Theme: Easy as A-B-C - All the theme answers are phrases that begin with a single letter followed by a single word. And all in alphabetical order.
20A. Elite socialite : A-LISTER
22A. Place for a finance major : B-SCHOOL (Business School)
27A. Delivery method : C-SECTION. Caesarean section - surgical procedure to deliver a baby.
20A. Elite socialite : A-LISTER
22A. Place for a finance major : B-SCHOOL (Business School)
27A. Delivery method : C-SECTION. Caesarean section - surgical procedure to deliver a baby.
37A. Planned attack times : D-DAYS. From Wikipedia: "D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. The best known D-Day is June 6, 1944 — the day of the Normandy landings — initiating the Western Allied effort to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II. However, many other invasions and operations had a designated D-Day, both before and after that operation."
48A. Online investing : E-TRADING. Electronic trading of securities, such as stocks and bonds.
54A. Camera lens ratio : F-NUMBER. Often called f-stop -f is for focal length, it is a measure of lens speed.
56. Bare wear : G-STRING. If i must. Wiki says "the origin of the term 'g-string' is obscure."
What else …? H- or I-Beam. O-Ring. U-Turn. X-Factor.
Great to see another puzzle by Mangesh. His second byline in LA Times. He was a commenter here for a time, and you can re-read C.C.'s interview with him here.
Mangesh also just had two puzzle accepted by the Games magazine (December issue). Congratulations, Mangesh! Do tell us how you developed today's Letter Openers theme.
Mangesh also just had two puzzle accepted by the Games magazine (December issue). Congratulations, Mangesh! Do tell us how you developed today's Letter Openers theme.
Across:
1. Bit of cat chat : MEOW.
5. Phobia : DREAD
10. Cell signal strength indicators : BARS. A beautiful sight.
14. __ mater : ALMA. Latin for "nourishing mother.'
15. Unconventional : OUTRE. The Free Dictionary defines outre as Out of the common course or limits; extravagant.
16. Atty.-to-be's challenge : LSAT. Law School Admission Test.
17. Indian princess : RANI
18. Flightless birds : RHEAS. Similar to ostrich.
19. Where some descents start : ACME
24. Dick and Harry's leader? : TOM. Leader to the phrase "Tom, Dick and Harry".
25. __ name: computer ID : USER
26. "__ size fits all" : ONE
31. Russian coins : RUBLES. 1 Russian ruble = 0.0324 US dollars.
34. 1960s Canadian prime minister Pearson : LESTER. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957. Quote: "The grim fact is that we prepare for war like precocious giants, and for peace like retarded pygmies."
36. Pound of poetry : EZRA
38. Middle __ : EAST
42. Ironic tales' tails : TWISTS
44. Sharapova of tennis : MARIA. Russian.
45. Low parts : BASSES
50. Bambi's aunt : ENA
51. "Baseball Tonight" channel : ESPN
53. Like some stocks, for short : OTC. The phrase "over-the-counter" can be used to refer to stocks that trade via a dealer network as opposed to on a centralized exchange.
60. Wasatch Mountains ski resort : ALTA. In Utah.
61. Body-care brand named from the Latin for "snow-white" : NIVEA
63. Sch. with Riverside and Irvine campuses : UCAL. University of California.
64. Soup vegetable : LEEK
65. Stunning weapon : TASER. Great clue. Don't tase me, bro!
66. Tableland : MESA
67. __ majesty : LESE. The crime of violating majesty. No idea. Check out the picture.
68. Like some bars : SMOKY
69. Pitt in films : BRAD. Sigh.
Down:
