RIP Cass Cohen. A song from simpler times, yet still appropriate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEQxEJ5_5zA
3
I kind of wish I hadn’t watched that
1
This is one of my favorite kinds of puzzles: Seems impossible to begin with... getting only a couple of the "Acrosses" and not even sure of those... but finally getting a foothold and in under a half hour being able to complete the whole thing!
1
Can't even remember how many wrong'uns I started in NW quad: RIV/AVE, OLIVER/DORRIT, INORDER/ORDERED, LOVERS/ROMEOS. Somehow 'Not let' (as in 'not allow') took shape as OUTVOTED. Had to fight my way out from under the stairs with ST DENIS (who's a Montrealer as well as a Parisian). My only regret was losing the scroll-read TORAH.
As with many others, liked GRACECUP and DOUBLEDOGDARE (which sometimes masquerades as DOUBLEdastDARE). Appreciated the spelling tip inherent in 39D:
Bezel - zee
BASEL - ESS
Most of my problems had to do with names; The DAIN Curse -or- The DA in Curse? Couldn't remember who was YOUNGER, Jesse James or brother Frank. BIN laden on a plane? At puzzle's end, didn't get my happy pencil cuz I confused ELLEN with her sister Susie DEGENERiS. And the variant spelling 5D DINT help, either.
The one-L LOYD is very puzzlin'
The two-L LLOYD is George's cousin
But I will bet a book by Freud
Yes, I will bet a feathered boid
The very thought is quite absoid
And oughtn't carelessly be toyed:
There isn't any three-L LLLOYD
[ps: Because -- as everyone knows -- the three-L is gone]
Thanks, Mark, this STIRred up a good Diehl of fun. The OLD TIMER in my kitchen thanks you also
4
Deb, didn't see if someone mentioned this.
I thought the 'doesn't go to great lengths' was a MINI dress, as opposed to a maxi. Same scenery, slight diff POV?
1
Fun finding Sal Bando and Joan Miro in the puzzle!
Immediately entered ELMERBERNSTEIN for the composer, smugly confident when EBOOK and ORDERED crossed nicely. Made for a very long morning!
1
This one was a real challenge for me!! A gruelling - but FUN - way to spend Saturday afternoon :)
2
Lots of tough trivia for a non trivia guy like myself. Thank goodness for Google. :) Once I got a couple nudges (MIRO, STDENIS, COHEN) I was able to piece it all.
2
Solid Saturday challenge. ENNIOMORRICONE was a big help getting started, once I got all the Ns and Rs in the right places. Like some other WPers have mentioned, DOUBLEDOGDARE triggered thoughts of "A Christmas Story." The double meaning in the clue for 1D did a great job of throwing me off the scent for a while. SALBANDO turned up with the first two letters in place.
DL and other chocoholics should be as pleased as I was to see RIESEN and NESTLE in the grid.
Late great Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard COHEN performing "Everybody Knows." This song showed up in two movies I've seen this year, including the current "Justice League" superhero extravaganza.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lin-a2lTelg
2
I've been listening to three different recordings of the LC song--perfectly appropriate for this week...this year...
"... Everybody knows the boat is leaking
...
everybody talking to their pockets..."
I'm amazed at how you got to this from "box of chocolates," jumbo. Thank you.
2
Always a pleasure to remember LC, part of my Mtl cohort.
Hard times, I agree eljay, but no reason to call him Jumbo.
1
In spite of the gimmes for me, DORRIT and ST DENNIS, I was getting nowhere in the NW. The 3 long entries were unknown to me. I did much better in the SE. DIPSOMANIAC and JOAN MIRO were helpful and of course I knew BURR. I definitely had more fun with this (after a bit of help) than I usually do on a Saturday.
1
Thanks, Dr D. Quite an achievement.
I find that grids like this are easier to solve by starting in the lower right and upper right. For some reason, those long stacked answers become evident to me by reading back to front or bottom to top.
Back from a week in the garden island of Kauai, jet-lagged and bleary-eyed. Took one look at the puzzle and groaned. Then I plopped down ENNIO MORRICONE and was off to the races. A surprisingly fast solve with little ahas everywhere. Never heard of GRACECUP, but enjoyed "one for the road" often enough.
2
Bottom half filled in quickly, but the top required a return VISIT. Wanted 'lab' something for 1D and never heard of DOUBLE DOG DARE so even when I saw the DOUBLE, it didn't help. Started with 'purchase' for not let, but not for too long. Not sure about TIME crossing TIMER. Tried to fit Aaron Copeland in for ENNIO MORRICONE, liking having Aaron in a puzzle with BURR, sir.
