Themeless Saturday by C.C. Burnikel
"I sent in this puzzle on June 17, 2019 and it was accepted on August 26, 2019. Just a standard 72-word grid with triple stacks on each corner. " [Husker comment: "Yeah right!]
I only do Saturday puzzles online because I want to do them in advance to better blog them. I was shocked when I put in the A to complete DAE and TEASEL, as you see below, which were unknown to me and as you see, I got the Congratulations message! Patience and educated guesses won the day for me as I got my first real 14. Initial access points: TOEHOLDS at the bottom.
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| C.C. and me Final screen image after successful solve |
Now let's take a look at what C.C. calls "just a standard 72-word grid with triple stacks in the corners"
1. "Stop kidding yourself": LET'S BE REAL - My response when C.C. said, "Gary you can construct puzzles like I do"
11. Hits or runs: STAT.
15. The Canadian film "Away From Her" is based on one of her short stories: ALICE MUNRO - Alice's The Bear Came Over The Mountain was the basis for this powerful film about Alzheimer's disease.
16. Lima locale: OHIO - C.C.! Okay, Peru would be too easy on Saturday
17. Turn sometimes prohibited: RIGHT ON RED
18. Take risks: DARE.
19. Historian Yuval Noah Harari's country: Abbr.: ISR - The website for this Israeli-born historian
20. Target for a hook: HOOP - Clever, C.C., not a CHIN! Kareem called this shot his Sky Hook and here Dave Cowens is finding it impossible to block
21. Hidden difficulty: CATCH
22. Fish in a poke bowl: AHI - Poke is Hawaiian for slice. This is typically Ahi or Yellowfin tuna, that's cubed and layered up with a satisfying serving of sticky rice and power-packed pickles
23. "Are you comin'?": WANNA GO? - I have developed an ear as to whether my wife really means, "I want you to go along, Gary"
25. "Patrick Melrose" network, briefly: SHO - Starring Benedict Cumberbatch on SHOwtime
26. "Take a bite!": TASTE IT - Let's get Mikey to try it
30. Chutney fruit: APRICOT - Recipe
33. "Elusive Butterfly" singer Bob: LIND - A one hit wonder that dredges up memories of my college days
34. Zero hour: START - Zero Hour (1957), the movie that the Zuckers turned into Airplane (1980), the funniest movie I've ever seen.
37. "Not a huge fan": MEH.
38. Traitor: JUDAS
39. __ stick: POGO.
40. Get the job done: DELIVER.
42. "And here I thought I was the only one": YOU TOO? - My reply to, "I had trouble with TA-NEHISI in Debbie Ellerin's puzzle two weeks ago."
44. Ionic and Versa: FITBITS - Didn't know/had to be
48. __ run: SKI.
49. Internet security company acquired by Carbonite in 2019: WEBROOT.
52. Bug snare: NET.
53. Berry on-screen: HALLE - My fav Cat Woman
55. Count equivalent: EARL - Yes this sandwich chain was founded by John Montagu, the 11th Earl of Sandwich
56. "The Good Doctor" actor Daniel __ Kim: DAE - I knew him from here
57. Conform to: OBEY.
58. Most prevalent grape in Chianti: SANGIOVESE - No chance for me but it filled itself in
61. Snapper rival: TORO - I've had both but I went battery power this time and love it so far
62. Longtime clothing tag: UNION LABEL - Look for the UNION LABEL
63. Symbol of grace: SWAN.
64. "You deserve better": DON'T SETTLE
Down:
1. It's thrown at rodeos: LARIAT.
2. Cuthbert of "24": ELISHA - It appears ELISHA is not a male
4. MIT, for one: SCH.
5. Ante matter?: BET - Cute again. File POT under "Right Idea, Wrong Word"
6. Style characterized by long bangs brushed to one side: EMO HAIR - Okay...
7. Arrive as scheduled: RUN ON TIME - Mussolini's train claim
8. 2001 scandal subject: ENRON - It cost my uncle his dignity and his pension
9. Colombian cornmeal cake: AREPA - An AREPA cheese sandwich
10. City served by Ben-Gurion airport: LOD - A 14 minute Uber ride
11. Common mixer: SODA.
12. "However ... ": THAT SAID.
13. Carrier with a Chengdu hub: AIR CHINA - Speaking of air travel, it takes over a day to fly from Chengdu to Ben Gurion airport via AIR CHINA with stops in Shanghai and Addis Ababa
21. Mexican menu preposition: CON - I like my chili CON carne
23. Turned blue?: WEPT and 24. Understood: GOT - John WEPT when he GOT this
27. Card worth a fortune?: TAROT.
29. Dust jacket promo: BLURB Here's the BLURB for this book 47. "Fifty Shades of Grey" heroine Ana __: STEELE
31. Collectible frame: CEL.
32. "Oops, slipped my mind": OH I FORGOT
34. Unauthorized photos of yet-to-be-released cars: SPY SHOTS - It's a thing! Motor1.com's best SPY SHOTS
35. Acknowledged applause: TOOK A BOW - "I'll bet you made the cutest BOW"
36. "Beautiful" singer: AGUILERA - Christina
38. "I Love Rock 'n Roll" singer: JETT - Ya gotta love it!
