THEMELESS SATURDAY WITH NEVILLE FOGARTY
Here is a 2007 premiere of a fun TV Crossword Game Show featuring a precocious 19 year-old Neville on the premiere of a Crossword game show:
Now let's see what our TV star/constructor has for us today:
Across
1. Dandies : FOPS - Henry IV, Part I, Act I, Scene 3, Hotspur and the FOP
5. Space Invaders genre : SHOOT 'EM UP - As so many games are. You shoot your blips at other blips
14. Blue dye : ANIL - Speaking of DYES, Granddaughter Elise has been blessed/cursed with Papa's affinity for crosswords and works them everyday. So for Easter, she DYED this crossword egg for me. Yeah, I'm proud!
15. Quintet that won a Grammy for their a cappella version of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" : PENTATONIX - I had never seen this before and I just love it!
17. '20s tennis star Lacoste : RENE - Lacoste. The man and the eponymous clothing line he launched
18. 1996 McDonald's offering : ARCH DELUXE - A very expensive flop for McDonalds. Massive advertising couldn't save it
19. Gold mine : MONEY TREE - None in my yard
21. Shellac ingredient : RESIN
22. Egg, in Ecuador : HUEVO - HUEVOS Rancheros
23. Former Monopoly token : IRON - The token in the middle replaces the IRON. Works for Dave and me!
25. Fair-hiring letters : EEO
26. Anthony of "black-ish" : ANDERSON - Okay
29. Cleaning staff members : MAIDS - We usually tip them $5/day
32. Hawaii's __ Coast : KONA - Home of some very good coffee in the only American state that grows coffee
33. Split-resistant wood : ELM
34. Bit of progress : DENT - I have had 50 or more projects to grade at one sitting and it seemed to take forever to make even a DENT in the pile
36. Dynamite guy? : NOBEL - Alfred, the inventor of dynamite
38. It's administered by the College Board, briefly : PSAT
42. Brooding genre : EMO - Teenage angst is fertile ground for music
44. Welsh national emblem : LEEK - Traditionally worn on St. David's Day March 1
46. Downed : ATE - He ATE how many Nathan's Hot Dogs?
49. Game with a disc : ULTIMATE - Previously known as ULTIMATE Frisbee but now just ULTIMATE
51. "The Lead With Jake Tapper" channel : CNN
52. Gutter locale : EAVE - _ A _ E turns out NOT to be LANE
54. Greek strings : LYRES
55. What Santa Claus makes and gets : LISTS - Santa is making LISTS and checking them twice and kids are sending him LISTS of what they want
57. Ornament : EMBELLISH - Merriam Webster's definitions of Ornament is 4. The act of adorning or being adorned and 5. An embellishing note not belonging to the essential harmony or melody
60. Really easy to use : IDIOT PROOF - Why has no one ever thought of this before?
62. "Crash __ Me": Dave Matthews Band hit : INTO - Okay
63. Dwindled to nothing : PETERED OUT - Possibly originated in comparing Peter's fading faith in Jesus prior to the crucifixion
64. Poetic units : FEET - An accented syllable with one or more unaccented syllables. Twas the NIGHT/be fore CHRIST/mas when ALL/ through the HOUSE = four FEET
65. Hospital employees : RESIDENTS - Miranda Bailey was the RESIDENT the interns called THE NAZI on Grey's Anatomy
66. Closes : ENDS
Down
1. Field worker : FARM HAND - High tech equipment has greatly reduced the need
2. Like the most valuable American Gold Eagle coins : ONE OUNCE
3. Attached, as a ribbon : PINNED ON - Last Saturday's puzzle discussed the perils of pinning and unpinning a corsage on today's prom dresses
4. Magical hiding place : SLEEVE
5. Minor fight : SPAT
6. Berliner's address : HERR
7. Rarely : ONCE IN A BLUE MOON - Tonight there will be a second full moon in this month which happens quite rarely. This second full moon is called a BLUE MOON because of its rarity not its color
8. Survey question option : OTHER
9. Little bit : TAD
10. For all time : ETERNAL - JFK's ETERNAL Flame has been extinguished several times. The first was when a group of Catholic school children sprinkled it with holy water and the lid came off.
11. Insidious insider : MOLE - Every teacher's lounge has one. Anything said there will go straight to the administration. Kvetch with caution!
