Company founded by Ingvar Kamprad -THURSDAY, Jul. 3, 2008 - Keith Talon ("Scenes of Clerical Life" author, 1858 / HOME OF THE 1,612-FOOT RIBBON FALLS)

Thursday, July 3, 2008


Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: Typos - three theme answers are editorial words (and one phrase) that (ironically?) aren't spelled correctly - further, clues are all self-referential, so that the answer becomes in some way self-descriptive

Meh. This was OK. We had a misspelled word puzzle not long ago (a Sunday, I think), so nothing here was surprising, and the clues really made the theme quite obvious - one theme answer even contains the word "error," just in case you were having trouble picking things up. It's also a little disappointing that the first two "errors" in question are not ones that anyone would make. I just typed TYPOGRAPHICAL quickly a few times, and the "I" changed to a "J" once, and I while I did insert an "A" between the "P" and "H," I didn't lose the first "A." In fact, if you touch-type, you know it's really really really hard to make a mistake between "R" and "A." I suppose you might miss the "A", but you are not not not going to squeeze any letter in between the "R" and the "A" - that's a very fluid, very fast, very instinctive letter combo. Further, the theme answers are noun, adjective, and then noun-adjective. And two of the clues are "?" clues, where one isn't. It all just seems a bit loose, a bit off.

Must go quickly. Sister and nephews and brother-in-law arriving any moment for pancakes.

Theme answers:

  • 20A: What this answer could use? (proofreadinng)
  • 37A: Like this answer's error? (typogrpahical)
  • 53A: This answer contains one (mispelled word)

The non-theme parts of this puzzle were very easy. I'm trying to anticipate where people might have had trouble. Maybe in and around the "K"s? Not sure why, but TIKI came to me instantly (15A: _____ bar) and was confirmed by the fairly obvious IKEA (7D: Company founded by Ingvar Kamprad). In the SE, RISKS (49D: Takes a chance on) was pretty easy, which made LATKE (61A: Hanukkah staple) much much easier to turn up than it would have been without the "K" in place. Some stuff I couldn't remember readily - PEPSI is a good example (30D: It "hits the spot" per an old jingle) - but crosses made things simple. I grew up in CA and went to YOSEMITE many times but have no recollection of Ribbon Falls, which made 38D: Home of the 1,612-foot Ribbon Falls (Yosemite) something of a surprise when I finally got it. I don't know if I've ever seen beggars cup their hands outside of the movies, so CUPPED (1D: Like beggars' hands) felt a little weird. If only the MINTER (33A: Coiner) could get together with the beggars ... hmm, I just noticed that this puzzle has both ESTEE (50D: First name in beauty products) and ESTEE ... M (41A: Prize). Ouch.

Listington

  • 1A: "_____ Si Bon" (1950s Eartha Kitt hit) - gimme. Here she is:




  • 5A: Post-diet, ideally (slim) - wavered between this and THIN for a few seconds
  • 14A: Dinosaur National Monument locale (Utah) - only ever been to their airport. Seems like a gorgeous state. I want to go, but ... can you get coffee there?
  • 16A: "Scenes of Clerical Life" author, 1858 (Eliot) - and then one hundred years later...
  • 17A: 1958 World Cup hero (Pele)
  • 24A: With 19-Across, language from which "steak" and "eggs" come (Old Norse) - one of those few times that my academic training has come in very, very handy. This was a gimme.
  • 28A: Alaska vacation destination (Denali) - it's a national park and the gigantic mountain found in that national park.
  • 32A: Federally funded program since '65 (NEA) - I like "'65" as a way of indication "abbreviation ahead"
  • 52A: _____ Jemison, first black woman in space (Mae) - I did not know that ... though something tells me she's been in my crossword before.
  • 64A: "_____ Eyes" (1969 hit) ("These") - Ah, the Guess Who. Instant gimme.




