Once again we are presented with a 16 x 15 puzzle by the incredible Jeffrey Wechsler. We have another sound puzzle designed to amuse as much as baffle. In the first and third theme fill, it is the first word that is re-purposed with a sound-alike word that is clued with humor as the objective. I think the puzzle evolved from PRAISE ON ONE's MIND which is what necessitated the 16 width of the puzzle. Jeffrey then built a symmetrical and consistent theme with the first word of themer one and three being the sound alike and the last word in two and four. Also, to show how much thought JW puts into his puzzles, we have an exchange of the "A" sound to "AI" from a different word that makes the sound. In theme one, "EY" becomes "AI"; in two A-E becomes AI; in three "EIGH" becomes "AI" and in 4 "AY" is replaced with "AI." Solid and consistent.
There are some misdirections like - Late bloomer: ASTER and Edible bulb: ONION. Then he confused me with some puzzlers like - Slight suggestion: TINGE or Certain octet member: PLANET. With 58 theme squares the long fill was limited to I SWEAR IT, MAMMALIA, SAINT KITTS and STAY IN STEP all very sparkly. So without further ado.
18A. Complimentary thoughts?: PRAISE ON ONE's MIND (16). Preys on one's mind is the base phrase.
25A. Subtitle for "Further Adventures of Jack and Jill"?: BEYOND THE PAIL (13). Beyond the pale is the base phrase here. Its HISTORY, suggesting it is related to impale.
45A. Reason to open another register?: WAIT REDUCTION (13). Weight reduction is this base phrase.
62A. Rate hike at a tanning salon?: ULTRA-VIOLET RAISE (16). Ultra-violet rays this time.
1. Mortify: ABASH. This was a more popular word when I was young.
6. Late bloomer: ASTER. This hearkens back to D-O's comment last week, which I mis-remembered as "I can't tell my aster from a hole in the ground." I am not as subtle.
11. Education basic: MATH. 'Rithmatic.
15. Starbucks order: MOCHA. They combine rich, full-bodied espresso with bittersweet mocha sauce and steamed milk, then top it off with sweetened whipped cream.
16. Laughing, say: MERRY.
17. Et __: ALIA.
21. Half a Caribbean federation: SAINT KITTS. St. Kitts is the larger of the 2 Caribbean islands that comprise the nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis.22. Breitling competitor: OMEGA. Watches.
23. Where some long drives begin: TEE. Golf.
24. Certain octet member: PLANET. In our solar system.
32. U.K. singer Rita: ORA. She is back quickly.
33. Like the sticks: RURAL. Where people live surrounded by trees etc. The best-known reference to 'the sticks' meaning woodsy America, in any newspaper, was the 'Sticks Nix Hick Pix' headline in Variety, 17th July 1935. This was a famously succinct expression of the opinion that 'people in the backwoods [sticks] aren't interested [nix] in films [pix] about rural [hick] issues'.
34. Tentative statement: I MAY. This clue brought to mind this ear worm...
38. Collaborative website: WIKI. An easy go to; not always right but always there.
40. Classic slot images: LEMONS. Three CSOs in-one!
41. Emanation: AURA.
42. "He that hath no beard is __ than a man": Shak.: LESS. This was not said by Shaquille (Shaq) but is from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, said by Beatrice.
“He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man. He that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.”
43. Battery post: ANODE. Not cathode.
44. Capt.'s heading: NNW. And back at sea 54A. Flotilla locale: OCEAN. This interesting sounding word which reminds me of floating (the words may be related), can also be in rivers. LINK.
50. Lean (on): DEPEND.
53. Balloting time: Abbr.: NOV. Coming soon to a polling place near you.
55. Keep up (with), as fashion trends: STAY IN STEP. This was very difficult for me, even though once filled seemed easy, though keep in step sounds more familiar. This also the name of a spinal cord injury support web-site.
64. Goa garment: SARI.
65. Edible bulb: ONION.
66. Macabre fiction middle name: ALLAN. EAP also makes a quick reprise here.
67. State of France: ÉTAT. The word in French, known from État Unis and coup d'état.
68. Some red marks: WELTS.
69. Knish purveyors: DELIS. Some HISTORY.
Down:
1. Stage flankers: AMPS.
2. When doubled, one of the Leeward Islands: BORA. Bora Bora is one of the LEEWARD ISLANDS.
3. Trendy berry: ACAI.
4. "Way of the gods" belief: SHINTO. Shinto is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and as old as Japan itself. It remains Japan's major religion alongside Buddhism. wiki.
