The note between fa and la is so, not sol. Like a needle pulling thread. Julie Andrews said it in Sound if music, therefore it is true.
1
Learned something new because I was stumped about the notes to sing. I had SOS given my belief I was singing “fa so la ti do.” Final square fell into place when I realized it had to be an L. Later discovered the story behind the names: http://mentalfloss.com/article/53280/why-are-notes-tonal-scale-called-do-re-mi
Anagrams? I'd rather have math.
1
@vaer
Oops. Wrong puzzle. Disregard.
“Two R’s and no room for an I?” or at least that was where I was stuck for a while with SHARR-A law, because what better asset can there be for archery than a strong ArM, right?
Then it hit me. No need for arms after all if one’s AIM is true. So now I wonder if there are notable limbless archers who can be my new inspiration.
1
The unpaired clue is simply wrong. I have looked up four definitions and it's not even close. And if you're using abbreviations or two words, could you mention this?
Thanks so much.
@Chris
If something is unpaired it is without a match. Hence it is matchless.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unpaired
2
Chris, one of the first definitions for unpaired when you google it is Merriam-Webster saying: “not matched or mated.” So I don’t think you have a case there.
Abbreviations are almost always signaled in some ways by the clues! But multiple word answers are not.
3
I share Barb P’s criticism on the clue for 36 down. “Chai” is not a variety of tea. Even considering the usage of the word in the US — where it refers to Indian-style tea with spices and milk — it’s not a tea variety like Assam or jasmine. It’s a style of preparing tea.
But I love the crossword! Today’s puzzle was a good one for a Tuesday...
7
In 46A, utter can be 1st person singular and plural and 2nd and third person plural. SAYST or sayest is only 2nd person singular familiar.
This is the first clue of its ilk I can remember where the clue does not agree in person and number with the solve. I don’t have a good fix; utter, biblically and condescendingly? Of course, the crosses make the intention clear.
@Don Brearley
You utter. Thou sayst. It agrees if you understand that archaic thou equals modern you.
@Don Brearley
The only modern second person singular pronoun I know is “you”. The correct usage is “you utter”. The Biblical way of saying this would be “Thou sayest” (or SAYST).
What am I missing?
1
Fun, but as usual, I post when I have a beef.
CHAI isn’t a “tea variety”: it’s tea! CHAI is the translation for “tea”, or the phonetic equivalent thereof, in enough languages that clues and thinking like this one make me cringe!
A nice cup a chai should settle me down forthwith.
Until the next gripe, I remain pedantically yours. 😉
10
@Barb Prillaman
In enough languages...?
This is an English crossword. In English, CHAI is not synonymous with tea.
Tamale trap!
2
Aha! "Sentence ender" could've been PAROLE as well as PERIOD. By a similar token, PERIOD could've been clue as "Pregnant pause", perhaps...hmm?
With all this Canadianizing going on (Bonjour, Al a Montreal!), it occurred to me that First Nation members could show annoyance with a CREE POUT.
By the same (or a similar) token, the Egyptian Pharaoh may have been warned of imminent invasion by marauding Goths, Visigoths, Ostrogoths and Vandals by the fateful words :"TEUTON comin'!!"
I can think of none who could boast of Naturally CURLING STONES like RossT, no DIAMOND in the rough he. It takes a verbogemological talent to feed our Apatite for WordPlay, and he seems to have that facet cut and polished.
Sardonyxally speaking...
11
Parole isn’t the end of a sentence though, it’s merely the option of serving your sentence outside of confinement; yet, if you were to violate your parole, you’d have to return.
I assume you mean commutation of the sentence :)
1
@Toby P. , I guess you're correct on that, though I myself have never had to commute, Gott sei Dank
Despite the fact that the American men's team walked away from the Olympics with our medal, I am glad Mr. Trudeau submitted this.
Had some fun with this one. "Umps" and "Upsets" had me stumped….I too remained stuck with an image of Underdog in my mind...
Cudos too on trying to bring different perspectives to puzzle making. It could only make things more interesting!
3
@Al
We didn't so much walk away as skitched. :)
1
Nit: A PREAMP is not a speaker booster. It is used to boost weak signals (from record players and electric guitars) as input to the power amplifier. PREAMP output is only suitable for earbuds and other low-power headphones, not speakers
15
@pete mac I think that a preamp will boost the power of an amplifier that is connected to a speaker.