12. Idle : UNUSED - Idle acres was a phenomenon where farmers did not plant anything and were paid by the government for doing so
13. Short cuts : PIXIES - Big Bang Theory fans will recognize who has this PIXIE cut
16. Foreign opening? : XENO - XENO means stranger or guest
20. Pennsylvania city where Peppermint Pattie was first produced : YORK - Hence the name
24. Folded fare : OMELET
27. State bordering Arizona and New Mexico : SONORA - We were in the north end of the SONORAN Desert last week. The Mexican state of SONORA is south of Tucson
28. Wish Tree artist : ONO - I am not familiar with anything Yoko ONO has done and precious few others would if she hadn't married well and had such a lovely name for crosswords
30. "Here comes trouble" type : IMP
35. "Dancing With the Stars" achievement : TEN - Last Saturday the puzzle had 14. XXX, perhaps : TENS
37. Grown elver : EEL - An elever is a young EEL. Yeah, I knew that 😛
39. Gateway Arch designer : SAARINEN - Eero's mother certainly attended a sale on vowels when her son was born!
40. Bore witness : ATTESTED
41. They may be long drives : TEE SHOTS - This perfect form should get him a long drive
43. Musical chairs? : MAESTRI - A maestro is a symphony director and MAESTRI is a gaggle of them
45. Last word of two James Bond film titles : KILL - A View To A KILL and A License To KILL
47. Twisted Sister frontman Dee : SNIDER - He was not talking about your kid's money
48. In the plant, say : ON SITE
50. Billy Joel hit with the line "I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home" : MY LIFE
51. Cut : CLIP - The guy who CLIPS my hair isn't the best barber but he's a good guy
53. Salsa __ : VERDE - I know VERDE means green
56. Socks cover them : TOES
58. Set of rounds : BOUT
59. Young newts : EFTS - I sometimes can't tell my ENTS from my EFTS
61. X'ing one? : PED
We welcome all pertinent and impertinent remarks now:
DA GRID:
1. Field worker : FARM HAND - High tech equipment has greatly reduced the need
2. Like the most valuable American Gold Eagle coins : ONE OUNCE
5. Minor fight : SPAT
6. Berliner's address : HERR
7. Rarely : ONCE IN A BLUE MOON - Tonight there will be a second full moon in this month which happens quite rarely. This second full moon is called a BLUE MOON because of its rarity not its color
8. Survey question option : OTHER
9. Little bit : TAD
10. For all time : ETERNAL - JFK's ETERNAL Flame has been extinguished several times. The first was when a group of Catholic school children sprinkled it with holy water and the lid came off.
11. Insidious insider : MOLE - Every teacher's lounge has one. Anything said there will go straight to the administration. Kvetch with caution!
12. Idle : UNUSED - Idle acres was a phenomenon where farmers did not plant anything and were paid by the government for doing so
13. Short cuts : PIXIES - Big Bang Theory fans will recognize who has this PIXIE cut
16. Foreign opening? : XENO - XENO means stranger or guest
20. Pennsylvania city where Peppermint Pattie was first produced : YORK - Hence the name
24. Folded fare : OMELET
27. State bordering Arizona and New Mexico : SONORA - We were in the north end of the SONORAN Desert last week. The Mexican state of SONORA is south of Tucson
28. Wish Tree artist : ONO - I am not familiar with anything Yoko ONO has done and precious few others would if she hadn't married well and had such a lovely name for crosswords
30. "Here comes trouble" type : IMP
35. "Dancing With the Stars" achievement : TEN - Last Saturday the puzzle had 14. XXX, perhaps : TENS
37. Grown elver : EEL - An elever is a young EEL. Yeah, I knew that 😛
39. Gateway Arch designer : SAARINEN - Eero's mother certainly attended a sale on vowels when her son was born!
40. Bore witness : ATTESTED
41. They may be long drives : TEE SHOTS - This perfect form should get him a long drive
43. Musical chairs? : MAESTRI - A maestro is a symphony director and MAESTRI is a gaggle of them
45. Last word of two James Bond film titles : KILL - A View To A KILL and A License To KILL
48. In the plant, say : ON SITE
50. Billy Joel hit with the line "I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home" : MY LIFE
51. Cut : CLIP - The guy who CLIPS my hair isn't the best barber but he's a good guy
53. Salsa __ : VERDE - I know VERDE means green
56. Socks cover them : TOES
58. Set of rounds : BOUT
59. Young newts : EFTS - I sometimes can't tell my ENTS from my EFTS
61. X'ing one? : PED
We welcome all pertinent and impertinent remarks now:
DA GRID:
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Neville and Gary! Worked both Fri. and Sat. tonight. No cheats. Fingers very clumsy, so I can't comment further. Maybe tomorrow!
Have a great day!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteWow, a speed run. Unusual for a Saturday, but everything was known. The center climber went in early, so naturally that gave a solid footing.
