More Corner prescience, as Steve referenced the difficulty in putting theme fill next to each other. Paul is back with one of the most difficult Fridays for me in a very long time. It is a strange puzzle, with 84 words, 60 of which are 3 or 4 letters long. Just because the fill is not long does not mean it was easy. HENNAING and LIE-ABEDS are the only long fill outside of the grid-spanning reveal - 42A. Result of polar ice melt graphically shown by the second part of six two-part puzzle answers: RISING SEA LEVELS (15). This made the theme sort of easy to spot, and I saw that if 63A BAL moved up next to 57A TIC, it named a sea I was familiar with (BALTIC). Likewise, ARAB and IAN (ARABIAN) but from there it was a learning experience made more challenging by the US failure to teach geography. The (2) and (1) made finding the remaining pairs easy. There are six pairs, and I only was sure of those two. Well, I really look forward to Paul's comments today, and all of yours. My information is from various sources online.
The theme:
Pair one- 25A. Univ. aides (1): TAS (3). 20A. "Wow!" (2): MAN (3). The TASMAN SEA is a section of the southwestern Pacific Ocean, between the southeastern coast of Australia and Tasmania on the west and New Zealand on the east; it merges with the Coral Sea to the north and encloses a body of water about 1,400 miles (2,250 km) wide and 900,000 square miles (2,300,000 square km) in area.
Pair two- 28A. Damage (1): MAR (3). 22A. Actress Kate (2): MARA (4). The MARMARA SEA is an inland sea located entirely within Turkey's borders. It separates Turkey's Asian and European parts by connecting the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea. It does so by connecting the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea via the Bosphorus Strait and the Aegean Sea to the Marmara Sea via the Dardanelles Strait. The Marmara Sea is the world's smallest sea covering only 4,380 square feet.
Pair three- 30A. Helpless? (1): SOLO (4). 24A. Cal. column (2): MON (3). The SOLOMON SEA is a portion of the western South Pacific Ocean, bounded on the west by New Guinea, on the north by New Britain, and on the east by the Solomon Islands. With an area of 280,000 square miles (720,000 square km), the sea contains the Louisiade Archipelago, New Georgia, and Guadalcanal Island.
Pair four- 58A. Happy hour spot (1): BAR (3). 54A. Sinusitis docs (2): ENTS (4). The BARENTS SEA, a marginal sea of the Artic Ocean, was once known as the Murmanskoye Morye by the Russians. It appears as such in a 1595 atlas. The basin countries of the Barents Sea are Russia and Norway (they drain into this body of water).
Pair five- 61A. Many an Omani (1): ARAB (4). 56A. Author Fleming (2): IAN. The ARABIAN SEA's largest islands include Yemen's Socotra, Oman's Masirah Island, India's Lakshadweep, and Pakistan's Astola Island. Countries that have coastlines along the Arabian Sea include India, the Maldives, Pakistan, Oman, Yemen, and Somalia.
Pair six- 63A. Remaining loan amt. (1): BAL (3). 57. Sign of nerves, maybe (2): TIC (3). The BALTIC SEA is the youngest sea on our planet, emerging from the retiring ice masses only some 10,000-15,000 years ago. Governed by special hydrographical and climatic conditions, the Baltic Sea is one of the planet’s largest bodies of brackish water. It is composed of salt water from the North East Atlantic and fresh water from rivers and streams draining from an area four times larger than the Sea itself
Again the reveal:
42A. Result of polar ice melt graphically shown by the second part of six two-part puzzle answers: RISING SEA LEVELS (15).
Well if you are not all worn out, let's solve all the rest.
Across:
1. Take to the cleaners: HOSE. We start with a tricky slang verb- slang : to deprive of something due or expected : TRICK, CHEAT.
5. Lay low: HID. After hosing them you need to.
8. Pretty companion?: PLEASE. With a cherry on top.
14. Windows alternative: UNIX. UNIX is an operating system which was first developed in the 1960s, and has been under constant development ever since. By operating system, we mean the suite of programs which make the computer work.
