Here is the Amazon link to buy Michael's latest book which you see below. I think it might be a Father's Day request!
Michael was very generous in sharing his construction techniques and I have included it at the end of the write-up above the grid. It is very informative and fascinating!
Everybody ante-up as Michael has dealt us all a winning hand:
Across:
7. Recuperation area: POST-OP.
13. Pokémon species with lightning bolt-shaped tails: PIKACHU crossing 3. Ford subcompact: IKON seemed strange and ICON more logical but the K of PIKACHU stuck with me. This IKON is sold in Mexico and is made in India where it is called the Ford Figo.
 |
| Ford Ikon |
15. Jane Eyre, for one: HEROINE - 49. What "T" may mean: TRUE - 5 TRUE/False Jane Eyre Questions
16. Like many store-bought juices: FROM CONCENTRATE - Reduces shipping weight and promotes shelf life
18. They might result from omission: SINS.
19. Muscat money: RIAL - I assume this is after Ramadan is over
20. Badly damaged Asian sea: ARAL.
21. Like BOS and ATL: INTL - Airports
22. Golf bag features: STRAPS - Tiger Woods caddying for his son Charlie
24. Big name in Argentine politics: PERON.
28. Extensive, themed tattoo: SLEEVE - Howard and Raj show their SLEEVE tattoos were fake (2:21)
30. Filmmaker's __ light: KLIEG - Or for TV game shows
31. Digitizes, in a way: SCANS.
32. Bit of physics: ION.
35. Placement question: WHERE DOES THIS GO?
38. Yang partner: YIN - Here 'ya go
39. "A Gallery of Children" author: MILNE - Here's a used first edition for $200 which predates his Winnie The Pooh series
40. Yellowish color: OCHRE.
41. Personally give: HAND TO.
42. Fifth __: WHEEL - An unwanted person or a luxurious road home
43. Really fancy: DESIRE - "Do you fancy a game of golf?" is more likely to be heard in Britain
46. Reasons for repeating courses: EFFS
48. Bakery finisher: ICER.
50. Bedazzles: AWES.
54. Insomniacs have them: SLEEPLESS NIGHTS - People my age Tossin' and Turnin' with Bobby Lewis!
58. Bundt, e.g.: CAKE TIN.
59. Squeak by: EDGE OUT.
60. "That's a shame": IT'S SAD.
61. Legendary Manhattan eatery: SARDIS - Also famous for its wall of caricatures. Can you guess the names of the three below? *Answer at the bottom of the write-up
Down:
1. Tanning nos.: SPFS - Sun Protection Factor and 50. Too much sun, they say: AGER
2. Te Kanawa of opera: KIRI - New Zealander Dame KIRI Te Kanawa portrayed Australian Dame Nellie Melba on a Downton Abbey episode set in 1920's4. Challenges for directors: HAMS.
5. Notre Dame is in it, oddly: Abbr.: ACC - The Irish are no where near the Atlantic Coast
6. Side issue?: THORN - Frank Lary was a "good old boy" from Alabama and a THORN in the side of the N.Y. Yankees from 1955 - 1961. He was 27 - 10 against them in the years they won six World Series. I wonder if Boomer and C.C. have this card.
7. Fenced-in area: PEN.
8. Food scrap: ORT - A cwd staple
9. Title words after "ours is a love," in a Jimmy Dorsey classic: SO RARE - A favorite of my mom's
10. Queen topper: TIARA
11. At hand: ON TAP - This seems like a lot
12. Skins: PEELS - The act or the results
14. Restocking criterion: UNITS SOLD - Six ways to increase sales of slow-moving stock
15. Daughter of Loki: HEL - She, uh, got around! No judgement here!
17. Where many orders are taken: CALL CENTERS
21. 1959-'60 heavyweight champ Johansson: INGEMAR - 19-year-old Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) was in Miami and asked to spar with INGEMAR in 1959. The Swede got angry when he couldn't lay a glove on him.
22. Emitted, with "out": SENT.
23. "L.A. Law" and "Law & Order": TV SHOWS - The latter show was much "grittier"
24. Garden State, e.g.: Abbr.: PKWY - It'll cost you $8.25 to go from the southern tip of N.J. to the N.Y. state line on this longest highway in N.J.
