Theme: HALF- BAKED, and I was half baked this morning, and did not see it was a John Lampkin puzzle til later - one of the few constructors that I know of, and I like his style. The usual misdirection, and a tough to get theme, with it's circular reference - but hey~! it's Friday, right?
61A. Not well thought out : HALF-BAKED
Each theme answer is half of a common phrase:
17A. 61-Across Asian appetizer? : PU PLATTER - pu-pu platter, used to get this all the time.
21A. 61-Across cheer? : HIP HOORAY - "Hip-hip, horray ~!!!"
37A. 61-Across musical? : BYE BIRDIE - Bye-bye Birdie - not familiar with the "actual" story - according to Wiki, it's an Elvis related one.
55A. 61-Across gag? : KNOCK JOKE - Knock-knock joke, as in;
"knock, knock...who's there ?...Disguise...Disguise who ?...This guy's doing the blog today ~!"
Splynter
And away we GO ~!
ACROSS:
1. Work on a batter : STIR - theme related, and I was immediately mis-directed by John, thinking this was a baseball clue: Pitch didn't fit, and I'm not a big fan, so I waited on the perps.
5. Grandly appointed : POSH - again, I was looking for named, voted, etc....
9. Stand for : ABIDE
14. Strong-spined volume : TOME - Slight clecho w/23A. Spine movement? : SHIVER
15. Forte : AREA - ugh, so easy I missed it
16. "I __ Piano": Irving Berlin hit : LOVE A - my only music clue today.
19. Class figs. : PROFS - professors
20. Bleak : GRIM
25. Code-cracking gp. : NSA - National Security Agency; their website has a "7D. Greet warmly : SEE IN" feel to it....
26. Chatspeak qualifier : IMO - 'In My Opinion'
27. Batter's supply : PINE TAR - ah, now we have baseball; I need some pine tar when I play the drums - I keep dropping my sticks ~!
29. Select, in a way : SCREEN - good clue
32. "Then again ..." : YET
33. Doglike carnivore : HYENA
36. Ballet __ : RUSSE - total unknown, it's the Russian Ballet company
39. Ashes, e.g. : TREES - Baseball bat wood.
42. Geometry basic : AXIOM - I am familiar with the 'common' version - you can read about the geometric, Euclid version here.
43. Animal's gullet : MAW
46. Personally give : HAND TO
50. Hamburger's article : EIN - Hamburg, Germany, not French, thank you...
51. A.L. rival of N.Y. : BOS - yes, the hard-core baseball rivalry, BOSton Red Sox vs. New York Yankees. AL= American League.
54. Flashes : GLINTS - good clue/answer
59. Seed coating : ARIL - crossword word
60. Inspire profoundly : IMBUE
64. Great Lakes explorer La __ : SALLE
65. Convenient abbr. : Et. Al. - and others, from the Latin Et Alia
66. "Pretty Woman" actor : GERE - Richard Gere
67. Fishhook connector : SNELL - didn't know - here's how to tie one.
68. Disallow : DENY
69. Highland tongue : ERSE
DOWN:
1. Letters at Indy : STP
2. Head-scratcher : TOUGHIE - and, 13D. Hardly a head-scratcher : EASY ONE
3. Fossil indentation : IMPRINT
4. Be haunted by, perhaps : RELIVE
5. Square on the table? : PAT - oh, butter
6. Sports MD's specialty : ORTH - Orthopedic - my mom is slowly healing from her broken ankle, toughing it out at rehab for one more week - hopefully.
8. Dwells incessantly (on) : HARPS
9. Chow chow : ALPO - Chow, the dog; had one; they can be vicious
10. Town name ending : BORO - from German burg, meaning "fort", and the English version "bury"
11. They don't laugh when they're tickled : IVORIES - ah, "I Love A Piano"
12. Discredits : DEFAMES
18. Purple hue : AMETHYST - great clue, and my birthstone
22. Eats : HAS
23. Code user : SPY - and, my shortened nickname
24. Comedic actress Martha : RAYE
28. 1988 self-titled C&W album : REBA
30. FBI facility since 1932 : CRIME LAB
31. Nice street : RUE - Yup, here we go....Nice, in France, the town, and the French for street - three times, now, man.
34. Disallow : NIX
35. Diva's moment : ARIA
37. Daffodils' digs : BED
38. Bell sound : DONG
39. 1889 work of art deemed unsuitable for general display at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair : THE KISS - don't know it: here it is.