1. Kate of "We Are Marshall" : MARA. Had no idea.
2. Airline to Ben-Gurion : EL AL
3. Prefix with bus : OMNI. Omnibus. Several meanings.
4. Oxford vests : WAISTCOATS. Crossing two theme answers.
5. Moola : DOREMI. Both are slang terms for money.
6. German coal valley : RUHR
7. Riviera season : ETE. French summer. Should be a gimme by now.
8. Emirate natives, mostly : ARABS
9. Menu heading : DESSERTS. Nailed it. I don't have much of a sweet tooth - for dessert i just want more dinner.
10. Not at all scintillating : BLAH
11. Comparable to a cucumber : AS COOL. Cool as a cucumber.
12. Punk rock icon Joey : RAMONE. Died of lymphoma in 2001.
13. Inscribed slabs : STELES. Like this.
21. Young 'uns : TOTS. Curtain climbers. Ankle biters.
23. Rock's Mötley __ : CRUE
25. Yet to be had : UNEATEN. Seems sad.
27. Revolutionary Guevara : CHE. Funny.
28. "Oh yeah? __ who?" : SEZ
29. Misjudge : ERR. I suppose.
30. Auto pioneer : OLDS
32. Bit of a fairy tale trail : BREAD CRUMB. Cute.
35. Process: Abbr. : SYST
37. Begs to differ : DISSENTS
39. Jackie's "O" : ARI. Aristotle Onassis, Jacquelyn Kennedy's second husband.
40. Sloth, for one : SIN. Seven deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony. Anyone else have a favorite?
41. Price indicator : TAG
43. Hall of Fame NFL coach Ewbank : WEEB. Weeb was short for Wilbur.
44. Dillon of "There's Something About Mary" : MATT
45. Happen to : BEFALL
46. Shakers founder : ANN LEE. Had no idea, but she looks exactly like one would expect.
47. Pan-fries : SAUTES
49. Prayer beads : ROSARY
52. Trojan War king : PRIAM. Mythology, I never remember any of it.
55. Brand : MAKE
56. Computer nerd : GEEK
57. "Happy birthday" writer, perhaps : ICER. One who ices a cake.
58. Org. that reaches for the stars? : NASA
59. "I'm __ it's over" : GLAD. Almost.
Answer grid.
Melissa
56 comments:
Good morning, Melissa Bee, C.C. and gang - nice to see our blog alumnus Mangesh, and today's puzzle was a real beauty -- very enjoyable.
I thought there were some very good clues today, including 'Bit of cat chat', 'Dick and Harry's leader?', 'Comparable to a cucumber', etc, but my favorites were 'Bare wear' and 'Org. that reaches for the stars'. And the theme was a real beauty - nicely done.
I liked the crossing of 'B-school' and 'As cool' for some reason. Not gonna say what my first thought was for 'Yet to be had', but it fit.
Melissa Bee, wonderful job with the blog, highlighted by a fine sample of 56A. I didn't realize you had a bike.
Today is Pardon Day and National Date Nut Bread Day. And who among us hasn't dated a nut or two? Anyway, we're all pardoned.
Did You Know?:
- This is sobering -- it takes about sixty-three thousand trees to make the newsprint for the average Sunday edition of The New York Times.
- Know what 'NERF' stands for? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
- In ancient Greece, women counted their age from the date they were married. So ladies, how old? (I can finally ask this question without getting death threats)
Hello Puzzlers - Once again, I dutifully filled in the whole grid just before bedtime and completely overlooked the theme. I do that way too often! Clever themes like today's deserve better...
Good work, MB, and thanks for fun links. I can understand how you ladies find Brad Pitt attractive.
LESE majesty? Never heard of it, or its ANN LEE cross, so that was a red letter. Overall a nice Wednesday work. Send more, Mangesh!
Morning, all!
Stunning puzzle today! I was especially gobsmacked by the fact that the theme answers were in alphabetical order. And not a bad clue/answer in the bunch, either (although I have to admit I really wanted PHASER for 65A and was afraid that we were dealing with a less-than-savory alternate spelling at first).
Oh -- and thanks for the GSTRING link, Melissa! ^_^
MB, fun blog and fun puzzle. I enjoyed the effort to create new clues for some regular fill, and the alphabetic progression was well done. I am awed by this creation by someone who has not been exposed to our culture in person, and yet includes Americana like TOM DICK and HARRY, or GRINDERS = HEROES and the dated SDOREMI as MOLLAH. Amazing. Has Mangesh made a trip to the US yet?
