UN PUZZLE THEMELESS POR SAMUEL A. DONALDSON Y ERIK AGARD DE CINQUO DE MAYO!
Ay caramba, Sam and Erik have provided us with a lovely puzzle to help celebrate on this Cinco de Mayo. I'm sure if I asked you 43. "¿Cómo __?": ESTAS (How are you?) after you finished this puzzle, you would say "muy bien" (very good).
I wrote to Sam and he very graciously responded that he met Erik at the 2017 ACPT and proposed collaborating with him and said he has truly enjoyed doing so. Sam said of Erik - In Erik’s case, I relished the chance to work with one of the best crossword constructors around. I think he consistently writes the best clues, and the fill in his puzzles is fresh, erudite, playful, and diverse. Happily, Erik agreed to work with me, and we’ve made a few puzzles since.
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| Samuel A. Donaldson Erik Agard |
Across:
1. "This is so humbling": I'M HONORED - A man who felt neither humbled nor HONORED and showed it by staying home
10. One skilled in moderation: HOST - Every political debate has a HOST who is supposed o be an unbiased moderator for the event
14. Literally, "something for something": QUID PRO QUO - Is much more elegant than "tit for tat", don't you think?
16. "Once more __ the breach": "Henry V": UNTO - At the Battle Of Agincourt on St. Crispin's Day
17. Backup: UNDERSTUDY - When the UNDERSTUDY tells the star to "break a leg"...
18. "Deadwood" actress Jewell: GERI - She played a disabled woman working in a very tough town
19. Chiller: ICE
20. Good kick: FIELD GOAL - Blair Walsh may never live down this missed short FIELD GOAL that cost the Vikings a 2015 playoff game
22. Virginia senator Kaine: TIM.
23. Firing site: KILN - No one's KILN produces more lovely work than Dale Chihuly's
25. "__ Meenie": Kingston/Bieber hit: EENIE - Go ahead and google it if you're interested
26. Certain fisher: EELER - An EELER with a very effective EEL catching device - The Willow Eel Hive
28. Not following anyone: OUT FRONT - If you're not OUT FRONT like the lead sled dog, the scenery never changes
31. New York home of the Himalayan Highlands: BRONX ZOO - I wonder how many Yeti they have
33. Duck Hunt platform: NES - A 1984 Nintendo video game
34. Southwestern plant whose oil is used in cosmetics: JOJOBA.
36. "It's out of my hands": I TRIED and 39. "Okay, here's the deal": SO LISTEN
38. Rival of SEA and OAK: LAA - Los Angeles Angels (often referred to here as the halos)
41. Design that's just over a foot: ANKLE TAT - My DW's twin got a butterfly there at 65 yrs old
46. Back at the track: BET ON - Here are the odds in the today's big race that will have been run already if you are reading this late Bolt d'Oro is named for Gold (ORO in Spanish) Medal sprinter Usain Bolt, so since this is Cinqo de Mayo... BTW, how'd the handicappers do late, bloggers?
47. Dali contemporary: SERT - Jose' Maria SERT and his "Dining Room?"
49. Subtle signal: NOD - In the original case below is a 1951 Gibson Ukulele that my SIL intended to buy for $300 but he kept NODding until he bought it for $975
54. Sched. uncertainty: TBA - To Be Announced
55. What contacts may help: EYES - I'd like some contacts but my optometrist, uh, can't, see it
56. Irreverent one: BLASPHEMER - This "BLASPHEMER" had some issues with his church
60. Algonquian language: CREE - In the CREE language, Hello is TANISI
61. Drink with a croissant, maybe: CAFE AU LAIT - Much more elegant than simply "coffee with milk"
62. Toy truck name: HESS.
Down
1. Short notice?: I QUIT - A good answer today to, "Do you want a 4th Margarita/Mint Julep?"
2. Ball State University city: MUNCIE - Their most famous alum
3. Fugitive's plea: HIDE ME - Rick refused to HIDE Ugarte in this classic movie most of you will know
4. Often flowery words: ODE
5. "Ask Me Another" co-producer: NPR
6. Hosp. areas: ORS - Grandson thinks he wants to be a surgeon but felt woozy when their anesthesiologist neighbor gave him an OR tour
