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Site of Missouri State Fair / TUE 7-30-13 / Martial arts actor Steven / Upholstery materials / Glossy cloth
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Constructor: Peter A. Collins
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
THEME: Top five greatest songs per "ROLLING STONE" — Just ... famous songs, clued as if they weren't songs + ellipsis + "and #whatever on the list." Magazine title just happens to be embedded within one of the song titles:
Theme answers:
- 18A: Honor ... and #5 on a list by 40-/46-Across of the 500 greatest songs of all time ("RESPECT")
- 22A: Fulfillment ... and #2 on the list ("SATISFACTION")
- 34A: With 40- and 46-Across, mossless? ... and #1 on the list ("LIKE A / ROLLING / STONE")
- 54A: Casual greeting ... and #4 on the list ("WHAT'S GOING ON?")
- 61A: Pretend ... and #3 on the list ("IMAGINE")
Word of the Day: SEDALIA (70A: Site of the Missouri State Fair) —
Sedalia is a city located about 30 miles (48 km) south of the Missouri River in Pettis County, Missouri. U.S. Highway 50 and U.S. Highway 65 intersect in the city. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 21,387. It is the county seat of Pettis County. The Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Pettis County. Sedalia is the location of the Missouri State Fair and the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. On May 25, 2011, a tornado ripped through Sedalia, causing significant damage to much of the southern side of the city. (wikipedia)
• • •
Yep, those songs sure do line up symmetrically. Now that we've all observed this coincidence ... on to Wednesday's puzzle.
It’s pathetic how much significance I attach to the Times puzzle, which is easy on Monday and gets progressively harder as the week advances. I’ll spend fourteen hours finishing the Friday, and then I’ll wave it in someone’s face and demand that they acknowledge my superior intelligence. I think it means that I’m smarter than the next guy, but all it really means is that I don’t have a life.As for this puzzle, there's really not much else to say. Five songs. There they are. I enjoy the songs. I enjoy thinking about them, a little. Imagine all the ERASERS / Livin' for SED-AAAAAAA-LI-IIII-I-IA. And good night.
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84 comments:
C'mon, WHAT'SGOINGON isnt' even Marving Gaye's 4th best song, much the 4th best song of all time.
Wow! The top five songs on RS's list fit symmetrically in a grid. I'm impressed that Peter noticed that. Plus it's pretty smooth.
Medium-tough for me too with SEDALIA as a WOE, but no erasures.
Like the theme a lot, but haven't been able to convince my granddaughter that LIKE A ROLLING STONE is worthy of the No. 1 spot. Dylan maybe an acquired taste for the Millennials?
Well, it's not the ACME of crosswords, but quite a fine offering.
IS JAG really a "Caddy alternative"? I don't see a fan of either one as looking to the other as an option.
I found this puzzle harder than the average Tuesday. It's not because the theme is trivia-heavy....I was just off my game. ADDICTS before ABUSERS took me way too long to correct even though I should have spotted ABE Vigoda right away. I had -RA- of 27-Down and I just could not think of anything else besides OMAN.
I must have developed an aversion for themes which cross-reference multiple other answers in the grid. It's not really a problem in this grid since it occurs only a couple of times -- it's just that when I saw the words "on a list by 40-/46-Across...." at 18-Across, I stopped reading it and jumped to another clue. I can't really explain why I'm not crazy about that type of clue....maybe it's because it potentially forces you to jump to another section of the grid to figure out the answer to the cross-reference entry? I dunno. That's not the fault of the constructor or the puzzle itself -- it's just a personal aversion of mine to that kind of theme.
I guess it's neat that those top #5 songs can all be fit symmetrically, and since I realize it's impossible to place them in order from #1-#5 or vice versa, it's good that #1 went dead center.
But anyway, I was more concerned about the fill: ECU, ENT, STA, SLOES, ILE, ARB, LGS, OSTE, SAS, and SEDALIA. Not much else I thought really stood out. KUNG FU next to SEAGAL is kinda funny, although Wiki tells me he didn't train in Kung Fu.
