Four adjectives ending in "ing" are combined with nouns to provide an auditory sense of camping in the wilderness. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but all the adjectives are formed from verbs that end in "L-E," adding another layer of tightness to the theme entries:
16-A. Campground sound #1 : SIZZLING STEAKS.
23-A. Campground sound #2 : BABBLING BROOK.
51-A. Campground sound #3 : CRACKLING FIRE.
60-A. Campground sound #4 : RUSTLING LEAVES.
I had the first two, and thought we were looking for alliterative phrases. So, CRACKLING FIRE took a while. Two 14s and two 13s are a difficult letter count to grid, but Mr. Sajdak does a fine job on this one.
Marti here, occasional constructor, regular poster, and today in my role as chief cook and blogger.
Across:
1. Early sunscreen ingredient : PABA. I don't think he means "Pan-Asian Boxing Association," so my guess is he's talking about the ingredient Para-Aminobenzoic acid.
5. "Let's get goin'!" : C'MON. The shortened "goin'" in the clue hints at a slangy answer.
9. Put ___ act : ON AN.
13. Tater : SPUD.
14. Hard to believe : LAME. "That's a lame excuse for a puzzle!"
15. Wine quality : NOSE. The aroma you get just as you bring the glass to your lips.
19. Devisish toon : TAZ.manian Devil.
20. Maine-et-Loire mate : AMI. French for "friend" (male) and a clecho with 29-Across. Hot time in Maine-et-Loire : AOUT. (French for "August".) Maine-et-Loire must be the Thursday substitute for Paris, when you are sent searching for a French word.
21. In-crowds : A-LISTS.
27. Curt refusal : I WON'T. (How rude!)
30. Renaissance painter ___ Angelico : FRA. In Florence, he came under the patronage of the Medici family.
31. Like a spot in "Macbeth" : DAMNED. "Out, DAMNED spot! out, I say!" (Often misquoted as "Out, out damned spot...")
33. Pac-12 team : UTES. Utah, in the NCAA football Division 1.
35. "Pretty Woman" co-songwriter : ORBISON. Anyone try Bill Dees, the other co-songwriter? Did anyone even know there was a co-songwriter? Here's the song. 3:00
37. Some comedy sketches : SATIRES. I had "stand-up," but realized it wasn't plural as indicated in the clue. (Drat, first ink-blot.)
42. Nov. voting time : TUES.day. This year it was Nov. 6, and marked C.C.'s first time voting as a citizen in a U.S. Presidential election.
44. Streaker in a shower : METEOR. HaHa, loved this clue!
45. Remote power sources : AAs. Small batteries in a remote control.
48. City near Yorba Linda : BREA. Spanish for "tar." So why are they called "La Brea Tar Pits?" ("The tar-tar pits?") (Wouldn't that be like certain Russian underarms?) (Moving on...)
50. Track contests : RACES. Not "meets." Drat! another ink blot. ("Out, DAMNED spot!")
55. "Honor Thy Father" author : TALESE. Non-fiction work about the Bonnano mafia family in New York.
56. Sargasso Sea spawner : EEL.
57. Forest's 2006 Oscar-winning role : IDI. Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland."
64. "___ baby!" : ATTA.
65. Swimmer with pups : SEAL. So, you tell me: "Which one is the pup?"
66. POTUS backup : VEEP. President of the United States' #2 guy is the "V-P," or VEEP.
67. Hightail it : TEAR. I went TEARing through the mall this weekend, because I hate crowds.
68. Pays (for) : POPS. "I'll POP for this one..."
69. West Point team : ARMY.
Down:
1. Subtle "Over here..." : PSST.
2. Polynesian capital : APIA. Here is the astronaut's view.
3. WWII German missile nickname : BUZZ BOMB. The V-1 Flying Bomb inspired terror in the British people when the sound stopped, because the explosion followed shortly afterwards.
4. Log shaper : ADZ. A favorite word for Scrabble players.
5. Mount Everest? : CLIMB. Loved this clue! "Mount" is a synonym for "climb."
6. Capital on the island of Luzon : MANILA. And site of the famous Ali-Frazier fight called "The Thrilla in Manila."
8. Mario Brothers console : NES. Knew only from crossword puzzles.
9. 16 oz. : ONE LB. Anyone else put "pound"? I totally ignored the "oz." abbr. in the clue. (Another ink blot...)
10. Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown song covered on "Glee" : NO AIR. Finn and Rachel sing it here. 4:23.
11. Desires from : ASKS OF. Has everyone told Santa what they desire from him this year?
12. "Iliad" wise man : NESTOR.