  • 65A: Irwin who wrote "Rich Man, Poor Man" (Shaw) - I seem to remember this as a major mini-series when I was very young.
  • 4D: One of the "Cosby Show" kids (Theo) - I read this new comic yesterday; I think it's meant for kids (like ... preteen), but it's beautiful and really entertaining and made me care about Captain Marvel for the first time in my entire life. It's called something something Captain Marvel, or maybe SHAZAM ... I forget. But it's beautifully illustrated and colored and the story is smart and cheeky in the way that tolerable children's entertainment can be sometimes. Really great stuff. Most stuff aimed at kids, as you might imagine, is dreck. Sub-dreck. O ... why am I telling you this in reference to THEO? Because Captain Marvel's arch-nemesis is Black Adam, whose real name is ... THEO Adam. WHAM! (56D: Pow!)
  • 12D: Mother of the stars and the winds (Eos) - usually clued as goddess of the dawn
  • 31D: "Was it _____ I saw?" (classic palindrome) ("a rat") - never heard of it, but was able to piece it together really easily
  • 35D: Steering system part (tie rod) - bought a new car yesterday. Well, a new very used car. My 1991 Pathfinder needed to be put down, so when a cheap, somewhat younger alternative came my way (quite by accident), I took it. So today is the first day of my new car life. My old car life lasted 17 years - the longest, closest relationship I've had with anyone or thing besides my mom, dad, and sister. Moment of silence ... moving on. Oh, one last thing: when we were cleaning out the years and years of accumulated crap (mostly coins) under the seats of the Pathfinder, my wife turned up ... my wedding ring, which had been missing for over three years.
  • 37D: Instruction at a horse show (trot) - there was all this kerfuffle last night about pony camp ... apparently it might not happen, which would disappoint Sahra no end, but as long as she's with her best friend that week, I doubt she'll care much.
  • 39D: Property divider (hedgerow) - good answer
  • 54D: "The Dukes of Hazzard" spinoff ("Enos") - sweeeet.




Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

59 comments:

Unknown 8:02 AM  

Yes, easy, but still enjoyable. The so-called sloppiness of the theme didn’t bug me. Does a puzzle’s typographical error really need to be of a type (no pun in ten did) that real fingers might actually produce? Seems to me that themes – and tricky clues in general – depend on slightly “off” language usage.

Suffice to say, I found the theme simple and kind of great – especially since just knowing the theme and the root word didn’t determine your answer. Sure, you knew that a MIS(S)PELLING or PROOFREADIN(N)G error was in there, but you still had to puzzle out where.

Along similar lines, I was also taken by those answers that you could sort of solve just through “thinking” – like the DOS/OCHO pair, and the palindromic (t)A RAT.

But my favorite appearance had to be HEDGEROW, both because it’s a wonderful word and because it sent my mind back to the lines and images of Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey”:

Once again I see
These hedgerows -- hardly hedgerows, little lines
Of sportive wood run wild.


Cool how a poem about memory can become part of your own memories – even for things, like hedgerows, that you’ve never actually seen for yourself.

imsdave1 8:38 AM  

A cat, a bat, a vat, a hat, a mat -I wonder if those are all "classics" too. I had the P and the S for the slogan clue, so the anwser was obviously PABST - minor oops. I abandoned down only solving quickly after being stumped by CUPPED, STERLING (great word, good cluing)and guessing CAROLINA instead of VIRGINIA. Upset seemed like an odd clue for CROSS. After Monday and Tuesday, I was expecting a bit more of a challenge today, but still enjoyed it.

Have a great day all.

SethG 8:59 AM  

Yeah, I'd say this seemed eerily reminiscent of the previous speling puzzle, but it was not eerie. (And also not necessarily the author's fault--can't blame him if someone else had a similar idea, and the editor ran that first.) This actually seemed harder in a way, as the error was gonna be in a random place rather than a likely confusion.

I believe this is the first time I have ever correctly guessed between APEX and ACME...thanks for your help, ACME!

Also guessed right on PENNE and DOS/OCHO, which is the only pair that would work here but I didn't know that until I counted just now. I wish WHAM had been clued with Andrew Ridgeley. In addition to ESTEE/ESTEEM, we had EOS/ENO/ENOS.

I'm Audi,
sg

Anonymous 9:03 AM  

Can someone explain how "took in" means MADE?

Maybe I need more coffee.

Anonymous 9:10 AM  

This must be a really easy Thursday if I could finish it all with no help!

Tony from Charm City 9:11 AM  

I agree w/Peter, with the only exception that "Hedgerow" reminded me of Robert Plant, not William Wordsworth.

