Jeffrey uses the contrasting meanings of the verb - to put out of sight, and the noun - the skin of an animal, to create a puzzle where synonyms of the noun are hidden in the theme fill. To accomplish this we once again are presented with a 15x16 puzzle. It all is tied up with a ribbon with a wonderful reveal in another classic 3/5/8/11/13 placement of themers. The bigger size allows for additional wonderful sparkly answers such as INCLINE, IT SEEMS, LATCHES, ORDERED, BEDSPREAD, MERCURIAL, NON-PUBLIC, and SPRING DAY. As always with Jeffrey on Friday, there are very difficult sections, but the overall puzzle, the wit and the head slap moments are a joy.
18A. "Bummer!": THAT'S KIND OF A DRAG (16). SKIN gets right to the heart of the animal hide.
24A. An unquestionable fact: THE GOSPEL TRUTH (14). The trading in pelts was very important for the trek west in our nation's history. A pelt is a skin and fur together.
39A. Hershey's collectible: COCOA TIN (8). We associate coat with domesticated animals like horses and dogs, and generally not removed.
53A. Pressing feeling: SENSE OF URGENCY (14). Fur can be either be still attached or removed and made into an article of clothing.
And the reveal,
62. What words concealed by the other four longest Across answers do ... and also, what each of them is: HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT (16). Hide is usually cured skin and hide and go seek is a game we all have played. The clue is perfect.
1. Bar rooms?: JAILS. BY making this two words, we get this punny clue.
6. Organic jewelry source: AMBER. Made most famous by Jurassic Park.
11. Nation west of Mumbai: OMAN. There are many countries west of Mumbai but Oman is directly across the Arabian Sea. I do not know my geography but I can now find Thailand.
15. Part of a John Williams quintet: OSCAR. A most amazing COMPOSER.
16. High-end German appliance brand: MIELE. I never heard of this COMPANY.
17. Overhaul: REDO.
21. Harmony: SYNC. You want some?
22. Odds partner: ENDS. This expression may have originated as odd ends in the mid-1500s, meaning “short leftovers of some material” (such as lumber or cloth) (dictionary).
23. Bench press target: PECtoral. Your chest muscle.
30. In the past, once: ERST. We just had this archaic word on July 2, 2018.
31. Nutritional abbr.: RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance.
32. Northern terminus of I-79: ERIE. Yeah guys, a big CSO.
33. Operatic villains, often: BASSI. More than one bass voice.
36. Veto, in Vienna: NEIN.
37. Actress Meyer of "Johnny Mnemonic": DINA. I remember this ACTRESS first from an early superhero show BIRDS OF PREY but she has worked steadily the last 25 years. For whatever reason, two roles I recall were as a Dominatrix on CASTLE and a Madam interested in Gibbs on NCIS.
38. Matterhorn, e.g.: ALP. Wheel of Fortune had their Switzerland trip this week.
43. Field concerned with fields: Abbr.: AGRiculture. I think this is a debut for this witty clue.
44. Alexa counterpart: SIRI.
46. Fishing hole site: POND.
47. Kept from squeaking: OILED.
49. Sweater fabric: KNIT. Is this a fabric? Oh, damn that was a nit!
50. What may come to those who wait: TIP. Another example of a creative wit.
51. "... that struts and frets his hour __ the stage": Macbeth: UPON. I look forward to JW's quotes from Shakespeare. This quote was very inferrable but the passage is wonderful. Act V, Scene V.
"The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
57. Salon application: GEL. Did you know that it was in 1929 a British company invented Brylcreem This became the market leader in hair styling products in both the U.K. and the U.S. during the following decades. In the 1960s, modern hair gel was invented in the United States, by what would later be renamed the Dep Corporation. (wiki)
58. Rancor: BILE.
59. Get rid of: LOSE.
67. West of Gotham City?: ADAM. Gotham City was/is the fictional home of Batman, played in the 60s camp version by the late Adam West.
68. Privileged group: ELITE.
69. Western __: UNION.
70. Giant great: MAYS. The say hey kid!
Baseball legend.
