dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

friday, october 12, 2007
mike nothnagel / will shortz















difficulty factor: well, my stubbornness caused me to earn every scrape today.


theme: dread, gloom, and despair - oops that was my theme earlier today. things are better now... there was no puzzle theme.

well, i started wrangling the puzzle on my computer at 6am; after twenty minutes - and even fewer answers filled in - i set it down. then i got a call from my brother about my dad (his pacemaker was glitching) and trekked on over to the syracuse VA hospital. no, i did not think to print the "work in progress"...

so, my dad's fine now (monitoring for a possible replacement.) i'm home. it's just after 2pm, and there's still a puzzle to finish!

up in the rating section i casually mentioned one of my finer traits. (btw, i do not suffer fools well, so i am at odds with myself on occasion!) some examples of my stubbornness: with only the 'A', i wanted CALMED for "settled" not 39D PAIDUP, and with only the 'E', i was so certain that the "grinder" was a HOAGIE not a 55A PESTLE... then... i was adamant about having a country or city "host the olympics" not bob friggin' 31D COSTAS... (and look at him taunting me with his laughter!) and last but certainly not least by any means, i staunchly insisted entirely too long that "raked..." would have 11D TORN INTO end in 'ED'! [in a regis philbin-esque rant now, huh?!]

next... a 32D PINE CONE is a fruit?! i'm sure that in a very botanical sense (the ripened ovary - together with seeds - of a flowering plant) this is almost true enough (gee, pine trees don't 'flower', do they?), but, c'mon, i eat fruit! it's sweet. it tastes good! sonuvab-- (and don't get me started on that whole "tomato/olive/rhubard - fruit or veggie" thang.)

whew! i'm better now.


hey, does somebody wanna 'splain 30D SITH to me? it has widely been speculated across the universe over the years, but only now do i feel there is margin of safely enough to reveal that i am the guy who didn't see any of the star wars movies!

yep. me. the truth is finally out. i'm the one.

i just realized that as it is friday, and in keeping with the whole roy g. biv thang, 40D INDIGO just happens to be the title/author line of my post today! [sundays -red, mondays - orange, etc.]

all in all, it was a very well fought challenge. i'm pretty sure i enjoyed the eventual victory.

late and short today...

keep on keepin' on...

dann