41. String section: VIOLINS
43. Be shy: OWE and 45. Seeing red?: IN DEBT - You've gotta have some miles on your tires to know who is saying this (Answer at the bottom *).
46. Plant with prickly leaves: TEASEL - A Eurasian plant that has never crossed my path
50. Bingo relative: BEANO - Parker Brothers said you could call it either one
51. Took to the cooler: RAN IN - That was Danno's job
54. City north of Marseille: LYON - Marseille est presque au SUD de LYON
59. Spirited cheer: OLE
60. Winery vessel: VAT - What Lucy looked like (in color) after the famous VAT scene
*That indebted hamburger consumer is Popeye's friend Wimpy (late addition)
Comments for C.C.?
Notes from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Kazie (Kay), who started contributing to our blog a few months after I started. I've benefited greatly from her knowledge of German & French.
Happy Birthday to Kazie (Kay), who started contributing to our blog a few months after I started. I've benefited greatly from her knowledge of German & French.
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| Kay and her husband Barry on Tamborine Mountain, overlooking Brisbane |
68 comments:
Great puzzle, CC. Fine expo, Gary.
FIR. SANGIOVESE grapes was the hardest fill. That section was saved by UNION LABEL and TEASEL. Perps and wags were very helpful.
Alan likes JOAN JETT.
I learned POKE BOWL here.
My last fill was the P in AREPA, new to me. I didn't think of basketball, but wagged the P. I thought maybe the hoop was the eye in hook and eye closures. Should have been easy.
Gary said, " I have developed an ear as to whether my wife really means, 'I want you to go along, Gary' " I have that problem, especially with my DIL. I like making plans with David. We both say what we mean, no guessing.
Happy birthday Kazie. I hope you stop by today.
FIR, getting both WAGs at TE[A][S]EL x D[A]E & SANGIOVE[S]E. Erased chin for HOOP (YOU TOO, Gary?), gonna go for WANNA GO, tigres for TIGRIS, dyed for WEPT, and tun for VAT. Waited for OHIO/peru and rah/OLE. Too many unknowns to list.
I thought SUD was German. I see it all the time on shipping containers (the Hampton Roads ports always have something interesting to see. While I was in Florida, Cameroon got the rest of its railroad locomotives back from impound in the port).
I had an old man crush on ELISHA as a 24 fan. She was Donald Sutherland's son's daughter on the show.
Thanks for the fun brainbuster CC. Can't believe that I eventually got it all. And thanks to Gary for the interesting review.
I was thinking of Hamburg Sud shipping containers from Germany in my comment above.
Good morning!
ON BAIL and LET'S BE REAL seemed off-key to the ear in my head. Got 'em, though. Even managed to get TEASEL, though I don't think I've ever heard of it. What I didn't get was STEELE. Between A and E, I thought the grape was probably SANGIOVESA. Bzzzzt! DNF. Thanx, C.C. and Husker.
AHI: Do they ever put pork in poke? You know, a pig in a poke?
Happy birthday, Kazie. I bet you knew that Lyon is north of Marseille.
WWDTM is winding up...time for that socially-distanced bicycle ride through the 'hood.
Great challenge, barely gettable for me. LETSBEREAL was the last to fall.
Smooth sailing until the SE corner. Teasel, crossing Chianti grape and Daniel Kim's middle name. I knew it was some version of day, Dea, Dae. Took a stab with Dae and hoped teasel was right.e
An accused may be INJAIL awaiting trial if unable to come up with the money to be ONBAIL
I had a Natick at the cross of SANGIOVESE and TEASEL, so DNF.
I thought that snapper and TORO were both types of sushi, and I didn't know until reading Gary's commentary that they were also both lawnmowers! I should have realized sushi wasn't the intent because it's unlikely the clue would be in English and the answer would be in Japanese, and they aren't really sushi rivals.
Cluing Daniel DAE Kim as an actor in The Good Doctor is a Saturday clue, I guess, but it's a bit obscure given he was never a regular on the show. He was in over 100 episodes each of Lost and Hawaii Five-O. He appeared in 4 episodes of The Good Doctor and won't be back. Cluing as "Executive Producer and actor for The Good Doctor" might have been less obscure, and also leads to some interesting trivia: Daniel Dae Kim is the person who discovered the show in its original form on South Korean television and spearheaded the creation of the American version.
I had never heard of Elusive Butterfly, but just gave it a listen and like it, so thank you, C.C., for introducing me to a great song!
Hey gang, watch out for emails ostensibly from McAfee Anti-Virus Protection with the subject line "Your McAfee Protection Expires $date$".
I don't use McAfee so it wasn't much of a threat for me, but I can see how someone who does could easily click on the link. The "from" details exposes it as a phony, as does the "unsubscribe" link address.
