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Constructors: Andrea Carla Michaels and Ashish Vengsarkar
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: Extraterrestrials — the letters "ET" can be found a dozen times in the grid.
OK, the real THEME is probably: "GO FISH" (1A: Card game in which a player might aske "Got any 8's?") — 7 fishing-related theme answers (8 if you count CARPS => 38A: Complains) ... but I'm right about the "ET"s.
Word of the Day: SLOAN (5D: M.I.T.'s _____ School of Management) — The MIT Sloan School of Management is one of the five schools of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is one of the world's leading business schools [...] MIT Sloan offers bachelor's degrees, master's degree and doctorates, as well as non-degree executive education programs. Its largest program is the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, which matriculates students every year from more than 60 countries and offers the widest range of electives of any business school in the United States.[1] U.S. News & World Report and BusinessWeek award it #1 in the most disciplines of any business school in the United States. (wikipedia, though the page reads like it was written by the SLOAN P.R. dept.)-----
Way more interesting, and thematically denser, than most Mondays, but also much looser, to the point that I'm not sure how to define the theme except very, very broadly. I thought at first there were just the three Across theme answers — different stages of fishing (baiting, catching, reeling in). But that seemed weak, and the stages weren't even in order. Then I noticed the long Downs, which have Nothing to do with fishing, but are both nautical. Then I looked back at the first Across answer, GO FISH, and thought that must be the title. And that's where I am now. I'm counting SINKER in the far SE (rotationally symmetrical with GO FISH), even though HOOK and LINE are nowhere to be found (except, you know, in SINKER's clue).- 1A: Card game in which a player might aske "Got any 8's?" (Go Fish)
- 20A: Fall for it (take the bait)
- 41A: Start something that one shouldn't start (open a can of worms)
- 57A: Be a sucker (get reeled in) — interesting that two of these clues should be sucker-related (see 20A)
- 11D: Algae color (marine green) — really don't like this one. Never hear anything described this way. SEA green, yes.
- 24D: Disney lyric repeated before "Darling it's better / Down where it's wetter" ("Under the Sea")
- 72A: Hook, line and _____ (SINKER)
Felt a good deal harder than the average Monday, but when I finished my time was only a few seconds over my average, so ... either my average is lower than I think it is, or this puzzle was pitched to a normal Monday level of difficulty. When I use words like "hard" or "difficult" to describe a Monday puzzle, I almost always mean "hard ... to burn through as quickly as I'm used to." Monday puzzles are almost never genuinely "hard" in any sense of the term. Here, there were four banks of 6's (NW and W, SE and E), which gave the puzzle a little openness. I was slowed most by DUMPS crossing PROTEGE. [Jilts] seems so much worse and more pointed than the simple DUMPS. I had DUPES, which I believe to be a plausible component part of jilting. Also PROTEGE and [Tutee] aren't a very exact match. If you have a PROTEGE, you are operating on a very high artistic or technical plane. Any schmo can tutor someone. I've seen many a [Tutee] that no one but no one would describe as a PROTEGE (unless ironic laughter were the intended result).Bullets:
- 16A: Useful item accompanying a face card in blackjack (Ace) — I don't like "useful" here at all. Unless you are McGyver. Then maybe you have real, non-card-related plans for that ACE.
- 22A: "The Simpsons" clerk (Apu) / 25A: "The Simpsons" neighbor (Ned) — aw, guys, you shouldn't have ... I love them!
- 49A: Bowler's button (reset) — me: "Bowler hats have buttons!?"
- 51A: Steeple contents (bell) — weirdly tough, in that "contents" makes me think plural.
68A: Verb go-with (noun) — I ... suppose, yes. If you are constructing a sentence, sure.- 63A: Boxing combo (one two) — today this evokes "ONE fish, TWO fish ..."
- 21D: Instill with the three R's (educate) — remedially, yes, but again I don't like the clue match here.
- 42D: Where streets meet: Abbr. (cor.) — far and away my least favorite thing about the puzzle. One of my most hated abbrevs.
- 50D: English monarchs from Henry VII through Elizabeth I (Tudors) — fishing and English royalty today; see also ETON (58D: School for princes William and Harry).
- 59D: Decorative needle case (etui) — the old-timer returns.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]
Very funny, @Rex, regarding ET being the theme.
ReplyDeleteI thought the theme was fun and new. Besides everything mentioned I also include TANS (what you might get while fishing) and PALMTREE (what you might lean against near the water.)
