I had a run of Pawel's wonderful themeless Saturday entries in 2019 and now I am so pleased to see him back again. His last Saturday puzzle that I blogged was on May 14, 2019 but in some correspondence we have had since then he said he had received notice on 1/1/21 that he had had a themeless accepted and figured with the usual six month lag time it would be a summer puzzle. Well, here it is, two days before the first day of summer.
Across:
1. Epidemiologist's "ground zero": INDEX CASE - Also called:
10. Swiss city that hosts the World Economic Forum annual meeting: DAVOS - Here ya go
15. Tourist income source for some farmers: CORN MAZES - A high tech GPS device and a low tech mower made this famous Spanish artist into a CORN MAZE
16. Isfahan inhabitant: IRANI - A 4+ hr drive south of Tehran.
17. Emphasized: IN ITALICS.
18. Big name in skin care: ARPEL.
19. Is sweet on: LOVES.
20. Field fare, briefly: MRE - My WWII dads and uncles would probably have preferred these Meals Ready to Eat to K-Rations.
21. Mother __: GOOSE - Mother Goose headline quiz
22. River through Flanders: YSER - A 48 mile long river that empties into the North Sea that saw violent fighting in WWI.
23. Good, to Guillermo: BUENO - ¡Este rompecabezas es muy bueno! (This puzzle is very good!)
29. Eli of "The Magnificent Seven": WALLACH - Eli got second billing but played the bad guy in this 1960 classic.
33. Fill: SATIATE.
35. El __ Pacífico: OCEANO.
40. Ed.'s inbox fillers: MSS - ManuScriptS (any port in a storm)
41. Genuine: SINCERE.
43. Cease: HALT.
45. Father-and-son actors: CAANS - Here is dad James working on Hawaii 5-0 as a guest star where son Scott has a role
46. Vertical actions: BOBS - Ali BOBS and weaves
52. Many a GI: PVT
53. Solitaire measure: CARAT - ~.007 oz
54. "Glassheart" singer Lewis: LEONA - Her IMDB
55. Many a recital piece: PIANO SOLO.
60. "All good?": ARE WE COOL?
Down:
1. How an archrival might be greeted: ICILY - Brrr...
4. Log: ENTER - Hourly employees have to log their hours
5. 'Tis the season: XMAS - XMAS ads usually start running around Labor Day
6. __ Poly Pomona: CAL.
7. Surveyor's measurement: AZIMUTH - Astronomer's too
9. Early Judaic sect: ESSENES - They are thought to be the authors of The Dead Sea Scrolls which were written ~2,000 yrs ago near Jerusalem
10. Laptop screen meas.: DIAG - A woman here in town bought her husband a 50" DIAG TV and then put the old TV in the new box and set it out on her porch. Some porch pirate got a big surprise!
11. Feathered flier: ARROW - There's an ARROW in there somewhere!
12. Highly touted computer product we're still waiting for: VAPORWARE - Computer hardware or software that are announced but are not and may never be available. Bluetooth was VAPORWARE for quite a while
13. Kayak, typically: ONE SEATER - This one comes with a tightly fitted "spray skirt" to keep water out of the kayak
14. Brits' mufflers: SILENCERS - In America we call that tank on the right a muffler. The Brits call it a SILENCER
23. Pastoral: BUCOLIC.
24. Figures of speech?: ORATORS - My chem teacher's lab sign
26. Salon treatments: MANIS and pedis
27. Firewood measure: STERE.
29. Sci-fi passages: WORM HOLES - Remember the recent Michael Paleos' puzzle with these WORM HOLES in the grid?
30. Nails the exam: ACES A TEST.
31. Unties, maybe: LETS LOOSE - What's in the box Pandora?
32. Trout's team, on scoreboards: LAA - LA Angel Mike Trout is proof that one very highly paid superstar can not win a baseball championship
34. 2007 Will Smith film "__ Legend": I AM - Meh...
44. Common brunch hr.: TEN AM.
46. Simple: BASIC - Also "Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code". My first programming language
47. University town near Bangor: ORONO.
49. Potter's perch: STOOL.
51. Word before or after "who": SAYS - or SEZ
53. Geometric solid: CONE - We math teachers taught about CONES and Conic sections
56. Untested: NEW.
Pawel did his doctorate and post doctorate work in organic chemistry and retired to Santa Fe, NM after 31 years of working for Eli Lilly in Pharmaceutical R and D. Eight of those years included stints in England and Japan. Since then Pawel has moved to Denver to be closer to his new work in Boulder.
