Saturday Themeless by Malaika Handa
Also, when you’re solving, look up entries that you don’t know! It’s a game, not a test.
That's tough advice for us completion freaks but I think it is pretty sound advice. I always say of myself, "I'm smart enough to know how little I know." Exhibit A: I got the correct fill for "Kells artisan" but had no idea what it meant and my research on this fabulous volume led to an incredible amount of learning.
Did you have to get some help to complete Malaika's offering?
1. Devices that may shed some light on a situation: DESK LAMPS.
10. "4X2=8" rapper from Korea: PSY. I knew of this name from his massive hit "Gangman Style" - I've posted the opening lyrics on the right.
13. Got credit, in a way?: OPENED A TAB.
15. Consumed: ATE.
16. Simple cocktail: GIN AND TONIC - Not as simple as you might think
18. Agcy. whose logo is an eagle holding a scale: IRS - A return address that can get your attention
19. Freelancer's info: SPECS - As a freelancer, you work on speculation
20. Event that might be called "morp": GAY PROM - A "morp" is a prom students organize without school approval. The small school where I sub welcomes gay prom dates!
22. Two dry gallons: PECK.
23. "__ MaƱanitas": Mexican birthday song: LAS - From our friend Lucina: "Literally it means the mornings and is usually sung at dawn and I assure you it is hugely popular for birthdays" Here it is with lyrics overlaid in Spanish.
26. Artisan at Kells: SCRIBE - This fabulous book was written and illustrated by three SCRIBES in Kells, Co Meath in Ireland around 800 A.D. The fascinating history of this treasure.
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| On display in a high security case at Trinity College in Dublin |
27. De Armas of "No Time to Die": ANA - On July 7, we had 42. Wonkette founding editor __ Marie Cox: ANA and Jeffrey Wechsler's July 8 puzzle had 1. Political commentator Navarro: ANA.
28. Semisolid dessert: JELLO.
30. Flax fabric: LINEN.
31. Fast tracks?: PUMP UP SONGS - Our high school Tigers' band used Eye Of The Tiger
33. Element of 1990s fashion: HAMMER PANTS - M.C. Hammer
34. Sticks in windows: BARBER POLES - Stick Candy History Stick candy, also called candy sticks, barber pole candy or barber poles have been in production since before the Civil War.
35. Stand in a painting class: EASEL.
36. Tries out: TESTS.
37. Handheld or holding hands, for short: PDA - You can see a Public Display of Affection in every school hallway
40. Performs brilliantly: SHINES.
42. __ Moines: DES.
43. Did some digging: HOED.
44. Many a Mugler garment: CATSUIT - "Frenchman Manfred Thierry Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the following decades for his avant-garde, architectural, hyperfeminine and theatrical approach to haute couture." You're welcome.
47. Reddit Q&A: AMA - Ask Me Anything
48. Celebration where many are out on the streets?: PRIDE PARADE - Fun cluing for people who are "out" in another connotation
52. Bestie: PAL.
53. Cry of horrible realization?: I'M A MONSTER.
54. Class for some immigrants: Abbr.: ESL.
55. Cool footwear: SNOWSHOES.
Down:
1. Place for some nail trims: DOG SPA.
2. Camp nurse's item: EPIPEN - I tried IPECAC for awhile
3. Great Hill People: SENECA.
5. __ flare: LENS - The first images back from NASA's James Webb telescope this week has them emanating from 13+ billion years ago.
6. Tally: ADD.
7. Pilates roll: MAT - I assume they roll them up after use
8. Employee's perk: Abbr.: PTO - Paid Time Off. I retired with 110 unused sick leave and personal leave days
9. Provided backup, in a way: SANG - CHERilyne Sarkasian on the right without Sonny Bono, in a rare photo with Phil Spector, SANG backup for The Ronettes
10. Twosomes: PAIRINGS - Salvatore Sonny Bono and Cherilyne Sarkasian
11. Flashers in a club: STROBES.
12. Sycophants: YES MEN.
14. __-variance tradeoff: BIAS - Knock yourself out!
