Theme: Name your state, briefly and self-referentially!
This latest effort from marti I found both really easy and really hard. Looking back after it is all done, it seems really easy, but there was no way to benefit from deducing the key was the abbreviation system implemented by the US Post Office in 1963 when zip codes were also added to our mail. Trivia warning, the only state to ever change is Nebraska which went from NB to NE. Anyway, the puzzle had some new stuff, a ton of music inspiring and inspired cluing and a hint which did not help me at all. I saw Florida, Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon, and North Dakota, but it was only after the perps did I see where the last three theme answers hid the state. The puzzle used a mirror image of the clues to go from front to back. Some short fill for a Friday, but who would want to nit pick a marti, with not an "A" word in the bunch. Time to do it.
17. FL? : FLYING START. Once you see it, the clue is simple, but you cannot get there without the perps, at least not for the first one. FL which is the two letter code for Florida (my home sweet home) is in fact the "start" of the word FLYING.
28A. CO? : COLD FRONT. Now I am feeling confident, as front, like start is another way of saying the abbreviation begins the word. So Colorado is cold. But wait, she will not make it that easy...
35A. AK? : BREAKING HEART. The AK is the "heart" of the clue and of the puzzle. A really self-referential clue for our own heartrx..
43A. OR? : RAZOR BACK. This one is the opposite direction as OR is the back of the word RAZOR.
56A. ND? : GRAND FINALE. Also the end of the word, so there is perfect balance with the two first theme answers beginning the first word, and the two last ending the first word. The two "beginning" abbreviations are in the first two spots, and the two "ending" abbreviations are in the last two spots. Elegant? Designed on purpose? I think so...
And the hint,
6A5. Kind of secret represented by each two-letter puzzle clue? : STATE. They are secrets because the state abbreviations are all 'hidden' within the fill.
Across:
1. Post-op regimen : REHABilitation. These days, most think of drugs with rehab, though sadly often after the physical rehab, comes the other for stopping the pain-killers.
6. Ligurian capital : GENOA. The Italian RIVIERA.
11. Pepper, e.g.: Abbr. : SGT. No, not a doctor, a Lonely Heart's Club BAND. Which is not acid rock even thought it includes Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Mini-theme marti?
14. End of ___ : AN ERA. You think with A-Rod down, Jeter hurt and the rest aging badly this is it for the Yankees?
15. "Paper Moon" co-star : O'NEAL. Tatum, daughter of Ryan and ex-wife of John McEnroe.
16. Fight sound : POW. Just ask Adam West.
19. A single might get you one : RBI. A nice baseball reference for our fearless leader.
20. Tops : AT MOST. This will cost you $20.00, tops; don't believe it..
21. Herr's home : HAUS. German lesson, Mister: House. A hint of more German to come.
22. Like always : AS USUAL.
25. One with an inflamed "I" : EGOIST. A classically witty pun on the inflamed eye. and its down counter part, 25D. I can follow them : EFGH. A four letter string!!
27. Legal matter : RES. Latin for "thing"; thanks miss m. 41A. Doohickey : THING. A non legal term.
31. Increasing in vol. : CRESCendo. It is legitimate in the DICTIONARY. So take your nits and stick em where the sun don't shine.
34. Swiss peak : EIGER. Do you all Sanction this clue? We all know marti likes to ski the Alps.
40. Twist of a sort : IRONY. Dr. Brennan does not like it when it is confused with COINCIDENCE.(0:08). But wait, 13D. Little wrench : TWIST. Like THIS? (2:46) Also from the 60's.
47. Dixie Product : CUP. They make excellent telephones.
48. Not at all light : SOLEMN.
49. Gets going after a crash : REBOOTS. Computer, not car.
52. ___ rock : ACID. Also known as psychedelic rock, from the LSD era, where the instrumental work was important than the lyrics. so many to choose from; maybe a little of THIS.(3:57). Your choices?
53. Harum-___ : SCARUM. Before LSD was synthesized to mess with young minds, there was ELVIS. (2:07).
55. Blubber : SOB.
61. Navig., for one : SCIence. HISTORY.
62. Gourmet mushroom : MOREL. The official fungus among us, which stands up for what we believe in.
63. Sheets and such : LINEN.
64. Rocky hails : YOS. LINK.(0:39)
66. Saw : DATED. Anyone who did LSD? Did you?
Down:
1. Battle of Britain gp. : RAF. Royal Air Force.
2. Like mil. volunteers : ENListed.
3. "What's the big idea?!" : HEY. Is for horses.
4. Recital pieces : ARIAS.
5. Language family common in southern Cameroon : BANTU. This GROUP. How do I avoid commenting on all the scholars in this field who are so cunning?