17. Blood typing, e.g. : LAB TEST.
18. Wrestling pair : TAG TEAM.
22. Calypso offshoot : SKA. Calypso originated in Trinidad, and was picked up by Jamaican youths who blended it with the rhythm & blues sounds they heard out of New Orleans, as well as steel-pan music and their own unique beat to form SKA in the mid-50's.
24. Years in old Rome : ANNI. Nominative plural form of "annus" in Latin.
25. Chit : IOU.
26. Crunch source : NUTS.
27. Promise before a parson : I DO.
28. Hawk's cause : WAR. We're talking political "hawks," but we don't talk politics here on the blog!
32. British travel feature, in the past? : DOUBLE L. The British double the "l" in travel, when speaking in the past tense: "We travelled to Europe last year to visit our favourite friends."
34. Clean and then some : STERILE.
36. Philip ___: 16th century Italian saint : NERI. Needed perps...not up on my 16th century Italian saints.
38. ___-Tass : ITAR. Informatsionnye Telegrafnoye Agentstvto Rossii–Telegrafnoe Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soyuza (Russian for: “Information Telegraph Agency of Russia–Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union”)
39. Pass target : RECEIVER. Wes Welker is off the injured list and caught 7 passes for 71 yds. and a TD against the Jets on Thanksgiving. Go Pats!
40. Fair-hiring abbr. : EOE. Equal Opportunity Employer - to describe the company itself. Sometimes seen as EEO ("Equal Employment Opportunity") in want ads, to describe a job opening.
41. Many AARP mems. : SRS. Seniors.
43. Rep. counterpart : SEN. Anyone else think of "dem" for Democrat? We're talking about Representatives and Senators here.
45. Play a part, or play part : ACT.
46. Genesis mountain : ARARAT.
47. Heel-click follower : SALUTE. "Yes, sir!"
49. Dating stumbling block, perhaps : AGE GAP. Not for cougars, it isn't...
52. Jai alai basket : CESTA. Know it from crosswords.
53. Pollux or Arcturus, to an astronomer : K STAR.
54. Brings down : FELLS. As in "felling" a tree.
58. Judge : DEEM.
59. Cosby/Culp TV series : I SPY. Short-lived show, from '65-'68.
61. www access : ISP. Internet Service Provider.
62. Revivalist's prefix : NEO. As in NEOclassical. The recently completed Schermerhorn Symphony in Nashville TN is a good example of the "revival" of the classical style in architecture.
63. Actress Gardner : AVA.
Ta-ta 'til next week!
Marti
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks James! Puzzle went very smoothly. Liked theme! Great write-up, as usual, Marti!
Favorite fill: METEOR.
Derm has to cut a chunk out of my arm. Is waiting a few weeks. (Why?)
Cold and miserable today. Half-heartedly raining outside.
Cheers!
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteOdd puzzle today. It felt a lot more difficult that it actually ended up being. I guess that's because the perps were generally easy despite all the obscurities and strange clues.
NOAIR, NESTOR, ITAR, NERI and KSTAR all gave me pause, but the perps came to the rescue in each case. Ditto with POPS, which I've never heard used to mean "pays for" in my life and ATTA, which I've only ever heard with "Boy" or "girl."
Old joke I recently used on my son: "I was driving home yesterday and almost hit a mattababy in the road. What's a mattababy? Nothing, whats a matta with you?" BAD-DUM-BUM!
Good morning. Our rain is much more committed, woke me at 4. Goid puzzle and marti always does them justice. Along with METEOR I enjoyed BUZZ BOMB and TAG TEAM.
ReplyDeleteA decent puzzle. I sailed through this one quite quickly. There were no snags or hang ups of any kind. When I finished this it felt like this maybe should have been a Tuesday puzzle. I loved Meteor and Salute. It's a little cloudy here today and a couple of degrees above the freezing mark but the weekend is supposed to warm up and actually get into the 50's. Have a great day everyone.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Marti and friends. I sailed through the top portion of this puzzle and was feeling rather smug about being able to easily handle a Thursday puzzle, then came to a screeching halt. I'm not one for camping, but I enjoyed the theme.
ReplyDeleteHand up for thinking DEMocrats were the counterpart to REPs.
I was thinking of Dorothy and her ruby red slippers for the Heel-Click Follower.
My favorite clue was Streaker in a Shower = METEOR. I was also amused by Mount Everest = CLIMB.
Everything I know about Jai Alai, I learned from the crossword puzzles.
QOD: It’s the ability to choose which makes us human. ~ Madeleine L’Engle (November 29, 1918 ~ September 6, 2007).
