Saturday Themeless by Matthew Sewell
Hello Gary,
Thanks for inviting me to send some comments on this puzzle. My chief memory of its construction is of torturing myself over the SE; looking at my files, I see six different versions of that section (and those are just the ones I felt worth saving for consideration), each with its own balance of pros and cons. In a perverse way, that sifting process -- going through scores of options to find the one that's just marginally better than the rest -- is a part of the craft that I really enjoy. Or at least I figure I *must* enjoy it, because I keep doing it! The puzzles I most admire are the ones where you can tell that the constructor never settled for 'good enough,' and that's what I strive for in my own. I hope solvers enjoy this one.
I'm grateful to Rich and the editing team for their improvements. Wish I'd thought of that clue for 56 Across!
Matt
Matt and I were on the same wavelength as I kept up a very good 61. Clip: PACE and finished in record time for a Saturday.
1. From __: faintly: AFAR.
5. Demanding quality: RIGOR - Talk about requiring RIGOR
10. Yamaha's Grizzly and Kodiak, briefly: ATVS - Here's a $10,000 Grizzly
14. Francis used a Jeep Wrangler as one in 2015: POPE MOBILE.
16. Creep up on: NEAR.
17. Distortion for a cause: PROPAGANDA - Goebbels was a master at it
19. Cloud-based access provider?: ST PETER - In the song Sixteen Tons Tennessee Ernie Ford sang, "SAINT PETER doncha call me cause I can't go. I owe my soul to the company store"
20. Silver Spring, Md., is part of it: DC AREA - It's a half-hour drive north of the Washington Monument
22. Places to learn perspective: ART SCHOOLS - I remember my art teacher showing how Brunelleschi made a drawing of the Dumo in Florence with perspective
25. "Given what we know ... ": AS IT IS.
28. Likely to carry: LOUD
28. Likely to carry: LOUD
29. Sanctions: OKS - Sanctions is a contronym because it can also mean to not OK
32. Its co-founder said, "I do get disappointed that so many members spend so much time solving puzzles": MENSA - Cool clue
33. French toast word: SANTE.
34. Dandy: FOP.
35. Irregular, as a job: ODD - ODD Job was Auric Goldfinger's servant
35. Irregular, as a job: ODD - ODD Job was Auric Goldfinger's servant
36. Most provocative: RACIEST.
38. Unsettle: JAR.
39. Backpacker's chain: REI - Recreational Equipment Incorporated will sell you this Rooftop Sparrow for 3,000 40. Bucks: CLAMS
43. Often eponymous period: ERA - Baseball had a "Dead Ball ERA" from 1900 - 1919 where the ball was much softer and one ball lasted the whole game. Then along came this guy named Ruth...
44. Engage: HIRE.
45. Feign interest in: PLAY AT - Joann watching TV golf with me
46. Pick-up artists?: NEAT FREAKS - Oscar got so mad at NEAT FREAK Felix he threw his pasta against the wall
49. Dish from Valencian for "frying pan": PAELLA Here ya go!
51. To whom Brando said, "I coulda been a contender": STEIGER - Rod
55. Longtime morning host: RIPA.
56. One of several coming out together: LITTER MATE - How's this for a box 'o cute?
59. Fix, in a way: EDIT.
60. Arch supports: INNER SOLES - These $9 Wal~Mart INNER SOLES got rid of my plantar fasciitis just as well as the $50 pair a physical therapy place sold me
62. Gets in the game: ANTES - Wednesday ANTE was clued as "Stud fee"
63. Sprawling: VAST - Boeing's assembly plant north of Seattle is the largest building on Earth. Workers use bicycles to get around
Down:
1. Cell lineup: APPS - I have a great, free golf APP on my iPhone cell
2. Stronghold: FORT.
3. Per: A POP - Mother-in-law's Eliquis costs $500 A POP. She has to pay for the first scrip every January
4. Wins again: REPEATS - Not so for the KC Chiefs
5. Writer's resource: ROGETS - Really, you can't think of another adjective for this overworked word?
6. Bridge beams: I-BARS - A condensed I-BEAM
7. Negroni need: GIN and...
8. Worn out: OLD.
9. Screen displays: READOUTS - When the service module on Apollo 13 blew up 200,000 miles from Earth, the NASA flight controllers couldn't believe their READOUTS showing triple failures
10. Year's record: ANNAL - Tom Brady, shown here with 11. Emotional oxymoron: TEARS OF JOY, will go down in the ANNALs of football history as the Greatest Of All Time.
