Very late today, but if anyone is still reading, I liked the puzzle.
Starting at 1A, my first thought was MONET, because "hay." But "triptych"? No, not Monet, I was pretty sure.
I love the term JAZZ HANDS. I searched YouTube for a clip from "Will & Grace" that I swear had a bit about it, but couldn't find it.
Thanks to all.
Starting at 1A, my first thought was MONET, because "hay." But "triptych"? No, not Monet, I was pretty sure.
I love the term JAZZ HANDS. I searched YouTube for a clip from "Will & Grace" that I swear had a bit about it, but couldn't find it.
Thanks to all.
2
I always keep a light on for you DL.
And speaking of a keeping a light on, it just dawned on me:
Hi Viv.
I think it's after 2 a.m. there. I'm guessing you just didn't make it here today, but I'm sorry I'm so late nonetheless.
And speaking of a keeping a light on, it just dawned on me:
Hi Viv.
I think it's after 2 a.m. there. I'm guessing you just didn't make it here today, but I'm sorry I'm so late nonetheless.
Hi Rich. Sorry, I just forgot. I did the Sunday puzzle as soon as it came (much too easy, I thought) and went right to sleep. Just woke up (4:30) for a short break and came here, and checked here and found you. Old Faithful...
1
I only had "BOSCH" after my first pass through the acrosses and that was a guess. I was sure that this puzzle would end my personal best eight-week streak. But then JOHNHENRY, YOGURT, and ROANOKE came to me right away on the downs and I was on the way to my second fastest Saturday solve.
In response to Nobis Misere below, I'm 67 and my skills seem to still be improving. I used to successfully solve a Saturday puzzle only about 25% of the time, now I've solved eight in a row. (Or you are right and they are getting easier.)
In response to Nobis Misere below, I'm 67 and my skills seem to still be improving. I used to successfully solve a Saturday puzzle only about 25% of the time, now I've solved eight in a row. (Or you are right and they are getting easier.)
3
I come late to the party so can only agree: This was a swell puzzle, with fair but interesting entries and some uncertain pauses for that little seasoning of suspense.
One thing I'm curious about has to do with my very last entry: 45A, ORO. "Gold" seemed obvious when I read the clue, but there were only three squares and no indication for "Spanish."
That struck me as very unusual once I knew ORO was the answer, so I went to Xword info, which has 182 Shortz era occurrences. I didn't read every one, but sure enough, each I did read had some indication the answer was in Spanish. From "____ y plata" to "Top prize at the Barcelona Olympics" and "Pedro might pan for it" there's a tip it's espanol.
I wonder if lack of a tip was an oversight or intentional? Gotta be intentional, right?
One thing I'm curious about has to do with my very last entry: 45A, ORO. "Gold" seemed obvious when I read the clue, but there were only three squares and no indication for "Spanish."
That struck me as very unusual once I knew ORO was the answer, so I went to Xword info, which has 182 Shortz era occurrences. I didn't read every one, but sure enough, each I did read had some indication the answer was in Spanish. From "____ y plata" to "Top prize at the Barcelona Olympics" and "Pedro might pan for it" there's a tip it's espanol.
I wonder if lack of a tip was an oversight or intentional? Gotta be intentional, right?
The answer was "ore," with "webar" crossing down.
1
I had ORE, not ORO for 45A. Never heard of a wotbar.
The answer is ORE
That research Deb linked on the effect of various substances on spider webs is fascinating. I wonder, though, how the "right" dose is determined. Without knowing that, it could be a false comparison to try to use the web structure to determine relative toxicities.
