dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

friday, november 30, 2007
henry hook / will shortz
ny times online premium crossword puzzle
















difficulty factor: devilishly tough in spots, but very fair



theme: none


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in the "notes of record" category
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for 26A i had 'MINDFUL OF', then the even worse 'MINDFUL TO' before i rather reluctantly settled in on the right answer. but that was not the BIG drawback to my solving today. no... that honor goes to 32D where EASY AS PIE caused some serious havoc!


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in the "not necessarily explained just by the answer" category
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1A show signs of improvement LOOK BETTER

11A second in a series BETA (in the greek alphabet)

17A "well, duh!" GEE, YA THINK?

23A sci-fi author mcintyre VONDA (vonda neel mcintyre is a multiple award-winning american science-fiction writer. although she has written several notable novels, she might be better known to some as the author of a number of the star trek works, including 'enterprise: the first adventure' and 'the entropy effect'. she also wrote the novelizations of the films 'star trek II: the wrath of khan', 'star trek III: the search for spock', and 'star trek IV: the voyage home')

25A bad _____, german resort EMS (bad ems is a city in rhineland-palatinate, germany and is well-known as a bathing resort on the river lahn)

26A with eyes open MINDFULLY

30A mr. levy of 1920s broadway fame ABIE ("abie's irish rose" - a surprise comedic hit of the 1922-23 broadway season - is a story of young lovers in the post world war I era: irish-catholic nurse rosemary murphy and jewish soldier abie levy who are secretly married by a protestant minister. they initially try to hide their religious differences from their old-fashioned, strongly ethno-centric, orthodox, widower fathers, but the 'stuff' hits the fan pronto. introducing her to his father as a nice jewish girl, the elder is enamored with her and arranges a rabbi-sanctioned wedding. her father arrives from california with a priest in tow. to the chagrin of both fathers who are powerless to stop the events, the youngsters marry for a second... and a third time! the fathers farsically plot and schene to undo the thrice-married couple - even dis-owning them - but their bitter differences are seemingly settled upon the birth of twins a year later)

33A marker I.O.U.

34A w.s.j. subjects CO'S (wall street journal... companies)

35A "it's _!" ("you're on!") A DATE

43A sculptor oldenburg CLAES (claes thure oldenburg is a swedish-born american pop sculptor known for his lager-than-life depictions of the mundane)

46A game craze of the late 1980s and 90s TETRIS
49A direct NON-STOP

56A one who's happy when things look black BOOKKEEPER
58A undergo a change of habit? CROSS DRESS

1D olympics item ... or the winning word in the 1984 national spelling bee LUGE
2D civilians eligible to be drafted ONE-A'S

3D _ line (german/polish border) ODER-NIESSE

4D bitter fruit KEY LIME (lotsa folks believe that "key lime" simply refers to the limes that are used for making those great pies, or limes that grow only in the florida keys. actually, the key lime is a specific variety of lime in a class all of its own. it is neither exclusive, nor indiginous to the keys; it was brought there years ago and became naturalized. it ranges in size from a ping-pong ball to a golf ball, making it much smaller than regular "persian" limes. the peel is thin, smooth and greenish-yellow when ripe. the flesh is is divided by 10 to 12 greenish-yellow juicy segments and is full of seeds. it has a higher acidity than regular limes which gives it a very distinctive aroma)

5D queues BRAIDS (a queue is a long braid of hair worn hanging down the back of the neck; a ponytail)

6D name on a bottle of beyond paradise ESTEE (estée lauder 'beyond paradise' eau de parfum spray)

7D sch. staffer TCHR.

8D french pronoun TOI ('toi' : 'you')

9D suffix with south -ERN

12D greenland colonizer ERIC (erik "the red" thorvaldson founded the first nordic settlement in greenland, while having been exiled first from his native norway... then fron iceland... each time for 'murders')

13D "i did it!" TA-DA!

14D pianist templeton ALEC (alec templeton was a blind welsh pianist and satirist)

21D visual pc-to-pc files PFD'S

24D classic packard model with a numerical name ONE-TEN (packard once had the reputation of being america's premier luxury car manufacturer. in late 1939 it introduced a smaller, less expensive series in a broad range of body styles, including both two and four-door sedans, station wagon, and convertible that it called the 'one-ten' line)
26D pompadour, for one MADAME (jeanne-antoinette poisson, marquise - and later duchesse - de pompadour, a.k.a. madame de pompadour was a well known courtesan and the most famous and influential mistress of king louis XV of france. other than inspiring the building of the petit trianon, she entertained the king, and organized countless suppers, festivities, and shows in the grand trianon, commissioned paintings by famous french artists, and forged friendships with many of the philosophers and writers of the period, including voltaire. wow... in another words, she was the de-facto minister of culture. hmmm... what a woman!)
27D prerecorded LIVE-TO-TAPE

29D tentlike dwelling with a conical roof YURT ('yurt' is originally from the turkic word meaning "dwelling place" in the sense of "homeland"... the term came to be synonymous with the portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure used by nomads in the steppes of central asia)
30D like some electric circuits AC/DC (alternating current / direct current)
31D be angry as heck BOIL
32D "nothing to it" EASY AS A-B-C

39D where cooler heads prevail? CRISPER (lettuce heads... the crisper section in the fridge)

41D fritz the cat illustrator R. CRUMB

45D rain gear brand TOTES
48D grand total? THOU
50D kind of pronoun: abbr. PERS. (personal)


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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 show signs of improvement 11A second in a series 15A indication of stress 16A 1,575-mile river known to some locals as the zhayyq 17A "well, duh!" 18A hitch 19A supra 20A syrup of _ 22A caustic 23A sci-fi author mcintyre 25A bad _, german resort 26A with eyes open 30A mr. levy of 1920s broadway fame 32A holders of big pads 33A marker 34A w.s.j. subjects 35A "it's _!" ("you're on!") 36A alt. spelling 37A slam 38A dictionary data 39A minimal change 40A cloth workers? 42A big-league 43A sculptor oldenburg 44A dive 46A game craze of the late 1980s and 90s 49A direct 51A island nicknamed the gathering place 52A jump the gun 55A senior moment? 56A one who's happy when things look black 57A blunt 58A undergo a change of habit? 1D olympics item ... or the winning word in the 1984 national spelling bee 2D civilians eligible to be drafted 3D _ line (german/polish border) 4D bitter fruit 5D queues 6D name on a bottle of beyond paradise 7D sch. staffer 8D french pronoun 9D suffix with south 10D sparks a second time 11D department 12D greenland colonizer 13D "i did it!" 14D pianist templeton 21D visual pc-to-pc files 23D appearances 24D classic packard model with a numerical name 26D pompadour, for one 27D prerecorded 28D advance 29D tentlike dwelling with a conical roof 30D like some electric circuits 31D be angry as heck 32D "nothing to it" 38D hybrid fruit 39D where cooler heads prevail? 41D fritz the cat illustrator 42D paid (up) 44D locker room habitues 45D rain gear brand 46D maximally 47D pull down 48D grand total? 49D plural suffix with beat or neat 50D kind of pronoun: abbr. 53D clause connector 54D unduly