"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen"

Anonymous 9:15 AM  

Yes, you can get coffee in Utah. I'm drinking a cup right now. In fact, there are way too many Starbucks here, just like everywhere else!

Jeffrey 9:20 AM  

My time has been the same for 3 straight days. Maybe its "every day is Wednesday" week.

Triple Canadian content today - "These Eyes", Ste-Julie, Quebec and Dudley Do-Right.

Cute little puzzle. I look forward to tomorrow's Wednesday puzzle.

Unknown 9:24 AM  

Wow, Dave and Seth up early and erudite already! I didn't have this palindrome memorized and my first guess was cat. This is another debut puzzle and that is great news. In the spirit of errors...
Trying to fix a computer problem last night, I found this list of Windows Error Codes.
WinErr: 001 Windows loaded - System in danger
WinErr: 002 No Error - Yet
WinErr: 003 Dynamic linking error - Your mistake is now in every file
WinErr: 004 Erroneous error - Nothing is wrong
WinErr: 005 Multitasking attempted - System confused
WinErr: 006 User error - Not our fault. Is Not! Is Not!
WinErr: 007 System price error - Inadequate money spent on hardware
WinErr: 008 Illegal error - You are not allowed to get this error
WinErr: 009 Horrible bug encountered - God only knows what has happened
WinErr: 010 Reserved for future mistakes by our developers

Unknown 9:30 AM  

For what it's worth, my personal typos include lots of weird letter transpositions (like TYPOGRPAHICAL). Just this morning, "liek" for like, "misison" for mission, and the always popular "form" for from.

But maybe my fingers are dumber than most.

(And thanks, Tony, for getting Zeppelin in my head!! Seems an appropriate venue, though, "'cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.")

Parshutr 9:31 AM  

I just effing HATE the puzzles where idiotic words like PROOFREADINNG that would likely never occur are thrown in willy-nilly.
I'm ready to grind this one up into a LATKE and celebrate hanuker by spraying PAM on my skilette and burning the sucker.

imsdave1 9:32 AM  

@phillysolver - WinErr 011 - You upgraded to Vista - What were you thinking?

@pinky - 'The movie took in $50 million at the box office this weekend'

@crossscan - Monday was Wednesday, Tuesday was Thursday, Wednesday was Monday, Thursday was Tuesday, Friday will be Friday (hopefully).

Anonymous 9:33 AM  

@Pinky:

Took in = made. Took in money = made money.

ArtLvr 9:34 AM  

@philly -- that's a depressing list. Ugh.

I had to laugh, because of complaining only a few days ago about too many give-aways to the theme answers -- and this one was "Hey, read my mind"? However, I started in the SE and once I saw WORD it was deja vu all over again: the rest came easily.

I'd say Mr. Talon has talent, and also wonder if there's a bit of Brit in his background? HEDGEROW, FOLIOS, STERLING plus AMOEBA's spelling have a hint of the other side of the pond, to me, as did a few others. Another example: the clue "took in" turning out to be MADE as in "earned", rather than fooled. I could be mistaken, though...

It was fun to see a quorum of goddesses and queens too: HERA, EOS, NOOR, and implied reference to Hawaii's Queen Lili'uokalani -- who penned more than 150 songs during her lifetime, including "Aloha Oe."

Also, in re the other side of the pond, I just learned a new meaning for the word BRAWL last night and had to share -- apparently in the16th century it did not have the sense of a noisy fight, but was a court dance, albeit something a bit frisky which served as introduction to more SEDATE steps! Weird.

∑;)

Anonymous 9:38 AM  

Must be me, but MINI bar came to me way before TIKI...I wonder if I should consider myself a TOSSPOT?

Anonymous 9:48 AM  

@Pinky et al

while I agree with the explainations for the TAKE IN/MADE *connection*, I think it's a bit *off* as generally:

Take In = gross [receipts]
Made = net [Profit]

unless we're talking about a charity type event (eg Bake sale)

.../Glitch

Anonymous 9:56 AM  

@evad No, you're not the only one, but MINI didn't work with what had to be IKEA, so it had to go. ;-)

Anonymous 10:08 AM  

For 11D (Atlantic coast conference team, in 8 letters) I entered TARHEELS, which rapidly proved wrong. Other ACC teams offered themselves, but were the wrong length: TERRAPINS, GAMECOCKS, BLUEDEVILS, etc. VIRGINIA is not a team; it's a state, and the name of the university; their team is the CAVALIERS.

