Theme: TURNSTILE (57A. Metro access, and a hint to the circled letters in 17-, 28-, 34- and 43-Across) - Each set of circled letters contains the turned (anagrammed) STILE. (Added later: The turned letters are in rotational order. Thanks, MJ.)
17A. Mah-jongg pieces, e.g.: GAME TILES. Mah-jong(g) is Ma-Jiang in Mandarin Chinese. This turned TILES is the only real word. ISLET is another possible alternative.
28A. Notable achievement: MILESTONE
34A. Site of the Beatles' last commercial concert: CANDLESTICK PARK. San Fransisco Giants's ballpark before 2000.
43A. Likely to spread disease: PESTILENT
Great theme! Very clever & creative interpretation of TURNSTILE. Like nuts, crazy, TURN is often an anagram indicator in cryptic crosswords.
Nice triple columns of 8s in the upper left and lower right corners. So open. No cheater/help square in this baby, an important measure of puzzle elegance for our LAT constructor John Lampkin.
My favorite non-theme entry today is KVETCH (22D. Whine). Fantastic string of consonants. What don't you love about this puzzle? Kvetch away!
Across:
1. Perform high-tech surgery on: LASE
5. Crack, in a way: CHAP. Crack from dryness. I was cracking nuts in my mind.
9. Capital near Casablanca: RABAT. Capital of Morocco. Casablanca is Morocco's largest city.
14. Being aired: ON TV
15. Spydom name: HARI (Mata). Always want BOND.
16. Rial spender: OMANI. So is Yemeni/Iranian.
19. Paul in the center square: LYNDE. Paul Lynde was a regular "center square" guest in the game show "Hollywood Squares". Stumped me.
20. Cry to a faith healer, maybe: I CAN SEE. Not into faith healing & its ritual.
21. Pug's stat: TKO (Technical Knockout). Pug is short for pugilist. Not dog.
23. Proof initials: QED. Mathematical proof.
24. In a way: SORT OF
25. AFC North, e.g.: DIV (Division). AFC = American Football Conference.
26. Place to dock: QUAY
27. Demolition supplies: TNTS. A common enough word not to need an abbreviation hint, a la Jerome.
30. Mean Amin: IDI. Nice rhyme.
31. "What __!": "This is fun!": A GAS. I think it will be fun but exhausting to be with Lois.
33. Clavell's "__-Pan": TAI. Here is the book cover. Tai means "big" in Cantonese. Tai Pan = Big Shot.
40. Off one's feed: ILL. I misread the clue as "off one's feet". We also had EAT (49A. Polish off).
41. "A Hard Road to Glory" author: ASHE (Arthur)
42. Reading room: DEN
47. Suffer from: HAVE. I suffer from coconut obsession now. Put coconut milk/flake in everything I eat. Thanks for the shrimp recipe, Jeannie!
48. Film in which Woody Allen voices Z: ANTZ. The 1998 animated bug film.
50. Flap-door home: TEEPEE. I've never seen a teepee in person.
52. Victrola company: RCA
53. Surg. centers: ORS
54. Can opener: PULL TAB
55. Hose problems: KINKS
59. 1944 Italian beachhead: ANZIO. No idea. It's a town in central Italy. Allied troops landed there on Jan 22, 1944.
60. Niagara River feeder: ERIE
61. What avengers get: EVEN. Get even. Nice clue.
62. Parasails, say: SOARS. Parasail = Para(chute) + sail. New to me.
63. Canyon perimeters: RIMS
64. Funny Foxx: REDD. Alliteration.
Down:
1. Like a wedding planner's skills: LOGISTIC. Only familiar with logistics or logistical.
2. Jungle crusher: ANACONDA. The large jungle boa.
3. Part-French, part-Dutch isl.: ST. MARTIN. The island in the northeast Caribbean.
4. Decathlon's 10: EVENTS
5. Top dog: CHIEF
6. In tiptop shape: HALE. Hale and hearty.
8. Flower organ: PISTIL. Flower's seed-bearing female organ. Stamen is the pollen-bearing male organ.
9. Caramel candy brand: ROLO
10. '70s-'80s first daughter: AMY (Carter)
11. "Macbeth" ghost: BANQUO. I peeked at the answer sheet.
12. Like vicuña: ANDEAN. Wikipedia says vicuña is the national animal of Peru. Like our bald eagle.
13. Project done to a tee: TIE-DYE. Tee = T-shirt. I was trapped into the idiomatic "to a tee". You wicked Scott!
18. Chinese menu general: TSO. Man, I am tired of this guy.
25. Far from cordial: DISTANT
26. Swab brand: Q-TIP
28. Some advanced degs.: MAS
29. Sushi bar order: SAKE. Rice wine. The sweet rice wine is mirin. Used in cooking.
17A. Mah-jongg pieces, e.g.: GAME TILES. Mah-jong(g) is Ma-Jiang in Mandarin Chinese. This turned TILES is the only real word. ISLET is another possible alternative.