I'm guessing they couldn't clue 57-Across David BOWIE so as not to distract from the theme entries. That nearly sunk me too because my last letter in was a W to make WOWIE/WILE, but I fixed it before stopping the clock.
Lotsa slop fill, but lots of smile inducers, too.
Whenever I hear or read the phrase "Bowie knife," I'm immediately back in (circa) 1965, sitting with my dad around his old reel to reel Wollensak, listening to recordings of all the great '30s radio programs and movie comedy soundtracks. The Shadow, Amos 'n' Andy, Fibber McGee and Molly, Jack Benny, Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, and dad's favorite, W.C Fields.
To this day, when confronted with a compressed, non-moving throng, "I unsheathe[] my Bowie knife, and cut a path through this wall of human flesh...dragging my canoe behind me!"
Heh
Mississippi (1935)
Found this easy as I already knew the songs on the Rolling Stones all-time best list.
But URAL, honestly. Is there any other more over-used word?
Rushing to get this done as we had to leave by five to get to a welcoming party. Just slid in under the wire and loved it. Didn't grasp the theme immediately, but when I did it all fell together beautifully. LIKE A ROLLING STONE blew the whole thing open.
Thank you Mr. Collins, keep them coming, you are a master.
I love that LIKE A ROLLING STONE literally rolls across the grid.
Noticing symmetry of the five songs is a puzzle construction coup in itself. all five. It should not be pooh poohed on any level.
This should be shown R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
WHATSGOINGON is cool synchronicity and fabulous music!
I like BOWIE as a bonus answer, esp given his relationship with Mick Jagger (ARCH highbrow here)
@Rex
Funny I just read the Sedaris piece about Australia in an old New Yorker at a laundromat (yes, that's how I celebrated my puzzle in between running to the blog). Very poignant about kookaberras and his semi-abused childhood.
SEDARIS really does fit nicely with ERI and SSN. But then those would've gotten slagged. Seems to be the nature of the beast here...
Steven SEAGALL used to live upstairs from my sister and he had a mean dog named Rambo and used to be incredibly abusive to his then wife donthatemebecauseimbeautiful Kelly LeBrock. Blech.
SEAGALL should have crossed with ABUSERS.
Now she lives downstairs from the boy from Glee who just overdosed. She told me about that years ago, he had to have full time minders due to his drug abuse. Apparently the sweetest guy tho. She has not had the best of luck with Hollywood neighbors. Tough town.
I count SATEEN as a bleedover.
I don't understand the Caddy/JAG connnection is that golf? OH cars!!! (headsmack)
Loved KINGFU, OPAL, OGRESS... I remember using OGRESS in a puzzle and was told it wasn't a word! Ha! They exist and live in IGLUS.
ICE BLUE KUNG FU is an anagram of Lube Cue If Gunk, which sounds like (but is not) good advice for aspiring pool players.
It's best to simply wash ones hands with soap and water.
I had BAG for 'Caddy Alternative" and BAR for "Honey Container."
Well, some BARS, as in candy bars, do have honey and good bartenders have ingredients at hand. Especially if someone wants Mead.
Rex – thanks for reminding me about that Sedaris essay. In some other piece he said something like to finish a Saturday Times, you have to have a “mind that can bend spoons.” I try not to use the words “awesome” or “amazing” too often. I save them for how I feel about David Sedaris’ writing. Hyperbole just bubbles up and LETS RIP. His word choice, organization, conclusions. . . He. Is. Brilliant.
Nice puzzle, Peter! I agree that it’s quite the observation that the top five songs can fit symmetrically. I especially like the way LIKE A ROLLING STONE staircases bam bam bam across the middle. With JAGger and WATTs, I went back to make sure there was no “Wood” or “Rich” or anything. Be still my heart. . .
I will openly admit that I always enjoy SEAGAL in Under Siege when I stumble upon it while channel surfing. And while I’m owning up to having a completely un-erudite taste in movies, I’ll share this clip of a movie I ended up watching again the other day. This is one of the greatest moments in cinematic history if you ask me…
Oh Maria
Liked BILE sharing the grid with ULCER (and PERSONA “what you appear to be”). Liked OGRESS right next to OCCULTIST, and the mini waterish theme with MER, ORCA, URAL, RIO.
