Theme: Take a Letter - Theme answers are literal descriptions of the clue letter positions.
23A: S: HEAD OF STATE - Letter S is the first letter (head) of the word STATE.
29A: A: END OF AN ERA - A is at the end of ERA.
34A: C: MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE - C is in the middle of MALCOLM.
56A: P: LEADER OF THE PACK - P leads PACK.
66A: V: CENTER OF GRAVITY - V is at the center of GRAVITY.
85A: E: FOREGONE CONCLUSION - E concludes FOREGONE.
94A: F: FALSE START. F starts FALSE
104A: D: GRAND FINALE. D ends GRAND.
I figured out what those clue letters stand for after I got FALSE START. Such an innovative theme.
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE is an odd choice, all the other theme answers are familiar phrases.
I had trouble all over the place, despite my perfect start with BRATZ (1A: Popular fashion doll series). Very seldom is 1A a gimme to me. All those BRATZ dolls have Angelina Jolie style lips.
My favorite clue today is SEN (81D: Boxer, e.g.: Abbr.). The "Abbr." clue did not prevent me from thinking of dog. Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) can sure bark and bite. Very acid tongue sometimes. Her daughter was married to Hillary Clinton's brother.
Across:
6A: Helps (out): BAIL. Paul Krugman wants more stimulus package.
11A: Immunity agent: T CELL
16A: Use a wet napkin on, perhaps: DAB
20A: "Aunt __ Cope Book": ERMA'S. Here is the book cover. Unknown to me. It's written by Erma Bombeck.
21A: Braga of "Moon Over Parador": SONIA. She looks familiar. I must have googled her before.
22A: Have a balance: OWE
25A: Opposite of full: UNFED. Wrote down EMPTY.
26A: Turn abruptly: ZAG
28A: "I'll do whatever you need": USE ME. Not a familiar utterance to me.
31A: Eponymous 1902 physics Nobelist Pieter: ZEEMAN. Stranger to me. I've never heard of ZEEMAN Effect either.
32A: Heavy hammer: MAUL. Wow, I really have no idea that MAUL is a heavy hammer. It's used to drive stakes or wedges.
33A: Third-day creation: EDEN. Got D quickly, then I decided it's ADAM.
41A: Lures, Pied Piper style: TWEEDLES
42A: Not out of running: IN IT. I am used to INIT clue, you know, initial.
43A: Large sea ducks: EIDERS
47A: More farinaceous: MEALIER. Knew farina, not farinaceous. Insane amount of vowels.
48A: Time, metaphorically: SANDS. The SANDS of time.
50A: Delta follower: EPSILON. Before zeta.
52A: Empire State, e.g.: Abbr.: BLDG
53A: Like LAX: INTL (International). Lots of abbreviations in this grid.
54A: "Characters welcome" network: USA. Have never heard of this tagline. Don't watch USA.
55A: Crazed: MANIC
62A: "The Information" author Martin: AMIS. Son of Kingsley AMIS.
63A: New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival city: KEENE. Our fellow LAT solver Hatoolah mentioned this trivia last time when we had KEENE (clued as New Hampshire city). But I forgot.
65A: Nebraska City's county: OTOE. Did not know OTOE is a county name as well.
69A: Belief system: CREED. Mine was TENET.
70A: Terrific service: ACE. Tennis.
73A: Work on antimacassar, perhaps: TAT. I did not know the meaning of antimacassar.
74A: Last line of some riddles: WHAT AM I
78A: Organ parts with cones: RETINAS. Cones are cone-shaped cells in the retina of the eye, sensitive to color and intensity of light, according to dictionary. New to me also.
82A: Israeli, e.g.: SEMITE. "Arab, e.g." as well.
83A: Gross income source?: PORN. Intersects PG RATED (83D: Like many family film). Huge stumper for me. CORN yes. PORN, too much for me. Is PORN really gross?
84A: Dash indicator: OIL GAUGE
92A: They may be graphic: ARTS. Nice clue.
93A: Orioles' gp.: AL EAST (American League East)
97A: Golden, in Guanajuato: DE ORO. I only know ORO means gold.
98A: Turkey toucher: IRAQ. D'oh, IRAQ touches (borders) Turkey.
