Yeah...we lost again. But it was a much better game than last night's and held my attention throughout. It'll be interesting to see how the Red Sox do on Rockies turf...they just might have trouble breathing at that altitude.
This was my favorite DQ puzzle, and I'm not just saying that because I finished it. The clues were fresh and the fill some of the best I've seen.
1A: News Corporation-owned Web site that's one of the 10 most visited sites in the world (MySpace). I don't have a MySpace...it's all I can do to keep up with this blog and the others I read.
15A: "Cab," e.g. (red wine)...as in Cabernet. Had the answer but didn't get it straight away.
17A: What the key of D minor has (one flat). I have trouble remembering the number of flats or sharps in particular keys, but this one was easy to figure out. Sharp wouldn't fit with a number, so I knew it was flat...and it had to be one.
19A: Driving distance is a concern in it (PGA tour). It just doesn't get any better than that.
22A: Miss Gulch biter (Toto). I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.
32A: Buries (trounces)...rhyming with yesterday's jounces.
46A: Taper (VCR). Boy, that one threw me. I was thinking about candles and was sure that VC was wrong. Even when I got 47D: "Way to go, dude!" (rock on), I couldn't figure out how that was a taper...then it hit me.
54A: Flips (has a cow). I don't know how in the world I got that one right off, but I did.
The final six across answers were all superb: 57A: Not-so-good feeling (malaise), 59A: Former field food (K-ration), 61A: Terminal timesaver (E-ticket), 62A: Its value is in creasing (origami), 63A: Sprint acquisition of 2005 (Nextel), and 64A: Crossword source since 1942: Abbr. (NY Times). Forty lashes for anyone who didn't get that last one.
And that's just the acrosses. Favorite downs include:
2D: Poem reader at the 2006 Olympics opening ceremony (Yoko Ono). Love the double O...making it look like yo-KOO-no, with the accent on the second syllable.
3D: Gaga (smitten). That's been a favorite word since it was used in the first love note I received.
4D: With 20-Down, waffle alternative (Pop / Tart). Not that I'd consider that an alternative to a waffle.
11D: Center of Connecticut (silent C). I immediately guessed that it referred to the letter C, so I was surprised that there were so many letters. Got it PDQ. I was born in Hartford...so enjoyed seeing this one.
12D: All thrown together (in a pile). Another good guess.
13D: Little women (petites). I'm not crazy about the clue. I'm definitely short and wear petite clothing , but I don't think of myself as a little woman. That sounds like a sexist comment about one's wife. Stepping off my soapbox...
27D: He wrote "It's certain that fine women eat / A crazy salad with their meat" (Yeats). I guessed that because I had the Y in place, but that doesn't sound to me like something Yeats would have written.
38D: Cartoon boss working at a quarry (Mr. Slate). That's one of those answers that you know but you just can't bring it to the forefront of your mind...especially when you're watching the World Series.
43D: Beau ideal (epitome). Love the word.
I still don't get 56A: Hiver's opposite (ete). Would someone please explain that one?
And while you're at it...how about 55D: Not yet 58-Down (wait / act). Huh?
Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
14 comments:
Wow, this one was super tough! I was slogging along and decided to see if you had posted yet. Thank you! I got about three quarters of the puzzle without help but it took a couple of hours. Worst I've done in quite a long while.
I can help with ete and hiver ... they're French for summer and winter.
Very good game tonight. I'm happy the Sox won, but am betting it'll be a different story when they play in Denver. I'm not taking anything for granted, the Rockies are too good.
Hi Linda,
I was only able to get the bottom half of the puzzle after much work. I checked out your blog for the top half. You did great and thanks for posting early.
As to not yet act: wait. Dont act yet, wait.
I too was confused with VCR for taper. I thougt candle? then thought tapering off? When I read your blog, I still didn't get it until I read it 3 times and then realized D'uh Vcr's tape shows so vcr is a show taper--ouch.
Fridays, are so hard for me and I've only been doing them for a few months now. I finished half which is more than I could have said a few months ago. I'm still not up for the Saturday challenge, it's Sunday through Friday for me.
i'm gonna have to tell you. i think this puzzle is BRILLIANT. rare, even.
(i'm sorry the petite offended you, though, linda.)
from my perspective there is no bad fill and so much good.
and there's something for everyone.
from sinatra/yoko ono, to k-ration/pop tart, to vcr/netflix, to st. denis/mr. slate, to origami/pga tour...from my favorite poet yeats all the way to the ricoculous, currently popular myspace... stop me! before i start listing all the 3 word phrases i enjoyed and every other bit of fill. omigosh malaise, smitten, love set, trounces...epitome. (shut up rick)
it was challenging, but totally doable without help. a MOST
satisfying puzzle.
i say rock on! quarfoot.
No doubt, a challenging puzzle. Had the hardest time with the NE section. Had to google ODER-Neisse and SINATRA (can't believe I didn't see that with the crosses I had, but it's early & Friday) I originally had SEUSS instead of YEATS. Read the clue for 27D & tell me you can't picture that in a Dr Seuss book LOL
I just read the post and see that I left out a very important fact. I Googled a few things during commercials. In the past, though, that hasn't been enough for me to crack a Quarfoot, so I was happy to finish this.
Annielee, thanks for clarifying ete/hiver...I'll remember them when I see them next ; )
Profphil, I kept trying phrases like that, but yours made more sense. Forgot to say that I originally had WARM (once I had the W in place) and HOT.
Cornbread, if you could do this without help, YOU'RE brilliant!
Coachjdc, SEUSS was too funny. I had the Y from ENEMY, and YEATS was the only poet I could think of...but it didn't sound very YEATS-y to me.
Googled the Yeats quote after the puzzle. It's from "A Prayer for My Daughter."
I agree it didn't sound very Yeatsy.
Here's a link to the poem: http://unix.cc.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poems/Yeats.prayer.html
Thanks, kratsman, for the link. It really is a beautiful poem...that line was certainly taken out of context. Here's my favorite verse...my prayer for my daughter who had cheekbones at the age of seven.
May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend.
Thankfully, she also had (and still has) a heart of gold.
Was cruising right along until 3 down - gaga means 'sweet on' if you're from the south...almost!
linda, if you knew how LONG it took me, you'd just call me stubborn.
"Hiver" is French for "Winter" and "Ete" is "summer"
Great puzzle. Amazingly, I did better on today's than yesterday. I can't imagine Sinatra hosting the academy awards though. And thanks to all for the meaning of hiver. Hopefully, I'll remember the word in a few years when it pops up again...
To me this was tough but not unsolvable. I did have to google twice but really enjoyed the puzzle.
So many words to like and so little time (getting dinner ready)...
I had trouble with hivers too. Bleck to that : )
I liked the challenge but the clue for PGA Tour should have been written ...driving distance is a concern "on" it not "in" it. No one says they play "in" the PGA .
am I being too picky?
Paul Courtney Atlanta
Paul, you say picky like it's a bad thing ; )
Technically, you're right...but the clue wouldn't have been as ambiguous if it had been worded that way.
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