Theme:
couleurs du drapeau français
3D. Stuffed chicken dish : CORDON BLEU. blue ribbon. chicken stuffed with ham and swiss cheese. in french culinary tradition, the cordon bleu is awarded to food or chefs of particularly high quality.
5D. Loire Valley grape : CHENIN BLANC.. a white wine grape variety grown in california and the loire valley of france.
25D. Paris nightspot : MOULIN ROUGE. red mill. cabaret in the red-light district of paris.
31. Its colors appear in proper sequence at the ends of 3-, 5- and 25-Down : FRENCH FLAG
melissa here. The theme entries are arranged vertically for visual effect.
i expect a few groans from solvers who dislike foreign words.
Across:
1. Letters on some pre-1992 Olympic uniforms :CCCP. soyuz sovyetskikh sotsialisticheskikh respublik, i.e. union of soviet socialist republics. In the russian alphabet, the equivalent of "s" looks like the Roman "c", and the equivalent of "r" looks like our "p."
5. Suze Orman's network : CNBC
9. Bygone Mideast leaders : SHAHS
14. Landlocked Asian country : LAOS
15. Take on : HIRE
16. Best Supporting Actress before Paquin : TOMEI. marisa. needed perps. would anyone besides marisa or anna know the answer from that clue?
17. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA
18. Verve : ELAN
19. To the left, at sea : APORT
20. Divinity : GODLINESS. next to cleanliness.
22. "Gadzooks!" : YIKES
23. '70s-'90s Atlanta Hawks home : OMNI. coliseum.
24. __ day: Wednesday : HUMP. timely.
26. Intuiting : SENSING
29. Puffed-up fare : SOUFFLE
34. Stand waiter : CAB
35. Obsolescent slope conveyance : T-BAR. mostly found at beginner slopes or in locales where high winds may prevent chairlifts from running.
37. Embryo's home : UTERUS
38. Woody's boy : ARLO. welcome back.
40. Germ-killing brand : LYSOL
42. Left : WENT
43. Medit. spouter : MT ETNA. holy hotwick lava bomb.
45. eBay caveat : AS IS
47. Never, to Heinrich : NIE. german.
48. Convalescents, maybe : SHUT-INS
50. Empties upon arrival : UNPACKS
52. Some VCRs : RCA'S
54. Like some orders : RUSH
55. Fox series with Alfred E. Neuman in the opening credits : MAD TV
59. Title of respect : HONORIFIC. great word, don't remember seeing this in a puzzle before.
63. Coming or going word : ALOHA. and then the japanese say going for coming - so no one knows if they're coming or going.
64. Baseball family name : ALOU. felipe, matty, jesús, and moisés (felipe's son). the first all brother outfield.
65. Food for Fido : ALPO
66. Sure to end badly : NO WIN. a no win situation.
67. Criminal group : RING
68. Astonished reaction : GASP
69. Medicinal plant : SENNA
70. Chick follower? : ADEE. chickadee.
71. Ornate molding : OGEE
Down:
1. Stop up : CLOG
2. Opponent of Caesar : CATO
4. Longest Bible book : PSALMS
6. River through Sudan : NILE
7. Foolhardy : BRASH
8. Population profile : CENSUS. did everyone complete your form last year?
9. Remain in place : STAY PUT
10. Early Grand Canyon settlers : HOPI. moonrise from hopi point.
11. Out of control : AMOK. great word.
12. The Beatles' "__, There and Everywhere" : HERE
13. Is in session : SITS. clue feels a bit awkward.
21. Not out of contention : IN IT. so does this one.
26. Puts one over on : SCAMS
27. One of eight, now : EARTH. planets - pluto was demoted.
28. Merry : GAY. anyone see the jason jones bit on the daily show yesterday?
30. Not a whole lot : FEW
32. Soviet moon program : LUNIK. also a band from switzerland.
33. __ Park, Colorado : ESTES
36. Pretoria's land: Abbr. : RSA. republic of south africa.
39. Polo Grounds legend : OTT. mel.
41. Corvallis sch. : OSU. Oregon State University.
44. Kurt Cobain's group : NIRVANA
46. Boot attachment : SPUR
49. Much of Libya : SAHARA
51. Italian cheese : ASIAGO
53. Well-built : SOLID
55. Provides with personnel : MANS
56. Burn balm : ALOE
57. Consume : DOWN. like it.
58. Slender : THIN
60. Zero : NONE
61. __ dixit: assertion without proof : IPSE
77 comments:
Good morning, Melissa Bee, C.C. and gang - a fun solve today, and I was impressed when I realized the theme and the fact that the theme answers mimicked the vertical color pattern of the French flag.