If you use McAfee and want to be sure, go to their web site (don't use the link), and of course don't click on any "Unsubscribe" link unless you are absolutely certain who sent you the link. Certain, as in "I just called my friend who is the president of the local Hell's Angeles chapter to complain about the amount of merchandising email I was getting from them. He promised to send me an unsubscribe link, and here it is."
Well this was challenging and doable until I came to the SE section- WEE said about SANGIOVESE and TEASEL as well as having LABEL but struggling with the UNION part. The wording of the SUD clue was awkward- I guess it just mean the word south in French. Like Bill V - I also had IN JAIL before ON BAIL before perps fixed that.
I had a friend whose job was to read books and then write the BLURBs for the book jackets - sounded like a dream job - though I'm sure some of the books were duds that she had to slog through.
Thanks to HG for the blog and CC for the puzzle - a Saturday morning treat!
and Happy birthday to Kazie!
Good Morning:
I was sailing through this quite easily due to getting a lot of the long fill entries early, but then ran into a brick wall in the SE. Sangiovese was a killer, aided and abetted by Fitbits, Teasel, Steele, and Web Root, all totally foreign to me. Rounding out the lengthy list of unknowns are Lind, Emo Hair, Arepa, Jett, Steele, Spy Shots and Aguilera, as clued. CC's knowledge of popular culture just amazes me. Who ever heard of Emo Hair or Spy Shots? Not I, certainly. I did manage a 28 minute solve but that was because the perps were mostly fair but, admittedly, tougher in the SE quadrant.
Thanks, CC, for a very challenging offering and thanks, HG, for the snappy and snazzy summary.
Stay safe, all.
Good morning everyone.
Happy Birthday to Kazie. Hope your day is special.
Thought the solve was going to be wanting, THAT SAID, a TOE HOLD here and there got it going; particularly on the SW-NE axis.
UNION LABEL provided the 'backbone' for the SE, as did RIGHT ON RED in the NW. Did not know AREPA, so with HOOd only a guess, I had a Natick. My only error, so I'm happy for a Saturday. Enjoyed the solving experience.
LOD - Thought there was an 'h' in it but LOD seemed right, too.
APRICOT - BH always makes a Mehlbüdel laden with APRICOTS for my birthday. It is served with some drawn butter and sugar sprinkle on top.
TEASEL - So that's what it is called. It has a very tough stem and is almost uncuttable by a hand sickle.
SUD - I think a few Germanic words have endured in the French language since the original Frankish invasions. ('bleu' is another one.). German for South is Süden. I've seen the SUD labelling Jinx refers to but I think it is a trademark thing. Süd as a directional noun is rarely used in German; in fact, it grates against my ear.
(Zuiden is Dutch; Zuider Zee means 'southern sea')
Oops, forgot! Happy Birthday, Kazie, hope it's a special day. 🎂🎁🎈🎉
SUD: In München (Munich) they read Süddeutsch Zeitung with the ear-catching translation -- "South German Newspaper." It's one of the most widely read newspapers in Germany.
Jinx,thanks. I am getting the McAfee email at all three of my email addresses. I dropped McAfee when I subscribed to Webroot. Even when I had McAfee they were connected to only one email address, not all three. So I did not open any of them.
I have read several historical novels about the early days when folk medicine was all that people had, both in Europe and the US. That is where I learned about TEASEL.
I wagged the E in DAE because STEELE is the only spelling of that surname that I know.
DO - My comment was about Süd standing alone as a noun direction like South. Südamerika for South America is fine.
Fun average difficulty Saturday. Plugged through it like I usually do. Once I got OHIO instead of PERU for Lima, was able to finish the NE corner. Wasn’t sure of the spelling of DAE and the end of SANGIOVESE, and a mental block on STEELE, so a few blanks squares in the SE corner.
Happy Birthday, Kazie !
Wow. Three single letter errors. You got me, C.C. !
One typo. Had cAT instead of VAT.
One stupid mistake. Spelled her name as HALiE and never looked at the perp. LYON is common fill. D'oh !
One no idea. The S intersection of SANGIOVESE and TEASEL. That was the one cell that I thought might prevent acing this test.
I immediately recognized the invasive plant by its seedhead in Husker Gary's picture of TEASEL, and now I know its name. It's an annoying plant. I hunt for morels in and around the woods and edges of pasture. One of my best spots is in a wooded area nearby that once had a rail line go through it. It grows all along the dried out bar ditch, along with briers and other jagger bushes. But just on the other side of the old rail line clearing, along the old fence row near the woods edge is a prime picking spot. I've been able to get them there every year since I first found them there. And no, I won't reveal the spot. A mycophile ('shroomer) never tells. :>)
My FITBIT has been sitting in the drawer of our library table that the computer monitor and keyboard sits on. It hasn't recorded my steps in a few years now.
I was thinking of Hook and Loop velcro type of stuff, but the H was required.
Yep, me too. Know Daniel DAE Kim from Five-O, and Daniel Day Lewis from Last Of The Mohicans.
YOU TOO ? I really liked that clue. I also really liked LET"S BE REAL, RIGHT ON RED, TOOK A BOW, THAT SAID, and DON'T SETTLE.