2
@hepcat8, nope.
It'll boost the power of the input, so that the amp can get a clean signal, but it won't boost the *speaker* level. That's entirely the amp's job.
Bad clue.
That was fun! I was so stuck on the NW corner, could only get the SAP and PARE and ETA, until UMPS came to mind, and then it fell into place.
3
@Mary
Totally. Me too.
Smooth Tuesday.
The boxed theme reminded me of that early Dylan song, "Everybody must get stoned". Nobel stuff.
I note EPA is clued as an "Air Quality Org." without any suggestion of "Protection". The times they are a changin', indeed, Mr. Jones.
And some wishful thinking at 4D? "Many a Presidential winner" would have been even better.
On a non-political note, CHAI is classically not a "tea variety", rather a means of preparing (any variety of) tea, by boiling leaves with milk and sugar. In most of Asia, CHAI simply mean "tea"; they have the same etymological root, of course.
10
@NICE CUPPA
Are you sure you weren't thinking of that early Dylan song, "Like a CURLING STONE"?
3
This may be the first time that I filled in all 3 sports clues in the puzzle thanks to first-hand knowledge rather than from “speaking crosswordese.” (1) I had read up on CURLING the other day after hearing a soccer coach extol the beauty of the sport, (2) Mr. O’MEARA had won the one and only Masters tournament I ever watched, and (3)... here’s looking at you, Apolo OHNO! :D Just kidding... I’m married to a PGA aficionado.
4
I noticed the curling SAPPHIRE early on, so when shortly after I got to the reveal I was delighted with the theme. It usually only took a few letters in the rest of the circles to figure out the other STONES, making it Tuesday easy for me and a lot of fun to solve.
I knew Deb was going to love it as soon as I got CURLING STONES.
4
In my head they were called CURLING ROCKS but apparently that is not the correct term!
A very enjoyable puzzle; It was delightful to see the theme come together (and it helped me out a bit in the NE corner).
2
To those who may be unfamiliar with baseball (hello, Mr. Trudeau; good morning, Mr. Shortz): The only one who squats at home plate (1 Across) is the catcher. The umpire crouches. There are two ballparks in New York City; you could catch a game and see for yourselves. There's also television.
5
CKent,
1. I'm quite sure they know that.
2. For fun, look up "squat" in a dictionary.
3
@Barry Ancona
I did that, and none of the definitions describe the stance the umpire takes. "Crouch close to the ground" is as near as the entry came, which does not approximate a squat. I stand by my objection.
@CKent & Barry Ancona
Can't resist this one:
So .... who knows squat?
6
For my Crossword friends who observe: An easy fast and blessings for a sweet new year.
9
Kathy MATTEA, along with several other female stars such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Martina McBride, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes,Trisha Yearwood, the Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill and others, brought the female voice to the forefront of country music in the last 15 years of the last century and the first few years of this one, while for the most part, avoiding the twanginess of such earlier stars as Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and the more contemporary Reba McEntire.
Despite the fact that most of the female artists were less twangy, there was very little crossover to the pop audience (with the exception of Shania, Faith, and to a certain extent, LeAnn). Therefore, a lot of non-country fans missed out on a lot of great music that would have fit in fine on pop stations. Lee Ann Womack's early-2000s hit, "I Hope You Dance" did cross over, and was considerably more twangy than most of the other artists I mentioned. I'm always amazed how so many people have missed this great music completely.
Country music has swung back to being mostly male-dominated and twangy, and has suffered greatly. Thankfully, I can still set Pandora to play those great voices from twenty years ago.
Here's Kathy's first big country hit, "Love at the Five and Dime," a 1986 example of the classic country story song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dX8QZRwdC8
(I know. Mommy, mommy, what's a five and dime?)
6
Nanci Griffith wrote "Love at the Five and Dime" and many more storyline songs. Check out Grafton Street on YouTube.
6
@Kevin
Here is Nancy telling about the song before singing it. She has a cute twang.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GK462XnRjQ
2
@Steve L
Country and western music -- and its sibling, music of blacks -- were the American folk music of the twentieth century, as Ken Burns has discovered.
