Saturday Themeless by Beth Rubin
Hi Gary,
Of course I remember you! So glad to hear that you liked the puzzle. I rewrote/updated what I had written last time with additional comments about the puzzle. See below:
Thanks for inviting me back to the L.A. Times Crossword Corner! Originally from New York, I am a librarian, crossword constructor, writer, and artist living in Los Angeles. My puzzles have been published by the New York Times, L.A. Times, Universal, Crosswords Club, Spyscape, and Daily POP Crosswords.
I was fortunate to connect to Erik Agard and the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory just a few weeks into learning how to construct a puzzle. The guidance and mentorship have been stellar. The crossword community’s generosity, humor, and creativity continue to inspire me.
I’m a big fan of V Spehar’s TikTok UNDER THE DESK NEWS segment and built a 16x15 themeless puzzle around this seed entry. During their Thursday Night Good News Only Update, V wears a banana-printed shirt. I was happy to include the entry BANANA SEAT as a nod to good news. This puzzle also has a nod to my dad, who taught me my first CHESS OPENING moves, and my wife, who thank goodness, did not find me UNDATEABLE!
Hope that you enjoy the puzzle!
Beth
Across:
1. Improve one's class?: SKIP A GRADE - Funny start!
11. Quick: RAPID.
16. Alcopop kin: WINE COOLER.
17. Bring out: EDUCE - The clue did bring out EVOKE first
18. Single, but way too flawed: UNDATEABLE - Also a TV series it seems
19. Giant: TITAN.
20. Polish site: NAIL - PAW lish not POH lish
21. "Git!": SCAT.
22. Nucleotide triplet: CODON - All you'd like to know
23. Test for some srs.: GRE 56. "Can I have a bit more time?": TEN MINUTES? - I doubt the proctor would allow it.
24. Cena of "Peacemaker": JOHN.
25. Mariah Carey holiday hit: OH SANTA - Listen if you like
27. Resort town named for a native tree: ASPEN.
29. Mixed __: BLESSING - Living to a ripe old age can be a mixed BLESSING
30. Full of nervous energy: RESTLESS.
33. "The Rotters' Club" novelist Jonathan: COE - "Three teenage friends grow up in 1970s Britain watching their lives change as their world gets involved with IRA bombs, progressive and punk rock, girls and political strikes."
39. Milne hopper: ROO - A cwd visitor from the 100-Acre-Wood
40. Famished: RAVENOUS - Check out 44 Across below!
41. Holiness: SANCTITY.
44. Étouffée option: PRAWN.
47. Arctic wear: ANORAKS.
50. Umbrella spoke: RIB.
52. Word in British placenames: SHIRE - Yes, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins created what became known as WorcesterSHIRE (WUUS-tər-shər) sauce in WorcesteSHIRE, England in the early 18th century. It's said to be a good example of umami flavor.
54. "Have it your way": FINE.
55. Dong-hyuk who created "Squid Game": HWANG
58. Make one: MERGE - Make one lane
59. Wheelie bike feature: BANANA SEAT.
60. Mascot whose weight is listed as "Top Heavy": MR. MET
61. Challenges for a translator, perhaps: SLANG TERMS - 24 more
1. Chased a pitch: SWUNG - Baseball people know why hie did this
2. Kwanzaa candelabra: KINARA.
3. West __: INDIES.
4. Toll: PEAL - After his historic ride, Paul Revere made many bells that tolled/PEALED throughout New England
5. Do one's part?: ACT - Nice cluing for either meaning
6. Walks out, say: GOES ON STRIKE
7. Laurel and Hardy producer: ROACH - Hal made big money on this fabulous team but paid them very little
8. First British martyr: ALBAN - When Rome ruled Britain
9. Scapula neighbor, for short: DELT - Ella Dershowitz had DELTS and 22. Queen's gambit, for one: CHESS OPENING in last Saturday's puzzle
10. Long start, once: ERE - A famous George M. Cohan lyric, "Give my regards to Old Broadway
And say that I'll be there, 'ERE long!" and 28. Tense beginning?: PRE - PRETENSE
11. Throw again: RETOSS - There should have been one here
12. Brand whose website has a "3 Stripe Life" section: ADIDAS - Yup!
14. "Maybe later": I CAN'T NOW.
