Theme: HERD MENTALITY (57A: Pressure to conform, and a hint to the hidden word found in 20-, 27- and 51-Across)
20A: Ralph McInerny's priest/detective: FATHER DOWLING
27A: Place to order gefilte fish: KOSHER DELI
51A: Scarlett's last words: ANOTHER DAY
I only know bunker mentality. Have never heard of HERD MENTALITY. Is it like "peer pressure"?
FATHER DOWLING was a total stranger to me, so was the author Ralph McInerny. Cantonese love their fish balls. The cooking procedure is quite similar to that of gefilte fish.
Several good clues in this puzzle. My favorite is CTS (54A: Short change?) - short for CENTS. I was also very happy to see O'NEIL (66A: Negro league great Buck) in the grid. He was such a humble & classy guy. There was not even one iota of bitterness when he was rejected for Hall of Fame in 2006. I wonder why there is only one L in his surname. Tip O'Neill, Shaq O'Neill, (Note: I was wrong. It's Shaq O'Neal), Eugene O'Neill all have two L's.
Several trouble spots for me earlier. I was not very excited about the theme either. Somehow the old ennui started to settle in and possessed my thinking. I adored Jack McInturff's "IR-RI-tating" puzzle. It's more fun. And the SKIS clue (Street supplies?) is very unforgettable last time. I guess I need a stimulus shot. Oh well, as Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is ANOTHER DAY".
Across:
1A: Features of some notebooks: TABS. I was thinking of the notebook computers. What's the difference between a notebook and a laptop anyway?
5A: Van __, Calif.: NUYS. No idea. Wikipedia says the TV show "Beverly Hill 90210" was filmed on a set in Van NUYS. Strange name. Is it named after some Dutch guy?
9A: Like most acorns: OVOID. I wanted DRIED.
14A: Fumbling reaction: UH OH. BOOS came to my mind first. I did not get its crossing AHA (2D: "Of course") immediately. Wanted YES.
15A: One of Chekhov's "Three Sisters": OLGA. Literally "Holy". Easy guess. The other two sisters are: Masha & Irina. Cute little girls.
16A: Whinnying African: ZEBRA. Oh, I did not know ZEBRA's call is whinny.
17A: Kotter portrayer Kaplan: GABE. Not a familiar actor to me. Wikipedia says he is a professional poker player as well. I have never heard of the sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter".
19A: Winner over Alexander in 1804: AARON. I knew the result of Burr-Hamilton duel. Was unaware the reason though. Thought it's a fight for some woman.
23A: Console: SOOTHE. Verb.
26A: That's a moray: EEL. Moray EEL lives in tropical and subtropical seas. The freshwater eel is conger, or unagi when cooked. Delicious!
35A: Irish author Binchy: MAEVE. No idea. From Irish name Madb, literally "Intoxicating" or "she who intoxicates". So close to the purple color mauve. She wrote "Circle of Friends", which was later made into a movie starring Chris O'Donnell and Minnie Driver. Her face looks very familiar.
37A: It has a legend: MAP. Ah, I was stumped. Good one.
39A: "A literary device for saying almost everything about anything": Huxley: ESSAY. This clue feels so incomplete.
43A: Horned viper: ASP. Why horned? Where is the horn?
47A: "This __stickup": IS A. I would have got it immediately if the clue were "This ____ TEST" (45A: Try).
48A: __ were: AS IT. A new phrase to me. Sounds so weird: AS IT were. Can you make a sentence for me?
55A: Burt's costar in "The Killers": AVA (Gardner). Have never heard of "The Killers". It's based in part on the short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway, says Wikipedia.
56A: Port ENE of Cleveland, O.: ERIE, PA. Why O instead of OH?
61A: First toothbrush to go to the moon: ORAL-B. Good to know this trivia (1969, Apollo 11).
67A: Deco notable: ERTE. In case you missed last time, his real name is Romain de Tiroff. ERTE is the French pronunciation of his initials R.T.
68A: Largest known dwarf planet: ERIS. New to me. ERIS is always clued as "Greek goddess of discord" in our old puzzle.
Down:
1D: Harbor vessel: TUG. Just learned yesterday that VAS is a prefix for vessel, as in vasectomy, "ec" is "out of", "tomy" means "cutting, incision". There you have it, vas-ec-tomy, ouch!
3D: Choreographer with nine Tonys: BOB FOSSE. The "Cabaret" director. Amazing, 9 Tonys.
4D: Sword holder: SHEATH. The verb is sheathe.
5D: Unlikely protagonist: NONHERO. Like whom? I did not really understand this answer when it's clued exactly the same last time.
6D: Peter Fonda role: ULEE. "ULEE's Gold".
7D: Lab assistant in a 1939 film: YGOR. Oh, I always thought it's spelled as IGOR.
9D: Conductor Seiji: OZAWA. Gosh, how come I can never remember his name? He was born in Shenyang, China when it's under Japanese occupation. Many people thought Pearl Buck was born in China. She was not. Her family moved there when she was a baby. Chinese was her first language though.
10D: Baby beef?: VEAL. I was half-awake I guess. I wrote down CALF first.
11D: Leno's successor-to-be: O'BRIEN (Conan). He will be the host of "The Tonight Show" on June 1, 2009.
12D: One with pressing duties?: IRONER. Nailed it without any hesitation. Saw identical clue somewhere before.
13D: Hang loosely: DANGLE
21D: Doctors' works: THESES. Plural of thesis. I was thinking of the real doctors, not Ph. D candidates.
22D: Mixed bag: OLIO
23D: Take from the top: SKIM. Not fond of the clue. TAKE is an answer for 63A: Grab.