6. Split with the band : GO SOLO. Like Phil Collins and Genesis, more music miss m.
7. Fangorn Forest denizens : ENTS. Lord of the Rings.
8. How cognac is usually served : NEAT. An obvious shout out for the Tinman who thinks ice is meant for skating.
9. It fits in a lock : OAR. Fun clue.
10. Key used in shortcuts : ALT. Notice how the use of KEY in the next clue is used to confuse.
11. Wrench : SPRAIN.
12. Tank : GO BUST. Another idiom for crapping out, but after the Thursday discussion of massaging boobies, I see this response as the proper cheer while Dennis is at work.
18. Ally Financial Inc., formerly : GMAC. General Motors Acceptance Corporation, which did go bust and is now 73% owned by the US Treasury, great juxtaposition of clues.
21. Exuberant cry : HOORAH. makes me think of this LINK.
22. Pop-up path : ARC.
23. Balkan native : SERBian.
24. Tech support caller : USER, the stem word for the New Jersey favorite USE GUYS.See Rocky.
26. Do a Sunday morning church job : GREET.
29. "The Threepenny Opera" star : LENYA. Miss (CHAR)LOTTE.(3:40) The original written for her by her husband.
30. Really be into : DIG. Kurt really dug Lotte. He often was
32. Grabbed : SEIZED.. by creative passion.
33. Pool shot : CAROM. How good are you? Can you bank on your skill?
36. Band with the multi-platinum album "Follow the Leader" : KORN. The SONG..(4:29) South Park's favorite heavy metal band.
39. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT.
42. Rte. finder : GPS. Global Positioning System.
43. Elaborate style : ROCOCO. How many of you remember Firesign Theater?
44. Outs : ALIBIS. It's my story and I'm sticking to it.
45. Nurturing place : CRADLE. Place for baby Charlotte.
46. Saw cut : KERF. I will leave the explaining to our resident cut ups.
48. Impertinent : SASSY. A shout out to herself!
50. Weightlifter's pride : BUILD.
51. All, to Caesar : OMNIA. Gallia in tres partes est divisa.
53. Poet Teasdale : SARA. Famous for committing suicide and this poem:
"I Shall Not Care"
WHEN I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Tho' you should lean above me broken-hearted,
I shall not care.
I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough,
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now.
"I Shall Not Care"
WHEN I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Tho' you should lean above me broken-hearted,
I shall not care.
I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough,
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now.
54. Site where techs get news : CNET.
56. Execs who make trades : GMS. Not cars but athletes, General Managers.
57. Balderdash : ROT.
58. Hill worker : ANT.
59. Wrangler competitor : LEE. I get these two brands confused, who has Favre?
60. Apt puzzle answer, in this case : END. Really cute.
And in the immortal words of a hero, I am done and as always a pleasure to present a marti masterpiece and and a new pic of my baby, so Lemonade out, LINK. (0:08).
Lemonade
And in the immortal words of a hero, I am done and as always a pleasure to present a marti masterpiece and and a new pic of my baby, so Lemonade out, LINK. (0:08).
Lemonade
85 comments:
Morning, all!
Took me awhile to get traction on this on, especially the theme answers. I got FLYING START via the perps and had no idea how it related to FL at first. Then the light bulb went off...
Really delightful theme. After I understood what was going on, the only theme answer that held me back was BREAKING HEART, partially because it's the one theme answer that didn't seem like a common phrase to me, but mostly because I had incorrectly assumed that 25D would end in an S and therefore had BREAKING S_ART staring me in the face until I fixed my mistake.
Had trouble accepting SCI for "Navig." Thanks for the link explaining it, Lemonade!
Hello Puzzlers -
I gotta say WBS. I had the same result exactly, except that I had been keeping the wrong state in mind when looking at 35a - OR instead of AK - which bollixed that for a while. Never heard of Korn, so that didn't help.
Morning Marti, thanks for another clever puzzle! I liked the challenge and the freshness of your theme. I choose to believe the balanced beginning - middle - end sequence in the theme answers was intelligent design. Keep 'em coming!
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. This puzzle nearly killed me. As Lemonade pointed out, I really didn't need the unifier to realize that the theme clues were abbreviations for States.
Even with Lemonade's explanation, I am not sure I fully understand the theme. I tried to correlate the answer for OR = RAZOR BACK to the previous clue of AR, since the Razor Backs are the U of Arkansas mascots.
Both Ryan O'NEAL and his daughter, Tatum O'NEAL were co-stars of Paper Moon.
My favorite clue was Not At All Light = SOLEMN.
The GPS has saved us many arguments when travel.
QOD: If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must fist invent the universe. ~ Carl Sagan (November 9, 1934 ~ December 20, 1996)
Good morning, gang.
I think this one should have been subtitled "Dennis." In addition to the GO BUST that Lemonade mentioned, we had CUP, COLD FRONT (during the exam), and the ever popular DF icon MOREL.
Lemon, thanks for explaining CRESC. I was thinking physical volume (as in CUP size), not the musical sort. I agree that the OAR-ALT combo was cute, SASSY even.