12. Pottery wheel product: VASE - Name this movie (*answer below)
13. Mex. title: SRTA.
15. Like Amazonian society: MATRIARCHAL - China's last surviving MATRIARCHAL society
23. Certain horse race: CLAIMER - Races for second line horses
24. Tweaks: HONES - What a blogger does before they post
25. It may lead to un matrimonio: AMORE - Italian for matrimony. "Quando la luna incontra i tuoi occhi come un grande pezzo di pizza, questo è AMORE" (When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's AMORE)
26. Ritual Jewish feast: SEDER - A common feast for us crossworders to fill in
27. The Mahabharata, e.g.: INDIAN EPIC - It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes and their successors. Oh, that Mahabharata!
31. Sail-extending pole: SPRIT.
33. Red Baron attire, Snoopy-style: SCARF.
37. Carrier to Malta: ALITALIA.
37. Carrier to Malta: ALITALIA.
42. 1994 sci-fi memoir: I ASIMOV - A clever play on his first initial
48. Cosmetic counter name: ESTEE.
49. Make ready: PREP - Lee Marvin's famous scene as Kid Shelleen
50. Musical with the song "Another Pyramid": AIDA - Here ya go!
52. Bash: GALA.
53. Seine summers: ETES - Any guesses on what classic song would have this first line in French: L'ETE et la vie est facile? **Answer below
53. Seine summers: ETES - Any guesses on what classic song would have this first line in French: L'ETE et la vie est facile? **Answer below
54. Catch one's breath: REST.
57. Overnight spot: INN.
58. March Madness network: TNT - The NCAA knows that betting on the March Madness basketball tournament is essentially illegal but they love how it drives the TV ratings.
58. March Madness network: TNT - The NCAA knows that betting on the March Madness basketball tournament is essentially illegal but they love how it drives the TV ratings.
* Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze are the potters in the movie Ghost
** Summer time and the living is easy
53 comments:
After losing so many posts I learned to compose in Docs(on Android). I have a doc for each day and when the week rolls around I delete the prior and compose anew.
Added bonus' I get to reread the previous week's post. C-Moe, if you're a Stooges fan didn't they have an episode where the word ABACONDA was repeated. Or was that Marx Bros?
Ok. Today's xword. So much white, how ever will I fill it. Box by box. PROPAGANDA was ten perps, AHA!!!
Monsieur Francais tried to fit salut into the toast. Finally, "A votre SANTE" landed. Also, fortunately, there was HF* to be found, especially at the start in NW(APOS,FOET,AFAR). Then it lay fallow for awhile.
Bucks=CLAMS??? It just came to me, 100 bucks, a 100 CLAMS
Time to get to sleep
WC
*HF: Hanging Fruit
He tried to use RIGOR to fight PROPAGANDA.
It did as much good as talking to a banana!
Plain as black and white,
His argument was right,
But they listened to him as if he were a panda!
ASIMOV was a purveyor of limericks.
In word-PLAY and puns he got kicks!
He once told some men, a
Joke about MENSA,
But Mensans decried it wasn't politic!
{A-, A-.}
Well, that's 18 minutes and 31 seconds I'll never get back :>) FIR w/ no help. Practice makes perfect.
Initial entries of ARTStudios, TEARjerker and sexIEST were easily corrected when the perps started disputing.
Mahabharata - No idea but didn't need to know as it virtually perped in.
Ditto, Negroni. No idea. So it's a mixed drink.
Waseeley should feel right at home with a couple of entries in the NE.
Amazonian MATRIARCHAL society ? It's all Greek to me.
Salud, Matthew. À votre santé ! Of the 15 or so crosswords I've done this week, this was easily the best.