Here are his gracious and informative comments on this puzzle:
Hi Gary,
Thanks for reaching out - always enjoy your commentaries on Saturday puzzles! Appreciate the time and effort you put into them.
Regarding the puzzle - I seem to have gravitated towards creating themeless puzzles - about 1/2 my overall effort, and probably 80% of recent efforts. I went through a period of trying to create puzzles with rotational symmetry - the puzzle today was the 9th such effort, but the first one accepted anywhere. Not surprising - the pandemic has led to a whole new group of excellent constructors, so the likelihood of acceptance, especially for a themeless, is pretty low. I am pleased/humbled that this puzzle made the grade.
In constructing themeless puzzles, I build around seed entries. Given the symmetry of this puzzle, I had a seed for each quadrant - INDEXCASE, AREWECOOL, SILENCERS and WORMHOLES - and then I completed the construction around them. My only regret is that my favorite clue for these four seed entries is the only one that the editor did not keep - I suggested "Librarians, at times" for SILENCERS. Perhaps my clue was too easy - I am happy to defer to the judgement of the editor.
On Thursday, Pawel added a very insightful addition about this puzzle and I have posted it at the bottom of this write-up! You will find it very interesting!!
1. Epidemiologist's "ground zero": INDEX CASE - Also called:
10. Swiss city that hosts the World Economic Forum annual meeting: DAVOS - Here ya go
15. Tourist income source for some farmers: CORN MAZES - A high tech GPS device and a low tech mower made this famous Spanish artist into a CORN MAZE
16. Isfahan inhabitant: IRANI - A 4+ hr drive south of Tehran.
17. Emphasized: IN ITALICS.
18. Big name in skin care: ARPEL.
19. Is sweet on: LOVES.
20. Field fare, briefly: MRE - My WWII dads and uncles would probably have preferred these Meals Ready to Eat to K-Rations.
21. Mother __: GOOSE - Mother Goose headline quiz
22. River through Flanders: YSER - A 48 mile long river that empties into the North Sea that saw violent fighting in WWI.
23. Good, to Guillermo: BUENO - ¡Este rompecabezas es muy bueno! (This puzzle is very good!)
25. Wee warbler: WREN.
26. Grumps: MUTTERS - The verb not the noun
28. Mil. group integrated with male units in 1978: WAC.
26. Grumps: MUTTERS - The verb not the noun
28. Mil. group integrated with male units in 1978: WAC.
29. Eli of "The Magnificent Seven": WALLACH - Eli got second billing but played the bad guy in this 1960 classic.
33. Fill: SATIATE.
35. El __ Pacífico: OCEANO.
s36. Shredder: TEARER.
37. Sells to consumers: RETAILS.
39. Projecting architectural features: DORMERS - From the inside
37. Sells to consumers: RETAILS.
39. Projecting architectural features: DORMERS - From the inside
40. Ed.'s inbox fillers: MSS - ManuScriptS (any port in a storm)
41. Genuine: SINCERE.
43. Cease: HALT.
45. Father-and-son actors: CAANS - Here is dad James working on Hawaii 5-0 as a guest star where son Scott has a role
 |
| James Caan Scott Caan |
50. Chiwere speakers: OTOES
53. Solitaire measure: CARAT - ~.007 oz
55. Many a recital piece: PIANO SOLO.
57. Twain's "Taming the Bicycle," e.g.: ESSAY - A fun read
58. Depleted: EATEN INTO - Niagara Falls
59. Flute features: STEMS - Oh those flutes!
Down:
1. How an archrival might be greeted: ICILY - Brrr...
2. Faux pas: NONO'S - Some of the group above thought certain other members of the group had committed a faux pas.
3. Initiative: DRIVE.
3. Initiative: DRIVE.
4. Log: ENTER - Hourly employees have to log their hours
5. 'Tis the season: XMAS - XMAS ads usually start running around Labor Day
6. __ Poly Pomona: CAL.
7. Surveyor's measurement: AZIMUTH - Astronomer's too
8. Like Superman's alter ego: SECRET - Man! The glasses really fooled me!
9. Early Judaic sect: ESSENES - They are thought to be the authors of The Dead Sea Scrolls which were written ~2,000 yrs ago near Jerusalem
10. Laptop screen meas.: DIAG - A woman here in town bought her husband a 50" DIAG TV and then put the old TV in the new box and set it out on her porch. Some porch pirate got a big surprise!
