Pages

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Silents actor Novarro / WED 12-1-10 / Celtic sea god / Hall-of-Famer Walter Dodger manager for 23 years / Shaded passageway / Sheik's mount

Constructor: Caleb Madison

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: WOODY / ALLEN (1A: With 66-Across, subject of this puzzle, born 12/1/1935) — nine WOODY ALLEN movies clued only by their years of release


Word of the Day: Walter ALSTON (8D: Hall-of-Famer Walter who was a Dodger manager for 23 years) —
Walter Emmons Alston (December 1, 1911 – October 1, 1984), nicknamed "Smokey," was an American baseball player and manager. He was born in Venice, Ohio but grew up in Darrtown. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball and is a member of the University's Hall of Fame. He maintained his residence in Oxford and died there in 1984 at the age of 72.
• • •

What a weird solving experience. Strangely, the theme was completely beside the point for me. I mean, once I got it, I knew all the movies, so no problem at all. No tricks, no whistles, no bells. The problem for me was Everything Else. The cluing felt hard all over and I struggled a lot more than I usually do on a Wednesday. First of all it took me a while to pick up WOODY, since 1D: Something played out in a theater (WAR) and 3D: Geometric suffix (-OID) [frowny face] were big ????s to me, as was YEOMEN at first (5D: Palace workers), so I just had -O-D-. It dawned on me who it was only after seeing (with several crosses) that 34A: ... 0f 1971 must be ... BANANAS, thus the theme must be WOODY and the years must be movies. OK.

Thought my struggle was over, but no. ELYSIAN? Ouch. I know ELYSIUM. Forgot it had an adjectival form. ALSTON? Double ouch (turns out I didn't know him back in 2008, either, which is the last time he showed up) (8D: Hall-of-Famer Walter who was a Dodger manager for 23 years). No idea what an ION exchange is. BTWELVE took forever to see (27D: Vitamin involved in cell metabolism). Trying to get CLASSA from bottom up (12D: Top-level)? Not easy. Didn't get ANO even after I had it filled in (it's AÑO—man I hate that as a crossword word). ALIGNED is not a word I think of when I think of [Neatened]. PERGOLA (52A: Shaded passageway)!? FEBRILITY!? Great words, I'm not complaining—they were just tough to come up with. Only real complaint is SW corner (which I got rather easily)—looks like a junk heap. AAAMAP is pretty made-up. NONONO is ... just 3 NOs, and ANEAR? A-NO! So strange to struggle (somewhat) in a puzzle where I knew every theme answer, and one of the answers (29A) is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Theme answers:
  • 9A: With 64-Across, 1-/66-Across movie of 2005 (MATCH / POINT)
  • 17A: ... of 1987 (RADIO DAYS)
  • 22A: ... of 1990 (ALICE)
  • 29A: ... of 1979 (MANHATTAN)


  • 34A: ... of 1971 (BANANAS)
  • 36A: ... of 1973 (SLEEPER)
  • 43A: ... of 1977 (ANNIE HALL)
  • 50A: ... of 1983 (ZELIG)
  • 57A: ... of 1978 (INTERIORS)
Bullets:
  • 28A: Silents actor Novarro (RAMON) — again, NO idea.
  • 22D: Sheik's mount (ARAB) — mind would *not* let go of camel. Would. Not. Let. Go.
  • 24D: One-named 1970s-'80s supermodel (IMAN) — This, I knew, though for some reason I wrote in ELLE at first (even though ELLE McPherson clearly has Two Names).
  • 47D: Hank with voices on "The Simpsons" (AZARIA) — This, too, I knew. He's won four Emmys, three of them for voice-over work on "The Simpsons"


  • 54D: Celtic sea god (LER) — the only part of OOXTEPLERNON I ever want to see in a puzzle is "NON."
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Si je devais aller à la montagne...


... Je n'opterai pas pour un collant mais pour un legging.
Je vous vois déjà crier "Horreur !" mais vous comprendrez mon choix en cliquant !