Good Saturday workout.
2
Trying again. Comments issues keep screening this. not sure why. . . .sorry if the originals show up!
SPAGHETTI WESTERN ORCHESTRA!! Not to be missed for Good, Bad, Ugly!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P-m2yt0264
I watch this now and again when I need my faith in humankind restored. . .
5
Fantastic! Thanks, RMP.
(We'll be needing it quite a bit, I fear.)
2
I believe in the collective talent of the mob!!
2
Had CORONERS before DEBATERS, CARNIVAL ANIMALS before BARNYARD ANIMALS, MULTI (MUTI) before SOLTI. I thought "I'm down" was the cry of a fallen soldier, so I filled in HELP. Must say I love using my laptop for puzzles; typing in wrong answers is sometimes just what's needed to bring an AHA!
UNRENTED brought back memories of TO LET signs in my childhood neighborhood. My parents rented out two bedrooms in the rented house we lived in.
Can anyone explain why DEBATERS is "ones involved in forensics"?
1
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/forensic
Dig in, Matt.
3
In high school I was in the NFL: National Forensics League. Forensics included debate, original oratory, extemporaneous speaking.
2
C’mon, “notes” is plural. “Graca” could be Italian or something, no?
Think former Italian banknotes.
I was too clever by half? Got the Curren$y but mixed up singular and plural.
I swear that I typed “currency.”
1
Wow, I'm impressed with how many people found this easy.
I machete'd my way through it, one inch at a time. TET, SEER, and ST DENIS were maybe it on my first pass. Never heard of SAL BANDO or LOYD or ENNIO MORRICONE or GRACE CUP, among others.
But sheer stubbornness won out at the end, and that makes it a good puzzle, IMO!
The rest of the day should be a snap, in comparison. Thanks, Mark Diehl. ;-)
4
This one was fun, except for the REWASH bit. I had to run the alphabet, and when I got to W the Down clue worked, but the Across clue.....lame. If you can't fade your own jeans, or wear holes in them with hard work, you oughtn't to wear them.
And then I did the Saturday Stumper in a one-sitting burst. The ole brain is really clicking today! (I hear baking is good for cognitive stimulation and relaxation. Proof!)
2
Which "one" do you refer to in your post, MOL? I don't see REWASH in my Saturday NYT XWP.
This one was fun, except for the REWASH bit. I had to run the alphabet, and when I got to W the Down clue worked, but the Across clue.....lame. If you can't fade your own jeans, or wear holes in them with hard work, you oughtn't to wear them.
REWASH is in the Stumper. Clue: Jeans category.
1
Thanks, Viv. I knew the comments were scrambled, but I didn't think the puzzles were (yet). It occurs to me that I can now sell my worn jeans for more than I bought them new, except that they're a bit too large for the folks who favor them ripped.
2
Has it occurred to any of my fellow OLDTIMERs that the day may come when we have to concede that, as our memories become more challenged, solving tough puzzles is going to become harder, instead of easier, as the years go by? I ask this because I had DOUBLE...DARE for a long time before the middle word finally occurred to me. Truth to tell, it was a delightful aha moment, but still. I just couldn't dredge it out of the dim gray bog until I convinced myself that ORDERED was a correct guess and that the first letter of ?RACEsomething was probably a G.
7
Finished Friday and today with little help. Morricone and St. Denis got me in and what I didn’t know, I figured out from the crosses. One problem... l had doubledo_dare and doubledowndare didn’t fit. Never heard double dog dare. I’m still very proud of myself. Thanks, Mark!
3
Hmmm, we Oldies have been doing 'DOG DAREs' for, well, dogs' years. Watch "A Christmas Story" and experience the full power of this magical phrase!
3
Thanks for the reminder MOL: Here is the short clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLZj3zOUZNs
1
Every puzzle this week below my average time. Regression to the mean after last week’s arduous trek.
1
On average, I think we should extend regression to the kind as well. (Esp those who are outlying in their field.)
Love it when y'all talk Statistics.
I completed this puzzle in a shade under 45 minutes with no cheats or googles. My current streak is making me a tad quixotic, like an Armenian park ranger.
I swear, you crossword constructors are putting AREOLA in puzzles to make me uncomfortable. I long for a family friendly puzzle.
1
Hi CrossNerd,
An areola can be more than the area around a nipple. In this clue, it was the area around the pupil of the eye. Here are two more dictionary definitions: BIOLOGY: any of the small spaces between the veins on a leaf or the nervures on an insect's wing. MEDICINE: a reddened patch around a spot or papule.