7. Texter's "Too funny!": ROTFL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing
8. Semiannual astronomical event: EQUINOX - Equal day/night (4 days sooner than the recognized day here at 41N Lat)
9. "C'mon, bro!": DUDE - Here's a meaningful monosyllabic exchange
10. Affectionate sort: HUGGER - Awww...
11. Interview, often: ONE-ON-ONE - Lance said admitting to Oprah that he doped and lied about it cost him over $100M
12. Hardly harmonious: STRAINED
13. Going places?: TOILETS - What a great clue Sam and/or Erik!
15. Thimble Theatre name: OYL - There she is!
21. Clear-cut, as for lumber: DEFOREST - Planting replacements is now required
23. Lamp filler: KEROSENE
24. 1950 story collection including "The Evitable Conflict": I ROBOT - Asimov's tale of how intelligent robots can save humans from conflicts among each other
27. Voting Rights Act pres.: LBJ - Just months after JFK's death LBJ used his unique legislative skills to get this historic Act passed
29. Action movie pieces: UZIS.
30. Walk unsteadily: TOTTER - Too many Margaritas or Mint Juleps and...
32. One of the original singers of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight": NALA - Our frequent crossword lioness visitor
34. Novel first credited to Currer Bell: JANE EYRE - Charlotte Bronte first wrote under a male pseudonym (but preserved her initials - as did her sisters) because her mode of writing was not considered feminine
35. Symbols of strength: OAK TREES - Jimmy Dean sang of Big Bad John - "Like a giant OAK TREE, he just stood there alone, Big John"
37. Safety's stat.: INT - Here's an INTerception in the end zone (by a cornerback not a safety...)
38. Test giver: LAB TECH.
40. "You can come out now": IT'S SAFE - or the opposite of that seen below
42. They can be eaten or absorbed: LOSSES - Paramount Studios had to absorb/eat a huge loss on the 2016 remake of Ben Hur
44. Scott Lang, when in costume: ANT-MAN
45. "Very well": SO BE IT
48. Newark's county: ESSEX - A 1905 map
50. Title for Sidious: DARTH - DARTH means Dark Lord and here you see DARTH Sidious next to the more familiar DARTH
52. "Superstore" airer: NBC - A sitcom that has not graced my flat screen
53. Dash: ELAN.
57. Record-setting Lady Vols basketball coach Summitt: PAT - She won more basketball games than any college man or woman. Early onset Alzheimers forced her 2011 retirement but she lived five more years demanding "no pity party for me".
58. Go smoothly: HUM - How Pat Summit's teams played
59. "Shine a Little Love" band, to fans: ELO - Ah, we finish with an old friend
Por favor siéntase libre de añadir sus propios comentarios sobre este 5 de Mayo (Please feel free to enter your own comments on this May 5). Muchas Gracias Sam and Erik!
DA GRID
Note from C.C.:
Argyle's sister Klista has been looking through her photos to put on a photo board at the celebration of his life at the Argyle Fire Department on Saturday, May 12, 2018. She kindly sent me these four to share with our regulars. How I wish I had discussed with him about the Santa Clause cut-out!
Here is a YouTube clip I made with all the Santa photos I have. Or you can click here.
46 comments:
The prescience of the blog -- both OMK and Becky talked about their UNDERSTUDY yesterday.
A DUDE with some weed out in MUNCIE
Thought that he sought something crunchy.
But the way he would TOTTER
Caught the EYE of a copper --
The moral is pre-stock your munchie!
On a dare, a fool with no clue
Met a big cat at the BRONX ZOO.
They fought ONE-ON-ONE,
The snow leopard won --
It laid him with Himalayan Kung Foo!
A TREE-HUGGER with his girl in a park
Hugged instead a chocolate LAB in the dark!
Growled his date, "I'm here for us!"
He replied, "I stop DEFOREST! --
It's hard to hug anything with no bark!"
{A, B, B+.}
Good morning!
I struggled mightily in the great southwest this morning...and ultimately failed. Those symbols of strength had to begin with IRON__, right? Those 3-letter abbreviations had to be airport codes, so with LA_ it had to be LAX, right? I finally got it straightened out except that I ended up with JOJOBO crossing NOLA. Bzzzzt! [BRONX cheer] This BLASPHEMER never saw The Lion King, so DNF. Thanx, Samuel and Erik. Husker, sterling expo, as always.
DEFOREST: Lee is credited with inventing the triode electron tube, even though he didn't understand what made it work.
GIBSON: The famous guitar company filed for bankruptcy this past week. They're going to sell off their electronics business and stick to what they know best -- making exceptional guitars.