25. Pre-coll. catchall: ELHI - This 50-yr. educator has never heard this word except here
26. French nada: RIEN - Even I can translate this song title sung by our frequent cwd chanteuse (How 'bout dat word?). In German it would be: Nein, [37. German pronoun:] ICH bereue nichts27. "... __ a perfum'd sea": Poe's "To Helen": OER - Poe's tribute to the woman whose "Face launched a thousand ships"
29. App tester's concern: EASE OF USE - I didn't write apps, but I wrote lab instructions for 13-yr-olds for over 40 years
32. "__ kidding?": IS HE
33. Fiona, for one: OGRE - A curse turns her into an OGRE at night34. Caroling unit: NOEL.
36. Patronize, with "at": DINE - We did DINE out the other night and I left a huge tip
41. Holiday season additions: HIREES - Santas and Easter Bunnies e.g.
43. First of a box set: DISC I.
44. __ de rire: burst of laughter: ECLAT - More Française
45. Personals verb: SEEKS - I know our literary types here could write a fictional personal ad for Jane Eyer
47. Provides (for oneself): FENDS
49. Common face card value: TEN - Working tools for our constructor Michael
51. "__ you think it was?": WHO'D.
52. Sewing shop buy: ETUI - Another cwd staple, er, word
53. Bygone boomers: SST'S - America's SST never flew despiser JFK's efforts
55. School support gp.: PTA.
56. Metaphor for a cover-up: LID - Every mall seems to have this store
57. Whole Foods Market competitor: IGA - A vintage ad from an IGA store in Auckland, N.Z.
Now, as promised, is a fascinating look at Michael's constructing process and his publications:
For themeless puzzles I start with a grid that will present some challenges. In this case that was three 15-letter entries crossed by three vertical entries, two of each of these crossing two of the long entries. First, I put entries in at 14D, 17D, and 26D. I then found
three 15-letter entries to fit.
I have a word list that consists of "good" words and expressions that I have been collecting for years. Many of these entries have never appeared in published crossword puzzles and I try to fit in as many of these as I can. (For example, FROM CONCENTRATE has not appeared anywhere -- till now.) Meanwhile, my main word list contains over a million entries, graded such that the best (in my estimation) entries have higher scores and I use those (that fit!) with the highest scores. When constructing a puzzle, after I have the "bare bones" entries in place, I isolate sections and fill each separately. For example, I first worked on the NE corner (7D to 22A). When I had what looked like a good fill, I did a screen capture of the grid, deleted the words I had just added, and started again. I did several fills in that section. I chose the best one of those, and saved the grid. I then went through the process again, this time the NW corner.
Meanwhile, the NE corner was still in place. If the fill I choose for any section doesn't allow for good fills in the rest of the puzzle, I can always go back and insert one of the saved screen captures. By the time I'm done, my screen capture file might have as many as 50
partial fills, any of which I can return to. By saving these partial fills as I go I don't have to start from scratch any time I come to a dead end.
When I have what looks like a good complete grid, I then check the puzzle stats for duplicates. I try not to use the same three-letter combination more than once. For example, having FROM CONCENTRATE dictates not having any other FROM (like WHEREFROM). Also, having POSTOP, I couldn't also have PREOP. I keep weeding what many call
crosswordese from my word lists. (For example, I have eliminated virtually all Roman numerals. I don't consider MMLXV to be a "word.")
I constructed this puzzle in August, 2019. It was accepted six months later, and scheduled for publication four months after that.
My area (Alberta) is beginning to open up. Until this week I had not been out of the house for over two months. The downtime provided a good opportunity to work on my next book, the second collection of Canadian Crossword Puzzles. (The first is at
https://www.amazon.com/Canadia
https://www.amazon.ca/Canadian
book will have more puzzles (125) than the first and be priced lower.
I also constructed a collection of poker-themed crosswords
(https://www.amazon.com/PokerX
*Sardis' caricatures are Barry Manilow, Tom Hanks and Ed Asner
56 comments:
FIWrong. Misspelt PIcoCHU, and had (theater) moMS for directors challenges. I couldn't tell you how many passes this puzzle took, but it was a bunch!
Income from a CALL CENTER
Is based on UNITS SOLD you enter.
So CONCENTRATE
On acceptance rate,
Sell EASE OF USE as a presenter!
{C.}
Good morning Cornerites.
Thank you Michael Wiesenberg for your enjoyable Saturday CW.
Carol and I FIR in 46:10 min.
Thank you Husker Gary for your excellent review.
Results of the COVID-19 testing were shared with us on Friday 6-12. I am pleased to report that no resident or staff member tested positive for the virus.
Ðave
Good morning!
Hey, D4, that's great news.