28A. Notable achievement: MILESTONE
34A. Site of the Beatles' last commercial concert: CANDLESTICK PARK. San Fransisco Giants's ballpark before 2000.
43A. Likely to spread disease: PESTILENT
Great theme! Very clever & creative interpretation of TURNSTILE. Like nuts, crazy, TURN is often an anagram indicator in cryptic crosswords.
Nice triple columns of 8s in the upper left and lower right corners. So open. No cheater/help square in this baby, an important measure of puzzle elegance for our LAT constructor John Lampkin.
My favorite non-theme entry today is KVETCH (22D. Whine). Fantastic string of consonants. What don't you love about this puzzle? Kvetch away!
Across:
1. Perform high-tech surgery on: LASE
5. Crack, in a way: CHAP. Crack from dryness. I was cracking nuts in my mind.
9. Capital near Casablanca: RABAT. Capital of Morocco. Casablanca is Morocco's largest city.
14. Being aired: ON TV
15. Spydom name: HARI (Mata). Always want BOND.
16. Rial spender: OMANI. So is Yemeni/Iranian.
19. Paul in the center square: LYNDE. Paul Lynde was a regular "center square" guest in the game show "Hollywood Squares". Stumped me.
20. Cry to a faith healer, maybe: I CAN SEE. Not into faith healing & its ritual.
21. Pug's stat: TKO (Technical Knockout). Pug is short for pugilist. Not dog.
23. Proof initials: QED. Mathematical proof.
24. In a way: SORT OF
25. AFC North, e.g.: DIV (Division). AFC = American Football Conference.
26. Place to dock: QUAY
27. Demolition supplies: TNTS. A common enough word not to need an abbreviation hint, a la Jerome.
30. Mean Amin: IDI. Nice rhyme.
31. "What __!": "This is fun!": A GAS. I think it will be fun but exhausting to be with Lois.
33. Clavell's "__-Pan": TAI. Here is the book cover. Tai means "big" in Cantonese. Tai Pan = Big Shot.
40. Off one's feed: ILL. I misread the clue as "off one's feet". We also had EAT (49A. Polish off).
41. "A Hard Road to Glory" author: ASHE (Arthur)
42. Reading room: DEN
47. Suffer from: HAVE. I suffer from coconut obsession now. Put coconut milk/flake in everything I eat. Thanks for the shrimp recipe, Jeannie!
48. Film in which Woody Allen voices Z: ANTZ. The 1998 animated bug film.
50. Flap-door home: TEEPEE. I've never seen a teepee in person.
52. Victrola company: RCA
53. Surg. centers: ORS
54. Can opener: PULL TAB
55. Hose problems: KINKS
59. 1944 Italian beachhead: ANZIO. No idea. It's a town in central Italy. Allied troops landed there on Jan 22, 1944.
60. Niagara River feeder: ERIE
61. What avengers get: EVEN. Get even. Nice clue.
62. Parasails, say: SOARS. Parasail = Para(chute) + sail. New to me.
63. Canyon perimeters: RIMS
64. Funny Foxx: REDD. Alliteration.
Down:
1. Like a wedding planner's skills: LOGISTIC. Only familiar with logistics or logistical.
2. Jungle crusher: ANACONDA. The large jungle boa.
3. Part-French, part-Dutch isl.: ST. MARTIN. The island in the northeast Caribbean.
4. Decathlon's 10: EVENTS
5. Top dog: CHIEF
6. In tiptop shape: HALE. Hale and hearty.
8. Flower organ: PISTIL. Flower's seed-bearing female organ. Stamen is the pollen-bearing male organ.
9. Caramel candy brand: ROLO
10. '70s-'80s first daughter: AMY (Carter)
11. "Macbeth" ghost: BANQUO. I peeked at the answer sheet.
12. Like vicuña: ANDEAN. Wikipedia says vicuña is the national animal of Peru. Like our bald eagle.
13. Project done to a tee: TIE-DYE. Tee = T-shirt. I was trapped into the idiomatic "to a tee". You wicked Scott!
18. Chinese menu general: TSO. Man, I am tired of this guy.
25. Far from cordial: DISTANT
26. Swab brand: Q-TIP
28. Some advanced degs.: MAS
29. Sushi bar order: SAKE. Rice wine. The sweet rice wine is mirin. Used in cooking.
31. "... for __ care!": ALL I
32. See 58-Down: GELLER. And URI (58. With 32-Down, self-proclaimed "mystifier"). Had no idea that he called himself "mystifier".