Irish Miss, thanks for the chuckle, but I'm not all that young.
Good morning!
EPIR looked really weird. Oh, it's PACE, not PARE. Done! When comparing stereo speakers it's a proven fact that people will prefer the LOUDer ones. Beat ya by several minutes, TTP. Really enjoyed it, Matthew. Excellent expo, Husker, though I don't think it was Cole Porter.
Minor not with 23D, the race is a "claiming race", the horse is the "claimer".
D-O, yep. Like the Old West, there's always somebody faster.
Like HG - this was faster than some Saturdays - I think it was because the long fills came first to open up the answers for the shorter fill - like MATRIARCHAL and CODETALKERS!
I had heard of insoles but not INNER SOLES too much!
I don't really get why PATER - a name for a dad- was linked with Derby, I got it right but I've mostly heard it with PATER Noster - Latin for the Lord's prayer or the "Our Father".
I thought the memoir title Isaac Asimov picked - I.ASIMOV was clever as it was similar to one of his most famous books: I, Robot.
Thanks Gary and Matt!
I looked it up --
Borrowed from Italian negroni, named after count Camillo Negroni, who asked for its creation.
negroni (plural negronis)
A cocktail consisting of gin, Campari and vermouth.
TTP, remember Irving? He was the 142nd fastest gun in the west.
Wow! I had to work hard to scratch this one out. Very satisfying challenge, beautifully clued. My PhD might have helped me, but I doubt it. My age definitely helped me remember On the Waterfront.
I was able to finish this one in just under 10 minutes, which is fast for me for a Saturday.
I really enjoyed this puzzle, despite not knowing many clues/answers (e.g., Indian Epic, sprit, Paters, Steigers, Alitalia), as there didn't seem to be a weak link. Interesting to see raciest crossing the claimer race.
This is a great example of why I prefer themeless puzzles.
Thanks Owen.
D-O, I had never heard that before. Funny. I also listened to "The Son of Irving" and then read the Wikipedia page on him.
Well today I managed to get a FIR in just one sitting. What fun! Thanks Matthew, for a puzzle that had some twists and for your interesting comments to Husker Gary. I circled around the puzzle ending up in the center and had several "aha" moments. Thanks, Gary, for confirming my answers.
OwenKL, I especially liked your first offering today, thanks. Inanehiker, I understood PATER as a British (Derby) expression for father, seen on TV and in books, usually used by young men.
Enjoy your Saturday everyone. The days fly by!
Husker: I am always impressed with your informative write-up & links.
Good job!
Cheers!
Good Puzzle and good clues. I did have to look up the word MAHABHARAT as I didn't know that word. All in all, fun and doable. Not my best time (20:38), but respectable.
Going to be 50º and Sunny here in Chicago.Think I'll ride over to Northwestern Univ. Beach today.
Enjoy your Saturday!
Good Morning:
I’m surprised that several of you found this a quick solve as it took me a whisker under 30 minutes. After the first pass, I thought I was looking at a DNF but I chipped away here and there and, eventually, everything fell into place. I went with Patriarchal first but perps corrected that. As always, the long fill provides the necessary toeholds and this was certainly the case today. I loved the clue for St. Peter and St. Peter crossing Pope Mobile. Also liked Apps/A Pop and Odd/Old.
Thanks, Matthew, for a challenging mental workout and thanks, HG, for the always entertaining and enlightening summary. Today’s favorite visuals were the cute kitties and that delicious looking Paella. Learning moment for me was that Aioli is a French concoction, not Italian.
After I posted yesterday, I experienced intermittent chills, mild headache, and fatigue. My arm is not quite as sore today, but it’s swollen and there is a rash around the injection site. Nothing terrible and a small price to pay for the protection.
ATLGranny, how is your knee? Have you had the surgery yet? Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
FLN
Lemony, I hope you survived yesterday’s travails and can enjoy a pleasant weekend.
Have a great day.