I, ROBOT: Can you recite the three Laws of Robotics that Asimov formulated? I can. In this age of AI we're going to need built-in rules like those.
KILN: The boss took him out back to the kiln and fired him.
After rapidly filling the NW I thought maybe I'd BET ON on a long shot to finish the Daily Double Kentucky Derby-Cinco De Mayo puzzle in record time. Wrong. So many unknowns to grind out. It took perps and WAGs to finish.
"Rival of SEA and OAK" SFO-no, LAX-no. Oh, baseball the Anaheim Angels, or was is California Angels, or the Los Angeles Angles-LAA. But the OAK TREES fill crossed the OAK clue and it had me thinking OXEN TEAM at first. Rarely is a clue word part of an answer fill, and they crossed.
NPR, UNTO, NES, ANT MAN, DARTH, ESSEX, NALA, SERT- all perped.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
IM HONORED to be among those who solved today's puzzle; albeit with a few LU's.
And some WO's. I couldn't really get a foot hold today, but somehow managed to FIR. Good "no theme" with several clever clues.
Usually when a puzzle has clue answers with a J, Q, and Z in them, it'll be a "pangram", but I'm not seeing any V's or W's.
Is there not a more formal Spanish phrase, "Cómo Estad Usted?" The D I used instead of an S threw off 45d; SO BE IT.
I'd say I'm more known for being a BLASPHEMER than for my TERSENESS!
ANKLE TAT was the last fill to fall. I couldn't see the two word, I ROBOT, in 24d; NALA took ESP; and KEROSINE (a misspell) was the final WO. At first, I was trying to get ANKLET __, but I couldn't suss a two letter word. And then it hit me - like a can of V8 - that the answer was the abbr. of TATTOO.
I used to be a pretty good FIELD GOAL kicker - in my ute - but I'd be amazed if I could even get the ball off the ground, now. I kicked "Lou Groza" style; no soccer kicks for me!
Scott Lang as ANT MAN was another clue that required ESP. I'm not a big movie goer, and haven't picked up a comic book in many decades.
SO to Tinbeni with 19a
I suppose I could be called OKL's UNDERSTUDY when it comes to limericks, and perhaps, he mine, when it comes to punny haiku. Regardless, I hope that the Corner ROTFL when either he or I pen a quip.
This may be the first KY Derby I haven't BET ON, in several years. I have a couple of hunches; certainly VINO ROSSO, as I do enjoy a glass of red wine every now and again ...
On Tweety's ANKLE,
Might we possibly "tee a
Big old puddy TAT?"
Good Morning:
I got off to a running start with the I'm Honored ~ Quid Pro Quo ~ Understudy trio, but I soon slowed down due to the inordinate amount of fill that was clued beyond my knowledge: Nala, NES, ELO, Bronx Zoo, I Robot, Darth, Antman, Jane Eyre, etc.; all easy, peasy after the fact. The only truly unknown was Jojoba which I never heard of. I finished in 20 minutes which is a good time for a Saturday solve, for me.
Thanks, Sam and Erik, for a challenging and enjoyable end to the week and thanks, HG, for the entertaining and enlightening summary. Thanks, CC, for sharing the photos of our dear friend, Argyle.
Have a great day.
Well, you beat me, IM. Took me just shy of half an hour.
D-O, the SW nearly did me in, too. And NALA was one I should have known right away, but nooo.
So was TV DeForest's prime evil?
Thanks for the Santa pictures, C.C. It’s still hard to believe he’s gone.
Husker, it’s always nice to read your comments.
D-O (again), I have never heard/seen "estad"; ¿Como estás? Is less formal and mostly used among friends and family, while ¿Como está usted? Is more formal. (Estado = State)
Feels more like summer here today—what happened to spring?
Have a great day, all!
WikWak, I think that second one belongs to Chairman Moe. I would've responded earlier, but I was too busy groaning over "prime evil."
Congratulations go to a couple in Houston that completed their first "Saturday Mensa Puzzle!"
Musings
-I too appreciated the Santa pix
-BTW, Here is a bio (with a curriculum vitae .pdf link) for Sam. I really appreciated his gracious response to my gmail
-Another option for DEFOREST
-My friend and fellow church usher (O.J.), manages race horses all over the country but said getting a horse ready for the Derby is too hard on the animal
-One look at his right shoe will tell you all about Lou Groza’s FG kicking method that pre-dated soccer style kicking of today. Lou was no “specialist”, he also played offensive guard and looks like he could have tackled someone after a kick.
