Hi Amy,

A dinger is baseball slang for a homer. My favorite slang term for a homerun is MOONSHOT, usually used for a towering fly ball that travels well in excess of 400 feet.

And speaking of baseball, I thought the first long answer was a little odd.

The clues in general were a little tougher than normal Wednesday clues, but it was a fun solve overall.

Steve
Steve manion | 12.27.06 - 9:36 am | #

But how exactly does "flies into the seats" mean the plural noun DINGERS? Guess I haven't paid enough attention to baseball to think of "fly" as short for "fly ball," or to think of "fly ball" as a homer. I sort of had the idea that a fly ball was, I don't know, some sort of foul ball. Am I thinking of pop fly or something?
Orange | Homepage | 12.27.06 - 10:44 am | #

Flies is a noun. A fly is any ball in the air. The missing but clearly implied words in the clue are FLIES [that land] IN THE SEATS.

A common broadcast of a home run might be: "It's a high fly ball; back, way back, it's gone."

Steve
Steve manion | 12.27.06 - 11:16 am | #

What do you think of PUHLEASE for 37D in today's NYT? I assume that is correct. I couldn't get anything really positive from Google, MicrosoftWord, Gmail or the OneLook dictionary search engine.

Any guidance would be appreciated.
dan | 12.27.06 - 1:59 pm | #

And what do you think of NOSE? I've no idea how you get from "It can take your breath away" to that one.
BlueStater | 12.27.06 - 2:41 pm | #

I guess, when you breathe out, your nose takes your breath away, or it can if it isn't plugged up. But thats only my amateur opinion.
Anonymous | 12.27.06 - 4:38 pm | #

Hi gang, long time no post. To all a merry X, and happy new ano, with a tilde.

May I suggest - perhaps for the next calendar year - we nominate the top 5 puzzles of 2007 - and see by countback which compiler wins the Golden Oreo?

I know I've kept a stash of the elite grids from this year, inc HALF-ABETIC (Harris/Berry NYS 12/1), John Farmer's instruction enigma NYX 11/2, Joe DiPietro's alphabetic clues NYX 10/5, NO KIBITZING (Hook, NYS 3/17),DIGITAL CONNECTIONS (Blindauer 3/24), CROSS-CURRENTS (Muller NYS 1/27) etc.

You get the idea. Why not devise categories - Best Themeless, Best Fill, Best Theme, Best LOL Clue...? I know I've had fun in 2006, all the more for joining a coterie of fellow tragics. And a big thanks to the wily compilers and editors. Been a blast.
DA | Homepage | 12.27.06 - 4:58 pm | #

Dan, I'd say puh-lease and puh-leeze are equally valid spellings. Of course, no dictionary's likely to lend support to that opinion.

Welcome back, DA! I do like the idea of honoring the year's best—remind me in a few days if I forget to put up posts for each topic, will ya? (Thanks.)
Orange | Homepage | 12.27.06 - 6:08 pm | #