15. Cozy spot: DEN.
24. Raspberry: JEER.
25. Elizabeth who plays Scarlet Witch in the MCU: OLSEN - No chance for me to get this Marvel Comic Universe character
26. Improves, maybe: AGES - I seem to be doing a lot more AGING than improving
29. Eliot title hero: BEDE - The four English teachers I asked about this clue in lunch gave me a collective shrug about this Mary Ann Evans novel written under her pseudonym.
32. Tax: LEVY.
34. Bear up?: URSA.
35. "It went straight to voice mail": NO ANSWER.
36. 2014 memoir subtitled "Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery": DO NO HARM - Another interesting book our librarian/constructor has for us today
37. Western Asia native: KURD - My first west Asian native for _ U R _ was a TURK not a KURD
38. Govt. cybersecurity monitor: NSA.
42. [I'm so uncomfortable right now]: CRINGE.
43. Retailer with a RedCard credit card: TARGET - Headquartered in C.C.'s Minneapolis
45. Bell hooks, for one: WRITER - Why Gloria Jean Watkins changed her name to uncapitalized bell hooks
46. Time slot with talk shows: NINE A.M.
48. Part of DKNY: DONNA - DONNA Karan of New York
49. "Succession" sibling: ROMAN - A character in this series
51. Tops: BESTS - These two girls from the small school where I sub hope to TOP/BEST much bigger schools to win a state track championship next week.
53. Happy __: MEAL.
54. Make one: FUSE - This shows glass FUSE art before and after being put in a kiln
55. "Let me think ... ": HMM.
56. "Full Frontal" network: TBS - Political satire.
57. D.C. player: NAT - The Washington NATionalS were 2019 World Series Championships
DNF. It's Saturday.
ReplyDeleteI had about 2/3rds completed when I gave up and checked the red. That lowered it to a bit over half. I had PUT asIde < PUT ON ICE and In Awhile < I CAN'T NOW. Those were straightforward, but the NW and SE corners were masses of white.
Unknown (beside names): CODON, V Spehar, Etouffee, KINARA, ALBAN, Red Card, Bell hooks.
A crossword puzzle can be a blessing.
It can fill in time that would else be distressing.
It keeps the mind sharp,
Can entertain as a lark --
If it doesn't break the SANCTITY of our traditional word listings!
I CAN'T do it NOW, you see I am busy.
So much to do that it almost makes me dizzy.
But I do need a break,
To keep my mind in shape.
Just give me TEN MINUTES, then I'll be with you in a jiffy!
{B+, B.}
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteCHESS OPENING was a big help on this one. HIT THE BRICKS (for GOES ON STRIKE) was not. EDUCE eclipsed my EVOKE. PEAL rather than TOLL. Things went downhill fast from there. With so many incorrect entries, the perps had no chance to assist. No chance. Big fat DNF. Thanx, Beth and Husker.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Beth and Gary.
I loved it. 28:24 to unaided victory. Yesterday was 20:03 to the same. I guess I'm on the outside of many viewpoints here, but I actually do like that these crosswords are no longer easy walks in the park.
As clued, there were enough pure unknowns to make it challenging. But there were also enough footholds to make reasonable guesses and work out the answers.
The northeast corner took the longest to decode, with these entries that had to be backed out:
- evoke to EDUCE
- PUT aside to PUT ON ICE
- Mixed messages to BLESSINGS
- I CAN wait to I CANT NOW
But the real poser for me was, once again, trying to decide which spelling to use for a sound, at "Let me think...". Would it be umm, mmm, or hmm ? No idea on the first letter of the perp, so I went with the most likely letter.