11. Feathered flier: ARROW - There's an ARROW in there somewhere!
12. Highly touted computer product we're still waiting for: VAPORWARE - Computer hardware or software that are announced but are not and may never be available. Bluetooth was VAPORWARE for quite a while
13. Kayak, typically: ONE SEATER - This one comes with a tightly fitted "spray skirt" to keep water out of the kayak
14. Brits' mufflers: SILENCERS - In America we call that tank on the right a muffler. The Brits call it a SILENCER
23. Pastoral: BUCOLIC.
24. Figures of speech?: ORATORS - My chem teacher's lab sign
26. Salon treatments: MANIS and pedis
27. Firewood measure: STERE.
29. Sci-fi passages: WORM HOLES - Remember the recent Michael Paleos' puzzle with these WORM HOLES in the grid?
30. Nails the exam: ACES A TEST.
31. Unties, maybe: LETS LOOSE - What's in the box Pandora?
32. Trout's team, on scoreboards: LAA - LA Angel Mike Trout is proof that one very highly paid superstar can not win a baseball championship
34. 2007 Will Smith film "__ Legend": I AM - Meh...
38. Veggie with an edible pod: SNAP PEA.
39. Like many hibiscus leaves: DENTATE - Leaves that have a dental margin
42. Blini topper: CAVIAR - Blini (Russian pancake) topped with Crème Fraîche, smoked salmon and Hackleback CAVIAR
44. Common brunch hr.: TEN AM.
46. Simple: BASIC - Also "Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code". My first programming language
47. University town near Bangor: ORONO.
48. Heroic 1920s sled dog: BALTO - BALTO got the most credit because he arrived in Nome with the serum but the real hero was the lead dog Togo who ran much further in much worse conditions.
 |
| Balto's statue in NYC's Central Park |
49. Potter's perch: STOOL.
51. Word before or after "who": SAYS - or SEZ
53. Geometric solid: CONE - We math teachers taught about CONES and Conic sections
56. Untested: NEW.
Pawel's extra "inside baseball" comments:
Gary,
I am working on another rotational themeless and I was reminded about your "inside baseball" comment. An FYI - here is the worksheet I created for the NW corner of Saturday's puzzle -
| indexcase | indexcase | indexcase | indexcase | indexcase | indexcase | indexcase | indexcase |
| goodkarma | cornmazes | cornmazes | cornmazes | cornmazes | cornmazes | cornmazes | soupmixes |
| loggedout | operafans | bvitamins | imonadiet | initalics | academics/ies | academics/ies | freeagent |
| okies | segos | maven | edwin | loves | macon | ramon | oaten |
| oyes | assn | seer | reno | yser | elon | elan | rhos |
| igloo | icosa | icbms | icier | icily | icame | icare | isfor |
| nooky | nopes | novae | nomde | nonos | nocal | nocal | norah |
| dogie | dregs | drive | drown | drive | draco | drama | dueto |
| edges | enron | enter | ennio | enter | endon | endon | epees |
| xkes | xmas | xman | xman | xmas | xmen | xmen | xman |
| cad | caf | cam | cad | cal | cam | cam | cig |
I found eight possibilities that worked, and then compared them two at a time to go from 8 to 4 to 2 to 1. If I don't like any of them, I go back, tweak the black squares and then start over. 8 possibilities is a relatively low number - for the puzzle I am working on now , I started with 27 combos and gradually worked my way down. I repeat the process for every corner, but a constructor has the most latitude with the first corner (usually the NW), since there are no other word constraints already in the puzzle.
Just some more "inside baseball" for you.
Pawel
45 comments:
When God was creating the universe,
To SATIATE some MUTTERS perverse,
He made some DORMERS
To house reformers
Before they could screw up things worse!
They claimed His plans were full of errors,
Theirs were better, 'cause they were carers!
They said His phases
Were CORN MAZES,
They shred His plans, those Holy TEARERS!
{A-.} (One poem, two stanzas.)
Good morning!
Great puzzle, Pawel. With my track record, I'll take a themeless every time. Tried NOEL before XMAS showed up. Also tried CROP MAZES and SNOW PEA. Oh, SNAP. Nice expo, as usual, Husker. (Do you suppose that CORN MAZE was titled Hello, Dali?)
WREN: A Carolina Wren has taken up residence in a basket that's mounted over the door on our patio. That wren is fearless when people are out there, but perches at a distance and scolds when the cats are about.
Almost time to pedal that bicycle. We have to go early to avoid the worst of the heat.
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Pawol, for a challenge which went better for me than yours usually do. I'm just not usually on your more educated wave-length. I almost quit after getting no inkling of what needed to be written on the top line. Kept working and did fill bottom to top.