Great Saturday puzzle. It's a magical art to construct puzzles that seem impossible at first, yielding only little toeholds, but that somehow can be chipped away at until they're finally polished off. Never heard of PERONI or JAZZ HANDS or Currer Bell, and thought SPIDERS engaged in live birth (with a cocoon), but look forward to looking that up, an activity I don't look down on. HOSE and LINE before PIPE, ANGER before CRAZE, BRX. before EDT (not sure if they're still in the BRX. in any case). Knew FAUVISTS but not FAUVES per se, but it was a lucky guess. Loved the various and sundry entries in this puzzle. Have no idea how some people can finish such a puzzle in under 10 minutes (e.g., the top 500 posted times). Last section filled: upper left, as usual; the thaw was broken via the K of KIR.
Postscript: Yesterday I gave the Thursday a fourth attempt and finally finished off the last section, the one containing The Bird With A Silent Letter. Great puzzle!
Postscript: Yesterday I gave the Thursday a fourth attempt and finally finished off the last section, the one containing The Bird With A Silent Letter. Great puzzle!
1
The Brontë sisters all had pseudonyms--Anne was Acton, Charlotte was Currer, and Emily was Ellis.
Charlotte wrote: Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because — without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called "feminine" – we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice; we had noticed how critics sometimes use for their chastisement the weapon of personality, and for their reward, a flattery, which is not true praise.
Charlotte wrote: Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because — without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called "feminine" – we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice; we had noticed how critics sometimes use for their chastisement the weapon of personality, and for their reward, a flattery, which is not true praise.
3
Loved BADJOKE and BANGUPJOB. Opposite feelings for SPIDEREGG.
AIRhose before AIRPIPE. AIRPIPE? Isn't that the windPIPE or trachea?
HOThead before HOTSPUR. When I finally got that I thought, "Shouldn't that have a Shakespearean clue?"
HANGINGON ... a bit grim, no?
All in all a very enjoyable Saturday, not too EASY not too hard.
Thank you Damon Gulczynski, I always look forward to solving your puzzles.
AIRhose before AIRPIPE. AIRPIPE? Isn't that the windPIPE or trachea?
HOThead before HOTSPUR. When I finally got that I thought, "Shouldn't that have a Shakespearean clue?"
HANGINGON ... a bit grim, no?
All in all a very enjoyable Saturday, not too EASY not too hard.
Thank you Damon Gulczynski, I always look forward to solving your puzzles.
2
Is anyone else's i-pad version acting funny with today's puzzle? Mine keeps randomly deleting letters in my entries . . .
Hi Eileen,
If you are having a technical issue, your best bet is to drop a note via the Feedback form. Those emails are read by the technical and customer support teams, whereas they don't always check comments on Wordplay.
If you are having a technical issue, your best bet is to drop a note via the Feedback form. Those emails are read by the technical and customer support teams, whereas they don't always check comments on Wordplay.
I was puzzled, Deb, by your use of the term "colloquialism" in your comment on 6D. I don't consider either the current clue's current "African-American" or the 1967 clue's then-current "Negro" to be "colloquial."
Interestingly (to me, anyway) the first reported sighting of JOHN HENRY in the NYT XWP did not identify him by [the social construct we call] race; in 1964, he was a "Big name is U.S. folklore."
Either the puzzle is getting easier or our editor thinks that fewer readers are up on U.S. folklore. Neither the 1964 or 1967 clue gave his occupation.
P. S. The 1971 JOHN HENRY was not clued as the folk hero at all, but, rather, as "Signature" (variant of JOHN HANCOCK).
Interestingly (to me, anyway) the first reported sighting of JOHN HENRY in the NYT XWP did not identify him by [the social construct we call] race; in 1964, he was a "Big name is U.S. folklore."
Either the puzzle is getting easier or our editor thinks that fewer readers are up on U.S. folklore. Neither the 1964 or 1967 clue gave his occupation.
P. S. The 1971 JOHN HENRY was not clued as the folk hero at all, but, rather, as "Signature" (variant of JOHN HANCOCK).
2
Thank you, human emu, for noticing (14 hours later) that this comment wasn't advocating racism and liberating it from the emu filter.
2
I must have been in the zone today or in sync with the constructor, because this was as smooth as silk from BAD JOKE all the way through VIOLA. I beat my fastest Saturday in 3 years by almost a minute, and lowered my Saturday average since last ACPT by eight seconds.
