Srabbly? Yes. Difficult? Yes. NE corner impossible? Yes? ARHAT isn't in my vocab. Pitchy is uneven singing, NALA must be in a kid's movie. ARRAU is no longer around, right? Oh, and I agree, spelling LARROQUETTE was a complete guess for me and came on my third try.
PhillySolver | 07.10.09 - 10:48 pm | #

BAKU opened KATE SPADE (once a prized possession for my lovely Sherrie), and then LARROQUETTE blew open the board. Also was misled on CREAKS. And Youghiogheny and Monongahela are other Pennsylvania rivers with Scrabbly fill, which I anticipate anytime Karen is the constructor -- I am rarely disappointed. Great start to the weekend.
Brent H (floridaqqq) | Homepage | 07.10.09 - 10:56 pm | #

the things you learn from crosswords! BEQ used the vire clue for ST. LO a month ago, so today it was a gimme. a slightly slow gimme, but i plopped it down with no crossings. this contributed to my finishing the NE corner in approximately nothing flat, which is funny because phillysolver singled it out as being impossible. well, when you can put down ARRAU, NALA, and STLO for free, CACAO and TROLL pretty much jump out at you after that. i believe ARHAT is another word i learned from crosswords... yep, wednesday NYT a year ago.

do i have to renounce my guy membership because putting down IN HER SHOES with no crossings broken open the SW for me? (and that was after i tried GOOD IN BED, which was a letter short.) i don't honestly know why i remember either title (chick lit is not my bag, and neither is KATE SPADE), but they're hard to unremember.
joon | Homepage | 07.10.09 - 11:14 pm | #

I do admire all who are so fast on the weekend puzzles. I read both books and got most of the the long fill okay. I had about a normal Saturday solving time until the NE.
PhillySolver | 07.10.09 - 11:33 pm | #

I agree that the double-R in LARROQUETTE seems off for a French-sounding name. I had to backspace and redo it since I had a few of the crossings.
When Kate Spade was first popular, we reacted with, "Did she invent the rectangle?" I like some pockets, too. I do enjoy the selection of vintage books in her stores, but, alas they are no longer for sale; they're only there as part of the visual merchandising.
Jan (danjan) | 07.11.09 - 12:14 am | #

wow, this was tough. correct in the end, but those corners were hard. the SW for me was impossible. XHOSA just looks incredibly weird, and those aren't easy clues for any of the other words. the NE would not have been doable if i hadn't known NALA and TROLL off the bat. never heard of HANUAMA BAY or JOHN LARROQUETTE or SUSQUEHANNA so had to piece those together slowly from short words. solid saturday.
Kevin Der | 07.11.09 - 1:15 am | #

I satisfying solve, but the NE did me in as well with ARHAT crossing ARRAU. Wha?
Tuning Spork | Homepage | 07.11.09 - 3:30 am | #

I found the two corners-- upper right and lower left to be the toughest spots, with the XHOSA and EXPO crossing the last bit. Had SOSO for 47D (Fair) for a while. Also 30A (Edge) went through RIM and LIP before getting to NIP.
Matt | 07.11.09 - 6:50 am | #

The crossing of ARHAT and ARRAU got me, too, but it didn't really bother me - what I don't know at all, I don't know at all. What *did* bother me was the sw, where I *should* have been able to close the deal but couldn't until I peeked at OUSTS. I knew that cashiered had something to do with the army but I didn't know what....Oh, well. I'll try not to get too down on myself. Beautiful weather in the real-life ne - gonna go enjoy it.
Sara | 07.11.09 - 9:05 am | #

my fastest stumper ever, by about two minutes. i was thinking it was just really straightforward, but amy and dan have posted roughly their usual times, so maybe i was just "in tune." i was surprised when SARONG, MIRE, ALIT, SASS, and ONUS all turned out to be right based on fairly straightforward clues. with so many 7s in the grid, it's almost like there's a word ladder or two: LIBERIA SIBERIA SILESIA NIGERIA AMNESIA AMENITY, and ATALOSS ATAVIST AVARICE AQUAVIT. okay, maybe not.