71. How many commute: BY CAR.
72. What Italians may use to commute: VESPA. A little clecho especially if the car is a Fiat.
Down:
1. Notes: JOTS. Another unexpected verb - synonym.
2. Grayish: ASHY. Defined as of a pale grayish color; ashen. "the ashy shadows of the mountains"
3. "__ even!": I CAN'T. I can’t even is an emotional exclamation in response to an event. Its abrupt ending implies something is too amazing, frustrating, surprising, exciting (or any other adjective imaginable) to handle, which renders a person speechless because they’re so incredulous
4. Gate closers: LATCHES.
5. Yearbook gp.: SRS. Seniors.
6. Self-affirming query: AM I NOT. The expression “aren’t I” is often used in place of “am I not”, particularly in conversational speech. Example 1 (incorrect usage): “I’m going with you on vacation, aren’t I?”
Although the use of this phrase is widespread, it is atrocious English that could be considered equivalent to “you is”, a phrase which most educated people abhor (although for some reason, these same people have no qualms about saying “aren’t I”). The correct form of the sentence in Example 1 is as follows: Example 2 (correct usage): “I’m going with you on vacation, am I not?”
7. Watches: MINDS. The young-uns.
8. Something fit for a king?: BEDSPREAD. King sized bed, very cute.
9. Symphonic rock gp.: ELO. Electric Light Orchestra.
10. Call the game: REF.
11. Called for takeout, say: ORDERED.
12. Fickle: MERCURIAL. Mercury went retrograde Wednesday, for those who care.
13. Org. promoting fluoridation: ADA. American Dental Association.
14. Rich quaff: NOG.
19. Pub inventory items: KEGS.
20. Proper: APT.
25. "South Park" kid: ERIC.
26. Find better words, say: EDIT.
27. Civil rights theorist Guinier: LANI. A most accomplished Yale Law graduate working at HARVARD.
28. Trace amount: TINGE.
29. Got wind (of): HEARD.
33. Luxuriates: BASKS.
34. Dior dress: A-LINE.
35. Amy Lowell poem of a "fresh-washed and fair" time: SPRING DAY. The poem is made up of 5 parts of the day, with Bath first, and opening line, " The day is fresh-washed and fair, and there is a smell of tulips and narcissus in the air."
36. Private: NON-PUBLIC.
40. Eye-related prefix: OPTO. For example, the optometrist.
41. Salon product: COIF.
42. Common lunch hour: NOON.
45. "Indications are ... ": IT SEEMS.
48. Lean: INCLINE.
51. More nasty, as weather: UGLIER.
52. Hammer part: PEEN.
54. Yale figure: ELI.
55. Gear for a gaucho: RIATA.
56. Meditative ones: YOGIS.
60. Small business: SHOP.
61. Mediterranean mount: ETNA. The Sicilian mountain.
62. Baked __: HAM. Very random.
63. Director Lupino: IDA. This actress became a pioneer for female DIRECTORS.
64. S.D. neighbor: NEBraska. CSO to HG.
65. Work at: PLY. Like a trade.
66. Cherokee, e.g.: SUV. Jeep.
Wow, July is almost over and August is on the horizon. Always fun to finish Friday with Jeffrey. Thank you all.
48 comments:
OSCAR had an ORDERED MIND,
He solved problems, any KIND!
Until love struck --
Thoughts ran amok,
From logic to romance INCLINED!
I think, therefore I am, AM I NOT?
Am I to be, or to be, AM I NOT?
Am I here, or has I went?
It is sure a puzzlement!
I shall have to think UPON THAT thought!
My poems are of a MERCURIAL KIND.
An INSIGHT LATCHES to my inner MIND!
I CAN'T shake it,
I must make it
Into words that -- almost -- rhyme!
Am I getting philosophical?
THAT, IT SEEMS, may not be logical.
But I'm an old fogy
So like a YOGI,
I utter koans, tautological!
{A-, A, B+, B.}
Well, finished at 98%, mistakes at JOT/JAIL, MAYS/IDA and COCOATIN/LANI. Miele was a first fill after Amber, they are wide spread in Europe - quite expensive and of best quality. Nice word to learn was Mercurial.
Good to see Eric Cartman here, Johnny Mnemonic was a bad bad movie:) Well again baseball and local activists/brands were unknown to me. Did not know Hersheys make Cocoa, that the package is called tin and it is collectible.
Got the theme but it did not help with the idioms. Finished in 28 minutes.
Abejo: Kolacky is generel term for something baked. Hope it is Czech beer! I got Pilsner Urquel tapped in Washington once. They had no idea how to draft a lager!! No foam.
Good morning you Cornerites who have made it thru this Friday JW CWP, wow!
