Saturday Themeless by Debbie Ellerin
Debbie is our retired computer programmer who moved to L.A. from Boston. This is the eighth themeless I have blogged for her and it was a real challenge. I had plenty of head slaps in the NW corner but eventually got it all together. I am so embarrassed that I struggled with the three long across fills before getting them! Here are her comments:Hi Gary,
I wrote this puzzle in January of 2021, soon after the presidential inauguration, and AMANDA GORMAN was one of my seed entries. I liked learning that most states have a state fossil, and Utah's is the ALLOSAURUS. I like the improved clue for 4-D ARE, I won't use it but you will. Hope you all enjoy!
1. Alaska's flag includes the best-known part of it: URSA MAJOR - The Big Dipper is only part of the constellation URSA MAJOR (the Big Bear)
10. Stop orders: HALTS.
15. 2002 Emmy winner for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: RAY ROMANO.
16. Caribbean sorcery: OBEAH.
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| All you'd ever want to know |
17. Bagel-shaped confection: LIFE SAVER - Duh!
18. First Japanese tennis player with a WTA #1 ranking: OSAKA - A Haitian father and a Japanese mother19. Cute: SLY.
20. Shrink: ANALYST - Oh, a head shrinker!
22. Get it, in slang: DIG - Lyrics to a 1968 hit Grazing In The Grass: "I can DIG it, he can DIG it, She can DIG it, we can DIG it. They can DIG it, you can DIG it. Oh, let's DIG it. Can you DIG it, baby?:
23. Blinking aids: LIDS.
24. Fugu danger: TOXIN - Eat at your own peril. A puffer fish's TOXIN is more lethal than cyanide.
26. Ars __: chiromancy, e.g.: MAGICA - Palm reading is considered part of Ars MAGICA - Magic Arts. (Debbie told me that chiromancy is a word Rich added)
29. Feline defense: CLAWING.
31. Jewish month after Av: ELUL - My September 11th birthday this year is 15 ELUL 5782 on the Jewish calendar
32. Go-ahead: GREEN LIGHT.
35. Clay, beginning in 1964: ALI.
36. Thingamabobs: DOODADS.
37. Verbal shrug: MEH.
38. Means of filling up for less?: DOLLAR MENU - Not available in Russia anymore
37. Verbal shrug: MEH.
38. Means of filling up for less?: DOLLAR MENU - Not available in Russia anymore
40. Swain: BEAU - In one episode, Thelma Lou tried to convince Barney he wasn't her only BEAU
41. Attacked en masse: STORMED.
42. Puts on a coat: PAINTS - Seinfeld: Well, I painted my apartment again. I've been living in this apartment for years and years, and every time I paint it, it kinda gets me down. I look around, and I think, well, it's a little bit smaller now. You know, I realize it's just the thickness of the paint, but I'm aware of it. It keeps coming in and coming in.
44. Dazed: AT SEA.
45. Guaranteed, as a victory: ICED - Field goal kickers did this in almost all NFL games this past playoff season
46. Surly sort: CUR.
47. Like Oz, but not Kansas: IN COLOR.
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| The scene where The Wizard Of Oz went from B/W to Technicolor |
50. Banana Boat no.: SPF - SPF = 8 here
53. Ram among the stars: ARIES.
55. Its formal name includes "Patient Protection," informally: OBAMA CARE.
57. Sanjay of CNN: GUPTA.
55. Its formal name includes "Patient Protection," informally: OBAMA CARE.
57. Sanjay of CNN: GUPTA.
58. Kept track of: MONITORED.
59. Literary work that sounds like two of its letters: ESSAY.
60. Doves: PEACENIKS.
59. Literary work that sounds like two of its letters: ESSAY.
60. Doves: PEACENIKS.
Down:
1. Bing results: URLS - Bing is a search engine where you can find URL'S. Go there
2. Something to travel by: RAIL.
3. "Resident Alien" network: SYFY.