Still not sure of the meaning of INDEX CASE. DNK DAVOS or ISfahan (WAG IRANI), ARPEL, VAPORWARE, STERE, DENTATE but may have seen that last one before.
I surprised myself with some of the long fills that I got, but couldn't have finished without some red-letter runs to get a toe-hold.
Thanks, Gary, for your work & the interesting contact with our constructor.
Good Morning:
I started out slowly but then began getting a toehold here and another one there and, before I knew it, I was almost finished, until I ran into the brick wall in the NW corner. Cal, Azimuth, Secret and In Italics did me in. I thought Poly Pomona was a cartoon character and was trying to come up with a first name that was comical. Because I was parsing In Italics as one word, I was stymied and not having Italics or Case kept me from figuring out Secret. I never heard of Azimuth and hope I never do again. I also never heard of Vapor Ware, Index Case, or Stere, as clued. Worm Holes wasn’t a problem because of the recent puzzle. On the plus side, we have the lovely Bucolic and only eight of the pesky three letter words.
Thanks, Pawel, for a very challenging offering and for the extensive background information and thanks, Gary, for the great review and visuals, most of which didn’t show up, so I’ll check them out later.
Today is the one year anniversary of the infamous Watermelon fiasco. Not a pleasant memory, though.
Have a great day.
I far prefer the librarian clue.
I put rat. MRE appeared earlier, I couldn't think of it.
Earth/GOOSE. "Oh those flutes!", Exactly, now I get it
I first got interested in the Scolls when I read a book by Norman Golb* He referenced another writer: Barbara Thiering who's ideas were so unsettling that US Customs wouldn't allow her books into USA
I liked the vary last line Owen: Holy TEARERS
WC (First FIR since Tuesday
** "In 1980, Golb published a pioneering thesis that contradicted the established belief that a Jewish sect called the Essenes wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the caves at Qumran. Instead, he argued that multiple Jewish communities wrote the scrolls in Jerusalem and moved them to Qumran in anticipation of the Roman siege of the city in 70 A.D."
A surprise today, FIR! I started off badly putting in errOr/NONOS and dOtES/LOVES. That took a lot more time to fix than my other WOs: earth/GOOSE, Pfc/PVT and STopS/STEMS. Didn't get past the musical flute until Husker Gary straightened me out. Thanks, Gary. Super review today with Pawel's extra comments and all.
But my last fill was almost my undoing today: BOBS, ORONO, and BALTO. Didn't know the dog and only after several alphabet runs did BOBS occur to me and confirm which vowel to use for the town. I know we have had ORONO before but..... Thanks, Pawel, for the Saturday challenge that was ultimately doable and definitely entertaining.
Hope you all have a great weekend!
This was a challenging but ultimately doable puzzle. I ended up solving this from the bottom up, rather than my usual top down. I knew from epidemiology that it was "Patient Zero" - but since "zero" was in the clue - I started with FIRST CASE - which eventually was switched to INDEX CASE - when none of the perps on the FIRST were working!
I also waited for perps to see if it was an IRANI or an Omani who was from Ifshan. VAPOR WARE was a total unknown, but AZIMUTH could be filled in from some perps as it arose from some recess of my brain! I thought TEARERS as clued was a meh..
IM -so glad you have recovered from last year's Watermelon incident - and hope the med alert is working well! (or not needing to be used- but a good back up if needed!)
We always have a CORN MAZE across the Missouri river on the flatland - lots of fun when kids are little!
Thanks HG and Pawel for stopping by!
Tough slog for me today.
Started out fine immediately with WORMHOLES -- we had that theme with the circles last week!
And BALTO was easy for me (loved the movie - and there's a statue to him in NY Central Park - https://www.centralpark.com/things-to-do/attractions/balto/).
Had Mother EARTH in NE for the longest time. And the only other thing I could think of was "Mother May I" (game we played as a kid, along with Red Light Green Light 1-2-3). Finally got GOOSE. DOH!
My favorite answer: VAPORWARE!
But I finally gave up on the NW as too hard. Oh well, on to Sunday! Everyone have a great Father's Day.
Thank you Pawel for an NAEP ("Not An Easy Puzzle") but nevertheless quite a clever construction. But then it's Saturday and I suppose anything goes. I did manage a rare Saturday FIR, so I can't complain. And thanks to Gary for another excellent review!
I had to wade my way through a lot of white space, with slim fillings, until I latched onto a WORM HOLE in the SW and found passages thru to the rest of the puzzle (Gary remembered Mike Paleos' foray into that space. I actually DNF before finding one that day!)
10A Add an R to this and you've got DAVROS, an old DR WHO villain ("EXTERMINATE, EXTERMINATE ...!".
