Theme: PARTing is such sweet sorrow. You all were unanimously un-receptive to my bedtime story pun, but I never quit, and you all know I loves me some Shakespeare.
We have an extremely intriguing and fun offering, with tremendous themeage, straight forward cluing, but if you did not get the gimmick, this could be hard. This appears to be another Jeff Chen mentoring puzzle, and the theme answers which are marked, 10 of them!!!! (plus a reveal) all words which appear after PART is removed form a word or phrase. The brilliance is each residue is a stand-alone word or phrase. We also have the unusual aspect of a theme starting at 1A. While I am not getting any faster (actually slower) as a solver, I now can see themes quickly, and after getting to 10 across which obviously was relating to the Michigan State SPARTANS, I realized some form of letter removal was in order. a RAMPART and a PARTRIDGE in a pear tree later, I was on my way. Some were really challenging, but most of the puzzle was easy for a Friday. They did squeeze in some nice fill like GET BACK AT, SKIN TIGHT, DON SHULA and MAKES OUT, and it is time for me to shut up and get to it.
1A. *Defensive fortifications : RAMPARTS. (4) O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming, And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air...
5A. *Noel bird : PARTRIDGE.(5). One of the many birds of the 12 days of Christmas.
10A. *East Lansing athletes : SPARTANS.(4). For you left coasters who love UCLA, I fell in love with college football watching Walt Kowalczyk lead MSU to victory in the 1956 ROSE BOWL.
23A. *After delivery : POSTPARTUM.(6). Postum (LINK) being a slightly obscure coffee alternative from before the art of caffeine extraction was perfected. I bought some after my heart problems and decided I would rather not. Postpartum blues are an ongoing mystery and a sad matter.
25A. *Baggage holder : COMPARTMENT, (7). One of the trickier ones to suss since it is a single word.
50A. *Go separate ways : PART COMPANY.(7). In this case a word is removed. Since we also have ENDED IT, I hope Jeff or his mentee did not have a recent break up.
52A. *School celebration : CLASS PARTY. (6) One word becomes two.
65A. *Bestowed : IMPARTED.(4) More tech stuff, I MED= Instant Messaged.
66A. *Crumbled : FELL APART.(5) Again one becomes two.
67A. *Opt in : TAKE PART..(4) When you opt in to a program, you take part in it. A whole word is deleted, leaving only TAKE. Could have been tricky to suss if you were thinking "partake."
and the reveal:
35A. 2006 Scorsese film, and a hint to answering this puzzle's starred answers : THE DEPARTED. (11).
Wonderful CAST. (2:21).
Across:
14. Verbal jabs : FLAK. Even worse than nit picking.
15. Face-to-face finals : ORALS. I wonder what Dennis and Lois would have said to this in the old days.
16. School that celebrates George III's birthday : ETON.
17. With 61-Down, Elton John duet partner : KIKI. 61D. See 17-Across : DEE. This SONG.(4:52).
18. Vestige : RELIC. So my appendix is a relic?
19. "___ Angel": Mae West film : I'M NO.
20. Texted "Let's just be friends" : ENDED IT. How cold is that? Some aspects of technology seem awful.
22. Supports : IS FOR.
27. C-3PO, for one : DROID. My smartphone's cousin.
28. Nincompoop : SCHMO. My old phone's cousin, and a foreshadowing of 49A. Capp chap : ABNER, who had to deal with the SHMOO.
30. Dawn goddess : EOS. I had a run of EOS on Fridays earlier this year.
31. Snug as ___... : A BUG. In a rug. I hate bugs.
32. "Eureka!" : AHA. The moment. Now in the dictionary, and on TV.(0:30)
33. Third-qtr. period : AUGust. Tricky even if simple.
39. Airer of many Cary Grant films : TCM. Turner Classic Movies.
40. Staycation benefit, for short : RNR. From the military, Rest aNd Recreation. I imagine Dennis has some stories, but we are all so PC now we will not hear them here.
41. Tattled : TOLD.
44. NYC's Penn, e.g. : STAtion.
47. Clean : LEGIT.
53. Dug the experience, with "up" : ATE IT.
54. Loser's demand : REMATCH. Especially boxers.
57. Cartoonist Lazarus : MELL, He drew Miss Peach and Momma.
58. Like some forces : NAVAL
59. Many a Kirkuk resident : KURD. This one almost had its way with me.
62. ___-dieu : PRIE. The kneely thing with the desk top.