Irish Miss et al,
Here is a clip with all the photos I have of Argyle.
So what Houston couple is that, Sonia?
JOJOBA was my first fill as that is an important crop in Arizona. It grows well in this arid climate.
This took much longer than it should have due to my overthinking some of the easy answers. Once JOJOBA was in, however, the SW corner fell like dominoes. I knew Currer Bell and only two or three nights ago the Bronte sisters pseudonyms were mentioned as an answer on Jeopardy!
NPR in the south held me up, but once I switched it to the north and NBC filled, the SE collapsed, too. Sidious, ESSEX and ANTMAN are unknown to me, but they automatically fell in place. TOILETS was cleverly clued.
Last to fill was ZOO. I had BRONX but TEETER blindsided me then the V-8 can forced me to see ZOO/UZIS. Tada!
Thank you, Samuel and Erik for this masterpiece!
And thank you, Gary, for providing supplementary material with fine comments.
Now I'll go check the pics. Scott has been so much on my mind.
Have a pleasant day, everyone! Every day is a gift!
Well, Saturday puzzles are always toughies for me, and I found this one harder than most. All I got on my first round was INTO, JANE EYRE, and TOILETS, and INTO turned out to be UNTO in the end. But after cheating a little, the east pretty much filled in with the west emerging more slowly. The item that bothered me the most was the Dali contemporary. I usually do pretty well on modern art, but have never heard of SERT. Well, that's what's nice about puzzles, you learn a lot of new things, like JOJOBA--never heard of it either. So, thanks, Sam and Erik, and always enjoy your write-ups, Gary.
Fun poetry this morning, Owen, and I especially liked your haiku, Chairman Moe.
Have a good weekend, everybody!
Hello Puzzlers -
Considerably more pepper in this puzzle. I managed just a few timid toeholds on the first pass. Gradually, though, things started to click and the empty spots filled in. Plenty of clever clueing!
Howdy Husker, well done!
C.C., thanks for putting the slideshow together. A few of those images were new to me.
I do not consider this a successful finish, although I got all the answers before coming to the blog. IMDB, Wikipedia, and Google.
UNTO not INTO the breach; that verified my wish to put in HUGGER. (I try to avoid them.)
TIM Kaine? Who dat?
BRONX ZOO was a WAG that gave me a number of perps.
I don't know most baseball team abbreviations.
Looking for aome type of loser for "back at the track" until perps helped.
CREE or ERIE for Algonkin nation/language.
OR/ER?
Fave is "going places"=TOILETS.
Thimble Theater was known to me for Popeye: 3-letter name had to be Olive OYL.
Did not recall chapter title "The Evitable Conflict"; I ROBOT has been a favorite for over 50 years.
Wanted Elton John for "Can you feel the love tonight?" Lioness's name is NALA.
Have seen, but did not recall, JANE EYRE's pseudonym.
Generally, phlebotomists collect the samples and LAB TECHS do the analysis: a joint effort.
Dis not know Scott Lang, but remembered the ANTMAN comics (perps).
Love the blog, but one quick correction to CC's comments. "Unto the breach" is Act III Scene i at the seige of Harfleur. The Battle of Agincourt is in Act IV, Scene III, with the famous "we band of brothers" speech. My hilarious Aunt Cissy who taught Shakespeare for 30 years would roll in her grave if I let that slip without comment. Please don't hate me, I had to do it!
I hadn't checked the blog this week until last night. I was greatly saddened to learn of Argyle/Scott's passing. I so hoped that he'd be returning home and then returning to his place as "Blog Chief." He will be missed not only for all he did for the Blog, but for the wonderful person he was to many, especially our sweet C.C. (such a beautiful video tribute)
Rest in peace, dear Argyle.
Jay Green:
You're right! I just looked it up and it's the battle of Harfleur. And today Gary is the Blogger, not C.C.
UNTO the Breach is the name of a men's program initiated by our bishop here to galvanize the male population, I suppose, since for obvious reasons I haven't attended the meetings.
CC @ 11:08 ~ Thank you for creating and posting that montage of Argyle moments. Every picture captures the twinkle in his eye and his indomitable spirit. He was an angel posing as an imp. (Or vice versa, perhaps? Either way, we loved him and will miss him!)
Linda, so nice to hear from you but I wish the circumstances were different. Hope you are feeling well.
