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Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
Word of the Day: whatnot (51A: What a whatnot has = BRIC A BRAC) —
n.
- A minor or unspecified object or article.
- A set of light, open shelves for ornaments.
• • •
This seems an OK puzzle, but I didn't enjoy it much. With the exception of (finally) figuring out "INAGADDADAVIDA" (48A: Psychedelic 1968 song featuring a lengthy drum solo), most of the effort didn't seem quite worth it. STOCKS AND SHARES is a meaningless phrase to me (30A: Paper assets). I mean, I know those words, but I wouldn't put them together into a grid-spanning central phrase. I just learned that there are things called "STOCKS AND SHARES ISAs" (Individual Savings Accounts). OK. Started out lightning fast in the NW, then got to WATER- and couldn't build on it at all. Two really bad wrong guesses (SALUTE for SNAP TO (8D: Acknowledge a commander's entrance, maybe), EAR LOBE for EARLOCK (?) (14D: One hanging at a temple) kept me at bay a long time in the north. Don't know who ALAN BATES is (15A: 1968 Best Actor nominee for "The Fixer"). This fact strangely does not EMBARRASS me. Stuff like HERBAGE and ELLIE meant nothing to me (35D: Nonwoody plant parts). [Blank] SLIDE could've been at least two other four-letter words besides ROCK. I certainly didn't know what a "whatnot" was (in this clue's sense of the word), and though the only -AC-ending word I could think of was BRIC A BRAC, it kept seeming wrong for various reasons (51A: What a whatnot has).The thing that irritated me most about the puzzle—in fact the only thing that I found genuinely irritating at all—is the clue for ORESTES (38A: Homeric character who commits matricide). If we are calling ORESTES a "Homeric character," then virtually every known character from classical mythology is "Homeric." ORESTES is not a "character" in either of the Homeric epics—not in the sense that English-speaking human beings generally understand the word "character." He is mentioned in both. Briefly. Despite the fact that you could lawyer up a defense of the clue on a "letter of the law" basis, this clue is fundamentally dishonest. Aeschylus wrote substantially about ORESTES. Homer simply waved at him in passing.
Bullets:
- 13A: Mezzo-soprano Marilyn (HORNE) — no idea, but didn't matter 'cause that corner was easy. Also had no idea "DONAHUE" was ever on MSNBC (25A: It was MSNBC's highest-rated program when canceled in 2003).
- 21A: French loanword that literally means "rung on a ladder" (ECHELON) — this was a gimme—a gimme I could've used in a much harder part of the grid. A gimme that was wasted in this already-easy corner.
- 37A: It has a denomination of $1,000 (T-NOTE) — uh ... OK. I was thinking G-NOTE, for obvious reasons.
- 41A: Weapons used to finish off the Greek army at Thermopylae (ARROWS) — I'd forgotten this. And rounding off the classical trifecta of clues, we have PAEAN (5D: Hymn sung to Apollo).
- 2D: Poet who gave us "carpe diem" (HORACE) — ah, the opening of this puzzle, when everything seemed so right. I went THAI / IN NEED / ARETHA / HORACE in about 10 seconds.
7D: Kaplan who co-hosted six seasons of "High Stakes Poker" (GABE) — at four letters, I figured it had to be him, but my incorrect SALUTE kept clashing with him, so I wouldn't put him in. TV poker, ugh ... more stuff I just don't care about. Puzzle is just outside my general sphere of interests.- 33D: Once-autonomous people of southern Russia (COSSACKS) — lots about them in Anna Karenina. At least I think that's how I know about them.Whoa, Tolstoy also wrote a novel titled, simply, "The COSSACKS." I did not know that.
- 12D: Letter on Kal-El's costume (ESS) — It's technically "Clark's" costume, but ... whatever. This was a gimme. Just covered the "ESS" specifically in a recent class discussion of Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns."
- 47D: 1980s Tyne Daly role (LACEY) — 'Cause CAGNEY wouldn't fit.
SYNDICATED SOLVERS (if it's Fri. Mar. 30, 2012, that's you):
P.S. Here's a birthday / tribute puzzle for you. Warning: it revolves around the lyrics to a song. If you don't know the song, the puzzle will be doable, but at least partially mystifying. The song was very popular, so I'm hoping it resonates with at least some of you. You can get the .pdf or .puz file here (at Amy's place). I'll post the solution later.
UCanSolveThis
Easy-medium for me. NW easy with the rest medium. 48a was gimme (except for the spelling) and was more than enough zip for any puzzle. ARETHA, COSSACK, SNAPTO, ECHELON, ....were icing on this excellent Fri.!
ReplyDeleteOnly major erasures were EAR RING to LOBE to LOCK and ARKIN for BATES.
Crossword Jesus works for me.
Exactly the same experience as Rex in terms of gimmes and errors, but my rating is Easy, may be because INAGDDADAVIDA was a gimme. It's one of my favorites, from my misspent youth!
ReplyDeleteAnother Friday, another gem from Patrick Berry!
ReplyDeletePatrick must have begun this puzzle with mischief aforethought; one doesn’t just use INAGADDADAVIDA in a puzzle by happenstance. And, as one who went through the Sixties in a suit and tie, the entry was a total mystery to me, praise be for gettable crosses.
(Wikipedia has a lengthy blurb as regards the song with the key piece noting that the song title was “In the Garden of Eden” but when the high-as-a-kite singer tried to tell the drummer what it was it came out as INNAGADDADAVIDA and, being the 60’s, that’s what they used for the official title.
Makes perfect sense.)
There were a couple of unBerryistic bits in the puzzle,( which seemed too specifically clued), like BRAIN and LIBERAL but, as ever, there was no dreck and there were at least two Hall-of–Fame clues, DEADON, clued as “Perfect” and “Not going with the flow?” for ATANCHOR.
Patrick, “You da man”!!!!
Hmmm... What happened to my strawberry? Weird! Swallowed by one of Andrea's exclamation points!
ReplyDeleteI've been rereading Laura Ingalls Wilder, and at one point they make a whatnot to display their bric-a-brac.
ReplyDeleteGlad you now know about STOCKSANDSHARES Isas Rex, as it will stand you in good stead should you ever move to England, Scotland, Wales or wherever people are either too friggin stupid to know that stocks and shares are the same damned thing, or are in loving love with redundancy. This side of the pond there's no such thing as STOCKSANDSHARES.
ReplyDeleteIs there a new puzzle paradigm where it's fair to randomly add a letter to a word and have it mean the same? TINT = TINCT so what's the damned point with the C? This begs the question, isn't it really INAGODADAVIDA?
PS: I hated the previous incarnation of the captchas, but at least I felt that I was contributing someting when typeing in two made up words. Now I'm wasting my time typeing two made up words.
I think my strawberry should be back!