Nice Tuesday romp, Peter. Thanks!
This was a "spoon-bending" puzzle for me; not sure if it was because I did it late at night, or because it hit my "weak zones."
Whatever the case, I hope the rest of the week is a bit easier - I only have so many spoons.
ps. Such pride decoding "60, 70,
100"!
A nice Tuesday, with many more erasures that usual. Even so, medium here. Good one, Peter!
I like hard Tuesday puzzles, but (for me) this wasn't one of them.
This one didn't do much for me. I like some of the songs, but disagree that they represent any kind of top 5.
Related: the Today Show is currently promoting an upcoming concert with Robin Thicke, who will be singing his 7-weeks-at-#1-hit song "Blurred Lines". I am feeling very old/out of it since I have Never Ever Heard of this song.
Nice Tuesday puzzle! I had lisp before lilt, and ended up with bag/bar.
Especially liked "like a rolling stone" tumbling down the middle. Sedalia would have been my WOD too.
This puzzle brought me much SATISFACTION. It's theme packed with the ROLLING STONE's top five songs: wow.
Aretha, Jagger, Dylan, Lennon and Marvin Gaye (Bowie, too) all make for a musically entertaining Tuesday. Wasn't LETSDANCE recently a answer?
@loren muse smith, David Sedaris has embarrassed me more than once when I'm flying. Somehow my uncontrollable laughter and tears make my fellow travelers look at me funny.
Very interesting Tuesday, Peter, thank you for a puzzle with a good beat ... we can even dance to!
it!
This was one of those Tuesdays I was afraid might not get SOLVED - took forever to see SEDALIA and ERASERS. Are these even present in classrooms anymore? A good not-too-easy Tuesday.
But I would take Sedaris, Amy or David, anytime before SEDALIA. @loren - the spoon-bending quote is one of my favorites.
Liked OCCULTIST, SPINE, LETS RIP, and KUNG FU.
I've seen a similar list of top songs, I think from VH1, that had many of these same songs, but SATISFACTION came out on top.
@Susan - I have 3 teenage/preteen daughters, and I've heard Blurred Lines approximately 1,000 times so far. It's fun, but getting old fast. In relation to our puzzle today, the song samples a Marvin Gaye song, "Got to Give It Up".
What's not to like? Well, all that short fill, maybe - and I was disappointed that the honey container wasn't one of those little plastic bears - but it was easy and fun. After 18A and 22A, I was looking for one-word song titles that were feelings, but if you're doing RS's top 5, you've got to go with what they picked.
I didn't know about the state fair, but somehow I knew SEDALIA. Maybe it's a Midwestern thing.
How come URAL is always clued as the river, not the better-known mountain range?
Nothing against the puzzle, but I can't help noticing that "of all time" begins around 1950 (with a handful of exceptions). And virtually everything in the RS 500 is in English. We are the world.
Well, now that I've watched/heard Robin Thicke, I just gotta say, Robert Palmer already did it, and did it better.
Fun theme, more than a few erasures but medium in the end. Good one, Peter.
hurray! First time i completed back to back (albeit Mon and Tues lol). Acme, loved yesterday's construction tho' i identified with many of Rex' comments ( as you did too). Peter's puzzle today was most enjoyable, too. Kudos to all who are patient with beginners - on to Weds and intermediateness...
I've been to Dylan concerts twice, first to see Elvis Costello open, then just recently to see Richard Thompson, My Morning Jacket, and Wilco to open. This last time was at the end of a very busy weekend so I didn't stay for Dylan. I am not a millennial. I accept that since so many performers I love love Dylan that he is good. I choose to listen to other music.
WHAT'S GOING ON? On the other hand, seems all too appropriate today, especially for people living in places like Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Michigan (land of we're rich and we don't want to pay taxes so let's have Detroit go bankrupt and renig on our promises to senior citizens). Marvin Gaye over Bob Dylan any day in my book.
BTW - Great Tuesday puzzle.
I IMAGINE that this top list is only for Boomers.
Remember thinking SEDALIA wa the source of a certain onion till I moved to CA for Grad School.
