Themeless Saturday by Enrique Henestroza Anquiano
I’m a data scientist from Oakland, CA, with a background in computational linguistics. I fully dove into crosswords as a daily solver and then constructor in 2019, and I love that both sides have allowed me to continually engage with everything I love about language, wordplay, and even coding. I also appreciate the friends I’ve made so far through this great community. 
As a forever Simpson's fan, here's a photo of me noshing on "The Homer" from Voodoo donuts in Portland.
This is my third Saturday themeless puzzle of Enrique's I have blogged and I have been able to solve them in great time while being entertained. This one took some time for me to break loose but it all came together. The three horizontal and one vertical grid spanners were very helpful.
1. All over the place: GLOBAL.
7. Period: TERM - When I got my BS, our TERM was 15 weeks (trimesters) and not 18.
11. Chilled: COOLED IT - (2:43)
14. Features of "Step by Step" and "Sister, Sister": BLENDED FAMILIES - I don't have any idea why Enrique didn't use the Brady Bunch 🤔
16. Gets rid of: LOSES - This sense is conciously getting rid of something as opposed to misplacing it.
17. Chips away at: ERODES - Living with a seaside view is a two-edged sword
18. Fertility clinic cells: OVA.
19. Made shorter: SNIPPED OFF - Yeah, I thought of that too...
23. "Save it for the honeymoon!": GET A ROOM - Too much PDA for Rodney!
26. Vietnamese garment: AO DAI - The ÁO DÀI dress.
27. Small bucks and does: RABBITS 😀
30. Play a proper noun in Scrabble, say: ERR - I'm pretty sure ASMRIST (from two weeks ago) won't work either.
31. Declaration after a trial?: FOR REAL THIS TIME - Do you suppose Mickey Rooney said that for all eight of his marriages?
36. Honor for David Oyelowo: Abbr.: OBE - Order of the British Empire. He played MLK in the movie Selma.
37. Astonished cry: DEAR GOD.
38. "But to no __": AVAIL.
41. Does as ordered?: TENDS BAR 😀 Some of you will recognize this man who TENDS BAR and the iconic TV show where he appeared. (*answer at bottom)
45. Craft goods that might be barrel-aged: MICRO BREWS - The difference between Craft Beer and MICRO BREWS
48. Classified letters: OBO - Or Best Offer
49. Resident of Number One Observatory Circle since 2021: HARRIS - The traditional home of the Vice-President
50. Enviable trait: ASSET.
52. "You really don't want to go there": AVOID AT ALL COSTS - That can mean a location or a topic of discussion
56. No-goodnik: LOUSE.
57. Paper clips?: ARTICLES 😀
58. Precursor to a deal: ANTE - Pay to play
59. Like some pop-up clinics: TENTED - Here's one for Covid shots that was just outside Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.
Down:
1. Tackles: GOES AT.
2. Single: LONE and 51. Single: SOLE.Was Oswald the LONE or SOLE shooter?
3. "Grey Girl" poet Sharon: OLDS - The text of Grey Girl. Crossword car guy Ransom Eli Olds gets Saturday off.
4. Bumbling sort?: BEE 😀
5. Sum things up: ADD.
6. Anti-mimetic position held by Oscar Wilde: LIFE IMITATES ART - Mimetic means miming behavior you see in others. Oscar Wilde was a famous iconoclast who definitely went his own way.
7. Largest Ohio city that doesn't start with "C": TOLEDO.
8. Film with a boy named Anakin, familiarly: EPISODE I
9. "You'll __ the day!": RUE.
10. House of Commons reps: MPS - Members Of Parliament
11. Garam masala ingredient: CLOVE.
12. Grounds crew's roll: TARP and 34. Grounds crew's roll: SOD. 😀
13. Hit home?: SIDE A - This took a while to see SIDE A is the home of the hit side of a record as opposed to the SIDE B. Here's the Top 5 A-Side/B-Side hits of all time and highest ranking obtained:
1. DON'T BE CRUEL / HOUND DOG - Elvis Presley (1956)
14. WordPress.com offering: BLOG - Not what we use here.
RCA Records 47-6604 (Peaks: A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 1)
2. COME TOGETHER / SOMETHING - The Beatles (1969)
Apple Records 2654 (Peaks: A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 2)
3. TRAVELIN' MAN / HELLO, MARY LOU - Rick Nelson (1961)
Imperial Records 5741 (Peaks: A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 9)
4. DOWN ON THE CORNER / FORTUNATE SON - Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)
Fantasy Records 634 (Peakes: A-Side - 3 / B-Side - 6)
5. HEY JUDE / REVOLUTION - The Beatles (1968)
Apple Records 2276 (Peaks: A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 11)
14. WordPress.com offering: BLOG - Not what we use here.
19. Just wretched: SO BAD.
20. To the manor born: NOBLE.
22. Dumpster __: FIRE - Also a euphemism for a hopeless person or situation. Husker football comes to mind.
24. Talk Like a Pirate Day sound: ARR.
25. "Hair Love" voice actress: RAE.
