Words: 64 (missing F,K,Q,Z)
Blocks: 33
I
saw Jeff's name, and cringed - I usually suffer an epic fail when he's
the constructor, but I am pleased to announce that I was, in fact, able
to beat this one, with a mere 3 seconds to spare on my personal time
clock. Yay~!! I can feel my brain cells tingling. I loved the look of
this puzzle, a true pinwheel of backwards "block C's", connected via
four 10-letter fills, though it does make for a low word/high
block count. The longer fill:
24. Superstitious admonition : DON'T JINX IT - Great fill
9. Court groups : LEGAL TEAMS - Because TENNIS teams was too long
39. Undeveloped areas : OPEN SPACES
26. Ones who are retiring : INTROVERTS - I consider myself an introvert, but I am about 20yrs from retiring - har-har~!
OOO N N W W A RRR DDD ~!
O O NN N W W W A A R R D D ~!
O O N NN W W W A A A R R D D ~!
OOO N N W W A A R R D ~!
O O N NN W W W A A A R R D D ~!
OOO N N W W A A R R D ~!
ACROSS:
1. It's a bluff : SCARP - geological jargon
6. Let it all out, perhaps : BAWL
10. "Yeah, what-evs" : "I BET"
14. Kit and kaboodle : TOTAL
15. She plays Jackie on "Nurse Jackie" : EDIE
16. "99 Luftballons" band : NENA
17. Taqueria adjective : ASADA
18. Tongue specialists? : LINGUISTS - I knew where this was going, but "OLE" at 19d was messing me up; the "O" was making me try to get LEXICOLOGIST to fit
20. Six-Day War setting : SINAI - I knew it involved Israel, but it took a moment for this broader geographical area to occur to me
21. Target, say : MEGA-STORE - does anyone else pronounce it "tar - ZHAY" to make it sound more upscale~?
22. Prince Valiant's heir apparent : ARN - knew from doing crosswords
23. Beat on "Survivor" : OUTLASTED - outwit, outplay - outwitted worked, too
27. Laborer on the move : MIGRANT
28. Crushed, as a spice : PESTLED
34. Obliquely : ASLANT and a straight up clecho; 3d. Obliquely : AT AN ANGLE
35. Without serious consideration : AIRILY
36. "Yikes!" : "JEEPERS~!"
38. Considerable : IMMENSE
41. Title bout, say : MAIN EVENT - nailed it, which gave me the first letters of the corresponding DOWNS, and that always helps
46. Reminder of an old flame? : ASH
47. Purity : INNOCENCE
48. First name in rap : TUPAC - Shakur, gunned down in Las Vegas, Nevada
51. "Sleepy Hollow" director : TIM BURTON - nailed it. Does anyone watch the TV series~? I am enjoying the new "Constantine" on NBC
52. One of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" : IRINA - I toyed with ELENA, IRENE, and was not too far off
53. Abbr. for the nameless? : et al. - Latin for "and others"
54. Rocky heights : TORS - more geological jargon
55. Small change : CENTS - I tried DIMES first
56. Judicious : SANE
57. Weapon of yore : SNEE
58. "Grumpy Old Men" actor Davis : OSSIE
DOWN:
1. King's Cross and others: Abbr. : STAs - London train stop
2. Mozart title starter : COSI - fan tutti, an opera by Wolfgang
4. Gun site : RADAR TRAP - Clever; it took a long time for me to tie "gun" to "trap", which I had via perps; I was trying so hard to get BATTLESHIP to fit, or maybe "---DECK"; what's the name for the ship's armament level, Spitz?
5. Easy-to-miss miss : PLAIN JANE - sometimes, it's the plain Janes that are the most attractive when they dress up, IMHO
6. Last of an annual trio : BELMONT - Dah~!! Took way too long for me to get this; the Triple Crown of horse racing - The Kentucky Derby and The Preakness Stakes are the other two - in the U.S.
