17A - hero/giant created by rabelais = gargantua. 39A - menacing = sinister.
a. because they're lots cooler than synchronized swimming? b. because i'm a total dork? c. some other reasons i'll try to explain after the jump? d. all of the above?
d., of course, is the correct answer. but you already knew that, didn't you?
ok, lets deal with *gargantua* 1st.
a. because it's so much fun to say. try it. gar-GAN-tua. hahahahaha.
b. because this is a cool picture of him:
c. and because this is even awesomer. (yep, i read the whooole thing. i told you i was a dork...)
but why in the cornbread hell would i like *sinister* so much??
a. because i got it with just the n. (from the parmesaN crossing.)
b. just because.
c. and really because...(this is where i think it gets a little bit whacky) the actual word of the day from wordsmith.org is *ambisinister.* coincidence? (duh. of course it is you gullible, ambisinister oafs.)
maybe that's too small to read, but here's the salient text:
ambisinister
MEANING: adjective: Clumsy with both hands. (Literally, with two left hands.)
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ambi- (both) + sinister (on the left side).
wha? "sinister" comes from "the left side" ???? oh those crazy latins...
all you left handed people out there oughta start aclamorin' asap. that sounds like prejudicism (sic) to me.
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bonus random stuff in case you can't read the screenshot above):
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)
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hey. if you didn't learn anything new today, don't blame me.
never heard of 'em. so i looked it up and found it to be absolutely fascinating. did you know they "are incapable of feeding themselves, and must rely on captured worker ants to care for them"?
me either. check out the wikipedia article here. (aw go ahead. it's short and Very interesting. then come back and read the rest of this post.)
oh & speaking of ants...
have you heard about the houston-area invasion of "crazy ants?" no, no, no, not crazy aunts...ants. they're called crazy because they move so so fast and erratically. there are apparently billions of the tiny critters taking over a 5 county area in southeast texas. yikes!
the good news? they eat fire ants. unfortunately, they also eat plants, beneficial insects, the hatchlings of small birds, and fiercely infest electrical equipment, have multiple queens and are resistant to pesticides.
"...when you do kill these ants, the survivors turn it to their advantage: They pile up the dead, sometimes using them as a bridge to cross safely over surfaces treated with pesticide."
brilliant. and creepy.
i'm thinking an anteater would make a great pet for houstonites.
the next president of the u.s. and his primary opponent were 5 miles away from here last night. about the most interesting thing about their debate, to me, was the setup. it was held in the university of texas gymnasium which holds about 43,000 people.
over 40,000 applied to attend, but cnn staged it to accomodate 2000. a few hundred university students were included by way of raffle and 100 ordinary citizens were granted entry. the rest? i dunno. pundits and very important poohbahs, i s'pose.
last week in the small east texas town of nacogdoches, the lovely josephine got to shake bill clinton's hand. i'm jealous. i wanted to at least see the visiting dignitaries.
the truth is, they could have filled the 85,000 seat stadium next door had they wanted to.
but it's just as well. the *debate* was pretty boring. sorta like a monday new york times crossword puzzle if you ask me: unique, impeccably structured, but too easy, and as a result, not very interesting. you do it because it's the nyt puzzle, because it's there - not for a challenge. not to learn anything really.
i mean, it's history in the makin', for god's sake. the first black and the first female american presidential candidates with a real chance to hold the office. ever. right here in downtown austin dukin' it out. how exciting is that? i'd have loved to have been there in person.
speaking of the nyt crossword...
my daughter sent me a care package right after my wreck. it was full of tasty treats, and books and stuff. (thanks, josephine) one of the books is a collection of nyt x-words from 2003. i finished them a few days ago. when i say finished, i really mean i finished the thursday, friday and saturday ones.
i did a few of the monday ones and then started just filling in the theme portions until i got bored with that tact. then i did the rest in my head, without pen as much as possible. i found various ways to make the monday-wednesday ones challenging. or at least interesting. (see what i mean about comparing them to the presidential debate? i mean, i watched the rerun. at least parts of it. but i'm here to tell you...bor-ing. i'll take reruns of mayberry rfd over that piffle any day.)
now, the friday/saturday puzzles in this book were a whole different matter. the third to last one in the book, constructed by randolph ross, and of course edited by the inimitable will shortz, was my favorite by far. here it is:
can you see it? you see the 4 long answers? 4 down, 24 across, 10 down and 52 across? pretty dang clever, huh?
discuss.