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteAlong with Marti, I was expecting alliterative phrases in the theme fills, but was soon shown the error of my ways. Tried One Pt for 16 oz. Technically correct, but just wrong. Neri was a complete unknown along with No Air (I've never seen Glee).
WBS about Atta and Pops.
All in all a solid and well-crafted Thursday puzz, methinks.
Morning Marti! Glad you're there to 'splain stuff.
Good morning everyone,
ReplyDeleteAlas, another DNF today thanks to my inability to unravel the Midwest. 32D was the biggest culprit....... ,DOUBLEL.... CMON!
31A & 48A were incomplete too. Not that familiar with MacBeth & while I was thinking of BREA, I wasn't comfortable with it and it wasn't lighting any bulb for 32D.
But Marti, a worthwhile day thanks to your usual blog excellence .
Liked the METEOR fill. All the themes all came easily. Do agree with Barry though, lots of obscurities & strange cluing.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, James Sajdak, for a swell Thursday puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for the excellent review.
ReplyDeleteCould not get started in the NW, so I headed to the NE. Got some of that. Headed back and got BUZZ BOMB, SPUD, PSST, and the SIZZLING. The STEAKS came later.
North Central was easy except for NES. Perped that.
The other themes all came easily. I love camping. Did it a lot as a youth in the BSA. Not so much now. My wife's favorite camping spot is a Holiday Inn. I did hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail a few years ago and camped every night on the trail. Great time.
AOUT came totally with perps. Only took four of them.
ORBISON was easy. Great singer and musician. Had a catastrophe with his family. Too bad.
BREA was easy. I used to work around that area in the San Gabriel Valley.
Did not know TALESE. Perps fixed it.
DOUBLE L was unknown to me until I saw the write-up. I got it because they were the only letters that made sense.
The far East took me a while. I was not thinking of a football player for 39D. Plus I had MIRROR instead of METEOR for 44A. Anyhow, fixed it by my new technique. Standing up and looking down at the puzzle from a bird's eye view. That really helps, believe it or not.
Hope to get my Christmas tree today. Looking for a tall one. Grand kids and their parents are coming for Christmas.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Dizziness and nausea kept me in bed yesterday, then I couldn't sleep all night. Finally decided to read yest. comments and do today's cwd.
ReplyDeleteSkipped around a lot, but then couldn't figure out why it seemed difficult after finishing it. Realized perps must have helped. What Barry G said...
Theme brought back good memories of tent camping for 16 summer vacations. Couldn't identify with SIZZLING STEAKS. We had more like sizzling hot dogs( or maybe fish my son caught.) Has anyone here ever camped at Roaring River State Park, Missouri?
Used to have old 45 with Roy ORBISON singing "Pretty Woman." I still have most of my 45s, but that one is missing now.
Look forward to seeing SNL political SATIRE. Times have changed since Smothers Brothers in 60-70s.
My husband just woke up to go to work, so I'll try to get some sleep after he leaves. Sleep cycle will probably be a mess now.
Look forward to reading your comments later today. Good Night All!
TTP: Read your response from last night. Well, I cannot relate to a gas station on Buffalo Rd. I lived on the west end of town. Buffalo Rd. is on the east side. There are, or were, some big factories and plants out there in years past. General Electric is still there. They make locomotives.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, glad I have an Erie friend.
Abejo
Abejo: I'm with your wife. My idea of a camping spot is a nice bed and breakfast.
ReplyDeleteThank you Marti, for your interesting and fun filled comments. The puzzle was difficult. I knew I was in trouble when 'aloe' or 'Deet' wouldn't fit the first clue .... I did get about 30% of the clues. Very clever. I think we've had Mr. Sajdak in a Jeopardy-like puzzle before, no ? I only know Benzoic Acid, as a food preservative - maybe our skin is a form of 'food' as well.
ReplyDeleteA neighbor, who also lives in Isrl., gave me a book on the 'death' of the Kibbutz. I read it in one sitting. This concept, which was probably the noblest idea of VOLUNTARY Communism and Socialism, is slowly dying, because the younger generation have more capitalistic ( thus, selfish, rather self-centered - ) beliefs. So, it has to be 'privatized', with graduated salaries, to keep it going. Sad.
Have a good rest of the week, and best wishes.
Fairly smooth sailing with help from perps (NESTOR?). And, given half a chance, I'd probably misspell "Manila". [11:36]
ReplyDeleteAlmost threw in the towel with one letter left at the crossing S of (total unknown) TALESE and (highly probable) KSTAR.
ReplyDeleteOther unknowns / uncertains filled by perps.