In the interview with Mangesh, he mentioned how he kept a diary of things he was learning from doing puzzles. I know many of our solvers write things down, so I am surprised no one has mentioned the extensive discussion we had back in February with a Doug Peterson puzzle which included ANN LEE and the SHAKERS who believed in total abstinence from sexual activity. As Dennis suggested, perhaps that is why they were shaking.
Continuing your thought, H-BOMB, J-LO, K-RATION well I guess enough is enough.
For all of you, I wish L’Shana Tovah, a happy healthy new year. Enjoy the quiet. No typos today, only best wishes.
Hi gang,
So nice to see that folks here have enjoyed the puzzle ...makes all the effort that goes into getting a final YES from the editor.. after several rejects..worthwhile.
Frankly, I thought this was too simple a theme to be accepted. May be it was my hangover of rejections.
But thanks to Rich for showing me how stupid I was.
What also pleasantly surprised me was the number of original clues Rich has retained. I usually find he replaces most of the clues - not in this case I observed. My fav clue is "Org. that reaches forthe stars?" It took me 2 days to come up with it ...
My first theme entry was B-school. So, in that sense I shall tribute this puzzle to my B-school..other entry i considered was F-SIXTEEN but its more usual to find it as F-16.
Thanks CC, Melissa and fellow solvers here for your encouraging words..they do matter to someone like me who has not been to the US ...am waiting to have a US visa on my passport and one day actually sit by lake erie with my wife ...on a nice cool morning having a hero...
Namaste from Mumbai, India...
Musical puzzle today. Along with 5d: DO RE MI, the theme answers all started with the notes of the musical scale.
For a Wednesday, I found the SW corner pretty challenging. Couldn't get past the idea of F-STOP even though I knew it didn't fit. Not a skier, so couldn't think of ALTA, Didn't know ANN LEE; for some reason I thought ANALEE might fit instead. Finally, didn't know PRIAM and WEEB, so that made NUMBER hard to see.
Interesting how ASCOOL (as cool) crossed BSCHOOL (b-school)...
Good Morning C.C.,Melissa and All,
Melissa, your write-up was lively. I loved your additions to 'tots'funny! The 'lese Majesty'
picture will delight my H, as
that subject is the 'be all and
end all' of humor for him. I blame
it on boarding school.
I join in congratulating Mangesh.
The interview is fascinating, and I wish him well- will be following him now.
I got the theme after'c section'
and 'b school'; 'A lister' fell
and the rest followed,as the placement was 'on target'.
A lot of thought went into the fill and it was new and challenging
yet doable. Also, the clues were
fresh.
My stumblers,as always, were the names:43d Weeb,1d Mara, 46dAnn Lee,
34a Lester; 60a was new to me.
Thanks to perps and wags,I finished.
My favorite was one of the new Latin lessons-'Nivea'. Although,
"bread crumbs' and 'waistcoats' were great.
Have a great day everyone.
Good Morning All, I think Mangesh was on his A-GAME (there's another letter starter) today. I really liked this puzzle.
The theme was fun and I enjoyed the way the vowels progressed through the grid. My favorite fill were WAIST COATS and BREAD CRUMBS. I don't think I've seem those before.
I knew (34A) LESTER Pearson right off the bat. He was well known in Canada in the late 1950's when we lived there. His Nobel Prize was well deserved.
I was really impressed with Mangesh's grasp of American trivia. That diary must really be paying off. I knew them, but MARA, ANN LEE, ALTA and UCAL seemed somewhat surprising for someone who has never visited the U.S. I guess the RAMONEs, Motley CRUE and BRAD Pitt are well known just about everwhere.
Is "COOL AS A cucumber" a phrase that is used anywhere else but here?
BTW, I just found out that a cousin of mine has adopted raw veganism as her permanent diet...basically fruits, nuts and veggies only and nothing cooked over 118F. She says it takes a lot of time to manage and prepare her diet, but she also says she feels better. Seems rather extreme to me.
Melissa Bee, great blogging and terrific links. The CHE one was really funny.
Dennis, I'm either 49 (first time was the "practice round"), or 24 years old from my time with GAH. Anyway you count it, I've been married for a lot of years!
Good morning everyone. Nice write-up, Melissa. Mangesh, thanks for dropping in. Great and fun puzzle. Liked your theme, and kudos for delivering it in pretty much the American English vernacular.