35. Scatterbrain: DITZ. I only know the adjective ditzy.
36. Ideal conclusion?: IST. Idealist.
37. Capable of change: ADAPTIVE
38. Uncovered: REVEALED
39. Calisthenics exercise: KNEE BEND. Was reading a biography on Greta Garbo. She's very into calisthenics.
43. Winter outerwear: PARKAS. Still some snow left in our yard.
44. San Fernando Valley community: ENCINO. A district of LA. Spanish for "evergreen". Got me.
45. Song section: STANZA. Poem section too.
46. Hams are often seen on it: EASTER. Ham is the traditional food on Easter Sunday. I was picturing some kind of bread.
47. __-skelter: HELTER
50. iPod files: TUNES
51. High trains: ELS
53. Barcelona bears: OSOS. Alliteration again. The she-bear is OSA in Spanish.
54. Strait-laced: PRIM
56. Wine-and-cassis apéritif: KIR (Keer). No idea. It's an apéritif of white wine flavored with cassis (black currant). Named after Canon Félix Kir (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon, who is said to have invented the recipe.
32. See 58-Down: GELLER. And URI (58. With 32-Down, self-proclaimed "mystifier"). Had no idea that he called himself "mystifier".
35. Scatterbrain: DITZ. I only know the adjective ditzy.
36. Ideal conclusion?: IST. Idealist.
37. Capable of change: ADAPTIVE
38. Uncovered: REVEALED
39. Calisthenics exercise: KNEE BEND. Was reading a biography on Greta Garbo. She's very into calisthenics.
43. Winter outerwear: PARKAS. Still some snow left in our yard.
44. San Fernando Valley community: ENCINO. A district of LA. Spanish for "evergreen". Got me.
45. Song section: STANZA. Poem section too.
46. Hams are often seen on it: EASTER. Ham is the traditional food on Easter Sunday. I was picturing some kind of bread.
47. __-skelter: HELTER
50. iPod files: TUNES
51. High trains: ELS
53. Barcelona bears: OSOS. Alliteration again. The she-bear is OSA in Spanish.
54. Strait-laced: PRIM
56. Wine-and-cassis apéritif: KIR (Keer). No idea. It's an apéritif of white wine flavored with cassis (black currant). Named after Canon Félix Kir (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon, who is said to have invented the recipe.
Good morning C.C. and All, a difficult slog for me today. There were several unknowns that required a trip to MrG. The entire puzzle was solved one small step at a time except for the SE corner which fell easily and quickly. I did not get the theme until coming here.
ReplyDeleteOnce the answers started to appear they and the clues all made sense and I though very clear.
Favorite word today is Kvetch.
Still have large piles of snow here, but they are disappearing fast, maybe too fast. I would like to see some colder weather to slow down the run off. It looks like we could have some severe flooding here next week.
Hope you al have a great Thursday.
Good Morning, CC. Wow! This was a challenge for me, but one I was able to figure out with no outside help, which is unusual for me for a Thursday.
ReplyDeleteI lived the theme. I don't usually like puzzles with circles, but this one was fun. I had one long theme clue to go when I got TURN STILE, so realized what letters to fill into the circles.
There were some great clues today. I loved Jungle Crusher (ANACONDA). Surg. Centers was a good fresh clue for ORS.
I was led astray by Can Opener. I was thinking more of the electrical type rather than a PULL TAB. I was also thinking that the Hams are Seen on It clue referred to the actors instead of non-kosher meat.
I also wanted the ending to Ideal to be ISM instead of IST.
Also, TAI PAN and TIE DYE would have fit well into the puzzle we had earlier this week.
All in all a great fun puzzle.
QOD: Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat. ~ Malcolm Forbes
Am I the only one who didn't have any circles in their puzzle? I don't mean to KVETCH, but Oy! I thought it was odd that PESTILENT actually had the entire word STILE within it, with the letters in the correct order. Without the circles, of course, I didn't realize that the first E was included instead of the last E...
ReplyDeleteOverall a smooth solve, but I crashed and burned at the very end where ANZIO crossed KIR. I didn't know either one, and it wasn't helped by the fact that I accidentally put OSAS instead of OSOS for 53D. I did finally guess the "I" in ANZIO/KIR, but didn't get my beloved "TADA!" sound as a result of the OSAS mistake. I should have known better, what with me being fluent in Spanish and all, but it happens.
Some minor missteps included IRANI for OMANI and PIER for QUAY, which made the NE corner a bit thorny until things resolved themselves.
My daily moment of *feh* would definitely go to TNTS. Can TNT really be pluralized? It's the chemical name of a compound. You can have sticks of TNT, boxes of TNT and buckets of TNT, but TNTS? I don't think so...
29D is Sake (not Saki).
ReplyDelete56D. If you use champagne instead of white wine, it's a Kir Royale. Very popular drink on a summer afternoon at a Paris cafe.
Coconut is fattening.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, C.C. and friends,
ReplyDeleteI had great fun with this puzzle, and thought that the evolution of the theme answers was ingenious! Like many/most Thursdays I skipped around rather than solving from top to bottom, so saw the unifying clue early on. When I got the second theme fill MILESTONE, I surmised that "STILE" was rotating in order, and was blown away when I found this to be true by checking out the other theme answers. Loved all the six to eight letter non-theme fresh fill such as LOGISTIC, ADAPTIVE, KVETCH, and BANQUO (who had evidently been hiding in the cobwebs of my head since reading/studying "Macbeth" in college). BTW, I printed this out from the computer and did not have circled letters, nor see them on the copy from which I was printing.
