dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

wednesday, november 7, 2007
richard chisolm / will shortz
ny times online premium crossword puzzle















difficulty factor: not too bad for a wednesday; it had its moments



theme: boat, boats, lotsa boats... as stated by what 38A 18-, 23-, 55- and 63-across each comprises TWO KINDS OF BOATS each of those answers contains two words that are types of boats

• 18A LOVE and LIFE boats
• 23A HOUSE and PARTY boats
• 55A ICE and FISHING boats
• 63A AIR and SPEED boats

some folks and other images came to mind today...

26A city limits sign abbr. ELEV (as in elevation)
29A n.l. central team STL (national league: baseball: saint louis cardinals)
60A annika sorenstam's org. LPGA (ladies professional golf association)

6A vane dir. NNE (north northeast)

61A fraternity letters PHI's (frats : greek letters...)


68A spring bloomers IRISES



7D calculus pioneer EULER (leonhard paul euler (OIL-er) was a influential and prolific swiss mathematician and physicist, who could be said to have been way ahead of his time of the latter half of the 1700's. he defined a great deal of modern mathematical terms and methodologies)

67A "you lookin' _____?" AT ME (i got a problem here... this is either a clue error, or i completely missed the boat as to the reference. i believe the actual quote in 1976's 'taxi driver' is: "you talkin' t' me? you talkin' t' me? you talkin' t' me? [robert de niro as travis bickle turns to check behind himself] well, who the hell else are you talkin' to? you talkin' t' me? well, i'm the only one here. who the f*** d' y' think you're talkin' to?" "you talkin' to me?' was voted as one of the top ten greatest movie lines of all times recently)

12D jude law title role ALFIE (british actor born david jude heyworth law - also in the next movie...)

24D "all the king's men" star, 2006 PENN (american actor born sean justin penn)

58D david of pink panther movies NIVEN (british academy award winning actor born james david graham niven) 35D. novelist fleming IAN (british writer born ian lancaster fleming... think... bond... james bond)


40D "_____ believer" I'M A (a 1966 release sung by last weeks visitors... the monkees. for extra credit, who wrote it? neil diamond, honestly... he even "covered it" on his 1967 'just for you' lp)==============================
in the "not necessarily explained just by the answer" category
==============================

7A blunted blade EPEE (a couple o' hundred years ago it seems somebody declared that men just can't go running around duelling to death anymore. what to do?! because men will be boys... voila! a sport was born. well, the three-sided épée (EPP-ay) was evolved from the smaller, lighter, more flexible.. oh yeah, and... and sharper rapier. as a safety feature, it also has a larger rounded guard) 20A "rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" writer STEIN (gertrude, american writer; while many interpret her most famous line as being something along the lines that "things are what they are regardless what you call them", stein argued that it meant that simply using the name of a thing brings to mind images and feelings already associated with it)

21A clinton cabinet member RENO (janet reno, the attorney general of the u.s. from 1993 - 2001)

22A poetic land ERIN (all of ireland is very poetic... especially after a few pints!)

27A dept. of labor agcy. OSHA (occupational safety and health administration)

34A erie canal city UTICA (the erie canal is a waterway systen in new york state that runs 363 miles (584 km) long from the hudson river (at albany) [through utica] to lake erie (at buffalo) connecting the atlantic ocean (at new york city) with the great lakes.)

43A early time to rise SIX AM (hah! i scoff at 6am!)

44A mahmoud abbas's grp. PLO (palestine liberation organization - mr abbas, a palestinian moderate, has served as chairman of the plo executive committee since november 2004, after yasser arafat's death)

45A pro-gun org. NRA (national rifle association)

63A cockpit datum AIR SPEED (oddly enough, it is not the same as ground speed! there are lots of factors in determining where you are and how far away you are from your destination. airspeed is the speed of an aircraft regardless what the air around it is doing in flight, and can be guaged. ground speed, on the other hand, takes ground conditions such as wind direction into effect - a headwind diminishes the ground speed, while a tailwind boosts it - and must be calculated

70A north sea feeder YSER (for all the traffic this river generates in crossword puzzles, it is surprisingly small, and gradually falling 30 meters [98 feet] over its approximately 78 kilometer [47 miles] length. it travels about 30km [18mi] from where it originates in the north of france before it crosses into belgium for its remainder, and empties into the north sea at nieuwpoort [newport]... yeah, i just had t' know!)