1
I started at 1A with a bang, since "haywain" is a word that I know in only one context, BOSCH. That gave seeds for BASKETS, "something a bomber delivers" on the court, and SHIVERY for "c-c-c-cold". KIR soon knocked out BASKETS but lent credence to SHIVERY. So the upper left defied me until the very end. Unlike Deb, I had to confirm the improbable JAZZ HANDS with Wikipedia. No matter how many puzzles I do, I can still get fixated on neat but wrong fits like SHIVERY.
1
This is the Haywain I thought of - a reproduction of it hung over the spinet piano of my childhood home, and I spent a lot of time playing scales and studying the scene.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hay_Wain
But first I read the clue as "Hawaiian" - oops!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hay_Wain
But first I read the clue as "Hawaiian" - oops!
1
Yes, John Constable was the only hay wain painter I knew.
When I was in Madrid a couple of years ago, I was puzzled by the street banners advertising a Prado art exhibit by a painter named El Bosco. I finally figured out--when I got close enough to see a picture on a banner--that it was Bosch.
When I was in Madrid a couple of years ago, I was puzzled by the street banners advertising a Prado art exhibit by a painter named El Bosco. I finally figured out--when I got close enough to see a picture on a banner--that it was Bosch.
1
In this case, a simple translation: the bosch = the bosco = the woody forest.
Don't know if I'm getting faster or not, because there are some activities in my life during which I do not time myself. But this felt like a good Saturday.
In my first college job I taught a course that included the novel JANEEYRE, which I had never read, and which I had not yet finished when we we got to it. So the discussion question that day was: "how do you think this novel is going to end?" Very open discussion, as I recall.
In my first college job I taught a course that included the novel JANEEYRE, which I had never read, and which I had not yet finished when we we got to it. So the discussion question that day was: "how do you think this novel is going to end?" Very open discussion, as I recall.
2
Started quickly with JANE EYRE and JOHN HENRY, but slowed from there. As I worked my way around I continually murmured, Oh THAT meaning of the word, so good, challenging cluing for me.
O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth!
HOTSPUR
Henry IV, part 1, Act 5, Scene 4
O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth!
HOTSPUR
Henry IV, part 1, Act 5, Scene 4
2
I must admit that this one was not EASY for me, but TGIF, which I have redefined to mean Thank God I Finished! SE took me forever. SPILL is clued brilliantly. Thanks for a great Saturday.
3
Just another occasion for me to feel grateful for the Bronte sisters, my college Art Appreciation class, World Literature studies, and all those VIOLA lessons for our daughter!
SPIDER EGG is somewhat disappointing. The EGGs---not plural--in their waterproof silken sac, may or may not be in the web. More usually the sac is securely fastened in a sheltered spot nearby to await Springtime.
Much easier than
SPIDER EGG is somewhat disappointing. The EGGs---not plural--in their waterproof silken sac, may or may not be in the web. More usually the sac is securely fastened in a sheltered spot nearby to await Springtime.
Much easier than
Ratz. Trying to go back and add an 'e' to 'not'--as in 'note plural' and hit something else. Bam!
Much easier than the usual Saturday, and I suppose everyone else will agree...
Much easier than the usual Saturday, and I suppose everyone else will agree...
Et tu redux.
My point earlier is that the sac is attached to its shelter with -a- web, not -the- web.
My point earlier is that the sac is attached to its shelter with -a- web, not -the- web.
1
Not for me, MOL. This was a real struggle. I finally gave in and started looking things up. Only then was I able to progress to the end. Especially after yesterday's breeze of a puzzle.