63. Calm : STILL.
64. Tissue additive : ALOE. Goodbye to the first half. (Think French accent).
Down:
1. ___ Stadium, home of D.C. United : RFK. Robert Francis Kennedy.
2. Bard of boxing : ALI. Muhammad.
3. Discerns : MAKES OUT. So many other clues, but no link for this one, even if it is next to....
5. Composer of the 2005 opera "Our Town" : ROREM. Did you know the SCORE?
6. More than put out : IRED. SEE was removed for me in this fill.
7. "The Persistence of Memory" artist : DALI. Looks like he had a good time creating this one.
8. Bug : GLITCH. Oh that kind of bug.
9. Exit key of a sort : ESCape.
10. Quake : SEISM. I knew about seismology but never thought of this as a stand alone.
11. Charge for cash : ATM FEE. Nailed it.
12. "Ain't gonna happen!" : NO NO NO. A thousands times NO. Don't you hate fates like that? Especially when there are....
13. Corral chorus : SNORTS. Had NEIGHS for a second.
21. Turkey : DUD. Oh that kind of Turkey.
22. Response to "Raise," maybe : I'M OUT. Lots of these tricky word combos.
23. iPhone, e.g. : PDA. Personal Digital Assistant.
24. Eyeball : ORB. A sign he will win the Preakness too? Sad we cannot ask. Starting on the rail, oh oh. Maybe Rosie will be the first female jockey to win a triple crown race. Bet it.
26. Astrologer Sydney : OMARR. Because Kimmleman would not play in Peoria.
28. Ella, stateside : SHE. Translation.
29. Tyrrhenian Sea resort : CAPRI. Off of the Naples side of Italy.
32. Pitchers : AD MEN. So it is not pouring a drink or throwing a baseball.
34. Take revenge on : GET BACK AT. Another of the clever multi-word fill.
36. Showy display : ECLAT.
37. Hill inhabitant : ANT.
38. Coach of 1972's undefeated Dolphins : DON SHULA. A real gimme for the sofla crowd, as he is still on TV a lot and has tons of restaurants.
42. Guitarist Paul : LES. Mr. electric guitar. ENJOY.(2:11).
43. Wine choice : DRY. I am getting sec of all these wine clues.
44. Shellfish entrée : SCAMPI. Shrimp was my first thought.
45. For the full time : TO TERM. Both of my boys were premies.
46. 2001 French title heroine : AMELIE. Watch this MOVIE.(1:29).
48. Use a Hula-Hoop : GYRATE. No Elvis this time.
49. Cockpit abbr. : ALTitude.
51. Accumulated, with "up" : PILED.
52. Easter lily : CALLA. Marti must have known this was coming yesterday. Hey Fermat.
55. Superhero's target : EVIL.
56. Place for an anchor store : MALL. But how many people really need anchors? Does it do better than the scotch tape store?
58. Check prob. : NSF. The dreaded Not Sufficient Funds.
60. Seoul soldier : ROK. Republic Of Korea. This was filled by the perps or I would not have seen it.
Speaking of not being seen, I think it is time for me to slip away until next time. A hearty thanks to JC and Ms.(Mr.?) Smith for the presentation and to all of you who have made it this far in reading my ramblings, which are over until next time. Summer is almost upon, but winter is coming.
L.
Note from C.C.:
Here are two wonderful photos of dear Sallies, who is going to celebrate her 83rd birthday on July 12, 2013. Sallie's two sons (one lives in MN, one in NY) and her husband Gerry celebrated Mother's Day this year a few days earlier at a restaurant in Naples. Stay strong, Sallie, we're all here for you!
Man, this one slapped me around something awful! I knew something was up when I got RIDGE at 5A, purely from the crosses, but at first I thought that "part" was missing from the beginning of every theme answer, which obviously didn't work. I ended up getting most of the theme answers via the perps before finally figuring out what was actually going on.
ReplyDeleteGot a little confused because all the theme answers seemed to be stand-alone words except for IMED, which I kept trying to rewrite until I finally just accepted it as Instant MessagED.
The NW corner defeated me in the end with the crossing of RFK and KIKI. Didn't know either one, and couldn't guess RFK because I had stuck in DAM at 1A long before I sussed out the theme and never corrected it. Had to resort to red letter help to fix the mistake. Oops...