Thank you Mr. Jeffrey Wechsler for the excellent challenge. After my first passes A and D, the NW cell was pure white. I used the 3 Ps in a pod, and gritty determination to FIR in 43:10.
Thanks Lemonade for your excellent review.
Off to breakfast.
Ðave
Good Morning!
IT SEEMS that IT LOOKS was wrong, as was CELLS for JAILS. That was the extent of the dents to my Wite-Out supply. This one took longer than usual, but I finally got all the pieces in the right places. Thanx, JW and Lemonade. Forgot to mention, I even got the theme. Will wonders never cease?
MIELE: Unknown to me, though I went to high school with a girl named Mielke. Probably totally unrelated.
LATCHES: There's a lady on my M-o-W route who keeps her screen door LATCHEd. It always takes her several tries to get in unlatched, while I'm waiting at her door with two armloads for delivery.
BEDSPREAD: DW managed to spill a glass of red wine on the bedspread yesterday. She claimed a cat did it. It's a big, heavy spread, and the laundry equipment got a good workout.
PEEN: Only that second hammer illustration shows a PEEN, IMO. It's a ball-peen hammer.
The heat wave continues with no relief expected before next Tuesday. Not sure the lawn will last that long.
Good Morning:
Early posting time for me courtesy of insomnia. I went to bed at 2:30 and woke at 6:30, for good. Someone will be on the grumpy side today, I think.
This started out as a real toughie with lots of white space after the first pass and almost as much after the second pass. Somehow, I filled in the revealer before any of the complete theme answers and the penny dropped soon after. I think Gospel Truth was the first "Hide" I discovered. JW is a master of word play, misdirection, and devilish (but delightful) cluing. My many miscues included: Coral/Amber, Abs/Pecs, Ashy/Pale/Ashy, MLB/Agr, Why not/Am I not, and Not instead of Nonpublic. The unknowns were Dina and Eric. I know nothing about "South Park" and am curious who the target audience might be. I've heard of Miele but needed perps for it to evolve, as I couldn't get beyond Bosch. CSOs galore: HG (Neb), Abejo (Erie), Tin (Kegs and Cocoa Tin), and Madame Defarge (Knit). I like the pairings of Gel and Coif, Car and Vespa, and Alp and Etna. Quite a coincidence to have Amber (and) Heard as Amber Heard is an actress and former wife of Johnny Depp.
Thanks, Jeffrey W, for a most entertaining and enjoyable solve and thanks, Lemony, for the grand tour, filled with many nuggets of interest. I'm curious, though, about the relativity of the "Fiddler on the Roof" clip to John Williams.
Krijo @ 5:18 ~ Your completion time was 1 minute faster than mine, so hats off to you!
Have a great day.
The North was a sea of white for a while with only SYNC, AMBER, ELO, AND ADA in place. The AM I NOT (not something you would hear anybody say or even think- thank you Lemonade) cross of the unknown MIELE was my last fill. John Williams and OSCAR both being unknowns didn't let me get out of the NW JAIL for a while either.
"West of Bombay" is a country but "West of Gotham" is a person. OMAN & ADAM threw me for a while.
COCOA TIN- I filled it but only guess that maybe some kook visited by "American Pickers" would keep an old Hershey's can.
"his hour UPON the stage"- I CAN'T even imagine people who have a real life and real job would know or care about words in the middle of some obscure passage that the Bard wrote in one of his many plays. They might have to learn about DINA Meyer & LANI Guinier - unknowns filled by perps.
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Youch! This was a toughie puzzle. I got the long answers, but the HIDE was HIDDEN FROM (my) PLAIN SIGHT.
I learned that Bar Rooms are not Cells, but JAILS.
I learned that Organic Jewelry Source is not Coral, but AMBER.
I learned that Sweater Fabric is not Yarn, but KNIT.
I learned that the Salon Application is not Dye, but GEL.
I wasn't fooled by West of Gotham City, but knew it referred to the actor ADAM West.
My favorite clues were: Find Better Words = EDIT; What May Come to Those Who Wait = TIP; and Field Concerned with Fields = AGR.
A nice shout out to Abejo with ERIE.
QOD: Baseball is like church. Many attend; few understand. ~ Leo Durocher (July 27, 1905 ~ Oct. 7, 1991)
Lemony, I answered my own question by going back and clicking on Composer and reading the Williams bio. (Earlier, I just listened to the music.) I had no idea he was associated with that musical score. Another nugget of learning this morning. Thank you, again.