A pretty straightforward solve, except for trying to fit 'gang' for 67A, 'Criminal group'. Almost reflexively put 'USSR' for 1A, but fortunately I glanced at 1D, 'Stop up' and realized it was probably 'clog' and that 1A was calling for the cyrillic version. Other than those, no muss, no fuss; I also thought there was a good bit of fresh cluing.
Mustang Mel, great blogging, good info, but I thought it was the Chinese who said 'going' for 'coming'. Still think it would be a bit disconcerting to be making love to someone who suddenly started screaming that they were leaving...
On a related subject, today is Eat What You Want Day. And while that sounds very nice on several levels, be aware that it's also Twilight Zone Day.
Did You Know?:
- The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continually held sports event in the U.S.; the second oldest is the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.
Dummy,
You're, of course, wrong. Melissa is right.
Not exactly a news flash there, huh?
Morning, all!
Definitely more challenging than yesterday, but not too bad. Unlike Dennis, I did actually put in USSR at 1A and left it there until the bitter end when I finally realized it just wasn't going to fit and the CCCP light bulb went on.
As for the theme, I misspelled 29A as SOUFLEE and therefore couldn't tell which flag was being referenced at 31D. But I knew the theme was talking about colors of a flag, so I looked at the theme answers to find the colors. Except, not knowing they were supposed to be in French, I didn't see any obvious colors at first.
I did finally figure out the spelling of SOUFFLE, which got me FRENCH FLAG, which let me figure out what the colors were supposed to be, but it was still a bit rough since I've never heard of CHENIN BLANC before.
The only other complete unknown was LUNIK, which was made especially difficult due to the aforementioned misspelling of SOUFFLE.
Oh -- and I did the GANG instead of RING thing as well...
I cannot quite put my finger why this was not easy, but it was not. The highlight of the theme was the use of the downs to reflect the look of the flag (as MB points out DRAPEAU, the root of our DRAPE) and the beautifully imbedded flag. Merci Cherie.
I enjoyed ALOHA, followed by ALOU, then ALPO, with ALOE crossing. Then we finish with ADEE and OGEE.
For those of you who opened the Moulin Rouge link, and saw the latest revue is called FEERIE that is French for Spectacular, Extravaganza, which what the show there certainly are. I also enjoyed the movie.
Good Morning, Melissa Bee and friends. I loved this puzzle. After filling in the FRENCH FLAG, I immediately thought of La Marseillaise. French anthem trivia: The composer of La Marseillaise, Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, was born on May 10, 1760, 351 years and 1 day ago.
Hand up for Gang instead of RING.
I also liked how the clue for Medicinal Plant (SENNA) crossed with Burn Balm (ALOE).
QOD: Humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle. ~ C.K. Chesterton
Had CCCP & CNBC in so quick I thought it was going to be a speed-run.
NOT !!!
Cannot remember a puzzle where I seemed to have less traction.
I bounced around all over the place and then ...
I was done.
Caught on to the theme FRENCH FLAG quite early.
Got it off the MOULIN ROUGE.
SAHARA for 'Much of Libya' got me the criminal RING.
UTERUS got me LUNIK. And I doubt anyone has ever said that before.
Good Morning Melissa, C.C. et al.
Thanks for the beautiful visual in the blog today, Melissa! When I saw all the French-themed answers, I immediately thought “Uh-oh, Jeannie isn’t going to like this one!” But, really, they are pretty common terms, so it’s OK, n’est-ce pas?
Hand up for every mistake others made on this one, except I did know how to spell SOUFFLE, which I thought was a nice bit of French fill for this puzzle.
Did not know that Marissa TOMEI’s best supporting actress role for “My Cousin Vinnie” was before Paquin’s…that’s just a little too obscure for the clue. But after I had a couple letters, the light bulb went on.
For 50A “Empties upon arrival”, I really wanted “bladder”.
Happy Hump Day everyone!
I like the puzzle and did it in a relatively fast pace for a Thursday. It helped that I did work for the French and speak a little french. I caught the theme early but was thrown off for a bit as I thought, early on, that Godliness was going to be a part of the theme due to it's position at 20 across.
Morning Melissa Bee, CC and All,
I'm having a Dummy day! Gang, USSR, spelled Lisol wrong, spelled Nurvana wrong and French is pretty much Greek to me. Kind of a slog but giving the eraser a work out is wicked fun too.