[eagultu]
Wow. As with Barry, this one beat me up quite well. I had problems out the wazoo, mainly because the reveal (one of my favorite movies) was one of the last pieces to fall.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know KIKI DEE, didn't know Sydney OMARR, didn't know MELL Lazarus, but the perps eventually got them even though I didn't always know how the perps could be right. Nice nod to Spitz with NAVAL forces. I thought of Vietnam with both ROK and R and R; the ROKs were just tremendous warriors, and the R and R.....well, let's just say that they couldn't have named the capital of Thailand more appropriately...
In spite of my troubles, I loved the cluing, and my only negative was that I thought NO NO NO was a bit weak. A really fun puzzle that had me confused all the way to the end.
Lemon, great write-up, and you're right, I had to bite my tongue (sorry) about 15A given the current climate here. I really miss those 'old days', especially with Lois.
Thanks again for all the suggestions yesterday (including the emails) about the upcoming trip; should be a good time.
Have a great day (it IS Friday), and do something fun!
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteORALS, ATE IT, MAKES OUT, SKIN..I thought I was going to have a SEISM when all those DF answers appeared. Kudos on your restraint, Lemony!! I chuckled at your comment about anchor stores, because when I saw the clue, I wanted to fill in "marina"...
This was a rebus puzzle without the rebus squares, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, once I "got" the theme. Like Barry, I was looking for PART to be at the beginning when I saw (part)RIDGE. So it took me the longest time to reveal that NW corner.
When it was all done, I went back and looked at all the theme entries and just marveled at the cleverness of the execution. Fun stuff, and thanks for a great finish to the work week, Jeff and Loren!
TGIF, for those of you still actively employed! Just another day in paradise for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteI zipped through this one, but wondered at some of the answers I was coming up with. When I got to the reveal, they suddenly made sense, and I continued zipping to the bottom.
I did want SHRIMP for SCAMPI and PIER for MALL, but neither lasted very long. I agree with Marti about the sexy mini-theme.
When I deposit an NSF check from somebody else, why does the bank slap me with a $12 fee? It wasn't my fault.
I didn't care for it. I initially thought "The Departed" would mean that a D was left out, not PART. Now I see it like the word, defang, which would mean a "fang" was removed. So DEPARTED could be in the sense that "part" was removed.
ReplyDeleteStill don't care for PART being removed from all over the place; a stand alone word or an embedded word, at the start, middle or end.
Oh well, I did know Kiki Dee.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff and Loren, for one tough puzzle. However, very clever. Thank you, Lemonade, for the fine review.
ReplyDeleteYes, this was tough. Thank goodness there were some obvious answers that really helped. SCAMPI, TO TERM, GET BACK AT, DON SHULA, SKIN TIGHT, MAKES OUT, ATM FEE, NO NO NO, AD MEN, CAPRI, ECLAT, etc.
We had NO NO NO a few weeks ago. That one stuck in my head.
Very clever theme.
I am busy today, so goodbye until tomorrow.
Abejo
(iningyin)
Good morning everybody.
ReplyDeleteI'll agree, very clever clues. But this puzzle prooved to be too rich for my blood, which resulted in a DNF. Oh well, Friday's are like that sometimes!
Is anybody planning to see the new Star Trek movie? DH and I are going this weekend.
Have a great day!
Al Capp created the schmoo.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos of Sallie, and Jazz's mom yesterday.
ReplyDeleteAfter picking around a bit, I got my solid start in the bottom. After filling in FELLA, TAKE, and COMPANY from perps and wags I realized PART was missing from different spots in all the *ed clues. Next I easily filled in the top. Knowing the theme helped. I didn't care for the theme until I had THE DEPARTED. Then I loved it.
KIKI, DEE, and OMARR were the only unknowns, all “gettable” from perps and wags. I knew ROK and SEISM. I like the comic strip Momma so I knew MELL. Shrimp SCAMPI is one of my favorites. Having the P from PRIE made that one easy.
I remember when coffee was hard to get during WW II and people drank POSTUM. Not my cuppa tea (I mean coffee.)
This was a very satisfying Friday workout, about normal Friday difficulty. As always, a wonderful blog from Lemonade.
C3PO, more Star Wars.
I’m off to another meeting for Alan.