Good morning everyone.
Kudos to Lemon on another great hot wash-up intro.
Wechsler and Friday and all's right with the world. Got a smattering here and there, but finally began to get solid fill in the east and progressed westward. First long fill was THE GOSPEL TRUTH. At the end I saw all the HIDE aways. Invoked many WAGS but I guess I was on Jeff's wavelength today. @ 11a, entered 'AN' for either Iran or Oman pending OMAN to become clear. FIR.
MIELE - Never heard of it either. I Googled it and we do have a dealer in our area; a Vacuum house. No big box stores came up.
Lemon, I always look forward to your enjoyable informative reviews. Fun misdirections and wit, Jeff.
Thanks for the lovely well known Shakespeare passage.
I, too, though of coral before amber. There are many kinds of organic jewelry, pearl, coral, amber, wood. I have two pretty bracelets made of different types and colors of wood with earrings to match. They were made in Costa Rica.
Alan asks "I can't go with you?" instead of "May I go with you?"
Pelt- I read a fascinating story which combined Mackenzie's search for the Northwest Passage in Canada in the late 1700's and the present day retracing of his steps by the author. There were large passages about the fur trade in Canada. Disappointment River by Brian Castner reads like an adventure novel.
novel
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you Lemonade, for a fine review.
Krijo: The kolacky are like small tarts with fruit and yes, baked. Delicious. Unfortunately, we have the typical US grog for beer. We meet in a VFW Hall. And, I agree, the best beer poured has a nice head on it. That is how I do it at home.
Wow, this was quite a puzzle! Lots of toughies.
Of course, the easiest answer was 32A, ERIE. My home town made it in the puzzle again. Hard to believe.
The theme eluded me until I was finished and then I studied hard and found all the HIDEs. Very clever on Mr. Wechsler's part.
My toughest area was the NE. Once I figured out OMAN, that helped a lot. That led to ORDERED and MERCURIAL. Then 18A appeared, the long theme. Then BED SPREAD. Never heard of MIELE, but with five perps I could not miss.
A few other unknowns: OSCAR, DINA, ERIC, and LANI.
Getting a set of tires for the car today. Must be done. Cooper Tires.
See you tomorrow.
Abwejo
( )
Did anyone else think of this famous and very rich FUR TRADER ? His birthday was on July 17.
EXCELLENT Puzzle! Only one gripe. Isn't it the Umpire or "Ump" that calls the game? That one kept me off track for quite a while.
Musings
-Me too, Lemon!
-Do you remember the movie where “The Big W” was hidden in plain sight?
-NACRE? Out. AMBER? In
-SIRI got me to the golf course yesterday and sent 3 dictated messages to my lovely bride
-COIF care for the King
-OTT was a fine Giant but MAYS was the best.
-Taking a VESPA to work in Rome
-Jeffrey, did you even consider ____ get no… for I CAN’T?
-Last yrs H.S. proud SRS will soon find themselves at the bottom of the food chain somewhere
-Only our granddaughter is allowed to MIND our kitty when we travel
-I drink the NOG my daughter gives me every Christmas but don’t really care for it. Have you ever kept doing something to not hurt someone’s feelings?
-LANI’s hiring of an illegal nanny cost her a job in the Clinton Administration
-S.D. is an hour and a half drive north for me
-Sorry for the heat, I needed a jacket to sit outside this morning
I was curious about Amy Lowell's "Spring Day." What great imagery! I love it, but I realize it may not be everyone's cuppa tea, just as the Shakespeare passage was not. I am sure some others will love it, too.
Spring Day
DINA Myers also played a madam interested in Grissom on CSI. I guess she found a niche.
Again the NE was tough, starting with guessing celLs for JAILS.
Krijo, while the British says "tins" when Americans say "tin cans" (or just "cans" since many are now aluminum), we may also say tins for metal containers which aren't sealed. The cocoa containers were sometimes decorative during the Christmas season.
https://www.ebay.com/bhp/hershey-cocoa-tin
Compared to industrial cities which may have a pervasive chemical smell, it was great to visit Hershey, Pennsylvania. The street lights are shaped like Hershey's Kisses, and the whole town smells like chocolate, or did until the factory moved out of downtown a few years ago.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Hershey%27s_Kisses_and_Cherry_Cordial_Creme_Kisses.jpg/300px-Hershey%27s_Kisses_and_Cherry_Cordial_Creme_Kisses.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Hershey%2C_Pennsylvania.JPG/450px-Hershey%2C_Pennsylvania.JPG
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
I chuckled when I got here and saw that this CW was a JW special (sadly my newspaper does not credit the constructor).
