Theme: Quadratic Locations - Four quadrangles, four seats of learning as the grid-spanning hint tells us:
39A. What the groups of circled letters graphically represent : UNIVERSITY QUADS
The schools in question are Tulane, Rice, Temple and Yale. Here's Rice:
I enjoyed the symmetry in this construction - two six- and two four-circle themers located in opposite corner blocks, the "quad quads", two intersecting 15's, both college-themed, and the journey around each quadrangle starts at the north-west corner. There's a lot else to like with the lively longer entries - two each of ten, nine and eight letters and very few threes.
I was surprised to find that "TOTAL BASES", "FINAL FOUR" and "NY JETS" have only been seen once before in the LAT crossword since the Cruciverb database records began.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. "Yeah, sure!" : PSHAW!
6. Some CPAs and MBAs : CFOS. Top Bean Counter. Sorry, Chief Financial Officer.
10. __ bean : FAVA. LIMA or SOYA are also possibilities - you need more than the "A" before deciding.
14. What choir members have to carry : A TUNE, Not "A NOTE" then. Quick work with the "backspace" key fixed that one.
15. Lined up, with "in" : A ROW. So when you have your ducks in a row, what happens? I've always wondered.
16. 2001 Winslet/Dench title role : IRIS. Novelist Iris Murdoch and her lifelong relationship with her husband. I might need to go back and re-watch this one.
17. Hero makers : DELIS. Food! You need a big appetite for one of these. Classic ingredients are meat, cheese, tomato, green pepper, lettuce and Italian dressing on a baguette. Innumerable variations abound.
18. Window shopper's buy : PANE. Nice.
19. Bottle part : NECK. The only other bottle part I can think of is the "punt", the deep indentation at the bottom of a wine bottle.
20. Double-helix molecules : DNAS
21. Stat for which Babe Ruth's 457 is the single-season record : TOTAL BASES. The 1921 season. He also set the record for extra base hits that year.
23. Site of many Ansel Adams works : YOSEMITE. Iconic photography from this fella:
25. Online chortle : LOL. Laughing Out Loud.
26. Wide awake : ALERT
28. Joan __ : OF ARC
32. Aplenty : GALORE
36. Carmelite, perhaps : NUN
38. Muffin topper : OLEO. I wanted OREO first. I'm guessing this reference is to a dollop of margarine on an English muffin. The splendidly-named Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès invented oleomargarine in France back in 1869.
42. Labyrinth : MAZE
43. Plop down : SIT
44. Legal scholar : JURIST. Not a juror. An expert in or a writer on law.
45. "Obsessable series" movie channel : STARZ. Thanks, crosses.
47. What "two" meant to Paul Revere : BY SEA. One if by land, I believe. "The British are coming!" Three if by air, in my case.
49. Bow __ : TIE
51. Billboard charts : HIT LISTS. My friend Fred Bronson writes the weekly Chart Beat column in "Billboard" magazine.
56. Tart vodka cocktails : LEMON DROPS
60. Petunia part : STEM
61. Greenish blue : CYAN
62. Use the escalator, about half the time : GO UP. Go down, roughly the other half, unless you ride up and take the stairs down.
63. Plant swelling : EDEMA
64. What a stet cancels : DELE. Editing marks. Does anyone edit manuscripts this way any more? I know print newspapers moved to digital production a long time ago.
65. Alternatively : ELSE
66. Cheap mags : PULPS
67. Old jet-set jets : SSTS. Concordes. The USSR brought out a strangely-similar looking aircraft that the UK media nicknamed "Concordski". Sadly the second production aircraft crashed while performing at the Paris Air Show in 1973, killing the six-person crew and eight people on the ground.
68. Bob or dog attachment : SLED
69. Canines, e.g. : TEETH
Down:
1. Irrigated grain field : PADDY
2. Courtroom figure : STENO
3. Hippy dances? : HULAS
4. Italian cookie flavoring : ANISE
5. Filmmaker Craven : WES
6. Holly Golightly's creator : CAPOTE. Truman's short story Breakfast at Tiffany's adapted as a screenplay and starring one of my all-time favorite actresses, the lovely Audrey Hepburn. I love this scene.
7. Place for annual pledging : FRATERNITY HOUSE. I liked that the two 15-letter grid spanners crossing each other have a college theme.
8. Chaplin of "Game of Thrones" : OONA
9. Balloon : SWELL
10. Elite Eight survivors : FINAL FOUR. Topical NCAA Basketball reference. This year's Final Four face off this Saturday with South Carolina vs. Gonzaga followed by Oregon vs. North Carolina.