1
Just noticed a little bit of duplication on 32A (I AM) and 53A (IM BAD). A little inelegant, if not illegal.
There are two problems with annoying tiny little circles. 1) They force you to squoosh your letters. I DON'T LIKE HAVING TO SQUOOSH MY LETTERS! 2) They often are, as they are here, arranged in a completely arbitrary manner. Put them wherever the mood strikes you and you can create any effect you like. But the effect won't be apparent to most solvers unless and until they go back and piece it all together. And by that time, the puzzle's already been filled in.
Take away the tiny little circles and would anyone have noticed the SAPPHIRE, EMERALD, DIAMOND and AMETHYST? Didn't think so.
This is not my kind of puzzle and it never will be. Reactions may vary.
3
@Nancy Join the Dark Side. work on line or in the app. :D
3
@Nancy
With all due respect, my reaction varies somewhat.
The circles were not placed in an arbitrary manner, but were symmetrically placed in each corner with a very effective CURLING shape.
"Take away the tiny little circles and would anyone have noticed the SAPPHIRE, EMERALD, DIAMOND and AMETHYST? Didn't think so. "
Seems to me that makes the case for including the circles.
True that I solve on an electronic device so SQUOOSHING is not a problem for me.
Cheers!
8
Nancy,
You have trouble writing letters inside circles that ABUT the sides of the squares? SRSLY?
4
Formatting of the print puzzle changed yesterday. Don't like. When printing, the numbers on the far left are cut off. Tried on two different printers.
JT,
Select "Fit to page" on printer menu.
2
@JT
You also can control the scale. Try 90%
2
Easy breezy Tuesday aided by having watched Ken Burn's Country Music series. Otherwise, OHNO, I SAYST, I'd be clueless about Kathy MATTEA.
2
Mine may be the dissenting opinion (where is my lace collar), but this one didn’t do it for me. Too many obscure words for a Tuesday.
I did find the theme charming, though.
2
One last try. Not sure why the emus won’t approve. Could be a quality-based objection.
SEN SOL
ERE SEN SOL
Was SEN SOL
He was ALD SOL;
“I AM now SEN SOL”
SEN SOL SAYST to himself
All DIA long.
“We want to defund the EPA”
A PAC whispered at the PGA
“We need YOU not to vote nay”;
SEN SOL said AW, OK,
Tho, like Dr. DRE, he knew
Their AIM was wrong.
“OH NO! OH NO!”
Cried his daughter ANN,
“Tho I AM your biggest fan,
I AM SO SAD I AM
I HOPE YOU will not
Just go along.”
AFT that SEN SOL
Did not HEM, did not bawl,
He thought I’M BAD
But not SO BAAd after all,
With audience RAPT at roll call
He voted “Aye” —
He chose ANN over PAC —
To keep this EMERALD planet strong.
16
Ugh: that should be “We need YOU to vote Nay”, not
“We need YOU *not* to vote Nay”.
But thanks emus, and sorry if this thing appears (with variations) again.
Curling stones, indeed!
And here's a song by Kathy MATTEA that was featured in Ken Burns' "Country Music" documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5Uog-MDGo
2
OH! - - and am I ever glad for product advertising in Olympic venues😉.
Thanks to the picture, I’ll know to look for a “Goldline” brand whatever-that-is whenI need one.
1
SAPOR and EMEND have not been seen in a while and TEUTON had the little gray cells firing across synapses.
Nice one Ross.
7
Another solid “Solve”. Only MATTEA was not in my “wastebasket”. (Makes as much sense as “wheel house”!)
Didn’t know “they” have shortened “BUENOS DIAS” like that.
Got CURLING STONES readily enough - but the circled letters’ involvement did not become apparent until the puzzle was solved. Very clever construction!
HBAR?? 🤢🤮
2
...was not in my “wastebasket”. (Makes as much sense as “wheel house”!)
PeterW,
I gather you've never played -- and are not a fan -- of either softball or baseball?
3
@Barry Ancona
You gather correctly.
How is "wheel house" used therein?
PeterW,
When you're batting, and a pitch is thrown to a location where you can knock it out of the ball park, it is "in your wheelhouse."
A bit on the challenging side for me for a Tuesday. I watch CURLING during every Olympics and... I couldn't remember the name of the sport at first. Finally got it with a couple of crosses. Figuring out the gems with a few crosses helped a lot in other sections.