Je devais aussi revenir vers vous concernant la journée de shopping à choper à Londres, le concours avec lequel je vous spamme, vous savez !

J'ai plus d'infos à vous donner.

Donc comme vous le savez, vous avez jusqu'au 12 décembre pour envoyer une photo de vous en collants, en précisant que vous écrivez de ma part, à Concours-Dim.GRAZIA@mondadori.fr

Un jury va se réunir pour décider quelles sont les trois nanas les plus lookées en collants et à la suite de ça, un photographe les shootera pour qu'elles apparaissent dans le magazine et site Grazia.

Ensuite la seule et unique gagnante qui sera sélectionnée entre les trois, en plus des billets Eurostar qui lui seront offerts, se verra remettre la somme de 800 € pour retourner Topshop, Urban, Primark et compagnie. Sympa hein. Et peut-être même une photo d'elle dans le magazine Grazia du 28 janvier.

Bref, si je récapitule, en envoyant juste une photo de vous, vous pouvez gagnez, deux billets de train pour Londres, 800 € pour faire du shopping, votre photo dans le magazine et sur le site Grazia. Je pense que ça en vaut la peine !


Je profite également de ce post pour vous prévenir que quelques photos que vous verrez datent d'avant mon tour chez le coiffeur, donc je réponds à celles qui pensent que je n'assume pas ou je ne sais quoi, ne vous en faites pas, je suis ravie !


Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket
Legging - Dim
Tee-shirt - Zara
Gilet - Zara
Ceinture - Guerrisol
Chaussures - Topshop
Echarpe - BHV
Sac - Vintage

Monday, November 29, 2010

Weezer's music genre / TUE 11-30-10 / Toper slangily / Toper's back-pocket item / Climate-change protocol city / Corleone who broke Michael's heart

Constructor: Kristian House

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: OPTS OUT — theme answers begin with OPTS and every possible anagram of OPTS


Word of the Day: DIPSO (26D: Toper, slangily) —
n. Slang, pl., -sos.
A person who has a compulsion to drink alcohol; a dipsomaniac.
• • •
Didn't care much for this one, mainly because the theme answers just aren't that interesting. I run through these anagrams in my head virtually every day as I depart the woods where I walk my dogs. For some reason, in that context, the little STOP sign at the exit of the parking lot really stands out, and I often think of all the words that can be made out of it. Never thought to make a theme out of them. Here's the one thing I really, truly don't understand: POTS OF MONEY? That's your theme answer for POTS? I've never heard that expression in my life. Is it even an expression? Wow, I see that it is an idiom. It's perhaps the stupidest idiom I've seen in a good long while. It appears to mean LOTS of money. But instead of LOTS, you get ... POTS. This theme answers clearly should have been POTS AND PANS. The fill seemed mostly OK, though there were a few weak spots (SSTAR x/w EER? ([Astronomical red giant] + [Suffix with slogan]) FUM?). No trouble SPOTs for me except at 51D: Wrap around, where I wanted many different answers before I finally settled on ENFOLD (ENROBE ... ENCASE ...)

I think my favorite part of the grid is ROSSINI (46D: "William Tell" composer) alongside VIOLIN (50D: Isaac Stern's instrument). I also like the ridiculous orgy of "toper" clues — FLASK (4D: Toper's back-pocket item), DIPSO, and BARTAB (9D: Toper's expense). As with much boozing slang, I learned TOPER from xwords.