11. War god : ARES
12. Target of many a New Year's resolution : VICE
13. Poses : ASKS
21. Floor installers : TILERS
22. Savior of Scout and Jem, in "To Kill a Mockingbird" : BOO. A good excuse for some super-cheeerful Britpop from the early 90's courtesy of The Boo Radleys
24. Filly, eventually : MARE
27. Mild rebuke : TUT
29. End of a ball game? : ALAI. Tricky clue. The ball-wall game Jai Alai.The ball can travel up to 188mph. it's 3/4 the size of a baseball and harder than a golf ball. It was bad enough getting hit by a squash ball back in the day.
30. Great American Ball Park team : REDS. Cincinnati, Ohio.
31. COLA component : COST. Cost Of Living Adjustment. Nice clue.
32. 69-Across holders : GUMS
33. Vet school subj. : ANAT.
34. Joel's "Cabaret" co-star : LIZA. Ms. Minnelli was a gimme, but I had to go and look up Joel. Joel Grey, he played the Master of Ceremonies.
35. Hinted-at hidden meanings : OVERTONES
37. AFC East team : NY JETS
40. Sis or bro : SIB.
41. Grade of excellence: Abbr. : QUAL. Quality, a "degree or standard of excellence, esp. a high standard".
46. Cab alternative : ZIN
48. Opposite of guzzled : SIPPED
50. Cube's dozen : EDGES
52. Expectant mom's words : IS DUE. I went for "I'M DUE". Not sure about "is due".
53. Inscribed pillar : STELE
54. Lead on : TEMPT.
55. Blockbuster : SMASH
56. Some TV screens : LCDS
57. They work better when they focus : EYES. Unless you're trying to "see" one of those Magic Eye posters that gave us all fits in the 1990's. Here's one that resolves pretty quickly:
58. Dairy Queen order : MALT
59. Lucky streak : ROLL
63. Skillful, facetiously : EPT. "Opposite" of "inept". I like these "false" opposites. Mt. Etna is definitely "ert", unlike Vesuvius, and I hope my blogging is "ane" rather than the alternative!
With that, here's the grid!
Steve
39A. What the groups of circled letters graphically represent : UNIVERSITY QUADS
The schools in question are Tulane, Rice, Temple and Yale. Here's Rice:
I enjoyed the symmetry in this construction - two six- and two four-circle themers located in opposite corner blocks, the "quad quads", two intersecting 15's, both college-themed, and the journey around each quadrangle starts at the north-west corner. There's a lot else to like with the lively longer entries - two each of ten, nine and eight letters and very few threes.
I was surprised to find that "TOTAL BASES", "FINAL FOUR" and "NY JETS" have only been seen once before in the LAT crossword since the Cruciverb database records began.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. "Yeah, sure!" : PSHAW!
6. Some CPAs and MBAs : CFOS. Top Bean Counter. Sorry, Chief Financial Officer.
10. __ bean : FAVA. LIMA or SOYA are also possibilities - you need more than the "A" before deciding.
14. What choir members have to carry : A TUNE, Not "A NOTE" then. Quick work with the "backspace" key fixed that one.
15. Lined up, with "in" : A ROW. So when you have your ducks in a row, what happens? I've always wondered.
16. 2001 Winslet/Dench title role : IRIS. Novelist Iris Murdoch and her lifelong relationship with her husband. I might need to go back and re-watch this one.
17. Hero makers : DELIS. Food! You need a big appetite for one of these. Classic ingredients are meat, cheese, tomato, green pepper, lettuce and Italian dressing on a baguette. Innumerable variations abound.
18. Window shopper's buy : PANE. Nice.
19. Bottle part : NECK. The only other bottle part I can think of is the "punt", the deep indentation at the bottom of a wine bottle.
20. Double-helix molecules : DNAS
21. Stat for which Babe Ruth's 457 is the single-season record : TOTAL BASES. The 1921 season. He also set the record for extra base hits that year.
23. Site of many Ansel Adams works : YOSEMITE. Iconic photography from this fella:
25. Online chortle : LOL. Laughing Out Loud.
26. Wide awake : ALERT
28. Joan __ : OF ARC
32. Aplenty : GALORE
36. Carmelite, perhaps : NUN
38. Muffin topper : OLEO. I wanted OREO first. I'm guessing this reference is to a dollop of margarine on an English muffin. The splendidly-named Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès invented oleomargarine in France back in 1869.
42. Labyrinth : MAZE
43. Plop down : SIT
44. Legal scholar : JURIST. Not a juror. An expert in or a writer on law.
45. "Obsessable series" movie channel : STARZ. Thanks, crosses.
47. What "two" meant to Paul Revere : BY SEA. One if by land, I believe. "The British are coming!" Three if by air, in my case.
49. Bow __ : TIE
51. Billboard charts : HIT LISTS. My friend Fred Bronson writes the weekly Chart Beat column in "Billboard" magazine.
56. Tart vodka cocktails : LEMON DROPS
60. Petunia part : STEM
61. Greenish blue : CYAN
62. Use the escalator, about half the time : GO UP. Go down, roughly the other half, unless you ride up and take the stairs down.