15. Drop the ball: ERR.
16. Dragster's wheels: HOT ROD. Some history. LINK.
18. Class-conscious org.?: NEA. More tricky cluing, class like in school. National Education Association
19. Charge: ACCUSE. For me, it brings to mind J'ACCUSE.
32. Infamous Amin: IDI. Amin (in Arabic أمين) is an Arabic and Persian male given name that means "faithful, trustworthy"
33. Constriction of the eye's pupil: MIOSIS. I did not know this. I think of plants.
35. Apple's apple, e.g.: LOGO. Another fun clue.
39. Hail, to Hadrian: AVE. He built a wall in Rome.
40. All over again: ANEW.
41. "I'll second that": AMEN.
47. Isn't idle: ACTS.
48. Deep blue: ANIL. The indigo shrub; or the indigo dye obtained from the plant
49. Track meet segment: LAP.
50. Authenticity emblem: SEAL. Still used by courts and clerks.
51. Parlor furniture item: SETTEE. The settee, a precursor to the sofa and type of love seat, is characterized by a straight back, room for two people, and founded atop four legs.
53. Hot time in Haiti: ETE. Summer.
65. Individually: APIECE.
67. Dug, with "up": ATE. Did you eat up this puzzle?
69. Big times: ERAS.
73. A through E, at times: WIDTHS. Shoes.
74. Sprout: LAD. Two very old-fashioned words.
75. Courteous: NICE.
76. Snares with a loop: LASSOS.
77. Med. show locales: ERS.
78. Serve sparingly, with "out": DOLE.
Down:
1. "Say what?": HUH.
2. Dedicatee of Lennon's "Woman": ONO. Yoko next to...
3. McCartney's title: SIR. Paul.
4. Checkup: EXAM.
5. Applying a temporary tattoo: HENNAING. Very big in Key West.
6. Boiling state: IRE.
7. Scotch serving: DRAM. Poor Hamish Macbeth has to dole out many a wee dram.
8. Seven Wonders lighthouse: PHAROS. A long HISTORY.
9. One from town: LOCAL. We always called them townies.
10. "Yada yada yada" letters: ETC. Thank you George Costanza.
11. Jack-in-the-pulpit family: ARUM. We are talking PLANTS not about a preacher named Jack.
12. Fair: SO SO.
13. First place?: EDEN. Not leading the league, but where it all began.
21. Mideast capital: AMMAN. Jordan.
23. Faulkner's "__ Lay Dying": AS I. His writing is very respected and his novel the subject of much DISCUSSION.
25. Pageant toppers: TIARAS.
26. It may be unsolicited: ADVICE.
27. Daybreak?: SIESTA. More misdirection, a break during the day not dawn.
29. Agile deer: ROES. This is a small, agile Old World deer, Capreolus capreolus, the male of which has three-pointed antlers. CUTE.
31. Norse patron: OLAV.
34. Hard work: SWEAT. Blood, sweat and tears.
36. Fare filled and folded: OMELET.
37. Trattoria desserts: GELATI. The plural. Gelato is simply the Italian word for ice cream, but in English, it has come to mean specifically Italian or Italian-style ice cream.
38. With no guarantee of payment: ON SPEC. Spec homes are still popular here in South Florida where an older home is torn down and replaced with a much bigger house.
43. Cartography dot: ISLE.
44. Against: ANTI.
45. Reluctant risers: LIE-ABEDS. An old-fashioned word that has appeared in much literature.
LINK.
46. Barack's 2010 High Court appointee: ELENA. Please no more politics. KAGEN.
51. Emphasize: STRESS.
52. That, in Tijuana: ESA.
55. Snack chip: NACHO.
58. Much more than a sniffle: BAWL.
59. Samoa's capital: APIA. A better clue than, "Either Lindstrom or Zadora."
60. Purges (of): RIDS.
62. One may be stored in a barn: BALE. Is that anyway to treat this man?
64. Advance: LEND.
66. Sci-fi staples: ETS. Extra-terrestrials.
68. Blacken, in a way: TAR. Not La Brea today.
70. Copacabana city: RIO.
71. Commonly torn ligament, briefly: ACL. The anterior cruciate ligament is one of the key ligaments that help stabilize your knee joint. The ACL connects your thighbone (femur) to your shinbone (tibia).
72. Note: SEE.
A very different puzzle from our own PC, and of course I am curious to know what you all think. I always enjoy a when a constructor combines visual elements. I found it hard but satisfying. Happy week-end all. Lemonade out.
