monday, october 22, 2007
lynn lempel / will shortz
difficulty factor: none; easy even for a monday
theme: this was a stretch at best; a rather weak, asymmetrical effort with three lame gimmes, just to get to 57A LITTLE BO PEEP.
- 19A lawreceE WElk
- 34A cLAM Bisque
- 42A faiR AMount
while this puzzle was mostly a breeze, it didn't sit very well with me. i can't explain 'why', either.
the only answer i did not know, 41A NAURU, was amply covered by the crosses.
robert edwin 55D PEARY (on the left) was an american adventurist/explorer whose dubious claims of being the first to reach the [geographic] north pole have been clouded in controversy ever since he made them. but prior to that he extensively explored greenland by dog sled in four major expeditions in the late 1880s and early 1890s. his "success" relied substantially upon borrowed customs, tools, and clothing of the native peoples he encountered and befriended. the boastful peary even claimed that the ages old use of makeshift supply depots along his travel routes were his own "peary system". the doubt, by some, of his assertions did have at least one positive effect: it caused roald engelbregt gravning amundsen (on the right) to be more critical when recording his harrowing exploits to the south pole several years later.
not since homeroom have these two been together... 19A LAWRENCE WELK and 25D RAQUEL WELCH (and btw, shouldn't that be 36D?!)
i'm glad t' see comedy greats jack 59D PAAR (born jacques harold paar ), and mort 37D SAHL (born morton lyon sahl)
in the "your mileage may vary" category:
best clue of the day: 13A "scuttlebutt"... i just like the word!
best answer of the day: 30A GOD... amen!
worst clue of the day: 12D "cloud's site"... wait a minute... what grade are we in?!
worst answer of the day: 6D OCHER... and yes, there is yellow ochre (my preferred spelling), red ochre and brown ochre... boy ochre wouldn't occur to me when describing fall leaves!
keep on keepin' on...
dann
all elements of the puzzle (grid layout, clues, and answers), NYT, NY Times, and The New York Times logo are ©2007 The New York Times
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