Also had no idea on the "Succession" sibling, but was confident enough to enter the R in DRED as my last letter. For the win !
On a side note, the weeklong record setting heat wave, and uncomfortable high humidity levels are finally starting to break in Chicagoland. It has been unseasonably brutal and my old puffer barely kept up. Heading outside in a few minutes to take the cover off of the condenser unit so I can spray down the fins and see if that helps.
I had some late comments Fln, I do recall a Japanese soldier holdout. I wasn't sure of the island. At OCS we took Marine Corps history. Also…
ReplyDeleteI thought there was a Lara bar. I wonder if Patti was aware.
OMK, did you know psychiatrists were actually known as alienists?
Now for Saturday. Another long solve, I'd guess 2-3 hours. The frontal cortex got nada(OK, NAIL,ACT). No LHF to speak of.
So I had to wait for the cerebellum to live in. Each quadrant had its surprises and then there was TikTok which I just learned is Chinese owned hence UNDER.
Ultimate irony. We're cleaning up and Betsy says "What are these pills". I looked it up: like Ritalin, get the picture? So, I was desperate and broke one in half. Hence, I'm still up despite a full melatonin.
But it may have got me a P&I, no cheat, FIR.
The saga of the solve will have to wait. I'll measure Difficulty by the posting times of D-Otto, IM, and especially SS-Anon.
Please don't post at 730 saying DNF too hard!. Take six hours and call me at 2pm(re. DO NO HARM). And…
If NO ANSWER it went to spam.
WC
Hello Beth and Gary. After a slow start and 35 minutes I managed to FIR today. I knew it would be a tough one when a word that I'd seen for the first time- Alcopop- was a clue. It took lots of perps and WAGS today.
ReplyDeleteROACH, HWANG, UNDER THE DESK NEWS, COE, KINARA, ALBAN, ERE, OLSEN, WRITER (or bell hooks), ROMAN (or ")Succession". Those were all unknowns that required patience to fill.
ARAB, TURK, or KURD
SWANG or SWUNG
OLSON or OLSEN
BEATS or BESTS
Etouffee options in S. LA are SHRIMP or CRAWFISH but PRAWN fit TODAY.
The Expos became the Nationals, known as the NATS. The Bullets became the Capitols, the CAPS. Will the Redskins, who became the Commanders be known as the COMMIES?
I had never heard of a " codon" and was unfamiliar with Kwanzaa traditions but the perps were fair. I found this puzzle to be the usual Saturday slog, no better and no worse than many before it. FIR, so I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteFIR, but it was quite the workout. Very enjoyable puzzle.
ReplyDeleteTwo boxes in two days I was stuck on holiness. Chastity? Didn't think so. SW were my last fills and the C in CRINGE finished it. I just now grok'ed Bear "up"- URSA.
ReplyDeleteBostonians basically say WhistAH but I'll buy WUUS
Oops its not uMM nor uWANG so FIW after all
(The venerable) BEDE is cited as a source for St ALBAN. I dredged up Adam from some recess. I was desperate to get some(any) ink onto paper
As I suspected this seems to be rated Sat+. Even TTP had to WAG the H
WC
Took 17:28 to finish.
ReplyDeleteI was not a fan of the clue for Laurel & Hardy's producer next to the clue for some British martyr next to an abbreviation (of a muscle next to a bone), all near "Kinara." But, there was some fun fill to help offset that section, e.g., "undateable".
I really enjoyed watching "Succession," and yet still struggled to remember "Roman" (and also Connor).
I've never associated a banana seat with a wheelie bike, and I was intent on figuring-out the proper name of the memoirist ... Don O'harm? Don O. Harm? Oh, Do No Harm.
I don't do TikTok (or FB, Twitter, Insta) and podcasts, and with tURk, 48A-49D and 34A were FIW. Might have gotten 34A if 29D were clued "The Venerable". Got the rest, though.