Andrea is Chateau Marmont (aka Hotel California) your sisters abode. They used to have first floor units with patios and I lost out to some minor celeb when I tried to rent one. It reminded me of the Dakota. Any way wound up living across the street from Frank Faylen (Dobbie Gillis's dad) who was still bitter about losing the film lead for Harvey. He was the Broadway lead. First insight into a world that defines self worth via what you did not get. Moving on…
Spent most of the puzzle a mutter over JAG as a Caddy alternative as was previously noted.
🌟🌟 (2 Stars) Reasonable solve, nice one for Tuesday
Forgot to add earlier - we were at one of my daughters dance competitions months ago, and a dance studio from Grosse ILE was there. Every single time the southern-belle announcer for the competition announced their name she said "Grossey Eely". Every single time for two days. Why no one ever corrected her is unknown.
Difficult Tuesday..especially the Northwest. Knew Sedalia off the D. Being from St. Louis of course.
II dunno, the Jaguar XJ is in the plush sedan category with the Caddy.
Admittedly, though, a Caddy dealer, speaking truthfully, would probably name Lincoln as his biggest competitor.
Myself, I had to first get past (golf) CART and (tea) CANNISTER first.
Such a pleasing puzzle - that STONE ROLLING downhill across the center, the 5 songs not only symmetrically placed but also quite puzzle-relevant....RESPECT for the constructor, SATISFACTION for the one who's SOLVED it. Easy to figure out WHAT'S GOING ON theme-wise, but sometimes difficult to IMAGINE what a clue is asking for (Caddy).
Loved the ICE-BLUE DAMASKS, SATEEN, SOIREE, the OCCULTIST and OGRESS.
Thanks, Peter Collins. I'm always happy to see your name at the top of a puzzle.
@Milford - I believe a Gross EEL is the NYTX annual allotment (you can all stop groaning now).
@dk:
Frank Faylen was indeed the actor who played Dobie Gillis's
dad, but the actor who played the lead in the original Broadway
production of Harvey was a different guy with a similar name:
Frank Fay.
I LIKEd the songs, but like @Evan, don't care for cross-reference clues. It just gives me a headache!
Took me a while to figure out WHAT'S GOING ON, but when I SOLVED it, there wasn't a TON of SATISFACTION. But it was OK.
Best part was @Rex's 'IMAGINE ERASERS' and the SEDARIS quote. lol
@Susan McConnell- I just saw Robin Thicke on the Today show too. It's not the song that made him #1, it's the video! It's got lots of girls- w/o clothes, and is banned on YouTube.
Grid gruel: see @evan
Agree with @rex that Sedalia isn't crossworthy. Unless a city with a population in the 20Ks is very well known for something, I believe it shouldn't be in. If we let Sedalia in, then we have to let in thousands of unknown towns.
It felt tougher than the typical Tuesday because of some tricky cluing -- and I liked that!
Peter must be a crossworder if he looked at this list and started thinking about how it would work in a crossword puzzle.
God bless Bob Dylan. He is one blast of brilliance. And God bless David Sedaris, who is the same.
Fun and easy. Never paid attention to the fill so it must not have been too bad in my book.
I did enjoy playing these songs in my head as I solved.
Thanks Peter.
Crunchy for a Tues. but enjoyable. I liked OGRESS but only knew it due to the grandkids. I did know all the songs except WHATS GOING ON. I lean toward classical music. I agree with a medium rating. Still catching up with the puzzles I missed while traveling.
Mechanical solve, slowed by a few writeovers (I had VIDALIA for a while isntead of SEDALIA, even though I know the former is in Georgia; I misspelled SEAGAL; plus a couple others I can't recall now). NE was the hardest to finish for me, as TITHE just wouldn't come to me (I was convinced the clue was referencing an investment scam or something like that), and I can't recall seeing OSTE as a prefix without an O at the end.
As for the theme, the double-duty of ROLLINGSTONE was nice, but otherwise I didn't find it terribly interesting. And I find Rolling Stone's list to be rather Boomerish. These are all notable songs, to be sure, but greatest ever? (I'd argue that "Like a Rolling Stone" isn't even the best song of the five that show up in the puzzle, but ultimately that just derails into arguments over personal preferences.)
