piece of art...as in a named oil painting. D'oh ! That made for iHOW (plausible, even though EHOW better follows the online naming convention) and OCD for Looped in. Wasn't sure how the latter was going to be PC, but at that point in the solve, I just moved on.
Speaking of CCD, the CCD on my Canon PowerShot failed the day before Christmas. I could check EHOW, but I think it is time for a new camera.
Good Morning:
I can't think of a nicer way to start the new year than having a CC and Don challenging offering. Not only was the theme pleasing, it was a mini-history lesson. I had eerie/scary, scalpel/lancet, stapler/blotter, etc. and needed perps for several others. I ended up with a FIW because I had Op Ed instead of Ones. Svep as a dog's name looked odd but possible and I missed the tense on finesses. Oh well, I enjoyed it anyway!
Thanks, CC and Don G, for a Sunday stroll and thanks, HG, for your always outstanding review and visuals!
Best wishes to all for a Happy and Healthy (and Harmonious) 2017! 🎉🎈🍾
Happy New Year everyone,
Briefly.....What Argyle said. My issues were on the North East & the East Centra side of the puzzle. what the heck, for sure it won't be my last failure for t5he year!
My newspaper failed to credit the constructors so it was a wonderful surprise to come to this page and discover a Gagliardo-Burnickel creation! And Husker Gary's comments are always insightful.
I stalled in the mid-west section until "Chicago" set me on the right path with no cheats necessary.
A Happy, Healthy New Year to all.
What a fun history lesson!
Lots of good misleading clues, too. I tried Afro before GALA for the Big Do. I also wanted Evade before AVOID for sidestep. My first thought was Nora (Roberts) for the Big Name in Romance Novels before I realized we were going for the publisher.
AIDA, which is both a musical and and opera, takes place in CAIRO.
I lied the crossing of DUAL and DUO.
Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2017. (After 2016, things can only go up.)
QOD: Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards. ~ E.M. Forster (Jan. 1, 1879 ~ June 7, 1970)
White rabbit, white rabbit, white rabbit and a Happy Healthy year for all.
Wonderful puzzle and a perfect theme for 2017.
Gary the 4:39 Anon is correct...it was Ray Rice who is in the video with his wife. Ray Lewis is bigger and meaner so I would edit it before he sees it.
Thanks Don Hard G, C.C. and Gary
HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!
What a lovely start to 2017 and a CSO to me and all others entering the octogenarian phase of life. One confusing item for me: on a mug I have of events in 1937 the world series winner is listed as the New York Yankees. Any thoughts on why that would be?
The bottom flowed much more easily than the north coast and filled with very few write overs. AURORAS/CORONAS for one, RAMEN/PASTA, and the aforementioned NYY/CWS, AFRO/GALA and that was it for errors. REDS was of course perped. I love the word PROTOCOL. Never saw Frozen so SVEN also emerged from perps.
Thank you, C.C. and Don G for El Cantar de Mio CID and PAELLA, in Spanish pronounced the last one Gary wrote, pah-eh-yah. Ll is always said as y. I know for example that Texans pronounce Amarillo as Amar-y-lo but to me it's a-ma-ri-yo, yellow.
And thank you again, C.C. and DG as well as Gary. This provided a nice history lesson as well as an impressive start to the year.
May 2017 be a boon and a blessing to all!
Lucina, all of the events in the puzzle are from 1917, not 1937. Yes, folks in Texas pronounce the l's in Amarillo. We also say San Jacinto as juh-sin'-toe.
I just checked a world series chart and it lists the New York Yankees as having won in 1906, 1917 and 2005. Could this be incorrect? As you all know I am totally ignorant of sports, especially baseball, so please tell me if that complete chart is incorrect.
d-o
Ooh and ACK! I had a very bad night and didn't go to sleep until 5 A.M. so obviously I'm groggy and addled, as well.
Thank you! I'm slowly waking up. Humiliation is not a very good way to start this year!
WIMS. I was so concerned about my natick (SANTE x STILTON) that I ignored the tense of the FINESSES clue and wound up with OpEd instead of ONES for my only mistakes. No lookups, but plenty of perp helps and erasures.
Blue Bird buses were once used as a base from which to build high-end motor homes. Canadian-built Prevost buses are now the standard for these million-dollar plus beauties. I'll take my poor man's version to Florida next week and wait out the rest of the winter. Maybe this year I'll even go to a spring training game or two, rekindling a relationship with a game I once loved. (Working on CC's puzzles may have poisoned my judgement.)
Thanks to Don and CC for a great way to start the new year, and to Gary for your usual terrific write-up.
I'm not sure if these are new or just making the rounds on social media but I thought many here would find it very clever and funny.
