tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post2961594110083066243..comments2024-03-27T07:17:39.554-04:00Comments on Horace and Frances discuss the New York Times Crossword Puzzle: Saturday, November 23, 2013, Frederick J. HealyHorace Fawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04676932991883111336noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-72700926666424801632013-11-24T00:02:27.951-05:002013-11-24T00:02:27.951-05:00The pia mater is the closest layer of surrounding ...The pia mater is the closest layer of surrounding membrane around the brain and spinal cord. It is very thin, and defines the subarachnoid space. The thicker layer that comes next is called the dura mater and defines the subdural space. However, I don't see how you can really pluralize pia (you only have one in your body). I was looking for CSFs (for cerebral-spinal fluids) which also doesn't really go plural.Colum Amoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15026647589873845732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-27687774621912125742013-11-23T19:52:13.800-05:002013-11-23T19:52:13.800-05:00I will join the chorus of folks saying this was ea...I will join the chorus of folks saying this was easy. I liked it quite a bit, though. SALTON takes me back to my first ever visit to San Diego with Cindi, must have been in the early 80s. The pilot, in one of his folksy, reassuring announcements, informed us that we were passing over that body of water, which I had never heard of before. I'm sure we can all agree on the great cluing of the over-used TNT. And yes, Hope (or Colum), what's with the double dose of ULALUME. That's a relatively obscure Poe poem, noteworthy mostly for its cool sound play. I loved the clue for HANGTIME, since, as far as I'm aware, that's not an actual NBA-kept statistic. Not sure I knew that definition of PASEOS. I thought it was a dance, and a car. Thought the proper names were of very good quality: (in) ZANZIBAR (a shootin' star was ridin' in a side car hummin' a lunar tune), CEZANNE, JAKARTA, . . . BLITZEN, EPSTEIN. Yes, Horace, LITA-SPICA, and PENTE-PIAS were both potential Naticks, for sure. I knew the star and the game, so they were not hard at all for me. Usually it's "pia mater," right? And I certainly couldn't have told you where that was in the body. Perhaps Colum could have. ; )englishteacher59https://www.blogger.com/profile/16790678319090827125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-89432968223080695032013-11-23T15:56:39.158-05:002013-11-23T15:56:39.158-05:00Oh, and it's always nice when Big Daddy Bach (...Oh, and it's always nice when Big Daddy Bach (as Peter Schickele calls him) makes an appearance.Colum Amoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15026647589873845732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-70042387414917930842013-11-23T15:29:46.625-05:002013-11-23T15:29:46.625-05:00Huygens, SANTA and the BART/BELCH pairing were qui...Huygens, SANTA and the BART/BELCH pairing were quite nice. Interesting that you knew SPICA, but, I guess, not terribly surprising. <br /><br />And Colum, I had already been singing "Girl from Ipanema" all week, and this only makes it worse.Horace Fawleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676932991883111336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-38679867838422028232013-11-23T13:59:01.823-05:002013-11-23T13:59:01.823-05:0030:11. What's with ULALUME? Never heard of it ...30:11. What's with ULALUME? Never heard of it before doing these puzzles recently. I liked IPANEMA, and the cluing for SEDER was fun. Also JAZZAGE was good, because I was stuck on Jail for the first for letters.Hope Perlmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10599511890390199730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-88925775466938073162013-11-23T13:03:47.433-05:002013-11-23T13:03:47.433-05:0055 minutes
Yes, very easy for a Saturday, but ther...55 minutes<br />Yes, very easy for a Saturday, but there was some good stuff. I starred 34A Person with small inventions (FIBBER) and 31D Pole star? (SANTA). I also liked the BART/BELCH pairing. But I did NOT like TABUS. I've never seen it spelled that way, but it is an accepted variation, so OK. I was able to fill in SPICA right away, and JUJITSU/JETSFAN crossing in the NW let me start there and solve the grid clockwise. FARSI held me up for a short time and had me rethinking the correctness of the VISE/VALET pair, but all-in-all I was challenged sufficiently (like Thursday) and was able to finish the grid, which is nice.Huygenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14539030936919012404noreply@blogger.com