Theme: None
Words: 66 (missing J,Q,U,X)
Blocks: 32
This is Saturday puzzle number three from Constructor Greg, and I
looked at my review from his last contribution, and fared better this
week than on that one back in Oct of last year. As usual, it did not look good on
the first Across pass, but there were some winning moments in the Down
run, and then little by slowly the rest filled in, with a
few missteps, and a few WAGs. Though I did notice a healthy lack of
proper names - the ones that were in the crossword I knew. Odd looking
grid with a low word count, crossing 11- and 9-letter words with two
10-letter words in there, too;
10d. Conventional : STEREOTYPIC - I'm looking for the "-AL" on the end, still
24d. When needed : AS NECESSARY
40a. Points at and yells, perhaps : THREATENS
O N (W) bo A R D game S ~ !
ACROSS:
1. Hot-button subject in journalism : MEDIA BIAS - it's all biased, as far as I can tell - I don't watch the news
10. It may be on a dog : SLAW
14. Sacred Aboriginal landmark : AYERS ROCK - knew what we were looking for, took a moment to remember the name of the "rock"
10. It may be on a dog : SLAW
14. Sacred Aboriginal landmark : AYERS ROCK - knew what we were looking for, took a moment to remember the name of the "rock"
15. Tendency : TIDE
16. Like a meeting of the minds? : TELEPATHIC - har-har
18. "__ so ... " : EVEN
19. Jefferson Davis' org. : CSA
20. "Barefoot Contessa" host Garten : INA
21. Still : AT REST - I got caught in a "still....(and yet....)" loop, so I went with "AT BEST"
23. Best Director between Soderbergh and Polanski : HOWARD - once "-OW---" filled in, I took a guess; he won for "A Beautiful Mind" in 2001 (or 2002, depending on the source)
27. Remove : ERASE - I hesitated, thought this was too easy
29. "Nebraska" star : DERN - filled via perps
30. Become twisted : CONTORT
31. "Told you" : "SEE~?"
32. Bygone : OLDEN
33. Congressional approval : YEA
36. Ceremonial cup : CHALICE - Stanley fit, too
16. Like a meeting of the minds? : TELEPATHIC - har-har
18. "__ so ... " : EVEN
19. Jefferson Davis' org. : CSA
20. "Barefoot Contessa" host Garten : INA
21. Still : AT REST - I got caught in a "still....(and yet....)" loop, so I went with "AT BEST"
23. Best Director between Soderbergh and Polanski : HOWARD - once "-OW---" filled in, I took a guess; he won for "A Beautiful Mind" in 2001 (or 2002, depending on the source)
25. Unnatural register : FALSETTO - the Bee Gees, and this group's lead singer....caution; "raunchy~!"
I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
27. Remove : ERASE - I hesitated, thought this was too easy
29. "Nebraska" star : DERN - filled via perps
30. Become twisted : CONTORT
31. "Told you" : "SEE~?"
32. Bygone : OLDEN
33. Congressional approval : YEA
36. Ceremonial cup : CHALICE - Stanley fit, too
38. Settled : PAID
43. Petrol purchase : LITRE
44. White wine grape : RIESLING - dah~! I see this enough at the restaurants to have gotten it without crossings, you'd think
45. Looked good on : BECAME - yes, the sweater looks good on her
very becoming
46. Attaches, as a new deck : ADDS ON
47. Costumer's suggestion : WIG
48. Edge : LIP - or RIM~?
49. Land shaped by erosion : MESA
50. Fall behind : GET IN A HOLE
54. It sticks out in the water : PIER - FIN was too short
48. Edge : LIP - or RIM~?
49. Land shaped by erosion : MESA
50. Fall behind : GET IN A HOLE
54. It sticks out in the water : PIER - FIN was too short
55. Model rocket components : NOSECONES
56. Order to stop : STAY - not HALT
57. Common college consequence : EMPTY NEST
DOWN:
1. __ set : MATCHED - the "C" was in there from CSA, and so I proudly entered ereCtor. Bzzzt~!
2. Demolition candidates : EYESORES
3. Its only counties are Kent, New Castle and Sussex : DELAWARE - well, this is embarrassing - I was thinking somewhere in Britain, and it turns out to be the US state I just visited last weekend....I was, uh, in, uh, New Castle, I think....
