dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

tuesday, november 6, 2007
john underwood / will shortz
ny times online premium crossword puzzle
















difficulty factor: not even tuesday hard at all! what's up?!


theme: besides cluing numbers, five shows up SEVEN - yes, i said SEVEN - times in this fantastic puzzle...

• 3D FIVE cents
• 17A FIVE-star general
• 23A FIVE bells
• 49A takes FIVE
• 32D gimme FIVE
• 57A quarter past FIVE



• and... ?

and a few visitors stopped by...

21A delon of "purple noon" ALAIN and 33D pierce player ALDA (alan alda, born alphonzo joseph d'abruzzo, played hawkeye pierce on tv's M*A*S*H)

31A boris godunov, for one TSAR (born boris feodorovich godunov)[note: photo shows actor alexander kipnis portraying godunov]

7D bobby of the bruins ORR

46D colorful fishes TETRAS ('black phantom', 'cardinal', and 'pretty' varieties - three of hundreds!)51D "the family circus" cartoonist bil KEANE 61D honest _____ ABE (abraham lincoln) ==============================
in the "not necessarily explained just by the answer" category
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• 5A virus named for a river EBOLA (after the ebola river valley in the african nation-state of the democratic republic of the congo [formerly zaïre])


• 10A trans-siberian railroad stop OMSK (original plans and funding were designed to connect a network of railways from the then capital of st. petersburg to the pacific ocean. at the onset of communism the 700 km [8h 55m] st. pete to moscow branch was no longer officially recognized as part of the system. moscow to omsk, 2,676 km [1d 13h 50m]; omsk to vladivostok 6,583 km [4d 16h 30m] officially, the entire 9,259 km tran-siberian railroad from moscow to vladivostok can be traversed in 6 days, 5 hours, and 19 minutes - give or take)

• 15A u.s./canada early warning syst. NORAD (NORth American aerospace Defense command)


• 16A city bond, for short MUNI (as in MUNI-cipal)


• 22A cedar rapids college COE (a private four-year liberal arts college in iowa)


• 23A 2:30, aboard ship FIVE BELLS (naval "watch" keeping lingo)


• 27A dele undoers STETS (pl. latin; "let it stand"; is used by proofreaders to tell a writer to ignore a previously marked editor's change)


• 45A _____ plume NOM DE (french; "name of the pen" or pen name, a writer's pseudonym)


• 53A "waiting for lefty" playwright ODETS (clifford odets was an american playwright, screenwriter, socialist, and social reformer)


• 63A shul v.i.p. RABBI (the yiddish term "shul" is used informally to refer to the house of worship. "synagogue" is used for more formal occasions)


• 1D brit's elevator LIFT (ah... british words!)


• 4D slugging it out TOE TO TOE


• 5D _____'acte ENTR (entr'acte [one word]... french "between the acts")


• 23D jack sprat's taboo FAT (english children's rhyme...

"jack sprat could eat no fat,

his wife could eat no lean.

and so betwixt [or between] the two of them,

they licked the platter clean!)

• 25D rome's ____ veneto VIA (VYE-uh ven-EAT-oh, via vittorio veneto is a well-known artery - and tourist attraction - in rome, italy)


• 28D vehicle with a medallion TAXI (the medallion system for cabs in major cities was designed to limit the number of cars clogging the roadways, and to... uh... assure better vehicles... and drivers, among other things. they can be sold for more than a quarter of a million dollars at auction!)


• 42D ap competitor UPI (ap = associated press, and upi = united press international; they started as news gathering/diseminationg agency... oddly enough, the unification church [the "moonies"] now owns upi!)


• 43D "my name is asher _____" LEV (a novel by chaim potok about the trials and tribulations of an artist prodigy and orthodox jewish boy growing up in brooklyn)


• 44D "for shame!" FIE (have you ever heard it used? it's positively archaic!)


• 49D brimless cap TOQUE (a type of [mostly ladies] hat with a narrow brim or no brim at all, and all the rage in france throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. i said "mostly women" above because we all recognize a variation on this theme... a tall, round, pleated, starched white hat [toque blanc]... worn by chefs!)


• 60D "sesame street" channel PBS (public braodcasting station)

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in the "your mileage may vary" category:
==============================

best clue of the day: 24. hypotheticals... love the word!
best answer of the day: 10D OMELET... [doing really bad homer simpson impression] "mmm... omelets..."
worst clue of the day: 65A hot times in france... boring!
worst answer of the day: 40. DIS... sorry, i just don't like the term... the erosion of the language

gratuitous shot of the day! 6D BOA...

keep on keepin' on...

dann
ps. the seventh five is right in the middle of the grid layout!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
1. home in an old warehouse district 5. virus named for a river 10. trans-siberian railroad stop 14. peculiar: prefix 15. u.s./canada early warning syst. 16. city bond, for short 17. eisenhowerwas one 20. move unsteadily 21. delon of "purple noon" 22. cedar rapids college 23. 2:30, aboard ship 27. dele undoers 29. something new 30. ho chi minh's capital 31. boris godunov, for one 32. rove, with "about" 35. full range 37. it's off the tip of italy 40. bad-mouth 41. _____ war syndrome 45. _____ plume 46. chiang kai-shek's capital 48. mountain cats 49. rests for a bit 52. singleton 53. "waiting for lefty" playwright 54. like dickens's dodger 57. shortly after quitting time, for many 62. forearm bone 63. shulv.i.p. 64. pizzeria fixture 65. hot times in france 66. befuddled 67. try for a role 1. brit's elevator 2. garfield's foil 3. nickel 4. slugging it out 5. _____'acte 6. feathery wrap 7. bobby of the bruins 8. dillydally 9. fruity quencher 10. brunch dish 11. wall art 12. symbol of slowness 13. ceramists'baking chambers 18. welcomes, as a guest at one's home 19. catches red-handed 23. jack sprat's taboo 24. hypotheticals 25. rome's ____ veneto 26. blunders 27. outbuilding 28. vehicle with a medallion 32. request for a congratulatory slap 33. pierce player 34. gray concealers 36. end-of-work week cry 38. at a cruise stop 39. be worth 42. ap competitor 43. "my name is asher _____" 44. "for shame!" 46. colorful fishes 47. helper: abbr. 49. brimless cap 50. at least 21 51. "the family circus" cartoonist bil 54. home to most turks 55. iris's place 56. libraries do it 58. big band _____ 59. turn state's evidence 60. "sesame street" channel 61. honest