Came close to throwing the pen across.the room. 😳....(Oops sorry dear!). If there was ever a puzzle harder than a Saturday this was it
I inkovered kanga/KOALA, plays/ ANTES, pare/PACE. I could picture the scene with Rod STEIGER but not his name. Took a chance on MATRIlineal Amazon society figuring the ladies not the rain forest. The mother part was at least correct. Derby dads as Latin PATERS?
CLAIMER for horse race..unknown...Is the Kentucky Derby the RACIEST place in the states?
vahse or vayce...depends on how much it costs. Likely to carry, have in stock?..a clever misdirection of LOUD sound. Sanction (a contronym, as HG points out, like cleave) using its positive rather than negative meaning OKD. INDIANEPIC: Vid will hopefully expound ..the final fill for a surprising Saturn's day FIR.
INNERSOLES? A discard from Malman's recent icthyological idioms? Lead to un matrimonio? (una gravidanza, a pregnancy, wouldn't fit). A Shrink teaching our psychiatry elective once said; no such thing as TEARS OF JOY. 😥😢
Trashing companion...... LITTERMATE
Obsessive to the extreme, _____ retentive....ANNAL
Disbelieves again or temporary forts....READOUTS
Father goose....PROPAGANDA
"The ____ red glare"....ROGETS (often mispronounced "Roe -Zhay'")
Having a nice sunny last minute end of February thaw.. In fact I thaw a lot of snow melting today. ⛄ poor Frosty!
Thanks for comments by Mr. Sewell.
Very good Saturday puzzle, just the right level of challenge, and some great clues. SW held me up a bit, kept thinking IMUS as the morning host, but it didn’t fit.
Not to add any more verbal (scriptural) diarrhea to my first post. H.Gary, your translation would be when the moon meets your eyes like a big piece of pizza
Might I proffer
😄 🇮🇹
My translation won't come through...probably can't be edited...oh well
I like Saturday puzzles- no themes or gimmicks. FIR in the dead center finally figuring out HONES, LOUD, and perping the unknown SANTE.
PROPAGANDA- lots of news organizations are just as good as Goebbels. Not much news, just one-sided opinions.
REI- $3,000 to sleep on your car? I'll pass. Doesn't look too comfortable.
I had a GIN & Tonic last night but 'Negroni' is a drink I've never heard before.
MATRIARCHAL- took a WAG and got it.
INDIAN EPIC- all perps
PATERS- new word for me
SANTE- wanted SALUT but the perps wouldn't allow. Another new one.
CLAMS- in South LA a lot of people used to refer to $100 bills as Croakers. SIMOLEONS for dollars.
Good morning everyone.
Got 'er done w/o error; FIR. Very well clued and choice of fill made this a JOY to work on. Had 'salut' before SANTE, and ……STUDIOS before ……SCHOOLS. Came out well for a Saturday.
A big BZ to Matt for a well-crafted puzzle.
ANTES - Near Nantes, FR.? There is one in Portugal.
NEGRONI : gin, Campari, and vermouth. (per OKL above). That'll knock you on your keister. BTW, I love Campari.
22a Perspectives - I learnt them in Engineering Drawing class.
Ray-O gave you the weather report for our AREA so I will sign off here.
Tschüüß
Hola!
Saturday satisfaction today! Thank you, Matthew and Gary! It's a very nice supplement that you invite the constructors to comment, Gary. It adds one more dimension to the solve.
My solve is not nearly as fast as some of you but I enjoy the leisurely stroll while mulling the possible answers in my head. And I am proud to say that the CODE TALKERS are from my state. Often we don't have much for which to gloat.
I love PAELLA! It is a treat when visiting Spain.
One of my jobs in the convent was writing the ANNALS for the year. Some years were uneventful and others citing numerous fateful events.
Yes, Gary, I know that scene from Ghost!
And speaking of movies, last night I saw a good one on Netflix. It is called The Dig and stars Ralph Fiennes as Basil Brown, a real person.
It surprised me to see both POPE MOBILE and ST. PETER!
I hope you all experience JOY this last week of February!
Wow this was really, really, really hard. But, I eventually solved everything after putting it down and coming back to it multiple times.