I figured out that the theme clues represented states, but never figured out how the theme answers related to them. When I saw FL and CO up top, I thought the theme was going to be the to-close-to-call states. Nope. Then when RAZORBACK appeared, I thought maybe each answer referred to two different states. Nope. It's a good thing I didn't need the theme to finish the puzzle.
too many clunky junk
C'mon, 25-A, One with an inflamed "I"? wasn't Barry G. but EGOIST.
Really clever puzzle. Lemony, thanks for the humor and the musical links. It seemed difficult at first, so I dove to the bottom and soon had GRAND FINALE, which set the pattern. ND is the end (or finale) of graND. After that I continued apace.
RAZOR BACK (the back part of razOR. BREAKING HEART, the center or heart of breAKing. I keep hearing the ear worm, "My Achy Breaky Heart." etc.
Marti, thanks for a fun puzzle with plenty of cute misdirections. just right for a Friday.
Hi Everyone ~~
A masterpiece, Marti! When I got the first theme answer, I thought that the FL was the START of the the word 'Flying' and THAT was the gimmick. I should have known there'd be more to it. But it took me until 65A - 'STATE secret' before I realized what the two-letter combos actually were. DUH!
So much to like - loved the Corner shout-outs with MOREL and NEAT. Favorites were 'Outs' - ALIBIS ( I was thinking of outs as a verb at first) 'Rocky hails' - YOS, and 'I can follow them' - EFGH.
I had a number of write-overs: Usher/GREET, Holler/HOORAH and Bicep/BUILD. Because of that last one, the SE corner was the last to fall.
Lemonade ~ a wonderful write-up. I enjoyed your info, witty comments, pics and links.
Thanks to you both for an enjoyable Friday!
Actually got the theme on this one -- a rare treat for me and a big help -- but had an oddly tough time completing the NE corner (had RUN instead of RBI for awhile and GOBUST eluded me -- I never expect short two-word answers). [21:23]
As Jayce would say, MAN OH MAN. Should I be embarrassed that it took me over two hours to crack this ? Actually had to have a cup of coffee to complete it.
Loved the NE. Hadn't heard WRENCH as in SPRAIN in a long time. And to clecho little wrench = TWIST...
5D via Perps. 20A AT MOST Kept looking for one word., and same with 22A Not Forever, not Eternal, but AS USUAL. 18D Ally = GMAC - I like some of their commercials. 22D Not online pop up path = URL, but rather baseball. 33D Not MASSE, but CAROM, 56A Not Fat but SOB. Loved 25A One with an inflamed I and paired with 25D I can follow them. On first pass at 25D, I wanted to enter LEGS, but couldn't make it work. 66A Saw = DATED really threw me. At first, I thought adage, then I thought miter. Filled it with the perps and still had to think about it. Also loved SW. No errors with wrong words entered in that area, but it just took forever to get a grip. I was sure of SASSY. I like those impertinent ones. Had KO-- at 36D and realized KORN, which led to RAZORBACK and SEIZED, and then the SW fell. WHEW !
So I had a lot of errors that were hard to get past, and backed out a lot of words until I was absolutely sure. GRAND FINALE was first theme entry to fall, and was initially tempted with FAULTS, but ANT and LEE made sense.
Great puzzle Marti ! Have to go read Lemon now. Making me late for signing on to work, but that's ok after yesterday's 11 hours.
Greetings! Witty! Witty! Witty! That describes both the constructor and the blogger. Thanks Marti and Lemonade. You two rock!
I agree that this was both hard and easy. Hard to start and grab a toehold, but easy once I had a few filled.
I saw the STATE abbreviations right away but had no idea what to do about them.
WEES. My experience was much like all of you so far. I jumped here and there to fill what I could for certain then suddenly the bottom was finished. It didn't help.
So many twists in this one but I especially liked the clue for IRONY.
HOORAH! Marti, thanks for the entertainment.
Have a terrific Friday, everyone!
Had to put in a hard days labor to complete this one. Many elements of a Silkie where more than one answer both fit and made sense, so that slowed down the wagging a lot.
Got the theme in the NW quickly, but working clockwise I confidently filled in I Am A (rock) and KISS for the band. Those caused a lot of grief until it erased the entire quadrant and googled for Korn. That proved the key, and the rest came pretty quickly.
A huge challenge, but a fun solve when all done. Thanks Marti and Lemon!
Lemon: Thank you for another outstanding write-up & links.
You really shine when you get a Marti puzzle!
Marti: You sly dog, very clever themes. Good job. You go girl!
LENYA, KORN, RICO, KERF & OMNIA all perps and learning moments. A big plus.
A few write-overs:
43-D, Elaborate style, was 'ornate' before ROCOCO.
55-A, Blubber, was 'fat' before SOB (HEY, it worked with ornate).
Liked the NEAT 'shout-out' ... and Lemon, I think ice is ONLY for skating. (Key word, ONLY!) lol
Cheers to all at Sunset.
Unique theme today, liked it.