17. Brooklyn MiLB team: CYCLONES - Named for the famous CYCLONE roller coaster on nearby Coney Island in Malaika's home borough of Brooklyn.
23. "I got this!": LEMME.
24. Herb honored with a National Medal of Arts in 2013: ALPERT - and the Tijuana Brass supplied music for The Dating Game. Here are two early contests on that show.
28. Cancel one's order?: JUMBLE UP.
29. Go against: OPPOSE.
31. Paired symbols, for short: PARENS
32. Seasons, as pasta water: SALTS.
33. Wants for nothing: HAS IT ALL.
34. Nation in the Lucayan Archipelago: BAHAMAS.
35. __ room: ESCAPE - Click here and scroll down one screen to see how they work
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| Here's one in Omaha |
37. Latke ingredient: POTATO - I've never had one but I'd love to try one.
38. "Dexter's Laboratory" older sister: DEE DEE - Seemed right. A DEE DEE POTATO
39. One of three snake species native to Britain: ADDERS - Had to be
41. Assistant who can control HomeKit accessories: SIRI.
43. Cruel: HARSH.
45. Sturdy tan work boots, slangily: TIMS - Short for TIMberlandS
46. Album buyers, presumably: FANS.
49. Auerbach of the Black Keys: DAN - Saturday cluing of a common name. Were you expecting Blocker of Bonanza, Rowan of Laugh-In or Aykroyd of SNL? š
50. Prefix with "pop" or "rock": EMO.
51. Hard-hitting sound: POW.
Malaika, we invite you to comment below.
46 comments:
FIWrong. The last two letters I filled were WAGs, both wrong, in OPENED A _A_*, which also messed up P_O* & _IAS*;
LEt ME < LEMME, and
CYCLiNES < CYCLONES, which revealed PUtPUPSiNGS.
* As of this writing, 2 hours before blog posting, I still don't know what these letters are.
FLN: bucking the norm, IIRC, the NYT has themeless both Saturday & Friday! IMHO, those are the days that really need a theme the most!
Oh, save us from Wordle, the word to complete!
Help us ESCAPE from each five-letter geek!
They have a KNACK
To seep through a crack --
Like JELLO blocks in meringue, lemon, lime, oh, so sweet!
(A reminder that Wordle-bragging is welcome across the aisle in JumbleHints.)
Things are falling apart to decamp!
Read it in the news by your fluttering DESK LAMP!
Except in Iowa -- DES MOINES --
Where the community all joins.
How do they do it? They use a DES KLAMP!
{A-, A-.}
Good morning!
Close, but no cigar. It all came down to Colorado. Didn't recognize HAMMER PANTS or PUMP UP SONGS. LETME instead of LEMME made that entire area opaque...and it stayed that way. Does anyone still use a PDA in this age of the smartphone? PRIDE PARADE, OPENED A TAB, and SNOW SHOES were cutely clued. This was a worthy challenge, but d-o proved to be an unworthy challenger. Thanx, Malaika and Husker.
Nice grid design, and a challenging puzzle. Almost solved like 3 mini-puzzles for me - SE, center (NE to SW) and then finishing on the NW. Struggled with HAMMERPANTS and the clue for BARBERPOLE - still not sure I get the clue. Once I had HAMMERPANTS, couldn't wait to read Gary's writeup because I KNEW he would have a photo! I guess I am old enough, but was never wise enough, to have a pair. Fun puzzle, another great writeup.
DNF, my usual Saturday "score". Filled 23 entries, 21 correctly. At least I didn't linger.
FLN: -T, I think that anything with the possibility of great bodily harm and/or extensive property damage has to count. Nice fire dance.
Let me instead of lemme, turned pump up songs to put pump songs, which didn’t sound right, but could have been right. Otherwise it was a tough but fun puzzle.
Took me 23:03 today.
Like Pawel, I still don't get the barber poles clue. Pump-up songs took forever to see, especially when I originally had "let me" rather than "lemme."
"Hammer pants" came relatively easy, once I gave up on "harem pants."
Catsuit was totally unknown.
Didn't care for "parens". Does anyone say that?
I like some Black Keys music, but didn't know "Dan."