A not too difficult puzzle. Two passes and a little crisscrossing going back, a little perp help and it was completed. No look-ups were needed. WAGS included DDAYS and LEEK (one of my favorite soups). Thought the clues for TOM, HEROS, ICER, ACME, and BASSES were all cool. Liked the ten letter downs of WAISTCOATS and BREADCRUMBS, too. For C SECTION, I first tried 'Cesarean'.
Also liked the silent 'H' crossing of RUHR and RHEAS.
Enjoy the day.
The Straight Dope speculates on the origin of the G-String. Even though that may make some sense, there is certainly plenty of "Air on the G-string" in the picture Melissa linked...
Good Morning, I sit here in my sunroom as 12 roofers are attacking my roof repairing damage from a June storm!
This puzzle was breezing by until the SW corner and ANNLEE, ENA and LESE fell by wags (borrowing the lexicon of this web), so I got 'em all. I feel that most peeps on this blog do well on standardized exams because they have a deep repository of knowledge that can be called up just by association.
I first saw cat chat as chit chat because like you, I read in gulps.
The pattern came after ALISTER and BSCHOOL although the alphabetical feature did not.
Grinders is not familiar here in the center of the country for SUBS. A grinder to me is someone who works hard and persitently at tasks that are sometimes not pleasant. They are HEROs to me.
Pound of poetry? Very cool! It reminded me of a cartoon about a company that was accepting bids for art in their new bldg by the pound. I can't find it now!
Moola? I wanted DINERO but surmised the clue would have been more clever - e.g. Baja bread.
STELE? Never heard of it!
Had PARIS for King but TASER talked me out of it. Mythology ain't my bag.
I would like to repeat my question of yesterday. Since I was out of state last week I did last Thursday's puzzle yesterday and wanted to know if the blog was full of references to the fact that the the palindrome theme did not have any palindromes.
I also really loved today's puzzle with its fresh cluing of some common answers.
Congratulations Mangesh!
Melissa B,
Nice job of blogging too. I enjoyed the links.
Dennis,
According to the ancient Greeks, I'll be just turning 38 tomorrow! Finally a new way to reduce my age!
Like Al, my hangups were all in the SW too, having the same pause on F-stop. I did know PRIAM from my ancient (1958-62) Latin readings, but I ended up g'ing ANN LEE, and that opened the others up, so I could take WAGs on everything else there.
ps I have never seen a LEEK and no GSTRING on my 12 string guitar ever looked like that.
Thanks Melissa!
Husker,
You can access the older blogs and comments on the main page, by going to "older posts" at the bottom and work back to it.
i forgot too that I did get the theme today (for once). Now I'm wondering if we can come up with the whole alphabet of letter beginning phrases like those.
@Husker Gary, I did mention in the comments last Thursday about the semordnilap theme words. You can always go back and read the old posts and discussion, C.C. doesn't delete them.
Hi c.c. Melissa and everyone,
Melissa: Wonderful job!
Dennis: 40
Did not even get the theme until I came here. Only look-up was Weeb and I really could have gotten it with the perps had I been more patient. So many fresh clues. Favorites: Bit of cat chat; Dick and Harry's leader?; Delivery method; Comparable to a cucumber; and Dennis' favorites Bare wear and Org. that reaches for the Stars
H-Bomb; I Pod; K Mart; L L Bean; N Sync; O Magazine; P and G; Q Tips; R and R; S and M; T Rex; U Haul; X Men; Y chromosome
Mangesh: Wonderful puzzle and thanks for dropping by.
A great day to everyone!
Kazie, Thanks for the instructions on the palindromic puzzle! Those comments were fun to read and, as always, very informational. What an erudite group we have in this little ark of knowledge!
Also, I sympathize with those of you suffering from the heat but here in Nebraska, we have the windows wide open as lows are getting down in the 40's. Ah, fall weather and Husker football! To paraphrase the line from "Field of Dreams" - "Is this heaven?" "No, it's Nebraska!"