Kudos, Scott Atkinson. Absolutely brilliant!
The little one in the avatar is our first grandson, Drake, born Tuesday evening and shown at about two hours of age. I am in love!
Enjoy the day!
MJ: Congratulations on your new grandson! He is adorable. I know you will have fun with him. What a blessing to you.
ReplyDeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteMJ, What a joy to have your first grandson. We're still awaiting any hope of grandbabies, so I'm envious!
I actually got the four corners without help, a few guesses, but that's normal. But then I hit the g'spot for AsHE, tAi, candlestiCKpark (never heard of that), dIV (AFC meant nothing either, and I'd misspelled PISTAL). I also tried pug's stat to no avail, definitely trapped in the dog thinking. After all that KVETCH came to me, it's not a word I ever use, but it REVEALED tKo to me.
I got the STILE theme after TURNSTILE fell and I looked back over what I had already in the circles. It helped me get MILESTONE.
Foggy and fortyish here today so far.
Good morning C.C. and all. Quite a slog today. But only had to g'gle 41A. Misspelled SAKE. Loved KVETCH. Briefly wanted loo for 'reading room', until DEN became obvious.
ReplyDeleteNiagara feeder: ERIE - some feeder! ~200,000cfs. average flow.
Overall a very fair puzzle.
Foggy and fortyish here today so far
ReplyDeleteYeah, that pretty much describes me as well lately...
29D Susushi order....I was thinking MAKI.
ReplyDeleteBarry G,
ReplyDeleteI share that feeling, only I'd have to be 64-ish! I think the dullness of weather has a lot to do with one's general mood, and despite needing to prepare for a lot of imminent happenings, I feel like doing absolutely nothing!
Good Morning All, I loved how the TURNSTILE rotated through all of its letters, first one, then two, three and finally four. So many of the newer subway access turnstiles have three spokes (people are bigger nowadays), but here is an antique four spoke stile
ReplyDeleteThe NW was the last area to be filled in. 1D LOGISTIC threw me for a loop. I understood it once it was filled in, but I never would have gotten it without perp help.
AMY, BANQUO and ANDEAN gave me a foothold in the NE and I picked my way around the puzzle from there.
I liked seeing ENCINO. I think that is where "Valley Speak" originated....Fer Shur!
36D IdealIST contains all the STILE letters, but not in one chunk. PISTIL and LOGISTIC are both short an "E". Obviously, I have too much time on my hands this morning. :o)
Congratulations to MJ.
@MJ-Thanks for noticing the rotation of the circled letters in the theme answers. That was indeed the whole idea.
ReplyDelete@CC-"Project done to a tee" is indeed a wicked and brilliant clue. I wish I could say it was mine. Our esteemed and creative editor came up with it.
@ Barry G-I agree with you on TNTS. Apologies. Stacking 8s sometimes requires one to ask the solver's forbearance for such things.
Thanks for the nice comments, everyone
29D is sake, because 41A is Ashe.
ReplyDeleteGood morning! I did the puzzle online and there weren't any circled letters so I didn't see the theme. I wonder if I would have gotten the theme otherwise. I had the same objection to TNTS that Barry did but Scott took care of that. A very clever puzzle.
ReplyDeleteGoodmorning, C.C. and fellow solvers.
ReplyDeleteAt first glance this puzzle looked like a Saturday one, but once started, I rotated slowly at first, then spun. My goal is always to pull answers out of the dim recesses of my brain and though it took an hour, I felt triumphant.
Thanks, Scott, well done, clever cluing! I also thought TNT should'nt be plural but you've answered that.
Fav clues: jungle crusher, far from cordial (good opposite) and the one that caused me grief, project done to a tee, thinking of golf.
I got hooked on kir royale in Paris and always keep Cassis on hand for it. It's excellent with riesling wine.
MJ:
Congratulations on your new grandbaby! Believe me, I can relate. Mine is now three months old and we are all smitten with her.
Have a great Thursday! Take heart, winter sufferers, spring is on the way.
Hi C.C. and I would say fellow solvers but that would indicate that I too solved this puzzle....NOT!
ReplyDeleteLike Barry G, I did not see any circled letters but that probably was because I printed it from the computer.
I could have gone round and round until so dizzy I was sick, but chose not to. I did give it a good attempt but there were just too many unknowns. I am not saying it was a bad puzzle, far from it! It was very clever and had lots of new clues but I am just 'off' today.
MJ - congratulations on the birth of your grandson!! Cute picture especially for being only 2 hours old.
Hey gang - only have a minute, but I had to check in on this one. Just a great puzzle, and the rotating stile theme was as good as it gets; that had to be a bear to put together. And as always, I loved the stacked 8s.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the other comments regarding 'Done to a tee' and 'TNTs'. Scott, thanks for checking in; it always makes the solving experience more fulfilling to hear feedback from the constructor.