53 comments:
This theme is among my favorites, since I taught environmental science for many years. I appreciate Rich taking on this unusual idea. My submitted version was actually harder, since I had the first piece of a sea clued as *Marine expanse affected by 42. The second only had -- (denoting a continuation.) I'm glad Rich toned it down. On the other hand, I'm not crazy about HENNAING. I originally had GOONJAG (which I realize looks weird, but it's "go on a jag.") The working title was "I'm Swamped," but I hope solvers didn't find it too much work.
On another subject, my second NYT ran on Tuesday. I've only had three accepted out of hundreds I've submitted. The NYT's Wordplay blog had kind things to say, but as I predicted last time, Michael Sharp at "Rex Parker Does the NYT" hated, hated, hated it. He also blasted my previous puzzle with such vitriol, you'd think I'd murdered the pope. Honestly, they both were nice little themes, nothing special, probably only halfway down my personal list of favorites, but these were the ones that amused Will enough to be accepted. Tuesday's featured the phrases BIGCOMPANY - "Mega-corporation," HAIRGGREASE - "Pomade," FROZENONCE - "Melted," and WICKEDNINE - "Supreme Court that's corrupt?" that are combinations of Broadway musicals. The one last year put pairs of tires on car makes, in the form of circled Os beneath the Dodge of DODGEBALL, for instance. Thank you for your patience as I vent. Few of my friends or family are crossword enthusiasts - they smile tolerantly at my frequent crossword talk - but they don't really understand my fascination with this art form like the good people here.
FIRight, and caught the trick - sort of - before the reveal. Tasman sea I presciently referenced earlier of course, but I'd never heard of MARMARA, nor SOLOMAN as a sea, and wasn't sure about BARENTS either, so I had a list of six words, but didn't know what it was a list OF, until I got to the reveal. I had 2 seas, a breed of horses, a Jewish king, and 2 unknown words.
The SEAL in my parlor is on my SETTEE
Should I chase him off? Oh, mercy me!
I could ask him, PLEASE.
I could beg on my knees.
I'll SEE if I can ship him off to the SEA!
I eat an OMELET with my tea,
But spread it first with GELATI.
I mix strawberry
With grape sherry,
And eat it on a slice of brie!
{A-, B+.}
Greetings!
Thanks to Paul and Lemonade!
No cheats, but had trouble with: BARENTS, HID, HORA, MIOSIS, PHAROS and LIE-ABEDS. Can someone explain why it isn't "HIDE?"
Headache worse today.
Have a great day!
Good morning!
You'd never guess who failed to read the complete reveal clue, again, and who never figured out what the (1)s and (2)s were supposed to signify. Paul, I appreciate the effort this must have taken. I'm impressed. Lemonade, I have to take you to task for a couple of items: the size of the MARMARA sea is measured in square miles, and Hadrian built that wall in what is now England. Thanx to both of you for a fun Friday outing.
Fermat, he lay low waiting for the posse to pass by. It can be both present and past tense.
Did not know Mara crossing Pharos (Alexandria). Never got the theme.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Paul Coulter, for a fine puzzle. thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
Got through the puzzle pretty well for a Friday. Got the theme revealer, but never found the various seas. Must admit I did not look real hard. I knew I had the puzzle completed correctly, that is the main thing.
LIEABEDS came with perps. Same for HENNAING. They both make sense, however, just not words you see often.
Liked SIESTA. Clever.
Well, I have to go out in the rain to guard the crossing. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Thanks for stopping by Paul. I like puzzles that are challenging but fair. I hate ones that are loaded with too many A&E names, as I rarely watch a movie and never watch the TV dramas or comedies. A puzzle in the morning is my mental calisthenics before I go through my exercises with light weights.
Today's puzzle was an innovative one that I finished but I'll be the first to say I had no idea what RISING SEA LEVELS and the numbered clues were alluding to. But I see Paul pulled some 'retired' A-words to complete the puzzle. APIA, ANIL, ARUM- old fills along with JAI ALAI and ARIL.
Kate MARA and MARMARA Sea- both unknowns.
LIE-ABEDS- it made sense although I'd never heard that term.
Tough clues for simple answers today.
FIR with P&P. Very enjoyable, but I never found the seas. Informed by Lemon's blog, I appreciate the clever theme. I found the 1's and 2's very confusing. Just a * before each part of the seas would have been more to my liking.
