lucky13

In the Wordplay column, Kiran Pandey says, "One of the first things you learn as a crossword constructor is that it’s important for your puzzle to pass the [breakfast test.] That’s why I made sure to include lots of answers like SAUSAGE LINK, ONION BAGEL and SYRUP in this grid." The constructor forgot to mention GIRLSCOUTCOOKIES. As far as I'm concerned, if they're in the house, they're breakfast, especially Thin Mints. I'm a seven-month newbie and this was two days in a row without lookups! Yay!

[Perfect for the Ides of March] ETUDEBRUTE

I'm a newbie (six months) but today makes three days in a row with no lookups. So you 'll probably all say it's too easy!!!

Well, it's early and I had to go to both the Wordplay AND the comments to finish this one but how about: Big Cat's utensils? LEOPARDSPOTS Your ride talks back to you? HORSESASS Don't worry. I may be back with more.

What's the "IT" color this year? BROWN, SUGAR.

I hadn't done puzzles for a while until about six weeks ago. This was my first Saturday puzzle. I'm glad to read through all the comments and find that almost all commenters found this one particularly challenging. I ventured this as a learning project. I looked up lots of things that I could Google. And also used the "check" and "reveal" options. It's sort of like playing Scrabble using the dictionary--still fun. I learned a lot of things. Kate and Allie was a show I had never seen--about two divorced mothers who moved in together to lighten the load. I also found out a lot about the Clay/Liston fight and its controversial aftermath. And I finally learned what a technical knockout is. And how it differs from a Technical Decision. Very interesting. Also, a little bit about how you make a bow--with a stave!

For a larger grid: [Sir, _____, ma'am, _____, your honor] SKIPTHEFORMALITIES

I got interested in writing about Jeopardy when Paolo Pascal was a contestant there. Paolo is one of our favorite crossword constructors. One or two commenters have thanked me for keeping them up on Jeopardy stuff. The current champion is Jamie. He is amazing. He won his 19th game and has over half a million in earnings. He almost always goes into Final Jeopardy with an enormous lead. But last night was a close call. He was in second place going into Final Jeopardy! But Jamie wagered well and all the contestants missed the answer. The "answer" was something like: [A name that was chosen to show size and strength and also Irish heritage]. And the "question" was "Who is Hulk Hogan?" I have to brag that I knew two answers on Jeopardy last night that none of the contestants rang in on. One was about the location of the oldest structure of a civilization in the Americas. The answer was The Andes. The other was about the (supposed) purpose of the Phen-Fen pharmaceutical: weight loss. (Look it up!) I hope this is not too off-topic. I've noticed that commenters in this forum discuss their pets, their health issues, their travels and everything else. Champ Jamie is so amazing. I don't know how anyone can know all that stuff. And always charming!

51D ["____ Dreams of Sushi"(acclaimed 2011 documentary)] (JIRO) is an interesting film about a 95-year-old sushi chef who works at his 10-seat sushi restaurant in a Tokyo subway station. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772925" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772925</a>/ Yesterday I commented about the use of particles in the Japanese language. Here are some other interesting things about Japanese: Japanese doesn't have an alphabet; it has a syllabary. Each "letter" is really a syllable. For example, in English you would say (phonetically) "mah, mee, moo, may, moh". Then you have the same construction for 41 other syllables that start with other consonants: k, s, r, n, h, y, t. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKivBwHdDK0" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKivBwHdDK0</a> Japanese is a very regular language. All words consist of these syllables. Almost all syllables in a Japanese word end with a vowel sound, except for syllables that end with "n." Once you know a few rules, you can pronounce any word in Japanese. Examples: To-kyo, Yo-ko-ha-ma, Ni-shi-mu-ra, bon-sai, ga-ku-sei (student), sen-sei (teacher). Japanese also includes pictograms from Chinese, but they are pronounced differently. I took one course in Japanese a gazillion years ago. I was in a program that required me to take one semester of a language that had a different alphabet than English. I am writing this comment from memory. I hope I haven't made errors that might offend someone. I found it all fascinating, including doing Japanese brush painting.

Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about a science book Don't know much about the French I took Don't know much about computers But I do know that my favorite clue is: 13D [What this hand has: A♣ A♦️ K♠ Q❤️ 6♠] And I'm proud of myself that I got it right right away--a gimme!

I always thought REVERSEENGINEERing meant you take a clock apart to see how it works and then put it back together. I tried it with my defunct shredder (but didn't get too far). For everyone's information (for what it's worth), in Italian there are four different ways to say "That's great"-- bravo--for one single male person, pronounced brav-oh brava--for one single female person, pronounced brav-ah bravi--for more than one male person, pronounced brav-ee brave--for more than one female person, pronounced brav-ay for males and females together, also bravi Example: one male and 800 females--bravi!! Italian is a great language: once you know a few rules, you can pronounce almost any word in the language.

