Theme: C.C.C.W~!
Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 31
Does
it seem like the puzzles get harder as the year moves along the same as
the week goes~? This was the second Saturday puzzle in a row that beat
me up, and this one feels a little harsher, like being attacked by friendly fire, coming from
our hostess C.C. In fact, I've gone so far as to coin a new
term; STOG. That is, I went Straight TO Google
for several answers, as the cluing today was, at least for me, rather
vague. Oh well. Red-letters, too. C.C.'s last LA Times Saturday
construction, back in June, was doable, at least. Nothing intimidating
about the grid, with two 11-letter spanners and two 15-letter climbers;
7. "Way to go!" : "NOW YOU'RE COOKING~!" - Quite a few "quote"(*) clues in today's grid, too
8. Dancers seen in strips? : THE CHIPPENDALES - har-har~!
8. Dancers seen in strips? : THE CHIPPENDALES - har-har~!
for the ladies
ACROSS:
1. End with force : STAMP ON - RAID kills bugs dead, too
8. Percussion instrument : TIMPANI - instrument heard here in a John Bonham drum solo from Led Zeppelin's CODA album; the pedal timpani is a tune-able drum
8. Percussion instrument : TIMPANI - instrument heard here in a John Bonham drum solo from Led Zeppelin's CODA album; the pedal timpani is a tune-able drum
starts @ 0:42
15. Contemporary of Plácido : LUCIANO - Domingo, and Pavarotti, two-thirds of The Three Tenors; I can never remember the third guy....him
16. Went deep : HOMERED - no C.C. crossword is complete without a baseball reference
17. Agitated : IN A STEW - my NW was blank, so I tried "-ED" at the end. Bzzzt.
18. Like the flame at Graceland : ETERNAL
19. Singing voice, informally : PIPES - I exercised my pipes at karaoke two weeks ago
20. Workout spot : YMCA - gritted teeth. I really hoped this was not going to be "YOGA", as I had the Y--A, but when it filled I thought we needed an abbr. somewhere for Y.M.C.A
22. Ax : FIRE
23. Quick-footed : SPRY
24*. "I'm amazed!" : "OOH~!" - not "WOW~!"
25. Springfield bar : MOE'S - 'Simpsons' clue.
26. Traditional March 14 servings : PIES - totally stumped me at first; it's not the Ides - the 15th, and not St. Pat's - the 17th. It was only when I mentally pictured the date as 3.14 that "Pi" hit me like the V-8 can
27. Venus, when appearing as the morning star : LUCIFER - learning moment. I did not know this was a translation of a Biblical reference, here
Venus is part of a planetary alignment 23 sep 2017
29. Paradise in "On the Road" : SAL - Jack Kerouac
30. Minor employment needs, in some places : WORK PERMITS - I had to get a work card at 16yrs old to go to work at the now defunct Grossman's lumber company
34. Longtime NBC hit : SNL - I'd like to thank everyone who enjoyed picking up on my mistake regarding last week's "SNL" clue
35. Blow away : AWE
36. Pittsburgh's __ Park : PNC
37. Thanksgiving, e.g.: Abbr. : THUrsday - yup. I figured HOLiday was not good enough today
38. Helpful program for frequent fliers : TSA PRE-CHECK
41. Give under pressure : SAG - I pondered BOW
42. Joan of Arc, for one : HEROINE - I filled in HERETIC for some reason
43. Fill up : SATE
44. Close buds : BROS - not PALS
46. Hardly fresh : OLD
47. Father's ceremony : MASS - that kind of father
48. The first "A" in A.A. Milne : ALAN - Alexander is the second "A"
49. Great Plains st. : OKLAhoma
50. Maestro Doráti : ANTAL - first totally STOG clue
52. Trattoria staple : RAVIOLI
54. Theater originally lit with oil lamps : La SCALA
56. Enter covertly : CREEP IN - I had SNEAK to start
57. Self-gratifying pursuit : EGO TRIP - had EGOTISM to start - that's 5/7ths 4/7ths correct....phew
58. Picking up : SENSING - I'm sensing it's time for a pic for the guys
59. Law groups : SENATES
DOWN:
1. Space for a ship : SLIP - I could not get BERTH out of my head; PIER and DOCK seemed off
2. They started the Arab Spring : TUNISIANS - More recent than I realized
3. Like Pentatonix performances : A CAPPELLA - totally STOG. I know what pentatoniC means, but I had to look up this group
4. Unlikely GoFundMe supporters : MISERS
5. One taking a fall : PATSY
6. Table for __ : ONE - I of course, went with TWO. God help me, the blue-eyed girl has come back into my life, once again....WC might understand my dilemma
9. Little bit : IOTA
10. Fr. title : MME
11. Put on : PERFORM
12. Jack's links rival : ARNIE - golfers. I have not gotten out since the one time I played on vacation in three weeks - and it showed
13. Almost reaches : NEARS
14. Like some chatter : IDLE
21. Ridicule : MOCK
25. Pharmaceutical giant : MERCK
26*. Whisper from a cheater, maybe : "PSST~!"
27. Decrease : LOWER
28. Place for the undecided? : FENCE - clever. I went with LIMBO. Really.
30. Hawked stuff : WARES
31*. "Good first step" : "IT'S A START."
