Today, June 23, is National Let It Go Day. Here is some wonderful advice that flows from that sentiment
On this day of introspection, Debbie Ellerin has a given us a very nice exercise. Debbie is a "longtime puzzle solver" who caught the constructing bug in 2014. She has been published in the NYT, the LA Times and the WSJ. She is a former computer programmer who splits her time between LA and Boston. She spends her free time reading, watching MSNBC and traveling to visit her two children.I was going to grump about 39. Rear ends?: ARS where Debbie was indicating the R's that serve as the front and back end of the word REAR yield the fill AR'S. I decided that in the spirit of the day I will LET IT GO! 😉
Now after taking my tongue out of my cheek, I must aver that I am in awe of all constructors and especially those who produce these wonderful Saturday gems like Debbie has for us today!
Now let's take a look at what Debbie has for us before we LET IT GO!
Across:
1. "The __ Book": JUNGLE - Rosemary DeCamp is the only actor I recognized in the cast from this 1942 movie version
7. Eyjafjallajökull output: ASH - This Icelandic Volcano is pronounce Ay-yah-fyad-layer-kuh-tel
10. "C'mon, be __!": A PAL.
14. Straighten out: UNCOIL - Often said about a baseball swing
15. It often has twists: PLOT LINE - My binge watching of Grey's Anatomy revealed PLOT LINE twists that made me shake my head. A man is attacked by his date's full grown pet lion but wait, she's upset with him...
17. Treaty of Versailles region: ALSACE - This small area bordered by France, Germany and Switzerland was returned to France after WWI in 1919 as Germany had taken it 40 yrs. previously
18. Apparent displacement due to observer movement: PARALLAX - This is a very useful tool in astronomy but here is a simple explanation
19. Website with a Certified Fresh seal: ROTTEN TOMATOES - If I had only gone to ROTTENTOMATOES.COM I would never have gone to see Morgan, Rene and Tommy Lee in this worst movie I have ever paid money to see!
21. "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" singer: EVA - Peron
22. Word sung after the ball drops: AULD - AULD Land Syne - Scottish for "Times Long Past"
23. Ivan the Terrible, e.g.: TSAR - He used Ива́н Васи́льевич on his business cards
25. Frat letters: ZETAS
28. Loses focus: BLURS.
31. Gun designer __ Gal: UZI - UZI Gal and his famous/infamous invention
32. Object: DEMUR.
34. Hostile environment: SNAKE PIT - Some basketball arenas with rowdy student sections are called a SNAKE PIT
36. Neatnik's nemesis: SLOB - We can all complete this analogy - SLOB : Oscar = Neatnik : ______
38. Work on a muffler: KNIT.
39. Invasion, for example: ACT OF WAR - Nazis dressed as Poles "attacked" a German radio station on 8/31/39. The Nazis declared this as an ACT OF WAR and history students know what Hitler did the next day
43. Big name in publishing: KNOPF - The first books KNOPF published were under Borzoi Books because his wife loved that dog breed. He kept the dog as a symbol for KNOPF Books.
47. Makeup exam?: ASSAY - An ASSAY report on the makeup of an ore sample from a Utah mine in 1943
49. Bergen's dumbest dummy: SNERD - Mortimer
51. Fox relative: SAUK - A young Abraham Lincoln fought against the SAUK and Fox tribes in the Black Hawk War in 1832
53. One with a unicorn as a heraldic symbol: SCOT.
55. "The __ of Pooh": TAO - According to Benjamin Hoff and 46. Hundred Acre Wood denizen: ROO didn't make this list
56. Online exchange medium: CRYPTO CURRENCY - A decentralized, peer-to-peer method of payment. That's all you're getting from me! Yikes!
61. Sarcastic "What a shame": OH BOO HOO - One tire on your new Maserati is low...
62. Make sparkle, in a way: AERATE - Now I have to AERATE my birdbath?
63. Particle name that Fermi introduced to the scientific community: NEUTRINO - This physics guy won't make this esoteric journey with you. You're welcome.
64. Alligator kin: CAIMAN - Not spelled with a "Y" it turns out
65. Bone on a menu: OSSO - A scathing review of the OSSO restaurant in Peebles, Scotland
66. IRS ID: SSN.
67. Cars that misfired badly?: EDSELS - Wrong car at the wrong time. I doubt many kids get the name Edsel any more like Edsel Ford did
Down:
1. City across the river from El Paso: JUAREZ - From space at night
3. Wolfpack's home: NC STATE.
4. Far from a fan favorite: GOAT - What a change! This error by Billy Buckner made him an 2. Far from popular: UNLOVED GOAT but today GOAT also stands for Greatest Of All Time. Ah, 13. "The Joy of __": Brandreth's book for word buffs: LEX.
6. John Paul's successor: ELENA - Cute clue! No she was not a pope.
 |
| ELENA Kagen replaced John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court in 2010 |
7. Team-ranking surveys, briefly: AP POLLS.
8. Sure thing: SLAM DUNK - Most Nebraskans thought legendary Husker FB coach Tom Osborne was a SLAM DUNK to be elected governor in 2006 but my golfing friend Dave Heineman beat him.
