17A. Tension-easing activity : ICE BREAKER. "You come here often?"
23A. Music to a collector's ears : MINT CONDITION. C.C. has a few of these baseball cards, I bet.
47A. New Orleans tourist spot : BOURBON STREET. Hahtoolah can tell us all about it!
58A. Starlet's benefactor, perhaps : SUGAR DADDY.
37A. Drink suggested by the starts of 17-, 23-, 47- and 58-Across : JULEP
and
56A. Mixer that completes 37-Across : WATER. (OK, same color as "ice".)
Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, so our constructor is getting us ready by preparing mint juleps for us - they serve over 80,000 of them on race day! This reminds me of one of Don G's puzzles from last year, where he cleverly hid the components of a dry martini in the "mix". I really enjoyed this one, too. Fun fill and clever clues make me want to see more from our constructor.
Marti here, with what I believe is Bart Beisner's debut puzzle. Congratulations! And only a "Q" missing for a pangram. I hope you stop by to tell us what was the germ of this idea, Lt. Col. Beisner! (Update: Our constructor today is now a retired Colonel. Thanks for stopping by!)
ACROSS:
1. River movement : FLOW. Go with it.
5. Your can count on them : ABACI
10. Braff of "Scrubs" : ZACH. This cutie.
14. Cleanse : LAVE
15. Does a scrapbooking task : GLUES
16. Away from the wind : ALEE
19. Breathing organ : GILL
20. In accordance with : PER
21. Road trip respite : INN
22. Triangular architectural feature : GABLE. Really? Triangular?
28. Pursue quietly : STALK. I swear, I only wanted his autograph!
30. IRS business designation : S-CORP. They are untaxed, because this type of corporation passes all profits on to the shareholders, who then must claim them on their individual tax returns.
31. Partner of ciencias : ARTES. Spanish for "Science" and "Art". But you knew that, right?
32. Perfect : UTOPIAN
36. Warsaw ___ : PACT. The Russian response to NATO.
39. Ancient gathering place : STOA. "Stoa" is a covered walkway for public use. Here is the stoa of Attalus in Athens.
41. Fried filled tortilla : CHALUPA. Lucina, do you make these, in addition to your wonderful tamales? Chalupas are named for the canoe-like boats that the Aztecs used to navigate the waters around Tenochitlan (Mexico City).
43. All-out : UTTER
44. Be gaga over : ADORE. Do you adore Lady Gaga?
46. Keystone State team, familiarly : PHILS. Philadelphia Phillies, I assume?
52. Patron saint of girls : AGNES. St Agnes of Rome. The nuns used to pray to her on my behalf...
53. Campaigned : RAN.
54. www address : URL
57. Men's clothing cut : SLIM. Maybe in your younger days, but how about now?
62. Alien-seeking org. : SETI. Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
63. Circle : EVADE. "Evade the wagons!" (Doesn't quite sound right, does it?)
64. Thunder sound : PEAL. Who else wanted "clap"???
65. African antelope : ORYX. Hello, there!
67. Start of North Carolina's motto : ESSE...quam videri. ("To be, rather than to seem.")
DOWN:
1. Turn on a griddle : FLIP. flop.
2. Doily material : LACE. C'mon Rich, who wants to look at doily material?
3. Outclass : OVERMATCH. OK, this one was a stretch.
4. "Charlotte's ___" : WEB. Email me if you need an explanation of this one!
5. Cut taker : AGENT
6. White wine cooking liquids : BLANCS. As in Sauvignon blanc. It adds wonderful flavor to many dishes - especially fish.