In the end I was stuck for a bit in the NW. Didn't know MATTEA and I was just blanking on other things until UMPS finally dawned on me.
2
Fun grid today by Ross! The theme helped me find an error as well! When I got the "unhappy message" that at least one square was amiss, I immediately looked to the theme circles to make sure everything was OK there, and I had DIpMOND (dumb typo - Buen DiP? Duh!).
Loved CREEP OUT and the clue for UPSETS was inspired!
Thanks Ross, Will, and team for a fun Tuesday!
2
@Steve Faiella
Just out of curiosity -- how did you make that typo? Those letters are the furthest apart on a keyboard that you can get.
@Dr W
Lots of possibilities, speaking from experience.
Sometimes one can be filling in a different entry and if you already have one of the letters there, the app will skip to the next entry without you realizing. Or another possibility is that Steve was writing UNPAIRED and accidentally hit the P twice.
@Dr W and @Andrew
When I solve, I'm usually reading the next clue while I'm typing the answer for the current one, and I already had RAPT going across. As Andrew mentioned, when I got to the "P" the app skipped it, but since I wasn't looking I typed in both "Ps" and ended up with UNPpAIRE.
1
When I saw the theme early on, it quickened my solve, much like those broom-swishers do for CURLING STONES. I confidently slapped in EROICA for the Beethoven symphony, but soon enough the puzzle gods demanded its removal. I keep wanting to change that G in WINGLET to an S, fan of Kate that I am. Lotso' threes (24) here, countered by my favorite clue, [Matchless] for UNPAIRED, and my favorite answer, CREEP OUT, which has never appeared in the NYT before (but which has shown up in the LAT a couple of times), and which is a good Halloween precursor.
EMEND made me look up the difference between itself and "amend", and it's subtle, but good to know.
I rarely veg out in front of the TV, but I find myself doing that when the Winter Olympics rolls around and curling is on. I find it hard to tear away. My wife looks at me like, "Who did I marry?"
9
@Lewis
Interesting that you mentioned the number of three-letter entries today. Yesterday there were even more (31?) and Sunday was also three-heavy due to the theme. I was thinking it might be a record for the number of three-letter entries in a three-day period.
1
@Andrew -- Yesterday, IMO, there was more reason to be accepting of any aberrations due to how the grid had to be manipulated to get the numbers in just the right places for the squares/square roots.
@Lewis It feels like, out of the three nicknamed symphonies, "Eroica" and "Pastoral" are the only ones I hear/see used regularly (though of course I've seen CHORAL in print). I'm not sure why this seems to be.
LETTER BOXED
V-D(5), D-S(9)
M-S(7), S-L(7)
3
@Mari
D-P (4) P-E (10)
SPELLING BEE
41 words, 98 points, 1 (compound) pangram, no bingo
4 5 6 7 8 total
F 6 2 1 9
I
K 2 2
L 4 1 1 6
O 1 1
R 8 1 1 10
T 10 2 1 13
41
54
@Lorene Lavora a lot of mechanical terms, including one word I’ve never heard of, but found it playing on compound variations (similar to a commercially catchy plumbing company, but maybe for the garden?) Also 31/41 words are four letters! This must Bee some kind of record
17
@Lorene Lavora I’m just missing the T7. I got one word by chance as it’s the prefix of the garden machine but it actually refers to Chileans. A similar word is an Indian bread that often shows up in the crossword, Then there’s the plural of the donut shape and another that looks like the plural of that plural but is a gate to a Shinto shrine.
4
@Kevin Davis Got it! Just after I posted this of course.
1
Emus didn't post my first thoughts. I wonder what suspect thing I said? Well, very nice & more challenging than I expect on a Tuesday. No harm intended!
1
@Ann
And your name was in the puzzle. :)
2
@Ann
And your name was in the puzzle. :)
@vaer
IKR?
After years of watching me save the NYT Sunday Magazines to do the crossword by hand, and after a couple of months of watching me solve daily through the app on my e-reader, my husband of 40 years attempted and completed his very first crossword, a Monday from June 2019! Then, for good measure, he solved another Monday puzzle. He finally understands the excitement when your brain finds an answer you didn't know you knew (ISLAMABAD!). PS-He's a lot smarter than he's led me to believe!