I wish a happy healthy New Year to all of you, my Cornerite friends.
Lovely puzzle and informative expo, CC,Don and Gary, a great way to start the new year. I never would have guessed which events began in 1917. I solved it slowly and leisurely, no rush today.
AIDA in the original Verdi version is one of my favorite operas. I was disappointed in the Elton John version. I find most remakes including movies are not an improvement on the original.
Owen, the last rhyme rates an A+.
The S ending in finesses changed my op ed to ones, bringing back memories of grade school math.
I will have to watch Frozen. It is much talked about and appears in crosswords often. I always need perps and wags for it.
I had pot roasted pork shoulder this week and today am making navy bean soup with the meaty bone. I like to cook it slowly and long so that the beans themselves cook up and thicken the broth, kind of like pea soup.
With our pot roasts, we wait until the last half hour to add 1/2 inch diced potatoes and carrots halved length wise to the cooking liquid. All the broth is absorbed into the potatoes so they are brown, juicy and tasty clear through. I have never seen this in any recipe or anywhere else but in my family.
Sunday Lurk say...
Happy New Year! I wish all the Cornerites Peace and Joy in '17 (2000 CE, 1 ea.).
CC & Don (hard) G - IN LAWS c/a is apropos post Holliday :-). That's my fav. Thanks for your efforts. HG - Your's too. Nice expo with JUST A TAD of political humour.
Re: the PHP code you posted from tumb3r's DB - really? Is DB pwd really plain-text? It doesn't even look MD5'd or SHA'd much less salted. CyberSec sadness ensues :-(
@Bernstein - Beer came out my nose @#12; Pokemon... LOL! //y'all click if you didn't earlier - pretty cute.
YR - I'll halve my potatoes in the next roast I do - Sounds amazing. BTW, I've a ham-bone w/ 30-ish% of the meat still on it. Kids are sick of my ham-bone-bean soup and no one but me likes split peas. Ideas?
[ASIDE: Halve is a joke w/ my fam. Youngest Bro read some trail mix ingredients and said "what are cranberry hal-vAs. You rich people and and your food..." Other brother hit him upside the head and said "That's Half-s moron!" Youngest, not getting bested, got car-tags: "Halve69"]
OKL - Your comic link goes to 404. I'm still working on your beer 'lick. So far...
For Owen to whet his 'lick
And add this to his bag-o' trick:
Rye is usually heavy feelin'
With a pork chop in every servin'
Ales, Pale they be
Won't drop you to a knee
IPAs [here's where I'm in trouble - I need something to say how ABV >7 will kick your butt yet rhyme w/...]
And CORONA? Watery shit!
That's all I can seed you with. Play. :-)
Cheers! -T
Am I the only one who thinks that today's entry was an inordinately difficult slog, especially to start off a New Year?? Took two hours and still had blanks. Or was it the 2 a.m. bedtime last night that clouded my mind??
Second try (is that preview function ever going to get fixed?)thx Tony!
If any of you were wondering about the webcomic I mentioned, it's now up at Smack Jeeves. It's using a couple of hobo nickles, instead of minted coins as the comic had used in the past.
Anon T,You need to make the potatoes much smaller than half. I suggest a half inch dice so they absorb the broth all the way into the center. Because the pieces are so small and you don't want them to turn to mush, do not put them in until near the end. I am sure you are thinking of pot roast, not a dry roast. Brown it thoroughly in oil on all sides and add a few inches of water. Then bake it in the oven. When you add the potatoes and carrots to the broth, lay the meat on top if it is not done. Finish on the stove top.
Great way to start the New Year, Richard. You just can't help it, can you?
There's no better way to start the new year than with a C.C. and Don puzzle! This one was a bit of a toughie for me--I only got about three-fourths before I had to start cheating--but I loved the 1917 theme and the variety of interesting answers. So, many thanks, C.C. and Don, and Husker Gary, for getting 2017 off on a great start for the blog.
Hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful New Year's Eve and Day, everybody!
Happy New Year, everyone. I found this to be an extremely difficult puzzle, with many many unknowns, and yet somehow I managed to solve it all except for having "I" crossing what I thought were ICK and IMOS. You guys did a heckuva job, Don and C.C. You too, Gary. Thank you.
Leftover ham? First grind it with celery and onion.
1. Add mayo to make a ham spread. We love this.
2. Add thick white sauce. Roll into croquettes, bread and fry.
The very best wishes for all this new year! Did anyone living below the Mason-Dixon Line enjoy black-eyed peas today? Maybe not-it's a Southern tradition for good luck.
