For all of you who were wondering where our Friday friend JW has been hiding in 2018, he is back and presents the third visual puzzle that has been constructed for our consternation. We have 13 (!) clues which consist only of a number. Good news though, we get a reveal! Oops, not helpful yet. Must solve and wait for perps. Hmm, three letter fill at 26 and 52 across. 26- nope not there. 52? Ahh- BUN! 41- ROLL! Eureka! Thirteen is a baker's dozen. Ta-dah- bakery items! This was a struggle in places, but I am a big fan of most of the goods here, especially a warm buttery CROISSANT and a moist SCONE. What are your favorites? The rest was in my wheelhouse, with SUK requiring all of the perps. The purists will hate the themers being so short and having non-theme fill longer words, but I enjoyed BELDAME, BOSNIAN, CAT SCAN, DEEPENS, ELOCUTE, QUIETED, BLINDERS, and CITY PLAN as fun but challenging fill. I applaud Jeffrey for finding 13 items that not only fit the theme, but allow him to build a classic grid with complete thematic symmetry. A puzzle that completely depends on perps and the reveal...
I wonder if the grid was inspired by The Cross of Salem, also known as a pontifical cross because it is carried before the Pope. This is - after all a CROSSword puzzle.
1A. #1: MUFFIN (6). RECIPE. opposite 70A. # 10: DANISH (6). RECIPE.
7A. # 2: BRIOCHE (7). RECIPE. opposite 69A. # 9: BISCUIT (7). RECIPE.
37A. # 5: CAKE (4). RECIPE. opposite 41A. # 6: ROLL (4). RECIPE.
20D. # 12: CROISSANT (9). RECIPE. the center.
38A. It's a bit more than it sounds, and hints at this puzzle's theme: BAKER'S DOZEN (11). Wal-Mart sells their doughnuts 13 to a box. Let's get cooking with the solve.
Across:
14. Crone: BELDAME. Finally a clue, but not a gimme fill. This archaic WORD is clearly a Friday Saturday fill. A very hard start.
15. Sarajevo citizen: BOSNIAN. The country is Bosnia and Herzegovina. LINK.
16. Gets to: ATTAINS.
17. Settled down: QUIETED.
18. Merry, in Metz: GAI. Metz is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, the city forms a central place of the European Greater Region. Wiki. 55A. Pique-nique setting : PARC. French.
19. Prog. formally reinstated at Harvard in 2011: ROTC. Reserve Officer Training Corps programs were another casualty of the Vietnam War. LINK.
21. Hotel experience: STAY.
22. Sturdy trees: ELMS. Dutch elm disease as a problem but the TREE is making a return.
29. Future D.A.'s hurdles: LSATS.
31. Future salmon: ROE. Fish eggs.
32. Troubles: ILLS.
33. Belg. locale: EUR.
35. Travel guide listing: INN.
43. MS-__: DOS. Recently popular fill.
44. Party bowlful: DIP.
45. Goddess usually depicted holding an ankh: ISIS. This EGYPTIAN. And the Symbol which is also a CROSS.
46. "M*A*S*H" rank: Abbr. : MAJ. Random, but better than E-______?
48. Some archaeological sites: TOMBS. King Tut was actually named Tutankhamun. Mini-theme?
56. Karate training site: DOJO. Dōjō (道場) is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way." My brother created one in the 60s in our hometown.
59. Lose steam: TIRE.
61. __ Speedwagon: REO. Musical interlude, only 1 hour and 20 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqRpzyWJ5vM
62. Becomes more complex: DEEPENS.
65. High-tech med. procedure: CAT SCAN. What you need to KNOW.
67. Police actions: ARRESTS.
68. Speak well in public: ELOCUTE. Elocution from Latin elocution-, elocutio, from eloqui. Elocute is a back word from elocution.
Down:
1. Most of the periodic table: METALS.
2. __ Thule: distant place in medieval geography: ULTIMA. You want to ARGUE the point?
3. HHS agency: FDA. Health and Human Services.
4. Sunny: FAIR.
5. "You are!"retort: I'M NOT. Are too!
6. Argonaut known for wise counsel: NESTOR. He was a member of Jason's crew before the Trojan War. LINK.
7. Cookout fare, briefly: BBQ.
8. Awaken : ROUSE.
9. "Ya think?" : IS IT? I SIT? Isis' sister?
10. Fit-for-service designation: ONE-A. I have my draft card from the 60's somewhere.
11. Urban design: CITY PLAN. Pompano Beach is working on their PLAN.
12. "Some __ meat and canna eat": start of the Selkirk Grace: HAE. This probably predates Robert Burns. One of my favorite modern detectives is Hamish MacBeth, so I know the word.
13. Conclusion: END.
23. Lifts: STEALS.
25. Have an inclination: TEND.
27. Variety: ILK. I always like this word.
28. Language suffix: ESE.
30. Czech composer Josef, son-in-law of Dvorák: SUK. All perps for this MAN.
32. Frozen treat: ICEPOP. Would you like to read the HISTORY of the Popsicle?
34. Like half of Poland's flag: RED.
36. Silent assent: NOD.
38. Horse racing accessories: BLINDERS. The reason WHY.
39. Ex-quarterback Tony: ROMO. He has done well in his SECOND CAREER.
40. Clearasil target: ZIT.
41. Cookout morsel: RIB. I am not sure a rib is a morsel.
42. Brutus Buckeye is its mascot: Abbr. : OSU. The Ohio State University. Oklahoma State last week, perhaps Oregon State next.
47. Really pumped: JUICED. Not to be confused with juiced by steroids.
49. __ Aurelius, second-century Roman emperor: MARCUS. One of my favorite EMPERORS.
50. What a sprinter might run out of : BREATH.
53. "__ know you?" : DON'T I.