(with clues)
i wish will shortz was in charge of staging the presidential debates. i think he'd do 'em up right. it would be fun to see a *monday night debate* and a *tuesday night debate* and so on. you could definitely fill up the the largest venue anywhere for a *saturday* quality debate. and just think of the advertising revenue, cnn!Read more!
i normally don't do the nyt puzzle in real time, but i did for the last few weeks so i could guest blog for my cyber friend, Linda G. i had so much fun doing it.
part of that fun was due to the dubious work my incompetent paparazzi did over the course of those 2 weeks. (unfortunately i had to fire all of them. they kept sending me pictures of Ava Gardner for some reason.)
one fool even sent in a picture of himself and his mom. (she was wearing a Very inappropriate bikini...)
so, i finally gave up trying to capture a picture of the real linda g.
much like in puzzle solving, as soon as i stopped trying, the answer just miraculously appeared out of nowhere...
this photo was sent to me by none other than Will Shortz hiz self. and he swears it's the real deal.
like i always say, if ya can't trust that trickster, who can ya trust?
trust me. those are the real toes. just ask linda.
aloha, y'all. (try sayin' that 2 or 3 times fast and see where it gets you.)Read more!
as i have mentioned before, i am a crossword puzzle fanatic. i usually do the new york times syndicated. it's free. i get it in my local paper 6 weeks after it is originally published. even then, i always manage to find someone else's just lying around because...yes, i'm a cheapskate. besides that, the Dallas Boring News isn't worth 50 cents ( i'm not so sure the new york times is either, to tell you the truth.)
but next week i'll be guest blogging for someone who does a daily commentary on THE CURRENT nyt crossword puzzle so i ponied up the hefty sum of $6.95 to do the puzzle in real time.
it took me 93 minutes to complete Paula Gamache's grid this evening and lemme tell ya, it was a doozy. there were nine! 15 letter across-es as well as the typically misdirecting friday clues, but the best part of the experience for me was seeing the uncharacteristic (for the nyt) political *theme* emerge.
(how in the cornbread hell do some people solve these things in 3 or 7 minutes? they are total freaks of nature, i tell you.)
for the record, i don't think the friday nyt is very often themed, but if you care to bear with me beyond the jump, i'll do my best to present the facts and, as always, my own twisted personal bias.
here are the 9 long, #'d Across clues = [answers] referred to above (with some abbreviated commentary in parentheses) : --->
1A. just the pits = [as bad as bad bad can be.] (nah. i suspect it'll get worse before it gets better.) 16A. classic line of a debate? = [there you go again] (my dad was Big reagan fan.) 17A. just a bit, if that = [little or nothing] (an apt description of the power of reason. or of the vote, for that matter...)
30A. sewn up = [over and done with] (think: rome.) 37A. "the randi rhodes show" network = [air america radio] ...(i'm a Big fan.) 38A. determine = [make a resolution] (call your congress person. tell 'em to quit fucking around and get the hell out of iraq. find a moral cause to spend some of that $$ on.)
53A. left-of-center party member = [liberal democrat] (no, i'm a radical human bean. politics? be damned.) 57A. "i'll take whatever help i can get" = [any port in the storm] (i'm not holding my breath...) 58A. pro team whose mascot is a blue bird named blitz = [seattle seahawks] (my dad was a Hawk...)
now, other than the last of those - [answers]- i think the political tone is subtlely, blatantly evident, if not exactly clear as to its intent. just read the answers in bold by themselves. (ok, the last one is a bit of a kerfuffle, but the clue for it (...a blue bird named blitz) gives me a modicum of hope for my whacked out theory...)
whether the constructor intended a *theme* or not, i have no clue. still, i can't help but read one, though i'm not at all sure how to interpret it.
is it *democratic ineptitude* or is it an even more pathetic *liberal lament* or is it a well-deserved, friendly, conservative ribbing?
with that in mind, i think i'll go look for some 39A. it'll change your mind [LSD] ( this fill also seems odd for the nyt, to me.)
i could never have finished this x-word without the downs.
like... 2D. one just filling up space [shim] (democratic congressman?) 5D. arm raiser, informally [delt] (no conviction needed, just flex) nos. 7,8,9 and 10D. are too depressing to mention in this context. as are 25, 31 and 32 Down. not to mention 47D and 52/4 D. i could go on and on, but... it's late.
the completed grid and clues referred to are up top where it says, "THE CURRENT" in red.
Dear Ms. Gamache, thanks for the reference to Dylan's "Shelter From The Storm" at 57A. even if it was unintentional. ...not to mention the lovely Woody Guthrie Ballad of Tom [Joad] at 49A.
