MarkInTheMountains
Santa Cruz County
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Santa Cruz County
Uh Oh. I don't think this one will pass muster in the Oval Office. But then, I doubt if the NYT is a regular favorite at 1600 Pennsylvania these days, so it probably won't be noticed that Denali (shhh) was used. :)
One of the cleverer schemes I've encountered here, but once you get a few crossing squares filled in, the pattern of the theme actually helped fill the rest in until I got the wordplay being sought.
Judging from other comments here, I suspect that I'm not the only former TV/Film cameraman solving this puzzle. The editors missed one here. Basic camera movement taught in intro classes...Dolly, truck, pan, zoom, etc. "Pan" is a stationary camera position with the direction of the "lens" of the camera moving from left to right or vice versa. :)
The "atob" kerfuffle raised a question in my mind that has probably been asked a zillion times, but I coudn't find a search result that resulted in a direct answer. The question is... When did phrases become acceptable and normal in crossWORD puzzles?
Yet another Thursday puzzle that adds to my unsupported contention that Thursday puzzle creators are all former (or current?) employees of the NSA who create these things during their coffee break(s). :)
In the world of crossword constructors, I guess there isn't much difference between "clever" and intentionally obtuse or deceptive. Such was the case with 61D (2.0) today. Double mis-direction here, insofar as "2.0" as an isolated clue could be a LOT of things, but then to add to the conundrum, the solution is to use the phonetic spelling of the answer as well. P.S. to Sam...The AP classes I took in H.S. were awarded an extra point in our GPA (i.e., an A was 5.0 instead of 4.0, etc.). Virtually all of the top 10% of our graduating class had a GPA above 4.0. Some college admissions offices might have thought they were looking at typos on our transcripts.
"Yalies" are generally consider to be current students, graduates and alumni. So, in case no one else has mentioned it, the phrase ", once" should be removed from the clue. Once a Yalie, always a Yalie.
Today's crossword is another snippet of evidence that all of your Sunday puzzle constructors share a common set of hereditary DNA with the authors of the Rosetta Stone.
I guess this one just goes to show why the NYT crosswords can lay at least some claim to being the "gold standard" for generally accessible crosswords. The guardrails are few (i.e., today's "number" entries and those rebus entries pop up unexpectedly), cleverness and ingenuity seem to be encouraged, visual aspects can come into play and a passing familiarity with multiple languages is helpful....the list goes on and on. What keeps me from getting frustrated a lot, is my own approach to measuring my success at solving these things.
@Bob T. Although I spent the first 32 years of my life, mostly in Illinois (St. Louis metro-east, Champaign-Urbana and a few other small towns), I tested out as belonging to 3 cities in the central valley of California (I've lived in the SF Bay area for the 40 years or so). The result could mean a few different things in my case. There is at least some overlap in matching up my answers to what was indicated, as well as to some parts of Illinois, so it seems that there may be some commonality between natives of those 3 California towns and people like me who emigrated from my birthplace to my adopted home state. It would be interesting to see the results of this survey alongside of/overlapping in Venn diagram style of the most significant 'other' place where those people came from (if not native to the final location).
@Lisa E I second that emotion! I would appreciate some sort of indication that the puzzle contains 1 or more rebus(rebi?), so I could simply skip it. Personally, I think the use of rebus can indicate a lazy way to solve a sticky way to fill a tough fit in a puzzle. It also seems a bit arrogant, as if the puzzle creator(s) are trying to "show off" how clever they are.
@Jim If you're not a baseball fan, it's understandable that AARON didn't make much sense there, but Aaron Judge has been in the sports headlines since he first started playing for the Yankees. It's just about impossible to be a "Jeopardy whiz" across all possible subject matter.
@RozzieGrandma 74 here and I also got the answer for that one from a faint memory of the folk tune "Sailing, Sailing." I have no remembrance of when I encountered it. I grew up near St. Louis in the 50's, so it was likely from an early TV show like "Ed Sullivan" or its kind. I had no relatives with sea-faring English language backgrounds.
I'm new to "anagrinds" and although the ones used in this puzzle make sense now (I had to look up anagrind) it seems a bit of an "out" for a puzzle maker to use if they can't come up with an actual anagram instead. I'm sure the more experienced "solvers" out there are familiar with it, but I can't help but put it in the bucket with "rebus" solutions as one of my least favorite things to encounter in a puzzle. :)
@CJ Don't feel bad. EBATES was one of those answers that I only get by filling in all the crossing answers.
@Barry Ancona The term "purist" in my comment, means someone who does not rely on anything other than their own brain and what it might contain, to provide answers to a crossword's clues. No use of digital, internet, books, other people, etc. in coming up with the answers. I usually take a "purist" approach to the "Mini" and "Midi" puzzles here, but apply a different set of personal restrictions to the full crosswords, choosing to not invite complete frustration, but rather to just keep track of my "cheats" and the time it takes me to complete the puzzles as a measure of how well or poorly I've done. I'm only interested in comparing myself to myself.
@Rrose Selavy My trusty AI (while admitting to a lack of accurate available information on the subject) has "guessed" that 10s of millions (of U.S. residents alone) have seen "Rebel Without A Cause" since it's release in the 50's. Conservatively, that would indicate that upwards of 250 million people in the U.S. alone, have not seen it and would probably not remember the "Stark/Trask" association between it and "East of Eden". The numbers probably only go up if your counting on lots of people also latching onto the Elaine Stritch/Christian Slater association. I'd love to see your Top 10 pieces of essential cultural knowledge. I'm sure I'm deficient in this area and seek to improve myself whenever I can find the time. Thanks So Much. :)
@Nancy J. I still have my original LP with the "newspaper" insert. TAAB, however, takes 2nd place to their LP package for "Stand Up". The "pop-up' was pretty unique.
@Marty I also had to rely on the crossing clues for that one. This is one of the most obscure references I've run across so far. I mean, who is aware of the "Experienced Leadership Initiative" outside of the participants and some administrators and faculty at Yale?
@Sam Corbin This was 1969, so I'm not sure how widespread the "tracking" practice was back then. They didn't refer to it as AP classes that I can remember. We may have had a few kids get into "upper crust" colleges, but it was a small H.S. in the midwest (285 in our class) just east of St. Louis. I know a couple kids that got into Notre Dame, St. Louis U and a sprinkling of respected Jesuit run colleges, but no Ivy's that I remember.
This has nothing to do with today's puzzle, but (for no specific reason) while trying to solve it, it occurred to me that someone who is a "purist" in solving crosswords, may consider that anything that is done to solve a puzzle that entails referencing anything other than one's own noggin is "cheating". With that in mind, it would seem that constructors are at a huge advantage unless they are also following that restriction. Is there a name for a crossword that is constructed with that limitation?
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