I will never understand why AROAR is not an acceptable word in Spelling Bee.
@Chris g Waiting for Sam Ezersky to say, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? :-)
@Michael Weiland I wish I could recommend this comment more than once.
@Chris g Right? The word list for that game is so crazy. Many normal words I know are not on it, yet when I'm missing points and I randomly mash the letters, the weirdest letter combinations emerge as actual words the game accepts... Anyway, off to swing on a liana over a midden onto a carrack...
@Chris g the inconsistencies in SB is why I no longer partake. Has anyone ever checked SE’s crossword answers against his SB word list? He needs an editor….
I started enjoying Spelling Bee when I decided to aim for Genius level without using four letter words. It’s less annoying and tedious than trying for QB, but still a challenge (for me).
@Chris g Literally the first thing I said when I opened the comments section today.
There's a great come-back story about "Do you know who I am?" An irate traveler yelled this at a gate agent over his cancelled flight. The agent got on the terminal p.a. system and said, "Attention in the terminal: there's a man at gate 43 who doesn't know who he is. If there's anyone in the terminal missing a traveling companion, please come to gate 43 to help him identify himself."
Oh, I so badly wanted [Handle of a knife] to be MACK. Et tu, emu.
@Lewis Excellent! “The Threepenny Opera” is my favorite piece of musical theatre (probably because it’s so dark and cynical). I have recordings of three productions, each a different translation. If you like the show, it’s worth investigating the recordings that don’t use the Marc Blitzstein translation. (The hit version of “Mack the Knife” uses the Blitzstein lyrics.)
@Lewis Now that's a clue! Sharp. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler
@B I junst did 8/28/2024 (A Wednesday, which I normally don't bother with). It's not without its charms but PotD???
"Here, I got your hoagie from the deli." "My hero!" (That one was sub-par.)
@Mike You're just a grinder when it comes to laying out puns and which toppings. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@Mike So you must be the guy they call Jersey Mike.
@Mike I think I'll take it home. Please put the hoagie in my car, michael.
@Mike I've got nuthin'....but DHubby is from PA, and makes a great Philly Cheesesteak Sammich.
Nice JOINT effort by Oliver and Juan, two debut constructors. It looked way more daunting that it turned out to be, but it was well constructed and fun to solve. I know I've told this before (I hope it was a long time ago), but it's my favorite DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM story. Decades ago, I was working for a marketing research company and witnessed the following. Our receptionist was away from her desk, so a coworker, Maureen, picked up the line, and the call was from the VP of our Chicago office. The VP, Cindy, was not a nice person and frequently got into arguments and threatened to get people fired. Maureen was not one to take stuff from anyone. At some point in the conversation, Cindy pulled the DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? routine, and Maureen said, "No, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" Cindy said "No", to which Maureen replied "Good" and hung up. Cindy called back repeatedly and tried to find out who she had spoken with, but we all pretended we had no idea.
@Nancy J. That story gave me a good chuckle. It’s sort of a reverse Spartacus tale.
What a gorgeous grid design, from the photo album corners, to that interior picture frame, each side of which consists of a pair of Very Longs. This design has never been done before in the Times. And look at those lovely longs! As @Rich pointed out, seven of the eight are NYT puzzle debuts, bringing verve to the box, and the eighth has appeared but once before. And they’re all appealing! Look at them! Furthermore, pairs of longs usually result in a mess of iffy crosses, but not today. All this on a NYT debut by a pair who just recently – during covid – began solving Times puzzles. A puzzle accepted by a NYT team that is especially WOW ME when it comes to themeless puzzles. But how could they not take this? I liked all the ee-tails: MESSY, SHOGI, RIGHTY, DIWALI, HARRY, WEIGHTY, STOREY. I love the word DEIGN. To my mind, DATE WITH DESTINY simply beautifies the entire grid. Furthermore, there was thrilling gallop along with brain-happifying pauses in filling this in. All-RIGHTY then, this has sent me flying into my day glad to be alive, and that’s a precious gift. Thank you so much, Oliver and Juan, and oh, yes, I hope to see more from you, please!