4. I won't use it, but you will: ARE - Debbie said she really liked Rich's cluing here. I ARE? Nope. You ARE? Fine
5. Assembled artwork: MOSAIC.
6. "The Hill We Climb" poet: AMANDA GORMAN - I was happy to learn of AMANDA who read her poem at the 2021 Inauguration.
5. Assembled artwork: MOSAIC.
6. "The Hill We Climb" poet: AMANDA GORMAN - I was happy to learn of AMANDA who read her poem at the 2021 Inauguration.
7. Diner cupfuls: JAVAS
8. Torts taker: ONE-L - First year law students are called ONE-L's and they do take a course called Torts.
9. "Gilmore Girls" girl: RORY - The evolution of the character RORY's hair
10. Birds named for their sounds: HOOT OWLS.
11. Six-pack makeup: ABS.
12. Phoenix and Washington, e.g.: LEADING MEN - River Phoenix and Denzel Washington and 21. Rock or Rivers: STAND UP COMIC - Chris Rock and Joan Rivers
13. Subjected to flak: TAKING HEAT.
14. Uneven do: SHAG.
23. Word in some rap handles: LIL.
25. Letters atop a face: XII.
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| A little after 9 a.m. on this one |
26. Lake formed by the Hoover Dam: MEAD.
27. Utah's state fossil: ALLOSAURUS.
28. Unpleasant journeys: GUILT TRIPS
29. Turned over: CEDED - What Mexico CEDED to America in 1848
33. Sports radio host Jim: ROME - Here ya go
34. Conclusion beginning: THUS - The alternative first word in this fabulous movie introduction.
36. "IMHO ... ": DARE I SAY.
39. LAPD unit?: LOS - LOS Angeles Police Department
40. Nod, at times: BID.
43. Deal with lawn thatch: AERATE.
 |
| Even really big lawns |
45. Glazer of "Broad City": ILANA - Agnes and C.C. used the ABBI part of this duo last Saturday. ILANA perped itself today.
46. Batting practice setting: CAGE - MLB just settled their strike
48. Freebie: COMP.
49. The duck, in "Peter and the Wolf": OBOE - I learned the instruments of the orchestra from the this Prokofiev work
51. Head Start class: PRE-K.
52. DEA agents: FEDS.
54. Flight board abbr.: ETA.
56. Scam: CON.
Fln, welcome to Patti
ReplyDeleteI see ESSAY was in last Saturday too. This one took me a long time with the West and SW killing me. What a Rorschach blotch.
Having MENU I tried dinner; I had invaded/STORMED; Agape/AT SEA;Cad/CUR and Mr S's entry:dear I SAY(I've hung a GUILT TRIP on him for that one.
Speaking of misspellings…
I had aS on ALLOSAURUS for a FIW. So close after all that (wonderful) torment.
My mantra? Have faith in the brain's magical ability to fill in A TON of empty squares. Nada in NW but LHF in NE.
I just groked ARE and who those LEADING MEN were. FEDS/gmen;MEH/duH
And of course UNKs on the poet and Ms GUPTA
And Mr Baseball was stumped on CAGE until COMP V8'ed
Curveballs, change-ups and high hard ones from Ms Ellerin
Was it THAT hard? Y'all tell me
WC
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteCrashed and burned. No traction in the NW, so started in the NE and worked my way around clockwise. Was still facing a sea of white in Washington/Idaho. Most of it finally fell into place but ROSY did me in. She kept SYFY and LIFESAVER from appearing. DNF, but I don't feel bad about it. Found this one to be a major challenge, and failed to rise to it. But I sure enjoyed the journey. Thanx, Debbie and Husker. (That leading man may also have been River's younger brother Joaquin -- the only brothers to have both been nominated for an Oscar.)
This was quite a slog. You folks might be surprised to learn that this 67-year old man was a fan of "the Gilmore Girls" but it's true. I loved Rory and sympathized with her predicaments. Anyway, FIR, so I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteDespite the FIW, I really enjoyed this solve. I thought the cluing was A+ and the fill was fabulous. Okay, that said, the Elul
IM, was that the Elul before the storm?