@Clear Ayes
I hope your friend doesn't take this diet lark too seriously. Today's theme (and King Priam) reminded me of a line from a Brit-movie ("Shirlie Valentine" - 1989) I watched with my Mother - she laughed so much she nearly spilt her VSO. My father would not have approved (either of the joke or the spilling).
Shirley Valentine is a middle-aged English woman who has just decided to leave her husband and run off to Greece. There are many famous lines, but here is the best:
Shirley Valentine: That's right, Millandra, I'm going to Greece for the sex! Sex for breakfast! Sex for dinner! Sex for tea! And sex for supper!
Van Driver: Sounds like a fantastic diet, love!
Shirley Valentine: It is, have you never heard of it? It's called the "F"-plan!
Anyway, nice one Mangesh, for bringing back these memories. Smoky bars, too, remember them?
A few more for the letter list:
A-LINE, B-SIDE, L-SAT, O-PEC, P-SAT, V-NECK, W-C, Y-AXIS.
I'm stuck for J, M, R (other than R and R), S, and Z(-Z-TOP?).
Gr8rmomx2,
Thanks for your good ones too!
Good Morning Melissa et al.
Great job on the blog, MB. Loved the links!
I really enjoyed this puzzle, and mostly have the same fav clues as everyone else here. The construction, in alphabetical order, must have been a bear for someone who's first language is not English. Thank you for this gem, Mangesh, and thanks for stopping by!
@Dennis - I'm just a 1 1/2 y.o. toddler. But if you include the years with my late husband, I'm still only pushing 30 ;-D
@Y'all
For future reference, I sense that Mangesh may throw in a few more Ameri-Brit/Commonwealth clothing distinctions into his puzzles in future. Here are a few potential banana-skins/Squeaky-bums.
Vest = Waistcoat (pronounced "wescot" by an older educated generation; c.f., pronunciation of "forehead" as "fo'rud")
Undershirt = Vest
Suspenders = Braces (a fail-safe mechanism can be called "Belt-and-Suspenders" (US) or "Belt-and-braces" (shorter, alliterative), elsewhere)
Retainers = Braces (although Brit-kids generally stay with what their DNA gave them: gaps, buck-teeth, 'n' all)
Garters = Suspenders (used to hold up Ladies' stockings); garters is also used (were once used by men to hold up socks; no longer).
Sweater = Jumper (Sweater is now also used)
Jumper = Sleeveless dress/Pinafore
Pants = Trousers (doh!)
Underpants/Underwear = Pants/boxers (m.)/knickers (f.). "Panties" (f.) is used but still considered affected in UK/C'wealth.
(Panty) Hose = Tights
And as previously mentioned, take particular care here:
Fanny-pack = Bum-pack
TTFN, NC
Hi everyone,
Off to a ripping start for a Wednesday! Great puzzle Mangesh and I am also surprised you have never lived in the U.S. You have a wonderful grasp of our phrases.
I did have trouble with the SW corner and from reading other comments, I was not the only one.
Got a kick out of 43D (WEEB) glad Melissa explained it, I thought it was one of those wonderful 'southern' names we had such fun with at one time.
57D (HAPPY BIRTHDAY WRITER) stymied me for a few...I was thinking of the song. Very clever.
More later...
Dennis: 40 in less than 2 months.
Thought of these three:
J-WALK, M-& M's, R-VALUE, and cheated to get the following, for which some of you may come up with better known replacements: S-PHASE, Z-WAVE or TABLE.
Just stick a letter in front of BEAM; it's done all the time. Z-BEAM, L-BEAM, etc.
EZRA Pound showed up today, but we have seen a lot of his great poetry and have read about his real life anti-semitism, fascism and just plain nuttiness. So I will go elsewhere for a poetry selection.
Since today's puzzle came all the way from India and our friend Mangesh, I chose this poem from Indian poet and novelist, Vikram Seth. You may be ready to put your pajamas back on (for them wot have 'em) and have that nightcap after reading this one.
Dark Night
Dark night, and silent, calm, and lovely,
That stills the efforts of our lives,
Rare, excellent-kind, and behovely
No matter how the poet strives
To weave with epithets and clauses
Your soundless web, he falters, pauses,
And your enchantment slips between
His hands, as if it's never been.