The corners of this one filled quickly, but the center stripe took some time. That K in PIKACHU/IKON was a lucky WAG. The H in HIREES took an alphabet run. No idea where INGEMAR came from, but my pen wrote it in immediately. I see that Michael managed to sneak in one Roman numeral: DISK I. Even after all the struggles, this one came into the station in better-than-normal Saturday time. Nice. Thanx, Michael and Husker.
FIFTH WHEEL: I'll bet there are a couple hundred in our little town. They have really weird names -- like Flying Dutchman or Wolfpack -- so you can locate your own in a crowded camper lot. For the most part, these fifth wheel's are owned by folks who also have a shed and a boat and drive a pickup. We don't qualify.
This was way easier for me then Friday's puzzle, but I had one misspelling, C in PIKACHU and IKON. I orginally had K. I don't know why I changed it.
NJ is the Garden State. On summer weekends down the shore we call the Garden State Parkway, the Garden State Parking Lot. That $8.25 trip from north to south will soon cost $9.45.
I had a delightful walk early this morning, cool and a little breezy in bright sunshine. I feel more than five years younger since taking the medicine.
I went with SunHAT when I thought it was Ford neON, which fatally muddled the NW. I refused to learn anything about Pokeman, so no hope there. Who the F is KIRI?
Hola!
Not an entirely SLEEPLESS NIGHT but a shortened one since I woke at 4:30. Luckily my newspaper was already delivered.
Whew! Thank you, Mihael Wiesenberg for this challenge which unlike other posters I did not find easy. Yet looking it over now that it's filled, nothing about it was actually too difficult.
All those years of watching boxing with my late DH paid off with INGEMAR Johansson and watching cartoons with grandchildren yielded PIKACHU. However, I spelled it with a C so IKON failed, too. Hello, YR.
Once I had the M, MILNE immediately emerged.
PKWY took a very long time to finish because I focused on the state, not the highway.
Many of my nieces' first jobs have been at CALL CENTERS.
i know CAKE TIN is perfectly acceptable but I would say CAKE pan.
I'll never understand the obsession with tattoos but SLEEVE seemed right.
Again, thank you, Michael, especially for explaining your construction technique which seems very dedicated and hard work. But the result is brilliant!
Gary, thank you for your lively Saturday narrative!
Have yourselves a special day, everyone!
It would have helped if I'd read the clue re. Pokemon. I thought Michael wanted Pok's girlfriend PocATCHU. Like YR I then went and changed the K to C.
There were some easy parts like SE and moderate difficulty elsewhere
D4, that's good news.
WC
I'm totally familiar with Pokemon, I've even driven around with Phil hunting the critters virtually.
Gary, it took a WAG at the cross of IKON & PIKACHU (both unknowns) to finish as my last fill after changing EGOS to HAMS. After MI was in place MILNE was a logical guess. HEL was perps. Michael's spanners were easier to fill than some of the short fills. For some strange reason I remembered INGEMAR from when I was a kid. DISC-I, WHO'D, HIREES, & KLIEG were slow to fill and the abbrs. PKWY & INTL took a while to appear.
I guess these Saturday puzzles can be completed-don't groan- FROM CONCENTRATE-ING.
ELHI-ditto for me but SCWA.
SSTS- the US has many SSTS. They have pilots and transport missiles.
Cremona, Italy is a PO-STOP if you are in a boat.
Good Morning:
This had quite a bit of crunch but, as Wilbur predicted, P and P paid off. My time was 33:30, which is average for a Saturday puzzle with some challenge. My unknowns were Pikachu, Ikon, Hel, and Sleeve, as clued, but the perps were kind, so everything fell into place, eventually. I mixed up Ural and Aral, Hides before Peels, and Elem before ElHi but, again, perps to the rescue. I liked Tin (Hi, Tin!) crossing Ten, but sort of winced at Who’d. I don’t equate IGA with Whole Foods at all. My favorite C/A was Side issue?=Thorn. Filling in Sleepless nights made me think of PK and her tussles with the Sandman!
Thanks, Michael, for a tough but doable solve and for the behind the scenes look at the labor and creativity you expend building these puzzles: it sounds daunting to me! Thanks, HG, for your excellent expo and fun links. I especially enjoyed the Tommy Dorsey video’s trip down Memory Lane. I well remover that ‘57 Chevy! I passed the caricature rest with flying colors, too!
Dave4, that is wonderful news! Stay safe and well. Best wishes to Carol.
If all goes well, I think Phase 3 opens here on Monday. That covers restaurants, nail salons, Spas, etc. I’m looking forward to a celebratory Bloody Mary, soon! 🍹
Have a great day.
Remember not Remover! Darn autocorrect.
BE, we like a good groan after a Saturday struggle.