54. Musical nonsense syllables : TRA LA.
57. Intl. energy group: OPEC.
58. Bach's "__, Joy of Man's Desiring" : JESU. I had no idea and it seems counter-intuitive.
60. Hugh Laurie's alma mater: ETON. One of the myriads of foreign-born actors who portray US Americans on television.
62. Unit of hot mustard, for most: DAB. Not for Asians or me.
63. NW Penn. airport: ERI. A CSO to many who comment here.
64. Aircraft in the Smithsonian Inst. collection: SST.
66. Chem., for one : SCI. Abbreviation - abbreviation.
Well JW is back in business. I liked the grid, the theme, and the reveal. A note from C.C. below, which I echo. Lemonade out.
Note from C.C.:
Happy birthday to dear Splynter (Richard), who turns 47 years old today. Splynter was our trusted Saturday guide for a long long time. Hope all's well with your new job and new home, Splynter. Don't forget your friends here at the Corner. Visit us from time to time.
78 comments:
Anonymous T,
that was a fine video.
Thanks for the link.
But no matter how perfectly an egg may be peeled, as long as the yolk and white remain separate, I'm afraid I gotta take a pass. It isn't rational, my friend, but it is what it is.
I have never tried a hard-boiled egg. The separation alone is sign enough that it won't be well rec'd. It's a childhood thing, a bad experience that's stamped me for this lifetime. I am usually pretty adventurous when it comes to foods I haven't tried. But eggs fall into a different category for me.
Give me scrambled every time.
And fluffy, not runny.
I'm missing something. Where did RECIPE come from?
Happy Birthday Splynter. Sacrifice is Going on Tonight!
Greetings!
Thanks to Jeffrey and Lemonade!
One or two letters suggested the correct theme entries!
A few things were unknown at first : BELDAME, ROTC, ULTIMA, FDA, IS IT and OSU.
Happy Birthday to Splynter!
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
OMK, here's one for you. scrambled hard boiled eggs. Yolk and white are scrambled while still in the shell and then cooked as you would normally. That steam idea might be worth a shot too.
The whole thing sounds like a bar bet!
Good morning. Thank you Jeffrey Wschler and thank you Lemonade.
Had more than a few toeholds to get started. Saw the game early on and, but that didn't make it easy. In the end, it was an archaic word I've never encountered crossing an abbreviation. BELDAME and FDA. I went with the abbreviation for the Federal Housing Administration rather than the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. So close ! No look ups and only changed to red letters when I didn't get the TADA. Nuts ! One lousy letter.
BLINDERS completed ROLL. That was the first of the BAKERS DOZEN. CROISSANT was second. Solved mostly from the middle out.
Have an inclination - Went from BENT to BEND to LEND. And my sprinter was running out of the BLOCKS before BREATH. Had to change ARISE to ROUSE.
Other type-overs were FADE to TIRE, SOLIDS to METALS, AM NOT to I'M NOT and EIA to ERI.
DAB is the product name the flagship bier from Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei. An excellent pale lager.
My friend's son is a CITY PLANner in a nearby town. Also nearby is JelSert Corp. They produce Fla-Vor-Ice, Otter Pops, KoolPops and and Pop-Ice among others in their frozen novelties line.
Dash T FLN, I didn't know that about those spiders, but I know my boy was keenly aware of the numbers in his flock. He counted heads. It was the shepherd in him, and he couldn't not do it.
Time to make DW breakfast. Gotta get the snow blower out soon after that.
See all y'all later n'at !
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Yow! This was a Friday toughie. I got the BROICHE straight away, thanks to the perps, but wondered why it would be a #2. I knew the BOSNIAN as we visited Sarajevo a couple of years ago.
Then the DOZEN appeared, and I realized it had to be proceeded with the BAKER'S. That definitely helped me go back an think of what tasty delight would fit in to the squares provided. Thanks for providing the recipes, too, Lemonade. Now that I'm retired, I have time to cook!
I had lots of missteps, though, and tried Oaks before ELMS; Am Not before I'M NOT; Woes before ILLS; and Fade before TIRE.
Fun seeing the BBQ and RIB in the same puzzle.
Same with the STAY at the INN.
My favorite clue was Pique-nique Setting = PARC.
QOD: Let us be of cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come. ~ Amy Lowell (Feb. 9, 1874 ~ May 12, 1925)
Good morning!
I suspect SUK may get a workout from today's commenters. Not from me, though. I liked this one. With only a couple of letters in place I managed to dredge up BELDAME from some brain crevice. Realized early on that we were looking for baked goods. Thanx, JW and Lemonade.
CATSCAN: One of the few tests I haven't had since the first of the year. I've been poked and prodded in places I didn't even know I had. What did they show? Nothing!...particularly the MRI of my brain, as most of you would have guessed.
ROTC: ROTC Orientation was required during my freshman year -- one lecture from each service. The anti-Vietnam War atmosphere on campus ensured that none of them would actually get to speak. After about 10 minutes of hooting and stomping they gave up trying.
CROISSANT: When I order one at Jack-In-The-Box I have to pronounce it Croy-sant so the clerk understands. I learned this after repeating the word numerous times at the drive-thru when the clerk finally said, "Oh, you want a croysant."
HBD, Splynter, wherever you are.
Wendy, this blog has a long history of sharing recipes. That inspired me to include a recipe for each type of baked goods chosen for the theme. I would guess most have not tried to bake a brioche or a scone from scratch. My youngest son embarked a scone creating career back in high school, and it was fun to watch and eat.
TTP, did you bake one of our theme entries for your DW's breakfast? Have fun baking Susan; let us know if any of the recipes turn out well. D-O, Jack-In-The-Box serves croissant? I wonder why they have not given in to just calling them crescent rolls like Pillsbury did.
