More often than not, I'm on Mike Nothnagel's wavelength. I missed in a couple of spots with this one, but I had maybe 98% of it finished with nary a Google.
Date nights are on hold until April 18...but Don's sitting in the living room with a glass of wine, and I think I'll join him.
***
Now it's Saturday morning...a great day already. I had nine hours of sleep, a pot of Kauai coffee is brewing, and I have my no-drive day ahead of me. Life is good.
With this puzzle. Fellow blogger Wendy, another die-hard Nothnagel fan, has made crossword history today, completing her first Saturday puzzle without the help of Google. Way to go, Wendy!
You beat me...I had to Google once. That southwest corner wasn't budging, despite the fact that I had 61A: Children's Bargain Town, today (Toys R Us...actually, it's Toys "Я" Us). That wasn't something I knew, but I had 56D: Part of many schools' addresses (edu), so it was easy enough to guess.
Problems in that corner stemmed from an incorrect answer at 42D: Reply to someone in denial (are too), but my it is so fit. Also had a partial answer at 48D: Rigel or Spica (B Star)...I only knew it was a star, so the first square was blank. It didn't help that 48A: Brand in the freezer section (Breyers) could also have been my brand of choice, Dreyer's. I'm hooked on their Slow Churned ice cream...super creamy with only half the fat of regular ice cream. Vanilla Raspberry Escape is my all-time favorite, although I enjoy several others.
End of commercial...back to the corner. I was watching TV in the 70s, but I was clueless on 41D: Gov. Lester Maddox walked off his show in 1970. The only six-letter answer I could think of was Carson...which clearly wasn't right. Google told me it was Dick Cavett, but I didn't take the time to read about it. If someone knows and would like to share, please do.
Once I had that, I was able to fill in the other blanks, including the elusive 51A: Point and click, e.g. (verbs). That had to have been Will's clue...Mike wouldn't have done that to me. Actually, it was a perfect Saturday clue. 55A: Series finale? (etcetera) was another good one.
Moving on to what I knew or otherwise managed to get on my own...the answer I am most proud of was 14A: Symptom of nervous system impairment (ataxia). Now that should be a gimme for Orange...she edits medical texts...but I haven't a clue how it came to my mind. I was able to confirm it with 4D: Lines on planes (axes), and I was off and running.
Favorite multiword answers include 7A: Cause of temporary blindness (tear gas), 17A: Current (up to date), 23A: Small wonder? (whiz kid), 30A: Son and successor of Seti I (Ramses II)...another that just came to me, 34A: Very worried (sweating bullets)...spanning the grid horizontally, 40A: Form of intimidatio
n (hate mail), 57A: Affix, in a way (glue on), 1D: Indy sights since 1911 (pace cars), 2D: Governor's guide (state law), 3D: It's done in the slammer (hard time), 9D: In __ (briefly) (a word)...not short, 15D: Cinematic captain of Star Command (Buzz Lightyear)...I was thinking Star Trek for the longest time, 20D: Start putting stuff away? (dig in), 23D: "__ him who believes in nothing": Victor Hugo (woe to), 36D: Very wide, in a way (ear to ear), 37D: Result of getting even with someone? (tie score)...another gimme/good guess, 38D: Enter on the sly (slip into) and 43D: Fighting words? (war cry).I was a paralegal in Kansas City for a few years, so I knew 7D: Seat of Shawnee County (Topeka)...that K helped me get whiz kid.
Loved seeing 31D: It's heard on the Beatles' "Rubber Soul" (sitar). If you're a regular reader, you know I love everything about the Beatles. I especially love everything George Harrison.
There were a couple of answers I wouldn't have gotten without crosses...15A: Linebacker Brian banned from the 1987 Orange Bowl for steroid use (Bosworth), 21A: Ally's roommate on "Ally McBeal" (Renee) and 26A: Associate of Thomas (Alito)...I had no idea where they were going with that one. And what am I missing on 45D: Dupes (repros)? Just got it...duplicates and reproduces.