7. Ciao relatives : ADIEUX - I was so pleased to put in ADIEUS, but I needed the Frawnche version to be right
8. Certain brogue : WINGTIP - ah, the shoe, not the accent
11. Inebriate : BESOT - the verb, not the noun
12. Between, to Berlioz : ENTRE
13. Extremely shocked? : TASED - yep, that's getting extremely shocked
19. World Cup chant : "USA~!" - and a referential clue at 10d. 19-Down, e.g.: Abbr. : INITs
24. Key of Pachelbel's Canon: Abbr. : D maj - Ah~! The "A" was there, so I had 75% of this one taken care of
25. River through northern France : OISE
29. Like-minded : SIMPATICO - SYMPATHETIC did not fit; nor did COMPASSIONATE
30. Cherishes : TREASURES
31. Vital components : LINCH PINS - Don't know why I spelled Linch with a "Y", maybe this connection
32. Conditional word : ELSE
33. Turns red, perhaps : DYES
37. Used to buy : SPENT ON - I get it, but the tense/usage doesn't quite jibe with me
38. Pungent, for example : INTENSE
40. Request for more : ENCORE
41. Pittances : MITES - meh. I think mOtes is a better fit
42. Jazz singer O'Day : ANITA
43. "Cold Mountain" hero : INMAN
44. Lofty : NOBLE
45. Coin first minted under Louis IX : ECU - learned by doing crosswords
49. Against : ANTI
50. Court event : CASE
6. Let it all out, perhaps : BAWL
10. "Yeah, what-evs" : "I BET"
14. Kit and kaboodle : TOTAL
15. She plays Jackie on "Nurse Jackie" : EDIE
16. "99 Luftballons" band : NENA
17. Taqueria adjective : ASADA
18. Tongue specialists? : LINGUISTS - I knew where this was going, but "OLE" at 19d was messing me up; the "O" was making me try to get LEXICOLOGIST to fit
20. Six-Day War setting : SINAI - I knew it involved Israel, but it took a moment for this broader geographical area to occur to me
21. Target, say : MEGA-STORE - does anyone else pronounce it "tar - ZHAY" to make it sound more upscale~?
22. Prince Valiant's heir apparent : ARN - knew from doing crosswords
23. Beat on "Survivor" : OUTLASTED - outwit, outplay - outwitted worked, too
28. Crushed, as a spice : PESTLED
34. Obliquely : ASLANT and a straight up clecho; 3d. Obliquely : AT AN ANGLE
35. Without serious consideration : AIRILY
36. "Yikes!" : "JEEPERS~!"
38. Considerable : IMMENSE
41. Title bout, say : MAIN EVENT - nailed it, which gave me the first letters of the corresponding DOWNS, and that always helps
46. Reminder of an old flame? : ASH
47. Purity : INNOCENCE
48. First name in rap : TUPAC - Shakur, gunned down in Las Vegas, Nevada
51. "Sleepy Hollow" director : TIM BURTON - nailed it. Does anyone watch the TV series~? I am enjoying the new "Constantine" on NBC
52. One of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" : IRINA - I toyed with ELENA, IRENE, and was not too far off
53. Abbr. for the nameless? : et al. - Latin for "and others"
54. Rocky heights : TORS - more geological jargon
55. Small change : CENTS - I tried DIMES first
56. Judicious : SANE
57. Weapon of yore : SNEE
58. "Grumpy Old Men" actor Davis : OSSIE
DOWN:
1. King's Cross and others: Abbr. : STAs - London train stop
2. Mozart title starter : COSI - fan tutti, an opera by Wolfgang
4. Gun site : RADAR TRAP - Clever; it took a long time for me to tie "gun" to "trap", which I had via perps; I was trying so hard to get BATTLESHIP to fit, or maybe "---DECK"; what's the name for the ship's armament level, Spitz?
5. Easy-to-miss miss : PLAIN JANE - sometimes, it's the plain Janes that are the most attractive when they dress up, IMHO
6. Last of an annual trio : BELMONT - Dah~!! Took way too long for me to get this; the Triple Crown of horse racing - The Kentucky Derby and The Preakness Stakes are the other two - in the U.S.