As a preteen I was a lie-abed on weekends and during the summer, so they called me Princess. I used to be a night person, not fully awake early in the morning and doing my best work at night. After years of motherhood and school teaching, having to rise early, I have become a morning person.
DRAM of Scotch, CSO to TIN.
In the 1960's we had a set of glasses with the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. Still, I needed the PH to get Pharos.
Favorite clues were wedding ring/HORA and day break /SIESTA.
Owen, The Seal in my parlor, A+
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Very challenging puzzle. I got the RISING SEA LEVELS, but didn't suss out the seas. It didn't help that I hadn't actually heard of some of those seas.
I learned that All Over Again is not Redo, by ANEW.
My favorite clue was First Place = EDEN.
QOD: The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you. ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson (b. Oct. 5, 1958)
Kate Mara
who played on the now ill-fated HOUSE OF CARDS and her sister Rooney Mara who had her breakout role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are both actresses. Their family (the Rooneys) founded the Pittsburgh Steelers and their father's family (the Maras) founded the New York Giants.
Paul, I really appreciate the feedback you provide for us here, and yes we do appreciate creativity and I will try to get to your NYT today.
Thanks, Lemony. One of Sharp's big objections to the Tuesday NYT was that it didn't have a revealer. It did originally, DOUBLEPLAYS. Then as I developed the theme to all musicals, I took this out, and put in a central DUETS, clued as "Musical partnerships." But Will thought this wasn't necessary.
By the way, in my post at the top, GOONJAG was a typo. It's meant to be GOONAJAG.
Hello Puzzlers -
I earned a Technical DNF today, and I’m surprised: for some reason I couldn’t see the S where Pharos met miosis. Otherwise, no real trouble. I couldn’t figure out the theme until the puzzle was finished, but what a clever idea! Nicely done, Paul.
Fermat - adding to what D Otto said, perhaps you’re thinking of “lay low” as being correct present-tense use for “hide”; that should be “lie low” in traditional English. Of course, you know that the lie/lay distinction is getting eroded in contemporary usage, but it appears to me the clue is sticking to tradition.
CED from yesterday - loved the pro-active windshield sign!
Good Morning:
I thought I solved the puzzle correctly but the lack of the Tada told me otherwise. The crossing of Miosis and Pharos, neither of which is familiar, did me in. They were my only unknowns and I had only two w/os with Sole/Solo and Leg/Lap, so the difficulty level wasn't the issue, just my lack of knowledge. I didn't understand the theme at all, so never connected those Seas. I wasn't keen on Hennaing but liked much of the misdirection and word play of the cluing. Liked the Mar, Bar, Tar trio and the Man ~ Mon and Ave ~ Amen entries.
Thank you, Paul, for a Friday workout, even though it was a FIW, and thank you for stopping by and sharing your constructor's travails, especially your comments about Michael Sharp. For an unbiased, even-handed review of the Times' puzzles, read Jeff Chen's analysis. Jeff can be critical but never cruel. Thanks, Lemony, for your outstanding summary and if there were a prize for finding and explaining a puzzle's theme, you would be the worthy winner for today's brain-twister. Bravo!
Have a great day.
Paul, I’m amazed at this clever and complicated puzzle! Thanks for all the hard work you put into it, and all the pleasure you gave the rest of us.
So many clever clues. I loved HOSE, WEDDING RING, FIRST PLACE, DAYBREAK, LAD.
I struggled with Much more than a cold. With ENTS close by it had to a cold (flu? Pneumonia? Runny nose?). Oh. That other kind of sniffle, the one with no germs.
Lemon, thanks for explaining it all so thoroughly. Did I mention I never got the theme?
Owen, both A. FLN, I’ll never admit I had read both versions.
Oops. That was “Much more than a sniffle” I can’t even blame autocorrect
You all are being very kind today, as none of you mentioned that my coloring in two of the pairs did not show in the grid posted. It does now.
Musings
-A real struggle where SOLO MON finally gave me the gimmick on this brilliant puzzle. MAR MARA??
-Sheldon’s take on operating systems (:14)
-Gary, SLICKS are not wheels they are tires
-Remember this SPROUT?
-I’m giving an EXAM today that isn’t even SO-SO, it is worthless
-GELATI stands in Italy? Talk about ubiquitous!
-More sophomores!