Anonymous 10:18 AM  

@imsdave1 and anonymouses....thanks.

Joon 10:27 AM  

frances, that's a narrow view of things. if you watch the cavaliers play the tar heels on TV, the announcers might say something like "VIRGINIA has the ball" (or if they are british soccer announcers, "VIRGINIA have the ball"). they don't mean the state, or the university--they mean the team on the field. "cavaliers" is the nickname for the team, but it's not the only name for the team. (it's not even the only nickname for the team, as they are often called the wahoos. i don't remember why.)

first TIKITORCH, now TIKI bar. what's next, TIKIBARBER?

Anonymous 10:32 AM  

In related(?) crossword news, there was an article in the NYT sports section about a pair who had regained their speed rock-climbing record, scaling YOSEMITE's El Capitan in 2:43:33.

The article had the requisite section quoting fellow climbers decrying speed-scaling: "What's the rush", "Meaningless" blah blah blah.

Seems as if questioning someone else's pursuit of an activity in the way they prefer is not limited to the crossword world.

Anonymous 10:38 AM  

Rex, I think the error in TYPOGRPAHICAL isn't an extra letter, just an inversion of the A and P. Maybe this isn't true of other people, but inverting letters is probably the most common typing error I make, so that answer seemed spot-on to me.

Coffee is easily acquired in Utah, though full-strength beer is not. Apparently alcohol is considered more evil than caffeine. This situation leads to an almost comical number of drive-through liquor stores just across the border into Wyoming, where liquor laws are much more lax.

archaeoprof 10:48 AM  

@Rex: I wrote "thin" for SLIM, and stayed with it way too long. The cross with IKEA bred false confidence. BTW, in the paper version, a picture of Rush Limbaugh is printed next to the puzzle. He looks like Tony Soprano. Definitely a day to fold the paper over...

David 10:51 AM  

Rex---Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam. Haven't read this week's books yet, but I'm glad it's worth the read. If you haven't already read it, you may also want to check out Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil, a mini-series they put out last year. Fresh look at the character, everyone seemed to like it; I'm not sure, but the new one might even be a "sequel" to it.

I thought today's theme was on the goofier side, but at least still fun. The key, for me, is that the clues were worded very well for their answers. Since you have to deal with a glitch in the spelling of the answer, it's very good that the answers came naturally.

I think you're right that the A-P typo isn't the most likely, since I have to really concentrate to make my fingers do it. P-H would be much more likely, since it's easy for the pinky finger to get left behind a little. Even so, I didn't even think about the likelihood of the error while solving, so I don't fault the puzzle for it.

CUPPED came immediately to me, even though it is a bit...Dickensian, I guess. It's old-fashioned, but still an image that came to mind right away. I felt blah about MINTER, on the other hand. LATKE's a great answer, though, and I'll take any excuse to see NORSE in a puzzle.

Overall, I thought it was a fun puzzle, had some clever moments.

Shamik 11:21 AM  

@peter...what is interesting is that many of the hedgerows in Great Britain are hedges surrounding rock walls...do not try to go through them!

@anonymous...did you read that Starbucks is about to close 600 stores opened within the last two years...that's 19% of the stores they've recently opened.

@archeoprof...i liked slim for thin, too. : (

MINTER was very goofy. Do they even call the people who work at the mint as MINTERs?

Rex...and what exactly was your wedding ring doing off your finger in the car anyway? Hmmmmmmm? ; )

Spencer 11:22 AM  

Re: TYPOGRPAHICAL -- this is typical of the typing errors that I make, where the right hand gets in just a few milliseconds ahead of the left hand. In this case, too, both the P and the A are on the "pinky" finger, my weakest, making a sequencing mistake more likely than usual.

My first introduction to freshly roasted coffee came over 25 years ago in UTAH, when the Salt Lake Roasting Company (http://www.roasting.com/) opened. For several years after moving to Ann Arbor, I continued to order coffee from the SLRC, because it was fresher than anything I could get here! Yes, it is a beautiful state. I still miss it.

