Theme: None
Words: 68 (missing F,J,Q,X)
Blocks: 34
We have not seen a solo Jeff Chen on a Saturday in quite some time. This
one was looking pretty grim for a while, and then one or two words
broke it open for me. Triple spanner stack today, with two 9- and
10-letter climbers crossing - not the usual short 3- and 4-letter words
to help out - and thus convenient tie-ins, corner to corner. Last to fill
was the NE, and I was able to finish well within my personal allotted time - but I
will own up to turning on red-letters for just one cel, a crossing of a
personal name and a clue that I just did not get. Figures. The spanners;
35. Make trouble : CREATE A NUISANCE - not exactly in the 'vernacular' I would say, so a bit of a stretch for me
38. 1997 Emmy winner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series : GILLIAN ANDERSON - for her role as Agent Dana Scully from the X-files, one of my favorite shows of all time
39. It might cause quite a shock : ELECTRIC CURRENT - I threw in the first word , and waited to see what the second half of the answer would be
38. 1997 Emmy winner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series : GILLIAN ANDERSON - for her role as Agent Dana Scully from the X-files, one of my favorite shows of all time
¡~pɹɐʍuo (15a.)
ACROSS:
1. Crisis advice : DON'T PANIC - ah, Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide advice
10. Military clipping? : BUZZ
14. "Fish" star : ABE VIGODA - got it, but then again, I know no one else from that show
15. It's often transported upside-down : CANOE - got it from the "C", and the clue had me intrigued - I was thinking larger, like something on a flat-bed
16. Parts of many place settings : TEASPOONS - SALAD FORK~? SOUP SPOON~? Had to wait, missed the plural
17. "Loot" playwright : ORTON - the "T" was a Natick - I tried "S" and "D"
18. Fictional 1847 autobiographer : EYRE - I tried "FINN" first
19. Physics model using an analogy to the solar system : BOHR ATOM
21. Adulterer follower, in slang : TEC
- deTECtive, tho I did not get the clue at first because I was thinking
"adulterer" was some sort of X-rated reference; I suppose it is, in a
way
24. They're framed : CELS
25. British racing cars : MGs
28. Trees whose bark contains the anti-inflammatory salicin : ALDERS - Pondered POPLAR and WALNUT before I saw the plural "S" in treeS
31. Real piece of work : TASK
40. Coder's conditional : ELSE - why 'coder's'~?
41. Bible-toting aunt on "Sanford and Son" : ESTHER - had the "E", seemed Biblically appropriate; semi-clecho with 54d. "Sanford and Son" first name : REDD - the actor, FOXX, whose real name was Sanford
42. The French? : LES - Frawnche for "The"
43. Bite : NOSH
45. Muppets chimp __ Minella : SAL - har-har
..
47. Made bank : HIT IT BIG - like the second verse from this Spinal Tap song
51. Thickening agent : AGAR
55. Nugget of wisdom : PEARL
56. "Pick it up!" : "LOOK ALIVE~!"
59. The "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" : SAGAS - I had EPICS; this one could not be clued as "palidromic", since that appears at 27d.
60. Like bears and koala bears : UNRELATED - clever
61. False __ : IDOL - I thought of so many other "falses"
62. Best Upset, e.g. : ESPY AWARD
14. "Fish" star : ABE VIGODA - got it, but then again, I know no one else from that show
15. It's often transported upside-down : CANOE - got it from the "C", and the clue had me intrigued - I was thinking larger, like something on a flat-bed
They caught the Loch Ness monster~!
17. "Loot" playwright : ORTON - the "T" was a Natick - I tried "S" and "D"
18. Fictional 1847 autobiographer : EYRE - I tried "FINN" first
19. Physics model using an analogy to the solar system : BOHR ATOM
24. They're framed : CELS
25. British racing cars : MGs
31. Real piece of work : TASK
40. Coder's conditional : ELSE - why 'coder's'~?
41. Bible-toting aunt on "Sanford and Son" : ESTHER - had the "E", seemed Biblically appropriate; semi-clecho with 54d. "Sanford and Son" first name : REDD - the actor, FOXX, whose real name was Sanford
42. The French? : LES - Frawnche for "The"
43. Bite : NOSH
45. Muppets chimp __ Minella : SAL - har-har
..
47. Made bank : HIT IT BIG - like the second verse from this Spinal Tap song
"Hell Hole" @ 1:20
51. Thickening agent : AGAR
55. Nugget of wisdom : PEARL
56. "Pick it up!" : "LOOK ALIVE~!"