32*. "Not true!" : "THAT'S A LIE~!"
33. Knight who co-founded Death Row Records : SUGE - totally STOG, but it filled via perps
39. Impostors : PHONIES
40. Barrier for Sisyphus : HILL - the name to me always implies a female, though I know the -US ending in Latin is masculine. Ergo, I did not recall this classic myth
43. Safe havens : SANCTA - dah~! Another ending that was not the typical plural "S", which fooled me
44. Play loudly : BLARE
45. "Ungainly fowl" of poetry : RAVEN
47. __ jar : MASON - dah~! Not SWEAR, not JELLY
48. Lob paths : ARCS - made me change my SNEAK IN at 56a.
49. Lena of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" : OLIN
51. Napkin holders? : LAPS - cute
53. Coty subsidiary that makes nail polish : OPI - never heard of this; another STOG had it not filled via perps
14. Like some chatter : IDLE
21. Ridicule : MOCK
25. Pharmaceutical giant : MERCK
26*. Whisper from a cheater, maybe : "PSST~!"
27. Decrease : LOWER
28. Place for the undecided? : FENCE - clever. I went with LIMBO. Really.
30. Hawked stuff : WARES
31*. "Good first step" : "IT'S A START."
32*. "Not true!" : "THAT'S A LIE~!"
33. Knight who co-founded Death Row Records : SUGE - totally STOG, but it filled via perps
39. Impostors : PHONIES
40. Barrier for Sisyphus : HILL - the name to me always implies a female, though I know the -US ending in Latin is masculine. Ergo, I did not recall this classic myth
43. Safe havens : SANCTA - dah~! Another ending that was not the typical plural "S", which fooled me
44. Play loudly : BLARE
45. "Ungainly fowl" of poetry : RAVEN
47. __ jar : MASON - dah~! Not SWEAR, not JELLY
48. Lob paths : ARCS - made me change my SNEAK IN at 56a.
49. Lena of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" : OLIN
51. Napkin holders? : LAPS - cute
53. Coty subsidiary that makes nail polish : OPI - never heard of this; another STOG had it not filled via perps
55. Brandy statistic : AGE
Splynter
56 comments:
Some advice young grasshopper: Stop objectifying women and start learning how not to stare at them. I'd bet a dollar to a donut that you are what they say, creepy. While I think the sky is blue, its fun to memorize the periodic table.
No problems on the puzzle (tho it took many passes), so gave myself some other challenges: use all three 7-letter L-words, and both grid spanners.
The Devil's Lucrative Opera House
--- ------- --------- ----- -----
IN A STEW that LA SCALA would cancel outright,
The Devil hired LUCIANO for his marvelous PIPES!
His ETERNAL soul
Wasn't LUCIFER's goal --
Just to have working loos by that night!
You hired an A CAPPELLA group to PERFORM.
The ticket sales were only luke warm.
But get THE CHIPPENDALES
To twerk their SPRY tails?
NOW YOU'RE COOKING up a great storm!
{A+, A.}
Good morning!
Got 'er done, but fell into the WOW/OOH and HOL/THU traps. Plus, I spelled it TYMPANI which made IOTA slow to appear. My last entry was the M in HOMERED -- had to do an alphabet run to get it, and still didn't quite understand HOME RED. D'oh! Should'a known it would be baseball. Thanx, C.C. and Splynter.
Stay safe, Florida! Sister and hubby made it safely to Atlanta. Brother and SIL are still hunkering on the Atlantic side. Current track looks better for them, and worse for Tin.
Interesting how one person's challenge is another's good week. Saturday puzzles usually take me around 25 minutes, but despite a slow start, ultimately I completed this in 16 and change. I, too, had to change my WOW to OOH and my HOL to THU. I almost filed in TUNISIANS first pass, but left it as ----SIANS, only to find that my first impulse was correct.
This was, for me, a nice example of slow and steady. After the first pass , i thought it might be a "STOG" day, but each pass helped me fill in. A number of answers were *just* out of reach in my brain, but a couple letters filled gave me the nudge I needed.
Hi Y'all! Thanks, C.C. for a mental workout without the YMCA. Thanks, Splynter for your dedication.
I agree this was tough. STAMP ON never occurred to me altho I have been doing that a lot lately to crickets & big spiders on cool nights. NW was the last to fill despite I had LUCIANO, ONE, SPRY, SNL & A CAPELLA. Knew Pentatonix since I watched them win on "Sing OFF". They were on a recent show I saw. PIES? with an "E" didn't signal math. Red-letters helped.
Both grid spanners took a lot of perps to get a toe-hold. Are CHIPPENDALES still in action? Had a 40+ woman in our town who went to see them, became a groupie and followed them all over the U.S. to the detriment of her business & health. Big local joke even when she died.
Rest of the puzzle went pretty well with perps & WAGs. Didn't know TSA since I don't fly frequently. Other unknowns: PNC, ANTAL, SUGE, OPI.
MASON jar: in one of my other lifes, I filled a lot of those with tomatoes, apricots, and green beans. Yum! No longer squat picking beans. Yay!