The start was very hard for me as SKI HAT was slow in filling. HEL was a total unknown, IKON also meant nothing but PIKACHU was very familiar. HG, actually FIONA is an ogre who was put under a spell to look like a human princess during the day. The picture of OCHRE looks like spicy mustard. During Ramadan, the fast ends at sundown so that special would be a great way to break the fast if you do not want to cook.
HG, thank you for all the insights you get from Saturday constructors, and Michael thank you for sharing. But sadly, FROM CONCENTRATE appeared in the AV Club - Sept. 5, 2007 Puzzle .
Come to think of it, the pickup is de rigueur for fifth wheel owners. They don't drive themselves, and you can't tow 'em with a car.
Not too many proper names or foreign words, but they were strategically placed. So, this enjoyable puzzle ate my lunch.
Very very happy for D4's group.
MO
Good morning everyone.
Started filling in from the sides. Had 'where should it go?' at first but the perp, IS HE, seemed sure but conflicted. Thought through possible phrases and WHERE DOES THIS GO worked out and opened up the center. SLEEPLESS NIGHTS and FROM CONCENTRATE then came easily. Liked seeing KLIEG, ICH, and RIEN. FIR; no help was needed.
KIRI - She is part Maori on her father's side. She has the most beautiful singing voice.
…NIGHT… - German Nacht, Dutch nacht. 'g' is silent in Eng.; ch has guttural glide like Eng. 'loch'.
THORN - Ger. Dorn, L. Ger. Doorn, Dutch doorn.
I don't drink juice FROM CONCENTRATE at home. Prefer orange juice with "most pulp".
Michael's picture looks like one of our posters: Waseeley? Enjoyed your puzzle.
Unfortunate end to a dreadful week. DNF... didn't perp the K in Klieg ( BTW no idea what that means) with PKWY. (Like Lucina focused on the state even though I've driven that PKWY!!) Plus stuck to long with oneSSOLD.
Fascinated by Mr. Wiesenberg's construction method. Good to know he doesn't just press a button and have a computer algorithm do the work. Curious that he doesn't use Roman numerals even though they are letters but uses the number ONE (DISCI) which resembles, but isn't, the letter I (noted by DO too)
Also inkovers: SKIhut/CAP (huts warm at the bottom of the slope, duh!). Pelts/PEELS...Time/TRUE (the "T" made with hands to signal timeout).. init/INTL... and really stupid: piranha/PIKACHU! (But never heard of a Ford IKON)
Not to get into a tatting discussion. Have seen a tattoo that covers an entire arm, a SLEEVE tattoo? Never noticed a theme. Once "social distancing" is over I'll look closer.
The English fancy the word fancy for like and DESIRE.
I hear Fiona prefers to be called an OGREss.
What Lemonade said is correct.
Don't get the Notre Dame clue even from the narrative. But agree ELHI is exclusively cruciverbage.
Loki to his daughter, "You totalled another chariot?? What the HEL?"
To complete an terrible CW week.
The owl ____ every night.......WHO'D
First mate's affirmative.......ICER
Amazing sorcerer: the Wizard of ______....AWES
Didn't it ever ______ to you? .....OCHRE
Cæsar exclaims when stabbed by a needle "_____!!"..ETUI
Finally ate at a restaurant after our bike tour yesterday. Ordered at the bar with masks. Given a number to take to our outside table. Great to munch surrounded by the mountains
I enjoyed this steady fill - though the NW was a challenging start as I had SKI CAP crossing with CAMS rather than HAMS for the director's challenge. PIKACHU is probably the only Pokemon I know - even though one of my boys collected them for a while - he even has his own movie not just cartoons.
I also wanted the juice answer to be FROZEN CONCENTRATE but it was too many letters but the first 3 letters being correct had me holding on to the FROZEN for way too long! Like Lucina I had CAKE PAN first before TIN - I only think of a CAKE TIN when you get a fruitcake or similar in a lidded TIN.
Thanks HG for the fun blog and to Michael for the explanation of this puzzle and his process!
And Congrats on the good news for Dave and Carol!
A true Saturday beat down. I had to turn Red Letters on with only half of the puzzle done. So, a DNF even though I ultimately filled in all of the letters. HG added a lot of depth to the explanation.
Some of my stumbling blocks were EGOS vs HAMS, STY vs PEN, CAKE PAN vs CAKE TIN, EKES OUT vs EDGE OUT, SEUSS vs MILNE, DONATE vs HAND TO, and I wanted FROZEN leading CONCENTRATE but it was too long.