9. "Hava Nagila" dance: HORA.
10. Dole out: ALLOT - On a good day, I ALLOT about an hour to do the puzzle, read the comments and comment myself
11. Accumulates: PILES UP.
12. Cliff Palace dwellers: ANASAZI
16. Body image?: TAT.
20. Popcorn buy: TUB - One site said that $5.75 popcorn costs 37¢ to make
24. Musical dir.: RIT - Slow down, as is shown here in a place familiar to us all
26. Schoolyard comeback: AM SO.
27. Bacteria-fighting drug: SULFA - Not for everyone as you can see by this warning29. Private, for one: RANK.
30. Pickup game team: SKINS - Playing SHIRTS vs SKINS only works for one gender
33. Spats: ROWS - If they happen in movie theaters you could have ROWS in the ROWS
35. Henry VI founded it in 1440: ETON.
37. Some winds: BASSOONS - Between its size and required air pressure through the double reeds, this looks like a very hard instrument to play. Jazz, et al?
40. Manager's staff: COACHES - All these COACHES can't make KC a winner this year. It seems you need good players 😜
41. Gig transport: TOUR BUS.
42. Animal in a Beatles ballad: RACCOON - Rocky Racoon was a man in Dakota seeking revenge
44. Term of endearment: PET NAME
45. Repeating geometric pattern: FRACTAL - Don't look too long!
48. "With or Without __": U2 song: YOU.
50. Elders: DOYENS - Usually prominent ones
52. 1997 protocol city: KYOTO - The U.S. delegation signed this protocol but the Senate did not ratify it
54. Bit: TRACE - Such as these TRACE elements that we need in small amounts
57. Favor preceder?: POR - POR favor, introduzca un comentario después de terminar el rompecabezas (PLEASE enter a comment after you finish the puzzle)
58. It's not that: THIS.
59. Consume Food and Wine, say: READ - Food and Wine are capitalized
60. Most massive known dwarf planet: ERIS - Slightly bigger than fellow dwarf planet Pluto
61. Beatle bride: ONO.
Now before you post a comment, I invite you to sing along with the beautiful song sung by a crossword regular about today's day of celebration. Words are provided, including the word FRACTALS!
DA GRID
67 comments:
DNF. The NW got me. The top four lines, plus bETAS>ZETAS, SLAp>SLAM, franCE>ALSACE. I'm particularly ashamed of not remembering JUAREZ, since it's on the border with NM, and the only place in Mexico that I've actually been. But __F_EB didn't suggest it very well. Didn't see ROTTEN because TOpATOES camouflaged it. LICE, the only word I did have in that corner, fit with franCE, giving that error credibility. ALSACE-Lorraine may have been the source of my surname.
A bit of a southwestern mini-theme, with JUAREZ and ANASAZI. Words I didn't understand until reading today's write-up -- SAUK & ELENA (if it wasn't the pope, I was thinking John Paul Jones).
Husker Gary's comment yesterday ("Crime is committed, obvious perp is accused, minor character is interviewed during investigation, a key piece of evidence supplies a twist in the plot, it is revealed that minor character is guilty, fist/gun fight ensues and justice triumphs.") is the inspiration for this one:
The PLOT LINE of a drama one can easily see twining,
It UNCOILS predictably, from a suspect at at the opening.
Then a minor character
Is revealed to be the cur!
It's only the fine acting that gives us trouble BOOING!
"ROTTEN TOMATOES" site can reduce uncertaincy.
Their reviews give a PARALLAX of what the critics see.
Thru the jabber of their voices
We can use logic for our choices,
Instead of being CRYPTIC where we spend our CURRENCY!
{B, B+.}
Practal/Fractal Knopp/Knopf. Oops.
Good morning!
I do'd it, so I don't need no whuppin'. I enjoyed this one. Not sure I've ever seen ROTTEN TOMATOES or CRYPTOCURRENCY in a cw before. Thought the protocol city was TOKYO, and that made my "Fox relative" a SLUT -- didn't think Rich would go for that, though. Nicely done, Debbie and Husker.
ERIS: Reminds me of the "Mirror of Erised" from Harry Potter. You see in it whatever you desire (erised).
RACCOON: We've got a tribe of 'em who frequent our back patio. Feisty little suckers...
ASH: Iwatched a Life On Fire episode about that Icelandic volcano, narrated by Jeremy Irons. He never stumbled over that unpronounceable name. Remember former Irani President Ahmadinejad? (I'm a dinner jacket.)
Working my way down, I had very few squares filled. I knew JUAREZ and WAGged JUNGLE but other than ASH the north was an empty sea of white. TSAR, EVA and UZI were it for the center. BUT the SW opened it up with the ONO, KYOTO, and NEUTRINO.
The SE tripped me up with the cross of the unknown ERIS and the Porche CAYMAN. But I did correctly guess the cross of FRACTAL and TAO of Pooh, both unknowns. SAUK was an unknown animal filled by perps, but it wasn't an animal but an unknown TRIBE of Indians-okay.