Very fun today. Thanks, HG !
Alice threw me down the rabbit hole. MUNRO shows up frequently but memory failed me (subject of one of her books). Got all the hard clues but the mid North did me in. EMOHAIR? really?
I had an inkling Lima, Peru was too obvious for a Saturday
(Is it pronounced LYE-ma OHIO?). AREPA, unknown. WAGed LOD. Isn't BEANO for gas?
Mate a TIGRIS with a LYON and produce a LIGER. Speaking of which NETFLIX "Tiger King" was a fascinating bizarre documentary. And....don't forget a cowardly lion claims courage put the ape in APRICOT.
SHOwtime miniseries "Patrick Melrose" was excellent starring Benedict Cummerbund, I mean Cabbagepatch..no sorry.... Cumberbatch!!
Anastasia became STEELE Grey when she married Christian. She also became 50 shades of black and blue.. Other colorful clues. Turned blue...WEPT
.. RIGHT ON RED.
WANNAGO? ...C'mon! (Sounds like a souped up WINNEBAGO)
Re: the recent back and forth USPS blog discussion Remember the Marvlettes plea..."Mr Postman, DELIVER de letter de sooner de better!"
Hope the crowds protesting isolation don't resort to VIOLINS.....safe weekend to all.
.
Hola!
Happy birthday, Kazie! I hope you can celebrate it.
This was a real challenge, thank you, C.C.! My first TOEHOLD was CEL and then it slowly seeped out from there. APRICOT was next and on and on until much of the grid was filled.
I had ALICE for a long time but MUNRO was stalled because I had RAN instead of RUN. I realized the error and corrected it. But I've never heard of AREPA so LIU to finish the Natick with HOOP.
WEPT was clever and tricky. The last three letters in SANGIOVESE were killers since I didn't know TEASEL, DAE or STEELE. Needless to say I don't watch any of those shows. Once I LIU that strand was done.
This was Saturday worthy! Thank you, Gary, for the splendid review.
Stay safe, everyone!
Way out of my wheelhouse, but came by to read the review and discussion. Did I miss the identification of Wimpy in the cartoon? Yes, I have a few miles on the tires!
Stay safe, all.
LETS BE REAL here. For those of us who don't drink wine, listen to pop music, watch movies, or read lusty semi-porn books, this was a hard puzzle. I'd like to say that I TOOK A BOW and finished it but I can't. I got it all EXCEPT the cross of two unheard of unknowns- TEASEL & SANGIOVESE (Gary-mine DIDN"T fill itself in). I tried every consonant but none remotely sounded like a real word. So I left it blank. THISTLE was too long and NETTLE wouldn't work. That's in the same corner with STEELE & FITBITS- both WAGS that I got.
WEBROOT- never heard of that co. either.
OR Daniel DAE Kim, and looking at the picture of him I see he's on the new Five-O.
ELISHA- another new one for me-total unknown.
EMO HAIR- ditto. Pink, purple, green, blue, and painted red hair- you can't fix stupid.
AREPA- where did that come from-ditto
AGUILERA- she, I've heard of but didn't associate her with the song.
Ionic & Versa?- two cars by different companies. Hyundai IONIC and Nissan Versa
ALICE MUNRO- didn't really know but whenever I see Canadian writer I think of her.
It was either IN JAIL or ON BAIL Awaiting trial.
A tough one today and an ultimate DNF. Thanks C.C. & Gary.
I was reviewing my comments and closed that entire tab by mistake. They are lost. So, I'll just ditto what Big Easy said.
Thank you CC and Gary.
btw: I couldn't see the answer to the Popeye cartoon character (at the bottom*)
MO
Husker Gary writes: "I was shocked when I put in the A to complete DAE and TEASEL ..." It was precisely that A that kept me from a perfect finish. I love an puzzle like this one that starts out looking completely impossible, and is eventually completed. I enjoy red wines, and visited my daughter a few times when she lived in Italy, so SANGIOVESE was a big help in the southeast. Thanks, everyone!
B-E, "I see he's on the new Five-O." Actually the "new" Five-O had a ten-season run. Its series-ender was a couple of weeks ago. I somehow managed not to see it, even once.
I think Nissan should dub a model the Vice to go with the Versa.
I told C.C. the other day that I thought Apple should purchase the Dollar Tree franchise. They could name the conglomeration "I-Dollar Tree."
I remember when I started reading this Blog
because Monday / Tuesday Xwords were hard for me.
& now ,today, I did a Saturday Xword, & I seemed
to be on the Constructors wavelength...
(hmm, maybe I have been doing this Blog thing too long...)
What do you think, HG?
Actually, I have to thank HG for the Zero Hour/Airplane video.
Every time it is posted, I have to watch it.
(I was going to ask for my 14:05 back, but I actually enjoyed it!)
Note: Acknowledgements at the end state where the clips came from,
& that the Clip from Monty Python was stolen...
Happy Birthday Kazie!
Oh, & one more thing,
I have to link Elusive Butterfly
because of the Childhood memories it always brings...