Yesterday I got two flyers from a "famous" mint offering to sell me a handbag with a hundred of my initials STAMPed ON it and a big metallic medallion with my first name. Cost a mint too. No way would I ever buy that. I don't understand spending a fortune on handbags.
Thoughts & prayers for those in the path of Irma & Jose.
Good morning all!
Oh, CC.- you are a CW HEROINE! I loved this puzzle- great Saturday workout that at first had me frustrated because I had nothing in the NW corner except my incorrect fill of Two for ONE. The NE and SW filled quickly enough. Went up, down and around again and once TSA PRECHECK and WORK PERMITS filled, I got my footing and thought "NOW YOURE COOKING"!
Luckily, no STOG for me (unusual for me on Saturday) but your acronym made me chuckle, Splynter :) Thanks for the wonderful write up and I admit, I enjoyed THE CHIPPENDALES pic and appreciated listening to "Bonzo's Montreux" while reading the blog.
Like Splynter, I had Heretic/HEROINE and Wow/OOH. Also tried Hol/THU, Stomp/STAMP and my HILL was a Wall.
Unknowns/perps: LUCIFER (nice learning moment) PIES(so clever!) SAL, ALAN, ANTAL, LASCALA, SUGE and TUNISIANS.
Favorite was FENCE :)
I've had TSA PRECHECK twice- totally random. DH didn't so I had to wait for him for about 10 minutes each time. Nice to have but not a big deal, at least not at CVG where the security line is usually pretty short and quick. But we do take early flights ( around 6 a.m.) when we travel to Mexico because we like to arrive as early as possible. Vacation time is precious :)
Off to breakfast with my nephew, daughter, the fireman, my parents and little sister. My Mom and Stepdad have been faithfully eating at the same little diner every Saturday morning for about 10 years. It is owned by a sweet Korean woman who makes the best biscuits and gravy I've ever had, with the exception of my Grandma's! My mouth is watering in anticipation...
All those in Florida- you are in my thoughts; please be safe.
Best wishes to all :)
C.C., after my first pass I was SENSING that you were LUCIFER (unknown) and about to STOMP ON my newspaper (A CAPPELLA was my last fill as I was thinking of squashing a bug with my foot, STOMP, not STAMP) and LOWER my respect for you, with only the NE & SW filled. Not knowing A.A. Milne's first name ALAN, ANTAL Dorati, and a 'Nail polish company'-OPI, I was thinking that you were on a sadistic EGO TRIP. But you, our X-word HEROINE- forced my brain to PERFORM this morning and the letters eventually started to CREEP IN.
I had TSA PREBOARD before PRE-CHECK, WELCOME MATS before WORK PERMITS, SHUG (a thug) before SUGE, VSO before AGE. I never knew PIES were a March 14 serving but after seeing Splynter's explanation I know it now.
Anonymous @ 4:41- go back to either the convent or monastery or cave. Or better get a life or sense of humor. C.C. did have CHIPPENDALES in the puzzle and she wasn't thinking about furniture.
What type of WARES are the THE CHIPPENDALES flaunting?
SAL- "Paradise in ' On The Road' "- no idea before but see it's a person
"Jack's links rival"- there a brand of beef jerky named 'Jack Link's'.
Wonderful mix of word play, current events, pop culture of varying ages, general knowledge, and of course baseball. Be strong on Saturdays my friends and do not go gently into that good Google. These puzzles are doable, just give it a little time, play around with some of the entries, and you will eventually get through it. Today's grid, has a lot of good entries to keep in your tool kit both as a solver and a constructor.
Good morning everyone.
I'm all in a dither this morning for the chance to work on a rare CC Saturday offering; as we all should be. Agree w/ Splynter as to the difficulty, but also, with much patience, got 'er mostly done. No googling needed, but did have a red letter with the G in SUGE. Loved the vertical grid-spanners; got THE CHIPPENDALES early (knowing CC's proclivities:-)), and NOW YOU'RE COOKING helped with much of the solve.
Should have stayed with first instincts: Wanted TUNISIANS but Egyptians somehow seemed to have more potential with the crosses. Wanting 'pier' for the ship space didn't help either. But LUCIANO and IN A STEW nailed it.
ANTAL was easy; one of my favorite maestros from my teen years. Snookered briefly by PIES, but then remembered the back-and-forth from last March. Well done!
LUCIFER is the Dutch word for a match (to light a fire), so the simile with Venus (to light up the morning sky) is apt.
What does STOG mean
Good day to all!
I made it through this lovely puzzle more easily than most Saturdays. Unknowns SAL Paradise, ANTAL Dorati, PNC Park, and Coty subsidiary OPI filled via perps. Hand up for HOL before THU. Favorite clue/answer was "Place for the undecided?" for FENCE. Thanks for today's entertaining puzzle C.C., and thanks for the expo and links, Splynter.
Take care, all of you in Irma's path.
I'm going to buy a crossword puzzle book!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your puzzles are getting worse by the day..........
We're not all MENSA thinkers.
Thanks, C.C. for a fun workout this morning. Seems I'm getting your wavelength more and more! Nicely done!
Thanks, Splynter, for the great write-up. Loved the golfing comic! Really funny!
Stay safe, all of those in Irma's path. I hope we hear from you soon, and that you are all okay!