I’ve nibbled a few York Peppermint Patties. They were my mom’s favorite. Over in York, England, there is made a chocolate bar named Yorkie.
Morning Husker, I agree the cat is a worthy Monopoly token, but I’m kinda sentimental about the flatiron. I usually chose that when I was a kid. It’s interesting that the company chose a crowd sourcing technique to pick the new design.
Sending get well wishes to Argyle, if you’re tuned in!
If I had the know-how, I'd make pull-cords to market to school alumni. One side a school sports-watcher painted in the school colors, the other a can of lo-cal beer. Yep, for the FAN and the LITE!
ReplyDeleteSince Ariz, and NM are the bottom of the Four Corners, there is no U.S. state that borders both of them. Diabolical clue, though it didn't catch me for long.
The Lilliputian FOPS had a SHOOT-EM-UP
Over how to hold their poached HUEVOS cup!
The dispute was ETERNAL
Till women, maternal,
Made OMELETS they could all eat, either END up!
Not to EMBELLISH this tale, but forsooth!
They had tried so hard to make it IDIOT PROOF!
Their hope PETERED OUT --
They lost another BOUT.
The Universe keeps improving the idiot goofs!
{B+, A-.}
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteCan you spell "speed run?" Is it really Saturday? Thanx, Neville. Nice expo, Husker.
If the Monopoly folks wanted to retire a token, why the flat IRON? Why not the thimble? Kids look at it and ask, "wazzzat?" They probably think it's a salt shaker or a Dalek.
There's a maxim about nothing being IDIOT-PROOF -- those idiots are just too darned clever.
We've got a black and white cat named ZENO -- DW spells it with a Z. I just call him One-Eye. He was born that way.
A very unusual (for me) Saturday speed run. Using ornament as a verb slowed me down for a bit.
ReplyDeleteNice Neville puzzle and a great write-up HG. I enjoyed the flashback but have absolutely no memory of Merv Griffin's Crossword or whatever that was called. Those questions were really easy.
ReplyDeleteI also cannot say I ever heard of the Arch Deluxe, was it national?
Our blue Moon was spectacular as we are in the midst of a very long run of cool clear nights. Actually a mini-drought this month.
Thanks Neville and Gary
Died in the NE corner. One too many Captain Morgan’s last night may dulled my early morning mental acuity. Off to far North Scottsdale to tackle Troon North and shake this fog.
ReplyDeleteQuick one today. Enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole, easy-peasy for a Saturday. Only slow spot was the North-east (hello, Newfoundland!), where PIXIES was a mystery to me. Didn't understand the context until I came here to be enlightened by Husker's erudition. Luckily, the crosses were solid so I got 'er done.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the construction, Neville, and to HG for the exposé. A good day, all...
I agree that this was easy for a Saturday. My first time ever FIRing one with no erasures or lookups.
ReplyDeleteWell designed perps prevented me from being tripped up by PENTATONIX, RENE Lacoste, ARCH DELUXE, Anthony ANDERSON, Crash INTO Me (but I like Dave Matthews music, a Virginia band made good), Dancing With The Stars score, and SAARINEN, although we've had him here many times.
D-O: That's a thimble? I always thought it was a shot glass.
Do we really counter mines with SONAR? Maybe using towed arrays from helicopters?
Speaking of PETERED OUT, there is (or at least used to be) a nude beach in Los Angeles County next door to a chapel called St. Peters By The Sea.
Thanks to Neville Fogarty for a fun, doable Saturday puzzle, and to Gary for the interesting review.
Cool puzzle. Only the SW slowed me down. I wanted EROR PROOF. Finally the IDIOT (me?) showed up, giving me MAESTRI and the finish.
ReplyDeleteNavy divers and sonar imaging detect covert mines.
OKL I like your FAN and LITE symbols. LOL.
I'm not into electronic games. I was surprised to get SHOOT EM UP. For me that is a movie or story with plenty of gunfire.
PIXI cut, CSO to me.
Time to get cooking.
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON (like the beer) there's and IDIOT PROOF Saturday puzzle, but not today. H.G., I use ink to solve puzzles. The pencils are UNUSED, mainly because my mounted pencil sharpener is outside, in the garage and I'm too lazy to go out there. After two DNF days in a row, I didn't PETER OUT this am.
ReplyDeletePENTATONIX- I wagged the PENTA from the Quintet clue and wanted TONES, filling SINO before XENO. I always struggle with the RESIN/ROSIN and EEO/EOE options but everything worked itself out.