ReplyDeleteAnd since I'm blowing my last post, I wanted to add that I really enjoyed seeing some favorite things traveling with their MATES: BRAIN in the neighborhood of TEST TUBE, TINCTS under PAINT, CURIO with BRICABRAC (from EBAY). And then there's THAI food as a starter, MARINARA in the middle, and my strawberry in the end. All with a psychedelic piece of music playing in the background!
Whack me with a TIRE IRON. Good puzzle that I did not do well on. hand up for EAR LOBE and SALUTE, for STOCKS AND SHARES being a weak center, and for GABE being erased and reinserted several times. Had ELECTRA (of complex fame) before her BRO Orestes. 20D was MONEY before the correct BONUS. Put CAMDEN before ORIOLE - sort of correct.
ReplyDeleteINAGADDADAVIDA needed EVERY cross. NOT in my wheelhouse. I was otherwise occupied in 1968. Appears to be a mondegreen for "In the Garden of Eden."
Last letter was the B in DRIB - had DRIP.
Thanks, Mr. Berry. I'll try to be DEAD ON next time and not EMBARRASS myself.
INAGADDADAVIDA went straight in. I think I may have listened to that while looking at OUI magazine.Taos was always at least ten years behind the rest of the country.
ReplyDeleteI want to encourage everyone to use that little circular arrow to refresh the capcha if you get a crappy one.
I did not know what a whatnot was... it's a what I did not want. Sorry, I just had to get that out.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend in seventh grade had the Iron Butterfly album with In A-Gadda-Da-Vida on it. Having been theretofore a pretty nerdy kid where music was concerned (I gravitated towards movie Soundtracks ala Andy Williams' "Born Free" and Lulu's "To Sir With Love. Be kind.), IN A-GADDA-DA-VIDA was my initiation into music that my friends liked and my parents didn't, so I loved it, of course.
Also threw down salute for SNAP TO and tried to force "zooey" in for ELLIE (Ellie was rarely seen on West Wing). I was annoyed at myself for not being able to recall who starred in The Fixer. That was another in a long list of less-than-appropriate movies my Dad took my then 11-year-old self to, most of which I don't now recall, but I remember really disliking that movie for some reason. (Probably simply because ALAN BATES was in it, now that I consider it for a moment.)
@Stan, if you happen by today: I'm betting you had the same thought about "Coat that's easy to take off" as I did. That being, "Not if it's dry, it ain't!" Will obviously doesn't hang around enough handy-man/contractor types. Hey, Will! You can run 'em by Stan and I for accuracy! ;)
INAGADDADAVIDA, Baby! I can't believe that was actually in a NYTimes puzzle. How much fun.
ReplyDelete@Rex - you are a few years too young to appreciate it and
@Ret_Chem - you are probably not too old but may have been a little too buttoned up to have appreciated it at the time or now.
P.S. I still don't know what a mondegreen is, even though I clicked on your (@Ret_ Chem's)link...will study that some more tomorrow...
ReplyDeleteHmm...guess if I post twice, I have to sort through another series of blurry words.
Damn, an hour to do the puzzle, and a half hour write up, just lost! Wow this puzzle has taken up WAY too much of my time! :(
ReplyDeleteMostly just listed my myriad mistakes...which in retrospect were not clever or interesting...
But i will repeat that I'll bet @rex might realize he does know who ALANBATES is...
The younger guy in"Zorba", wrestled nude in "Women in Love", was the sexy painter with Jill Clayburgh in "An Unmarried Woman" (?)
Come to think of it, he'd have to be 10-15 years older...
This whole puzzle GABE Kaplan, ALAN Bates, DONAHUE, INAGADDADAVITA, Cagney and LACEY would put Mr. Berry at about 55 yrs old, I'm guessing. Yes?
Just happy not to have googled, but not sure it was worth it.
No joy...except for an almost-malapop with Allie for LACEY, and then ELLIE popped up.
I'm so consistently amazed by Patrick Berry's mastery in making low word count grid's so smooth. I enjoyed this one more than I have any other Friday puzzle for awhile.
ReplyDelete@ pk - a mondegreen is in essence a homophonic phrase. The classic example is the eponym:
ReplyDelete"They ha' killed the Earl o' Moray and Lady Mondegreen."
cf.: "They ha' killed the Earl o' Moray and laid 'im on the green."
What the heck is an EARLOCK? I'm not going to google it. It's just too damn weird and ugly.
ReplyDeleteI would think that OVER NICE would be how you want your eggs. "Too accommodating for one's own good" would be OVERly NICE.
Where I come from, HERBAGE is what you fill the bowl with while you're listening to INAGADDADAVIDA.
I saw Alan Bates opposite Frank Langella in Turgenev's Fortune's Fool on B'way not long before he died. Good performance. Never saw The Fixer so had to have most letters to guess.
ReplyDeleteWas clear from start that 19A must be something paint like rather than a garment, but tried water based which threw me off. Agree that Stocks and shares is redundant.
NOTE on Captchas: these new captchas are a way to correct possible errors in converting scans of books, etc., into correct versions. we are serving as eyes to do that.
ORESTES - any other fans of LOGICOMIX? Very cool graphic novel featuring Russell, Hilbert, Gödel, Wittgenstein and the Oresteia.
ReplyDeleteAs with some others, INAGADDADAVIDA was a gimme.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to have a gimme for 1A on a Friday.
Had TAGS for PEGS for a bit.
Was mentally composing a note to Will explaining that one does not SALUTE when a Commander enters as I was puttiing down that wrong response. Needed a couple crosses for that one.
Didn't fall into the EARLOBE trap as I was confident of my uncrossed CURIO guess. Had I been as confident of my intial impulse to write in ARROWS, I might not have had FOLIAGE for HERBAGE for so long.
Pretty solid puzzle. ATANCHOR was nice.
-Brennan
@Anoa Bob - Nice HERBAGE tie-in.
ReplyDelete@pk - To un-obtusify (yeah, you heard me) retired_chemist's definition, the most common usage of the term is to refer to misheard song lyrics. Probably the most famous example is, "'scuse me, while I kiss this guy."
I have a severe hearing loss that wasn't diagnosed until I was in my mid-twenties, and I have an embarrassingly long list of mondegreens, many of which may be unique to me. The most painful, having grown up wistfully grasping at the tail winds of the 60s anti-war/flower child culture, is thinking until just seven or eight years ago that CSN&Y were singing "Poor Daddy in Ohio." When I finally learned this, so many years later, I kind of felt like a Beevis type coming off the HERBAGE: Whoa, man. The song was about Kent State? Coooool.
@Brennan, why don't you salute when a commander enters? (I love the sort of trivia one picks up here!)
ReplyDeleteCan see how this is a good puzzle. Nice mini-theme with "curio" and "bric a brac". The cluing, however, not so great. Whenever a non-native-speaker like me embarks upon a puzzle from the second half of the week, imprecise clues are deadly. "Homeric" ORESTES threw me badly today - in my view, this clue is wrong. Period.