H-G, you've outdone yourself on this first day of 2017! I enjoyed your expo and the many links even more than this great puzzle - always a learning experience - thank you!
I'm posting late, but I'm hoping someone can answer how this happens (driving me crazy): I work the Sunday LAT puzzle (I have to print it since the Houston Chronicle refuses to carry it in its Sunday edition) and also the NY Times c|w (previous week's) in said newspaper. Invariably, the same answers, though clued differently, appear in both; today, "rye beers" (rather unusual) and "IDs" (common). Coincidence, yes, but it's happened more times than would warrant a mere coincidence. Thanks!
TX Ms., if you look up 'coincidence' in the dictionary, there is a screen shot of your previous blog entry pictured right beside it. Well not a crossword dictionary but a real dictionary. Well not a real online dictionary, but a real printed and bound book called a dictionary.
Lucina @ 12:55 - Texans are a funny lot: guilty as to Amarillo and San Jacinto, but we do pronounce paella as you said, Bexar County (county seat-San Antonio) is pronounced as "bear" County, and the town of Mexia is (ma-hay-a). Guess the list of mispronunciations could go on.
TX Ms: about a year ago I kept track on this blog how often that happened. It would probably make a good study for some mathematician. It does happen! Your paper is probably about 5-6 weeks behind the NYT, not just one. I was using the 6 week behind Seattle Times.
PS - We get a kick out of the recently relocated television reporters' pronunciations down here.
OKL - It works; both the link and the comic (very clever). Have you read /seen Hodgman's treaties on Hobos?
TX Ms: Once, a co-constructor assured me a week's buildup in usage was a coincidence. Crossing the country between editors seems a much deeper conspiracy :-)
Also, for those who need a primer before coming to H-Town for the Super Bowl: Houston street names . Kuykendahl confused the most when I got here.
New Sherlock is on! Cheers, -T
TX Ms @ 8:37 ---> yes to the Black-Eyed Peas. It is a NYD dinner staple, as a side dish to Roast Pork, Sauerkraut, and Mashed Potatoes; and today, the SO added stewed tomatoes to the menu. Had a glass or two of Schramsburg Sparkling Wine - great food and wine match ...
TX Mx, d-o, et al,
It just astounds me that constructors and developers continue to name their properties with Spanish names which most of the residents can't pronounce and often the names are not even correctly named. Why bother? I guess it's all about marketing for reasons I don't understand.
As for the towns and cities we mentioned as well as hundreds of others throughout the Southwest and far West, we know those were named by the missionaries and Spanish soldiers centuries ago. If today's residents mispronounce them, we can't blame the original conquistadores for that. I only wish developers would use English. End of rant.
Drat! Oh, double drat!
TX Ms. has stumbled upon the great secret of crossword construction. Hopefully the shear genius of it will escape the masses.
Carry on all. Nothing to see here...
Had to delete and repost to correct my spelling error of one of the place names that is hard for non-natives to pronounce...
This list made the rounds a couple of years ago. It also included the previously mentioned Mexia (Ma-Hay-Uh) and Kuykendahl (Kirk-En-Doll)...
Gruene, Burnet, Refugio, Bexar (County), Study Butte, Bowie, Boerne, Guadalupe, Waxahachie
-T, Lucina, TTP et al ...
Regarding mispronunciations, how about Natchitoches, LA? I wonder how many visitors say Natch-i-toe-chess, when it's pronounced nak-a-dish.
Chairman Moe, I say Nack-a-tosh... but true, it doesn't sound anything like it looks.
Just west of there and across the state line a bit (and up the highway from D-O) is Nacogdoches, Tx. At least it sounds like it looks.
TTP ---> glad to see that most of the Steeler playmakers will be healthy leading into the playoffs. Hope they can get some revenge vs Miami. Hard to believe this will be Le'Veon Bell's first playoff game ...
I was doing some puzzles while watching the Packers and Lions play, and one of the clues was "Undated." The answer was DATELESS.
Makes me appreciate the quality of the editing here.
I've noted it as the worst clue (so far) for 2017.
But it doesn't even come close to the worst clue and answer I've seen in the approximate four years I've been doing crossword puzzles.
A few months ago, a puzzle had the clue, "What a ventriloquist does."
The answer ? Ventriloquizes.
Chairman Moe, I believe there will be an entirely different outcome this time. The Steelers are sharp, healthy, and playing at Heinz. Still kind of wish that knucklehead Martavis was playing this season, but he won't be needed in this next game.
Gruene, Burnet, Refugio, Bexar (County), Study Butte, Bowie, Boerne, Guadalupe, Waxahachie
Green, Burn it, Re-fury-oh, Bear, Stew de beaut, Boo-eee, Bur-knee, Guad ah loo pay, Walks uh hatch ee
I didn't find the overall XW too difficult but FIWed at square 35. I got the Elmer Fudd reference but chose MEL.