3D it means "go with God" ADIEU (it means?! in french it is roughly equivalent to the english phrase "go with God, but literally means "to God"; "avec Dieu allez" is "(you) go with God." oh, and don't get me started about "adios" which starts with the same three letters and in spanish means the same as "adieu", "to God"; "vaya con Dios" is "(you) go with God")

10D suffix with brooklyn ESE (youse jus' gotta moida da language, wit yer brooklyn-ese, dontcha!)

11D where "aida" premiered CAIRO (the giuseppe verdi opera was first performed at the khedivial opera house in cairo, egypt in december 1871)

19D smooth, musically LEGATO (the movement or entire composition is to be played with the same easy feel)

31D deli delicacy LOX (thinly filleted salmon cured in a briny solution and typically served with cream cheese on a bagel. although the term lox is sometimes incorrestly applied to smoked salmon, that is a different product)

33D eerie ability ESP (extra sensory perception)

36D n.b.a. position: abbr. CTR (national basketball association: center)

37D "_____ friend, i..." AS A

39D toto's home KANSAS (i loved the dog point of view as opposed to dorothy's!)

42D points that may have rays FOCI (plural of focus points)

51D confined SHUT IN

53D say one's piece OPINE (as in... opinion)

56D pillow filler EIDER (eider is the fowl itself; eiderdown, plucked from the female's breast, has long been gathered from empty nests for filling pillows and quilts, but in more recent years has been largely replaced by down from domestic farm geese)

57D answer to "who's there?" IT IS I (wtf, over? who answers like that?)

59D foie gras sources GEESE (french "fat liver"; unlike that of a regular duck or goose, the 'rich, delicate" liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened by force feeding for two weeks before slaughter)

65D "mamma _____!" MIA (ew... two "m's"... that's just not... not... italian!


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in the "your mileage may vary" category:
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best clue of the day: 52. chorus after a bad call... i like it!

best answer of the day: 8D PRONTO

worst clue of the day: 33. eerie ability... eerie? odd, interesting, perhaps even unbelievable, but,,, eerie?!

worst answer of the day: 47D PIPETS... even if 'lab' in the clue is supposed to signal some sort of truncation of the answer, that's not how t' do it, dammit! [like 21D, raving...] now, i do know that in some far-flung place that particular spelling of the device is acceptable, but in mrs. chatterton's classs, that narrow, often calibrated glass tube into which liquids are suctioned for transfer or measurement is spelled "p-i-p-e-t-t-e"! "and yes, dann, there's points off for spelling on the test... just like last week... the week before... and NEXT week!" [muttering] crossword puzzles only bring out the friggin' best in me...



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
1. scores, as a victory, with "up" 7. blunted blade 11. hipster 14. door sign 15. fancy club trophies 16. pale _____ 17. mongol horde, e.g. 18. romantic goings-on 20. "rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" writer 21. clinton cabinet member 22. poetic land 23. tupperware sale event 25. takes a turn 26. city limits sign abbr. 27. dept. of labor agcy. 29. n.l. central team 32. society column word 34. erie canal city 38. what 18-, 23-, 55- and 63-across each comprises 43. early time to rise 44. mahmoud abbas's grp. 45. pro-gun org. 46. catches z's 49. star pitchers 52. chorus after a bad call 55. catching cold? 60. annika sorenstam's org. 61. fraternity letters 62. good-looker 63. cockpit datum 65. whodunit plot element 66. vane dir. 67. "you lookin' _____?" 68. spring bloomers 69. _____ moines 70. north sea feeder 71. when many stores open 1. dont go together 2. must 3. it means "go with god" 4. act as a go-between 5. boarding site 6. sound of a leak 7. calculus pioneer 8. chop-chop 9. embassy figures 10. suffix with brooklyn 11. where "aida" premiered 12. jude law title role 13. many justin timberlake fans 19. smooth, musically 21. was incoherent 24. "all the king's men" star, 2006 28. important airport 29. they cross aves. 30. _____-night doubleheader 31. deli delicacy 33. eerie ability 35. novelist fleming 36. n.b.a. position: abbr. 37. "_____ friend, i..." 39. toto's home 40. "_____ believer" 41. five norse kings 42. points that may have rays 47. lab tubes 48. intrigue 50. debutante's date 51. confined 52. short on flavor 53. say one's piece 54. shrek's ilk 56. pillow filler 57. answer to "who's there?" 58. david of pink panther movies 59. foie gras sources 64. pony up 65. "mamma _____!"