P&P required today, but it is Friday. The NW was the last to fall.
I actually got 52A theme first and went back looking for the 4 theme entries (debated whether 39A was a theme entry because it was shorter). After everything filled in, I went back to find the HIDEs. Clever CW!
Hand up for Cells before JAILS, Dye before GEL, Iran before OMAN, Nacre before AMBER.
I wanted Bosch but have heard of MIELE.
I had Ales before KEGS, and waited for perps to decide between REF and Ump.
Reata was entered but perps changed to the alternate RIATA.
Lightbulb moment when I clicked the link for OSCAR. I was looking for an instrument!
Baked Alaska was too long - HAM was on the menu today.
My April Day changed to a SPRING DAY. Thanks for the link YR.
I have fond memories of the Matterhorn and ALPs.
Thanks also YR for the link to Disappointment River. I will add it to my "books to read" list.
Enjoy the day. We are cooler finally.
Spitzboov said:
Wechsler and Friday and all's well with the world.
I totally agree! What a fun puzzle from JW! It took a bit of skipping around but once I found my momentum, it was a romp! There is something very uplifting from reading Shakespeare's quotes and other poets, such as Amy Lowell. I find it sad to be totally engrossed in the technical world.
I loved MERCURIAL and the misdirection of BEDSPREAD. MIELE emerged with five perps.
I bought an AMBER necklace in Russia and AMBER earrings in Poland but the earrings have disappeared.
I, too, can't imagine collecting COCOA TINs but it's true that during the holidays some unique ones can be found.
Thank you, Lemonade, for today's zesty illumination and finding the HIDEs for us. That map certainly puts places into perspective. I couldn't imagine OMAN being opposite of Mumbai.
Have a fantastic day, everyone! I'm going to breakfast with my sisters then a mani; no pedi today.
I'm always excited to see a Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle, but of course it was going to be a toughie on a Friday. So I was actually very happy that pretty much the whole bottom filled in before I had to start cheating. Very rare to get the HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT reveal before I got the themes, with the exception of SENSE OF URGENCY which filled in early--though I sadly didn't make the connection between HIDE and FUR. But it's stuff like this which makes a puzzle fun. Loved seeing a Shakespeare reference and got UPON instantly. I've never actually heard SIRI or ALEXA but know them from puzzles. Lemonade, thanks for confirming that IDA Lupino was not just an actress but also a director--I didn't know that. Had the same unknowns as Abejo this morning. But I got AGR right away for that double field--very clever clue, Jeffrey, thanks again for an interesting and fun Friday puzzle. And you too, Lemonade, for a helpful and informative write-up.
Liked your poems, Owen.
Have a great end of the week, everybody.
Hi Y'all! Wow, Jeffrey made us work today. Thanks, Lemonade.
Top middle bloc was the last to fill with KIND/BEDSPREAD cross. I had trouble with AMBER, MEILE (never heard of), KIND, GOSPEL. Didn't know LANI.
Didn't know there were collectible COCOA TINs. I've only seen the brown ones. Didn't know DINA.
Thought of Keith "strutting UPON the stage". Knew the quote. Surprise, Surprise!
Knowing "All things come to he who waits" didn't help a bit. TIP not "all".
Lemony, you do know VESPA is a well-known scooter? Threw me off seeing a Fiat car.
Lucina, I also couldn't believe OMAN was west of Mumbai. I don't think I've studied a map that showed the juxtaposition of the two -- either the Arabian peninsula and vicinity or India but not together.
HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT was the first theme fill I got and it didn't help fill the others none of which were filled. I did catch on to the theme once I was done
billocohoes said:
CANDY TIME 1
CANDY TIME 2
COCOA TIN
PK, I certainly know that VESPA is the most famous of scooters; my point was the juxtaposition of the two "commute" clues. I guess I should have used a picture of a Vespa to make it clear.
Likewise, I used both the picture of a ball peen hammer and one of a claw hammer to provide complete hammer information.
Scooters are also immensely popular in THAILAND. Oo offered to get her son a car and he wanted a scooter.