4. Steaming state : IRE - ah, state of mind, not US state
5. Hopeful's term : ASPIRE
6. Ford or Chevy : BRAND - SEDAN~? Too many "wait and see" clues today
7. Ninth in a series : IOTA - figured it was Greek, good WAG
8. Cry over spilled Milch? : ACH - Das German for milk
9. Waxed sports equipment : SKI - equipment and singular 'ski' doesn't quite jibe for me
11. NFL games, e.g. : LIVE TV
12. Holiday hymn opener : ADESTE - Fidelis
13. Took place : WENT ON - as a show/performance
17. Folded Italian fare : CALZONE - spell check does not like this word....
22. Pre-revolution bigwig : TSAR - oddly, this one, too
25. Bit of successful research : FINDING - used as a noun in this case - I believe that's called a gerund
26. Ancient pyramid builders : AZTECS
28. Wind-borne grains : POLLEN
30. An inch of snow, e.g. : COATING - oops, not DUSTING - that's being from NY, I think
34. What one might do after a broken date : EAT ALONE - I always eat alone - don't need a broken date for that
35. Credit card bonus : AIR MILES - I drove to Delaware - 239 miles, and at one point was getting 26.1mpg in the Dodge Grand Caravan - I didn't think the computer could calibrate that high....
37. Light ring : HALO
39. Superior, of all five : DEEPEST - I had one of the "E"s, so a good WAG
40. Walks heavily : TRAMPS
41. "Quick, get that out of sight!" : "HIDE IT~!"
42. Indian Ocean arm : RED SEA
43. What's left : LEGACY
45. Stanford-__ test : BINET - the Wiki
47. Fleeting puff : WISP
51. Storm dir. : ENE - healthy WAG - can only be a certain grouping of N,E,S,W
52. Pig thief of rhyme : TOM
53. Sweetie : HON
30. An inch of snow, e.g. : COATING - oops, not DUSTING - that's being from NY, I think
34. What one might do after a broken date : EAT ALONE - I always eat alone - don't need a broken date for that
35. Credit card bonus : AIR MILES - I drove to Delaware - 239 miles, and at one point was getting 26.1mpg in the Dodge Grand Caravan - I didn't think the computer could calibrate that high....
37. Light ring : HALO
39. Superior, of all five : DEEPEST - I had one of the "E"s, so a good WAG
40. Walks heavily : TRAMPS
41. "Quick, get that out of sight!" : "HIDE IT~!"
42. Indian Ocean arm : RED SEA
43. What's left : LEGACY
45. Stanford-__ test : BINET - the Wiki
47. Fleeting puff : WISP
51. Storm dir. : ENE - healthy WAG - can only be a certain grouping of N,E,S,W
52. Pig thief of rhyme : TOM
53. Sweetie : HON
Splynter
34 comments:
WOW! This has to be one of the swiftest Saturday solves ever. Either I was completely in Mr. Johnson's wheelhouse or vice versa. Well done, GJ and Splynter.
How I managed to suss 3d is beyond me (snicker). Yes, DE, the second smallest state in the union, has only three counties. The locals like to claim that there are only two when the tide is in. Fun romp today.
Cya!
FIR! A few w/os stoMPS > stAMPS > TRAMPS, Tramping out the RIESLING vintage where the grapes are stored, eLDEN > OLDEN, largEST > DEEPEST, AYE > YEA, fLea > cLAW > SLAW. Most took 2 or 3 passes to churn the brain waves. The NE stumped me for the longest time, because I was fixed on the wrong senses of dog, tendency, and settled, and only after a long think figured what was wrong with csEREOTYlIC.
Went to sleep after writing the above last nite, and just woke up. Now to start on some poems!
Good morning!
Wow, lotsa nice stuff in this one! Tough, but do-able. Had to change TORY to TSAR, MAYANS to AZTECS and SEPT to IOTA. Thanks, Greg. Splynter, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist BECAME (becoming).
Not only is Superior the deepest, it's the largest in volume -- more than the other four lakes combined.