JOHNHENRY got me off to a FLYING start on this wonderful puzzle, even though I flubbed the finish rather shamefully. The NW was my downfall, but if I had taken a timeout my subconscious would have found SUBZERO, because ECO was already on my mind. The whole NW was blank until I looked up the painter's name, and BOSCH together with ECO helped me see OCEANIC. What stumped me was JAZZHANDS. Never heard of that or the alternative term SPLITFINGERS which I found when I looked up the term on Google. The clue had me thinking "Chicago," and I'm grateful for being reminded of the razzle-dazzle song. It's playing in my ears as I type. Anyway, it was a trip to the blog for the JAZZHANDS hint that helped me find SUBZERO and the rest of the downs in that corner of the puzzle.
If anybody is interested in extended constructor notes, visit my blog: scrabbledamon.blogspot.com.
Keep up the good work, Deb!
Keep up the good work, Deb!
4
I'm being repetitious, I know, but these Friday and Saturday puzzles, while always entertaining, are being made easier; I'm absolutely sure of it. The only pause for me was IN A SNIT, which implies a degree of petulance; AGITATED doesn't.
Maybe you're just getting better at them?
3
To further investigate your premise, I looked at my times for yesterday and today. 10:42 and 12:51 respectively.
I then went back to solve the Friday and Saturday puzzles from the same week in 2000, (1/28 and 29). I went that far back so that I could not possibly have remembered anything about those puzzles anymore, and it would put me at a further disadvantage that the pop trivia would be 17 years old. My times were 7:51 and 10:10.
Nobis, why don't you try the same experiment and see how it works out.
I then went back to solve the Friday and Saturday puzzles from the same week in 2000, (1/28 and 29). I went that far back so that I could not possibly have remembered anything about those puzzles anymore, and it would put me at a further disadvantage that the pop trivia would be 17 years old. My times were 7:51 and 10:10.
Nobis, why don't you try the same experiment and see how it works out.
1
An interesting experiment, Steve.
Funny how no one ever gives themselves credit for getting better at anything, isn't it?
Funny how no one ever gives themselves credit for getting better at anything, isn't it?
HOT SPUR was new to me.
1
one word
I had HOTHEAD first, but it's less dashing....
I had HOTHEAD first, but it's less dashing....
It has a long history (there's a Shakespeare character called Harry Hotspur, based on the historical Sir Henry Percy).
1
I don't think I've ever before finished both a Friday and Saturday without at least a failed check. Maybe I can go for a week long streak (fingers crossed).
Just enough toeholds in this one, despite some complete unknowns. I was going to flag the clue for JOHNHENRY as way too obvious for a Saturday, but I see that it wasn't a gimme for at least a couple of people, so maybe not. I also 'knew' Currer Bell, but it wasn't coming to me right away. A couple of crosses brought that back fairly quickly. ROANOKE and ACHILLES were also gimmes (with a cross or two for the second one).
Didn't know JAZZHANDS or ELVER and also didn't know exactly what HOTSPUR meant, but at least I knew it was a thing. Didn't recall the painting at 1a, but with the B and S in place that seemed like the best guess.
Don't quite understand the question mark in the clue for SPIDEREGG. That usually would suggest that there is some more obvious kind of 'web deposit' and I have no idea what that would be. A google search for "web deposit" (in quotes) got about 9,000 hits, which makes it close to non-existent.
Oh yeah - very nice puzzle with a bunch of lively entries and a quite enjoyable solve.
Just enough toeholds in this one, despite some complete unknowns. I was going to flag the clue for JOHNHENRY as way too obvious for a Saturday, but I see that it wasn't a gimme for at least a couple of people, so maybe not. I also 'knew' Currer Bell, but it wasn't coming to me right away. A couple of crosses brought that back fairly quickly. ROANOKE and ACHILLES were also gimmes (with a cross or two for the second one).
Didn't know JAZZHANDS or ELVER and also didn't know exactly what HOTSPUR meant, but at least I knew it was a thing. Didn't recall the painting at 1a, but with the B and S in place that seemed like the best guess.
Don't quite understand the question mark in the clue for SPIDEREGG. That usually would suggest that there is some more obvious kind of 'web deposit' and I have no idea what that would be. A google search for "web deposit" (in quotes) got about 9,000 hits, which makes it close to non-existent.