40. Title savant in a 1988 Oscar-winning film : RAINMAN - Played by Dustin Hoffman; my good friend Elizabeth was the bank officer that Tom Cruise speaks to - she's listed on IMDb, and still gets paid for her two lines....
41. Dignify : ENNOBLE
43. Handle : MONIKER - great clue
44. Pair in a rack : ANTLERS - down, boys - I wondered, too... hey~! "show me your links"
45. Horror filmmaker Craven : WES
47. Gram. case : OBJ - object, as in subject, verb, object: "John fooled Splynter", and I am the object in this sentence.
49. Illusion : MIRAGE - as in thinking you were going to see some "racks".
52. Gasped in delight : OOHED
53. Ray in the sea : SKATE - We have a "touchy-feely" tank of these at Atlantis, the aquarium in Riverhead.
56. Select : CULL - lumber reference, too, to pull out the warped boards, etc.
57. Sailing stabilizer : KEEL
58. Vigorous style : ELAN
62. Annoying buzzer : FLY
63. Danish capital? : DEE - Capital letter in Danish.
Answer grid.
Stepping in for Lemonade today - thanks for letting me be a part of this wonderful blog, and part of your morning ritual ~!
Answer grid.
Stepping in for Lemonade today - thanks for letting me be a part of this wonderful blog, and part of your morning ritual ~!
Splynter
57 comments:
Good Morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
Wow, it sure looks different from up here…
Great job blogging, Splyneter! I loved all the links and laughed out loud at some of your comments.
John’s typical misdirections had me bouncing all over this one. My first pass yielded ARIL and ERSE as the only two fills that I was confident were correct. Everything else was just WAGS (mostly wrong, as it turned out). 9D “Chow chow” for ALPO elicited a huge groan when I finally figured it out.
I liked the positioning of TOUGHIE and EASY ONE, and the crossing of IVORIES with PIANO.
I was thinking of a different artwork titled THE KISS, by Gustav Klimt. I have seen it several times at the Belvedere in Vienna.
“Bye Bye Birdie” was what we would call a “chick flick” now. But, all the guys were willing to go see it with their girlfriends, just so they could watch
Ann Margaret shake her “Pair in a rack” while singing the title song during the final credits.
Have a great day everyone - TGIF!!
Morning, all!
Definitely a bit of a TOUGHIE today, although figuring out the theme did make it a bit more of an EASY ONE than it otherwise would have been.
Actually, the theme reveal was one of the last things to fall, but I figured out early on that the theme involved removing half of repeated terms in a phrase. That helped everywhere except for 17A, where I thought the repeated term had three letters instead of two. What the heck is a PUP PUP LATTER? Then the light dawned. PU-PU PLATTERS are popular around here, but I've gotten blank stares when talking about them elsewhere in the U.S.
Lots of fun, tricky clues made this one difficult, but not a slog. CHOW CHOW had me scratching my head until I finally got it, but it's definitely my favorite today.
Good Morning, Splynter and friends. Nice to end the week with a John Lampkin puzzle. I had some difficulty getting started on this one. I, too, was mislead by 1-Across, thinking that Batter was a baseball reference. Especially after running across 27-Across in which the batter did refer to baseball.
Once I had HALF-BAKED, however, I was able to figure out the other theme clues.
Like HeartRx, I was amused by the crossing of how IVORIES intersected with the Piano clue.
Happy Friday, everyone.
QOD: Originality is undetected plagiarism. ~ William Ralph Inge
Splynter, Nice Pitch-hitting for Lemonade.
Thank you for 'THE KISS' link.
Another FUN Friday from John.
Getting the HALF-BAKED theme reveal turned a TOUGHIE into an EASY-ONE.
Fave was the SKATE.
They're warning the 'Spring-Breakers' around here to do the Sting-Ray shuffle.
Also liked the NSA/SPY thingy.
It was difficult for me, a life long N.Y.Yankee fan, to enter that BOS. Oh well, I had to 'get-er-done.'
Cheers to all at Sunset.
