dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

friday, november 23, 2007
paula gamache / will shortz
ny times online premium crossword puzzle














difficulty factor: this was a train wreck for me; i was twisted-sister-ed... battered an' blistered... but through it all... i somehow per-sistered (ew!)


theme: none

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in the "notes of record" category
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i caused myself some very vicious moments in this really great puzzle


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in the "not necessarily explained just by the answer" category
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1A bit of income for the department of motor vehicles LICENSE FEE (first answer... lucky guess to be sure)

11A waist products OBIS (as in... oriental sashes)

15A what someone might win after stumping a cultural group? ETHNIC VOTE (well, here 'stumping' refers to the practice of a politician trekking through a district or region usually not considered a stronghold - making speeches to garner support for his election campaign)

16A russian car LADA ('lada' [slavic goddess of youth, love and beauty] is the trademark of a russian car manufacturer located in the city of togliatti [TOL-uh-YAHT-ee]. the very box-like, 'riva' economy model was widely exported throughout the world in the 1980's and 90's)

17A greek salad ingredient GOAT CHEESE

18A seventh-century year DCLI (651AD)

19A exhausted GONE (as in... resources)

20A body repair sites, briefly OR'S (as in... operating rooms)

21A indicated "just teasing!" WINKED (didn't see 'd' in the clue and stupidly and stubbornly stuck with "wink at" for TOO long)
25A target AIM AT (the verb not the noun, dann!)

26A where yankees are found at shea VISITOR'S DUGOUT (loved it!)

31A dry out DE-TOX (as in de-toxify from regularly self-administered poisonous subtance)

32A they're taken to the cleaners SUITS

33A dude BRO

34A y.m.c.a. member?: abbr. ASSN (yes... 'assn,' is the last part of "young men's christian association")

35A ark contents TORAH (the ark in a jewish house of worship is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet - located on the wall of the synagogue closest to Jerusalem, considered the holiest spot in the world by Judaism - which contains each synagogue's Torah scrolls)

36A 16 and seventeen, for short MAGS (as in ... teen magazines)

37A _____ tree UP A...

38A hatch in politics ORRIN (orrin grant hatch is an influential republican senator from utah since 1977)
39A doesnt quite mash RICES (in cooking, to 'mash' is to make as small and smooth as possible; to 'rice' is to make the size of rice; tiny pieces are the object)

40A fan fare? BALLPARK FRANKS
44A one-eighties U-EYS (as in... u-shaped turns in order to reverse direction of travel)
45A "jeez!" OH, GOSH (i'd already gone to some length to screwed up the maine corner, so why not the california one as well? to that end, 'my gosh' held my attention longer than it should have)

47A amer. capital USD (as in... united states dollars)

48A flawlessly TO A T

52A corner piece ROOK (as in... chess)

53A axiom BASIC TRUTH

56A snatch, slangily GLOM

57A witness to anakin skywalker and padme amidala's secret wedding ARTOO-DETOO (dammit, it's R2D2!)

59A rod laver won two GRAND SLAMS (in tennis, australian rodney george laver has been rated as the greatest male player of all time by several experts and polls. he is the only player in tennis history to have twice won all four of tennis' grand slam singles titles in the same year, first as an amateur in 1962, and then again as a professional in 1969. the four tournaments that make up the prestigious grand slam are 1] the australian open {grass court}, 2] the french open {clay court}, 3] wimbledon {grass court}, and 4] the u.s. open {acrylic hard court})

1D _____ mason (asset management firm) LEGG (legg mason, inc. headquartered in baltimore, maryland, is a leading global asset management company that serves the institutional, mutual fund, and wealth management markets. in 2006 their brokerage was bought out by smith barney, citi group)

2D "_____, dislike it" (start of marianne moore's "poetry") I, TOO, (marianne moore was a 'modernist' american poet and writer)

3D fictional character who first appeared in "the house without a key" CHAN (a novel written in 1925 by earl derr biggers set in lush hawaii of the roaring 20's, then a movie in 1926 starring george kuwa... ah, so... chinese-american honolulu police detective sergeant charlie chan! [he and his wife have fourteen children - the oldest of which is colloquially known as "number one son")

4D begins ENTERS ON (stubbornness had wrecked the NE and SW corners, so why not a liberal dose o' that here as well... "enter in" did just the job!)