39D Could have been Tight End based on character count, but then the only legit crossing word would have been RAgES and it didn't fit the clue.
49D Dating stumbling block was not nerve in this case. I tried to call you up, but I lost my nerve. 867 5309.
But wait, what do I see ? Is she walking back to me ?
14A, No Marti, that was a great puzzle. You are so talented. 9D ? No. 11D ? Yes. V neck tees, white. Sears Covington line. Long tails. They stay tucked in. I will be disappointed with anything less. 43D / No, I went right to SEN. Jesse Jackson Jr has given up his REP seat in the House. I'm thinking I may run. Everyone else seems to be, right Mari ? It's becoming like a California gubernatorial candidacy.
Ah, Babbling brooks. Still waters run deep. JzB doesn't babble. I do. I will stop now.
Abejo, that's funny ! "Grand kids and their parents..."
I'm with Kenin. It seemed like a Monday or Tuesday puzzle. I loved the camping theme. Like Blue Iris I could relate to everything but the SIZZLING STEAKS. I can relate to her sizzling hot dogs. One of my favoite things, a BABBLING BROOK.
ReplyDeleteI had DOUBLE L, but needed Marti to tell me why.
Forest's IDI was an awesome acting performance.
Here's my take on "streaker in a shower."
Link streaking
Good morning, puzzlers.
ReplyDeleteThis one was slow starting, but then came together just fine. (Wow, that almost sounds like sex.) I liked the cluing for METEOR and CLIMB -- clever.
Marti, I cracked up at your Tartar pits comment. I didn't think DEM at all, the "S" from TUES was already there. Another hand up for expecting all of the theme answers to be alliterative. Not!
Barry, in my neck of the woods POPS was frequently used, "Alright, who'll pop for a six-pack?"
DW arrived home late last night after a week in D.C. visiting her dad. I wonder how long it'll take her to realize that the willow oak is gone.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Barry's first sentence. The cw seemed harder at first than it ended up being. I wanted alliterative phrases, too, after the first two, but settled on the phrases which made sounds. Guessed at the K in K STAR, and got CESTA from the perps. Had 'oracle' before NESTOR. Took a little while to parse ONE LB but it came out nice. I usually enjoy James' puzzles, and I enjoyed this one.
Off to play some bridge.
Enjoy the day.
Good morning everybody, nice theme today - the INGs helped.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the clues for STERILE and CLIMB. Did anyone find the clue to 26D "crunchy"?
Nice shout-out to our two UTES.
Definitely a Thursday for me. I felt my way through with no erasures, but waited for perps in several places. Except for a very deeply buried back burner memory of NERI I would say it was a natick with the BREA crossing--I've seen Brea here a lot, but have never heard of Yorba and Linda.
ReplyDeleteTravel doubles the 'l' in any addition in British English, such as travelling, as do several other verbs. I know this but it still took me a while to stop thinking of steamships, or riding elephants on safaris, etc.
In Oz, one hears 'shout' more often than 'pop'. Men standing at a bar: "Whose shout is it?"--"I'll shout for this round!"
Marti: I enjoyed your write-up more than solving this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteLiked your links, but I'll take a "pass" on NO-AIR.
When my "perps" have to work this much they get angry and start raiding my Avatar stash.
Fave was the BUZZ-BOMB crossing SIZZLING-STEAKS. Now I could use a few ZZZ'z.
Oh, well ... at Sunset, instead of saying cheers, I'll just say SALUTE !
DH was an Eagle Scout and years ago he got the itch to go camping. So we went out and bought a nice tent, sleeping bags, lanterns, etc.
ReplyDeleteWe headed out to a campsite, pitched the tent, went for a hike, cooked dinner on an open fire, and got bored. DH didn't figure how much he'd miss his TV and refrigerator.
The next day we packed up our gear and dropped it off at the nearest Goodwill Store. And other than the s'mores I don't miss it camping a bit.
Great write up Marti! i must say i had every one of your inkblots (+more), my only nit is how do i get them off my computer screen, because i did the puzzle red letter!
ReplyDeleteStill working on yest. Blog. (i had a distraction Yest. PM)
Bill G, Loved Uncle Drew! But was a little disappointed at the ending!) Which reminds me of todays Pickles
& as long as i am referencing toons, you English teachers will love Rhymes With Orange.
But i am most disappointed that no one gave a nod to the late, great, Ernest Borgnine. (Jeez, i left it open 4 u guys!) Evil! EEeeeviiil!!!
Good morning:
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a Thursday offering, at least for me. I did finish w/o help but hit some snags that needed perps. Nice theme, though, James, and great expo, Marti.