63. Plant swelling : EDEMA
64. What a stet cancels : DELE. Editing marks. Does anyone edit manuscripts this way any more? I know print newspapers moved to digital production a long time ago.
65. Alternatively : ELSE
66. Cheap mags : PULPS
67. Old jet-set jets : SSTS. Concordes. The USSR brought out a strangely-similar looking aircraft that the UK media nicknamed "Concordski". Sadly the second production aircraft crashed while performing at the Paris Air Show in 1973, killing the six-person crew and eight people on the ground.
68. Bob or dog attachment : SLED
69. Canines, e.g. : TEETH
Down:
1. Irrigated grain field : PADDY
2. Courtroom figure : STENO
3. Hippy dances? : HULAS
4. Italian cookie flavoring : ANISE
5. Filmmaker Craven : WES
6. Holly Golightly's creator : CAPOTE. Truman's short story Breakfast at Tiffany's adapted as a screenplay and starring one of my all-time favorite actresses, the lovely Audrey Hepburn. I love this scene.
7. Place for annual pledging : FRATERNITY HOUSE. I liked that the two 15-letter grid spanners crossing each other have a college theme.
8. Chaplin of "Game of Thrones" : OONA
9. Balloon : SWELL
10. Elite Eight survivors : FINAL FOUR. Topical NCAA Basketball reference. This year's Final Four face off this Saturday with South Carolina vs. Gonzaga followed by Oregon vs. North Carolina.
11. War god : ARES
12. Target of many a New Year's resolution : VICE
13. Poses : ASKS
21. Floor installers : TILERS
22. Savior of Scout and Jem, in "To Kill a Mockingbird" : BOO. A good excuse for some super-cheeerful Britpop from the early 90's courtesy of The Boo Radleys
24. Filly, eventually : MARE
27. Mild rebuke : TUT
29. End of a ball game? : ALAI. Tricky clue. The ball-wall game Jai Alai.The ball can travel up to 188mph. it's 3/4 the size of a baseball and harder than a golf ball. It was bad enough getting hit by a squash ball back in the day.
30. Great American Ball Park team : REDS. Cincinnati, Ohio.
31. COLA component : COST. Cost Of Living Adjustment. Nice clue.
32. 69-Across holders : GUMS
33. Vet school subj. : ANAT.
34. Joel's "Cabaret" co-star : LIZA. Ms. Minnelli was a gimme, but I had to go and look up Joel. Joel Grey, he played the Master of Ceremonies.
35. Hinted-at hidden meanings : OVERTONES
37. AFC East team : NY JETS
40. Sis or bro : SIB.
41. Grade of excellence: Abbr. : QUAL. Quality, a "degree or standard of excellence, esp. a high standard".
46. Cab alternative : ZIN
48. Opposite of guzzled : SIPPED
50. Cube's dozen : EDGES
52. Expectant mom's words : IS DUE. I went for "I'M DUE". Not sure about "is due".
53. Inscribed pillar : STELE
54. Lead on : TEMPT.
55. Blockbuster : SMASH
56. Some TV screens : LCDS
57. They work better when they focus : EYES. Unless you're trying to "see" one of those Magic Eye posters that gave us all fits in the 1990's. Here's one that resolves pretty quickly:
58. Dairy Queen order : MALT
59. Lucky streak : ROLL
63. Skillful, facetiously : EPT. "Opposite" of "inept". I like these "false" opposites. Mt. Etna is definitely "ert", unlike Vesuvius, and I hope my blogging is "ane" rather than the alternative!
With that, here's the grid!
Steve
54 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Richard and Steve!
Worked it on the Wash. Post site, as it had circles.
A few things took awhile, but got 'er done with no cheats.
IS DUE was not my favorite answer.
Went swimming after 2 weeks or so. Girlfriend insisted as it was 90 degrees out.
Fell trying to get out (twice) and had to use the raisable chair to get out. Feel really poor. Hurt all over. (Still have cough.)
Have a great day!
Good morning. Thank you Richard and Steve.
Very fast solve today. All in the wheelhouse. Except IS DUE. Had to pause in that SE corner to work it out. Threw out songs as I was pretty sure of STELE, while EDEMA stayed on the tip of my tongue. Otherwise, it would have been sub 15.
Had to open the puzzle at the LA Times website to see where the circles were after filling in UNIVERSITY QUADS.
My brilliant nephew went to RICE for about eight years. We shared a room on campus the summer before his freshman year, and as I was starting my new career. Inexpensive digs while apartment hunting.
I fell in love with Audrey Hepburn in that movie.
Hello Puzzlers -
What Steve said, about practically everything. Admired the symmetry in all its forms, along with the quality fill. Two hands way up and fingers waving wildly for Audrey Hepburn! What a lovely creature, and what a fine role was Holly Golightly.
