Jeopardy alums.
Here is his gracious note to us:
Hey everybody! Thanks to Gary for the invitation to introduce myself in this wonderful community.
I'm originally from Winfield, IL where I started solving these puzzles in the Chicago Tribune with my grandma Natalie. Now I reside in Seattle, WA working in product marketing and spending leisure time on long bike rides or at the movies (when they're open). Some favorite first-time watches I've had during quarantine have been In a Lonely Place (1950), The Apartment (1960), Paper Moon (1973), Something Wild (1986), and in terms of new 2020 releases, First Cow (2020). All are highly recommended!
Delighted to have my first Saturday in the LAT, which along with my first Friday on 7/10 completes my "cycle" of having a puzzle run each day of the week! This is one of the first themeless puzzles I had ever created, and while I think my game has improved since this one I'm relatively pleased with how it turned out. I like entries with 3+ words, so I started with stair-stacking 34A and 37A and the puzzle came together from there. And while I didn't have "in England" in my clue for 38A I think it makes it more accurate.
Not much else to say about the rest of the puzzle, but I just want to say thanks to Rich/Patti & the editorial team and also reinforce how wonderful this community is. It's such a joy knowing that so many are not only enjoying something you've created, but also using it as a springboard to connect with others and provide laughter and support in such trying times. And I've heard Alex Trebek say that he solves the LAT every day, so it's also nice to know icons like him are potentially enjoying my work too (FYI, he smells great).
Have a good Saturday -- see you next time!
Kevin
I navigated around Kevin's fun puzzle but hit a single roadblock at the bottom where this physics teacher had no idea on YLEM or on matador art called TAUROMACHY (Kevin explains below). See my "angry" red square in the grid 😤! Okay, Kevin seems to be a great guy, I had fun and am not really angry but still...
1. Cajun staple: OKRA.
5. Rhyme $yndicate Records founder: ICE-T - Here 'ya go
9. Pooch living in 2062: ASTRO - George Jetson's pooch
14. Fast-food option: DRIVE THRU - Very popular these days
16. Fine fiddle: STRAD - As opposed to "fine fettle"
17. Asian cooking ingredient: SESAME OIL.
18. Sad: TEARY.
19. Red state verb: OWE and 26. Blue side: Abbr.: DEMS - The former represents being in debt and the latter refers to DEMOCRATS being referred to the blue side of politics
20. Boston song whose title lyric precedes "We're cookin' tonight": SMOKIN - The 1976 "B-side" of More Than A Feelin'. Here ya go
22. Preceding periods: EVES.
23. Goose that may nest on volcanic ash: NENE - Our fine-feathered Hawaiian crossword friend
25. Donkey Kong or King Kong: APE.
27. Sound that gets an exam proctor's attention: PSST
31. Jan. honoree: MLK.
33. Pop singer Brenda: LEE - She went on my turntable right after Roy Orbison and The Everly Brothers! Here she shows that 59. Moody genre: EMO music is nothing new
34. "Nevertheless ... ": BE THAT AS IT MAY
37. Dealer's question: ARE YOU IN OR OUT
38. Teaching where to go in England?: Puppy HOUSE TRAINING is preferred in England whereas HOUSE BREAKING is used more often on this side of the Atlantic. Fun clue, Kevin!
39. Wine label abbr.: ALC - The ALC(ohol) content of champagne is around 12.2% for example. SEC hung on a long time
40. Airport near OAK: SFO - A half-hour drive
41. "This comes __ surprise": AS NO.
42. De Matteo of "The Sopranos": DREA - Here, as Andrea La Cevera, she is being "taken for a ride" on The Sopranos 44. "!!!": OMG - They're going to kill me!
46. Judicial order: WRIT.
50. Bubble Up sister brand: DADS.
51. Wyndham-owned chain: RAMADA.
55. Kerfuffle: ADO.
56. "Don't get any __": IDEAS.
58. Spam-revealing aid?: CAN OPENER - Here you can see the key that served as the can opener for the metal strip around the can of Spam for K-Rations in WWII
60. Hitchcock menace: BIRDS - One reviewer said it shows that nature can dominate man despite all his technology. Sound familiar?
61. Erratic: HIT OR MISS.
62. Toothed whale's technique: SONAR - Echolocation also used by dolphins
63. Proto-matter of the universe: YLEM - New to me. Definition, pronunciation and etymology
64. Wary of: ONTO.
Down:
1. Indulges in to an extreme degree: OD'S ON - OverDoseS ON
2. Mardi Gras parade-organizing group: KREWE - The invitation to form the first KREWE - The Mystick KREWE of Comus in New Orleans 163 yrs ago
3. Up and at 'em: RISEN.
4. "Selma" director DuVernay: AVA - Has the crossword torch been passed from AVA Gardner?