My first drink was a GIN AND TONIC and that was my starting point. "Look it up?". Uhuh. My rules is Nyet Google, ever* And…
NEVER GIVE UP! But…
I have one massive advantage: xword is available all week but I don't solve until Friday. And it was indeed an all day affair.
I suspected PECK but the K?(spark for Flair?)
I knew Red Auerbach didn't play in a band
Proud of my no red, ink FIR. P&P did it.
WC
**re. Rebecca and Norm's TAB
Hand up for the DNF club today. Peeped at Husker Gary's review to get DESK LAMPS which allowed me to fill in a few more squares in that area before peeping again. Me too for the misleading entry LEt ME which didn't "let me" see PUMP UP SONGS. I had the idea of pep up songs but couldn't get anything to work there. HAMMER PANTS I was able to get but BARBER POLES was mostly a mystery.
The other two thirds of the puzzle went well with few WOs. The puzzle was a true Saturday challenge but I thank you, Malaika, and congratulate you on your debut.
And many thanks to Husker Gary for your much needed information today. Learning moment for me was what MiLB stood for. (I googled it just now.) (Notice the PARENS?)
Congratulations to WC on his FIR! And to others who did well.
FLN: AnonT, you weren't too foggy and I enjoyed your post. Hope you feel better today.
And Lucina on Picard's post, I agree with you. The videos were great. And no children? I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it. Picard? Adult only activity?
Hope everyone has a good weekend!
At first, I didn't know where to start. But I thought I'd try "gin and tonic" for the "simple cocktail" and it worked. That's when the puzzle started opening up for me. And I've noticed myself that our esteemed editor has a fondness for the name "Ana" so whenever there's a three-word name I don't know I try that first. In this case, that worked. Also, I note that if you don't see the small "i" in the clue "Brooklyn MiBL team" you'll probably be flummoxed. I was, at first. And like others, I originally had trouble with "lemme" instead of "let me," as well as "emo" instead of "eco." But eventually, through P&P, I overcame all obstacles. FIR, so I'm happy.
A weird puzzle layout..resulting in lots of ⬜ 's and long fill plus a Saturday...uh oh.. "Auerbach?," "Mugler?," CATSUIT? PSY? What happened to "Feliz cumpleaƱos a ti" (plus the only 3 letter female Spanish name I know is ANA) etc...needed help from many other perps which finally ended in a FIR...š¤
Inkovers: vipers/ADDERS, Gemini/PARENS, (have never seen this abbrev.), Dierdre/DEEDEE , PDO(Day)/PTO(Time), Newyearseve/PRIDEPARADE, head/DESKLAMPS, letme/LEMME..... PUMPUPSONGS didn't seem right (and WEES I also still don't get the BARBERPOLES clue) which held up progress...."morp:" GAYPROM ? (sounds like discrimination and illegal) š®. TIMS? Thought PRINTS were geometric and "florals" a flower pattern (but what do I know)
Sycophants are NOT syncopated pachyderms. š ....Liked the clever PDA clue. "Herb honored:" first thought, must be a plant š„“ "Sucked hard:" (or why I gave up on piano lessons š. )
*"Mr. Tally man, tally me banana" (a banana counter, known as a "tally man" would figure out how much each worker would be paid. "Come, Mr. Tally Man, tally me banana; daylight come and me wan' go home.") šš
SENECA, the largest of the Finger Lakes but our Oneida Lake is still the largest non border lake in New York.
Pilate's roll? A Roman cannoli?š
"Strike ____ " OPPOSE
Kissed frog yield....PRINTS
*Tally man....ADDER
Herman introduces himself to a delighted Lilly ", ____" ...IMA MONSTER
Chacun Ć” son goĆ»t but I don't look through the deck if I'm losing a card game...however I will look up answers once I give up and admit de š£ if our excellent commentators' explanation is beyond my ken. So it's still a learning experience š
First pass had a few gimmes.
Second pass filled about 6 more. That's all there was in 15 minutes and I could tell be the clues it wouldn't be possible to fill the unknowns.
DNF. Not even close.