24D: O'Neill's daughter: OONA. Did Chaplin cheat on her while they were married?
29D: Love poetry Muse: ERATO
30D: "__ on me": IT'S. Kept thinking LEAN on me.
34D: "Great" tzar: PETER I. I only knew him as PETER the Great (1672-1725). He westernized Russia and transformed the Russian tzardom into Russian Empire.
40D: Spot for a garden: SIDE YARD. None of these flowers attracts me.
41D: "Pronto": ASAP. The medical ASAP is STAT.
46A: Basic need: SHELTER. I thought of BREATHE. It has 7 letters also.
48D: Blessing evokers: ACHOOS. I like last time's "Cold burst?" clue. I also like Rich Norris's "Polar outbust?" for BRR.
49D: Canned heat: STERNO. Not a familiar brand name to me. How do you use it?
50D: Sabra's home: ISRAEL. I forgot what/who Sabra is. Last time SABRA was clued as "Native Israeli". It's literally "prickly pear". A person who immigrates to ISRAEL is called OLEH (masculine) or OLAH (feminine).
52D: 1598 edict city: NANTES. Edict of NANTES.
53D: Cowboy singer TEX: RITTER. Father of John RITTER.
58D: MDCLXII÷III: DLIV. 1662/3=554. So proud that I got the answer. Took me 2 minutes to calculate. What can I say? I am slow.
59D: Container weight: TARE. What is the other 4-letter word very similar to TARE? Also weight related. It appears in Xword often also.
60D: __ de vente: bill of sale: ACTE. Not familiar with "ACTE de vente". I do know vente is "sale" in French though.
64D: Rio or Rondo: KIA. The Korean hanja 起亞 (KIA) means "Rising out of Asia". The same characters in Chinese. KI is "rising", A is "Asia".
65D: Shaky start?: ESS. The start of "Shaky" is letter S.
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Our fellow solver Carl V sent me this wonderful famous people painting link.
20A: Ralph McInerny's priest/detective: FATHER DOWLING
27A: Place to order gefilte fish: KOSHER DELI
51A: Scarlett's last words: ANOTHER DAY
I only know bunker mentality. Have never heard of HERD MENTALITY. Is it like "peer pressure"?
FATHER DOWLING was a total stranger to me, so was the author Ralph McInerny. Cantonese love their fish balls. The cooking procedure is quite similar to that of gefilte fish.
Several good clues in this puzzle. My favorite is CTS (54A: Short change?) - short for CENTS. I was also very happy to see O'NEIL (66A: Negro league great Buck) in the grid. He was such a humble & classy guy. There was not even one iota of bitterness when he was rejected for Hall of Fame in 2006. I wonder why there is only one L in his surname. Tip O'Neill, Shaq O'Neill, (Note: I was wrong. It's Shaq O'Neal), Eugene O'Neill all have two L's.
Several trouble spots for me earlier. I was not very excited about the theme either. Somehow the old ennui started to settle in and possessed my thinking. I adored Jack McInturff's "IR-RI-tating" puzzle. It's more fun. And the SKIS clue (Street supplies?) is very unforgettable last time. I guess I need a stimulus shot. Oh well, as Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is ANOTHER DAY".
Across:
1A: Features of some notebooks: TABS. I was thinking of the notebook computers. What's the difference between a notebook and a laptop anyway?
5A: Van __, Calif.: NUYS. No idea. Wikipedia says the TV show "Beverly Hill 90210" was filmed on a set in Van NUYS. Strange name. Is it named after some Dutch guy?
9A: Like most acorns: OVOID. I wanted DRIED.
14A: Fumbling reaction: UH OH. BOOS came to my mind first. I did not get its crossing AHA (2D: "Of course") immediately. Wanted YES.
15A: One of Chekhov's "Three Sisters": OLGA. Literally "Holy". Easy guess. The other two sisters are: Masha & Irina. Cute little girls.
16A: Whinnying African: ZEBRA. Oh, I did not know ZEBRA's call is whinny.
17A: Kotter portrayer Kaplan: GABE. Not a familiar actor to me. Wikipedia says he is a professional poker player as well. I have never heard of the sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter".
19A: Winner over Alexander in 1804: AARON. I knew the result of Burr-Hamilton duel. Was unaware the reason though. Thought it's a fight for some woman.
23A: Console: SOOTHE. Verb.
26A: That's a moray: EEL. Moray EEL lives in tropical and subtropical seas. The freshwater eel is conger, or unagi when cooked. Delicious!
35A: Irish author Binchy: MAEVE. No idea. From Irish name Madb, literally "Intoxicating" or "she who intoxicates". So close to the purple color mauve. She wrote "Circle of Friends", which was later made into a movie starring Chris O'Donnell and Minnie Driver. Her face looks very familiar.
37A: It has a legend: MAP. Ah, I was stumped. Good one.
39A: "A literary device for saying almost everything about anything": Huxley: ESSAY. This clue feels so incomplete.
43A: Horned viper: ASP. Why horned? Where is the horn?
47A: "This __stickup": IS A. I would have got it immediately if the clue were "This ____ TEST" (45A: Try).
48A: __ were: AS IT. A new phrase to me. Sounds so weird: AS IT were. Can you make a sentence for me?
55A: Burt's costar in "The Killers": AVA (Gardner). Have never heard of "The Killers". It's based in part on the short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway, says Wikipedia.
56A: Port ENE of Cleveland, O.: ERIE, PA. Why O instead of OH?
61A: First toothbrush to go to the moon: ORAL-B. Good to know this trivia (1969, Apollo 11).