Loved PUEBLO and PROTEGE because I don't remember seeing them before.
I have to agree MARINEGREEN seems to be made up. It can truly be a color, though, just not one I've heard of.
I really enjoyed the puzzle and will always GETREELEDIN when Andrea, today with Ashish, contructs a puzzle.
ZEE means SEA.
ReplyDeleteSince I love to fish, of course I loved this puzzle. FREES can also be a theme answer if you practice catch and release.
ReplyDeleteA shout out to SETH right over GREEN.
Fun Monday - thanks!
The theme is Finding Nemo. There he is in SIMEON and in OPEN A CAN OF WORMS.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible for the best puzzle of the week to be on Monday? It appears so. Andrea and Ashish are an awesome arrangement.
instead of your "most hated abbreviations", why not clue it as:
ReplyDeletekosher symbol in Canada ?
I thought this was a perfect Monday - it had some bite to it, a lot of theme, and it held together very well. Plus it was fun. One type of fish, carp, shows up in the middle. As for non-fish comments, I always think Gil when I see Grissom. Too much CSI. And I'm thinking about going to Hawaii and while reading about it, I saw that palm trees were brought there from Polynesia. And now I'm off to a picnic. I hope everyone has a good Labor Day.
ReplyDeleteSebastian beat me to it: I was going to mention ZEE = sea too... Really neat puzzle! Many thanks, Andrea and Ashish
ReplyDeleteI found this one easy and pleasant. I did make a moue of distaste when I went around the COR.
ReplyDeletewhat about motet? I had psalm, which really killed me in the middle of the puzzle!
ReplyDeleteI was tootling along, as usual paying no attention to the theme, and finished in a more or less typical (for me) Monday time . Then I noticed that Andrea and Ashish had collaborated, said “Holy mackerel! No theme? This is fishy,” and thought I should look more closely. And I found it…..
ReplyDeleteVery much a fun theme and a fun solve. With 1A GO FISH, 72A hook, line, and SINKER, and even as bonuses 38A CARPS and the aforementioned 13D ZEE, the three across fishing answers, and the two down sea answers, the theme was much in evidence and well executed. Did NOT find much BLAH fill. Nothing whatever to say BAA about. I will even look the other way and not dis the two consecutive Simpsons fill APU and NED. I am in a good mood, so even the neighboring crosswordese fill ETON and ETUI get no eyebrow rise today. Non-puzzle wife is a L&O SVU fan, and there was a SVU marathon Sunday. Saw a lot of ICE T and was happy to see him again @ 12D.
Thanks, Andrea and Ashish! Let’s see more of your collaborations.
This was a sublime puzzle experience. It made me so happy that my husband had to come see what all the noises were about. Kudos to Andrea and Ashish!
ReplyDeleteExcellent Monday puzzle, just a shade harder than usual. Not to OPEN A CAN OF WORMS here, but wouldn't it have been even more fun to have all three entries on line 5 be 3-letter Simpson characters? Maybe work in MOE, or JOE Quimby, or Judge ROY, or Sideshow MEL/BOB, or NED's son ROD. Or is there actually a character called Ann on the show? Rex?
ReplyDeleteI love the song "UNDER THE SEA." It's grown a little stale from overplay, but Howard Ashman's lyrics are amusing, visually interesting, and contain intricate internal rhymes:
The newt play the flute
The carp play the harp
The plaice play the bass
And they soundin' sharp
The bass play the brass
The chub play the tub
The fluke is the duke of soul
The ray, he can play
The lings on the strings
The trout rockin' out
The blackfish, she sings
The smelt and the sprat
They know where it's at
An' oh, that blowfish blow!
Trust me, this kind of polish is hard to come by in lyric writing. It needs to sit cleanly on somebody else's melody, be singable, and absorbed by the listener's ear on a single hearing. No wonder Alan Jay Lerner complained that writing lyrics was like sweating blood. Thanks for the video Rex.
Now all we have to do is wait for Andrea to comment and fill us all in on what got taken out of the puzzle.
No need to be a "cross-chick" or "mad as an old wet hen" today, Andrea. Great puzzle! The 3 Across theme entries made me laugh because it reminds me of the items sold only on TV for $19.95 or $29.95. Thanks Andrea and Amish.
ReplyDeleteC.W. Stewart
But only one ET is diagonal, hmm...