I share Steve's amusement with fake opposites. My favorite is underwhelmed, and sometimes I get to use whelmed. Substantial and stantial have been fun over the years.
Good morning!
The storms have moved out, and the weather's predicted to be clement today. Enjoyed your ane commentary, Steve.
Saw the circles. Forgot to look at 'em. RICE should'a been a gimme; it's just down the road in Houston. It's rumored to be where Uncle Ben was converted. Thanx, Richard.
"Ducks in a ROW" evokes our local migratory visitor. We've got several that show up in our 'hood year after year. Most are mallards, but two are large and black -- that's how we can tell it's the same group. They arrived here a few weeks ago. The hummingbirds also arrived ahead of schedule due to the early spring.
Taxing day, gotta run...
I wasn't paying attention to the neat school rectangles, always avoiding the clue that gives the answer. I finished unscathed faster than usual, with STARZ, BOO, IRIS, CAPOTE, EPT, unknowns filled by perps. ALAI was filled by the crosses and I never saw the clue until the write up.
See ya later
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Richard F. Mauser, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
I got this one last night via cruciverb. Finished about 11:00 PM. Right in the middle of Perry Mason, which I try to watch each night.
This puzzle was really a good one. Liked the theme and the clusters of circles. The two grid spanners crossing in the center, both tied to the theme, sort of.
FINAL FOUR was perfect for this week. I actually have Gonzaga and Oregon in one of my brackets. I could win some money.
I used to have an Ansel Adams calendar with a photo of his for each month. I gave it to a friend I worked with who begged me for it for at least a year.
Never heard of a LEMON DROP cocktail. Of course I do not drink booze, so many cocktails are strange to me. (I do drink beer, however)
Remembered EDEMA. That helped with the SE corner. EPT was clever.
Took me a while to get 50D EDGES. Kept thinking of corners and sides and faces.
Not sure what ZIN means. Any help?
Well, I have to get our Invisible Fence working today since my wife and daughter will be returning tomorrow with our new dog. They went to Texas to rescue it. A deaf pit bull.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Zin is short for zinfandel.
Enjoyed this theme and neat lay out! I was just down visiting one of my sons at Baylor last weekend - the quads are usually the prettiest part of many campuses. But Stanford's is one of the best - but of course I'm biased!
I think in Food pictures in mags there often seems to be a pat of butter or oleo melting on top of muffins whether bran, blueberry or English!
Thanks Steve and Richard-
Good morning all!
Thanks Richard for a crunchy yet fun, doable puzzle. Liked the college theme, long fills and many clever clues.
Thanks Steve for a nice tour! Enjoyed listening to "There She Goes" - always liked that song but hadn't heard it in a long time. Audrey is always a delight- just lovely!
I had a DNF for QUADS. Had the colleges and UNIVERSITY but QUAL was unknown and the tricky/clever ALAI wouldn't come to me. Was stuck on it being a baseball reference. Oops.
My one cheat was for COST- didn't know the COLA acronym.
Other unknowns were helped by perps : OONA (Game of Thrones is on my to watch list), EPT, NUN.
I didn't think through the AFC clue and tried NY Nets, then Mets. Finally realized it was football> JETS. Doh!
Tried Tsk>TUT and Sits>ASKS
Loved the REDS clue. Great American Ball Park really is a wonderful set up for players and fans alike.
I always put a smiley face next to my favorite/clever clues. There were a lot today: DELI, PANE, FRATERNITYHOUSE, VICE, ALAI, REDS, HULAS and ZIN.
LEMONDROP martinis were the drink this past Christmas at the in-laws. Brother-in-law owns a bar in Chicago so he's our resident bartender and makes a different cocktail every year. These were quite powerful. Never seen my MIL so out of sorts, lol. She normally reminds me of Audrey Hepburn- beautiful, graceful, poised and classy. Those lemon drops had her SMASHed that night. We get a good laugh about it with her now :)
fermatprime- oh my goodness! I hope you feel better soon. Two falls on top of the cough? Take care!
Hope everyone has a wonderful day :)
Good morning everyone.
A nice opus from Richard today. Cute theme, but crafty, too. Only problem was in the SW. Had 'teal' before CYAN, so had lens before EYES. So, without the Y, I did not see YALE. Rec'd help with LEMON DROPS and the rest came out nicely.
OLEO - I will not knowingly use it.
IS DUE - If the mother is implying the (baby) is due, the tense agrees. Instinctively wanted 'am DUE'.
Have a great day.
I haven't seen a STENO in a courtroom since the 20th century.
Good day to all!