@Lewis I liked how two pairs of long answers related to each other: HOMEMADEBREAD and HEYBATTERBATTER, also THISISNTWORKING and TAKETHEREINS, amazing puzzle!
That turned out better than I expected. The HARRY Styles clue was fun. And if I'd been willing to give up the wheel and TAKE THE REINS much earlier, I'd have been finished much sooner. Should I blame it on the BOSSA Nova?
An abbreviation for "abbreviation", how meta 🤣. It was a gimme because I've seen it so many times in clues here! For once an American abbreviation did not give me any trouble 🤪 For somebody who speaks German, sticking an S at the end of DELICATESSEN looks so wrong! I know this is English so it's ok but wow... My brain.exe will always freeze for a moment upon seeing that. The Polish word for delicatessen is "delikatesy", which just like in German is plural already. Originally in Polish the word did not even have a singular form, and was used to describe not only a kind of shop but also any fine and luxurious food, very different from what people usually ate. If you were invited to somebody's home for a fancy supper, you might comment about the food being "delikatesy". These days that usage is dated. However, "delikates" (the singular of delikatesy) has emerged as slang for a delicate person, eg. somebody who faints at the sight of blood or can't stomach hot foods. I'm a "delikates" when it comes to sadism in movies, for example. In general this was quite a pleasant puzzle. I had to look up some stuff, but much, much less than on many a Saturday. Perhaps 5 lookups was what it took? One of them was for the baseball stat, of course. The baseball long answer I had to get from crosses but the others were easy to figure out. I'm not a fan of spanners because often they are not intuitive - well, that was not the case today. Eg. the breakup line I knew instantly.
@Andrzej "Delicatessen" or just "deli" is also used (mostly but not exclusively in NYC Jewish* enclaves) to mean any kind of food one can buy at such a shop. As in, " Could you pick up some delicatessen on your way home, dear; no time to cook?" Presumably a yummy assortment, not just one thing. Oh that NYC pastrami! *Who remembers those ads for Levy's rye bread: pictured people from all around the world chomping on a slice and saying: "You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's." Hokey, but we could use more of that these days IMHO.
@Andrzej I've been watching baseball on-and-off for 70 years and I had no idea 3rd basemen were always RIGHTY! But once I got the answer on crosses it made perfect sense. A lefty would want to throw the ball to the stands, not back into the infield. Don't we all prefer a cross-body throw? Delicatessens are stores that sell prepared foods, fancy cheeses, sliced meats, etc. Sometimes they are stand-alone, but often they are a section of a large supermarket.
Loved the feisty dialogue at the north end of this crossword. “So what? Here’s a thought…” “Do you know who I am? I’m bad!”
While I am sure there will be those who complain it was too easy for a Saturday, I would like to compliment the constructors and express for my appreciation for the minimum of proper names, the absence of Harry Potter, Star Wars, and other drippy pop references, and finally the well-considered crosses that gave entry to the more arcane clues. Well done!
I love it when a puzzle seems daunting at first yet presents itself nicely as I ply the grid. I had almost nothing for half the time it took me to solve, but then it all came together marvelously. Kudos for this debut!
I thought this one was going to take me a long time to solve. I was wrong. It happens.
@Barry Ancona This reveals so much of your persona. I hope this is your only "I'M BAD" for the day. I bet I'm wrong.
@Barry Ancona after first pass I had very few answers and I wondered if I was going to have to lean on Mr. Google. When I finished (w/o google) I was surprised to find I was 11 minutes faster than my Sat. avg. Go fig.
This was considerably easier than yesterday's puzzle, but still a very enjoyable offering. I learned a couple of new things (SHOGI, WET-ON-WET), and I thought all of the longer entries were outstanding. (But I did start to fill in "It's not you, it's me" for 10D before realizing it was one letter too short).