ReplyDeleteTypical Andrea puzzle today with sports (RBIS, Jerry SLOAN, Bobby ORR, the SINKER, the ACE, Cool Papa BELL, the Pittsburgh WRENS, bowling, boxing...), gambling (ACE, RAISER, I BET, GO FISH...), and cars (Mazda PROTEGE, Ford MODEL A TUDOR, CAB, HONKED, IDLE, ACE Rent-A-Car...).
On behalf of Mascs everywhere, thanks!
SETH
Way to go, Andrea and Amish!
ReplyDelete70-something-plus squares of self-revealing theme material, with no need for awkward hints.
Delightful puzzle.
MOTET is a word I know not at all so MITET seemed equally valid. Which was bad since I had streets meeting at a CIRcle.
ReplyDeleteI took the bait, after a fashion. I thought it odd that we would have "Tutee" as a clue and then TUTORS as an answer. And I've even seen a few episodes of the TUDORS!
ReplyDeleteVery nice puzzle, very appropriate for Labor Day.
Thought I was so smart when I entered OPEN PANDORA'S BOX at 41A -- until I realized only one of the crosses after the first four made sense. How about COB and BESET for 42D and 49A?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great puzzle!!! Thanks Andrea and Ashish. Lots of fun - more so than yesterday!!
ReplyDeleteThink we will grill some fish tonight.
Just made some peanut butter brownies (using peanut butter cups) cant wait to taste them
I get my NYT at work so being off today I was going to skip a trip to Starbucks for my Times because Mondays have been such a snooze lately. Then I remembered Andrea mentioning that she had a puzzle being published today. Just for that reason I got the paper and was very happy I did. The extra bonus was to see the combination of Andrea and Ashish.
ReplyDeleteThe intersection of protege/motet slowed me down a bit but I like to use my brain on Mondays.
I don't know the Tappan Zee bridge but if it had been clued with a Dutch body of water I would have gotten it quicker and it would have fit the theme.
Thanks you two!
Wonderful puzzle, Andrea and Ashish. Great way to start the week.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had this much fun solving a Monday puzzle in like forever. Might even print one out for Liz and get her indoctrinated into the world of crosswords. So many fun entries and the to discover all the extra fishing related stuff in the grid as well. Wow. A+ with honors. Approved and then some.
ReplyDeleteVery good, little harder Monday puzzle, Andrea and Ashish. Lots of shout-outs, the Simpsons' for Rex, Seth and Greene, nein for Ulrich and I'm taking zee and Ned.
ReplyDeleteMy only blink was with cor. I don't know the kosher symbol in Canada, but how about --- blimey? Beset might not be Monday-easy enough, @Norm.
I liked SWF, reminded me that this morning I saw a car with WTF on it's licence plate. The young owner assured me he hadn't requested it.
Heard a new word this morning that might be useful in CW construction: spivened.
@mac I have seen WTF license plate . Also BFD
ReplyDeleteNow have to look up spivened
Fun puzzle.
ReplyDelete@Two Ponies: The Tappan Zee bridge opened in 1955, crosses the Hudson River North of NY City, is part of the NY State Thruway System...and is already falling down and in need of replacement. Go fish.
Sorry Ashish for the typo on your name...
ReplyDeleteA&A deserve a AA rating.
ReplyDeleteExcellent theme and construction!
Thanks!
Due to this blog, I feel I almost know today's constructors, as well as many of the commenters.
ReplyDeleteTherefore I recuse myself from commenting.
.../Glitch
Ooops, sorry I also misspelled your name, Ashish.
ReplyDeleteBut you get the idea, great work, enjoyed by all!
Thanks Ashish and Andrea for this fun Monday puzzle! I'm solving with family in Wisconsin and we're all having a good time with it. I fell for the PSALM entry, but that was about the only rough spot.
ReplyDeleteWe just dropped off kid number two at college in beautiful MN--exciting but emotional for the mom. I'm glad for the happy puzzle today.
Re WTF @ BFD - my favorite TX license plate is HUT 234. Was NOT a vanity plate. I picture a Marine drill sergeant......
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou know why this puzzle is so great? It's because it has a gestalt, the very feature that made it hard for Rex to define where the theme ended and where standard fill started. Its multilayered character is genius. There is the almost sequential more visible theme, with long across answers with Every Word being relevant to the theme, not just the first or something embedded. And then there is the bracketing GO FISH and SINKER
ReplyDeleteand then the non-fishy but aquatic downs to provide context, with evocative hints scattered here and there that many noted-- CARPS, ZEE... Even the PALM TREES and San SIMEON, perched on a hill with breathtaking views of the ocean. Wave after wave of free associations. Genius in a puzzle!