For people of "a certain age," FALSETTO is synonymous with Frankie Valli.
{C+, B, B-, D*.}
MEDIA BIAS is a problem these days
Trying to interpret anyone's ways.
Though pols try to HIDE IT
Poles show the TIDE, it
Still gives the orders its PIER obeys!
As Moses looked out, the RED SEA he saw
He WENT ON across it with OLDEN foofaraw.
The waters CONTORT
To pass his cohort.
His secret worry? -- Did he pack enough SLAW?
ACH, how this POLLEN brings on serious Ach-oo!
Use tissues AS NECESSARY, what else can we do?
Nostrils become Judas,
Twin NOSE CONES of mucous!
It EVEN makes EYE SORES -- Ceres, curse you!
Communication BECAME in a blink telephonic,
With virtual reality our view's STEREOTYPIC.
What we hear, what we SEE,
All piped in LIVE T.V.
Will even our PIZZA OVEN become TELEPATHIC?
* [That last one only because it uses so many words from the puzzle -- and to let you see how bad I could be!]
FALSETTO. <--this one is both a tooltip and link.
Musings
-On Thursday a sentry at The Tomb Of the Unknown didn’t point be he did stop, pivot and yell at a group of kids, “SILENCE AND RESPECT WILL BE MAINTAINED HERE AT ALL TIMES!!” It was immediately.
-Some might think this assessment of MEDIA BIAS has, uh, MEDIA BIAS
-I was surprised to see Jefferson Davis in Statuary Hall this week
-Nebraska got a lot of things right about my state and growing old
-If you find yourself IN A HOLE…
-NOSECON_S – this NASA guy saw NO SECONDS before reading the clue. Duh!
-The world’s most famous MATCHED SET?
-Fox forewent LIVE TV and had a 5-second delay on Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime show
-Mountains of research FINDINGS don’t deter smokers
-EATING ALONE
-“Quick, HIDE OUR coffee maker and get out the Keurig the kids gave us!”
-Otto, that 4 Seasons’ music brightened my rainy day here on the plains!
Good Morning:
I had quite a bit of trouble with this but, eventually, finished unscathed. My biggest stumbling block was hanging onto At Best for so long which delayed getting Stereotypic and vacillating between Yea and Aye didn't help, either. Another faux pas was having Litter for Legacy. I wasn't keen on Tend=Tide.
Thanks, Greg, for a real challenge today and thanks, Splynter, for guiding us along.
Have a great day.
'Did not look good on the first Across pass' you say. I had AYERS ROCK, SKI, and BINET. That was it. Me thinks Mr. Johnson wants us mere mortals to be TELEPATHIC but I'm not. EVEN so, I finished the South and the TIDE turned and finished. Misreading 'Costumer's suggestion' as 'Customer's suggestion' didn't help. AS for DELAWARE, I was thinking of some region in England, not the USA.
I wanted FAKE NEWS for the 1A fill but MEDIA BIAS made it's way in. MEDIA BIAS-I agree. I gave up on national TV news 20 years ago. Only watch CNBC and Fox Business news. It was a slog this morning and the NE was the last to fall as I was thinking PITA BREAD before the AZTECS and CALZONE made it a PIZZA OVEN; had to change dogs also-FLEA TO SLAW. INA and DERN were perped unknowns.
Roman Polanski- will they ever get him back to prison?
Three fourths of this was not that difficult. My problem was the NW where there was so much white that there were not enough perps. Realizing the three counties could not be in the UK or Ireland, I still did not think of the good old USA. V8 can please. I looked up Delaware and that gave me enough perps to finish.
Although I got it quickly, to me an inch of snow is not a coating, half an inch, possibly.
Gary, LOL about hiding the coffee pot. That is also my experience with Keurig.
Boo hiss on Spellcheck for not accepting CALZONE. Calzones are very common here. I love them but they are so large I need a dining companion willing to split one with me.
1D __set was so vague it irritated me. Gary, you made up for it with the beautiful Clydesdales. I, too, tried ERECTOR first.
Hooray for "looked good on" instead of looked well on. Another bugbear for me is "You look well in blue." I am on the losing side in this use of well which is becoming quite common. Even Maeve Binchy used it. Soon it will be deemed correct in our ever changing English language.