When I saw this was a Paul Coulter puzzle, I figured it would be a real Friday toughie. But, ironically for me, I did surprisingly well--thanks to the many 3 letter fills all over the place. I even got the long middle RISING SEA LEVELS reveal, even though I didn't get the seas until Lemonade's very helpful explanation. So even though I had to cheat a little in the end, I loved this Friday puzzle, and coming to the blog and finding Paul's explanation made it even more special and fun. So, many thanks, Paul, and you too, Lemonade.
I liked the food references, OMELET and GELATI and ATE. It was fun to get HORA for the Wedding ring. And it's especially nice to see ELENA, I won't trouble to say why. So much to enjoy in this puzzle.
So sorry to hear about your headache, Fermatprime.
Well, I'm off at 8am tomorrow morning. See you all next Thursday.
Tough puzzle today,
But I waded in and tried to get my feet wet...
Lemon, just to prove we read your write-ups,
your quote that the Marmara Sea is 4,380 Sq feet is in error.
I looked it up - it is 4,382 Sq feet!
Lots of silly links for todays theme, but on a serious note...
And, what are we doing about it?
I was able to fill in the puzzle but needed the blog to figure out the RISING SEA LEVELS - thanks Lemonade! What a neat construction Paul!
MIOSIS - is a medical term that is not used much- mitosis and meiosis which have to do with cell division get much more play. I always have remembered it in the triad of Horner's syndrome- where some injury or disease in the neck disrupts the sympathetic nerves located there and causes: 1. MIOSIS (constriction of the pupil on the same side as the neck problem) 2. Ptosis - (where the eyelid lags and doesn't stay completely open) and 3. Anhydrosis - from the Greek - "no water" (where the person doesn't sweat on that side of the face and sometimes neck). This may have been TMI - but now if PTOSIS comes up you may be able to perp it more easily :)
Hi everybody. I thought parts of this were harder than usual, even for a Friday. I had no chance of figuring out the theme. I still manage to finish with a couple of red letters. Thanks Paul and Lemon.
From yesterday, WC complained about analytics ruining BB. But I read a most interesting article about why the Yankees (Go Yankees!) started Severino instead of Happ....turns out Oakland has trouble with the fast fastball Severino throws...97 mph... and no difficulty with the not-as-fast fastball Happ throws....93 mph. Who knew? I appreciate stats, numbers are your friends.
The puzzle.....
Ahhh, at last, my favorite theme...the kind I don’t see or get but still gets me the solve. Awesome.
Like others have posted, I just didn’t “see” the seas. But that didn’t prevent the solve.
I agree HENNAING just doesn’t look right. I knew “layabout” so LIEABED seemed correct.
I will say that after reading the explanation I was amazed at the construction.
So if this is Friday, what does Saturday have in store? Stay tuned....
inanehiker, thank you for your discussion of Horner's syndrome which I have never heard about. I do know about PTOSIS from watching FOREST WHITAKER and while I have not met anyone with Anhyrdosis a friend f my children from high school suffered from HYPERHYDROSIS .
Wow, this was a pretty amazing puzzle! I got rising sea levels easily, but my knowledge of world geography is terrible. Thanks for the great write-up, Lemony, and Paul C., you are an amazing constructor!
Becky
PS Go Dodgers!!!
Wow! Man oh man! What a nifty clever construction! Like many of you I did fill RISING SEA LEVELS but was unable to figure out how those (1) and (2) entries illustrated it. I am in admiration of your creation, Paul.
Good job explaining it, Lemonade.
Needed to turn red letters on and needed to look up what the Jack-in-the-pulpit family was in order to complete that NE area. Like Gary, I was thinking in terms of SLICKS for dragster wheels.
I also liked the cluing for EDEN and SIESTA. SOLO, too. And LOGO. Fun stuff.
Best wishes to you all.
Inanehiker, thanks for your explanation of miosis and ptosis. I had Bells Palsy years ago and suffered from both. Not a fun way to get crossword clues!
Recently the ptosis got to the point where I had to have my eyelid lifted. No, it wasn’t cosmetic. Drat! As my eye doc said, “this will only make you SEE better. It won’t make you look any better.”
Thanks, Irish Miss et al for your very kind support. Hmm, who's this Al guy, anyway? He always seems to make the lists.
Ta- DA!
