John Dietsch
West Palm Beach
Let’s give the constructor props both for his clever puzzle and amusing comment.
Ver cleve puzzl !!
@Nancy You missed a fun puzzle that left the solver something serious to think about.
Any puzzle cluing Steely Dan, Miles Davis and Pavarotti is winner imo.
@Nancy Rap is music, born out of creative invention fueled by necessity - after schools drastically cut music programs, music education and, especially, access to instruments. The best rap has a gritty, edgy energy. As a life long jazz fan to me it’s jazz’ little cousin.
My governor, Meatball Ron, clued in an otherwise good puzzle? Please, never again!!
Regardless of what theologians, philosophers, cosmologists or any one else might say, the final analysis always boils down to the Hokey Pokey.
Proper Saturday puzzle from the reliable Natan Last.
I’ll have whatever the constructors are having!
@Masonbee I started with “arf,” thinking clue referred to Beethoven the movie dog.
Wilfred Owen was killed leading his men across a stream just about a week before the end of WWI. The poetry Owen and many others produced from the trenches is extraordinary. Owen’s Dolce et Decorum Est is scathingly brilliant.
Nice to see Gil Scott-Heron, godfather of rap, clued. Not sure all that many rappers know this.
Very knocked out to see the great jazz trumpeter Woody Shaw clued. Very lucky to have heard him with both Art Blakey and Horace Silver. Whether in person or on record he always gave 100% - very inspiring.
There’s nothing like schvitzing over a tough Saturday puzzle. Hearing the music was sure music to my ears!
This puzzle wasn’t easy, man. But boy, was it fun!
Sorry, fun, but way too easy for Friday.
For us opera fans, fun seeing Love in the Time of Cholera clued. As Marquez subtly hints in the first chapter, it’s a mashup of Tannhauser and Don Giovanni.
Dinner tonight…Mopotofu or Mess o potamia?
Mickey Rooney said it’s best to get married in the morning, because if it doesn’t work out, you haven’t wasted the whole day.
Doubt if a paper route is a classic first job anymore. It’s probably a disappearing job sad to say.
Fun to see “Moanin” clued. It was written in 1958 for Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers by its pianist at the time, Bobby Timmons. Timmons also wrote two companion hits, “Dis Here” and “Dat There,” for Cannonball Adderley’s group. Sad to say, Timmons died way too young from liver disease.
Best clued puzzle in a long while.
Digital reveal at end of puzzle made me smile.😃 Thanks
Swear I heard a rimshot after I filled in 55 Across!
Happy for the solve, but this was a puzzle for puzzle wonks. A little too clever for me.
Really enjoyed this one!
How about a shout out for Jean-Luc Picard?
Didn’t have a chance yesterday, but here’s a big shout out to Sunday’s cluing of the great jazz trombonist Vic Dickinson. A very quiet man off stage, his playing was just the opposite - exuberant, inventive and full of humor.
Very cool puzzle if only for mention of The Velvet Underground - what a weird headspace that band put you in! John Cale, Lou Reed, and of course Nico!
Clutchin’ my pearls! 😂
Nice to see pop/jazz singer Dinah Washington clued. She had quite a heyday in the 1950s and unquestionably influenced Diana Ross.
“Northeast” was accepted but I totally missed the gimmick. So my result today in all honesty was solve/not solved.
@Atavistic Cringeworder Yes, 100%. Per National Geographic, the latest genetic finds show that birds not only survived the mass extinction event of 66 million years ago but subsequently thrived. The clue is correct in that birds evolved from 3-toed theropods (including T. rex) much earlier than that, almost 90 million years ago.
John on the terrace with an iPhone (and coffee!) 😹
What Big Joe Turner was to rock&roll, Gil Scott-Heron is to rap.
I found today’s puzzle fun but easy, possibly because my new routine starts with Wordle, then Connections, then the puzzle. Now I have 3 streaks to worry about! 😂
Most fun puzzle in quite awhile imo.
Really like this puzzle’s unusual grid that made it unusually challenging.
This yogi gives a big namaste to 1-across!
Great to see “Giant Steps,” clued. Made in 1960, just before Trane formed his legendary quartet, it’s a seminal jazz album. I’m sure memorizing his solo on the title tune is still mandatory for aspiring saxophonists. Two other tracks on the album, the gentle ballad, Naima, and the blues, Cousin Mary, also have become jazz standards.
For once, Norah not Etta.
@Kaila “Palestine” not a real place, either, since it was the name the Romans eventually gave to Judea after yet another Judean rebellion was crushed by the Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian also rebuilt Jerusalem as a Roman city as a snub to the Judeans.
Maybe I’m spreading idle gossip, but this xword sesh was weak tea imo.
Glad to see Ravi Shankar clued. Been listening to an album of his in my collection. To use jazz parlance, boy does he cook!
Eye strain!
To me, “Tarnation’s” best film by far is Once Upon a Time in LA. DiCaprio’s totally great in it.
Happy to see the mighty ”Hammerklavier” clued, a supreme 45 minute challenge based entirely on a simple motiv. Still favor Rudolf Serkin’s version on DG.
Best graphic ever!
44 across was very amusing to me. Can’t wait to use it!
@James I played bari (baritone) sax in my teens, anchoring the reed section in my HS jazz band. It has a deep, rich, warm sound, and sure can get the ears’ attention in solo. If interested, check out modern masters Pepper Adams and Ronnie Cuber.