We were able to get a finger hold in the NE and then worked pretty much clockwise to get a FIR. Thanks for explaining TIMS. Not being anything close to a fashionisto HAMMER PANTS and CAT SUIT were mostly perped but made sense after they emerged.
DNF, NW stumped me. I just couldn't see "opened a tab". Tough puzzle overall.
I’ll join the DNF club for same reasons as many bloggers. LEtME, I was alive in the 90s but couldn’t get HAMMER PANTS, no clue what PUMPUPSONGS are, JUMBLEUP? I liked the flair and flare juxtaposition. Some clever clues like #48 and #55.
I gotta go to get me a cat suit. Woo, woo!
T Nique,
"Cancel one's order": JUMBLE UP...eliminate the order in which things were placed...BUT I agree, have never heard the term PUMPUPSONG and would welcome an explanation for BARBERPOLES š¤
Good challenge today! DNF, defeated in the NW. Needed HG's help to complete 1 and 13 across so I could cheat my way through 1-5 down and 19, 22, 27 across. Still fun! Thanks!
Thank you Malaika and congrats on your debut. This was the usual Saturday struggle and I was close, but got no cigar due to an FIS (Finished It Stupidly). The intersection of POP and SNOP SHOES (what was I thinkin'?) was pretty dumb.
Thanks for your usual illuminating review Gary. To answer your trailing question, what I called CLU (Confirmatory Look Up) to verify that there was such a thing as HAMMER PANTS.
Some favs:
18A IRS. Not that they're a favorite but ... I see the SCALES in that LOGO, but the EAGLE has flown its AERIE.
26A SCRIBE. Did know the Book of KELLS from Thomas Cahill's wonderful book "How the Irish Saved Civilization", which focuses primarily on the role played by St. Patrick.
27A ANA. We recently ANA co-starring in "Knives Out" (twice!) with Daniel Craig (who isn't playing Bond). De Armas, originally from Cuba is quite a versatile actress who is currently starring in "Blonde", a bio-pic about Marilyn Monroe.
42A PRIDE PARADE. Missed OUT on the clue's hidden pun.
3D SENECA. A CSO to Ray - O, Irish Miss, and our dearly departed SPITZBOOV and ARGYLE.
12D YES MEN. A fixture in modern politics.
31D PARENS. This abbrev is common among GEEKS, who use it regularly in the description of computer programs. IIRC (and -T can correct me on this), they are the only punctuation used by LISP, an early AI language.
37D POTATO. We've got some volunteers in the garden, that we missing picking last year. Here's a recipe for LATKES.
Cheers,
Bill
Wilbur Charles @8:15 AM Thanks for the Cheers. I'd forgotten what a real hoot that show was.
And this one's for you WC from a local Baltimore eRag - the history of the connection between the real 'Moonlight' Graham from "The Field of Dreams" and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, from which he graduated (where I worked for 14 years).
Thank you, Malaika and Gary. Solved while watching The Open. What a leaderboard !
Oh so close. Had 'dAY PROM' even though the crossing SANd made no sense for the clue. After finally getting out of the hole I put myself in, I just didn't notice it, and in scanning all of the answers (w/o rereading all of the clues)... well... SANd just didn't stand out.
It was the NW corner that held me at bay for the longest time with the incorrect 'pet SPA' finally yielding to the incorrect 'Day SPA' and eventually to the correct DOG SPA. The initial pet entry led me to start 13A "Got credit, in a way?" with 'earnED A --B'.
So changing one little three letter word from pet to DOG cleared up the mess and allowed me to get the crossing answers worked out.
Favorite clues were 37A "Handheld or holding hands, for short" and 48A "Celebration where many are out on the streets?". So much to like about this puzzle.
I initially entered LEMME for "I got this!" because it's an excited slang phrase. The typical usage of the expression would in the sense of "I'll handle it !" or "I know this !" Formally, it should be "I have this", or "I have got this." Both present tense. A stand alone got (w/ no have) would be past tense. My 9th grade English teacher would be happy to know that I've retained the lesson about the difference between have and got. Heaven knows she used a lot of red ink on my papers. (Thank you, Mrs Hamill) Have as in own. Got as in received. YMMV.