7. Ciao relatives : ADIEUX - I was so pleased to put in ADIEUS, but I needed the Frawnche version to be right
8. Certain brogue : WINGTIP - ah, the shoe, not the accent
11. Inebriate : BESOT - the verb, not the noun
12. Between, to Berlioz : ENTRE
13. Extremely shocked? : TASED - yep, that's getting extremely shocked
19. World Cup chant : "USA~!" - and a referential clue at 10d. 19-Down, e.g.: Abbr. : INITs
24. Key of Pachelbel's Canon: Abbr. : D maj - Ah~! The "A" was there, so I had 75% of this one taken care of
25. River through northern France : OISE
29. Like-minded : SIMPATICO - SYMPATHETIC did not fit; nor did COMPASSIONATE
30. Cherishes : TREASURES
31. Vital components : LINCH PINS - Don't know why I spelled Linch with a "Y", maybe this connection
32. Conditional word : ELSE
33. Turns red, perhaps : DYES
37. Used to buy : SPENT ON - I get it, but the tense/usage doesn't quite jibe with me
38. Pungent, for example : INTENSE
40. Request for more : ENCORE
41. Pittances : MITES - meh. I think mOtes is a better fit
42. Jazz singer O'Day : ANITA
43. "Cold Mountain" hero : INMAN
44. Lofty : NOBLE
45. Coin first minted under Louis IX : ECU - learned by doing crosswords
49. Against : ANTI
50. Court event : CASE
Splynter
42 comments:
What I liked about this puzzle...
Read you all tonight!
Morning, all!
Tough Saturday solve for me. Like Splynter, I went with ADIEUS at first, which seemed to fit so well until it didn't. It took a LONG time to get BELMONT (mostly because I was thinking it had something to do with the Holiday season for no apparent reason). And I always thought NENA was the name of a singer and not a band, go figure.
All of that eventually sorted itself out. What killed me, though was when I put in SAGE at 56A and ended up with INMAG for 43D. I knew that didn't look right, but all the perps seemed solid. When I didn't get the *TADA* at the end, I knew right where to look. The only perp that could possibly be different was SAGE, but changing it to SANE would give me INMAN, which looked just as bad as INMAG. But I tried it anyway and was surprised to get the *TADA*. And yup, that would have been a big fat DNF had I been solving on paper for those who like to keep track of such things.
[Obviously, I've never seen the movie "Cold Mountain", which is why I've never heard of INMAN before. Although, for some reason I do know that Heath Ledger played a character named Ennis. Oh, wait, that's "Brokeback Mountain." Never mind...]
Worked out the SE corner first, then ventured into the SW. At first I put SOU for French coin but then realized that PURITY must be INNOCENCE, giving me ECU. From there went into the NW without much trouble. Like others initially I put ADIEUS, but changing to the X solved that. Soccer cheer at first was OLE but USA saved the day for a finish.
Good morning!
Here's to INMAG and another DNF -- that's two in a row. "Unheard of! Absurd!" to quote Tevye. To me SANE just means not crazy, whereas judicious means wisely considered. It never occurred to me.
Don't think I've ever heard of NENA, but the perps were solid. I haven't read Chekhov, but IRINA came floating up from a dark corner in my file of useless information. My very last entry was changing the Y to I in SYMPATICO -- I thought it was related to sympathetic.
If a spice is PESTLED, does it become mortarfied?
Splynter, I expected your LYNCH link to involve a noose. Learning moment: It's the Preakness Stakes -- I thought only BELMONT was put to the stake.
March time...
Too much Thanksgiving in snowy Newburyport! Brainpower on empty.
That's my excuse for today. As far as the rest goes. it's........... WMS (What Manac said.
Good morning Saturday Solvers!
Loved your visual "ONWARD" today, Splynter! And yes, I do pronounce it Tar-Jay, but never shop there.
The NW filled immediately, with STAs and COSI giving me SCARP, and it just flowed out from there.