Marti, I loved this in uncountable ways!! The cluing, the theme, the positions of the theme answers, the weather here in NE (formerly NB) – wait a minute, that wasn’t you but everything else – WOW!
Musings
-A COLD FRONT is going to slap us upside the head Sunday but 60’s and 70’s ‘til then
-A real capital and not money but not a real SGT.
-Are you an over the hill, overrated baseball player? Call 1-800-YANKEES, we gotta job for you. I remember when the Yanks just used their farm system and the KC Athletics (not Royals then).
-A Marti puzzle with upscale liquor and a mountain. What are the odds?
-I used Dixie CUP vibrating bottoms (that sounds funny) to show transmission of sound in a string and waxed cardboard for years. Definitely not the CUP size discussed yesterday.
-IRONY /Coincidence? I had to REBOOT my computer in the middle of the puzzle so I could continue to hear All Nature Music – SKY.FM on iTunes Radio. If you love rain, oceans, flutes, whales, repetitive music…
-I have SOBbed twice in my life. Once from grief and once from joy.
-Rocky Hails, Fits in a lock, Not at all light, Twist clue and answer – YES!
-Some of those GO SOLO gigs didn’t turn out so swell. On the other hand, didn’t Paul McCartney used to play with a band?
-I had WARM instead of NEAT first. I remember Charles Emerson Winchester swirling the cognac around in the glass so it could absorb the warmth of his hand.
-I USHER and don’t GREET. It mitigates some of the tedium.
-Fore!
You forgot my state: ILL. And that's exactly how I feel after working on this puzzle. It really had me stumped! (Good job Marti!)
I never did get the theme until I came here.
I liked these:
- 16A: Fight Sound: POW
- 19A: A Single Might Get You One: RBI (lap dance Dennis?)
- 49A: Gets Going After a Crash: REBOOTS
- 25D: I can Follow Them: EFGs (I couldn't get "I before E except after C" out of my head.
Great job, kept me guessing. I'm gonna go take an aspirin now. Have a great day!
I am afraid i got sidetracked yest. When Dennis asked about cup sizes, i emailed my Daughter Sara, who was recently promoted to "Bra Specialist" at Victorias Secret (a PT Job until she becomes famous on Broadway...) Her response:
"Thats kind of a hard question to answer... I will say that most of the time we are low on 34C which is a pretty common bra size so that must mean that a lot of women are 34C. Another popular size is 34B and 36C."
Anyway, I got sidetracked trying to find out if old friends were OK, which was kinda scary because people are still hard to reach. (lots of stories, so far so good)
Phone service is still erratic.
LMAO TTP,, GTO = wa wa wa wa
Hmm, do not stir the stew? Maybe i'm a Northerner, but how do you stop it from burning?
--------------------------------
11/9 Marti, great puzzle, had to rush thru it, but still have nits!
41A shouldn't "doohickey" = Thing"y"?
66A saw = dated, i think i understand, but i am still not sure...
Learning moment = Kerf
Still a little confused on the theme. i think i will take a break & look at it again later...
What fun this is Marti! not finished yet...going to bring home DH from Knee replacement surgery.He is the best patient EVER..up and walking, doing his exercises.
Later...maybe
Great write up Lemon. Fun and educational ! Liked the links that I probably would have passed by, like reading about the Italian Riviera. Love Morels. Hunted them in the spring around here but the ticks got so bad, I've pretty much given up on that. Dad taught me how to sneak up on them. He also taught me how to reach down into the bank of the creeks and pull snapping turtles up out of the muddy water. But I like my fingers and thumb too much for that.
CED, when making jambalaya, which is not stew, you fold, rather than stir. If you stir, you'll break up the rice. Have you ever had jambalaya ? How about muff ? They have great foods in NOLA.
Overall this is a challenging and very enjoyable puzzle. Two issues, however:
“AK? : BREAKING HEART”
This is a poor clue/answer; for it to be good, “AK” would need to be letters in “heart.”
“A single might get you one : RBI.”
This sort of clue/answer is annoying; the clue should alert the puzzler that the answer is an abbreviation.
Other than these problems, the puzzle was well worth the time to figure out. Thank you.
“QOD: If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must fist invent the universe.”
ALT QOD: Inventing the universe is difficult enough without having to use one's fist to do it.
Good day everyone,
Marti, you almost did me in, but I managed to finish this most enjoyable puzzle. So many clever and deceptive clues.
Three favorites ; 25D I CAN FOLLOW THEM/EFGH. 40A TWIST OF SORT/IRONY. 44D OUTS/ALIBIS.
Those three. along with several others, gave me lots of chuckles.
The theme never really sank in. ND /GRANDFINALE was the first to fall. Thought the ND meant "ended"", thus the answer G....F... but the remaining theme clues trashed my logic and I was left with Perps, Wags, and Groping.
Have a good weekend.
anon@10:05, 'AK' is in the 'heart' (read center) of 'Breaking'. The clue is absolutely dead-on.