7. Diving bird : AUK. Sweet!
8. Hook shape : CEE. See?
9. Leb. neighbor : ISR. Lebanon and Israel.
10. Big name in restaurant surveys : ZAGAT
11. Out : ALIBI
12. Yo-Yo Ma's instrument : CELLO. Whoa! I finally get to link music! I hope you find this link as interesting as I did...4:17
13. Abductee of Paris : HELEN. of Troy.
18. Skating venues : RINKS
22. George who famously asked Knute Rockne to "win just one" for him : GIPP.
24. Ellington's "___ Song Go Out of My Heart" : I LET A. More music. 4:13. This one has Ella Fitzgerald singing.
25. Eyepieces : OCULARS
26. Thing to pass in class : NOTE
27. Word with gum or rain : DROP
28. Gullible sort : SAP
29. Gillete's ___ II : TRAC
33. "Tender ___ Night" : IS THE. 1934 F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.
34. Rebellious dispositions : ATTITUDES
35. Wassailer's song : NOEL
37. Olympic sport in which belts are worn : JUDO
38. Second word of many fairy tales : UPON. Once...
40. They're rolled in Spain : ARS. You perro, you!
42. Chocolate critters : LABS. Since we just had Easter, I was thinking of bunnies and chicks...
43. Turn over : UPEND
45. Company with a spokesbaby : E*TRADE. I have no problem with this "E" word - it is a legitimate company logo. Plus, I love the baby commercials! 0:31
47. ___ profundo: low voice : BASSO
48. Obvious flirt : OGLER. "Come here often?"
49. Kwanzaa principle : UNITY. "Umoja""
50. Alternate song recording : REMIX. How about a pop remix? 4:36
51. Less grilled : RARER. That's how I like it!
55. Nutritional figs. : RDAs. Recommended Dietary Allowance(s). But that is an old initialism. Nowadays, it is RDI, or "Recommended Daily Intake".
56. Singer Lovett : LYLE. Country singer. Sorry, no link for this one.
58. Hem, say : SEW. And "haw"?
59. Sch. founded by Jefferson : UVA. University of Virginia.
60. Heater : GAT. Gangsta gun.
61. King Kong, e.g. : APE. And for our final act, here are the Kinks. 3:41
Answer grid.
See you all next week!
Hugs,
Marti
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteI've never had a mint julep and never hope to have one. But I can tell you anyhow, I'd rather, um... never mind.
The theme was pleasant enough and the theme answers were all pretty straightforward. In fact, after completing the first third of the puzzle I thought I was headed for a speed run. But then things got a bit... awkward.
BLANCS eluded me, even though I cook with white wine regularly. I think it was the way the clue was worded that threw me. AGNES was a complete unknown. Not familiar with the PHILS. Had IBEX instead of ORYX until the perps showed me the error of my ways. Also had GUN instead of GAT for awhile.
I didn't mind seeing ARTES in the puzzle, but for some reason ARS just really bugged me...
Good Morning, Marti and friends. I had fun with this puzzle. I sped through the top half, then stalled a bit with the lower portion.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to learn that the French Quarter is not a New Orleans Tourist Spot (if it was, we could have completed the pangram!). Well, BOURBON STREET is in the French Quarter, and here is my favorite ZAGAT restaurant on Bourbon Street.
I liked ZACH Braff and the in the early years of Scrubs.
My favorite clue was Chocolate Critters = LABS.
QOD: Believing in progress does not mean believing that any progress has yet been made. ~ Franz Kafka
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle, Bart. Swell write-up, Marti!
Do not get ALIBI. Help!
Cruddy weather here. Cold.
It seems that the pool house contractor (lousy SOB) failed to ever get the $10K permit signed off. No copy at sight. Unbelievable. 3 years. City is checking for sprinklers in pool house, too! HUH?
Took an unexpected nap earlier after swimming. I was trying to read the blog and conked out! Anyone else ever do this? Fortunately (or not) my dog woke me up scratching a hole in my leg, desperate to go out.
More sleep, I hope. (I got no sleep the night before and was extremely sick with intestinal problems. Who says you cannot make up sleep?)
Cheers!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Bart Beisner, for a very good puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for the also very good review.
ReplyDeleteGot started easily in the NW. FLOW, LAVE, ICEBREAKER, and PER came right away. Next ABACI, GLUES filled in the top center. The NE was a little different. Got ALEE, HELEN, and CELLO. But had to wait awhile for the others.