Theme answers:
  • 20A: Is ranked #1 (TOPS THE LIST)
  • 30A: Sign on a construction fence (POST NO BILLS)
  • 39A: Brief visit along the way (STOP OFF)
  • 42A: Declines to participate (OPTS OUT)
  • 48A: Dry cleaner's fluid (SPOT REMOVER)
  • 59A: Megabucks (POTS OF MONEY)
Bullets:
  • 5A: Yankees' "$275 million man," informally (A-ROD) — I used to hate him a lot more than I do now. Back when he slapped at Bronson Arroyo, or when Varitek hit him in the face. Good times. Mostly I just try not think about him now. No one can say he's not a great player.
  • 24A: Climate-change protocol city (KYOTO) — "The most notable non-party to the Protocol is the United States..." (wikipedia)
  • 2D: Folkie who sang of Alice (ARLO) — Really dislike the word "Folkie," though I'm sure it was common, once. Still, it sounds like a derogatory word. Like "Commie" or "Bushie."
  • 43D: Rhythmic humming sound (THRUM) — what a cool word. I never see or hear it, but it's at least vaguely familiar. The word even sounds like what it means. Rhythmic + Hum = THRUM. Cool.
  • 40D: Corleone who broke Michael's heart (FREDO) — "Godfather II"

  • 10D: Weezer's music genre (EMO) — Me: "That's not right." Googled [weezer emo]. Top results are mostly denials that the band is EMO. Which means clearly it's out there as an idea, but I have one of their albums, and EMO doesn't fit. But acc. to wikipedia: "A cornerstone of mid-1990s emo was Weezer's 1996 album Pinkerton." Seems their music changed to a more power-pop sound around 2000, which is roughly when this song's from:


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Les manoirs ne sont pas toujours hantés...


Il y a quelques semaines, je me suis retrouvée dans le train Paris-Deauville pour aller passer une journée dans un spa avec India.

Malheureusement, bien que j'ai passé un très long et agréable moment, j'ai finalement passé la journée seule, India a du faire demi tour illico pour se rendre à un casting.

J'ai donc découvert le Manoir de Benerville. Et qui se cache derrière ? Adriana Karembeu, qui (je ne le savais pas et c'est une belle découverte) a lancé sa gamme de cosmétiques : Silicium.

Magnifique propriété dans les hauteurs de Deauville, qui en plus d'offrir du bon air, une vue sur la mer et de la verdure, m'a donné accès à des soins incroyables.

Personnellement, je suis très friande de ce genre de plans... J'ai plané pendant plusieurs heures, soin du visage, gommage du corps à base de produits au cacao, massage aux pierres chaudes, des jus de fruits à gogo... et j'ai même eu le droit d'être remaquillée avant de quitter les lieux !

Mais j'ai vraiment craqué pour les chambres d'hôtes.
ADORABLES. Joli papier peint, ambiance très romantique... Je vous recommande d'y aller à deux, avec votre amoureux, une amie, votre mère... D'autant plus que les soins peuvent s'effectuer à deux.

Pour les parisiens, c'est juste le bon plan à portée de main. Deux heures de trajet pour se faire dorloter un ou deux jours. Personnellement, j'attends l'été pour y retourner et profiter des joies de la piscine et du parc.

Jetez un oeil au site !


India était encore avec moi.
Photobucket

Le quai de la gare à Deauville
Photobucket

L'allée qui mène au Manoir
Photobucket

C'est beau ou pas ?!
Photobucket

Photobucket

La piscine m'attend sagement jusqu'aux beaux jours.
Photobucket

L'entrée du spa.
Photobucket

Une des salles de soin.
Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Je me suis fait maquiller avec cette immense palette. La même chez moi, je prends.
Photobucket

On peut même grignoter après nos soins.
Photobucket

La chambre que j'ai préférée.
Photobucket

Photobucket

La terrasse.
Photobucket

Photobucket

La piscine vue de la chambre.
Photobucket

Ps : Le Manoir en vidéo, c'est par !

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Comic actor Dom / MON 11-29-10 / Bouquets-to-order co / Wildflower from which cultivated carrot originated / 1950s Ford flop

Constructor: Elizabeth A. Long

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: HEAD / BAND (35A: With 37-Across, hair accessory ... or a literal hint to 19-, 27-, 47- and 56-Across) — First (HEAD) words of four theme answers are all BAND names: QUEEN, KISS, TRAFFIC, CREAM


Word of the Day: Dom DELUISE (2D: Comic actor Dom) —
Dominick "Dom" DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author. He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur from 1965 until his death, and the father of actor, writer, pianist, director Peter DeLuise, actor David DeLuise, and actor Michael DeLuise. He had starred in various Universal Animated Studios films, such as All Dogs Go to Heaven and An American Tail. (wikipedia)