I find it odd that so many are unfamiliar with the Miele brand. We have had a Miele vacuum cleaner for several years, high end-very durable. Also, when a real estate description states that the kitchen features Miele appliances you know it's a well appointed home.
Enjoyable offering for a Friday Wechsler, several "aha" moments as Lemonade said. Thanks to all.
This was a challenge, but it was a fair challenge! No real Naticks, just plenty of tricky clues! Wechsler at his best! Hand up stuck a long time with BOSCH. Even though we are renters, I bought a BOSCH dishwasher for our apartment. I am sure Wechsler meant this misdirection from MIELE. Hand up for clever misdirection from ALL -> TIP.
My last name means AMBER in Yiddish and in German.
As seen in my Verona photos of PORGY and Bess, not all BASSI are villains. PORGY definitely was BASS.
Unknowns: ERIC, DINA. Easy to WAG to FIR! Thanks, Lemonade, for the ERIC clips.
Here I was with a cabinet full of OSCARs on the VIP Tour at Paramount Studios.
I have seen the extraordinary JOHN WILLIAMS conduct the Boston Pops several times. Awesome!
The VESPAs in Florence seemed to be tuned for maximum obnoxious noise when I was there in the 90s. I wonder if it has gotten better. A friend who owns a quieter VESPA told me VESPA means "wasp". Because of the sound it makes.
Star Trek had a creative story about an alien being (a "Medusan") that was UGLIER than anything. Enough to drive a person insane for seeing one.
billocohoes: Interesting about Hershey, PA. When I lived in the low rent area of Cambridge, MA as a student, I was surrounded by candy factories. Every day a new fragrance!
From yesterday:
CrossEyedDave: Thanks for the banana dolphins! Way cool!
After all the FIWs this week, I actually FIRed the Friday JeffWech special! Maybe I just paid more attention when I saw the constructor. Like so many others, I grudgingly erased bosch for the unknown MIELE. Of course I'm not the jet set, I'm the old Chevrolet set. Erased Hindi for YOGIS, and erased ELO only to have to re-enter it.
I wanted "moped" before VESPA roared in. I remember being overwhelmed by them when driving my rental car around the Amalfi coast many years ago. (My rentals were a P.O.S. Le Car and a diesel Alfa Romeo with a 4-speed column-shifted standard transmission.)
My favorites were hahtoolah's plus "something fit for a king" for BEDSPREAD. Thanks Jeffrey. And thanks to Lemony for the study in contrasts.
I can’t say how many times I wanted to put (throw) this down. Tough tough tough.
But totally well-done....reminded me of a Silkie....it’s been awhile.
Finally got the solve, one of those moments when you have been going back and forth and back....suddenly nothing left to fill.
Saturday awaits.
I loved this puzzle. All of you have already said everything I was going to say, so I'll just say WEES. Good stuff!
I confess I didn't know KNIT is a kind of fabric. I first entered WOOL. I also had to change MONKS to YOGIS. (One of my good friends has been called by his nickname Yogi all his life.)
Good wishes to you all.
Wow, Jeff Wesch on a Friday, who needs Saturday
I could list all my wrong turns but the Corner has probably already listed them.
Do English pubs have EELS on Inventory?
Owen, all W's from me. Erato must be amazed*
Krijo, that was "The American Way"**
WC
** Old advertising slogan For Example
* I was going to say "Proud" but"Amazed" popped up and I went with it
DNF,
Wow, so many V8 cans, and not a single one hit me in the head!
(I should have gone out for the Dodgeball team!)
I even copied answers from the Blog, hoping,
just hoping for another AHA moment!
All I got was, "I shoulda known" moments
(Hey! Does this mean I screwed the pooch?)
Oh well, that's what I get for trying to do a Jeffrey Wechlser puzzle on a Friday.
My PSA for today:
Vespas are ridiculously pricey!
(look online, no prices listed, ya know why? You can't afford one!)
I got my Scooter for Florida as a way for DW to use the rental car, and I could go fishing,
for $2k assembled.
However, if you go online, there is a California company
that will ship you a Tao Tao right to your driveway, in a crate
for $999-delivered! (Trump tarriffs pending)
There are cheaper 50cc popcorn roaster models,
but I am talking a 150cc single cylinder that will take 1 250lb rider
uphill at 50 mph!
Positives:
easy to assemble
(there are youtubes with sound that walk you thru it, very easy.)
85 MPG!
Automatic Transmission! No Clutch!