Like Lucina said, after looking at the completed puzzle, nothing about it was too difficult. I guess my brain was running in low gear this morning. Lots of torque, but no speed.
Since we are in the Green Phase of re-opening, restaurants are able to have dine-in service at 50% capacity. However, the restaurants that are frequented by those of us of a certain age are still doing most of their business via take-out. Conversely the bars that cater to college-age customers appear to be very busy with lines outside their doors with "kids" waiting to get in.
Have a great day everyone.
FIR. Both Etui and Ort in the same puzzle!? What is this, 1975? ;-)
Oops forgot to congratulate Dave and his fellow residents. Way to go!
I agree about cake pan BTW. I should have said OGRESS .
Husker: Excellent write-up & links. GOOD JOB!
Hmmm, I guess I will be in the Pub enjoying what they have ON TAP
Hope everyone has a GREAT WEEKEND.
Cheers!
Notre Dame is in the Atlantic Coast Conference for basketball, but is located far from the Atlantic coast in Indiana.
Perfect 65 degrees today. I am not a lover of heat.
Do, great job subbing yesterday. You are a natural. HG, always a great job. You never disappoint.
Constructors are a special breed indeed. They should donate their brains to science. Seems as though they enjoy intentionally inflicting pain on the rest of us. This was a FIW only due to two wrong letters. I had Icon for 3D and cams for 4D which gave me skicat for 1A and pikachu for 13d. Like many I started with egos at 4D, but sussed it wrong in the end. It was an arduous slog working from the bottom to top, but a good workout after all was said and done.
Like others, I assumed a hard C in IcON and PIcACHU, so FIW. I don't feel too badly about not knowing the obscure foreign car model, but suppose I should know how to spell the Pokemon character.
I'd like to echo Lucina and inanehiker, who also had CAKE pan before CAKE TIN. Like inanehiker, I think a pan -- e.g. "Bundt" -- is for baking, and a TIN is for gifting.
Hungry Mother asks, "Who the F is KIRI?" Husker Gary and Spitzboov have explained. Since I have to muddle through so many minor TV actors in the CW, surely you can put up with a little opera!
Thanks for all the thought that went into the puzzle, Michael. It was an enjoyable challenge. Thanks, Husker Gary and Cornerites, for the friendly reviews.
Thanks for the write-up HG, and for the insights, Michael.
With the first F in place, I happily entered FRESHLY SQUEEZED for the juice entry; my local Kroger has a fresh juice bar, as to many markets around here. It was the Notre Dame entry that tipped me off (as a side note, the Notre Dame football program is an independent along with Army and a few others).
Today my sister was citing her college English major, 1966, to justify insisting that THEY must always be plural. Language has changed very much in the last fifty years. Many of the rules we learned have been modified.
2015 was a big year for the little pronoun they and its slide into use as a singular pronoun. First, in December, the Washington Post admitted the singular they into its style guide, saying it is fine for Post writers to use they as a singular pronoun for transgender people and to avoid awkward sentences. Grammar Girl Jan 14, 2016
Language purists take it on the chin.
Today's Grammar
Restaurants here can open for inside dining at only 50% capacity with expenses for interior modifications for social distancing. Many barely make it at 100% capacity. Chains may be able to absorb the losses but many Mom & Pop eateries our town is known for are scratching their heads. is it's even worth opening. Or stick with take out services
Notre Dame ⛪ is close to the French 🗼Atlantic coast...😉
Husker Gary thank you for sharing the construction technique used by Michael Wiesenberg. It seems like it construction is not something easily entered into if it takes years of accumulating good crossword words.
Today I was so proud that I correctly made the WAG of IKON/PIKACHU and thought I had FIR. So I was especially grumpy about the utterly unfair cross in that same area.
Ray O Sunshine why do you say that a SKI HUT can only be at the bottom of a slope?
Here we were at a SKI HUT at the TOP of the slope at Lake Tahoe.
Has anyone ever heard the word ORT except in a puzzle?
Picard @ 1222 - re: "Has anyone ever heard the word ORT except in a puzzle?"
Funny you should ask. I have only seen the English ORT in puzzles. But this German ear winces because Ort or (L. German ) Oort is in common use meaning 'locality', 'place', or 'scene'. Part of my parents' standard vocabulary. Oh, and it's masculine.
________________________________________________
Agree with Ray -O- about the restaurants.
Oh boy this was tough tough tough. Really tough.
Yeah, hard stuff always seems easier once you are done....”gee what was so hard about that”?