OH TOO BAD before OH BOO HOO.
ROTTEN TOMATOES- worst movie to see? The ones my wife likes.
Favorite clue? 'Makeup exam'. Least favorite- 'Rear ends'
RACCOONs, well D-O, I use my fake UZI that shoots plastic BBs at them and possums that come to eat my cat's food. They get the message but a different one will show up the next month.
Not an easy Saturday for me, with SAUK completely new and ANASAZI not in my memory banks, even though we had it back in 2013. I also do not understand how AERATE makes anything sparkle.
It is not just basketball that is played in a SNAKE PIT as most wrestling meets in my youth were in very hostile environs.
HG, we started watching JUST GETTING STARTED for free on Netflix and I ws ready to demand my money back. Such fine actors, such horrible result.
Lemonade, sparkling wine has bubbles (aerated).
Thank you, Tom. Sometimes I cannot see the forest for the trees/
Sorry, but this puzzle was a little ridiculous...too hard to be anywhere close to fun for me. Even after looking up (most) of the answers I’m still shaking my head. Am I the only one to admit??
Actually, I guess I’m not really admitting anything being anonymous....
Good Morning,
Thanks, Debbie, this was an amazing puzzle. Speaking of Let it Go: I had to walk away for a bit, and when I came back, I was on it. It wasn't a SLAM DUNK but well worth harvesting the low hanging fruit and using good old P&P. Nice to get to know you a bit also.
Thanks, Gary, once again for all the help and the time you spend finding perfect links. Very nicely done. I did get NEUTRINO only by the knowing the word--with no understanding of the meaning. I'm impressed that I remembered it and FRACTAL. FRACTAL was a gimme after a trip with my grandkids to The Museum of Science and Industry, including a wonderful display called Numbers in Nature. It includes a mirror maze, which Gramma hates, but went with them anyway. The docent whispered to me to keep a finger on the wall, and he promised I wouldn't lose my balance. Indeed!
KNIT? Really! Madame is extremely embarrassed, she was having a great deal of difficulty trying to surmise what kind of work Midas would do on a muffler! Duh!!!
Have a great weekend. Old Sol is making a token appearance with some sort of promise about tomorrow. Big Weekend here. It's MIL's 95th birthday bash. A nephew is bringing in her sister from New Hampshire.
Anon @8:56. You nailed it.
Good morning everyone.
HG - Great write-up. Agree strongly with your take on the puzzle quality and experience.
Started out feeling extremely challenged but then in slow dendritic fashion, it slowly came together. Wolfpack: wanted something like 'sub pens' but perps pointed to NC team. Loved POR favor. Stymied with CAIMAN but eventually my brain coughed it up. Couldn't think of JUAREZ but eventually got ALSACE and JUNGLE, which clicked my recollection of El Paso's neighbor. SAUK was devilish, but I knew there was a FOX river in that region.
PARALLAX - Great fill. Very important in naval gunnery relating gun placement to fire control solution. Also important in celestial navigation when using bodies closer to Earth such as the Moon and Venus.
LICE - German Läuse, L. German Lüüs
KNOPF - Whenever I would see this publisher's name I'm reminded that it is German for 'button'; L. German Knoop. A Knöpfchen is a small button. In the 30's there was a hit song Und dann drücken wir noch mal auf's Knöpfchen. The words start at 1:10. It'll get your toes tapping.
Be A mAn immediately blocked the NE, so I solved going down the west coast first, then back up the east. PARALLAX was the last to fall.
I knew both tribes were "something" like Sachs and Akenazi, needed crosses there (is Akenazi a Jewish sect?)
A great mystery in the future will be explaining Edgar Bergen, a ventriloquist on the radio.
I loved this puzzle, a real challenge. Thanks Debbie. And thanks for all the great explanations, Gary. FIR w/o help. Most of the eastern half went quickly, but the western half took P&P. I knew ANASAZI, but needed to confirm the spelling. I inherited my dad's interest in the Native Americans and have read a great deal about them. I am embarrassed to say SAUK was ESP, and even after getting it I did not connect it to Indians. I was stuck on animals. FRACTAL needed 6 out of 7 perps, but then I recalled seeing it before. PARALAX occurred to me after a few perps.
ERIS and the Tao of Pooh were new to me.
Lesson for today. I LIU in Wikipedia, "The Tao of Pooh is a book written by Benjamin Hoff. The book is intended as an introduction to the Eastern belief system of Taoism for Westerners. It allegorically employs the fictional characters of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories to explain the basic principles of philosophical Taoism." Interesting concept.
I know neutrino is a particle discussed in physics. That's about it. Sometimes that's all the knowledge you need for x-words.
I loved KNIT, work on a muffler. I thought of you Madame D.
What a fun challenge to chew on today. It seemed hard at first, but I agreed with myself that if I failed, I could let it go and appreciate that others might get a kick out of it. However, P&P paid off.