5D robertson of cnn NIC (nic robertson is a senior international correspondent based in cnn's london bureau)

6D controversial 1980s-90s baseball team owner SCHOTT (upon her wealthy husband's death from a heart attack in 1968, avid sports fan margaret "marge" unnewehr schott inherited his business interests, and subsequently bought a controlling interest in the cincinnati reds baseball franchise where she was installed as the managing general partner, president and ceo of from 1984 to 1999. she was reported to be a racist who called her players "million-dollar niggers" and co-owners "sneaky goddam jews", yet she kept the admission and concession prices at the riverfront stadium park the cheapest in baseball - so that the largely indigent inner city families could attend home games... and attend they did! she always allowed any child in attendance before a home game to come down to the playing field and run to deep center field and back)

7D "a thousand pardons" EVER SO SORRY

8D they're not for you FOES (they're against you!)

9D big-headed sorts, for short E.T.'S (extra-terrestrials)

10D big shoe spec EEE WIDTH (i did something off the wall here as well... i stuck with 'eee wides' why?!)

11D candidate for the proverbial glue factory OLD NAG
12D consecutive BACK TO BACK

22D don in the national radio hall of fame IMUS (john donald "don" imus, jr.)
24D city where cezanne was born AIX (aix-en-provence, a town 15km north of southern coastal marseille... paul cézanne [say- ZAHN] was a French post-impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century impressionism to the early 20th century's cubism. the line attributed to both henri matisse and pablo picasso that cézanne "is the father of us all" cannot be easily dismissed)
25D cuisine that may be served with a chork ASIAN FUSION
26D hornet genus VESPA (yes, that hornet-like noise is how those european scooters got their name! "sembra una vespa!" ["it reminds me of a wasp!"] exclaimed company owner/president enrico piaggio when he first saw and heard what would become the most successful scooter of all time - from both the high-pitched noise of the two-stroke engine, and its body shape: the thicker rear part connected to the front part by a narrow waist, and the steering rod resembled antennae)
27D "everything's cool" IT'S ALL GOOD

28D ninth-century founder of the russian monarchy RURIK (rurik or riurik [norse: 'rørik' meaning "famous ruler" was a varangian chieftain who founded the rurik dynasty which ruled russia until the 17th century)

35D waste product TRASH BAG (and the only thing that save me from the trash can was rod laver)

39D skate RAY (skates are a variety of cartilaginous fish akin to stingrays and mantas. they are carnivorous bottom feeders, feeding mostly on smaller fish and crustaceans, and have flat pectoral fins continuous with their head, two dorsal fins and a short, spineless tail)

41D start of a little daredevil's declaration LOOK, MA... (...no hands!)

42D food fish of australia and new zealand RED COD
47D court org. USTA (united states tennis association)
49D make _____ check OUT A

51D wilson's vice pres. _____ marshall THOS. (thomas riley marshall was an American politician who served as the twenty-eighth vice president of the u.s. from 1913 to 1921)

54D sheet music abbr. ARR (as in... arranger or arrangement)

55D cowboys' concerns, briefly TD'S (as in... the dallas cowboys of the national football league)

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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:



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.bit of income for the department of motor vehicles 11A waist products 15A what someone might win after stumping a cultural group? 16A russian car 17A greek salad ingredient 18A seventh-century year 19A exhausted 20A body repair sites, briefly 21A indicated "just teasing!" 23A two-timing types 25A target 26A where yankees are found at shea 31A dry out 32A they're taken to the cleaners 33A dude 34A y.m.c.a. member?: abbr. 35A ark contents 36A 16 and seventeen, for short 37A _____ tree 38A hatch in politics 39A doesnt quite mash 40A fan fare? 43A stinko 44A one-eighties 45A "jeez!" 47A amer. capital 48A flawlessly 52A corner piece 53A axiom 56A snatch, slangily 57A witness to anakin skywalker and padme amidala's secret wedding 58A when tripled, "et cetera" 59A rod laver won two 1D _____ mason (asset management firm) 2D "_____, dislike it" (start of marianne moore's "poetry") 3D fictional character who first appeared in "the house without a key" 4D begins 5D robertson of cnn 6D controversial 1980s-90s baseball team owner 7D "a thousand pardons" 8D they're not for you 9D big-headed sorts, for short 10D big shoe spec 11D candidate for the proverbial glue factory 12D consecutive 13D frivolous 14D related 22D don in the national radio hall of fame 24D city where cezanne was born 25D cuisine that may be served with a chork 26D hornet genus 27D "everything's cool" 28D ninth-century founder of the russian monarchy 29D id output 30D put into a 35-down 31D smear 35D waste product 36D oldtime entertainer 38D work 39D skate 41D start of a little daredevil's declaration 42D food fish of australia and new zealand 45D binge 46D ciao, in chile 47D court org. 49D make _____ check 50D little bit 51D wilson's vice pres. _____ marshall 54D sheet music abbr. 55D cowboys' concerns, briefly