Except that (a dear friend?) ruined it for me...
Like Aquarius, it took 20 years to enjoy it again after hearing "A Hairy Ass..."
Elusive Butterfly, (I am told) if you listen to the words
very carefully,
is a song about a Stalker!
Re Versa - - My slide rule (slipstick) is a Post Versalog. Cat. No. 1460 made by the Hemmi Bamboo Slide Rule Company Ltd. of Japan. - - 63 yrs old and keeps on tickin'.
I will always love seeing a C.C. puzzle in the paper, even when it's bound to be a Saturday toughie for me. But still a lot of fun, and I actually had a good start in the middle with DOE giving me DELIVER, which gave me VIOLINS. And so it went.
Like others, I put PERU for the Lima state before I got SODA and figured it might be OHIO. And for some reason I got SUD without a moment's hesitation. But lots of unknowns like AREPA and TEASEL and STEELE (though I did get NET and IN DEBT--I'm not bad when it comes to money).
EMO HAIR? Give me a break--I have a long bang brushed to one side and it looks nothing like that. I guess it helps to have it all white at this time of life. By the way, is the corona lock-down giving you all the same problem with hair getting longer and longer since we can't get a hair cut? Soon I'm going to look like a senior teenager.
Sweet picture of Kazie--have a great birthday!
And thanks again for a fun puzzle, C.C. and a neat write-up, Husker.
Thanks C.C. for a true Saturday puzzle. It was challenging. Gary provided a great tour of the grid and filled in a lot of my questions.
After going through the Across clues the first time, the grid looked like a bunch of polar bears walking in a blizzard. Only the noses were visible. Then I started on the Down clues and the blizzard started to turn into a normal snowfall. Gradually, with WAGS, guesses and perps, I filled in the grid. But, alas, no TA-DA. I turned on Red Letters and saw my mistake DiE vs DAE. So officially a DNF, but almost was FIR.
At first I wanted LETS GET REAL, but it was too long. Same for ARNOLD vs JUDAS, IN JAIL before ON BAIL, PERU before OHIO and I thought Hits or runs were STATS instead of just being a STAT.
Thanks to Gary I now know that those plants that we always thought was a form of Thistle is a TEASEL.
Happy birthday KAZIE
Still mostly staying in. I'll go to the supermarket tomorrow morning to get bread, milk, deli stuff and newspapers. I'll be all masked up and gloved.
Stay safe everyone.
HBDTY Kay and many more.
A Saturday C.C. with HG as the caddy. it must be spring.
First, according to Boston disc jockey DUSTY DICK SUMMER of WBZ, whom I listened to in the '60s, the Earl of Sandwich was an evil dude who stole credit for having invented the sandwich from the Duke of Shrewsbury . Summer called sandwiches "shrewsburies" and maybe we should, too. He is a hall of famer who is respected by many in his business RETROSPECTIVE .
WEES about the puzzle, as dear Zhouqin is making her themeless puzzles more difficult, but still exhibited her great gridding skills. I think she skated on ON BAIL but it was a fun challenge. Thank you all and once again, sorry about the hacked email.
Hands up fellas*. Who has (not?) received one of those "my feelings have changed" letters.
I logged in here knowing I got those last two squares in SE wrong. My big blunder was thinking Daniel DAY Lewis. Mr. S. insisted on the Y leaving ST YALE???(Not to speak of the plant).
But I feel good about getting the rest. I said to Phil: "Is it HOOD,HOOF or HOOP? Hoop, Dad. Aha, as in yes, Gary, Kareem's Sky HOOK. "Actually, Dad, I was thinking hula…
Jinx, if I'd've gotten a look at Elisha I'd've been a fan too.
One of the best meals I ever had was Red Snapper in NewYork **. I can't imagine not cooking it not to speak of "Poisson, sans boisson est poison!" (This from a guy who couldn't remember how to spell SUD.)
"I-Dollar Tree" D-O, you certainly are Desper-Otto.
When I saw CC I said, great, Wilbur, this should be an entertaining, smooth ride. Entertaining, absolutely. Delightful, perfect Saturday xword.
WC
*Ok gals are eligible too
** This would be a ten page short story if not a novella
Wow. As everyone else has said, this was really hard, even for a Saturday. I was stuck way too long with PERU and NISSANS. People hate when I say this, but: The SE was really unfair. Crosses of utterly unknown STEELE, TEASEL, DAE, SANGIOVESE. I was exhausted and popped in total WAGs. Surprised to FIR, but it was pure luck.
Husker Gary you really outdid yourself with the illustrations. Thank you! Your image of TEASEL made me realize we have it here in California. It is considered an invasive non-native. I suppose DW and I are, too!
Here is my article on a most memorable talk by YUVAL NOAH HARARI.
He brilliantly ties together historical points that span the entire history of humanity. I invite you to read my article if you want a taste of his wonderful insights without reading his entire book Homo Deus which is quite long. I very much enjoyed reading the entire book after the talk. He talks of a future where humans become like gods.
For those who want less of an intellectual demand after this puzzle workout I offer Weird Al Yankovic
His own version of I LOVE ROCK N ROLL. I like his version better.