Loved how grid spanners FRATERNITY HOUSE and the reveal UNIVERSITY QUADS crossed. There were no circles at the Mensa site, so needed to come to the Corner for enlightenment. Favorite clue/answer was "Window shoppers buy" for PANE. Thanks for a great puzzle, Richard Mausser, and thanks for the thorough expo Steve. Lovely scene from "Breakfast at Tiffany's".
Enjoy the day!
Good Morning:
A bit of a crunch but not too much to cause major roadblocks. Had I'm due before Is due and needed perps for Alai and a few others. I was impressed with the 4/4, 6/6 symmetry of the universities.I never heard of Lemon Drop as a cocktail; I'll stick to my Dewar's, thank you very much! (And to my butter!) I've never seen "Breakfast at Tiffanys" (only clips) but I, too, always loved Audrey Hepburn. She was on TV the other night in "Wait Until Dark" but I wasn't in the mood for such an intense movie. (I also didn't want to see a favorite actor, Alan Arkin, as a bad, bad guy!)
Thanks, Richard, for a Thursday treat and thanks, Steve, for your usual entertaining expo.
Ferm, take care and feel better soon.
Abejo, good luck with the new pooch. What's his/her name?
YR, that sunshine you sent is here today but will be short-lived, I'm afraid. Our forecast is 2-4" of snow tonight into tomorrow, then changing to rain depending on the elevation. Higher elevations predicted to get up to 12" or more. I dare say that the merry month of March is going out like a lion!
Have a great day.
As a Retired former International CFO I can honestly tell you I NEVER ONCE counted a bean.
Thought this was one of the best puzzles of the year. FUN solve.
I'm with Irish Miss ... no LEMON DROP for me ...
I'll stick with Scotch, my local OUZO, maybe a dram or 50 of Appleton Rum. Always served NEAT !!!
Cheers!
Nice one from Richard F. Mausser. Thank you!
The QUADS filled quickly and so the UNIVERSITY names squared into view. FINAL FOUR fever has hit the Valley along with clogged traffic. As if my aversion to sports wasn't bad enough but I suppose merchants and hotels are benefitting so that's good.
Carmelite NUN was easy as was CAPOTE and do people really order MALTs from Dairy Queen? I agree that STENO is outdated; perhaps former court figure would qualify. As clued, ALAI simply perped itself. I love the clue for PANE!
Sptiz, I'm with you regarding OLEO.
This provided a good time for me, so thank you again, Mr. Mausser. And many thanks to Steve for your incomparable insight.
Ferm:
Please do be careful.
Have a splendid day, everyone!
Hi gang -
Circle puzzles are not my favorite type. This one sure has a lot of good stuff, though, as Steve pointed out.
No nits, either, so i call it a success.
Here's an odd bit of jargon - people in the glass industry call a PANE of glass a light, and even worse, spell it LITE. An automotive rear window is a back lite. This has been setting my TEETH on EDGE for 50 years.
Speaking of that era, all these decades later, Henry Mancini's score for Breakfast at Tiffany's is still one of my favorites. This song from the album strangely is never heard in the movie. If I could sound like any trombone player, it would be Dick Nash.
Cool regards!
JzB
Musings
-Loved the clever cluing and got the theme without the reveal.
-FAVA beans remind me of Hannibal Lecter using them in a disgusting meal
-Debate continues as to whether The Babe could have succeeded in today’s game
-GALORE dredges up an old James Bond villainess
-SITS wasn’t Poses, but its singular form was Plop down
-Here’s Billboards Top 100 HITLIST.
-Like so much in D.C. these days, the vote on JURIST Neil Gorsuch will go right down party lines. Why do they waste time on hearings?
-This promises to fly even faster than the SST
-Non-paddy irrigated fields of Nebraska grain
-I disliked Bkfst At Tiffany’s disjointed story and Mickey Rooney’s racist role
-I wince when my MIL says GOOMS for GUMS
-I enjoyed the M&M clusters in the Magic Eye and your write-up as always, Steve.
Speaking of counting beans --
Though lima and soya are fine in their place, on FAVA go perfectly with a nice Chianti,
The others might pair well with a nice CAB or ZIN.
Cheers!
JzB
YR – To answer your question last night about the D.C. cherry blossoms. Last week they showed damage from the recent freezing temps. Guides said the show will be greatly diminished. Ansel Adams would have had to shoot through a line of many trees to give an impression of their sparse 2017 beauty. They were still wonderful to behold.
I found that this took a little longer than usual because MENSA's site never puts the circles in. So, sometimes it becomes a guessing game as to what the theme is.
{A+, A+.}
I once approached a hooker friend, about a little fun.
"I only turn my tricks for cash, and I know you've none!
So to bed we won't be goin'
Because to me, you're always Owen'!"
The rejection wasn't near as bad as was that whore-ed pun!
Once I had a flock of ducks, they'd follow where I'd go
I taught them many things that I thought they ought to know.