16A IRANI. Familiar with ISFAHAN from a beautiful French chanson by Gabriel Fauré called Les Rose D'Ispahan. Here are the lyrics.
15A Loved the "corn maze" pic Gary. IMHO Dali is the greatest artist of the twentieth century. Anyone who doubts this should visit the St Petersburg, FLA Dali Museum, the largest and most complete collection of his works in the world. He's much more than dripping clocks.
25A Got WREN right away. They have the highest F/S ratio ("ferocity to size") of any bird in our garden. Don't get too close to Ginny's nest!
29A IIRC "The Magnificent Seven" was based on a film by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa called the "Seven Samurai"
53A CARAT was a nice piece of misdirection, as it started with CAR(DS?). As I don't play SOLITAIRE I'm not familiar with the SCORING (if any?). A real DIAMOND in the rough.
48D BALTO I know this from a cartoon version of this true story much beloved by my grandchildren. In the film BALTO is the lead sled dog on an incredible trek through the Alaskan wilderness to NOME, to obtain diphtheria serum for children suffering from this usually fatal disease. A real tear jerker.
49D. Wanted a BROOM for HARRY to ride on, but Pawel wanted STOOL, which as a potter I should have guessed immediately. But I don't use a stool to perch on when I throw, rather a custom-made, slanted wooden seat that leans me into the wheel. Gives much greater control.
Last fill was 46A BOBS, replacing LOBS. I'm with Gary on BASIC, an easy to learn, yet powerful programming language.
Cheers,
Bill
Another DNF for me due to ONE empty cell, the cross of SECRET and IN ITALICS. My brain was stuck on wanting one word for "Emphasized" and wouldn't change its "mind".
SILENCERS- Pawel, I don't think that Rich wanted to use a gun reference.
I wanted FIRST CASE for 1A but none of the downs would allow it. I'd never heard of INDEX CASE but it seemed okay. CORN MAZES was an easy guess. I didn't know if 'Blini' was a hat or food and had to wait for CAVIER to fill itself.
The SE was a little messy until I changed SNOW to SNAP PEA and CUBE to CONE.
DENTATE- never read the clue because the perps filled it but it was an unknown.
LEONA Lewis, ARPEL, and BALTO- perps all the way; total unknowns.
I found today's puzzle very challenging because of the NW corner. INDEXCASE had no meaning for me and CORNMAZES does not seem like a farmers' income source. IN ITALICS stumped me. I could see ITALICS, but kept trying to make it closer to italicized, which didn't fit. Because of the NW corner, I DNF.
Oh well, I knew DAVOS immediately and much of the rest of the puzzle seemed like usual Saturday fare. Likes before LOVES; Cube before CONE.
Thank you Mr. Fludzinski for the insight into puzzle construction your "NW Corner worksheet" provided. I appreciate the time, effort and knowledge required.
Definitely a Saturday toughie from Pawel. I liked the fill even though I had to resort to Red Letters early. The tour by Gary was enjoyable and I'm glad he puts in the emails from the constructors so that we can see their reasoning and process.
Like others I held on to Mother EARTH for way too long. It held me up for quite a while.
We have WAC and right above it was WREN. Even though a WREN is a bird, the Womens Royal Navy Service (WRNS) members were referred to as Wrens similar to the American Woman's Army Corp were WACs. I had an aunt who was a Wren during WWII. She became a war bride when she married my uncle who was a US pilot stationed in England.
I just returned from the Amish farm market where I bought SNAP PEAs for my DW. We never have fresh cooked peas because she shells them and eats them raw as soon as I bring them home. I also got strawberries, cucumbers and homemade Whoopie Pies, so there is something for me to nosh on. Now I'm waiting for sweet corn to come into season in the next few weeks.
Have a great day everyone.
Saturday Stumper. Thanks for the fun, Pawel (and for the background info) and HuskerG.
I required Google help to finish today.
Hand up for problems in the NW. First CASE before INDEX, never heard of AZIMUTH.
Inkblots in the SE deciding between B P , W and wagging BOBS.
But I did get WORMHOLES from previous CW, and MRE ( thanks AnonT).
My time is gone and must prep for family tomorrow.
Wishing you all a great day.
Shoot. I didm't get out of the starting gate.
I remember AZIMUTH from my old reel-to-reel tape recorder days. The azimuth of the playback head was adjusted to provide the best high-frequency output when playing a factory-made alignment tape. That indicated that the slot in the tape head was exactly perpendicular to the tape. After adjusting the playback head, you could record a high-pitched tone and adjust the azimuth of the record head to provide the highest output at the playback head. The advent of digital recording made the whole process (including the tape recorder) obsolete.
very interesting puzzle today. I, though, disagree with depleted. That word implies completely gone. Eaten into means partially completed.