5. Get a move on: HASTEN. Jason.
6. French mine: À MOI. Not gold or silver.
7. Posted: SENT.
8. Display, with "out": TROT.
9. Sea eagles: ERNS.
10. White alternative: RYE. Bread, not anything controversial.
11. Class for dogs and cats: MAMMALIA. Mammals are the vertebrates within the class Mammalia, a clade of endothermic amniotes distinguished from reptiles by the possession of a neocortex, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands. wiki. Yes - Mamma is Latin for booby!
12. "Guardians of the Galaxy" figure: ALIEN.I wanted Groot.
13. Slight suggestion: TINGE. This was very tricky.
14. Attacked: HAD AT. Then...40D. Attacked, with "into": LAID. Be careful...
19. Squeezed (out): EKED.
20. Arias, usually: SOLI. The plural of solo.
24. Comrades: PALS.
25. Postseason game: BOWL. In American college football.
26. Historic canal: ERIE. CSO again.
27. Runs on: YAKS.
28. Nottingham's river: TRENT. It has a bridge.
29. Laugh producer: HUMOR.
30. Undercut: ERODE.
31. Comprising standard glazing: PANED. Windows often are made up of panes, which get there by the action of installing windows.35. Local bond, briefly: MUNI. Municipal bond interest is tax free.
36. The Ponte Vecchio spans it: ARNO. This is the bridge.
37. [What a bore!]: YAWN. Hey, I am trying here!
39. "Scout's honor!": I SWEAR IT. I do!
46. Kendrick of "Pitch Perfect" films: ANNA. 780 milihelens.
47. Meter, e.g.: UNIT.
48. "Heart of Darkness" author: CONRAD. A short novel by Joseph Conrad, about Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. The contrast between the rich white men and the natives and Marlow's disillusionment with Kurtz is the darkness.
LINK.
49. Deal in electronics?: TV SALE. Such a random clue/fill.
50. Put out: DOUSE.
51. Eye-popping display: ECLAT. Similar to Elan.
52. Ancient Jordanian archaeological city: PETRA. Petra is a famous archaeological site in Jordan's southwestern desert. Dating to around 300 B.C., it was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom. Accessed via a narrow canyon called Al Siq, it contains tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs, earning its nickname, the "Rose City."
55. Trig function: SINE. We have our math cornerites to expand, or expound.
56. Labor: TOIL.
57. Oodles: A LOT.
58. Hungers: YENS.
59. Prepare for sowing: TILL.
60. Actor Morales: ESAI. As Boomer says, the vowels are there.
61. They're often secured at tellers' windows: PENS. Do ther chains really help? They go at least back 50 YEARS.
63. Commitment: VOW.
Well I vow to be back again next week ITCDR. Thank you JW and all who read and comment, and a continuing wish for a Happy, Healthy and Sweet year for all.
57 comments:
FIRight, but took an awful long time to do it.
The lion needs no PRAISE for how well it preys.
No layman will explain how prisms RAISE rays.
In a well, an old PAIL
May fade and grow pale.
Any weight must WAIT on the scale that weighs.
Will you HASTEN to the market, my lady fair?
Bring me some LEMONS or oranges from there.
I can't make a Manhattan
Unless I put that in,
And for Gibsons I'll need pearl ONIONS, a pair!
There was a prince from a very small PLANET,
Had a YEN for an ASTER, to carefully plant it.
He'd once had a rose,
But as anyone knows,
For a MERRY garden, you have to plan it!
{B, B+, A-.}
Hello Puzzlers -
Enjoyed the smooth homonyms in today’s quality J. Wex creation. Just a few unknowns, plus a few surprises. Take Shinto, for example: I’ve heard of a Shinto shrine, but simply took it for granted it was a type of shrine found within Buddhism. I didn’t comprehend that Shinto is its own religion. Such is my ignorance of all things Japanese.
-T from last night - I’ve had no luck with the various mouse repellents I’ve tried. I prefer traps. I’ve had the best luck with Tom Cat brand traps, which represent a considerable improvement over old-fashioned Victor spring traps. I avoid adhesive traps absolutely, because though they are effective, they are appallingly inhumane.
Good morning!
Knew something was wrong with the first theme answer, but couldn't suss what it was. The "White alternative" had to be RED and "Attacked" had to be SET AT. Bzzzzt! When BEYOND THE PAIL showed up, I knew the type of answer that was needed. The light finally came on, and RYE and HAD AT went in. Thanx, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
STICKS: I can relate. I live there.
SARI: Learned about GOA from the 2nd Jason Bourne movie.
