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.

At this point, I've barely scratched the surface of the Crossword, but this comment is about the Mini, in particular: 9A [Remove, as nails from a cat] DECLAW. I believe there is really no such thing as DECLAWing a cat. The surgical procedure really removes that last segment of the cat's "toe," down to the joint/knuckle. This procedure can be debilitating and has been banned in some places. I've seen the excellent film "The Paw Project" and you might like to see it as well. <a href="https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/movies/5fe382b296b6e6001bf043be?utm_source=amazon&utm_medium=ossearch" target="_blank">https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/movies/5fe382b296b6e6001bf043be?utm_source=amazon&utm_medium=ossearch</a> <a href="https://tubitv.com/movies/314062/the-paw-project" target="_blank">https://tubitv.com/movies/314062/the-paw-project</a> <a href="https://pawproject.org/americancatsmovie" target="_blank">https://pawproject.org/americancatsmovie</a>/ Here kitty, kitty. Let's keep the FELINELINE intact.

It's very sad to hear of Dolly Parton's death. We have been hearing for a while that she was suffering from many problems. She looked frail in the last video I saw of her. What an amazing woman. The song, "I Will Always Love You," especially sung by Whitney Houston in the film "The Guardian" will bowl me over every time I hear it as it did Dolly Parton. She said she nearly wrecked her car hearing it on the radio while driving. She gave away over 300 million free books to children!!?? What a force. I hope I'm not off topic but one of our favorite constructors, Paolo Pascal, is on *two* "Jeopardy" championships this week: the Tournament of Champions and the Master's Championship. One is at the regular 7 pm slot here in New York and one is on at 8 pm.

I know it's only a Tuesday, but "one and done," no lookups, gold star. Yay! I'm a GENUS! I mean Genius!

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!

I know it's a Tuesday, but one and done, no lookups, gold star, Yea!! Here's an interesting post about one of the poems of 14A [Classical Persian poet] RUMI from the internet: "The Guest House": Frequently shared in mindfulness circles, it frames all human emotions—joy, sorrow, and depression—as unexpected visitors to welcome and learn from. Here's the whole poem. I could live by that: This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. From--<a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/guest-house" target="_blank">https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/guest-house</a>/

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!

39D [Comes on little cat feet] Then there's Carl Sandburg's famous poem. About Chicago. He called it a haiku. Fog By Carl Sandburg The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.

I recognized Christine Cornell's drawings in the Wordplay photo. Her courtroom drawings are always amazing. How can someone do such a complicated, accurate and artistic drawing sitting in a courtroom? Here is a media piece about her: <a href="https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/human-interest/2025/08/14/sketch-artist-profile" target="_blank">https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/human-interest/2025/08/14/sketch-artist-profile</a>

For those commenters uncomfortable with too much French in the puzzle, I think that 42A [Étendue bleue] is a nice turn of phrase. It means something like "blue expanse." Etendue means stretched out, sort of. I knew it meant "sea" or "sky": MER for "sea" in French. By the way, La MER is feminine in French. (All nouns are either feminine or masculine.) Therefore, the adjective "bleue" has the added "e" to make it feminine. As noted in a recent comments section, the adjective "bleue" follows the noun here. In addition, 20D [Paris's Champs-___] ELYSEES is a really nice place. A broad tree-lined avenue leading to the Arc de Triomphe, one of the spokes of the wheel in that spectacular grid. The boulevard is lined with some of the most elegant stores of the city. I visited The American Drugstore there, right near the Arc. Vive la France.

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!

Reading through the comments, I notice that many writers think this puzzle was too demanding and maybe even got fed up. On the other hand, many found it challenging and appreciate that. As a relative newbie, I had to look a lot of things up. But I don't mind. It's like taking a course. I have to say, I may now know more about magpies than I'll ever need to know. (And I actually never found MUDLARK through my research.) (I also was able to figure out a lot of interesting and fun answers.) However, in yesterday's puzzle, I learned a new word: LOESS. As a gazillion-year organic gardener, I'm surprised I never heard of this term before. And I hope to learn more about LOESS and its importance in the natural world. I wonder how LOESS compares to my studies of the Dust Bowl. Here is an amazing movie by Ken Burns: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2359898" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2359898</a>/ <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2359900/?ref_=tt_ov_ep_nx" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2359900/?ref_=tt_ov_ep_nx</a> Also, how does LOESS relate to those sandstorms off of Africa that they say are the "ignition" of those yearly Atlantic hurricanes? Much to learn.

Well, I'm a newbie and this is my first Thursday without any lookups, gold star. Yea! I could use some ABBA or CELIA Cruz to celebrate! Thank you for the music! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dcbw4IEY5w" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dcbw4IEY5w</a>

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.

A [1A] TOPHIT on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by [52A] MAMACASS was "Dream a Little Dream of Me." An old song, it was eventually covered by 400 performers. Cass Elliot does her own whistling in the song! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYw3TWcP8H8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYw3TWcP8H8</a> Another Billboard Hot 100 TOPHIT performed by MAMACASS was "Words of Love." It was written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az3IzAsK0JY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az3IzAsK0JY</a> MAMACASS wows us with both of them, don't you think?