ReplyDeleteMy iPad has a mind of its own this morning. To continue, the Elul-Ahlosaurus cross was brutal and did me in. Other esoteric entries were challenges, as well, but were eventually conquered: Obeah, Magica, and the completely unknown Ilana. My absolute favorite C/A was Unpleasant Journeys=Guilt Trips. The solve was Silkiesque on steroids but very enjoyable nevertheless, except for the aforementioned unfathomable cross.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbie, for a real mental workout and thanks, HG, for your usual illuminating and enlightening review.
The snow has begun earlier than predicted. Our forecast is for 4-8” with some outlying areas getting up to 12”. We’re also going to experience very high winds later in the day. It’s a good day to curl up with a good book, or a furry friend, if you’re lucky enough to have one.
FLN
Anon T, thanks for sharing the news about Patti and Rich. Congratulations to both in their new adventures. Thanks to Rich for his many years of faithful stewardship and welcome to Patti for her well deserved promotion.
Have a great day.
DO @ 7:12 ~ 🤣 Maybe a mischievous Leprechaun! ☘️
ReplyDeleteFIR, enjoyed this Saturday workout, very fun puzzle!
ReplyDeleteWell this was a challenge especially when both BIG DIPPER and NORTH STAR fit in the space that eventually became URSA MAJOR! So I solved the same way D-O did - from the NE clockwise and finishing up with the NW. I knew AMANDA GORMAN - so it was definitely not the first two in the 1A position. What a talented young woman!
ReplyDeleteThe crinoid is Missouri's state fossil - I learned all the state things after 3 kids going through 4th grade which focuses on state history, etc. The Missouri state dessert is the ice cream cone - since it became popular after the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.
Other hang ups - I had swarmed before STORMED and elegy before ESSAY. Loved the 47A clue for IN COLOR - like Oz, but not Kansas. I have distinct memories of our family getting a color TV in the 60s when I was in grade school and being amazed at the change when Dorothy goes into Oz!
Off to a woman's breakfast at church and then to one of the largest used book sales in the state that benefits literacy programs and library in our city. It's 11 degrees- BRRR - but will be back to 60s by Sunday- March is always nutty weather here!
Thanks HG and Debbie!
Took 12:13 today, which I will happily take as there were plenty of unknowns (obeah, any Gilmore Girl, both parts of "Ars magica" and "chiromancy", any Jewish month, and any state fossil).
ReplyDelete"Dare I say" some parsing was tricky, including One-L and Pre-K. I also had the same missteps in 1-A as inanehiker.
Good puzzle.
Congrats to Patti Varol on her promotion, and to Rich Norris on his retirement. I expect the LAT puzzle will be in good hands under Patti's editorship.
ReplyDeleteSure makes a big difference doing the CW with pen and paper or doing it online. Yesterday I was happy to FIR but took 54 minutes and a few write-overs to do so. I usually cannot do a Saturday, just over my abilities. Today I decided to try doing it online, and got a FIR in 22.
ReplyDeletered letters turned on, of course. What a difference.
Thank you Gary for your great review.
ReplyDeleteToo many unknowns, even more coffee didn’t help FIW.
Fun fact, the Pufferfish release a toxin when they puff to impair attackers, ironically it doesn’t work on dolphins, it actually gets them high. They purposely inflate them and pass them around to dolphin friends. You can Google this to see a video.
Very sad and scary to see the low water level at Lake Mead.
Beautiful sunny morning, off to 1 hour of Aqua Zumba.
I found this puzzle to be particularly difficult as it took me the unusually long time of 1:07:20 to FIR w/o help, with a couple of walkways to clear my head. NW had me stymied for the longest time, till I sussed RAY ROMANO which helped the perps immensely, last fill was URSA MAJOR. Thank you Debbie E for the mental test today, I really enjoy the harder themeless, and you and Rich had some very fine clueing! Thank you also Rich N for all the work you’ve done to provide us a daily dose of entertainment, and best wishes to you!
ReplyDeleteGary ~~ another superb illustrative write up, I LOL at Seinfeld’s take on painting his apartment.