all three themelesses today were pretty excellent, weren't they? i've already crowed about farmer john's over at LACC, and even though the stumper was much less stumpery than usual, it had some nice tough-to-parse fill like VIPPASS and MAITRED.
joon | Homepage | 07.11.09 - 11:08 am | #

NYT: Just happy when I finish NYT Saturdays... 36A had JOH put it down, was thinking "it must be wrong two R's looks wrong...". Had ASANA for ARHAT for a bit, which is crazy. Also had VENDA for XHOSA, (off the same A you had Orange) a unique mistake I think, but it fit with EVEN (instead of EXPO). Loved, Loved "Dear Santa". Top-left and bottom-left were last to fall, glorious misdirections at 47D, 56A, and 59A. 60A was evil as had F_MA, not being American an N was most likely... Also managed AIDS rather than AMPS... I do agree this crossword did feel like one of those bad girls that allegedly go everywhere... Oh, Lol at Ibeforee in CS, and at the idea of $200 for a bag...
Gareth | 07.11.09 - 11:53 am | #

Yay, KMT! The John Larroquette Show was one of my favorite shows. ARHAT was actually my first entry in the grid - seen it enough times with that exact clue...

The Stumper was fine - I was on maybe-record pace until the NW, where I had to guess -ERIA countries until one provided good crossings. Looking at the grid, that geographical quasi-word ladder has to be intentional! But points off for the non-phrase NEW AREAS...
Dan F | 07.11.09 - 12:05 pm | #

Great LAT puzzle today, but a very disappointing offering from CS. It seemed more like a Monday puzzle than a Saturday one.
... | 07.11.09 - 12:45 pm | #

Hey, nameless ellipse: The CS puzzles from Monday through Saturday are intended to be all of the Mon-Wed difficulty level, so we can't dock points for it being exactly what it purports to be. I agree that Saturdayish puzzles are more satisfying than Mondayish ones, but there are those who require Mondayish all week long.
Orange | Homepage | 07.11.09 - 1:14 pm | #

I'm always happy to see Karen's name and today was no exception. I did get a false sense of security at the NW which fell surprisingly easily, but FREESTONE took a while and I was off to my usual many-times-Orange Saturday time.

I agree, SW and NE corners were tough, but they helped make it a puzzle to enjoy for me: getting XHOSA and ARHAT made me feel like a solving super hero!

By the way, Brent H: I never thanked you for the kind words for last Sunday's puzzle - I don't know if you ever got a copy of the photo of our ACPT dinner group - perhaps I can get your info from Orange?

Indeed, the start of a nice weekend.
Tony Orbach | 07.11.09 - 1:20 pm | #

In the Stumper, I first wrote in AQUAVIN. Knowing the... er.. camaraderie between the British and French, I figured it was a put-down meaning, essentially, "watery wine". Oh well.
Tuning Spork | Homepage | 07.11.09 - 4:31 pm | #

Shows how people can react differently. Yesterday Amy hated the fill and hardly reacted to the grid except with forebodings, while I loved the grid and enjoyed much of the fill, including my surprise at the three word CRUEL AND UNUSUAL. (I didn't mind HEIL and didn't have HAIL, as it wouldn't fit a crossing.) True, some of the NE and SE were close to unfair, but I got it.

Today in contrast was my least favorite fill in memory. If there were a prize for most Maleska like puzzle in decades, it'd win. I can't recall so many proper names, with many factoids I had no hope of. A little guessing near the end, overcoming my mistaken LIP for "edge," finally got it, with relief. My last to fall was the nexus of ARHAT, NALA, ST. LO, and an African export, and at least I recognized ARRAU even if it weren't a gimme.

The prallel long answers foreign to me of JOHN LARROQUETTE and HANAUMA BAY pretty much summed up for me why I hope they don't repeat anything like this ever. Even TV and sports would be welcome by contrast.
John Haber | Homepage | 07.11.09 - 5:20 pm | #