dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

thursday, december 06, 2007
joe krozel / will shortz
ny times online premium crossword puzzle
















difficulty factor: not bad at all t'day...

theme: on/off
20A ON COMET, ON CUPID

38A ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN

52A OFF-OFF-BROADWAY


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in the "notes of record" category
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i kinda felt a kindred-ness with creator krozel t'day...

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in the "most googled" category
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25D "what is to be done?" pamphleteer, 1901 LENIN

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in the "not necessarily explained just by the answer" category
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17A scolding TALKING TO

19A chevy offering TAHOE
23A a.a.a. part: abbr. ASSN. (american automobile association)
36A scala of "the guns of navarone" GIA

42A not long or short: abbr. REG. (as in... men's suits)

43A extremely EVER SO


44A "is that _____?" A NO


47A longtime mideast leader ASSAD (hafez al-assad was president of syria for near three decades. assad's rule stabilized and consolidated the power of the country's central government after decades of coups and counter-coups. he was succeeded by his son and current president bashar al-assad in 2000)


50A verb in a question from juliet ART ("wherefore art thou, romeo?")


60A not allowing for compromise ALL OR NONE


63A _____ wintour, real-life editor on whom "the devil wears prada" is based ANNA (anna wintour is the editor-in-chief of the u.s. edition of vogue magazine)

65A company leaders: abbr. SGTS. (while a military company - made up of a number of [3 to 6] platoons each answering to a lieutenant - is typically commanded by a captain, there are exceptions. a large or intricate enough company may require a major to command; a smaller or simpler company may allow for a lieutenant to command. the senior non-commissioned officer
of a company is called a 'first sergeant' and typically holds that rank. at times, however, a master sergeant, or sergeant first class will be appointed to the job)

1D old newspaper section ROTO (rotogravureis an etching process for graphics, and used to be confined to one section of the paper)


2D it's about 200 miles south of georgia (as in ... the eurasian country georgia, a representative democracy in the caucasus mountains located at the east coast of the black sea, and bordered on the north by russia, on the south by turkey and armenia, and on the east by azerbaijan)


4D nevada city ELKO

6D circus BIG TOP

7D come _____ (proposition) ON TO

8D austrian painter schiele EGON (expressionist painter egon schiele died when he was only 28 and we do not really know whether he would have developed from the self-pitying adolescent angst that was the main theme of his work. examples: 'sitting woman' ans 'self-portrait')

11D locked up BEHIND BARS


12D product with earbuds I-POD
13D literary monogram T.S.E. (thomas stearns eliot was an american born, nobel laureate writer of prose, poems, plays, and a literary critic. he moved to the england in 1914 (at the age of 25), and became a british subject in 1927 at the age of 39)

18D classic chevy offering IMPALA
25D "what is to be done?" pamphleteer, 1901 LENIN (a political pamphlet, written by vladimir lenin that called for the formation of a revolutionary vanguardist party that would direct the efforts of the working class, because when left to their own devices, workers would be merely satisfied with "trade unionism" and that only a revolutionary party could direct a "scientific" socialist revolution)

26D center of power OVAL OFFICE (of the white house in washington, d.c., usa)

27D university of arkansas team, informally HOGS (u of a "razorbacks" [also referred to as an old world swine, eurasian wild boar, or russian wild boar] are tenacious feral pigs that were brought to north america by the spanish explorers during the 1550's)

29D disco-era suffix -A-GO-GO

30D "what's the _____?" DIF (difference)

32D "i still see _____" ("paint your wagon" song) ELISA

35D grow impatient with TIRE OF

39D nancy drew's guy NED (ned nickerson)

45D greek peak MT. OSSA
46D place to start a test-drive CAR LOT

52D title poet in a 1957 biopic OMAR (omar khayyám)

53D ballpark figures FANS (which is the shortened form of 'fanatics')

54D modern writing BLOG (and for one of the funniest, saddest, strangest, baddest... visit... "what in the cornbread hell?" [link on right bar])

59D govt. org. with a flower in its logo E.P.A. (environmental protection agency)

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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
1. exorcism, e.g. 5. certain aerophone 9. circle 14. like some histories 15. addition 16. toots 17. scolding 19. chevy offering 20. cry from santa 22. debate side 23. a.a.a. part: abbr. 24. you can hear it coming and going 28. father 31. paris's palais _ congres 34. renounce allegiance 36. scala of "the guns of navarone" 37. how experts work 38. sporadic 41. wire measures 42. not long or short: abbr. 43. extremely 44. "is that _?" 45. bordeaux variety 47. longtime mideast leader 48. shot, informally 50. verb in a question from juliet 52. some theater 59. discharges 60. not allowing for compromise 61. duel measures 62. corner 63. _ wintour, real-life editor on whom "the devil wears prada" is based 64. war locale, broadly 65. company leaders: abbr. 66. hubbub 1. old newspaper section 2. it's about 200 miles south of georgia 3. anti-rash agent 4. nevada city 5. insurance seeker, frequently 6. circus 7. come _ (proposition) 8. austrian painter schiele 9. dense 10. hauls in 11. locked up 12. product with earbuds 13. literary monogram 18. classic chevy offering 21. wine order 24. pipe tobacco has it 25. "what is to be done?" pamphleteer, 1901 26. center of power 27. university of arkansas team, informally 29. disco-era suffix 30. "what's the _?" 32. "i still see _" ("paint your wagon" song) 33. ecclesiastical council 35. grow impatient with 37. all-_ (g-rated) 39. nancy drew's guy 40. personification 45. greek peak 46. place to start a test-drive 49. quite a bit 51. chisels 52. title poet in a 1957 biopic 53. ballpark figures 54. modern writing 55. genetic strands 56. custom 57. mci and others 58. one of 57-down, in english 59. govt. org. with a flower in its logo