I wanted PESTLED for 28-A, but refused to believe that it was correct. Guess what? It was! (LOL at your comment, D-o!!)
But I stumbled in the SE with SIMPATICO because I spelled it as sYmpatico and LINCHPINS because I really wanted to spell it lYnchpins, same as Splynter. So you can imagine how ridiculous AYRYLY looked. D'uh!
I finally got that mess straightened out, so it was all good. Thanks for a fun start to the weekend Jeff and Splynter!
No time to do the puzzle today.
Splynter - I don't think the deck has a specific name, but the name may be specific to some ships (configurations). You may hear the phrase 'gun decks' used. Our larger gun mounts had designations such as Mount 51 (most forward 5" gun mount. Ships like the Constitution had their own nomenclature.
I always say TAR GET, as they do in their advertisements. TAR ZHAY sounds so pretentious for a store that is not all that upscale.
"I USED the money you gave me ON a new pair of shoes. Thanks." "I SPENT the money ON a new pair of shoes."
The MITE boxes in church collect coins for the poor. The "Widow's MITE" was a very small amount of money which represented all she had so it was very generous.
Hello Puzzlers -
Hand up for Sage instead of Sane. I haven't seen or heard of Cold Mountain either, so the implausible Inmag stayed. Olé and Sympatico bollixed their respective areas.
Morning Splynter - What Marti said, loved the Onward today, and yes we call it Tar-zhay for laughs but never shop there.
Brutal.....but fair. It was easy to see this would be a wagfest, so I went with stream of consciousness thinking and resultant entries right out of the chute. First entries were Ole, D Min and Sage. (All wrong). It got better, and things eventually began to emerge with most errors corrected along the way, however, that G in sage never was erased, so I have to take a FIW/DNF. Still, really enjoyed how it all evolved from a big blank space to a filled grid. Now if I could only get the newsprint to go "Tada".
You might as well hang it up when you see Chen's name!! No fun and the meanings are no-where near the final words.
Well I managed to PESTLE that one out, eventually - not sure I have ever used that word as a verb before. I did try to grind my Indian spices with an M&P once. Once. I then immediately went out and bought a new electric coffee grinder and reserved the old one for POWER-PESTLING.
For 18 A, Jeff must have been thinking of Richard Lederer's book on language rather naughtily titled "The Cunning Linguist". Perhaps we all were.
I had SAGE at first like everyone else; both SAGE and SANE are listed in my Thesaurus as synonyms of JUDICIOUS. Otherwise, great crossword, spoiled only by one Rap Artist clue and one Prince Valiant fill.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
NC
I never felt out of this one and had a good time “gittin’ ‘er done” after a fair amount of effort
Musings
-COSI, SCARP, TIM BURTON, OISE, etc. just came from my cranial recesses
-OJ’s formidable LEGAL TEAM got a not guilty verdict. No one thought (thinks) he was innocent
-Fitting OLE with LINGUISTS was a speed bump for me too
-I learned of ARN while reading the beautifully illustrated Prince Valiant on the comic pages. Those serialized features seem to have vanished.
-IMMENSE NFLER’s
-Something good rising from the ASH of Ferguson, MO
-I think a SNEE is better in a fight than an EPEE
-A RADAR TRAP has never gotten me if I’m less than 5 mph over
-A PLAIN JANE without and then with makeup
-SPENT ON was awkward for me as well
-Do you know the CB jargon for an officer with a radar gun?
-62˚F today on the Great Plains. Hmmm… what to do, what to do?
Good Morning:
This was a typical Saturday experience for me: first pass, a few fill-ins, second pass, a few more, third pass, chip away and, voila, TADA. Hand up for sage/sane, sou/ecu, and adieus/adieux. Ugh on pestled.
Thanks to Jeff and Splynter for starting off the weekend on a high note.
Have a great day. Has anyone heard from PK? She has been absent for quite a while?
Ditto WIMS. I have to admit it; I needed red-letter help. That makes it a DNF. Brutal puzzle. Oh, well.