 |
| Issa RAE. |
28. Organized: THREW - The Royal family THREW an impressive coronation for King Charles
 |
| This is a slideshow |
29. Traces: SIGNS - Parks don't want you to leave any
31. __ roller: FOAM.
32. Curt "Duh": OBVIously
33. Try to touch or get in touch: REACH OUT - Today one does not call or write, they REACH OUT to someone
35. Reasons for WRs to dance: TDS or...
39. Aggressive response to a bluff: I RAISE.
40. "Solar Power" singer-songwriter: LORDE - From 11/28/23 puzzle: "14. Poet/activist Lorde: AUDRE."
42. Ordered: BOSSED.
43. Plans a nice getaway?: ABETS - 😀 That makes you as guilty as the perpetrators
44. Turns: ROTS.
46. Cosabella product: BRA - Google all the images you want
47. Moreno in two "West Side Story" films: RITA.
 |
| 1961 2021 |
50. No. on a bank statement: ACCT.
52. __ provençale: ALA - Of, relating to, or characteristic of Provence or the people of Provence or Provençale: cooked with garlic, onion, mushrooms, tomato, olive oil, and herbs.
53. Artist Dutch whose name became a fashion brand: VON.
54. Cell service letters: LTE - On my iPhone the four bars show the strength of my LTE (Long Term Evolution) signal. The next symbol shows I am using WiFI and not cell towers.
55. Former NBAer Jeremy: LIN - He was the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent, a Harvard grad and the hottest thing in basketball in 2012.
*That bartender was Sam Noonan (played by George Strange) who tended bar for Miss Kitty at the Long Branch Saloon on the show Gunsmoke
Notes from C.C.:
Happy birthday to our caring and sharp-witted Tuesday
Sherpa Hahtoolah (Susan), who's vacationing at the moment. Splynter will
guide us for the next few weeks.
47 comments:
Definitely not in my wheelhouse, thanks anyway, Enrique. Many unknowns. SOB! Thanks to red-letters I did fill it.
Thanks, Gary!
Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah! Hope your trip is fun and without misadventure.
Good morning!
No hope. Maybe online with red letters, but not on paper with a Pilot G-2. This was further proof that Saturday puzzles have moved beyond my reach. You're just too clever, Enrique. Husker, thanx for 'splainin' most of the stuff I didn't get. (I still have no idea what a WR is.)
I, too, finished it, but only with the help of red letters and two alphabet runs. Nonetheless, this was a Saturday challenge that I enjoyed, unlike some. Christmas tree is up, so I’m happy.
I admit it, I turned on the “red letters” too. And discovered that my WAG of “bodai” was wrong (among other things). I’m not going to say I’m terribly happy about this, but I am happy to be here, among you crossword fans. And with that, Subgenius out!
Dodai was my downfall. Otherwise smooth going.
DNF, but filled 53 clues, which is good for me on a Saturday. 46 of them were even right!
Today is:
INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY (ROTFLMAO)
WEARY WILLIE DAY (named for the character made famous by Emmett Kelly)
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF COMMEMORATION AND DIGNITY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE (unless they are Jewish, then we BLAME the victims)
CHRISTMAS CARD DAY (mail them early to give the post office time to thoroughly lose them)
NATIONAL PASTRY DAY (oh yeah. Especially Italian ones)
LUTEFISK DAY (cod soaked in lye? Think I’ll pass)
I was gonna add "but not Mr. Mister" (of Broken Wings fame) to "Step by Step" and "Sister Sister."
Thought I had surely wagged right with OBVs. Bzzz.
Thanks to Enrique for the fun challenge, and congratulations to all who fought through it. And thanks to H. Gary for the fun explanations.
Super challenging for me today-mind is not quite awake to the Saturday misdirects like OBO for classified letters. I kept wanting something to do with the NSA or CIA.