Good day folks,
Splynter, thanks for the great blog. I thoroughly enjoyed John Lampkin's offering today although I must admit I came close to giving up a time or two. I had figured out the theme early on, but many of the other clues had me struggling "big time." The SW was the last section I completed. Once I had ennoble, the rest came together eventually.
Although John's many misdirections gave me fits, they made the puzzle a fun solve. But, I couldn't for the life of me figure out 63D, Dee, until Splynter's explanation. Ashes/trees had my brain churning too.
Road trip planned for this weekend's business ... Albany ... so I probably will be AWOL until Monday. Have a great weekend.
Hondo
Very difficult puzzle for me. Never could get started. 23d spy ans. led me to 30d FBI facility & I inserted Quantico really threw everything off. Never did get the theme. Have a nice week-end everyone.
Good morning, all. Great blog job Splynter. JL had me hopping all over the grid on this one, but it finally opened up and everything fell in place. Thanks for a very clever and enjoyable puzzle, John.
DEE almost got me. I was pretty sure of ERSE, but wanted something to do with money for Danish capital. I stared at DEE until it finally dawned on me that this is a John Lamkin Friday and misdirection is the name of the game. DOH!
I chuckled at BORO since we just discussed MarlBORO vs MarlBOROugh a few days ago.
I can imagine this IM exchange between John and Rich:
JL: Hi Rich, I want to run a HALFBAKED theme by you.
RN: OK, I see a lot of those, what's the theme?
JL: The theme is halfbaked.
RN: Is there a joke in there somewhere?
JL: Yes, it's a KNOCKJOKE.
RN: You mean knock knock? I LOVE A good knock knock.
JL: No, just half of a knock knock.
RN: Oh. Hip HIP HOORAY! I won't DENY it if the fill is solid. It sounds like a TOUGHIE to do, though.
JL: Just one HIP. I think it will be an EASY ONE.
RN: When you're a little further along maybe we can do lunch. I know a place with a great puPU PLATTER.
JL: Hey, thanks, I can use that one too. Uh, can I get away with 'pair in a rack' as a clue?
RN: As long as the entry is ANTLERS and not referring to female anatomy, I won't NIX it.
JL: OK, I'll get back to work on it.
RN: BYE, BIRDIE.
Good Morning Splynter, CC and All,
Started my comment around 6:30 and got sidetracked and never hit publish.
Lots of groans once the theme revealed itself to me which aided in filling things in. Unknowns were Russe and The Kiss. Although Ennoble made sense for the puzzle, I couldn't think of how to use it in a sentence. I didn't try very hard either.
I'm out of shape for these Friday difficulty levels.
TGIF
Ever have one of those puzzles where you smugly congratulated yourself for finishing and only later realized you had left one or two squares to come back to later and you never did? I did that today. The stumper I had put off was 5-across, because I had quite confidently put in MAT for 5-down, "Square on a table," thinking it must have meant placemat, which although rectangular, is still sort of square. This left me with MOSH for "Grandly appointed," which as an area at a punk rock concert where fans bash themselves together, somehow didn't seem quite in sync with the clue.
I don't think I would have ever settled on the POSH/PAT combo, even if I had run through the whole alphabet in my head to consider all the possibilities. I couldn't get the notion of appointed as in named to or hired out of my head, and I never thought of the interior design-related sense of it.
Grandly misdirected. Well played, Mr. Lampkin, well played.
So, a DNF that I thought I had F'd. Er, so to speak. You know what I mean.
Otherwise, a fun, challenging smart puzzle, and I was on the right wavelength everywhere else.
Forgot to add excellent blogging Splynter. Many a laugh.
BOS was one of the few gimmes. Fourteen days and they go at it for real again Tinbeni. Seems like I've just gotten over last season.
What a boring theme.
Good Morning C.C., Splynter and all,
Splynter you have done a wonderful job on the write-up this AM, Thanks. You have a low-keyed manner that is appealing.
John L,the puzzle was a delight. Slow, but steady. The fill was KNOCK out! Your sneakiness was all over the place. My favorite was ALPO also.
The SW corner was the last to fall.The 'ble'finally fell and then 'ull' and 'eel'.
Also,MAW and WES was a wag, and SKATE was new to me.
Such fun!
I wonder where William Ralph Inge lifted that.
Back later, after taxes.
Have a nice day everyone.