March 25, 2017 at 9:42 AM Delete
YR,
I'm with you on these modern linguistic oddities. Another pet peeve is the death of pronouns in the objective case. Last night I heard a journalist on cable news say "with he and I", or something similar. Doesn't anyone teach them English any more?
That said, I did better on this than usual for a Saturday, but got stuck in much of the east.
Good morning everyone.
Finally got it solved, but was not comfortable with the TIDE answer, so I looked it up. The 2 weak connections between the NW, diagonal center, and the SE, added to the difficulty; strong results in one area were difficult to propel into the adjacent areas. Wanted 'aye' for a while before it loomed that YEA was a better fit. Also had 'fit' before WIG.
DEEPEST - Got that it had to do with some superlative associated with L. Superior which stands ~602 ft above sea level. The only Great Lake whose maximum depth does not extend below sea level is L. Erie.
DELAWARE - Knew that it had only three counties. RI, which is smaller, has 5 counties. I believe Delaware's boundary with NJ is on the Jersey side of Delaware Bay, thus adding to its area.
There is a TIDE... But that doesn't explain Tendency. ???
Owen I liked #3 a lot and re. #4: if not your pizza oven your microwave is watching and listening
And gossiping about it with the TV
Splynter, I was talking about that "bush league pinch-hitter". Pp75. Since Bill was a Yankee fan I suspect he was thinking of Joe Cronin if the Redsox who had a SLEW of pinch-hit homers circa 1944.
Wilbur for CC re. Obligatory baseball ref
Yep, DUSTING. Then again I couldn't spell NECESSARY so I thought that Cup was NHL(Lady) Bing
But I got it all. No, pesky FIRs. Nice job Greg and Splynter: par excellence!
Speaking of par.. did I tell you about my golf experience? Oh yeah, on Thursday's blog, posted Friday.
THERE WILL BE NO YAWNING WHEN WILBUR BLOGS!!!
WC
Unlike my disastrous outcome of last Saturday, this was one of the easiest Saturday solves in a long time. Thank you, Greg Johnson, as I have a busy day ahead cooking for the book club.
Two of my favorite things in this puzzle, RIESLING and AIRMILES made me smile. I have taken at least 10 or more trips on AIR MILES.
I read that there is a TIDE in Europe today running towards populism. There is a TENDENCY in Europe today running towards populism. Parts of Europe TEND towards populism. I have noticed that crossword answers are frequently close synonyms, rather than exact ones.
Disclaimer:I mean this as a discussion of word meanings, not as an argument pro or con populism or of how strong the tide toward it is.
Spitzboov, you have taught me something about my own state. As I thought, the boundary line between NJ and DE is in the middle of the the Delaware Bay, however I didn't realize that the northern part of the NJ/DE the boundary line in the Delaware River is so very close to our shores. I see that in 1997 the Supreme Court ruled that if BP built a LNG facility on the NJ side, it would not be allowed to extend an industrial size wharf into the River to unload ships, and so they could not build the plant. Smaller fishing piers can extend into the river.
Kazie, I always thought that media announcers and journalists were up on their grammar and pronunciation. I see they are not. One of them announced services at Gloria Die Church instead of Gloria Dei. Another announced a performance of the Glass MEN uh ger ee. (Menagerie).
I think that usages like "with he and I" or "You and me could do that," will not be acceptable for decades, although we do hear them.
Tendency = tide? hmm, a closer look is in order.
(Must be an old English thing...)
Oh well, My tendency is to make fun of it...
Or perhaps, I should take the laid back approach...
I don't know what I did, but my comment was posted before finishing it.
The NE took a long time only because I wouldn't accept TIDE for tendency but STEREOTYPIC won that battle. POLLEN has taken its toll on us allergy sufferers.
Walking up the 352 steps of Tenochtitlan was something I could do in my 30s though I prepared for it before going.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Ayers rock is another peculiarity.
You would think it is the remains of a volcano core,
but the blasted thing is made of sandstone?
The discussion of how it formed still goes on...
Good day to all!