I've seen those FOAM rollers at the Y for exercise classes - I thought more of those pink FOAM hair rollers that my mom used to put in our hair - we would sleep in them and take them out in the morning for church. I guess they still make them - who knew? https://www.amazon.com/Medium-Pink-Foam-Sponge-Rollers/dp/B0BLXN35CY/ref=pd_ci_mcx_pspc_dp_d_2_t_1?pd_rd_w=TCfcy&content-id=amzn1.sym.568f3b6b-5aad-4bfd-98ee-d827f03151e4&pf_rd_p=568f3b6b-5aad-4bfd-98ee-d827f03151e4&pf_rd_r=XAGE1KG1V44GMX78B1PS&pd_rd_wg=bK2OD&pd_rd_r=52c6e4e8-a684-44e0-a219-acec85dddd8a&pd_rd_i=B0BLXN35CY
D-O - WR are Wide Receivers in football - who do happy dances in the end zone after scoring a Touch Down
Thanks HG for a fun and informative blog and Enrique for the challenge
Happy birthday Susan!
Took 15:20 today for me to finish.
"Aodai" was awfully obscure, but I felt my guesses for the perps were solid. I wondered whether it was "side a" or "side b" because as HuskerG deftly points out, some B-sides went on to be hits.
I was stuck for a while in the "foam/obvi/obe" area, the "sobad/noble/rae/rabbits" area, and the "ala/von/louse" area.
FIW. I had dodai at 26A and I still don't get the answer to hit hone as side A. This seems to be a huge stretch. Never heard of an ao dai before. So this spot was what kept me from finishing right.
This was an exceptionally challenging puzzle. Answers like foam, obvi, and threw made it even harder. Then add proper names like Lin and Olds, and it became borderline impossible.
Tough puzzle, but no complaints on clueing. I stubbornly stayed with SCORE for 13D which kept that corner muddled until I relented and let the perps help. Also had “CLIPPEDOFF” for a while. All good in the end!
Close but no cigar today. The intersections of SIDE A, AODAI, & FARM was not to be. I can understand that the 'Hit home' is the 'A' side of the record but the other two were unknown. I was AEIOU or Y for F__ARM.
It took a long time for me to let OBVI stay but the perps were too solid to change- no idea about it and it must be made up because I can't imagining anybody saying it for OBVI-OUSLY.
OLDS, LIFE IMITATES ART, CLOVE, ARR, LORDE, ALA- it took a while for those unknowns to appear.
Pete D- I also wanted DODAI, thinking of 'Hit' as past tense but knew sided was wrong. Initially thought SLID for hitting home plate but it wouldn't fit.
So it was a DNF today two spaces left blank.
Good Morning:
I finished w/o help in below average Saturday time, but I think luck had more to do with it than skill. I needed lots of perps for Farm, Ao Dai, Olds, Obvi, Lorde, Foam, etc. and I erred on Oh My God/Dear God, Kamala/Harris, End/Add, Score/Side A, and Arg/Arr. I found the cluing a mixed bag of clever and too clever by half, but that's not unusual for a Saturday. The long fill was not only helpful in gaining toeholds, particularly Life Imitates Art, but was also impressively fresh and lively.
Thanks, Enrique, and thanks, HG, for the usual Saturday striking visuals and colorful and entertaining commentary. Thanks, also, for the Enrique bio sketch.
Ray O, I watched Leave The World Behind last night and found it not only depressing, but confusing. That genre is not my cup of tea, but I should have researched the plot before I watched it. To be honest, I was ready to give up on it long before it ended, but I stuck with it until the bitter end which, IMO, was bitter indeed.
Happy Birthday, Susan. 🎂🎁🎉🎊🎈Hope you're enjoying your holidays and vacation time.
Have a great day.
Starting out, I thought I was on the constructors wavelength, and filled out the top half with glee. However the rest of the puzzle turned into a real Saturday stumper...
Happy birthday and travels Hahtoolah!
hmm, seems Google misinterpreted your byline...
FIR but I had to look up several proper names like OLDS, Anakin, RAE, LORDE, LIN. Some I filled without recognition like SIDE A, TDS, EPISODE I, MOP as clued since I don’t quite get the reference. Why the question mark?
I liked the RABBITS and BEE clues, as well as MICRO BREWS. But I didn’t like OBVI. Who says that?
Thank you HG for an informative recap.
Happy birthday Susan. 🎂🎉🎈
A long slog that got so close. Hand up for dODAI, but in the NE never thought of CLOVE. First had ChiVE, and after BLENDED... changed the ingredient to oLiVE, but never got the final connection.
Thanx for enlightening me, inanehiker. My sports knowledge is practically non-existent.