PETRA: Learned about PETRA from the 3rd Indiana Jones movie.
BORA BORA: Apparently I never learned this bit of geography. I thought the Leeward Islands were in the Atlantic or maybe the Caribbean.
After almost two years of trying, DW finally captured the MAMA cat that haunts the dumpster at the local Family Dollar. This morning she's off to TLC (Texas Litter Control) to get her spayed and shut down that kitten factory.
Good morning. Thank you Jeffrey an Lemonade.
I made the first two mistakes Desper-otto made, and others. Just couldn't get into it this morning.
D-O, perhaps Mr T, I mean Dash T, would be interested in one of those kittens to deal with his mouse...
Hi,
did 97% correct, but failed in SHINTO and STAY IN STEP.
PETRA - oh yes my favourite Indiana Jones movie
ANNA - she was really good in 50/50, you should see that movie.
I do not like the sounds like themes, but here it was manageable.. BEYOND A PALE is new to me.
ad yesterday:
thriving/striving - yes, my mistake. Sometimes my vocabulary fails me.
ALT-TAB - in audit you have lots of source documents and you need to switch to your working file quickly. Without this shortcut you have work your mouse a lot. You work on your keyboard and trackpoint instead of a mouse. It is much quicker.
Simpsons - well as I said, I have seen a lot of the episodes, thus I know most of the characters. I have no idea about other regular TV shows in crosswords like Brady's bunch etc. First American TV show I was really following was MacGyver.
This is the crossword I have made for our accounting days:
[IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/2u5wftt.png[/IMG]
Krijo (how do you pronounce the J? Zhuh? Like an H?) I tried your link (minus the [IMG]) and it takes me to Tinypic, but there's no image of your puzzle there.
Tom, if you take the IMG off each end it works, but the structure is not what you are used to seeing. It took a while, but I now understand.
KRIJO PUZZLE
Good Morning:
I had more difficulty with this JW offering than I've had in ages. I found the cluing particularly devious, but, ultimately, fair, so the stumbling blocks were of my own making. I held onto Abase instead of Abash and Red before Rye (I was fixated on color, not bread) and Trace before Tinge for way too long. No wonder I couldn't get any traction. Sussing the theme took forever because I had so much white space and not enough fill to see the word play and, of course, the aforementioned errors exacerbated the problem. I needed perps for Omega, Trent, and Alien, as clued. My favorite themers were: Beyond the Pale and Wait Reduction. I finished w/o help but it took me a whopping 27 minutes to do so.
Thanks, Jeffrey W, for a seriously challenging (for me, anyway) puzzle and thanks, Lemony, for a nicely detailed and enlightening expo.
In case anyone missed my later post yesterday, I'm still interested in hearing from the person who expressed a desire to obtain an SLR camera.
Our humidity is as bad or worse than it was throughout those 90+ days in August. Where art thou, Fall?
Have a great day.
Good Morning.
This was a real workout for me. I wasn't making much sense of the theme clues until ULTRA VIOLET RAISE. Very clever, of course, JW. Thank you for exercising my brain this morning. I think my fav today was UV RAISE because, after I left for a bit, it was my first long entry upon my return. Ah Ha!
Thanks for the tour, Lemonade. I appreciate the added info in the links. Nicely, done.
Like Dudley, I'd vote for traps. I used them in when we lived in a big old Victorian. Peanut butter--Yeah, they learned how to clean in Mouse School, but they eventually get tubby and lose their speed. Quick and done. TTP, not sure about cats. I've seen them at work and don't seem particularly humane. But then again, they're feline--just Nature doing her job. Maybe in Mouse School, besides learning how to clean up the peanut butter, they also learn that it's not a good idea to stay in places that have cats.
I also used mouse traps to keep my Corgis off the furniture. I'd set them. When the dog went near the furniture I'd let it snap. The dogs would jump back and quickly decide that the trap was a dangerous idea. I never even set them after that--just placed them out. Very effective, but a little unnerving when I'd forget to put them away before company arrived. . . . ;>)
Have a fine day inland. I hope everyone is safe near Flo's wrath.
Lemon, how did you know to change http://i66 to http://oi66?
Good morning everyone.
Leeward Islands Group in the Society Islands (BORA BORA) was a learning. Only knew those in the Caribbean.
Mostly a good Wechsler puzzle. Loved the homophonic theme; especially WAIT REDUCTION.
TRENT was a WAG. Perp help was crucial. Milled about in the NE until I got the SOLI / PLANET / MAMMALIA cross fully parsed.
Re: Leeward Islands - Made me think of St. Eustatius, named after the tube.