5. Thing: ITEM.
6. End of an allergic reaction: CHOO - AH, I get it!
7. Alexander of "Living Single": ERIKA - ERIKA maintained that Living Single supplied the template for Friends which first aired a year later
8. 17th-century craze involving bulbs: TULIP MANIA - Often called the first investment "bubble". Prices for Dutch bulbs soared and then collapsed in 1637
9. Puerto Rico hrs.: AST - Atlantic Standard Time. They welcome in the new year two hours before I do
10. Medieval Times ride: STEED.
11. Commuter's convenience: TRAVEL MUG.
12. What's just not done, to some diners?: RARE MEAT - RARE MEAT would mean "not done" to me. You? Loved the clue, uh, eventually.
13. Quite a journey: ODYSSEY.
15. Mushroom ends?: EMS - MushrooM. Last week Joe Deeney gave us 53. Neon tips?: ENS - NeoN
21. '50s-'60s TV family: NELSON'S - My daughter's former mother-in-law calls us Ozzie and Harriet because her family was/is so dysfunctional
24. Pentathlon equipment: EPEES - I leave it to you to ascertain the five events where athletes have 29. Strove to achieve: SHOT FOR the gold medal
28. Lid problems: STYES.
30. Matador's art: TAUROMACHY - Kevin told me, "Hah, it happened to be in my word list because it was once used back in 1996. Definitely a unique word but glad that it's somewhat inferable with the Greek roots."
32. Beer order at a sushi bar: KIRIN - Here ya go!
34. "Nebraska" Best Actor nominee: BRUCE DERN - A bittersweet movie where I saw a lot of characters I recognized.
35. Padre's hermana: TIA - Dad's sister: Aunt in Spanish (correction)
36. Thus far: TO NOW.
37. Music service pioneer that merged with Slacker in 2017: AOL RADIO Here 'ya go
38. Staked a claim (on): HAD DIBS - These words left my lips often in my yute!
43. Adjective on taco truck menus: ASADA - Carne ASADA (meat grilled)
45. Outlook alternative: GMAIL - Write to me at gschlapfer@gmail.com if you want to add to/subtract from our map
47. Arrested: RAN IN 48. Latin clarifier: ID EST - i.e. got put in jail
49. Where the heart is: TORSO.
52. Penultimate prefix: ANTE - The ANTEchamber before you enter Tut's tomb
53. Dire prophecy: DOOM - If you disturb Tut's tomb...
54. National Poetry Mo.: APR.
I found the article to be a fascinating story about a man whose show is mentioned often here. The book includes info on his health issues and repeats the fact that he attempts the LA Times Crossword everyday.
I'll take Comments For Kevin for $800 Alex!
64 comments:
HG, I think that you will find that the clue and answer for 35d are both feminine, therefore the answer in English would be your fathers sister, i.e. your aunt.
Very tough puzzle, especially the crossing of ylem (what?) and tauromachy (what?). Talk about learning experiences. Despite it all, it was a fun puzzle and reveal. Thank you both, Kevin and Gary. FIW, btw.
Hi Y'all! OMG! Kevin is too clever by far. Lot of HIT OR MISS clues here for me. The SW was impossible for me without red-letter runs. No IDEAS from the clues on anything but BIRDS! TAUROMACHY & YLEM? Are those even real words? I was forced to red-letter every single letter. Thought it had to have an "O" for MACH_ to make sense. Aaargh!
Thank you, Gary, for making some sense of the whole thing. By the way, TIA is aunt. TIO is uncle. A=feminine.
DNK: DREA, ERIK, BRUCE DERN, or BUBBLE UP was a soft drink.
Don't use a CAN OPENER gadget for Spam. It has a pull-tab opener. Technically a CAN OPENER but not normal usage.
My heart was in my "chest" before TORSO. TORSO, TAURO.... Bully for us.
"Beef" before MEAT was RARE. No RARE chicken, please.
Good morning!
Yup, Gary, Bluehen, PK, the Salat course also did me in. I considered O, E, and A, but Y never occurred to me. Bzzzzzt. DNF. The rest of the puzzle was very gettable. (Is that a word?) Enjoyed the outing, but it's not a great start to this brand new month. Thanx, Kevin and Husker.
FIW because I thought TAUROMACHo sounded cool and didn’t know YLEM. As a kid in San Mateo, I watched SFO being built by filling in part of the bay.
Nope, not today !