I liked this puzzle and finished in my usual Saturday 50/50 experience: I knew/WAGged half of it and used Gary's grid for the other half. Thank you, Pawel, for the challenge and explanation of the creation. Thank you, Gary, for helping me finish and for your expo.
Hand up for error/NONOS, noel/XMAS, and those were my first 2 entries! Not a good beginning.
Balto was kinda familiar after it filled in. The Iditarod sled-dog race is run each year following the trail used by natives to travel across the state. History of the Iditarod. In his book Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod, Gary Paulsen recounts his experience of deciding to acquire a team of dogs, train them and compete in the race. What could possibly go wrong? It's not something to be undertaken by wimps!
The Cicada Invasion has peaked and they are dying off! It's getting quieter outside which is appreciated. Heat and humidity are back, boo hiss!
Have a great weekend!
The bottom 12 rows were completed quickly like a Wed/Thursday puzzle. For the top three I needed a lot of red letters. Index case, vapor ware, and silencer (in this sense) were new to me. I totally forgot about azimuth. I have not seen it in decades.
I have seen STERE in quite a few crosswords, but hardly ever elsewhere.
I have heard of I AM LEGEND.
Deplete has two meanings. The puzzle uses the second one below.
1. use up the supply or resources of.
"reservoirs have been depleted by years of drought"
2. diminish in number or quantity.
"supplies are depleting fast"
Off to take Alan shopping.
The NE drove me nuts 😖....had Mother Earth, Jones, finally GOOSE. then the Swiss host cities of Berne, Basil, finally DAVOS.....screen meas: byte/DIAG. I guessed at VAPORWARE (and we're waiting for that because?) the P crossed with ArPEL (A skin care company? ) so FIR by guessing, I guess....
If you greet an archrival ICILY..😄(is the idea to freeze him to death?). ..Jerry Seinfeld eventually got in trouble for making anti-DENTATE remarks...(was gonna send a picture, LIU, it was actually "anti-dentIte")...was it true you should never "WAVE at a WAC" 😉
Inkovers: cube/CONE... errors/NONOS.
Pavel, librarians is a much more fun and clever clue for SILENCERS than an unknown British term for mufflers. But I guess in the autocratic world of CW editing if you speak up you risk banishment to "Ere I saw Elba" Island and forced to endlessly draw JUMBLE cartoons, all of which a rejected by Rich.😲
Any connection with: BUCOLIC, STOOL, and LETSLOOSE? 🤭....OTOES👣 and MANIS? 👐. Firewood measures I'm familiar with are full cord: 4 x 4 x 8, (128sq ft) and "facecord" 4 x 8ft , mine fell over last year after I stacked it.🙉
Redundant word combo....CORNMAZES
Pretend French Dads....FAUX PAS.
Real German Moms...MUTTERS.
Cry baby...TEARER.
Testy....SNAPPEA.
_____ Morales....ESSAY.
Beautiful day in the neighborhood. Replacing sand on my camp shoreline...My back should seize up in about an hour.😫
Hola!
BUENO and WALLACH started me on this journey which took my usual Saturday hour. As with others the SW filled first once I LET LOOSE. Did not know LEONA but it emerged.
Then PIANO SOLO engaged me in the SE. I just could not recall BALTO and BOBS made no sense. Finally LIU.
SATIATE is a convent word which was used as a cautionary warning to refrain from over eating.
I disagree that ARPEL is a big name in skin care. it might have been in the 50s and maybe 60s but has faded in popularity somewhat.
AZIMUTH occurred to me right away but I hesitated until I was sure. Once superman's SECRET was out, I completed it.
Starting in late September CORNMAZES appear in the Reservation near me. However, so much building has been occurring that I doubt they will be seen in the distant future.
Thank you, Gary and Pawel. The process as explained is fascinating and makes me appreciate even more the constructors and commenters.
Happy Fathers' Day tomorrow to all the dads!
I wish you a Saturday muy BUENO!
FIR, with many write-overs. Quite a nice challenge with some great cluing.