Had a bit of a hard time today. It started with the E Lansing reference --I went to MSU ----what the heck could it be besides Spartans??? Struggled for a while and then went for a walk. When I got back (and had googled the Scorsese clue!) it all became clear and I was on my way. Tried PIER or DOCK for anchor store...even though I knew the theme I still had trouble with IMED. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
ReplyDeleteHello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteTechnical DNF for me. I had to look up Rorem and Omarr, just to make some progress. Never heard of Kiki Dee either.
Maybe I'm just grumpy, but I hated seeing Schmo in there because (1) I perceive it as a fake word, and (b) its definition is vague. However, I accept that puzzle-making is hard and we must roll with these things.
Mari - Hand up for Star Trek! Have to wait a few days, though, due to commitments.
Forgot to mention - great pics, Sallie, and STAY STRONG!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteWell, this was a toughie for a while but perps and WAGS came to the rescue. Very clever theme and execution. Kudos, Loren and Jeff and thanks to Lemon for a great expo.
Wonderful pictures of Sallie and family.
Any thoughts on last night's Elementary?
Have a fantastic Friday.
Sallie, prayers for you, and stay strong. Keep Hope.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, I must say your writing is delightful, and not frightful. Love your humor and your comments, and it was 52A - classy. I have been reading some old stories by P. G. Wodehouse, and I can see similarities. Very pleasant reads. Keeps the heart joyous and a small smile on the old face. Life is so much more fun.
I guess there was a puzzle involved here .... somewhere.
Kinda busy now, so its off to work I go.
Have a nice weekend, you all.
Hi all!
ReplyDeleteThis was Loren's concept, I just went along for the ride. Fun stuff. Rich and Patti were very helpful in the revision process.
My wife and I are going to Star Trek tonight! Can't wait.
Live long and prosper,
Jeff
Hang in there Sallie! Looking good!
ReplyDeleteI definitely df'ed this one. Had to come here to see what the x#s%f^&z* the theme answers were and then went off and finished the rest unassisted. Still didn't understand AUG until I cam back to read the rest of the blog. I didn't know the film title in the unifier, or that may have helped. Sometimes I simply know too little for these.
Learning moment today, RFK's F is for Francis. I'd never heard that before and always assumed it was Fitzgerald like JFK.
I want to chime with my best wishes for Sallie, and know our prayers are with you.
ReplyDeleteI will try and see the Star Trek this week end, though I am helping a little on a Relay for Life week end event.
I really thought the Elton John Kiki Dee song was great and more well known than it apparently is,
Kiki, (did she lose and "N" somewhere?) had a hit before working with Sir Elton SONG which was reprised by Jennifer Lopez in a Kohl's commercial.
I agree the puzzle was not an easy one, and even with the theme early I had challenges, especially letting go of PARTAKE instead TAKE PART.
Dennis, when do you leave?
Great pictures on the blog.
ReplyDeleteReading all the posts is the reason I try to do the late week puzzles.
DNF today.
What Thumper said.
Great weather--must do yardwork.
Have a good weekend, all,
Montana
(association)
If anyone is curious about Jeff's co-conspirator, LOREN SMITH .
ReplyDeleteanon @10:36, wouldn't your moustache get in the way?
ReplyDeleteLemon, in June; why?
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteSallie - We're all on your side.
Mixed feelings about the puzzle. Clever, verging on brilliant, but too gimmicky for my taste. Lots of great fill, though.
Had to google THE DEPARTED, then got most of the theme answers. CALLA - CLASSY foiled me.
Don't know KIKI.
We're seeing my son's three kids in TARZAN tonight. Nate's in a baseball tournament this weekend.
No rest for grandparents.
Cool regards!
JzB
Hi Y'all! Well, it helps that some of you found this hard. My mind was AGLITCH for this. I could not make any sense of it, although when RAMP showed up I momentarily thought it was short for RAMPpart. I got through it with red-letter redirections, but was very frustrated. Even getting THE DEPARTED didn't give me an AHA! moment. Such a disappointment because I usually enjoy Jeff Chen puzzles. This was like getting kissed with no follow through.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I really enjoyed Lemonade's banter. Dennis, your Bangkok joke was too funny. Marti, keep 'em coming.
Hey, I knew KIKI DEE and ROREM! But I had no clue that Mich were SpartANS.