Super Saturday. Thanks for the fun Debbie and HuskerG
ReplyDeleteI FIRed with one LIU for the Alaska flag. Oh the Big Dipper- that broke open my final area in the NE
Plenty of American disadvantage today but P&P prevailed.
Is there a DOLLAR MENU for gas?
Hand up for not parsing PREK, Swarming before STORMING, Gmen before FEDS.
I noted pairings if OBEAH and MAGICA, STANDING COMIC and LEADING MAN.
Can we take the TRAIN for our GUILT TRIP?
Yes IM, we got about 4 inches of snow overnight.
Congrats to Patti, and happy retirement to Rich
Wishing you all a great day.
Thought I had a FIR but nooooo..a one-letter error aLANA x aCED..😖
ReplyDeleteLotsa PN's..."Emmy winner", "Japanese tennis player", "Poet" (didn't noet) "Fugu danger"? Not knowing "Fugu". ("Hootie and the Fugu"? 🙄). OBEAH( I didn't think vudoo would be acceptable, so perpwaited)
Joan "Rivers" for sure but took a couple heartbeats to remember Chris "Rock". Seems a CUR is a bad sort, not surly. Liked "I am, you" ARE. ("I know you ARE but what am I?"😄). Forgot it's SYFY Not sci-fi.👽 Not a sexy fossil like an ALLOSAURUS....
Eurypterus remipes, a species of eurypterid,. It is the State Fossil of New York. It became our State Fossil in 1983 and was selected because these rare fossils occur in great numbers in rocks found near Buffalo, Erie County".
"Isn't JAVA already plural? "A diner doles out cupfuls" of JAVA or coffee.. Finally realized "Banan Boat" is not a Belafonte tune. RAYROMANO ancestors from ROME 🤔. OBOE? odd name for a duck?..oooh, never mind!😆
Inkovers: LEADINGtEN/MEN (clever)
Lake filled with honeyed booze....MEAD
Our Chairman's pain in the neck.. MOSAIC.
"Lions and tigers and URSÆ", oh my.....RORY
sown...CEDED.
Woke up to the severest (most severe?)/ongoing snow storm of the the winter.🥶 Ends tomorrow when hopefully we can still fly to Florida's Captiva Island. Rad conference and vacation (accent on vakashun ...what a week it has been)
Thoughts, Gary? How about:
ReplyDeletePuzzling thoughts???!
I fell into the BIG DIPPER/ NORTH STAR before URSA MAJOR emerged. Guess I had to grin and bear it …
I remember AMANDA GORMAN’s speech but not her name; had to LIU to get started
ROAD/RAIL; STETS/HALTS; COMEDIC ACTOR/STAND UP COMIC; DOLLAR MEAL/MENU
Like Ray-O, I had ALANA/ACED. Just as well that I FIW as I had a couple of cheats
What is Chairman Moe’s fossil? The Thesaurusaurus perhaps? 😂
My pun du jour, with apologies to Smokey the URSA:
Never let Monks grow flowers. Only you can prevent Florist Friers.
ReplyDeleteGood morning.
Thank you, Debbie and Husker Gary.
Filled In Right, but it took 41:28 to get her done.
Actually FIR in less time than that because I had all but the NW done by 4:30 AM when I got finally tired enough to go back to sleep. I didn't stop the clock at that time. The laptop's sleep-mode did, so it was 10 minutes less than that. Still, at 31:28, I won't be considering the ACPT anytime soon.
Had my first cup of JAVA after four days of diverticulitis induced abstinence when I woke back up at 8:00 AM. That coffee seemed to help me with the NW, but it also could have been the refreshed mind.
At 1D, it was a matter of working out whether it would be URLS or 'hits'.
At 2D, it was most likely going to be 'auto' or RAIL. Bike, tram, t-bar, and boat/ship seemed unlikely, given the two likely options in 1D.
At 3D, I ruled out 'show' because it's Sho for Showtime.
At 4D, I was confident the clue was a grammar usage test, and had thought it might be ARE before I went back to sleep.
At 5D, MOSAIC was the answer that broke the NW corner ice jam.