Like Yellowrocks, my problem was in the NW, which finally opened up after a google search for DELAWARE, today's learning moment. And like Big Easy, I also mis-read 47A as "Customer's suggestion" and was scratching my head when WIG appeared. Favorite clue/answer was "Like a meeting of the minds?" for TELEPATHIC. Thanks for the Saturday challenge, Greg, and thanks for the thorough expo,Splynter.
Enjoy the day!
Good afternoon all
I finished the puzzle earlier this morning but just now taking a break from Spring cleaning.
Thanks Greg for a tough but doable CW and to Splynter for a wonderful write up!
This was a STEREOTYPIC(al) Saturday for me: mostly white wasteland until I got to the SE corner. Worked my way from bottom to top with several perps and a few good WAGs but did have to Google AYERSROCK, HOWARD and DELAWARE and was kicking myself with those Doh! moments.
A few hiccups- had Aura>HALO, Flea>SLAW, And yet>ATREST and Mayans>AZTECS
Favorite was "College consequence"> EMPTYNEST which often leads students to GETINAHOLE with hefty loans.
I was way over my usual time but just as I was getting in my groove, had several group texts with my daughters in anticipation of our family get together tomorrow to celebrate my nephew's 16th birthday and dinner out on Monday. We will finally get to meet daughter #1's new boyfriend. She is quite smitten with this firefighter she met a couple of months ago. I'm excited to meet the guy who has made her this giddy :) DH and her sister have promised to go easy on him, lol
Now for lunch, more cleaning and hopefully some time outside. It's day 2 of warm (yet cloudy) weather. Rain for the next several days but at least it seems that Spring has finally arrived!
Have a great weekend!
Hi All!
I didn't do too poorly today - must'a been an easier than normal Sat. I got NE to SW but the KITTY CORNERS wouldn't fill until I got rid of GAS for 4d (thanks Splynter!) and further cheated my way to finish out 45a/d completing WIG ?!? [then I saw 47a did not read 'customer']
Thanks for the puzzle Greg. Nice way to pass the time whilst listing to un-BIAS'd Car Talk.
Thanks Splynter for fixing my grid (gas (as in not plasma, er, vapor) @4d was quite stubborn as it totally fit the clue and lead to Mensa ???? for meeting of minds...)
WOs of note: halt b/f STAY, hand up for shoe (dog==feet?)->flea->SLAW
ESPs: didn't you read?, I cheated.
Fav: CALZONE xing PIZZA ston OVEN. I think I'll build Pizza this weekend - STEREOTYPIC of a Paisano, eh?
Runner up - c/a for LITRE. Easy for our friends to the north, eh? C, Eh!
{B,A,A,D+ (you proved your point :-))}; sorry for not realizing the ⁢alt> /"tool tip" tag FLN.
DO - Thanks for whackin' me w/ the V-8 on 39d. I was still wondering "best of what 5?"
HG - Cool MEDIA BIAS info graph. I didn't see VICE (HBO), Democracy Now (Pacifica Radio), nor Coast to Coast AM (crazy people* show) on it, tho I have an inkling where they fall :-)
BigE - I don't watch TV for news unless it's LIVE TV (9/11 comes to mind; CSPAN's pretty cool too). I read the paper & Foreign Affairs, listen to NPR, and giggle w/ John Oliver's Last Week Tonight on Sunday.
YR - I'm sure I mangle grammar aplenty, but folk confusing good and well? Well, I don't know what to say...
Let's SEE - a funny puzzle link... A Holy CHALICE comes to mind... [1:10]. You won't be able to ERASE that from your mind - Nope, not one IOTA - EVEN if.... [I'll halt].
Cheers, -T
*unless you really believe in BigFoot, Ghosts, chupacabra, UFOs, TELEPATHIC readers, et.al. - then it's the unvarnished truth :-)
I musta taken forEVER to draft or Argyle released CED from the Spam heap [funny Ocean cat!]
Lucina - AIR MILES actually work? I've always treated it as a scam that I don't have time to keep up with. Hummmm....