Puzzling thoughts:
Finally finished it after a few cheats and several write-overs
ERROR/NONOS; DOTES/LOVES; NCO/PFC/PVT; CUBE/CONE; OCEANA/OCEANO
As others said, several phrases with which I was unfamiliar: INDEX CASE; VAPORWARE; AZIMUTH
BALTO was a cheat
Glad to see how Pawel creates his words and patterns. I’m reasonably certain that he uses crossword software, but I like that he organizes the sections to whittle down to what he wants to keep
64 words - 29 blocks - rotational symmetry. Impressive
Silent libraries are not for me, but I like those with silent reading rooms on the side. Most librarians do not require strict silence these days. If you haven't been in a library lately, you will be surprised how they are changing.
Silence?
Now that the Scottsdale Public Library is open I need to make the trip there. My card expired so that is the first task and then browse for interesting reading. It has re-invented itself to accommodate modern requirements with many computers, etc.
Well, a big fail in the NW for me.
I have to ask why, after 18 months of COVID the term “index case” was not mentioned, at least not as often as”patient zero”.
But I never really had a shot in the NW.
BE @10:20AM. Are you suggesting that Librarians pack heat?
It took a while, as it should, on a Saturday but Valerie and I were able to work through it together this morning. Then it was errand-running time (Costco, PetCo, Trader Joe's). Now, it is back to work helping Valerie get her place ready for a bridal shower that she is throwing for her niece next Saturday. Hmmm. Shower (rain, exhibitor) kinda reminds me of Tower (building, AAA) from last Thursday. Ah, it's probably already been used in a puzzle or three.
MM @ 2:56 —> did you “adopt” any strays from the Whisky section at Costco??!!
I liked this puzzle a lot, but finally had to look up Isfahan to finish the upper right corner. First fills (i.e. I knew the answer right away) include BUENO, WALLACH (hi Lucina), WREN, OTOES, ESSAY, SECRET, ESSEMES, and CAL. Took me a long time to remember DAVOS; the only 5-letter Swiss city names I could think of were Bern(e) and Basel. Hand up for EARTH and JONES before GOOSE, CUBE before CONE, and STOP before HALT. Excellent puzzle. Loved it.
Super write-up, Gary. As ATLGranny said, "Super review today with Pawel's extra comments and all."
I learned a lot about programming during my use of the BASIC language.
In my work we used AZIMUTH very often.
There's a company called DRIVE that makes best-selling (and good quality) walkers, canes, "rollators," and wheelchairs. I use two of their canes to support me when I walk, one in each hand of course.
I think DW and I will have a couple of FLUTES of Champaign tomorrow to celebrate Father's Day. I am trying, unsuccessfully so far, to persuade her to celebrate Juneteenth today in the same manner. (Besides, chilled Champaign is nice on such hot days as this. Or chilled Riesling.) We'll see. She always says "No" at first, almost reflexively, like a kneejerk reaction, and often changes her mind an hour later (suggesting it as if it was her idea in the first place).
I guess lots of folks are still trying to identify the INDEX CASE of Covid-19.
Good wishes to you all.
I agree about Arpel. It was known for perfume in the 1950's and 1960's. Not skin care.
Hi All!
I started in the NE w/ DAVOS and ink'd south. SE was nearly WO free as was the SW.
Thanks Powel for the puzzle. Enjoyed what I got but was completely stymied in the NW (not NOEL - my only island of ink in an OCEANO of white).
Fun expo HG! Thanks, as always, for reaching out for inside-baseball (interesting how he develops a corner).
//I liked I AM Legend - and, it was a thought provoker as the Vax was being rolled out :-)
WOs: wRiTeRS -> ORATORS, count (card game solitaire) -> CARAT.
ESPs: BALTO, LEONA, ARPEL, among (certainly) others.
Fav: VAPOR WARE. I can't tell you how many times higher-ups held-up projects waiting on the New Shiny Thing(TM).
I can't recall if I used BASIC or FORTRAN first. I know I used (and really learned) BASIC a lot more before I got to sophomore year of HS and really learned FORTRAN.
{B+}
LOL CORN MAZE redundancy, Ray-O.
Jayce - let her think it her idea as you hoist your STEMS in a toast :-)
My fun for today:
Two years ago, our un-incorporated subdivision was absorbed into Sugar Land.
Last week, the city ripped up the janky sidewalks, put in sand and rebar, and then we waited.
Today the concrete truck came and I got to watch them masterly pave anew.
Well, I thought it COOL.
Cheers, -T
'the infamous Watermelon fiasco.' Sounds interesting. We have a watermelon farm next door. They toss them into old schoolbuses with tops carved out.