Never heard of 'black-ish' or Anthony ANDERSON, or 'Crash INTO Me'. YORK was perped.
Never heard of "The Lead With Jake 'FAKE NEWS' Tapper" but saw Trump's news conference where he called him that. I don't watch any news channel (they are all biased one way or another), especially MSNBC, that used Dee SNIDER as their voice front-man for years. My son recognized his voice immediately because I had never heard of him.
Monopoly token- I always wanted the iron because it wouldn't fall over, unlike the others.
Relatively quick for a Saturday puzzle - but I got hung up in the SW - not knowing the Twisted sister and originally putting SLIT and SHO instead of CLIP and CNN.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big Pentatonix fan - their Christmas CD as well as others are a lot of fun and they have a TV special on Christmas as well that's worth watching.
Owen - actually Colorado and Utah are both considered to border Arizona and NM at the Four Corners - but neither of them had the right number of letters - so went on to SONORA
Quick trip into STL today to see old college friends who are visiting the son and DIL - busy weekend in between the Easter week TH,F, Sun activities!
A business on Fort Myers Beach in which they may CLIP your hair into a PIXIE cut is named Twisted Scissors
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteHand up for a stroll in the park today. Some very easy-to-get long fill made this a quick, breezy solve. I will admit, though, that York took forever to materialize, even with the K staring me in the face! Inexplicably, I was picturing Peppermint Patty from Peanuts. I had Chip before Clip but everything else fell into place nicely. Snider and My Life were unknowns but the perps paid off. Saarinen was a welcome fill after seeing just plain Eero so often. CSO to Spitz, the Imp! Favorite C/A was Insidious insider=Mole.
Thanks, Neville, for a fun Saturday offering and thanks, HG, for the entertaining expo. The Neville link and the Pentatonix link didn't show up on my iPad. There was just a big, blank space.
Have a great day.
Well my Y in money tree looked like a V and it messed me up. I walked away and thought KONA but couldn't fit it in. Isn't there a YALE in PA?
ReplyDeleteSo I messed up .
FLN: .-T, Rusty Staub was the top expansion pick of two teams .
Gotta go
. WC
Good morning fellow Corner cutters,
ReplyDeleteMr. Neville Fogarty, You should be ashamed of yourself for making such a hard CW. I found an answer with 15 letters, 4 with 10 letters, 2 with 9 letters, and 6 with 8 letters, ¡whew! I had doubts in each cell, and then I found a word, and filled a cell, I had this condition with every cell, and FIR in 42:47.
Husker Gary, I was scrolling thru the review, saw a picture of Santa, and expected a SO to Argyle, but it was the real Santa, so I'll say "A+ I wish you well in your rehab work. May your progress be proper, and your result be satisfying. I miss you on the Corner. I can't wait till we are "Standing on the Corner."
The crossword video was so irritating, I would not have watched it except that Neville participated. ¿Did Neville win?
7D - Rarely: ONCEINABLUEMOON - We had one today, March 31, 8:36 am, Blue Moon. It is called the Full Worm Moon.
More later dudes.
Ðave
"Good Morning Vietnam"
ReplyDeleteBruno Kirby J.T Walsh.
Hand up for having _A_E and wanting LANE first.
ReplyDeleteHG, your comment about grading projects caused a shiver down my spine—SO many Saturday nights spent doing that when I wanted mightily to be elsewhere... ANY elsewhere.
Not very often I get an FIR on a Saturday in under 15 minutes but it happened today.
Lately it seems that no matter where I go, there I am. Have a great weekend, all!
Enjoyable puzzle. Not too difficult for a Saturday. Some fun long answers!
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteHG - Danke für das auslaufende Stück. Very well done, as usual.
Easy for a Saturday as Dudley and others have opined. Perps worked well, today. IM - LOL.
SONAR - Spent a day on a minesweeper operating west of the Channel Islands off Ventura, CA.
To guard against magnetic mines, ships have degaussing capability to decrease their magnetic signature.
Some mines laid in the recent wars have still not been recovered. (A small section S of the main approach channel to NY harbor is marked on charts as warning - surface travel only; no dredging, anchoring or other activities involving the bottom due to concern for mines from past hostilities.)
Very mixed Saturday for me. Got through this one very quickly, but totally melted down on the NYT. The other was very elegantly constructed, but ultimately just annoying. I won't give anything away, but bravo to anyone who gets through it unscathed.