102A: The Wildcats of the Big 12 Conf.: KSU (Kansas State University). I got the answer from Down fills.
103A: Try: TASTE. Do any of you have persimmon tree in your yard?
106A: Uncle to Jeanna and Barbara: JEB. JEB Bush.
107A: Energetic risk-taking type, so it's said: ARIES. Oh, I was unaware of this fact.
108A: Altercation: SET-TO
109A: Conductor whose name is spelled with two musical syllables: SOLTI (Georg). Interesting observation. He was a long time music director for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1969-1991).
111A: Godiva rival: LINDT. The Swiss chocolate maker.
113A: Zhou__: EN LAI. Our first premier.
Down:
1D: __ Men: "Who let the Dogs Out" band: BAHA. Here is the clip. They are from Bahamas.
2D: Sorry type: RUER
3D: Economist Smith: ADAM. The laissez-faire economics guy.
6D: Man of steel?: BESSEMER. Wanted Superman. I've never heard of Henry BESSEMER.
7D: Apollo's sister: ARTEMIS. Apollo's twin sister. Goddess of moon.
8D: "Today __": bar mitzvah boy's announcement: I'M A MAN. I thought he would say "Today I'am thirteen".
9D: Hidden: LATENT
10D: Milwaukee-to-Gary di.: SSE
11D: Scary waves: TSUNAMIS. Japanese origin. TSU = Harbor. NAMI = "wave".
12D: Passage: CONDUIT
13D: Hug: ENFOLD. I could only think of embrace.
14D: Willingly: LIEF. Learned from doing Xword.
15D: Russian auto: LADA. Absolutely no idea. LADA sounds like a lady's name.
16D: Dropped off: DOZED
18D: Got the ball rolling: BEGAN
17D: Hip: AWARE. I was thinking of the "cool" hip.
24D: Gassed up the Jaguar, say: FUELLED
29D: Make change to, as copy: EMEND
30D: "___ go on?": NEED I
31D: Collection of signs: ZODIAC. I was picturing these signs. I can never tell whether they are original or remake.
34D: "Lou Grant" production co.: MTM. Oh, I did not know MTM stands for Mary Tyler Moore.
36D: Broadway actress Salonga: LEA. Unknown to me. LEA Salonga is from the Philippines, best known for originating the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, according to Wikipedia.
37D: Orchestra member whose instrument rests on the floor: CELLIST. Yo-Yo Ma. He was born in Paris.
38D: Depend (on): HINGE
39D: Low points: DEPTHS. They are not synonymous to me. I wanted NADIRS.
40D: Hosiery thread: LISLE. Named after LISLE (now Lille), France.
44D: Solution created by dissolving: ELUATE. The verb is elute. Both new to me.
45D: "Black Like Me" actor __ Lee Browne: ROSCOE. Nope. He looks like a church minister. Dictionary says ROSCOE is an old slang a revolver or pistol.
46D: Twisted and turned: SNAKED
48D: Bonk or conk, e.g.: SLANG. I like the rhyming clue.
48D: Dangerous snake: ADDER. Wrote down COBRA.
50D: Diary bit: ENTRY
52D: Gripes: BEEFS
55D: Showy parrots: MACAWS
56D: Don of "Cocoon": AMECHE. Not familiar with the movie "Cocoon". It's directed by Ron Howard.
57D: When many a "Closed" sign is flipped: NINE AM
58D: Actress Téa: LEONI. David Duchovyn's wife. I wonder why her parents named her Téa,
59D: Cut loose: REVEL. New definition of "cut loose" to me.
61D: "The quality of mercy" is not strain'ed" speaker: PORTIAS. From Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice".
63D: "Seinfeld" klutz: KRAMER. Not fun to watch him after the racist rants.
67D: Versifier's Muse: ERATO. The Muse of Poetry.
69D: It can make a racket: CATGUT. Strange name considering the racket is not really made of cat's intestines.
73D: Describes: TELLS OF
75D: Spats: TIFFS
76D: Where sleeping dog lie?: FOOTREST. Dogs is slang for feet. I was misled again. Fool me twice, shame onyou me.
77D: Young's accounting partner: ERNST
78D: Mertz neighbors of '50 TV: RICARDOS. "I Love Lucy".