4 stroke, no mixing gas/oil
Negatives:
Don't get caught in the rain, Chinese screws rust like crazy
and it rains in Florida every day in the summer...
(I have taken to oiling every dang screw as a protective coating)
so don't try to steal my Tao Tao, you'll slip right off...
YOU MUST USE PREMIUM GAS!
Oh the horrors!
I drove for two weeks, and I gotta buy expensive premium?
Dang it! and it takes 1-1/4 gallons to fill it up!
Actually, the engine runs rough (only at idle) like at stop signs
using regular unleaded...
Everything breaks!
Well, the 1st thing to break is the fuel gauge.
it just gets stuck, and I have not the time to take it apart and
make things worse... just record your mileage, 150 kilometers per tank (1-1/4 Gal)
Actually, 3 years and it has held up pretty well,
gone through 3 batteries due to Florida climate and lack of use.
I now keep the battery on a battery tender for the Summer.
Note that it will squork like a duck if you let the front fork oil seals dry out!
(Like I said, just oil everything, and don't slide off...)
Oh, I almost forgot,
Here it is, except mine is red...
Actually, the organic jewelry source I thought of was OYSTER
IM, quite a list my only match was NOT/NON. I have others if I can find the newspaper
Gary, Penny should have said South
WC
Dave 1, I was unaware of this very low priced but apparently functional scooter. My son has a bicycle that costs more. You can buy them on AMAZON .
As far as my KNIT NIT; as a noun-
1.a knitted fabric.
"a machine-washable knit"
I was just punning you all.
Also, while I do not know women's fashion, I know what I like. I always was impressed with ST JOHN'S KNIT. These also cost more than the scooter.
Yes, I do not feel like working, but i must wait for a client to come in and sign closing docs.
My thanks to Mr. Wechsler & to Lemonade for today's workout. I nearly reached a pure Ta- DA! but accepted help to crack the NW sector.
Thanks for thinking of me, PK, in connection with Macbeth, a play I deeply admire. There was a time when I almost got to play the title role, but it fell through. I directed two productions of the play, one in El Paso and one in Richmond VA.
The closest I came to acting in it was when I was Macduff in Pittsburgh. At least I got to kill Tom Atkins (Big Mac) every night.
Jean Smart was our delicious Lady Macbeth in that one. At one terrific cast party, she and the witches entertained us all in the shape of a rock group they called "Lady Mac & her 'Thick-Coming Fancies'" (R-Rated).
Misty ~ SIRI and Alexa are familiar in our home, as they save keyboard time when we need to ask a quick internet question. They can be problematic. Our Alexa is very sensitive to her name.
Whenever there's a TV ad in which the announcer pronounces "Alexa," she hears it! Her invisible digital ears perk up and she starts asking us questions about what we want, why we woke her up, etc. etc.
It can be KIND OF A DRAG.
~ OMK
____________
Diagonal Report: Nothing today - because of the asymmetrical grid (16x15).
I had no overt problems but I had Doctor Computer come to check out my computer this week. Although the rep has been with the company eight years and is quite computer savvy, he seems so young, closer to my college student grandson's age than my son's age. It seems that policemen, priests, doctors, etc. have gotten impossibly young. LOL
For $125+tax he cleared out the junk, optimized the performance, checked my security and updated programs where necessary, although I am updated automatically for most things. He said most of my junk was on Edge and advised me to stick with Chrome, which he claims is more secure. I did experience a minor hang up last week on Edge. He said I have a fine firewall and security. This time I didn't wait for a Doctor Computer sale price, because I was worried.
Every two years I have this computer check up. It seems on an equal to hiring out landscaping, snow plowing and home improvements, like painting and wall papering. Sometimes I feel bad that I can afford these luxuries that so many deserving people cannot. I am on the verge of hiring a house cleaner, but wish I knew more about it.
YR ~ I understand the guilt you feel - that not everyone can afford some of the things that make life easier for you.
I suggest two thoughts, two antidotes that may help clear your mind, as your hired Doc clears your computer:
1) You pay taxes that in part go to help those who have less. (And you can give more voluntarily - or vote to increase the tax bite on everybody who can afford to pay for a more equitable society.)
- and -
2) Think of all those who have much more than you.
Let 'em carry the guilt too.
Hope this helps - w/o becoming TOO political.