• • •

Felt a bit harder than normal, but I came in at a hair over three, which seems pretty normal after all. Times being registered at the NYT site seem slightly higher than average, so who knows. If it's tougher, it's barely tougher, so Medium. Love the concept, though it took me a while to understand—I had finished the puzzle and was looking over the theme answers to try to make sense of them. "A QUEEN band, A KISS band ... I don't get it ... Oh. OH! Hey, that's pretty good." SHAFTED BY seems a terrible answer to me, but most everything else seems at least acceptable (I don't want to revisit how I feel about PFUI—you can read about it here; I have begun reading Rex Stout, and allegedly this will make me change my mind...). There are lots and lots and LOTS of one-named bands, which makes me wonder "Why these?" But they are all famous and all likely to be heard on Classic Rock stations, so why not these? Still, this could easily be a Sunday theme. BREAD BASKET? RUSH LIMBAUGH? TRAIN WRECK? CHICAGO BEARS? Stop me when you've heard enough ... HEARTACHE? POISON IVY? BOSTON CREAM PIE? JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH ...


Theme answers:
  • 19A: Wildflower from which the cultivated carrot originated (QUEEN ANNE'S LACE)
  • 27A: Something that is ultimately ruinous (KISS OF DEATH) — struggled with this until I uncovered the "K"
  • 47A: Orange item set out by a highway crew (TRAFFIC CONE)
  • 56A: Very best (CREAM OF THE CROP)
Getting IRAQ WAR (1D: It started in 2003 with the bombing of Baghdad) straight off made QUEEN ANNE'S LACE easy in a way that it really should not have been for me, the botanically challenged one. KISS OF DEATH took a bit of work. Blew through all the big corners *except* the SW, where I couldn't drop either ORACLES (40D: Magic 8 Balls, e.g.) or CARRERA (41D: Classic Porsche model) off their initial letters, and SHAFTED BY (32D: Handed a raw deal from) ... well, it was my first thought, but I couldn't really believe it was real. Finished in one of the least sightly places in the grid (PFUI / HIED). Still, all told, I liked this one.


Bullets:
  • 57D: Long-eared equine (ASS) — ooh, that's a good euphemism. "Long-eared equine." I'm gonna use that.
  • 39D: Bouquets-to-order co. (FTD) — which I will only ever associate with the late great Merlin Olsen (who died in March of this year)
  • 5A: "Nonsense!" (BOSH) — this clue should've read [One of an overhyped Miami triad]
  • 64A: German river where American and Soviet forces met in 1945 (ELBE) — I did not know that.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Raise your glass !

Image hébergée par servimg.com

 MY TUMBLR  ♥.




Hello, hello, hello ! 

Ça fait un moment que je n'ai pas pu vous postez d'article, & non, je ne vais pas vous ressortir le blablabla du " je suis débordée ", vous l'avez déjà bien entendu, & je pense que vous avez compris hein :D.
Aujourd'hui, pas de look, ça devient plus difficile de trouver un moment pour prendre des photos, surtout avec les jours qui se terminent plutôt. Déprimant. 
A la place, des vidéos ! Peut-être que certaines sont déjà au courant puisque je l'ai annoncé sur la page Facebook du blog, je viens de créer un compte You Tube spécialement pour les vidéos du blog, & je vous conseille de vous abonnez parce que je posterais sans doute des vidéos que je ne remettrais pas sur le blog pas la suite n_n. Voici donc un lien vers le compte You Tube du blog, avant de passer aux vidéos du jour. 


It's been a while since I've post my last article, & no, I'm not gonna repeat any other time that I am so overbooked, specially because of highshcool. ( Yeah, I think that you've heard that too many times, so I guess you've understood, lol ). 
Today, no outfit. It's harder to find a moment when I can take photos because of the weather & the days which are going shorter. That sucks. 
But I made some videos for you ! Maybe some of you had already heard on my Facebook page that I've created a new You Tube channel specially for the blog ? I advice you to subscrire, because I'll post videos on it that I won't post on the blog ;'D. So this is the link of my new You Tube channel.