51A [Repository of seeds from all corners of the globe, informally] DOOMSDAYVAULT <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/doomsday-vault-1680643128" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/video/doomsday-vault-1680643128</a>/ Seed Savers Exchange is a type of DOOMSDAYVAULT you can contribute seeds to and receive "heirloom" seeds from: "We’re a community of gardeners and seed stewards, sharing and swapping unique varieties you might not find anywhere else. The Exchange works to keep biodiversity strong and garden traditions thriving. We’re glad you’re here!" <a href="https://exchange.seedsavers.org/home" target="_blank">https://exchange.seedsavers.org/home</a>

[Source for Bacchus's libations] DIVINEVINE (I mean grapes from the divinewinevine, of course.)

The other day here in the Wordplay comments there was a discussion about the use of the phrase "Less than 10 items" rather than "Fewer than 10 items." Today, I read the following in a NYT article about the marathon: "He estimates the new program will lead to a 15 to 20 percent reduction in the amount of 9+1 participants." Shouldn't it say: "the number of 9+1 participants"? One of my pet peeves!

When I was a child and we said The Pledge of Allegiance, I always heard "...and to the republic for Richard Stands..." and I could never figure out who that guy Richard Stands was

I'm a newbie but I roared through this one without any lookups. Yea! My first or maybe second Wednesday I can say that about. And, believe me, the internet is not my strong suit. However, didn't get the "TRAFFIC" connection until I read the Wordplay column, LOL. I like the Wordplay photo a lot. I use scissors in my kitchen for lots of things, including cutting up pizza, chives, cooked or raw chicken, salad greens. It's often easier that way. I could go for a nice tasse de THE avec un croissant maintenant.

52D [The sound that concludes "The Sound and the Fury"] Well, LONGE is a clever answer. I believe there was a question on "Jeopardy" this week about where the title of this classic book came from. Here is the answer, from the internet: [Shakespeare's Macbeth: The phrase comes from a famous speech in Act 5, Scene 5, where a weary and defeated Macbeth describes life as "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."] Yes? No? Agree?

I had never heard of LOEWE bags but, apparently, it is a fine leather design company since 1846 and on their website you can buy a handbag for as low as $5000.00! I'll take two!

[Perforated, _____, parallel, perpendicular] DROPALINE

The Wordplay column says: "Finally, a [Small aircraft for short flights] is a TURBOPROP, which is a new word for me." The theatre word PROP stands for "stage properties." I learned this when I was in the drama club in high school. One year, I was assigned to be the "prop mistress." I had to find the stage properties such as lamps, ashtrays, books, ottomans, etc., to dress up the set. The next year I was the assistant director for the second act.

Here is the original Grammy-winning recording of "Piece of My Heart" by 41D [Gospel singer ERMA Franklin], Aretha Franklin's older sister: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0QAxIKf8G4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0QAxIKf8G4</a>

In case you're wondering why the 110A film TWELVEANGRYMEN featured an all-male jury, here is some interesting information from the internet: [In 1957, state jury qualifications varied widely. Three states (Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi) completely barred women from serving by law, while many other states used "opt-in" systems or automatic exemptions for homemakers that kept female participation extremely low.] [The Civil Rights Act of 1957 first made women eligible to serve on federal juries across all states regardless of local state laws, but actual representation remained minimal.] [Low participation rates are famously reflected in the 1957 film 12 Angry Men, which featured an all-male jury—a scenario that was entirely normal and accurate for courtrooms of that era. It was not until the Jury Selection and Service Act of 1968 and later 1975 Supreme Court rulings that systemic sex discrimination in juries was prohibited nationwide.]

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>

From the dark recesses of my youth, somehow I remember: "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair, Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?"

Re 52D [Insects responsible for virtually all fig pollination] WASPS Here is a great PBS movie about fig trees, called "The Queen of Trees." "Every few months, the tree produces over a ton of fruit." <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy86ak2fQJM" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy86ak2fQJM</a> I have a collection of about ten different varieties of fig trees in my backyard. They all have become giant and need to be pruned! Figs are very easy to propagate. Break off a piece and stick it in the ground. Figs are great to grow in containers. They usually last outdoors through New York winters. They may die back to the ground and start all over in the spring. Some fig varieties require special WASPS for pollination. But not all. This film beautifully shows the whole life cycle of the tree.

The Wordplay column says: "7D. Notwithstanding the fact that New York City apartment buildings rarely include a PORCH, I concede it may be [Many a mailbox locale]." FWIW, there are some residences in New York City that are *not* apartment buildings. New York City has five boroughs (also called counties). They all have homes with porches, although some more than others. For me, I'm still a newbie, so I'm glad to say that this one was one and done, no lookups, gold star, etc. I even figured out MISCHIEFMANAGED even though I haven't read any of Harry Potter. A coincidence for me. I watched a favorite movie for the third time yesterday: "Trouble With the Curve." It's about a baseball scout and his daughter (Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams) and there's a reference to MICKEYMANTLE. Spoiler alert: he named her MICKEY, just plain MICKEY. After MANTLE, of course. Great movie. Worth a watch. The ending is great!

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?