Picard - FLN - add to 'various admirals':
Rear Admiral (lower half)
Rear Admiral (upper half)
Vice Admiral
Admiral
Fleet Admiral (not conferred since WWII)
I went with ABCs for 11A.
I don’t patronize Starbucks so 15A was a miss.
24A: This group was once a nonet but was reduced by the downsizing of Pluto. I heard Neil Degrasse Tyson say that the reasoning was that Pluto’s orbit crossed the orbit of another planet and true planets don’t do that so it was classified a dwarf planet. Furthermore, I read where the count will be increased to 12 planets. Stay tuned for this one.
Nuff said on today’s toughie. ��
Another great JeffWech puzzle, and I FIW with tEaRY instead of MERRY. I laughed until I cried! Like DO & IM I erased Red for RYE. Also erased ABASe, ALLeN, PANEs and op-art for ECLAT.
-T, our motor home sometimes experiences an unwelcome field mouse. I use snap traps baited with peanut butter. The Dollar General traps work just as well as the ones my Orkin friend gave me.
Madame Defarge, I tried snap traps under newspapers to keep our Irish Wolfhound off of our nappy (velvet?) sofa while we were at work. It worked for about a day, then he figured out that once they snapped they were inert. He would snap them, then paw the traps and paper off the sofa and snuggle in.
We are experiencing very minor impact from Florence. The area we had originally hunkered down in (near Winston Salem) is supposed to get some nasty weather. Good thing we came home.
One of my favorite cities, New Bern, is in trouble. The Neuse and TRENT rivers converge there, and both are flowing backwards from storm surge.
Thanks to Mr. Wechsler and Mr. Lemonade for the fun start to the day.
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
This CW required P&P but I finished and saw the theme. Thanks Lemonade for the extra info re "exchange of A sound". Doubly clever!
Hand up for Red before RYE (I was thinking of wine for Marti). I had Abase before ABASH, Diode before ANODE, and thought of ABCs before MATH (which went with SINE).
Waited for perps to decide between second A or E in ALLAN, and whether Starbucks was serving a Latte or a MOCHA.
I was thinking of obedience classes for those cats and dogs - oh, MAMMALIA, taxonomic rank.
We had I SWEAR and VOW.
I was securing Tens at the Tellers' windows before PENS filled the spot. Lightbulb moment! But it is true that pens in public spaces do seem to develop legs and disappear.
HAD AT and LAID INTO reminded me that Balloting Time for MUNIcipal elections in Ontario is OCT; don't ask me about the state of the Toronto municipal election as that would be political. . . Notwithstanding!
Krijo - that CW looks like it has 3 sets of clues. I will have to look at it more closely.
Picard and AnonT FLN - thanks for reassuring me that it is not totally Canadian disadvantage re American presidents. I can actually name the most recent presidents that AnonT listed (from DDE) because they are within my lifetime. I challenge most Americans to list the 12 Canadian PMs from the late 1950s on (hint, you get Trudeau thrice-2 for Sr and 1 for Jr). Our only female PM served only 132 days in office.
Wishing you all a good day. Stay safe, those in the path of Florence. (Glad you are OK Jinx)
Jinx Glad Florence spared you! Hope others in the region are OK! My friends Dan and Christina are evacuated from Beaufort, NC. They are OK, but how their home did remains to be seen.
Fun theme and challenging fill! ULTRAVIOLET RAISE was my first theme answer and I got the idea. Had up stuck with RED before getting RYE.
After yesterday's discussion about memorizing world rivers we had TRENT and ARNO today. TRENT was unknown.
Favorite clue was Class for dogs and cats for MAMMALIA! Thanks, Jeffrey Wechsler for a challenge that was difficult at times, but fair!
And thanks Lemonade for the illustrated write-up. Three LEMONS!
I have shared this extraordinary photo of us at PETRA before
But seeing PETRA again inspired me to share more photos of that wonderful adventure!
Here are more photos of our PETRA adventure!
I have other photos to share, but that set is one of my most prized photo sets ever!
From yesterday:
Mike Sherline Thank you for the Naval Ranks list! This confirms that my memory of the Star Trek PILOT "The Cage" was correct. Captain Pike was the Captain. And Majel Barrett played a Commander. Captains and Commanders can co-exist on the same ship!
The show probably would have been a bit different with that leadership. But the overall concept and feel probably would have been similar in the long run. Just glad NBC eventually came to their senses and ran the show!
AnonT Thanks for the XMouse demo!
