dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

THANKSGIVING
thursday, november 22, 2007
oliver hill / will shortz
ny times online premium crossword puzzle















difficulty factor: i had a heck of a time with parts of this puzzle


theme: lotsa "'x's"

16A ADULT FILM RATING
56A ROMAN NUMERAL TEN
17D LORAX
32A t. _____ REX
33A XES
38D XYLEM


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in the "notes of record" category
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happy thankgiving to all americans wherever you are...


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in the "not necessarily explained just by the answer" category
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1A crosses and such AWARDS

14A sluggishness INERTIA (in this case we're not dealing with physics; a strong disposition to remain inactive or inert, or a resistance or disinclination to motion or action... "dann had to overcome his inertia and get this blog out today!)

20A n.y.c. commuter option MTA (the metropolitan transportation authority is a state-regulated public benefit corporation responsible for overseeing commuter railroads, tunnels and bridges in the greater new yok city area, including long island)

23A author of "winning bridge made easy" GOREN (bachelor charles henry goren was a devoted world champion american bridge player, authority, and bestselling author who made an enormous contribution to the development and popularization of the game of contract bridge especially through his point counting method now known as "the standard american system")

27A "gnarly!" RAD (gnarly is an adjective used to describe something very good, excellent or cool, originated/used primarily by exterme sporters: surgers, skateboarders, and cyclists)

28A "the da vinci code" albino SILAS

29A some camp sights TEPEES
31A beast that bugles WAPITI (cree indian, 'waapiti' [wah-ah-PEE-tee] : 'elk'... the second largest species of deer in the world and one of the largest mammals in north america and eastern asia... only the moose is larger)
34A _____ press, classic venetian printer that introduced italics ALDINE (the printing house started by aldus [note his name split in the trademark below: 'al dvs'] manutius in 1494 in venice, italy and is famous in the history of typography for the introduction of italics... smaller typesets... and for being the first to issue printed books in a size similar to that of a modern paperback, because he envisioned plentiful, affordable books so that everyone could have access to literature - not just the rich and elite)
39A half of a 1991 film title duo THELMA (thelma and louise)
44A children's doctor? SEUSS (theodor seuss geisel was an american writer and cartoonist best known for the 44 classic children's books that he both wrote - with his silly rhyming text - and illustrated - with outlandish creatures - under the pen name dr. seuss)

45A _____ lawrence orchestra (british big band since the 1960s) SYD ("the man who brought back the big bands to us" although he died in 1998, cornet player syd's band is still touring today and playing syd's favorite glenn miller music)
52A hill creator ANT
53A thumb's end BILENT B

59A what x makes PRODUCT (a 'product' is the number resulting from two numbers being multiplied, the multiplicand and the multiplier)
62A small harpsichord SPINET
2D tense WOUND UP

4D sch. papers RPTS (school reports)

8D corporation in 2001 headlines ENRON (the enron collapse was orchestrated by top-level company executives who concealed massive debt while claiming profitability... and then declared bankruptcy, bilking outraged investors and employees out of millions of dollars while they made off with a fortune)

12D suggests HINTS AT

13D like blue-chip stocks SAFEST (a "blue chip" is the nickname for a stock that is thought to be safe, in excellent financial shape and firmly entrenched as a leader in its field. favorably regarded by investors, they include wal-mart, coca-cola, gillette, exxon-mobile, and microsoft... they are sometimes referred to as bellwether issues because they are thought to be strong enough to weather financial storms)

15D sampras rival AGASSI

17D 44-across character, with "the" LORAX (dr. seuss' sad tale of what happens when greed and the means for mechanized production come to a happy, but fragile, land... as told by the last inhabitant)
26D gull relatives TERNS
28D skater cohen SASHA
34D b flat, enharmonically A SHARP (the note 'B' lowered a half step is B flat [Bb]. the note 'A' raised a half step is A sharp [A#] in the most elementary of terms they are the same note... or at least note the same tone!)