79D: Rapa __: NUI. The Easter Island. Literally "Big Rapa".
80D: Word after long: AGO. Long AGO.
84D: SUNY college town: ONEONTA. How can I remember this name? Strange spelling.
86D: Has leftovers, say: EATS IN
87D: Military training groups: CADRES
88D: Soap ester: OLEATE. Last time it's clued as "Olive oil component".
89D: '60 White House resident, familiarly: JFK JR. John-John. Nice scrabbly fill.
91D: Errors: FLUBS
95D: "too many to list" abbr.: ET AL
96D: It's a wrap: SARI. It's a good clue. I don't mind seeing the repetition again.
96D: A party to: IN ON
99D: Political cartoonist Ted: RALL. Alien to me also. Our Star Tribune has its own editorial cartoonist.
100D: Utah ski resort: ALTA
101D: Cunard flagship for 35 yrs.: QEII (Queen Elizabeth II). Strange to see QE 2 as QEII.
104D: Atlanta sch.: GSU (Georgia State University)
105D: British verb ending: ISE. I like our ize.
Answer grid.
C.C.
23A: S: HEAD OF STATE - Letter S is the first letter (head) of the word STATE.
29A: A: END OF AN ERA - A is at the end of ERA.
34A: C: MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE - C is in the middle of MALCOLM.
56A: P: LEADER OF THE PACK - P leads PACK.
66A: V: CENTER OF GRAVITY - V is at the center of GRAVITY.
85A: E: FOREGONE CONCLUSION - E concludes FOREGONE.
94A: F: FALSE START. F starts FALSE
104A: D: GRAND FINALE. D ends GRAND.
I figured out what those clue letters stand for after I got FALSE START. Such an innovative theme.
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE is an odd choice, all the other theme answers are familiar phrases.
I had trouble all over the place, despite my perfect start with BRATZ (1A: Popular fashion doll series). Very seldom is 1A a gimme to me. All those BRATZ dolls have Angelina Jolie style lips.
My favorite clue today is SEN (81D: Boxer, e.g.: Abbr.). The "Abbr." clue did not prevent me from thinking of dog. Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) can sure bark and bite. Very acid tongue sometimes. Her daughter was married to Hillary Clinton's brother.
Across:
6A: Helps (out): BAIL. Paul Krugman wants more stimulus package.
11A: Immunity agent: T CELL
16A: Use a wet napkin on, perhaps: DAB
20A: "Aunt __ Cope Book": ERMA'S. Here is the book cover. Unknown to me. It's written by Erma Bombeck.
21A: Braga of "Moon Over Parador": SONIA. She looks familiar. I must have googled her before.
22A: Have a balance: OWE
25A: Opposite of full: UNFED. Wrote down EMPTY.
26A: Turn abruptly: ZAG
28A: "I'll do whatever you need": USE ME. Not a familiar utterance to me.
31A: Eponymous 1902 physics Nobelist Pieter: ZEEMAN. Stranger to me. I've never heard of ZEEMAN Effect either.
32A: Heavy hammer: MAUL. Wow, I really have no idea that MAUL is a heavy hammer. It's used to drive stakes or wedges.
33A: Third-day creation: EDEN. Got D quickly, then I decided it's ADAM.
41A: Lures, Pied Piper style: TWEEDLES
42A: Not out of running: IN IT. I am used to INIT clue, you know, initial.
43A: Large sea ducks: EIDERS
47A: More farinaceous: MEALIER. Knew farina, not farinaceous. Insane amount of vowels.
48A: Time, metaphorically: SANDS. The SANDS of time.
50A: Delta follower: EPSILON. Before zeta.
52A: Empire State, e.g.: Abbr.: BLDG
53A: Like LAX: INTL (International). Lots of abbreviations in this grid.
54A: "Characters welcome" network: USA. Have never heard of this tagline. Don't watch USA.
55A: Crazed: MANIC
62A: "The Information" author Martin: AMIS. Son of Kingsley AMIS.
63A: New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival city: KEENE. Our fellow LAT solver Hatoolah mentioned this trivia last time when we had KEENE (clued as New Hampshire city). But I forgot.
65A: Nebraska City's county: OTOE. Did not know OTOE is a county name as well.