Musings
-Another fabulous C.C. puzzle, this time at a Saturday level using terms from all manner of sources!
-STAMP OUT/STOMP ON at this outpost
-Alt. HOMERED- Our nephew’s team got called for over 150 yds in penalties in an away game last night
-The VFW’s ETERNAL flame here in town periodically needs reigniting
-My friend’s perfect sky yielded a glimpse at Venus during the eclipse. Me? Not so much.
-The pre WORK PERMIT era was a sad chapter in American life
-We were “PRE-CHECKED” on our last flight and had no idea why. Shoes stayed on and the laptop stayed in the case
-EGO TRIP/SENATE close together. Seems about right
-Penatonix was a big hit here last week!
-A unique way to prevent cheating in a Chinese school
-“Good first step” is a punchline in an old joke about lawyers
-“Grape wine in a MASON jar, Homemade and brought to school”
-Garage sale is done! My lovely wife missed her calling as a used car salesperson!
Nancy @ 1012: Splynter explains in his intro: " In fact, I've gone so far as to coin a new term; STOG. That is, I went Straight TO Google………"
Good Morning:
After the first pass through the entire grid, I was looking at a vast tundra of white with a few black spots, and I mean a few! But, reminiscent of the Silkie days, I chipped away here and there and everywhere and, before I knew it, the Tada rang out! There were a lot of unknowns: Antal, OPI, Lucifer, A Capella (as clued) PNG, and Sal. Having never read OTR, I thought the Paradise clue was looking for a location. Suge was a gimme because of his notoriety, even from prison, and Luciano and La Scala were also gimmes but with a more pleasant association. CC's cluing misdirection is also reminiscent of Mr. Silk, devilish but fair.
Thanks, Splynter, for your faithful guidance and thanks, CC, for a tough but rewarding challenge.
We can only hope and pray for all of those in Irma's path. Stay safe, everyone.
Have a great day.
Very difficult. At first I thought this puzzle was beyond my pay grade. I reasoned that if I found it too difficult, others above my pay grade might enjoy it. Something for everyone. Those who are great solvers are patient with the easy early week puzzles. It should work vice versa,too.
But then, after working at it on and off, maybe about an hour and a half total work time, I got it!
There were quite e few fills that needed every single perp, i.e. SAL, SUGE, ANTAL, OPI, PIES. PIES was really cute, but I needed Splynter to explain it.
CSO to Alan who is sleeping all day again, feels terrible and is somewhat confused mentally. We came home from the shore one day early due to this. All Alan's labs yesterday were normal and ruled out many potential problems. YAY. The PC and I suspect that his new medicine is having this effect. Unfortunately this new anxiety med works better than any we have tried. We see the psychiatrist Monday. Hopefully using less will still be effective without the side effercts. Sometimes I feel like Sisyphus, constantly rolling the boulder uphill, only to have it roll back down.
I looked up ski hat some time ago to see that is really called that. I am still getting ads for ski hats.
Last week I looked up oared as a verb. It is legit. Now maybe I will get ads for oars and rowboats.
All those effected by Harvey and Irma, you are in my thoughts today.
I've often wondered how few people actually work these puzzles because so many clues are obtuse and sometimes downright skewed (the favorite word is "misleading"). I agree with the opening comment. The competition among puzzle creators seems to be to prevent the largest number of people from doing the puzzle. The maker feels victorious for stumping the greatest number of people, rather than for being clever and creating enjoyment. The audience is bound to decline...good luck!
Learning moment:
"I'M" an old "STOGie."
Almost daunted, but persevering I slowly found my way into this wonderful puzzle. Thank you, C.C.! My mind feels exercised and refreshed. I'm currently reading Beneath A Scarlet Sky which occurs in Italy, mostly in Milan, so LA SCALA was fresh in my mind and for some reason MASS emerged. I'm used to father referring to priest.
LAPS was cleverly clued and I've heard of SUGE but don't recall where and trust me, I'm very familiar with O.P.I. It's on my nails even now. Always red.
Once I had COOKING the rest of the phrase just emerged. The same with THE CHIPPENDALES. Only a few letters were needed to complete it.
Thank you, Splynter, for spelling out the reason for PIES on March 14. I had completely forgotten.
I agree, C.C. You are our crossword HEROINE!
OwenKL:
Well done! Your poems today are spot on and clever.
I'm praying and thinking about our Florida contingent hoping that they remain safe.
Have a splendiferous day, everyone!
Anonymous@11:57:
According to reports I've read this site alone has at least 8,000 hits a day and I believe you are incorrect. Don't judge only by the number that post here.
Anon@11:57: Cwds from LAT and NYT have increasing (difficulty, obtuseness, skewedness, etc. -- you pick) as the week progresses. Saturdays are always the toughest; it's expected. If you don't like obscure cluing, I'd advise you to avoid the Friday/Saturday puzzles. Those of us with latent masochistic tendencies actually like late-week puzzles.
When I first started doing crosswords, I despaired of ever getting the Thursday thru Sunday puzzles. Now I enjoy them. CWs have a special "language" with filler that isn't usual in every day conversation. Also with practice, I think the mind learns to be more creative in considering the devious cluing which can be very amusing if you "get it" but seem downright mean if you don't.