I couldn't teach a Vee formation
Since I'm poor at levitation,
So instead I taught them sculling, to get my ducks all in a row!
Tough, but doable fun romp.
kept me scratching my head for quite awhile.
FIW in the end, as I had Apt for 63d skillful.
(Turns out Adema for 63a is not a swelling, but a rock band...)
Speaking of rock bands,
My favorite version of "There She Goes" is the original
written and performed by The La's
Have you ever trespassed on a University Quad?
P.S. - I can't see a dang thing in those Magic Posters...
Great puzzle. I realized the circles were universities, confirmed by the first part of the reveal. That made them easy. My last fill was Q for QUAD and QUAL. It's so obvious now. No unfamiliar words, except LEMON DROPS, which could be wagged.
Spitz, I agree. The expectant mom says, "My baby is due next month." Actually, I have always thought that "I am due," sounds a little odd.
I believe stenos in most businesses are passe with so many execs doing their own word processing on the computer. However, online I see plenty of ads for court stenographers. The proceedings must be processed in real time while the words are being spoken for the official transcripts. For example:
"Ai-Media — California, MD
We have a large project commencing in April and are looking for Stenographers and Court Reporters who have experience in live real time captioning." Court stenography is often done on a machine.
I have frequently heard window panes called lights, especially those in or surrounding front doors. I have never seen them spelled LITES.
IM, so sorry to hear you are getting more snow. How disappointing. We will get only rain. Our temps, even overnight, should be above freezing all this coming week.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
Another relatively easy puzzle, yet very interesting and cleverly clued. Kudos to Herr Mausser (I assume from that name he's of German ancestry), and as well to Steve for making sense out of the answers.
I had one write-over and one final error that gave me a FIW today. Had HIT SONGS > HIT LISTS, and for some reason though EDEMA was spelled ADEMA. No cheats, though, and no other miscues.
I see that Owen is absent - so far - today, so I will try to fill in:
There's a "leg man" who's into "hot bods";
Especially, on cheerleading squads.
At his FRATERNITY HOUSE
He is known as a louse;
Ogles at UNIVERSITY "QUADS".
Chairman Moe, OwenKL posted at 11:36.
I often have to go back as people post while you type...
(Don't want to miss Anything...)
Re:late Yesterday
(Backtracking again...)
Anonymous T, & Canadian Eh, Re: Color/colour/coler
I hope you noticed that I was reading the 22 down clue
but looking at the 32 down spaces in the grid.
That's how I screwed up the/tho.
(must have something to do with being CrossEyed...)
And a little yesterday blending in with today:
Old time girl with tie on pocket rides a Quad!
Also, re: Magic Posters, can't see image, CrossEyed...
(Oh nuts! if you have to explain a joke, it must be bad...)
What fun to solve this delightful puzzle--many thanks, Richard! Since I'm a retired professor I've spent a lot of time in a UNIVERSITY (Florida and Buffalo, as a graduate student, Tulsa, Michigan, and U California Irvine as a professor). But oddly enough, I can remember the classrooms better than the QUADS. However, I'm not sure I ever visited any of the four in the circles, except maybe TEMPLE. But I loved solving this, even though the northwest corner gave me a certain amount of hassle, and in the end I goofed on a single letter--with IONA instead of OONA. No problem, still fun, and I always love Steve's write-up, many thanks for today's.
Bunny, I too had MET and NET before JET.
Fermatprime, so sorry to hear that your swim went so poorly, and am so sorry that your cough continues and that you're not feeling well. Take good care of yourself, and our thoughts are with you.
Have a good day, everybody!
A nice day appropriate Thursday puzzle, a nice grid construction with misleading but fair clueing. The circle gimmick is harmless and does not affect the solve, hurray for that.
Lotsa clever cluing in this one. Thanks, Mr. Mausser for a splendid workout.
My ire is slowing decreasing in regard to the cross of 38A and 29D. The 38A choice of OLEO vs. OREO could not be certain w/o an answer to the 29D perp, and ALAI made no sense to me.
It was my fault entirely, but in the common way of Xwd solving we must be forgiven for occasionally blaming the creator for our own inEPTitude.
Thanks for 'splainin', Steve. I didn't get it (ALAI) 'til you set me straight.
Hi, Abejo - Looks like nobody answered your question yet, so here goes: ZIN is short for White ZINfandel, a pink alternative to (red) CABernet Sauvignon!
Anonymous @ 1:38 --> I think another Anon already said to Abejo Zinfandel, which is more of an alternative to Cab (short for Cabernet Sauvignon) than a White ZINfandel would be, since it's a "red grape" varietal. An interesting fact is, that most White Zinfandel has a fairly significant percentage of white grapes, and sometimes, different red grapes. There is no grape known as a White Zinfandel.