YR & Kazie - Re: TV "Journalists." DW was an RTVF (Radio, Television, Film) major b/f flipping to pure English (a class on Shakespeare flipped her). There was a female that held the college's news desk who was also a contestant in the Miss LA pageant; a STEREOTYPIC Bubble Headed bleach blond [Don Henley; Dirty Laundry]. These are the people we see on TV news - Lower your expectations :-(
Cheers, -T
NE had no chance for me. Still don't really see tendency and tide. I had "odds" which ruined any chance on the perps.
Why is 30a "become twisted"...why not just "twist". Methinks there is a part of speech problem although I got the clue. Still mad about non words. TV is at best an abbreviation and should have been clued as such ( although I got the TV part) I was sure it was "FreeTV" oh well...
Definitely an interesting looking grid underpinning this excellent puzzle. I notice the timer says it took me 30 minutes; I don't know if that's fast for me or not, because usually I don't pay attention to that. In any case, it was an enjoyable time. STOMPS before TRAMPS, FLEA before SLAW, RIM before LIP, and GAS-something before LITRE, which I thought is a great clue/answer. Had no idea what the heck kind of set it could be: erector and croquet came to mind, but MATCHED didn't until I got several perps.
I, too, give little credence or attention to television network news. Even the New York Times seems to have slewed rightward out of that sweet center area of Husker Gary's graph. Sometimes I think they all simply repeat what comes over the wire services; some articles from many publications seem to have almost exactly the same wording.
11-Down. NFL games, e.g. : LIVE TV. TV is an abbreviation and is clued as such because NFL is an abbreviation, also.
I do not understand 47 across. Customer's suggestion is wig?
Thanks, I see it now. It is "o" not "u", now it makes sense...
A cryin' shame!
I nearly finished Mr. Johnson's opus w/o a single lookup or cheat. But in the end I couldn't crack the NE corner on my own. Like OwenKL I took the wrong sense of 10A. I had FLEA for the longest time, and was toying with changing it to TICK. It took Googling to get me off of "dog" (canis) and onto "dog" (alimentum).
Lotsa other erasures, but always in the right direction. "Steaming state" led me first to GAS (just like Anon T [a smarter answer between you & me]) and only through later perps to IRE. LAID had to become PAID, IRA INA and LID LIP.
My longest change was from WESTERN to DEEPEST.
Fine exposition, Splynter!
My first response to "Costumer's suggestion" wouldn't fit. "Suck it in" is the tip I most remember.
After the first pass 95% was unfilled. Almost quit a couple times but slowly built to a successful solve.
Surprising even to me, I thought there was no hope.
Tough, abstract clueing plus a lot of grid to fill made this a super tough effort, even for a Saturday.
A-PVX, I think the whole weekend was tough.
If I was clever like CED I'd have linked Up Blondie and Brutus with TIDE.
WC
AnonT, re. Good/Well confusion. If someone asks how I am and I reply "I'm good," I sometimes see a snarky grin and then get asked, "How good are you?" even though "I'm good" is perfectly correct.
Also, many people, in an effort to speak correctly, force themselves to say stuff like "I felt badly about forgetting her birthday" or some such. I give them credit for at least trying to speak good. :>)
Enjoyed most of this challenge until the very last bit in the NE stopped me. Finally "correctly" WAGged TIDE/ADESTE to FIR. But hand up for not really getting how TIDE is a Tendency.
And this atheist is not familiar with the hymn with ADESTE.
For all of my travels I have never actually used AIR MILES. Too hard to figure out all the rules and restrictions. And to deal with different airlines. In this small city we don't have much choice of airlines.
we were at the RED SEA less than two years ago. Did not realize it is an arm of the Indian Ocean. Learning moment!
Hand up for TICK before SLAW. I never heard of putting SLAW on a hotdog or anything else. I think of it as a side.
Yes, the DELAWARE misdirection was effective. All names from England. I mostly grew up not far from DELAWARE but we only learned the counties in our own state.
I was in Australia not long ago for work, but missed seeing AYERS ROCK. We just need to go back!
And this atheist is not familiar with the hymn with ADESTE.
Would you recognize "O, Come All Ye Faithful"?
Thanks, Argyle! Right after I posted I Googled it and indeed saw it was "O, Come All Ye Faithful"!
I am in a music group that performs some Christmas carols, so I do know the popular ones. And I am in another group that plays Christmas music from about 500 years ago!
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