67A: Deco notable: ERTE. In case you missed last time, his real name is Romain de Tiroff. ERTE is the French pronunciation of his initials R.T.
68A: Largest known dwarf planet: ERIS. New to me. ERIS is always clued as "Greek goddess of discord" in our old puzzle.
Down:
1D: Harbor vessel: TUG. Just learned yesterday that VAS is a prefix for vessel, as in vasectomy, "ec" is "out of", "tomy" means "cutting, incision". There you have it, vas-ec-tomy, ouch!
3D: Choreographer with nine Tonys: BOB FOSSE. The "Cabaret" director. Amazing, 9 Tonys.
4D: Sword holder: SHEATH. The verb is sheathe.
5D: Unlikely protagonist: NONHERO. Like whom? I did not really understand this answer when it's clued exactly the same last time.
6D: Peter Fonda role: ULEE. "ULEE's Gold".
7D: Lab assistant in a 1939 film: YGOR. Oh, I always thought it's spelled as IGOR.
9D: Conductor Seiji: OZAWA. Gosh, how come I can never remember his name? He was born in Shenyang, China when it's under Japanese occupation. Many people thought Pearl Buck was born in China. She was not. Her family moved there when she was a baby. Chinese was her first language though.
10D: Baby beef?: VEAL. I was half-awake I guess. I wrote down CALF first.
11D: Leno's successor-to-be: O'BRIEN (Conan). He will be the host of "The Tonight Show" on June 1, 2009.
12D: One with pressing duties?: IRONER. Nailed it without any hesitation. Saw identical clue somewhere before.
13D: Hang loosely: DANGLE
21D: Doctors' works: THESES. Plural of thesis. I was thinking of the real doctors, not Ph. D candidates.
22D: Mixed bag: OLIO
23D: Take from the top: SKIM. Not fond of the clue. TAKE is an answer for 63A: Grab.
24D: O'Neill's daughter: OONA. Did Chaplin cheat on her while they were married?
29D: Love poetry Muse: ERATO
30D: "__ on me": IT'S. Kept thinking LEAN on me.
34D: "Great" tzar: PETER I. I only knew him as PETER the Great (1672-1725). He westernized Russia and transformed the Russian tzardom into Russian Empire.
40D: Spot for a garden: SIDE YARD. None of these flowers attracts me.
41D: "Pronto": ASAP. The medical ASAP is STAT.
46A: Basic need: SHELTER. I thought of BREATHE. It has 7 letters also.
48D: Blessing evokers: ACHOOS. I like last time's "Cold burst?" clue. I also like Rich Norris's "Polar outbust?" for BRR.
49D: Canned heat: STERNO. Not a familiar brand name to me. How do you use it?
50D: Sabra's home: ISRAEL. I forgot what/who Sabra is. Last time SABRA was clued as "Native Israeli". It's literally "prickly pear". A person who immigrates to ISRAEL is called OLEH (masculine) or OLAH (feminine).
52D: 1598 edict city: NANTES. Edict of NANTES.
53D: Cowboy singer TEX: RITTER. Father of John RITTER.
58D: MDCLXII÷III: DLIV. 1662/3=554. So proud that I got the answer. Took me 2 minutes to calculate. What can I say? I am slow.
59D: Container weight: TARE. What is the other 4-letter word very similar to TARE? Also weight related. It appears in Xword often also.
60D: __ de vente: bill of sale: ACTE. Not familiar with "ACTE de vente". I do know vente is "sale" in French though.
64D: Rio or Rondo: KIA. The Korean hanja 起亞 (KIA) means "Rising out of Asia". The same characters in Chinese. KI is "rising", A is "Asia".
65D: Shaky start?: ESS. The start of "Shaky" is letter S.
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Our fellow solver Carl V sent me this wonderful famous people painting link.
68 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - not an easy puzzle today; I had battles all over the place. Got through without tickling the g-spot, but only the perps saved me.
Didn't know Maeve Binchy or Father Dowling or Eris. I knew Peter the Great, but 6 spaces threw me until the 'I' came from the perp. I thought 'that's a moray' (that's amore) was a great clue, as were 'short change' and 'shaky start?'. Good theme, good puzzle.
For Carol, from yesterday: mid-thigh shorts, over-the-calf dark socks, white patent leather belt.
Today is National Tourism Day and National Space Day. I would truly love to be a tourist in space.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool." -- Writer George Santayana
Today's Fun Facts:
- Vaimonkanto, or 'wife-carrying', is a popular sport. The championship games are held annually in Sonka-jarvi, Finland
- (Especially for Lois) 'Hot cockles' was a popular game at Christmas in medieval times. Players took times striking a blindfolded player, who had to guess the name of the person delivering each blow.
Dennis,
Do you like this kind of hidden word theme? Also, isn't "Lab assistant" always IGOR instead of YGOR? We just had "Tourist Appreciation Day" 2 days ago. When is the last time you cried?
Luxor,
OK, I will try some normal olive oil.
Argyle, Kazie et al,
SOCK is clued as "Darn it", why? Those two are not really the same grammar-wise.
Warren,
Holy cow! So many airports in the Bahamas. I've never been there. Have you?
Crockett,
You misplaced your first post on Tuesday's blog. Somehow I have difficulty believing you've always been faithful in the past 26 years. So moral?
Dr. Dad,
I missed those information-laden posts.
WM,
I've never used grape seed oil before. Peanut oil is the #1 cooking oil in China. What's your preferred oil for sauteing veggies?
JD,
Sounds like you've been having fun in Hawaii. Thanks for checking in.
The JVN,
Very wise FAITHFUL guidance.