ReplyDeleteToll and PEAL are both ringing of bells, but not exactly equivalent, toll usually means a slow, mournful ring while peal seams to be more joyful.
Well this was a slow and steady workout - felt like a Silkie! Many of the unknowns were perpable. Only holiday hit I knew for Mariah Carey was "All I want for Christmas is You"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAkMkVFwAoo But "OH SANTA" was a very solvable holiday song.
I had to switch SAT to GRE for the Srs. test. I thought 36D might be a memoir of Ben Carson since it mentioned brain surgery but was one letter too short - but instead invoking the Hippocratic Oath of DO NO HARM.
I also had for the DC player as POL before moving to sports with NAT.
It helps to have millennial children to hear about some of the clue shows and movies - my one son is always telling me of things I've "gotta watch". Some I really enjoyed like "Ted Lasso" and "The Queen's Gambit" which made CHESS OPENING a gimme. Others I watched one or two episodes like "Succession" and "Severance" and said NO thank you! Still took perps to know whether the son was ROMAN or Ronan or Rowan.
I have never seen "Squid Game" but knew it was from South Korea - which helped to finish HWANG which is the Korean version of that name where it would be HUANG if it was Chinese.
Thanks HG for the fun blog and Beth for the interesting puzzle and stopping by!
Oh, and I just went to see "Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" this past week (took my medical assistant for nurses week- she is a big MCU and Star Wars fan) and Elizabeth OLSEN as The Scarlet Witch was a main character.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteI finished w/o help (39:47) but I didn’t enjoy the journey due to the inordinate number of unknowns: Codon, Oh Santa, Coe, Hwang, Kinara, Do No Harm, Roman, Kurd, Under The Desk News, and, as clued, Bede, Prawn, Mr. Met, Olsen, Writer, Roach, and Alban. Faced with that much white space made for a tedious solve. I stumbled at Feelings>Emotions>Blessings and Days/Meal. The proper name cluing trend continues with the clues for Roach, Target, Meal, Wine Cooler, Anoraks and Writer. I appreciated the low three letter word count and the fun pairings of Wine/Ages, Blessing/Sanctity, Nine/Ten, Merge/Fuse, Moon/Ursa, Anorak/Ice, and Ravenous/Meal. CSOs to Moe (Wine) and Ray O and Inanehiker (Do No Harm).
Thanks, Beth, for stopping by and thanks HG, for another A+ review and visuals.
SS @ 8:17 ~ I, too, was looking for a Don O’Hare, Hart, etc.
Have a great da.
OK, Saturday FIW with two bad squares like yesterday. I'll accept it because it was slow to finish at all. My downfall was HWeNG crossing DON OHeRn, which is how I parsed it thinking I needed the author's name. You got me Beth, but thanks anyway for a mind stretching morning! DO NO HARM. Good advice.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Husker Gary, for fully explaining what the fill was. I'd forgotten Mr. Met and didn't know much about other guessed fill I got right. Your review was quite helpful. And I always enjoy your contact with the constructors.
Busy start to the weekend and nice weather for it. You all have a FINE day!
DNF,,,,
ReplyDeleteNot a snowflakes chance in Hell...
ReplyDeleteWell, the cooling fins in the AC condenser unit definitely needed to be washed out. Afterwards, getting all the covers back on and properly aligned was more difficult than taking them off. The house seems to be cooling much better.
Irish Miss, while removing a spam and a comment deleted by an author, I inadvertently removed your one line correction about Day, as well. Sorry about that.
I must be getting old. Some of the clues were just too obscure for me.
ReplyDeleteTTP @ 10:48 ~ No worry, it’s obvious I meant day.