59. The "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" : SAGAS - I had EPICS; this one could not be clued as "palidromic", since that appears at 27d.
60. Like bears and koala bears : UNRELATED - clever
61. False __ : IDOL - I thought of so many other "falses"
62. Best Upset, e.g. : ESPY AWARD
DOWN:
1. Tinder meeting : DATE
2. Follow : OBEY
3. Around : NEAR
4. Boob tube : TV SET - I mentioned this last week
5. Dimple on a die : PIP - I just discovered there is such a thing as "back dimples"
6. Earlier : AGO
7. Neophyte, briefly : NOOB
8. SSN, e.g. : ID No.
9. Problem caused by fallen dough? : CASH CRUNCH
10. MVP of Super Bowls I and II : BART STARR
11. Word that sometimes precedes itself : UNTO - unto unto~? As in do unto....~?
12. Shooter's piece : ZOOM - photo shooter, that is; I was in gangster "gat" mode
13. Peaceful : ZEN - first thought, but hesitated to fill it in
15. Shade of black : COAL - dah~! Not EBON
20. Distillery leftovers : RESIDUES
22. Wipe out, in snowboarding slang : EAT IT
23. Least obfuscatory : CLEAREST - good $2 word in there; and when you use it, most people are obfuscated
25. Bobby in a '70s chart-topper : McGEE
26. Give the third degree : GRILL
27. Palindromic court star : SELES
29. Cheese with PGI status (protected geographical indication) : DANISH BLUE - uh, sounds like cheese....
30. Pass : ENACT
32. First name in landscape photography : ANSEL - Adams
33. Clotted cream may be put on one : SCONE - ugh - just the name makes me cringe - and my parents are English
34. Superman's kin : KENTS - here on Earth
36. Indians' habitat?: Abbr. : AL CENTRAL - I figured it was Cleveland, but did not know their specific baseball division
37. Brazilian mountain chain : SERRA
44. Essential __ : OILS
46. Bochco drama : L.A. LAW
47. Big enchilada : HEAD
48. Manipulator of the Moor : IAGO
49. They carry charges : IONS
50. It's also called scroggin or schmogle : GORP - learned here at the blog that it stands for "Good Old Raisins and Peanuts"
52. Sanskrit scripture, with "the" : GITA - Got it, since I like the TV show "Ancient Aliens"; it refers to this writing in several episodes
53. Swear to be true : AVER - or AVOW~? Had to wait. It's been a while since I've seen this answer.
55. Chi follower : PSI - made me change my EPICS to SAGAS
57. Instrumental : KEY
58. Styled after : Á LA
2. Follow : OBEY
3. Around : NEAR
4. Boob tube : TV SET - I mentioned this last week
5. Dimple on a die : PIP - I just discovered there is such a thing as "back dimples"
some have gone so far as to get them pierced....
6. Earlier : AGO
7. Neophyte, briefly : NOOB
8. SSN, e.g. : ID No.
9. Problem caused by fallen dough? : CASH CRUNCH
10. MVP of Super Bowls I and II : BART STARR
11. Word that sometimes precedes itself : UNTO - unto unto~? As in do unto....~?
12. Shooter's piece : ZOOM - photo shooter, that is; I was in gangster "gat" mode
13. Peaceful : ZEN - first thought, but hesitated to fill it in
15. Shade of black : COAL - dah~! Not EBON
20. Distillery leftovers : RESIDUES
22. Wipe out, in snowboarding slang : EAT IT
23. Least obfuscatory : CLEAREST - good $2 word in there; and when you use it, most people are obfuscated
25. Bobby in a '70s chart-topper : McGEE
26. Give the third degree : GRILL
27. Palindromic court star : SELES
29. Cheese with PGI status (protected geographical indication) : DANISH BLUE - uh, sounds like cheese....
30. Pass : ENACT
32. First name in landscape photography : ANSEL - Adams
34. Superman's kin : KENTS - here on Earth
36. Indians' habitat?: Abbr. : AL CENTRAL - I figured it was Cleveland, but did not know their specific baseball division
37. Brazilian mountain chain : SERRA
44. Essential __ : OILS
46. Bochco drama : L.A. LAW
47. Big enchilada : HEAD
48. Manipulator of the Moor : IAGO
49. They carry charges : IONS
50. It's also called scroggin or schmogle : GORP - learned here at the blog that it stands for "Good Old Raisins and Peanuts"
52. Sanskrit scripture, with "the" : GITA - Got it, since I like the TV show "Ancient Aliens"; it refers to this writing in several episodes
53. Swear to be true : AVER - or AVOW~? Had to wait. It's been a while since I've seen this answer.
55. Chi follower : PSI - made me change my EPICS to SAGAS
57. Instrumental : KEY
58. Styled after : Á LA
Splynter
44 comments:
FIR! Sort of had some red-letter non-help. Got everything else, but the NE corner was mostly white. Made a couple WAGs, but nothing else was coming, so I pressed the check-all button, and it came back clean. With that assurance, I made some more WAGs and got-er-done!