The sun has reappeared. Hoorah!!
Good morning.
When I hear Polo Grounds I think of the Say Hey Kid.
thanks, Melissa for the meaning of CCCP. I knew it was in the Russian alphabet but not the words it represented.
Twilight Zone Day. Rod Serling would be so proud. Remember the horror when making the movie? The two Chinese kids and Vic Morrow. Sad, indeed.
Boy, did C.C. tell Dennis?
Have a great Wednesday - Hump Day.
Nostalgia:
"The Song from Moulin Rouge" by Joni James.
I didn't recognize her name but the voice I remember.
How about smelling some Team Spirit" for those who like Nirvana.
Good morning all. Nice write-up, Melissa.
A fun, straightforward solve, today. Filled CCCP right away; saw CLOG as 1d, And thought Soviets would use their own alphabet on a world stage. Got the theme early on. Was surprised to see NIE in an otherwise French motif. Solving proceeded N to S with SW last. Couldn't get a footing there until BH helped with SENNA which helped confirm the DOWNs. NIRVANA was a WAG. I liked the CAB clue. Thanks Mike for a nice breezy challenge.
Enjoy your HUMP day.
Hello Puzzlers - Not much trouble with this clever grid. Figured out the theme early, which cemented large amounts of fill. Hand up for USSR. Had DESERT before SAHARA.
Unknowns: best actresses, SENNA, the fact that PSALMS is the longest.
Throwback to Monday: still can't get Mairzy Doats out of my head!
Sacre bleu! A very nice Hump Day offering that even has hump day in it! Just got back from Tulip Festival and will post pix later – fabulous!
Musings
-I had GAY with perps and was curious what the cluing was going to be. Merry seems so long ago!
-Yes, I did see the CC bit last night. The politics on neither that show nor Beck line up with mine but I ain’t afraid to look at anything!
-MB, nice info on CCCP! Soyuz is the name for Russia’s workhorse space vehicle that is still getting it done today!
-I did not realize LAOS was landlocked!
-Marissa TOMEI – talk about gettin’ it done!
-I never found MADTV funny and as an adolescent devotee of the magazine it was sad to see them substitute their ham-handed shtick with the wit and iconoclasm of the mag.
-Our city’s burgeoning Hispanic population really showed up in the latest census!
-Most get over teenage angst but not so for Cobain.
Good Morning C.C.,MB and all,
I loved the 'billowy'write-up. Thanks for that creation, MB.
The big thing today , for me, was ‘different’; from the write-up to the theme direction. The novelty slowed me down, but only for the enjoyment of taking it in. I had to ignore 1A and concentrate on the downs; actually, did that throughout the puzzle, which made that different for me , too.
I knew 1A was Russia, but ignorant of the ‘Cyrillic version of USSR’. Also, expected the first letter to be different from the others. Initially had 1D as ‘plug’ and OTRA straightened that out. That first ‘C’ was really hard for me to enter. Thanks, MB and Dennis for the explanations . Learning moment.
MOULIN ROUGE was first theme fill and clue to French colors. CHENIN was new to me.
Hey, thanks, Mike; liked seeing your name up there,
Have a nice day everyone.
Happy HUMP day to all!
I certainly enjoyed the French today (sorry Jeannie!), despite starting out misspelling SOUFLET and having to guess CHENIN. But the theme certainly helped to open up all areas quickly.
I wanted CCCP right away, but had PLUG for CLOG for a while. Good to see GAY used in its original meaning. I also had GANG at first, and had to google SENNA. Also a change to get MT with ETNA.
I loved TOMEI in "My Cousin Vinnie".
Does MANS indicate sexual discrimination?
Google PPC Bid Management,
Today is only Wednesday!
My book about the bible states Esther is the longest book.
Nice theme today. I just couldn't finish,cause 1A was way beyond my reach. So that spoiled my
solving experience. And I have to
wonder why the constructor didn't go with more French words for a spectacular construction. Then at 32D we have another Russian entry,
which did not nudge the brain even
then. lol
First, a question: In my paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer - the constructors name was given as (sic) - Constructed byATTENTION!
Did anyone else have that ? - or, more importantly, know why ?
The puzzle was difficult going, but I managed to get most of the answers - I was just plain lucky to get 3 or 4 of them. That I got 'Nirvana' was a miracle, tho' I am familiar with the word - the singer was a faint memory ... The French Flag was pure guesswork, but made some of the other answers, somewhat relevant.
Have a good day, you all.
An American and a Frenchman were discussing the colors of the French flag.
