DNF. I Did Not Finish today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Lars G. Doubleday, aka Doug Peterson and Brad Wilber. But I DNF — Dang Near Finished, stymied by two baffling clues: 49-A, six letters, “’60s singer named for the Count of Monte Cristo” and 41-D, three letters, “Mugger.” What? If “’60s” and six letters led you to think of rock/pop and some mononymous singer and the name by which the singer is known, you’d be taking a wrong turn. As I did. As for “Mugger,” well, who knows what that’s about? I do, now, because I looked it up. Now I GI. Get It.
Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially like:
13-D, ten letters, “Father-to-be.” I had a hunch about this one.
17-A, nine letters, “100+ products at shopdisney.com.” It’s an amusing answer, even if it’s a reminder of cultural decadence.
23-A, five letters, “OK.” Such indirection. Adjective? Adverb? Noun? Verb?
27-D, ten letters, “Puppy activity.” URINATINGONTHECARP — no, too many letters.
36-A, seven letters, “Humorous movement.” I suppose I like this clue because I knew the answer and felt a bit smarty-pants about it.
63-A, nine letters, “Mozart, fraternally.” An unexpected answer.
But my favorite:
28-D, ten letters, “Whistler in 10 films.” A spelling challenge, at least for me.
No spoilers: the answers are in the comments.
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Today’s Saturday Stumper
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
comments: 5
EDAMES. (Not my 1960s!)
HAM. (I.e., one who mugs, overacts.)
SEMINARIAN. MOUSEEARS. LICIT.
SCAMPERING. SCHERZO. (Thank you, Elaine.)
FREEMASON. ARTOODETOO.
I do remember Ed Ames but it would never have occurred to me that he was originally Edmund Dantes Urick.
I remember him too, and much respect to him. But I wrongly think of him as from the 1950s, though his solo career and his hits come later.
qI did solve the whole thing....though I had SEMEN DONOR in there first. Tsk.
Yay! And that’s a good possible answer. Do you think the SEM start was meant as possible misdirection?
Post a Comment