My favorite answers: Pope Mobile, MENSA, CLAMS, ST. PETER (LOL!!!)
Last word to fill: LOUD (crossing with cLaimers and readoUts). Once it perped I was like, Oh, I get it!
Totally guessed STEIGER. ROD? (Name came to me from my childhood!)
BTW..the SE corner was what actually helped me a lot as I got those solidly, then figured it was I ASIMOV (Like I TINA?). Never read it. But I do remember hearing once he kept 5 typewriters with a story on each one, and would type on one until he got stuck and then move on to the next one!
Nice way to start this Saturday. A couple of answers were all perps. The Mahabarata clue led to one of them but the Indian part came pretty quickly and that helped. INNER SOLES provided a similar experience. The clue at 19 Across makes the All-time list. Any hands up at 32 Across?
This has to be (for me) one of the hardest Saturday
Puzzles I have ever attempted.
I think I was thwarted at every clue in some way or another...
Pater?
I even got sidetracked thinking that with all these
Long answers, maybe, just maybe there was a helpful theme somewhere...
Anywho, I traveled far, and wide, in search of
what was this constructors motive?
Well, I got the solve, despite some tough clueing.
Derby Dads...I’m guessing the author is referring to the town of Derby, rather than a horse race, as no horse is referred to the Pater of another, it’s Sire for horses.
Really, I was almost a “pen thrower” as well. This was one of the toughest grids, IMHO.
3 days since the shot, no more soreness or anything else.
Stay safe.
Does staring at a blank puzzle for oh, maybe an hour, make it easier? Hard and extremely unpleasant. This one is just caught up in its own imagined cleverness.I found almost every part of this solve grueling.There's a BIG difference between challenging and willfully obtuse.
I call SILVER SPRING my home town because I graduated high school there.
Here are photos of SILVER SPRING when I was back for my DC AREA high school reunion with friends in 2006.
It was a good place to grow up for a kid without much money. I could ride my bike to nature and to DC.
I got to see the POPE in the POPE MOBILE when he came to Boston in 1979. He looked me right in the eye and waved as he passed.
Husker Gary I have been in that VAST Boeing building. Anyone else?
Learning moments: NEGRONI, CERTAIN HORSE RACE, MAHABHARATA. FIR.
I googled twice, it took me an hour and a half! I still love Saturday crossword puzzles.
Becky
Loved it. I hesitated 'way too long to put VAST at 63A because I kept asking myself: "Who in the world would end a long down entry (42D) with the letter V??? Duh! Thanks for a great time!
I struggled as well and was surprised to see so many others found it easy.
I believe SALUT is French and means hello.
SALUD is Spanish and is a toast.
Thank you Matt for a very challenging puzzle (well it IS Saturday!). And thank you Gary for masterfully unpuzzling it! And thank you to Dw for bailing me out when I was dying of thirst in the SW (*more on that later).
This puzzle had so much "interesting" (obscure?) fill and so much deceptive cluing that I was forced to use my "Bull in a China Shop" strategy: wander around trying out stuff and see what breaks.
I didn't get anywhere at first in the NW and had to move on, although I should not have glossed over 14A and 17A, easy fills.
The first clue that didn't break was 12D "VASE", down from 12A SUVS (note wrong ans at this point). Gary's use of the movie "GHOST" was a good illustration. But don't buy the film's PR that Moore learned to throw pots to do the film, as it takes at least 2 years of daily practice to learn to make a decent VASE.
Some answers for masterpieces of indirection:
19A ST PETER.
60A LITTER-MATE
42D I.ASIMOV was a very CLEVER guy and probably the most prolific writer of the 20th century.
And this is as good a place as any for a CSO to Picard who grew up in 20A. I must have passed his abode dozens of times on my way to the DC AREA, little knowing that our paths would CROSS many years later.
* Anyway, after slogging my way through the desert, I had cornered the last few answers in the SW and my swags started to catch up with me. Earlier I had prided myself on filling INDIAN SAGA for 27D (after earlier abandoning pseudo "RIG VEDANTA" because it was OK to cross with 35A GIG). At this point I'm trying to figure out VALENCIAN for "frying pan" and cram it into "_ _ S _ LA" and Dw, who was solving today's JUMBLE ("BANNED THE BAND"), leans over and casually says "49A" should be "PAELLA". I replaced SAGA with EPIC, and suddenly the last few chinks all fell into place.