Says the Frenchman - The colors are meant to show our disgust at the lousy system of taxation we have in France ... We get all 'blue', when we realize all the enormous taxes they hit us with, ... then they bleed us 'white' .... and then, when we see what pittance we've got left, we get mad and ... we see 'RED' !
The American says - I agree with you .... but its worse out here, in the States ... we see 'stars' as well ...
Anon @ 8:39,
You've written a book about the Bible? Care to share the title with us?
Husker,
I read your "not so for" comment as "not so far", and was thinking, "Well, it's too late now." Shows the need for more careful reading.
And writing (anon).
May hit 90 in the Bluegrass today, after 30's last week. So much for Spring.
Salut! To all things Francais, especially kisses.
I also had to change gang to ring to fit the other ans. Really liked the grid. Fairly easy for a Wed. Had plug for 1 down instead of clog, as I was unaware of other in Oaxaca being otra I had utra. Got the theme right away probably because of the food & wine clues.
And before Dennis or Lois beat me to it, Australian ones are just fine, too.
I didn't know the derby was the oldest continually run sport event but I did know it was traditional called the "Most exciting 2 minutes in sports."
I'd like to call attention to today's Google doodle. There have been quite a few specialty doodles over the last week or so; today's is nice for its animation.
Dudley : Thanks a lot, for the (Martha Graham ) doodle alert - Its really artistic .
Personally, I really liked the Mr. Hargreaves doodle(s) - a few days back - altho I'm not a kid, it was more my style. I'm sure, some budding artist would have been dyin' to make an Osama-hit doodle ? (lol)
I would like to thank Mike Peluso, for a wonderful puzzle - that I didnt quite complete - but was very enjoyable nevertheless. I would also like to thank Melissa Bee, for a very enjoyable and cogent blog - Thank you. Your links were very enjoyable ( or a synonym thereof -) and very informative.
Good morning MB, C.C. and happy humpers all. Normally I cringe at the amount of French words that we have today, but they were all common usage and didn't present a problem. This was a very enjoyable solve.
I could easily picture those USSR Olympic uniforms with the large CCCP letters emblazoned on them. A quick check of the downs confirmed it. LUNIK slowed me a bit as I didn't remember that Soviet program, but I did remember Sputnik and had LUN__, so it wasn't difficult to make the association. I didn't know TOMEI, but perps took care of that.
I already had SAHARA by the time I got to RING so I didn't fall into the gang trap.
LOL, HeartRX, at 'Bladder'. Very appropriate!
Thanks WH,
Also, we're at 88 degrees up here is "cool" WI already!
Hi There ~!
Well, an all French theme, and the only place I got stuck was the cross at LUNIK and NIE - two foreign words, and neither French.
Thanks for the visual opening of the blog, MB, I thought that was quite original.
Splynter
Apropos to Heart Rx ( how appropriate !) on 'empties' upon arrival - coming or going - bladder.
For men only - unfortunate enough to have BPH ( Benign Prostate Hyperpl.) - Fenasteride (Proscar), dutasteride (Avodart), terazosin (Hytrin), doxazosin (Cardura), tamsulosin (Flomax), alfuzosin (Uroxatral).
( Speaking from experience.)
Over and out.
When would one use the word honorific?
When, for example, one wanted to say, "The new job title was mostly an honorific, because it was not accompanied by a salary increase."
Bonjour mes amis, fun puzzle, excellent Melissa blog and several spit takes at the comments....C.C.@5:41, Anon@8:39, and WH@9:09. Good stuff.
Oh yes, back to the puzzle. Got 1D/CLOG right away and that led to CCCP. The NW area filled in quickly after that.
Everything flowed pretty easily, except for the SW. I ran into a brain freeze problem with the MANS, DOWN, NO WIN and SENNA jumble.
I really liked that all the theme phrases were vertical. That doesn't happen very often and was a nice change. AND...I thought the theme/clues/answers were totally terrific.
BTW, thanks for La Marseillaise, Hahtool; bloody standards, baying soldiers, slitting of girlfriends' throats and blood watering the furrows. WOW!
Luxor@10:26, HONORIFICs are used a lot, "Mr.", "Mrs.", "Your honor", are common examples.
Luxor, oops, I misread your question (not an uncommon occurrence). Windhover read correctly and explained.