Good (late) morning all.
I got a red letter tada. After an IMMENSE amount of time, I changed the game to regular just to finish it.
Had ADIEUs. Had WES CRAVEN rather than TIM BURTON. Had FAIR rather than SANE. Had PLEASURES not TREASURES. Had CINCH PIN.
Those last two didn't make sense with the clues, but by then, I was mostly disinterested. So I changed the game and found the errors and got the tada. Big whoop !
Hello, Super Solvers! Thank you, Splynter, for your always canny analysis.
WEES. Much the same experience as all of you, SAGE/SANE, OLE/USA, but ANON/ETAL, CLIFF/SCARP. Oddly, NOBLE was my immediate thought for lofty but deemed it too literal then finally entered it. For the trio I was thinking of the Magi, but no, BELMONT it was. The three kings names were too long.
However, TIM BURDON looked right and so did AIRYLY so FIW but was pleased to finish Jeff Chen's complex grid.
Loved DON'T JINX IT.
Have yourselves an auspicious Saturday, everyone!
I should have come here first! My brain stopped after tors and the main event and I puzzled and puzzled and puzzled. Hard for me today for some reason. Still, it's always fun to come here and do the forehead slap. Hope all are recovering from Thanksgiving and the frantic shopping. I'm doing the usual Sat. chores and headed for some turkey noodle soup. Thanks for giving me a break, but Mr. Chen, you got me today! Yikes.
I ALMOST, ALMOST got a Saturday Jeff Chen puzzle--only never heard of SCARP and still don't know how a RADAR TRAP is a GUN SITE? But starting with EDIE (I love "Nurse Jackie") and OSSIE things slowly started to fall into place and except for that dratted R I got the whole thing. Nice way to wrap up a lovely Thanksgiving weekend--many thanks, Jeff and Splynter.
Have a good weekend, everybody!
Husker 9:16 - I've always preferred the unpainted look, myself. To me, your plain Jane looks better before than after. The LW doesn't wear a speck of makeup, and that's a good thing on so many levels!
I started in the NW and almost finished in the NW but it was a DNF because of 1D, 2D & 17A. I couldn't decide if King's Cross was a Street or Station- STE, STR, STN, or STA. And, two days in a row we had the crossing of two foreign words. COSI and ASADA.
The rest of the puzzle was a pure grind it out with WAGs in all directions. EDIE, BESOT, AIRILY (never heard before), TIM BURTON, INMAN, ADIEUX, which I had to look at hard because JINX had to be correct.
Reminder of an old flame? You need to forget them, not remember them.
Misty, the police use Radar GUNS as part of their superstars.
Splynter, great job. Jeff Chen a few very hard crosses with the definition of SANE intersecting the very obscure
INMAN. Obviously only you and rich know if that was your clue.
Me again. I also wanted WALL FLOWER for PLAIN JANE (Hathaway), INMAG for INMAN, SOU for ECU, GRINDED for PESTLED, started with CLIFF for SCARP, AND SUIT for CASE. The correct spellings of SIMPATICO and LINCHPIN were in question because I had never heard or seen AIRILY before.
"That's a nice breeze," she said airily.
It came down to Sage vs. Sane because I had not seen the movie. Sage seemed more appropriate but I took a chance on sane because Inman sounds more like a name. Voila, I finished this puzzle. It was fun.
FIW
This was less a crossword & more a red letter alphabetical jigsaw puzzle. (I am still trying to hammer a few letters into place..)
On the lighter side, I found yesterdays 1/2 inked puzzle on an endtable, which I had discarded for the red letter version. Just for fun, having read yest Blog & knowing all the answers, I tried to fill it out from memory, & still had trouble....
Gun site made me think of a deck also, but the gun I was thinking of had its own decks!
CB slang for a radar trap? Gosh, there are so many:
Checkpoint Charlie
Bear taking pictures
Kojak with a Kodak...
How many can you find?
Impossible.