CanadianEh!, those crossword clues are identified by row (#) or column (A). For 1, the clues are for the first, second and third words in Row 1. I hope Krijo posts the solution to his puzzle. I think I got it, except for the first word in Column G.
I finished this JW but it took way too long. Though I love the misdirections, they hamper my progress.
When the top slowed me down I slithered downward and slipped into JW's wave length. I love BEYOND THE PAIL and that initiated me into the sound substitution theme.
Today's rivers are the TRENT and ARNO; GOA appears in many novels and was colonized by the Portuguese if memory serves me right.
Hand way up for RED/RYE, ABCS/MATH, but alas I had ATOI instead of AMOI and TEARY instead of MERRY. I really must follow Picard's example and memorize those French pronouns.
As for breitling, I had no idea what that was so LIU and that gave me OMEGA. SINE, I've said before, is the only thing I remember from trig.
CSO at LEMON and thank you, Lemonade, for your always scholarly commentary.
Have a special day, everyone! Stay safe and dry SE coasters.
Well, I love Jeff Wechsler puzzles but was worried that it came on a Friday, not a great solving day for me. But I got CONRAD right away because I taught the "Heart of Darkness" practically every year when I was teaching. And by now I know ESAI, and I guessed that the Macabre middle name would be Poe's ALLAN. And so the south filled in slowly, and I then moved further and further to the north. Still had to cheat a bit, but it still turned out to be a delightful, fun puzzle--many thanks, Jeff. And great write-up, as always, Lemonade.
Glad I'm not the only one who put in RED before RYE. I was also happy to get ASTER, AMOI, RURAL and ERIE pretty quickly. But, although I feel like an idiot for asking, I still don't get AMPS for 'Stage flankers.' What am I not seeing here?
Anyway, much better Friday morning than I expected. Have a great weekend coming up, everybody!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
For a Friday, this puzzle was tougher than usual. Took me several hours.
Theme appeared slowly. My first was ULTRA VIOLET RAISE. My last was WAIT REDUCTION.
That area gave me fits. Tried WAITRESS UNION for 45A. That fit and it made sense, however a lot of perps did not work, so I knew I had an error. Had YAWN, ARNO, and MUNI. Had STAY BEST AT for 55A. Had TENS for 61D. I knew ESAI was correct for 60D, so BEST AT could not have been correct. Finally got NOV (wag). Then TV SALE. Tried PANED instead of PANES. Then WAIT REDUCTION appeared. And the rest is history. Phew!
PETRA was unknown. Gotbit with perps. Looked at Picard's photos after coming here. Outstanding!
BEYOND THE PAIL was also slow in coming. Had a lot of solid perps, so I picked up on it.
As always, Mr. Wechsler has great puzzles.
My wife is going to a doctor today. Her hearing has been fading rapidly. Hope it is simple.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Misty, think of a rock concert. You want to see the performers, not their AMPS, that's why they're off to the side.
re desper-otto
oh yes the word is REFX, a tool our conpany uses to calculate leases. No way for anyone outside to know it.
I squeezed in quite a few themed words. I had especially problem with middle down section.
Hi Y'all! Another great puzzle, Jeffrey! Great expo, Lemonade!
I "got" the theme but it did not register in my MIND as a theme. Duh! But I found HUMOR in the punny phrases.
Did not know ORA or TRENT. ARNO took two vowel perps. The only Italian river I seem to remember is the POE.
I was in the right ocean but I tried Pago before BORA. Then we jumped to the Caribbean to St. KITTS which I knew from my son's family vacationing there.
Jinx: glad you made a good choice in going home. I was a little worried watching the weather channel.
AnonT: The only thing that worked at my house the year of the mouse invasion was glue traps. I SWEAR the mice were inhumane to me, coming in and reducing me to a screaming mimi. Glue traps are nasty little things but more so are mice, who paid absolutely no attention to my spring traps. Kept feeding them poison also. Got the door fixed where they came in and never use it now. Any time it was opened I had move unwanted visitors.
FLN: CED: I learned the hard way about gasoline residue. I have to use highest octane. Still unable to drive much more than I do now. The new car is always hooked to a battery charger too. I am not compatible with today's vehicles. But a horse would be worse.
AnonT: yes, I dropped the guy who dropped me while jitterbugging, but not because of that. I was pretty fickle in those days.
Thanks, Desper-otto--that makes sense. Having never been to a rock concert (I think Peter, Paul, and Mary might be the last music concert I attended) I'm a little out of it when it comes to AMPS.
Spoiler alert re Krijo's puzzle OK I got the way the grid and clues are set up - different than what we are used to and requires close attention. (Thanks d'otto@11:20, I saw how it worked when I printed it out and had a better look at it.)