Pour commencer, deux vidéos en Anglais !

To start, two English videos ! 


Les photos du magnifique collier que Laurina m'a offert, comme promis dans la vidéo.

The photos of the wonderful necklace that Laurina offered me, as promised on the video.

Image hébergée par servimg.com

Image hébergée par servimg.com


& The second video :


Les gants que j'ai acheté, dont je parle dans la vidéo.

The gloves I bought, that I talked about in the video.

Image hébergée par servimg.com



& Deux vidéos en Français, un tutoriel de comment je fais mon maquillage de tous les jours ! 

& Two videos in French, a tuto to how I make my everyday make-up !




J'espère que ça vous aura plu ='D.

I hope you enjoyed ='D.


Image hébergée par servimg.com


& Pour finir, ça vous dit, un petit concours ? 
ShopAlike m'a contacté il y a déjà quelques semaines, & nous en sommes arrivés à ce concours, au final.
On m'a proposé plusieurs pièces & voici ce que j'ai choisi de vous faire gagner : un joli foulard fleuri n_n. ( Si ça vous dit vous en avez divers modèles d'écharpes sur leur site ). ( & Tant que j'y suis vous avez également des vêtements de grandes marques qui sont soldés, comme par exemple des trucs D&G ).

& To finish, are you ready for a giveaway ?
ShopAlike contacted me a few weeks ago, & this is what I chose to make you win : this cute floral scarf n__n.


Le concours est ouvert à tout le monde, même à celles qui n'ont pas de blog.
Le principe est très simple, laissez moi vous expliquez. 
En 1 seul commentaire, voici les consignes : 

1) Vous devez répondre à cette question, dont la réponse se trouve sur la page d'acceuil de ShopAlike : combien de produits sont disponibles sur ShopAlike.fr ? 
2) Vous avez une chance de plus si vous parlez de ce concours avec un lien vers mon blog, sur votre blog, votre FB, votre Twitter, ... Dans ce cas, vous pouvez me laissez un 2ième commentaire avec un lien vers votre page pour que je puisse vérifier. 
3) Vous n'oubliez pas de me laisser votre adresse email pour que je puisse vous contactez si jamais c'est vous qui êtes l'heureuse gagnante :D.

Bonne chance !

The giveaway is open to eveybody, even to the ones who haven't got a blog.  
The rules are very simples, let me explain you what you have to do, in only one comment.

1) You have to answer to that question, the answer is on the home page of ShopAlike : how many items are available on ShopAlike.fr ? 
2) You've got one more chance if you talk about this giveaway with a link of my blog, on you own blog, your FB page, your Twitter, ... In that case, you can let me a second comment with a link of you page so I can check.
3) Do not forget to let me your adress email so I can contact you if you're the happy winner :D.