With some extra time on my hands, I've been trying the Saturday puzzle. I used fewer peeks at the grid than usual today, so maybe I'm getting better. Or this was just an easier puzzle. Whichever, thank you C.C., for the adventure. Thanks for explaining and entertaining, HG.
I had all the issues others mentioned except 16a Lima locale/OHIO. I thought that was too easy so put in Peru. On our trips to Michigan and back, DH and I stop in Lima at a Chinese restaurant for lunch. Faster than take-out and better food. Lima is pronounced like the bean.
Other than walking the dog and grocery shopping once a week, we're staying home and we're staying healthy. Hope everyone else is healthy.
Well this Saturday go was a toughie.
Didn’t get it correct...I guessed on every NATICK and guessed wrong.
NATICKS...DAY crossing STEELE crossing SANGIOVESE....I had DAY, STYELE and SANGIOVESI. Also had AREPA and HOOP.
Write-overs...ECHO/TORO, INJAIL/ONBAIL, TUN/VAT.
If the price of an incomplete is knowing nothing about “Fifty Shades of Grey” then I am more than willing to pay. Hey...If you’re going to watch porn, watch porn.
AREPA...no idea there as well.
Soma rather frustrating grid, not knowing or really having a clue, so to speak.
Stay safe, see you Monday.
It's a little late to chime in, but who cares? Oh so close like many others. The only unknown up top was arepa. Otherwise it was smooth, albeit slow, sailing until the SE. I wanted Day for Dae and stupidly wrote sangiovera which gave me Styale at 47D. Doh! Also, DNK Lind but that was easy enough with perps. A nice challenge, officially a DNF.
Happy Birthday, Kazie! I hope you have a great day! CED, love her birthday cake!
My FITBIT One goes in my pocket. I don't wear any jewelry at home so a wrist tracker would not fit my lifestyle.
Hi All!
What fun it is
a Saturday
w/ a C.C. puzzle near-right...
ALICE MaNne looked good and RAN seemed right (Hi Lucina!). I knew TEAS[t]EL [thought it has a T, I did] but, due to being a complete ignoramus, could not get a letter in box 58. No clue that SUD == South (and nor do I know how south relates to beer [is suds]).
Thanks C.C. for the near-win puzzle [hey, 5 bad blocks on a Sat is good for me] and thanks HG for filling in who LIND, HALLE (as clued), et.al. are.
Notable WOs: ON Bond - don't y'all have bail bondsmen there? Lord b/f EARL. poT b/f BET (hi HG!)
ESPs: yep, ya BET I did.
No Favs today - there's too much to pick from.
Happy Birthday Kazie! I've got an Eldest here that shares it with you. She's is 21 today.
Ray-O: your quip made me think of Emily Litella [1:20].
Hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday. We're doing curb-side sushi 'cuz that's what the birthday girl wants.
Cheers, -T
Nice, tough puzzle! I spent a good 5 minutes staring at the grid and reading clues before I started. Perfect for a Saturday.
Lemonade714 - WBZ brings back great memories for me. Being a clear channel 50,000 watt station, I listened to it at night in Vermont, back in the late ‘60s, early ‘70s. By then the format in the evening had changed to talk shows and they also carried the Bruins and Celtics. Talk shows were Guy Mainella with Calling All Sports (I believe the first sports talk show in the US), then Jerry Williams’s very contentious news talk show, at the height of the Vietnam War and other issues, and then the one and only Larry Glick from midnight to 5 AM.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, C.C., for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Husker Gary, for a fine review.
My first word was TIGRIS. I was confident on that one. That gave me AHI and ISR. Then TASTE IT. The only other word I got in the NW was ENRON. So, I felt pretty good.
Then got STAT, OHIO, SODA and DARE, as well as JUDAS in the NE. AIR CHINA, too. I have a good friend from LIMA, OHIO. I have been by there many times. Spent a lot of my life in Ohio. A lot of my life meaning about three years.
Had POLO stick for 39A. That changed much later.
Did get TORO easily. I own a SNAPPER, which is a great mower. A TORO is just as good.
Got BEANO, VIOLINS, OLE, VAT, and EARL. That was the SE.
So, now the work started. I bounced around and got some more with perps. Still could nor quite finish.
EMO HAIR and MUNRO was not good. SANGIOVESE, STEELE, and TEASEL were tough crosses.
Anyhow, after a couple hours I came here and filled in the couple unknowns I had. Oh well, still a very good puzzle.
I did yesterday's, but went to bed before I could log in. Too tired.
Happy Birthday, Kazie, and many more.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
I forgot to say that SUD is Spanish for south, too.
Lemonade:
Thank you for the warning about that e-mail. I just deleted it without reading it.
One must think twice, or thrice, about the spelling of LYON/Lyons. The French spell it one way, we Anglophones another. We turn to our Xwd creator, C.C., to know which is preferred--for the nonce!
(Should the clue have been in French?)
Ta ~ DA!
Thank you, C.C., for a tough but doable Saturday pzl.