@Lewis:
Ha! The beginning of your comment sorta reads like, "If you wanna see what's crap, just look at Evan. He's full of crap." Gave me a laugh, it did.
So I'll come in on the EEL reference? I had been just about to comment on the absence of them from the puzzles lately!
@August West, when I think of BOWIE knives I remember sitting around the TV watching Davy Crockett (1955). At the Battle of the Alamo, Jim Bowie was played by someone much older than Fess Parker even though in reality Crockett was 10 years older than Bowie. Checking now, IMDB matches what my old encyclopedia told me about Bowie and Crockett, but there was not such a disparity in the actors' ages. I liked the Mississippi quotes better than the Walt Disney, at least today.
As for the rest of the puzzle, I love David Sedaris but I had no trouble with SEDALIA because my hubby was born there, in 1921. They moved to Los Angeles in 1924, and he was promptly hit by a car. I figured it was probably the first one he had ever seen, only Conestoga wagons before that.
I am proud of myself that I sort of recognized the song titles, but thank the gods for the additional help in the clues.
Well, this was a Tuesday that can't get much better. After I finished, I just kept staring at it...pretty darn clever and lots of good stuff.
I only know Grosse Pointe so ILE was my only hesitation. So @Milford, how do you pronounce it?
Bob Dylan gives me heartburn. LIKE A ROLLING STONE came out just before we left for Spain and I refused to listen to the radio until after we left. Every single station played that depressing, nasaly song day in and day out...Ugh. And now I'm playing that damn song in my head...I'll try and tune over to Marvin Gaye. Gaye/Jagger/BOWIE hmmm now that's and eye worm.
@Loren @joho - I too have embarrassed myself reading Sedaris in public. My laugh is loud and giggly and I turn red. Everyone thinking I'm probably looking at porn.
Thank you Peter Collins for a fine puzzle. I'll take more....
Humph. I started my prev comment right after @Z's EEL, but took too long to type.
I knew of Sedalia before I met my hubby and I wasn't old then, but I remember thinking when he told me where he had been born, it was where wagon trains to the West started. Apparently not, and not the Chisholm trail neither, though it was a fairly important railroad town and the terminus of at least one huge cattle drive. I turned 70 last week (people,tell me that's the new 50, in which case there are a lot of 50-year olds dying, if the obituary pages are to be believed) and maybe I'm remembering my memories wrong. But what the hell, it worked for the puzzle!
I never thought this next sentence would come from me: Now I'm going to have to watch Sister Act. That was an amazing clip! Thanks for posting.
I knew ABE but still wanted ADDICTS. Then, when I decided ABE absolutely had to be right, I could not see ABUSERS. I finished, but the NE was like Friday level for me. BAG before JAG, GETGO (I know, I know) before GUSTO--just a mess.
And, for me, ILE was hard to come by. I had PTE even though I was cursing the constructor for not indicating the abbreviation. (Gill I. P.--it's pronounced eel.)
Well-said, Z.
It was a hard puzzle for me, but I whipped it. That and David Sedaris references in the blog if not in the puzzle--what more could I ask for?
I've never found David Sedaris in the least bit funny. That being said, he's still preferable to SEDALIA.
My granddaughter did appreciate how well Positively 4th Street captured a toxic relationship she was experiencing with a long time “friend.”
Was it just me who thought that the advertising award was a CLEO? (and therefore OCCULTEST was a valid cross??)
harrumph.
Liked the puzzle a lot. Played med-challenging for a Tues. I don't think Rex gives it enough credit by saying it's not much more than noticing the songs line up symmetrically. If you really wanted to be snarky, you could say almost any puzzle is nothing more than noticing that some phrases that are related in some way line up symmetrically.
Like @acme, I liked the visual of LIKE A ROLLING STONE rolling across the grid, AND it rolled downhill on its way! Nice touch.
@Gill I.P. - as @600 says, it is pronounced "gross eel". I did think of @Ellen with that comment.