Hello Puzzlers -
A rough start in that NW corner. Beldame was unknown, tried CDC for HHS division, but that area stayed white until the very end. Moving to the NE block changed all that - it filled right in, yielding Brioche and thus a hint to food. Smooth sailing from there, until looping back to the NW. I stared at Beldame for a while but the perps looked solid. Ta da! Good to get a Jeff Wex to start the day.
Morning Lemon, it never occurred to me to have a favorite Roman emperor. However, if one had to be chosen, I guess Marcus Aurelius is a good bet. He seems to have been far less depraved than some of the others.
Splynter, if you’re tuned in, Happy Birthday! Drop us a line.
Adding to our SpaceX trivia: it’s widely known that the Tesla was playing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” during the launch, another humorous touch. I’ve read that the song was on a continuous loop, begun sometime before launch. I presume it was played through the car’s stereo speakers, but of course there would be few people if any within range to hear it at the launch pad. The audio player had a battery life of some six hours, enough to keep playing quite a distance from Earth, but of course the speakers can’t generate any sound without an atmosphere. Still, it’s a fun gesture in keeping with the spirit of the thing.
After hopping around with BLINDERS on and getting a few toe holds it was apparent that BAKER'S products were appearing. Most were easy guesses but the NW was never completed. ULTIMA Thule, NESTOR the Argonaut, or BELDAME are unheard of (for me) unknowns, I spelled GAI as GAE, and had AM NOT for I'M NOT. SUK, HAE, SST, ERI- all from perps.
I did get the PARC fill for pique-nique and thought it was a hokey play on the sound. Then I checked it on Google Translate and saw that it was French for picnic. Live and learn.
Couldn't get a foothold in the great northwest, so I got two cheats from the LAT site: MUFFIN and NESTOR. After those cheats I was able to finish, but had BLINkERS instead of BLINDERS. It may be regional usage, but I have NEVER heard them called "blinders" and I have spent WAY too much time around racehorses and horse farms in Eastern Kentucky. But I LIU, and much to my surprise there it was.
Zoe joined our family one year ago today. Big thanks to the Orlando chapter of Greyhound Pets of America.
Thanks to Jeffrey for another fine brain buster. The many that are beyond my abilities enhance my joy on the rare occasion that I actually solve one of your masterpieces. And thanks to Lemony for a fun reveal. HBD to Splynter.
This seemed daunting until I saw the reveal early on. It led to finding all the baked goods and enabled me to move along quickly. Fun. Lemon, your blog is always delightful and informative.
DO, LOL MRI of your brain.
I knew BELDAME and NESTOR. The holdup in the NW was hanging on to OAKS too long. MUFFIN gave me metals, which suggested ELMS. TA DA.
Only ULTIMA Thule and SUK were new to me. I like Dvorak's music, but never heard of SUK.
Misty, what a scary experience you had right before your stress test. That kind of thing leaves a person shaken.
I don't consider the packaged bagels you find in a supermarket real bagels. I like fresh bagels just out of the oven, topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers and onion.
RIB is often clued as a morsel. A morsel is very small, just a mouthful, just one bite. A rib is bigger than a morsel.
Happy birthday Splynter. Miss you. I wish you much happiness in your new home and job.
Musings
-The fabulous gimmick turned from foe to ally after the theme filled
-NW corner was a bear
-Kids talk about what game level they have ATTAINED
-He is a BELGIAN not a Frog! (:10)
-An infamous DOJO in moviedom
-M*A*S*H’s Hawkeye to reporter - You call it a police action back home, right? Over here, it's a war. "A police action" sounds like we're over here ARRESTING people handing out parking tickets. War is just killing.
-I thought the sprinter might run out of (starting) BLOCKS first
-Happy Birthday, Splynter!
This was one lame puzzle. Even more annoying than the baker's dozen was CAT SCAN for CT SCAN. I guess it ATTAINED its goal, as it GOT TO me.
Good morning everyone.
Happy Birthday, Splynter. Hope things are going your way.
Just spent a euphoric 45 min, or so, wading about in Wechsler's wallowing well. Strangely, I got BRIOCHE, #2, early on before seeing what the theme really was. A few other odds and ENDS like BISCUIT and SCONE were gotten, which improved the focus a little. Then BAKERS DOZEN dropped and the rest was an easy romp home. I had 'blocks' before BREATH, and 'oaks' before ELMS. The French PARC and GAI, came easily with a little perp help. Overall, a nice edgy puzzle; Jeff did not disappoint.
BOSNIAN - Utica and the upper Mohawk region have welcomed several thousand Bosnian refugees in the last 20 some years. They are hard workers and set a good example for others. They bought a downtown Methodist church whose congregation had mostly migrated to the 'burbs' and converted it to a mosque. Life goes on.
Anon @ 9:09 AM: thanks for sharing. Glad you liked it.
WEES about the NW corner!
Jinx: it must be a regional thing. I have never heard them called blinkers--only blinders. Weird, huh?
I do love me a good hard-boiled egg (well, actually steamed, not boiled but they look the same).
When BRIOCHE finally fell, I got on the right path.
Thanks, Jeff & Lemonade, for a satisfying Friday experience. Now out to remove about a foot of "partly cloudy" from the walks and the driveway.
I groaned when I saw a JW puzzle and then all the numbers instead of proper clues. But I succeeded with only a little red-letter help in the NW corner. I only resorted to that because I am short on time this morning. Thanks for the fun Jeffrey and Lemonade.
I'll be back later to read everything.
Happy Birthday Splynter. I'm sure somebody will post some Gams for you.
Thanks JW for the challenge . Needed help to finish today . Had not heard of Thule so LIU . Also checked BELDAME to make sure. The rest of the puzzle filled slowly but steadily enough for a Friday. Started with ILK and ILLS. Then CITYPLAN gave me PIE and CAKE and the game was on. Tuff but enjoyable :-)
Good Morning!