I went with TAURO MACHo and oLEM.
"What is corrida ?" "No, the answer is TAUROMACHY" "And how much did TTP wager ?"
Not fooled by "Boston song" SMOKIN but had to think about the lyrics and get a couple of letters via perps to get it.
Husker Gary, thanks for the tour and links. Great review ! Much better than yesterday's ! BTW, your image of skirt steak on the grill is very appealing. It's been awhile since I've made it.
Kevin, congrats on completing the cycle ! Loved the puzzle today. I don't mind a FIW if I learn something totally new.
One question. Don't you agree that Gianorios Pizza is the best pizza, ever ? !!!
We ordered Thursday night. There's still a couple of pieces left in the fridge that are going to find a new resting place around lunchtime today.
Good morning Cornerites.
The blog of David Alfred Bywaters given to us in yesterday's CW, is extensive, and interesting. I have started with Crossword 001: "It's an Upset!" November 25, 2017. He has produced 141 CWs to date.
Ðave
Good Morning:
I thorough enjoyed Kevin’s note to Gary and 95% of the puzzle. The remaining 5% is in Thumper’s territory.
Thanks, Gary, for your sparkling summary.
Have a great day.
God Morning.
Thanks, Kevin, for a fine construction and lots of often doable Saturday crunch. Acrosses were killing me until I slowly sussed some of the Downs. My hand is also up for a FIW. And for the same reasons. I, too, thought TAUTOMACHo sounded fine and I had NO idea about YLEM.
Gary, Thank you for contacting Kevin to add to the pleasure of taking your Saturday tour. I found "Nebraska" most profound. Bruce Dern is a fine actor.
Have a sunny day and be well, everyone.
Fairly quick in places, slow in others. The long accrosses in the center were serious anchor points and provided lots of help. But in the end it was not to be. Originally had atom for YLEM, but _mail took that out. _mail had to be EMAIL, so in it went. I then parsed OME as Oh Me! so it stayed, with GMAIL never occurring to me. Then ILEM sounded familiar so I went with it. A google of Tauromachi revealed the Y ending. So, one google to correct a cell and one cell wrong. But enjoyed it nevertheless.
Along the way Bruce Dern also helped a great deal. Easy fill, odd movie, but worth seeing. It had a lot of scenes shot in both Plainview and Norfolk, NE, where I spent a lot of time in my younger years.
NW, NE, & SE I figured out easily. Then I moved west and I was DOOMed. TAUROMACH-E, not Y, and ELEM not YLEM-never heard of either. But the real SW was a disaster. LOOSE instead of HOUSE TRAINING. AOL MEDIA instead of RADIO. RADAR instead of SONAR. MY only correct fills in that area were IDEAS, SSR, & ASADA. DREA & DADS- no idea.
The cross of ERIKA & SMOKIN- two unknowns- could only have been a K.
20:27, but had to cheat for Ylem for the last square.
Really wanted "loo" somewhere in the answer for "Teaching where to go in England?".
Beth A. Tasimay? Never heard of her. Oh, be that as it may. Got it.
Good morning everyone.
Thanks Gary for a great intro. Worth the price of admission.
A stumper today. Had to take 7 red letters in help, including the dreaded YLEM and ……MACHY. Not knowing KREWE as the Louisianans do also didn't help. Stood by OKRA, though. I did get the long acrosses, the SW and NE w/o aid so I'm satisfied. Nice mis-direction on STYES - I had 'seals' first. Thanks Kevin for pushing us a bit further.
TULIPS - I have read that the Turks brought the TULIP into Europe during the wars of occupation in the 1500's.
Going out to social distance, now. Have a great day.
What everybody else said.
Even with red letters it was a slow FIW.
All of the long answers filled okay. Had a hard time understanding England qualification for HOUSE TRAINING. For me, you break a horse not a pet.
Thanks Kevin and for the expo Gary.
MO
I agree with Irish Miss that 95% of the puzzle was great, but that other 5%...
I really didn't like the YLEM/TAUROMACHY cross. Both words are so obscure, and I wouldn't have had them cross at a non-inferable letter like that. The Y could have easily been A, E, or O.
I made my own problem with putting AOC (a designation that a wine really is from a certain area in France) rather than ALC. Then I couldn't suss out AOLRADIO, which I'd never heard of but was guessable.
Hola!
Thank you, Gary, for a gleaming review and the interview with Kevin!
Of course, I did not know TAUROMACHY; I ended it in A which gave me ATOM. YLEM? I just assumed that GMAIT was something I had never heard of among many other modern terms. That is my new word for today, YLEM.