69A: Belief system: CREED. Mine was TENET.
70A: Terrific service: ACE. Tennis.
73A: Work on antimacassar, perhaps: TAT. I did not know the meaning of antimacassar.
74A: Last line of some riddles: WHAT AM I
78A: Organ parts with cones: RETINAS. Cones are cone-shaped cells in the retina of the eye, sensitive to color and intensity of light, according to dictionary. New to me also.
82A: Israeli, e.g.: SEMITE. "Arab, e.g." as well.
83A: Gross income source?: PORN. Intersects PG RATED (83D: Like many family film). Huge stumper for me. CORN yes. PORN, too much for me. Is PORN really gross?
84A: Dash indicator: OIL GAUGE
92A: They may be graphic: ARTS. Nice clue.
93A: Orioles' gp.: AL EAST (American League East)
97A: Golden, in Guanajuato: DE ORO. I only know ORO means gold.
98A: Turkey toucher: IRAQ. D'oh, IRAQ touches (borders) Turkey.
102A: The Wildcats of the Big 12 Conf.: KSU (Kansas State University). I got the answer from Down fills.
103A: Try: TASTE. Do any of you have persimmon tree in your yard?
106A: Uncle to Jeanna and Barbara: JEB. JEB Bush.
107A: Energetic risk-taking type, so it's said: ARIES. Oh, I was unaware of this fact.
108A: Altercation: SET-TO
109A: Conductor whose name is spelled with two musical syllables: SOLTI (Georg). Interesting observation. He was a long time music director for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1969-1991).
111A: Godiva rival: LINDT. The Swiss chocolate maker.
113A: Zhou__: EN LAI. Our first premier.
Down:
1D: __ Men: "Who let the Dogs Out" band: BAHA. Here is the clip. They are from Bahamas.
2D: Sorry type: RUER
3D: Economist Smith: ADAM. The laissez-faire economics guy.
6D: Man of steel?: BESSEMER. Wanted Superman. I've never heard of Henry BESSEMER.
7D: Apollo's sister: ARTEMIS. Apollo's twin sister. Goddess of moon.
8D: "Today __": bar mitzvah boy's announcement: I'M A MAN. I thought he would say "Today I'am thirteen".
9D: Hidden: LATENT
10D: Milwaukee-to-Gary di.: SSE
11D: Scary waves: TSUNAMIS. Japanese origin. TSU = Harbor. NAMI = "wave".
12D: Passage: CONDUIT
13D: Hug: ENFOLD. I could only think of embrace.
14D: Willingly: LIEF. Learned from doing Xword.
15D: Russian auto: LADA. Absolutely no idea. LADA sounds like a lady's name.
16D: Dropped off: DOZED
18D: Got the ball rolling: BEGAN
17D: Hip: AWARE. I was thinking of the "cool" hip.
24D: Gassed up the Jaguar, say: FUELLED
29D: Make change to, as copy: EMEND
30D: "___ go on?": NEED I
31D: Collection of signs: ZODIAC. I was picturing these signs. I can never tell whether they are original or remake.
34D: "Lou Grant" production co.: MTM. Oh, I did not know MTM stands for Mary Tyler Moore.
36D: Broadway actress Salonga: LEA. Unknown to me. LEA Salonga is from the Philippines, best known for originating the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, according to Wikipedia.
37D: Orchestra member whose instrument rests on the floor: CELLIST. Yo-Yo Ma. He was born in Paris.
38D: Depend (on): HINGE
39D: Low points: DEPTHS. They are not synonymous to me. I wanted NADIRS.
40D: Hosiery thread: LISLE. Named after LISLE (now Lille), France.
44D: Solution created by dissolving: ELUATE. The verb is elute. Both new to me.
45D: "Black Like Me" actor __ Lee Browne: ROSCOE. Nope. He looks like a church minister. Dictionary says ROSCOE is an old slang a revolver or pistol.
46D: Twisted and turned: SNAKED
48D: Bonk or conk, e.g.: SLANG. I like the rhyming clue.
48D: Dangerous snake: ADDER. Wrote down COBRA.