Jay Green, no haters here, especially towards Aunt Cissy's loyal student of The Bard. 😉
ANKLETAT.....Really? The quality - or lack of same - of this answer to the clue for 41A says it all for me.
We'll I got careless again. I solved in two sit-downs and thought I had it. So I rechecked all the Across and they sounded good except SERP which like Misty I didn't know . And I had ANKLELET . AAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!
I blame it on the corner . I couldn't wait to get in here . Derby pick? If I drove out to Derby Lane I'd pop a deuce on the 30-1 bunch.
Then again there's Mendelssohn
Good solid Saturday level xword. I liked the two J's and Q's . I like a xword which I'm stuck on then a bunch of squares fall.
Now to the Santa video .
Misty, everything seems ducky (33a) on the cataract surgery so how's the sleep going. I'm thinking of abstaining completely from coffee and tea .
Reminds me of that procrastinater club meeting with the schedule date of
"Tomorrow"!
WC
I was in New Zealand to accompany my husband on a photographic workshop/seminar/tour. Eighteen people on the trip, traveled a lot, snowed on us at Mt. Cook, couldn't see Mt. Cook. Everyone was very pleasant but all they talked about was lenses and filters and f stops. Jamie just mentioned there were two cancellations for an October trip to Ireland and did I want to go. I said no. I have been to Ireland twice and see no reason to go with a bunch of photographers. No offense, Picard.
Well this was above my pay grade. Thanks for the fun Samuel and Erik, and Husker Gary.
Thanks for the photos C.C.
Many learning moments today as I had to LIU. I'll blame my Canadian disadvantage. ROTFL,
At least I TRIED and I did not become a BLASPHEMER.
We had some Spanish for Cinco de Mayo, but also DARTH from yesterday's May the Force.
(Anon T, one son has a March "Forth" birthday and I LOL at your anniversary reference.)
Owen KL, I too noted the prescience of our blog members, OMK and Becky with. UNDERSTUDY. And Lucina, I also remembered the Jeopardy clue about the Bronte sisters.
Hand up for Into before UNTO. (Sweet) Pea would have fit just as well as OYL.
My fisher was an egret before an EELER. "Hardly harmonious" made me think of music and I was trying to use Atonal.
My knowledge was lacking in many areas -- art (SERT), American zoos (BRONX ZOO), American stations (NPR), American sports (LAA and PAT), American senators (TIM), American Universities and cities (MUNCIE). I said previously that I needed to memorize the American presidents and their numbers, but obviously I also need to memorize the acts that they passed (LBJ), and their personalities (TERSENESS). (After I looked up "Silent Cal", I tried to get Silence into 51 A.). But once I got a toehold thanks to Mr. Google, perps helped the completion.
JOJOBA today, not our usual Aloe or Shea.
Best wishes to all.
It might be an urban legend, but the story is told that a reporter approached Calvin Cooledge and said: "I have a bet with an associate that I can get you to say at least 3 words." Cal just smiled at him and said: "You lose."
The only reason I remember SERT is that it doesn't sound Spanish and is actually Catalan. His specialty is painting murals and though I've never been inside the GE building in NY one of his murals is supposedly there.
C.C. I just looked at your sweet video of Argyle, and loved seeing him in an actual Santa suit with those little children. Thank you for posting it.
Wilbur, many thanks for asking--but ironically my sleep has been great for the last month or so, even the last two nights after the surgery. That's a blessing, isn't it?
Great photos of Argyle! Thanks, C.C., for posting them.
Today's pzl from Mssrs.Donaldson & Asgard is eminently worthy of its Saturday position. I finished, but only with considerable help. The sole gimme on my first scan was the FIB at 16A (UNTO).
I'll hazard a guess that the "St. Crispin's Day" call-to-arms is the second most popular speech in the Shakespearean canon - right after "To be or not to be" and just ahead of "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow"
And No, CanadianEh! and OwenKL, I didn't see UNDERSTUDY until I was well into my 5th or 6th scan. (But Yes, I slapped my forehead in recognition at the PDM!)
Disappointment?
I was so happy to start 35D with OX - because I love it whenever an "X" shows up (just as in BRONX ZOO at 31A) - that I felt a great sadness when I had to change OX to OAK to complete OAK TREES.
I realize both are "Symbols of strength," but I had already felt vindicated by LAX (as did desper-otto before me), enough so that I experienced a brève tristesse at my loss. (Besides, everybody down here knows that LAA ought to be AAA - to honor Anaheim, the true home of the Angels.)