Hand up for not understanding why BARBER POLES works for "Sticks in windows". My focus was on mullions on muntins or stiles, but it perped in, looked fine, and I moved on.
Speaking of which, I gotta run.
Ray-O: thanks for the jumble explanation. I was looking for a specialized definition whereas it’s just plain speak. I’m always suspicious when a clue is easy on Saturday. š
Hi All!
A snowball has a better chance in Hades than I did w/ Malaika's offering. Bigtoe @1d didn't help but a GIN AND TONIC (I wish!) and HG's expo will help me ESCAPE.
//G&T - Canada Dry, BeefEATer GIN, and a wedge of lime is summer goodness. Winter time is Diet Coke, Beefeater, & lime [weird but the thickness of Coke and effervescence of juniper is #Christmas].
Thanks, HG, for some extra-play nudging and the James Webb image.
Fav: I'll go w/ PDA. I still miss my hand-held Palm IIIe. I also miss holding DW's hand (she's still staying away from us sick-Os at new-house).
{A, B+}
Waseeley - PARENS are prominent in LISP & SCHEME but space, '.', '\' [ESCAPE], '#' (for macros) and quotes are also used.
Knives Out was a cute movie.
Anyone listen to WWDTM today? They mentioned the Album Jagged Little Pill. First track [Ironic] on that record had perfect rhythm for juggling, Jinx. Taylor Hawkins [R.I.P.] drummed for Alanis' tour.
SHINE'S [Collective Soul] also a fun beat to keep up/improvise balls-in-the-air with.
Ray-O: A BARBER POLE is a candycane 'stick' in it's own glass/window. Yeah, I tote's missed it too :-(
Y'all have a nice afternoon. Cheers, -T
BTW, yesterday morning at 7:30 AM, Unknown Poster wrote that (s)he would like to see a "return" to having Friday themeless crosswords puzzles.
Does anyone have any example dates of when the LAT had Friday themeless puzzles ? I'd like to look at some examples in the archives. Was it before 2012 or was it before Rich Norris became the editor ?
I don't recall ever having solved a Friday themeless, but I've only been solving for 10 years. I'm thinking they must have been from a long time ago, or Unknown may be thinking of a different venue.
Dash T, thanks for BARBER POLES. Never heard of candy canes being referred to as barber poles.
Now I really gotta run !
This seemed impossible with all of the unknown proper names. But it slowly came together as a good puzzle should. Totally mystified by JUMBLE UP until explained here.
Last to fill was PTO. Has anyone ever heard that TLA actually used? (TLA = Three Letter Abbreviation which is as obscure as most TLAs are!) I just know "Power Take Off" from engines and tractors. FIR.
Here we got to see HERB ALPERT perform just before the COVID shutdown.
His lovely wife Lani Hall SANG BACKUP. He had warned his musicians not to go out with other musicians in the band. Then he stole her himself! They have been happily married for 40 years!
From Yesterday
Lucina Thank you for the kind words about my Unicycle Slalom GAME. Yes, many families come to watch Solstice with their children. And children are also encouraged to help build the floats and participate in the parade.
Here my friend Lark led a special Children's Solstice Parade in 2016.
Most years the children are part of the main parade.
Picard - Yes, PTO is the new 'vacation'|'holiday' that folks put on their calendars to say "bugger-off, I'm taking Personal Time [Off].' I also see OOO (Out Of Office) tons too.
//and a smug win in tic-tac-toe [War Games] ;-)
Hum..., TTP. I think I remember candycane/barbershop link from Three Stooges or some other B&W (Rascals?) funny stuff. I'll look it up later. -T
Burning a post here say...
PK - War Games always gives me goosebumps(FLN). That movie is why I do what I do (cybersec) today.
Picard, my fav TLA is RLF.
I still ask every vendor if their gear is supported by Little Rubber Feets.
Cheers, -T
Couldn’t agree more about looking something up! No shame in that. I suss as much as possible but sometimes I need a little help to keep it moving along. Mostly on a Saturday puzzle. I’d rather look it up than give up. :)
I don’t comment often anymore..
But this was one of the worst clues puzzles, across and down, that I have experienced. Ever.