ReplyDeleteAlso (and this may just be my not so good understanding of the language): How are ARROWS weapons? Would you call bullets weapons? They're ammo, projectiles, if you will, aren't they? Had ___OWS from crosses and sat there thinking "well, there must be some kind of __bOWS I never heard of".
dnf. rant over.
Liked this puzzle. Patrick Berry is usually fun constructer for me. Knew Gabe Kaplan, but salute held me up forever. Thought "Who, who are you?" was New, New Awlins first time I heard it. Also sang "Eleanor Frisbie"
ReplyDeleteoutloud at a party and knocked every one out. Sounded right to me. Won't even talk about leaving on a Jet Plane.
Tough going for me
ReplyDeleteOnly fun part INAGADDADAVIDA
Love that song
Expertly used in Michael Mann's 1986 movie, "Manhunter"
EARLOCKS and an ESS - Captain Torah. I am sure we would all SNAPTO (come to attention) and salute.
ReplyDeleteSpend a few Fridays nights at the Scene in Syracuse listening to 48A and watching the floor pulsate with light. After the 3rd or 4th visit and hearing 48A 20 or 30 times. I went back to my favorite: Captain Macs for cold beer, steamed clams and salt potatoes and great live music.
I was not overjoyed with the longs 19A and 30A. Like ORESTES they may be sorta kinda right... just not correct.
Time was the same as Andreas. My disaster was a misspelled avalanche (isn't the e what you scream when you are in one} for ROCKSLIDE.
I side with Caleb and found this to be a very good Friday outing.
*** (3 Stars) Thank you Mr. Berry
@tobias using the circle arrow on the robot test is escheating.
This is the first time I've had an "aha" moment in a themeless puzzle. I couldn't believe INAGADDADAVIDA was in a puzzle, and when I saw it, it took several erases (how liberating to use that word) to figure out how to spell the d%$#mn thing (that's for you, ED). It was a little before my time, but the guy who owned the collie we were forbidden to say SIC'EM to listened t it all the time and since I had a wicked bad crush on him, I pretended to appreciate it, too. I had no problem fitting in "Cagny." Stupid. Or rather, "dolt." Hand up for "salute" and "tags." Also, We recently saw WADEIN for "begin with enthusiasm," and, again, I like it.
ReplyDeleteCURIO, BRICABRAC - both remind me of the one about the guy who was arrested for beating a guy over the head with a small ceramic figurine. This happened in Japan in a rice field several years ago. First documented case of. . .drum roll please. . .one more pause. . .
Knick knack paddy whack.
If one "wades" in, one enters tentatively, imo. With enthusiasm, one "leaps" in or "jumps" in.
ReplyDeleteIsn't WADE IN is to begin with caution and DIVE IN is to begin with enthusiasm?
ReplyDeleteDitto to Rex's mistakes and @Anoa Bob's OVERLY NICE observation (love your HERBAGE comment)
Isn't the expression STOCKS AND BONDS? Aren't STOCKS AND SHARES the same things?
I know ALAN BATES from King of Hearts, GABE KAPLAN from Welcome back Kotter. Guess that would have been too easy to clue....
Easy Medium for me too just because guesses filled themselves in.
@deb, sisters used to sing along with the car radio and Paperback Writer was "take the back right turn" until I killed them all. ORESTES made me.
ReplyDeleteIn The Garden of Eden, by I. Ron Butterfly? I used to make out to that hymn.
ReplyDeleteHomeric!
Seems to me a blimp would be much more useful hovering over a stadium, rather than over an arena, which normally would have a roof. And for Deb, the phrasing of the snap to clue makes one think of him entering a room. As a general rule, military personnel are hatless, or uncovered as it's known,while indoors, and no salute is rendered.
ReplyDeleteThe cancellation of Donahue's show in 2003 may have slipped from popular memory, but it was a bit of a big deal at the time. The rumor on the Webs was that he was canned in the buildup to the invasion of Iraq because MSNBC thought he might embarrass the network by taking a critical stance on the war.
ReplyDeleteAn easy puzzle, because the difficulties can easily be solved with crosses. But it has many problems. Stocks AND shares? The display is called a "whatnot shelf." I never heard it shortened. A "whatnot" (usually plural, in the sense of "What small object is not there?") IS bricabrac. Rex mentioned some others. In my misspent middle age, I couldn't make sense of INAGADDADAVIDA, even though I had a student named Davida. All I could make it do was "In a Garden of Evil." A mondegreen for sure.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the puzzle, but I feel like 19-Across is crying out for a missing D. WATER-BASED PAINT is the default that turns up when you try to Google it. WATER BASE PAINT, on the other hand.....
ReplyDeleteWhat @Evgeny said about ARROWS, and what @Smitty said about its crossing WADE IN. I still don't get how wading into something means beginning it enthusiastically. The only reason I got it fairly quickly, however, was because I saw the same exact thing in another NYT puzzle recently.
@SethG stole my thunder on the Simpsons reference to "In the Garden of Eden" (well, he didn't really steal anything, he just said it before me), so I'll just link to that particular scene here (which happens to be from one of my favorite episodes ever).
"Wait a minute, this sounds like rock and or roll!"
No reason why 90% of puzzlers should know, but I think EARLOCK may be the same as side lock, the hairstyle worn by Hasidic Jewish men. Yes, Alan Bates was a wonderful actor. Was in the original play and film of "Look Back in Anger," e.g. Famous for the seminude wrestling scene with Oliver Reed in "Women in Love."
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kathy and Smitty on WADES IN.
ReplyDeleteFound this to be an easier than usual Friday, and kinda dull. Sometimes I find the themes forced and gimmicky, and then when there isn't one I think it's boring. Yeah, I'm like that.
Great puzzle, lottsa fun, may be my faster Friday ever - abt 30 mins, so rates easy on a Charlotte get away day; didn't have to finish it at the airport.
ReplyDeleteLike others, loved INAGADDADAVIDA; seems to me that only PB could make that one work. TINCTS as in tincture of iodoine, yes? Also liked 10D clue/answer ATANCHOR; had to read that one about 20 times to parse.
I remember Alan Bates in King Of Hearts. @Rex, you may want to audition Charles Plumpick as your avatar for this blog.
Oddly, the odd/hard stuff just fell in, e.g. whatnot/BRICABRAC. Weird how this sometimes works.
Unusual grid for a Friday, no? No stacks, sort of medium connectivity, really no difficult crossing at all.
Crossing LIBERAL with STAID? Really? Cross HERBAGE with INAGADDAVIDA? What KIND of herbage, may I ask?
Off to CT. Hope the snow holds up at LGA.
My first question was, "How is an EARlobe at the temple?" CURIO got me EARLOCK which actually works.
ReplyDeleteI had most of the mistakes already mentioned but happily fixed them all.
