dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

friday, november 16, 2007
chuck deodene / will shortz
ny times online premium crossword puzzle
















difficulty factor: ouch! tough but fair... amd pretty darn pleasant in the end!


theme: none (however... you could say it was a veritable plethera of nine-letter words!)

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in the "not necessarily explained just by the answer" category
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1A back-and-forth Q AND A (question and answer)


15A "_ directed" USE AS


16A product identifier TRADE NAME


17A apple storage devices I-PODS

18A it maintains a proper attitude AUTO PILOT


19A "western star" poet BENET (stephen vincent benét was a multiple award-winning american author, poet, short story writer and novelist. his quintessential book-length narrative poem of the american civil war, "john brown's body" earned him a pulitzer prize in 1929, and his short story "the devil and daniel webster" is a must-read)


20A mount _, sacred chinese site TAI


22A source of support BRA

27A bbl. fraction GAL (bbl. is the abbreviation for 'barrel' as in oil or beer... gal. = gallon)


30A bills are in it: abbr. AFC (as in the buffalo bills of the american football conference)


31A deal-killing words NO SALE

33A bibliographical abbr. ET AL ('et al.' is the abbreviation of `et alii' (masculine plural) or `et aliae' (feminine plural) or `et alia' (neuter plural)... et al "and others" when referring to a number of people, or "and elsewhere" when referring to other occurrences in a text)


34A venue of many richard petty wins DAYTONA

42A semirural, say EXURBAN (from: exurb, a region lying beyond the suburbs of a city, especially one inhabited principally by wealthy people)


44A time magazine person of the year, 2005 BONO

48A party in pretoria: abbr. ANC (african national congress)


49A poses in a studio? YOGA

50A photographer goldin NAN (nan goldin is an american fine-art and documentary photographer... see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny6X0ZX6bPI )


57A letters before a street name A/K/A (also known as)


58A "i'll give you _ ..." A HINT


63A newswoman poussaint RENEE

65A rich spreads PATES (pâtés, french, [pah-TAY] is a spreadable paste, usually made from meats such as liver - although vegetarian variants exist - and often additional binders such as fat, vegetables, herbs, spices, wine and other flavoring ingredients)


66A trunk accumulation TREE RINGS

1D nitpicking QUIBBLES (now, i don't wanna nit-pick, but isn't 'nitpicking' quibbling, and 'nitpicks' quibbles?!)


5D right hands: abbr. ASSTS (assistants)


6D 1945 film musical with the song "it might as well be spring" STATE FAIR

8D suffer a loss, slangily EAT IT


9D shogunate capital EDO (old name for tokyo)


10D mouthpiece REP (as in representative)


12D costa del sol port MALAGA (málaga is a port city in southern spain on the costa del sol [coast of the sun] of the mediterranean sea)

14D green stinger NETTLE

24D creme egg maker CADBURY (a cadbury creme egg has a thick milk chocolate "shell", with a white and yellow fondant filling designed to resemble the yolk and albumen of a chicken's egg)

29D 1990s sitcom ELLEN (ellen [originally titled "these friends of mine" for season one] was a u.s. tv sitcom which ran for 109 episodes between march of 1994 and july of 1998)


32D didnt get involved SAT BY


39D probe LOOK INTO


41D cavalier evaluation? ROAD TEST

47D seeing the sites ON LINE


61D it was deorbited in 2001 MIR (mir [russian: 'peace'] was a human occupied soviet orbital station assembled in space by successively connecting several modules, each launched separately from 1986 to 1996. it broke apart during atmospheric re-entry over the south pacific ocean)


62D "bel-_____" (maupassant novel) AMI (in 1885, when 'bel-ami' [beautiful friend] was published, the popular french writer henri rené albert guy de maupassant - considered one of the fathers of the modern short story - was in the prime of life and at the height of his literary powers; at the same time, he was already under sentence of death from the syphilis which was to bring him to an untimely end. this very dichotomy of strength and weakness, success and failure, splendour and squalor, runs as a double thread throughout the novel)
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in the "your mileage may vary" category:
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best clue of the day:

best answer of the day:

worst clue of the day:

worst answer of the day:


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in the "i hate t' say 'i told ya so'" category:
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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
1A back-and-forth 6. one at the helm15A "_ directed"16A product identifier17A apple storage devices18A it maintains a proper attitude19A "western star" poet20A mount _, sacred chinese site21A sunder22A source of support23A fragrant27A bbl. fraction28A _ rock (radio format)30A bills are in it: abbr.31A deal-killing words33A bibliographical abbr.34A venue of many richard petty wins 36. first-class handouts? 38. herd-thinning menace 42. semirural, say44A time magazine person of the year, 200545A one working on a board48A party in pretoria: abbr.49A poses in a studio?50A photographer goldin51A town on the long island rail road54A sprout55A channel blocker57A letters before a street name58A "ill give you _ ..." 60. colloquial63A newswoman poussaint64A logic's counterpart65A rich spreads66A trunk accumulation67A common dog name1D nitpicking2D harshness3D relating to babes4D _ city, seat of pasco county, fla.5D right hands: abbr.6D 1945 film musical with the song "it might as well be spring"7D cutting out?8D suffer a loss, slangily9D shogunate capital10D mouthpiece11D scissor12D costa del sol port13D unprincipled14D green stinger24D creme egg maker25D proclaim26D underbosses' bosses 29D 1990s sitcom 32D didnt get involved 35D does, as business 37D choppers39D probe40D bring about with some effort41D cavalier evaluation? 43. on the sundeck45D not yield46D corporate shark47D seeing the sites52D like muesli53D diamond protectors 56. lug 59. jalopy61D it was deorbited in 200162D "bel-__" (maupassant novel)