17
This puzzle sparkled. Loved it!
("Everybody must gemstones!")
10
I'm not too fond of NOEND for a mobius strip, 38 down. An ordinary circle has no end; a mobius strip has only one side and one edge.
16
@Adina
To clarify - a Moebius strip has a single surface and a single edge.
Now - - I’m curious. What happens when one replicates the construction technique for a Moebius strip using a tube?
With a Moebius, we start with two sides, two ends and two surfaces.
With a tube, we start with two surfaces (inside and outside) and two ends. Twist one end and put the two ends together and we get??? Only the ENDS disappear????
2
Adina,
It's Wednesday, so it's time for at least one answer that is not the most distinguishing characteristic of the clue. Later, there may be NOEND to such misdirection.
2
@PeterW - Klein bottle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAsICMPwGPY
4
I am tired of seeing Elizabethan English referred to as "Biblical".
The original Bible was written in Hebrew, OK? The style of English referred to as "Biblical" is in the King James translations and more modern translations have been made since then that don't use Elizabethan English. So find another way of defining this style of English, OK?
16
@Miriam Davis
I agree that the use of ‘biblical’ for ‘Elizabethan’ is simplistic, even if one makes allowances for Tuesday-level clueing. The statement, “The original Bible was written in Hebrew,” is problematic, however, since this holds true only for the Hebrew bible, and even that text is also drawn from both Hebrew and Aramaic sources. The New Testament is consolidated from oral tradition which was far from canonical when it was it was first written down and we have both Greek and Latin sources there, as I recall.
8
Along with agreeing with Sam's erudite comment, I would add that the use of "Biblical" to refer to the English used in the King James edition is convention in Crossword Land, which intersects with, but is not identical to reality.
10
@Puzzledog
So callling Elizabethan language "Biblical" may not be true in actual historical reality, but as puzzle solvers, it is something we just know, in the Biblical sense.
5
and Elke
Oh -good- a puzzle by that other Trudeau ( i.e. not Justin )
And it is about Canada's favourite winter sport. Now that the USA won gold at the last Olympics . there will be NO END to the TV coverage of this event at the next Olympics.... Sorry, it's not figure skating.
BTW- clue saying --"guided by brooms--" is slightly MISLEADING, "Guided " in the sense of runway lights maybe. The broom does not touch the CURLING STONE-- if it does it's an infraction and called "burning a stone".
That's all. Will sleep right through 2:30 a.m.Pacific time,- which would be the time Stockholm would call with the AWARD of a
Nobel. Which reminds me of a friend (a scientist in her own right) who when that phone rang with the announcement (many years ago), asked which one had gotten the AWARD , she or her SPOUSE.
3
@Robert
What is the purpose of the broom? I thought it was to clear the pathway for the stone, therefore guiding it down the ice more quickly? But that's just what I've assumed all these years... LOL
1
Tried to post a glue poem. Probably will appear twice. I’m hoping that the emus can make it better than it is.
Some of my favorite STONES appeared in this puzzle including the lovely granite CURLING STONE. What a mesmerizing sport...
Bring on Wednesday.
😉
3
@Just Carol
To each his/her own. For MY part however, I would use the word “soporific.”
I’ve never witnessed a complete game - - or match - - or whatever they call them though. I keep falling asleep.
Maybe the end-game is more exciting??
1
@PeterW
"Maybe the end-game is more exciting??"
Don't count on it!
1
Another quick (and fun) one today, even though there were a few missteps along the way: I- before H-BAR; I've before YOU; SAith before SAYST. On the other hand, CURLING STONES was a gimme and most of the other answers were either quickly found or helped by the crossings.
Wait, the ELVES don't really make the cookies?
CURLING is my favorite Olympic sport. It's so relaxing to watch and they actually will show you an entire game without cutting away to other things. Plus, physics. So math two days in a row and now physics, too.
The puzzle started out pretty straight forward, but then some of the trickier clues snuck up on me and tripped me up a bit.
Somehow it seems wrong to say I liked CREEP OUT? But I did.
5
@vaer
I enjoyed CREEP OUT, too. Maybe because so many things do that to me? Validation!