Nothing poetic occurring to me today. I must be using up all my creativity on jigsaw puzzles.
Where is everybody? Oh...good morning!
This was a fine ending to an easy week. This one came into the station well ahead of schedule. New England was the last area to fall. It looked bleak until CANOE broke it open. Apparently "Onward" can also be transported upside-down. Thanks, Jeff and Splynter.
Good morning.
Desper-otto, I'm here. Sort of. Flaky WiFi this morning. Had to take the laptop out to the office and plug in the ethernet cable to load the puzzle. Going to reboot everything in a few minutes... Very annoying.
Well, I got my comeuppance. Made a mess of the NE.
Stubbed my toe in the mid east for awhile. Real piece of work ? Tool, of course. The KENTS finally visited, and ANSEL was my oh yeah moment.
But it was the NE. Had no pause filling BART STARR, BUZZ and UNTO, and wanted but couldn't prove ZEN.
It was 19 and 24 across that led to my fail. I went with BOHRS TOY and CEOS. Then couldn't think of any shade of black that ended in --SO.
Who is ORTON. Didn't orton 'ear an ooh ?
PEARL. Pearl Jam. I'll quit linking rock songs. At least until I get my WiFi working again.
After my first pass I successfully had entered BART STARR, KENTS & TASK. Then I said screw it. Trees containing anti-inflammatory salicin, Physics models, a 1997 Emmy winner, & a host of other clues that left me shouting out all of my curse words & expressions.
In the future any puzzle I find authored by Mr Chen will be completely ignored. Cheese with PGI status? Now I'm not sure if my taste for Cheddar should be reconsidered. Time for lawn work.....something I can handle.
"CREATEing A NUISANCE" was the charge (in addition to Littering) that helped Arlo Guthrie fit in on the Group W Bench at the draft board in Alice's Restaurant
Good morning all!
This was an easy Saturday for me - I ZOOMed right through without too much trouble. Thanks, Jeff for great puzzle - loved the grid spanners and fresh clues.
Thanks, Splynter for a wonderful tour :)
Unknowns gotten via perps were GORP, GITA, DANISHBLUE and PIP ( I tried Dot until ABEVIGODA fixed that)
I knew BARTSTARR from a chick lit book I'm reading - go figure :) I started it on the beach and am still trying to finish it.
We've been back a week from vacation and I'm still trying to clear my "vacation brain". Have worked some of the puzzles this week but haven't had time to check the blog. So busy with catching up with life, some family troubles and preparing for daughter #1's 30th birthday party tomorrow. She has rented a hall and there could be 50 or more guests. Should be fun! Now I'm off to make Cole slaw and cheesecake bites. For 50... A mother's love knows no bounds, lol :)
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
I was almost 'Busted Flat in Baton Rouge' in their traffic Friday afternoon (absolutely horrible) and busted this morning before I finished Mr. Chen's puzzle. The way it started in the NW I thought it would be a breeze with DON'T PANIC and ABE VIGODA filled as gimmes. Then I hit the middle wall with only BART STARR, Monica SELES, and ANSEL Adams in place. The unknowns filled by perps were very abundant: ORTON, GILLIAN ANDERSON or X-Files, NOOB, GORP( or scroggin or schmogle ), SERRA, GITA, DANISH BLUE, LA LAW.
My Bobby McGEE was misspelled as 'MAGEE' (a very prevalent spelling in SE Louisiana) and I had WILLOW (source for salicylic acid) for ALDERS and those false starts delayed my completion. But then I remembered Janis Joplin singing about Diesel Dan in Kris Kristofferson's song. A REAL changed to CREATE so when it came to finishing, I didn't have to EAT IT.
Have a safe weekend.
UNTO- I got it but I don't 'get it'. I was thinking UNDO for a computer command.
Computer code uses the IF - THEN - ELSE ... but I suppose it's a conditional for for non-coders too.
UNTO doesn't precede UNTO (itself), it literally precedes ITSELF, as in a law UNTO ITSELF. That one had me momentarily confused as well.
I'm still patting myself on the back for getting ABEVIGODA right off the bat.
But who played Mrs. Fish? I can see and hear her but her name eludes me.