Had SUMO for a while for 37D. That slowed me down for the theme unifier. Finally figured JUDO was right and then JULEP appeared.
The rest of the theme answers all appeared.
Had GUN for 60D. Fixed that to GST after a while.
Thought GIPP was excellent for 22D. Now I know where the "Win one for the Gipper" came from. Interesting.
Off to sell Vidalia Onions today. Supposed to thunderstorm some. Hope it holds off.
Jeanne, need a recipe. Stop in.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Good day folks,
ReplyDeleteNot a walk in the park today for Hondo. Two areas, the NE & SW, were the main issues. In the NE, 10A, 19A, 22A, 10D, & 11D were all late arrivals. I kept wanting LUNG instead of GILL for 19A. When GILL & GABLE finally surfaced, all was well.
Other slow downs too. Started with IN AWE before ADORE for 44A & wanted CLAP before PEAL at 64 A.
It's amazing what one collector calls MINT CONDITION another will call VERY GOOD. I see it all the time. Sort of like the Tomato/Tomahto argument. To me a card is HI Grade, Mid Grade,or Low Grade. In the end though, it all comes down to "How Much?"
Total brain lock took over in the SW. 57A, 62A, 65A, 49D, & 50D each eluded me. I liked UNITY for 49D, but it wasn't turning on any lights for the remaining blanks.
TIN, anxiously awaiting your posting today. Never had a Julep, but Bourbon is/was no stranger to me.
Another DNF which are becoming too frequent these days.
I am linking just one of many songs called "Tender is the Night". I had no idea there were so many. This is the Tony Bennett song from the movie by the same name based on the novel of the same name, today's clue. Link.(2:52)
ReplyDeleteThe title is taken from the poem "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats. Look on line 35. Link.
For fermatprime @6:20 AM
ReplyDeleteTec: We got you now. How are ya gonna wiggle OUT of this one?
Perp: Ha! I've got an ALIBI, copper.
fermatprime @ 6:20, 11D "Out" clues ALIBI. When you have a valid alibi, you have a way to get "out" of a potential arrest. Many people say "I have an out..."
ReplyDeleteArgyle, you're too fast!
ReplyDeleteBoth of my sons were in town last year for the Kentucky Derby and we stayed at the beach sipping mint juleps, but then Bourbon is also no stranger to us. The key is mixing the sugar and water first.
ReplyDeleteOther than the appearance of the unifier in the middle, which was not really any help, I enjoyed this puzzle, starting out with FLOW got me going in the right direction, and then the usual wit and wisdom from Marti, the Gable link was perfect! I wonder why no love for Lovett from you M., Julia did. Nice music links and Tender is the Night was either brilliant or insane.
enjoy the play day
BTW, it should be spearmint, fresh from the garden. Anyone betting on the race?
ReplyDeleteHappy Thursday, all.
ReplyDeleteMy speed run bogged down in the NE. I've never heard of ZAGAT, but I have watched Scrubs. I needed to slog through the entire alphabet to suss the "Z".
My EXAM became a TEST before I was able to pass the NOTE.
Cute puzzle. I liked it. And you've gotta like the 27,000+ examples of LACE in Marti's post.
Lemon @ 7:22, "SHE'S NO LADY" 3:45
ReplyDeleteMarti, your blog was just darling ! Lots of hugs, in return.
ReplyDeleteThe IRS hates S Corps, because (they think ) it is just an inappropriate, ( but legal ) tax planning tool ( maneuver ) to evade paying FICA and other payroll taxes. For the last year stat. analysed, the year 2009, the IRS estimates the nation lost 288 Billion in FICA and Medicare taxes because of S` corps.
With the Derby this Saturday, I enjoyed this MINT JULEP theme.
ReplyDeleteAs for the actual drink ... ICE and WATER ???? I'd rather have just the BOURBON with the MINT sprig, NEAT !!!