Good morning Melissa Bee, CC, et al., Excellent job, MB, as usual. Loved the links and thanks for the explanations. I know very little about Russian except that there is huge influx of Russians in this area now for one reason or another-Busch Gardens & school primarily. Fresh cluing and different slants on things held me up momentarily. Fav was 27A one of eight now...earth. duh! and 34A stand waiter=cab?? Makes sense but that was a surprise. I've got my cabby on speed dial - due often to the 'twilight zone' effects of chenin blanc products.
I was 16 at the Moulin Rouge in Paris with a girlfriend. Was first row balcony with the dancers w/in an arm's length of me. Nudity was eye-opening but the arm pit hair was shocking. Learned a lot about culture and social attitudes on that trip. Ooo-la-la. Loved it!
WH: You are so right! Down Under rocks! Oh yeah!
Enjoy your day.
Melissa- Great job with the commentary and the visual of the flag and how it mirrors the grid layout. It gives the puzzle an elegance that might be easily overlooked.
HeartRex- I've been busy serving swill to swine at my local saloon. Didn't get a chance to comment on your puzzle. Fabulous job! Loved lots about the puzzle, but super-grooved on THWACK.
In today's puzzle, doesn't MTETNA appear goofier than hell. Liked LUNIK too. Is the facial spasm of a crazy cosmonaut a LUNIKTIC?
Hi gang,
Wow what a puzzle! Fun stuff for a Wed and I am much better at French words than Spanish.
Put me in the group that wanted USSR for 1A...I did look at 1D and realized I didn't know a word for 'stop up' that started with a 'U'. I had to do all the downs to get the CCCP because that was totally unknown.
Kazie: MANS must refer to 'humans' because WOMANS just sounds funny :)
CA: I was 'in your SW corner' too. Only word I was sure of was ALOE.
HeartRx: Still laughing about BLADDER!
Uropharma (10:16) HUH?????
Off on a bike ride :)
Hi gang -
Still in super slo-mo mode. Many false starts: GANG, and USSR, fer sure. Over 21 minutes today. YIKES!
Nice puzzle, fitting, original structure. I thought the theme was going to be GODLINESS, and wondered how we would stay away from forbidden topics - GODLINESS being so akin to politics.
O GEE. Looked like the Wings were in a NO WIN situation, down 3-0, but climbed the HUMP (Hi LOIS!) and the series now SITS at 3 each.
A SOLID win tomorrow will put me in NIRVANA. (Or was that one of Donald Trumps wives?)
WH - I had to think about Australian kisses. I think you have a leg up on me.
Many busy days still ahead. IMBO.
Cheers!
JzB the occasionally BRASH trombonist
Does Bill Cosby's Ph.D. ( honoris causa ) make him a Dr. Cosby ? More pertinent, would Lemonade and Hahtool, be Dr. Lemonade and Dr. Hahtool, because of their J.D. ( Doctor of Jurisprudence - and boy, are they ever prudent -)
In the Anglican Church of England, which the Queen ( Her Royal Highness) is the Head of, ( and Defender of the Faith - ) the use of Reverend, the Very Reverend, the Most Reverend, the Ultimo Rev., the Nth Rev. ad naus. is denoted and very strictly adhered to.
What about the Honorable, the Rt. Honorable and the Most Hon. ? Most of these are plain dyed-in-the-wool politicians.
Does this mean that the rest of us are just a bunch of crooks ?
I have a video of our performance of BLUES FOR NATE from our Sunday concert. I think I finally got my solo close to right.
Anyone who wants to see it please send me an email: jazzbumpa@gmail.com.
Cheers!
JzB who has more lawn to mow
I don't know why, but I pretty much breezed through this one pretty easily and only had a little trouble with the SW.
Maybe I am getting good at this but probably I will hit a wall at the end of the week.
Today seems to be an official brain freeze day for me, or maybe it's just at the edge of a mental Twilight Zone. I started to cook some rice for stuffed bell peppers tonight and wandered away. Yup, burned the heck out of the pan. I haven't done that for years. Now I have to scrub it and start all over.
I reread my first comment today and meant to add that I especially liked the vertical arrangement of the theme answers because they were in sequence of the color arrangement on the flag. That was really the best part!
Also thought NIRVANA and HONORIFIC were great fill.
I'm a movie fan, but had to have the EI in 16A to get TOMEI.
GAH got his hearing aids yesterday. It was soooooo nice to watch the news last night without the volume turned up to 90%.
@Dennis -
*groan*
I'm coming! (aka - outta here!)
Anon:
If it was that bad, why did you just have to repeat it? ;-}
I'm going now.
Happy Hump Day, everyone! Great job, Melissa, thanks.
I loved this puzzle, almost a speed run except in the SW where SENNA was unfamiliar, but it finally WENT DOWN.