50D: Diary bit: ENTRY
52D: Gripes: BEEFS
55D: Showy parrots: MACAWS
56D: Don of "Cocoon": AMECHE. Not familiar with the movie "Cocoon". It's directed by Ron Howard.
57D: When many a "Closed" sign is flipped: NINE AM
58D: Actress Téa: LEONI. David Duchovyn's wife. I wonder why her parents named her Téa,
59D: Cut loose: REVEL. New definition of "cut loose" to me.
61D: "The quality of mercy" is not strain'ed" speaker: PORTIAS. From Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice".
63D: "Seinfeld" klutz: KRAMER. Not fun to watch him after the racist rants.
67D: Versifier's Muse: ERATO. The Muse of Poetry.
69D: It can make a racket: CATGUT. Strange name considering the racket is not really made of cat's intestines.
73D: Describes: TELLS OF
75D: Spats: TIFFS
76D: Where sleeping dog lie?: FOOTREST. Dogs is slang for feet. I was misled again. Fool me twice, shame on
77D: Young's accounting partner: ERNST
78D: Mertz neighbors of '50 TV: RICARDOS. "I Love Lucy".
79D: Rapa __: NUI. The Easter Island. Literally "Big Rapa".
80D: Word after long: AGO. Long AGO.
84D: SUNY college town: ONEONTA. How can I remember this name? Strange spelling.
86D: Has leftovers, say: EATS IN
87D: Military training groups: CADRES
88D: Soap ester: OLEATE. Last time it's clued as "Olive oil component".
89D: '60 White House resident, familiarly: JFK JR. John-John. Nice scrabbly fill.
91D: Errors: FLUBS
95D: "too many to list" abbr.: ET AL
96D: It's a wrap: SARI. It's a good clue. I don't mind seeing the repetition again.
96D: A party to: IN ON
99D: Political cartoonist Ted: RALL. Alien to me also. Our Star Tribune has its own editorial cartoonist.
100D: Utah ski resort: ALTA
101D: Cunard flagship for 35 yrs.: QEII (Queen Elizabeth II). Strange to see QE 2 as QEII.
104D: Atlanta sch.: GSU (Georgia State University)
105D: British verb ending: ISE. I like our ize.
Answer grid.
C.C.
31 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - tough puzzle for me today, several unknowns, but a great theme; had a lot of fun doing this one. As I've said before, I love the longer answers, and with several 18-letter ones, this one didn't disappoint.
I'd never heard of Lea Salonga, Aunt Erma's Cope Book, eluate or Oneonta. Thought 'collection of signs' and 'gross income source' were very clever clues.
C.C., Malcolm in the Middle was/is a very popular TV show. Also, QE II is the more frequently used abbreviation, as opposed to QE 2. And as to your question, "is porn really gross?", that's very subjective and depends on the eye of the beholder.
Today is both Different Color Eyes Day, and Pecan Pie Day.
Happy Birthday, Sallie, and many, many more!
Is PORN really gross?
I think every country has its boundaries in terms of what is considered pornographic: in traditional Muslim countries, a picture of a girl in a bikini would be considered pornographic. In the U.S., there are different degrees of pornography: softcore pornography can't be shown on TV but would presumably be available at most video stores whereas hardcore pornography would only be available at video stores that have adult sections. Softcore pornogrphy would be considered gross to some people (which is why it is not allowed on TV) and hardcore pornography would probably be considered gross to you at times.
Strictly speaking, any country can claim that it outlaws pornography by simply legally defining "pornography" as any sort of material that is already excluded by law: the term "erotica" is used to describe material which is allowed by law.
C.C., I hope you don't think I was the anonymous poster. (You said you had figured out who he/she was after he/she posted in the middle of the night.) Personally I've never seen Brokeback Mountain: I hear its the story of two people who have an affair and then their spouses find out and everybody cries. I wouldn't want to see that: it's just not my kind of movie.
Martin
Hard Puzzle from beginning to the end !!! I had to look up the various actors etc. In Alabama, there is a town north on Birmingham called "Oneona:. It is in a small rural community that is know for chicken production.(Tyson Food) It is pronounced "on-e-ona" with the prime accent on the "on". It is in Blount County about the middle third of the state. It is the county seat and is like old times squares with the court house in the middle and all the stores around the building.