So Dw and I FIR.
TTP @7:40AM A compelling example of Social Darwinism (can't vouch for the non-Social kinds!).
Cheers,
Bill
** 53D "Summertime". Gershwin's PORGY AND BESS.
Anonymous @ 12:28
I am glad that you attempted the puzzle for almost an hour,
And I am sorry to hear that you did not have any "aha" moments.
Even with a brutally difficult puzzle, I at least get an aha moment
When "given" the answer to something I have puzzled over,
Even if I did not figure it out myself.
Everything else is a learning moment....
Looking forward to your review of a p"easy to day in June...
At the risk of being deleted,
Today is the anniversary of the Reichstag fire,
(Political consequences Edit)
The day after the fire, at Hitler's request, President Hindenburg signed the Reichstag Fire Decree into law by using Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The Reichstag Fire Decree suspended most civil liberties in Germany, including habeas corpus, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the right of free association and public assembly, and the secrecy of the post and telephone.[18] These rights were not reinstated during Nazi reign. The decree was used by the Nazis to ban publications not considered "friendly" to the Nazi cause.
In light of current events,
I am glad history has not repeated itself.
Funny.
Our constructor, Matt Sewell, says he had the hardest time with the SE sector. That was the only sector that I found easy to fill, starting of course with the name of Rod STEIGER, who played Brando's brother in the movie.
What an interest film that was--On the Waterfront--a fine film in its own right, but also intended by its director, Elia Kazan, as a defense of his naming names to the Un-American Activities Committee.
He was much reviled for doing so, but this film offers a powerful justification for the Brando character becoming a "stoolie."
I remember the nine-hour version of the Mahabharata, staged beautifully by Peter Brook for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics arts festival.
A wonderful piece of theater, and a great memory. During one of the breaks, I watched Brook chain smoking & pacing nervously.
I had too much trouble with the upper part of the PZL to finish today. I found some of the cluing to be far too vague or general to lead to workable fills. Too bad, because I appreciated some of the finer crossings.
~ OMK
____________
DR: We have four diagonals today, one on the near end, and a 3-way opposite.
There is only one anagram (12 of 15 letters) worth our attention, as a sort of public service.
It is in the main diagonal on the near side. It reminds us that it is still too dangerous a time for young(er) folk to resume romantic dating.
Masks must be worn, especially when partners are tempted to indulge in an end-of-date parting.
The corona virus loves a joy ride!
Do NOT give this guy an inch; he is a wellknown...
"KISS PARASITE"!
Wilbur- BEFORE I post anything anywhere I ALWAYS highlight the entire thing and COPY it. If something goes wrong I don't lose what I wrote.
inanehiker - regarding PATER noster. In NOLA they are many people named "Paternostro".
Picard- DW & I went to the Boeing plant in Everett a couple of years ago.
CrossEyedDave- History usually repeats itself because people are too stupid to learn from past mistakes.
WA Sealy Thank you for the kind words and shout out about our common SILVER SPRING path crossings. Very glad to meet you!
This was our actual SILVER SPRING humble abode in 1980 as my parents posed with their friend on moving day.
From Wednesday 24 February:
RayOSunshine, WilburCharles, CanadianEh, LEO III Thank you for the very kind words about my POINT REYES photos. As much as I enjoyed growing up in SILVER SPRING, I am grateful for the VAST opportunities we have in California.
Here my Berkeley friend Lise posed at the Golden Gate bridge in 1978 before she drove us over to POINT REYES.
From Yesterday:
Was I the only one who tried HERON and EGRET before SNIPE? I though SNIPE was a joke mythical thing?
I also thought this was much harder than most Saturdays, although I eventually FIR.
I loved this puzzle. Very high quality.
Hi All!