Otherwise the rest of the puzzle was straightforward for me. ALC gave me pause, but AOL is familiar so I left it.
I remember BRUCE DERN in Nebraska. It was a mildly interesting film.
KREWE is a word I know only from crosswords.
RE: the CAN OPENERS; the key was normally attached to the side of the can.
The WRIT/ID EST crossing was interesting.
Years ago I was on many a panel to judge high school poetry in APRil.
I consider this a satisfactory solve for a Saturday!
FLN: Jayce, my thumb nails are about 1/8 inch long and that is adequate to text.
Have a special day, everyone
Posting before reading write-up
Well, I see it wasn't eLEM but YLEM and TAUROMACHY????? I also had SFa. Toro with an A, eh?
I'd finished most of this in short order but I had 30 squares of white in the West and SW. I thought of Bates before BIRDS but I finally got DIBS(and DADS(Root beer I assume).
Relatively easy mostly but some dastardly clueing. Then again, I never have a clue as to whether an xword is hard or easy. I guess our science guys will explain YLEM. ELEM was dumb because no abbrev was indicated .
Now to read Gary's write-up.
WC
Lucina, I sure hope they're longer than that!
A true Saturday stumper from Kevin. Gary nicely 'splained what I didn't know.
I pretty much agree with Irish Miss and a few others about the puzzle.
I may be wrong, but didn't we have YLEM in another puzzle sometime within the last year or so. I've heard of it before, but wasn't sure of the spelling.
Needed Red Letters and alphabet runs to fill in the puzzle. Officially a DNF.
I hope everybody along the East Coast survives hurricane Isaias this week. Be safe and wear your masks.
It was a bit of torture today to finally FIW because of the one square that made HG see red. I went with TAUROMACHe -- is that like paper mache which is so popular in Mexico? -- and eLEM -- which seemed reasonable except that the clue didn't ask for an abbreviation. OK, fine. Learning moment. I was also perplexed by the modifier "in England" for 38 across, and interested to know that was not part of Kevin's clue.
BTW, my super strong and healthy brother, who survived COVID-19 with seemingly only the total and permanent loss of his sense of smell, now has Rheumatoid Arthritis. COVID-19 is not the flu. Mask up, and keep your distance!
I see that I am in very good company today. At first I thought I was overthinking and that it shouldn't be as difficult as I was finding it. But not true. I had Kiren before Kirin and sec before alc at 39A, then struggled mightily in the SW before sussing Drea and Dads (yummy root beer). Like everyone else here I had one wrong square. I chose "a" instead of "y" at 63A. My brain is aching right now. Time to watch some golf. Bruce Dern used to be one of my favorites until he started to get vulgar in later years. Does that mean I'm a prude? Hope not.
First of all I intend to appeal to the Cruciverbal circuit court. My recent alternative clue (end of a sternutation [sneeze]......CHOO) has been plagiarized. BETHATASITMAY my team of attorneys Dewey, Cheatem & Howe may ask cornerites to testify.
HITORMISS ...DNF. The SW corner was my major failing. Too may unknown crossed proper names.
WEES...TAUROMACHY...YLEM......wha? c'mon! (constructionist spending a lot of time on Google to produce that fill?). Agree with PK about the spam KEY.
(Don't get the red state verb? OWE? ...HOUSE TRAINING a puppy in England..huh?)
Among inkovers: omen/DOOM, are you...not/OUT, spear/SONAR....DW has driven a Honda (Odysey..Oddysee...) ODYSSEY! minivan for over 10 years and I never spell it koreckly..
Did the Ricky Nelson's father have a job? WWF?.....
Harriet protested Ozzie putting her in half ______ NELSONS.
Emma Peel's partner John_______ STEED
Voyager face _______ TRAVELMUG
Jabberwocky full of bull _____ TAUROMACHY
Nice weekend ...already August. Summer flying by
WEES! Some easy, some impossible, all enjoyable. Thanks Kevin, and thanks for letting us get to know you.
KREWE is a word I see almost everyday in some way or another. I no longer go to parades or balls but KREWEs are in the news or street signs all the time.
I’m always surprised and amused that OKRA is so closely associated with Cajun cooking in the public eye. Yes, it is used, but so is rice, which also has four letters. I’ve learned to accept that any clue which has Cajun in it, and a four square fill, must be OKRA.
Gary, thanks for setting us straight on the hard parts!
Hand up TAUROMACHO/OLEM which seemed just as good. FIW. Learning moment, I suppose. AOL RADIO, DREA, "Nebraska", "Bubble Up" unknowns made SW a bunch of WAGs. WEES. A good puzzle except for that angry square.