Snowed in! Thanks, Jeff. No complaints because I have but all the world and time*. Upon first looking into Weshler's puzzle*, I was stymied by the numbers, but I soldiered on to gather a few loose stones. Then, aha!, the BAKER'S DOZEN: easy peasy. I may have quit, any other Friday, but with a foot of snow outside, I'm going nowhere.
Thanks, Lemon, for the wonderful expose. I really enjoyed the addition of recipes. Fun! with plenty of time to peruse them. [BTW--myriad is always singular ;) For myriad reasons, I assume.) Nice links. Thanks so much.
Happy Birthday, Splynter! Do stop by when you have the chance.
About yesterday's poetry discussion: Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. ~T.S. Eliot
Go Easy with the snow removal! There's more on the way. Do stay cozy.
Hi gang -
Mixed feelings. Don't like the lack of clues, but I don't think this could be done in an acceptable way otherwise. And it is masterfully executed.
Lots of Friday crunch in the rest of the fill.
So - pretty satisfying to complete.
About 3 inches of new snow here as of an hour ago, and still coming down. Lots of school closings in the area. I am SO sick of winter.
See y'all soon. Happy weekend. i don;t plan in going anywhere.
Cool regards!
JzB
Happy Birthday Splynter!
When I attended, ROTC was required at Cornell, something about it being a land-grant college if I recall correctly. I tried to do a good job with shoe polishing, close order drill, marching, etc. I didn't resent it too much until one of those cold days when I'd have to put on my uniform and shiny shoes and climb up icy libe slope for class and drills.
Some folks here appreciate my lunch descriptions and reviews. Well, here's a movie review to add to the mix. Barbara and I really enjoyed "The Full Monty" when it first came out. I came across a rerun on a cable station, recorded it and am mostly finished watching it again. I really like that movie. It is funny and poignant, the story of a group of mates out of work due a factory closing and who decide to make some quick cash by putting on a male strip show. The British humour makes it seem a little like Monty Python with a story and a big heart. Did I say how much I like it?
Our doctors and medical technicians all call them CAT scans and that is what is written on our prescriptions. CT scan is correct, but so is CAT scan. Why be annoyed, Anon @9:09, when you can LIU?
CE Dave, your cakes are amazing.
To my friend Gatormom, if you decided to look in on us, welcome. When you feel like commenting, would you please write Gatormom at the bottom of your post so I know it's you.
Until you get acquainted you can post under Anonymous, being sure to click on I'm not a robot.
I had a wonderful recipe for scones which I misplaced. I have never found one as good. Lemon, your recipe just may be the ticket. I will have to try it.
No snow here and none forecast, just a very cold, gray day.
You don't have to be a purist to dislike the use of numbers as clues. No wonder crosswords don't have a wide following...
Great fun puzzle.
Won't miss Splynter and his girlie listings.
Good Morning:
Seeing just a number for a clue was a tad daunting but it didn't take too long to see the light! The only true unknowns were Suk and Ultima (Thule). I knew the word, Beldame, but not its meaning; thanks to Mr. G, I know it now. Lots of w/os: Serbian/Bosnian, Am Not/I'm Not, Tarte/Torte, Oaks/Elms, Col/Maj, and Woes/Ills. All in all, a clever theme and a fun solve. (My personal "Baker's Dozen" is 13 ears of corn from my favorite farm stand! 🌽)
Thanks, Jeffrey W., for never disappointing and always delighting us and thanks, Lemony, for the colorful and cogent commentary.
OMK @ 3:24 ~ It's funny how we can develop food fetishes, isn't it? My husband loved marinara sauce but wouldn't eat a tomato. One of my sisters eats eggs in many forms but won't eat egg salad. Another sister loves a shrimp cocktail but wouldn't eat Scampi or Baked, stuffed shrimp.
Jinx @ 8:09 ~ I hope Zoe is in for a special "treat" to celebrate her one-year anniversary with her adoptive family. BTW, blinders is what I've always heard but horse racing is not really one of my interests.
WikWak @ 9:27 ~ I had to chuckle at your shoveling a foot of "partly cloudy."
Misty, I hope your heart rate is back to normal after yesterday's stress "tests!"
Have a great day.
JzB I suffer from the same illness. To stay positive I say" I LOVE SUMMER " Clear skies and more pleasant here today :-)
Amazing! On my first look at his puzzle, starting with those #1 and #2, I figured there's no way this is doable. With a sigh, I figured I'd try to get what I could and then quit, but surprisingly a lot began to fill in, including the DOZEN of the reveal. So I kept going and going and when BISCUIT filled in, thanks to getting JESU, DONT I, and SST, I realized that the DOZEN were going to be food items. So CAKE and BUN made sense, and then they all began to fill in, and I got the whole thing! Woohoo! Woohoo! I got a Friday Jeff Wechsler puzzle with numbers and no clues! Woohoo! Keep in mind that I'm usually faltering by Friday, so this was a total thrill for me! Thank you, Jeffrey, and you too, Lemonade, for the fun expo.
Thanks for the kind words of sympathy, Yellowrocks. Today I'm just feeling so grateful that no one was hurt in the accident, and that both cars were even okay to drive with just the crunched dents as damage. A lucky outcome, actually.
Jinx, how nice that you're enjoying your sweet Zoe.
Happy birthday, Splynter. I didn't realize you're still pretty much a kid!
Have a great day, everybody!
No time so..
HBD Splynter, miss you fellow friend of Bill's.
Of all the stupid fills I had EAR for Belg locale. Fun solve though.
WC
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
Happy Birthday, Splynter, and many more. Stop in!
Lemonade. Enjoyed seeing the Salem Cross. Our Grand Master of Knights Templar also wears that cross on his uniform as his insignia of rank. We also use the Patriarchal Cross for lower Grand Encampment Officers. And the Passion Cross for Commanders of local Commanderies of Knights Templar. Our Drill Teams also form those crosses when marching.