INAGADDADAVIDA is brilliant and I have a feeling why this puzzle exists. But as a whole the puzzle's not as sparkly in every square as Patrick's puzzles usually are. Still, it's a great Friday.
agree with you, @joho. Not my favorite Patrick Berry puzzle of all Friday time, but still really good and a very satisfying solve. INAGADDADAVIDA was a wonderful 14 letter gimme to start. Of the other 14s, they were just OK - thought about LATEXBASEPAINT (3 overlapping letters with WATER) but fortunately didn't go for it.
ReplyDeleteUnlike @Rex, the NW was the slowest for me, all b/c of ECHELON and EARLOCK, neither of which were remotely familiar to me. Also had no idea of a Whatnot but confidently threw in BRICABRAC (never knew what that meant either) off of the BRAC at the end.
Briefly had TAGS for PEGS, and TINGES for TINCTS (nice), otherwise a very smooth, fairly easy solve.
Easy puzzle for a friday for me.
ReplyDeleteA Berry puzzle is always enjoyable, though this one not as much given the things already mentioned by others: tinct, stocks and shares, water base (d), over nice, what not (shelf), wade in. But offset by the goodies such as inagaddadavida, snap to, and ebay.
I at least felt useful with the other 2 word captcha...this not so much.
I think I'll have the prik. Could you please make that nam?
ReplyDeleteCCR: "There's a bathroom on the right."
Had a whole lotta 'd's through crosses, and that led me to the correct drum solo (in an era that produced a lot of 'em---Ginger Baker and Blind Faith, "Do What You Like", was the best). A buddy and I went to Olsen's Music Store in Palatine, IL. He bought Iron Butterfly, I went with The Animals Greatest Hits. Played 'em both at his house, and I thought he got the much better album. Test of time says I won....
Tried Don Imus before Don Ahue showed up. I think Imus got fired later on...
Did a lot of snapping to once upon a time. Got in trouble at ROTC summer camp for looking down and admiring my shoe shine when a real officer walked by and I neglected to salute him. Cleaned a lot of toilets that Saturday while my buddies got weekend passes....
Sometimes a (very) little knowledge is a wonderful thing. Where Michael's expertise on Homer caused him to question Orestes, all I knew was that I vaguely recognized both and figured they might go together.
Evil
Worst P Berry puzzle I've ever done (what's the opposite of "damning with faint praise?").
ReplyDelete19A, 38A, and 44D are badly/erroneously clued as mentioned above. I removed 14D from my list because @Doris' post suggests that it may be a great clue misdirection lost on my ignorance. Then there is 30A. Stocks and Bonds is the phrase. Shares are not the same as stocks (mutual funds sell shares for example), but it just isn't a phrase.
Best moments of this puzzle are the posts by Anoa Bob and LMS.
Hadn't seen "The Fixer." I think one of Alan Bates' last roles was as the butler in "Gosford Park" -- setting the model for Carson in "Downton Abbey." He was also in "Georgie Girl."
ReplyDeleteHurts me to criticize King Patrick, who is far and away more responsible than anyone else for my love and appreciation of word puzzles...but this was not up to his usual high standards.
ReplyDeleteLoved INAGADDADAVIDA, even more so because it crosses TIREIRON -- a nod to Iron Butterfly perhaps? Also some nice misdirection at 8D (I had SALUTE forever) and 25D (I had DOLT, then DOPE, before finally getting it right).
However, there is lot in here that is more "at the margin" then Patrick usually delivers. STOCKSANDSHARES -- really? OVERNICE? Come on. WATERBASEPAINT? How come when I Google that, all I get is WATER-BASE*D* paint?
All in all, a decent solving experience, and perhaps I am judging Patrick by too high a standard, but this felt subpar for him.
And @Evil Doug reminded me of my other cluing complaint - "Psychedelic 1968 song featuring a lengthy drum solo?" I guess the year eliminates quite a few songs, but the Venn Diagram of songs that fit into at least two of the three circles (psychedelic songs, from 1968, with lengthy drum solos) is extensive, and I have to believe that the # of songs that meet all three criteria is >1.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also love SethG's Sciencetological take on the situation.
Had to google a bit but found it easier than most Fridays.
ReplyDeleteWe had the wade-in discussion a few weeks ago.
When I make pizza, I call the sauce tomato or pizza sauce. Not marinara. That term is used for pasta
Solving experience almost identical to Rex's, albeit (I'm sure) in quadruple the time. NW was Tuesday-easy. But slowed waaaay down in the bottom half. INAGADDADAVIDA was a nice aha moment, though definitely not a gimme.
ReplyDeleteAgree about STOCKS AND SHARES and WATER BASE PAINT. It's based, not base. These don't seem Berry-worthy. EARLOCKS seems like it was originally OARLOCKS and had to be changed... also had EARLOBES at first but those aren't really that near the temples are they.
The answer INNAGADDADAVIDA was a gimmee, the spelling of it was not.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly easy for me for a Friday, but I say that about any Friday puzzle I can finish in less than twenty minutes. Like Rex, had the who NW done in a flash (very easy for a Fri., IMHO) but messed up EARLObe. Also, with the terminal -S in place, I immediately threw in oedipuS for the patricide clue (Sophocles, yes, but I took "Hemeric" to mean "really old Greek").
Last to fall was th "H" in HERBAGE, since I originially started off with a "T" because I got hung up on thinking it was a play on words for "Stops and Stares".
P.S. Unlike many of you, I think WADE IN seems like a fine answer for this clue. To me it connotes tackling a difficult or uncertain situation by just throwing yourself at it and seeing what happens. It's how I approach Friday and Saturday puzzles!
ReplyDeleteSalute and foliage slowed me down for awhile, Alan Bates' performances were always good (I think I remember he was also kind of a bad boy in his day), Marilyn HORNE a gimme, and while I never heard of the song, the psychedelic part of the clue seemed to explain the screwy chain of letters. I liked it. Oh, and whatnot is pretty common IMO, just another word for etagere, which crops up now and then without raising any eyebrows.
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo, I'm getting a massage today, mani-pedi and hair style. Happy spa day.
At 57 A, I was FEEDing my fire before TENDing it, thinking 42 D could logically be (something)OFF, while creating four black squares from repeated write-overs at the end of 14 D.
ReplyDeleteFor those who continue to have trouble accepting WADE IN, correctly clued here, perhaps it would help to picture the Marines coming ashore.
Had the NW corner and a few entries before needing to google actors, Greek mythology and whatnots. But slowly I filled the puzzle. Had the same mistakes as Rex. EARLOBE for EARLOCK, SALUTE for SNAP TO and ROPE SLIDE for ROCK SLIDE.
ReplyDeleteThe lone square I did not finish was the C in AT ANCHOR. I kept reading it as "AT AN -HOR" and could not get any letter to fit there. Embarrassing.
This was a wonderful puzzle with excellent crossings.
ReplyDeleteALANBATES
Wow, How could we ignore Alan Bates in Zorba the Greek! To me, the movie and his role signalled a passage into adulthood in a way that was unforgettable. And of course the santori added to the memories.