Anon@ 10:26
Have some Dignity
I congratulate Splynter on getting through this one, much less blogging it so knowledgeably.
John,
You stumped me completely today.
I managed to WAG the SE corner, and only got two theme answers, BYE BIRDIE and the unifier, but still couldn't figure more than half of the rest. I wanted SUSHI somewhere in 17A, never having heard of PUPU before. Also had INANE for KNOCK.
So, a complete loss, and I'm guessing it was for many others too, since so many are still missing in action today.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Good morning all. Great write-up, Splynter.
A good Friday challenge. Finally teased out HALFBAKED, and began to see the theme. Got it all except for puPUPLATTER which I did not know and needed red letter help with. So the north central fell last. Did not know SNELL but got it from the perps. WES was a CWAG. I liked the clueing for TREES and ALPO. BOS could have been clued as cattle genus. As others have said, John's misdirections make his cw's interesting.
Good morning Splynter, C.C. and all,
a Friday toughie -very trickie, clever clues, Mr.Lampkin..like dee.At the end there were only a few unfamiliar words..maw,snell, but never understood the way posh is clued, and DNF the L (pupLatter/reLive).
always a pleasure to fill in as much as I can
So busy yesterday that had no time to send Kudos to C.C. What a great accomplishment, although we ALL knew you had it in you. Can't wait to see more.
Have a lovely Friday. Yesterday's rain for us was non stop( not the typical kind of drizzle) and luckily we didn't choose to live near a hillside.
Hi.
Thought this one was rather an easy
one for a Friday.
Had to laugh when I saw STP. It hasn't been used at Indy for a long
time. No need with the new fuel and oil.
Tin. Thinking about you as I watch the action from St.Pete.
Take care.
Good Morning All, John L. didn't fool me this time with 1A. I got "batter"/STIR right away. I didn't get too snooty though. 2A/POSH had me stumped. The perps, PAT, SEE IN and HARPS didn't come easily either. I had to back into that section, which was the last to fill in.
"Chow chow"/ALPO was another TOUGHIE for me. For 39D I wanted Rodin's (The)THINKER at first, but after the first two letters I knew I was on the wrong track.
I loved seeing 36A Ballet RUSSE. It reminded me of the "Ballet Lermotnov", which was the fictional company in the 1948 movie "The Red Shoes". "R.S." had several Ballet Russe stars acting and dancing in it.
The theme was lots of fun. BYE BIRDIE was my favorite. I loved the song Kids. Nothing much has changed in 48 years with how parents view the younger generation.
Gotta love it- THE KISS, RAINMAN, TOUGHIE, AMETHYST, CRIME LAB.
HALF BAKED, indeed! I'd say the puzzle's very well done.
Clever idea, John, and written to near perfection.
You know you are getting old when you can't remeber Richard Gere's name, but you know Martha Raye without even thinking about it.
Thought the theme was quite clever and figured it out with Bye Birdie. First real musical I saw on the stage. A high school drama class field trip to San Francisco, so many years ago (around the time Martha Raye was doing her thing.)
Rain continues, but did have a rainbow this morning. Now looking for the ark.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Hi gang -
Well done, Splynter.
John got me today. Didn't know about THE KISS, RAIN MAN eluded me, somehow, I think SHIVER has two V's . . .
Well, you get the picture.
Never heard of PU PU PLATTER, and couldn't believe my eyes when TOUGHIE supplied the U. It might be wonderful, but the name sure sounds uninviting
Wrote this hours ago, and didn't get it sent.
Cheers!
JzB the HALF BAKED trombonist
I'm with JzB and the others who never heard of a PU PU PLATTER and, frankly, don't want to. Anything that sounds that much like... well, never mind; it just can't be good.
The NW just about killed me today—I could NOT get traction anywhere until STP finally rose up from the depths and even then it was a slog.
Loved the theme. Favorite clue might have been Chow chow. Thunk about that for a long time!
It's FRIDAY!
Hi everybody. Fun writeup Splynter. Thanks. I always enjoy John's puzzles though this was a toughie. I thought CHOW CHOW was especially clever. I've never had a PUPUPLATTER. Are they good? I guess I better Google it. OK, I just did that. Doesn't sound too unusual. I'm sure I would like it. Who doesn't like a good appetizer platter?