Good luck ! 
 
~~~
Le concours prends fin le Dimanche 5 Décembre 2010, la gagnante sera tirée au sort.

The giveaway ends on Sunday, December the 5th, the winner will be choose randomly.


I LOVE YOU ♥.


( & Désolée, vraiment désolée, pour tous les commentaires géniaux auxquels je n'ai toujours pas répondu .. ='S ). 
( & Sorry, really sorry, for all the awesome comments that I did not answer yet ... ). 

  

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Butter knife of golf / SUN 11-28-10 / R&B funk trio with 1990 hit Feels Good / Chu legendary Confucian sage / Cry of self-pride / NBAer Smits

Constructor: Jeremy Newton

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: THE TREE-LIGHTING CEREMONY at ROCKEFELLER CENTER — theme answers related to the ceremony, plus a rebus using "ON" squares to create the outline of a tree


Word of the Day: RAJIV Gandhi (96A: One of the Gandhis) —
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi (Kashmiri/Hindi: राजीव गांधी; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was the 7th Prime Minister of India, serving from October 1984 to December 1989. He took office after his mother's assassination on Oct-31-1984, later he himself was assassinated in May-1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40. He was the elder son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi. (wikipedia)
• • •

I loved this puzzle. Yes, there were a lot of wobbly answers — ASSESS AS, ON THE ICE, REMOP, etc. — but the bulk of the fill was really inventive and imaginative, and it was all in the service of a truly beautiful rebus + draw a picture + holiday theme. The lights on the tree come ON! That is pretty sweet. I don't know why there's a light on the trunk, but whatever — this oversized grid is a real piece of work. Haven't admired a Sunday puzzle this much in a while. Reminds me of Liz Gorski's good stuff. A+.

As you can see if you look at your grid — especially if you have, as I have, marked all the ONs with yellow Hi-liter — the entire NW is devoid of rebus squares, so I was deeeeep into the puzzle before I realized there was a rebus component. I mean, I had THE WEDNESDAY / AFTER THANKSGIVING without having any idea what the hell was so important about that day. The Wednesday after Black Friday? Pink Wednesday? What the hell? Still blind to the rebus, I went poking around the north, trying to figure out what someone might call Judge Judy, when the AV(ON) (10D: Cosmetics giant) / ALL (ON) RED (24A: Roulette bet) intersection revealed the trick to me. Moved down a little and I was in some very dense ON territory. Noticed quickly that the rebus squares were forming some kind of triangle, and that the "ON" squares had mirror symmetry (which helped a lot). Took me a while to get TREE-LIGHTING CEREMONY, only because I'm not familiar with it (I know only the ceremony related to the tree at the White House) and I didn't know if it had specific name. Once I got the rebus trick, the puzzle wasn't *that* hard, but locating and writing in the ONs slowed me down enough that my time was well above average (true of the top solvers at the NYT site, too). Thus, "Challenging."

By far my favorite part of the grid was the bottom of the tree. I literally said "wow," stopped solving and drew a big circle around it with a smiley face inside. I think the answer that did it for me was T[ON]Y T[ON]I T[ON]É (R&B funk trio with the 1990 hit "Feels Good") — this is surely the best use to which their name has ever been put. Brilliant. Throw in the recently relaunched CONAN (110A: Big name in late-night), whom I love, and the very fresh and spot-on colloquialism "YAY ME!" (116A: Cry of self-pride) and this section just glows. Former TONY TONI TONÉ member Raphael Saadiq is an accomplished solo artist now. Love his album. Also, his name is crossword awesome. Hope he becomes more famous.





Theme answers:
  • 3D: With 5-Down, when 148-Across traditionally takes place (THE WEDNESDAY / AFTER THANKSGIVING)
  • 15D: Where 148-Across takes place (ROCKEFELLER CENTER)
  • 17D: Traditional centerpiece of 148-Across (NORWAY SPRUCE)
  • 148A: Annual Manhattan event (represented symbolically in this puzzle) (TREE-LIGHTING CEREMONY)
Bullets:
  • 8A: Home of Hells Gate State Park (IDAHO) — Wow, that place must really suck.