YR: Sorry you are back on Alan's health "roller coaster". Does he have allergies? The symptoms you described sound all too familiar. I'm blaming mine on allergies.
Jayce, what do the seismologists think about the Mexico quakes. Is there any connection to the quakes, the ocean being warmer and all those whirly winds developing into hurricanes?
Oh boy, this sure was a Saturday toughie, C.C. The only thing I got on my first run-through as MASS--thank goodness I grew up Catholic. But on my second try, the whole eastern part of the puzzle pretty much filled in, and only then did I have to start cheating (or STOG, as Splynter now calls it). But I was always love a C.C. puzzle, no matter what, and like others, I thought this one was brilliant. And since I've had a pretty good solving week, I don't mind a little struggle on a Saturday.
I guess that would by my advice to you, Anon@11:57: enjoy the early weekday puzzles and be patient as they get tougher and enjoy the tricky clue-ing by looking at it from the constructor's perspective. It's their job to make the end of the week a little tougher, and for those of us, like me, who struggle with the Fridays and Saturdays, we do have Google and the blog to help us cheat our way through. And we learn things along the way. I've never played golf, but guess what--I actually got ARNIE, thanks to a decade of crossword solving!
So, once again, many thanks, C.C. and Splynter. And have a great weekend, everybody.
Seems like an equal opportunity objectification, or did you not see the Chippendale poster?
Splynter:
I forgot to thank you for the beefcake!
PK, thanks for understanding about Alan. I am sorry that you have the some of the same limiting symptoms.
Lucina, I thoroughly enjoyed Beneath a Scarlet Sky, the story of a real WW II hero in Milan. I didn't know much about the Italian resistance before I read this novel. I had just finished several on the French Resistance and another about turncoat spies among the British upper class. Now that you mention it, I think I will reread it. It was that good.
Misty, I like your advice to ANON @11:57. There those of us who would miss the tricky clues and the challenge if they were removed. I hope Anon learns from the late week puzzles or avoids them in favor of easier ones, returning to LAT on Mpndays and Tuesdays.
Tough tough tough today....I was quite surprised to get the solve.
Irish Miss - I concur with the Silkie comparison, this did seem like a Silkie.
Like others mentioned, this started with a sea of blanks and just persisted. Again, shocked when all was correctly filled.
And no Theme!!!
YR:
The same with me; the Italian resistance was unfamiliar to me. So Beneath the Scarlet Sky was an eye-opener as well as a really good read. I also have read much about the French resistance, especially The Nightingale. Both of these books are our book club choices.
I'm also sorry to learn about Alan's new problem and hope you quickly find a solution for it.
I loved this puzzle. But SUGE did me in. I had THA for Thanksgiving, and SAGE seemed like a nice "normal" word, but no. Turning red letters on, I was dismayed to see the red A. A vowel run ended with the correct U, and I went "Aha" about the THU but still didn't get SUGE. Well, I've looked him up and now I know who he is. Man oh man, C.C. sure is a storehouse of knowledge!
ANTAL Dorati was easy for me, as he was for Spitzboov. As conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra he pioneered a breakthrough recording of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
in the 50's, utilizing recordings from Yale University's Harkness Tower bells, a real bronze cannon from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the University Of Minnesota Brass Band. I've probably played that record hundreds of times.
Northwest Runner, I totally agree with what you said.
PK, I haven't studied up on that earthquake off the coast of Mexico, but I don't think there's a correlation, because the hypocenter was almost 50 miles deep, far away from and most likely unaffected by surface phenomena such as hurricanes. The temperature of the water probably had nothing to do with it either, at that depth.
Best wishes to you all.
bad spelling got me again. I was sure about "SHUG" not Suge Knight. So the South East was a complete disaster. Apropos (SP?) ?
Weather and/or water temperature has a infinitesimally small effect on the earth's crust. Hurricanes however are greatly effected by relatively small changes in water temperature. One or two degrees C. is massive. The mathematics to prove and predict are horrendously difficult and the numerous simultaneous differential equations can only be "solved" by extensive super computing modelling. The predictions especially from the European model are amazing.
Greetings Cornerites!
I've thoroughly enjoyed every puzzle this week! Yesterday by Alex was a best-ever Friday run (no red letters, no STOG, done in a Wednesday time) so I've added Alex to my list of "favorites" and eagerly await his Saturday puzzle because he makes me feel smart. Then to have a Saturday CC - with baseball! Yay!! No Google, but I did ask DH a few, and I needed red letters after I only had to things filled in (wrong) after my first pass. Not too shabby for a Saturday. Witty and creative clues kept me thinking and I appreciate the challenge.
@Splynter I also appreciated the opening pic of Chippendales! Feel free to offend me anytime ;)
I was in OKLA for the first time a few weeks ago watching Clayton Kershaw do a rehab game with the Dodgers AAA team. It was amazing. Like, beyond words, amazing. Me and Clayton
The last time I got through TSA PRECHECK was when I was leaving Las Vegas at 5am on a Monday morning, on three hours sleep, still wearing last night's smudged eyeliner, a baseball hat, and only had carry-on luggage. Guess they didn't think I was awake enough to be a threat.