Gezz, are they trying to catch a buzz? Or are they hydrating?
C'mon, ICE and WATER are a No-No at Villa Incognito.
GILL for 'Breathing organ' got the mornings 'Duh!' award.
Always nice to see STOA (learned from crosswords) in the grid.
PHILS a gimmie for any baseball fan. Right, Hondo?
Cheers with some (OK, a-lot of) Avatar at Sunset ... ah, that is Scotch!
A nice workout today, Colonel! Has your Air Force career ever taken you to Stratcom (formerly SAC) in Omaha?
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Is there any event so connected with a drink as the Kentucky Derby/Mint Julep where every year you hear the chant ”down the stretch they come”
-Last week on American Pickers, Mike said, referring to a refurbished pedal car, some antiques are worth less when they are restored to MINT CONDITION. Hmm…
--Those pickers UPEND a lot of trash looking for treasures
-Flirting and OGLING seem very different in tone to me. One’s more like STALKING.
-Yeah right, Marti, I knew ciencias ;-) and uh, why exactly did you need St. Agnes’ intervention?
-Lady Gaga spent a lot of time in Nebraska with her then current squeeze (who knows now?) and was described by people who met her as down to earth and quite normal. Her stage persona is what it is and the sun will set on that soon enough.
-Jody Foster’s movie Contact is a great conjecture about a SETI investigator’s ultimate dream. It’s worth a rent!
-The DOILIES at Grandma Opal’s never looked like that!
-Some teachers go off the deep end when they see a NOTE being passed. I just tell them gently to put it away as I know how important they can be to the passer and the passee.
-How RARE is that turkey you’re cooking? “A reasonably competent veterinarian could revive it!” (Frasier)
Hi all, good Thursday level QWP.
ReplyDeleteStill looking for my SUGAR DADDY. Until then I work.
Although I work in finance and accounting but was bamboozeled by SCORP. Oh! S-Corp!
Never tried a mint julep, but I'd be up for it.
I liked 1D Turn on a griddle: FLIP and 42D: Chocolate critters: LABS.
Could do without 11D: Out: ALIBI
52A was easy - we've got an AGNES right here ;)
Have a good one!
Now I've got the song "One Mint Julep" by Sarah Vaughan/Quincy Jones & His Orchestra stuck in my head!
ReplyDeleteDNF due to several unknowns and one "forgot" in the east zone: ZACH, GILL, S-CORP, UTOPIAN, UTTER, SUGAR DADDY. OK, I needed missing perps for some of those too. My cocktail recipe book does not mention sugar for mint juleps, and I've never even seen one before Marti's excellent pic today.
ReplyDeleteHusker, funny that you should mention Contact. We bought that DVD years ago, but watched it again Tuesday night. That opening scene is really something, but I think the movie drags a bit. The director could easily have lopped off 30 minutes without hurting the film in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Spitzboov and Argyle from yesterday, for their equations. I do see now...sorta kinda.
ReplyDeleteThe problem was from an article about intuitive vs logical thinking. I definitely found out what my thinking processes are! Thanks again. (also, thanks for taking me seriously and not putting me down. We can`t all be math whizzes!)
Good morning all:
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mr. B for a timely and fun Thursday offering, and to Marti for a great write- up.
I liked chocolate critters, never heard of chalupa, did not know St. Agnes was the patron saint of girls, but did know who Paris abducted, Helen (of Troy). Also, have never had a Mint Julep.
Happy Friday everyone.
Kazie, there is much debate about the "proper" way to make a mint julep, but most recipes I have seen involve muddling the mint leaves with sugar, then adding dry crushed ice and bourbon (no water).
ReplyDelete-Otto, you are so right! The Opening scene from Contact showing radio/tv signals getting older as it draws away from Earth and then going silent is spectacular! I used it in my astronomy lessons and the kids loved it. It makes residents of Earth feel pretty insignificant. The science in the first half of the movie and the politics after Contact are good too. The rest of the movie is very forgettable.
