[Constructor Plus PROPER-CODEX
Christel Malden
Easy-medium and delightful all the way from FRENEMIES to what can happen if tensions mount -- ESTRANGED. Unlike Rex, all but the SW was on the easy side. Did not know the tennis champ and would have been in real trouble if JUNIPERO had not been a gimme. I live a couple of miles from JUNIPERO Serra Mission in San Diego. Lots of zip and only a couple of cringes--INTR and INTL. I tried to abbreviate imported (Impt ?) for the latter.
Very nice Joon!
When I, casually, put aside an answer as implausable I somehow categorize it as absolutely positively impossible answer.
Case in point: 35A: Spinner's spot. I initially thought this likely had something to do with records, but for some (or, more likely no) reason I decided against it. When the answer seemed to be DJB____, I thought the only possible answer would be DJBOOTI. Never mind how it might actually be spelled, nor that there was no reason to equate DJBOOTI with spinning. It had to be DJBOOTI because anything record related couldn't possibly be the answer. Or, just because I thought it would be cool to have Djibouti in the puzzle. See, I actually looked up how to spell it.
I suck at Saturday Puzzles.
I ripped through the northwest like it was a monday. The southeast went quickly as well. The rest had too many names I did not know. LANCE BASS? DJ BOOTH? DJ OKOVIC?
Got through it with a few errors in the end.
Still feeling salty that I did not win a calendar. I enter just about every contest Will puts on including the Sunday NPR puzzle. So far nada.Must be all the angry anti sports rants I send him...
Nice puzzle, though the DEDE/DFLAT crossing got me. [Major key that uses all 5 black keys] isn't the best clue here because even if you're musically inclined, it has two equally correct answers (DFLAT and GFLAT). DEDE sounds a lot more plausible than DEGE but I just went for the first major key using all 5 black keys that I could think of.
Easy for me -- I feel like Friday and Saturday got switched around this week. I had a fair number of write-overs (nachOS before FRITOS, HeRONS before HURONS, usb before RAM, ViNyL [?] before VENAL, and heR before OUR), but I fixed each of them quickly enough.
The D-FLAT/DEDE crossing was no problem for me; all those years of piano training and music theory paid off, I guess; though point taken with @Xan's comment about G-flat major. Instead, my scary moment was at the REVERENCE/MES cross -- I was only slightly more than 50-50 confident that it was an E and not an A, but I guessed right.
Not being a tennis fan at all, I've heard of DJOKOVIC, but I could not recall his name for the longest time. I had the terminal -IC and I thought, "Oh crap, it's that guy, the guy who's not Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal but maybe just as good as both." Settling the initial DJ- brought him back to memory. It's not surprising in the slightest that, after briefly checking the men's ATP rankings, I know of the top four players and no one else (well, except for the now-retired Andy Roddick, who's strangely still on the list at #29).
Last observation: DO YOU MIND is a great entry in the puzzle, but does anyone else feel like the answer and its clue "Excuse me?" have different meanings? The fact that the clue is written as a question seems like it was intended to match the question element of the answer, but I think the clue would be more accurate with an exclamation point. I picture the phrase DO YOU MIND being said when you want someone to shut up when they're talking inappropriately, like when you're trying to watch a movie at the theater. It doesn't matter what they say, you just want them to keep quiet. But when one says "Excuse me?" as a question (emphasizing the first word), it's not that you're offended by someone talking in the first place -- you're offended by the specifics of what they said. If it's written as "Excuse me!" with an exclamation point, it has more of a shushing quality to it.
(Hopefully that all made sense.)
As Paris HILTON might say, "Joon's Hot." Except for the DEDE/DFLAT crossing, this puzzle was superb. Fave clue: Gets to first base for NECKS (nicely crossing FRENEMIES). Got Lance Bass after a second look at the clue--thanks ACME for pointing out that double entendre.
Mark
@Evan - It made perfect sense.
This is the most fun I've had doing a Saturday puzzle is quite a while. Thanks Joon.
Must fess up that I did Google DJOKOVIC, I wouldn't know a Wimbledon champion if he/she/it bit be on the TUSHIE. That string of letters wouldn't have ever flown with me. Once that was done, the rest was sheer pleasure. Love FRENEMIES.
@StatStuff - Doh - makes perfect sense.
@Evan - on the Polite to Rude Scale I have "Excuse Me?" "Do you mind" "Do I stutter." I really wanted the last to fit.
Tried walKS before NECKS, wrongly thinking it was a timely world series clue.
Ditto on the -FLAT question (no piano training here) and the MaS/MES question. Knew MAS meant "more" from boxing history, so went with MES.