ReplyDeleteWell, I always expect Neville Fogarty puzzles to be tough, but I was so pleased to get everything but some bits in the northeast and southwest corners. Yay! It helped that for a change I got a lot of the names. I watch "black-ish" and know Anthony ANDERSON from "People" magazine. Also got NOBEL and SAARINEN (after the 'aa' popped up). I'm from Pennsylvania and so was addled for a moment by ___k. When the 'rk' came in I realized it was YORK, right next to Lancaster where I grew up. Doh! I love "Dancing with the Stars" so got TEN, of course. But PIXIES stumped me, never heard of that. Anyway, lots of fun, Neville, many thanks! And Husker Gary, your write-ups are always a pleasure.
ReplyDeleteHave a great Easter weekend, everybody!
Prior to his work in BLACKISH and prior to his losing 30 pounds, Anthony Anderson was a detective in the Law part of LAW & ORDER . That long-running show ceetainly wnet through many ACTORS during its run. Anthony appears at 9:24. He also has a second TV job (along with his mother) hosting the reboot of TO TELL THE TRUTH .
ReplyDeleteHouston (Colt-45s) and Montreal .
ReplyDeleteThere's a McDonald's in st Pete with the original ARCHes. I think my problem with SONORA/YORK/ONO was fatigue .Mental. I did the rest very fast.
I thought George GOBEL might have had a dynamite nickname
WC
Pretty neat that there’s a real Blue Moon tonight.
ReplyDeleteThis went well, especially for a Saturday.
Best wishes to all for a nice Easter Sunday.
Yay! A Saturday where I was on the Constructors wavelength!
ReplyDelete(or maybe he just gave me a bunch of gimme's)
(56d, socks cover them = toes? etc...)
HG! Great find: Merv Griffen Crosswords? (Never heard of it!)
An Addendum, yesterdays comments would not be complete without The Authority Song!
Another puzzle, Ancient Eternal Flames?
I read the article,but...
Burning build up of gas extinguished upon exposure to air?
I don't understand this at all...
Burning for over 1,000 years?
(Can someone explain this to me?)
Husker Gary: I really enjoyed your write-up. GOOD JOB !!!
ReplyDeleteAs for the puzzle ... I rarely "solve" on Saturday ... never on Sunday.
Soooooo ... this was a "Walk-In-The-Park" ...
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter Eve.
Cheers!
I'll have to agree w/ everyone else re: easy because even this IDIOT was able to FIR. Thanks Neville for a fine Saturday outing - even the total unknowns were guessable w/ proper perps.
ReplyDeleteHG - You always go the extra-mile on expos. How you even found that Crosswords clip is beyond me - I didn't even know that show ever existed. Thanks.
Got YORK w/o perps - did you get the sensation?
I knew all the music but PENTATONIX [Perps & Wags]. In the right context, I'm sure everyone here remembers MY LIFE from a TV show w/ two unknowns. [1:38]
Last fill was in the NW... 4d == S-EE-E... I couldn't recall the blue dye and don't know Spanish (maybe a tilde'd N?). I had to write-out each letter that could go after an S. I couldn't get off the idea 'Keebler tree' or some such for magical hiding... SLEEVE finally hit along w/ a vat of V8.
Fav: c/a @36a. I read the clue and thought Jimmie Walker? [1m; poor quality]. When -OB-L appeared I saw NOBEL and had a huge laugh.
{A, A+ //Make it IDIOT PROOF and the world builds a bigger IDIOT* }
D-O: LOL Dr. Who reference. I hated being the thimble but liked both the IRON and race-car.
IM - hit reload in the browser. That happens to me too sometimes on the iPad. The Quintet is worth it.
FLN - WC: I was joshin' you. You know baseball history so well, so I was sure you saw the 1068 [MLXVIII] game. :-)
Neville - IIRC you like heavy-metal, no? IRON over MAIDS was a nice touch (and offset the Twisted Sister silliness).
Cheers, -T
*when they put in a new garage-door and opener, I had them change the where the switch was to a more logical location - next too the door instead of behind it. The old button was left dead-in-place. Yep, I keep closing the door to push the old button before 'D'Oh!'
I liked this puzzle. Yes, agree it was easier than expected for Saturday and for it being a Neville Fogarty work. Mr. Fogarty has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite c/a is "X'ing one?"=PED. When my wife was learning to drive I had to explain to her what "PED X-ING" means, as well as "SLOW CHILDREN PRESENT".
This morning we finished off the KONA coffee beans that our friends brought us when they returned from a visit to their family in Hawaii. Really good coffee! It is pure Kona, not the blended stuff you get locally, which is often as little as 10% actual Kona beans.
Good wishes to you all.