@Z - good one
I have tried to read passages of Sedaris' aloud to my husband and been utterly unable to due to laughing uncontrollably. His nudist camp visit in "Naked" comes to mind.
@Milford ... that brings up a great question: how well do you think readings of his work go?
I've got an idea! Have the reader be @Pete at 12:11! Problem solved.
Everything went well except for the NE corner, which just stymied me completely. I couldn't get MEET to save my life, because the only "dashes" I could fathom were like _ _ _ or --- or that type of thing. Morse code? Also I felt JAR would be a good answer for "caddy alternative"-- thinking like something you'd put your pens into? At least I would. Cars are never on my mind. Clutter management is. And I had OSTO instead of OSTE, which made matters worse. So the whole JAG/GUSTO/TITHE/MEET situation was just a complete and hopeless mess.
Like Acme, I appreciated the way the LIKEA ROLLING STONE sort of rolled down the grid.
I liked today’s puzzle. I liked that the top 5 songs were included as opposed to 5 random songs (also amazed that Peter was able to place them in symmetrical locations). I liked the misdirection of 8A (as I just played yesterday, thinking golf caddy). I didn’t know 70A either, but the crosses filled it in for me. I didn’t like the POC at 56D.
EDYS before EGGO.
I wouldn’t rank 34A/40A/46A as the #1 song of all time, but then how could 40A/46A not.
Just got my copy of "Patricks' Pandemonium"!!! Can't wait to get started!!!
Surprised by the medium-challenging label, because even for a Tuesday, I marched steadily through this one Enjoyed and admired the use of the theme. Only one bump in that road: used sou for ECU. Otherwise, thanks to Mr. Collins.
I had a job interview this morning so I worked the puzzle to relax beforehand. I rolled through it. Loved LIKEA ROLLING STONE tripping downward.
Heard a radio show yesterday talking about "Blurred Lines" and the feminists were not pleased. The video is replete with topless women in thongs. IMAGINE! WHATSGOINGON? No RESPECT.
Salve Regina.
Hey @Pete - "What other people call dark and despairing, I call funny."
David Sedaris
@600 and @Milford - thanks for the pronouncement lesson. I'm afraid I would fall into your southern-belle mistake!! If I don't know a word I always tend to pronounce it phonetically. I crucified Yosemite; the sad part was that people thought I was being dark and despairing...
@jae ... that guy is really good!Almost had me fooled!
ICE BLUE and KUNG FU both relate to Aqua Velva in some way or other. Just sayin'.
@joho - Yeah, I didn't see any thing from the man himself on YouTube. Pretty close though>
Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation of my method and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak to my method):
All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)
Tue 9:06, 8:13, 1.11, 76%, Medium-Challenging
Top 100 solvers
Tue 5:35, 4:57, 1.13, 81%, Challenging
Liked it. Big source bias here...a big cause of mine in my long-ago constructing days was to get a Bobby D. puzz in the NYT.
[Semi-off-topic semi-rant follows...]
Yep the songs are good and all and I'm exactly the target, but they're all kinda 60s early 70s message-y..."Ya we're bratty in a way old pop wasn't! Ya we're uplifting in a way old pop wasn't!" Have that reaction especially to RESPECT and WHAT'S GOING ON, which are good and all but well...there are plenty of highly non-virtuous and quite possibly better songs by Aretha F. and Marvin G. The NYT puzz of DRE, NAS, etc., gives a good bit more balanced take on pop by black artists than the air-brushed two songs in the RS Top Five do...
@lms- I may have to agree with you on the clip...! I tried to find a clip of my high school song to regale y'all with, but thankfully, in the 30 seconds I spent searching, couldn't find one.
I went to Maria Regina! Where I Felt the sting of the occasional thrown ERASERS.
(I can sing it for you on request...)
Loved the clue for 60. 75, 100 - needed WAT_ before the light bulb went off...
I adore DAMASK - but think of it as fabric, not cloth.
Agree about the JAG/Caddy comments, but it was done to maximize the misdirection, so I'm fine with that.
Liked guessing the songs, liked the STONE ROLLING downhill.