Oops, happy birthday, Hahtoolah. Missed it the first time around. Hope you're having a wonderful trip.
Nope. Nada. Nix, nein, negative. Even with help. Eventually figured out 3 of the 4 grid spanners. For the fourth, I was sure the first word was FORgE..
According to Andy Williams, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, so I will spill no tears over this puzzle.
But just for the record, ARG is what a pirate utters, not ARR.
Once in a lifetime is often enough for some experiences.
Graduate
Thanks to Gary for the review and to Enrique, find a new hobby . ( I jest ) So frustrating!
Ya got me, Enrique! Tough puzzle, clever clues, but just a tad above my pay grade. An entertaining failure for me today.. I did get AO DAI right away, though. Probably a result of all the "Saigon Tea" I bought for wearers of them!
Enrique Henestorza Anquiano (can I call you Hank?) now I understand why many clue answers are so long.
Small bucks and … “does” what? 😉 …Oh “does” like a female dear…a curt DUH! (OBVI?, c’mon)
“Save it for the honeymoon“ didn’t even wanna guess at that one 🙄
“Vietnamese garment” … label on any clothing item from Walmart 😄
Holy TOLEDO guess it’s not Akron
“Dumpster” diver wouldn’t fit
IM ☘️. If it wasn’t for three letter answers I sussed OVA, BEE, ADD etc. and some perps they provided I would have been blinded by the glare off all the bright white empty squares
Happy Birthday H2LH “My what big ears you have” 😲😉😄
Speaking of birthdays, DW and I getting ready for our daughter’s birthday party today. A lot of her friends need rides. Good excuse as any to give up and holler “UNCLE”. ….(Just found out our DD got on the phone last night without telling us till just now and invited more friends than we sent out invites to. The restaurant is expecting the fixed number DW sent in last week. Things should get real interesting soon 😀)
I Miss @ 9:21 thanks for the heads up. I didn’t see that movie and will now probably take a pass. Did you see “May December” the film whose ending befuddled me? (relatively easy to do)
But saw “Maestro” the Leonard Bernstein biopic film which was superb. Even if one possibly didn’t like the movie the music was fantastic. It covers his life from the 1940’s and his complex relationship with his wife Felicia. The finest performance from Bradly Cooper I’ve seen.
Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah!
It seems that it was only yesterday that I was wishing Happy Birthday to JzB. :>)
Where did I go wrong? Let me list the ways.
TURF to TARP (corrected via the perps.)
GTE to LTE (corrected via the perp.)
CROPPED OFF to CLIPPED OFF (never got SNIPPED)
ROYAL stayed where NOBLE belonged
SEAM stayed where FOAM belonged. Oh, like a paint or stain roller made of foam. (YMMV)
I basically painted myself into a corner, and after two breaks I still couldn't make progress. Then I got more interested in the program that was playing on the MLB channel.
Thank you, Enrique and thank you, Husker Gary.
I liked this puzzle a lot - even tho a few clues eluded me. !obvi! - right, who says that?! And I just couldn’t give up “arg” to get to “arr” (cuz, to me, it shoulda been “argh” anyway). So “for real” eluded me - tho still does in a way; meaning a “trial run” not a court trial? And, finally, “side-a” - my mind just wouldn’t shift to record (from baseball); and I knew what the Vietnamese garment was but not what it was called - because I loved it so much when I lived in Cambodia and had one custom tailored for me to bring home. But never heard a VN (or Camb.) name for them - DOH! stupid of me to not ask (my excuse - I was young (24), and embarrassed by my poor language skill). And, thx for the retro songs and tv recalls in the blog. Great puzzle day
Happy birthday and travel blessings to Hootoolah-Susan
Thank you Enrique for a wonderful Saturday challenge, which I only managed to solve with major inputs/corrections from Teri. And thanks for the link on computational linguistics, yet another eSCIENCE that I've never heard of.
And thank you Husker for another great review and for confirming all the stuff I missed or messed up, and Teri got right.
Favs:
11A COOLED IT. This wasn't really a favorite until I watched the clip from Plaza Suite (which I've never seen). How on Earth did you remember that Husker?
14A BLENDED FAMILIES. The BRADY BUNCH? Despite his many accomplishments Enrique looks a little wet behind the ears. 😀
19A SNIPPED OFF. I had CHOPPED OFF and CHIPPED OFF until Teri found the perp that was needed for 19D SO BAD.