Oh yeah - very nice puzzle with a bunch of lively entries and a quite enjoyable solve.
3
Forgot my (now rare) music link. I'd managed to largely avoid the news for a couple of days, so it wasn't until this morning that I woke up with the a case of the Statesboro Blues:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezPZxfS1jys
Jimbo and Bru will know the specific reason, but there's lots of connections with watching the news in general these days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezPZxfS1jys
Jimbo and Bru will know the specific reason, but there's lots of connections with watching the news in general these days.
1
Not Jimbo or Bru but I love this song and the band. Duane could do some amazing things with a guitar. An incredible talent taken from us way too early....thanks for the link, Rich!
1
One more thing. I just got back from walking my avatar. I saw this sign in two yards that I passed. I know they weren't there two days ago:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/09/504969049/a-message-of...
Dr. J said she saw one up the street earlier today also. Didn't know about it until just now.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/09/504969049/a-message-of...
Dr. J said she saw one up the street earlier today also. Didn't know about it until just now.
1
Today's puzzle is great!
But the mini-puzzle constructed by Joel Fagliano has an egregious error in the clue for 11-across: "__________ Fuqua, Oscar-winning director of Training Day" Antoine Fuqua directed that film, but won no Oscar for it, nor any other picture. It was Denzel Washington who won a Best Actor Oscar for this film.
Please, puzzle constructors and editors, be as accurate as you can; like yesterday's VIOL clue in the Friday crossword, this one is just plain wrong! We need to be able to rely on you for accuracy, at a time when so much sloppiness and "alternative facts" are consuming our national discourse!
But the mini-puzzle constructed by Joel Fagliano has an egregious error in the clue for 11-across: "__________ Fuqua, Oscar-winning director of Training Day" Antoine Fuqua directed that film, but won no Oscar for it, nor any other picture. It was Denzel Washington who won a Best Actor Oscar for this film.
Please, puzzle constructors and editors, be as accurate as you can; like yesterday's VIOL clue in the Friday crossword, this one is just plain wrong! We need to be able to rely on you for accuracy, at a time when so much sloppiness and "alternative facts" are consuming our national discourse!
7
I've posted one of yesterday's comments again. This is what I wrote today.
Starting off with a gimme in the top line is unusual for a Saturday, quite a nice feeling. I didn't find this as easy as most, but did need less help than usual.
The clue for VIOLA (less controversial that the one for VIOL yesterday) nicely shows up the confusion for the pronunciation of OW words.
Fun to see TGIF on Saturday, and loved BANG UP JOB, especially as it describes Damon's efforts today.
Starting off with a gimme in the top line is unusual for a Saturday, quite a nice feeling. I didn't find this as easy as most, but did need less help than usual.
The clue for VIOLA (less controversial that the one for VIOL yesterday) nicely shows up the confusion for the pronunciation of OW words.
Fun to see TGIF on Saturday, and loved BANG UP JOB, especially as it describes Damon's efforts today.
2
suejean, I will unfortunately not be able to watch the Federer-Nadal match. If only there were some way I could get ahold of you recording of it ...
1
Kep , I always start at 1a and continue with the acrosses until the first break, then go to the downs. However if something seems to be opening up I'll go where it leads.
When I do puzzles not online ( i.e. Games Magazine ) I always use my newly discovered erasable pen for the same reasons you said.
Welcome to wordplay.
When I do puzzles not online ( i.e. Games Magazine ) I always use my newly discovered erasable pen for the same reasons you said.
Welcome to wordplay.
Blaze of GLory was a Jon Bon Jovi solo hit , not a hit for the band Bon Jovi per se
1
Unlike others, this was not a particularly fast solve--about average for a Saturday in time but above average in every other respect.
I usually don't even finish a Saturday but this was my fastest Saturday solve ever.