  • 31A: N.B.A.'er Smits, a k a the Dunkin' Dutchman (RIK) — I watched basketball when RIK was in his heyday, so this was a piece of cake. He has one of those funny "K" names, like DIK Browne or ZAK whatshisname ... Ringo's son ... Starkey!
  • 46A: Snack food with a Harvest Cheddar flavor (SUN CHIPS) — famous for having a biodegradable bag that was discontinued because it was "too loud." SUN CHIPS are packaged to make you feel that you are not doing what you are in fact doing: eating junk food.
  • 50A: "Butter knife" of golf (ONE IRON) — I assumed this was some dude. Some dude nicknamed "Butter knife." John Daly?
  • 59A: Escapee from a witch in a Grimm tale (GRETEL) — HANSEL also fits, so you're lucky if you solve this from the front instead of the back.
  • 62A: It may be put down on a roll (ABSENCE) — a great, tough clue.
  • 82A: Mythological triad (GRACES) — there are several such triads, or at least one other (FATES), but they didn't fit.
  • 84A: Creatures known to lick their own eyeballs (GECKOS) — How do you not love a clue like that?
  • 115A: When repeated, an old sitcom farewell (NANU) — always hard to see TV from my formative years called "old."
  • 127A: Trattoria topper (PESTO) — wanted PASTA, but then realized that would be what's being topped, not the topper.
  • 18D: "Diary of a Madman" author (GOGOL) — Me: ".... ? .... ? .... OZZY?"


  • 48D: Movie co. behind "Wordplay" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (IFC) — Independent Film Channel. Nice semi-self-referential clue there...
  • 58D: Magnetic disruption in space (ION STORM) — surprised at how quickly I got this and how confidently I entered it, considering my dearth of knowledge about astrology. [wink]
  • 60D: 1960s girl group, with "the" (RONETTES) — Ronnie Spector! Wall of Sound! Cool...


  • 80D: Chu ___ (legendary Confucian sage) (HSI) — Uh ... OK, if Chu say so ...
  • 92D: Echo producer (CANYON) — Right in the heart of that beautiful bottom-of-the-tree section. Had an aha moment with this one.
And now your Tweets of the Week(s), puzzle chatter from the Twitterverse:
  • @ I'm killing the sunday nyt crossword. KILLIN IT. however if I finish soon the rest of my work day is going to be really boring.
  • @ There's alwyz somethin poppin off on the 196! This old lady KNOWS she should be holdin on to the bar instead she wants to do crosswords!
  • @ Damn. No pen. Will Shortz you're being rescheduled and I'm sorry.
  • @ NYT Xword might be the saving grace of my afternoon. #Saturdaylibrarian
  • @ @MySecretLife01 If you arm wrestle, can beat me and then do the Times crossword quickly I am in
  • @ So entranced by the crossword that I missed my stop and ended up in Brixton. Damn you, 12-down.
  • @ One of my commenters just called me sweetie. #TheCreepyOne
  • @ Its not #Thanksgiving unless Dad asks me to spell answers to #NYTimes crossword puzzle. Justifies my entire college career to spell "parade"
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Tout nouveau, tout beau !


Deux choses aujourd'hui : ma "nouvelle" tignasse et ma nouvelle chemise dont je ne peux plus me passer.

Commençons par les cheveux... Comme vous le savez, j'ai fait une overdose de ma bi-couleur. L'hiver s'étant installé, j'avais envie de changement mais je ne suis pas suffisamment rock'n'roll pour opter pour une métamorphose radicale.
J'ai donc gardé ma longueur, juste un peu effilé tout le bordel pour redynamiser et surtout Charlotte, mon coiffeur depuis mes quinze ans, n'a pas hésité à retravailler toute la couleur.
La base est ma couleur d'origine mais moi qui hésitait entre éclaircir ou foncer, je suis très satisfaite par le balayage qu'elle a appliqué et j'ai enfin une couleur unique !

Quand je lui ai demandé comment nous pouvions appeler cette coloration, elle m'a dit qu'elle avait effectué des petites mèches dorées / miel.

Voilà donc le résultat !

Charlie Meyssone, 37 bis rue Rodier, 75009 Paris.
N'hésitez pas à prendre rendez-vous de ma part au 01 45 83 33 19


Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket
Jean - H&M
Chemise - Sarah wayne
Ceinture - Zara
Boots - Topshop


Ma chemise... Bleu ciel, manches chauve-souris, cloutées "Dark Romance"au
dos.
Je suis folle d'elle.
A tel point que je vous encourage vivement à vous rendre aux ventes privées qui se dérouleront mercredi, jeudi et vendredi.