Hi Y'all! I was an IDIOT at midnight. The PROOF is my struggle to do this cw. Lots of red-letter runs. Finished it, but not easily. Thanks, Neville, it wasn't your fault. Can't blame Captain Morgan. None at my house. However, I had just awakened from a very sound sleep at midnight, so I guess my brain wasn't up yet. I was shocked to come here and find so many thought it was easy. I filled 'er but not proud of how I did it. Thanks, Gary, for a great expo.
ReplyDeletePENTATONI_: "C', "K", OH X. I'm a big fan too. Speaking of which, I thought your fan cord idea was cute, OKL.
Could make no sense of the mine countermeasure = SONAR.
Didn't know SNIDER, MAESTRI, "MY LIFE". Never heard of SHOOT EM UP as a space invaders genre. Not into games.
Forgot SAARINEN until a few perps gave me NEN below a lot of white.
My hair is chopped in a PIXI but could not get that.
Happy Easter or whatever you celebrate this weekend. Still sending healing thoughts for Argyle.
I'll be glued to the TV for the Final 4 tonight. Hope I can stay awake for the final half. I've slept thru two games I wanted to see. If I then go to bed, I'm wide awake.
'Ono' or 'Eno'; 'Anderson' or 'Andersen' - I guessed incorrectly so DNF for me. Sigh.
ReplyDelete15A - Barney sings a cappella.
ReplyDelete22A & 29D - la tortilla de huevos
31A - I was too special to be an NCO. I was DC'd (Gotta DD214 that looks like it had been prepared on 3 different typewriters) as a SPEC 4, ¡RA15734795 SIR!
36A - Remember, Alfred Nobel also invented the "Blow up" doll. This was so much appreciated that an annual award was named for him, the Alfred Piece Prize.
20D - DID YOU KNOW: In "Peanuts" ¿Peppermint Patty’s real name is Patricia Reichardt? Thank you Irish Miss at 9:11 AM for thinking like me.
OwenKL at 4:20 AM
I studied "for the FAN and the LITE!" sans LOL until PK at 3:22 PM said she got it. Mine SONAR beeped and a light bulb came on. Good work on the l'icks also. PK, Finally someone who struggled as I did.
"I've slept thru two games I wanted to see. If I then go to bed, I'm wide awake." The answer to your sleep problem, watch ball games in bed. You may thank me in the morning. Oh wait a minute, you're not the Misty that I'm thinking of.
Ðave
NPR interviewed a noted sleep authority who explained my FIW this morning. Indeed, according to this sleep authority we need at least 8 hours.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned how easy I found the wed-fri xwords and suspected extra sleep . I was up early this morning and what little brain power I had left me before I could finish .
Misty, he said the key to good sleep is regular routine. I wish they'd discussed sleep meds and anti-sleep (eg caffeine which I read has been labeled ((coffee)) a carcinagen in California).
WC
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteFIW due to a Natick with PENTATONIX/XENO. Other than that, it was a challenging yet solvable Saturday puzzle. Thanks Neville and HG for your entertaining efforts.
A SO to yours truly, as YORK PA is the place I call "home". I lived there from 1958-1972. I spent all of my ELHI years there, and was a JR in college when my folks moved. Also known for being the home of Bob Hoffman (York Barbells), and having an assembly plant for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. York was also the place where the Articles of Confederation were signed when the fledging nation of independent colonies was in between Capitol cities.
Watching the NCAA Semi-Finals in a few minutes ... would be fun if the Cinderella team (Loyola-Illinois) wins
Moe-kus:
Threw a no-hitter
With Francisco Barrios:
ONCE, by A BLUE MOON
An old onion
Had trouble urinating;
A PETERED OUT LEEK.
Very proud of myself for today's
ReplyDeleteTa- DA!
because I found Mr. Fogarty's offering to be highly challenging. It's one of those pzls that just feels impossible to master, and so is all the more rewarding with each nut that cracks.
The NW and NE corners were the last to tumble my way. The very last were the adjacent "Xs" of PENTATONIX & PIXIES.
Strangely (for a SoCal resident) I blanked for a long time on HUEVO.
Even weirder, I hesitated before LEEK. As a Welshman myself I wanted Y Ddraig Goch or the Welsh Dragon, but only DRACO would fit - and the perps disallowed it.
I felt pride in the power of that ancient symbol back when I visited Cardiff Castle and saw ol' "Draco" fluttering over the battlement.
Ah, well, the LEEK it is ... (Not so many tears as with the lowly onion.)
____________
Diagonal Report: Mr. F graced us with only one diagonal today, the main line (NW to SE).
With Jayce's and Jinx's comment in mind, I agree that this was easy for a Saturday pzl, "easy" being a relative term. Good job too, Misty. Tough as it was, it allowed several of us to take pride in mastering an end-o'-week opus.