The phrase is "unto itself." It's a world unto itself. Clever.
My train came in to the station well ahead of schedule, too. Unfortunately, it was the wrong station. I knew I was in trouble the second I saw Mr. Chen's name. I don't know why, but I just can't seem to get on his wavelength.
Hand up for wanting WILLOW for the salicin producing tree. Never heard that alders also contained this.
I guess I'll just blame getting home late last night from our two weeks in New England (one wk in NH and one in ME) for my performance on this one. Yeah, that's it. Vacation. Otherwise I'd have nailed it. :P
Hi Y'all! This was one big natick for me. Thank you, Splynter for 'splainin' some things. Thank you red-letters for giving me more than a few toe holds. Woke up to an ominous sounding thunder storm but I can't blame the blankness of my mind on that. I just flat didn't know stuff.
When ABEVIGODA perped in, I parsed it as one word. "They had a fish named that in "Finding Nemo'," I wondered? Duh! I guess from comments "Fish" was once a TV show. Not one we got on our 3-channel antenna apparently.
Hand up for "willow" before alder. I had read about this Indian remedy and knew the tree was along streams.
I did get SELES.
Welcome back, Bunny.
Bill G.: Congrats on the new granddaughter from yesterday.
Musings
-Blank cells? I’ll take a 4-pack in the NE. Getting BOHR ATOM and BART STARR early didn’t help
-One of J.E.B. Stuart’s main job was to CREATE A NUISANCE to vex the Union army
-ELECTRIC CURRENT is the flow of those outer “planets” in BOHR’S ATOM
-That ALDER (and its cousin Willow) salicin metabolizes into aspirin (salicylic acid) when ingested. Native Americans knew it was good for headaches
-Neither airplane tilt nor pool shot worked for “Made bank”
-ELSE in coding
-“Pick it up” – what I hope playing partners will say to me on a short putt
-Is OBEY in wedding vows any longer?
-Vatican City is a country UNTO itself in the heart of Rome
-Has anyone here ever hitchhiked like Me And My Bobby McGee?
-Ma and Pa KENT discover Superman and his super powers (3:56)
-Not all 5-letter South American mountain chains are ANDES
-Daughter is having 60 people to her house today to celebrate her 50th birthday. Her husband tore his Achilles tendon playing church softball (I warned him) and so I’ll be the Chef du jour ALA barbecue.
The northeast did fall although I expressed a fair amount of "color" before it came together. Didn't understand 21a "tec" until Splynter's excellent write-up and 11d until reading other bloggers. Never heard of Orton of Bohr atom but seemed solid given perps. Hope everyone has a great Saturday! JB2
A tough Jeff Chen puzzle today with Splynter's explanation filling in all of the AHA's. After my first run through I was looking at a mostly sea of white. The few islands were BUZZ, BARTSTARR, ZEN, TVSET, TASK, KENTS and MGS.
The islands along with Red-Letter help and a couple of WAGS resulted in the rest of the puzzle revealing itself.
The BOHR ATOM had me for quite a while. I got the ATOM part and should have remembered Niels BOHR from physics class, but I wanted to put in the element with atomic number 9. But Fluorine didn't fit.
The grid spanners fell into place because MGS and TASK provided the anchors for each end of the spanners.
I finally got AVEVIGODA because of the "Barney Miller Show" not from the "Fish" TV series. For a while I tried to put Degeneres in as a "Finding Nemo" star. Wrong show, although there was a Fish named Abe Vigoda in Finding Nemo. I also pondered star names from "A Fish Called Wanda" but nothing fit. Both were good movies though.
Looks like a mostly dreary Memorial Day weekend in this part of the country. I did get a new gas grill to replace the old one that went to recycling last week. No steaks, but I will probably do a few hot dogs and burgers if I can fit them in between the raindrops.
I hope everybody has a great holiday weekend.
Good morning everyone.
Good intro, Splynter. Agree w/ your cluing comments. No legs today, but we'll persevere.
Very knotty, tough solve, but it's Saturday, and Jeff has his own ways. Main dislike was usage of words like GORP and scroggin, which are slang known but to a few (probably non-puzzlers). NOOB was meh, too. Liked CASH CRUNCH and the middle grid spanners.
ELSE - Think that was a coding word in later versions of Fortran.
SSN - Wanted something denoting nuclear sub.
Good morning to all!
I needed major google help to finish today. "Fish", "Loot", Bochco, and GILLIAN ANDERSON were all complete unknowns. I did know that REDD Foxx starred in "Sanford and Son", but didn't care for the show, so did not know Aunt ESTHER. Hopefully I'll remember some of what I learned. Thanks for the expo, Splynter.