Do you like this kind of hidden word theme?Yes, although it certainly doesn't help in solving the puzzle, since the theme isn't revealed until near the end.
Also, isn't "Lab assistant" always IGOR instead of YGOR?Usually, but his name was Ygor in the original. I've seen it before, I think in an NYT puzzle.
When is the last time you cried?When I got the hotel bill at checkout.
Actually, when we put our Akita down.
SOCK is clued as "Darn it", why? Those two are not really the same grammar-wise.A sock is something you darn, when it needs mending.
Dennis,
But a SOCK it a noun, "Darn it" is a verb. I am curious, what movies made you cry then? "Brian's Song"?
"You can't rollerskate in a buffalo __"
Hi guys!
Kotter became a teacher and came back to his old school to teach. The principal was still the same and he said, "Welcome back, Kotter."
Sock can be a verb but not in the 'darn it' sense.
The classic Nixon clip
Yeah but I sure did get slammed for that one. My butt is still hurting. Argyle, I am going to stay in the lab today.
C.C. its true Tommorow is another day, but we will have to suffer thru Friday's and Saturday's puzzle. Suggest Rich Norris contact the St Pete Times (Florida) crossword puzzle editor and find out what their readers think of his format
Mel
Good morning C.C. and all,...a very intriguing puzzle today. I found it difficult, but doable with just a bit of outside help.
I did not know Maeve 35A and I had uhuh for 14A in lieu of uhoh which made Bub Fosse look OK to me as I know people named Bub. I did remember Father Dowling from the past and Scarlet's last words. I really liked the movie "Gone With the Wind."
I tried to put sushi for 27A, but soon discovered too many problems for that to be correct and finally saw kosher as the correct answer.
Over all I liked this puzzle and its cluing.
More rain here today and its heading your way Dennis. Go Pens!
Hope you all have a great
Thursday.
Dr. Dad, you might need to go to a language lab to figure out "almost, but not quite, exactly unlike margarine". Please keep us posted on your research.
In the meantime, I need help researching the best way to dispose of my new avatar. Nasty stuff but I don't want to pour it down the drain...without..umm...filtering it first.
BTW, Maeve is Prince Arn's wife.
Good morning everyone,
I found this puzzle very doable, with the exception of the SW corner. Had I more time, I think I could have come back to it and got them too. Didn't know KIA, ERIS and OZAWA but got most everything from the perps eventually.
Wikipedia says HERD MENTALITY is based on peer pressure. I think of peer pressure as affecting one person, but this would be a group following a leader or trend, which is why they call it herd. They are like animals following the herd.
Interesting fact that I just picked up:
Researchers discovered that it takes a minority of just five per cent to influence a crowd’s direction – and that the other 95 per cent follow without realizing it. This was from a study at the University of Leeds. Sadly, I think this is how Hitler got started.
Have a great day. Supposed to be very nice here again.
Good morning CC et al., Enjoyed this puzzle too...4 in a row! SW and SCentral gave me some trouble and missed the theme until I got here. CC, I swear I don't know how you do it. I was surprised how the whole top half and the SE filled in. Notable day for me! Fav clues are same as Dennis.
Had to laugh w/ the socks and sandal topic being present again today. Yesterday's vision of Dennis is still very vivid in my mind and with the shorts and the belt added. Hold me back!
All I can say is just don't let your'yaya' 'dangle' and if it does, give it a 'tug' or two and before you can say 'O zawa!' Peter the Great will be ready to seek 'shelter' and give a whole new meaning to 'pet' rocks.
Hot cockles Day? Aaalllll right! Just spank me!
Well, Dam! said the beaver when he ran into something. Have a 'test' and 'essay's to skim asap.
Bill: will be in Amelia 5/15-16. Get ready! I'm bringing my
G-strings....for my guitar. Wanna pluck a few...songs?
LOVE Bob Fosse anything.
Enjoy your day!
Good morning! I really liked this puzzle until I got to the bottom. The SW corner took a little while to fall, but I needed red letter help to get the last two clues on the SE.
I'm not much of a car person, so where KIA crossed ERIS I didn't have a chance.
Otherwise, I liked this crossword. "That's a moray" gave me a grin and an easy fill. OLGA and YGOR came from the fills and this time I was able to remember ERTE.
Tom Bosley, of Happy Days fame, starred in the TV version of the Father Dowling mysteries. There were 44 episodes from 1987 to 1991. Mary Wickes, a famous comedic actress, was also in the series.
Painters should be at my door in minutes, so I'm off to start ANOTHER DAY. Have a good one.
Hey! Are we sure this is Thur???
Yes, it was more difficult than Wed, but, doable. OK, it took me just under an hour and I had a misspelled ARTE instead of ERTE. AND, Shaky start threw me. I kept trying to make it harder than it really was. I thought of ESS but discarded it as being WAY to simple!!! As I said yesterday, first guess is always best!!!
Other than that everything fell into place with everything else that fell into place.
We'll have to check Fri out and see if it's any worse.
4 (maybe 3) and a wakeup!
CY'All Later
Morning all,
Enjoyed today’s puzzle even though I didn’t exactly breeze through it. Knew Maeve Binchy because of shelving books at the library but have never read her books. Didn’t know Eris for dwarf planet but guessed it. Remembered Father Dowling but thanks KittyB for the actor’s name (Tom Bosley); that was driving me crazy. Looking forward to Friday’s puzzle which I normally have a great deal of difficulty finishing. Since it is the same difficulty rating as today’s puzzle, that shouldn’t happen. I’m psyching myself up for a doable Friday puzzle.