And 'RBI' is so commonplace now, that it's rarely viewed as an abbreviation. People talking baseball don't refer to Runs Batted In, but rather to RBIs.
This was a gem of a puzzle; thanks Marti, for a most enjoyable solve. Excellent write-up, Lemonade.
Anon @10:05 HEART is the position word like finale, front, start, back in the others. Heart means center, so AK is in the center of breAKing.
Speaking of "inventing the universe", I can't help but feel disappointed with another episode of TBBT. It seems like they are focusing more on continuing story lines and relationships and focusing less on comedy. Maybe it's just me, but I agreed with Sheldon last night. Amy was acting like a real snot while directing Fun With Flags.
Good morning and happy Friday to all.
Fun puzzle thanks Marti, and Lemon for your write up.
Thanks Lemon for reminding me about the Firesign theater. Nick danger third eye was hysterical, Rocky Rococo at your cervix,etc,etc.
A toast to you Tinman tonight I have some Jack Daniels, which I always drink neat with a beer chaser.
Have a great day to all.RJW.
Had run instead of rbi which answer was a f(explitative)g abbr. Breakingheart, should have been BS, instead of AK. Had slav instead of serb. Liked sgt pepper and ant. Which is more common ant or aria in crosswords? Didnt see ono or aloe, so it must be aria.
Good morning:
Congrats, Marti, on a very clever, challenging workout. I really didn't understand the full extent of the theme until coming here. Well done and great expo, Lemony.
I filled in the last letters but no TA DA and couldn't understand why. Then I realized my mistake; I had breaking heads instead of heart. Don't ask.
Am I the only TBBT fan who continues to be disappointed in the show so far? I just find it to be way off kilter and disjointed.
Happy Friday.
Mari @10:22 - I was typing while you posted re TBBT. I'm glad that I'm not alone in being critical of the show. And I agree with your comments. They just seem to be going from pillar to post with the story arc and, IMO, it's not working.
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
As always, you slay me with your fun write-ups lemony. Great music links today, too. Loved the Liszt sonata - it's playing right now.
"Little wrench" was my clue for TWIST, but I had "O'Henry plot device" for IRONY.
Glad to see so many of you "got" the theme - it definitely was a tricky Friday level one. Thanks!
TTP. Do you live in the NOLA area?
HeartRx. I feel like such a dunce. This theme was over my head, but I appreciated the clever clues.
What a clever theme, Marti! And I actually got it, for a change! Even so, I still had trouble in the SW corner and in the end had to cheat a tiny bit to finish. But this was a lot of fun, as was your write-up, Lemonade. So, thanks to you both!
My favorite answer was IRONY for TWIST OF A SORT.
I didn't realize that Sara Teasdale committed suicide. My goodness, that makes her poem even more incredibly sad. Thanks for posting it, Lemonade.
Our kitchen has become overrun with silverfish and so today we need to clean out all the shelves and line them with bug-repellent paper. Just hope the stuff doesn't poison us as well as the insects.
Have a great Friday, everybody!
OK, I'm in the minority here but I didn't think this was a good puzzle. Too tricky even for a Friday.
Wow.. I am so impressed with this puzzle. I kept trying to put the code in the beginning like the first two. Of course that didn't work.
I will keep coming to the blog for help.
Thanks
Klilly
Mari & Irish Miss
re: TBBT ... I actually laughed a few times last night.
Esp. enjoyed the 'Long Island Ice Tea' scene.
AND
The "Fun with Flags" at the beginning and END were a hoot. JMHO
Marti: I like your clue "O'Henry plot device" for IRONY better.
Esp. since Rich's clue had TWIST in the clue ... and that was the answer for 13-D.
Ho-Hum ... still waiting for my Florida to announce the election results.
Cheers!
Hahtoolah, just what is that new avatar of yours? It looks like a little guy perched on the shoulders of a headless man.
TBBT -- It may not be up to the standards of previous years, but this week's episode was the best so far this year.
For some odd reason, the clue for 66a hadn't printed out in my hardcopy, so before figuring out the answer was "dated", I had wagged "Panel" in that spot. Bicep going down had given me the leading P. Thought Panel worked in the sense of a secret panel in the state secret theme, or even as a more obscure state panel theme. Eventually Bicep fell to Build, and the SE corner sorted itself out for me.
Sorry Tin - I forgot about the Long Islands! That was the best part.
Still no results in Florida? Yeesh!
Hatoolah, no, I am now in Chicago. But am a big fan. Was in Houston for a long time. My mentor at work and his wife were really big into cooking cajun and creole, and NOLA in general. They made weekend trips two or three times every year. They were/are "foodies." I went with them three or four times through the years. Then once with a girlfriend to go to Mardi Gras. What a trip that was ! Crazy fun. Unbelievably great food in the Big Easy. I've got to quit thinking about it. Oh, just for a bowl of good red beans and rice right now.