Enjoy the day!
Good Morning:
Well, my speedy Saturday solves have come to a screeching halt, but that's okay with me as I prefer a tougher challenge, anyway. I started out like gangbusters in the NW but then things slowed to a crawl. I knew Gillian but couldn't remember her last name; never saw the show as SciFi is definitely not my cup of tea. Had The TV before TV Set, epics before sagas, Cedars before Alders and the most fatal which caused a FIW, ESPN/Ken instead of ESPY/Key. I misread the clue for Key as the clue for the "Sanford and Son." first name. Silly mistake, also, because I know they are ESPY Awards, not ESPN. With one or two exceptions, I found the cluing fair for a Saturday and I am still a Jeff Chen fan, even when he is devious and deceptive.
Thanks, Jeff, for a very challenging offering and thanks, Splynter, for the succinct summary.
BunnyM ~ Welcome back; hope you had a wonderful vacation. Hope your daughter's party goes well.
WikWak ~ Where in Maine did you vacation? I've spent lots of time in the Ogunquit/Wells area; just love it!
HG ~ If your chef skills are as good as your blogging skills, your daughter's party should be A-OK!
Have a great day.
I was going along at a decent pace for a Saturday, always a challenge for me. Then I got hung up on the 3x3 cells in the extreme NE corner. BOHRAT-- came from perps, but I had to look up the OM in ATOM. I also looked up the ON in ORTON. Big V-8 can moment for BUZZ, DUH. That may have made Googling unnecessary. I loved this puzzle.
Thanks to the coders' blogging recently, I knew ELSE.
GORP is very well known here and is sold in supermarkets. Scroggin and schmogle were totally unknown but G--P gave it to me. Gorp is sometimes called trail mix. There are many recipes online.
CREATE A NUISANCE is in the language for me. Often it is "create a public nuisance".
"There are a series of acts or oversights that can lead to you being charged with creating or maintaining a public nuisance." -criminallawyersandiego.com
CRE---A----NCE was all I needed.
"Look alive!" is said to easily distracted eight year old kids in the outfield.
Having the D in the middle, it had to be ALDERS.
Whew! What a challenge from Jeff Chen. Clinching the NW lulled me into thinking this would be easy. Not! The SW filled quickly enough but the phraseology like HITITBIG and LOOKALIVE took a very long while and this turned out to be a slog.
I never watched the X-Files so GILLIANANDERSON never occurred to me, had to Google her but then it broke open the center. Altogether, though, this was tough, and like Spitz, I found GORP and it's cluing quite elusive.
I knew ANSEL, BART STARR (surprisingly), MCGEE and ABEVIGODA so that somewhat eased the solve.
It was a worthy Saturday challenge so thank you, Jeff Chen. I appreciate being forced to think harder. And thank you, Splynter, for shedding light on some obscurities.
Have a great day and weekend, everyone!
I managed to finish this, not sure how, just kept at it.
I do agree with all who had problems with the clueing. I believe Mr. Chen is one of those constructors who clues so that you do not get the solve and gets a charge out of it.
British race cars are MGs? You mean, like 40 years ago? Please don't tell Jaguar, Aston-Martin, Lotus and McLaren among others here in the present.
This guy Chen has a mean streak, IMHO. Sadistic almost.
I appreciate Splynter's explanation. No mention of Ottawa though. Keep counting those chickens!
Some clues/answers jumped out at me today,
i.e.:electric current was obvious,
which is a good thing because I need every perp I can get...
Ancient Aliens! Love that show!
(but I cringe every time they they come up with some bizarre theory
without any facts whatsoever...)
My kids always ask me why I watch (this crap)
and I always tell them, because without it I would never have known
about Gobekli Tepe, or Puma Punku. The Schist Disc is amazing, not because it came from some machine, it was part of a floor lamp! It held oil on a stick to elevate it, and the folds held bundles of reeds which acted as wicks. One end of the reeds in the oil, the other end set alight,and voila! a 3 burner floor lamp!
The real question is how did they carve the dang thing!
Bohr Atom?
An "oversimplification" perhaps.
(hmm, it's a real word! can we put it in a crossword somewhere?)
(hmm, it would have to be an 18x18...)
Anywho, I think
when they start to be able to look more closely at an atom,
using frequencies of electromagnetic radiation so high that
you could focus on distances in the micro-subatomic range,
you will find the atom to be a much more complicated place than a solar system.
More like the messy place of an entire Galaxy...