Photobucket


Ps : Le concours Dim et Grazia est toujours d'actualité ! Pour gagner une journée de shopping à Londres pour deux, envoyez votre tenue en collants de ma part à concours-Dim.GRAZIA@mondadori.fr

Friday, November 26, 2010

Folk rock singer Straw / SAT 11-27-10 / Moose Drool Trout Slayer / Old China essayist / Old dirk / Bond girl player Green / Tony winner Caldwell

Constructor: Xan Vongsathorn

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none


Word of the Day: WELTER (15A: Confusion) —
n.
  1. A confused mass; a jumble: a welter of papers and magazines.
  2. Confusion; turmoil.
intr.v., -tered, -ter·ing, -ters.
  1. To wallow, roll, or toss about, as in mud or high seas.
  2. To lie soaked in a liquid.
  3. To roll and surge, as the sea.

[From Middle English welteren, to toss about, as in high seas, from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch, to roll.] (wikipedia)

• • •
This started out very rough, but it turns out I was just looking at bad starting answers. Once I finally stumbled into a couple little easy pockets, this thing opened right up and I was done in better-than-average time. Today's puzzle feels balanced—not overly contemporary, not overly old-fashioned. This is possibly because Mr. Vongsathorn is quite young, but more likely because Mr. Vongsathorn is just good. Feels very up-to-date, language-wise, in a way that most people of all ages can appreciate. While I don't care for the show itself, "THE BIGGEST LOSER" is a fresh answer (32A: Show in which many pots disappear?), and though the intersecting 15 doesn't do much for me (FIRST ONE TO BLINK feels slightly jury-rigged—7D: Defeated contestant in a face-off), I really like the Acrosses in the NE and SW, plus SENIORITIS (22A: High-class affliction?) and BOBBLEHEAD (47A: Bounce in a sports stadium?). STEEL JAWS is too gruesome for me (31D: Features of some bear traps), but I kind of like how animal cruelty is offset symmetrically by the more animal-friendly FREE-RANGE (6D: Like some chickens).

Started with SLUES (9D: Turns sharply) / SNEE. Anyone else? Anyone? [Old dirk] just screamed SNEE, and terminal -ES on 9D screamed SLUES. Please note that you can hear these screams *only* if you do a *lot* of crosswords. Other screams: four-letter Nabokov title (PNIN). Four-letter British institution (ETON; 26A: Historic institution near Slough). Four-letter District in southern Kazakhstan (ARAL). Three-letter constellation (ARA; 53D: Neighbor of Scorpius). Four-letter essayist (ELIA; 36D: "Old China" essayist). These are all answers that a constant solver is going to be able to suss out fairly readily. I had some other gimmes, but they were accidents of knowledge (e.g. JERI Ryan (51A: Ryan of "Star Trek: Voyager"), SYD Straw). Had some name trouble with and ZOE (21A: Tony winner Caldwell) and EVA (49A: Bond girl player Green) (whom I now realize I've seen before), as well as DRE (whom I *know* I've never seen before), but I worked it out via crosses. Got my first real bit of traction from ETON / SEPT / ETCH. From there I eventually got SENIORITIS, and the grid opened up in all directions from there.

Bullets:
  • 40A: Moose Drool or Trout Slayer (ALE) — never heard of either, but educatedly guessed it once I had the "L" from ELIA in there.
  • 4D: "Quickest way to Harlem," in song (A-TRAIN) — Ella's version is the one I know best.

  • 12D: Alternatives to Triscuits (RITZES) — I submit that no one calls them this. "Do you want some Triscuits? Do you want some Ritz? ... somehow, colloquially, that "Z" does double duty as a plural ending (grammar be damned)
  • 34D: Dinar earner (SERB) — I think there are many countries that have the dinar as currency, yet somehow I got this quickly, off just the "S"
  • 42D: Adjective-less language (NAVAHO) — Very easy to get when you have -AHO already in place before you even see the clue.
  • 50D: Setting of Mozart's only clarinet concerto: Abbr. (A MAJ.) — I listened to Mozart's Clarinet Quintet only yesterday—a birthday treat.


  • 56D: Folk rock singer Straw (SYD) — far less famous than she should be. I own two of her albums. Love her style. Here's a cut from an album I played all throughout my college years.


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Followers

Blog Archive