ReplyDeleteAs Subgenius said, above, "I had never heard of a " codon" and was unfamiliar with Kwanzaa traditions but the perps were fair." Unlike Sub, however, Valerie would not call it a "slog". For us it was more of a slow but steady Saturday solve. We started in the NE and, more or less, worked out way clockwise with some of the same changes of mind that others have mentioned above (e.g. evoke/educe, saint something or other/sanctity, sat/gre).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beth and Gary, for a very nice start to the day - one of a couple nice starts ;-)
DNF. Too many unknowns. Unfortunately I don’t have grandchildren to bring me up to date on the brave new world of TikTok.
ReplyDeleteA very fine themeless, tough and thought provoking as a Saturday puzzle should be! Managed a FIR in 41:04 w/o help, so I’m happy (just like Subgenius). Thank you Beth for this morning’s mental exercise and stopping by the corner to fill us in with your bio and inspiration for today’s stumper! Also, thanks to Patti for your help with the clues, I like your style and am starting to recognize what I think are clues you provided, learning a lot which I hope to instill in my memory bank
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid I had a 20” sting ray bike with butterfly handlebars and a banana seat, perfect for popping long wheelies! Years later I was gonna teach my kid how to pop a wheelie and promptly flipped over on my back, knocking the wind out of me, the last wheelie I attempted 🤦♂️.
Husker G ~ another superb review, always a delight and an education when you take the blog reins! I have to remember that George Eliot is a pseudonym, whenever I see Eliot in a puzzle I always think of TS and not George.
BE said pretty much all I felt solving this one. I stream BBC America and I think I saw an episode of ROTTERS CLUB or tried to watch it. Not my cup of Earl Grey.
ReplyDeleteHG your skill at getting the constructors to correspond seems unending and it helps me try to get in their heads in the solve. I completely understand these will never be easy but as many are thinking neither were the Silkie Saturdays
Thank you Beth. Thank you Gary
Big Easy ~~ the Washington Bullets became the Washington Wizards of the NBA, I think you may have confused it with hockey.
ReplyDeletePuzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteGoogle to the rescue
Does anyone remember the pre-Google days when "looking up an answer" required a Crossword Puzzle dictionary?
I'm very RESTLESS today
Believe it or not, I SKIPped A GRADE in elementary school
Husker Gary: I saw you get in a plug for your Nebraska team with the ADIDAS logo. They're in the minority as most of the large schools are "owned" by Nike
I love a challenging Saturday puzzle and this was one of the best. Yes, sometimes there are plenty of new words/terms; I like to think of those as fun ways to keep up with life! Thanks for providing so much entertainment and good will!
ReplyDeleteThank you Beth for a Saturday challenge. After yesterday's humiliating defeat I was determined to finish this one, although it was an FIW due to a FTPR ("Failure To ProofRead"). I'd already filled 28D with ADDS and it was near the end that I filled 29A BLESSING, but didn't bother to change the "D", "DOH!" - I'm with you Husker on AGING.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks as always to Gary for EDUCING Beth's comments and for a fine review.
A few favs:
22D CODON. Pretty technical fill even for a Saturday (excellent link Gary). The Darwinian evolution of the 4 paired nucleotides (A+T & C+G) into the DNA helix; the grouping of these pairs into the 64 CODON triplets; the correspondence of these codons to the 20 amino acids (with redundancy to reduce errors); the coupling of the amino acids into long strings of proteins; the folding of these amino acid strings into the precise shapes needed for enzymatic activity; and the exquisite synchronization of the (at least) 80,000 different protein types into the miracle of human metabolism; beggars belief.
52A SHIRE. My Mom was from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. This is where the potter Josiah Wedgewood (1730-1795) invented the PYROMETER for meauring kiln temperatures; and also developed the process of MASS PRODUCTION, contrary to what Ford Motors will tell you.
8D ALBAN. I knew he was a saint, but didn't know he was a Britain's first martyr.