Speaking of dogs, why would somebody want a vicious dog? We were walking a little bit, looking at the view from Palos Verdes yesterday, when my wife saw a woman with her dog. When asked what kind it was, she replied that it was a Staffordshire Terrier. I guess she didn't want to use the more common name, Pit Bull.
Hello, everyone! Wonderful, witty blogging, Splynter. Thank you.
Yowza! I love John Lampkin and his misdirections. Loved chow chow! ALPO. I had a chow mix once and he was a gentle creature.
Also loved pair in a rack, ANTLERS and grandly appointed, POSH, my last fill as I, too, thought of it as a verb, dubbed, voted, etc.
Tho a TOUGHIE it was a head scratcher and great fun with the half-baked theme which helped to suss out the supporting players.
I'm in Chandler, AZ babysittting my granddaughter until Sunday.
Have a wonderful Friday, everyone!
Don't KNOCK it til you try it; PUPUPLATTERS are delicious!
Yay, Lucina! A PuPU PLATTER is an tasty assortment of Hawaiian/Asian appetizers (shrimp, eggroll, ribs, wonton, etc.) We used to get them at Trader Vic's Polynesian restaurant in So. CA.
GAH owned several American pit bulls when he was younger and could keep up with their energy. He never had one that was aggressive toward humans or other dogs. Of course, he took the time to socialize them when they were puppies and made sure he took the alpha position. Unlike too many "street pit bulls", A.K.C. Am.Staffs are bred for good temperament as well as body type. We've been to lots of dog shows, and I've never seen one that didn't love to be loved.
Chow chow (yep, double) dogs are naturally more aloof, but as with all dogs, buy from a responsible breeder and do your own hard work to socialize and care for it. They can be lovely family pets.
Hmmm, CHOW (chow) DOG could have been a theme answer today.
Perhaps C.C. could translate the meaning of "pu pu" for us. It is totally unrelated to the English sounding word which makes it sound undesirable. Not so.
Here's my news story of the day. A friend of mine called yesterday and told me that her husband had found a dead body in a ditch at the end of their driveway on Monday afternoon. Here's the story. They didn't know the man and had no idea how he got there. It had been pouring rain on Sunday and our friends hadn't been outside since Saturday afternoon. The police speculated that the body could have been there since late Saturday or early Sunday morning. Imagine how horrifying that was?
We're going to our friends' house this evening and I'm sure that will be the main topic of conversation.
CA:
That is very sad and I'm sure a shocking discovery. Surely your conversation will be abuzz (xwds!)on the subject.
Wowie-Kaflowie! Today's puzzle was a toughie; A challenge, but interesting.
Cold today here. Rain is expected for the weekend, ugh.
We'll be staying in.
Hi Everyone ~~
I found today's puzzle to be quite challenging but very enjoyable! Thanks Splynter for another great write-up.
I got HALFBAKED and BYEBIRDIE at about the same time and that helped with the other theme answers. I was surprised to read that so many people hadn't heard of a PUpu PLATTER. We've always had them in my neck of the woods--very tasty!
I had some trouble in the PAT-POSH area and SNELL and CULL were new to me. I always enjoy baseball clues ... I smiled filling in BOS for 51A ... I guess there will be some rivalry with the Yanks fans here. ;-) Opening day is so close!
Enjoy the weekend ~~
Thanks Splynter, greetings to all.
Fridays do give us something to grumble about eh? The puzzle was so hard I couldn't even solve it myself.
Grumpy 1, great fantasy! For those who care, PU PLATTER was the seed entry. I was originally thinking along the lines of "appetizer for one in a hurry?"
CHOW CHOW / Alpo is my favorite fill since it's a perverse echo of the theme.
Thanks for all the comments and feedback, and happy solving!
Pupu:
–noun Polynesian-Hawaiian cookery.
Any hot or cold usually bite-size appetizer, often served in a varied assortment.
Origin:
Hawaiian pūpū
Hola Everyone, Great job, blogging Splynter. You gave me some of my
unanswered clues and I laughed out loud at your Knock, Knock joke. Good one.
I had a DNF today. There were so many misleading clues. I left the top middle section unfinished and also the bottom middle section.
In the bottom section I put in Sox for Bos, so that made it difficult to get skate. I had Manta (Ray) in but that didn't work either. I erased all the numbers in that section.