I have a question for the California contingent. What is the peak season for oranges as far as taste and sweetness? I have bought some on two different occasions in the past couple of weeks and they are sour and pulpy.
Happy Thursday.
I just read yesterday's posts -
ReplyDeleteSeen, Dennis - 'I Sold E' - cute ! Very Clever. I couldn't have got it, either.
Ironically, yesterday's Cleveland Plain Dealer front page news was about 4 undergraduates at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, who were arrested, while trying to smuggle ingredients of MDMA (Ecstasy) from the chem. lab. One was a cello Bach virtuoso. The detective said that their texting records, while planning the crime, amounted to a full confession.
Bill G. and Spitboov - nice math question and non-math question. I wouldn't have got either ... I was confounded with the math question - and wondering why the mph's had such curious multiple factors ... must remember that solution. Thank you.
I learn so much here.
It took me a while to work through this puzzle although I got the long answers fairly quickly. We love to camp and are taking our small RV up the coast to Carpinteria State Beach campground for a couple of days next week so this theme was topical for me.
ReplyDeleteYellowRocks loved your streaker clip!
Gay Talese's book was a great read... Liked streaker clue and spot in "Macbeth"
Irish Miss,
ReplyDeleteLate December onward is the best time for California Oranges , IMHO
We don't get much rain until mid-November for the most part
I thought it was pretty easy for a Thur.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all, Usual Thurs. DNF for me. Liked the puzzle because i got most of the theme fills.Thanks for the assistance on finishing, Marti!
ReplyDeleteWBS! I thought STEAKS? Surely not. I had NO sIR, eLItes not ALIST & UTah, couldn't remember "F" for FRA. That area was messed up thru SATIRES & METEOR since I had "demi"-tass. But hey, I got AOUT!
Couldn't find Yorba Linda on the map, so the "br" were blanks. The key said it was on the east side of California although I thought it was near LA.
YR: Tsk! Tsk! Why are you looking at wet naked men running around in the rain? LOL! My guilty pleasure is looking at half naked muscled men playing basketball.
C.C.: I'm still wondering how you felt after voting.
Perfect Thursday puzzle, difficult but doable, with a fun theme. Many thanks, James, for getting this rainy day off to a wonderful start! But I still don't get MAINE-ET-LOIRE, even with Marti's kind explanation. A bit more info would be helpful for someone like me who, I guess, is a bit French
ReplyDeletechallenged.
For some reason, I thought NESTOR was a pompous know-it-all rather than a wise man?
Ah, Roy Orbison--the most magical male singing voice on the planet, for my money. I'm so sorry to hear he had family trouble, Abejo.
We're off to see a play this afternoon called "Plaid Tidings." About a Scottish Christmas, maybe?
Have a great day, everybody!
Retatty
ReplyDeleteDon't miss Esau's
Kerry S
I took subscribe to A.Word.A.Day! Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteWell, all I know about camping I learned from crossword puzzles! No campers in my family...vacation = nice hotel and room service.
ReplyDeleteHand up for "elites" before "alists", "etes" (even though the clue wasn't plural) before "aout" and "meets" before "races". Perps put me in the right direction.
A drizzly day here. Kind of nice!
Misty @ 11:38, when a constructor uses a foreign word in their puzzle, they will usually include some reference to the country in the clue. For example, "Parisian pal" would be a simple clue for "AMI." But later in the week, the clues get more difficult. So you would have to know that Maine-et-Loire is a department in France, in order to figure out the answer. Map.
ReplyDeleteHope that helps!
My father was an avid outdoorsman, so our family went camping nearly every weekend in the summer when I was young. I still enjoy sitting under the stars and watching a nice fire, talking and relaxing without any electronic distractions. Last time DH and I went, we were on a lake and could paddle our kayaks right up to the tent site.
ReplyDeleteMarti, that helps tremendously. I didn't know that Maine-et-Loire was a department. Many thanks for the extra help!
ReplyDeleteMarti - thanks for the explanation of the DOUBLE-L - completely missed that one!
ReplyDeleteNatick for me with PABA/APIA
Good afternoon to all and happy Thursday to all. Thanks James nice Thursday puzzle,and kudos to Marti for the writeup. I always enjoy jai Alai clues spent many a night at the fronton in Tampa until they closed it.
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were small many a vacation we spent camping. We had several nice tents and always had a great time. Especially Lake Lanier in north GA.
Irish Miss, IMHO our oranges in Florida are the best. Give a Honeybell or navel a try.
Have a great day to all RJW.
Thanks Marti, for the DOUBLE L explanation.