I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Perhaps since I wasn’t around to gush over JWs masterpiece yesterday, it’s fitting I am at a loss for words today.
I do appreciate all the clever clues and new fill. I even remembered how to spell ANASAZI. I wasn’t fooled by the muffler and loved the CSO to Madame. I caught the capitals in Food and Wine for READ.
But there were just too many technical terms I couldn’t suss. Thanks for the challenge, Debbie.
HG, thanks for making sense of it all .
Owen, yesterday and today, all A’s!!
Phenomenal effort by Debbie Ellerin. Personal thanks.
HG: Very good summary.
Never heard of the SAUK tribe. Nor the Fox. Haven't spent much time in that part of the country.
Picard: Thanks for your helpful information on the Nicaragua situation. We'll watch it closely. I was just there in March. Thx again.
My what a challenging CWP! Thank you Ms.Debbie Ellerin for this monster. I filled very few squares on my first pass across. In the NW I scratched my head till I sussed 5D LICE. The CWP continued like pulling wisdom teeth, yet somehow I found letters to FIR in a whopping 61:18.
Thanks Husker Gary for your excellent review.
__________________
J
I'll have a cup from each shop.
__________________
Ðave
"Puzzling Thoughts":
It was kind of difficult getting a foothold in today's puzzle; I filled in random clues, and then focused on a few regions. I eventually filled in every square, but clearly, I missed several. Since my newspaper copy has no "red squares" to turn on, I was left to come here to learn my fate. Excellent recap HG;
Here are my OH BOO HOO's:
I had SNOPE (43 across) and ERECTAL (45 down); DAYENS/TEA (instead of DOYENS/TAO); ASS/SOO (instead of ARS/ROO). Everything else was correct, after I changed BAG to TUB and LANG to AULD.
Lots of great clues; loved seeing BASSOON (SO to my wonderful daughter, who plays this instrument and is a music professor of it at a major university - she also is the principal for a major ballet orchestra). And yes, HG, it's a pretty tough instrument to play. It covers over three octaves, and music for it is often written in multiple clefs (bass, tenor, and treble)
Lots of punny possibilities, but I'll just stick with one Moe-ku, for now:
Cosmetic student
Was absent; had to make-up
Her Makeup exam
Dave @ 11:09 --->
The J wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it might be; just needed to use a little logic, and reduce the number of possible answers. I love how entwined the letters are when trying to unscramble them. Oh, sorry; I guess I'm just jabbering here about nothing related to the crossword. Hope I don't get into trouble ...
Good Morning:
I must have been on Debbie's wavelength because I finished w/o help in 19 minutes, which is very fast, for me, on a Saturday puzzle. (Sussing the long fill early is the key to an easier solve.) However, I was stymied for a long time in the SW corner. My unknowns were Neutrino, Fractal, and Eris and, as clued, Lex, Roo, and Ash. I, too, thought Sauk and Fox were animals and I, too, thought Knopf was Knopp. The clue for Elena was tricky as was the one for Ars. Is Crypto Currency the same as Bit Coin? Liked the CSO to MD, our resident knitter.
Thanks, Debbie, for a crunchy but doable challenge and thanks, HG, for your many teaching moments and visuals. I assume the cute feline is Lily and I'll gladly accept the Cary Grant shot in lieu of an equal-time canine picture! 😇
Madame Degarge, please wish your MIL a very Happy 95th Birthday! 🎂🎉🎁🍾🎈
Have a great day.
Excuse the typo, please, Madame Defarge. 😱
Well, this was a Saturday toughie for me, and I had to cheat a bit pretty soon--but that's normal for me on Saturday. Lots of clever clues that I enjoyed, Debbie--like the KNIT muffler, knowing my knitting better than my cars. My only real gripe was SAUK, which looked totally wrong to me but couldn't be, because all the surrounding answers were correct. Really--SAUK is a word? Give me a break. Still, a fair amount of fun, and Husker Gary, your pictures this morning were just amazing. What a lot of great work you put into your write-up--many thanks!
I liked your second limerick, Owen.
Have a lovely celebration for your sweet mother-in-law, Madame Defarge.
As for the J, it gave me a lot of trouble this morning with those two long fills, but I think maybe I got it.
I'm going to see a play this afternoon--Yay! Have a great weekend, everybody.
Good Saturday challenge today- where P squared paid off as YR said!
FRACTAL was a gimme as my AF son - loves fractals to the point that he has one TATtooed on his chest!
And SAUK took a bit of perp help - but shouldn't have. I was just up in
Madison, WI last weekend and 30 min away the twin cities of SAUK City and Prairie du Sac are the home/headquarters of Culver's. When we first lived there, it was a destination or a stop on the way back from Devil's Lake State Park. Now they are all over the Midwest including one in my town! I recommend getting the kid's meal - they don't care how old you are and includes a scoop of frozen custard with the customary burger, side, and drink!
Thanks Debbie and HG - "Let it Go" is now my earworm for the day - not a bad one to have!