CED @ 12:50 ---> yeah, I saw his post after I published mine. I started it before he replied; it took me awhile to come up with my limerick! 😜
Speaking of yesterday,
(I know no one was speaking about yesterday,
but I am out of Segways. Sheesh! Gimme a break!)
I especially enjoyed:
OKL @3:13 - A pun is the lowest form of wit; hence it's wit's foundation. Love'd it.
(Hmm, research shows it was two days ago, Anonymous T @ 10:36pm)
These are guaranteed to be a pain in the neck!
(P.S. - To quote OwenKL@3:13 2days ago:)
OwenKL said...
I had a prostitute turn me down because she knew I wouldn't pay. She said I'd always be owen' to her.
I thought that was a whore-able pun.
March 28, 2017 at 3:13 PM
I've seen EPT before, but got sucked into "adema", so a big fail today.
too bad the Menza site never shows the circles.I always groan when I see a circle puzzle because there is no way to figure out where they belong.
CEDAve:
I love those puns! Okay, so puns may be the lowest form of humor, but I laugh loudly at the play on words.
Hi Y'all! Quality puzzle & expo! Thanks, Richard & Steve!.
No circles so didn't get into college.
Stared at GOUP for a while. Perped in, I didn't parse it as two words. Duh!
YR: "Q" was the last fill for me too. Finally WAGd it because of the "U's". The final "A" in ALAI/QUAL/QUADS was slow in coming and ALAI as "end of a ball game?" made absolutely no sense to me at first. Finally I saw the light.
Rest of the puzzle filled pretty easily although PSHAW had to wait for perps. Does anyone actually say PSHAW? Read it but never heard it spoken.
The old cab/ZIN thing got me again. ESP. I actually googled ZIN after finishing to see what brand of car ZIN was and wondered why it wasn't shown. All they showed was ZINfandel! Finally wine flowed in. Duh! I needed a drink after that but don't use alcohol.
I owe my knowledge of Ansel Adams to a chiropractor I once frequented. His waiting room had eight large Adams photography posters which I fell in love with.
CED, love all your punny clips always.
I made an argument that when hitting an errant golf shot one should shout WHORE as the conventional "FORE" could take an instant longer.
My friend 'bought' my theory but when I played with him some time later had dropped the idea. I can only imagine the reason.
Speaking of theories: I don't agree that Ruth would have had any problems hitting 50 or 80 years later. When Ruth hit 60 in 1927, Foxx was a star and he hit 50 in 1940 alongside Ted Williams. Ted was effective in 1960 alongside Yaz. He was an excellent hitter into 1984.
Oh the xword. I too started slow about six am. Then I finished at three. I perped ZIN but was equally mystified by EPT
I got all the quads except TEMPLE.
Good Thursday challenge and another excellent write-up from Steve
WC
Late to the party again today. But the newspaper had arrived and I had the circles. This was a Thursday workout. Thanks Richard and Steve.
I did have some inkblots in the SW corner. I had Teal before CYAN, Lens before EYES (although I knew the plural clue required lenses), and my DQ order was a Cone before it became a MALT. Shakes are more common that Malts here.
We don't have OLEO either as we call it margarine.
Hand up for Tsk before TUT. I learned ALAI doing crosswords but have not seen it lately and today's clue was difficult.
I debated whether the Cab alternative was something like Uber or Chard but ZIN fit the bill.
Recently I booked our tickets for Saint Joan, Shaw's play about Joan OF ARC, at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake this summer.
SaintJoan
Enjoy the evening. We had some snow here today but it has turned to rain. I can't wait for April!
P.P.S.
There She Goes is a much loved song
covered by many,
(& included in the remake of The Parent Trap)
For the guitarists out there,
Sixpence covered it on Letterman
(you will have to do your own Googling)
And this Howto play it
is remarkable because
it is not the chords you thought is was...
P.P.P.S.
(Audrey Hepburn is nowhere near really playing
Moon River in Breakfast at Tiffany's)
Here's a smile for the day that I was sent. (It's sorta punny!)
Subject: The Oldest Computer
The oldest computer can be traced back to Adam and Eve.
Surprise! Surprise! It was an Apple.
But with extremely limited memory.
Just 1 byte.
Then everything crashed.
Hi All!
Richard, a Tip'o'the hat for this MAZE of a puzzle. It had to be a bugger to create (unless you're a super-genius). I can't imagine how many .EDUs you had to go through to nail the QUADs. Nice.
Great Expo Steve. One nit - you pointed out my err @29d xing 38a -Hi OMK! My excuse is dyslexia. I put in Arai [sic s/b Aria] thinking the end of the ball game is when the Fat Lady Sings. Oh well, this puzzle was worth the fail.
WOs: limA b/f FAVA; hand up for Tsk - the NUN made me fix that.
ESPs: IRIS, CAPOTE, LIZA, OONA.