You mentioned that this was for "accounting days" and I presume for a specific audience with knowledge of accounting abbreviations and specific terms. That gave me a couple of Naticks in the north.(4Across especially).
But still fun to solve (I think I have 2:2 and G:1 wrong. Thanks Krijo@12:40 for REFX; that makes 2:2 TEUER???)
If I may critique from the point-of-view of a LA Times solver (I have never constructed a CW and realize that it is difficult), I would comment on repeat use of ICE and ICIER. Both are using the same meaning (referring to cool as a solid form of water) and I don't think this would be allowed in LA Times.
Second, I noted IFRS in Clue for 10:1 and in answer for 4A. (Another LA Times NoNo)
Also the clue for L1 could be more specific as answer could be CST or CDT (but perps were solid).
Small nits and hopefully constructive criticism. My hat is off to you Krijo!
te CanadianEh
many thanks for trying it out and for the good points.
Yes, Ice root is there twice, but I thought those are two different meanings.
Yes IFRS is good point, but it is the point of the accounting days, therefore I left it as is.
Primary language of our annual report is German, TEUER is expensive.
I did not there is also CDT, but that would be the case of all attendants:)
I read last time there are some quality reuirements on types of clues. What are they?
9 planets not 8. They changed Pluto back and stated it never should have left.
Tom, Krijo's link with the sides removed took me the Tinypic site, where I located the puzzle, and when I clicked on that image I received the link with http://oi66.
Krijo, maybe you can post an answer grid overnight
Krijo....I’m with you on 50/50, just a terrific film all around. I liked when he starts hanging out with the older guys.
This was tough tough tough....Saturday tough IMHO, and rewarding when completed.
STILL waiting on Florence here in Summerville. Where’s it going, nobody knows.
http://i65.tinypic.com/wkqutv.jpg
only have this on my phone (that is why my links are not with html tags) Couple of mistakes in red from my colleague.
Musings
-Subbing today on a wonderful golf day
-What a hoot even though I got started at the bottom and had to look up Brietling to keep from putting OMAHA in for O M _ _ _ A as NW corner dealt me fits for a while
-The butterflies are very busy on our ASTERS
-PRANCER was from the wrong octet and had too many letters. Other than that…
-Eight?
-The rescue at Dunkirk was a very famous FLOATILLA
-RURAL song lyric – “Do not HASTEN to bid me adieu.”
-Do Brits today still stay, “I POSTED the letter” rather than “I SENT the letter”
-Study hall kids just walked in.
Hi All!
I promise, er SWEAR IT was not an easy JW! I needed 3 'cheats' to finish; 1) What's a Leeward Island? 2) How do you spell MAMilLia? 3) Strait-up looked at Lem's grid for SAINT KITTS - Croix == super wrong.
Thanks JW for the "plane" puzzle. Cute. I pretty much worked it bottom-up with SINE & YENS as my anchors. I don't think I've heard the expression "Prey on ones mind;" That took the longest.
Thanks Lem for the expo (and letting me crib from your grid). Your Pitch Perfect insert made me realize I was thinking of Fever Pitch.
Of Note:
WOs: I promise @39d, A/V (audio/visual) SALE, SOLo; hand-up for Red.
ESPs: ESAI, ARNO, ANNA, ORA, et. ALIA (that is, there's likely more; I knew ALIA (once-in-a-row))
Fav: LEMONS' CSO c/a.
Stubborn much? Even with -----VIOLET RAISE in place, I wouldn't change 'I promise' until LESp was just wrong ;-)
{B, A, A-}
Abejo - good luck w/ DW's hearing.
Keep the kitties D-O! Thanks Dudley for the info on TomCat Traps. Four (so I can try different styles) are on the way. I was leery of putting out the old-school Victor traps near my coffee pot (snap, there goes pinky-toe!) and, frankly, the mouse looked bigger than one of those could hold anyway.
Krijo - there's got to be a story why the grid is "numbered" like that. I'm playing it now but it's slow go trying to find perp'n' clues. [whoot! Thanks for REFX!] Also, re ALT-TAB, yes it's great for <20 open files/windows; I usually have >80 open.
Picard - one thing I didn't mention: I did not click the mouse to move focus. If I clicked, then it would jump forward. If you're interested in trying it, here's how.
HG - Is that NASA link intentionally funny or did you boo-boo it?
Misty - Yes! One third of DW's dissertation was on "Heart of Darkness" so I know (way too much about) CONRAD too!