Nope. Just gave up and went on to the Sudoku.
As all the regulars know, I lurk through here when I'm running low on time for finishing my Saturday puzzle and need to see how the wise ones did it. I got started on the top section and jammed up on the bottom. However, I did get one answer very quickly in the bottom. Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) is located in Lead, SD. It's taken over the now closed Homestake Goldmine and is looking for neutrinos! They're getting ready to expand their underground laboratory and will start blasting and bringing up rock to haul on a huge conveyor belt to be built across Main Street. The rock will be dumped into a HUGE pit created by Homestake through open pit mining reclaiming ore from the original starting point. Giant operation and I know if any of you are in the area, it's an interesting visit (not that I'm a past Homestake tour guide or anything---my wonderful job throughout high school and college). Thanks for the help and I like all the puzzles.
Husker Gary:
Though I rarely "solve" the Saturday (or Sunday) puzzles ... I do like your write-up's.
Geez, 30 links ... it must take you 3 or 4 hours to compose them.
Good-Job !!!
Cheers!
Misty - SAUK is a place name seen in MN and WI and perhaps in nearby adjoining states. (8 place names came up in my Apple MAPS [TomTom] just by entering SAUK.)
SULFA - In the days before penicillin, in the 40's and 50's we used it on our cows when they weren't feeling well. Did you ever try to give liquid medicine to a cow? My Dad would mix up the Sulfa powder with water and pour it into a quart glass milk bottle. Then he would attach nose clamps as per attaching nose clamps . (Ignore after 3:20.). Then he would force open the cow's mouth and she would take her medicine; most of the bottle would go into her mouth. Once the medicine was swallowed, he would release and remove the nose clamps. A day later, the animal usually felt fine.
Heliocentric Parallax has given us the precise distance
to many of our nearest stars.
HG, I had to look into your invasion comment,
and found it quite disturbing.
Nice puzzle; I enjoyed solving it. Starting across, I got ASH, PARALLAX, and EVA right away. My brother used to live in El Paso, so I also got JUAREZ right away, which got me JUNGLE and ZETAS. Didn't know whether the 4-letter song word would be AULD, LANG, or SYNE until late in the process, after I figured out SLAM DUNK. Thanks to you, Gary, for your usual enlightening write-up, without which I never would have figured out the meanings of ELENA, ASSAY, and SAUK. I wasn't fooled by the muffler and confidently filled KNIT as I, of course, thought of Madame Defarge. At first I thought the Beatle's animal was going to be UNICORN but realized it couldn't be because "unicorn" was in the clue for SCOT. The "C" in SCOT and the "O" in NEUTRINO switched on the lightbulb for me. Our son played the BASSOON for a while and yes, it is damn hard to play. My fingers could not splay enough, and apparently are not long enough, to even reach the holes. I don't know how our son managed it. (He actually was not particularly good at it.)
Gary, so who is the crossword regular who sang the "Let It Go" song?
I sorta kinda worked out how to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull because I was so entranced by the Snæfellsjökull in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth that I learned how to pronounce it. The last two syllables are pronounced a little bit like "yokel" and there is no "t" sound in it.
Best wishes to you all.
Whoo… a toughie today! This one took almost a half hour to complete, compared to my usual 20-25 minutes. I don’t remember any other Debbie puzzles; maybe I have just suppressed the memories.
Maybe it’s just because I live in the midwest, but I have always known the Sauk and Fox tribes. They’ve lent their names to many towns, counties, lakes and rivers here.
As several others have commented, I really enjoyed the sparkling fill (it must have been aerated). ;-]
Thanks for all the kind thoughts yesterday; fortunately the water stopped rising when it was just inches from the window wells. (The last time we flooded [about 7 years ago] the pressure of the water against the basement windows broke out the glass and then the basement just filled up.) As Mme DeF said, it’s mostly sunny today… a good time to dry out!
Musings
-Just back from Linkville where I loved CED’s two wonderful references! The first was great for me as an amateur astronomer and the second was instructive but repulsive beyond words.
-Jacye, that singing cwd regular is “Frozen princess – ELSA” who has graced our grids with increasing regularity and given ELSA the Lion some time on the bench
-Thanks, Tin!
-LET IT GO – I was incensed once by a decision our negotiators had reached and said so in front of 300 colleagues. However, that afternoon, I went to each one of the negotiating team and told them I still hated what they did but what happened had not diminished by opinion of them. One of them was so grateful she starting crying and gave me a big hug.
-LET IT GO!
-That was a fun limerick Owen. Here is my weak attempt
The program had just begun
And the husband was holding the gun
He looked guilty as hell
But navy cops could soon tell
She was shot by an angry nun
-HEY! I didn’t see that coming! (Apologies to our Lucina for my poetic license and ineptitude)
-Gotta go in and put on a jacket while watching my kitty.
Doyens, really? TAO of Pooh? Same comment. Practal? Be a pal and put in something that can be done by intelligent people.
For us who solve on the B-team level, I have to agree with the several anonymi -- some of the clues were so cryptic, that even massive P+P didn't come through.
