Kevin Der has hidden the word cow eight times in this puzzle. Although we aren't told that it's a hint to the theme, one appears at 38A: 1980s catchphrase (WHERE'S THE BEEF). I somehow got that with only the R in place...but it was one of the only answers I had for the longest time.This took me almost an hour to finish. I managed to figure out the theme early on, but the random placement of theme answers made for a very slow, difficult solve.
The theme answers:
5A: Freaked out (had a cow), crossing at 9D: One tied for first place (cowinner).
10A: Looks unhappy (scowls), crossing at 11D: Place for grazing (cow pasture). Because I had pasture, the theme revealed itself.
16A: Soup or salad ingredient (cow pea), crossing at 10D: Barges (scows).
17A: Beloved film character with a tail (cowardly lion)...with 1D: It makes livestock go crazy (locoweed).41A: Baseball cover (cowhide)...with 41D: Surfer's exclamation (cowabunga)
42A: Pens together (cowrites)...with 31D: Its coat of arms features a horseman spearing a dragon (Moscow).
61A: Cry just before someone gets some big bucks? (ride 'em cowboy)...with 63D: Shrink (cower).
68A: Battle site in "Animal Farm" (cow shed)...with 44D: It may be milked for all it's worth (dairy cow).
There will be some of you who didn't like the theme at all. It was a bit clunky in spots...cow is actually part of some answers (cowhide, cowboy, cow pasture), but just consecutive letters in others (locoweed, cowrites, cower). As tough as it was, I still found it entertaining.
Most of my trouble came in the southeast corner. I was missing huge chunks, including three consecutive downs...47D: Eye in the heavens (Hubble), 48D: Ancient (age old) and 49D: "As a matter of fact, I do" (why, yes). I don't remember how it finally broke, but I just kept chipping away...guessing a few things here and there that panned out, including 66A: Catherine Deneuve was on its first U.S. cover (Elle). I just spent ten minutes looking for the cover...this will have to do.Things I didn't know:
1A: Benjamin Harrison's vice president, __ P. Morton (Levi).
19A: Car with an acronymic name (Saab). I know the name, of course, but didn't know it was an acronym...for Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Swedish Aeroplane Company), according to Wikipedia.
6D: __ prima (painting technique) (alla).
36D: Knife, slangily (shiv). I think I should have known this...we've probably had it more than a few times.
Things that came to me from who-knows-where:
25A: One of the so-called Southern Ivies (Emory).
37A: Mexican silver dollars (duros).
43A: Whence the line "Whatever it is, I fear Greeks even when they bring gifts" (Aeneid).
33D: Hill, in Spain (cuesta).
On the heels of a recent theme...we have at 35D: Food brand whose name is a portmanteau of two state names (OreIda).
Favorite clues include 14A: Big pullers (oxen), 15A: Out (alibi) and 46A: Spring break? (thaw).
There's so much more to this one, including some good multiword answers...but it's late and I have an early appointment.
Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
8 comments:
Linda, thank you for taking the time/trouble to write out the theme answers.. open paren, bold on, type, bold off, change font color, type, revert font color, close paren...aarrgghh! Maybe you have a shortcut, but that would be batty-making for me.
I loved the puzzle. Took about four innings of the Mariners baseball game, no idea how many minutes (or, uh, hours). The lower right was tough for me as well. For "big bucks" I thought ruminant animals, elk, deer, moose, dollars, cash, raise, Rogers..a huge arc around a very small bush. Finally got RIDEEMCOWBOY and that corner fell.
Speaking of "had a cow", I loved it when a young man I know, at then-age 10, told his stepmother: "Don't have a mid-life cow!"
THE TIMES MUST GO TO CREEDMOOR TO GET CONSTRUCTORS---NEVER SAW ANY PUZZLE AS STUPID AS THIS ONE
Linda, I agree with your assessment about today's puzzle...a bit akward but fun...it took me over an hour to do it but I did prevail with some help from Google
I laughed!
since i do the puzzle much later than y'all do, on my way to your syndicated write-up i sometimes stop to read the *today's* comments...i'm glad i did. i got a vicarious laugh.(and i'm not even sure why, yet.)
KarmaSartre, I do have some shortcuts...that helps some.
It's been a long day, but I'm trying to remember what was funny. Maybe the mid-life cow comment...although that young man should be glad he didn't say it to me ; )
I haven't read other blogs yet, so I'm interested to see how others perceived this challenging puzzle. I can't imagine the work involved to pull together one like this.
In reply to the comment you left on my blog: I have no idea how Orange could finish this puzzle in just a little over 6 minutes. It took me at least 15 minutes just to figure out there was a rebus. Outside of Monday, all the puzzles this week have been really tough. What are they going to throw at as Fri and Sat? (shudder)
well, i like this puzzle. (anonymous really had a cow over it, huh?)
must go see if donald links to BEY...
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