Thursday, November 15, 2007

Friday, November 16 - Chuck Deodene

This was one tough puzzle. Stacks upon stacks, as well as some very fresh fill. There wasn't much that could be Googled, but those were spread out enough that it was possible to get a toe-hold in every area.

There were a handful of gimmes, so at least I was off to a good start.

15A: "__ as directed" (use as).

30A: Bills are in it: Abbr. (AFC). Big pat on the back, please. Not just a sports clue, but one with an odd clue.

33A: Bibliographical abbr. (et al).

34A: Venue of many Richard Petty wins (Daytona). In my former life (that is, not with Don) I lived in Daytona Beach for a short time. We didn't go to the races, but we did get to drive on the beach...a very cool experience.

65A: Rich spreads (pates).

3D: Relating to babes (neonatal). I was sure I was wrong with that one, but I wasn't.

4D: __ City, seat of Pasco County, Fla. (Dade).

5D: Right hands: Abbr. (assts).

6D: 1945 film musical with the song "It Might As Well Be Spring" (State Fair). For many years, our local amusement park had the Tilt-A-Whirl from State Fair, so I felt compelled to ride it...not a good idea. The park is no longer in business, and the ride has moved to another amusement park.

24D: Creme Egg maker (Cadbury). Despite the fact that they contain chocolate, I have always found them personally disgusting.

53D: Diamond protectors (tarps). Sports-ish clue, got it...hooray!

Not much, but things progressed from there.

I also had a couple of wrong answers in place that definitely sent me in the wrong direction.

45A: One working on a board (ironer). That makes sense, but I had planer...which also makes sense and fit with a couple of downs.

58A: "I'll give you __" (a hint). I'll give you one...you could also have a call or a ring. I had both.

14D: Green stinger (nettle)...oops, not Hornet.

43D: On the sundeck (basking)...I had tanning.

I liked the clever cluing in 1A: Back-and-forth (Q and A)...couldn't figure out what word would end in A, though. Also 17A: Apple storage devices (iPods), 36A: First-class handouts? (syllabi), 49A: Poses in a studio? (yoga), and 57A: Letters before a street name (aka)...better known as a/k/a.

Some of my favorite across answers: 16A: Product identifier (trade name), 18A: It maintains a proper attitude (autopilot), 38A: Herd-thinning menace (rustler), 42A: Semirural, say (exurban)...had this fairly recently and was pleased to find the mental note I had made, 60A: Colloquial (idiomatic)...that word always makes me think of someone who acts like an idiot...automatically, and 64A: Logic's counterpart (sentiment)...I could write a book on that based on thirty years with my logical husband.

And the best of the downs: 1D: Nitpicking (quibbles), 2D: Harshness (asperity), 7D: Cutting out? (truancy), 12D: Costa del Sol port (Malaga), 35D: Does, as business (transacts), 39D: Probe (look into), 40D: Bring about with some effort (engineer), and 41D: Cavalier evaluation? (road test)...just now saw the cleverness of that one.

Time to call it a night. Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

10 comments:

coachjdc said...

Yup, that was a toughy. Didn't get the NW corner. 1 & 2 D and 36A stumped me.
Had ATM for where the Bills are. Took me a while to get the Buffalo connection.
Happy Friday, everyone.

MBG said...

This was tough. Had to Google in a few places, but managed to finish. The SE was the last to fall. I had ROVER for 67A, and A HAND for 58A. It took me ages to see ENGINEER, thought ROAD TEST was very clever, but my favorite answer was in the NW - ASPERITY. What a pretty word to mean harshness.

DONALD said...

Just stalking.

Anonymous said...

Hi Linda...congraulations on the sport clues...I did not get AFC until I read your blog...I have a few quibbles with the puzzle...Counterpart...a person or thing closely resembling another...logic and sentiment are opposite.....Maintains a proper attitude should be a proper altitude...but it was a difficult puzzle and sport ans a common dog name????
Have a good day
Bob

Anonymous said...

Bob... attitude is also correct... an autopilot keeps the plane level (nose to tail).

Anonymous said...

rikki....I see your point...I have never thought of autopilot keeping the proper attitude in a person...thanks for the clarification
Bob

Anonymous said...

Studio Yoga helps people a lot those who are looking to learn yoga, but in today's busy life people don't have time to learn yoga going to a studios, your website helps people to work on yoga, very useful information, keep it up.

Anonymous said...

syllabus...syllabi plural..outlines of a class being studied/attended

Linda G said...

Anonymous 12/28, the ? was part of the clue, not my question. I can see how you read it that way!

Anonymous said...

lindag....how syllabi of me not to notice that:)