Write-overs....ICON/IKON, EGOS/HAMS, UNITSTOCK/UNITSSOLD, SHOP/DINE, ITSBAD/ITSSAD.
The only thing Whole Foods and IGA have in common is they are both grocery stores...I would doubt they are “competitors” otherwise.
So that’s the week, some toughies this week.
See you Monday.
Also...COVID back on the rise in a lot of places, still no medicine, still no vaccine, and now it seems folks are just wanting to forget about it. Another Darwin moment as we watch.
Unfortunately, the virus could not care less what you think, who you are, anything about you at all...it just wants to infect. Anyone and everyone.
Stay safe.
Like others, I glowed to FIR, only to learn ICON and PICACHU were wrong. Heavy sigh.
We love Dame Kiri’s lovely voice and have one of her CDs.
Like Picard, we’ ve availed ourselves of warming huts at top, mid-mountain and bottom of slopes.
My favorite clue/answer was THORN.
Being a lifelong Winnie the Pooh fan, I was surprised to learn of a previous book
So Rare is a gorgeous song, IMHO. We’re going to ask Alexa to play it for us.
Thank you, Michael, for an interesting, challenging
puzzle and for letting us into your process.
CSO to Canadian Eh as a fellow countryman (country person?) of our constructor.
Picard @ 12:22
My only experience is with XC skiing where ski huts are warming sheds with cozy fireplaces when done skiing. I'm just assuming Alpine skiing ends at the bottom of the slope. 🎿🎿
Speaking of warming huts. I'm typing this by a lakeside campfire in Thendara NY. It's 43 degrees. Can see my breath
🥶🥶🥶
Anon PVX, I agree that there are many candidates for the Darwin Award walking around maskless and close to others on bar stools and everywhere else.
Picard, that was no hut!
Becky
Puzzling Thoughts:
Lots of write-overs and look-ups today. The solves weren’t so difficult as the clues were at times, obscure. But that’s why Saturday puzzles are the toughest, eh?
Not much to add to WEES. Lots of French words and phrases in this (and yesterday’s too, IIRC) puzzle. And while we don’t have a foreign word constable on the Corner, I thought this haiku was appropriate:
French mustard farmer
Hired off-duty guard cop.
He’s their “Dijon-darme”
“Enjoying” these triple-digit desert days. A dip in the pool is nigh ...
Ray @ 9:50 ~ Your last pun was rib-tickling.
Ray @ 1:13 ~ Our temps have dropped, also, but not to 43. I’m not complaining because my A/C went kaput yesterday, but, with the change in the weather, I can wait until Monday to request a serviceman. The unit is only 5 years old and was inspected and tested several weeks ago.
I wholeheartedly join the Kiri Te Kanawa fan club. I have a CD of her singing all Gershwin songs which I used to always play when I was involved in tedious kitchen prep for my annual Christmas cocktail party. Those days are but a distant memory. 😥
Even SARDI'S was closed during the Broadway shut-down.
[Sigh]
Even SARDI'S.
I went out yesterday for the first time in 3 mos.
This was for a dental cleaning.
In relaying a virus, you can't get much more intimate than that. I picked the date carefully, having postponed several earlier dental and doctor appointments. I reckoned it was time to take a chance in my relatively clear neighborhood.
The office staff took my temp from a distance, then made me sign my legal rights away before they would let me remove my mask for treatment.
They did give me goggles to wear, so if I get infected it won't be through my eyes.
Today I woke to the feeling of freshly cleaned teeth.
I give it two weeks before I know whether I got a bug.
Oh, yeah--today' pzl. Tough, but fair.
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal only--far side.
Every year I wait to see when my garden will come into bloom. Some of the regulars are glorious already. Today's anagram reminds me to estimate when the rest will join them, my...
"PERENNIAL E.T.A."!
Picard, I agree. Although I have looked frequently, I have come across ORT only in crosswords and dictionaries. I do keep an eye out for it as I read. I have very occasionally seen elhi. but not that often. The common term in the US is K-12.
Ray, I may not like heat and I do like camping, but 43 degrees in a tent is not my thing.
IM, my AC is almost 30 years old and works sporadically. I will likely need a need a one. $$$$. Good luck with yours.
People here are very careful about Covid-19. Almost everyone wears a mask indoors, except at home, and is every careful about social distancing. No large groups, very little household to household visiting, even among close relatives and friends. Some people do meet in twos and threes outdoors staying six or more feet apart and wearing masks. We are so lucky we are retired and not essential workers. God bless these workers who are putting their lives and families on the line.
Hi Y'all! Thanks for the challenge, Michael! Great expo, Gary! Like that Edmund Burke quote very much.
