Thursday, January 24, 2008

Friday, January 25 - David Quarfoot

When I saw David Quarfoot's name on the byline, I was a little nervous. I scanned the clues and saw several gimmes...even thought I might be able to nail this one.

I was wrong.

Which is not to say that I didn't do fairly well, given that it was a Quarfoot puzzle. I ended up with only a few blanks...all filled in after a quick visit to Dogpile.

The gimmes:

9A: 23-Across and others (beiges)...23A: Shade shade (ecru). Don't ask me how I got that immediately.

15A: One and only (true love). I thought it was too corny to be true.

18A: Key that doesn't include 58-Across (E major)...58A: It's almost a B, scorewise (A sharp). I am truly thankful for piano lessons...some things have stayed with me.

25A: Biblical miracle setting (Cana).

26A: Powerful piece (queen).

47A: Meccan pilgrim (Hadji).

55A: Spotter's confirmation (I see it).

65A: Judge of films (Reinhold). I love his name...love that I got it.

1D: Henry Clay or William Jennings Bryan (statesman).

3D: Versatile actors may play them (dual roles).

11D: Stuck (in a rut).

12D: 11 1/2" soldier (GI Joe).

I liked the identically clued...but very different...34A: Pilot's place (sky) and 60A (gas range).

I also liked the words I could make by different parsing of multiword answers. 63A: Fancy haberdashery item (ascot tie) becomes A SCOTTIE...46D: Calm (at ease) becomes A TEASE. I came up with entertaining clues as well.

Speaking of multiword answers, others include 1A: War-torn Baghdad suburb (Sadr City), 16A: Weather Channel topic (El NiƱo), 29A: Call from home (yer out), 31A: 1936 N.L. leader in slugging percentage (Mel Ott)...the two names tripped me up, 37A: Part of Manhattan's Alphabet City (Avenue C), 39A: "Be honest" (don't lie), 2D: It forbids religious tests for political office (Article VI), 7D: It might hold a couch potato's potato (TV tray), 34D: Enter gently (slide into), 35D: Head of state known to his people as "Dear Leader" (Kim Jong-il), 36D: "Of course" (yes, indeed), and 43D: Swee' Pea's creator (E. C. Segar).

This was some of the best fill I've seen in a long time. Maybe I was just more on Quarfoot's wavelength tonight...as opposed to other times when I've had fewer than a dozen solid answers.

It wasn't a gimme, but it didn't take long to remember 17A: Fleet runner of myth (Atalanta) when I had just a couple of letters in place.

Tripped up on 53D: Underhand? (peon)...thought I was so clever when I filled in palm.

I have an early meeting tomorrow and a long day to boot. I'm so ready for my Saturday at home. Have I mentioned how much I'm lovin' my no-driving day?

That's it for tonight. Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I had parrot instead of mirror at 20A which fouled me up in that section. Even though I was sure the Corinthian alternative was Ionic, Other than that I got the puzzle with only a few side trips to Google. Not bad for me for a Friday.

Anonymous said...

Bob,
Guess I jinxed us with my comment yesterday. This one was a bit of a tough one today. Two cups of coffee puzzle. I'm in MA, so I do the puzzles in the AM vs. Linda in the eve.
Norman

Anonymous said...

First of all hats off to Linda and Jean for doing so well on todays puzzle!!!
Norman, like your self I do the puzzle in the AM...however it was a three cup puzzle for me...I had a few gimmies and a lucky guess or two and there was not a lot to Google so I had a "B...H" of a time today...I hope tomorrow is a better day

Anonymous said...

Bob - (Hi Linda & thanks for the venue! Great place to tune into, post puzzle solving!. Kind of like a re-cap in the AM, sports wise that is) these are kind of the days we (or at least I) feel rather mentally challenged, especially when we hear story's of people completing Sunday puzzles in less than 7 minutes, and daily's in less than 3 minutes. I've been doing these for 20 years (and no, I am not that old), but this guy Shortz always has us on our toes.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.
Norman (nnn1@aol.com)