____________
Diagonal Report: Wouldn't you know it? Only yesterday I was griping that we almost had another diagonal-free puzzle. But it turned out to be a false alarm. So what do I find today?!
Bingo!
You *#@! guessed it -
"Yes, we have no diag'nals. We have no diag'nals today!"
While I admire and appreciate the tremendous skill, imagination, craftsmanship, and thought that Erik and Samuel put into this puzzle, I found the struggle to solve it produced a relatively weak feeling of satisfaction or enjoyment in the end. There was so much I had to look up, and then my reactions were mostly "Oh" rather than "Hey that's cool." The exceptions include the excellent clues for TOILETS, HOST, and KILN.
This puzzle contains many examples of what I categorize as "fact answers" and "general answers." Fact answers are just that: a fact or item of knowledge that you either know or don't know, such as GERI Jewell and MUNCIE. I find that about 60% of the time with answers like these I need to look them up even though I may already have some letters filled from perps. In this case, having -ERI did not help me get GERI; it could just as well have been TERI or KERI or even MERI. In the case of MUNCIE, after a few perps I wagged it, but only because I had heard of Muncie, Indiana, regardless of knowing nothing of Ball State University. I.e. the clue was, to me, totally meaningless and irrelevant; I got the answer without the clue. In sum, I find trying to solve "fact" answers mostly unsatisfying. On the other hand, what I have called "general" answers can usually be worked out, and give pleasure, especially when imaginatively clued, without the need to have any specialized knowledge.
Best wishes to you all.
CanadianEh!, I will join you in your "pay grade" lament. I believe some of the difficulty in today's pzl can be attributed to athletic trivia - along with pop music & TV allusions - neither of which are at the fore in my memory bank.
But then, it could be that we single out these areas because they just happened to fall in sectors where we needed a boost.
I do find that on other days when I haply may know an athletic answer, I'll pat myself on the back - & give the Ol' Walnut a silent "Good Boy" cheer.
DARTH Sidious raises another issue for me. Kids today take delight in following the fictional histories and intricate hierarchies & rivalries of such worlds as the "Galactic Empire," "Game of Thrones," etc. How can they possibly make room for the details of real history?
Do they know who did what to whom to start WWI?
Why did Britain team with the Turks in the Crimean War?
Grump grump grump
Oh, well, if today's novelists and screenwriters are doing their jobs (as did Will Shaxper before them) they may be distilling essential lessons from real history into their fake versions, enough to help rising generations draw the lessons necessary to guide our species to survive future threats of extinction.
Fingers crossed, eh?
Lucina, Roy, and Jayce,
I'm with you. My COD was 13D, "Going places?" A model of clean bathroom humor.
SO LISTIN DUDE, with Erik's byline, I knew we were in for updated vernacular; good stuff.
Hi All!
Sam & Erik got me but good in the South. I couldn't get past ANKLE TAT, ESTAd, NOD, TBA, NBC, SERT (e was lucky WAG) and Chicory----(D'Oh! - could I get a beignet?) instead of CAFE AU LAIT. Double-D'Oh! -- Scott Lang was not an actor playing ANTony opposite Cleopatra. That was pretty much all the ink I had south of Mason-Dixon. Maybe NEXT MONTH, I'll win.
Thanks guys for the puzzle and thanks HG for finishing my South. The lagniappe in your post-puzzle party kickoff was excellent.
Klista & C.C., thank you both for sharing pictures/memories of Scott... Very sweet; one can see the Marine in that little boy.
IM and WikWak - <30min? I listened to all of 'Wait, Wait' and 1/2 of 'Ask Me Another' (=90+min) before crying Uncle. Art Chung was not the co-producer Sam & Erik were going for @5d - BTW, today was Art's last on the NPR show.
I ROBOT - nailed it! D-O - Pick Me! Pick Me! As the book/movie goes, the Laws aren't quite enough to keep the multi-vac from figuring out it would be best for Humans to be mentally-enslaved and controlled by a benevolent over-lord machine [after the free-thinkers are all off'd]. "Don't be Evil" would be a good 4th rule but Google is slowly ruining that.
Of what I did finish that ENDed wrong: I could see Kaine in mind's EYES but I called him TOM. 2d was meaningless so the Senator was never (wait for it...) Right.