ReplyDelete-Fore!
HeartRx,
ReplyDeleteI had another look, and it does have syrup in the muddling mixture. I probably overlooked that when trying to find a beginning to fit the CW clue.
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteToday's theme song.
Lady Gaga before St. Agnes had to intervene. Talented gal
Big DNF today, NE and SW corners.
No help from ST AGNES, and I was without an ALIBI.
ARS?!?
Mispelt GABLE.
IMBO. Need to establish some lawn order in the wild of my yard.
Cool regards!
JzB trombonist with ATTITUDES
"cooking liquids" was utterly extraneous to the 6D clue. White wines are BLANCS wether you cook with them or not. Really annoying since a classic french sauce that uses white wine actually fit for that clue with two letters in place: bercys (made by adding white wine and cream to a fish velouté).
ReplyDeleteThe sugar and water mixed together produce the syrup.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on a street where they built the all girls Catholic high school at the end of the block when I was 14. Now I know why all the nuns kept muttering about St. Agnes as they walked past our house where I lived with my two older brothers.
Lyle Lovett could be a character in Superman comics, you think? Thanks for the link M. Didn't you like my ARS joke?
Please help. How does circle = evade?
ReplyDeleteGreetings, puzzlers. Marti, you do make me laugh and no, I don't make CHALUPAS. I also prefer your GABLE.
ReplyDeleteEasy FLOW for a Thursday I thought especially with so few clunky abbreviations!
After each trip I used to scrap book and consequently have about a dozen albums filled with memorabilia. GLUES barely covers the tasks; there's cutting, layout, design, etc, etc.
Hahtoolah, I thought of you at New Orleans tourist spot, BOURBON STREET and wondered if that was your first fill.
The SW was a bit slow but with OGLER, AGNES came to mind and the rest filled nicely. Also it took me a while to recall GIPP as that was pushed way back but then I mentally heard Reagan say, "win one for the GIPPER."
Time to go for a hair cut.
I wish you a great Thursday, everyone!
Good morning everyone. Marti, thanks for the intro comments.
ReplyDeleteNice prelude to the Kentucky Derby. Thought this was real hard for a Thursday. Nothing clicked at first so took several breaks; cook cereal, read paper, some mindless morning TV, then finally got JULIP. That set the stage for getting the theme fill and finally ending up in the NE. Couldn't think of ZAGAT for the longest time but finally nailed it. GABLE helped.
1a, FLOW, is an example oF OVER thinking. In another life I was a river engineer, so I was initially thinking of thalweg movement, changes in a braided channel, oxbow formation. But FLOW was perfect; that's how a river (at least the water in the river) moves.
Favorite clues were for ALIBI, and FLIP.
KUDOS to Bart on his maiden foray.
Anon @9:13 - You're welcome. I think most of the posters here would give you a good answer to an honest question.
Have a good day.
JazzB - Thanks for the vintage Lady Gaga link - she does have a great voice. Too bad she feels she feels she has to bring attention to her talent by wearing such outlandish clothes. She only came in third for that performance at the NYU talent show?
ReplyDeleteHaHa, Lemon - I'll let you tell the joke! BTW, not all recipes call for simple syrup (sugar and water). Many just say to put the mint leaves in the glass, add the sugar, and muddle them together. The abrasiveness of the sugar extracts the oils from the mint leaves, and the oil then dissolves the sugar.
Terrific debut, Bart! I loved this puzzle (even though I'm not a julep drinker) and Marti, your write-up was priceless this morning. Loved your reference to Lady Gaga, learned something new with your S CORP explanation, and couldn't believe you found a CEE-shaped hook to show us! Many thanks!
ReplyDeleteArgyle, thanks for noting that Fitzgerald's "Tender is the Night" came from Keats. I didn't know that.
Fermatprime, you sound as though you've had a rough day today already. Will send soothing vibes your way!