In orienteering a Back AZIMUTH can be very useful. I used it in OCS and was thought crazy until they attired at the flag and I was there waiting
WC
First, let me explain: I have no computer or cell phone (I'm using my grandson's in return for help on his homework). Also, I started doing crosswords in college as a respite to studying ...almost 60 years ago. I eschewed using cyber devices after my credit cards had been hacked FOUR times in a year. Today is an example of my angst: crazy, silly, kookie defs that have no meaning in common discourse. What should be a challenge to one's intellect crumbles into a mess of pop culture references and trivia waste. Where's the challenge -or fun- of piddling around with worthless and archane references to the slag of intellectual sleuthing?? No, I won't stop working weekend LAT puzzles, but I WILL reserve the right to write my opinion when puzzles reach the nadir of today's edition.
Redsox left Sarasota for Scottsdale in the 50s. The owner, Yawkey moved them again to Winterhaven to be near his fav, Ted Williams baseball camp. Now they're in Fort Myers.
-T, in 1964 I took Fortran with the math majors. Then machine language. I found the latter easier. Drawback was everything had to be key-punched. I'm surprised that millennials found COBOL difficult. I remember they used the word "matrix" for what we call a spreadsheet
WC
WC - The Watermelon Massacre IM is speaking of. [Scroll down to IM's post]
LOL - I learned FORTRAN '76 in '87 :-)
//COLBOL was very wordy but provided post-retirement $$$$$ to the Grey Beards (and put India's IT outsourcing on the map in '99)
Also, since I know you're a baseball fan - did you see my late FLN link? I was at the game.
The ball was hit and we knew fair but couldn't see the RF corner. As I was tracking the ball, I was tracking the runner... Yuri really started picking up speed as he rounded second.
"Don't stop him at third!!!!," I was thinking [Astros sometimes play "safe"ball].
It was amazing to be there IRL.
Cheers, -T
Well, Saturday's are also toughies for me, but I still enjoy them, including this one, Pawel--many thanks. And helpful write-up, Gary.
The bottom was up my alley a bit more than the rest. Fun to get PIANO SOLO, followed by Twain's ESSAY. And then came the best treat of all: CAVIAR. Gary, your picture of that blini topped with caviar made me want to go to a party, where I could hear a piano solo, have a discussion about an essay, and get a flute of champagne I would hold by its stem. Wouldn't that be a lovelier way of spending a Saturday evening than watching TV?
But whatever, have a lovely weekend, everybody.
Speaking of CARATs, how about that new diamond they discovered?
Reputed to the the 3rd largest ever found, this one is over 1,000 CARATs. 3 inches by 2, and one inch thick.
They have apparently reached a new way to search for diamonds and are expecting to find more of these super large ones.
I enjoyed today's PZL. Thank you, Mr. Fludzinski! Almost completed it, but needed help in a coupla places, esp. that SE corner.
~ OMK
Anonymous T, guess what? Sure enough, about an hour ago DW suggested we open a bottle of Proseco and toast Juneteenth. I took your advice :)
Thanks, -T ... the Revenge of the Watermelon lives on!
BTW, another name for 'Vaporware' is 'CAMPAIGN PROMISES'
Unknown @ 4:36 wrote, ".... Where's the challenge -or fun- of piddling around with worthless and archane references to the slag of intellectual sleuthing??"
It wouldn't hurt if there was some cut-off to the level of obscurity and convolutedness allowable in crossword cluing. I offer as a sample something that is perfectly clear to me ("Name and number of the founder of the capitol of Georgia")** but not to you. We have so many examples -- some today ( a century-old sled dog's name??) -- that obstruct and diminish the pleasure of meeting the challenge each puzzle poses.
** It's Vakhtang 1, who founded Tbilisi in 458 AD.
I thought it was James Oglethorpe I, Atlanta 1847 😉
OMK, I also read the article about the diamond.
Jayce and Anon-T, today, is my sister's B'day (and it's now a national holiday). Toasting with some Lagavulin 11 y.o (finished in Guinness casks) "adopted" earlier today.
Malodorous Manatee, happy birthday wishes to your sister. I toast you and Misty with a glass of DeLoach pinot noir. Cheers!
Oh, that watermelon massacre. And yes, baseball can be so exciting on plays like that. W vs L all decided by execution. Other team? Lacked it.
RayO, Atlanta is not the capital. It's Augusta, no relation to Augustus Mutt(and Jeff). Georgia as a former SSR is often clued as a red herring.
So… Having finished this on Thursday I looked back again last night to assess difficulty. I decided not that hard but admit to an ocean of white an hour in. I do recall a Saturday FIW because I misspelled DNIEPER
WC
Slogan often raised on Mother's Day , but never tomorrow, on Father's Day.
Answer: Clue to 2 Down.
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