ReplyDeleteHad AAA for 45A so thought 47D would be Achtung!
Didn't fit. DNF because of POP and AGE GAP.
Camping? "As if"......
Poolside and club sandwich with little frilly toothpicks holding the quarter sandwiches together.
I just wonder what time some of you get up in the morning!!!Posting already, at 5 something a.m.
Zzzzzz for me at that hour. Have a great day everyone.
Late again! Hello, Marti and mes AMI.
ReplyDeleteThis time it was my computer's fault. The monitor conked out and had to go buy a mew one. Good sale at Best Buy, $99. Amazingly all data immediately reset itself.
Loved this SIZZLING puzzle but stumbled at AUOT, thought it was AOUG and so TAGTEAM made a late appearance with blog help. Thanks, Marti.
METEOR cluing was brilliant!
Now I'll see what you all said about it.
I hope you are all having a great Thursday!
pas de chat, the write-up on the puzzle is usually done the night before, and is scheduled for posting at 5:30 AM - Central Time. So for us East Coasters, it is already 6:30, but the time stamp on our posts reads an hour earlier.
ReplyDeleteI love to go camping, but it has been getting more & more crowded lately!
ReplyDeleteFor you science types... How to make a BuzzBomb at home! (not for the kiddies!)
Note: (if anyone is interested)
If you go on Google Earth, with Panoramio activated, look up Harriman State Park NY. It should not take long to find a pic posted by (1st name David). These are some of my camping pictures!
Abejo
ReplyDeleteI also am with your wife on camping! My idea of roughing it is using the same sheets more than once at a hotel.
Philip NERI is an important
Catholic saint if anyone cares to know.
One of my Panoramio pics on Google Earth:
ReplyDeleteHarriman State Park NY
P.S., you can hit the back button to see the rest if you want!
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteTechnically impressive theme execution, , but kind of a Meh! concept.
Had UTEP for UTES, giving me PTERILE. Well, it's Thus, and I don't know everything, so it could have been.
Couldn't it?
Maybe?
Otherwise fine puzzle, except AOUT just looks so wrong, and I could BABBLE at great length about how much I hate "British travel . . ." but I WON'T subject you to the DAMNED segment of my vocabulary.
My dad was in England in WW II, and he said he'd go to London on Sat. nights and watch the bombs fall. I wonder if he was speaking in code?
I would have clued ONAN differently.
Twinkle, twinkle Pollux far,
Just like Arcurus you are
A simple orange dwarf K Star
Cool regards!
JzB [LAME poet]
Hello everybody. Toughish puzzle today, what I expect on a Thursday. Well constructed, James Sadjak, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI was stumped at the crossing of TALESE and CESTA, not knowing if the letter should be A, E, I, or O. U seemed wrong, though. Guessed at E and got lucky.
Hand up for liking the Mount Everest and Streaker in a shower clues. And What Hahtoolah Said about jai alai.
In answer to your question last night, michelle, it's not your computer that is logging you off from time to time. Google automatically logs you off every two weeks or so so you have to log in again. Presumably helps on password security. That's why I and some others here copy what we have posted before previewing it, so that if it gets "eaten" all you have to do is paste it back in rather than retype it all from scratch.
Best wishes to you all.
I liked the puzzle just fine. Nobody mentioned it so I will; it seemed a little off to me that the first two theme answers had double letters but not the second two. After the first two, I was expecting that in the next one. Not a big deal.
ReplyDeleteCED, that's a really pretty area. I'm sure I would enjoy camping there.
Jazz @ 2:28,
ReplyDeleteAoût makes more sense to an anglophile when you use the circumflex, and remember that it represents a missing 's' before a 't'. Then it looks a bit more like August with the middle missing.
I omitted in my haste to start my batch of bread this morning to add that I really thought this was a quality puzzle in terms of interesting fill.
SL Z @11:00 - Thanks. I guess I'll just have to be patient.
ReplyDeleteRJW @ 1:02 - My supermarket carries mainly California oranges. Also, aren't the Honeybelles only available in January?
Bill G. @3:02
ReplyDeleteIn her write-up Marti said:
"I had the first two, and thought we were looking for alliterative phrases."
Seemed a bit redundant to comment on that further.
SALUTE !
Irish Miss, can you get Valencia oranges? In my experience, they have the best flavor though not as easy to peel as Navel oranges. We used to have a dwarf Valencia orange tree in our backyard. The ones that had fallen on the ground (or were about to) were the sweetest. Delicious!