I know KREWE because of various Mardi Gras adventures I have had in New Orleans, Rio and California.
Here I was part of KREWE TON at Mardi Gras in San Luis Obispo, California
KREWE TON made for an amusing pun because it sounds like "Crouton". One of our KREWE leaders was French and TON means "tuna" in French. This is the first time I have ever shared these photos.
I will also add that I knew SMOKIN from Boston very well. In part because the Boston musicians were MIT students just before my era so their music was played a lot on campus when I was there.
I count myself among the fortunate today puzzle-wise (and in many other ways). Valerie figured out many of the answers and I knew most of the crunchy bits. Most fortuitous was that I had previously come across YLEM in a puzzle of two. I could not remember if it was that or Xlem but I guessed the Y and that put the finishing touch on TAUROMACHY. That was another word we had never heard before but the perps and a bit of taurus-related thinking paid off. Our semi SWAGS were confirmed upon reading Gary's wonderful write up.
The only clue/answer I really take issue with is ALC. A total punt. Now, if somehow,Kevin could have made ABV work then that would have been a far better answer for the clue. But, because we're talking fill here, it would also have been the tail wagging the dog.
Let's be careful out there.
TTP, from several days ago... Thanks for the computer lessons... all of them! Hehehehe. It seems to have worked. But mostly, thanks for saving me from those alien IT folks who tell me what to try and then say Call Back!
Sashayed through this smoothly until I met my downfall in the SW. I perped and wagged TAUROMACHY, yay! But, what the heck is YLEM? New to me. I had HOUSE TRAINING but didn't understanding it. Ooh! Yes, we call it housebreaking a dog.
I used far too many hints for the SW, so FIW.
Namomi,glad your brother survived. Some of the young people, especially, are taking far too many chances and are unconsciously spreading the virus, thus holding back places from reopening and further wrecking the economy.
Fine review, Gary,
FLN, TTP, your Dr. Young and Dr. Geezer was so funny.
From Yesterday:
NaomiZ, AnonT thank you for the comments about the Corpse Plant Flower and the GREENHOUSE GASPs! Yes, it smells like rotting flesh. I hope you got to see the cutaway view in one of the photos. They made that cut so you can see the interior of this most unique flower.
Good that the LINDBERGH discussion continued on a range of issues. I am usually not concerned with peoples' private lives. But when a public figure makes an impact on policy I care. And when that policy involves the most horrific war in recorded history I especially take note. Glad that others mostly agreed.
AnonPVX and Lemonade thank you for your interest and concern in our situation of being evicted from my home of 31 years. Leases and renters rights vary by state. In California the rights of renters are exactly the same with any lease, no matter what is the term. We have a "real" lease. If we had a longer term lease, it only would have delayed the eviction a bit. The result would be the same: A person was able to come in and in a short time (relative to 31 years) evict us from our home.
Again, thank you everyone for your concern about our situation. Thanks!
Ray'O, red state refers to being financially in the red, or owing. Thus, to "owe".
"The Apartment" Jack Lemmon? At first I thought of "The Arrangement" by ELIA Kazan. 1969 I read it. Deep.
I thought "Where to go in England" would have LOO in it. Puppy, got it. England was superfluous.
I enter CRU for wine label.
One of my conures has become an attack BIRD
Re. SFO/a. I was thinking of TIA(Tampa Int'l Airport) which originally was TPA(Tampa). Hence the A(it). But the A seems to be rare for Airport initials. Logan int'l Airport is simply BOS.
AHA, I see there's an old hip-hop guy called WC.
I LIU:"History and Etymology for tauromachy
Spanish tauromaquia, from Greek tauromachia, from taurus + -machia -machy". Duh, as in Taurus the bull.
WC
My gosh, Picard, what a lot of good times you have had. Re: Krewe Ton. In those days you were still riding your unicycle! Sorry about the bad times you are going through now. If you would accept a lurker in your SoCal get together, I actually live in Woodland Hills and would love to meet everyone, if we can do it in a safe way.
Oh, and WEES about this puzzle.
Kevin, you are pretty remarkable!
Becky
Hoo boy!
It seems most of us had issues with the SW, and I was no exception. As to why I knew YLEM I am cluess without a clue... but I did. My one bright spot down there. Otherwise, the names got me and I FIW.
I wanted SEC where ALC was supposed to be and TAUROMACHY only came because YLEM did. I had a vague remembery of YLEM but TAUROMACHY was a brand-new word for me.
Time for a nap. We had three grandchildren, ages seven, five, and three, for a “sleepover” last night and there was more “over” than “sleep.” And every toy we own (seems like “too many” just now) is spread throughout the house. Fun, but...