@RichardZ Classic case of different strokes for different folks. When I started with HAsp crossing spats and SOthen crossing tryme, it set the tone for my solve. tsp, lamS, mote, Slug/chug, and DeadlInemEeTINg were other false starts requiring major iterations of enter, delete, rinse and repeat. Needless to say, time was well above average.
Have fun stormin' da castle! Think it'll work? It would take a miracle. (This puzzle WAS the brute squad.)
@Justin Now, what I wouldn’t give for a holocaust cloak. Wait, where did you get that? Ahh Meewakoo Mahxeth. Eee fee so naaah he said I koo keep it.
41A: old slang! Who you calling old? I use "HET up" all the time. No idea it was old. You kids... Still finished in 4:27. I'm kidding. The solve was delightfully long for me, considerably over my average. I was tripped up by several misdirects and quite a few I simply did not know. Had to put it down and come back a couple of times.
@Nora What makes slang old or new? The OED's first citation for HET--describing an emotional state, rather than a thermal one, or a sexual preference--is from 1862; whereas JET dates from 105 years later. (An earlier citation for JET is from 1951, but it's from a Sci-fi magazine, so, out of context, it's hard to tell whether it's literal or figurative. And now, I have to jet out of here, 'cause my Partner is waiting for me down at the car, and I don't want him to get all het up . . .
Well. For those of you (and there appear to be many) who found this easy, kudos. I. Could. Not. Find. My. Way. In. Is it an age thing? A non-American thing? I don’t know, but I had to fight for every letter. 1D what? 23D who? 15D what the…? 48A huh? I could go on but you get the drift. Blimey. 31D had me scratching my head. Its floors. Yes, American puzzle, American coinage, but the clue is specifically English, therefore the answer is floors. Do you know how long I held on to that because it ‘had’ to be right? Aargh. Ignore me, I’m griping because this was such a toughie for me and my one gimme (I thought) was wrong. The only light relief was changing rum for SKA. That made me chuckle. I may need a little spiced rum later and a listen to The Specials AKA to soothe my troubled brow.
@Helen Wright Well that's interesting, because we've been specifically told that storey is the British spelling of the American story. And that both mean levels in a building. Is something afoot?
@Nora you are correct. This Brit got it even though I could say that Big Ben is the bell and it’s the Elizabeth Tower that has 11 storeys but I won’t 😉. Helen is having an off day. She’s an excellent solver.
@Helen Wright I am going to stand corrected by both of you. Having Googled it (that fount of all knowledge) it does clearly state that it is used. I have never used this term to describe a floor, so I whatsapped a few bodies to ask. The general consensus is that yes, we use the term floor to describe multiple floors ie ‘it’s a three floor house’. Two people did point out that we call a stacked car park. MultiSTOREY, but would still say ‘I’m parked on the 4th floor’. Interestingly, the younger ones said they do use storey, depending on what they’re describing, car park yes, tower block no. I think the upshot is…English🤷♀️ I’m going to stop being so gripey.
@Helen Wright Three of the first four you mentioned were specifically American, the exception being MAZY, which is just one of those actual words that no one ever says. HEY BATTER BATTER is chatter made by the opposing team to distract a batter in baseball, who stands at home plate. The RIGHTY clue is also baseball. Because of where they stand in the field, shortstops and third basemen would have an awkward turn towards first base, the direction of the vast majority of their throws, if they were lefties. Second basemen and catchers are almost always RIGHTIES, too. Outfielders can be either, and first basemen have an advantage if they are lefty. Pitchers, of course, can also be either. FRED Rogers was a celebrated children’s show host. The show, Mr, Roger’s’ Neighborhood, ran for decades. I’m surprised it didn’t make it across the pond. (Or maybe it did.)
Heartiest congratulations to the constructors, a dynamic duo indeed,
It's not you, it's me. Wrong wavelength, I guess. A total slog. There's always tomorrow.