38D tree tissue XYLEM (in those plants that have tissues for conducting products throughout them - including flowering plants, ferns, and trees -, xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue, phloem being the other one. xylem's s basic function is to transport water. phloem is mainly concerned with the transport of glucose and starch made during photosynthesis)

40D pitching stat ERA (in baseball, a pitcher's earned run average tells the number of runs a pitcher could reasonably be expected to surrender over the course of a full game. of course, a lower earned run average is preferred to a higher one. in some ways, it is the defensive equivalent to the offensive hitter's batting average.

41D heir LEGATEE (in estate law, a legatee is any individual or organization who has been bequeathed any portion of the testator's estate; a beneficiary)

42D who said "i believe in censorship. after all i made a fortune out of it" MAE WEST (mae west - born mary jane west - made a career of sultry and witty performances delivering double entendres, with a cat-like purr. she created and nurtured a racy character for her on and off screen life. to her credit, this erotic image was ambitiously calculated to further her career, create a fantasy life for herself, and allowed her to reach iconic status. as for her quote here, in a raucous guest appearance on 'the edgar bergen and charlie mccarthy show', she and actor don ameche portrayed the fateful biblical couple in a skit about adam and eve; it was considered so obscene by the arch-conservative decency codes of the era that her name was banned from the network. on being censored she retorted, "i believe in censorship. after all, i made a fortune out of it.")
49D _____-nez PINCE (french, [pahns-NAY] from 'pincer' : 'to pinch', and 'nez' : 'nose'... is a style of spectacles popular in the 1800's which are worn without ear supports, on the bridge of the nose by both men and women. since they were uncomfortable to wear for extended periods [especially if not custom-fitted] and also because the constant wearing of glasses was out of fashion at the time, pince-nez were often suspended from a ribbon or chain worn round the neck, tied to the buttonhole of a lapel, or attached via a hair-pin)

50D throat ailment STREP ('strep' is a truncation of term for a form of streptococcal infection that affects the back of the throat)

54D adriatic port BARI (bari is the capital city of the province of the same name on the adriatic sea, and is the second major port/economic center in southern italy)

58D architect maya LIN (when she was still a student at the yale school of architecture, maya ying's non-traditional "rift in the earth" design for a vietnam memorial in the u.s. capital was chosen from more han 1400 submissions. the simple yet incredibly powerful monument is made of two converging black granite walls - comprised of 74 separate panels each - angled at 125 degrees, with one wall pointing to the washington monument, the other to the lincoln memorial. from where the two legs of the wall meet at the center - at a height of just over 10 feet - and gradually descending more than 246 feet away where they end - at just less than one foot from the ground - more than 58000 names of service people are inscribed in chronological order.

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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 crosses and such 7A rid of persistent dinginess, say 13A crunchy salad ingredient 14A sluggishness 16. [see diagram] 18A word with ceiling or football 19A son of david 20A n.y.c. commuter option 21A prefix with skeleton 23A author of "winning bridge made easy" 24A wisconsin senator feingold 25A trick 27A "gnarly!" 28A "the da vinci code" albino 29A some camp sights 31A beast that bugles 32A t. _____ 33A marks (out) 34A _____ press, classic venetian printer that introduced italics 39A half of a 1991 film title duo 44A children's doctor? 45A _____ lawrence orchestra (british big band since the 1960s) 47A domains 48A slew 49A los angeles's _____ verdes peninsula 51A a long time 52A hill creator 53A thumb's end 55A feeling in a cathedral, maybe 56A [see diagram] 59A what x makes 60A superlatively halloweenlike 61A high point 62A small harpsichord 1D medium tempo 2D tense 3D poking tool 4D sch. papers 5D clear up 6D crew member 7D barely missed, as a hole 8D corporation in 2001 headlines 9D withdraw (from) 10D "all nature is but _____": pope 11D bright lights, at times 12D suggests 13D like blue-chip stocks 15D sampras rival 17D 44-across character, with "the" 22D a 24D light (into) 26D gull relatives 28D skater cohen 30D spot 31D soggy 34D b flat, enharmonically 35D "fidelio" protagonist 36D it's shaken outside a house, not in 37D suffix with sex 38D tree tissue 40D pitching stat 41D heir 42D who said "i believe in censorship. after all i made a fortune out of it" 43D yes 45D private response? 46D nonprofit groups, often 49D _____-nez 50D throat ailment 53D cozy 54D adriatic port 57D hustle and bustle 58D architect maya