At the top, Loud went in for Forte, and I just wouldn't give it up. I wanted a square meal of some sort for Pat, and so that whole AREA went begging.
My favorites today were: They don't laugh when they are tickled, and Pair in a rack. Chow, Chow was a great misleading clue. To me Chow chow is a relish or a dog!
Good hard puzzle today. I enjoyed working it. Thanks to John Lampkin for making it and thanks to Splynter for blogging it. Did manage to get it all done without having to look anything up. Loved Chow chow.
So which "The Kiss" is the one that was rejected by the 1893 Chicago World's Fair? Is the one Splynter linked to a Rodin?
I guessed pu pu sounds like a Hawaiian word, much like mahi mahi and other repeated syllables.
Good Afternoon, folks. Wow, what a tough puzzle. Appreciate John Lampkin and Rich Norris for all their hard work. Thank you Spynter for a great write-up. C.C. kudos to you, especially for your puzzle the other day.
I like to start in the NW corner and move from there. No cigar today. I started in the center with NIX, HYENA, ARIA, REBA, and DONG (without the D). I got it later.
I bounced all over, getting a word here and there. BYEBIRDIE came first, then HALFBAKED. I thought Dignify/ENNOBLE was excellent. It took me a while to get it, however.
I got ANEMONE with the perps, but thought it was some kind of sea creature/plant. I stuck with it and it worked. I think I will check Webster and see what Noah says.
All in all, I thought this was more of a Saturday level puzzle. My two cents.
Abejo
Grumpy, I loved your take on the conversation between Rich and John. A laugh out loud encounter, for sure!
Snell was another unknown for me today. My dad was a great fisherman, but I never heard him use that term.
I don't think I've ever seen a Pu- pu platter. I know I've never eaten one. They do look good, though.
A huge crow's nest fell out of our redwood tree in the last storm. I'd watched the crows break off twigs from our liquid amber tree and fly into the redwood behind our house. Too bad they didn't get to use the nest. Maybe they'll start over.
Have a great weekend, everyone. We actually have intermittent sunshine today. So nice to see after 11 days with rain.
We also have a Skate "pond" at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There are squeals and cries as the children reach in and touch the animals. It takes some children a long time to get up the nerve to "pet" one of the skates.
CA, How sad that your neighbor had to find a body near his home. This is something that no one would want to happen. I hope there will be more to help clarify what happened to this poor person.
CA, They will have that orange tape for days, and questions and more questions. How awful.My DH traveled for years and one member on his team complained that her room smelled, when she checked in. There was a dead body under the bed!!!! True story.
Bill, your dog story made me laugh. I had no idea that pitt bulls were in the terrier family of a gazillion breeds.Most are quite energetic; Jack Russells seem to have springs on their feet.
Mom speaks out, maybe we can join cherylptts on her ark.
John Lampkin, you are a funny guy!
Hi Splynter, C.C. & gang,
A real toughie puzzle for Friday, I think it took me an extra 1/2 hour even doing online and cheating... Unknowns included 'amethyst' 'pu pu platter' ...
Here's a link to all about Andy Granatelli and STP.
Granatelli was a marketing genius. I very seriously doubt that STP ever had a beneficial effect on any engine, anywhere.
To use it now would be a huge mistake. Modern engine oils are highly engineered products designed to optimize lubricity, wear, fuel economy and corrosion protection. This is all done with chemistry. STP is loaded with zinc, which will throw things out of balance. It will also badly distort the oil's viscosity profile.
Use whatever oil your car manufacturer recommends, change oil every 5,000 miles. Car manufacturers really do think about this things - a lot. Almost every aftermarket fluid treatment is either useless or harmful.
Cheers!
JzB the well lubricated trombonist
When Granatelli ran (and almost won with) a turbine powered car in the 1967 Indy 500, someone asked him where they would use STP since the turbine had no crankcase. Andy replied that the STP was in the gearbox. What failed with three laps to go while leading the race? A bearing in the gearbox, of course.
Jazzbumpa got me curious on what ever happened to STP. I can remember using on a 1965 Ford Custom 6 cylinder we had -- It never much effect that I could see.