STOCKSANDSHARES Interesting explanation of how they are different..."For example, "stock" is a general term used to describe the ownership certificates of any company, in general, and "shares" refers to a the ownership certificates of a particular company"
As usual, I'm not going with the flow. Never heard of INAGADDADAVIDA and IN NEED of every cross.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I lead an antiquesy sort of life and totally know what a whatnot is. Which left me looking at the clue thinking "Shelves. A whatnot has shelves." To say a whatnot "has" bric-a-brac is like saying a bureau "has" underwear.
A bit easy for a Friday, but not bad. INAG...was a quick spanning gimme. Just took a few tries to work the spelling out. Same reaction as most to STOCKSANDSHARES. And wanted that D on WATERBASE_PAINT. Just feels wrong. My time in Brooklyn helped me accept EARLOCK, even though I murmured that they were always SIDELOCKS in my hood.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, WADESIN is terrible for enters with enthusiasm. It's the complete opposite! As for the Marines comment above, don't they usually WADEOUT? Otherwise they're headed in the wrong direction...
I didn't mind this one too much. Perhaps it's because when I see PB's name I just want to like it.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of INAG blah blah blah. The psychedelic era kinda zipped passed me since I was living in a place that would land you in jail if you even mentioned the word pot.
@Loren - as much as I don't sing a PAEAN to puns, I'm still laughing at your paddy wack.
No idea what Rex is talking about today, either with respect to relative difficulty or quality. This was a seamless solve, even given a couple total unknowns such as ALAN BATES and Marilyn HORNE. INNAGADDADAVIDA was a gimme (the actual act of spelling it was admittedly not quite a gimme, but a couple crosses were all it took).
ReplyDeleteIf every puzzle were a Patrick Berry Friday, JFC would have nothing to post about here because I'd never criticize a puzzle.
Didn't know anything about "inagaddadavida" so the puzzle didn't have that hook for me. But a nice puzzle that I almost finished.
ReplyDeleteAs for "waded in", the definition is the way I've always understood that phrase - to "wade right in" means to make a very strong entrance. Maybe a regional thing.
GEORGE: My father opened his shirt...
ReplyDeleteJERRY: Yeah, and?
GEORGE: (nods to Kramer) Tell him, Kramer.
KRAMER: (matter of fact) He had breasts.
George nods, Jerry has a confused expression. Kramer keeps on eating. Jerry thinks for a moment, George can't even look anyone in the eye.
JERRY: What d'you mean, breasts?
GEORGE: (waves his hands) Big breasts!
JERRY: So what? A lot of older men have that.
KRAMER: No, not these. These were real hooters.
Jerry pulls a face at the thought.
GEORGE: I was throwing up all night. It was like my own personal Crying Game.
(Kramer, inspired by the discussion, decides to ‘noodle around’ with his new brainstorm. Later, he goes to test it on Frank):
Kramer brings out a garment constructed of canvas and elasticized fabric.
FRANK: You want me to wear a bra?!
KRAMER: No, no. A bra is for ladies.
Kramer holds the garment up to his own chest.
KRAMER: Meet, “The Bro”.
Oops, meant FORELOCK not SIDELOCK. Must have had SIDEBURNS on the brain (which is all in my head BTW)
ReplyDeleteDICTIONARIES!
ReplyDeleteVerb phrase
8.
wade in / into,
a.
to begin energetically.
b.
to attack strongly: to wade into a thoughtless child; to wade into a mob of rioters.
As I said yesterday, this puzzle has a certain Patrick Berry quality to it.
ReplyDeleteSTOCKS AND SHARES might be literally correct for the clue but as an expression it’s not a common pairing like STOCKS AND BONDS.
If you are an elephant, WADE IN is about as enthusiastic as you can get. Personally I prefer a piña colada on the beach.
My only hang-up up was WATER. Wanted LATEX (no snickers, please).
Evil Doug expressed my thought about ORESTES better than I could.
From the clue MILKED seems more fitting than SLAYED, but the plural of ARROWS does not end with an M.
I always enjoy a Patrick Berry puzzle, even this one....
JFC
I usually love a PB puzzle esp. late in the week. Usually but not today. Inagaddadavida was a no-brainer for this old hippie chick but the rest of the grid did nothing for me.
ReplyDeleteEarlock? Really? Is that the sprig of hair growing out of an old man's ear? Yuck.
PS. @Matthew, you are absolutely right. I agree with everything you said at 10:49 a.m. It feels good we can agree on something....
ReplyDeleteJFC
Kididdles
ReplyDeleteChildren's Songs
She Waded in the Water
Tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic
Written By: Unknown
Copyright Unknown
She waded in the water
And she got her feet all wet
She waded in the water
And she got her feet all wet
She waded in the water
And she got her feet all wet
But she didn't get her (clap, clap) wet,
(clap) yet (clap)
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
But she didn't get her (clap, clap) wet,
(clap) yet (clap)
She waded in the water
And she got her ankles wet
She waded in the water
And she got her ankles wet
She waded in the water
And she got her ankles wet
But she didn't get her (clap, clap) wet,
(clap) yet (clap)
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
But she didn't get her (clap, clap) wet,
(clap) yet (clap)
She waded in the water
And she got her knees all wet
She waded in the water
And she got her knees all wet
She waded in the water
And she got her knees all wet
But she didn't get her (clap, clap) wet,
(clap) yet (clap)
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
But she didn't get her (clap, clap) wet,
(clap) yet (clap)
She waded in the water
And she got her thighs all wet
She waded in the water
And she got her thighs all wet
She waded in the water
And she got her thighs all wet
But she didn't get her (clap, clap) wet,
(clap) yet (clap)
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
But she didn't get her (clap, clap) wet,
(clap) yet (clap)
She waded in the water
And she finally got it wet
She waded in the water
And she finally got it wet
She waded in the water
And she finally got it wet
She finally got her bathing suit wet!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Glory Hallelujah!
She finally got her bathing suit wet!
@Kididdles: King of Hearts wants YOU! :)
ReplyDelete@Kididdles I remember that song. Glad you brought back the memories of a child.
ReplyDeleteSo that's how you spell INAGADDADAVIDA.
ReplyDeleteTried to put a "fiveIRON" in the trunk before a TIREIRON.
Also "Dali" before DADA.
Got off to a flying start with this one, then ran into some turbulence right around the mid-Atlantic region. Having DOLT for DODO (25D), TITLE for TNOTE (37A) didn't help, nor did confusing the name of former running back Ed Marinaro with a pizza sauce!
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm really feeling my age Rex. Alan Bates? Phil Donahue? MARILYN HORNE? All household names in my book. But thanks for enlightening us about Orestes, ignorance of which did EMBARRASS me.
My mom always treated cuts with TINCTure of iodine, so TINCT must mean color.
ReplyDeleteThe Alan Bates films I remember best are Zorba and King of Hearts.
Tough puzzle for me, but finally managed to complete it.