@TMD I counted the letters for "It's not you, it's me" (even though my ex actually used, "It's not me, it's YOU" when he STORMED out)...even though testing had shown that our failure to conceive was--oops--*his* problem. A threat to the male ego is a WEIGHTY issue. By the time he wanted to come back, I'd had a DATE WITH DESTINY (or, rather, the guy who became DHUBBY.) Adios!
A great puzzle, quick at the top, but WEIGHTY at the bottom, with clues for the long fills that seemed easy until it turned out there were so many possibilities for perfect fits. I had to TAKE THE REINS and get rid of the wheels. One look-up (ELI), one ask-the-husband (ANTARES), and finally, after endlessly searching for the flaw in my perfectly filled in puzzle, took the peek and had the doh moment (WEARS). How did I miss that? Oliver Goodridge and Juan Garavito, this was a sterling JOINT effort. Thank you. I hope we'll see another soon.
Four 13 letter and four 15 letter answers in this puzzle and the only one that wasn't a debut was HEYBATTERBATTER, and even that had only ever appeared once before. Don't recall seeing anything like that before. Pretty amazing. Oh, and even two of the shorter answers were also debuts. Anyway... tough one for me, and had to cheat a bit in a couple of places but managed to get through it. 13 day streak lives on (lucky me). And of course I have a puzzle find today. I'll put that in a reply. ..
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: A Sunday from April 19, 1992 by Nancy Nicholson Joline with the title "Hat Parade." This one was all in the clues and I don't recall ever seeing one quite like this before. The theme clues and answers: "Hobo-hat wearer :" EMMETTKELLY "Stetson wearer :" JOHNWAYNE "Peaked-cap wearer. :" JIMCOURIER "Top-hat wearer :" FREDASTAIRE "Beret wearer :" CHEGUEVARA "Arab-headdress wearer :" VALENTINO "Crash-helmet wearer :" EVELKNIEVEL Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/19/1992&g=87&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/19/1992&g=87&d=A</a> I'm done. ..
Congratulations on a fun, breezy debut, Messrs. Goodridge and Garavito! I had the pleasure of writing this up for Diary of a Crossword Fiend. <a href="https://crosswordfiend.com/2024/11/29/saturday-november-30-2024/#ny" target="_blank">https://crosswordfiend.com/2024/11/29/saturday-november-30-2024/#ny</a>
@Eric Hougland Great write-up, Eric. I had to check crosses to know whether it was going to be HAFT or HilT.
Eric, It's just the throwing. (As an infielder, I only played first.) And I'm with Nancy J. waiting for the knife handle cross. (Sorry, Lewis; no Opera.)
@Eric Hougland Thanks for sharing the nice write-up. I know that throwing mechanics explain why BA would not be a natural third baseman or shortstop, but I wonder if everyone in our crowd knows that there is at least one sport that he could not legally play as a lefty. (It’s been clued that way several times in the xwords).
Wowza. Loved this one. Fantastic debut. De-beautiful! Love the long phrases. They ain’t there until they suddenly jump off the grid and slap you in the face. Thank you Oliver and Juan! Happy Saturday all!
Brilliant Saturday puzzle! Elegant, lively, seemingly impossible at first pass, but once I found a purchase the solve was breezy and super fun. Love the clue for HOMEMADEBREAD, and chuckled at HEYBATTERBATTER (those baking references blended together by a small AMT.) Also delighted by the cluster of SOWHAT/OHWAIT/WOWME/HERESATHOUGHT -- felt like I was listening to one side of a conversation. Well done, Oliver and Juan -- seems like you had a DATEWITHDESTINY today!
The expletive I just emitted when I worked out why HARRY is a singing style
@Wilk Well I'm happy for you. Please explain it to me.
@Wilk Never mind. I got it.
@Wilk I was in the state of having a letter in every square, but no happy music. As I was going through the puzzle that HARRY answer looked so strange. I was going to come back and figure out what might be better there. Then I noticed I'd spelled DIEs instead of DIEZ. Done! It was the column that made me remember singer HARRY Styles.