Stay well.
D-O:
I was referring to the TIPS of my thumbnails which, as I mentioned, I use to text and measure about 1/8 inch beyond my fingertip.
Picard:
Thank you for sharing those photos. I will repeat, your city has so much fun! And the costume designers are wickedly clever.
When I filled (wrongly) TAUROMACHA I was thinking it might be Spanish but, alas, it lacked the i.
I thought the clue for OWE was clever.
Thanks, Kevin, for a great challenge. Although I FIW, due to YLEM and TAUROMACHY, I learned new stuff... and hope I can retain it!
Picard, you remind me of Zelig. I think you have been EVERYWHERE, with photos to document your adventures. I enjoy looking at them
Gary, I loved the Alex Trebec interview and plan to get the book. We never miss Jeopardy. Since Alex does our puzzles, maybe we’ll see YLEM as one of the answers soon.
I used to love using the little key to open a can of Spam.
Well...
I was all set to carp about 30D and 63A, but as it turns out, everyone already did.
So perhaps Mr. Salat should acquaint himself with the Crossword term “NATICK” and resolve to never let that happen again.
And I’m out.
Mask up, Stay Safe.
Too many proper names. Shows a total lack of creativity. This belongs in the TV guide.
White rabbit, white rabbit
Is there any among us whoever heard of the word TAUROMACHY ? I was lucky recalling YLEM maybe because of its last three letters, from lots of science fiction in my life.
When I blogged Kevin's July 10 puzzle, I commented he was just a Saturday away from the cycle. I am impressed he did in less than a month.
I started this a few hours ago but got distracted by the hurricane coverage on Channel 10.
I did not know LIVING SINGLE or the actress ERIKA ALEXANDER but with Queen Latifah in the show and Erika's impressive history, I am sorry I missed it.
Gary your links and success in getting insight from constructors are great. Thank you. And thank you, Kevin.
Musings
-The state of Nebraska’s close connection to Jeopardy
-Picard/lease – People who lived in trailer courts that used to be on the edge of town are now being evicted from land they leased. Trailer park residents never own the land under their unit.
-I don’t have the special sort of chutzpah that makes me think I will never be stumped on a cwd.
-It takes some effort to find them but I have never been treated rudely by constructors who I contact for comment, It appears the great people on our blog seem to also like the “inside baseball” information that is gleaned
-p.s. My lovely bride left the house with me for the first time in 11 days and she was elated! We got in a snafu from being tested two weeks ago. We had to to call to discover that there was no record of our being tested. We’re asymptomatic but go in again on Monday.
-p.p.s. My daughter just called and said she DOES NOT want me subbing this year.
Ooh, dat Wascally Wabbit!
Good one today! Not too easy, not too chewy, but ju-ust right.
Thanks, Mr. Salat, for a neat Saturday workout.
Well, I admit I cheated after getting the first 75%, but that's only because my patience ran thin.
It was me, not you. Never you, Kev...
Too bad you didn't give us any diagonals to play with.
~ OMK
Just to answer Lemonade.
Yes, I have heard of tauromachy. Though not often.
YLEM?
Really?
Thanks, Husker, for teaching us something about it.
I would have pronounced it as "Why-lem," so you have saved me from a huge embarrassment--Huge!--if the term should ever have arisen in my social life.
Something, I shudder to think, on the level of when I mispronounced "exegesis" once at a faculty meeting.
BRrrr.
~ OMK
OMK, in college I once said venereal equinox instead of vernal equinox.
That "Y" got me, too.
Having the "C" from BRUCE DERN prompted me to answer SEC for the wine label. ALC?
So it wasn't WTF. It was OMG.
There is a delicious beer-like beverage called "Not Your Father's Root Beer." Not your DAD'S, get it? Nyuck nyuck.
I see Mr. Salat's heart is in his TORSO, not in his CHEST.
I learned it was ERIKA Alexander, not JASON Alexander.
I think I might maybe perhaps remember YLEM for some future puzzle.
Stay away from unmasked persons.
Two errors. The usual TAUROMACHY/YLEM and AOLauDIO seemed reasonable. Duds did seem to be an unusual name for a soda, but DaEA could be just another unusual name.
>> Roy
HG ~ That is downright blush-making.
Puts me in mind of "What was your MOST EMBARRASSING moment?"
I am stuck between two possibilities--both occurring when I was an undergrad.
#1 I arrived late to a surprise birthday party.