Yep, IM, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS describes half my life. That was a gimmee. I started the puzzle at midnight. With the first pass through, my only entry was HEROINE. I decided poker pro Michael had dealt us a bad hand and folded. First time ever. Slept all morning then tried the puzzle again after lunch and got 'er done.
IKON isn't made or sold here and we're expected to know it? ESP
Don't know beans about Pokemon so didn't know PIKACHU but had heard the word. WAGd it with several perps.
Garden State P____: had to be PKWY. YR: I drove part way on that "PARKing lot" going to the shore years ago. Not a fun experience for a woman from the wide open spaces. My teenaged daughter sat and made cranky remarks the whole time.
Big Easy: big laugh, not a groan.
D4 & Carol: Hurrah, for a virus-free environment!
My DIL posted a picture of her & a group of women friends having dinner together the other night. I posted "where are your masks & social distancing?" She deleted my post & messaged me that her state no longer has to do those things. Okay... now I'm probably on her s*** list. Hope she's lucky.
OK. What surprised me most about today's pzl?
That I remembered the name of INGEMAR Johansson.
I am not a fan of the pugilistic art.
But who WASN'T a fan of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali? And incidentally remembers his opponents.
I mean...
He was so damn purty.
~ OMK
I am very impressed with the high quality of this puzzle. After reading Mr. Wiesenberg's treatise on how he constructs puzzles I now know why this one is so good. I had to spend a lot of time working on it but it was fun noodling. Last to fill was the EGOS -> CAMS -> HAMS entry. Favorite clue/answer was Side issue = THORN. Laughed out loud when I got it. The clue for SINS was pretty cool, too. I'm still not sure how NOEL is caroling "unit" though.
As others have mentioned, I found that after solving this puppy, to quote Lucina: "Yet looking it over now that it's filled, nothing about it was actually too difficult."
Good wishes to you all.
A noel is a Christmas carol, a part of caroling.
Michael - If you ever see me at the table, remind me of today's puzzle so I know I should walk away (or run?).
Big Fat DNF today. Thanks HG for stopping the bleeding. Fun expo while I salted my wounds [more on that in a sec...]
No point in going through ESPs et.al. [egos @4d didn't help]. I did like SLEEVE after talkin' 'bout my Army bro's Tats... Amazing Uncle Sam allows that from an E-8.
{Solid A}
Solid groan Moe...
:-)
PERENNIAL - Ha!
Good news D4! Give our Corner love to Carol.
Ray-O: We're still doing take-out. The Indian joint had "meet you at the door" three weeks ago. No you have to go in - they had maybe 5 tables full. //I do love a good curry.
OK here's the salt. There's no way on God's Green Earth that IGA (an Assoc.) competes against Whole [paycheck] Foods *cough Amazon*.
If you live in a small town you might have an The IGA or maybe a The Kroger*. If you're really lucky you have both and a book store [my mom's (and, yes, that's "her girls'" honey) was catty-whompus from The IGA] but there will NOT be a Whole [paycheck] Foods.
And Trader Joes is a pipe-dream.
//end-rant.
Y'all have a great afternoon!
Cheers, -T
*not on the same level as Kroger's in bigger cities. My Kroger has 50' of produce; Mom's is maybe a yard and the lighting is dim. Her's also has no thunder-sounds when the produce sprinkler comes on nor does the milk-door moo at you.
Point is mute: H.E.B. is my go-to anyway.... :-)
Disliked this entry entirely! Trivializing NOEL as "a unit of a Carol" when it traditionally MEANS that Holy Time? As an educator for over a half-century, Michael deserves F's (never "effs") for this lack of effort. As a constant customer of Trader Joe's I'm SHOCKED by it's comparison to IGA - not even close in quality and choice!!I read his explanation of his puzzle construction. After wasting a morning with this creation I ask :"32D?!?"
Hey Bobbi...
You have to chill a bit...many words have other meanings....
Definition of noel
1 : a Christmas carol
The choir sang noels during the Christmas season.
2 capitalized : CHRISTMAS
wished his friends a joyous Noel
Yes, I agree, anyone who has not heard KIRI sing should do so and is in for a treat. She can reach high notes with astonishing clarity.
Phillips44@11:24
With what do you agree? And welcome to the corner!
Dave 4 and Carol, how comforting to know that your facility is virus free.
Owe4n:
Very well done!
Ray-O:
You really make me think outside the box.
YR:
How wonderful for you that you feel so well and energetic.