Here's a wiki link. "In 1976, STP faced a consumer protection order that required it to have scientific backing for certain statements and prohibited making false claims. In 1978, it paid a $500,000 civil penalty over claims. That year, it was acquired by Esmark. Esmark was purchased by Beatrice Foods in 1984, who sold STP to Union Carbide the next year. In 1986, Union Carbide's auto products, which included Prestone and Simoniz, were subject to a leveraged buyout. The resulting company, First Brands was purchased by Clorox in 1998.
In 1995, it paid $888,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges of false advertising.[1][2]
In the fall of 2006, STP fuel additives began being used in Marathon gasolines, likely to compete with Chevron's Techron additive.[original research?]
In 2010, Clorox sold ArmorAll and STP to Avista Capital Partners. It named the business Armored AutoGroup."
Mario Andretti drove that car in the 1967 race. I remember that it was painted red. Looked like a wedge.
Hi All ~!
Thanks for the compliments - it is my pleasure to do the blog. This is the STP I grew up with - and my personal favorite, since we share the same name, too.
Splynter
PS - no racks? I am shocked, I say.
Parnelli Jones drove the STP car in 67. The wedge car was introduced in 68, the last year a turbine ran. Granatelli brought 7 cars of various designs to Indy in 1968 and still didn't win. Mario won for STP in a wedge design in 1969.
Rack!
Cheers!
JzB Who by googling learned a new meaning for "trombone." You do not want to know. Really.
I thought this was a fun theme, but the SW gave me some trouble.
My favorite clue was 11D They don't laugh when they're tickled: IVORIES.
36A Ballet _____: RUSSE reminded me of the theme song for "The Patty Duke Show".
Nice job, John!
Late posting as this math/physics guy worked hard today to make a history lesson I was given a LOT better! The grosser the story, the bigger the hit! Coupled with the difficulty level of this wonderful puzzle made it hard to get in early.
I got the bottom 2/3 first before turning to the great WHITE north where I managed to make some easy entries difficult. AIn't it amazin' when a fortuitous word can unlock an entire section? TOUGHIE helped me.
I was surprised there was no George Brett/Pine Tar link and disappointed with no rack link, but still a great enterprise!
Love the STP discussion. I'm a casual race fan but I definitely remember Mario and The King.
Thanks to John Lampkin and Splynter.
Still no time to even glimpse at the puzzle or blog for that manner until now. Great job "pinch hitting" for MFCounselor today. It's been a busy week so I am not sure where he is in transit to.
JD, just be happy that you didn't have to deal with a foot of wet heavy snow this week. Temps dropped too, so if the road wasn't plowed it became a washboard or ice rink. I am so sick of winter...isn't it technically Spring?
Halfbaked is what I would call some of the brokers repping the vendors. You wouldn't believe the sample requests today.
MIA Mon-Tues, and I don't normally post until then....so every one enjoy your weekends and (early weekdays)!
I should have been more clear...Food show is Tuesday at the Rivercentre/Excl center I'll be glad when it's over...three solid months of planning go into this along with my regular job. Anyone tried a BK Stacker yet? You might notice that bacon is higher in the stores right now. Supposedly, the pork belly market is really high right now, and for some reason pork is in high demand.
What's a BK Stacker? I'm guessing it is something that I will like.
I see where the customers in a BK in Florida got into a food fight when their food didn't come fast enough. I guess some people were a little short on class.
Bill G, you can get it three ways (single, double, tripple)...I would suggest the double stacker, Two patties, two pieces of cheese, three bacon slices and stacker sauce.
Going to a funeral tomorrow for a friend that lost his battle for prostate cancer. Unfortunately he was ad avid smoker and that nasty cancer climbed into his lungs. The stories that this guy could tell... For once I am not dreading a funeral as most of his long time friends will get up and tell stories. I've heard some and they are doosies. Hint CC. Here's a couple of O's for you.
Jeannie: That was funny.
Windhover: Irish eyes are smiling. That was a great game.
Jeannie,
I had a BK stacker double yesterday for the 1st time. Not bad. I think I watched them make it with cold(?) ingredients, but when I opened it out of the bag, it was very hot and cheese melted on wrapper. Did I miss it being nuked? Also, how does one guarantee a FULL container of fries? I've on occasion asked for it to be "stuffed", but many times have been disappointed by the amount in the container...especially when they're charging around $2 for a medium or large.
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