This PATSY will make you Fall to Pieces
The Bangles sang about an Eternal Flame...probably not the same as Elvis'!
@Anon-T - thank you for posting the Camero link the other day! I did that puzzle a few days later and was sad I didn't get to do it! It helps to know you got the random punk songs covered when I'm not here ;)
@Misty - how is Dusty Dog? Hoping all is well!
Wishing all the best to our FLA residents. Do your best to keep us updated if you can! Even when I'm not posting, I'm still checking in (usually in the middle of the night) to make sure everyone is OK.
Happy Saturday!
t.
PS - first time posting a picture - hope it works! If you could give some hints, CED, that'd be great! The advice on the blog is outdated so I just winged it...
One more thing:
@Anon(s) - when I first started puzzling, I did the USA Today puzzles everyday. You will find they are simpler and very straight forward on a daily basis. You will also find that the more puzzles you do, the more you can recognize constructors and build your own list of favorites. Some people are just more difficult than others (be thankful Barry Silk retired...) Don't give up, keep trying and you will succeed. Like Lucina said, there are a whole lot of people that read the blog and don't comment (AKA lurkers), so please do not harshly judge this group of friends that post. If there is something you don't understand, just ask and you will get a solid explanation from one the many educators that post here.
Keep on truckin'! You'll be glad you did!
t.
Jayce & Chuck: I was wondering if heat affiliated with the deep Mexican earthquake somehow was spilling into the Caribbean and contributing to the warming of the water there. Meteorologists have been saying the warm water is causing the hurricanes so I was wondering what caused the hotter water? Volcanic action on the sea bottom boiling upward? Shifting of teutonic plates releasing heat from the earth's core? Trying to make sense of this all. I know the sun is hot and heats water, but...
I emailed my brother two days ago to see if his Florida children (in their 30's) were evacuating or hunkering down. My SIL emailed me today to say her daughter said the weather is beautiful there but they might get a little rain. I wrote back asking if those "kids" ever listen to weather reports and telling her what is going on down there. SIL isn't into watching news reports, I guess. After I sent the email, I wondered if the "kids" just didn't want to worry their mother. How could anyone living in Florida not know about the hurricane? Now I feel guilty about worrying my SIL.
That's what makes it a "puzzle"
I hate it when I can see someone's face in my mind but can't think of his/her name. That happened with LUCIANO today.
Ta- DA!
All done w/o Googles, cheats, or look-ups. One confirmation.
C.C.'s pzls are always welcome, combining serious challenge with delightful discoveries. This was one of those that looked impossible at the start, I mean the kind that puts the im in IMpossible, y'know? - with not just several long fills, but two spanning the grid lengthwise!
But patience & perseverance have become my watchwords. Along with a welcoming attitude toward the Struggle. Misty's advice today to Anon is right on target - essentially to expect struggle and in fact to cozy up to it.
So I reminded myself that once a toehold is established, the longest fills often come crashing down, thus yielding several perp possibilities at once. I needed such self-psyching after my first go-through produced only PIPES, NEARS, HILL, and SATE. Oh, and TWO, which later had to be exchanged for ONE.
In my second scan I solved a fair chunk of the SW corner but with an image of our president embedded in 56A and some insecurity over OPI. (What the --?! Thanks for 'splaining, Splynter!)
It was only after the 4th or 5th circuit that the biggies began to crumble.
Why did I try EGYPTIANS before TUNISIANS? What good is history if I can't remember a coupla years back?!
I was delighted to see the link between Venus and LUCIFER. Wouldn't you know there'd be such a bond between the Erotic Dame and the Knight of Evil...?
The heavens must be puritanical, or - No! it was those early astronomers who called the shots.
Wicked boys.
Oh, I forgot to add SUGE to my list of first scan fills. I wasn't trying to hide the fact that I've heard of SUGE Knight. It was an honest error. But now that I'm correcting, I remember that I thought (at the time) how weird it was that I knew of SUGE Knight.
And later, when I came across another musician's name, I thought how strange that neither could spell. How bizarre that ANTAL Doráti should have misspelled his own name. I mean, really, misspelling it for his entire life...
Hi again~!
I see the misblogynist strikes again - so lonely there at 4:41am, I guess.
Who's "they"~?
And "it is" gets an apostrophe when you use the "it's" contraction.
Keep coming~! Your hits are welcome~!
Thanks to all who enjoyed "STOG", and for the men AND women who liked the images - I see no one commented on my MALE stripper clip at "Onward~!"....oh well
"Creepy" Splynter
Tawnya @ 3:31,
Picture came through perfectly!
Anonymous T explained it best just this past Wednesday:
"On linking... Real easy. Type:
OU shows up in blue
To get this:
OU shows up in blue
Cheers, -T
September 6, 2017 at 11:36 PM"
He explained it once to me, but whenever I try to explain the HTML code,
I accidentally link it instead...
There is also an explanation in the "Olio" on the right side of the Blog.
P.S.,
Thanks for the Bangles "Eternal Flame."
I printed out the chords & will try to learn it on guitar tonite!
(I am hoping, with my Daughters, I can get it to sound like these people did!)