BTW, that line yesterday, "... must be a yankee from somewhere way up north, like Shreveport" came from a funny guy I got to know that had to drive north to get to NOLA ! I about fell out of my chair laughing when he said it, and the way he said it. He had a temp in Chicago a few years ago, stayed with us over the weekend, brought soft shell crab, took over the kitchen and made po boys with them. He kept us in stitches with his stories.
I wondered if Dave has figured out what muff is yet ?
I'm guessing it's a muffalatta, but I bet he think's it's a lotta muff.
Morels and snappers and muffs all in one post! Dennis there is hope yet.
Another fact about Ms. Teasdale is that she committed suicide 18 years after she wrote the poem, so it was not a product of the last of her life despair. I found it a chilling reminder how profoundly vulnerable some humans are. And how cruel we can be to each other.
So while everyone is trashing TBBT, what suggestions for a change of plot or direction do you have? I have not been impressed, but I thought they were getting better
Tin and DO - I agree that last night's TBBT was the best so far this season and I did get a few laughs. But, overall, I still think it is falling way short of what we have enjoyed in the past. OTOH, as I mentioned the other day, last week it was watched by 19 million people, so it hasn't lost its popularity. And complain though I may, I'm still watching it, too. Tin, hope your head stopped hurting! -:). Am I doing that smiley correctly? It looks odd.
Lemony @ 12:45 - I think trashing is too harsh a word to apply to any of the posts re TBBT. Mari and I both used the word "disappointed" and most of us, including you, agree that it's not as good as it was. I also agree with you that it seems to be getting better, based on last night.
I think Mari made a good point about the focus issue and I think that may be what I referred to as off-kilter and disjointed. One thing I would like less of is the exchanges between Howard and his mother; I find it more annoying than funny because it's been overdone, IMHO.
Have a great day.
Hi Y'all. Got up early this morning so I'd be dressed when the yard men came to pick up my tons of leaves. Managed to get the puzzle all down through BREAKING HEART. Then was stuck in a lot of places.
Leaned back in the chair to think and slept for three hours. (Still no yard men. Should have known when I called last night and his speech was slurred, he might not remember today.)
I CAROMed around with little headway. Notable hang ups: SOdark not SOLEMN, cuRF not KERF, CFO not GMS. For "outs" I wanted a baseball term. For "saw", near KERF, I wanted a carpentry term.
Never heard of KORN. Never saw "Madagascar". Couldn't think of MOREL. My mind was in a STATE. (SOB!) I managed to suss SARA & ROCOCO & END.
It was a clever puzzle, but I had to have Lemony's hints to finish. Thanks. Oh well, it kept my mind occupied so i wasn't fuming over the yard men.
What can we do to make TBBT better ?
Very little, I'm afraid.
1. Intellectual scientific humor is way too serious to be lol - laugh out loud. Bring in some ole' fashioned sexist situations or at least, sexual innuendo. They need to dig up some sexual deviants, like Sigmund Freud - and Oscar Wilde.
2. First they had nerdy males, who are here to stay. Now they bring in some nerdy females. What happened to the good old, over sexed girls with oomph ? It kept 'Friends' in business for decades. Penny has become too frumpy and predictable - she has to go !
3. And while we are in the issue of equal race opportunity - maybe they need to bring in an 'Asian' gal or guy. This will open up a whole new ballgame of eastern fetishes and esoteric practices. (hey, we're getting desperate here.)
4. Finally, the group needs to 'go out', more often - there is only so much to do in the two lousy apartments. 'Going out' will provide more funny situations like Seinfeld did. While we are at it, fire the original writers and hire Seinfeld instead.
I agree with the Scientist. I suppose I should be watching more Jeopardy anyway. It would probably help me with these puzzles.
what a poor excuse!
Desper0otto: @11:53
On Nov. 6, Hatoolah wrote:
"Due to all the talk of Kafka yesterday, I changed my avatar to the Kafka statue that is in Prague."
Well it all makes sense AFTER I come to C.C.s blog
and Lemonade's explanation. But....
I was NOT on Marti's wavelength today.
And I should've KNOWN CRESCENDO, for crying out loud.
Lulled into thinking all clues would BEGIN with the state abbrev.
Gave up and heated up homemade chicken soup for DH's music student from China.
He made quick work of it on this chilly day.
Have a safe weekend.
I think most sitcoms peak in their 3rd or 4th year. usually by the 6th or 7th year they become sub-standard. Those that choose to go for the 8th 9th or 10th year are just plain awful.
A glaring sign of bad times ahead is when the core cast changes. When new characters are added or old ones leave, its a sure bet that most good ideas and funny conversations have been used up.
pas de chat -- thanks for reminding me. I remember now that she said that. I just "assumed" (and we know what that means) that the statue actually looked like Kafka.
Hello Everyone. Good explanation of the theme, Lemonade.