2
Agreed on comments re air pipe. Not a scuba term!
1
Sockdollager of a puzzle - many thanks! (And only missing a "Q" to achieve pangram status! So...here you go..."Than-Q")
1
Disappointed in today's "Mini". It is the Asian New Year -- not just "Chinese".
3
Actually, not all Asian cultures celebrate the lunar New Year, so "Asian New Year" is probably less accurate then "Chinese New Year" or "Vietnamese New Year" or such. For instance, Japan celebrates New Years on the solar (western) January 1.
I know some people appreciate the inclusiveness of "Asian New Year," but others are put off. My sister-in-law is Japanese-American and was a school teacher for many years. She had to teach it as "Asian New Year" to avoid insulting Vietnamese students, but found it very ironic.
I know some people appreciate the inclusiveness of "Asian New Year," but others are put off. My sister-in-law is Japanese-American and was a school teacher for many years. She had to teach it as "Asian New Year" to avoid insulting Vietnamese students, but found it very ironic.
Some call it Lunar New Year. But come to think of it, Rosh Hashanah is a lunar new year, too.
As a Vietnamese, I feel totally excluded with the term "Chinese" New Year. How about "lunar" new year to include all those who celebrate it and not limit it to only the Chinese?
5
A worthy Saturday challenge. Couldn't get going until JOHN HENRY drove a stake in the ground for me and OPENed some DOORS.
BANG UP JOB Mr. Gulczynzski!
BANG UP JOB Mr. Gulczynzski!
1
I hope the emus will release my longer post (after a human realizes that any "bad" words in it are used properly), but while waiting I will say now that I was taken aback by Deb's use of the word "colloquialisms" for descriptors in the 2017 and 1967 clues for JOHN HENRY.
2
As I understand the review process posts with "bad words" never make it to a human. I had that problem a few weeks ago with the "a" animal Jesus rode on. Deb explain why that post never appeared even though the word actually appears in crosswords. So you could wait a long time for your post.
I agree that 'colloquialisms' is an odd description.
I had actually looked up that clue history before I came here. If the word in the 1967 clue is the 'bad word' that got your post emulsified, that's something close to ironic. In 1967 that was the 'good word,' which in turn was a replacement for the previous most acceptable term (see: NAACP). And both of those have virtually disappeared, while the really bad word is alive and well at opposite ends of our culture. The irony? We've managed to essentially ban the usage of the terms favored by W.E.B. DuBois and Martin Luther King Jr.
Don't get me wrong - I completely agree with the advancement in terminology. It's a good thing. It's just that sometimes being careful to always use the current acceptable terminology seems like little more than a cover-up for our embarrassment at the pitiful progress we've made in addressing the real issues. Maybe Spike Lee should make a new film titled "Say the Right Thing."
I had actually looked up that clue history before I came here. If the word in the 1967 clue is the 'bad word' that got your post emulsified, that's something close to ironic. In 1967 that was the 'good word,' which in turn was a replacement for the previous most acceptable term (see: NAACP). And both of those have virtually disappeared, while the really bad word is alive and well at opposite ends of our culture. The irony? We've managed to essentially ban the usage of the terms favored by W.E.B. DuBois and Martin Luther King Jr.
Don't get me wrong - I completely agree with the advancement in terminology. It's a good thing. It's just that sometimes being careful to always use the current acceptable terminology seems like little more than a cover-up for our embarrassment at the pitiful progress we've made in addressing the real issues. Maybe Spike Lee should make a new film titled "Say the Right Thing."
2
The problem I have with the current term, Rich, is that most persons assigned to or self-identifying in that category have been in the United States for more generations than I have (or our president has), so shouldn't *we* be the "hyphenated" Americans?
2
What the heck is JAZZ HANDS. I'm either too old or too young for this.
1
It's a dance move: the hands are held palms out in front of the body, with the fingers extended.
They also require a little wiggle waggle to jazz it up.