Doug 11:29 AM  

After watching Dodgeball: The Movie, I know "The OCHO" very well.

The rust belt and Boston States were the toughest for me. THIN not SLIM and TIED/HALF not EVEN were blocking me until I just nutted them out with SLIM. Had PENNE and STE, and scratched my head for a while until PAVES popped up.

Thought it was reasonable for Thursday and glad to finish after thinking I was going to get stumped on Tuesday!

Pete M 11:29 AM  

The problem with error themes is that even when you know what the theme and "correct" answer are, you still can't figure out what to fill in because there's no logic to which letter(s) are going to be wrong.

@peter s: Do you play a musical instrument? I find much of my typographical dyslexia is due to my subconscious desire to alternate from hand to hand, thus MROE is more natural than MORE.

Bill from NJ 11:30 AM  

There seemed to be a slight "other side of the pond" quality about the cluing prize for ESTEEM intimate social terms for SEEING timeless for ETERNE beggars for CUPPED. Granted, not much but a little.

I make enough typos as it is not to be asked to make them.

Didn't think this was Thursday quality fare. We're probably gonna get killed tomorrow and Saturday

jae 11:34 AM  

I'm with Rex on this one. Meh sounds about right. Minor hiccups were MINI (like evad and norm), SERENE for SEDATE briefly, and TIEBAR. Other than that smooth and easy.

I believe DENALI and Mt. McKinley are one in the same.

k-sa d-ya 11:39 AM  

Wait, what day is this? This whole week was screwy - this puzzle felt like a Tuesday. I rarely finish a Thursday this quickly.

Joon 12:07 PM  

pete, you should consider learning the dvorak keyboard layout. i recommend it highly. i make far fewer typos now than i used to in qwerty.

Anonymous 12:15 PM  

@k.c. I completely agree. The puzzles this week have completely thrown off my sense of time. Are we supposed to go see fireworks tonight or not? ;-p

@archaeoprof

I also had THIN in for SLIM for awhile. In fact the central north gave me some problems for a long time because I also had SAKE in for TIKI. Had good sushi last night, so probably had Japanese food on the brain. Yum.

Other than that, pretty easy puzzle. I concur with bill from nj, though, that we are probably going to get smacked tomorrow and/or over the weekend with a really tough one.

To all of you who may be traveling tomorrow, and will therefore be away from your computer, have a wonderful 4th of July holiday, and safe travel to you all! And be careful with those Roman Candles! :-p
Cheers,
Ronathan,

dk 12:18 PM  

Rex, coffee is still legal in Utah!

Anonymous 12:19 PM  

Rex, you are being too harsh on the typos and overanalyzing the situation. One clue has an extra letter added, another has transposed letters, and the third is spelled incorrectly. That's it! Maybe too simple for a Wednesday, but isn't this Bizzarro week anyhow?

My father was a printer for over 40 years. Typography is not just typing, it has been for hundreds of years the mastery of movable type. An art, really. It does not necessarily equate with touch-typing on a PC.

A safe and happy Fourth to all! Maybe we will see Kate Smith or James Cagney tomorrow?

Brooklyn

Anonymous 12:28 PM  

Found this a rather dull puzzle. Only real curiosity arising out of this is what was Rex's choice of a new pre-owned car?

Ladel 12:30 PM  

@Pinky

took in is street style language for earnings, earnings refers to how much money you made, ergo took in equates nicely with made if you happen to be in the street and want to blend in with the locals.

CinEdina 12:34 PM  

This puzzle slapped me back into the beginner end of the solving spectrum where I belong. My eraser is significantly smaller now! This puzzle was my first spelling error puzzle. I agree with Pete M that even though you figure out that there will be spelling errors in the puzzle, it is difficult figuring out where they are. My biggest hangup was writing in TOPNOTCH for first-rate. Since I had THIN, it seemed to be okay. Then, when it became obvious that it was wrong, I wrote in TOPFLITE! That still worked with THIN and also gave me two Fs in a row leading to PROOFFRAEDING. But that caused problems with PENNE (I had PENIE). At this point I thought, could there be other spelling errors in the non-theme answers??? Seemed both unfair and unlikely so I came here to clear up my massive confusion.