(psst, linda, aren't you glad i'm not posting this on your page? i promise to try to behave.)Read more!
a cyberquaintance who blogs her take on the new york times crossword puzzle on a daily basis is vacating to hawaii in a few weeks and for some ricoculous reason i offered to sit in for her a few times while she and her husband do the hula. or whatever it is one does there…
(i know what yer thinkin'. yes, she’s read my blog and she still agreed. so there…)
”Only a couple of rules, Rick...no nekkid women on the blog, no saying fuck.”
so i figure i’d better give it a practice shot. ya think?
[notes to self…work on formatting…gotta remember not to break the freakin’ rules…must at least try to be coherent…hmm?…think her readers’ll mind if i comment on the syndicated puzzle from 6 weeks in their past?…(just kidding Linda)]
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
i enjoyed Elizabeth A. Long’s themed puzzle from monday, july 16, 2007.
it’s real easy, but that’s no knock on the constructor. Mondays are easy by convention. you could take this same puzzle and re-clue it to produce a fairly difficult puzzle. Easily.
for example:
15D is Monday-ly clued as: not new. the answer? [USED] (duh.)
but what if the clue had been... go forward? the answer could still be [USED] but this time it might have abbr. as an indicator and refer to putting your vehicle in Drive[USE D.] (d’oh! i can just hear the purists whining now. "unfair, unfair. what a stretch!")
ok. Enough of that c**p. let's get to the puzzle...
the themed clues/answers are: -17A:*It rolls across the Plains [SAGEBRUSH] -11D: *Juice drink brand [OCEAN SPRAY] -31D:*Alluring dance [STRIPTEASE] -65A: *Beehive contents [HONEYCOMB]
and of course what they have in common is:
the theme: 25D: With 22-Down, what the ends of the answers to the 4 starred clues are examples of [HOW TO FIX] 22D: see 25D: [YOUR HAIR]
(note to self...work on clarity. ok, i'm a workin')
the awesome critter pictured at the beginning of this post is a sagebrush lizardand you can see its colorful underside here. check it out. (no lizards were harmed in the making of this blog.)
11D: ocean spray the 2 year anniversary of Katrina is approaching. (i sure wish i'd hear from the folks who took refuge here at my house back then. i think of 'em often. there were 10 people in all. a family of 5, 3 crazy ass cajun brothers and 2 ne'er-do-wells, one of whom i kicked the fuck OUT! but not before he robbed me.)
this is interesting. (if anyone can either debunk or verify it, i'd be interested to hear.)
"According to a new study by two University of California, Berkeley, mathematicians and their Russian colleague, the water droplets kicked up by rough seas serve to lubricate the swirling winds of hurricanes and cyclones, letting them build to speeds approaching 200 miles per hour. Without the lubricating effect of the spray, the mathematicians estimate, winds would rise to little more than 25 miles per hour."
"If you could develop a detergent to reduce the size of the droplets, you might be able to stop a hurricane," he said. "That's not as far fetched as it sounds. In ancient times, sailors carried oil to pour out on the water to calm storms. Pouring oil on choppy waters was not a superstition."
31D: striptease i promised *madness* i wouldn’t add any nekkid women when i sub for her, so in the spirit of that promise…
One of dad’s many hobbies was beekeeping. I spent many an evening in his garage extracting honey and chewing the honey filled comb. I can’t think of a sweeter memory or remember how many times we crooned this song together while doing our work. ...with a hank of hair and a......honeycomb.....what a darn good life.......
hahahahahaha
and finally, some random odds and ends and why i like them…
-27 across: Kevin of “Field of Dreams” = [COSTNER]. because I like the actor, love baseball and am a sucker for sappy movies.
-42 down: eats = [GRUB]. Not the boring verb, but a really funny noun.
-29 across: psychiatrists' appointments = [SESSIONS]. i have voted against Pete Sessions, (R Texas) 6 or 7 times. i much prefer…
-72 across: Politicos with a donkey symbol = [DEMS] (Linda didn’t mention any restrictions on politics.)
-2 down: False witness = [LIAR]. liar liar pants on fire, glad to see you go, karl...you too, alberto. now if we could just get rid of that other (i promised i wouldn't say fucking) texan...
there’s more. oh, there’s always more, but i’ll let it go for now. Next time maybe i’ll practice posting the completed grid.
(how many nekkid women does it take to screw in a lightbulb? gosh, i don't know, how many can you fit in that thang?)
don't worry, madness. i won't say screw, either. or maybe you've changed your mind after reading this...
for much of my life i have been a stone carver and a crossword puzzler. the vocation and the avocation have much in common. for one, both are begun with a rendering.
regardless of the skill of the sculptor, a poor drawing will rarely produce a satisfying piece of work just as a clumsily constructed x-word will not produce a satisfying solving experience. i find the new york times [nyt] crossword puzzle to be the Michelangelo of puzzledom.
bear with me as i bare more opinion...
as the week progresses from monday through saturday, the nyt puzzles are consistently well rendered, but the difficulty for solvers gradually evolves throughout the week. i liken it to stone carving in a way.