Cheers,
Bill
Quickly popping in to say I still love to come here and find out how others have puzzled their ways through the clues and find out I'm not the only one writing over-umm, hum, hmm. I loved this puzzle and it did remind me of a Silkie, which I loved to solve too---slow and steady! Thank you all for your comments, explanations, and ideas. I'm off on a giant round of more errands, but doing the Saturday puzzle always takes priority, plus a quick stop at the Corner.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteWhat CED said(ish). After five (5) Googles, I TITT.
Thanks Beth for the puzzle and inside-baseball with HG. Thanks HG for the fine expo explaining why I didn't understand many of the clues (oh, Marvel Cinematic Universe).
Fav: We've seen MOON alot this week... I think the universe is speaking. Under a Raging [Keith] Moon.
//find 'duhg' if you want to see 7 great drummers offering tribute beginning at 3:57
{B, B+/A-}
TTP - how old is your compressor unit? Good you got it cooling but... You know what's coming *CRINGE*
Our Houston AC units have been cooling the house since late February.
Speaking of houses... Our current one is being 'neutralized' for sale. All colors / character has been erased for Dover white. The 'oakish' wood cabinets in the kitchen are currently Kilz primer white.
My BMX bike didn't have a BANANA SEAT yet I could ride a wheelie half-a-block. I think I'd pull a YooperPhil if I tried it today. And skateboarding is right out ;-)
C.Moe - I've always wondered about kids who SKIP A GRADE. Like, now you're the youngest in the class, you missed all the socialization the other kids (who've been together at least a couple of years), and maybe even an inside joke pertaining to the teacher you skipped... [like Sister Teresa whacking Kevin with a yard-stick hollering "What ails you boy?" - that was our class's go-to line for years :-)]
Or was it like changing schools?
Before wishing y'all a wonderful afternoon - I think everyone can tell no-clicky-click on @1:40pm's SPAM links.
Y'all have a wonderful afternoon!
Cheers, -T
Too tough for me. I gave it a shot, but hey, it's Saturday, and there are more things to do. P+P only goes so far.
ReplyDeleteSHIRE. I always enjoy Husker G's expansive takes on particular fills.
Here he reminds us of WorcesterSHIRE sauce. And this reminds me of my first year in England when I learned how sensible the Brits can be.
In my childhood (and probably in yours) I was at pains to pronounce this l-o-n-g word on the sauce bottle.
After many mis-speakings, I finally got it down, pronouncing it just as HG illustrates here.
THEN, I got to Old Blighty and learned that the proper way to say it (according to the original speakers!) is simply "WOOSTER Sauce."
Two fewer syllables! Make it easy on yourself.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Asymmetrical grid (16x15), no diagonals.
Hi Y'all! 48:49 minutes to fill. Beth & I don't live in the same universe. Some of the words came easy & some would never have come without red-letter runs to get a toe hold. I enjoy a challenge but so many unknowns cause frustration. I had so much white area in the NW 2/3 that I almost quit after first pass. I got some fills on the lower part and worked my way back up after the clues had a chance to settle in my brain and bring up answers.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gary, for an enjoyable expo and the constructor interview which allowed me to know why I had no chance to solve this without red-letters.
Watched one of my grandsons graduate from high school via internet last night. Two hours of eye-strain & poor quality sound to see this handsome young man come joyfully bounding across the stage to accept his diploma with a big grin. Worth every minute I waited. Haven't seen him for 3 yrs. because of Covid & distance to their home. I couldn't go to his party today either.
Hmm,
ReplyDelete(This is a family Blog?)
Forgive me for sounding like a newbie, but,
yesterday TTP typed "TiTT"
And today Anon-T typed "I TITT...."
I had no idea what this meant.
It is not in the oleo section of crossword abbreviations,
and a google search only brings up body parts...
AND THEN THE V8 CAN HIT ME,....
Throw In The Towel!
I Threw in The Towel!
Of course, so obvious.
Hmm,
But after todays puzzle, I bet there will be a lot of body parts showing...
(This is a family blog?)