If you have the chance, go to Gettyburg. It is worth the trip in order to walk on the dirt where the battles took place. the park serice has tried to preserve the terrain just as it was depicted in the photographs takes at the time. Mead had 90,000 men and Lee had 75,000. At the end of the Three batter, there were approzimately 51,000 casualties( dead, wounded and missing). You have to walk up Culp's hill, or Little Round top, or at Pickett's chage to understand the impact of that type war. More Americans were lost in the Civl War( 621,000) than any other war. Our guide said that most visitors want to know about Lee and his offense eevn with the loss. It is quite a place. If you go, do take the bus tours; hire a park guide( $25 an Hour for 8 hours) and walk the ground from Buford's stand to Picketts' Pettigrew, andTrimble's charge right into the union guns. It is about .7 of a mile
worth the trip. Maybe one day , i will do a puzzle with that theme
abogato in Alabama
Goodmorning all-oofta,had trouble in a quite afew spots, no clue was printed out for 76d.on my puzzle this morning. I also ended up with 2 "L"s in fueled, is that right?
Have a nice day.
Scooter, 'fuelled' is dictionary-correct, although I've never seen it spelled that way. Threw me off too.
Here is everything you (n)ever wanted to know about tennis racquet catgut strings. Turns out there really are gut strings, but they are made from cows, not cats, and it takes three cows to string one racquet.
Bessemer, Mi got it's name from the (no longer used) Bessemer Process and was not all that far away from where I went to school in Houghton, Mi, the site of MTU, which was intially named the Michign Mining School.
Hello all,
There was no 76D clue in the down load. It filled in anyways.
One ans seem to lead into another so it wasn't TOO hard.
There is an artical in today's NY Times about crossword puzzles disappearing from newspapers.
The only way to get rid of ANONs is to ignore them. Pretty soon they
will tire and disappear.
Thanks, Dennis.
For those of you who don't know, SUNY stands for State University of New York. In the late 50s (or early 60s) Nelson Rockefeller who was governor, bought 56 or so private colleges and formed them into the NY State system. Then in the late 60s NY allowed colleges who could do so to become universities. Originally there was only one, but now there are several – such as Stony Brook and SUNY Binghamton. My late first husband taught at what was then Harper College and was there when it make the cut to become SUNY Binghamton. To be a university you must offer PhD programs and be certified by some national organization to do so.
It's Orangeman's Day, so have a happy one.
All those deleted comments after mine were repeats of mine. The blog kept saying it couldn't accept, so I put up another. Finally looked and saw there were four! Sorry C.C.
Morning all...I didn't fare well with this puzzle at all...afraid that the list of unknowns was way longer than what I knew. Struggled everywhere. I actually got BRATZ but it went downhill from there. I never figured out the theme and so, again, my hat is off to you C.C., for your insight and wisdom...
I think this may have been one of the most difficult puzzles I have ever tried and I even have been doing NYTimes puzzles from the book and we get the week old Sunday one in our paper, few of which have stumped me this badly.
It doesn't take away from the fact that it was devilishly clever. My inability to do it just means I have to work harder.
Looking forward to catching a break on Monday.
Tough Puzzle. Had to G-spot OTOE and NUI. Had BARBI for 1A and COVERT for 9D, so the NW segment was one of many slow fills. LIEF is a very rare word.
Clever theme.
Al - It took guts to post that link. I used to work with a lot of MichiTechers.
Had a strange forest-and-trees type of perspective aha! moment with 85A. Filled a scatter of about half the letters from perps, then got up from the table, and as I backed away from the grid FOREGONE CONCLUSION suddenly became - well - a foregone conclusion.
I thought USA network was defunct. Not so.
Here's a nit: MALCOLM etc. does not fit the pattern of the theme clues.
I had a horrible time with ELUATE (my Chemistry MS notwithstanding.) So did the constructor and editor. The alleged clue is nothing but a tautology. Every solution is made by dissolving. Here is the definition of ELUATE from chemicool.com: Solvent (or mobile phase) which passes through a chromatographic column and removes the sample components from the stationary phase. The concept is related to solubility, but is not any specific kind of solution. Constructors often stumble when they delve into a subject they don't understand.