At 6D, AMANDA was known.
At 7D, JAVAS fit the block count, but I hadn't any perps yet.
At 8D and 9D, drawing blanks.
After MOSAIC, URSA MAJOR became clear given the conditions above. Then RAY ROMANO and LIFESAVER and it was done.
Like inanehiker, I knew AMANDA GORMAN as I read the clue. Same comment as her on her Wizard of Oz and color TV comments in the early 60's. I'm pretty sure I was in 4th grade at the time. Also had swarmed before STORMED.
Cold here today, but that's changing fast with temps in the 50s and 60s next week. I stored the snowblower in the shed ten days ago, and we've only had a dusting since then. Roller coaster ride on the temps lately. Fingers crossed for an early Spring. Also impatiently looking forward to solid foods in a few days.
D.N.E.T.
ReplyDelete(Did not even try...)
Actually,
H.R.B.R.
(Hit reveal button repeatedly...)
Turned over=Ceded
Hey! That's what I do to crosswords!
Hmm, except, today it was more like crumpled...
Hmm,
Crumpled?
CED with a rumpl in it?
Oh well,
I just had to see what Yuma @ 9:18 was talking about.
So I Googled, and just loved the title of this video!
ILANA or aLANA - what's in a name? I was so "proud" of knowing most of the answers right off the bat - rats! Never heard of Glazier or "Broad City." Thanks, Gary, for the recap and hard work. And thanks, D-E, for a great puzzle. As they say, [misquoting] it's the journey, not the destination.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteFLN:
Dash T, thank you for the notice on Rich and Patty.
Rich, if you are reading, thanks for the consistency through the years, and congratulations on your retirement.
Patty, congratulations ! Well-deserved.
Pat, your mom's bearded iris looked great.
Welcome back, Lucid Lucina.
Also, Lemonade wrote that Dr Oliver Teale's blog was even more successful than C.C.'s Crossword Corner.
Perhaps so, but at 85,253,178 page views since Jan 2008 (almost 13.25 years), C.C.'s blog is also pretty doggone popular. That's an avg of approx 6.3M views per year.
From all over the globe. I've logged visitors from 76 countries in the last 10 days alone. From Algeria to Zimbabwe. From Antigua and Barbuda to Vietnam. From Argentina to Uzbekistan. From Armenia to the United Kingdom. From Australia to the United Arab Emirates. Nearly 40 % of the world's countries in the last 10 days, by intent or by chance. Pretty neat, actually.
Nearly 293K comments all time, and that doesn't include all of the spam comments that have been deleted.
That's all pretty impressive, so thanks to all of the passionate solvers, constructors and other visitors, past and present that have visited her site.
Special kudos to all the bloggers past and present, whose daily write-ups have made this site so fun, but especially to our hostess.
Thank you, C.C. for starting this blog and keeping it going through the years !
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Saturday Stumper, Debbie. Took me two+ hours but I got most of it.
Wonderful expo, HG. Thanks for filling in my last 3 squares.
FIW: RAY RaMANO.
DNF: C in MaSAI_, 1st to squares of __LOSAURUS
WOs: watzits, narc->FeDS, SwaRMED -> STORMED
ESPs: OBEAH, OSAKA, ILANA
Fav: ARE's clue was SLY
CED beat me to Yuman's Fugu video link.
re: RORY - I've seen ~1/2 of the episodes 'cuz the Girls were such big fans it was nearly always on. The Girls even met the cast pre-Covid at SxSW. IIRC, mb went to their set for the Gilmore experience.
Well, I better go get something constructive done.
Cheers, -T
FIR Saturday, which is amazing given the struggle I had. My last fill was GUILT TRIP crossing DOLLAR MENU. For a long time I tried to make "low cal" MENU work. I had "swarmed" too which didn't help. So many WOs but not in the NW like others. My first thought there was right (LIFESAVER) but in the NE I entered "warblers" instead of HOOT OWLS (my favorite fill) making me doubt HALTS, etc. I won't get into my SE problems. Quite the challenge, Debbie, but much appreciated. Good vocabulary practice.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Husker Gary, for your helpful review, checking in with Debbie, and verifying my puzzle answers. And plenty of smiles reading you today.