ReplyDeleteTin, yes, I had forgotten she had said that but I think my point was different. I was referring to the 'ZZ' in sizzling and the 'BB' in babbling, not the alliteration. Still not very important but it threw me off a little at first (which is increasingly easy to do).
Bill G @ 3:40 - Right now, we have only the navel but I think in the past there were some Valencias. Do they have seeds?
ReplyDeleteBill G.
ReplyDeleteActually, I never even noticed those double letters (the ZZ & BB) when I was solving.
(Glad I didn't. I would have been "in the woods" searching for them to be in the 3rd & 4th theme).
I get more flummoxed remembering that TEAR has two pronunciations and can mean two different things.
tears ...
But I do remember what time of day it is ... and I have a nightly chore.
Cheers !!!
PS Manac, really liked the joke a couple nights ago. lol
marti why destroy the curtain and tell people we do not get up at 3:00am to write up the puzzle? They will not be very sympathetic if they picture you with your glass of 2002 Hiedler Kamptal Löss Grüner Veltliner Trocken, typing with a big smile on your face.
ReplyDeletedamn, now I will have to set the alarm so I can say I was up in the middle of the night.
CED: Lovely pictures. I expected the last of the Mohicans to come loping down the trail. Beautiful country!
ReplyDeleteI've only camped overnight twice: Once without overhead shelter, sleeping on the ground with two blankets (one over, one under) and two other girls when I was 16. Only time I ever spooned with girls. We were on a mountain in Colorado in August and it was so cold, I got a brain freeze headache. Five of us took off on an impromptu trip with our music teacher. Inadequately prepared. Crazy fun, fun, fun!
The other camping trip was with my youngest son to a nearby lake--also spur of the moment. Had a new-to-me pickup with a topper. We threw a mattress in the back to sleep on and had a blast. He was 11 at the time, one of the good years before puberty ruins the disposition. I remember telling him family pioneer stories over a campfire. We got up at midnight to trapse across the park to a restroom and came across the biggest spiderweb sparkling with dew. He remembers the trip as great.
I seem to remember odd names. I've never read Gay Talese, but knew the author's name of that book.
ReplyDeleteFermatprime at 5:47: Good grief! How big a chunk? I'm assuming "Derm" is dermatologist. As to why? Maybe he can't work you around his golf games any sooner?
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Lemonade:
ReplyDeleteHah! The cat's out of the bag. Thanks Marti, I was feeling bad about sleeping and posting late.
One of these days I'll look up the puzzle, click on the answers (if that's possible) and post BEFORE Barry.
Say 2002 Hiedler Kamptal Löss Grüner Veltliner Trocken three times fast. :D
Marti, thanks for today's writeup. I had many learning moments today. I had not seen the Forest Whitaker movie. Nor had I read Honor Thy Father. As everyone stated used perps to break through many answers.
ReplyDeleteI camped most while in college in the North Carolina mountains. Really enjoyed hiking the Trail and going to Joyce Kilmer park. Beautiful virgin, native tulip poplars that are bigger than a car grow there. Pics just don't do them justice.
Hope everyone has a good evening.
Irish Miss, yes, Valencia oranges have seeds.
ReplyDeleteGloomy weather here and for the weekend. Gloomy isn't good. I'd be much happier if it would just rain for two days straight.
~ Two cows are standing next to each other in a field. Daisy says to Dolly, "I was artificially inseminated this morning."
"I don't believe you," says Dolly.
"It's true; no bull!" exclaims Daisy.
Lemony, "Ignore the person behind the curtain!!!" I think it is a good thing that people know we write up the night before. Else, how could I explain that I was sitting there enjoying my glass of 2002 Hiedler Kamptal Löss Grüner Veltliner Trocken at 5:30 AM???
ReplyDeleteCED, wonderful pictures! Was that on one of your geo-caching trips? And thanks for the Buzz Bomb link - I read so much about them last night, that I was at a loss to figure out how best to describe them!
michele, I'm sorry I misspelled your name michelle earlier.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is one heck of a long name for a wine!
ReplyDeleteCED, I couldn't figure out how to see more than one of your camping pictures. Back buttons came back to the blog. I typed in Google Earth and iTunes started. So, I enjoyed the one picture.
ReplyDeleteWe did a lot of camping when my children were young, usually in Canada.
Montana
Jordan is in third grade and had forgotten many of the subtraction facts over last summer. Nobody else seems to have the fortitude and patience to drill him and practice them. He certainly didn't want to do it. So with lots of whinging involved, he and I struggled through them together. Barbara just got a text from our daughter. Turns out Jordan is getting a Math Star award in an assembly tomorrow morning for mastering his subtraction facts. I don't want to go but I will. Maybe the award will be presented to both of us? Maybe he will grab the mike and say, "I owe it all to Grandpa!"