I enjoyed this pzl w/o paying much attention to its theme. I was vaguely aware of the parenthetical numbers beside some of the clues, but they didn't distract much.
In many ways today's Xwd reminded me of yesterday's team opus - in that both yielded the answers I didn't know through well-positioned perps. There was a good feeling of discovery throughout.
On another topic, what's with the NY Times answer pages of late? For the second week in a row, after finishing the Sunday Times pzl, I have Googled to check my answers. Four out of five sites provide the wrong answers, fills from different parts of the grid.
Try this: Google to see what you get as the answer for this clue: "Who wrote 'The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting'?"
No suspense here. The answer should be SUNTZU. But see what you get.
(If you get SUNTZU, try again a couple of times! It's worth a chuckle.)
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal, NW to SE.
I just read that today is the opening of squirrel hunting season. Cajun newspapers tell you all the important stuff. Happy squirrel hunting.
Paul, I went back and solved your Tuesday NYT and then read all the reviews. The Fiend reviewer gave it a 4.5 but the readers did not like it. Michael 'not so' Sharp verbally eviscerated you primarily it seems because it took him 20 seconds longer than usual to solve a Tuesday because you made it so hard by not having a reveal. Which was a common theme of critics, when from your comments to Deb Amlem (who also liked the puzzle) it is obvious it was Mr. Shortz who chose 'no reveal'. The bottom line to me is where your solving time is all that is important, you are missing the fun in crossword puzzle solving.
In memory of Jim Nabors- gaaaaaallleeeeeeeeeeee!
OMK- I guess you are referencing the answer BLT classic
Paul C. Loved the puzzle. Very clever theme, neat puns. Don't you think that starring each sea part would have been more understandable than 1, 2? We are accustomed to seeing the theme fill marked with stars. Although a little crunchy, this puzzle was fun.
I know impermanent tattoos are usually done in henna. This seems much more practical than ink tattoos because desirability might change with time, not to mention stretching and fading with aging and gaining weight. So the fill almost had to to be henna + ing. LIU Hennaing is a ligit word.
When I returned from my 3 week teacher fellowship in Japan, I taught a unit on Japan, including many Japanese customs. This freed up several of my Asian American students to discuss their own culture for the first time. One girl had just returned from a relative's wedding in India, which she discussed at great length. Henna played an important part in the ceremony. Here is just a bit of the days' long celebration.
Link text
A Taiwanese boy discussed his family's ancestor worship, somewhat similar to Japan's.
Looking back, I believe that fostering this kind of acceptance of differences, whether from Japanese culture or other cultures, was the most satisfying result of my fellowship.
Just when I was thinking I had Paul's measure after his last LAT, along comes this one…
This was a very difficult puzzle for me! I finally FIR after almost 40 minutes, nearly double my usual time. Hand up for wanting SLICKS before HOTROD. Yep, I know they’re tires, not wheels, but still—
The seas were all well-known to this geography teacher, but it took forever for me to see them in the grid (and I never did see the connection to the (1) and (2) found after the clues). It also took awhile for PHAROS to bubble to the top when I so badly wanted ALEXANDRIA (and yes, I know that’s way too many letters!).
LIEABED made sense, but the phrase I know best is SLUG-A-BED. Too many letters, but it stuck there for the longest time.
MIOSIS is new to me; I had only known MEIOSIS. Two different things. It’s a poor day when you don’t learn something!
Thanks, Paul, (I think) for the mental gymnastics and Lemonade, I am in awe of your explanations today.
Time for my second mid-afternoon nap. Have a great day, all!
Misty @ 11:35 ~ Have a great trip! Will look forward to hearing all about it.
Paul C @ 1:34 ~ I'm confused about your "Al guy" comment. Did I miss something?
OMK @ 2:28 ~ Jeff Chen's blog, xwordinfo.com, has the same clue/answer format as we have, plus the completed grid for the daily and Sunday New York Times puzzle.
Yellowrocks - yes, I do star the clues for theme answers sometimes, if it's not obvious from length. This time I had a repeated clue referring to the reveal, and dashes for the raised half's clue. That's pretty hard, I realize, but this was intended as a Friday puzzle, and it would require solvers to understand theme.
Lemony - Thanks for the insight. I did see what Wordplay and Fiend had to say, and took some heart from them. (I also do read Jeff Chen - thanks, Irish Miss.) Mostly, I should lighten up and not be so sensitive to critics. It's only a game, after all.