Also had trouble in the SE- really wanted SERENE so at one point I had MISPELLINGERR! Also had APEX and PEAK instead of ACME for a while.

Still liked the puzzle as most of the fill was tough and tricky, but gettable with some thought. Deep thought at times!!

Anonymous 1:17 PM  

Denali is the park in which Mt. McKinley is located. IIRC, Denali is the Athabaskan word for the mountain and means "great one", so much more poetic than McKinley! Our tortoiseshell cat is named Denali (we got her right after a visit to the park). It seemed most fitting for her, but, of course, all cats are great.

alanrichard 1:54 PM  

This was easy but the missspellings threw me for a loop. When I spelt tipografical corectlie and my answer for 31D didn't fly - I smelt a rat!!!! After that I corrcted my correct spellings to typogrpahicaal, and mispelled and readinng and it was apiece of cake from there. Actually I was pretty much done before I realized the theme. Cute puzzle today!!

ArtLvr 2:18 PM  

@ bill from nj -- The Brit-tilted examples you've noted were the same ones I was going to add in my first comment! Also, with all due respect to Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey, the thick old French hedgerows lining rural lanes that hung up our tanks following D-Day were unforgettable, if you saw them in any retrospective films.

Congrats to Rex for finding his wedding ring -- he must have got SLIM on a diet, or was about to undertake some greasy repairs!? And for anyone enjoying puns, try the CrosSynergy puzzle today -- a hoot, (as in hoot cuisine)... Happy 4th to all, and a safe one too!

∑;)

miriam b 3:19 PM  

Was I alone in thinking TAPA bar?

TIEROD brought back excruciting memories. We once had a Tradesman van which my husband converted for family use. I hated it with a passion, but occasionally I had no choice but to drive it. One day I was rounding a corner - fortunately in a residential neighborhood - when a TIEROD broke. It was later repaired, but some time afterward the van caught fire - but that's another awful story.

(Literal) woolgathering is done in HEDGEROWS. Sheep paasing through will snag themselves on the hedges and leave some wool behind. I'm not British, but I'm a word nerd and a knitter.

Now that I have a FURminator, I've gathered enough feline hair to knit an extra cat. I doubt this could be spun, though, as it's from the undercoats of 4 shorthaired cats and therefore has a short staple. They love being groomed with this thing. I've just sent one to one of the daughters I visited in CA. She has two spectacular longhaired cats of unknown provenance.

Rob 3:33 PM  

Actually, I did think TAPAS bar, but it didn't fit. :)

I don't get the criticism of the typographical error answer. Letter transpositions are very common, even using the same hand (in fact, I just typed "gte" above instead of "get"). Doubled letters are also a common reason for proofreading. :)

All told, though, this felt like typical Thursday to me, but Thursday is still rough for me. Like any other Thursday, I had to google a few times. :(

Ulrich 3:44 PM  

I opened the NY Times with trepidation on the train on my way home from JFK, at the end of a trip that deprived me of my daily xword fix for almost a month: Would I be able to do a Thursday puzzle "cold"? The easiness thus came as a very pleasant surprise.

I also see the P-A exchange in "typographical" as an example of an error that occurs when right and left hand are not completely coordinated, which happens to me a lot--in fact, it's the most common typing error I make, due to a technique that my wife only recently called "pitiful".

Rex Parker 3:54 PM  

Let me be clear. I am a terrible typist and my l/r coordination is a joke. But I do "RA" so fast that there is no way any other letter could ever slip in.

rp

Rex Parker 3:55 PM  

PS Sorry about Germany, Ulrich.

rp

mac 4:09 PM  

Welcome back, Ulrich.
I agree, this one was easy, my only double take in the tiki bar area. I thought serene would have been a little nicer than sedate, as well.
You've said all I would have liked to say to the puzzle, so I'll be quiet.
@miriamb: a friend's mother gathered the hair of her collie, had it spun into quite attractive yarn, then never knit anything out of it because nobody wanted to wear it!
@anonymous 1.17: my late cat's brother was called Hillary, after Sir Edmund Hillary, of course because he was a great climber.
Am getting ready to start preparing for tomorrow's cook-out. We may have some thunder and rain, so I may do it all in the kitchen, alas. No hot dogs and hamburgers, but skewered shrimp, pulled pork (son's job), small lamb patties with tsatsiki sauce, white bean and tomato salad. Baked apricots with vanilla icecream and brownies for dessert. Let's get out the Pam!

