But given that the ACPT weekend officially begins on Friday, it's highly possible that there won't be many crossword blogs to read...so I'll force myself to get something done before I crawl into bed.
Patrick Berry is generally a tough constructor...no exception with this one. It was filled with some amazing stacks of long answers.
The more gettable ones for me:
2D: Like most 1950s recordings (monophonic). I remember stereophonic, but it wouldn't fit...so that was a good guess.
3D: Final Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor comedy (Another You).
27D: Continuously (at all times)...I got that with only the first letter in place.
28D: Stop working (take a break).
The southeast corner was the first one to fall for me. 42A: It protects car buyers (lemon law) and 46A: #1 Beatles hit with the only known vocal contribution by Linda McCartney (Let It Be), along with 27D and 28D, really opened things up. 33D: "Don't spread this around, but..." (between us) was easy enough with a few letters in place, and 36D: Home for the Ojibwa and Cree (Manitoba) was a good guess.
Next to fall was the northwest. Getting 2D and 3D made the crosses come together nicely, but I was totally flummoxed by 1D: Agitated (in a pother)...an expression I've never heard before. I wasn't even sure I was parsing it correctly, but my dictionary confirmed it. 4D: Neapolitan noblewoman (Contessa) was a good guess, as was 24A: Region bordering Mount Olympus (Thessaly).
In the southwest, I had to Google for 55A: Bernard Malamud's debut novel (The Natural). After guessing 41D: Wisconsin city that's home to S.C. Johnson & Son (Racine), I was able to get an answer here and there...pretty soon the whole corner was finished, including 52A: 1990 #1 rap hit that starts "Yo, V.I.P., let's kick it" (Ice Ice Baby). I wouldn't have guessed that rap had been around that long...it seems much more recent. Favorite clue/answer in that corner...38D: Split right before your eyes? (bifocal).
The northeast was the toughest area for me. Couldn't figure out where they were heading with 5A: Barely mention, as somethign one doesn't want to discuss (skate over) or 17A: In-house debugging (alpha tests). After much head scratching over 15A [One abandoned at the altar?], I finally figured it out...maiden name.
I didn't know 6D: Goes to bed, in Britspeak (kips)...but I'm going to do it now.
Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
6 comments:
Profphil
Linda,
I hope you feel better. At least March is almost here and spring is on its way. Although today was probably the coldest day of the year here in NYC.
I had in a bother instead of in a pother (which now seems vaguely familiar but I would never have guessed it). Instead of potter I had better (I thouhgt wheel? referred to the roulette wheel, although I spell bettor usually with an o the e is an acceptable variant). Monophonic became monephonic which didn't look right but I left it at that. I was sure that I blew the NE with sal and kips but they turned out to be correct. I still don't know why. All in all fun puzzle and for a Friday (which I usually have lots of trouble with) this one wasn't torture and I managed without Googling too.
My great sorrow is that for a puzzle referencing the Gashlycrumb Tinies, all 26 of whom are spectacularly showcased in a large frame on my living room wall, you'd think I'd be more on Patrick Berry's wavelength. But that and two more words were all I could fill in on my own. I haven't looked at your write-up yet because I still want to try to make more headway, but I've got to get to work so it'll have to wait.
Prof Phil...my hat is off to you for finishing the puzzle with out Googling. I finished but I must have Googled at least a dozen answers...my favorite answers were 15 and 56 Across.
The NE was toughest for me too. Googled 2 or 3 things. Happy weekend everybody.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one to get stuck on the NE. "In an Pother" is totally new to me. Managed it with out resorting to the Net. This has been a good solving week for me.
Congrats, profphil, on being able to finish without googling. I had to a couple of times to get the SW.
Didn't know The Natural or Ice Ice Baby. No excuse for the first, especially for a baseball lover, but rap is like a foreign language to me. The NW was the easiest for me, in a pother was familiar, but heaven knows from where. The NE was the last to fall, but at least I didn't google any of those answers. One day, it would be nice to be able to finish a Patrick Berry puzzle without googling at all, but I'm not optimistic.
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