Misty ~ I sympathize with the hair-growing problem. I used to allow my hair to get fairly long before heading to my hairdresser (yes, I chose a female rather than a male version of the "barber"). But now it gets TOO long. Gone are my ponytail days!
But I am fortunate to have a solution.
My wife Janice has been kind enough to trim my beard over the years, as it always seemed to grow faster than the rest of my head.
During this lockdown I persuaded her to turn her talent to my cranium, and she does not do a bad job. Not at all.
Sorry, Kim (my hairdresser). I see this saving $65 a crack in the future. I worry about your business, but I reckon each alteration in the economy favors one side over the other.
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal, far side.
The anagram refers to the guilt experienced by a police snitch. As in "That lousy rat has a bad case of...
STOOLIE WOE"!
Hi everybody,
Thanks CC and Gary. I liked this better than most Saturday puzzles that are too hard for me. :>)
Very excellent Happy Birthday wishes for you, Kazie!
I remember Elisha Cuthbert as Jack Bauer's daughter on 24. But I sat up and took notice of her as one of the three girls in a 'normal American bar' in one of the best scenes ever in "Love Actually." Do you remember it?
Spitz, I still have my slide rule too, Pickett I think. Aluminum if I remember correctly. I can probably still multiply and divide on it, and maybe a few other operations too.
I wish I had known some of my fellow Cornellians who made a name for themselves during or just before my non-memorable stint there; people like E. B. White, Carl Sagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Bill Nye, Bill Maher, Pearl Buck, Peter Yarrow, Superman...
Hmm. A ponytail? Not a bad idea, Ol'Man Keith--thanks for the suggestion.
Lucina @ 3:14...Sometimes I notice the CW answer for Spanish south is SUR. The direction in Italian is SUD. But America Meridionale is just as common as Sud America. From latin Meridies which means Noon (mid day) or Southward. Explains why Southern Italy is called Il Mezzogiorno and southern France Le Midi. Confused yet?. I know I am
As a teenager, I really enjoyed building crystal-set radios. There was something magical about hearing clear-channel radio stations halfway across the country at night with nothing plugged in and no batteries. Very cool. I had a very long antenna wire and good headphones.
♪♬ You say LYON, and I say Lyons.
You say Firenze. I say Florence.
Wien, Vienna. ♪
Venice, Venezia.
Let's call the whole thing off. ♬
~ OMK
Ray _ O:
Both are correct. In the case of SUD America I believe it's for better pronunciation. To say Sur America sounds awkward. SUD America is the recognized name.
southeast is SUDeste
southwest is SUDoeste
southernmost: del extremo al sur
southwesterner: habitante del sur
Yes, I agree, it's confusing!
Yesterday I was supposed to have a haircut so now it will grow out, too.
Whew! This was definitely a hard one. I had to look up several of the proper names because I did not know them at all. I did get SANGIOVESE right off the bat because I like to drink and learn about red wines. Even after EMOHAIR filled in I incorrectly parsed it as EM O' HAIR (as in slab o' beef.) Well played, C.C.
Well explained, Gary.
Happy birthday, Kazie, and good wishes to you all.
Bill G -- late nights listening to Radio Switzerland ans Radio Peru on crystal Radio Shack radio was an adventure. Still have my aluminum slide rule as well. Also the library tray that was used to snowtray? down the library hill to the freshman dorms. Loved College Town since the drinking age was 18!
Crockett, yes I fondly remember the out-of-control sliding down the frozen libe slope on a swiped cafeteria tray. Now that I think of it, it seems a bit like Calvin and Hobbes... Of course, the trudge up the icy hill for an 8 am class wasn't nearly as much fun.
The puzzle was pretty much what's been discussed for me. First hard fill was Lind, second was Jett. So I guess it pays to be of a certain age. Lotsa guesses along the way, but most stayed and it was a FIR. Good puzzle CC, and thank you Gary.
I haven't had my hair touch my collar since 1979 and never quite got to a pony tail. I retired a month ago, just as the hair cutters were shut down. Just shaggy at this point per mandate. Still pondering a pony tail, and may well do it. Time will tell.
Puzzling Thoughts:
Several words and phrases that stumped me. I almost FIR; the omission of FITBITS left me four Naticks: TEASEL / JETT / BLURB, and WEBROOT.
I also was IN JAIL before ON BAIL. Has GOTTA GO before WANNA GO, and POT before BET.
SANGIOVESE came easily to yours truly ... as an erstwhile Sommelier, I’d have had someone toss me in a VAT if I didn’t know that one! Many people are unaware that Chianti is a region within Tuscany (think of a county within a state).
Lemonade714, I wish I had known about your bad emails ahead of time ... one opened partially, and my anti-virus said it looked suspicious, so I immediately closed it and deleted ... hopefully, no one will get killed by that virus ... or whatever it was ...
I’ve only glanced here lately ... haven’t seen much from Owen. He ok?
A quick haiku:
My caricature
Likes to work out. I call it:
My FIT-BITmoji
If all of us geezers grow gray ponytails, how will we be able to identify the defense attorneys?