Of all times most inbued with beauty,
You lend us by your spell relief
From ineradicable grief
(If for a spell), and pain, and duty.
We sleep, and nightly are made whole
In all our fretted mind and soul.
- Vikram Seth
Google is "at it" again...
I really enjoyed the puzzle and the write-up. Thanks. I'm always amazed at CC's and Mangesh's grasp of American idioms. Funny thing...I enjoy themes and often use them to help me solve the puzzle. Today I didn't even notice the theme until coming here. I wonder why?
I'd heard of Shakers but not Ann Lee so I looked her up on Wikipedia. Very interesting but not very pleasant. I didn't know D Day was used other than in WW II. Another C/W learning experience.
Re: D-DAY
In addition, H-Hour is the actual time on D-Day when a military operation is to begin. (Now you guys can all write Op Orders:-))
Z-bar. It's widely used metal flashing and is sold in all hardware stores, lumber yards, etc.
If your residence has 4x8 sheets of exterior siding you've got Z-bar.
Husker- Don't offer those roofers a beer. They'll never leave.
Good morning Melissa, C.C. and all,
Impressive puzzle Mangesh- loved breadcrumbs and NASA. The SW corner slowed me down, but after G-ing AnnLee, I got rolling once more.Clues really made me think.
Unfortunately I had "a fear" instead of dread, and Fatone instead of Ramone, but they soon fell into place.
CA is not familiar with grinders, or torpedos , just subs, but then Mangesh probably doesn't use any of those terms either. Wow!
Doremi filled via perps, as I don't recall seeing it before.Knew dough was money, so research led me to this.
Dennis, I'm 41 and getting better every day.So sad about all the trees used. Hope all of you are recycling.
Hello puzzlers. Melissa, lovely blog and nice clip of Brad. Thank you.
Seeing Mangesh's name energized me for this xwd and I was not disappointed. I recalled that his last one was also great fun.
Most were easy, lovely fill and hand up for reading "chit chat instead of cat chat" which slowed me a bit in the NW corner, but the rest was a snap except for SAAR instead of RUHR but that was quickly dispelled .
LESTER Pearson zapped right onto the fill for some reason as did ANNLEE about whom there was some discussion before and ENA took a while, but it lay in some deep recess and soon popped out.
I loved:
TWISTS, ironic tales' tails
EZRA, pound of poetry (fresh clue)
TOM, Dick and Harry's leader, great clue
Noticed the letter theme after finishing and thought it very smart especially since they were in order!
How about
B movie
X rated
T strap
If they are duplicates, I apologize.
Learning moments: D Day for other than the one, and NIVEA, Latin snow white.
Isn't it amazing how Latin, more than two thousand years later, still impacts us?
Thanks again, Mangesh, for another marvelous puzzle.
I hope your Wednesday is going well, everyone! Namaste.
BTW, Dennis, I am 42; love that!
Jerome, Those roofers would require cerveza to stay for a prolonged time! The Hispanic pop music is blaring off the roof and they are doing a great job! They come as an army and get it all done in one day. Our very cool weather here might hinder the shingles from sealing down but hey, that'll happen eventually.
The Hispanic roofing company I (and much of the rest of Fremont) is using is called Bluest Sky Roofing which may not be what you want to see after the roof is on. Our insurance agent was very happy to hear us mention that Juan and Felipe's company were doing the work. They are the best according to her.
The tough thing isn't putting a letter in front of a word. We can all come up with
A BOMB
B GIRL
C SPAN, etc.
But can you do what Mangesh did? Come up with theme entries that have a letter count that fits a crossword grid. His entries hold this numerical pattern-
7 letters
7 "
8 "
5 "
8 "
7 "
7 "
He must have been a bit astonished to find a sequence of words that fit puzzle symmetry.
By the way. I knew an itinerant preacher. He was a mover and a Shaker.
For Melissa Bee - Very Nice blog ... I enjoyed it ... and very informative. ( Thats why I keep coming here ...)Thank you.
Mangesh ; Thank you for stopping by, and giving your comments ... I am continually amazed by your ambitious projects in a 'foreign' land. The puzzle was very enjoyable.