My very favorite clue in the puzzle...50A: 1/192 qt. (tsp). I guessed it because I had the S in place.
Don's up now...and he and the boys are waiting.
Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
8 comments:
I can't believe it I can't believe it I can't believe it I can't believe it I finished a Saturday puzzle, correctly - the first ever - no googling just using every ounce of intuition and solving knowledge I've accumulated along with a good grasp of how Mike's (sometimes devious) mind works! What a rush. Wooooooohooooooo!!!!! Too bad it's too early to drink ...
I had any number of wrong turns and areas where I felt I was up against a brick wall but I wouldn't give up. I had to have this victory. Probably I couldn't have done it on any other Saturday with any other constructor, but if it was going to happen, I wanted it to be a Mike. Saturday, March 29, 2008. The day I finished a Saturday NYT crossword puzzle.
(Blowing kisses)
When I first encountered 1-d (Indy sights..) I thought rebus: a check mark followed by RDFLAG. How clever. How wrong. Pretty smooth sailing after that. Hesitation at SETS, as the frames clue took a while to open up, and I wasn't sure if GRANDE was spelled with a final E in Portuguese. Don't know what Star Command is, but BUZZLIGHTYEAR is floating around the ether. Had DREYERS (instead of B...) for a bit, as there is the D kind in my freezer. Of all the misdirection clues for VERBS and Nouns and such, I thought Point and Click was one of the most clever/devious.
Congrats Wendy!
Linda, Just read your revised version. I forgot about the backwards R, good catch. Speaking of George, while driving Ralph to the Chocolate Lab Tennis Ball Fetch Until an Interesting Scent Intervenes Park this morning. I heard "Got My Mind Set on You" -- very nice, I had forgotten about it.
Congradulations Wendy...way to go...my hat is off to you!
Hi Linda,
Never got a chance to chime in on the sabatical thing and offer some thoughts and gratitudes. I am glad that the sojurn was short lived. Sometimes we just need to step aside and recharge the batteries. Been there and done that. Hope all has turned out well from your side.
I agree with quite a bit of the commentary when you said that you were hanging up the shingle sign "closed" that this site has become like an extended family of puzzle afficionados.
Yesterday's post from Bob on the ease of Friday's puzzle prompted me to pick up the phone and give him a ration, as I had a tough time w/ Barry Silk. While Bob and I have traded back and forth some e-mails, yesterday's first time conversation probably went on for close to an hour. Very interesing gentleman and it turns out that we have many things in common. Thanks to you and this site for the introduction.
I, like you, found today's puzzle challenging, yet relatively easy (one cup of coffee vs. the typical two). I sent Bob an EM saying same, and he came back stating he had a tough go with today's. Sometimes I think one just needs to be on the same wavelength....
Anyway, I've gone on long enough. Thanks again for all your work!!
Regards,
Norman
Bob, it's okay that you didn't find this as doable as Norman and Wendy. Even though I only had to Google for one answer, this took me a l-o-o-o-n-g time to solve. I hope you'll start giving Sunday puzzles a go...they're longer, but they're nowhere near as difficult as Saturday. The title often gives you enough of a clue to get you going in the right direction.
Norman, it's so nice to hear that you and Bob have struck up a friendship. I get emails from Wendy, Donald, JimH, KarmaSartre and Cornbread on a fairly regular basis...Cornbread refers to us as cyberbuds.
I'm off to blog the Sunday puzzle...it was delicious!
I'm two days late on this because I was visiting my brother over the weekend and didn't get to all of the blogs.
Seeing Wendy's triumph makes me feel that much more guilty for not being around on Saturday! :( I am thrilled, nonetheless, that I was the first Saturday puzzle she finished. Congrats, Wendy!
OK, back to work.
MN
Linda G,
I guess I misunderstood. I thought you were leaving this Blog. Glad I was wrong!
My hat's off to you for this Fri 4/4 puzzle. Even looking at the completed grid I don't understand many of the clues. Many others I just never would have gotten.
Oh well, there's always next week!
DrBob
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