MJ, congrats! A real beauty.
Ladies, today is Worship of Tools Day. I'll leave it at that.
Hope it's a great day for everyone; rainy here today, but still wonderfully warm.
50A TEEPEE brought back some fond memories of my later teenage years in Fontana CA. The Wigwam Motel in Rialto California was a classic Route 66 stopover in the 1950's.
ReplyDeleteDuring its seedier days there was a sign on the roadside marque that read "Do It In A Tee Pee". Even later, the rooms were rented by the hour. The Wigwams have since been renovated and the kitschy sign has been relegated to a shed wall at the back of the property.
In 1960, a sweet and rather naive girlfriend of mine lost her virginity with her first steady boyfriend at the Wigwams. They did get married, are still together and in the process had eight children. Maybe "doing it in a teepee" is the right way to get started.
So if you are ever passing through Rialto, on what is now Foothill Blvd, give a nod to the Wigwam Motel. At least one happy family began there.
This was an interesting and challenging Thursday, with five theme words (an echo from yesterday's "TI" sound) all anagrams, which please many of us who do other puzzles like the London Times, etc., Jerome, Al, you with me? Also we have some Zs in our grid, always a good sign.
ReplyDeleteI did love TIE DYE, and the decipt involved, and Scott, we appreciate you comments and your honesty.
I enjoyed eveything but TNTS, though it did make sense with SAKE BOMB .
I kvelled when I saw KVETCH, and remembered why I do not like ANACONDA .
I also send my congratulations to all who have posted such nice pictures of their grandchildren, I still have just my two Gpups, but I get to play with one this week end, so I take what I can get.
My forehead is sore from all the palm-slapping I did as I worked this puzzle. So many "Ohmygawd" moments as I figured things out. My wife laughed at how often she heard me groan. As C.C. said, what's not to like about this puzzle. I loved it.
ReplyDeletePretty easy today, although I should have remembered that "sake" ends with an "e" and not with an "i." 16 minutes.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle. Loved the movement of STILE. I realized that was going on early, and it helped with the solving. I did most of this at breakfast, got stuck, went to a morning meeting and came back to finish at lunch. It is amazing how just a little time away gets the brain moving in all new directions.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you that didn't get circles and do online, the LAT site never prints the circles but Cruciverb does. This is the first time that I have done a puzzle like this and benefited from it. Funny how I was just thinking that it had been a really long time since we had a puzzle with circles, and there it was this am.
The only clue I missed was OSOS, not knowing ANZIO either. There were several unknowns to me, BANQUO being another, but the perps took care of almost everything. I thought there were some outstanding clues, many mentioned, also Paul in the center square. Fun to bring that one back.
Congrats to all the newbie grandchildren!!! I cannot wait for mine, but of course can really wait as my daughter isn't dating. Would much prefer that they come in the proper order.
My son and I went to a local event where they recreate much of the pioneer days as a school field trip once. They had a TEEPEE that you could go inside. Interestingly, there is a hole on top, and they build a fire right smack in the middle of the inside of the teepee. I thought it looked like an accident waiting to happen, but apparently that is the way they used to heat the abode.
Cold rain here. Snows on its way out. We are much anticipating the reappearance of my husbands Blackberry one day soon. Clearly it won't be usable, but we still wonder what happened to it.
I liked this one a lot, too. The perps gave me all the help I needed. ' AFC' meant nothing to me and I had misspelled 'pistil' so even though I finally figured out the 'v' for 'kvetch' I still had 'dev' for 25A. It's really a disadvantage to be a non-spectator sport person. I got the theme after 'turnstile'. so again it wasn't at all helpful. You're all making me much more appreciative of crossword puzzles.
ReplyDeleteMJ, I loved the picture of your adorable GS. Babies as so wonderful! Congratulations! Have many happy moments with the little guy; they grow up before you know it!
Hello everyone. I really admire the knowledge, and puzzle prowess many of you display, especially Bob. As a former manufacturer, I value, and prize efficiency. But not in all things. I hope he agrees,- For his wife's sake!
ReplyDeleteKQ.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand 'Paul in the center square' Am I missing something?
dodo- Paul Lynde sat in the middle square on the game show "Hollywood Squares"
ReplyDeleteThis was probably the most clever themed puzzle I have encountered. To have the “stile” turn so to speak in all the theme answers, like Dennis said couldn’t have been easy to construct. I only had to hit the g-spot once and that was for Banquo. I wanted pier for a place to dock and wanted runs for hose problem but of course that was a letter shy. I was thinking along the line of a “show-off” for hams. I loved Paul Lynde as the center square on Hollywood Squares. He was so witty. My favorite clue/answer was “jungle crusher” – anaconda. KQ, I am assuming that the blackberry got dropped in the two feet of snow sometime this winter. Curious, did you try to call it? We actually got some hail today at work. I am kind of afraid to go look at my car. KQ, or CC did you guys get any hail?