Well, got started slowly last night. Used Cruciverb and it worked.
When I got to the theme in the center, I got a big smile on my face. BAKER is my last name and Baker's Dozen has been a large part of my life. I always ask for that.
Then, I knew what the numbers were for. Puzzle got much easier. I made a list numbered from one to thirteen and wrote in the bakery products as I got them.
There were other tough answers, too. BEL DAME. I had OLD DAME. Fixed that. NESTOR. perps and wags.
How this guy put all this together is beyond me. Great job, Jeff.
As I said yesterday, because of snow they called off my work last night at Amazon and my work this morning as a crossing guard, so I got a good night's sleep.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
"Puzzling Thoughts":
HB Splynter from a fellow Aquarian. Here's a little present from Moe
WEES about the theme; I couldn't see the forest for the ELMS, and needed a cheat or two to get a toehold. BISCUIT was my first of the BAKERSDOZEN to fall, followed shortly thereafter by DANISH & SCONE. Then DONUT; and when I saw the Z from ZIT the perps made the reveal pop.
I too had OAKS > ELMS; and as others have posted, BLINKERS is another widely acceptable term for 38d. Many racing forms use a lower case "b" in their "past performance" notes, to indicate this equipment on a horse. If a trainer makes this switch, it could be crucial, especially to a "maiden" (one who's never won a race) or younger horse.
I hope this Moe-ku doesn't cross the line re religion ....
Jim and Tammy Faye
Suffered thirteen sins, they're called:
A BAKKERS DOZEN
Puzzles are supposed to be fun. This one wasn’t...not a bit. I actually began to get angry. And I GOT the solve.
Horrible clues...where the author stooped to give one. I can just see the author paying himself on the back at his cleverness.
It’s not clever to construct a mess like this. It’s just lazy and a bit of mean.
What an ugly mess.
I was about to complain foul, when I saw 13 items had no clue. But with the reveal, I saw they all did have a clue. The clue for each one was, "One of a baker's dozen." So instant replay changes my foul to fair. Very clever and very fair.
No funny bakers dozen images out there,
but here are some honorable mentions:
Seen outside a bakery...
Seen inside a bakery..
And, oh what the hell,,, for Irish Miss...
CED, I thought for sure you were going to run with the alternative possibilities for 65a.
Ya know, for instance a clue like "Felix's beer?" Or "are animals able to climb a tree? "
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Jeffrey & Lemonade!
I was glad I ate just before working the cw. Wasn't as hard as I first expected with numbers instead of clues. Got BRIOCHE right away. When I got PIE, an AHA moment occurred and my mental oven went on high heat.
THULE Greenland is the northern most US Air Force Base. We had a friend who made good money as a welder working there during the Cold War. Welding in cold weather is a specialty career skill.
CAT SCAN: I was in the hospital for a strange allergic reaction when our small rural hospital got a CAT SCANner. They were so delighted to give me the first one ever there since I was a newspaper reporter and they wanted press. They got it.
Childless friends of mine adopted a young BOSNIAN War widow and her child and sent her money and things she couldn't buy in that devastated country. Stress had caused alopecia, so one of the gifts was a wig. They were very malnourished so food packages were sent via Red Cross to avoid theft. They also visited Bosnia several times loaded with items. Very loving relationship developed even after the girl remarried.
AnonPVX: honey, have a donut and sweeten up! JeffWex certainly isn't lazy. It takes a certain diabolic industriousness to create a puzzle like this. LOL!
Happy Birthday AWOL Splynter!
I would love the clue for 45a to be "Clinton once stated: 'It depends upon what the meaning of the word __ __'"
CED: loved the wheels on that patrol car.
Finally, a chance to read the blog. Thanks for the grid/Cross comments, Lemonade. I had not really looked at the placement of the theme on the grid. Adds another layer.
I must have been on Hahtoolah's wavelength with Oaks before ELMS, Am Not before I'M NOT, noting RIBS and BQ, INN and hotel STAY.
I had Arrives before ATTAINS, Serbian before BOSNIAN (hello IM), ABLE before AONE (hey I'm Canadian but I should have known this one from previous CWs). This Canadian also had no clue about HHS and started with FBI.
I was Jacked before JUICED, and ran the gamut from Get up to Arise to Raise to ROUSE before I was truly UP!
I wasn't familiar with Entenmann's (another Canadian thing) and followed Lemonade's link. The brand is currently owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA. You can't make this stuff up LOL!
Hahtoolah's QOD reminded me of this quote attributed to Mark Twain: ‘I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.’
Enjoy the day. We too are getting more snow.
Happy Birthday, Splynter! I miss you and your beautiful postings! Please do come back and visit!
Yes, it was a challenge to get started with this unusual theme puzzle. First entry was JESU. That is one of my favorite classical pieces, though I originally heard it as modern electronic music!
Here is JESU by Apollo 100 as I first heard it.
Got all the hard stuff and thought I FIR. But in fact I FIW with NESTAR/TARTE which seemed just as good.
Here are my photos of the Concorde SST at the SMITHSONIAN National Air and Space Museum.
I was there with my best friend from high school who lives near the museum. He and I used to volunteer at the SMITHSONIAN when we were in high school.
I used to get a BAKER'S DOZEN of BAGELS from my favorite BAGEL bakery here. But their expenses went up and a DOZEN is now twelve.
PK: Interesting that you had one of the first CAT SCANs. I had one fairly early, too, in 1975. It was called an EMI SCAN back then. EMI as in Empire Music as in The Beatles. The Beatles actually funded the effort that created it. The result was a Nobel Prize in Medicine.
BRIOCHE was a challenging unknown which held up the NE for me. Learning moment. When I was in college, my parents moved to NW PENN and ERI was the closest airport.