The good thing about the puzzle was it kept my mind off my unfinished lawn project which is a bigger frustration. My lawn man finally rose up from his bed almost recovered from pneumonia and cut my calf-high grass & weeds on Wednesday. With a wife and 3 kids, he needs the money so he loaded up on meds, donned a dust mask and went to work. Mine was the 17th yard of the day for him. Scares me. We didn't even talk about raking & seeding over the new sewer line. I've accepted that I'll have to do it if it gets done. Might not.
Dennis,
ReplyDeleteRed Rocks Amphitheater is a fascinating venue for concerts, and I was going to see who and what were playing there . FYI CALENDAR .
Finished the puzzle with one mistake. For 65A I had IMAD. Don't watch French films. Every theme answer came from perps. Never got the theme until I read this blog.
ReplyDeleteWeird puzzling experience. One of my first answers was "The Departed," but like Argyle, I expected the "D" or "De" to have "parted." And, there were many unknowns (Kiki, Omarr, Rorem, Mell, etc). But somehow, each unknown was "getable" through the perps, and I ended up solving in a quicker than usual Friday time.
ReplyDeleteImpressive amount of theme-related answers.
Hasn't Mr. Chen crossed a line: a Star Wars clue on the same day he'll see Star Trek? Sounds like he's tempting fate. Or The Force....
uq
Wow, what a toughie ! At least for me. Walked away from it a number of times.
ReplyDeleteNorth Central was especially tough with no idea for Noel Bird and Our Town composer. But had the ORE and and remembered good puzzle name ROREM. That made me change POST OP to POST_M which soon gave me DUD and ENDED IT.
But what the heck is POSTUM ?
Back at the top, the R made RIDGE clear and that gave me GLITCH which led to COMMENT. But still had no idea on RIDGE for a bird (and Noel who ? Coward ?) and worse yet, another new one with no idea why. COMMENT = Baggage Holder ? COMMENT also changed my original I FOLD to IM OUT.
Then the NE fell and I was pondering why it wasn't SPARTANS. It was missing PART. That's funny, SANS PART. Then looked at RAMS and RIDGE and other answers that were solid from the perps such as COMPANY and CLASSY and it all made sense. That also gave me the unifier which was holding up the center.
Going to post first, then go read Lemonade's write up and today's comments. Really looking forward to after this gem ! The clock says 5 hours and 1 minute, 47 seconds.
schmo or schmoe also shmo (shm)
ReplyDeleten. pl. schmoes also shmoes Slang
A stupid or obnoxious person.
From Yiddish shmok, penis, fool; see schmuck.]
I discovered this morning that Alan was saved because the very vocal parent lobby influenced the legislators. The program is not out of the woods yet,but things are looking up.
ReplyDeleteHi folks,
Well all my complaints, issues, whatever have already been addressed so I'll give my one word description of my feelings about todays puzzle.
UGH
My other thoughts are X Rated. Enjoy your weekend and you you folks on the plains..... stay safe.
Our morning is a total mess, with a new caregiver, gardeners arriving making the dogs bark, and a friend expected for breakfast (we were going to take her out but now can't, with new caregiver) and have nothing to offer her but cold cereal and lousy coffee. Actually, a perfect morning for a toughie like this because I now have a dozen excuses for hardly getting to first base with it. Started with DAMS and RIDGE neither of which made any sense, and went downhill from there. But I usually love Jeff Chen puzzles so I'm going to forgive this and hope I'm in better shape for his next collaboration with Loren Smith.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, loved the photos of Sallie.
Have a great Friday everybody!
With apologies to CED for stealing his idea, here is my opinion of this gimmicky rebus.
ReplyDeleteMY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY
Yowza! Talk about zesty! Thanks for your thorough explanations, Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteWAS. What Abejo said: "Thank goodness there were some obvious answers" though it didn't help that my noel bird was GOOSE so that held up the center until the end.
Many, many years ago I took dancing lessons and the instructor played Don't Go Breakin' My Heart the entire hour so KIKI DEE came quickly to mind.
I also filled EEK instead of AHA but when nothing else worked I erased it and started over with AHA/SHE and it suddenly came together.
My first reaction to this was dislike but as I solved more and more of it, finally got THE DEPARTED it made sense and I realized how really clever the theme was.
Thanks, Jeff and Loren; the challenge is what makes puzzling worthwhile and this provided a very good one.