ReplyDeleteHuskerG, I neglected to thank you for a fine exegesis! We're grateful for your successful efforts.
Thinking too of Argyle and trusting his recovery is going well!
Yellowrocks, for me a SHOOT 'EM UP was always a low-budget western. My step-dad used to watch them faithfully between sports events, referring to them as a group as "my shoot-em-ups." They always ended with the posse chasing the bad guys, all pistols blazing. A key to their (limited) success is that
they never hit anything,
so the movie could go on!
They were forerunners of today's cop shows where the police cars chase the bad guys - and also never hit anything - except to make somebody crash in spectacular fashion.
(Like real life, with all those bullets flying. Most shots missing & the rest hitting where they shouldn't.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it? What good is all that pistol range training?)
Drats, he beat me to the post, ¡and they're off! Hold on to your keyboards, there's a NW / SE diagonal today. The mirror is ruled out with black at the NE, and SW corners.
ReplyDeleteToday's Parapostpartium: Re: OMK earlier - I should have been sad when my flashlight batteries died, but I was delighted.
Misty, I am enjoying calming music while I sleep, and as a background while I read and post. I recommend All 9 Solfeggio Frequencies as a calming place to start. I've picked a phrase out of Hamlet for you: "To sleep, perchance to dream ...." It goes south from here, but you don't have to. You need to sleep.
Ðave
Anon T @ 2:21 ~ Thanks for the tip-it worked like a charm. I enjoyed both clips.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ol'Man Keith, and you too, Wilbur and Dave, for your suggestions. I'll try to get a music gadget for the bedroom at some point, and work hard to maintain a regular routine. Again, many thanks.
ReplyDeleteI liked your poems today, Owen.
Misty,
ReplyDeleteAs long as you're receiving suggestions re. specific music tracks that can enable sleep, let me offer two that not only may be soothing/calming but come with a bit of history of their own. These are two that I have enjoyed "for ages," pieces that when I mention them to friends, are sometimes recognized ("Ah, yes!") as their favorites too.
The first is by Gustav Mahler; the Adagietto from Symphony no. 5. He composed this as a love song to his wife, Alma, "meine Liebe, meine Wonne.""
And the second is Richard Wagner's Prelude to Lohengrin. This has been identified by critics as "the most sublime music ever composed." If you don't follow opera, this may still be familiar to you from Chaplin's film, The Great Dictator. He uses it to support the transformation speech at the end of the movie.
And a runner up (a little less Germanic!) is from the American composer, Samuel Barber. His Agnus Dei is an arrangement of his Adagio for Strings. I think I prefer this choral version over the original but you can always experiment.
Sadly, these are all by "dead white men." Still, when I listen to them, they remind me that music is our common human language for speaking beyond the grave.
Follow your Wonne!
Misty - Normally I recommend C-SPAN to help folk sleep. However, recently they keep playing POTUS and, agree or disagree w/ him/policies, he's not conducive to slumber. C-SPAN2 did it for me today (and there's always C-SPAN3 if you want to listen in on some city meeting).
ReplyDeleteC. Moe - OK, those were really good on multiple levels. {Nice}
OMK - You did't catch the BET in the the diagonal? I have no PROOF, but I think Neville had a subliminal-message about a BOUT.
//If someone named ANDERSON is fighting tonight, that's how I'd grow the MONEY TREE :-)
Cheers, -T
I'll be contrary and say the most calming music that I have found (also good for depression) are love songs sung by a live black man Aaron Neville.
ReplyDeleteI've never been able to sleep on schedule for very long. I've been a nocturnal animal all my like altho I'd rather not be. In the periods that I have been able to get on an awake day schedule, I get much more accomplished. Since retired I just sleep when ever I can, but not being able to watch TV in the evening is really annoying me. I get eight to 13 hours of sleep a night. Usually eight unless I'm sorta ailing.
Oops! I've been a nocturnal animal all my LIFE...
ReplyDeleteSame here, PK. I’m a ragged sleeper, always have been. It’s a rare night that I don’t lie awake for an hour or three. I just cope as well as I can. Plus, I’m more naturally a night owl, upon which society as a whole seems to look askance.
ReplyDeleteOk, I will admit to being a bit prejudice when it comes to classical music, as my daughter is one. Here is a link to some of her works.
ReplyDeletePK - this dyslexic knew what you meant @live.
ReplyDeleteOK, now I'm curious. We seem to have a number of night-owls [hand up] here at the corner. Admittedly, the Corner is a self-selected group of reasonably smart folk, but, many of us seem to keep odd hours as do other smart folk I know.