Very clever to have the themes parallel the FRENCHFLAG and once I knew to look for colors in French, voila! White wine is always my preference, (plum wine, too) so CHENINBLANC came easily.
No, I didn't immediately know Marisa TOMEI but loved her in that movie and her name popped out after STAYPUT and HOPI.
Hand up for GANG before RING but otherwise a lovely solve.
Thank you, Mike.
Time for the gym. Have a great Wednesday, everyone!
WH and Dennis: are we channeling that poor 'man from Kent'????
If one cannot tell whether he/she is coming or going, don't 'start the trip'.
Hello All,
Not a difficult experience today. An old cook and alky would have no trouble with CORDON BLEU and CHENIN BLANC!
Thanks Mike, mb. Graphic especially nice beginning to write-up.
Do not see the objection to GODLINESS. Also, at least one of the children, My-ca Dinh Le, killed with Morrow, was Vietnamese, not Chinese. (Some websites say both were. The other, was named Renee Chen. Could Chen be Vietnamese?)
Perhaps C.C. will answer? TZ was an all-time favorite show for me. This tragedy is stuck in my memory.
Have been stuck with very noisy construction people for a while. Pipes leaking in walls created vast destruction. But have been reading blog every day and enjoyed contributions. Especially liked Bill G.'s talking shepherd!
I especially liked the Reagle puzzle Sunday. Great puns and not an agonizing solve at all!
Have a great HUMP day!
My initial thought was Mon Dieu! Then I gave myself a little pep talk and plowed into it. Surprisingly, there weren’t too many French words (that I didn’t know already). It helped that I knew blanc was white, bleu, blue and rouge, red. One problem I had was I had never heard of Chenin blanc, so cheated a little bit to get Chenin. I usually solve the puzzle alternating between the A’s and D’s so didn’t fall into the USSR trap as I knew 1D was clog, so CCCP was the logical choice. I got a little perp help with Alou, (interesting fact on the brothers). I still don’t understand the clue “stand waiter” – cab. Any help? Favorite today was “chick follower” –adee. Cute! I also didn’t know senna was a medicinal herb. What maladies does it help?
I very much enjoyed your blogging today Melissabee, especially the visual of the French flag and how the theme answers lined up in the grid!
Kazie, it sounds like you are experiencing the weather we had yesterday. Be careful, as the day ended with some pretty bad storms. I had 2” hail in my yard. Luckily I had the car in the garage and didn’t sustain any damage.
Everyone enjoy your day! Au Revoir!
Hello.
Jazz, it isn't over untill it is
over or the large lady sings. Mean
while Vancouver sits and waits.
Just wish they had chosen Marisa
to play Stephanie instead of Ms. Heigl.
Check back after 11AM and then
check back after 5PM - again. Still waiting to see the judge.
take care.
Mike, I enjoyed the puzzle. Challenging and fun. Melissa, great writeup. Is it my imagination or are you trying to capitalize more? If so, I appreciate it. For me, things seem harder to read when there are no capitals. I have a friend who was managing editor of our college newspaper. His e-mails never used to have caps or punctuation. For whatever reason, it was harder for me to read.
Re. 'colored' from yesterday. I grew up in Virginia in the 40s and 50s. It was very common to see 'colored' and 'white' drinking fountains and restrooms. 'Colored' was the polite word rather than a derogatory alternative. Did any of you have the same experience growing up? My thinking sure evolved when I went a thousand miles away to college. I was exposed to different views about race, religion, politics, etc. It was a very broadening experience for me. Personally, I have come a long way in 70 years from where I started. So has society I think.
I have discovered one downside to retirement. I used to be away from home all day. Now I spend more time here and am exposed to the sounds of construction in the neighborhood, the roar of chainsaws while people are having tree work done and the weekly sounds of lawnmowers and blowers. Still, I enjoy getting paid for not working.
Speaking of La Marseillaise, I love the memorable scene from Casablanca where the French people at Rick's stand up to sing it drowning out the Germans. It still brings tears to my eyes.
Here is my favorite scene from My Cousin Vinny.
Jeannie,
Cabs wait at a taxi stand, hence becoming stand waiters.
Our weather was hot here yesterday too, but not so early in the day, and it only got to 80. Both days I tried to get the dog walked early enough to miss most of the heat, but today she was really beat coming back up the hill to the house, and it was only 9:50-ish. We do have storms predicted for this afternoon, but so far it doesn't look threatening. My car is in a garage too, so no worries there.