Have a good Thursday, everybody!
That Chocolate LAB was my favorite clue.
When you circle something you go around it. Perhaps when you evade something you go around it, also.
ReplyDeleteHello everybody. First of all, thanks to you, Marti, for a terrific writeup. Your sense of humor is delightful.
ReplyDeleteSo, it wasn't FRENCH QUARTER. Shucks. I sure wanted it, but BASSO made me erase it and put BOURBON STREET in. Then I got the aha moment: of course! Bourbon, mint, etc. That unlocked the whole puzzle.
So, mari, you still waitin' for a SUGAR DADDY, eh? Nah, you're prolly better off working. Do you have any opinions about the demise of the Glass-Steagal Act and the creation of the Dodd-Franks Act?
Best wishes to you all.
Hola Everyone, Technically this was a DNF for me as I have never watched "Scrubs" and had to look up Zach and Zagat was a complete unknown. I also had a brain freeze on Out. Alibi was a bit obscure to me.
ReplyDeleteIn putting in Julep, however, the other theme answers came readily and that certainly helped with the rest of the fill today. I thought the theme was clever and now I know what goes into a Mint Julep. I've never had one, so wasn't sure of the ingredients.
My favorite clues today were Chocolate Critters/Labs, and They're rolled in Spain/Ars. I was trying to think of something that could be rolled, when I had to use that old v-8 can when it finally dawned on me what was needed.
Thanks Marti for another great writeup. Funny as usual.
Abejo, If Jeanne doesn't have a recipe using onions for you, e-mail me and I'll give you a super one. It is from my daughter's Egyptian cookbook.
The young man went to the fancy new Spanish retaurant. He was seated when a the waitress who looked liked Sofia Vergara, came over to tell him the specials. She finished by telling him about their famous Churros for dessert.
ReplyDeleteThe young man said, "Oh my you really know how to roll your ars."
She blushed and responded, " Oh no, it is just because of the high heels they make me wear."
Husker, We love American Pickers. We even bought an American Pickers'baseball cap for our 16 year old grandson for Christmas. He loves that show.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the lace that Marti put on our link wasn't quite what Grandma had in mind, either.
Marti, thanks for the YoYo Ma link. I enjoyed it a lot.
Off to Chico to be with family this weekend.
Lemon, I knew you'd come through!! (^0^)
ReplyDeleteChickie, glad you enjoyed the Yo-Yo Ma link. I thought it was fascinating to hear how he developed from the age of 6 until now.
Ah, so that's the ARS joke.
ReplyDeleteJayce @ 1:20 pm: The only things those new regulations did was make my life miserable. We've got all sorts of new compliance rules we need to follow and we have to document EVERYTHING. A bunch of extra work for those of us who were keeping our noses clean all along :(
ReplyDeleteDid anybody figure out who our very own AGNES is yet?
Mari, I know who Agnes is because we play Words With Friends together, LOL!
ReplyDeleteWell, I looked up St. Agnes on Wiki to see if I could give you all a quick summary. But I found this just about the most gruesome martyr story ever. Look it up only if you have a strong stomach. I'm going to pray none of it was true. Even martyrs deserve better than this.
ReplyDeleteWell, our AGNES is not gruesome, but she is sweet enough to be a saint ;)
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle and great write-up--thanks Bart and Marti.
ReplyDeleteNever had a mint julep, but now I'd like to try one. My family and I went to New Orleans when I was a young teenager. We got kicked out of Antoine's because my sister and I were in pant suits. Yikes, that was a long time ago.
I bought a small painting in a park in the Vieux Carre which I still have.
I also had "lung" for 19A until cello and Helen showed up which I knew were right.
Thanks LA CW Addict for your comments yesterday. This cat was a shelter kitty.
Have a great rest of the day to all.
Barry, your first line got a smile out of me because I immediately thought "purple cow."