So, if light takes 100,000 years of "our time" to cross the Galaxy,
what frequency range of electromagnetic radiation are we talking about?
Also,
if our Galaxy were an atom, at our scale of reference, what would it be?
certainly not a solid element as we know it, it is undergoing fusion.
Where would you find such an element?
inside a star of course.
And where would such heavy elements as complicated as our galaxy be forming?
in a supernova of course...
So, if our Galaxy is just a single atom undergoing fusion in a supernova of
unimaginable scale, what is all the fuss about the expansion of the universe?
It's hot dang it! and getting hotter! of course it is expanding!
hmm, but how to explain electricity, gravity, photons of light emitted from electrons
dropping to lower energy levels? Bah, Humbug! things are much more complex!
What? You didn't ask for all this nonsense?
(Hmm, I thought you were interested in puzzles...)
Well, I know Saturday is going to produce a toughie, but when I saw it was Jeff Chen, I feared the worst. The only items I got on my first run-through were IAGO, SAGAS, ANSEL, AGAR, and KENTS. That's not much to work with. Thankfully more things filled in as I went along, but in the end it still took a fair amount of cheating for me to finish. Thankfully, ABE VIGODA came in early--that helped. Some of my problems cam from just not being up to speed. Couldn't believe NOOB when it finally shook down. I'm guessing that's the slang for NEWBIE? Never heard of it. Never heard of a playwright named ORTON. I kept wanting Clifford ODETS but it just wouldn't fit. Well, anyway, thanks, Jeff-but please wait a few weeks before you come back on a Saturday. And thanks for the helpful write-up, Splynter.
Congrats on the new baby grand-daughter, Bill G.
Bunny M, hope your daughter has a lovely birthday dinner.
Glad you had a good vacation, WikWak.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
So darn close..Too old for detailed muppet names beyond the basics and clueless about Brazilian mountains. Plus I had Aunt Esther's name spelled with an A..so it would fit with residuals instead of residues which is an awkward sounding plural...oh well
As a physicist I had only heard it called the Bohr Model never the Bohr Atom. The Bohr Model is the basis of quantum mechanics and was my best friend through Modern Physics and Quantum I. Quantum Mechanics II was the only course I ever dropped. It was the weeding out of the true physicists from the ones that had a bright future...in engineering !
...and UNTO precedes UNTO in the Golden Rule. Long forgotten in 2017 so "sometimes" in the clue is a bit of a stretch.
Although I do quite often hear "do unto others BEFORE they do unto you"
Way over my head today. I did get a few. BART STARR was easy for some reason, and I once had two MGBs so that came to me. I misspelled MCGEE, but was proud that knew it. Splynter, I loved the X-Files also so I got GILLIAN.
Before most of the rest I needed your enlightenment. Thanks. And thanks , Mr Chen, for the workout.
Hi All!
I had a full three hours to think about this puzzle while at commencement and needed them! FIW w/ 5 bad squares but I'll take that against a Jeff Chen any day.
I got started with PIP and AGO -> TEASPOONS. ABE VIGODA was ESP'd in as I wanted Tom Hanks, Darryl Hanna, in that "fish" movie [right, I was thinking Mermaid, D'Oh!]. The B in ABE (Ava who?) appeared I looked at the clue again "Fish" not a movie, TV! [PK it was on one of the 3 U/VHF networks; it was an ABC spin-off of Barney Miller] - V8 never hurt so badly.
//Clap'd for My Kid and then went back to puzzling
Same hang up w/ 38a. I loved the X-Files, but even after getting GILLIAN ANDERSON I had to re-read the clue and figured she was in some other TV drama; D'Oh X-Files is classified as a drama [I always thought it was a SciFi Rom-Com :-)]
Thank goodness we learned early this week that Koalas aren't bears or I'd have never unlocked the SW nor -ANI--L-- @ 29d; after the penny drop'd, all I could think of was Cheese Shop Sketch.
Alas, I misspelt NUIcANCE and 41a is ink'd ESTHEL (Eathel was 1st whack at it), 45a is Sis obviously messing up LA LAW [no clue what Bochco means] and some unknown mtn range. Finally, and thanks to gespenst for 'splainin', UNdO. UNTO UNTO make just a bit less sense that Undo! Undo! [you've been there - hit send and go D'OOOOHHH!] and I had no idea who 'ORTON is anyway [funny TTP; also Ralph's buddy on The Honeymooners :-)].
Thanks Splynter for the expo [didn't know back dimple either; muffin top, now that I've seen :-)] and once again, This is Spinal Tap! LOL.