ReplyDeleteHand up for starting with DON IMUS at 25A because I knew he had been fired from MSNBC & WFAN for his racist remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
The ballpark is usually referred to as Camden Yards, but I think its official name is ORIOLE Park at Camden Yards.
I think Sidecurls is the word I've usually heard for EARLOCKs. It's been awhile since I've read any of Chaim Potok's novels, but I think that's the word he uses.
I flew through this one until the NE. I knew and liked Alan Bates, but he took a long time showing up!
ReplyDeleteI also started with foliage, salute and feed, but those were easy to fix.
Donahue used to participate in the Westport crossword puzzle tournament, but I haven't seen him the last few times. I wanted Gabe for 7D, but was confused, wasn't he the teacher on that show with John Travolta?
Marilyn Horne was a gimme: years ago I went to a recital of hers in Hamburg. The program asked the audience to PLEASE NOT APPLAUD BETWEEN PIECES. I guess no one read it, she had standing ovation after standing ovation.
Hey, part of the caption says "marion"!
Do people still put tire irons in their trunks? jacks, yes (I started with the unidiomatic TIRE jack), wrenches, yes - but irons? Aren't those the things you use to get the tire off the rim? Useful if you have an inner tube that you can put a patch on, but otherwise you need to take the tire to a garage. Or is there another meaning of TIRE IRON?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I was happy with ORESTES. Sure, we know him through Aeschylus - but Aeschylus was telling us the story of a character, albeit a barely-mentioned one, from Homer. I'm happy enough (or so I convinced myself while solving) to call him Homeric.
I got here late, and have only 5 minutes, so I haven't read all the comments yet - apologies if I'm repeating points made already.
Purple Haze: "S'cuse me while I kiss this guy"
ReplyDeleteWanted CAPTCHAWRITER for 46-A.
ReplyDeleteBoss grid layout, Meta-PB. Can't go wrong with them inchworms.
Fave clue: "I hate it when that happens!" Even better: "Blogger ate my strawberry!"
Fave answer: ROCKSLIDE. Or anything else that invokes a Stevie Nicks video. thUmbsUp, 31.
The puzzle was so-so for me, but thanks for reminding me that "Ladder Song" is one of Conor Oberst's loveliest songs.
ReplyDeleteWas not crazy about STOCKS AND SHARES, which seems to have a "whiskey and rye" problem, but IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA was so great it made up for everything.
ReplyDeleteYes, Deb, I thought of you re: washing off a coat of waterbase paint. (Good luck!) But the clue was cute.
Remembering Iron Butterfly is making me want to lie down and soften the lights. Where are my Indian print tablecloths?
This week's puzzles have given me a couple of strong doses of 60's nostalgia, "Rawhide "ushering it in and Inagaddadavida ending it. I'm betting I have the vinyl in deep storage somewhere in my house, and the album cover is embedded in my memory. "Wades in" seems appropriate to describe the task of completing a lot of paperwork. Had earplug for way too long and loved the actual answer earlock. Convinced myself that epay must be a real company.
ReplyDelete"When a man loves a walnut..."
ReplyDeleteAs a little kid, I thought it was "Three chairs for the red, white and blue"; one chair for each color, I suppose.
being 57 years old innagaddadavida came right away but who is the picture of the guy with tie. that is not gabe kaplan
ReplyDeleteI didn't see an answer about saluting a superior...can someone please tell me why you don't salute a superior to acknowledge his/her entrance? I had "salute" in 8D for longest time...
ReplyDeleteWhenever I manage to finish a Friday puzzle in decent time, I expect to see an "easy" evaluation by Rex, so either I'm getting better at these things (doubtful), or Mr. Berry's just one of those constructors whose wavelength I get.
ReplyDeleteINAGADDADAVIDA counteracts almost every weakness in this puzzle (although it took quite a while for me to work it out), and I don't think there were that many to begin with. I know EARLOCKS better as sidelocks or peyot, but, however you say 'em, I've got them, so that fell pretty quickly. In fact, the entire top half came together in record time for me, although, like many, wanted to throw an extra "d" into WATERBASEPAINT
Only significant writeover: originally put in GYPSY before LACEY, and was going to get angry at Will for making a common musical theater mistake; that'll teach me...
KRMunson
ReplyDeleteSaluting is outside as you walk past.
When an officer enters the room you simply stand or start to as he tells you to keep your seat.If he is a dick or you have screwed up ,he will keep you standing there until he leaves.
There is a bit more to it than that but that is the gist of it.
Hand up to Evil Doug on both DONIMUS and The Animals.
ReplyDeleteINAGADDADAVIDA. What a wonderful word. What a great song to hang out to. And I love that it crosses HERBAGE. All we need in this grid is a BOWL or PIPE.
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle from PB, though I do have a couple nits to pick (as others have undoubtedly pointed out) . . .
What the hell is TINCTS? Thank goodness for crosses.
It is WATERBASEdPAINT. Try Googling WATERBASEPAINT and it wants to add the d. Even WIKI says it the PAINT is BASED on WATER.
STOCKSANDSHARES is not a phrase. The phrase is STOCKSANDbonds.
ARROWS are ammo.
When I WADE IN to the water I am taking my time. Probably because it is too cold to jump in enthusiastically. The dictionary may say “to begin energetically”, but I doubt that is common usage.
I once knew a spritely lady who spoke of "whatnots." She was 98 when I knew her, and referred to her self as an "aughty-aught" baby. Sadly, she didn't make it to 100.
ReplyDelete@Tobias - I recall several movies where a soldier salutes when he is reporting as ordered or is dismissed from his superior's office. The Sgt. has his orders and is dismissed by the Captain, who is sitting at his desk and not wearing his hat (cover?). The Sgt. SNAPSTO and salutes. He then waits for the return salute before about facing to leave.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts?
you salute an officer when you pass him on the street. when she enters a room, you snap to attention, but you don't salute him. someone yells,
ReplyDeletea . . . ten .. shun! and everybody (enlisted personnel) comes to attention until the officer says "at ease"
Yes, but Bird asked whether it's different when the subordinate enters/leaves the room of the superior as opposed to the superior entering the room.
ReplyDelete@bird. Not the way we were taught at Fort Knox, summer 1969. No saluting indoors, cover removed indoors, film world notwithstanding.
ReplyDeleteWhever I come into a Patrick Berry puzzle I immediately go into a lovely state of mind, sure that the puzzle is going to flow like butter. I don't know if it's because I put myself in this frame, or because of the puzzle's construction -- or both -- but the puzzle always does flow like butter. Oh, when it's difficult, it flows slower, but it's still like butter...
ReplyDelete@John V - Thank you for the explanation. And thank you sir for your service to this country.
ReplyDelete@Deb - An intervening Anonymous poster, who had a much more valid statement regarding hovering blimps than I did, nailed the explanation of why one doesn't SALUTE and entering Commander.