Good one, Jinx!
Yes, I had a pony tail! For about a dozen years, from the '90s into 2002.
This turned out to be a very good thing in 2001 when I was asked to play the title role in King Lear. It meant I could just loosen my locks and let them flow to shoulder length, an excellent look for a medieval monarch.
But that performance coincided with the end of an era. I had worn long hair for TOO long. I vowed to have it cut as soon as Lear was over.
Ye gods, how I looked forward to that day. Although I enjoyed playing the role (ye role of a lifetime!) I could hardly wait till it was done so I could be shorn!
Ah, but then I realized... I could not realistically cut my hair for another half year!
Why not?
Because I had agreed to direct the musical Hair for my university. And I realized how bad it might be for company morale if I chopped my own hair off while touting the virtues of long tresses--and requiring the men to go without haircuts--until the latter show had closed.
But when Hair was finally done, so was mine! (I still have my cut-off pony tail in a big envelope on a shelf.)
~ OMK
Kazie, you share my grandson’s birthday he turned 9 today. He was sad he wasn’t going to have a birthday party, but he was surprised and thrilled to have a drive by parade with friends and family. I am sure he will always remember his special birthday parade.
Dear Husker Gary,
This is the hardest post I have ever had to make...
But it is necessary...
you see, I found another Blog,
more exciting, & puzzling than you...
(Nah! Luv Ya HG! Just kidding!)
Yuman,
Your grandson deserves a virtual parade cake!
CED, loved the cake
OMK - you might be interested in Stratford Festival's King Lear now online for a limited time. Interesting interview "An Actor Prepares" (for the first 30 minutes or so) with Colm Feore who played Lear. DH and I saw the play in person in 2014. Powerful performance.
KingLear
Did I actually hear someone say "Ohio was too obvious for Lima". PK, Ohio fell like V8 can only because SODA was so solid. I had thought the airline was AER CAIRO. Mr S. suggested it.
Picard, I found Yuval a tad dystopian. I think Asimov in his Foundation series dealt with similar ideas.
Larry Glick. I thought you said Norm Nathan. Perhaps not WBZ. Norm had Marilyn Gorelnick and the immortal Lefty Sprockett. I wrote a Lefty pastiche and mailed it in and Norm sent me a nice letter back. Mom was a big fan.
Thanks for dropping in C-Moe. Come see us at the J. Esp if you're a Hobbit fan.
WC
Ps, re. The wine. Mr Stupidity insisted Chianti was French wine. I knew it was Spanish but he insisted. Of course "SANG" is French for blood as in "Q'un SANG impure, abreuve nos sillons"
Wilbur Charles thank you for your comment about YUVAL NOAH HARARI. Did you have a chance to read my article? I find his perspective quite positive. I was glad to see CC put him in the puzzle today.
What did he say that seemed dystopian to you? Perhaps you read other writings by him? I have not.
So interesting about LIMA. I never heard of the OHIO one until doing these puzzles. I have been to the one in Peru.
And I don't own a phone, so FITBIT is not something I think about. I did not realize they gave two of them the same name as cars. Seems like some kind of trademark infringement.
Kept slogging at it; finally WAGged most of it and almost FIR. One white square: neither SANGIOVESE nor TEASEL was in my memorybank.
Superb Saturday. Thanks for the fun, C.C. and HuskerG.
I managed to finish this CW with just a few Google helps for unknowns like SHO, LIND, WEBROOT (I figured AnonT would know this one), AREPA (I think we had that one here previously) and SANGIOVESE. But this Canadian knew ALICE MUNRO.
Saturday level work required. Some misdirection with the clues for HOOP, OWE, IN DEBT.
I smiled to see those last two as consecutive clues.
And was clue "Seeing red?" kosher when there was a RIGHT ON RED at 17A (but the combo did bring a smile also).
UNION LABEL was not familiar to this Canadian.
Hand up for Nettle before TEASEL.
EMO HAIR must be one of those CW entries to test our multigenerational knowledge. Yes, Misty, my hair is the longest it has been in years. If this self-isolation continues for too long, it will be down to my waist like when I was 25, LOL! Thankfully I am happy to be grey (Canadian spelling of course), and do not have to worry about my roots.
Happy Birthday Kazie.
Wishing you all a good evening. Stay safe.
Fun puzzle for a HOT afternoon in SoCal. Only one hangup: FITBIT ...heard the word before but didn't know what it referred to. Shows how out of touch I am with current lingo!!
Dave, Dave, please don't go!
Oh, never mind! :-)
Husker
Ol'Man Keith and CanadianEh, glad we're sharing sympathy over our EMO HAIR problem.
No time to say hello; goodbye. I’m late I’m late I’m late (to post). FIR in a very long session. Thanks, C.C., for making our day a little brighter and thanks, Gary, for your nicely written and illustrated contribution.
WEES. In spades.
Hope you’re all staying healthy.
One of my nieces and her circle of friends all use FITBITs and often post on FB their achieved mileage. Otherwise I likely would not have known about it.
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