"Auld" took a long time to bubble up to the surface (as my aerator gently went on a work slow-down), "Sauk," ditto; and the cross of CAYMAN and ERYS made as much sense to me as using an "I".
Keeping track of dwarven planets? They keep changing every few years, and once Pluto got deplanetized -- or is it 'endwarfed'? -- along with the search successes for trans-Neptunian objects, now over 2,300 of them, who can follow it all?
Thank you, Spitzboov--I will know SAUK from now on!
Not much time to read the comments. I'll read them later.
Debbie Ellerin beat me almost to a pulp with this tough puzzle. I'm happy to have grokked many of the misdirected ones, guessed PARALLAX correctly with much perp help! ELENA finally emerged when I stopped thinking about Popes. However, I had UNrOIL but should have known NC.
ANASAZI was my first fill as that is part of Arizona history, however I spelled it ANAzAZI and though I had ROTTEN TOMATOEz I didn't catch it.
SNAKEPIT, KNIT, BLURS and KNOPF were all great fill. SAUK? All perps. Same with NEUTRINO.
Finally, I had to resort to G in the SE to complete CRYPTOCURRENCY and the rest. Whew!
Thank you, Debbie, for the workout!
And thank you, Gary, for an enjoyable expo.
Have a happy day, everyone!
This was the type of puzzle that I just had to stay with to solve. I “knew” some of the answers but needed crosses to get them.
If you liked Tao of Poo you might enjoy the film Tao of Steve, I thought it terrific.
Pooh! Pooh! I typed in Pooh!
Challenging Saturday. Slogged through it except for a few minor errors....PARALLEL, ESSAY, CAYMAN....
I admit to being tempted into a couple of lookups, but all in all I found Ms. Ellerin's pleasant pzl to be a pretty easy go for a Saturday. Her clever cluing (not including 39D) kept this a lively duel of wits (EDSELS, KNIT), while she peppered the grid with enough little "gimmes" (TSAR, ASH, ONO) to give us a foothold in every sector.
This meaning of GOAT ("Far from a fan favorite") reminds me that when I used to conduct seminar critiques of student shows, the presenting director was always consigned to a very comfortable armchair that was known to all in the friendliest possible way as "the Goat Chair."
To the other Keith:
If you found difficulty with DOYENS and TAO, I fear this Corner is not for you. Not that as a group we are brighter than you (the gods forbid such hubris!), but only that these words are hardly unfamiliar to loyal cruciverbalists.
Misty, funny, I thought today's J was pretty easy. If you think you got the final answer, I am sure you did. Try this test (no spoiler here): the two seven letter words can be switched, and good sense will prevail.
~ OMK
____________
Diagonal Report: None today.
Gone Fishin'
Hi Y'all! WHO is Debbie Ellerin and why does she hate us? It wasn't LICE that had me scratching my head. When Husker starts out the expo with "simmer down" rhetoric, you know it's hard. "Let it Go", okay, sure, Gary. And I'll try to remember Debbie's name so I can let her puzzles go without attempting them. Thank you, Gary, for your hard work to try and give us some fun.
WEES! I got JUAREZ & ANASAZI on the first pass, but came up with JUNGLE about the fourth pass. I filled the puzzle out of sheer stubborness, with more red-letter runs than I ever remember making. I've heard of SAC & Fox casino near here, so tried SACS.
What on earth was Rich thinking?
WIKWAK: glad to hear your good news.
@9:14 - I'll admit defeat after 1.5h.* NW and SE were impossible (for me) to finish. France bolloxed up the north; 'Leo Roman Numeral' was right-out. Other than FRACTAL, EDSELS, CURRENCY, READ, and SNERt, I had nothin' in the SE. ERoS was 75% right!
Let it go? Let It Be. //thanks again inanehiker. I just shared the link w/ Mom (who introduced me to The Beatles when I was 3yro) and listening to her reactions over the phone... Priceless.
Thanks Debbie for this head-scratcher Saturday. But, really, words like ALSACE, ANASAZI (did I type that right?), and CAIMAN seem an ACT OF WAR. I know, OH BOO HOO (Womp, Womp(?)) me.
I'm kidding, it was a stumper but nicely put together. And I learnt (?maybe)
Thanks HG for explaining some of the c/as. Wait, SAUK isn't an ANIMAL/critter?
You always do a cracker-jack job.
Fav: FRACTAL; I don't know if Debbie has a CS degree but we both know what fun recursive programming is.
Runners-up: NEUTRINO and PET NAME (I got it after after copious cheats). If you're a fan of TMBG, you know it from their Factory Showroom CD.
CRYPTOCURRENCY? - If you're into it, you're silly; best put your money on a filly.
{B+, A-} {nice}
WikWak - no water is good news.
MDE - I nailed KNIT and immediately thought of you. A Happy 95th to your MIL
So, have a minute for something straight out of The Three Stooges?
Eldest was looking to acquire a piano. We were to look at one last week. I said we'll go Wednesday.