ReplyDeleteI have not posted for a couple of days, due to a multitude of important matters, that took precedence ...in my time and on my mind. So, I was determined to add my two bits ... two very small bits worth, for today.
Thank you Beth Rubin for the puzzle and Husker Gary for your dedicated and stellar can-do attitude on and for the blog....
I tried for almost an hour to solve the CW, and after a sea of white, I broke down and came to the blog. I'm glad I did ..... because many of the answers were too exotic to have occurred to me.
I had some learning moments.
I was particularly dejected becuase I did not know the term CODON, although that seems pretty technical for a non-genetic study person, like me.
I have a close friend and one-time neighbor who is an AR surgeon, and when she described a Seton, several years ago, it took me several days of googling to understand what implement and procedure, she meant and was talking about. I wouldnt dream of linking it, but you can find out on your own, should you not be of the queamish nature.
have a nice day, and a great weekend, you all.
A FIR without help yesterday. I threw in the towel today. Having a fever dulls the brain
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteSpam deleted. Thanks, Dash T. And glad to read your new digs passed muster.
I believe I had that HVAC system's condenser unit and A coil replaced around 18 years ago. With a Goodman (Made in Houston. I got a tour of their new plant shortly after they built it, years earlier.) The compressor had gone bad in the Tempstar HVAC system I had installed in Oct 95. It lasted less than 10 years. Bummer.
This compressor is still running fine. The condenser coils and cooling fins were pretty dirty, so it was working overtime as the freon wasn't getting cooled down enough. So knock on wood, no need to replace the condenser unit just yet.
BTW, I've been really happy with the Goodman. So when I built my house addition around 2008, and needed a second HVAC system, I chose Goodman again. Never had a problem.
Cross Eyed Dave, it wasn't me that used TITT yesterday. I solved that one in 20 minutes. I never commented yesterday.
Skipping grades (3x) worked in the classroom but prematurely produced temptations in the social life. Examples were early drinking, smoking and partying with older classmates.
ReplyDeleteCh, Moe @ 12:45 I still have my Crossword Dictionary on the bookshelf but I have not opened it in years. It sits next to an even thicker volume which listed thousands of motion pictures, their casts, directors, year of release, etc. There was no IMDB.
ReplyDeleteTTP
ReplyDeleteMy apologies,
It was Waseely @ 1:06
My memory can no longer be salvaged by doing crosswords...
While doing the puzzle,
8n order not to pull all my hair out,
I have been pulling on a a towel...
I am afraid I can no longer just claim "I TITT."
TTP / CED - for the record: It was waseeley at 1:06p that said TITT.
ReplyDeleteJust keep keepin' it real.
@4:05p - is that a first-hand story or just what you saw around you?
I wasn't one for only hanging w/ my grade-level peers. My paper route took me to fun old-lady houses (one with toy pistols on the wall with $$ behind a gun or two -- that was her gambling $ for the weekend. She also had hot coco ready in on those cold winter mornings).
There was also the nurses' dorm I delivered to. Those girls doted on me with warm teas and walked around in their smalls like I wasn't even there!?! I remember one room was keen on Billy Squire's music. Alas, no one took me tonight ;-)
Then there was the guy at "The Dairy" (it was the milk store b/f it became a convince store) where Harold gave me free coffee (I was only 12!) [he said "if you can learn to like coffee, you'll have a drink anywhere in the world." He was right #Army], and tear off covers of magazines (so he could return 'em for credit) to give to me.
So the Nuns did't promote me a grade but I think I learned above grade-level throwing papers :-)
Cheers, -T
OK, straight Saturday Difficulty. It always looks that way after solving.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved at age 10 I was put in a split classroom with 6th graders whom I got along with. Having come from catholic school they could have upped me easily to 6th.
I have that thick MP paperback describing and rating all post war movies. It's under some bed I think.