Good to know of the change in editor (Thanks, AnonT) but it sounds like it will go smoothly. Best wishes to both Rich and Pattie.
TTP, I for one greatly appreciate this place which I happened upon and now rely on in so many ways. Thanks to C.C., you and everyone else who keep it going. When I have free time, I enjoy coming back to read later comments. Very informative. Hope everyone is staying warm today!
ReplyDeleteD'Oh ! Somebody check my math.
Should be almost 14.25 years.
What year is it ? :>)
TTP ~~ thank you for providing those interesting statistics, I had no idea of the popularity of the Corner, but I’m really thankful to have somehow stumbled upon it a little over a year ago (can’t remember how I found it). Kudos to C.C. for creating this, and to the bloggers who are all so good at deciphering the grids on a daily basis, always entertaining and informative! And to all the commenters, what a fine eclectic group, I look forward to this site every day…thanks to all!
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Thank you, Gary, for removing the mystery from so much of this puzzle. I looked & looked for a theme.
ReplyDeleteFirst pass thru the top tier, the only trial entry that didn't turn red was ABS. The rest below went a little better, but slow slog.
Good to see your post, PK. I missed you!
DeletePK- good to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteI was not able to solve this magnificent puzzle without looking up the Gilmore Girls girl. I also FIW with ALANA and ACED. The NW corner was the last part to get solved. Had LEA REMINI before looking up RORY, which revealed RAY ROMANO. (Turns out her name is LEAH, not LEA, so doubly wrong anyway.) Terrifically well-made puzzle.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this PZL for a Saturday toughie--
ReplyDeleteso thanks to Ms. Ellerin for the effort and to Husker G for the aftermath.
I had the patience to do most of it on my own, but rolled up the final 5% at the end.
Question: Does it count when you are on your way to cheat, half way the distance to your computer screen, but the answer first pops into your head?
I mean you were determined to thwart the rules, to commit fraud, but your brain wouldn't let you.
So we pay no attention to the intent--right?
I do want to stick within the self-policing cruciverbalist ethos. But I mean...
I figure if my conscience ran ahead of my vile plan, it saved my soul from that little bit of larceny.
But then again, I did mean to break the law. There ought to be some price for that.
Ri-ight?
Meanest nexus: ALLOSAURUS and MAGICA, 'cuz the dino is obscure and the Latin coulda been anything.
One I didn't DIG: AERATE. I had it from the start, but still don't understand why we pump air into a lawn.
Fave fills: SPF and ESSAY. Something about letters gets to me.
Fave misdirection: "Puts on a coat" for PAINTS. (Also, it made me overwrite BUY with BID.)
Alas: Once again, no diagonals, so no DR.
~ OMK
ReplyDeletePK, welcome back. Good to hear from you !
YooperPhil, well said, and I think you speak for many of us with your comments.
As for the numbers, Blogger has a Stats page that owners and sysadmins can look at that keep track of many different kinds of generic statistics with some basic options, so it's just a matter of digging them out. It's actually kind of neat.
You can also pick periods of time, e.g., Last 24 Hours, Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days, Last 3 and 6 months, Last year, All Time.
I like playing with those in combination with Locations, which is Blogger's word for Countries.
As one might expect, most viewership All Time comes from the US and then Canada. Then Germany, France, and India, followed by Russia in 6th place. Are there a lot of expatriates in Russia ?
What is interesting though, that while Canada has always been second in in terms of viewership as one might expect, things have been changing as of late. Dramatically.
For example, looking back to a 6 month period, Canada was 2nd with 2% of total views, and Russia was LESS THAN 1%.
Looking back at the latest 3 month period, Canada was still at 2%, but Russia had moved to over 1%.
Looking back over the latest 1 month period, Canada was 3%, while Russia leaped to second with 4%.
Last 7 Days period ? Russian viewership doubled to 8%, while Canada stayed third-most at 2%.