Jeff, you're a formidable opponent. Thanks for a fun, fiendishly clue'd Pzl. See TEC, AL Central, and Gillian Anderson w/ no reference to the X-Files.
Read everyone after @9a later - time to clean up for dinner.
Cheers, -T
This was a toughie but goodie. Jeff Chen always makes me work to figure out stuff I don't know, and there is much I don't know, such as the Super Bowl I MVP. Lotsa googling today. After finally filling the whole thing something was still wrong, so turning on red letters revealed my N crossing ESPN AWARD and KEN was wrong. Oh,a Y. Now it makes sense. Sheesh.
Thanks, Jeff, for helping us stretch and grow. Keep 'am coming. We need these Saturday challenges. The more we try, the better solvers we become. Googling, red lettering, and reading the blog are part of the growth opportunity you make possible.
Tough one, Mr. Chen!
I'll add my own Sheesh to that of Jayce, above.
But thanks! And thanks, Splynter - esp. for the "back dimples" illustration. Most illuminating...
Biggest takeaway from today's pzl für mich? - that JOE NAMATH and BART STARR use the same number of letters! Grrshf*#@!
Also that NUISANCE is a lot easier to spell than I thought...
Being curious, I looked up Joe ORTON to find out more about him. What an eye opener that was! His attempts at getting published were slow so in the meantime he and his partner stole bookplates from library books, over 1,000, and "redesigned" them! Some consider them artistic and so an exhibit of the existing ones is being planned. Sadly, his partner killed him and then killed himself.
As others have said, the things we learn by doing crosswords are intriguing! Right on, YR!
Thanks Jeff and Splynter. I missed the legs photo. :>)
I much prefer a Thursday or Friday puzzle rather than a Saturday puzzle. Both have difficult and clever clues. A theme just adds an extra layer of fun for me.
Does Trivago advertise on TV in your area? They claim to provide an easy way to get the lowest hotel prices. I don't know about that but what's with the way the announcers/actors pronounce Trivago? It sounds more like 'chee-va-go.
Late to the party today after lurking for several days due to busy schedule and gardening. Thanks for the fun, Jeff and Splynter.
I started with a sea of white after first pass across and down. But I persevered and finished with some Google help (no red letter help in my newspaper). The north was the last to fall. I agree with YR we learn from Saturday solves and there is no shame in using Google, blog and discussion to grow as a solver.
WEES. Willow before ALDERS, Adage before PEARL. I smiled at UNTO itself.
Because I lurked all week, I remembered the IF-THEN-ELSE computer clue and also the Koala/bears UNRELATED fact. I think Rich thinks up some of the clues based on the week's work.
Love the dimple info, Splynter. I wondered if mine had been replaced by Muffin Tops but DH says they are still there. Bonus points for him tonight- LOL!
Congratulations to Bill G. on birth of granddaughter.
Welcome back from vacation, Bunny M and WikWak.
Hope all the parties are going well (Bunny M and Husker G) and any others.
Congrats to AnonT's daughter on graduation (and to AnonT for surviving Prom night).
Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all my American friends.
Chuck you support Sheldon's opinion of engineers like Howard. I learn so much here.
Jeff Chen you are truly a renaissance constructor, always a pleasure....
Irish Miss: after spending a week in New Hampshire's White Mountains, we went pretty much straight east (at least, as straight as you CAN go) to Rangeley ME, in an area of smaller hills (but still pretty high compared to DuPage County IL!) and many lakes. From that base we also spent 2 days in Bar Harbor (excuse me: Bah Hahbah) and Acadia Nat'l Park. Beautiful areas, all. It was hard to come back home!
Bill G. I've seen Trivago ads here in Houston and hit Skip>. They're anoying to me and I'm sure they are "blocked" rooms. No thanks.
Welcome back Bunny & WikWak. Tx Ms; it was good to see you too yesterday.
Lucina & YR - I know I've learnt a ton doing crosswords; though I still can't remember Chaplin's wife and we see her every 3 mo :-)
C, Eh. Prom was fun for her and Graduation was, well, 30 seconds Yea!, "oh, I know that kid too. Where's her dad?", ibid, and blather [good thing I brought the puzzle!] Dinner was fun - "Texas de Brazil" where they bring out meat on a skewer and cut you different cuts. The secret is to stay away from the fantastic (and too tempting to listien to my own advice) salad bar. Best Creme Brûlée I've had in a long time.