Fav: Would be BLASPHEMER [Life of Brian @0:53] if I got it. Of what I got, Fav is KEROSENE [hat - anyone recall the album/song by Cracker?] OR the potty humor @13d [I was so going with mobile home or RV for a "place" that go'ed].
{A,A,B} {cute}
Hey LaLa! Good to see you... Don't be such a stranger girl!
Silent Cat@3:06 - True or no, ROTFL.
Sonia - yes, inquiring minds what to know who in H-Town? I certainly wasn't one of the two :-)
C,Eh! - Your Raptors are going to have to step-it up to meet our Rockets. "I TRIED" is not a good excuse for the #1 in the East...
Cheers, -T
CC: Huge thanks for creating and sharing the Santa/Argyle video. Very beautiful and touching.
Wow, this was a toughie! But quite fair and educational. When I finally figured out ANKLE TAT it opened up that final section for me. I dislike TATs as they represent a lack of long term thinking to me. The clue was clever! Hand up for enjoying the other clever clues. LAA totally unknown, making that section difficult. I was thinking airports, too.
Did anyone else think PROCTOR for test giver? ICONOCLAST before BLASPHEMER? I am a big ELO fan, but I never heard of "Shine a Little Love". Learning moment about George C Scott and the Oscar.
Thanks desper-otto and Husker Gary for the reminders of two other DEFORESTs I thought of. Lee DEFOREST was actually tried for mail fraud. It was considered absurd that a "light bulb" could be used to amplify electronic signals. DEFOREST Kelly indeed was the sometimes reluctant doctor on Star Trek.
But Kellam DEFOREST was another Star Trek member; an important consultant to the original series. He still lives here in Santa Barbara and I was honored to be on a Star Trek panel with him several years back.
Here are photos of our visit to Haworth, England, where Charlotte Brontë wrote JANE EYRE.
Learning moment about JANE EYRE and her pseudonym Currer Bell.
No offense taken, Becky, about a photography tour. I, too, would prefer to learn my technique in advance and not have it interfere with enjoying and appreciating a new place.
From Yesterday:
Lucina and OwenKL: I was referring to Lindbergh's alleged Nazi sympathies. I had forgotten about his documented affairs. Thanks for the information!
Picard - don't feel bad. I too like ELO but I was waffling between ELO and BTO. I Googled it - and it's disco-y. Now I know why I don't know it. #DiscoSucks
OMK - you made me think of my little story inre: The Bard...
Prolog: I think everyone at the Corner can agree -- when it comes to haute-stuff, I'm a moron. DW, however, isn't but me called after her Master's Orals (this was in the '90s). She was a bit upset about how things went...
"I blanked... I can't believed I blanked."
"On what?," I asked.
"Shakespeare. They asked me about... And I just blanked to the point Prof X said, 'just quote anything.' but I couldn't quote anything... [sobs a bit]."
"To be or not to be (a Masters), that is the question"
"Yes, I know..."
"Whether it is nobler ..."
[silence...]
"My mistresses eyes are nothing like the sun"
"Ok, you can stop now"
"Alas, Horacio; I knew..."
"Shut up!"
Sure, I was an ass but it was funny. #ImTheUnderstudy
Coda: She passed and Masters was bestowed. She subsequently earned her PhD in English Lit and I'm still an ass/moron - she kinda likes me anyway.
Cheers, -T
Anybody remember The Howard Savings Bank in Newark NJ? The Bee as it was nicknamed. I worked there prior to OCS .
Lou Groza was also a starting tackle for the Cleveland Browns.
My solving problem is that I see something that seems like pop-cul and I blank . Half the time I actually know it. Blowing an FIR because IRO-BOT sounded funny will ruin my weekend .
TAT has become a xword staple . I also on my second sit-down broke my rules about reading glasses and black legible ink. DollarStore sells them 2/buck .
Shakespeare quote? How about the grouchy dog owner in the night: Out damn Spot .
WC
PS . Misty, glad you're sleeping well again
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Samuel & Erik for a challenge. Thanks, Gary, for leading us once more "UNTO the breach!"
SO LISTEN: HUGGER next to ONE ON ONE next to STRAINED next to TOILET produced an image of "How I spent my evening" yesterday and made me laugh about the agony. Feeling better now. I slept from 2 a.m. unto 5 P.M. and couldn't believe I'd slept 15 hours. Could hardly stand and TEETER out to find nourishment.