Having taught high school, I was very familiar with herd mentality. Dr. Dad please come out of the lab--since I am scientifically challenged, I need your input. Dick, can you please keep the rain out in western PA, as we really need to cut our grass. Think I can hear it growing. Thanks for all the nice comments about my grandson--he looks very serious on this picture as he contemplates his new hat. Ready to finish the painting today while I can still move. Have Wine and Dine tonight so I have to save some strength to lift that wine glass. Have a great day.
Ouch!!
I got quite a bit of this puzzle finished, but it is not my favorite type to solve. Nine clues in the across and eight in the down were looking for proper names. You either know them or you don't. I prefer clues that you can work out logically.
That being said, the only truly unknowns were Eris, Kia, AAron, Maeve, and Erte.
I didn't realize Igor could also be Ygor, or that zebras whinnied, but I plugged in these answers because they seemed to fit.
Thanks for listening to my rant. I'll just go put that ice bag on my head now, and hope for a more enjoyable Friday.
Adios
CC,
Read the clue this way: (You have to) DARN the SOCK, or just Darn it.
Good morning all!
I was surprised this puzzle turned out so well for me. When I started and saw all the old movie/literature and other name references I cringed. But then things started to fall in and all I ended up g'ing were YGOR and BOB FOSSE. I had the FOSSE already, but had guessed GENE for Kaplan and then guessed KEN for BOB. When that wasn't working I gave up and g'spotted it. I also screwed up KIA, having guessed KOA/EROS. Still not sure what it means. Are they car models?
John Travolta actually got his start in Welcome Back Kotter as the troublesome youth in Kotter's class.
Dennis,
Good catch on MORAY/AMORE--I completely missed it although I thought it sounded familiar when I read it aloud.
I also was amused at the thought of you emulating the German tourist in Florida with the short shorts and black socks in sandals.
c.c.,
STERNO is a flammable liquid that burns slowly under a serving dish to keep it warm for a long while. We used them when serving fundraiser German or French dinners at school.
Here's a horned viperI thought the DARN/SOCK connection was another "it's a" type clue, as in it's something to darn.
Maybe I just psyched myself out knowing today was Thursday, but I had a lot of difficulty with this one. I’m with Lola on this one. Too many proper names! Like she said either you know them or you hit the g-spot. I hit the g-spot (which I hate). My favorite clue today was “It has a legend” –map.
I remember watching Welcome back Kotter. I believe that is where John Travolta got his big break playing Vinnie Barbarino. My favorite John Travolta movie was Pulp Fiction. I love the “twist” dance scene with Uma Thurman.
C.C. having worked at a few restaurants during my college bound years, I remember using sterno. Primarily they were used to keep chafing dishes full of food warm.
2 days and a wake up for me as I am heading up north to go camping and try my hand at catching a few walleye as it is opening fishing here in MN on Saturday. I am hoping for good weather. I remember a couple of years it actually SNOWED on opener.
Great blog! FYI, it's Shaq O'Neal, not O'Neill.
Nice to have time to check in again. Today's puzzle wasn't bad for a Thursday. Only had 3 blank spots. Maybe there's hope for me after all. I enjoy all the comments from you guys.
Did you know tare is also a Biblical weed?
Hi C.C. & ...,
We finished `1/2 of today's puzzle before my wife left for work and I completed it using the online in red. I never got the theme until I got here but I'm starting to recognize some LAT favorites like "ins" for elected officials and "non hero" for unlikely protagonist.
Re: Bahamas airports? No I've never been there but it's easy (for me) to find anything you (I) need online like this link: Van Nuys
Lot sales began at the new town of Van Nuys on February 22, 1911. The area is named after Isaac Van Nuys, who founded the San Fernando Homestead Association in 1869, a group which purchased much of the land that now makes up the community. He also built the first wood frame house in the San Fernando Valley in 1872.
This puzzle didn't seem that hard for a Thursday. After a couple of times through I switched from Master to Regular and with just two red letter assists and a lot of WAGs I got through it without a g-spot trip.
KIA/ERIS intersection was a pure guess and I didn't get what KIA was until I got here. Duh! Same for AARON/Alexander. MAP was my favorite fill.
I don't like hidden word themes. They are no help. But I didn't have any trouble with the theme answers today.
I worked for a company with an office in Nantes. It is also famous for being the birthplace of Jules Verne. And it was the last base the Germans had in France in WWII. Nice little city.
YGOR/Igor is a tranliteration problem, as the name is actually spelled with Cyrillic characters.
C.C. - I actually use the phrase "as it were" but am having trouble thinking of a sentence. I'll have to come back with one after I have more coffee.
Today's date has odd numbers in order 05-07-09. That doesn't happen very often.
We get these puzzles much later here in the Middle East.
Ours appear in the Arabian Sun, the weekly paper of Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia.
Andy
Good Morning All, I started out like a house afire. We used to live about 30 miles away from Van NUYS, I have seen Three Sisters, used to love John Travolta in Welcome Back Kotter, have read a couple of the FATHER DOWLING mysteries and I had mentioned my love of all BOB FOSSE musicals a couple of days ago.
I started to run into a little trouble in the bottom third of the puzzle. I had to depend on the perps in the SW. STERNO, ISRAEL and DLIV (I'm getting better at roman numerals) helped me get O NEIL and ORAL B.
The screeching halt came in the SE with the cross of KIA and ERIS. I finally came here to see if my choice of "E" was correct. It wasn't.
Other than that stopper, I am really enjoying Thursday difficulty. It is just about right for me.
C.C. If you look closely at your viper photo, you can see small horn-like projections right above its eyes. Maybe this photo is a little clearer.