ReplyDeleteMultiplication tables next, here we come...
~ An ugly invisible man married an ugly invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.
Bill G...groannnnnnn!!
ReplyDeleteHello I'm new here. I've been lurking for a couple if weeks once I found you all. Question: what are PERPS?! It's driving me mad and now I know I'm overthinking it! Thank you, I see everyone here is very nice and friendly :)
ReplyDeleteQueenie:
ReplyDeleteGlad you're here.
To answer your question:
PERPS is short for Perpendiculars.
Refers to the crossing answers that help you fill in letters of the word you don't know or you are not sure of.
(In my case, they're also Avatar stealing twits).
Tin,
ReplyDeleteNot to be blunt, but next time u have a blunt, call me maybe!!
Queenie, Willow and all our other new bloggers - welcome to our little Crossword Corner of the world. We are looking forward to learning more about you!!
ReplyDeleteMontana:
ReplyDeleteyou probably hit the back button on the left of the screen, the back button i was referring to is exactly at 12:00 O'Clock, & looks like "<"
HeartRx, I have found only 2 Geocaches in Harriman. The Pics represent 40 years of my life...
Someday i could probably write a book about it, but in the meantime i just keep being drawn back to this magical place!
P.S. I have many more pics, those were just the ones i wanted to share. The rest are even better, & i keep them to myself!
A BIG welcome to you, "Queenie"
ReplyDelete"Driving me mad" (answer-wise)was the reason I started stealthily lurking around here.
Bill G. LOL Their kids were nothing to look at :D
We have Valencias and they are the BEST juicing oranges! I must have juiced 4 gallons this year and there are still some on the tree.
They're ripe in late summer and early fall.
Avocados are getting mature. Time to pick some and let them ripen.
Mandarins are getting orange and lemons are getting ripe. We have apricots in June and their shelf life is......what time is it?
Gotta eat them and give away quickly, but wow are they good.
CED - Great slide show. Many examples of glacial scour and striae.
ReplyDeleteAfter another long day in the mines...
ReplyDeleteI enjoy all of the virtual company. Too many to thank. Thank you all. Especially CC though. Glad you started this and glad I found your blog.
CED, nice pics. YR, where in the world did you come across that streaking video ?
Bill G, the Pineapple Express is headed your way. Well, maybe more towards the San Fran / San Jose / Gilroy contingent. Stay dry and watch for mud slides as best you can.
Welcome to all new posters. I was a newbie once. It was so long ago. All the way back to July of 2012. Chime in !
Have to dine now (at supper) and get ready for "Person of Interest." It will probably be "over the top" again but I love it. Then followed by "Burn Notice" if I can stay up that late.
See yall on the morrow
Welcome to Queenie and a belated welcome to Willow.
ReplyDeleteBill G - Love those corny jokes.
TTP - Watching Person of Interest right now. I love it, also, even when it's over the top. After that, I watch Elementary.
CED - beautiful pictures.
CED,
ReplyDeleteThose back/forward buttons were grayed out when I tried to see more pictures. Just tried again, and got to see all the pictures this time. They are GREAT!
Montana
Evening all,
ReplyDeleteLate day today
Camping in the years BC ( before children ) Tent? check! Sleeping Bag? Check! Mess Kit? Check! Matches? Check! Camping with children AND an entire pickup truck bed filled with stuff...
Honey, where's my sleeping bag?
One for Bill..
Why are proctologists so gloomy?
They always have the end in sight.
Bill and Manac
ReplyDeleteLove your corny jokes! LOL!
Queenis
Welcome
Just came home from class and Person of Interest is recording. Time to watch it.
Loving the corny jokes!
ReplyDeleteCED, beautiful pictures. Love being in the woods and discovering something for the first time?!?
I'm hoping water exercise will free me from cane/scooter. Miss walking the trails.
Jayce, no problem and thanks for answering my question.
ReplyDeleteAlmost forgot to say" Welcome Queenie."
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss, how cool was that ending on Elementary?
ReplyDeleteBlue Iris, I emailed you as requested. Did you get it? My niece always thinks my emails are spam.
ReplyDeleteArgyle @ 10:01 - Cool ending but I had my suspicions about her from the git-go. I really like the chemistry between the two main characters. And I am a big fan of Aidan Quinn. Good show!
ReplyDeletewell here i am on my blogging night,welcome Queenie. as ttp said the journey from lurker to regular is a short one.
ReplyDeletesleep now you are fresh for the friday offering.