I had to look up MUNCIE to start the puzzle. My brother once lived at Normal, Indiana so I tried that and it turned red. I used several red-letter runs to get me going in other places on the west coast.
The collection for I ROBOT was unknown. ESP. Hand up for not knowing JOJOBA, GERI, SERT, NALA or HESS (despite raising two little boys).
However, IM HONORED to report that I plugged in QUID PRO QUO with only the first "U" & "O" showing.
Bravo, Jayce & Keith on your remarks. CanadianEh, I'm not so sure that your being out of the USA is any more of a deterrent to knowing some of this stuff than it is for us who live in a different part of U.S.A. I rarely do well on info from the east coast such as the BRONX ZOO. I didn't know Silent Cal's nickname or that he was TERSE. Some of it depends on where we've traveled or what we studied.
OwenKL:
FLN: were you shocked to learn about Lindbergh's double lives?
C.C.:
I loved the video. So far I've seen it twice and will see it again.
AnonT:
What do you mean disco sucks? I love disco!!!! It's fun, fast and easy to dance to.
Thumper and I will sit this one out. I do appreciate the skill required, but 'Nuf said.
Jayce, thanks for explaining what I am missing in puzzles that don't please me. As you mentioned, I think it is the fact based answers. If specialized knowledge is required it takes the fun out of the solving. Misdirections of General knowledge are much more fun to solve. Puns and double meanings and such things are fun to discect.
OMK, I share your dispair over kids memorizing fictional stuff and ignoring history. And I do think it is the failure of educators and writers to make the real stuff interesting. Keep grumping!!
Owen, I laughed out loud!
Thanks, CC for the tour of Scott's life.
Wilbur Chas!
This one?
- A favorite of mine.
"LEAR: Thou hast seen a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar?
GLOUCESTER: Ay, sir.
LEAR: And the creature run from the cur? There thou mightst behold the great image of authority: a dog’s obeyed in office."
Re: disco.
From the old American Bandstands: "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it."
"I don't dance, don't ask me ..."
C.C. - Thanks for composing and posting the video. It is a fine, and I think enduring, remembrance of a very good man whom we were privileged to know and have in our midst.
Becky @ 1420 - ROTFL.
PK - Right you are... C, Eh!, so you don't get NPR but we don't get CBC :-).
//wait, PK, I know Normal IL, but not Indiana. Think either are really "normal" or just meh?
WC & OMK - Macbeth* & Hamlet puns... Funny!
OMK - To opine re: kids these days... Look closely at some of the stuff they read - I saw Hunger Games and, IMHO, it was a cross between 1984 and Brave New World. I'm sure my elders weren't happy with me reading Asimov's Foundation nor with viewing Star Wars --- but when you think about them they are Shakespearian.
Lucina - I will grudgingly admit that some Disco is OK... [see: ABBA]
The way I see it, Rock and Roll had gone from Poppy [think early Beatles] to Rock [Stones, Who] and then got so heady & progressive [think Doors, Pink Floyd, Yes, Jethro Tull, RUSH, Moody Blues] to the point that kids couldn't dance to it [I can't dance either Roy ;-)]. Enter Disco.
By the late '70s the pendulum swung too far and Disco peaked. The backlash was ready in a big way [and fictional WKRP's Johnny Fever played it up too!]. If #hashtag was a thing in '79, #DiscoSucks woulda been it. Little did we know, Hip-hop and Rap would follow. It wasn't 'till the '90s Rock came back w/ the likes of Grunge.
//I know a certain Corner HOST, rest his Soul, would back me up on my thumb-nail history. #MissingArgyle
Cheers, -T
Right, ABBA.
Mamma Mia 2 is coming July 18!
Anon-T @ 10:02 ... you're right about musical shifts ... there used to be a dance every weekend at the El Monte Legion Stadium (this is in the 1950s), but I haven't heard of anything like that in decades. People don't dance anymore -- barring square dancing, maybe -- I thought it was perhaps another cultural shift, but you're right: the 'music' just is not danceable.
Thanks, I'm relatively new to the blog, hated to post a correction on a day when it is so obvious that the fellowship has suffered a great loss. My condolences to Argyle's friends and loved ones.
This is my first post here although I’ve enjoyed LA Crossword Corner for quite some time. I returned to this puzzle this morning, firming believing I could crack the code. Wrong! This was one of the hardest Saturday puzzles for me. Congratulations to those of you who breezed through it. Now I will see if today’s Saturday crossword goes more smoothly for me!
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