I enjoy curling, and a lot of matches that don't get proper attention here: hurling, rugby, any sports women play...
1
@Ann
I had to Google "hurling", thinking that your auto-correct was playing tricks on you. Well, I learned that it is indeed a sport. Up until now I only knew the less athletic meaning...
The learning never stops around here!
1
@Andrew - My guess is you haven't any Irish in you, then!
1
Speed of lightning, roar of thunder, fighting all who rob and plunder, Underdog! Underdog!
25
@Tom Kara This is what I’m saying!
8
@Tom Kara and @Deb, I too struggled to remember an Underdog feat.
2
@Tom Kara
Is this actually an example of a veiled lower-case letter?
2
Math two days in a row! Yikes!
This one was so in my wheelhouse I zipped through this in less time than it takes a CURLING STONE to get from one end of the rink to the other. If you like action, CURLING is not the sport for you. It is more of a social activity involving large amounts of beer.
The only unknown for me in the entire puzzle was Kathy MATTEA, and I’m expecting Steve L to educate me on that one.
1
@Andrew
Try this one: Walking away a winner, from 1994:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmT0m_H3tDI
2
@Andrew Knew her instantly because I picked up a used CD by her once in my thrift store days. The math teacher in me approves the number-crunching!
@Mike
One outgrows thrift store days?
2
I was told there would be no math.
19
@Doug That's VARIABLE.
9
The Underdog reference reminds me of a moment on Hollywood Squares when host Peter Marshall asked Wally Cox (who had been the voice of Underdog), "What does Underdog say, again?" Cox answered, "Underdog says, the residuals aren't coming in anymore."
23
Exactly how many of the 26 letters of the alphabet can credibly be attached to “-bar”?
14
@Xwordgirl
I T J, and H, apparently.
1
@Xwordgirl
HBAR and IBAR as construction materials are crosswordese (i.e. not used in real life), but HBAR is a real term in physics, where it stands for Planck’s constant.
6
@Xwordgirl
I don’t think we should really “count” both H and I.
I mean either one is just the other turned sideways😝
And, anyway, it’s I BEAM - - - not BAR.
And also - I think @Doug is right on!
4
Overall, this was a fun puzzle, bright and breezy with a neat visual gimmick. Once understood, it sped up the lower half. (Not that it needed speeding up. It was already a nice quick Tuesday puzzle.)
Do home plate umpires really squat? It depends on what you call a squat, I suppose. The catcher (usually) goes into a full squat, almost sitting on his heels. But the umpire just bends down into a crouch, with his thighs maybe horizontal but not (usually) lower. Is that squatting? I guess it's close enough for a punny clue, but not exactly accurate, IMO.
As for Gilbert & Sullivan, most of their works are now considered operettas, though at the time they were called "Savoy operas," after the theater in which many of them premiered. Exceptions: The one-act piece Trial by Jury contains continuous music with no breaks for dialogue. It is a comic opera, not an operetta.
Their first collaboration, Thespis, was a burlesque. At a stretch, it might have been considered an operetta, but the emphasis was on established stars performing their signature running gags, using the plot as no more than a jumping off point for improvisation, with the women of the cast running around in tights to show off their shapely legs. G&S hated the experience, and they veered very much toward a more refined type of theatrical endeavor when producer Richard D'Oyly Carte brought them back together again.
10
"I guess it's close enough for a punny clue, but not exactly accurate, IMO."
Alan J,
As a softball catcher I would squat, as a softball home plate umpire I would crouch, but the distinction that is quite clear to me seems to be somewhat less clear to the dictionary.
https://wikidiff.com/squat/crouch
2
Thank you, Alan, for reminding the Pets of the Durham Savoyards' production of Trial by Jury and Thespis, with your score and under your baton. A memorable evening!
Once we got CURLING STONE and part of SAPPHIRE, we were off to the races. C&W singer last to fall, except for the kind of beam. Hen knows about beams and shudders every time one appears in a XW because the clues are questionable at best.
1
@Alan J
I was thinking the exact same thing last night while I was watching the Yankees and Twins game. But I was so tired I didn't bother to comment at the time.
I then fell asleep on the couch with the Yankees ahead, and woke up just in time to see the Yankees retired in the top of the ninth. I wondered why the announcers were so unexcited in their call, thinking the game was over, and then I realized that it wasn't the Twins batting, and there was still a half-inning left.
