Robert Schwartz
Clifton, New Jersey
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Clifton, New Jersey
Anyone think 7D “I can handle this!” is a little too formal for LEMME? “Yeah I can do it!” might have been better. I mention it because the T in my original LETME threw me for a while.
Thanks Michael for reviving the classics with ORESTEIA.
Very enjoyable — “Hold please”? — was brilliant, but also symptomatic of how omnipresent colloquialisms in crossword puzzles have become. Interjections like ARGH and ACK can be spelled in a variety of ways and this, with the inclusion of slang like NOBACKSIES and YAFEEL, has opened worlds of possibilities for constructors but may have also led to some laziness on their part since most people — I assume — come to crosswords to test their factual knowledge, not their familiarity with common speech.
@Apurv The trouble began when constructors discovered that, unlike specific facts, figures of speech could be twisted and modified to fit anywhere in the grid. So whenever you see a puzzle seriously lacking black squares you can expect nothing but colloquialisms and slang. LITTLEOLME in this puzzle is a perfect example: the phrase is actually “lil ole me.”
In reference to 23A EIN this has been discussed many times over the years but I thought I’d bring it up again. The clue quote is from JFK’s famous speech during the Berlin Crisis of 1963 when he proclaimed solidarity with West Germany. The problem is that in German one would say “Ich bin Berliner,” not “ein Berliner.” A Berliner is actually a kind of pastry so it sounded a little strange to some Germans.
A really enjoyable puzzle, but with one nit to pick: only doctor or nutritionist would entertain the notion that a Vitamin C-deprived pirate was “stereotypical.” The clue qualifier “maybe” might have been more accurate. And, although pirates infested the seven seas, here in the US we’re most familiar with those in the Caribbean where they would have had easy access to fresh fruit and vegetables to ward off scurvy. It was the sailors on long voyages with few landfalls that were most at risk.
@Teresa Couldn’t agree with you more about RESTON. And although it might have been another too-obscure clue — he died thirty years ago — it would have been nice to give an accomplished journalist, James Reston, a mention.
@Andrzej Thanks for the updates on BIALY and RUS. During the Second World War there was a B-17 bomber named “Belle of the Brawl,” a clever pun on the phrase “belle of the ball” (the beautiful girl at the dance). Sometimes humanizing a word can help to remember it.
I feel strongly it crosses the bounds of crossword propriety to pair a clever misdirect clue -- “Folks who enjoy a well-aged beef?” — with an obscure solution — FEUDISTS.
There are clues that are devilishly clever misdirects and there are clues that border on the deliberately unhelpful. I’d include 10D “Common but often counterproductive response to a recurring problem” in the latter category.
Thought all those art history classes were finally paying off when I immediately guessed KAHLO and SERRA, then despair until finally figuring out the theme. Great puzzle!
The SIXTIES clue was a brilliant misdirect. On the other hand PHANATIC was a desperate stretch because not even die-hard baseball fans know the names of team mascots, nor would they care since it’s just a cheap marketing ploy.
@Richard In everyday speech “sign” and “symptom” are more or less interchangeable, but in medicine you are correct: a symptom is something unobservable that a patient reports, like pain or dizziness. A sign — like the red nose here — is something that can be perceived without talking to the patient.
@Bruce On the whole, I agree with your reply. (Like jelly doughnuts, Berliners and Krapfens lack holes.)
@Hardroch I’ve heard that and I’ve heard the opposite. But given the strong regional differences in speech, changes over time, and the lack of an official German institute like the Academie Francaise to sort these things out, it’ll probably still remain an open question. (For what it’s worth, Google “I am an American in German” and you’ll get “Ich bin Amerikaner.”)
@Bruce Once again, I couldn't agree more.
@Byron My comment refers to the utter vagueness of the phrase “recurring problem.” A problem, but where? One solution could have been TWO ASPIRINS as in “Take two aspirins and call me in the morning.” The northeast corner could have been built around that and it would have made just as much sense as ANTI-PATTERN.
@Laura Whitaker Good point. I forgot about "pirate talk."
@Grant You're forgetting that people -- and even pirates -- stop to eat.
Read somewhere that “Here’s looking at you, kid” from 33D is a reference to poker, where the much-sought-after high cards — the “face” cards — are the ones “looking” at you. Can anyone confirm?
@Cleo Thanks, and yes it’s from the movie Casablanca but I always wondered what Bogart meant when he said it. According to the theory above it’s a wish for good luck in cards and I guess in life.
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