Also, as the wise Cosmo Kramer once said on Seinfeld, we all have them. What's more family friendly than that?
12
Sex education classes typically start with all the class members saying out loud the names they know for the various parts. Gets everyone comfortable pretty quickly. Maybe if we said or typed the words more often we could be more comfortable with them and the idea of sexual reproduction.
3
My housework has been easier (and more family friendly) for decades because I wear no-irony shirts, CrossNerd. You might give them a try.
4
I got my start in the south with JOANMIRO and worked my way up from there. Had LIRA before LIRE and did not know GRACECUP so finished with an error to end my ever so short streak. I should have had the patience to look for the error instead of resorting to a check. Oh well.
1
Three-in-one comment:
1. I, too, enjoyed doing this Saturday puzzle last night. It certainly raised fewer questions than the Friday evening STIR in DC.
2. Deb's Guide should be useful to YOUNGER solver and OLDTIMER alike. I join other regulars here in appreciating it, and I hope it will ENABLE some newbies to solve more and join the ELITE in the Comments.
3. I tried to join the Zabar's discussion yesterday, but my comment never appeared: were emus afraid of the Tip Toe Inn?
2
Thanks, Barry, glad you liked it.
We don't see your comment in the queue for some reason. Try submitting it again and I'll ask a mod to look out for it.
Thanks, Deb. I only sought to note yesterday that while "deli or not deli" is periodically debated here, at least Zabar's is still around, unlike the Tip Toe Inn.
I pay to work these puzzles. Why do I have to see ads?
1
Most for-profit publishing models involve both circulation and advertising revenue (and the more usual exceptions are ad revenue only).
(Masthead)
1
Felt like a challenging puzzle, but I had only one writeover: mehTa/SOLTI. After they drink the PEACECUP do they say “Dilly dilly”??
1
I thought MEHTA at first too--or OZAWA--but then I managed to look at 11D and saw that it had to end with S (unless that was the name of a bizarre cocktail!) so I went with SOLTI.
1
The S, like LizB. Could've been SZELL
1
Sergio Leone and no way can UNRENTED be right slowed me way down. And, after 30 some years as a Forensic Psychologist and some time Continental Op 1D was DOA.
RIESEN oddly brought back fond memories of buying paperback books in European airports.
Son, many years ago, spent hours with his See and Say. Became a running joke in dk land. You would don a quizzical expression and ask: "What does the cow say?" One's response might be; "Invest in the TECH sector." To which son, ak, would reply: "No, no, no cow says moo."
Impressive Saturday Mark, thank you.
4
Sounds like you really sank your teeth into this one. Hope to see some biting commentary next time Mark is published here!
REESES before RIESEN. That held me up for a very long time. Had not seen TET in a while. Good puzzle..
1
Just enough wheelhouse, as others have mentioned. I had two failed checks early on, which in retrospect were unnecessary - but at that point I was assuming that I would never get a Saturday on my own. ENNIOMORRICONE to start with, then DAIN after a bit of thought. SALBANDO with a couple of crosses, which made me remember BURR. JOANMIRO with a cross or two and even STDENIS once I thought to put the likely S at the end of 1d. And that was enough.
Was very aware today that just one crossing letter is a big help - two on a moderate length entry can be close to a gimme. So this one ended up falling like dominos (though not all that quickly).
Glad to see a number of Dashiell Hammett fans among the commenters. I wondered afterwards if THECONTINENTALOP had ever appeared in a puzzle. Answer, yes - in a 1994 Sunday. But on XWord Info there is a line through the entry as if it's crossed out. I've noticed before that Jeff (or maybe Jim) does that with some answers even though they were actually legitimate answers in a puzzle. Does anyone have any idea what that means?
Oh - very nice puzzle with some great long entries. Impressive.
1
And just for old time's sake: Hi Viv.
About 20 minutes after the 'time' by my calculations.
Hi Rich. I'd forgotten about these, it's been a while.
1
Rich, I'm not seeing the line through that entry in XWordInfo. It looks perfectly normal to me. ???
A tale of two sectors for me, flash on the bottom, trudge on top (opposite of you, Liz). On the lower half, CANI led to DIPSOMANIAC, to DODO, to ONE THING AT A TIME, and kaboom! -- it was done. On top, crossword intuition led to SOLTI, EBAY, _____ MORRICONE, and DORRIT, but after that it was scratch and claw. Never heard of a DOUBLE DOG DARE, GRACE CUP, RIESEN, or LOYD.
"Not let" -- Best clue of the bunch, IMO, terrific misdirect.
