Friday, November 2, 2007

Saturday, November 3 - Brad Wilber

Brad Wilber's Saturday puzzle is stacked to the max...twelve 10-letter entries, in stacks of three.

How funny is it that we have auctioneer two days in a row? Yesterday it was clued as Block head? Today we have (at 15A) Hammer wielder. Other noteworthy answers in the northwest stack are 1A: Sleuthing aid (flashlight) and 17A: YouTube phenomenon (viral video). I didn't get what that meant, but any answer that has two Vs in it has to be good. For those of you who are clueless, this is what Wikipedia has to say.

In the northeast we have 12D: Archer's post (battlement), 13D: Action thriller staple (chase scene)...a gimme and my favorite, and 14D: Homey's acceptance (street cred).

Vertical stacks in the southwest include 25D: Casbah fugitive of French film (Pépé le Moko)...never heard of him, so had to Google that one, 26D: Noted diary words (and so to bed), and 27D: Alternative to a rip cord (static line)...no thank you to both.

Wrapping up the stacks in the southeast...49A: Much-anticipated Paris debut of 1992 (EuroDisney)...didn't get it until almost every letter was in place, 53A: Place for trophies at an awards luncheon (prize table), and 55A: 1971 Elton John song (Tiny Dancer)...one of my favorites. I should add that when I read the clue aloud, Don started running off song titles...Tiny Dancer was the second one he named. This from a man who doesn't know much about song titles or lyrics.

Clever cluing at 11A: Early education (ABCs), 20A: Walk-on parts? (legs), 25A: Napoleon, e.g. (pastry), 44A: One might be kidding (goat), 24D: Earth-shattering activity (skeet), and 40D: Like some questions (loaded)...Don's guess there was stupid.

I liked the connected cluing at 38A: Fictional Pulitzer-winning journalist in a 2006 film (Lois Lane) and 52A: Colleague of 38-Across (Kent).

Fellow blogger Green Genius will be proud that I knew 24A: Co-creator of Hulk and Thor (Stan Lee). I learned that from reading his blog...and I remembered it.

Had to laugh at 6D: Swell (lovely). That's an adjective used by Don in the past to describe everything...the weather, a watercolor, the dinner that took three hours to put together. It's become a joke in the house. Some days it's funnier than others.

1D: Kind of bean (fava). I got this one immediately. What goes with fava beans and a nice chianti?

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks for your Madness! as indispensable as morning coffee.

Linda G said...

As a lover of coffee, that's the nicest compliment anyone could pay me ; )

cornbread hell said...

i thought this was a tough puzzle. especially the center. and i even left the "O" in oyer blank.

i also don't have a clue as to "What goes with fava beans and a nice chianti?"

Linda G said...

cornbread, wait until you see Sunday's puzzle!

In Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lector claimed to have eaten some guy's liver with fava beans and a nice chianti. I've never been able to shake that line.

Anonymous said...

Well shoot...this one was tough. Googled twice and got it. Didn't enjoy it so much though.

I hate those days when I'm just going through the motions.

Nice write-up Linda.

See ya manana --


Be sure to turn your clocks back!

cornbread hell said...

i missed that movie even though holly hunter is one of favorites.

sometimes my aversion to gore leaves me culturally deprived. and crossword-wise, moribund.

must-go-download-sunday-puzzle-now.

great writeup, linda.

cornbread hell said...

you know i meant what's her name. d'oh!

Linda G said...

kitt, thanks for reminding all of us about the clocks. I'm looking forward to an extra hour...I have so much to do ; )

cornbread, I don't like stuff like that either and I haven't a clue why I watched it. Jodie Foster...although Holly Hunter is pretty hot as I said in another post.