Needed a few cheats to undo shots in the foot and two Googles (what's a Mahabharata, A Negroni) to keep going but still didn't know PATERS & STIGER.
Thanks Matthew for yet another learning Saturday. It's a nice grid with some evil cluing.
Thanks for the expo and interview HG. I always look forward to your reviews to salve my Saturday wounds.
Shots in the foot: 3d was not EACH nor was 55a IMUS and yet I was stubborn.
ESPs: It'd be simpler to say what were filled b/f slogging
Fav: CODE TALKERS - that and ART SCHOOL went in with only 1 perp each, a total leap of faith.
Speaking of faith, St Pete under Pope Frank - is there a reason there's PROPAGANDA between them?
I ASIMOV - was my first thought but the date through me; didn't he die in early '90s? [I LIU - yep, '92 Wiki.
{A, B}
Cute DR OMK.
CED - LOL Marty Feldman; thanks.
The best bad movie ever made (still not sure why) was about a MATRIARCHAL (ooops, 3rd Google for spelling) group of Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death [Trailer].
Picard - we had the SNIPE == water discussion over a year ago (yes, we sent Tenderfoots into the woods to flush them out while we ate s'mores). I forgot again and missed it a few weeks back; 3rd time is a charm - got it FLN :-)
Finally got my '86 Alfa back from my guy at the shop today. I had a leaky fuel line (that, with out a lift is pretty hard to manipulate). Once he got that fixed, the pressure blew other bits of the line. $$$ later, it starts. Anyone have a lift in there garage? I've looked online and the cheapest are ~$3k and some are $20k (that won't fly w/ DW).
Oh, and now the Alfa passes inspection! I can renew my >2 year old out-of-date tags and finally make it street (and tax) legal!
Cheers, -T
Thank You Dr. Matthew Sewell ( forgive me, I kept thinking, that there was an extra 'e' missing ...) for a challenging puzzle and HuskerG for an illuminating review. Learnt a lot.
HuskerG ,,, about the clue 5 Across -RIGOR ... Does the matrix of numbers mean something. ? That really puzzled me. Maybe it belongs to the MENSA answer, because I could not make head or tail out of it. Is it some sort of of a magic square ... I have lots of them, but that one doesn't ring a bell ....
Re: Mahabharata, Indian Epic, Wiki Article ..... (Thanks RayOSun ...... ) - the last 'a' is silent.
The word means, 'Maha=Great' ( as in MahaRaja ) and Bharat is the endonym for India. Like all epics, and most soap operas, it has all the human emotions - Love, Hate, honor, dishonor, loyalty, treachery, kindness and hate. etc.,
If at all, you are interested, I recommend you should read the summary, as in the Wikipedia article ;-o)
For a far more, much more enjoyable read, I would highly recommend a bunch of animal fables called The Panchatantra, Wiki article
I highly recommend the translation by Arthur W. Ryder ( ex-Prof, UofC, Berkeley 1925 ).
He was a phenomenal translator, and a poetic genius ( in the English, no less ) in his own right ! His book is the standard for the last 70 years.
I have read this book over 5 times in my life. Very enjoyable. About 400 pages, for ages >10 years old. Very pleasant read. Each of the 5 chapters is a story in itself.
have a nice day, all.
Vidwan - It's a Sudoku Puzzle.
//Spoiler follows
A 1 goes by 9 in the SE giving a 1 by above the 5 in the NE. That should get you started and the rest of the solutions is left as an exercise for the reader :-)
Spitz - Yes, Mech Drawing (but it was on computers and not blueprints) for my EE degree gave me perspective too.
Cheers, -T
Hi everybody.
I got my first Moderna vaccine shot today. Bonnie got me an appointment at a local pharmacy. I'm not experiencing any side effects other than my left arm fell off shortly afterward but no big deal. I'm right-handed.
~ Mind how you go...
Goebbels said he learned PROPAGANDA tactics from the British. And ASIMOV talks all about it in "The Foundation" ALBEIT disguised
FIW. I had PArE instead of PACE, both a type of "Clip". I actually knew RIPA but it wouldn't fit so I was stuck with EmIR. Aaarrrggghhh!!!!