Bobbi @ 4:50 ~ Have you ever met Thumper? He’s a wise little fella for his age. 🐿
Sorry, not 🐿 but 🐇
Jayce ~
Right. We all grew up thinking NOEL just meant Christmas or the holiday season.
But its original meaning was pretty much the same as "Carol."
Most dictionaries now also include Christmas as a secondary meaning.
FLN, I LIU on "Short strokes". "Origin
Possibly an allusion to painting, in which a painter typically finishes a work with short, careful, finishing strokes of the paint brush, or to golf, in which a player concludes each hole by making short strokes with a PUTTer"
So, Rich could have used that clue while "The Usual Suspects" had a good laugh-eh RayO? etal.
INGEMAR did lay a glove on Floyd Patterson, seven times. Not so lucky the next two except in the bank. ' He named his right fist "toonder and lightning" for its concussive power (it was also called "Ingo's bingo" and the "Hammer of Thor")'
I liked your haiku today C-Moe. And I second the groans for RayO.
WC
And... I wondered on the consensus on difficulty. Seems to vary as it did yesterday(Bobbi not withstanding).
WC
Sorry for my rant! As I tried to complete today's entry, found out my son has contracted COVID. Had to rush..."cabin fever"?
I'm late to the Saturday party, but I got to hug some grandchildren today! Thanks for the workout, Michael (greetings from Ontario), and thanks for explaining and the interview, HuskerG.
Many inkblots, but with P& P I FIRed.
Starting with Summit for 1A "top of the slopes" messed up that corner. Hand up for trying to squish FROzen CONCENTRATE into 16A.
But I did know KIRI (she sang at royal wedding).
Another hand up for Pelts before PEELS.
My "placement question" was WHERE DOES THat GO before THIS perped.
And EASy to USE before EASE OF USE held me up there.
Then, "That's a shame" was Too bAD before IT'S SAD.
But I did get PIKACHU and IKON eventually.
Before I came here and discovered the constructor was a fellow- Canadian, I had noted OCHRE crossing OGRE (with the lovely RE endings. But then those CALL CENTERS appeared. (Ach or ICH !)
Good evening all.
Bobbi- upsetting news for sure. Hope all goes well with your son.
Bobbi:
This relation is not to minimize Covid by any means... It has killed a lot of people. If your son is relatively healthy, it's manageable. Let me tell you what to expect [this is our family's experience]:
//DW tested negative 3 times. None of the tests 'hurt' and one doctor said if it doesn't then the test is invalid. Nevertheless, four doctors have told her "that's Covid."
For me and DW it started as "Do I have a fever?" but the thermometer said 97.1F
Then it was pure exhaustion. Just sleep, please let me sleep. Any talking evokes a very dry cough [sometimes you try to reassure yourself b/c you can "produce" from coughing but....]
Also, walking to the bathroom was a 'breathcatching' experience. There is a lot of tightness in the chest. I would have to stop and bend over to catch my breath (as if I just ran 4 blocks) just walking up the steps.
As you start to come out of it, you still have issues breathing but then your heartrate spikes to WTF?!? levels. Mine hit 104 beats per min when I was just sitting there. DW's spiked to 102. This goes on for about a day or two.
After the crazy heartbeats settle down (about 3 days) you start to feel like doing things but you're about 60% and still fuzzyness in thinking. For me it took another 4 days. DW is on day 6. Mind you, this is after 14 days from the first "am I hot?" I took me 3 full weeks to get back to "hey, lets go weed the garden!" DW is on day 23 and ~70% now.
I have to assume Eldest got it. She had a fever and slept for a day and then was done. Total 3 days of not feeling 100%. Youngest just slept like teenagers do but with an extra 3 hours on top. No other symptoms. [they are 21 & 18]
My recommendation (and, do note, I'm not a doctor - look to Ray-O for AMA advice) get one of those finger monitors [like these - ask someone in the know which is best] and monitor blood-oxygen levels. My understanding is if it falls below 60 call 911 [again - ask Ray-O].
God Speed to your son. -T
I forgot to mention - we never lost taste or smell. The worst part was thinking "is this in my head?" 'cuz you have zero gumption --none. Just doing my favorite thing (the xword) seemed like a chore. -T
Bobbi:
Somehow I missed the notice about your son being sick with Covid. I wish him and you the very best and a quick recovery.
As for the use of NOEL, I feel your pain because that is how I feel about HAIL MARY slung about in sports lingo. For me it's sacred and therefore profane when used like that, however I have read the history about it and I accept it as a compliment to Our Lady Mary that she is called upon for assistance in time of need, even if it's passing a ball.
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