Good afternoon everyone. I am still amazed that I got most of a Thursday puzzle. It must be getting easier.
I like doing it by just racing through and putting in the ones I was sure of because I was sure it was going to be too hard. I had ----tenacity for 57A, so the SW corner was not doable except for a couple of downers. Most of the names were known because I had read the books, not from TV. I don't watch much TV except at night from Netflix. I must have closed caption because my hearing is so bad.
C.C. PhD.s are real doctors too. That's why it says doctor of philosophy, which covers science, math, etc. Most PhD.s don't use the term doctor unless they're in a college, but they treasure the term when it applies. My late husband was called, and the man said, "Marc, this is Dr. 'Shuffle'". To which my husband replied, "If you are doctor to me, I am doctor to you".
Perhaps you could say I was thinking of M.Ds, not PhDs. The thesis is published and kept in the library for some amount of time. So it doesn't necessarily refer to a candidate.
@C.C.: I think that the clue for 56A (Port ENE of Cleveland, O.) might have been an error. But maybe not, just what I thought. Zebra's are a type of horse, and horses whinny. Made me think of Scrubs when Dr. Cox says to J.D., "When you hear hooves think horsies, not zebras." He was talking about finding the obvious answer, kinda similiar to Ockham's razor.
Otherwise a tough tough puzzle. Lots of unknowns for me, so we shall see what tomorrow brings...
Good morning C.C.and all:
Great puzzle and a big surprise to me when I actually finished it without going to Mr.G or the x/w dictionary.
I have been starting at the bottom of puzzles lately, as the upper parts have stumped me, but as I work up, I find I get the answers there too. Odd. Today I just happened to notice the clue for 42D first, and knew the answer so that is where I started.
I did not know 9D (OZAWA) or 19A (AARON) but got them from filling in the others.
C.C. The unagi picture looks very good, what does unagi taste like?
Maeve Binchy is one of my favorite authors...her characters seem so real you feel like you lost friends when the book ends.
Dennis (5:32a) OMG! The image of your outfit(?) hurts my eyes..LOL. I'll bet you could help ULEE find gold in that get-up!
Hi, everyone:
As I've just learned that I'll be joining the ranks of the unemployed (no pity, please- things happen for a reason, and I WILL land on my feet fine, although I may have to lose the 'X' from my screen name), I figured I'd tackle this puzzle, and (surprise!) found it wasn't all that bad. I only got hung up in the SE corner (KIA and ESS)
KOSHER DELI's were all that and a bag of chips where I grew up, until supermarket deli's wiped most of them out.
John Travolta was Vinnie Barbarino, if I remember correctly.
To those that have written emails to me, please see my new one on my profile- the old one will be dead as of tomorrow.
"aha"... herd and Aaron Burr & Alexander Hamilton.
"uhoh" skim or skin; never heard of Maeve Binchy and Nantes.
Bob Fosse dances look like a cross between Fred Astrie and Gene Kelly.
My mother used to put a wooden egg inside my socks to darn the holes in the toes and heels.
Fun Zebra fact. We heard this when we were on safari in Africa. The guide said the Zebra's always look fat as they constantly have gases bloating their stomachs. Sounds terribly uncomfortable doesn't it.
Well, it wasn’t as difficult as I expected it to be. I didn’t find the theme to be all that helpful; if I had figured it out I wouldn’t have known where to put the herd.
I had to google some words that were head-slappers when I saw them; couldn’t remember where Sabra is, or Fossee’s first name, which I needed to get at the NW corner, but ERIS was new to me, not to mention Buck O’neil and Oona Oniell.
Several other words came from the perps.
I worked for this one, but it was very satisfying to come this close on my own. I suppose we’re still on the go-easy ones, or I couldn’t have done it.
CC, I love the garden link. Do you think there is any dew on the flowers? And thanks for the Shaky start illustration. I couldn’t see it before.
The people picture is amazing. Even Dolly is there. I don’t think that Alfred Hitchcock and Franklin Roosevelt look anything alike, tho. To me, the picture can only be Roosevelt. Interesting, in light of one of our previous discussions, that Mother Teresa is a very dark figure.
Dennis, I remember seeing a version of ‘Hot Cockles’ played on the old Gary Moore show. It was called Moriarity, are you there? Two players, blindfolded, lay on the floor and called out Moriarity, are you there? then whacked at each other with rolled up newspapers based on where the voice seemed to come from. During the game, one player’s blindfold was removed, and things got hysterically funny.
Argyle, ……..herd, but you can be happy if you’ve a mind to. Roger Miller was a genius with words.
C.C. re: oils...veggies on low heat, olive oil...veggies in the wok on high heat...peanut oil if I have it or Grapeseed oil. It has one of the highest smoke points and won't leave residue in the wok.
Argyle...make Banana's Foster or any number of Italian cake or pastries recipes...Rum is my absolute least favorite. At least in food, in goes down easier. xchefwalt probably has some good ideas.
Fairly easy puzzle all the way through and finished in about 20 or so min...WOW! Bob Fosse was my first fill...rent All That Jazz. When choreographers to Fosse-esk dancing they always use the term "jazz hands".
Just a quick note from the other day for Al...I was so surprised at your Dr. Horrible link. My youngest(to be 30) daughter designs custom toys and was on Jimmy Kimmel live a few weeks back at the same time as Nathan Fillion(Dr. Horrible) they presented Nathan with the figure she had customized for him and now she is donating two of the characters to a charity he supports to buy books for children...his parents were both teachers.
Getting very busy here lately so will be in and out.