Because of the lateness of the hour, I assumed the surprise had already been sprung, so I thought it was "cute" to pretend ignorance and to ask the birthday girl out loud, in front of several friends, "So, just WHO are we surprising anyway?"*
Needless to say, the general silence that followed told me I had just sprung it.
#2 At a casual lunch with several friends, a girl I had just met pulled out a cigarette. I was chatting her up, so, like the gentleman I was, I reached into my pocket to pull out a box of matches.
I wasn't looking at it as I started to open it to offer her a light.
She had gone silent & was staring at my hand.
So I switched my eyes from hers and focused instead on the box of condoms I was offering her.
~ OMK
____________
* I know, I should have said "WHOM."
Shank @ 12:30
Sometimes my stoopidity even shocks me. No one but yours truly probably thought Red State was a violation of the "no politics rule" and was confused by the answer. Thanks for the headsup.
OMK and HG, in college Italian class I once said "i miei genitali" instead of "i miei genitori (my parents)." The T.A., a very nice young woman (although she seemed "older" to me at the time), laughed heartily and that did help ease the embarrassment.
Puzzling thoughts:
Considering this puzzle’s “Satyrday” difficulty, I fairly breezed thru the NW, MW, NE, Atlantic Seaboard... and then I got to the SW. And I “lived” there; literally and figuratively ... until I couldn’t wait any longer, and googled “De Matteo of The Sopranos” ... that hint got me the foothold I needed to seal the deal. So I guess, technically, I FWC’s.
Did a complete alphabet run to get the OWE/KREWE cross.
Wrote over RARIN/RISEN; JASON/ERIKA; TRAY TABLE/TRAVEL MUG; AS YET/TO NOW.
WEES about the TAUROMACHY/YLEM cross ... FTR, I’ve been dabbling with doing some crossword construction of my own, and even with the plethora of resources for filling in blank letter spaces, sometimes you come up with weird results. I agree that in the case of THIS particular cross, one of the words/acronyms should have been something relatively familiar.
AOC would’ve been a good guess at 39a; SEC is not an abbr.
HOUSE TRAINING —> a bit obscure; I got the “RAINING” part, before HOUSE filled. I was trying to squeeze a LOO in there ...
Overall, though, I’d say “Salut” to Salat ... being the wine guy that I am ... or is it “wise guy”?!
Moe-ku du puzzle:
When asking girl friend
About her belly button:
“ARE YOU IN OR OUT”?
OMK / HG regarding embarrassing moments ... when I read yours both, the first thing that came to mind, was when I was in Jr. HS. 7th grade, probably. It was history class, I think. We were studying about various religions and their traditions ... during the slide show that the teacher presented, the word “circumcision” came up as a ritual for Hebrew boys ... having never heard this term, of course I raised my hand to ask the young, female teacher, “what is a circumcision?” Several giggles emerged from the girls in the class ... I think the teacher told me to “ask my parents” ...
Mal man @ 4:08 pm
I mentioned once before that non Italian speakers particularly Americans don't realize the importance of accentuating double consonents. The example my italian friends love to cite....
Quanti anni ha?..."how old are you?
Quanti ani ha?... "how many anuses do you have.
If you don't accentate the double nn instead of asking the first question you're asking the second.
I hate to say it Ray, but these days the second question seems to be entirely germane.
Germane? No Italian. 🤣
Ray O' very good advice.
Avg Joe - LOL. I may have to start changing the picture Avatar to suit the post. Very good idea.
BTW, does anyone else here tackle the Saturday Stumper -or attempt to?
I managed to finish and made a lucky guess with the “y”. Never heard of either word, but “tauromachY” just seemed right for some reason. 48 minutes of sometimes fun and sometimes groans, but, overall entertaining. Thanx Kevin! And thanx HG for the great write-up. I hafta print it and do it pen-on-paper, which is harder (no red letters!). Love reading everyone’s comments.
Mr, Salat had to dig deep for words like "Tauromachy" and ylem, I have never hear of either word. But who am I to question a Jeopardy winner?
Good evening, folks. thank you, Kevin Salat, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Husker Gary, for a fine review.
This was one tough Saturday.
Thank you perps for HOUSE TRAINING.
TAURO MACHY and YLEM? Hmm.
Liked CHOO at 6D. Good one.
Never heard the word KREWE in this context. Now I know. But, will I remember?
Brenda LEE was the best. Not sure if she is alive still or not. I hope so.
Liked HAD DIBS. Term I have used forever.
Anyhow, going to run. I never logged in yesterday. Did the puzzle, but went to bed (on the floor).
See you tomorrow. Sunday is my favorite puzzle.
Abejo
( )
What's all the flap on wine label abbr.?