Fun puzzle. Loved HEYBATTERBATTER, and chuckled aloud once I realized the Harry STYLES situation. Also got to learn some new (to me) info about a Chaplin movie and the etymology of “delicatessen”. Unlike the arrogant “Ugh this is sooo not hard” comment chorus, I have fun with clues that are a bit misdirect-y, punny, and thorough rather than reliance on single words whose answer could be any of a million synonyms for the sake of difficulty. Thanks to the constructors!
@Extrao Misdirecting, punny, and thorough would be great! What does any of that have to do with today's puzzle? ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler
Quite a sea of white squares, so especially satisfying to get those long filled in with as few crosses as possible. My favorite was 14A, and also enjoyed the jokes about it in the comments. Well done Oliver and Juan, come back soon.
That was a lovely, lively debut! I look forward to seeing more from these two constructors. Have fun storming the castle!
Writing a good contract TAKES THEREINS. Awesome puzzle. Beautiful. And "The Great Dictator" is an awesome movie. It's impossible to imagine a time like that.
@ad absurdum - One of the best movies ever made. It has elements of It Can't Happen Here in it -- I believe that was intentional. But I think a version of ICHH should be made. I'm surprised it hasn't already.
It took me a little while, but I gotta say that HEYBATTERBATTER just made me smile.
Nice Saturday puzzle, loved the long answers with misdirected but attainable clues. But ORO should not be clued as a color. ORO is the metal, DORADO is the color. See: <a href="https://www.spanishdict.com/compare/dorado/de" target="_blank">https://www.spanishdict.com/compare/dorado/de</a>%20oro
Great puzzle, with just enough chewy moments. My favorite is a little one: [Etc., etc.] is so sneaky, with the two "etc."s so easily glossed as a mere repetitive phrase. Didn't get much of anything until 13D made me change 18A from RUM to SKA, and even then I started off taking THE WHEEL instead of THE REINS. At that point I was off to the races, with a fairly odd counterclockwise solving pattern. Happy Saturday.
This was a tough one for me and I had to turn on autocheck, but I did enjoy the long answers, especially DATEWITHDESTINY stacked above DELICATESSENS (I imagine that many people have had their dates with destiny at the local deli). The French clues are usually gimmes, but I needed a cross or two for 20A. The term in Québec for "ma petite amie" is "ma blonde", no matter what colour her hair is (and "mon petit ami" would be "mon chum").
Sorry to be picky, but Sees Candy isn't headquartered in San Francisco. It's headquartered in South San Francisco. I was born in San Francisco and grew up in South San Francisco. They're two different cities.
@SSteve aren't the offices and distribution center at 345 Schwerin St. in SF?
What a fun puzzle. A bit intimidating at first, but the long fills fell into place once I got just a few crossings. Even after losing a minute or so at the end with ABBR?/ETE?, I finished at less than half my Saturday average and a personal best of 16:53. Favorite clues were 1D & 26D (Styles of singing).
Wonderful debut, friends, and with 9 interlocking debut entries! I appreciate the layout of your construction too. Here’s a “hooray” to themeless grids that have an artistic component… rather than purely square grid with line-like block clusters that suit the entries but otherwise don’t hold visual appeal, designs like this feel like their own little pieces of art. The circular grid with overlapping long entries also raises the difficulty + luck in keeping those entries fresh. I appreciated the whirlpool-like flow for the solve without any sectioned off nooks or crannies to get stuck on. Well done. I hope to see more from both of you!
I was hoping for a video of SO WHAT from the Miles Davis album, “Kind of Blue,” featuring Bill Evan’s invention of what are now called “So What” chords, a minor seventh voicing with a stack of fourths over the root and a fifth on top. Oh, excellent Saturday puzzle by the way!
@Steve I still have that album, sitting in a stack in my closet. Of course I don't have a record player any more. But I didn't think of that song when I saw that answer - thanks for reminding me. Need to pull it up online. Oh... and thinking about that led to another 15 letter answer dawning on me - SKETCHESOFSPAIN. That's actually been an answer in two puzzles. And yeah, I still have that album too. I'll shut up now. ..