Seen,
I enjoyed that scene you linked. I'd forgotten it in the movie. The scene I remembered was her expert witnessing in the courtroom.
seen:
Yes, that is a great scene and I enjoyed her throughout the move which I've seen many times; and like Kazie, the witness scene is my favorite.
WH:
How nice to see you on the blog more often. Your wit adds to the fun.
Bill G:
Here in Arizona we never had those colored/white signs, but it was an unspoken yet enacted segregation with separate schools, separate city zoning and not only for African-Americans but for any minority, Asian, Mexican, east Indian.
Yes, I am glad times have changed for the better.
Fun run today! Not a speedy one, but interesting jog along the way.
Favorite clue; puffed-up fare=souffle. I've had really good ones and even tried some of my own. I love the grits souffle; I am a Grits ( Girls Raised in the South).
I don't know jack about French, but managed to eek out the words today.
BTW, Memphis is ok. We are now praying for our Mississippi friends and family. Tunica county is under water already. Boils are happening and causing real problems for the farms along the levee.
Reading this blog is a highlight of any day!
Thanks MB and all the rest of the party!
Hola Everyone, A solid Wednesday puzzle. Even though the French color words were part of the solve they were all part of familiar French names for foods or places we know.
I thought that Down for consume and One of eight, now for Earth were both very clever clues. My favorites today.
I guessed at Lunik crossing Nie as both were unfamiliar to me. I guessed right for once.
My one big mixup was putting in USSR right away for CCCP, but that was soon corrected with the perps.
All in all a fun puzzle and I did manage to complete it with only a lookup for Suze Orman's network.
Thanks MB for a great writeup today.
Jerome, good to "see" you, and glad you enjoyed the puzzle. LOL at your "Luniktic" comment. You always have a gem for us.
Seen, loved the clip of Marisa Tomei...funny stuff! But just about any clip from that movie would make me chuckle. (Yes, I'm easily amused.)
Bill G...I grew up in Portland Or (still live here) and at one time we were known as the 'Mississippi' of the NW as far as our racial attitudes went. We enticed many people of color to work in the shipyards (this was during WWII). We even created a separate neighborhood for them and it is still there to this day! At that time I understand there was an 'unwritten rule' about where the boundary of this neighborhood was. When a family tried to move into the 'white' neighborhoods, there was always a 'reason' they couldn't. Laws were not in their favor in those days. Fortunately, that has changed, but there are still a great many people in this state who hold less than desirable beliefs toward anyone of color, no matter which color it is.
I also remember the Lil' Sambo's restaurants all over the west coast. I think we discussed this on the blog some months ago, as the book Little Black Sambo was in a puzzle.
Oh, I just remembered that the restaurants WERE originally named Little Black Sambo's, then later changed to Lil' Sambo's and finally to Sambo's....they still went out of business.
hello all, thanks for the nice comments - and thanks to mike peluso for a unique and fun puzzle. lots of interesting comments today.
congratulations marti on another published puzzle, i enjoyed it.
dennis ... 'screaming that they were leaving,' funniest line in a long time.
bill g., i think i'm actually capitalizing less, if that's possible.
carol, so sorry to hear your sad news, you're a good friend.
There was a Sambo's restaurant in Fontana CA when I was 17 or so. It was bought by Denny's eventually. Not much was changed but the outside sign. Apparently there is still one Sambo's left in Santa Barbara CA.
How could I forget the first spit take of the morning with Dennis@5:31?
creature, I read "A Moveable Feast" about 25 years ago. I kind of liked the fictional view in "The Paris Wife" better. I've never been a big Hemingway fan. I read a few of his novels and althought he wasn't quite a misogynist in his writing, he didn't portray women with much kindness or understanding.
Marisa TOMEI has aged better than most CHENIN BLANC. GAH and I saw The Lincoln Lawyer recently (fun date movie) and Marisa was at the top of her game. Is that what being a lawyer is like, Lemonade?
Hey gang, oops ring:
Well the use of the appellation "DR." to signify a JD is limited to academia; in the classroom, at any level, I would be, and have been, Dr. Lemonade. In the courtroom etc. we are all, men and women, Esquire.
Lincoln Lawyer captures some of the reality of trial law, though MM is terrible; the book is much better, but most of it is just hard work preparing and paying very close attention. If you are not careful, I will start telling my favorite personal war stories. People seldom confess on the stand to anything, unlike Perry Mason.
Lemonade, bring on a story or two. I'm sure they are interesting, or you could make them so.