WC
Two good bits of word play surfaced this afternoon. One from the newspaper funnies involved the Loch Ness Minister who wondered why no one showed up for a lakeside service. The second was in an Eddie Bauer email blast that mentioned that camping season was just ahead and it was going to be in tents.
ReplyDeleteI had to get a lot of help to solve this puzzle; I didn't count but I think I went to Google about 15 times. NAIL went in, came out, and went in again. SHOO became SCAT. MESSAGES became BLESSING. STARVING became RAVENOUS (a nifty word). SHRIMP didn't fit into that PRAWN space. MELD became MESH which became FUSE. SLANG WORDS became SLANG TERMS. SET ASIDE became PUT ASIDE which became PUT ON ICE. As with Gary, TURK became KURD. And on and on.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason "Bear up" did not fool me and URSA went right in. PRE, BEDE, and THATS were also correct on the first try. For "Scapula neighbor" I was looking for a bone, not a muscle.
One heckuva 74-minute workout for me. Plum tired me out.
Good wishes to you all.
I've been keeping a lower profile lately and it seems as if somebody has slipped in a new piece of Cornerese: Silkie. Whazzat? As this crowd can be deef at times, I'm sure I'll have to ask it again. I'd even settle for an FLN (and even multiple definitions).
ReplyDeleteAs is often stated...Late to the party 🥳
ReplyDeleteIt was in the 80s in the Adirondacks and getting recently opened camp in shape was exhausting plus it's black fly season and during their brief lifespan the critters are determined to drain every last ounce of blood. (Swat...swat...gotcha).
CODON clued as "nucleotide triplet" is soooo Saturday . I had "chain"🙄.. Why just TENMINUTES more? With this puzzle how about a couple hours?
I gave up on the puzzle, the lake gets like glass at this hour so time for a glass of beer on the deck.
I skipped half a grade. The city school superintendent decided in 1959 to combine the second half of each grade with the first half of the next grade to push those of us who started school in January (not September) up half a grade so we would eventally graduate HS in June instead of December. In those days if you were going to turn 5 by June you could start school in January. I was going to be 5 in May 1955 so I started Kindergarten in January. We were just talking about this last week. Our first meeting to plan a 55th HS reunion.🧑🎓👩🎓
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.🙋♂️
Very difficult CW with too many DNFs to list. The first pass yielded seven fills. Second pass added one. Then I turned to Google. Eventually, I filled all the cells correctly, but it took 56 minutes, and with so much Google help I don't know if I can claim a FIR. The last area to fill was the NW. Thanx for the Saturday toughie, BR, and thanx for your terrific write-up, HG.
ReplyDeletewaseeley- I was lurking today to check my answers and “unsolveables” (goes with undateable LOL) and saw your ? Re SILKIE. Barry Silk constructed many Saturday CWs in the past. I always felt victorious when I managed to FIR. I believe he retired from constructing, and many of our Cornerites miss his special skill.
ReplyDeleteYou can see Interviews on the main page for a couple of interviews C.C. did with him.
Thank you CEh!!
DeleteRay-o
ReplyDeleteI have found,
If you drink enough beer,
The black flys are very happy...
Bill: Barry Silk puzzles were very difficult. This was back before I started doing them on line and I finally just quit trying to do a Silkie. I don't miss him.
ReplyDelete"The four English teachers I asked about this clue in lunch gave me a collective shrug about this" chortle! Not that I've read it either.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice write up!
Although I threw in the towel, I did have some gimmes like URSA (cute) and CHORTLE.
ReplyDeleteVocabulary.com says "In 1871, Lewis Carroll, who wrote "Alice in Wonderland," coined the word chortle in the poem "Jabberwocky," about a son who slays a monster and comes back to his relieved and happy father: "'O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy." Experts consider the word a blend of the words chuckle and snort and the laugh itself is also a cross between the two. You may chortle in glee if you find out your work nemesis just got a new job in another office — out of state."
"Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck."
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
Quite a few references in the Harry Potter books and elsewhere. I see it often.