In terms of Absolute Numbers, Russia had over 5200 visits to the Corner blog in the last 7 day period, while Canada had just over 1400.
Of course, the views can be to any blog post all the way back to Jan of 2008, but it does beg the question, to me at least, WHY THE DRAMATIC UPTICK ? ? Intelligence gathering ? Gathering public sentiment ? Not the latter, IMO, as I don't think they really care what the rest of the world thinks. And surely there hasn't been a sudden interest in American style crossword solving in Russia as of late.
Perhaps it's a result of their computer systems monitoring platforms instances of where the word Russia is mentioned, looking for intelligence ? The more times Russia is mentioned, the more times their systems look and examine the context.
Who knows ? But to me it is odd, nonetheless.
I would again strongly advise all readers to be cautions when clicking on links in comments from unknown commenters here on the blogspot. I know that spam comments have made it to the blog, and there's no telling whether links in them will lead you to a site that carries viral payloads. So for that matter, be cautious and prudent as you surf the web. Keep your operating systems, applications, browsers and security software updated to their latest levels.
As that Lieutenant on Hill Street Blues used to say, "Be careful out there."
Musings
ReplyDelete-Our hometown school won the State Championship last night when a sophomore made a 3-pointer at the end of the game. Our town had over 5,000 fans in the stands.
-Congrats to Patti. I guess we can’t really know who has supplied clues here – the constructor, Rich or Patti. They supply a nice puzzle every time so that question appears of be moot.
-It is so great to hear from our friend PK.
-TTP, I took great interest in your stats!
-I love slightly obscure, clever cluing for “gettable” fill much more that straight forward cluing on completely obscure fill.
-OMK, I grant you complete absolution! Of course, that and $4 will get you black coffee at Starbucks.
TTP, it was Sergeant Phil Esterhaus (played by Michael Conrad) who told the precinct to BE CAREFUL OUT THERE .
ReplyDeleteThat does remind in this trouble time of the famous Ukranian/American actor Markiyan Yulianovich Mazurkevic more known by his stage name as the champion pro wrestler he became Mike Mazurki .
ReplyDeleteBTW, my comment about Oliver Teale's blog was a tongue in cheek response to his biography saying, In addition to his published academic research, Teale is a prolific blogger whose literary blog receives over 15 million views every year .
ReplyDeleteTTP @ 3:38
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Russians keep track of how many times the word "TSAR" shows up in puzzles. 💂💂♀️
OMK...
According to the gospel of Matthew 5:27-28 (cruciverbal version)
"Whosoever, then, looketh on a crossword puzzle to cheat, that is, to turn on the red letters and cast about to obtain answers, he is rightly said to cheat in his heart." 😆😅🤣
Hi everybody.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t see AnonT’s post yesterday so it was a surprise to read about Rick and Patti today. I really appreciate Rich’s stewardship and I look forward to Patti continuing in a similar vein.
I wonder if CC (or anybody else) could fill in some blanks for me (and all of us).
Where did Rich come from before taking over the helm? What was his background? Did he apply for the job or was he drafted?
What was everything like BR? (Before Rich). I think the puzzle-editing was quite a bit different. Yes?
Wasn’t there a time early on when Rich’s editing of the LA Times crossword puzzle resulting in much easier puzzles…and then much harder ones, or am I misremembering?
Any other historical tidbits?
Thanks in advance.
~ Mind how you go…
Bill G
Re: stats, there are a LOT of bots out there! -T can give better numbers than I can, but IIRC roughly half the surfers on the net at any time are bots. Robot spiders crawling the web. So likewise all those foreign hits. If they're not from English-speaking countries, they're most likely bots, not people. Absolute numbers are questionable, but comparisons are still valuable, since bots infect everyone!
ReplyDeleteAs for the Russians, with the run-up to the war, it's not surprising they'd put more bots out, searching for intelligence.