ReplyDeleteMJ beautiful baby!
Well, off to worship some tools…
Hello all.
ReplyDeleteAnzio(Like Inch'on) was an end run
around heavy fortified positions.
The Germans had to shift from defending Rome to meet the new threat.
In Korea, the Chinese had driven to 15 miles from Seoul.
Threat and counter threat just like chess.
eddyB
Thank you, Jerome. So much for my short-term memory! I knew that! You constructors are wonderful!
ReplyDeleteHello again.
ReplyDeleteThe grid I down-loaded @7pm had the circles. I even covered them with blue marker post solve. Eh.
Bill G. "but..." What too political? I also love Letterman.
BTW. My computer won't recognize
your e-mail address so I can't go off blog
eddyB
Whenever I've read the comic strip, Mallard Fillmore, it seemed very conservative, mean-spirited and not very funny. But that's just me. I like Letterman also but prefer Jay Leno whenever I think to record either of them. (I seldom stay up that late.)
ReplyDeleteGonna try Jeannie's pork chops tonight!
Good Afternoon All,
ReplyDeleteFinally had lunch and a chance work the puzzle. Work it was. I had a very similar experience as Barry. No circles on either the printed or computer version but when I went down I just blew up in the air and needed red letter help in the NE and SW. Pier and Iraqi were my errors in the NE and Banquo never came to me. Encino and Anzio were no help in the SW.
A delayed post. I actually wrote this at lunch time and got sidetracked and never hit publish.
Hope everyone is having a great day!
Lemonade, the Anaconda clip was horrifying! I'd pass out if I got within 10 feet of that thing. No poisonous snakes here until this week. Someone lost or let go a 5 foot poisonous Gaboon viper in a city in the southern part of the state. Some guy found the thing while walking his dog behind a cinema. Native to Africa, it couldn't take the relatively mild night in the low twenties.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to all of you happy Grandparents!
Mainaic: According to the new Geico ads, there are no poisonous (indigenous) snakes in Maine.
ReplyDeleteIt hit 80F here today. Spring is finally on the way!
Hello.
ReplyDeleteWhat Jill is doing in Sacto is going to affect every active and retired teacher in CA. I'm proud of what she trying to do for you.
It's politics, folks. They are deciding your future.
How important are grand kids and recipes?
Bye,
eddyB
Anagram Definition:
ReplyDeleteA type of word play in which a word or phrase is formed by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.
As CC pointed out tiles is an anagram of stile (as is islet).
How are the other three anagrams?
For the first time I did a Thursday puzzle without going to LA Times site in Regular Mode. I have to admit that I got fooled by pitting tiles in 17A and thought the connection was "tiles". Oh well, I've never been perfect.
ReplyDeleteI agree that TNTS has a problem; that's like saying "trinitroglycerines"
Hello All--I loved the turnstile anagrams today. I did get the theme, but some of the shorter fills were my downfall today. I had to look up Banquo. My brain did not retain that ghost's name. It has been too many years since I read "Macbeth".
ReplyDeleteI also have a bruise right next to the one from yesterday when I realized that the "Pug" clue related to a pugilist and not a dog!Duh!
Any puzzle with the entire center filled with Candlestick Park is a great puzzle. I've been to Baseball games there (and frozen my tush off). It gets very cold and windy at Candlestick Point where the stadium is located. The Giant's baseball park is in San Francisco now, but the 49er's Football team still plays at Candlestick.
MJ-Congratulations on your beautiful granson. Heed those words from Dodo. They grow up way too fast and before you know it they are finished with college and off to parts far away. Take it from me, I know.
ReplyDeleteHi gang -
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle felt like a Saturday to me. Worked it in the Freep, with circles, which were very helpful in getting PESTILENT.
Big, big struggle, but I finally made it through, after a hiatus of several hours.
It's a brilliant virtuoso construction for sure. Reminds me of Paganini's violin music.
I could KVETCH, but since Scott has asked for our forbearance, I won't.
I saw a program on the military channel the other night about the battle of Kursk - the biggest tank battle ever between Germany and Russia in July-August of 43.
Horrible casualties on both sides. The Germans had just reached the point where they were about to burst through the Russian defenses, when the tank forces got called back to defend attacks on Italy - 2000 km away. Don't know if this timing fits the Anzio invasion of late Jan. 1944, or not.
War really is hell.
MJ - Congrats. The fun is just beginning
EddyB,
ReplyDeleteI'd say that recipes are quite important, unless one eats all their food in its original state.
And grandchildren, besides being a source of great pride, are nothing less than the future of our world.
But I agree that what Jill is doing is important, and I hope she and her fellow activists meet with success.
Doug: I was smart enough to marry someone a lot smarter than me, and I do mean "a lot." Keeps me striving and compensating, though it's a losing battle. She's got the practical smarts. I'm the font of mostly useless information, so we complement each other pretty well. At least it's worked for 30+ years so far.