[Perforated, _____, parallel, perpendicular] DROPALINE

Wait, wait, I got one: [1/2 a ton -1] IMPOUNDS

Apropos of Artemis: my all-time favorite NYT crossword clue-- [Cosmic eruption on the moon?] CHEESEQUAKE

The town of ARLES [11D Backdrop for many van Gogh paintings] produced many backgrounds for Van Gogh, but the HUDSON valley [15A New York's____Valley] was the inspiration for a whole school of painting. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River_School" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River_School</a>

I was a Girl Scout (and a Brownie). I can't remember if I sold Girl Scout cookies or not--it was so long ago. But I do remember two of the badges I got. One was for camping and I learned to make a fire with an A-frame, tie a square knot, and to use a Girl Scout pen knife which I still have and use. The other one was the Dabbler badge. We dabbled in all sorts of arts and crafts. I love Thin Mints but tend to stave off chocolate these days due to its caffeine--which keeps me up all night. I wish the Girl Scouts would discover or invent caffeine-free chocolate. I read that some people were looking into it: there's some variety of chocolate bean that grows naturally caffeine-free!!! I'm a NEWBIE. I was offered the Easy Mode version of this puzzle in my email. But I finished it without Easy Mode, although Google did help me out a little. I've been doing puzzles again for the last two months after years of not doing any. I used to do KenKen a while ago. I love math. I did the tough ones. Lately, I've been doing a lot of New York Times vintage acrostics which someone in this comments section alerted me to. I return the favor--a lot of fun. <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/premium/xword/acrostic/acrostic.html" target="_blank">https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/premium/xword/acrostic/acrostic.html</a>

I know it's a Monday, but I'm a relative NEWBIE (five months), so I'm glad I got this one done WITHOUTANYLOOKUPS. By the way, Jo, could a nine-letter word for a “hand-held blues instrument" be a SAXOPHONE?

I finished this puzzle (with a little help from Mr. Google) but I still didn't figure out the gimmick until I read the Wordplay.

Speaking of Emily Dickinson, here's a great poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. One of my favorites and perfect for making-resolution time: FEAST I drank at every vine. The last was like the first. I came upon no wine So wonderful as thirst. I gnawed at every root. I ate of every plant. I came upon no fruit So wonderful as want. Feed the grape and bean To the vintner and monger; I will lie down lean With my thirst and my hunger.

One more food item: 49A [Did some doughnuts?]. BAKED. Yes, doughnuts can be baked but traditionally they are deep-fried. Yum.

I'm a NEWBIE but breezed through his one. I could agree with Wordplay about REUNES or ETERNE, but I think NEONATE is a very nice legitimate appropriate word. From the internet: ne·o·nate /ˈnēəˌnāt/ nountechnical a newborn child (or other mammal). Medicine an infant less than four weeks old.

WORDPLAY tells us: "13D. I love clues that trigger our senses. [Toy with a scent trademarked by Hasbro] is PLAYDOUGH, and I immediately recalled that wonderful vanilla-like smell." but the puzzle tells us: PLAYDOH. What's a person to do? We need some BINDing arbitration here.

USEITORLOSEIT, Christina. Bienvenue, Crystal--I can't imagine having a streak like that!

WRIER may be a word, but I don't think I've ever heard anybody say it or read it anywhere in my life! I think I'd rather say: "This one is more wry than the other one!" (By the way, Word Spell-check is now correcting me and not letting me say "more wry.") What do you think? I think Word Spell-check is changing our language in a lot of ways--by insisting on its way! Also by the way, from the comments, I am getting the idea that a lot of people are uncomfortable with "wrier" and find it clumsy and unaccustomed to use. A lot of solvers got stumped at that answer.

[Downside of upcoming AI?] ENERGYGUZZLER

In case the guys are feeling left out, here's a little something from NINA Simone: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZWnyQ-801M" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZWnyQ-801M</a>

The constructor writes: "I limited myself to fruit desserts, even though my chosen desserts almost always include chocolate." Just to cheer her, I would like to point out that I never saw a banana split without hot fudge!! A perfect dessert--or lunch. Think of all that potassium!!

49D Mars follower, in Marseille got the better of me. I kept thinking it must be TERRE, as the planets are in order. Of course, it's the month AVRIL!!

A bit too tricky for me. I didn't get the trick until I read the Wordplay. But 52A Idiomatic partner of "lose" SNOOZE reminded me of NOPAINNOGAIN earlier this week.