This was the first pzl in a turtle's age that I just could not complete. There were far too many nonce words or rare coinages that interlocked to take it to fulfillment.
I did enjoy discovering some of the answers (Thank you, Splynter!), but after completing 90% of the grid, I found the desire to finish it had been burnt out of me -- which, unfortunately, kept it from feeling like "good pain."
I knew 52A had to be MASHA, IRENA, or IRENE, but hardly considered the oddball (in English) spelling of IRINA. And while we can certainly understand how Mr. Chen found his way to words like PESTLED and AIRILY, let's please not have such rarities so interlocked.
Just one ol' Geezer's tuppence...
I must be in the minority thinking this a great puzzle, especially the misdirections. I loved the clue for ASH, reminder of an old flame and had forgotten I started with BUENO but ASADA soon became apparent.
Argyle:
You are quick on those swifties!
I just finished trimming the tree which had one darkened row of lights so luckily I had some spare ones with which to supplement.
The airily conversation reminds me of a joke I read at least 40 years ago:
An attractive young woman was walking through a London park on a pleasant but windy day. Given the warm weather, she had put on a light sundress and open sandals....and nothing else.
As she walked down a path, a sudden gust of wind occurred, blowing her dress up, leaving nothing to the imagination. An approaching gentleman politely doffed his hat and said "Airy, isn't it."
Not missing a beat, she replied "What the 'ell did you expect? Feathers?"
Hi all!
I started this puzzle waiting at the pub while eldest sang at today's matinee. All I could get was 1d, 20a, 19d (it was Sat, I didn't fall for Ole!) and 16a before a fellow Bulldog chatted me up - LA Tech whomped Rice.
Splynter - thanks for the answers! I'll try again tonight :-)
Since no one linked 99 Luftballons, here's the German version.
Time for a nap before shuttling her downtown for this eve's performance.
Cheers, -T
Anon-T -- congrats on your daughter's celebrity. You must be a proud papa.
Argyle, Tom Swift would be proud.
Avg Joe -- LOL.
"Feathers, hah!" she said as she flew into a rage.
I was watching USC dismantle Notre Dame. Year after year USC has one of the better college football teams and every year they have really good-looking cheerleaders, dressed in short, flippy pleated skirts and white sweaters. It doesn't seem fair that the football players get all of the scholarships.
OUT LASTED today's puzzle...NOT! Too many unknowns for me but certainly some fill I haven't seen, so possibly learned something I can use later.
We had only 6 family members for Thanksgiving and lots of leftovers from 21 lb. turkey. My daughter came from Iowa and did all the cooking and baking. She also made orange, pumpkin chocolate chip, and blueberry scones for me to take to Physical Therapy to thank them for their care the last 6 months. Her twin brother wanted pumpkin chocolate chip bread to take to work and she did that. She will need to go home and rest.
Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving weekend. I was thinking of you, Montana, as you deal with the holidays after the tragic death of your son this year.
Ave Joe @4:23
Laughed my a.. off. FUNNY or should I sat breezy?
Bill G later on........... USC ain't the only school with good looking cheerleaders. Heck, try finding a school that doesn't.
BlueIris:
You have a wonderful daughter!
AnonT:
So do you have a wonderful daughter! Talents come in so many different forms.
Are you kidding me? From first thing this morning to the present I filled in something like 9 answers. Granted there were a few games of chess in there at a local park, a fair amount of televised football, and a 2 hour nap.
No excuses, just saying.
Hondo, right you are. But the total effect of the pretty girls and the very appealing outfits make them my choice (in so far as my studies have taken me).
I just stumbled across the last 30 minutes of "Love Actually" on cable. Great stuff! I LOVE that movie. It's especially good during the Christmas season. It's close to perfect in my opinion. With one small change, it could have been even more perfecter but alas, they didn't seek my opinion during the editing process. Oh well, I won't complain. In that last 30 minutes I just caught, I smiled several and my eyes teared up as they always do.
Thanks, Lemonade.
Well, this certainly alluded me, but I nevertheless found it fascinating!
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