Have a fabulous Friday, everyone!
Actually, I finished this fairly quickly even though I goofed up at the beginning. I was immediately thrown to the bottom with the KIKI & DEE clue. And, then I thought that the fill for 67A should be PARTAKE not TAKE PART. Once I got the theme and figured out it should be TAKE PART, all the theme answers came quickly.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should have just stayed in the NW and saved myself a few min of aggravation.
Sallie:
ReplyDeleteYou look just great in your photos. Stay strong and think positive thoughts.
TTP:
POSTUM (POST part UM) is a powder that is mixed with mild to create a chocolatey drink. It was popular during WWII because chocolate was rationed.
Oh, drat! It is mixed with MILK.
ReplyDeletePAS DE CHAT-
ReplyDeleteThe Queen in your attached video looks like Fred Flintstone in drag! Funny stuff.
I thought it was apropo that CLASSY crossed DON SHULA. Too bad some of the your opinions were not.
ReplyDeletenot a big fan of trickery, therefore less than liked this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss - Avoiding spoilers, I have to say I didn't see that Elementary plot twist coming! One problem we had was keeping this story separate from the British version. In any case, it does appear the writers have kept open the possibility of future Moriarty involvement.
ReplyDeleteYellowRocks - I had no idea that Schmo was derived from Schmuck. Never crossed my mind!
Dennis 10:39 - now that's funny!
"not a fan of trickery"?
ReplyDeleteWhy then do you try to solve puzzles?
The USA Today has a nice puzzle for you!
I try to solve puzzles to connect dots, so to speak anon 12:28---this type of "puzzle" is more of a game than logical to me... its an opinion that belongs to me so save your insults.
ReplyDeleteVery nasty.
ReplyDeleteTo my shame and partly to my redemption, this was a DNF, the first in a while. The redemption is that I got many of the PART answers without knowing the theme. I never got the theme, maybe because I'm just not used to imaginatively supplying a whole 4-letter word.
Words like IMED and a bird named RIDGE don't do it for me. I am sure it is clever-- somewhere.
Wowie zowie, what a brain wrinkler this was! I loved it; I hated it. I frowned; I smiled. I had WTF moments; I had AHA moments. Is it a rebus? Is it not a rebus? By the time I ENDED IT I liked it; I do not demand a REMATCH for this perfectly LEGIT work. I ATE IT up with RELIsh, as Little Miss Muffet devoured her KURDs and whey. NO NO NO, Nanette, don't be IRED; the GLITCHes in your britches are just SEISMS in your seams, so feel free to GYRATE and SNORT with ECLAT.
ReplyDeleteABNER was CLASSY, as were ALI and DALI. To paraphrase Doyle Lonnegan in The Sting, "Ya folla, FELLA?"
I'M OUT :)
Just in after finished putting in a rabbit fence. Wascally Wabbits have mistaken our garden for a salad bar.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle makes no sense! I can’t believe that they published this. Wait a minute… fellaPART, classPARTy, etc. this is brilliant (re: Lemon’s summation). What fun! Love it! I am not worthy!
Musings
-The Big 10 calls MSU “SPARTY”
-When 10 former colleagues play golf together, the ORAL FLAK flies
-Some romances can bloom and/or die with TEXTING. How sad/gutless.
-TATTLED? If you see something, say something.
-ALI’s poetry was insulting and demeaning to his opponents but it put butts in the seats. He regretted some of it later in life, especially what he said about Smokin’ Joe. Joe Never Forgave Him
-Some schools are barring SKIN TIGHT leggings being worn without a skirt over them
-After being ASKED, I told my golf partner about a GLITCH in his swing and he was very grateful
-My poker cards must have been better because I said, I CALL
-CAPRI may be the most beautiful place we have ever been!
-I resisted an urge to GET BACK AT someone two months ago and it paid off handsomely.
-LES used every fret on that axe. Wow!!
Good afternoon all - A DNFF Puzzle ( A Did Not Finish Friday puzzle) for me today. Lots of unknowns - more than knowns actually. Thanks Jeff and Loren for a very learning puzzle today. Clever theme and cluing. Great informative write-up Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteDid not get theme answers or unifier ( I did see the movie however - good one.)
I did know DONSHULA [ from old football-watching days with my father :) }. Also got ORALS, SCAMPI (my favorite), MALL, ATEIT, ABNER and ATMFEE on first pass to name a few (very few).