C, Eh! I'll get back to you on those PMs right after I visit Google :-)
Cheers, -T
To see Krijo's solution grid, Click Here.
I managed to get it all except REFX in the G column. The X was WAGable, but T_UER was a complete mystery.
Tough, but do-able.
Another damn asymmetrical* grid from Mr. Wechsler. He is our gold standard for hard but rewarding pzls, the kind you shake your head at before lighting into.
This one was happily within reach. I needed to check only one item via Google before plowing ahead.
Lemonade ~
Excellent write-up - although I am not sure I would refer to 6A and 65A as "misdirections." They seem pretty literal to me.
Misty ~
I'm sure by now you have sussed that AMPS is short for audio amplifiers, the speakers of which are usually positioned to the sides during music concerts.
Rock on!
~ OMK
____________
Diag Report: * Nada - 'cuz of the asymmetry.
OMK, sometimes the most literal clues are the ones that send me astray. YMMV.
This is scary… a J.Wex. AND a Friday, and I just raced through it. In and out in about 15 minutes; an all-time best for me, I think. Many favorites today and no real gripes. Maybe I should go to a casino tonight.
"Class for dogs and cats," "Certain octet member," and the crossing of ERODE and ANODE were my favorites.
HG, your link landed me on a "not found" error page.
Hang in there, east coasters… our thoughts are with you!
I failed to link Fever Pitch . What's great about that movie (other than I've had a crush on Drew Barrymore since I was 9):
"The original plot had assumed the Red Sox would lose in the playoffs. However, the Sox stunned the baseball world when they won four straight games to win the 2004 ALCS against the rival Yankees (becoming the first MLB team to win a seven-game series after losing the first three games) and subsequent World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals to break the "Curse of the Bambino." Thus, the ending had to be rewritten. On the day of Game 4, with the Red Sox on the verge of a sweep, The Farrellys decided to bring Barrymore, Fallon, and a film crew to St. Louis hours before the first pitch – and Barrymore and Fallon attended the game at Busch Stadium in character. When the Red Sox made the final out to secure a 4-0 win over the Cardinals that broke the Curse, FOX cameras on the live broadcast caught Barrymore and Fallon, as Lindsey and Ben, running onto the field and kissing to celebrate." [WIKI]
WikWak - I'm impressed. Here's $10 - use your judgement, Red or Black, and we'll split the outcome :-)
C, Eh! I remembered Martin & Harper after I saw them on WIKI. :-)
Cheers, -T
CanadianEh: Not only do I NOT know all the prime ministers, I didn't know the provinces either until I took a bus trip across the three westernmost ones. Now I know them on good days. I have studied more Canadian geography since the trip. I also tried to learn the South American countries by putting a simplified map on the refrigerator. I know them better now, but still can't remember some of the smaller ones are even there. However, I think I can point out all the USA states by shape and position now. My days of almost total recall has ebbed.
I just FIW ed on SARI the other day so not today. I picked up the NE thanks to the other site. I was all flummoxed. Then I got the place*.
I had a Mtg at ten and just peeked at the xword and saw Mortify, 5 Ltrs. Sitting in the meeting ABASH popped out.
One big mistake was AniMALIA. I thought the key to the mammal designation was warm vs cold blooded (reptiles).
OMK, I assume your lookup was Brietling/OMEGA. I was tempted but it would have ruined my day.
College Freshman English, HoD. And 17 years later, Apocalypse Now with a Captain named, yes Kurtz. Another reading from those years was Notes from (the) Underground (Dostoevsky)
Theme(s): Madness. I actually never saw AN in full. My buddy, a Huey pilot, had gone batty at the end which is why we got along so well.
I tried SIR before NNW. Pure perps.
I think Fever Pitch captured the insanity (there's that word again) of Redsox Nation.
I see Jinx cleared up my PLANET Count.
WC
* MIND is the key word in both J and CC
Don't want to talk about the puzzle...
(it kicked my *ss)
Picard, thanks for the petra pics!
I have looked at a lot of pics ( and videos) of Petra,
but I never saw the Amphitheater before!
Another puzzle, The tool marks at this Petra cave are almost identical to
the tool marks at Longyou caves in China. Circular grooves...
(Modern machining?)
OK, Jeffrey. You win! You not only win, but you beat me up good.
I was out all day and started the puzzle late. I guess I was tired. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
The top was too hard so I worked it bottoms up. Breezed along till I hit wall at BEYOND THE PAIL. I knew the islands ( how devious of you to switch OCEANS! But you didn’t fool me.). I even dredged up SHINTO from somewhere in my brain.... but nothing else.