ReplyDelete-Brennan
@Bird and others asking - Saluting has specific rules. Normally one salutes in passing when outdoors, as previously mentioned. There are also occasions when in formation that saluting is appropriate, but none of those are dependent upon an officer entering a room or building.
ReplyDeleteSaluting indoors is confined to reporting (defined below), which is usually accurately portrayed in movies. When one formally reports indoors to a superior officer for a specific purpose (most often while presenting oneself for discipline or while meeting an evaluation board, rarely for reporting a specific fact) the salute is rendered.
As a previous poster mentioned, one must SNAP TO attention upon the arrival of a Commander. This is, as mentioned, normally a brief courtesy, unless the Commander is arriving to commence a Commander's Call. At Commander's Call (CC), people typically remain at attention as the first business of CC is to recognize superior performers during a decoration ceremony. Attendees remain at attention until formal recognition is complete. If there are multiple recipients, there are moments of "at ease" between each presentation for applause. If there are many recipients, Commanders will often order a general "at ease" to allow some blood flow to the legs of attendees.
This is all Air Force specific, but Army is basically the same. Your mileage with other services may vary. ;-)
-Brennan
Finished it completely, and fairly quickly for a Friday, but what some others here liked, nearly ruined it for me. I never heard of inagaddadavida, and it is one of those answers where every single letter could well be something else, which means I had to know every single down clue to get it. As usual, what Rex didn't know was easy for me - Bates, Donahue, Horne, Orestes, and what he calls a "gimme" is often a "no way" for me. But outside of that one impossibly obscure (to me) rock song, I really enjoyed this puzzle. My familiarity with "Cossacks" is probably an unusual one - there was a Nelson Eddy song called "Ride Cossack Ride" from an old movie "The Balalaika"
ReplyDeleteRE: STOCKSANDSHARES. The clue didn't ask for a phrase it asked for paper assets. I own STOCK in a few companies and SHARES of several mutual funds, i.e. paper assets. It's a Fri. puzzle. STOCKSANDBONDS is a Tues. response to the clue at best!
ReplyDelete@John V -- exactly what we were taught at The Great Lakes Recruit Training Center in the fall of '65.
WATERBASEPAINT, however, was a tad iffy.
OT. Weather in DC causing weather hold in Charlotte, now at least 3 hrs late. @evil :Help :'(
ReplyDelete@OISK - don't you mean "Ride Carpet Ride" by Blues Image? Oh, wait. I get it. Mondegreen!
ReplyDeleteMutual funds are companys sells shares in their companys. Publicly traded companys sell shares. I own 100 shares of Home Depot and 100 shares of Fidelity Preferred High Growht Mutual fund. They are exactly the same thing, proportional ownership of a corporation.
ReplyDeleteI've worked on Wall St for over thirty years, and have never heard the phrase "Stocks and shares" outside of the Stocks and Shares Isa, their version of an IRA, in Great Britian.
John V: Drink heavily. I recommend Yuengling Lager.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, John.
Doug
Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation of my method):
ReplyDeleteAll solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)
Fri 22:06, 25:12, 0.88, 26%, Easy-Medium
Top 100 solvers
Fri 11:11, 12:29, 0.90, 32%, Easy-Medium
My favorite salute: The aircraft commander (USAF) or captain (Delta) is saluted by the dispatching ground crew/agent (the guy outside) to indicate the aircraft is secure and ready, and returned by the pilot when the engines are safely started and the crew is ready for taxi. It's like the handoff of responsibility for the aircraft---"Captain, it's your baby; don't screw it up."
ReplyDeleteDoug
@jae...I hear you that this is Friday so shouldn't be any gimmes, and, yes, STOCKSANDSHARES is technically a correct answer for "Paper assets". But the phraseology has to have some merit, and this one doesn't, especially coming from PB. It's like having a clue of "Europeans" and the answer being DUTCHANDGERMANS.
ReplyDeleteWHATNOT brings back good memories of my Mother telling me that some BRICABRAC that I was looking for was there. I never realized that was a real word before. Thought my mom made it up!
ReplyDeleteHand up for SaluTe.
I think that I am way too young for this puzzle. In-A-Vat - WHAT!?!
ReplyDeleteThat said, rocked 'ORESTES' and completely agree with Rex on this one. As for the rest, had fun tryin' and resisted use of da google!
@ Sir Hillary -
ReplyDelete"It's like having a clue of "Europeans" and the answer being DUTCHANDGERMANS."
Actually I like that better than STOCKS AND SHARES.
@Good Girl
ReplyDeleteHopefully you can catch Z the Greek on AMC and Inagaddadavida on Youtube. You dont dance to the latter but do to the former.
Instead you find a bean bag, stretch yourself out, imagine that hookah next to you, set aside your worries for the next 16 or so minutes and then hear the wonderful drumming.
"Stocks and shares" is a thing. It has legal meaning the the UK. (Rex, perhaps unknowingly, said as much when he referred to a "stock and share Isa." An Isa is the UK equivalent of an IRA.)
ReplyDeleteA possible knock on the entry is that it didn't have a UK signal. The reason that it didn't is that the phrase sometimes appears in US financial writings. (Google will find you some.) But it's admitedly one of those quaint phrases, like "oyer and terminer" that Brits utter because Disraeli did.
@Sir Hillary -- Point taken.
ReplyDeleteThis week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 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 7:34, 6:49, 1.11, 91%, Challenging
Tue 8:35, 8:52, 0.97, 46%, Medium
Wed 13:03, 11:50, 1.10, 77%, Medium-Challenging
Thu 19:13, 18:59, 1.01, 55%, Medium
Fri 22:07, 25:12, 0.88, 26%, Easy-Medium
Top 100 solvers
Mon 4:05, 3:40, 1.12, 91%, Challenging
Tue 4:32, 4:35, 0.99, 52%, Medium
Wed 6:42, 5:52, 1.14, 88%, Challenging
Thu 8:45, 9:17, 0.94, 45%, Medium
Fri 10:43, 12:28, 0.86, 28%, Easy-Medium
The word "elm" doesn't appear anywhere in Gray's Elegy In A Country Churchyard.
ReplyDeleteElegy In A Country Churchyard
ReplyDeleteStanza 4:
Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
To "anonymous"...Am sure you will not be surprised to learn that I have never heard of "ride carpet ride" or anything else by the blues brothers, but the last time I checked, "ride cossack ride" was available on youtube...
ReplyDeleteBusy end of week, and killer puzzle...125 comments - what did I miss!!!
ReplyDeleteLiked it, though knowing that ECHELle was also French for ladder caused a DNF.
And dumb type left 35D as HERBAGs, which I think is somethign women go to Jenny Craig to get rid of...
Hope I can get around to Saturday before Sunday!
@evil doug - The Navy does the aircraft hand-off salute better than the AF. In the AF, the pilot taxis away after the salute. On a carrier, the catapult launches the pilot into the sky. Too cool.
ReplyDelete-Brennan
@Thomas Gray: and I wanted yews!!
ReplyDelete"STOCKSANDSHARES"- Serously?