Favorite clue was Capp Chap.
Have a 5K in the morning in my hometown of Ilion, NY. Then 2 of our grandkids for an overnight - I'll need a nap before they come. lol
Have a great Friday everyone.
udyngse
I started in ink thinking I had chance because I got my foot in the door at the NE corner. Then I started begging my daughters for help, (they gave me the departed) & with the unifier, I went absolutely nowhere. I retyped everything (Ugh) on the PC so I could continue red letter, & still could make no sense of it.
ReplyDeleteI came to the Blog thinking I would just type "ACK!" (I was so confused, I didn't even see all the DF stuff!) Or what Montana said: "WTS" (what Thumper said). Montana, I believe you have created a new Blog shortcut.
Reading Lemon's explanation made me realize this was brilliant. Here I am trying to get my daughters to do a puzzle with me & pointing out how "Fridays" can be "tricky," with Anagrams & stuff, & I totally missed it... Now I am really bummed, because if I could have understood the reveal, I could have had a lot of fun doing this puzzle.
WYSS (what Yosemite Sam said...)
Hi, Lemonade - thank you so much for the terrific write-up!
ReplyDeleteAnd I appreciate the feedback from all the posts. But. . . Jeff did so much more than "go along for the ride!" He took my idea and dull reveal (MISSING PARTS, yawn, yawn) and coolified it. Jeff's the best! And, yes, Rich and Patti were helpful with the revision.
Thank you Loren Smith and Jeff Chen. I really, really enjoyed this one. It's been a slow day at work (so far), so I was able to keep chipping away, part by part, until it was done.
ReplyDeleteAs always Lemonade, you rock. Great links. Laughed to myself when you had EOS again. Thanks (and u2 Lucina) for 'splainin POSTUM.
Know that Kiki Dee, Elton John song well, and Kiki's "I've Got The Music In Me" that you linked has always been a favorite. The lyrics suggest to me a positive attitude in the face of adversity, strength of character, and outright defiance where needed. Kiki sings it with great attitude. The attitude comes through loud and clear throughout, but particularly as she sings, "When something gets in my way I go 'round it"
Yellowrocks, I hope that you continue to get good news. I'm sure that you were also individually instrumental and a big reason opinions were swayed. Your clarity of prose and the ease with which you convey are most impressive. Make them understand for not only Alan, but for all the unknown Alans, and the future Alans to come. You've got the music in you. You go girl.
Sallie, best wishes and stay strong. You know we are all pulling for you.
Jayce, too funny.
Time to go get my locks heightened. See all y'all later.
Happy Friday! (or not, depending on how you did on this tough puzzle). I would never have finished except for a little help from red letters. I was frustrated by this toughie but was taking all the blame myself for answers that just didn't make sense at first. I did figure out the theme after the reveal and then most of the answers finally made sense. This is one of the toughest puzzles I've managed to get through. I admired its cleverness once I saw the theme. WGS (What Gary Said.)
ReplyDeleteI don't like ALOE as a tissue additive. When I picked up some of those tissues by mistake, they sure made a mess when I cleaned my glasses with them.
It makes me sad to see comments about biting one's tongue because of the 'current climate' here. The climate seems pretty nice to me (except for the occasional snarky anon) though I do miss Lois.
Finally, it's frustrating to realize there are several blog regulars we just don't hear from anymore. Lois, Warren, Jeannie, et al. You don't know if they got busy, got tired of crosswords or if something bad happened. It's worrisome.
Loren Smith, thanks for the puzzle and for dropping by. Great middle name!
Sally, I must be totally out of it for not telling you how much I enjoyed seeing your pictures! You have a great attitude, and that sometimes makes all the difference when fighting through trying times. I hope you are well soon, and will be able to GYRATE with the best of 'em!
ReplyDeleteYR, so glad to hear about the continued positive news with your son's program. TTP said it all - I am sure you were most instrumental in getting the legislators to reconsider!
TTP, thanks for your kind, but overly generous comments about me. It truly takes a village to raise a child. One lone voice crying in the wilderness makes no difference. Banded together we have clout. I would have loved forensics (debating) but neither my high school nor college offered it.
ReplyDeleteAre any of you old enough to remember WW II rationing and ration books? Many commodities were rationed, including coffee. Friends and relatives traded stamps. I was very, very young, but I remember it vividly. Postum was a substitute for coffee which my parents hated. It was made from grain by the Post Cereal Company.