Well, I see the way the wind is blowing about this LAT Saturday Unsolvable. I'll go along with the flow -- didn't even fill half this jumbled puzzle before I caved (after 3 1/2 hrs.) Way too quirky, overburdened with references to "pop culture" and too much commercialism! I hope that editors Patty and Joyce are reading this website ... pretty much across the board criticism.
Puzzles getting too woke for me. Both constructors and editors!
Hola!
Well, I can't say I loved this puzzle but it isn't the worst of all time, either. It was just tricky and difficult but I managed to finish it w/o looking up anything, only to verify.
In between we are preparing for great-grandson's birthday party tomorrow with lots of inflation of pool toys, balls, etc. He'll be three and will have loads of cars with which to play, from Nana, of course.
JELLO was one of my first fill and ALPERT fell from there. I love his music! And I believe I still have some of his vinyls but nothing on which to play them. BooHoo. Mybe I'll gift myself a phonograph.
Picard, thank you for posting his photo; I had never seen one of his wife, only heard of her.
Had no idea about Dexter's sister but DEEDEE perped right between POTATO and ADDERS.
LAS mananitas is a haunting morning song that is near and dear to not only Mexicans but any Spanish speakers in the New World. As Gary noted, it's sung at dawn by either professional singers if one can afford them or the family, whether in tune or not, on one's birthday. I have a recording that I would play for my mother and her sister on the appropriate days.
You all have a wonderful day!
Not to cavil excessively but the snake species 'adder' does not have an 's'.
https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/species/adder/
OTOH I had no idea about Mugler so CATSKIN left me with JUMBLE KP (which I could almost accept) and NIMS.
That and the LET ME/LEMME minefield left me DNF.
Still, I had fun and learned a few things, so thank you Malaika
-T @1:30 PM Loved the War Games clip. It's been years since I saw it and I had completely forgotten the ending.
Lucina @3:54 PM If you're serious about buying a record player I'd recommend looking into the Victrola series. Not only do they play records, but have a CD player, AM/FM radio and other outputs. You can get them in assorted sizes and prices. We have one for our sun room, and also bought one for our RETRO grandson who's into vinyl. You can probably get the ones shown here at discounted prices in department stores.
Same issue as other as I read the comments….PUMPUP and LEMME. Never heard of PARENS.
A fair but challenging puzzle. Some nice clueing.
INTERESTING to learn, from Husker G, if not directly from Ms. Handa...
... that Lens FLARE is still a thing in deep space,
when the light that has been emanating for so many billions and billions of years is beyond our visual spectrum.
It required special devices to make the INvisible visible so that we could enjoy those splendid photographs.
I managed most but not all of this Saturday PZL. The upper left corner (stage right) eluded me. That is strange to say, as my favorite summertime drink is, naturally, GIN AND TONIC.
I learned about it many, many years ago, at age 21 on my first trip abroad.
I was "sailing" on the QE1 (That's the Queen Elizabeth, for all ye land lubbers!
I mean the ORIGINAL one, named in 1938 for the Queen Mum.)
And where best to learn of the British mascot cocktail?
We learn so much via our XWDs, no? I mean, who knew that HAMMER PANTS were a thing? We all knew of HAREM PANTS, but this design, ackh! Seemingly a corruption of Jodhpurs!
Why would anybody want to go there?
And who knew--or cared--that Brooklyn (the NY borough?) had a minor league ball club? And why don't they have a sense of humor?
With CYCLONES, they want to be taken... seriously?
And why CYCLONES, which are hardly native to the northeast? --or anywhere in the North Atlantic?
No desire to amuse, like that old name, "Dodgers"?
(BTW, whatever became of that team? )
~ OMK
____________
DR: Sorry. Again, no diagonals.
waseely@4:28
Yes! I've seen those phonographs at stores so I do know of them. Thank you for reminding me. I am eager to hear some of my oldies again. In fact, I remember now that a few years ago one of my granddaughters asked for one for Christmas.
I'm waiting for the ribs to cook and taking advantage of a few minutes of down time.
That's what I've been thinking ever since Patti took over.