ReplyDeleteWell this puzzle certainly lit up the Blog today! I really enjoyed it, i got stuck NE, SW, & East, so i took a break. My favorite thing about crosswords is when you are stuck, & have to figure it out. That when it gets interesting.
ReplyDeleteFav, out=alibi
Nits, none.
I guess i DNF because 40D i put RRS. Stoa, you will not cross me up again! (mental note Stoa, crosswordese # 3,965...)
Hands up for "clap" (no, i am not going to link applause)
57A mens clothing cut, i started out with "slit". (i guess i was thinking underwear?)
Desperotto,,, there;s more than one pic on that lace link???
(gotta go!)
For all those of you who are new and wonder about our made up stuff like "perps" "WBS" "WAG" why "morel" is part of our culture and other short hand terminology, today's appearance of Helen of Troy reminded me of the millihelen, which we adopted here. What's a millihelen?
ReplyDeleteA millihelen is a standard unit of beauty, equal to 1/1000th of the beauty of Helen of Troy, who (mythologically) is the most attractive woman who ever lived.
Since Helen was also the "face that launched a thousand ships", one millihelen is also the amount of beauty it takes to launch one ship to rescue you if you are abducted by a Trojan prince.
The symbol is mH
And we have our own beauty, Agnes of Troy.
ReplyDeleteArgyle, sorry, but this is my Tender is the Night. The live version is good, but the album version has more soul...
ReplyDelete67A Start of North Carolina's motto, i was thinking "ease", but no, that can't be right?
JzB, Re: Lady Gaga, my daughters have been trying to get me to listen to her for years, but you blew my socks off! great link!
Barry G. made a funny! We want more!
Loofah, Loofah, Loofah!
Marti, Re: 50D, i could not play the link because Ella was still singing...
Marti, Re: 61D, i could not play the link because Ella was still singing...
Re: Fridays puzzle, i could not do it because i am looking at the lace links...
Alton Browns Good Eats take on making a mint julep ( skip to 7:22 for the julep)
Nothing to be sorry about, CED. Jackson Browne was my first thought too but Tony Bennett is connected to the clue.
ReplyDeleteSusan, any improvement in your quest for a career in real estate?
ReplyDeleteI, too, have never had a mint julep, but I have had several different kinds of bourbon. I prefer a good scotch over bourbon, by far, and a good vodka even over scotch.
I, too, smiled widely over the thought of "I'd rather see than be one." :)
Good evening Crossword Corner! Marti, thanks for your write-up and for inviting me to stop in to chat. And thanks to all you bloggers for your comments, humor and encouragement.
ReplyDeleteYes, this was my first puzzle. I have enjoyed the solving end for years and thought I'd try construction, which I find just as fun (if not more) than solving.
As for my inspiration, I always enjoy puzzles that tie to an event. So as I sat looking out my window on a typical January day in Wyoming my thoughts went to Spring. Then the Derby came to mind, as did an image of my father making mint juleps using mint grown in our yard. Thus I went for the indirect reference to the race using the official drink of the Kentucky Derby.
Thanks to those of you who commented on my miltary service. I'm a retired Colonel now but hope you will join me in keeping our active duty personnel in your thoughts every day!
Best wishes to all!
Bart Beisner, thank you so much for stopping by! So, you are a retired Colonel now!! (You need to update you linked in site!) My salutes to you, and all our military heroes who serve every day.
ReplyDeleteI will be making mint juleps on Saturday, and thinking of you - I hope we see more of your creative processes soon. Do join us on a regular basis - this little corner has lots of good friends and friendly banter.
BTW, Bart, If you are not familiar with our site, I post comments as "HeartRx", but I write the Thursday blogs as "Marti" (DuGuay-Carpenter, a fellow constructor).
ReplyDeleteColonel we are honored by your service and entertained by your puzzle and pleased with you stopping by. In every way we salute you and all who serve.
ReplyDeleteThank you Marti--I will make it a point to visit the corner often. Enjoy the race and your juleps.
ReplyDeleteLemonade714 - humble thanks to you!