The umpire was definitely crouching, not squatting. The catcher was squatting. If the umpire had been squatting, too, he wouldn't have been able to see over the catcher. That's why he crouches, not squats, and that's why there's a difference between the two.
2
Yay, all is right again when I see @Liz B posts the first comment. :)
Relatively easy today. The revealer was a giveaway. Didn't get it, nor did the circled squares help anything. It wasn't until I finished and looked at the puzzle that I remembered there were circled squares. CURLING STONES...ok. I liked the puzzle well enough, but the gimmick didn't help toward the solve. It's nifty to find those four with the same number of letters for sure.
SAPOR - 3 times this year. Seems to do that every few years - 2015, 2010, 2001.
Had I-BAR before HANNAH Montana changed it.
ORD - waiting for Deb and Sam to do "10 Airport codes you should know". We had this topic discussed before. Aside from LGA, EWK, JFK, SFO, LAX, ORD, LHR, which others would Will not consider too obscure?
https://www.world-airport-codes.com/world-top-30-airports.html
Oh right, the puzzle - a fine Tuesday. Liked the musical mini-theme. PREAMP, CHORAL, OPERATTA, YO-YO MA, SOL, TEMPO, I'M BAD.
6
Oops, EWR not EWK.
“10 Airport Codes You Should Know”
Hmm ...
3
@Wen
Regarding airport codes, I encountered one that I nominate as the most appropriate on planet Earth. The code for Port Antonio, Jamaica, is POT.
And for anyone who wonders why Chicago's O'Hare is ORD, the airport is on the site of what was once an apple orchard, and the original field was Orchard Field. The code has never been changed. It was renamed O'Hare during WWII to honor a Chicago area pilot who was awarded the Medal of Honor for an astonishing feat of bravery and marksmanship.
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A GEM of a puzzle! I liked to see YO YO MA here on his birthday!
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Shouldn't the clue for 46 across be "Utters, biblically"? As the clue is, the appropriate answer would be "say" and not "sayst". If I understand my King James Bible grammar correctly, if the subject is singular, then he, she, or thou (second person singular) "sayst". If the subject is plural, then ye (second person plural), they, or we "say". Today, he or she utters, but you (plural), they, or we utter.
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@Pheo
I thought that too. As I recall the language of the KJB, "you say" would be "thou sayest" (or "sayst") and "(someone) says" would be "(someone) sayeth." The very frequent "Thus sayeth the Lord," for example.
Is there some construction where "sayst" is the same as "utter"?
@Pheo
That's a good catch. (I think say(e)st is only second person singular, though.)
This thread expands on the confusion created in the puzzle...
The only correspondence possible between "utter" and "sayst" is the second person singular: you (sg.) utter = thou / you sayst ("you" would be reserved for rudeness only, "thou" is the normal form).
With that provided, there is the significant problem that the syncopated form "sayst" is not found in the King James Version of the Bible at all. The unsyncopated form "(thou) sayest" is found 39 times, divided fairly evenly between Old and New Testaments.
Even in Shakespeare, the syncopated form is only found twice; the full form "sayest" 32 times, more than a quarter of those in Henry IV alone.
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A search of the King James Version at BibleGateway.com turns up 39 hits for "sayest" and 0 for "sayst."
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=sayst&qs_version=KJV
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@Fact Boy
The clue doesn't mention version. "Sayst" is an older spelling that, for instance, is found in the Tyndale translation.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/tyn/revelation/3-17.html
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@Fact Boy
Well, it wasn't only King James' biblical translators who spoke KJ English, but "sayst" is certainly a less common usage than "sayest." Professor Google informs me that sayst is an obsolete form of sayest, so it is doubly obsolete.
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@Fact Boy
thus sayeth the Commenters....
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Very neat theme and design! As usual on Mondays and Tuesdays, I didn't really try to figure it out as I was solving, although I got CURLING STONES immediately and wondered how that was going to be applied.
On my first pass through, I put in a lot of stuff toward the bottom that turned out to be wrong--ST LO instead of CAEN, EYE instead of AIM, I'VE instead of YOU--so those had to be fixed. But basically, it was lots of fun.
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