ReplyDeleteI had to google about half a dozen clues, and erase/re-work a few areas, but it was good brain exercise! I figured out the theme (although not the rotation – thanks, MJ!) just in time to help me with the center clue, which was the MILESTONE in finishing the puzzle. Great, fun clues that really made me work, in a fun way!
ReplyDeleteMJ: Congratulations on your new grandson!
Dick: I hope you’re safe and far from the flood areas!
C.C.: Thank you for explaining what “mirin” is! A cooking show often mentions mirin. I was watching it last night and thought ‘I should ask C.C. what it is.’ You must’ve read my mind!
Dennis: Thanks for piping in! I was thinking this morning how I miss “Today is…” when you’re away. I must’ve sensed today was an important one! Will see what tools I can put into use tonight...
KQ: He dropped his blackberry in the snow? My b-i-l would have been out there with plows to find his! I never see him without it handy.
Anonymous- The other three aren't true anagrams since they don't create a real word. But what the heck, using the word "anagram" makes it a little easier to describe the theme, even though the beauty of the theme was in its rotating letters.
ReplyDeleteFor those who haven't picked up on the rotation here's how it worked.
TILES- rotate the T to the end and you get ILEST. Rotate the I to the end and you get LESTI. Rotate the L in LESTI to the end and you get ESTIL. Rotate the E in ESTIL to the end and you get STILE. The last theme entry is to be taken literally: TURN (rotate) STILE.
Rather cryptic, isn't it. WHEW!
Pretty amazing, Scott.
EddyB : why would you question the importance of recipes and especially grandchildren?? I love them both. Just as you are proud of Jill, and the work she is doing, people with children and grands are equally proud of them..even if some are too young to 'do' anything:)
ReplyDeleteAnyone else put BOND instead of HARI for Spydom name? I put in Bond in the first pass, but had to change it when I got to the perps.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all for the congratulations and well wishes for our grandson. We are in complete awe, and are looking forward to watching him "become." Thanks, too, to those who reminded us to enjoy every moment. It is already going too fast.
ReplyDelete@Jeannie-Thank you for sharing your recipes. We're currently avoiding beef and pork for the most part (for dietary reasons), but the meatloaf was still delicious with ground turkey!
Jerome, Once again you demonstrate how your constructors have so many tools to challenge us. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteScott, Excellent job and truly amazing!
Hahtool, I filled Bond in also.
That's why I do it in lead, with an eraser handy.
BillG: My paper often prints "Filmore" and "Doonesbury" side by side. They both can be extremely mean-spirited but are both, often, spot on... but at different ends of the political (pretend you didn`t see that!) spectrum.
ReplyDeleteJeannie, no hail here, but we had lightening this am. It really poured.
ReplyDeleteWarning long post about lost cellphone in snow!
I am sure I wrote about it here as it was a really lousy morning. One of the first snowfalls of the year my husband went out to shovel. He was frustrated with our boys as they weren't out of bed to help (it was a late start and they got to sleep in) and when he came back in the blackberry was gone. Only had it a month. We re-shoveled many areas looking but couldn't find it. It was on vibrate and in a case. I cased the home, the garage - everywhere but nowhere to be found. He wondered if he dropped it going to the mailbox to get the paper only to have the plow go through before he realized it was lost. That is where we are expecting to find it. However, we had a solid 8 inches of show that day, so trying to move the snow was not really a good possibility at the time. We even called Verizon to see if they could locate it via GPS hoping for a relative location (I know that this can be very accurate). They cited some reason why they wouldn't do it. I suspect it is the additional $500 they would get if he buys a new one.
He is currently using a cast off of one of his colleagues that they turned in when they got a new one. He most definitely wouldn't be without anything.
If it doesn't appear in the snow bank, who knows what happened to it. That was not one of our better mornings. Two weeks later, he left his Itouch on the plane. Another lost electronic!
EddyB, I have a recipe concocted especially for you:
ReplyDelete1. Come from a foreign country having no formal training in the English language and put together a VERY popular and successful crossword blog.
2. Spend about two hours toiling on Windhover's farm when haying is being done while he is philosophising.
3. Go to the gym with Dennis.
4. Spend about 2 hours with Lemonade discussing the nuances of life and law.
5. Hit the bar with Lois shooting pool and shooting shots.
6. Eat a big slice of my meatloaf (a must after your gig with Lois)
7. See Melissabee for a massage. It seems you need it, to lighten up.
Oh, sorry to post so soon again. This was a hoot. My mom and her hubby are in Hawaii enjoying themselves. She posts me daily to tell me a quick weather update (what is to update about sunny and 80?) and what a nice time they are having. They do xwords but never the LA Times as our paper doesn't carry it.
ReplyDeleteToday I get a random text "What was the last place the Beatles played?" I guess the Hawaii papers carry the LA Times xword. Thank goodness for technology.