WOE does it take to get a positive theme review on this blog??? Perfect symmetry. Amazing 3-part connected "Rolling" center piece. THE top 5, not just any five from the list. All 5 clued accurately and reasonably cleverly.
Gotta be one of the best, tightest, themes in months and it gets a resounding "meh".
thanks Peter, if you are listening!
@broadway baby, Huh! Frank had a Harvey Poster in his entry way and one could never say Jimmy Stewart in his presence. I never checked. Maybe Jimmy just beat him out for the movie role? Thanks for letting me know.
I should also note he played Ernie in Its A Wonderful Life, my theory is along with Bert (cop) they were the inspiration for tow Sesame Street Characters.
RIP JJ Cale.
@broadway baby, Huh! Frank had a Harvey Poster in his entry way and one could never say Jimmy Stewart in his presence. I never checked. Maybe Jimmy just beat him out for the movie role? Thanks for letting me know.
I should also note he played Ernie in Its A Wonderful Life, my theory is along with Bert (cop) they were the inspiration for tow Sesame Street Characters.
RIP JJ Cale.
Well, I got it, but way, way too hard for a Tuesday. Friday, more like. And I was glad to learn from the Sedaris quote that I'm not the only one who has spent 14 hours battering a Friday puzzle into submission.
Enjoyed the great music and the shout outs to Detroit - Aretha and Gross Ile (a lovely city). Had just one problem - got users, but couldn't for the life of me see abusers.
Lots of fun! Thanks, Peter!
Teresa in Detroit
Fun puzzle. My only write over was subbing ecu on 44a for my original sou. Did no one else have that stumble?
Finally, someone else who had sou.
LIKE A ROLLING STONE tumbling from URAL. Nice puzzle for a Tuesday.
Tx Peter
Late to the party and little to add. Medium-challenging and kinda fun for someone who really didn't know this kind of music. Both fill and cluing seem crunchier than the usual Tuesday.
OGRESS is a cool word.
Thanks, Mr. Collins.
This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak I've made to my method. 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.
All solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)
Mon 6:01, 6:04, 0.99, 47%, Medium
Tue 8:49, 8:13, 1.07, 70%, Medium-Challenging
Top 100 solvers
Mon 3:46, 3:45, 1.00, 49%, Medium
Tue 5:29, 4:57, 1.11, 76%, Medium-Challenging
Saw a free film today, a documentary on Neil Diamond "Solitary Man"...the Jewish Elvis! My friend Ben Fong-Torres who is a writer for Rolling Stone, one of the original, was VERY excited that there was a puzzle devoted to RS.
But of COURSE it's a top 5 list for baby boomers...it's from the bible of baby boomers, who else reads RS??!!
I think some folks, maybe even including me, should have to wait 24 hours before commenting on a puzzle to see if you like it more, what you remember, what rises to the top, what stays with you, how you feel about whether or not you enjoyed it.
This is one of those puzzles that I think will be remembered for a long time to come, esp for the music it evoked...
and all the minor minor criticisms will fade away.
I'd like to think the same was true of my offering yesterday, that long after nits like IGLU is forgotten, what will remain is that it was fun to come up with Body Parts + adjectival gerunds.
It would be like that brilliant book U & I where Nicholson Baker recounted what he remembered about Updike without rereading any of his books.
@Gil IP
Coming back from Paris years and years ago, the person behind me was insanely laughing the whole trip in a plane that was otherwise asleep.
As we were getting off, he offered me his plane reading: Sedaris' "Me Talk Pretty One Day".
Hope to see you at my reading tomorrow night!
6pm ferry building!
To get an idea of how big a Tottenham Hotspur fan I am, my eyes didn't even register seeing the logo of that other north London team. Sorry, I don't use that word under this roof. Just call them Hated and leave it at that. Spurs are currently trying to hang on to their brilliant Welsh winger, Gareth Bale. Real Madrid are rumored to be willing to part with £100,000,000 for him!
Rather unimpressed by this one. So much boring fill, excepting MASSIFS and ARSE.
Seeing KAHN had me thinking of the recently departed Eileen Brennan. Both were true originals. RIP.