Ray @ 5:44-- "Upon a Saturday, he who cheateth not, winneth not" (3 Hezekiah 12, or so)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to rain on the parade, but "brutal" is the word for today's puzzle (IMHO and all that). As an example, at 45D, it is assumed that i would know of some show called "Broad City", and then that I would care enough about it to remember actors'/actress' names. I know this mostly reflects my own interests -- or disinterests -- but this one was a slog. (It didn't help that I haven't bought suntan lotion in decades, so 'Banana boat no.' was a torpedo.)
Ah, well ... win some, lose some.
Started slowly, but git PEACENIKS and basically solved this puzzle from the bottom-up. Still had to look up the Alaska flag to get URSAMINOR. I consider that cheating, so not a FIR.
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ReplyDeleteHusker Gary, thanks, and congrats to your state champion basketball team.
Lemonade, yes, Sergeant rather Lieutenant. Thanks. Also, thanks for the link to Dr Teale's webpage at the Loughborough University. I've bookmarked his "Interesting Literature" blog url. I spent a few hours yesterday reading a number of his articles "A Summary and Analysis of (author's name) (literary piece title). Have to say that I am in awe of his (prolific) well-written reviews of literature, and have no reason to doubt that he has over 125K subscribed followers and has 15M views per year.
Of course though, my intent was not meant to disparage your comment in any way. Rather, only to applaud the success of C.C.'s blog.
I don't consider doing research as cheating in any way. You're not in college doing a major exam. This is a game done in the privacy of your own home to exercise your own brain, expand your knowledge and maybe have some enjoyment. No laws here. No crossword police. I need some hints so I love red-letters. What's the matter with you guys? Why have guilty consciences when there isn't any guilt?
ReplyDeletePK - I have crossword dictionaries that I haven’t used for years, now that I consider myself an expert crossword solver. Like to do it on my own without help. To each their own. Like you said, there are no laws on how to solve a puzzle. Today was a lapse I may never get over…lol.
ReplyDeleteAs I remember Sergeant Esterhaus's closing admonition, it was "Let's be careful out there," or sometimes "Let's be extra careful out there."
ReplyDeleteDo you remember the time the squad got together one night to scatter his ashes on a lonely street on the Hill? After they finished the solemn deed and were heading home, you see a big motorized street sweeper coming round the corner... A classic scene I thought.
Unusual for me, I finished a tough Saturday puzzle on paper, no master mode red letters and no LIU. I was thrilled at my slowly achieved FIR over several sittings, or so I assumed. Alas, like several others I had ALANA and ACED. I am still thrilled with one bad cell. I seldom come this close on a Saturday. Great puzzle. Great review.
ReplyDeleteI picked Alan up at 4:00 PM yesterday to avoid this morning's wind and snow. Good thing I did. Our dining coordinator said he had trouble this morning keeping his truck on Rte. 80 due to the stiff winds and will find a new route home.
Being shut in by the storm I didn't have to run Alan hither and yon nor deflect his requests to do so. It was a peaceful enough day to give the puzzle P&P. Almost a TA DA. I do the Sunday puzzle after I drop him at his home. Then I can concentrate on it.
PK, I missed you and your down to earth comments. Well said about cheating. I don't consider looking things up cheating and don't feel guilty about it, but I do try hard to do my best on my own before doing so. Something I have to try very hard for is more likely to stick in my memory.
Re. "Cheating". I prefer to solve in ink on paper. To me there's a psychology involved so if I allow for the possibility of lookups or red letters I will always so employ.
ReplyDeleteAnother FIW (for me) is when online filling the last square with no "Congrats". Therefore, I leave a square blank so I can manually review. Today, with all the inky mess I neglected to notice I'd spelt ALLOSAURUS with an aS. A tough FIW after a very long slog
Also. Time is not a factor. I had a Sunday NYT in the bathroom for a week. I broke it open only after looking up "Jersey Shore" for names of characters. I found "The Situation" which yielded "Depends on the situation" as the answer to the clue "How we knew the JS character had an incontinence issue. My favorite clue of all time.
WC
Thanks to Husker G & Ray - o - Sunshine...
ReplyDeletefor sage advice as to my guilt for XWD cheating in my heart.
~ OMK