That's all for now. I'll be back a week from Sunday.
p.s. Irish Miss - it was a lame joke. et al means and others, of course, but I was pretending I'd mistaken the al part as a name. Boo Hiss! Okay, I deserved that.
FLN: That "Bawdy" one I suspect was the Harvard Lampoon parody. I'm due for another reading of Kipling's ballad. I'll mark it so I don't forget.
BofEandW
And...
I read it and am duly cleansed
Now to today: But first to borrow ANEW from yesterday..
There's Clever
There's more clever
And there's Diabolical. My kudos Mr Coulter.
ESL students must shudder at how Deer can mean one or many and Lay be present or past tense ETC.
So..The following is long and tedious. Perfect eh?
Oh, btw it's all Tinbeni's fault. After all his tutelage a Scotch serving has to be NEAT*. Therefore To lay low must be PIN
And...
This tattoo thingy must be PEN______
Oh, did I mention I inked ERE < ERR.
I was stumped and Paul's"Theme"??? was getting me nowhere.(I even lined up the 1s and 2s.
Fortunately, OMK came to the rescue along with Misty. In reverse order:
When stumped go do the Jumble(no picnic either)
And Keith says if it looks wrong it probably is. And..
He also said it's not egregious cheating to verify fe. That ROE is indeed an agile deer and many ROES are still Deer.
So I checked every one and caught ERE. So when I added the R I had DRAM and PIN became HID and the less ridiculous HENNA ING reared it's ugly head.
WC
* Yes, I know Tin doesn't drink his fine Scotch NEAT but I thought perhaps he keeps a glass of water nearby.
I posted that before reading write-up or posts . I'll go there now
WC
Lemon @ 2:48 ~
Yes, I am...
~ OMK
WC,
Thanks for BofEandW. Haven’t read it in years and I find it is still a favorite!
"dashes for the raised half's clue" No dashes in the paper or on Mensa online. A very important clue to the theme was missing for me. I cry foul! Very unusual for me. However, other than that I loved it.
Sorry, I'm getting long again . Blame Paul, solving this baby got me all excited.
As soon as lemony pointed out the SEAS I remade my list. It wouldn't have helped.
I thought the NE would stop me because I got my PHAROS mixed up with Charon
I remembered the lighthouse ended with S which left me with some kind of IOSIS.
And of course we had Mr Magoo recently so , beyond hope, I managed to FIR. And I feel wonderful. I even figured out the J as an added bonus.
Oh yeah... Grok'ing AMMAN saved me too
I'll respond to Paul C separately except to quickly say, Thanks again.
PVX. Excellent point, I think I heard them mention it. My point is: There's no shortage of experienced baseball people who actually SEE what's going on. It's much more complicated than can be explained in less than 500 words but to use two: RED. SOX. Thanks for the "Yankee Talk"*
Re. 12:57. I don't even have to read it. I know who posted and what drivel he DOLES out.
WC
I forgot I had an *
* Yankee Talk is used by the YES/ Yankee announcer folk . Actually, Yankee fans will talk baseball . Redsox fans only redsox and who they can cast as scapegoats. Bill Buckner who's picture is probably in some Bible's as exemplar of same
WC
Hi All!
A creative and fun puzzle Paul. Thanks. I got the RISING theme idea (2,2,2:1,1,1 - first (2) goes w/ first (1) in reverse) while trying to crack the center - is MAR right? Are there really two Ms in AMMAN? Did I mis-recall PHAROS (PHAnOS?) - not knowing MAR MARA my mind went every where - is that supposed to be MAR(a)LAGO? I was really SWEATin' it.
I finally guessed O for ROES(?)* / MIOSIS(?)* for the FIR there but FIW overall - ELaNA Kagen is, apparently, not how she spells it :-)
Also, thanks for the Inside Baseball Paul - the Tires puzzle looks cute.
//Snipe - I really don't know what they're thinking at the Rex site; Are they just frustrated Broadway Critic wanna-bes?
Thanks Lem for the expo. I really enjoyed the link to PHAROS.
Fermat - I had the same thought about HID/HIDe b/f realizing the same thing D-O & Dudley said.