Other unknowns: ULTIMA THULE, HAE, ELOCUTE, BELDAME, GAI
Record solve time for a Friday. Simple actually, But, Im not really sure what I solved?? So I'll ask a dumb question, is each # supposed to represent a bakery item that you would buy in order to make/buy a baker's dozen? I was thinking that each # should be something that corresponds to a specific item, but I guess that's not the case. And, is the Cross of Salem supposed to be something related to the reveal? I'm a little confused.
OMK and IM, funny about food notions. One of our clan was an avid preteen baseball fan who hated bologna. When he was served Ball Park brand bologna, he loved it. Anything for baseball. Thereafter he was served Ball Park brand all the time. Wink. Wink. He never complained.
It is interesting how our tastes regarding puzzles differ. Often it is not rational, but emotional. Our tastes in puzzles, clues, themes, puzzle conventions, etc. are all so personal. That does not mean these things in puzzles are invalid, we just don't care for them, which is our prerogative.
CE Dave, "Use your tongue." ROTFL
I believe that each numbered item is one of 13 things a baker might bake.
I think Cross of Salem just refers to the shape of the grid. See Lemon's coloring of the solution.
Anon@1:21 - I'll beat CED to your request.
CATSCAN
My favourites are #1, #4 & #6.
Nope C'eh! I was referring to CAT'S CAN.
Today's Corner is a real keeper, thanks to Lemonade and his links to several breakfast recipes.
Ta- DA! Well, I almost made it without help, but I confess to looking up the Argo's crew & to checking old maps of ULTIMA Thule. I agree with Lemon that Mr. Wechsler's breakfast menu was quite chewy, indeed.
Most toothsome!
Congratulations are definitely in order for our Misty for cracking one of this week's toughest pzls. Sometimes the Xwds most daunting in appearance will roll our way when we get a toehold.
Irish Miss and Yellowrocks, thanks for the understanding - and the examples of nutty food thinking.
We don't choose to have our quirky food food fears or fancies. They just descend upon us - usually out of some obscure childhood ether where bizarre associations are blended together.
Argyle,
Wow! Who'd a-thunk it?
Scrambling an egg inside its shell?! Your idea of a bar-bet is probably on the nail. I might try this some day. But I suspect it, even with the parts commingled.
It looks awesome, but how long do hard-boiled eggs stay warm?
I really don't care for my scrambled eggs cold ...
Happy B'Day, Splynter! And good luck in your new setting!
____________
Diagonal Report: Parallel sub-diagonals, two lines running from NW to SE. This is the second day in a row with sub-diags and no main line. This time the diagonals were on the recto side; yesterday's were verso.
No hidden message.
AnonymousPVX @ 12:26 ~ Angry, Horrible, Mess, Lazy, Mean, Ugly? I guess you really, really disliked the puzzle, huh?
CED @ 1:05 ~ Thanks for the pastry-loving pooches picture!
CanadianEh @ 2:00 ~ Enjoyed your link, also. I'm partial to #1 (no surprise there, eh?)
The puzzle was, well, ah, puzzling ... and actually easier to solve once the theme started to show (but those first answers were doozies!)
But the comments today were truly great. I'd forgotten the e-version of Bach until M. Picard remembered it for us, but the apex was the junction of 'Ol Crosseye's and C-Eh!'s caninofelophilia.
Hi All and Happy Birthday Splynter! I knew CED would bring a suitable CAKE.
Thank you Jeff for, IMHO, a brilliantly executed concept. I never thought I could even get started much less finish (ONE'A letter short-a win'a* (I feel your pain TTP)). It wasn't easy as PIE nor a piece of CAKE but I got 'er done and felt good about sussing one of your offerings.
Thanks Lem for the expo and the links to NoSTO** and MARCUS. The CAT SCAN guy wasn't funny at all though :-)
NE was first to mostly fall then the East - PIE and CAKE filled (hi Oas!), Z in Zit - BAKERS DOZEN filled backwards. Ha! It is BRIOCHE to finish HAE(?). NW was last to nearly fall.
WOs (of note - there were a lot): aM NOT, oaks, nIB b/f RIB fixed by a ROLL. I had NIH (National Inst. of Health) 1st; and I was Jazzed before JUICED.
ESPs: SUK, HAE, ERI... and likely more.
WAGs that were totally right! in a sea of white: ISIS, ETON
Fav: I'll go w/ PARC; the clue made me think of Yogi Bear's pic-in-nics, eh BigE?. //is there a Geleé Pierre PARC in France?
{}{LOL!}
HG - I don't comment on your links everyday but I do enjoy them. I alway try to guess, based on your BlueClue, what the link goes to. I was 2 fer 2 today.
Newt@1:34 - LOL. I also thought about ISIS (eg. in Iraq) @45a's fill.
Argyle - them eggs don't look fluffy enough for OMK :-)
OMK - Eldest only likes eggs in a crème brûlée. I blame me; I fed DW 3 eggs a day (that's what the book said!) during her pregnancy.
JJM - yeah, with PIE and CAKE and mention of the periodic table I was trying to think of Desserts' Periodic Table. [but, PIE is #1 //can you hear HG or BillG, "No -T; PI is 3.1415..."? :-)]
Cheers, -T
*say it like an BEL-Italian :-)
**Yep, my one bad square. I was thinking maybe Jason (the only argonaut I know) gave NOstradamus that nick-name :-)
Yes, the Salem's Cross was just my impression looking at the grid. I remind those filled with vitriol, these are puzzles, games not life or death. If you do not like JW's puzzles, do not solve them and move on.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Splynter ... My "First Sunset Toast" tonight is to YOU !!!
D-N-F ... probably only filled in 20% ... but they were correct.
Didn't get any of the themes ...