If I may nitpick ... 'Rani' is an Indian Queen, not a princess ( Rajkumari )... and you, of all people, should be aware ... or was this the result of Mr. Norris' editing ?
I had never heard of Doremi , being a slang for money ... whaaat? ... ok, a learning moment. I didnt know Mr. Ewbank either ... I have heard of Kevin Eubanks ... Jay Leno show ?
I didn't think an F-stop was a 'speed', but I read Wiki, and I guess I am wrong ... so there is the speed of the film - 400 ASA, the speed of the shutter, 1 / 200 th sec. and now the speed of the lens focal lenght/aperture area size combo.... with all these 3 speeds, competing with each other, its no wonder my pictures always come out looking so fuzzy...
Finally, last and most important, to Lemon and Hahtool and all others - L'Shana Tovah ... and Baruch und Mazel tov ! Happy Rosh Hashana !
Any issues or revelations I might have already have been covered by you good people and much more eloquently than I could.
The only issue I have is smoky, because I want to spell it smokey. And I'm to lazy to let Noah correct my thinking.
A good day to all.
Hello everybody.
Going on 45 as of this Friday.
I liked this puzzle, but the Sw corner was hard. I had to look up ANNLEE, WEEB, and ALTA, and still scratched head over LESE. I, too, wanted FSTOP, and got FNUMBER only from the perps.
I found the NE corner hard, too, but I realize it is because my brain fixated on, locked onto, an incorrect answer which prevented me from seeing what later turned out to be obvious. Namely: I had to look up RAMONE, having first thought of Joey FATONE, and I "stuck" with Fatone even though I knew he wasn't a punk rock icon. Then I put AT ME (my descendants all start at me) in for 19A, which forced ASTOOL for the Cucumber clue. Man oh man! Once I unclogged the ol' grey cells I was able to fill that corner correctly, but still couldn't parse ASCOOL into two words, wanting it to be some sort of botanical technical term. I sure coulda had a V-8! Laughed my ass off when AS COOL finally focussed up.
I also got pleasure and chuckles from cat chat, Dick and Harry's leader, Pound of poetry, and fairy tale trail. (Echo with Ironic tale's tails.)
BREADCRUMBS, DESSERTS, and DISSENTS are awesome fills. Sometimes when my wife and I can't follow one another's trains of thought, we smile, say "Bread crumbs," and procedd to explain the steps our thought processes followed to get from point A to point B.
I didn't like UCAL so much, but it is easily pardonable.
Melissa Bee, thanks for the fun links in your writeup, as well as your reactions.
63000 trees????? Holy wow!
Best wishes to you all.
Lemonade714: No typos? Are you sure?
hi all, just checking in before i head to the spa ...
nice to see so many positive comments about mangesh's puzzle, was a pleasure to blog. thanks mangesh for dropping in, always appreciate input from constructors.
lucina, from last night, nothing like a homegrown tomato, and they are very easy to grow. this year i planted some heirloom pineapple tomatoes and they are, by far, the sweetest i have ever tasted.
the did-you-know about trees and newspapers is sobering indeed. “Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky. We fell them and turn them into newspapers so we may record our emptiness.” ~ Kahlil Gibran
Excellent words from Kahlil Gibran. Thanks for posting them for us, melissa bee.
The only tomatoes I have actually eaten whole, like one would eat an apple, are our homegrown ones. Yum!
Lemonaid: "MOLLAH"! *snicker* Sorry, I couldn't resist. Please pardon me :)
anon@1:41 - perhaps you are unaware that a) lemonade is visually impaired, so the fact that he contributes not only with his comments but also with regular guest blogging is admirable, and b) anonymous comments with the sole purpose of pointing out someone else's trivial error are unwelcome.
Thanks, MB. Great blog.
This one was easy for a Wednesday, except for the SW corner that gave everyone trouble. Working each section by itself (across and down) makes an easier solve, I think. The top three sections fell into place with very little effort. Once I had "ALIS," I knew it was ALISTER. Then when BSCHOOL came from perps, I knew the rest of the theme clues were alphabetical. That made it easy, at least until F-stop; had to have several crosses before I got that. I did look up ALTA because SAUTES didn't look right. I had to write it down horizontally to get the "well, duh!" I knew ANNLEE, but it took some thought to remember it. Did not know WEEB, but I knew the perps were correct.