Easily the best Monday puzzle of all time, and I'm sure it is no coincidence that Will placed it on Labor Day.
ReplyDeleteEasy breezy.
ReplyDelete@chefbea: Those brownies sound great. Recipe?
Happy holiday everyone!
Concur with Foodie. And it did take a bit longer than normal Monday. And happening to do it in green ink added a nice flourish to 11D.
ReplyDelete{small quibble}Googling marine green seems to get pretty much nowhere. I think that, in the phrase "marine green algae," marine modifies algae rather than delimiting the color green. {/small quibble}
ReplyDeleteDon't take this to mean that I don't think it is a fine puzzle. It is.
The French say "oui", the Germans "nein"--do I detect a racial slur here? Just kidding--not from a soulmate and Afish!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks @foodie for pointing out why I got reeled in--it was the gestalt thing, of course...
ooops--misspelled Ashish's name, too!
ReplyDeleteRe our word of the day, I believe that the Sloan School is named after after Alfred P. Sloan, a man and a foundation to whom I owe a huge debt. Early in my career, I received a Sloan Fellowship, the first year they granted it in Neuroscience, and it gave me the freedom to do postdoctoral research anywhere I wished. Given that my husband was simultaneously applying for residencies, it allowed us to choose the best place for the two of us rather than face the terrible strains that many two-career couples have to deal with. That Sloan fellowship, along with a Rockefeller Scholarship I had as an undergrad, have been my greatest opportunities in life. So, if any of you out there are rich, I hope you will consider establishing fellowships as one way of spreading the wealth : )
ReplyDeleteWell hey, there's a perfectly legit clue for COR, as all docs reading the site will attest:
ReplyDelete____ pulmonale! And just right for a Monday, no? ;) Full of happy associations.
I didn't look at the byline but should have known that Andrea had a hand in this- easy, breezy and fun!
ReplyDelete@ Ruth- great clue for COR.
Surprised to see ETUI on a Monday but got it right off the bat this time- third time's the charm!
A&A if you were fishing for compliments you have REELEDIN more than a few.
ReplyDeleteAs for Rex's theme id: GOFISH.
Saw Ing. Bastards the other night - go see it now.
Happy Labor Day
Cor anglais is available too. It's always amused me that cor anglais is French for English horn while French horn is English for, er, French horn. And apparently the English call syphilis the French disease, whereas in Paris it's known as la maladie Anglaise. Oui!
ReplyDeleteForgot that Andrea was doing the puzzle today. I liked it for the reasons that @Foodie articulated so well. Organic unity. It's gotta be hard to do that and still keep it Monday smooth and easy. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteCOR makes me think of Mac Manc McManx from the comic strip Get Fuzzy. Mac, who is from Manchester, is the cousin of Bucky Katt:
Bucky: “So, Mac, you’ve been listening to all this American election stuff for a while. What’s the Manc take on it all?”
Mac Manc MacManx: “COR . . . Well, I’m right kippered on the skrikin’ an’ scally deeds an’ that. The chinnies are bang out of order, innit? Swear down, man, knock it on the ‘ead and that.”
Satchel: “Well, that makes as much sense as anything else I’ve heard.
Bucky: “Yup.”
Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 7/30/2009 post for an explanation of my method):
ReplyDeleteAll solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)
Mon 6:57, 6:28, 1.08, 66%, Medium-Challenging
Top 100 solvers
Mon 3:58, 3:41, 1.08, 73%, Medium-Challenging
Disclaimer: Not surprisingly, there are many fewer than the normal complement of solvers on this holiday. As such, there may be some bias in today's sample and the results may not be directly comparable to past puzzles.
Not a word about two LENTs in the grid? Is that kosher?
ReplyDelete(Yes, I can see that it's LEND/LENT; it just seems a little...strange.)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@ Jim H - there is only one LENT. Did you have another one instead of LEND @ 27A?
ReplyDeleteNot sure LEND/LENT is problematic - if it were, it would have been easily fixed by 60D LEST and 68A NOUS. I think those would both be OK FOR Monday.
ReplyDeleteExcellent Monday puzzle, so much more enjoyable than the usual meh Monday! Easy-medium here.