What's PORN is subjective, as is what's gross. But I'll bet that for most people the two do correspond.
For me, nudity and sex are fine. Graphic violence is gross.
Cheers!
Hi C.C. & gang, I agree it was a tough puzzle. On Sundays I print out the online puzzle and put the answers on back (that's the only way we can do them offline).
RE: Oil Gauge? I've owned many cars in my life and I've never had one with an oil gauge only a oil low warning light?
Ref:
common dash board
The town in Alabama is ONEONTA but pronounced on e on a. Bessemer built a huge steel mill right outside of Birmingham, AL in the late 1800s and there is town named for him here. Bessemer steel was a major supplier to auto industries and defense contractors for quite some time.
Good afternoon C.C. and all, to me this was a real ba** buster and showed me some real humility. Can't even began to list all of my problems, with this puzzle, so I won't. Looking forward to Monday's puzzle.
@ Warren, all engine heads that had "souped up" engines in their cars had oil gauges to give early indication of engine trouble.
Jazzbumpa- Regarding ELUATE. I don't think the constructor delved into an area he didn't understand. I believe he stumbled into a part of the grid where the only fill word available was ELUATE. Big difference. I'm going to guess he entered that word and said, "Dang it!"
For the fun of it I tried to redo that area of the puzzle by eliminating ELUATE and coming up with something more common. It didn't pan out. I also read your definition of the word and Merriam Websters 11th edition definition and still don't have the faintest idea of what the word eluate or eluting means. At this point I believe I'll delve into a familiar subject... cold beer.
Jerome:
always a good default choice. Hope it's a nice hoppy pale ale.
FUELLED: British spelling for gassing up a British car (24D)
Maniac: My DH cooked zucchini using your recipe, and it was wonderful. Didn't taste at all like a green vegetable. Thank you. Of course, as we live in a FL condo, he had to use a store-bought one. Still good.
My spell check wouldn't accept fuelled. It wants fueled. Maybe because there are really two pronounced vowels.
Happy Orangeman's Day, everyone.
Jerome -
I wasn't protesting the word ELUATE, though it does achieve a new high level of obscurity. I was quibbling with the clue, which is genuinely horrible. It literally tells you nothing.
What I meant by delving into an area he didn't understand was related to the subject matter. He doesn't understand chromatography - or solutions, either, for that matter.
It's tricky, because ELUATE is not a useful word outside of the narrow context of chromatography, which is an analytical technique I understand, but would be hard pressed to explain in 25 words or less. Chromatography involves moving substances through a CONDUIT, and separating them based on polarity, or some other molecular attractive property. (Twenty words, alas, not a definition.)
A succinct definition of ELUATE could be "chromatography fluid." This will make it a gimme for a couple dozen analytical chemists. Not helpful, perhaps, for the rest of us. But I also didn't know ZEEMAN, KEENE, or ONEONTA. OTOH, OLEATE was a snap.
And now for something else completely different. I had a very strange and
disturbing day on Friday. I talk about it on my blog, here. Feel free to stop by and offer me wise council.
Yours in perpetual confusion.
JzB
47:43 today. And, I ended up with a mistake, having LEDA and SONIE for the unknown (to me) Russian car and unknown Ms. Braga.
I said that Saturday's puzzle was my favorite LA Times puzzle of the year so far. Well, this one was likely my least favorite. It had too many proper names, from BRATZ to ZEEMAN, and the cardinal sin of many of the obscure proper names crossing. And ELULATE? Really?
I hated this puzzle and feel like I wasted nearly an hour of my life solving it. I'm all for wasting time on a crossword when the payoff is worth it, but this theme is lame and I never got the reward I was looking for.
Embien -
I feel your pain. I do think the theme is at least very good. The execution was imperfect, due to MALCOLM. But - hey, different strokes.
Your comment about reward is food for thought. Why do we do this, and then why do we post about it? The exercise must have a high level of interest, appeal, and - yes - a reward. But those are all such subjective characteristics . . .
IMHO, The reward comes from meeting the challenge, and succeeding - even if only partially. If I can't get the whole puzzle - yesterday's, frex - I can get 50% or 80% or whatever it is.
Jerome -
I, too, am intimate with cold beer. But, I haven't had a martini in a couple of weeks, so I went in that direction instead.