26A AO DAI. One of my sisters, who is married to a Vietnamese researcher, has one of those, and Teri got one for perps. I also have a sister who has several SARIS -- we have a BLENDED EXTENDED FAMILY.
27A RABBITS. I knew this, but didn't know it. Teri snared it for me.
36A OBE. David was also in MI-5 and Gil Mayo, our all time favorite detective series.
52A AVOID AT ALL COSTS. E.g. Pennsylvania Avenue (the one in Baltimore) after dark.
3D OLDS. Actually OLDS is getting OLD. I've blogged her twice already. One of the PROPER NOUNS I knew right away.
46D BRA. For some reason the usage of this FILL has EXPANDED recently. 😁
Cheers,
Bill
Bon Voyage Susan!
Nina @8:29 AM I googled your pink rollers and they sell for on $4.95 on Amazon. And I can get them for only $0.00 with my reward points. 😀
Oh and Happy Belated BD Hahtoolah! 🎈🎉🎂🎁
A real brain strain today and I came close but FIW.
A couple of nice misdirections like ABETS for Plans a nice getaway.
And this months worst clue …Curt “Duh” which OBVI no one ever said. C’mon…
Thanks Enrique for a Saturday challenge.
Thanks HG for an awesome recap..
…. kkFlorida
Ray O @ 11:38 ~ I watched maybe a half-hour plus of May December and decided the story line was not to my liking, anymore than the true life episode it was based on. After reading your initial post about the questionable ending, I read several explanations and didn't understand any of them. 😳 I don't always need a happy ending of a movie, but I do need one that I understand.
I'm looking forward to seeing Maestro, which will be available on Netflix on December 20th, I believe. The reviews for Bradley Cooper's performance have been over the top. I believe he also produced and directed, as well. Talented fellow!
Sophia @ 12:02 ~ Welcome to the Corner!
For those under 40, OBVI is obviously a common abbreviation in slang or a text.
I have kids and several coworkers in that age range - so I have heard it now for several years
https://www.cyberdefinitions.com/definitions/OBVI.html
Terrible, terrible clues.
Huh - obviously I need to cultivate some younger friends ;-) thx for info
I know many people under 40 and have never heard them speak or text Obvi… but I’m always learning new things from these crosswords.
DR: Sorry, no diagonals today.
But we have an entertaining Saturday gift in Husker Gary's presentation of this Anguiano PZL...
I did it in fairly good time, but I can't count it a win, as one cheat led to another. I was enjoying the solves, but lost count of my peeks!
HG's pix of Mickey Rooney reminded me of the great mystery of how time ERODES us.
In some cases, that is.
I watched one of his early films last night, in which he was a young charmer, a handsome, well proportioned lad with a pleasing voice.
But then, Father Time took a real toll. In his later years, he seemed both overweight & distorted, with a gnawing cackle in his voice.
What happened there?
We know from his film mate, Judy Garland, that the studio had her on drugs--to keep her working--in her early years. I wonder if the same happened with him...
I don't think I ever knew of the proper name for the Vietnamese dress--AO DAI.
~ OMK
General usage of slang in one area of the country isn't always used in another part of the country. Might not talk Californian anywhere else. Usually doesn't get promoted except on very popular sitcoms which are possibly not views by older folks.
I viewed this puzzle as a learning experience, especially the bottom half. The work of our constructor sounds fascinating. BTW Olds will never be old to me. Her beautiful yet real poetry validates the experiences of many women.
Ray O @ 11:38 ~ I started watching May December but was not really interested in a rehash of the true events it was based on. I read several explanations about the ending, none of which I understood. I like movies with endings I understand, even if they're not always happy. Maestro is due on Netflix on December 20 and, based on the rave reviews for Bradly Cooper's performance, I'm looking forward to it. I believe he was also the director, co-writer and co-producer, as well as the star. Talented fellow!
Sophia @ 12:02 ~ Welcome to the Corner. 😉
Way over my head. Finished filling in all the squares (I can't say I solved it) only with serious cheating. I did not find it to be a pleasant experience. On with the rest of my day.
The birthday party was a lot of fun. Able to accommodate everyone.
Just noticed my profile was blank. Probably since I switched from Android to iPhone. I “redid” it including email address so my adoring fans can now contact me
Any hoo
This is a page from Inanehiker’s “cyber definitions” OBVI blurb. Look at the questions asked on the bottom of the page.Wunder if weel hav sum ov theez wurds in the fewcher CW’s
IM forgot to mention. Watched the first 3 episodes of “Fisk”. Love the klepto Popovitch Mom and daughter. Agnes, surprised you got past the scene with the artist painting the portrait with his unusual technique ��
Ray O Sunshine .... you shouda bin in the funny biznez. !! Your bonmots were so funny today, I had to show them to my wife ... someone, who doesn't do crosswords, read this blog, or make jokes ....