ReplyDeletefully concur w @retired_chemist, @chefbea, @kerfuffle, @Mr. Quigley, @RP...awesome Monday puzzle, super Labor Day theme...will be interested to see if Andrea and Ashish weigh in w comments on our comments; kudos to them for a delightful and clever puzzle...thank goodness I had one of my kids for the Simpsons clues...liked: LAM, HASSLE, ONETWO, RESET (a particularly over-used business/economy phrase these days), GUS...so pleasant to have so may thiings come together on Monday...ten times better than today's lackluster LA Times puzzle
ReplyDelete@PlantieBea - I'm in Wisconsin also, visiting the parental units. We should meet up for a brat n'a beer.
ReplyDeleteLoved the puzzle, just right for a Monday, thanks Andrea & Ashish.
Forked over $6.00 for Sundays puzzle at LAX, loved the puzzle and finished it with no access to Google but hated the price.
Off to the UP tomorrow.
@chefwen - Enjoy the UP, whichever part of it you are going to. I grew up in the Copper Country, home of the best pasties.
ReplyDeleteC'mon ACME, come bask in the glory! Loved the puzzle and loved that it was yours.
ReplyDelete@chefwen: just say the word...I'm in Door County. We had brats in/with beer with a large family group last night. Tonight's dinner is rack of lamb (a 4-H fair animal).
ReplyDeleteLate to the party today, but what a delight to see ACME and Ashish! Our long wait is over at last! Fantastic Monday puzzle. I agree with BEQ: this is the best Monday in a long time.
ReplyDeleteThank you ACME and Ashish.
Awesome puzzle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletePerhaps dear Andrea is blushing modestly somewhere outside our time zones on this Labor Day featuring her puzzle? (No disregard, only a relative unfamiliarity, to Ashish, which I've spelled correctly, but almost tried not to.) Since Acme is such a regular voice on this blog, there are tenterhooks ...
ReplyDeleteI'll have to read their comments early tomorrow morning. Goodnight.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 10:30 are you by chance-
ReplyDeleteAndrea Japanese Michaels ?
What a fantastic puzzle. Sorry I'm late to the party.
Today is my parents' 78th anniversary. It was a Monday in 1931 also. What a coincidence !
Ditto all the others - this was by FAR the best Monday puzzle.It deserves an award.
Bravos and Bravas to ACME and Ashish !!!!
Uhoh, once the Asian spam comes on, it's time to chime in...
ReplyDelete@Robin
Are you kidding? I've been basking all day!!!!! lurk lurk lurk!
COR blimey, Rex was nice enough to offer to let me blog our puzzle, but I was too anxious to see what he would think, as you know, I live for this blog!
I loved the One Fish Two Fish pic
and that folks found so many more tie-ins than we intended...
and wouldn't that be cool if ANN were Marge's middle name???!!!
(But it's, like, Bouvier, right?)
Best part: Rex has turned it into a wordsearch! (ET TU, brute?)
We would have CIRCLED the ETs, but then might not have gotten the A+ from BEQ!
(The fact it might get his wife to do a puzzle and share in his passion is what it's all about, no?)
@Ulrich
Afish!!!!!! That's no misspelling, that's brilliant and it fits with the theme, nein?
That's now what I'm going to call my fishin' buddy...
@Greene
Love those lyrics! I've never seen the film and I've got to say, the clue for "UNDERTHESEA" makes me blush!
(I'm old school and would have gone with "Octopus's Garden". All day long I've been singing the Beatles'"I'd like to be....")
UNDERTHESEA/MARINEGREEN making it unified, denser is all Ashish! (I'm embarrassed to admit I originally fought him over the long downs being water-related, bec my fear was that might be confusing as the theme was initially supposed to all be fishing metaphors that could be defined in a different way, but together would make a narrative, ending with HOOKLINEANDSINKER.
But that was 17 letters!
(Rex is right, we couldn't get the order to work perfectly as OPENACANOFWORMS should come first)
Fascinating to work with Ashish...as a Monday gal combining with a Weekend boy... I would say I can't live with such-and-such in the grid, and Ashish would giggle and change that fill, while making 5 new variations of the grid!
For example, I had never even heard of the word MOTET but I had to bow to his genius (@Foodie, boy am I glad I did, that's what the whole gestalt collaboration is about!)
We did lose some fun original entries: GONEFISHIN' and our fave... ITWASTHIIIIIS BIG!) we had to throw back into the ZEE...
Now I'll try and let Ashish get a word in edgewise!
;)
Everyone thank you! Gotta run, I think "More to Love" might be concluding tonight! ;)
This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 7/30/2009 post for an explanation. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week's median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.