1
Joey on Friends - Jazz Hands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoeyBYw0-nA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoeyBYw0-nA
1
I'm wondering whether Fact Boy or E. B. White will be first to note that a spider egg is deposited in a sac, not on the web.
3
The egg sac is silk and is attached to something (like a corner of my bedroom wall) by silk aka webbing. (Cobwebs, for instance, are not usually from the trap.)
Here is a citation using "web" this way:
http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Spider-Egg-Sacs
Here is a citation using "web" this way:
http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Spider-Egg-Sacs
We all know the sac and the web are silk. We all know that the eggs are not deposited on the web, and we all know the citation doesn't say they are. We also all know that this is a crossword puzzle, and a Saturday puzzle at that, so we all should know not to expect a precise reflection of the real world. There was nothing that needed to be defended.
Now, if Templeton will carry the sac...
Now, if Templeton will carry the sac...
2
Sorry, I'll have to disagree with you, Damon-- this one was fantastic! Not only was it impressively scrabbly for a 66-worder, but the rare letters were used in great long entries in my wheelhouse-- JAZZ HANDS, JOHN HENRY, JANE EYRE, BON JOVI-- very well done. Some very nice clues also, especially for PLEDGING and SPIDER EGGS. I can't remember the last time I was so aligned with the wavelength of a puzzle: finished in a little over 12 minutes, only my second ever completed Saturday, and better than any of my Friday times. All this with very little junk fill-- a real BANG-UP JOB, Damon. Thanks for the best 12 minutes of my day.
4
Following on from Liz B. re "air pipe." As a long time scuba diver (40 years) I have never called any part of a scuba rig an "air pipe," but "air hose would be correct. I always associate air pipes with traditional dive gear, i.e. the one with the big helmet and a long pipe (hose) to the air supply on the surface. This is tethered diving not self contained diving.
5
ROANOKE and ERMINES were my only gimmes. Everything else was a battle. Very good, challenging Saturday puzzle.
1
UNIX was my entry, which soon led to completing the NE corner. I continued in a clockwise direction, ending in the NW. I considered JAZZ HANDS, but didn't enter it until I got a Z and the J. I already had HANDS. The clue did not help much, because, although I'd heard the phrase, I have no idea what it means.
Off to Google it. Wikipedia to the rescue. Thanks for the challenging puzzle.
Off to Google it. Wikipedia to the rescue. Thanks for the challenging puzzle.
4
I finished this one in under eleven minutes, which is close to a personal record for a Saturday puzzle. But I don't think it was especially easy; I just happened to luck into clues that were easy for me.
Fun!
Fun!
1
very good puzzle.got started with Jane Eyre and open doors. Ended with Acura and a few. Originally had brew there. Always liked Jane Eyre. Actually I'm an Anthony Trollope fan. He wrote Sir Harry of Hotspur. Glad to see that in the NY Times puzzle.
1
Definitely a solid Saturday offering! One of those puzzles I thought I wasn't going to be able to complete, and then it all slowly came together. JANE EYRE and ACURA got me in and then three-quarters of it filled fairly steadily . . . leaving the SW a vast expanse of white squares. I built up from RED ROBIN and down from ACHILLES. Wanted AIR HOSE instead of AIR PIPE and took a while to figure out what kind of HERO was needed. And I had trouble remembering JOHN HENRY's name until I had a bunch of the crosses. But I felt a sense of accomplishment when I finished it.
5
I agree. Very similar solving experience here.
Overall, I found this one on the easy side for a Saturday. My only trouble spot was the NW, where that "Haywain" painting made me think WYETH, and, for some reason, tried GLAD before JAZZHANDS. I guess I was just in the zone.
"You Keep me HANGIN' ON" has been a Top 10 hit 3 times: first for the Supremes, then in a sludgy rock arrangement for Vanilla Fudge, and lastly, as a Hi-NRG dance track for Kim Wilde. Here's her version, for those wondering what a Hi-NRG dance track sounds like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbhi-AcaZWk