No way in hell I could solve this puzzle. I did solve about 70% of it and then hit a wall. No amount of looking stuff up helped. For example, I looked up "morp" and "Kels" and the results did not help at all. Still unable to finish 13 across in spite of having OPENEDA--- because I never heard of a PTO and didn't have BIAS because I didn't have GAY PROM. I did "Reveal word" three times and still couldn't finish; I finally just threw in the towel and did a "Reveal grid." Put me down as a "big fat fail" on this puzzle. I haven't read Gary's write-up or any of your comments yet, so I still don't know what the hell a PTO is. I guess it's a perk I never got when I was working.
I'll read all your comments now. Seeya later.
OMK, seriously ? You couldn't be bothered to read the recap ? All you had to do was read the comment for Cyclone to understand. Your over inflated sense of self and ego prevented it. What a putz.
I have read all your comments and appreciate them all. I always read every one of them. Not only do I get enjoyment from reading them, but I also often learn new things, and I like that.
Okay, so now I know what PTO stands for, and, well, I simply don't care.
I never even saw the clues and answers DAN and EMO because I had already filled in the acrosses, but it's a good thing because I wouldn't have gotten either of them on their own anyway.
At least I knew Herb ALPERT.
Yes, I am feeling grumpy. I'll be fine in a few minutes. Good wishes to you all.
Groan! Puzzle was a real Thumper PUMPUP! I hope never to see Malaika Handa name on another puzzle. Filled it with about half red-letter help. Not interesting enough to bother looking up half the puzzle.
Heard of PSY but never saw the spelling.
LENS FLARE: saw what I presumed was that on my professional photographs taken in early evening in newspaper days. Not always apparent until print-out. Red-letter fill.
Bless you, Gary, for continued hazardous duty with graciousness.
FLN: Jinx LOL Joe=MUD. AnonT: Bravo for living the goosebump dream.
Sorry, Anonymous, trolling in secret at 7:51...
A CYCLONE ride can be famous at Coney Island (thanks, Husker G), and maybe throughout the Big Apple, w/o making a dent in national news.
Not everything in NY carries past the Eastern time zone...
~ OMK
39 D - One of three species... Shouldn't the answer be singular? as in ADDER?
BARBERPOLE - the only thing that comes to me is a pole is a kind of stick?
Thank you Malaika Handa for a very challenging puzzle. I completed it in over 65 minutwa, but I had a tough time, and it brought me no joy. Sorry.
I appreciate the comment you made, .... That solving CWs is a game, not a test !!!
.... I've always looked at it, as such - I am not afraid to Google, if need be, and I am certainly no purist or afficianado to stick to rigid rules and self flaggalizing, punishing conventions - at my age. I don't have too much time left for either....
Thank you Husker Gary for an interesting review, and it solved most of my questions, but .... the barber poles and one or two more were perplexing.
Personally, I think the clues were too cute by a time and a half, ... or two times and a half. In any case, I'm glad its over and done with.
I WAS interested in the constructor's name as Malaika Handa ... naturally I wondered if she was Indian...
Although I am definitely not a Bollywood film buff, I am faintly aware of a Bollywood dancer-cum-actress named Mallaika Arora.... similar first name, though the name itself may be a common middle east asian ( arab ) name.
So, I googled Malaika Handa ... and came across a Malika ( Notice:: the second 'a' is missing - that changes the entire picture ....) Handa, with her own page on Wikipedia. She is India's first international Deaf grandmaster, in chess.
The Only Malaika Handa who showed up .... showed up, in Linked In, as a Software Engineer at Google, in New York City.
Very impressive resume, she did her BS. at Carnegie Mellon and went to an international school in Florence, Italy..
I wonder if she is in fact, todays constructor ...
Have a good evening and a great weekend, you all.
Jayce:
I'm so sorry you were frustrated with the puzzle. I was, too, for a long while then I left and did some chores, wrapped birthday gifts, etc., then went back and finished. Sometimes a time away helps during which the mind works on it. Our subconscious is amazing.
Picard:
That was nice seeing the children; I had missed them on previous occasions. Having taught children during my career, I look for them.
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