The Lady behind us (a teacher at Eldest's ex-HS) hired Eldest to feed her cat/check mail/etc. while she was out of town and wanted to give Eldest the skinny same Wednesday.
"I can't Wednesday. Dad and I are going to look at a piano I want to buy"
"You need a piano? I have one. My son says he wants it but he hasn't moved it out of here in 12 years. Move it and it's yours."
"Really?"
So today we, Youngest, Eldest, & I (me? :-)), moved a piano.
Down the street...
Things were going well until I saw a car. In my best 'FarSide Cows see car' I exclaimed,
"Car! Act Natural."
Piano in the street, naturally.
Cheers, -T
*I do interleave work and WWDTM :-)
Now I see my confusion. Olympic track medalist, and pro baseball and football player Jim Thorpe was of Sac and Fox Nation, one of three tribes of the SAUK. The French spelled the name Sac and the English Sauk. The Fox (Meskwaki) were closely related.
Black Hawk, a famous warrior of the Sauk, lost the space in his name when the Chicago hockey team was indirectly named for him.
And yes, Ashkenazim were the Yiddish-speaking Jews of mostly Central and Eastern Europe.
Back from my errand.
Yes, this was a challenge, but a doable one. I had to switch to my "misdirect" hat since so many of the clues were not what they seemed. To me that's the trick of solving puzzles like these, the clues are not ordinary. Like others who did solve this challenging puzzle, I had to think outside the box.
I haven't had time to even look at the J yet.
Thanks to all for the information on SAUK and PARRALLAX. That was helpful.
Anon-T @3:47: I like your piano in the street. Almost a half century ago we bought a piano and had it delivered. However, the driver of the truck said the terms of the sale were for "tailgate delivery" so he dropped it off and left it in the street. DW couldn't do anything with it, so she parked her car in front of it to keep it from getting run over by some vehicle and called me. I rounded up four strong friends who helped carry it into the house and up to the main floor (We had a Split Foyer at the time). Learning experience: make sure you know what the term "Delivery" means.
What Others Thought about the movie "Just Getting Started". Luckily I saw it at the Tuesday $5.00 movie and I got free popcorn. The popcorn was the best part of the movie. I noticed that it is already on Amazon Prime Video with no additional charge.
Just read this article on NEUTRINOS.
PK:
I'm sorry you disliked today's puzzle. I know the frustration but I gave it my best P&P.
AnonT:
LOL your piano move. Did you see last week's Sunday Morning? There was a segment about pianos on the street, painted brightly, for anyone to play and they did! It looked like people were enjoying the music out on the street.
Today's J was soooooooo much easier than the puzzle. It didn't have to percolate in my brain!
OMG!
I got rid of Mcaffee Antivirus
and downloaded Adaware,
It found 6 viruses, in a 2 hour scan,
and now I do not see any ads on the right side of the Blog anymore!
CC, I thought these ads on the Blog were for you to make some money!
They are not yours?
CED - the way it works -- ads are placed based on you (I'm still getting Neiman Marcus ads from HG's link a week ago). If you click an ad on a site hosted by, say C.C., then she makes a shekel. Adaware blocks all adds. Mcaffee is crap AV protection; Adaware is just an adblocker. I don't want to be a shill, but I'm really keen on Cylance.
-T
Greetings!
Thanks to Debbie and Gary!
Managed to complete sans cheats! Was really surprised when I got the TADA! Never heard of SAUK, CRYPTO CURRENCY, SKINS and GOAT.
Have a great day!
Great puzzle! Perfect difficulty level for a Saturday.
I had SUAREZ and TAN. However my little family went on a trip and at lunch I asked Phil about the website and he came up with ROTTENTOMA"T"OES and "J"UNGLE. So, as opposed to cheating I'll call it sharing credit.
Unfortunately, my music savvy DW, said it was RET(ired). I of course knew UZI.
Let's see how the rest did. Nice write-up Gary.
I see the Anons had problems. I found it relatively easy for a Saturday especially if I'd had TAT which would have given me RT quickly. DOYENS is a cousin of our SOLONS Yesterday.
I did the _J this morning. I remember nothing about it and the newspaper is out in the car.
Oops, I just read C-Moe, now I remember. I went through it in a few minutes. No trouble.*
Anon@1203 and others: I couldn't do a five star Sudoku in a week. Btw, I showed Phil the CC clue/answer and he Pshawed. Not a fan.
Oh yeah, GOAT will always recall Bill Buckner.
-T, when I was ten my father had a moving company transport a piano to the house. When they got there I said"Just leave it in the garage". Boy was dad pissed, he had to take it apart and get the neighborhood involved to bring it in. Nowadays I would have a fancy diagnosis.
Oops. Oc4 had the same experience.
What someone said about Saturday difficulty: it's partly experience, partly just a knack.
Lucina, I don't think _J is that difficult despite the long fill on the riddle.