P.P.S. Re: 1st post of the day
You don't have to be a creep to enjoy a work of art,
it's all in the eye of the beholder...
Also, your statement " While I think the sky is blue, its fun to memorize the periodic table" is intriguing, it is also interesting to look at it in other ways...
P.P.P.S. Oh Nuts!
Anonymous T, I copied you post exactly, & it went kerflewie!
Can you repost your post?
Splynter, you outdid yourself on this one! Thanks for the Chippey pic, and I roared at Slap Shot - "yeah, bring it on!" (wolf whistles in the background). Also thanks for explaining the March 14 servings. Had to wake by alarm this a.m. (that's my excuse, and I'm stickin' to it), and was thinking only of St. Pat - duh! Cooking mags around 3/14 always publish "pie" recipes; and thx for my perped SAL ? - never read the book. Thank you, C.C., I too was surprised at this devilish creation, but it was a fun ride.
Tunisians, Luciano, In a Stew, Arnie, Idle, Mass, LaScala filled the first round. But I quickly penned (racing against the clock to get ready for an early lunch) Now Youre Talking rather than Cooking which screwed me up for a while. Changed Wow to Ooh, and only after googling Knight that I realized it wasn't Hol but Thu. Had Thec----------dales, and again to due to my rude awakening, I could only think Clydesdales? (too short and too much Super Bowl watching). Then I remembered - The Chippendales. Once went to a bachelorette party held at a "ladies" only club decades ago during The Chippendales' era. Had TS in the west, so I wag'd TSA which led to precheck. So, C.C. clued some solid answers on which to finally complete, no matter our areas of knowledge.
PK @ 7:46 - You do have some darn funny and interesting stories to tell from your reporting days - keep 'em coming.
HG @ 10:24 - Funny, yes, Chinese teachers do seem to be very creative.
Haven't watched Irma's path today. All affected, hope you continue to stay safe, and please let us know how you're doing as soon as you can.
Sorry, I was stretched for time & posted an inadequate listing of periodic tables.
I was curious about magnetic properties of individual elements
and bookmarked this many years ago.
But memorize it?
(I can't remember what I had for breakfast.)
(& I have the same thing every day...)
But, if you want to expand on this subject,
try to memorize all of these!
Hi All!
Thunk. WOW, yet another epic Saturday fail for -T. At least I knew TUNISIANS off the bat getting SNL. The NE was an ugly mess with tambourine started; A TAD @9d. Most of it got fixed at some point but that was likely after I gave up on STOGs (love it Splynter!) and straight-up cribbed from Splynter's grid. [Damn - it was PSST! OOH, I see, not wow. Why not have cold PILS too on Pi day? :-)]
Thanks C.C. for a Saturday challenge well above my solving abilities - No EGO TRIPpin' here... Funny, I never 'got' HOMERED (on my own) but thought PNC Park was your nod to Baseball. FWIW - I wanted GOT META for @16a's 'Went deep' :-)
Thanks for the great expo Splynter. Friendly-fire indeed :-) I've not watched all the videos yet, so I'll see how the player strips his pads (I assume) later. I did enjoy the drum SOLO.
Fav: I liked Hawked WARES next to PHONIES... Look out PK :-)
{LOL,A}
YR - sorry to hear about Alan's return to the ups&downs
Tawnya - picture came through fine; glad you caught the Bitchin' CAMERO Thrus.
CED - the trick is typing < to get <
<a href="http://www.ou.edu"> Subject of Link</a>
To get:
Subject of Link [OU home page]
Hoping for the best for all the Cornerites who stayed in FL. Gonna be a bumpy night.
Cheers, -T
"Puzzling Thoughts":
CC's puzzles are definitely getting more difficult! I googled early and often
In case anyone wondered, in Splynter's CHIPPENDALE photo, I'm the third one in, from the left
Thanks CC for the shoutout to my alter EGO in 25a
Lots of time to wait as Irma approaches. So I crafted a few Hurricane Limericks to keep my humor up. Probably too late for most of the Cornerites to see them, but giggle if you like:
I have noticed folks keeping their wit
As storm shutters, they carefully fit,
Over windows and doors
Of their homes or their stores;
One guy said that he now, "has the hang of it."
The big storm coming here is called Irma,
Which is making all Florida squirma.
At the end of its stay
We all hope, and we pray,
That she will leave us some terra firma.
By next week I just figure that all
Of the swindlers will have a big ball.
When they offer to fix
Broken mortar and bricks,
As result of their pending "windfall"
Be strong, Florida!
Splinter honey, I'm just offering you some advice from my experience. I've followed your pursuits for many years here and know you are desperately pursuing a female companion. Your results speak for themselves. So I guess you should just keep doing what you do since it's been working so well.
D'Oh - I had it all queue'd up and forgot to explain GOT META In Song for Tawnya; CED's Q threw me off my game :-)
Speaking of - in the <a href=" note that everything inside the quotes is cut&paste from the URL in your browser. Then you end with a ">
C.Moe - A nice (and unfortunately realistic :-)) nod. Keep keepin' up your spirits - It's going to be a long 3 days of watching (I'm looking at Irma's path to Tarpon Springs and think, "Unless he lives in a bunker, Tin should bugger out.")