Re: BOHR ATOM - first fill in the NW and yes I more frequently hear Model. But I get it and it's a good model until Organics and Quantum. Then CED, Atoms become a statistical cloud. I'm no physicist nor did I ever major in it....BUT,
Chuck L. Not to be one to dump on other majors (but here I go :-)). I started (and finished) in EE which weed-out classes made Mech E.s who were further whittled down to Biz Majors. And now, sans academia, we all work for Biz Majors. How'd that work out for us :-)
Cheers, -T
Anonymous-T
I really must protest...
Overposting the Cheese shop sketch...
(i guess my complaint is really that every time you post it, I have to watch it...)
Also,
I just got back from dinner, which started with a very aromatic,
bordering on fetid,
Brie style cheese, called Pierre somethingorother...
Absolutely excellent!
Still trying to digest it...
Bill Graham- Trivago, Hotwire, Travelocity, HomeAway, Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz- These companies are ALL divisions of the same company-Expedia, Inc.
If you are looking for the best price do not use an Apple computer or I-phone. They offer higher prices to people who use those devices.
CED Said... "Every time you post it, I get to watch it... [Fixed That For You :-)]
Also, I should have been more specific - ATOMs' electrons become a statistical cloud. Schrodinger showed this and, between him & Heisenberg, Physicists both for sure proved the maths. Some EE's at Bell Labs applied the maths to create a doped-silicon tunneling electron switch; aka the transistor. And now we get's an iPhone --- and PCs, the Internet... Ok, Besides that, what have the transistors done for us? [Um, weather predicting satellites?]
Big E. I thought so (didn't know re: Hotels.com was part of the group, thanks) but didn't have time to look it up. And yes folks, dynamic-pricing takes into account if you are using an iThing; IF browser == Safari THEN user=rich, charge more; ELSE ++discount for the poor Windows user [+++discount for Linux // using free software=poor :-)]. [see: Dynamic Pricing].
And that's enough navel-gazing. Play Monday. Cheers, -T
C-E Dave @ 8:54 - please don't go back wherever you had that nip of cheese! Yikes! But I do chuckle at your off-the-wall humor.
A bright spot in the business section today. Kudos to an oil company that is progressive before fracking in an eco-sensitive area, contracting with a respected research institute to study the effects.
Today's puzzle - NE solved easily, buzz, canoe, then Bart Starr, perps for Orton (who?) (except of course BohrAtom - I'm scientifically challenged, among many areas). Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" was my fav song way back then. Electric current an easy A, Gillian Anderson, not so much - who? Finally "Fished" Abe Vigoda from ... maybe Taxi?? - never watched any of those shows. The rest a slow slog until I crashed and burned - ESPN Award instead of ESPY - ack! But it was fun. Splynter... I'll never know how you (and probably don't want to know) find those links. Thanks, Splynter!! And thanks, Misty, for the "noob" connection, head-scratching until I read your comment.
TX Ms - Well you knew Bart Starr and I Bohr Atom. I was trying to stuff Bret Farve in there even knowing that he was later; then tried to think of Terry Bradshaw's contemporaries - yeah, I don't know s*** about football; we have our strengths [MIL & I joke "if we put our heads together we'd have a brain!"]
Also, I read pg B1 too and already knew... That's why I'm proud to be part of said company.
Not Taxi. ABE was the desk agent "Fish" in Barney Miller and ABC spun-it-off into Fish to portray Fish's home-life. It was short-lived but Pop loved Barney Miller and we watched a few Fish episodes before - "Um, No."
Speaking of Pop... Sadness ensues. We putz'd-about for four days - fixing stuff, joking, bitching & moaning, eating, fixing, arguing politics, playing, eating... Just fun. I'll miss him when he flys back to IL tomorrow. -T
Hand up for UNTO/ORTON being my final struggle. Did WAG this Natick correctly, though. Then I did figure UNTO Itself was the meaning. But couldn't it also be UNDO Itself as tangles rarely do?
Hand up for EPICS before SAGAS.
The clue for ALDERS seems very unfair. If you look at the Wikipedia entry for Aspirin it only mentions WILLOW. The word ALDER never appears.
Had NEWB before I finally had to give in to it being NOOB.
BOHR ATOM was easy for me. Not just because I have degrees in physics. But because we learned this in high school chemistry. I remember how we had to "unlearn" a series of incorrect models of the atom as we progressed in more advanced classes.
Have been to Brazil twice and never heard of SERRA.
I think of MGS as roadsters, not as racing cars. WEES this was tough with lots of unknowns. Glad to FIR.
I had ORDON instead of ORTON because UNDO makes sense. UNTO doesn't make "a bit less sense", it makes no sense. Looks to me like an error by the author in giving the clue.
Post a Comment