Pythia 4:19 PM  

Tourist's delight: UTAH, DENALI, VIRGINIA, YOSEMITE. HEDGEROW brings back fond memories of the Irish countryside.

Theme was okay, not too exciting, but overall a pleasant solving experience.

ALOHA and happy 4th!

Doc John 4:20 PM  

I thought this puzzle was challenging. Then it was easy. Maybe I shouldn't have been doing it while I was chatting online and reading email. I just wasn't getting enough of the downs to be able to parse out the theme answers. After I finished all that and concentrated on the puzzle, it all fell together- thanks OCHO!

@philly- LOVED the Windows error codes!

As for DENALI, those of you who just thought it was a car, go to the back of the line (it's actually not a car but the upscale version of the Sierra and something else). The mountain was also initially called DENALI but then some mid-level government suck-up decided that renaming it would be a great way to get into McKinley's graces. McKinley never even saw the thing. God only knows how the name stuck. I actually learned about Denali through the photos of Ansel Adams, many of which were taken there.

Unknown 4:47 PM  

Today I began to think that maybe I'm just getting better at these crosswords! It was the fastest Thursday I've ever done, I think. I haven't been stuck, needing Google, all week. Or is the puzzle master just giving us a break for the holiday?

I'm rested now, and hoping for some challenges so I can keep my edge!

ArtLvr 5:59 PM  

Welcome back, Ulrich! I enjoyed trying to follow the ins and outs of the competition on your blog -- it was exciting to hear your thoughts and root for your team third-hand all the way through the finals! Too bad victory eluded them at the end...

Have a good July 4th weekend, even if somewhat soggy!

∑;(

Anonymous 6:01 PM  

Maybe it's CUPPED because that's what the beggar holds? (a discarded coffee cup is common in downtown Louisville *cough* Starbucks *cough*)

What's the rule for "ameoba" and "ameba" if it's not specified with variation? Just curious because I've seen it both ways in puzzles...

Anonymous 6:52 PM  

Maybe someone already said this, but I missed it (have to read all the comments after a hard day's work...)

Re 'took in' (made):
Anyway, all my "Soprano's" watching pushed me toward the idea that when the Mafia takes in a new member, they're 'made.' Anyone else see this?

Also, it doesn't bother me that this was a relatively easy puzzle. My wife and I relaxed on the deck with glasses of wine and went thru it...quite nice. And it didn't terribly strain our puny brains...

mac 6:59 PM  

@xyzzy: cheers!

Anonymous 7:11 PM  

Ever tried to do a crossword puzzle on a Blackberry? Then you haven't been to Possum Kingdom, Texas, where the internets are still thought to be a hoax like the moon landing. But my 5 year old saw Grandpa and caught some perch and is excited about writing his name in the air with sparklers, so I'll take that deal.

Unknown 7:31 PM  

Wade
Been to Lufkin and St. Augustine Texas and forgot what decade I lived in, but the children loved the lake home and skiing (water) and naps and catching sun perch on Lake Rayburn. The NYT was impossible and only the craftiest could score a Dallas Daily News, but I wanted to see what living in Neanderthal Europe was like and have a glimpse of it. Kids don't want to go back but their memories are all of a simplier and treasured time.

Bill from NJ 8:02 PM  

Welcome back, Ulrich! Nice to see your comments again

Shanti11 1:14 AM  

Did anyone else put in "SOSO" for "50/50"? No? So it was just me then?

Rex, that Guess Who clip killed me. No microphone for Burton Cummings, no cords attached to the guitars, and an invisible backup orchestra complete with strings and horns. I can't believe what crap we used to put up with on TV.

I remember when the slogan for Pepsi was "It hits the spot", and I watched the Rich Man Poor Man mini-series when it first aired. Being old rocks for crossworders!

Anonymous 12:59 PM  

Is it just me, or were today's and yesterday's puzzles both easier than Tuesday's... I think I'm starting to agree with you, Rex, about Tuesday puzzles...

  © Free Blogger Templates Columnus by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP