I found today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper exceedingly difficult (thirty-six minutes so). Frank Longo can pitch them right over the plate — yay! a hit! — but today’s puzzle, to continue with a metaphor based upon a sport about which I know just a little, is full of pitches that went right by.
For instance, 5-Down, five letters, “Senior in Williams’ English class (1989).” Huh? For instance, 31-Down, four letters, “Cursed royal, possibly.” LEAR? Swing and a miss.
I kept swinging, so to speak, at the same pitches, I suppose, because the puzzle has a finite number of clues, and I finally began hitting. If this puzzle had been a baseball game, I would have had seventy-two hits in more than a hundred times at bat. And now my metaphor has fallen to pieces, like a splintered bat.
Some favorite clues: 10-Across, four letters, “Provider of Wimbledon coverage.” 23-Across, six letters, “Pretend one is 1?” 49-Across, ten letters, “Send elsewhere, in a way.” 55-Across, four letters, “Course in mythology.” And finally, there’s 29-Down, ten letters, “Lead-in to radio silence.”
No spoilers: the answers are in the comments. (Silence.)
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Today’s Saturday Stumper
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comments: 6
HAWKE. FROG. TARP. TODDLE. CROSSINDEX. STYX. OVERANDOUT.
HAWKE is Ethan Hawke, in Robin Williams’s class in the horrible, no good, very bad Dead Poets Society.
“Provider of Wimbledon coverage”: I'd be happier with LAWN or TURF but I guess they would't be as 'stumpery'. I figured "Dead Poet's...", but couldn't remeber anyone in it besides Robin Williams.
Robin Williams, sort of, story. Sometime after his death I was on a city bus and across from me was a guy who was the spit and image of a "Mork and Mindy" era Robin Williams.
Some other guy asked the obvious "Hey, has anyone told you you like Robin Williams?". He then proceeded to say how much he liked 'Mrs. Doubtfire' as a movie. All I could think was poor Robin Williams look-alike.
I had the -RP and wondered, “Does AARP sponsor tennis on TV?”
Looking like a celeb must be difficult. Like having a famous or infamous name.
I forgot to add: I had HAWKE because I took a guess that Ethan Hawke majored in English. At Williams College? Who knew! The movie never occurred to me.
This one took me two days, and I am sure more than a cumulative 36 minutes.... I had in the margin ROOF, TARP, ESPN BBC?, BEEB.... CROSSINDEX was a gimme, as was STYX, but the NW swath was a real struggle. Victory at last....
Huzzah! I am impressed by your gimmes. I got STYX only after getting the X.
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