Just what the doctor ordered after yesterday's lovely but easy breezy.
2
After a mighty struggle, I almost accomplished the rare feat of solving a Saturday puzzle, but I was defeated by retaining two bad guesses that did not allow me to complete the fill:
16A . fARmYARD ANIMALS before BARNYARD ANIMALS. Here I was hindered by 1D, where I kept looking for practitioners of a branch of forensic science. Mea culpa.
35A. PoshJOB before PLUM JOB. I could not correct it because AUREOLA was not found in any anatomical depiction of the eye. I associate AUREOLA with an entirely different part of the body, and believe that the clue to 42A is so far misdirected as to be misleading..
Valuable new knowledge: DOUBLE DOG DARE, DIRECT DEBIT, GRACE CUP.
2
Correctio: AREOLA, How did those U's creep in?
Amitai, you seem to have issues with words that look like ?R?EOLA. A couple of weeks ago, it was RUBEOLA...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2017-11-20.ht...
Clearly an effort to raise the gaze.
1
I confidently put Hugo Montenegro for 14A which got me off to a rocky start and covered the bad and the ugly at the same time. The good emerged when I realized the error of my ways.
Today's earworm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd_7Bnxblo4
2
Was further tangentialized in NW corner by PERRICONE. I may have watched too many PBS fund-raisers, fascinated by the semi-science of wrinkle removal.
Me too: Yay ENNIO MORRICONE! Now, if the first eponymous Dickens character I thought of had not been Dombey, or if I'd ever heard of RIESEN or a GRACECUP . . . (isn't the last toast supposed to be "The Queen"?). But a good puzzle, and I learned something, ever my touchstone. Oh, small cavil: a Masthead Section is a real thing in all kinds of publications, and usually contains a lot of info besides top editorial personnel, from the names of the owner(s) to where to send your unsolicited manuscript. "Masthead inhabitants" or "dwellers" might have been nice: start people wondering if it's something maritime. But all's well that ends well.
1
Grid looked intimidating but I knew ENNIO MORRICONE then DAIN and DODO kickstarted the bottom and ELLEN DEGENERES came quickly. After that, off to the races for a best Saturday time, about half my average. GRACE CUP and RIESEN purely from crossings.
3
Woohoo! Record Saturday puzzle time for me. Everything in my wheelhouse. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is actually rotating in my current, completely random, twenty-or-so song music playlist (which reminds me that it's time to switch to my holiday selections). Tis the season for DOUBLE DOG DAREs ala "A Chistmas Story." And that coffee quote could only be from ELLEN DEGENERES. ...The neighbors better hope I don't find some RIESENS and a little decaf, or there might just be a wild Friday night party brewing around here.
3
I worked my way up from the bottom on this one, so with the C and P in 9D, I confidently put in NIGHT CAP. Boy, did that mess me up for a long time. Quite a test.
1
I too knew ENNIO MORRICONE which gave me a head start at the top. BARNYARD ANIMALS came quickly too. At the bottom I knew SAL BANDO the baseball player. Also remembered the DAIN curse. ELLEN DEGENERES (a riot) was another gimmie. Did have Reeses before RIESEN. All in all an excellent Saturday with a lot in my wheelhouse!
1
It helped to know ENNIO MORRICONE and ST DENIS and BURR and The DAIN Curse. It didn't help to have never heard the term GRACE CUP. In between somewhere was SAL BANDO--I didn't know what team he'd played for, but suspected him when I had the SA at the beginning. And ELLEN DEGENERES seemed logical when I had the ELL to start.
The top half came together fairly smoothly; the bottom half with a little bit of struggle; and I finished up with some guessing at the GRACE CUP/DUOS/SURE area. And I really loved DOUBLE DOG DARE!
4
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Many solvers might miss the pun in the chocolate clue - RIESEN isn't just a big name in chocolate because of the brand name, but because RIESEN is German for "giant(s)."
44D is my best friend's middle name! though not clued as such.
Sláinte!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Np_Ud4KA08
8
I've been obsessing on Wagner's Das Rheingold lately with the two giants who are REISEN in German!
R. Crumb's best friend's first name, too.
I think I'll spend the rest of the evening listening to "Parting Glass" versions.
The word “riesen” brings this scrap of German kindergarten (not mine) poetry to my mind:
Es war einmal und ist nicht mehr,
ein riesen grosser Teddybär.
Er ass die Milch, er trank das Brot.
Und als er starb, da war er Tod.
Which I translate loosely as:
Once upon a time, somewhere,
There was a giant teddy bear..
He drank the milk, he ate the bread.
And when he died, then he was dead.
6