I checked out Lady Jane Grey on Wikipedia. Not such a nice story.

Wait, wait, I got one, dagnabbit: [Servings in 48 gallons, say] DXIICUPS

OTOMI? Who knew? Here are some nice views of the embroidery they are known for: <a href="https://www.otomimexico.com/single-post/otomi-embroidery" target="_blank">https://www.otomimexico.com/single-post/otomi-embroidery</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMsbr02DGcY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMsbr02DGcY</a>

Speaking of "Mamma Mia," Meryl Streep was great in a singing role in this film. I was surprised to learn that she had trained as an opera singer. The most beautiful song she sings, in my opinion, is “The Winner Takes It All.” She tells Pierce Brosnan how things are in an uber-dramatic setting on a magical Greek island. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1yae4-XvM4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1yae4-XvM4</a> Here’s what Wikipedia says about Meryl Streep’s voice training: [At age 12, Streep was selected to sing at a school recital, leading to her having opera lessons from Estelle Liebling. Despite her talent, she later remarked, "I was singing something I didn't feel and understand. That was an important lesson—not to do that. To find the thing that I could feel through."[16] She quit after four years.] Several other actors have shown their amazing vocal talents in movies, portraying actual musical monoliths in biopics. Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman in "Song Sung Blue," portraying the Neil Diamond interpreter duo, Thunder and Lightning; Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix as June and Johnny Cash in "Walk The Line;" and Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in "Coal Miner’s Daughter," to name a few.

Wait, wait-- 1A [1970 hit by guess who] AMERICANWOMAN 2A [Refreshing summer pink libation with gin] SINGAPORESLING 3A [Seward's Folly] ALASKAPURCHASE 4A [Vacation with leis and poi] HAWAIIANHOLIDAY

It’s interesting to see 38D {Dillydally] and 49A DAFFODIL crossing in the same puzzle. I’ve been pulling gazillions of daffodil plants out of my garden this week and the bulbs are sitting on the concrete. It seems that no matter how many bulbs I removed last season, they still come back in droves. From Wikipedia: "From at least the 16th century, "daffadown dilly" and "daffydowndilly" have appeared as alternative names" for daffodils. For anyone interested: Jamie Jeopardy almost had another close call last night but managed to maintain his championship. The Final Jeopardy question in the category "The 50s" asked what was deemed safe and effective in 1955, ten years after the death of an important person. Jeremy got the answer right: The Salk Polio Vaccine. The other guy had it wrong: he said "penicillin," which I believe was in use way before the 1950s. Discovered 1928; used in World War II; Nobel Prize, 1945. By the way, Jamie said in an interview that aired yesterday that he is too busy to study for Jeopardy because of his law school obligations!

Someone pointed out in the comments that students now aren't learning to touch type. I think that's really sad. I learned in "junior high school" & I find it really useful. It was an elective. I was going to take stenography after that, but that never happened. I learned at university there are certain skills that are easier for young people to learn--& I think touch typing is one of them. Think of foreign language. The best time for children to learn a foreign language is when they're learning the first language. They don't use grammar books, verb charts, vocabulary lists, etc. They just pick it up like a sponge. When people reach puberty, that kind of learning dries up somewhat. Some synapses in the brain disappear! I heard an interview with a famous pianist who said that all the pieces he learned when he was young, he memorized. After puberty--not so much. Many people know an immigrant family: the kids sound like native speakers of English; the older ones will never lose some foreignisms--in pronunciation and/or syntax. I know a young woman who just finished her B.S. pre-med w/ great grades. Now she's working on preparing to take the MCATs for medical school. She told me the MCATs don't allow the use of calculators. Now she has to learn all over how to do the simplest math without her device. How much is 10% of 150? She'll practice & figure out those types of problems now. It's sad that students don't have this basic facility with math problems without "smart" phones.

Re: the Constructor Notes and 52A, I had a friend in college who had a beautiful long-haired calico cat that she doted on. The friend was looking for a name for her home-based typing service. I suggested PURRSNICKETY but she didn't like it. Ditto, my second suggestion: PURRFECTION. You can't please everyone.

35D Rom-com plot points MEETCUTES??? Am I missing something?

LIFESTYLECREEP It's hard to imagine paying the bus fare with an "OMNY" card. But can you all imagine that the bus driver actually used to make change for a dollar? He had this little silver machine with all the coins lined up. Of course, nowadays, you can never go anywhere without it being "a matter of public record!" Also, back then, people cooked food. Not just point and click and there it is at the door in ten minutes. One time I took two minutes to go open the door and a squirrel had already started to tear the pizza box apart.

I have to admit that I Log On before I even GETUP. And I bet that everyone else who comments here does so also.