Agree with Lemonade about needing the perps to hack the theme phrases. Devilishly clever, though. I questioned navig as a SCI except in the sense that Lemonade explained it in his link. To go further, the invention of precise clocks that could be maintained at sea for months at a time made it possible to utilize the concept of longitude. The overlay of mathematics in computing sight reduction tables, almanacs, etc, is also profound. Still, in many ways, navigation was still an art or a skill. The skill of a pilot to bring a ship safely into or out of port is an example. (Sorry for running on.) Kudos to Marti.
Hello everybody. Wowie zowie, what a nifty puzzle! I loved it. Like Lucina, I recognized that the clues were states but didn't know what to do with them at first. A brilliant theme, brilliantly executed! Brava and HOORAH!
Like Tinbeni, I entered FAT for Blubber which led me to ORNATE for Elaborate style. Then I wanted CRY. Dang it, Marti, you got me good!
I loved the Wrench and Little wrench clues. And Rocky hails is pure genius. I so much wanted ICE in there!
Cresc., like Rit., is often written on scores. Too long to spell out fully.
Best wishes to you all.
desper-otto re Kafka:
I couldn't see it either. Here is a link and explanation.
headless male figure
Hatoolah, I liked the "raining cats and dogs BETTER! LOL
What does over 12 posts regarding a TV sitcom have to do with the merits of this or any CW puzzle? cw
Marti, thanks for the challenge. Surely I had just as much trouble with this one as you would have with some of my math puzzles. :>)
(Make this 13.) Unfortunately, I didn't get in on the early years of TBBT. I think I was turned off by my personal theory that I won't like a comedy about nerdy, unpleasant young adults with few social skills. But in spite of my theory, I have enjoyed clips of some of the earlier shows. I still enjoy Modern Family and reruns of WKRP though.
The Lakers seems to have the makings of a really good team but have won only one game this year including preseason. They just fired their new coach. We'll see if that helps anything.
This video is long but I found even watching part of it was rewarding. Animal Friends.
Anon@4:08 -- It shows that the people who come here have other interests in addition to cw's. I often find the side conversations more interesting than the discussions about the puzzles.
This took a long time to complete..well, as much as I could complete- inc.crossing of rococo/sci. Had a hard time getting a foothold. Had to change fat to sob, and usually to as usual. Got the little ones so I could "see" the longer fills., but I loved it.
Favorites: "inflamed i" had me laughing out loud and a big a-ha with "a single might get you one".
Lots of rehab going on in our house. The miracle knee walks!
Anon @ 4:08
Just curious ... was there an analysis of today's puzzle in your (snarky) comment ???
If you don't like the community that C.C. has created here you DO have the liberty NOT to join in.
Just for your edification the comments here about TBBT (The Big Bang Theory) ARE ALL related to the LAT CW puzzle constructed by (our) Marti, aka HeartRx.
We ALL think Sheldon is a complete T-NUT. lol
Cheers !!! (it's finally Sunset!)
BillG: Thanks for the animal friends clip. I enjoyed it. I will go back later and watch the next segment.
I hadn't heard that the Laker's coach got fired, but not surprised since everyone but Kobe is playing lethargically. Having Steve Nash break his leg right out of the gate sure didn't help things. Too many personnel changes in the last year to gel properly, methinks. The Clippers' games have been more interesting.
Well, my yardmen finally showed up only six hours later then expected. So glad to have my gutters blown clean before the forecasted wet weather for this weekend. Of course, there are still enough leaves up there to possibly fill the gutters again.
No CED again today? Wonder if he's in the dark again? Surely he'll get to open that bottle if he is.
A tough puzzle for me. Got the trick to the abbreviations, but just couldn't fill them in because I just couldn't get the perps.
Filled in the NW and SE, but a big 'ol blank diagonal.
But I'm kinda surprised no one corrected that AK is the abbreviation for ALASKA. AR is Arkansas.
As one MOREL said to the other, "Man oh man, you're such a fun guy!"
Bill G. @ 4:16, great animal friends clip!
And BTW, I watch TBBT religiously, as well as the old repeats. I loved the Long Island Iced Tea segment last night, and keep thinking that there is a puzzle theme in there somewhere...so, doesn't that make TBBT crossword fodder?
Anonymous @ 5:21PM, I don't think anybody said that AK stood for Arkansas. Are you referring to Hahtoolah's Arkansas comment at 6:49AM? If so, please go back and read it again.
Tinbeni@4:33
LOL! T-NUT!
Tin, Tin, Tin. Have I taught you nothing?
Newfoundland time is 1.5 hours ahead of you, thus at 3:30 EST it is 5:00PM somewhere on the continent. Clearly this works more to my advantage than yours, but it's still crucial information.
I also have to add a new euphemism to my lexicon: "Having the gutters blown out." Hmmm.
How come the cranky pants people are anonymous? Cop Out!
PK - CED posted at 9:38 AM.
Started off on a wrong note at 17A by filling in FLYING South which was I did every spring break when I lived in WI. ENTS and NEAT got me flying in right direction.