WC
This rompecabezas can be fits (sounds like a head battle in English)! Thanks, HG for the write-up for 'splaining several of the unknown, SAUK being one of them. WAG'd: LEX (word buffs made sense), ANASAZI, CRYTOCURRENCY since I had perps BASSOONS, RACCOON (cute side-by-side), and THIS. But NCSTATE for Wolfpack's home? My brain was locked on U-boats - wouldn't have mattered - don't follow college sports. Being science-challenged, I hadn't heard of NEUTRINO, PARALLAX, ERIS, FRACTAL (perps, thank you). Proudly, I plodded through to the finish line but, rats, FIW - I "translated" Make-up test, into an eSSAY test (yeah, in my might you do make up the wording in the essay). Oh, well, it was a very enjoyable, educational puzzle.
Jumble: Solved the answer which helped with the third word.
Anon-T - that's hilarious! When I read that you, eldest and youngest moved it down the street, I was thinking surely you didn't roll the piano down three streets (since the cat neighbor lived behind your house). Hilarious - poor piano - hope it's still in tune, streets aren't exactly smooth as glass. Great pic with you sitting on the imaginary bench.
How did that happen ... this puzzle "gave me fits."
It’s late. I feel the need to defend the Wolfpack/ NCSTATE fill. Interesting to me that people had trouble with that. I went to Duke. They were one of our enemies. Okay. We haterd the UNC Tar Heels more, but rivalries in N’Carolina were fierce. But the NC is gods country..... hehehehe
I definitely got the L, O'Man Keith--feels good.
TX Ms - the piano hasn't been tuned in >12 years. Youngest has the tuner scheduled for 7/19 (he either works 1 day a week or there's serious demand for piano tuners in the summer).
The piano made it to it's new home safely. But, now, DW want's it upstairs. Um, NOT ME.
-T
Saturday stumper solved. Thanks for the fun Debbie and HuskerG.
Plenty of P&P required, plus a little Mr G.
This Canadian had a learning moment today about the Sauk and Fox, and ANASAZI.
WEES re misdirections with ELENA, AERATE, BASSOONS.
FRACTAL was unknown. Thanks HG for the ear worm. Granddaughters love that song!
Hand up for Essay before ASSAY, and waiting for perps to decide between AULD, Lang or syne.
Madame D - Happy 95th Birthday to your MIL.
AnonT- your piano photo gave me my LOL for the day!
WikWak- glad you are dry.
Hmm, piano movers,
now why does that remind me of something...
Something about bounding over my steps?
Lucina: How did you "guess" I didn't like this puzzle? LOL! I felt better about it after I got to eat this evening, but not much. I've got to the skill level that I like the "stretch & learn" puzzles, but this was a bit much. Persistence filled it, but not the bad taste. I've stood on Mesa Verde & communed with the Great Spirits of the ANASAZI so I even called on them for help. No luck there.
Tony: glad there were no big hills on your P.P. (piano push) Greater love hath no man than this: that he'll move a piano for his daughter who will likely be away at college 3/4 of the year. Good on ya!
Anon-T
Um, Cylance...
I looked it up,
all I could find was free demo...
If it has no price,
I am thinking I cannot afford it!
Do they have a free version for cheapskates like me?
Anon-T @3:47 -- Liked the piano bench!
You must be in a forgiving municipality ... some places might give you a ticket for 'piano on a public street' or 'delusions of GRANDeur'.
CED - Look for Malware Managed for a home edition reseller (that's who I pay $5/mo. to for Eldest's copy; mine's free from work) //full disclosure - I've known of Stewart McClure, the CEO, since his days writing Hacking Exposed books and I met him a few times as he was starting Cylance. //fuller disclosure - I have no dog in the hunt/stock in the company.
Correction @8:38 - for some reason I typed Youngest. Eldest has the tuner scheduled.
Lucina - no, I hadn't seen it until now - The Sunday Programme. Thanks.
PK - I REMEMBER college days so well... She be poor. So, pushing a piano is cheaper than moving men :-) //and fun memories ta'boot.
Cheers, -T
AnonT:
Good! I'm glad you found the street pianos. It looks like such fun!
PK:
I hope tomorrow's puzzle is more pleasing for you.
Very late to the party so I am not sure anyone will see this. All day at our amazing Summer Solstice Parade and related events. I am exhausted and energized at the same time!
Sorry that so many people did not like this puzzle. I was grateful for the math and science references and a break from so many sports and actor references.
Husker Gary: Thanks for the explanations and illustrations! That FRACTAL animation was truly mesmerizing and awesome!
Thanks for explaining READ! I had no idea! And thanks for explaining JOHN PAUL and ELENA. I got those correct with crosses, but did not get the misdirection specifics. And thanks for the Eyjafjallajökull pronunciation.
The NEUTRINO is one of those wonderful examples in science where something was theorized first and discovered later. That is a rare thing of beauty that everyone should be able to appreciate.
Here are our family photos of Mesa Verde, Colorado, where the ANASAZI lived.
The first photo is almost identical to the one you posted, Husker Gary!
Rainman: Thank you for the kind words about my Nicaragua information. I do hope this situation has a happy ending.
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