My uncle had a bunch of records he left at the house and Cole Porter was one of my favs. However, as someone said is it possible that "Summertime.." was from This Musical . I thought so but needed ? to get me to LIU.
Added bonus, listening to Gershwin music. I should listen to some Porter next.
I'd say that the compromise verdict is difficult but doable. I think the average solver (or should I say 80%) would recognize RIPA .
I don't like to solve online (eg Android for me) but there's the advantage of blanking out squares.
Once I ink I neglect to think.
Well Gershwin is finished with his Rhapsody, now I can hit -T's links.
WC
LW and I got our second Pfizer shot yesterday. The only effect we have experienced so far is a slightly sore arm, but only if one presses on it. We jokingly wonder if they shot water into us, the effect is so negligible.
Bill G, good thing you are right handed.
WC - I read Foundation trilogy when I was 15; Pop thought there was something wrong w/ me 'cuz I love'd everything Issac wrote. #Nerds
I had no idea then there were CODEs burred deep inside (oh, I saw the arching meanings but...). Maybe it's time to read it again with new eyes.
Bill G. - Nice to read you again. Take care my e-Friend.
Cheers, -T
For me, there are a number of things that make this blog special.
1. We have such a wide variety of solving skills but we do not compete and we all talk about what we know and what we do not know. (Becks, you got me again - what two things did you google?) I long since stopped timing my solves or worrying about those things I needed to look up. My only problems now are the rabbit holes I go down reading the incredibly extensive write-ups. It might take me the entire 30 minutes of links I went through before I ended up watching this 1961 VIDEO .
2. BobB, the horse is the CLAIMEE.
3. I afree with my brother from another mother- RIGOR
WC - I forgot to link, for your displeasure, :-) RUSH's 2112 [sure, you've got 30 seconds :-)] which linked Asimov's Foundation and Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged - at least in my little brain back then.
Hope over dystopia!
Cheers, -T
Thank you Anon-T for the Sudoku heads up .... my eyesight's going from bad to worse. I might lose my drivers lic this year. ;( I couldnt make out the third dark lines ....
Nice to hear from you, Bill G. Hope your other arm falls back 'in' again ...soon.
There is a famous jewish proverb ... If you want somebody who will work as hard as you do, with the same dedication, obsession and dreams .... look at the end of your left elbow.
Lemonade, always nice to hear from you, nice that you keep your business going, despite all the muddling the 'other' lawyers manage to drum up ..;-) Hope you've got your shots, by now.
BTW, If the Horse is the CLAIMEE, why does it cause such a CLAMOR ?
Bill G:
Whew! That must be a relief for you! It's good to see you on the Blog.
Puzzling thoughts:
My crossword and puzzle abilities were not even close to MENSA-like today. Other than the Jumble, Sudoku, and Word Wrap, I failed miserably. Looked up so many answers today I almost wish I had a key ... oh, wait, as a constructor I get the puzzles and keys. Ah, but that’s not fair. I need to have some comeuppance every now and again
HG, I enjoyed the recap. Matthew, wish I could say the same about the puzzle. I never got a toe hold anywhere. A few random answers (as a Sommelier, I knew “SANTE”), but the entire NW and upper north middle were all lookups, save for GIN.
And I agree with BobB - the horse is a claimer; the race is a “claiming”, as in “maiden claiming, for 3YO and up”. No TEARS OF JOY!
CBS/TNT; SPAY/ EDIT; AS I SAY/AS IT IS
ARRGH!
Happy Sunday, all. February is almost over ...
WC —> I am a Stooges fan but I don’t recall the repeated phrase you mention ...
Musings
-Ak Sar Ben Race Track used to be a huge deal in Omaha. My uncles all played the horses and they described claiming races as CLAIMERS.
-The Sudoku puzzle I posted for RIGOR is a prime example of having to use RIGOR to solve much like our crosswords.
-We did walk through the Boeing Plant and seeing that many planes on an assembly line was [any word but awesome!]
-I am delighted to include constructor comments and they are unfailingly polite and eager to share their thoughts
-Good night!
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