Monday is a mindless activity of oft repeated technique. Tuesday is having to deal with the patron or the architect… Wednesday is like making a maquette of soft clay. Thursday is like carving a sweet, malleable texas limestone. Friday, a tough, unforgiving, but potentially pristine indiana limestone piece. Saturday? the pure white carrara marble of puzzles.
(sometimes fri and/or sat are like chiseling granite, but sunday is always a total amalgam, like working with a fairly reliable, but tedious travertine.)
for my 1st and likely only nyt x-word puzzle report i choose 2, sweet, malleable limestone gems published 6 weeks apart…
the puzzle for thursday, july 12, 2007, constructed by michael shteyman and edited by will shortz is...
a typical thursday nyt themed puzzle.
the 4 theme answers are symmetrically placed in the grid like so:
17-A. it might help you take a turn for the better [POWER STEERING] 35-A. ten minutes in a laundry, maybe [WASH CYCLE] 54-A. "you'll have to take my word for it" [TRUST ME ON THIS] and smack dab down the middle is 16-D. low pressure area [STORM CENTER]
the theme is only announced in the final across as: 65A. word that can precede the starts of 17-, 35- and 54-across and 16-down. the answer? [BRAIN.]
some other cool stuff in this puzzle
32A. early surrealist [MAX ERNST] (that's max in the picture playing chess in the buff with his wife.)
63A. a lennon sister [DIANNE] (when i was 12 i had the hots for kathy, ok?)
49D. titillating [JUICY] (that's the 12 year old in me you hear giggling.)
ok, so this is gettin' kinda long and i still have to tell you about yesterday's puzzle?
the puzzle for thursday, august 23, 2007, constructed by joe krozel and edited by will shortz is an atypical themed puzzle with a boatload of homophones (you know, like bear and bare) and an unconventional cluing system that...oh forget it. check out the real x-word bloggers on the sidebar of this blog for an explanation of the very clever theme, but i wanted to point out 3 things that i really liked here.
39A. recondite [OBSCURE] i just think it's a cool word. and yup, that's what brought me out of my cave. go figure...not a real person, but a freakin' word. (see previous post.)
41A. tolerates [ABIDES] the dude abides. i like this because in my all time favorite movie, The Big Lebowski, one of the catchphrases refers to the laid back protagonist played by jeff bridges. he calls himself "the dude" and he certainly abides. (though he does have some trouble with having his rug micturated on.)
The Dude: "Yeah, well. The Dude abides." The Stranger: "The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh. I sure hope he makes the finals."
if you haven't seen the movie check it out. it's a great existential comedy.
66A. pretended to be [POSED AS] in the grid this one reads as "posedas" which makes me think of the spanish word "posadas" which screams with irony if you're familiar with the spanish conquest of mexico and how christian doctrine "posed as" local cultural tradition in order to win over the heathens...
"This tradition dates back to the sixteenth century and St. Ignatius Loyola, who used an Aztec festival to teach about the birth of Christ. He also wanted to replace the nine-day celebration of the birth of the Aztec Sun god with a Christian celebration."
i do the ny times crossword puzzle just about every day. hey, there are worse addictions out there. yesterday i decided to try my hand at the ny sun puzzle. man, was it was a killer.
my favorite answer: BURQINI clued as MUSLIM WOMAN'S SWIMWEAR, which i only got by the crossings.
turns out it's a word coined by combining burqa, the traditional head-to-toe covering for Muslim women,
with bikini. (from wikipedia: "According to the official version, the modern bikini... was named after Bikini Atoll, the site of nuclear weapon tests... in the Marshall Islands, on the reasoning that the burst of excitement it would cause would be like the nuclear device." )
now, if the mental image of a burqa clad surfer isn't funny to you, i really can't do a thing to help you out. but you might at least admit that burqini is a clever word. no? a fine, fine invention for all concerned.
here is an awesome story about a female, australian, muslim lifeguard. (irony rocks) she not only has a cool name (ms. laalaa), she wears a burqini while being a good, allah-fearing social activist. now that's my kinda gal. the puzzle constructor, Francis Heaney, says s/he(? ) began creating the puzzle after reading that article.
holy moly! this all makes me wanta go to the beach and check out the -qinis. and the-kinis, too. Read more!