Imbibing comes first. Eluation later, I suppose.
Today, I'm on my own. The LW accompanied our DIL, delivering the oldest (not quite 12) granddaughter, Amanda, (Sammi's oldest sib) to 2 weeks of dance camp at Hope College in Holland, MI. This is her second year attending. Last time, I thought, dance camp - that's nice. Turns out this is a BIG DEAL: It is THE Summer Ballet Experience for all of North America, and beyond. Amanda is really good, advanced for her age, and has a passion for dance. She tested in, and got a partial scholarship this year. What a great opportunity!
In the interest of full disclosure I'll have to say that Amanda is the LW's granddaughter, not mine. But we do play nice together and share.
Cheers!
Didn't do well at all today. Just too many unknowns. Farinaceous? what the H? Never heard of it!!
Leader of the Pack was playing on XM60's as I was trying to finish up.
I can't listen to "Who Let the Dogs Out." It was a favorite of my granddaughter's. Funny, I have no problem from I'm A Believer. She so loved the movie Shrek. He had just turned 5 when we saw it. Of course the fart joke at the beginning was a favorite!!
Ok, back to the sewing machine!
Oops, had a typo. Keyed in he for she. I'm bad!
the theme really was tough for me.
got most of the single-letter answers only by default
I kept quitting throughout the day, would watch a mlb game, then come back to it.
thank heavens for google
bill v.
wisc
G'day, all.
Sallie, happy birthday, kiddo! I hope you've had a great day.
I didn't finish the puzzle. I started it in pencil on paper while I was sitting with my mother earlier today. When I got home, I transfered my answers to the computer, and added a few more. I never got the theme, so most of the long answers went begging.
I suspect that I answered fewer of the clues on this Sunday puzzle than on any I've tried to do in the past year. Frustrating. Very frustrating.
Happy Birthday Sallie...I will toast you with a glass of wine in a bit...hope you had a lovely day.
I am so glad that I wasn't the only one today who felt left out in the widerness with this puzzle. :oP
Jazz...thank you for ELUATE...as I absoulutely couldn't come up with that answer based on the clue.
MrsJ and bill in wisc...Hi and stick around with this quirky group.
Too many red letters and lots of google...got all the theme answers. But I still did not get the theme till I came here.
Interesting and informative puzzle...learnt many news words:
"farinaceous", "antimacassar", "tat", "set-to", "lief" et al.
As you know I don't do the puzzles on the weekends...I take as much time off as I can with LGJ...just an update. No fish, they were few and far between...MORE zucchini and now the first bumper crop of green beans. No fights, or scrapes so all is good in the Tarrajo household as we head off to bed.
Dennis, noticed you got an anon attack the other night. It seems Jeannie and I am in good company.
(Don't go anywhere with that.)
Melissabee...haven't heard a peep from you so I am thinking your girls weekend out is a HUGE success.
I don't remember when the change was made but my first few cars had guages for oil pressure and battery charging. When they were replaced with lites, we were unhappy and called them 'idiot lites' because they are not as accurate as guages.
I don't remember when the change was made but my first few cars had guages for oil pressure and battery charging. When they were replaced with lites, we were unhappy and called them 'idiot lites' because they are not as accurate as guages.
"Too clever by half" is my review of this tough,
yet enjoyable puzzle. I got most of the longer answers due to perps, but had to Google many names & places. "Eluate" & "fuelled" looked wrong to me,but weren't; I got 73A (TAT) without knowing what antimacassar meant—that's just "dumb luck!"
Almost gave up when I got to TWEEDLES, but enjoyed END OF AN ERA. IRAQ (98A) should've been a gimme, but wasn't; "Turkey's neighbor" might have been a clearer/less "clever" clue .
By the way, Soviet-era cars,(15D), "Lada"s are supposedly all but museum pieces in Russia now,but still found running & breaking down in Cuba, along with East German models! (NOT fashion models, guys!).
My only moment of glory was a wild guess that "more-farinaceous" could be "mealier;" otherwise, this was a humbling hour of solving & hairpulling. Am glad I'm not the only member of CCs "club" to find this crossword too puzzling.
Here's hoping for kinder,gentler week for all of us!
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