ReplyDeleteBear with me, I'm working on a theme here.
Humming INAGADDADAVIDA while counting my STOCKSANDSHARES in a wildly profitable WATERBASEDPAINT company.
Sorry.
I liked this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI forgot I knew INAGADDADAVIDA!
Like others, I didn't love STOCKSANDSHARES or TNOTE, but puzzle-crafting can't be easy nor adored by everyone, can it?
Off to do Rex's birthday / tribute puzzle for we syndicated solvers. Thanks, Rex!
Couldn't finish the southeast. In pre-television days where we lived in 1968, I was raising two small children, and the music in our house was along the lines of Itsy Bitsy Spider and This Old Man. So 48A was just a string do gibberish to me. Combine that with the fact that I refused to write in shares, thinking it was synonymous with stocks, and my maple syrup is thick, it was a DNF day.
ReplyDeleteMaybe tomorrow....
My initial run at this was disastrous but because it's a PB puzzle I knew that if I stuck to it I could solve it - so I did, and I did. There's something about his cluing that just works for me, even when it produces some unlikely results (examples already provided).
ReplyDeleteThanks @Rex for the link to the b-day puz - I tried the link from your fb page without success, but the one here workd fine.
Didn't know INAGAD... I guess cuz I spent 1968 in shirt and tie working as a programmer and getting married all while listening to @DMGrandma's type of music.
ReplyDeleteORESTES is also the real first name of Minnie Minoso, one of only two major leaguers in play in five different decades (1940's to 1980's).
Always enjoyed the roles played by ALAN BATES over the decades. Even near the end of his life, he was very impressive as the discreet butler in Robert Altman's Gosford Park, essentially the same part now played by Jim Carter (Carson the butler) in Downton Abbey.
And thanx @Rex for the bday puzzle - a real BONUS for those of us AT ANCHOR on the good ship syndicate.
Hello from Syndicationland (also from Montreal, though not Waxy),
ReplyDelete@Z (9:18 AM): I doubt I'm the first to think of it, but for the opposite of "damning with faint praise," I have used the expression "praising with faint damnation." My typical example: Hitler wasn't a very nice guy.
My mondegreen, from a classic by The Who: "Talkin' 'bout my jittery shoes."
Thanks, Rex, for posting the birthday/tribute puzzle. I don't know why it is only for us syndi solvers, but perhaps that will become clear when I try to solve it.
smacd (a long-time reader, first-time commenter)
I know, from reading the blog from a couple of days ago, that "no erasures" isn't a bragging point, but I had none on the birthday / tribute puzzle = Easy-Easy.
ReplyDeleteNice of you to think of us who solve several weeks later though, Rex.
I didn't know you cared!
@anony 9:23 pm - Glad you decided to leap into the fray; syndiland has lots of lurkers but only a few commenters. We need more of you to take part in the fun!
ReplyDeleteRe mondegreens, a friend of mine from a long time ago thought the Robert Palmer song was, "I get a back ache from loving you". I told him he was obviously doing it wrong.
@Dirigonzo (9:47 PM): Thanks for welcoming me. I’ve wanted to contribute before but had always felt five weeks late for the party. Knowing there are other “lurkers” out there (I’m new to some of this lingo, too), I’ll try to contribute more.
ReplyDeleteI hope your friend’s back is better now. Technique is important!
smacd
Late post; was tied up in a poker tournament most of the day. That's why GABE was a gimme. He's become quite the high-stakes player, far from the old Kotter days. (He's pretty damn good, too.)
ReplyDeleteEARLObe and foliAGE looked so obvious, they really had me hung up for a long while. Then I had TINgeS for TINCTS (! really?!?) and was forever unearthing DONAHUE (the "of course, you DODO!" moment). The last thing that went in was a head-shaking AND between STOCKS and SHARES. It all fit, but HUH?! was my reaction. Do we say "milk and quarts" or "bread and loaves?" Really, Mr. Berry, you take too many liberties. OK, someone unearthed a place where the phrase STOCKSANDSHARES is actually used--but that place lies beyond the horizon of most of us.
I finished all right, and with no help, but I had the feeling that Mr. B. was rooting against me the whole way.
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ReplyDeleteFirst pass gimmes: ARETHA/THAI, GABE,
ReplyDeleteIN_ _ _ _ DADAVIDA.
Zippo on the 2nd pass. Decided GADA looked better then GADDA, so I charged ahead with INNA GADA DA VIDA,
3rd pass: found MARINARA, which broke open the NE quadrant.
That gave me WATER BASE PAINT which opened up the the NW. Top portion done.
SE was conquered when DIVE IN was entered in the wrong place, then eventually moved to the right place where it became WADE IN, and everything else fell into place (nice clue for 43d; Camden Yards is the only park I know in Baltimore; I always forget the "Oriole Park at" part)
got nowhere in SW until I remembered my initial uncertainty of the Iron Butterfly spelling. Once I changed to the correct spelling the puzzle solved itself, as most Patrick Berry puzzles do eventually.
note: 5a +9a = AL.
"Marionette" by Mott The Hoople (Ian Hunter)
ReplyDeleteNo puppet, no liar, wont bend my lips to wire - no
Dont pressurize me so
Dont gamble, with my life, or you wont live to do it twice
Oh take some good advice from me
And let the wires rock
All dressed in black so nobody sees you
Smile in the wings, tell me I please you
Call me a king and watch for the wordworm to choke me
And youre like a giraffe, the performance is poor
Watch the audience laugh as my head hits the floor
When Im broken in half you still reach for the floor
Stop!
Ive had enough of this
The pantomimes reversed
I need -you feed
I greed - you bleed
Marionette - I aint one yet
Teachers pet - well youd better forget it
Marionette - I aint one yet
Teachers pet - go check your stocks and shares
And when the coffin comes make sure theres room for two
You lied - I led
I died -youre dead
Marionette - I aint one yet
Teachers pet - youd better forget it
Marionette - I aint one yet
Teachers pet - go check your product
A traitor, deceiver, a groovy disbeliever I thought
A puppet was a thing cheap-taught - no way
Creator, conceiver, romantic love receiver - caught
Who are you
The nerve
I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get
Out, ahhhhh!
Oh he wanna play chords to the chick on the street
He wanna play words to a world that dont speak
He wanna play people who play hide n seek when they dont talk
He wanna play a riff to the man with the wires
He wanna play lead but his hands getting tired
He just wanna play but dont know how to say - stop
Ok, the shows been fun
But my woods begun to warp
They won -Im done
New one - begun
Marionette - I did my best
Teachers pet - it just couldnt last
Marionette - get me out of this mess
Teachers little pet - it happened so fast
Marionette - now I need a rest
Teachers pet - wheres my sanity gone - mother?
Marionette - I did my best
Teachers little pet - Im just like all the others
They gambled, with my life
And now Ive lost my will to fight
Oh God these wires are so tight....
Im just a marionette.