Lol! 14 HOURS to finish the Friday puzzle? On a BAD day it takes me an hour...a good day is 20-25 minutes!
Wow, never had THAT happen before. Typed out my comment, and the bottom of the window was the captcha. There was NOTHING below that: no "Name," no orange "Publish your comment" bar, nothing! I was relieved to see the whole form when I closed and reopened. So, here goes. Again.
The first thing that struck me was the fact that I had to do some cross-work, not usual for this early in thw week. Ditto some of the cluing. "Caddy alternative," "Part of it might consist of dashes" and "One going for the big bucks" look very Fridayish. All fair and gettable, but more fun than expected on a Tuesday.
ONCE SOLVED, in fact, this was a TON of fun. IMAGINE: the RS top 5, all definable as common words--all symmetrical--and all fitting into a 15x15 grid! Gives me a LOT of RESPECT for Mr. Collins.
The "Mossless?" clue (priceless!) gave away the central theme answer, and so maybe pushed the puzzle toward the beginning of the week. And I like that the #1 hit incuded the mag name (now that didn't influence your rating, DID it, boys?). BTW, I'm still scratching my head over how ANYONE could LEAVE a Dylan concert--BEFORE Dylan!! Building on fire? I'd be tossing a coin...
So maybe there's a plethora of threes--of necessity including some clunkers. It's a wonder that it worked at all. I will happily brush that aside for one great clue--makes the all-time top five in my book: "Things felt in a classroom?"
SATISFACTION guaranteed!
I'm surprised @Spacecraft that you didn't comment on the "Center of gravity" clue. I guess I did it for you.
Started taking Karate before switching to KUNGFU. Fell to Peter's head fake and had bAG before JAG. bAR didn't make sense for a honey container.
@Z, I would have left the concert with you before Dylan sang. I heard him in a small venue back in the sixties and, while I admit he is the defining poet of his time, I'd rather hear an air-conditioning bearing going out than him sing.
@Acme, I'm going to dig the Monday CW out of the garbage and do your puzzle. I didn't even glance at it yesterday while watching golf and doing Sunday's a day late. BTW, agree with you re: Seagal.
FWIW, having never heard of Sedaris, I tend to prefer Sedalia.
Only error here was the bAG/JAG trap, but I didn't enjoy this one. For one thing, I'm no fan of cross referencing clues, and this one had them in spades. It didn't help that I a unfamiliar with all of the cited music. Fortunately the titles were also reasonable words, unlike the Hut Sut Rawlson my childhood. Now that one would take me down my memory lane!
@Chip Hilton, IMAGINE your comment above references tomorrow's puzzle.
Other than SEDALIA, which I'd never heard of, found this a fun Tuesday effort. Agree that most JAG drivers (including wannabees like me) would never consider a Caddy as an alternative.
Like @SiS, watched the golf yesterday and only got around to ACME's puzzle and comments today. Sad to learn just how much damage WS can do to spoil someone's insertion causing them to suffer the slings and arrows thereafter. WHATSGOINGON? Show some RESPECT!
I liked the puzzle, I like all of the songs. KUNGFU (hand up for Karate first)could have been a bonus song if PAC could have slipped "fighting" into the grid.
@spacecraft - whenever I suspect my comment might not post due to a blogger glitch I "copy" it before I post, then if it disappears I can just "paste" it into a new comment box - save a lot of typing. Oh, one more thing for you - ABS!
Really tough puzzle today. I do (sorta) remember hearing these songs as my kids listened to them, but they were buried way back in my memory bank. So...definitely not Tuesday easy for me.
Agree, Caddies are not comparable to Jags, not ever. All that said, I enjoyed the struggle. I just wish it didn't make me feel so ancient.
@Spacecraft - ever seen Dylan recently? I went to his concert last October, with Mark Knopfler (!) opening. Knopfler was just great, but Dylan...well, I don't know. He was halfway through Highway 61 Revisited before I could figure out what he was singing. Never acknowledged the audience, played random chords on the piano. Wonderful songwriter--terrible perfomer. Lotta dope smokers, though.
Liked this puzzle. Sedalia forever!
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