Oh yeah...Dennis...if I could link things, I would set you up with a Monty Python Granny Racing skit...hilarious!
Best of luck in your job search (x)chefwalt. You strike me as someone who can hold body and soul together until you can find the position you want. Selfishly, it will be nice to have you with us for a while.
Dr. Dad, it's nice to see you here, too.
Jeanne, I'm sure I must have read what you taught in high school, but I can't recall. Refresh my memory, won't you?
JD, I hope you'll post a picture of the quilt you've bought. I'm always interested!
On the subject of putting Stoli in the freezer, do you have to drink a little of it to make room in the bottle for expansion as it chills? You all know that science is not my forte. I wouldn't want to waste any of the booze.
Jazzbumpa, on your comment at 9:20 Tuesday... Phooey on "etui" I have to concur. I actually own one and never refer to it as anything other than a "notions box." This and "ERTE" are prime examples of crosswordese.
Argyle, "filtering," hmm?? Thanks for the grin.
@Xchefwalt...I am sorry to hear about the loss of your job. This isn't pity at all so don't take it as such. This economy sucks and now I'll have to add your name to the many people I know that are unemployed. It's gotta turn itself around soon.
Cleopatra's asp is a cerastes vipera and horned viper(also known as an asp) is cerastes cerastes. The cerastes cerastes normally has horns but the cerastes vipera does not. There is also a European asp known as vipera aspis and it has no horns. All three are from Family: Viperidae.
Barb B, did you click on the blank and get the link to the song?
Wolf Mom, Banana's Foster, great idea. Thanks.
KittyB, no need to drink any. If it freezes, then it wasn't very good to begin with.
Water doesn't expand untill it forms ice.
Maria,
I'm a guy who likes women and kids.
PS: you still look pretty to me.
Good morning:
For those of you who like 50's music, I am reminded that another star of the FATHER DOWLING mysteries was TRACY NELSON daughter of Ricky Nelson, who played the nun, Sister Steve.
When I was still living in Gainesville, I was involved with school's homecoming tradition, known asGATOR GROWL where there are skits put on at the stadium the night before the football game, and paid entertainers perform. We have had many big names like Bob Hope and Bill Cosby; anyway, the point being, that in 1977, at the height of the popularity of Welcome Back Kotter, we booked Kaplan to perform at Gator Growl, and it was a disaster. He was a prima donna (unlike the real stars we booked) and his show was awful, and inappropriate for a college crowd.
Anybody who lives in Florida and prepares for hurricanes is familiar with STERNO.
Hi c.c. and all:
I really liked this puzzle. I only got stuck with the Northeast corner but once I googled 9D and got Ozawa the rest filled in nicely. I also didn't know Maeve, Oneil or Olga, but got them thru the perps.
Dennis: Still having fun? Did you get to Aruba Cafe or La Bamas yet? You might have answered but I haven't been on lately.
Here again is the horned viper I linked at 9:35. It is labeled as a cerastes cerastes.
Clear Ayes linked one too, but seen from above, the horns are pointing straight up and aren't too obvious.
Argyle -
not until after I posted. I know that song by heart, and a few others that he wrote. Thanks for the tune, tho. Now I'll have it in my head all day, and I'll smile a lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwdKHXkYLRM
Sorry...this is the best I can manage...maybe Argyle or someone can make a link. It is my daughter, in the audience, with the Dr. Horrible custom.
@argyle- my first thought went to Tiramisu@tarrajo- thank you for your kind words. i will bounce back, as I firmly believe things happen for a reason.
Dick, thanks so much for sending more rain - it hasn't stopped since I got back. And yeah, go Pens.
Lois, did I mention the pinkie rings?
Bill, how long are you away?
Gerrit, Treefrog, welcome - good of you both to join our ever-expanding group.
Andy, what do you do there (besides sweat)?
Walt, that really sucks - for what it's worth, you've got a great support group here that will help in any way it can.
KQ, I'll have to remember to stay upwind of zebras.
Barb B, thanks for that flashback about the Gary Moore show; I remembered the line 'Moriarity, are you there?', but until your post, I couldn't have told you where it came from.
g8rmomx2, we went to the Aruba cafe late Friday (I think) afternoon - they were having the first annual something, with one of the local rock stations on hand. BIG, happy crowd - lots of fun; thanks.
"As it were" means roughly "in other words" or "so to speak", i.e: "I'm getting better at crossword solving the more I do the puzzles. My crossword skills are evolving, as it were."
@xchefwalt, my wife makes the very best Tiramisu, but I have no idea where she got the recipe. If you are interested I will get it and publish it for you.
13:32 today. My last fill was the 'I' at the cross of KIA and ERIS. I just didn't see the car models in the clue and can never remember the "dwarf planet" name (I always think EROS, which I know is wrong, but I think it anyway.)
GABE Kaplan is well-known these days in poker circles. He's co-host of High Stakes Poker on the Game Show Network and also a participant in the National Heads-Up Championship now showing on Sundays on NBC.
Good Afternoon All,
Did the puzzle this morning but no time to post until now. I had a very similar experience as most but added some misspellings. Calf instead of Veal and Father Downing sent me to on-line to see red. The bottom half was tougher than the top for me in the end.
We continue to have rainy raw weather. Long day so time to head home and fire up the wood stove for the kitties.
Have a good one!
Dennis, We're out of here Monday AM (11th) and back (hopefully) the following Mon.
Nancy wound up with an extra day off so we're leaving a day earlier than planned.
And, that zebra thing? Yeah, way upwind!!!
Kazie, Tarrajo, Clear Ayes & Argyle,
Thanks for STERNO & Horned ASP.