The SW was tough tough tough with the double DJ-- answers, sUAREZ or JUAREZ, wanted KaTe before KITT, no clue on -----HATS since "top" wasn't five letters. So, even though I had ONT (tricky tricky) IRENE and BATTENED instantly the corner stymied me.
DEDE was where it paid to be an old fart. LANCEBASS was where it didn't.
traveled around smoothly until I came to the southwest.
Never heard of OPERA HATS or DJ BOOTH or JUNIPERO and I was cornered with no help from the rest of the puzzle.
Joon usually chews me up and spits me out, but not today. I screamed through this baby. One writeover (I had BEST for BASS) easily recovered from. As Evan said, having musical training does come in handy for those "key with x flats/sharps" clues.
Fine puzzle.
Didn't care for all the abbrs (INTL, INTR, STD, SYST) but that's a small price to pay for the superb 8s and 9s.
My toeholds were LANCEBASS, CEDRIC, DYE and NEWYORK, which led to the NE falling first. DJOKOVIC and JUNIPERO were also gimmes (I'm a sports nut who grew up in California) so the SW went next, followed by the SE and finally the NW.
I actually said "wow" when I finally got FRENEMIES -- love that one! Had no idea that collapsible top hats were called OPERAHATS -- fun to learn. Had the same pause at the DEDE/DFLAT cross but assumed that D was the only letter that worked. Only mistake was INASEC for ONESEC, but that didn't last long.
Clue for COLON is brilliant.
TANKS for dis one, Joon! DOYOUMIND if I SALUTE?
Such a nice puzzle! - wish I could have finished it. I CHUGged right along until I got to DJO_OVIC crossing _ITT and had no idea, so came here to find out.
LANCE is centered over ITO (judge in the O.J. Simpson trial), who used to get quite a bit of crossword press.
@jae - I also liked FRENEMIES and ESTRANGED facing off in opposite corners. When things deteriorate further, there's EXILE.
Fresh and fast for me. I liked FRENEMIES and LETSROCK. Seems like "Excuse me" is fair cluing for DOYOUMIND if you can imagine the snarky tone that is intended. Liked it.
Ever notice how in tennis matches when the chair ref wants the crowd to quiet down he says "Thank you"? That always strikes me as an odd thing to say to noisy people.
Great Saturday puzzle, but easy-medium. Faster than yesterdays for me.
@Evan: in the dead tree variety the clue for 58A has "excuse" in italics. I thought it was a fantastic clue/answer.
Nice to have those really British names Cedric and Alastair cross.
Just noticed our generator didn't do its regular Saturday morning trial run. We may be in big trouble in the storm.
Lovely Saturday puzzle, thank you, Joon!
Unfortunately the SW did me in with DJOpOVIC ... I could swear his name had a "P" in it and I didn't know the name of the talking car. I also spelled it JUNIPERa for my other mistake. CaDEX or CODEX ... both looked good to me. Regardless this was so much fun along the way if someone asked me, "DOYOUMIND?" about my fail I'd say, "No!"
@Rex, can't wait to do your Sunday puzzle, very exciting!
@Carola, love your observation of LANCE over ITO!
@mac - I also liked those two oh-so-British names crossing...and was happy they were easy names to suss out with only a few letters, since I have never heard of any of them, including LANCEBASS.
I had to google TRANE and ALEX - wait a minute - lots of proper names in this grid - that is usually UGH-inducing to me.
We are BATTENing down - Sandy is urging us to do all the end of season garden cleanup.
@Joon - fun solve, in spite of all those names. (you also fooled me with dEfERENCE for REVERENCE...)
@M&A: That gave me a headache! LOL
Felt like a slog and that I was stuck too often at the DEDE/DFLAT and DJOKOVIC, only to be surprised that it was in the range of easy for me for Saturdays. Loved FRENEMIES, LETSROCK and DOYOUMIND.
Good Saturday puzzle with coffee in hand, cool breeze through open window, sunshine on the citrus trees and roses. Life is good.
Joon's puzzles are always a joy to do even though I DNF today--too many names I didn't know. But I got most of it and liked what I got. I also noticed LANCE over ITO and thought that was cute. Never heard of FRENEMIES and ICE CASTLES just never occurred to me so the NW is somewhat blank. Can't wait for tomorrow.
FRANKENSTORM hit my middle left coast! Google would have made it easy, but I don't do that. A cluster of names/words I just didn't know spelled a perfect storm for me. But it was still fun. But FRENEMIES is a bullshit word.
Nice puzzle, Joon, though you caught me in spots.
Liked FRENEMIES and ESTRANGED. Missed DJOKOVIC except for Sherlock's IRENE. Don't know Vagas casino names any more than car names.
I figured the ICECASTLE on a table at a banquet.
Have a good weekend.