ReplyDeleteAll solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)
Mon 6:54, 6:55, 1.00, 54%, Medium
Top 100 solvers
Mon 3:51, 3:41, 1.05, 68%, Medium-Challenging
There was an error in my midday report. I reported the all solvers average for Monday as 6:28. The 6:55 in this post is correct.
Andrea, it's great to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteI would like to nominate this puzzle for an ORYX. I think it would be especially cool if you won an award you named!
I saw in your interview with Jim Horne that you spoke about Gestalt! I had not read that when I first commented and used that term, it was so weird... It goes to show you that you and Ashish achieved exactly what you were after. We, the solvers, sensed it and got immersed.
And thanks to Rex and this blog, because a couple of years ago, I would have never appreciated this puzzle the way I did today.
Like many others, I hope to see more of these wonderful collaborations!
@ Purple guy: Your parents have been together 78 years!!! I've never heard of anyone making it to that point. Are they close to 100? What genes you must have, including great genes for emotional bonding!
I just want to comment that all our collaborations were done by email and there was no way Andrea could claim that I giggled. Thank you very much! :-) <-- unless that is a giggle.
ReplyDelete:-). : ), ), :-). : ), )
ReplyDeleteThat's a giggle...
i believe this is an unprecedented response for a Monday
ReplyDeleteHome team - 67
Visitors - 0
Make that Home team - 68. I liked it too, although I was a bit disappointed to see that Asta wasn't able to join in the fun.
That emoticon gives no sway to a giggle. Funny that I sensed that you didn't want that portrayed, and that Andrea betrayed you with that niggle. I jest. You two are a such an excellent combination. Is Patrick Blindauer getting jealous? I jest, again.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I do expect to participate at the Alameda event this coming Saturday. I hope that many of our bloggerel associates attend as well.
Gestalt is the word of the day, for me anyway. I trashed it when the term was over-used by fellow undergraduates at Berkeley in 1978. So nice to see the term arise afresh.
ReplyDelete@Fergus
ReplyDeleteWhat? This entire thing was JUST to get Patrick jealous now that he's been collaborating with HIS live-in lovely! ;)
And yes, I'll be going Saturday and have talked SanFranMan into it!
We are a bit worried the Bay Bridge won't be reopened by then, but as he pointed out "Well cross that bridge when we get to it" ;)
@PurpleGuy
I too am reeling about 78 years together...Mazel tov (unless he kidnapped her at age 11)
@Hazel
Well, there was always Glitch's recusal... My evil plan worked, flood this blog with my chatter every day for years and cow nay-sayers (horse neigh-sayers?) into a flummoxed silence even if they hated it! Bwahahahahahahaha
Because I have insomnia and I know you're up out West,Andrea: kudos again on this great puzzle! You and Ashish killed it. I failed to mention, Martha and I felt like we were on vacation again with all the breezy references - with San SIMEON alone we figured it was made in memory of our trip!
ReplyDeleteThanks again,
T
Because I have insomnia and I know you're up out West,Andrea: kudos again on this great puzzle! You and Ashish killed it. I failed to mention, Martha and I felt like we were on vacation again with all the breezy references - with San SIMEON alone we figured it was made in memory of our trip!
ReplyDeleteThanks again,
T
I've crossed that bridge a thousand times, and may even do so on Saturday morning since showing up before 10:30 isn't required. (You know I've either got to drive up from Santa Cruz or be a patient somewhere in San Fran or Oaktown.) By then, I understand that the span from SF to Oakland will be fully operational?
ReplyDeleteGlad you garnered Sfman; remember how we all had impressions of each other from posts like this, and we found out other things? I cite the Green Mantis, again for her take on our meeting a year ago in Alameda.
@acm - well good on you for one well-conceived evil plot.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, i think its pretty cool that this typically demanding crowd (esp. on Mondays!) is so enthusiastically supportive of your efforts. I think you must have broken @DK's mood meter.
@ACME:
ReplyDelete"Recusal", by definition, is neither positive nor negative ;-)
.../Glitch
Great puzzle which not only appeared on Labo(u)r Day in its original version but today in its syndicated version on Canadian Thanksgiving. Fish and turkey combo - delicious. Oui, oui de Québec.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the puzzle's original incarnation was on US Labor Day, and now in syndication is on CAN Thanksgiving Day and US Columbus Day. Good puzzle for a three day weekend - go fishing indeed. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteRex,
ReplyDeleteDo you have any info on where the movie my tutor is for rent? I would really like to see that one.