Cheers, -T
Tawnya, many thanks for asking about Dusty. He's doing fine again, although showing a bit of his 14 year old age (like we all do, I suppose). Yellowrocks, you and Alan have been on my mind all day, and I will hope and pray that he gets better again soon. It was so lovely when he had a good week a while back--and it would be wonderful if he could have some more soon.
Wow! It was late afternoon when I had time to try the puzzle and I didn't have the interest so I just read Splynter's expo. Thank you, sir! I'm sure it was a good solve but it was way over my head today, C.C.
Most disliked c/a:5d One taking a fall--PATSY. That was my nickname until I graduated from high school and I hated it for the connotation used here. As soon as I graduated I shortened my name to Pat and am happy with it.
Some bragging here: I'm really proud of the shelter where I volunteer. On Tuesday and Wednesday there were many discussions, meetings, conference calls, all of which culminated with 2 employees and 2 volunteers taking our adoption RV and our cargo van , leaving Thursday morning and heading to Florida! Yesterday morning they pulled 5 cats and 12 dogs from shelters in Gainesville, FL and brought them back to Cincinnati! This gives those shelters some more room to take in victims of Irma. the cargo van with 5 cats got "home" at 5 am and the adoption van with 12 dogs got in around 6 am. The cats are in a cat room where they are uncaged with access to a fenced patio and the dogs are in their own private run.
I hope everyone is in a safe place.
I know that Tin rarely visits here on the weekend. I'll try to reach him via email.
NW Runner @9:19- I never Google for any answer on the LA Times crossword. If I can't complete the puzzle, I come to the corner. It's the challenge of NOT looking up an answer.
I don't know what "anon" is whining about. Saturday puzzles have ALWAYS been the most difficult. They start easy on Monday and become increasingly more difficult as the week progresses. If they were all of M-W difficulty, decent solvers would never bother to work them. They would move to another source.
PK- I don't think the ocean becoming warmer has anything to do with earthquakes. They've been getting warmer since the last ICE AGE.
OMK- can't remember two or three years back? I don't remember what I had for lunch today. Oh yes I do. I was serving red beans & rice to a couple of hundred players at a tennis tournament.
I don't think I ever asked for a "Table for ONE." But many's the time I spoke those romantic words, "A table for two, please."
My favorite table-asking experience occurred over several evenings in a row, the first (only) time I traveled in Spain. A dear lady and I drove through much of the country, and I enjoyed using my terrible Spanish when requesting "Una mesa para dos personas, por favor."
The real kick was trying to imitate the accent I heard all around me in the northern mountain region. That's where folk slur their sibilants. It isn't the lisp that we joked about in school Spanish classes, not "th" in place of "s." No, it was more of a classic Bogart sound, so that I felt like his character in the early scenes of Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I'd practically click my teeth between the phrases.
A truly tough-guy sound: "Sheñor [tck, tck] una mesha para dosh pershonashh...!"
Thanks
As a surveyed the "Tundra" I looked up at the author: CC. And I said, "DOABLE!"
And I did it square by square and I agree with Big Easy, never cheat or GROG. But... I didn't know SUGE and choked on THUrsday.
Owen, your muse is back just in time to greet C-Moe's. W's all around.
To Splynter, first splendid write-up. Keep the pics coming, we look forward to them.
Anona-pest made a useful allusion to the BEG. Ah, relationships. After resentments a principle bete-noire of Wilsononians.
My experience is double up on mtgs, and remember the basics: KISS, EDI, FTF. And of course, the big guy.
YR, when I substituted, the Excel teacher used to play movie theme music and it calmed the students. Just an idea.
I used to dread weekend xwords, now I know I can do them sans GROGs. It's partly mind over matter.
WC in the Blowin
PS. Splynter, I asked awhile back if you knew where "CLEAVAGE" appeared in the literature. In fact it was at the end of AUGust. That's my hint.
I post the answer the next time I come back here. I'm off to race the storm north.
Splynter:
Since I hadn't time to watch clips earlier I just went back to your Forward! and all I can do is echo Tawnya, offend me anytime!
OwenKL:
Excellent verses!
ChairmanMOe:
You, too!
Second hint, Splynter. Remember, August is the 8th month and at 12&12 mtgs what do we do at the end of the month.
Then again, that's what WE do.
WC. In the truck escaping north ahead of the b@#$&
Hand up for TYMPANI. I was thinking of the TYMPANIC membrane which is part of the hearing apparatus of higher animals.
Hand up for learning moment that SAL Paradise is a person.
Hand up for learning moment about LUCIFER and Venus.
Bad enough that places are named now for corporate sponsors instead of for heroic contributors to society. But I never even heard of PNC before!
Thanks for explaining PIES, Splynter! Totally missed it! And last night we even had watched Life of Pi!
Never heard of SUGE and assumed I was wrong, but I was wrong. I see that I do know some other Death Row people: Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg so maybe this name is worth knowing.
OPI utterly unknown to those of us with a Y chromosome.
On the other hand, EVERYONE should know TUNISIANS. It all started with one brave man and kept moving because of a lot more brave people. Such courage deserves universal recognition.
Can't believe I FIR and maybe learned some now things! Thanks, CC! So... No theme?
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