Jeannie (7:24)....terrific !!!:)
ReplyDeleteKQ...don't you just hate days like that?
Figures that the Blackberry would have been set on vibrate....probably wiggled its little butt on further down in the snow. Are they water-proof?? If so and the snow plow didn't get it, you'll find it when the thaw sets in.
Jerome: I see your point on the rotating letters.
ReplyDeleteOK, it was cryptic.
Amazing would be a word that rotated into 5 letter anagrams.
Jeannie: You go, girl!
ReplyDeleteGood evening CC, et al., What an amazing puzzle! Agree that this was one of the cleverest yet. It spanked my hind parts in 'stile' but I did enjoy it. Kind of caught the theme but not enough to help. Just kept whitlin' away in spare moments and eventually it all worked out.
ReplyDeleteLoved the ref. to Paul Lynde - one of my all time favs. And loved the ref to St. Martin. I'll be there Apr 4 ('Easter') then on to Antigua, where I intend to 'eat', 'div'e, and perfect my 'adaptive' techniques. We'll see what kind of tools there 'are' to use in such a 'distant' island or 'islet'. Am sure my 'knee bends' will improve. Also loved seeing 'chief' and 'teepee' in the same puzzle.
CA: great story about Wigwam hotel.
Jeannie: love your recipe for eddy. Should be good for a lot of us.
Gotta run. The party continues, just another 'tool'box. I do love this day!
Enjoy your night.
There's a very good special playing on HBO lately about the rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. If you are a basketball enjoyer, don't miss it. The Showtime Lakers were my favorites. More enjoyable than the Lakers of late, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing kvetch in a CW. I hope I get to see verklempt too.
Can you imagine what a German or Hawiian puzzle would look like? They'd have to be full page puzzles to fit all those looong words!
ReplyDeleteKQ: my husband loses everything, too. I don't think he gas ever been on public transport without leaving something behind. Fortunately, he doesn't want a fancy cell. He hasn't lost the little one he has, yet . . .
ReplyDeleteThanks for the plug Lo-li-ta, but I am tired, so I am going to bed. I bet we all have our special spice to ass to the day. and all of it is important.
ReplyDeleteAnnette,
ReplyDeleteI thought it was cute the way you said your b-i-l always has his ohone "handy". Did you know that's what the Germans call cell phones? Handys--their way of pluralizing English words ending in 'y'.
I doubt Eddy B really meant to be mean...but maybe if he took an interest in cooking and tried some of Jeannie's recipes he'd appreciate them more.
RECIPE ALERT!
I made my old "Busy Day Chicken" recipe tonight with the home-made onion soup mix, and it was delicious--not as salty as with the packets:
line the bottom of a 10x13 dish/pan with about 1 1/2 cups rice--I use long grain brown rice, add enough chicken pieces to cover the rice. Mix separately 1 ounce onion soup mix (or one packet) stirred into a can of cream of mushroom soup, a small can of mushroom pieces, and about 1 1/2 soup cans water all combined. Pour over the chicken, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. During the last 10 minutes remove the foil and allow to brown a little.
oops! ohone should read phone. I looked at that so long before I saw what I meant.
ReplyDeleteI think it should be only one can of water too--there were too many "1 1/2" measures in there.
ReplyDeleteGreat theme. The online version did not have the circles, however. My paper is back to daily puzzles from Wayne Robert Williams. He launched a new website.
ReplyDeleteGood evening CC and all,
ReplyDeleteLoved your c/w, Scott, an amazing theme. I didn't get it, and even if mine had had circles, I wouldn't have... just too good. Took me longer than 17 minutes fer shure.Used an atlas for Rabat and St. Martin.
Fun to see Candlestick Park in the center.That is a very chilly field in the summer.SF's climate is completely different than ours(one hr south).
KQ, I could not find an LA Times cw in any paper on Oahu last week.Let me know for future visits.
Jeannie, I just scanned some old posts to pick up your recipes.Still looking for pork chops.I admit, we are able to travel a lot. Bob collected many Marriott points while working, and we watch for low fares.Loved your 7:24 post!
MJ, your world has just become a lot fuller. There is no love or joy that compares to having grandchildren.Truman and Grady light up my life.
WH, well said @ 5:19!!
CA, loved your teepee story!
and Eddy, I don't really think you meant it to sound that way. As a retired teacher, I am in awe of Jill and what she is doing in Sacto for us. That is why she was selected teacher of the year for her district.
nice job troops
ReplyDelete@Jeannie 7:24, brava!
ReplyDeleteJust got back from chorus practice and read this evenings posts.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine that eddyB has anything against grandchildren and food prep in general. Loving the babies and enjoying good food is not a conflict of interest with having admiration for his wife's efforts on behalf of California teachers
That reminds me...Jeannie, GAH and I had your Sweet and Sour Pork with Rice this evening. It was excellent. All the flavor and a lot fewer calories than the deep fried kind.