I've heard DDAY used as a common term often. A difficult test might be greeted with "Well, it's D-Day."
We have had pleasant 80s temps lately but we are back up to mid-90s today. Had a brief rainstorm a couple of days ago, but everythng from Hermine passed to the east of us.
Nothing very difficult about this puzzle. 18 minutes to finish. Good theme.
Didn't get to yesterday's puzzle until today so couldn't add my favorite blue--Paul Newman's bedroom blue eyes.l
Doreen
Hi gang -
Great blogging MB, and nice links. Love "letter opener!"
Mangesh - a big WOW! to you, sir!
Eight theme entries, in natural minor scale order. Yikes!
Not to hard, but not as easy as A-B-C, either. Got the theme right away, which helped, but still stumbled on F-NUMBER.
Wanted ANA LEE (until I saw her - scary!) And had a few other false starts.
I guess the Shaker's DISSENTS from sex, even within marriage, are why there are none of them left.
Sloth and gluttony are big hits with me. Obviously, if I had any pride, I wouldn't reveal those facts. But my all time winner is LUST - I'm just like Jimmy Carter in that respect. But, since I'm married to the LW, and we have 11 terrific grandchildren, there's no reason for me to envy anybody. I used to be greedy, but got over it. Wrath is held in reserve for those most especially appropriate moments on the highway.
Some gentlemen DISSENT DESSERTS, lest they get a BREADCRUMB on their WAISTCOATS.
I'm a litle suprised nobody but G STRING together with BRA D.
Cheers!
JzB the OUTRE trombonist
I used to be part of a community garden around the corner and grew lots of good stuff. Now I depend on the Farmers' Market. Store-bought tomatoes can't compare with vine-ripened ones. Ones from the supermarket look good but are pretty much tasteless. Same with strawberries. Other things like root vegetables, artichokes, lettuce, etc. taste pretty much the same as ones you get from the supermarket.
Do-Re-Mi by Woody Guthrie, 1937.
Isn't the plural of Stele, STELAE, not Steles?
@ Kevin.
Merriam-Webster gives: {plural ste·lae or steles}
Either is correct
I'm reminded of a joke.
How do you make soup?
First you take a LEEK.............
Don't know why my comment appears twice and neither one has a garbage can so I cannot delete one. sigh..hope I don't get counted as having 3 comments now.
Ok, I just found out what I did wrong, well sort of....sigh again :(
Husker Gary, I'm surprised that you've never seen a LEEK. They look like oversize green onions (aka scallions). Leeks have a milder flavor than onions and do make a really tasty soup base.
Nice Cuppa, My cousin is totally immersed in the raw vegan diet. I hope she continues to be healthy and pays close attention if she doesn't. She tends to be one of those "all the way" people when she finds an interest.
Hahtool, Yes, I did see the 1967 version of Bedazzled (more than once). There was a remake with Brendan Fraser a few years ago. They shouldn't have bothered. How can you beat Drimble Wedge (Peter Cook) and the Vegetations version of Bedazzled
Years ago, my wife found a recipe for vichyssoise in the New York Times cookbook. It's made with potatoes, leeks and cream blended smooth and served chilled. It was delicious!
When we were talking about classic oaters a couple of days ago, somebody mentioned "The Outlaw Josey Wales." I had never seen it but found it on cable. I just started it. Looks good.
Mangesh, thank you for a fun, creative puzzle, with great new clues! I loved the letter progression, too.
Creature, so nice to "see" you!
Melissa Bee, nice blogging. I enjoyed the Brad Pitt and cucumber photos. ;-)
The spelling didn't look right, but my first sight of ALISTER had me thinking it was Alistair Cooke. He kind of seemed like an 'Elite Socialite'...
Doreen, GREAT blue choice!
L'Shana Tovah to you all; thanks MB, but one day you will all understand I like laughter and silliness, so the no typo, typos...oh never mind. Have a sweet year all.
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