This is my "new" "Least Favorite 2018 Puzzle."
Cheers!
Many thanks for the congratulations, Ol'Man Keith--makes me feel great!
Ah Jeffrey, ya beat me up and stole my lunch money ....again, but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. So many clever clues and misdirection. I'm proud that I got as many as I did. And I did get lots...just not enough to finish. PARC was my favorite.
Lemony, great explanation. I, also, loved the recipes. I make a mean scone !
HBD! Splynter where ever you are.
I don't think my comment on today's puzzle was vitriolic whatsoever.
If you'd rather I didn't post, that's fine.
JJM, your post was fine and I answered it politely. Please don't think those comments were directed at you. Please keep posting.
The vitriol came from PVX at 12:26. We can understand this poster did not like this puzzle, but the vitriol was over the top. If we don't like something we say THUMPER, meaning "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything." We each are entitled to our own opinion and likes and dislikes. We are not entitled to post snark and vitriol.
Anonymous T,
Spot on about the fluffy factor!
As for crème brûlée, I don't really think of that as eggs. Custards of all kinds are definitely eggs, and I suppose a case can be made that they belong in the "scrambled family," but I just don't see them that way.
Ah, eggs! They are really wonderful. As a constituent part of such a great many different drinks, baked goods, and dishes, they lose themselves to view so easily we experience them only as a binding and enriching factor.
I'm only put off from eating by the sight of the separate white & yolk, so never object when I don't see them.
Dudley, fermatprime and others who didn't know or weren't sure of BELDAME, I join your ranks in that it is a beautiful word, one that I must have encountered a dozen times over the years, and thought I knew its meaning, but ...
I've never been pressed to define it, and if I had been, I'd probably have gone for the obvious - "lovely lady," or something as wrong as that.
If this isn't another justification for the hours spent with Xwds I don't know what else it is. And thanks to Google I know how to pronounce it now, like a good Anglo-Saxon, not in an obvious way.
JJM - did someone post something ugly I missed? The only one I see currently referencing you was me. I was just agreeing with you on trying to find if a number fit some order at the bakery / periodic table(?). If it was me, there's a misunderstanding; if it was something nasty posted - Argyle took it down. Stay and play! -T
JJm, assuredly it was not your comment that was "vitriolic".
Most of us got nearly halfway through before getting an idea of those numbers.
I was thinking of STALL for Lift as in put the car in the left Lift and change the oil. And NIT before ZIT held me back.
But if one "Persevered" and realized there were 13 pastry items it became relatively easy.
Anyone remember this quizler "Baker's half dozen of Rhett Butler's impersonator?"
WC
PS. I should have added What famous novel...
WC
JJM, please do not misunderstand. My 'vitriol' was solely for comments like
"Puzzles are supposed to be fun. This one wasn’t...not a bit. I actually began to get angry. And I GOT the solve.
Horrible clues...where the author stooped to give one. I can just see the author paying(sic) himself on the back at his cleverness.
It’s not clever to construct a mess like this. It’s just lazy and a bit of mean.
What an ugly mess."
Everyone has a right to their own opinion, and we welcome all comments. We do try to discourage the personal attack included in this post. Creating a puzzle is not easy. The effort expended by constructors, as well as the minimal rewards, frequent rejections deserve some respect even if you do not like the puzzle. Especially where others expressed enjoyment. Not every puzzle is my cup of tea either, but why attack the one wrote it?
Oh my! What a mess we have descended into.
Not everyone likes every puzzle. I have taken a Thumper on many puzzles where I could appreciate the skill involved in creating it, but I just didn't like it. Someone....was it YR? ....said our tastes in puzzles are not always rational, sometimes just emotional. Who knows why we like certain puzzles? But surely we can all appreciate the effort the constructor put into cresting something for our enjoyment.
As my kids often tell me.....just chill out!!
PK, have you heard from your granddaughter about her first Mardi Gras? The weather has not been good for some of the parades but it seems to have been a good experience so far. I hope she is having fun.
This is the Big Weekend! The weather is not perfect, but the parades should roll. My kids are coming in from out of town to watch....and stay with me in between. I hope your granddaughter has a good Mardi Gras!
Wow, very interesting puzzle concept. Well executed. Damn hard for me to solve. I expect hard from Jeff but this one took the CAKE.
By the way, if memory serves, what are now often referred to as CT scans were originally called CAT scans, the CAT standing for Computerized Axial Tomography. For some reason the A was removed and the procedure is now called simply Computed Tomography.
I agree that expressing subjective dislike (or like) of a puzzle clue or entry is not the same as declaring it invalid or objectively wrong.
When I saw that pique-nique clue my mind immediately began singing that "Dominique, nique, nique" song.
Good wishes to you all.
Swampcat: didn't think about Mardi Gras being this early. I'll have to do some asking. Thanks for mentioning it. I hope my granddaughter has a good time, but doubt if she'll tell us about it if she does. Her parents are very strait-laced.
The House of the Seven Gables
Get it?
Misty, you must have grokked NESTOR. I only got the connection* from the wiki link. The wiki doesn't talk about his Argonauts role.
And I must have read about Jason 50 years ago or more
WC
* To Ulysses of course
WC - um, no. I was going with... //oh, wait, the V8 just hit. Ha! Gables...
Since Tawnya's not chiming in, I guess I'll be the one to link Birdhouse in your Soul [TMBG]. It's the only song I know that mentions Jason and his Argonauts (@2:01). I linked lyrics for OKL.
ERRATA - I meant "OKL and C Moe" @7:10p FLN. Sorry Owen, I messed up my inits for you and Keith (again)
Dudley - more cool re: SpaceX . I asked the Google if there were high-powered antennae on the Tesla so we can watch it fly by Mars but didn't find anything. Any one know?
With all the talk of a military parade....