My Almaden container says: ALC. 12.5% BY VOL.
____________________________________________________
Jayce: Hand up for Jason before ERIKA.
I enjoyed the puzzle - still not back home yet - but most everything at son & DIL's are in the correct room if not put away yet, so we will leave them early tomorrow morning in good stead! So I took a few minutes to do the puzzle online - which helped (with red letters on) to run the alphabet to get the "Y" in the challenging cross at the bottom!
BRUCE DERN had a small role in last year's movie "The Peanut Butter Falcon" - I would highly recommend it. He has a niche in his later years playing crusty old guys.
Thanks HG and congrats Kevin for your run through the week!
A friend of mine said he'd come from a terrific party. The whores davores were delicious.
WEES! Thanks Kevin and Gary!
Well, I was having such a great week. I completely blew today’s puzzle, though. NO! I finally got my chain yanked. Guess I was getting too full of myself!
Anyway, I started off well enough at the top and really had most everything in correctly down to PSST, MLK, and LEE. After that, the train jumped the tracks. I just couldn’t suss the three long ones in the middle, and I couldn’t get enough help from the Downs. AND THEN! AND THEN! When I finally GOT them, all I could say was, “YOU DUMMY!” (Well, NOT 38A --- Never heard that one.)
Not complaining, though. I was quite happy that I knew KREWE, which confirmed OKRA (either fried or stewed with tomatoes and onions, please), so I was off to a good start. Galveston claims the third-largest Mardi Gras parade in the US, after New Orleans (of course), and I guess St. Louis??? Who knew? We'll start hearing about all the different KREWEs again, starting right after New Years.
Tomorrow….
Hi All!
Late to the party - It's our penultimate EVEning with Eldest and we've been playing all day... Tied tomato plants, stocked her dorm food-box, got her car serviced & inspected, made pizzelles (three sets of hands make light work), and started the turkey brining for Faux-giving (since she won't be home for Thanksgiving, we're doing it up, fixin's & all, tomorrow).
Tonight, it was Greek for dinner.
Thanks Kevin for a fine puzzle. I DNF'd it (YLEM?) but had fun trying.
OMG - LOL that "bad"(?) IDEAS tweet, HG. Great (and informative [see: YLEM]) expo. Thanks for the few "PSST what's 42a? 62a?" from your grid for extra play.
Also, you reaching out to our Saturday constructors (and they reply!) is much appreciated. //Oh, and loved the Boston video you chose.
WOs: Eras b/f EVES, ARE YOU IN OR not; atom (Hi AveJoe!) b/f YAC (Yet Another Cheat).
ESPs: Oh, I'm sure. :-) BRUCE DERN and that TAUROMthing are certainly two.
Fav: HAD DIBS ON in the SW (see how it hooks right into S-ON-ar?)
Runner-up: I knew Boston's SMOKIN' - no perps required, TTP :-)
//Red | Blue / OWE | DEMS misdirection was cute.
Other sparkle: Spam clue had me in GMAIL-land UBE* for too long, clue for HOUSE TRAINING, KREWE (My buddy is on Krewe of Bacchus. I've been a few times as his guest #Oy!).
Diner c/a was near evil :-) //I was over at Mel's Place way too long...
Oc4 - Your memory is better than mine. Joe Kidd gave us YLEM in 2017 and I didn't know it then either -- (even after reading mb's link). :-:
Picard - Yep, I knew Boston's guitarist was MIT grad. EE, IIRC. Wound his own pickups.
//Hey, my memory isn't that bad! Though, Tom Scholz was a MechE. [Wiki].
Nice KREEWton [lol!] pics.
HG & OMK - #1 - no way I can top the condom-lighter story...
A buddy told me in the elevator, "-T, It's deprecate, not depreciate." I'd said "won't be in the [programming] language next version" wrong for years. #Dyslexia #GoodFriends
Abejo - nice to see you in fine STRAD(?) [yes, that fooled me for a bit]. Want to kick back with me and a few Art Car IPAs? :-) [7.1 ALC by Vol].
Cheers! -T
*Unsolicited Bulk Email
I had OlE as in Grand Old Party for "Red" State verb. Forgetting that it was "Verb". Thought I was so smart grok'ing the three letter descriptor of Republican party.
Speaking of politics I like Tom Stolz quote.
WC
It's always nice when the whore devores are delicious.
Oh, you men make me laugh!
I couldn't think of another word for the way he pronounced "Hors"(d'oeuvres).
I got grief for years after our ninth grade outing at a French restaurant when I referred to to the Harry Kotts Vurts*.
WC
* As in Les haricots verts.
Post a Comment