As in Blanc.
Again my alphabet run was careless. CEL and CCD are so obvious in retrospect.
NE was tricky but CHICAGO WHITE SOX was such a gimme.
I did love seeing CC and Don as creators. Husker, thanks for the great write-up.
Owen, I liked your first lick. I always grade high for sheer imagination.
I seemed to see different cluing in different quads. My "Day Job" keeps me busy. No licks from me today but I'll keep trying. Perhaps some VANILLA CHAI would help.
WC finally
DW is engrossed in her book and I in mine (Tawnya-really, I think you'd love I Want My MTV) so we'll watch DVR'd Sherlock tomorrow.
DO / TX Ms - did you see Chron p A1 today? How about p.B3? My job just got a bit more interesting... Do I get to say "The game is afoot!" yet?
TTP - I've done those Thrifty Nickel Paper Puzzles too... ju'yck. I'm appreciative of a Will or Rich there separating the wheat and chaff [even if it's me being the latter].
WC - Oh, I can see that xing making sense... Ouch. BTW, what's the day-gig?
YR- I discussed the ham-salad-spread idea w/ the Girls... They're for it and I get to use my Kitchen Aid grinder attachment thingy; Cool! Now what to do w/ the bone?
C.Moe - you proll'y know this already but Ballast Point makes a great beer. My fav (if I can type after a few) is Piper Down, er, this beer [look closely at the label - it's a hoot].
Cheers, -T
Chairman Moe @ 10:40 --
It's not just mispronunciation: it's also regional stress differences. There is a town in New York named Mahopac. Being Californians when my wife and I first encountered the name, we said, "Ma-HO-pac" as any sensible person would stress the middle syLLAble.
But no, New Yorkers wouldn't understand us unless we said "MAY-ho-pac" ....
Posting very late, because I had to watch Sherlock (very dark episode) on DVR before finishing the puzzle. Then I checked and rechecked after finishing with very little help (but a lot of perps and WAGS) and got no tada. I was very suspicious of the crossing of ONED and FINESSED. I finally rationalized that one D stood for $1 and again missed the tense of Finesses along with, apparently, many others.
Boys Town, which I saw as a kid, was a pretty good 1938 movie starring Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan and Mickey Rooney as a troubled boy.
Regarding regional pronunciation, here in California we have inconsistent pronunciations of many Spanish place names. For example, for Vallejo we say VuhLAYho, pronouncing the Spanish J but not the double L. We old timers in LA and in San Pedro say San Peedro, not San Paydro, like many newby TV announcers. And of course even newbies know to say La Hoya for La Jolla, but that's not even Spanish, because in Spanish it's La Joya (the jewel). And somehow Mt San Jacinto becomes Mt San Yacinto. I could go on, but it's so late nobody's going to read this post anyway.
Lucina, regarding your rant, how about the fictional retirement community Del Boca Vista in Seinfeld. Sort of an inside joke, because most people wouldn't realize that Del Boca Vista means “of the seen mouth” or, maybe?, view of the mouth.
Big Easy, what about the rule, no politics?
Excellent puzzle, CC and Don Hard G. BTW, why hard G? My guess is that it's the second G that's hard, because many of us, noticing that it's an Italian name, would pronounce it Galyardo. Husker Gary, where do you find all these amazing clips?
And finally, Feliz Año Nuevo to all. And don't forget the tilde!
Anonymous T, The Ventriloquist / ventriloquizers puzzle was at Best Crosswords. I sometimes do 3 to 10 a day over there, as well as the USA Today, which is now being edited by Fred Piscop. Sometimes others. All online.
Tx Ms, I often see clues that are virtually identical or word for word identical. Might be due to the volume of clues I see. I think clever clues should be propagated.
Exactly as Irish Miss said: Got all the hard parts, but FIW with OP-ED instead of ONES for column beside the point.
But there were some hard parts! The NE in particular. Did not get how ADDS made sense. I just remember Dunkin' Donuts for donuts. No idea they are in the fancy CHAI tea business now.
Never heard of Lucy LIU before, but I looked at her photos and she is hot. Surprised a photo was not included in the summary!
The East was tough, too. No idea about the REDS and thought it might be MOB before ADD for pile on. Never heard of AIDA in a modern version, so I was sure that was wrong. But I was wrong!
Also never heard of ECO Fiction nor CROSBY, so I was lucky to get those with a WAG. Tough to get all these hard parts and then miss what Irish Miss missed, too!
Post a Comment