So you win. But I had a great time doing battle with you! Thanks for all the fun.
Lemon, another great write up! Thanks. And a sweet year to you too!
Owen, A, A, A
Nice puzzle, but I found it hard. Had to finally turn on red letters (which revealed RED was wrong) but didn't have to resort to Google. I always get fooled when the clue says things like "certain" or "one of" because I look for an answer that is specific rather than general. I.e. "Certain octet member" leads me to think of one certain member of the octet, such as Neptune, rather than any octet member being any non-specific PLANET. Obversely, clues such as "Starbucks order" lead me to seek a general answer such as COFFEE rather than something specific like a MOCHA. Of course, I'm also fooled by such things as it being a "Starbucks" order as opposed to, say, a Peets order, so I look for a term that is specific to Starbucks, such as VENTE, rather than MOCHA which can be ordered at almost any coffee shop and is not specific to Starbucks. But that's just ole easily-fooled me.
The only ORA I had been familiar with until today is "kia ora."
Jason, I agree with your 780 millihelens opinion.
Petra is awe inspiring.
Every time I see the word TRENT I think of Hammie's friend in the Baby Blues comic strip (which I love.)
The California DMV has hired additional personnel and opened up for business on Saturdays in order to implement WAIT REDUCTION.
CED, interesting!
Best wishes to you all.
WC - Twas Gmony that recounted the orbs, not me. But I learned from it.
Jayce - I lived in LA County when Proposition 13 passed and government spending had to be trimmed. Think they cut down on night basketball programs or cleaned the beach bathrooms 3 x per day instead of 4? Nooooo. The first thing they cut was DMV hours and personnel. The swamp fought back! Good to know that they now at least pretend that they care about the DMV experience.
Thank you Jayce for your milihelen comment.
Jayce, I love Baby Blues, too!
Easy Peasy except for RYE.
I LOVE pb&j on toasted rye
Krijo- I'm sure your colleagues loved the CW. Just the amount of thought and work put into it is astonishing. Thanks for explaining TEUER. I'll let C.C. or another of our constructors answer your question about quality rules.
PK- glad you got to visit some of beautiful Canada. Yes, I have to imagine the map when countries from South America or Africa (or those leeward islands) appear in CWs. And to make it harder, those African countries have often changed their names.
AnonT- LOL re Martin and Harper. Anyone remember Mulrooney singing "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" with Reagan?
Canadian Eh, as an Irish woman, of course I remember Reagan and Mulroney singing Irish Eyes ate Smiling !! Fond memories...
Dumb auto correct....ARE smiling...
Re: preys on one's mind
If there was any doubt that the media does this to the public, that was put to rest today. Did ya'll see the video of the ridiculous reporter from the weather channel standing out in the rain exaggerating the effects of the wind. His body language suggests he is about to be blown away while two young people casually walk into frame behind him wearing shorts and using their cellphones to take pictures. Hilarious.
The other two examples are too political to discuss here but lets just say the NYTimes has already apologized and printed a reaction and the other has a politician red faced and hearing admonishment from her colleagues.
The fear and hate fed to us daily is more often than not much ado about nothing.
AT and Wik Wak - I don't know what happened on my space.com link. When I posted it, it was a discussion of allowing Pluto back into the planetary fraternity.
Diane - Thank you but did you have to use two cans of V8? :-)
I was thinking prey on one's mind as weighs on one's mind (e.g. that second piece of cake is weighing on my mind (and waist)) not as others taking us as idiots. Now I get it.
Bill Maher said something akin to "Last week the storm was a Category 5. It became a Category 1 but the coverage didn’t."
HG - Neil deGrasse Tyson is adamant Pluto ain't [Late Show clip 1/2way down].
Cheers, -T
Picard & CED: thank you for the PETRA & Longyou photos. Mind bending. One thing I know for sure, those weren't weekend stone-carving projects. However, I thought some terrorist group blew up some of the Petra treasures. I know, LIU.
AnonT, how nice that your wife wrote about Joseph CONRAD on her dissertation! I bet she loved working on him--he is such a great writer!
Misty - Um, I just LIU [OU Share]. I misremembered; Conrad must have been in the first three-years' draft (took 7 years and two babies to finish :-)). Criticisms on Conrad are still in the reference though.
Cheers, -T
Misty - Now I remember. The dissertation started on Post-colonial representations of the native (Heart of Darkness, A Passage to India, etal) and morphed into a critique of feminine same. -T
AnonT, her dissertation sounds terrific! Give her my warm congratulations!
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