ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
So the e-mail/comments/love letters are still coming in for the cryptic. Jeez. I had no idea. If that was all it took, I’d have made these damnfool cryptics back in December when I launched the blog. I mean, what’s going to happen once I start post my own versions of all the secondary puzzles formerly of the Times Sunday magazine?
No, but seriously, couple e-mails from England (one from the aforementioned Smokey) and one from South Africa have made me rethink this whole cryptic thing. What initially began as an exercise for myself, has now, at the very least, made me reconsider making that a one-and-done deal. So when I’m back from the west coast, I’ll probably be making another one. Expect it… when? (Just going to throw it out there, this was the first time Liz and I were out in San Francisco. What a great town. Course, we’re up in the Redwoods now, and, jeez. What a beautiful landscape there. Yay, vacations!)
So, in short, this post is going to be a quick one. (FWIW: “a quick one” Google image search got that boss pic of The Who. And yeah, you don’t need to remind me about that song).
I have a tough time when I make themelesses wherein the 15 letter entries cross in the middle. I always feel like the other corners are compromised a little too much versus when they are completely stand alone. I dunno. Having said that I was happy with most of the long stuff in this grid. The shorter stuff is another story. Honestly, was there any way I could have put more tired repeaters in the grid? Hopefully, it’s not too much of a distraction.
Got a couple of these seed entries from a request I put out to the faithful. Which I guess should be reiterated: If you have something you’d like to see in a puzzle, drop me an e-mail/tweet/carrier pigeon message and I’ll see if I can accommodate it.
Cluing seemed to be on the hard-side, but from what the vocal followers are saying, you’re looking for nasty-hard stuff on Mondays. Hopefully, I complied. (Again, if you want them a bit on the easier side, hit me up with an e-mail/tweet/carrier pigeon message and I’ll accommodate that request too.)
So anyway, I’ll leave you with this: for those who have any interest in hearing yours truly fuck around in a rap setting, I guested on a couple two three tracks (under the moniker All-World Lee “Big Game” Bronson, don’t ask) on Father Abraham’s full-length album “I Am Not a Sailor I Am the Captain.” It’s completely free: click here and enjoy. Those who have been paying attention probably remember that Abe name-checked yours truly in one of his songs in his weekly blog.
Okay. Enjoy this one. New puzzle on Wednesday.
Daltrey looks like my 11th grade accounting teacher in that pic (it was a woman).
So glad you are getting love for the cryptic, but please don’t reconsider Cryptics too much. You are getting love from abroad in part because those are the puzzles those people (Anglophones) are used to / love. I’m just sayin’, don’t go all darkseider on us, but definitely, yes, sprinkle in the Cryptics, please.
Is [Grin employed by rebel leader?] a good clue for CHESHIRE? Change “Grin” to “Cat?” maybe? Not sure why I was writing cryptic clues in my head yesterday, but I was. See what you’re doing …
rp
I got most of this one but got stumped in several places. No way I was getting the top left when GLITTRATI, GARAGE (for 1-down) and GENE (for 23-across) all fit together, but were wrong. (Yes, I realize it doesn’t make sense to have a garage in the basement, but I was doing it fast.)
Rex, that clue’s missing a noun referring to the HIRE. Maybe [Sly grin for person employed by rebel leader]…except no, because the Cheshire cat had a famous grin, but Cheshire ≠ grin.
Brendan, good to see my suggestion there at 37A! I docked you a star for fill like ORA, ENES, INTR, TTS, ADRENO, and JER, though. TWITTERATI is awesome, of course—did you (or someone else) already debut that in the last year, or is this its cruciverbal coming-out party?
i liked this puzzle overall but some of the clues felt too reachy. (who says “You know what it means”? and even if someone does, do they really mean by that AS THE SAYING GOES? doesn’t seem like it.) you put SONY in front of PLAYSTATION but left “sega” off the clue, which made the clue for me inelegantly deceptive (note that i’m a big fan of elegant deception). it’s a fine line between hard and obscurantist, and clues like that felt like the latter. another: LOL should indicate something webby or emaily, but no: RIP SNORTER. maybe you thought the irony was funny, since that term is kinda olde timey and LOL is young. also, NBC STARS? not feeling it. TOE for ring holder? uh, ok. all of that said, i liked a lot of the fill, despite your blog post saying you felt like too much of it was tired. maybe some of it was (assuming you were referring to IN RE, OATS, miss LEONI, and maybe ATT and ATTN abutting one another), but yeah: the other stuff made this a fun challenge. keep the hard mondays coming. three point five stars.