@Steve I thought of a different So What, from the band Ministry. Saw them at The Channel in 1990. The mosh pit during this song was transcendent. <a href="https://youtu.be/85cTaoohLtY?si=mr7H4AdrtQfxhYJv" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/85cTaoohLtY?si=mr7H4AdrtQfxhYJv</a> Definitely not for everyone, but at the time it was just what the doctor ordered.
@Steve Oof, how did I miss that? One of my favorites. Well, since you didn't post it, I will: <a href="https://youtu.be/ylXk1LBvIqU?si=ZNnXm2XFhgacoHyP" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/ylXk1LBvIqU?si=ZNnXm2XFhgacoHyP</a>
Haven't commented here in a while, but this was a great one! Just the right mix of new and old, straightforward and misdirection, trivia with crosses that you can grind out. A perfect example would be LEETIDE. It's a term I'd never heard before, but the starting L got me the LEE part, since I knew there were Windward and Leeward Islands. Had LEEward and LEEsIDE before finally getting the last cross.
Beautifully shaped puzzled for a Saturday! Lots of long answers -- I especially loved the 15/13 stacks on all four sides -- and no isolated sections (that feel like complicated Minis). And some beautiful cluing, and unusual, but not idiosyncratic, answers. Great job, Oliver and Juan!
So happy to learn I am not the only one who enjoyed the leap from "rum" to "ska."
Great debut, Oliver and Juan! Loved “Hey batter batter!” I got stuck trying to make it “hot buttered…something,” but the answer was worth the struggle. Also got a kick out of 14-Across. I tried it once when I was a young and arrogant 20-something. Didn’t go well. Don’t try it kids! Very clever puzzle.
@Valerie It's as if Oliver and Juan were brothers growing up in our family culture. Are there familial idiolects (a word I learned here)? "Hey batter batter" was a frequent taunt at my actual brother's Little League games. I was particularly attentive to the infield as a kid, so I felt at home with the clue about the short stop and third baseman. The constellations around Orion in the fall/winter and Scorpio in the summer were the most obvious to me (besides the dippers and Cassiopeia), so I knew the name of Antares. When I was a kindergarten teacher, we painted wet on wet, and I often made homemade bread. And... when my ex informed me of our imminent breakup, he actually said, "This isn't working." This puzzle felt as if someone I knew created it. Looking forward to more, Juan and Oliver!
I confidently put sourdoughloaf in at 11D for "End result of a starter," which resulted in a FEUD with my entry of liquor (something) into 47A, "Where cold cases are frequently opened." (Also debated tail gate parties.) Alas, both of my cleveresque thoughts ERRED. Despite that, a fun puzzle, which I finished in close to record time for me and no helps! Huzzah! Also had TAKETHEwheel for a while at 17D for "Assumes control," but everything seemed to correct itself for me fairly smoothly. My favorites were HEYBATTERBATTER along with HET and WHIT because they're just kind of fun to use in a sentence! Found it delightful with just the right amount of attitude in those zippy northmost answers!
I really enjoyed the flow of this puzzle. Long stretches of being unable to move forward, then a small breakthrough, then a long entry falling into place, then long stretches again. My final mistake was in thinking that I knew how to spell LEa TIDE, which was unhelpfully (for me) crossed with a candy company I didn't know. A fun Saturday puzzle!
@Gregg You must try some SEE's candy! Yum.
@Mean Old Lady See’s is the best! Those highfalutin brands can’t come close.
Just WOW. ... this was a neat puzzle! I found if I just unhitched my Solving Brain and turned on Associative Thinking (is that a thing?), then the entries started coming to me. I did start in a straightforward manner (HAFT and TSK) followed by a guess (DIWALi--beause it is the ONLY Hindu observance I know of). Then I got 14A off the K in TSK. I swear it. I used to know a lot of constellations and stars (late 1960's), so the N after the K (letters frequently found together: KN-) gave me ANTARES. And it just kept going like that. When I tried 'the usual suspects' like SWAT AT, they were wrong. DHubby is making French toast for breakfast from my HOMEMADE BREAD ("English Muffin Break" from KAF). Oh, and we had termites (requiring our house to be "tented") in CA; they are not BORERs. Wrong end of the insect. Too bad Emerald Ash BORERs are so destructive; they are gorgeous.