Gerrit,
I've corrected my Shaq O'Neal mistake. Welcome!
Treefrog,
Yes, TARE was clued as "Biblical weed" in our puzzle before.
Warren,
OK, Van NUYS did have some Dutch background.
Elissa,
Thanks for NANTES and Jules Verne connection. Got your "AS IT were" also.
Sallie,
I did mean M.D. Many xie, xie, as always.
Puzzled_in_pdx & KQ,
I had no idea that zebra belongs to the equus family.
Xchefwalt,
To quote Rahm Emanual, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste".
Barb B,
Any dewy flowers in your garden?
Carol,
Unagi does not taste fishy at all. It's normally grilled twice. Intoxicating aroma. The special grilling sauce consists of soy sauce, mirin (sweet rice wine), sake, sugar and maybe some eel bone broth. Very sweet and crisp. I can almost feel it crumble in my mouth now.
Dick:
I'm very much interested in a good Tiramisu recipe.
Doreen
Went to lunch with Emily the 3-Yr-Old granddaughter today, and got to the puzzle late.
Not easy, but I slogged through and was able to 69A with perseverence, good guesses, better luck and a lot of help from the perps. Liked the theme.
Generally good puzzle, but still had some flaws. Foreign words do not belong in English language puzzles -- especially parts of unfamiliar phrases. Two brand names are two too many. Roman numeral answers are annoying. Making me do math in Roman numerals is inexcusable. I could go on, but I'm already the resident crank.
FWIW, "almost but not quite exactly unlike . . ." Is a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There is a scene where Arthur Dent (at this point in the story, a tea-deprived Brit) gets Eddie the shipboard computer on the Star Ship "Heart of Gold" to dispense a liquid which is almost but not quite exactly unlike tea.
Never mind.
Cheers!
Dennis: what an image! You're the dudely vision with bling! Don't tell me you have a diamond stud earring too. My heart won't be able to take it. You're the dude w/the shizzle and the dizzle all right, but it's still the black tufts of hair glued to your chest and body that takes my breath away and brings tears to my eyes. Thanks for the update. I've got to go get my sunglasses. The bling is blinding!
Chefwalt, We're here for you - you can vent with us! I'm sure with your positive attitude you will do well.
C.C. Thanks for the unagi information. You do make it sound mouth-watering. I have used soy sauce, mirin and other goodies before and they do make delicious sauces.
This was a much easier puzzle than last Thursday's. I had seven words wrong but at least I filled in all the squares. That's progress.
C.C., I believe Crockett's claim to faithfulness. (Also, Weather321) we'll celebrate our 57th anniversary on May 24 & I have never doubted my husband's faithfulness or even suspected he might be wandering. He does not agree with Luxor's statemen, either, that all men cheat or want to. When a man makes a vow to be faithful and intends to keep it, he does not get into situations where he is tempted to break that vow. Same for women. I know in today's society it is more difficult than it was 57 years ago to avoid temptation, but I believe there are still faithful husbands and wives. There are a lot of young couples in our church, whom I know quite well and they are devoted to each other & their families. Dot
@dot Thank you for your validation and vote of support. Painting with a broad brush is sometimes not only messy but also just plain wrong.
Crockett1947: In the Subway Sandwich shop commercial, there is a man with a white beard, in a Barber Shop Quartet (on our left) singing the "Five dollar foot long" jingle.
No hat but looks a lot like you...is it?
BTW, I commend you for keeping your marriage vows and being rightly proud of it. Takes much more of a real man to do that than to cheat!
A young soldier once went to his chaplain and whined, "But Father, what do I do about these `urges`I have, especially since my wife and I haven`t seen each other in several months!" The chaplain said, "Well that`s pretty simple, son. You do with your `urges` the same thing you want your wife to do with hers!"
CC
Dew in my garden every day.
Dick
I also would like to have a good Tiramisu recipe.
I won't be around the next few days, so to all you mothers out there......Happy Mother's Day.
(x?)chefWalt: I'm sure w/your experience and extensive knowledge you'll be fine. I love your can do, up beat attitude...which to me is 1/2 the battle. I certainly wish you the best.
Tonight I heard a very inspiring speaker talk about how the journey is worth embracing, whatever it deals out to you. The experiences we have to get through in life are worth it, no matter how bad things seem in the moment. It helps equip you for the rest of your life and is worth the struggle, which is what makes you a better person. We need to deal with the consequences of our own mistakes to learn from them.
Then I came home and watched Michael J. Fox, who basically was saying the same thing, but with the added element of questioning why some people are optimists and others pessimistic.
Now, I read the rest of the comments here, and see Xchefwalt is being optimistic about his situation, taking things in stride and assuring himself that everything will turn out all right. this probably signals that he will succeed no matter what.
Jazzbumpa, on the other hand, wants to find fault with most of the clues he struggled with today. If you can't do math in Roman numerals, convert to Arabic (normal) numbers and figure it out, then convert back like the rest of us have to! Learn as you go, that's what we all do. Why else would we continue to struggle with the Friday/Saturday xw's that are too difficult for most of us to do unassisted? It's because the struggle is part of living, challenging ourselves to be all we can be, and keep raising the bar to become better! That's life. Deal with what it deals out!
Walter...even though I have a somewhat tarnished reputation here...I wish you the best on your new journey. That is what it is, a journey. I know it really sucks at our age to find a new venue to excel at, but I know you have the tenacity to see it through. I just wish you the very best, and am praying for you and your family. Jeannie.
Good morning test.
Boy this was a tough one for me today. Gave up us I have to take my husband to cardiac rehab.
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