Personally (and I'm not claiming that I'm all that smart), unless I've been sleep-deprived for days, I can't sleep for more than 5.5 hrs in a block. Even on the weekends - after 5 hours, I'll wake and then listen to NPR drifting in-and-out of sleep for a bit while the day's todo's dance like sugar-plums in my head. I do, however, covet naps.
I wonder if there's something to the nocturn that draws us (quite time!) OR the other way around; THAT IS we can't sleep, so we keep playing "after hours" and, thus, there's more more time to feed our curiosities. Discuss. I'm verklempt :-)
TL; DR - Are most Lake Wobegonians (where all the kids are above average) light on the sleep? Is there evidence to the contrary [i.e.IDIOTS who stay up too late too but still rise after 5h]?
Speaking of IDIOTS - anyone ever see an invoice from their IT company with the problem described as an ID-10-T?
I told my buddy (an accountant at the time at KPMG) about this little IT joke. Within a month he called. "-T you won't believe this. I have an invoice in my audit like you said. ID-10-T $300"
He never found an invoice with PEBKAC - Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair - on it :-(
C.Moe - wonderful music. Thanks.
Cheers, -T
Young Man Keith at 7:25 PM
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your favorites. I fell asleep on the Adagietto, enjoyed the Prelude, each of which seemed new to me. I loved the choral version of Agnus Dei, (Lamb of God) which I recognized. I had the volume all the way up, and at the crescendo the speakers and my ears were maxed out, and I was loving it. I have it queued up to watch again. This is not background music.
Hold up with the beautiful links everyone. I'll be up all night.
Ðave
OMK, The Adagio for Strings is equally beautiful.
ReplyDeletePK at 7:49 PM
I found an Aaron Neville with "All my Life," and "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby."
Ðave
I thought I must have gone to sleep and was having a nightmare. Nope. Villanova beat KU by double digits! KU just wasn't able to be their usual brilliant selves. Sigh! Poor Azabuke's mother came clear from Nigeria to see her huge son play after not seeing him at all for 6 yrs. He was quite unlike himself tonight. Oh well, next year.
ReplyDeleteD4: yes I'm familiar with those two Aaron Neville-Linda Rondstadt duets. My favorites are Aaron Neville and the Neville Brothers doing "In the Still of the Night" on a video. Also "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone", "Feelings" and "For the Good Times." He is still singing at age 77. He looks a lot like my late husband -- facial features, body type, big arms and hands but my man was light skinned with light eyes, no hair, tats or moles. A.N. has an amazingly large repertoire and a healing voice.
I like classical music too, but in smaller doses.
AnonT: I seem to sleep in 2 to 4 hour increments. If I'm not asleep after an hour in bed, I get up and read or do something. If I start tossing and turning, I tend to put my back out of place. I nap of and on around the clock some days. Some times I don't. I usually nap about an hour or two in my recliner two hours after a meal.
ReplyDeleteThis late I'm just exhausted and can't read the 52 comments. I'll save them for later. It has been a full and busy day for me! Now I feel like a truck ran into me
ReplyDeleteEarly this morning I finished the puzzle then had to go to my hair appointment. The SW corner gave me fits and I still FIW. My Santa Claus gave and received HINTS and my cut was a CHIP but I did have IDIOTPROOF. Also, PENTATONIX is totally unknown to me but Pentatonic looked fine though CENO did not but I didn't change it.
My mother used to pour ANIL into the washing machine when washing whites.
Thanks to Neville Fogarty for a fine puzzle today.
I have nothing else up my SLEEVE and wish you all a very blessed EASTER tomorrow.
Gary, thank you! Your move into the Saturday slot fits you and you do a lovely job.
ReplyDeleteI did go back to read the comments; most of you are so articulate and entertaining! I love it!
Sleeplessness is one thing I don't have except on some occasions. Mostly, though, I sleep exactly eight hours and feel refreshed when I awaken.
What wonderful music suggestions, Ol'Man Keith. Just wish I had a device to listen to them. And thanks for your response, too Anonymous T.
ReplyDeleteStill catching up from our time in the SONORAn Desert! Where were you, Husker Gary? We spent most of the time in Tucson. But we got around.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else try STEP before DENT?
Hand up with Big Easy tried PENTATONES before getting PENTATONIX. Thanks, Husker Gary, for the video. Way cool! I love A CAPELLA. And thanks for the creative solution to IDIOT PROOF the fan/light switches!
Not trivial, but agree it was quite smooth for a Saturday! FIR!