dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

wednesday, december 05, 2007
allan e. parrish / will shortz
ny times online premium crossword puzzle
















difficulty factor: it was NOT a terribly difficult puzzle... it was... um... er... well, it was...


theme: things that are all deer to me.

17A HIND
11D HART
26D DOE
34D BUCK
63A STAG
71A DEER


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in the "notes of record" category
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today's notepad is yesterday's news...

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in the "not necessarily explained just by the answer" category
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5A donahue of "father knows best" ELINOR (the cast of the idyllic 1950's tv family clockwise from upper left: elinor "betty 'princess' anderson" donahue, robert "james 'jim' anderson" young, jane "margaret anderson" wyman, billy "james 'bud' anderson" gray, and lauren "kathy 'kitten' anderson" chapin)
19A messenger _____ R.N.A. (messenger ribonucleic acid [mRNA] is a specific molecule of rna that carries - from dna - a chemical "blueprint" for a protein product. it carries this info to the sites of protein synthesis via transfer rna [tRNA] and ribosomal, and carries out the replication using ribosomal rna [rRNA])

20A 1977 double-platinum steely dan album AJA
21A bygone mideast grp. U.A.R. (the united arab republic was the state formed by the union of the republics of egypt and syria in 1958, and existed until syria's secession in 1961, although egypt continued to be known as the u.a.r. until 1971)

22A p.m. between pearson and clark TRUDEAU (why abberviation usage here? it was unnecessarily distractive)

26A shared taxi JITNEY

29A panama and others ISTHMI (i worked this puzzle from the washington/oregon corner across to maine then headed south. when i came across this answer, i was certain we had a pangram on our hands... elsewise why go to such great lemgths?! oh, hell, i was wrong all along)

35A _____ mcan shoes THOM

42A "cimarron" studio, 1931 RKO
45A "the seduction of joe tynan" star, 1979 ALDA
50A ready to pour ON TAP
52A "i am six. i am a city child. i live at the plaza" speaker ELOISE
58A biopsy, e.g. LAB TEST

62A "the simpsons" storekeeper APU (apu hahasapeemapetilon)
63A worrisome economic condition STAGFLATION (stagflation [a portmanteau of the words stagnation and inflation] is a term used by economists to describe "a period of out-of-control price inflation combined with slow-to-no output growth, rising unemployment, and eventually recession")

66A input-jack label MIC
68A "happy motoring" sloganeer ESSO
69A golfs se ri _____ PAK
2D mystical board OUIJA
3D ricardo player ARNAZ
4D chic, 60s-style MOD
5D shevardnadze of georgia EDUARD

6D king of tragedy LEAR (shakespeare's king lear)

7D bargain bin abbr. IRR. (irregular)

8D capone colleague NITTI (francesco raffaele nitto, better known as frank "the enforcer" nitti was an italian/american gangster, one of the top henchmen of al capone, and later a mob boss in his own right)

9D. paycheck fattener OVER-TIME

10D summer tv fare RE-RUNS

11D "sunglasses at night" singer, 1984 COREY HART

23D police dept. figs. DETS. (detectives)

25D n.y.c.'s _____ of the americas AVE. (this abbreviation, although intended, is unpalatable)

26D court anonym JOHN DOE

28D footnote abbr. ET AL (abbr. of et alibi... 'and elsewhere' when referring to other occurrences in a text)

30D love of the beach boys MIKE

31D wedding exchange I DO'S

32D cartoonist addams CHAS (charles samuel addams was an award-winning, american cartoonist known for his particularly black humor and macabre characters who became known as the addams family... yes... THAT addams family!)
33D _____-call (automated solicitation) ROBO (robo[tic phone]call is american derisive slang for any telemarketing phone call that uses both a computerized autodialer and a computer-delivered recorded message)

34D john candy title role UNCLE BUCK
44D shoulder muscle, briefly DELT. (deltoids)

49D one of the mitchells in an old upn sitcom MOESHA

53D fab four name STARR

57D toledo title SENOR (as in... toledo, spain)

59D capital of samoa APIA

60D aqua velva alternative AFTA

65D former televangelist haggard TED ('pastor ted' arthur haggard is a former american evangelical preacher, founder and former pastor of the new life church in colorado springs, coloradom, and memver of other august evangelical groups. in november 2006, he resigned or was removed from all of his leadership positions after allegations of homosexual sex and drug abuse were made by a former prostitute. after initial denials he acknowledged that some allegations, such as his purchase of methamphetamine, were true. he later added "sexual immorality" to his list of confessions. later, after three weeks of intensive counseling, one of the four overseeing ministers. tim ralph, declared that "haggard is completely heterosexual". ralph later said he meant to say that therapy "gave Ted the tools to help to embrace his heterosexual side")

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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 gad about 5A donahue of "father knows best" 11A one learning the ropes 14A _ disney 15A reason out 16A soccer fan's cry 17A source of rump roast 19A messenger _ 20A 1977 double-platinum steely dan album 21A bygone mideast grp. 22A p.m. between pearson and clark 24A charity event, maybe 26A shared taxi 27A blockbuster offering 29A panama and others 32A hard-hearted 35A _ mcan shoes 37A came out with 38A sweetums 39A speed-read 42A "cimarron" studio, 1931 43A children's tune starter 45A "the seduction of joe tynan" star, 1979 46A cant deal with 48A like some oaths or vows 50A ready to pour 52A "i am six. i am a city child. i live at the plaza" speaker 54A sports spots 58A biopsy, e.g. 60A purpose 61A assayer's stuff 62A "the simpsons" storekeeper 63A worrisome economic condition 66A input-jack label 67A regarding this point, in legalese 68A "happy motoring" sloganeer 69A golfs se ri _ 70A unpaid debt 71A this puzzle's theme 1D dry out, in a way 2D mystical board 3D ricardo player 4D chic, 60s-style 5D shevardnadze of georgia 6D king of tragedy 7D bargain bin abbr. 8D capone colleague 9D. paycheck fattener 10D summer tv fare 11D "sunglasses at night" singer, 1984 12D limb bone 13D steady 18D shows cowardice 23D police dept. figs. 25D n.y.c.'s _ of the americas 26D court anonym 28D footnote abbr. 30D love of the beach boys 31D wedding exchange 32D cartoonist addams 33D _-call (automated solicitation) 34D john candy title role 36D son of judah 40D coffee holder 41D teachings of buddha 44D shoulder muscle, briefly 47D take off on 49D one of the mitchells in an old upn sitcom 51D custom-create 53D fab four name 55D click or clack 56D cropped up 57D toledo title 58D desktop accessory 59D capital of samoa 60D aqua velva alternative 64D "hmm, no fooling!" 65D former televangelist haggard