WOs: Leg b/f LAP, Loan b/f LEND, aSA b/f ESA
ESPs: ARUM (thanks for the lily-link Lem)
Fav: clue for SIESTA [speaking of which...]
{A+, B+}
Love the QOD Hahtoolah!
Safe travels Misty!
Swamp - See/Look was funny but it's Squirrel season!, [1:05] is LOL!
HG - I don't know why Sheldon would bother with Windows, he's @.edu not .com. UNIX baby!
DW's headed to China tonight so I'll be back (and sad) much later.
Cheers, -T
*Learnt!
Thank you Paul Coulter for RaISING awareness of climate change effects! And thanks for stopping by!
Loved the theme and concept.
I don't consider a puzzle solved until I "get" the theme.
But, wow. How many Naticks can you cross at once? These were all Naticks to me and they all crossed:
DRAM/MARA/PHAROS/MIOSIS/ROES
Has anyone heard of MARMARA? The theme was no help there.
I have heard of the other SEAS and I kept thinking it should be another one I would know.
I suspected ROES may be correct as I thought of Sears ROEbuck. Any connection?
So many other possible letters seemed as good. PHAROA/MIOSIA could be correct. But I tossed the coin and my WAGs were correct. FIR! Some of those are worth remembering, so it is a learning moment.
Did anyone get to see SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY on 60 Minutes?
Here you can still watch it.
I always knew SIR PAUL did not read or write music. But I would like to know more about how he "sees" music. The interviewer should have asked more about that.
Once again here are a few of my COPACABANA photos and nearby parts of RIO.
I have plenty more photos in Brazil.
From yesterday:
CanadianEh I have also been wearing SAS shoes since 1985. I love that they keep making the same style. They have made a lot of money from me by keeping what fits, looks good and is comfortable. So much of fashion is about changing things just for the sake of changing things.
AnonT Good to know you indeed had seen the No BOZOs logo on line, if not in real life.
The No BOZOs inventor Jon Forrest left our physics department computer management to the same job at UC Berkeley.
He was replaced by a guy who looked like a kid. One day I asked him if it was true that he started in our department at age sixteen. He said it was not true. He started running our entire department computer system at age fifteen.
I left two wrong entries due to oversights. Didn't notice that gelato was plural and left sole instead of making it solo. Not so bad when I really don't know something, but forgetting to check both directions is embarrassing.
Right now I'm very disappointed and depressed, but not about the crossword.
Picard - enjoyed your Rio pics again. I liked the sand sculpture, harbor vistas and some of the cariocas.
Interestingly, during the bossa nova craze, one of Astrud Gilberto's hit recordings was of a song called "Corcovado, or Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars". I remember our conversation about Charlie Byrd - he recorded the tune, but wasn't on Gilberto's recording as far as I can tell.
Hi Y'all! Was surprised to see the puzzle started with two slang words across & down. Paul really HOSEd me good with this theme. I enjoyed the rest of the puzzle and your visiting posts.
I filled the puzzle but didn't understand that theme. Didn't even see the bottom bunch of SEAS and didn't see the SEAS as such even after diligent study. Never heard of most of them. I did see Solomon but only knew the islands not the SEA. Woe is me.
Last to fill was the NE corner. Only had EDEN until last. Lots of red-letter help. Groan!
Knew the lighthouse was probably the one at Alexandria, but don't recall ever knowing the name.
SwampCat: Squirrel Season announcement would be important to the squirrels. LOL! Those frisky critters have overpopulated my yard since my cat & the resident hawk died.
Lemonade, Thank you for making sense of the theme. You deserve a medal for all you do.
Paul,
The Baltimore Sun runs a month old NYT puzzle every day, so I have to wait to see Tuesday’s NYT puzzle. However, I remember being amused by the tire puzzle last year. Today’s was clever as well, although I would have liked it even better if I had been smart enough to figure out the theme by myself.
Paul C.-
I posted the same "et AL" joke a while back.
Very late to the party. Thanks for the Friday fun, Paul and Lemonade.
I FIWed and found the SEAS (although I didn't know MARMARA) but I still do not really understand those numbers. But they weren't necessary to my enjoyment or solving.
Favourite was SIESTA.
Yes Picard, I have varied between about 2 styles in those SAS shoes. I just bought a new pair in a NEW style. So maybe I can be trendy AND comfortable. But if pushed, I will opt for the latter.
Good night all.
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