@MOL King Arthur Flour's is one of the few Bill-approved sites for on-line recipes; although I have noticed they really only work well with King Arthur Flour. In general, I disdain all the recipes from on-line amateur "floggers." OTOH, I'm a big fan of using the recipes on the sides of cans or boxes--they usually work very well. After all, the company isn't going to give a recipe which doesn't put their product in the best light.
Congrats to Oliver and Juan. Beautiful grid with so many long answers and the neat diagonal of squares. I found the solve to be breezy and fun. I got stuck in one spot and with hindsight it’s often an answer that I enter with the thought “ I suppose it could be but it’s a stretch” Today it was LEE SIDE for me. This messed up WHIT which obscured SHOT AT and SHOGI is a blind spot in my trivia knowledge. Once unraveled and LEE TIDE emerged I tipped my hat to the elegant solution.
26D got a chuckle out of me. Brilliant misdirect. And turns out it's the title of the wordplay column!
A thorough mental workout this Saturday morning. I’ll be napping
Happy St Andrew's Day to all Scots and those of Scots heritage. Not too bad today. Except. I got one BATTER from the crossers and combined with 'at home' in the clue .... I was thinking could something really unpleasant be in the rest of the clue? I never would have guessed a sporting link. We have batsmen in cricket, saying 'batter' is unforgivable, you'd get sent off. I think our horse races are in furlongs - the distance a team of oxen could plough without resting, it seems. A few complete unknowns as usual, some guesses, some from crossers - OAKIE, SEES, Mr Rogers, SHOGI, what is a 'RIGHTY'? But I get the SO WHAT connection.
@Jane Wheelaghan "righty" is short for "right-handed".
@Jane Wheelaghan As I understand it, LENGTHS in the horse-racing context is a measure of victory (how far ahead the winning horse is), not a measure of the race’s distance. RIGHTY is simply slang for a right-handed person. As Barry Ancona and Steve L have observed, it’s awkward for a left-handed player to throw to first base from the shortstop or third base position.
@Jane Wheelaghan Funny that we had saltires in yesterday's puzzle, AKA St Andrew's CROSSES. I don't follow the ponies, but I believe a horse's LENGTH may be used as the distance between finishers, versus "by a nose." But I did think of furlongs first. Come on you Gunners!
@Jane Wheelaghan Andrzej is Andrew in Polish. As Catholics, Polish people traditionally celebrated namedays, and Andrzejki ("Andrew day") ended up being one of the most celebrated name days. Weirdly, this day dedicated to St. Andrew somehow also became the one time during the year when Catholics cultivate pagan traditions of fortune telling, attempting to divine the future from shapes created by wax dripped onto water. I was never into any of that stuff, but at least I can tell you about it here.
@Jane Wheelaghan With the rise in popularity of the women's game, the MCC officially adopted the 'batter' terminology in 2021...
@Jane Wheelaghan Right-handed, makes it much easier to throw the ball to first base. A lefty would have to rotate their entire body then throw, not good.
Love baking [At-home], but over the HOMEMADE BREAD? HEY, why don't you use some of that [starter] for BATTER--a BATTER which can serve more than one purpose? <a href="https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-sourdough-waffles-or-pancakes-recipe" target="_blank">https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-sourdough-waffles-or-pancakes-recipe</a> (A lovely entry pairing, Mssrs. G&G--Thank you!)
@Bill I really wanted sourdough, too! ...but there were too many "other" letters preventing that. I used to have a pet starter and regularly made sourdough pancakes for Saturday breakfast (based on the ones at Deetjens' in Big Sur)... long ago.