~ OMK
YR: I had to laugh at your comment on young experts. Made me think of the time I went to get my annual pap smear & gyn check. A young intern doctor was following our GP around for a month to decide if he wanted to do rural health care. He looked like he was 12 years old. My dr. sent him in to do my work because he thought I would be patient with the kid, I guess. Instead I got so rattled when this child walked in, I couldn't remember why I came. I was already in the stirrups and pap smear was written on my chart, so he did that and poked around a bit and explained what he was doing using very medically technical language. He asked me about my babies & delivery. I was so embarrassed, I could hardly remember even having any babies. My regular dr. finally walked in and I gave him a dirty look and he had a hard time keeping a straight face, wanting to laugh so bad, while the intern gave him a report on me. Then I had to giggle. Dr. was a good friend of mine. The kid wasn't sure what was so funny.
The founder of In-N-Out Burgers liked the movie MMW, so much he planted huge crossed palms in front of his CA and AZ restaurants.
Ok Jeffrey! You win. But I had so much fun doing battle with you it was worth it.
So many clever clues/fill. I loved COIF and TIPS and ADAM. I loved Fit for a king for BEDSPREAD.
I was done it by the very first 1a. I'm glad some of you here got that "Bar rooms" had to do with bars in the window. I was stuck on alcoholic drinks.
THANKS, Jeffrey, for the challenge.
Lemonade, thanks for 'splaining the hard stuff . Owen, all A's . Loved them.
Hi All!
JW comes through again with a tough but (almost) fair puzzle. Fortunately, my wheelhouse saved me from many of my fellow solvers' errors (eg. ELO ruled out coral; HEARD ruled out MLB IM).
Thanks JW - I really liked the theme execution. Smart.
Thanks LEM for the expo. I will admit had had to lean on your grid for 15a - I had 'tenor' and needed confirmation (poor man's red-letters). What I got, however, was the right answer; everything else dripped out and I was done.
WOs: Odds get EVEN [D'Oh! Even is in 3d's clue!], toss b/f LOSE, BASSo until ERIC showed up. BEER, from earlier in the week, b/f KEGS.
ESPs: IT SEEMS everything I didn't know off the bat.
Fav: c/a for TIP. I kept wanting 'good' but we don't have Rebui(?) puzzles in the LAT.
{A, A+, A, B+}
YR - Glad you got the computer checkup. OMK pretty much nailed it. It's hard to have too much guilt when I work constantly and pay $$$ in taxes. I'm in the blessed and 'blessed are the meek' camp; I don't begrudge the $$$ to Sam, just spend it wisely. You've earned it.
Hahtoolah - I loved the QOD!
HG - I knew you were headed for MAD, MAD, World (Love it!). Oh, I CAN'T Get No either...[4m]
Lucina - this Tech is balanced; I married a girl who went on to a PhD English and pay attention; UPON was entered (with nary a thought) early in JW's challenge.
Did no one else try BoxSPRing for a King? [Mitch - 0:29]
Cheers, -T
Ol'Man Keith, your Alexa anecdote cracked me up!
Yellowrocks-regarding "He said most of my junk was on Edge and advised me to stick with Chrome, which he claims is more secure"- I don't think so. Microsoft EDGE is fine. But for a laugh on how Google tracks you go to the following:
https://myactivity.google.com
If you have an Android phone every place you have ever gone shows up unless you delete it. You can change settings to what you want. Me? I want nothing from them.
Big Easy, I was just talking about that with the Jumble folks .
Apparently, I like Seinfeld, Mickey Mantle, Buddy Holly and Larry Bird
WC
YR, don't feel bad that you can afford to hire help, they have to earn a living too. Or as was said (more or less) in Hello, Dolly!, Money is like manure, it doesn't do any good unless you spread it around.
Now I have to figure out how to use html tags for quotes and images. I learned first with BBCode on message boards, but HTML is just similar enough to be confusing.
Big Easy. I looked at the my activity at Google site. Amazing! Many of those sites were ones I visited only for a few seconds just to see what they were, some I "fat fingered."
I always find it odd when I visit a site and buy something, they keep showing me ads for the thing I bought.
Keith and billocohoes thanks for your input. That is a sane way to look at it.
You are all so funny and informative, my Blog friends! I've enjoyed all your comments. Now I must retire and awaken early tomorrow for a date with destiny, or less dramatically, with my family. Twenty-eight of us are going to see Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again! We have reserved seating to make sure we are all together.
Lucina, how cool. We are going to see the movie s well.
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