Is N. Cal the furthest north you’re headed on your vacation? Just wonderin’.
Rebel leads Talia’s storybook cat?
Fun fill.
Most of my solution evolved out of half-incorrect guesses, like BLOGGERATI for TWITTERATI and CUBA for ELBA.
I didn’t know [M]GM[T] nor [T]OWNE, so the M and T were the last letters I entered. LARA[?] looked like a last name to me (LaRae? Laran? etc.), and so I was stuck on it for the longest time.
Felt like more of a medium to me, but a good challenge nonetheless. I have no desire whatsoever to join Twitter, but twitterati is a fun word as were hoodwinked/ripsnorter. Jer was definitely a big reach, but easy to figure out with the Piaget clue. Otherwise I didn’t feel there were any others that felt out of place, except maybe INTR.
My parents are Brits, but I’ve never been a fan of cryptics. Had a look at yours the other day, but it did nothing to change my opinion of them. Nothing wrong with your puzzle, it’s just my disdain for them in general.
Anyway an enjoyable solve, especially on a Monday when all the other puzzles require little thinking.
For once this one was a bit easier than Hard for me, mainly from several lucky guesses. You had MGMT in a previous puzzle and I remembered it, and that helped a lot. Little by little I will pick up enough pop culture knowledge (must remember KIDA = Radiohead for next time) to be able to work through these with less pain….
Man this is a really interesting one. It’s labeled “hard,” but I did it in 8:53, the fastest I’ve ever done a themeless in my life (No laughing Amy and other members of Da Speed Demon Krew). What did it was all of the 4- to 6-letter pop culture or references that never held me up. CERA, NIEKRO, EDAN, MGMT, KIDA, “The” TUNA, and friends not only fell immediately, but I knew the precise facts referenced in their clues, which just makes it super fun. The only place I stopped was in the SW with NBCSTARS and such. I really liked the puzzle, and can easily overlook the small fill for the sparkling long answers. Also JER was just a way to sneak in a J, definitely preferable in its Scrabbliness than the lamer M or whatever would’ve gone there. More like these!
Also The Who were my favorite band of all time in Middle School. If it’s ever in a puzzle I try and clue it as “Moon unit?” but it never flies.
I do have a garage in the basement, which is why I left GLITTERATI and GARAGE in there until forced to find the alternative. It made sense to me.
I’m lovin’ the MGMT what’s going to be next some SIGUR ROS? I would love to see you try and fit in OZOMATLI in but that would be a little too obscure for most.
I cheated a bit on this puzzle because I was under a time crunch, the first half fell with middling difficulty. The NW was what ate up my time.
My vote cryptic once in a blue moon, I’m a traditionalist.
San Francisco is the greatest city in the world. The End.
Maybe not all the way “Hard”, but until you get Rex-style gradations of difficulty, it’ll do.
Loved it, though it took me till today to finish.
You gotta give us at least one cryptic per month.
This one kicked my ass. Clearly I need to study up on recent popular culture; most post-Eighties musicians, modern teen idols, baseball references, and anything relating to current TV go completely over my head.
(I’m glad I wasn’t the only one stuck staring at GLITTERATI…)
I smiled when I saw the clue for ORA. I was recently cluing a puzzle that had the entry ORA and, like you, did some research to find some approach that wasn’t already done in a Cruciverb database puzzle. I came across the retinal structure reference and considered using it, but ultimately went with something else. But seeing the clue in your puzzle made for an amusing “gimme.”
finally got around to this one. nice puzzle man. and TWITTERATI is excellent as you know. Also RIPSNORTER