LOL, Matthew McConaughey with his shirt on is definitely not going to get an Academy Award anytime soon. Marisa Tomei plays an attorney in "The L.L." too. Maybe I should ask Hahtool if that is what it is like to be a lawyer?
She might have a different opinion of MM (though I doubt it).
That's five for me. Have a good evening everyone.
La Marseillaise Casablanca
Marisa Tomei is so attractive, cute, sexy... I guess those are almost necessary assets for a movie actress.
I saw an interview with Mark Harmon yesterday. He seems very similar to Jethro Gibbs, his character on NCIS. Curt, self-confident, almost a little arrogant. He fits the role very well.
Bill G - I'm right behind you. Marisa Tomei is cute and sexy!
MSO, that should be "I don't know Jacques about French."
Be careful what you wish for CA
Sorry to you that don't appreciate a recipe...but with bow tie and asiago pretty much back to back I will as well....
In honor of Bowtie pasta and now Asiago…here is a favorite recipe of mine!
Chicken and Bowtie Pasta with Asiago Cream Sauce
1 (16oz) package of farfalle (bowtie pasta)
1lb skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes
4oz of prosciutto cut in strips
1 Lg clove of garlic minced
½ cup minced onions
½ cup sliced mushrooms (I use baby bellas)
1 cup shredded asiago cheese
2 ½ cups of heavy cream
2 tbspn butter
1 cube of chicken bouillon
½ tbspn corn starch
½ tbspn dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions to follow....
Cooking instructions:
Prepare the pasta according to the pkg directions. Coat a skillet with olive oil and sauté the chicken until done. Remove the chicken from the skillet and add the butter, prosciutto garlic, mushrooms and onions. Cook until the mushrooms are tender, turn down the heat and add back the chicken. In a large sauce pan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer whisking continually. Add the chicken bouillon and the asiago and continue whisking until the cheese is melted and the bouillon has dissolved. Dissolve the corn starch in about two tblspns of water and whisk into the sauce to thicken. Add the basil flakes. Combine the pasta, the chicken mixture and the sauce blending thoroughly. Serve! If you would like you can add some peas or broccoli for more color.
Jeannie signing out. A couple of trying days when I had to be mean. Don't like it. We had to refuse a load of BK bacon, and had to recover. I can't believe they sent us tthe exact load as a recovery which of course we had to refuse once again. Let's just say, that they are going to incur a BIG freight bill and in all likelihood may lose the BK business. Too bad, as I really like my sales rep for the company and he was out of town. I have some really incrimidating e-mails from someone that supposedly "had his back" telling the cold storage warehouse to re-ship it. I hope she gets axed. Major headache for me, and took up way too much of my day yesterday.
Just got a chance to catch up on the posts - today's a great example of what makes this blog such a standout and the best of its kind. First, a great write-up, then a mix of crossword analysis, humor, education, memory triggers, even a good recipe.
Thanks for a fun read.
Anon @8:39 I don't know that you will read this at this hour of the night. However, I think if you check your book, you will find that it says,"the longest VERSE in the Bible is in Esther. I don't remember which verse it is, but Esther itself has only ten chapters.
Kazie, Did you get the terrible thunderstorms that we got east of Madison? We had three separate storms with clear skies in-between.
I hope the rains end before Saturday. Our grandson is getting married & they're having an outdoor carnival-themed reception.
Dot
Good Evening, folks. I was so busy today, this is my first chance to log on. Thank you Mike Peluso. Enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks Melissa for the write-up.
Got through this pretty easily. Usually I am not good with French, but this fell together. I misspelled SOUFFLE the first time.
Needed perps for NIRVANA. I am not a modern music buff. Unless its country. And for country I really like the oldies better anyhow.
Had UNLOADS first, then fixed to UNPACKS.
Had to stare at 43A for a while. I figured it was ETNA, but I had six spaces. Finally, MT ETNA. I cannot remember ever having the MT as part of the answer. However, it was accurate and it worked. Good job, Mike.
OGEE is an old favorite.
See you in a few hours.
Abejo
Mike:
A lot of people don't know this but there was another Alou brother who played in the majors. It was Boog Powell: He changed his name to Powell because he didn't want to be called "Boogaloo!" (rim shot please) I'll be here all week, tip your waitresses!!
That is amazing, though. Matty, Jesus, and Felipe all started a game or two for the Giants in the same outfield. Remember Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. played a couple of games in centerfield and leftfield for the Mariners in the early 90's? I think that was done a couple of other times by less famous players. I'll have to look it up. (maybe jose cruz and jr?)
dave
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