The last time I had a party for one of my daughters, twice as many guests turned up ... uninvited ! ... and I took them all to the only open restaurant at that time - Subway ....
*********************
I had a tough time with the CW puzzle ... When I read the name of the constructor, I assumed since he was probably Hispanic, he might have an easier puzzle for us ...
My, was I mistaken ... I, of all people, should have realized that a non-Wasp, and 'foreign sounding' name, does not ever, indicate or connote anything in our multicultural society !!!
Speaking for myself, too many people still think I don't understand spoken English ...
Thank You Mr. Enrique Anquiano, ... you should have a good test run of subjects for your dissertation on Computational Linguistics.
I eventually solved the puzzle, with a lot of help, and Googling... and still could not understand a few clues .. OBVI ?
I came to the blog this evening to find how the others, the slick para-professionals, had fared, and was somewhat relieved that I was not alone...
Thank You GaryH.... or HuskerG for a wonderful commentary, adn all the explanations !!
AO DAI ... is a word(s) to remember, more vowels, per word, than Hijab, Chador, Sari/Saree, Shalwar or Sarong. Tho' not as many vowels as EI EI O...
Happy Birthday Hah2lah ... may you have a great birthday, and the rest of the year ... and a safe and happy trip. I am glad you're on the right side of the LLama, ... and on the right hand side ( ;-)) because they are known to be great spitters, if they're offended in the least... especially if you're facing them.
Have a great weekend, all you folks.
Ray O @ 5:34 ~ Thankfully, the painter's segments were brief and because I was already hooked on the series, I just rolled with the punches! I did warn that it was mildly irreverent! Glad to hear Catherine's party was a success.
Waseeley and PK,
Windhover replied to your comments/questions on the Dec 7th blog.
Saturday’s getting too hard for me, even with iPad letter checks on.. not even a learning experience any more with propers, TV, indirects and slangs. As long as others have fun.
Well, I had a big, fat FIW but still enjoyed the solve! Thanks Enrique for your clever word play! I did suss out the 3 grid spanners but went astray in a few other spots. Lots of comments about OBVI. Was I the only one who went with OBVs?
As it turns out, I've recently read 2 books that talked about AO DAI: "The Sympathizer" (recommended by someone on the Corner but a difficult read for me) and "Honeymoon with My Brother". So AO DAI was on the tip of my tongue but the best I could come up with was lO DAI. Fingers crossed today's experience cements it for next time!
inanehiker@8:29. Yes, I used to sleep in the pink rollers. What I remember about them is when I unrolled them, my hair was still wet on the inside wraps.
Happy birthday and safe travels to Hahtoolah!!
Thanks to H-Gary for your oh-now-I-get-it! explanations! So happy to have you on the Saturday line-up!
Hi All!
Busy day but I kept plugging away... to no AVAIL. Oh well, thanks Enrique for the diversion while looking for a tree, waiting on more Starbucks, and buying a new dishwasher.
Thanks for the post-game, HG. Thanks for the pic of Graram masala. I kinda remembered but the image enforced it.
Doh!Moments - I had ABO (blood Classification) for OBO (Classified) and choPPED OFF.
Happy Birthday Hahtoolah!
Cheers, -T
BTW, "AO DAI" just means 'long dress' in Vietnamese.
This puzzle works fine, if you are (a) 17, (b) live in San Fernando valley, (c) like mimesis, and (d) have mastered the subtleties of Indian cooking.
Alas, I am a mere mortal.
Loved it although FIW because sidea. For me, perfect level for a saturday maybe because I am similar age to constructor? eg obvi was obvi.
Checking in a day late to say that I *still* could not finish the puzzle -- and BTW, the expression we use in LA is obvs, not OBVI (at least in my experience). If looking up proper nouns was an acceptable way to claim FIR, we'd all be there. This puzzle was a hard DNF for me, and my hat is off to the few true solvers.
Happy belated birthday to Hahtoolah!
Like D-O and Subgenius, this Saturday buggah was a whole lot of “nope!” for me. Had to do a ton of cheats (esp on the 🤬ing proper names) and even then this was waaay over my pay grade. Nice job, Enrique — you bombed me out!
One gripe: when I was in the music world, SIDEA was not necessarily the cut that became the hit.
====> Darren / L.A.
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