Sparkle: TEETH and GUMS, LEMON DROPS, and I love the word GALORE [makes me think of Bond movie :-)]
Fav: FRAT fill xing QUAD fill -- OVERTONES of effort.
Runner-up: c/a for HULAS
I've been to RICE and TULANE - 'course you know I like OU's South Oval.
{much better version - A+, A}. {Cute}
Fermat - Falling is NOT how you get well. Pls. take care!
YR - Mom says PSHAW - she was a HIPPY :-)
BunnyM - LOL re: MIL getting SMASH'd. C, Eh! - LOL 1byte!
Steve - I love that song. I didn't know it from The Boo Radleys (or The La's CED). I know the song from the intro to So I Married an Axe Murderer. Upon getting his huge latte, Mike Myers' character says, "Excuse me miss, I ordered the large" and then SIPPED it.
Cheers, -T
What are we supposed to see in the magic eye poster?
YR - I saw little clusters of candies floating above the background of candies. It may help to focus on something reflected in your screen (you shirt or something) to get your EYES to blur the image. C, -T
Yellowrocks:
Here is a link that explains it.
Poke (not pig in) around the site for more info.
I haave never seen anything, because you are supposed to get close enough
to have the image go out of focus.
But for me, the closer I get, the more in focus it is...
Cross Eyed Dave...
Thanks for all the positive comments. To Anonymous T's point, I did need to run through quite a few schools to get this gimmick to work. My 4-letter schools were YALE, RICE and DUKE. My 6-letter inventory included BAYLOR, BUTLER, LEHIGH, DREXEL, XAVIER and PURDUE before settling on TULANE AND TEMPLE. It was purely fortuitous that FRATERNITY HOUSE bisected UNIVERSITY QUADS, thus enabling the grid to be divided into equal quadrants. I don't think anyone mentioned this, but the black squares located in the center of the grid were also intentionally positioned to create a rectangular “quad” image. I’m glad everyone seemed to like the puzzle.
Thanks for checking in, Richard! Always nice to hear from the constructors :)
I didn't notice the black squares creating a "quad" in the center- very cool! Quite brilliant with the clues, crossings and colleges!
wait, what?
I see the black squares in the center,
3SW,3NE, two center - NW & SE
How does that represent a Quad?
(I am confused, pls elucidate)
If you look at the 8 black squared in the center of the grid, you'll notice a quad rectangle on a 45 degree bias.
And for those still up... I found something that connects Myers, Bond [Sean], and Miss GALORE [6m @ the AFI]. Cheers. -T
Rich - Sans avitar I missed your post at 1st. Thanks for stopping by. I'm so glad you didn't use LEHIGH; never heard of it.
Thanks again for the puzzle. Cheers, -T
What fun! Thank you, Richard, for your kind remarks and insight into the creation of your nifty puzzle.
Tonight I attended a youth concert in which my step-granddaughter played flute. It was brilliant! 90 elite musicians from the Tempe middle schools and their student mentors from the high schools performed. It is called the Tempe Youth Wind Symphony, an annual event presented by the city of Tempe. My step-granddaughter is in eighth grade and she along with her fellow performers played really well. It was impressive and gratifying to see young people dedicated to their art and the municipality supporting such an event.
Wow, lots of action late last night with Rich dropping in. I forgot to mention that NERO Wolfe, wed's detective, used PSHAW a lot. Along with a lot of other words of that ilk.
WC
Ps. I thought I saw a word in the m&ms; I couldn't keep it in FOCUS long enough to make it out
Pps. Lucina, that must have been an amazing show. Mucho kudos to everyone involved including the (step) grandmother and her unwavering support
Kids will never say it but they really appreciate it
WC who just finished Fri. I hope the constructor stops by so I can throw a tomato at him. The ultimate xword KUDO
Wow, lots of action late last night with Rich dropping in. I forgot to mention that NERO Wolfe, wed's detective, used PSHAW a lot. Along with a lot of other words of that ilk.
WC
Ps. I thought I saw a word in the m&ms; I couldn't keep it in FOCUS long enough to make it out
Thanks for dropping in, constructor Richard Mausser! And thanks for a fun puzzle! I did not notice the 45 degree quad in the middle.
I love circle puzzles now that I am able to see circles!
I get them at the LA Times Games site: http://games.latimes.com/games/daily-crossword/
Got TULANE early. For some reason I thought it was going to be about college sports, which I know nothing about. Glad to see it was just about colleges.
Hand up for struggling with QUADS/QUAL crossing.
Considered HIT SONGS and HIT MUSIC before getting HIT LISTS
EDEMA is not just for plants, which had me hesitant for awhile. Was that a deliberate misdirection?
Know nothing about Game of Thrones. Only know OONA from other puzzles. COLA in all caps had me only thinking of the intended meaning.
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