Very enjoyable puzzle Marti, thanks.
I guess i overthought the theme. I saw the AK in breaking heart as "Achey" (you know, achey breaky heart) & went looking for similar stuff in all the other States.
Very impressive Marti! Now that i can take a break & step back to look at it.
BillG, Just the other nite, our local PBS channel (13) had a great 3 hour line up.
Animal friends @8, (as per yr link)
@9 was how they moved the statues on Easter Island. (They really did walk!) a must see!
@10 was what do animals think. (fascinating...)
TTP, Fold, not stir... Hmm, reminds me that i must show you how us Northerners make an omelette. (I find this funny because, i soon will be more South than most of you!) + being an Aussie, i got you all beat!
Oh, & i only know of one kind of muff,,, & i got awards!
We like Burn Notice. Catchy opening: "When you're a spy..."
DW likes Michael Westen, and I like Fiona.
Speaking of Bun Notice, there should be a burn notice warning posted for Marti's Friday puzzles.
CED, I am watching the Easter Island Nova on my DVR. I really like it so far.
I'm glad you guys enjoyed the Animal Friends clip from Nova.
Joke: Arab in a Bar
An Arab walked into a very crowded bar and was about to order
a drink when he saw a guy wearing a Jewish cap (yarmulke), a
prayer shawl (tzitzis), and sporting the traditional locks of hair of a Jew.
The Arab told the bartender, loud enough for all to hear that,
he was buying everyone a drink except the Jewish fellow.
After the drinks were handed out, the Jew gave the Arab a big
smile, waved at him, then said, "Thank you!" in an equally loud voice.
This infuriated the Arab. Once again, the Arab loudly ordered
drinks for everyone - except the Jew. But as before, this did not
seem to bother the Jewish guy, who once again smiled, waved at the Arab, and loudly yelled "Thank you!"
The Arab asked the bartender, "What the hell is the matter with
that Jew? I've ordered two rounds of drinks for everyone in the
bar but him and all the silly bugger did was to smile and thank me.
Is he nuts?
"Nope," replied the bartender. "He owns the place!"
Dave, good to have you back.
Can you drive up to Hopatcong and do a health and welfare check on my buddy ?
Just kidding. Still haven't heard from him, but they should be getting power back soon. Hopefully by tomorrow. JCP&L / First Energy isn't winning any popularity contests in that area.
OK, I'll bite. How do you make an omelet ?
Just thought I'd visit the corner today to say " Nice Job Marti"
You got me. Had a dnf because I had
to google for the answer for Korn. As always, Marti, love your puzzles!
Careful there BillG! Remember that a bad joke got 4 Americans murdered in Benghazi. Or at least that is what we're lead to believe.
Make fun of white southern males. They're fair game.
Manac, I'm glad to see you back.
On a short leash tonight cuz there's a party to go to. More later.
CED and Bill G., I saw the Easter Island segment last night - fascinating!
TTP, i was only kidding about the omelette because there is so much controversy about stirring vs folding the eggs. But since you asked, you might find this entertaining...
His method is a little weird, but he could have his own cooking show!
I will spare you the other omelette method i saw, because it involves watching a 30 second commercial before seeing these kids on the beach shooting eggs at a guy with a slingshot. Entertaining, but not worth watching the Ad.
P.S., re: Hopatcong Tomorrow is my day to buy gas (even), if you are really concerned about yr friend, email me his address & i will try to check on him for you. Normally i would use this as an excuse to go fishing, But Hopatcong is so full of weeds...(but there is this weedless Texas rig i have been wanting to try...)
I got the joke from my Jewish brother-in-law. My Jewish wife enjoyed it too.
CED, yes, very droll. Years ago I saw a TV cooking show about making omelettes. I've been doing it that way ever since with such success that I am always pressed into service when brunch is desired.
I've got to get back to watching the rest of Nova with all of your encouragement.
Lemony, thank you for the nice write up of the puzzle. Marti, thanks for a good construction. Tonight was a DNF for me. Loved seeing ROCOCO in the puzzle.
Bill,
Looked up the link after I posted. I just finished watching this episode "on demand" before I came to the blog. Friday nights, there is not much of anything on TV worth watching.
Of course the Jewish people like the joke. Its the Arab that looks like a racist imbecile.
Jayce @ 6:08pn, it is in the intro to the solution:
"I saw Florida, Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon, and North Dakota, but it was only after the perps did I see where the last three theme answers hid the state. "
OK, you found a mistake. Now you have to choose a name. If you need help, let me know.
Argyle,
Great comeback!
I'm serious.
Thanks Anon! I thought we had made it through a Friday without a error from lemony, but I was mistaken. What a hoot! I would love to hear his explanation as those are usually as entertaining as his write ups. I am also shocked that no one discovered it until you did.
i'm sorry but the theme of state's abbreviations have absolutely no relevance to today's puzzle. my wife and i are still wondering, after seeing the answers. lame!
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