Anyone wonder(?)... In the Sixties we used NASA as our equivalent of a military-parade ["shiiii... we can hit any target - looky, the Moon"] and now it's all "yeah, our companies (started by an immigrant) can shoot for Mars."
I'm not trying to be political but asking about the thought. I mean, China spent some time to shot down a satellite and two weeks later we shot one out of space from a sub under the sea 'because, um, [insert excuse (it had nuclear stuff!) here].'
We don't need a Frog parade (still giggling HG), we seem to be able to show strength by doing the 'yeah, that wasn't too hard.'
Just me?
Now I gotta go ask the Google re: Picard's claim of The Beatles funding the EMI scan. MRI sounds close so maybe the start of that rumor(?)... I'll report back.
#RockOnStarman -T
Well, that was easy - C|NET's article on EMI and C[a]T SCANS . Thanks Picard for pointing me to that bit. -T
AnonT: Thank you for the validation and for the kind words.
Most of my physics career involved designing scientific instruments. My mentor told us the story of the EMI Scan (later called the CAT SCAN) to make an important point: The inventor won the Nobel Prize for Medicine, yet he was not a doctor or a biologist. He was an engineer and his inventing partner Allan McLeod Cormack was a physicist.
The lesson: You can learn the biology and medicine as you go along. What you really need to design scientific instruments is a good knowledge of math, engineering, computer science and some physics.
Michael: Glad you enjoyed the memory of the electronic version of JESU. I heard it on my kit-built shortwave radio when I was a teen. I think it was from Radio South Africa, used on a regular program. I was so happy today to find it on YouTube as I had not heard it since then!
Actually, I DNF today!
(but I actually enjoyed it!)
I love Friday puzzles for their quirkiness, saw Jeffrey Wechslers
name and knew I was going to get my butt kicked.
Discouraged at the 1st pass I threw 56a Karate training complex at daughter#2
and she immediately came back with "Dojo!?!?" (which got me started...)
I am not sure where or when the light bulb came on. Somewhere around scone,
then danish led to biscuit, +13 and I WAG'd bakersdozen, an I was off to
the races! Lots of fun filling in blank spaces that used to make me fat!
(those calories were finally good for something!)
But alas! could not come up with muffins or brioche
(or beldame,bosnian,attains,quieten...)
How did I miss "bagel" ( I must be slipping....)
I wasn't going to post again, but when I saw anonymousPVX,
(& more importantly, the reaction to it,)
I realized, that I too, am guilty of a negative reaction
to something that was given to us only for the pleasure of that "AHA" moment.
Yes, I am talking about my adverse reaction to foreign words in
English crossword puzzles.
Well, I apologize!
Instead, I will look at it as I am always learning...
And Picard!
I was going to post in response to one of yours,
and decided against it as I didn't want to sound silly...
(CED not sound silly, OMG! that's what I live for!)
So here goes,
In trying to image an Atom, I assume that to see it you would
have to be able to resolve the radiation emitted (or reflected).
Again assuming we use electromagnetic radiation,
(Lets say the bandwidth of light for arguments sake, but other frequencies could be more useful)
In another stretch of the imagination, lets say the width of an atom
was comparable to lets say the width of our solar system.
Visable light takes 8 minutes (at the speed of light) to reach from the
sun to Jupiter.
In that case, what "actual" frequency of light would we have to resolve
to image an atom?
(right now we are only looking at a harmonic of that frequency, hence the poor resolution.)
What kind of equipment would we need to resolve a frequency that small?
And what if the atom is not as wide as a solr system, but more like a galaxy?
(Sheesh, that's going to up the stakes on resolution...)
-T 9:29 PM -
I’ve been assuming the video from the upper stage has been powered by batteries, just like the tunes. I haven’t spotted any signs of a solar array, and I figure it’s unlikely (but not impossible) that an isotope generator was aboard. Thus the cameras would run out of power well before getting to Mars, sadly.
Dudley - good point. Teslas' batteries take most of the trunk. And that's just good for 100 miles :-)
CED - It's been an hour since you asked and I'm sure you're chomping at the bit for an answer so you can get a part before the store closes. So, I'll toss this out.
c=ν x λ so to get resolution ATOM-small you'd need high freq; to get resolution of the solar system I'd suspect a very loooong wave. But I deal in discreet signals, specifically 0s &1s, so I prolly have this backwards.
To the question of equipment, something with a slow response time to get the galaxy [we've kinda done that with radio-telescopes bigger than earth] and something with amazing response time to get an atom (or humming bird's wing). Think of your guitar pickups - fairly decent response time to convert vibration to electricity - and the pickups that you can plug into your computer; fast to make the 1s & 0s to save for later. I'll stop here and let real scientists pick it up; this may be a silly (and wrong) answer to the not so silly puzzle you propose.
Basically, you need a flux-capacitor; the 1.21 gigawatt kind (O'Reilly Auto has one in stock). You can get plutonium from the drug store.
Cheers mate & great question. Anyone know better? -T
No. Seriously, I think this link is way off the mark..
We need something way shorter (higher) in frequency than Gamma rays to resolve atoms...
What kind of equipment is needed to resolve electromagnetic radiation
in frequencies thousands of times higher than Gamma rays?
IIRC, from some class decades ago, the energy level required to visualize an atom is such that it will kick the atom loose, so that it cannot be resolved. (Now that I think of it, isn't this just Heisenberg's uncertainty, coming from a different place?)
Michael - yes, things get "where's Schrodinger's Cat get off to?" in a hurry at those energy-levels.
CED - I made light (ha!) w/ the flux-capacitor thing but I tried my best to explain it insofar I I get it. I cannot fully answer the Gamma question. I can point you to NASA's site on measuring EMR, maybe you can make better sense of it. All I got was "get a photon detector" to detect emissions BUT it's not to "see."
Cheers, -T
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