Link coffeee substitute
Bill G., I just read your comment about being "sad to see comments about biting one's tongue because of the current climate (nicely passive-aggressive, by the way). Again, my name is Dennis; you've seemed terribly reluctant to acknowledge it over the years. I didn't say the climate wasn't "pretty nice", because it is; it's just not the rollicking, DF-interspersed climate it used to be. Which, I can tell you first-hand, is the answer to your question about why Lois, Carol, Jeannie, etc. have pretty much moved on. Still the best crossword blog in existence, of course.
ReplyDeleteAnd as to your snarky buddy, he no doubt is a spineless, gutless assjack, but he was also a bit prophetic: Damned if you didn't overpost again last night, lol.
YR, my hat's off to you -- TTP nailed it. I have the utmost admiration and respect for anyone who's raised a child with disabilities. Just from what little I've been exposed to, I know it's a most formidable task and one that can take a serious toll on the parent(s).
Lemon, thanks for the Red Rocks guide - if the timing works out, I'll try to catch the Tedeschi Trucks Band; I'm a Susan Tedeschi fan.
Yellowrocks,
ReplyDeleteI remember those ration stamps! I used to carry them down to Kelly's Groceries on Union Street (San Francisco). As a kid I thought they were great. They had pictures of planes and tanks and all sorts of war materiel. The one I remember most was a big Howitzer, so I guess that was common for grocery items.
I remember a minuteman too, but maybe that was for savings stamps for war bonds. All these images brought the war into every home. Collecting newspapers in bundles and a slowly building ball of tin-foil--these were great ways to help "our boys."
We learned afterwards that some of the collection efforts were useless, totally impractical, but they served civilian morale beautifully!
Hi, all!
ReplyDeleteWhat a brain-bending puzzle! Had never heard of the movie, to boot. All that work and I got careless in the end (WBS in his last paragraph)! So two reds.
Great work though, Jeff and Loren. Swell write-up, Lemon!
Thanks for the shout-outs, Lemon and Marti. Still have not procured soil for hydrangeas and callas. Russian former colleague here for a few days. Left him a message today, so maybe he can pick up some before dinner.
(He is trying to find a place for his family to rent in this area for the Fall Semester. He is disappointed to have to return to a non-doctorate-granting institution. It made me sad to have to get stuck in same many years ago, as these were the only institutions hiring women. My "mathematical lineage" goes back to Gauss and Euler and died with me.)
Great pictures, Sallie! Your sons very similar in appearance!
Happy weekend!
Gee, only 233 days until next season of DA!
ReplyDeleteDennis,
ReplyDeleteI've followed/contributed occasionally here since CC's inception of this fine blog. Your overbearing nature keeps me from a more intimate participation.
Barry has always seemed to strike the even tempered, intelligent balance that seems ideal for this forum.
YR, yes I barely remember rationing and Postum. I remember my mother saving fat (bacon grease) and taking it to the market though I don't think I ever understood why. Something to do with making gunpowder maybe?
ReplyDeleteThe best thing about telepathy is, I know... right?
I just ate a bag of reduced fat potato chips instead of going to the gym.
Dennis, I'll bet I know who made the 8:24 anonymous post.
ReplyDeleteAnd, YR, you must remember how the mixing of the oleomargarine was a regular ritual. It was during the war that Americans were introduced en masse to margarine. But the dairy lobby was powerful and would not permit any yellow margarine to be sold. It looked too much like the "real thing." Mom had to prepare it and mix the color in before storing it away in the ice box.
ReplyDeleteHI, is it ok if tomorrow's post is up now? Just giving a heads up
ReplyDeleteThank you, pat.
ReplyDeleteI've never disallowed DF. It's enjoyable in moderation. But the old days of +200 posts from 3 or 4 posters mostly about DF stuff is not going to return. Way too much for my taste. I implemented 5 posts/day policy for a solid reason. This blog is not just for a limited few to exchange banters about DF.
ReplyDeleteCC, I'm with you. IMO DF is like salt, a little adds flavor, too much salltiness spoils the mixture.
ReplyDeleteKeith and Bill, yes I remember mixing the color into margarine, blackouts, air raid drills, collecting squashed tin cans and milkweed pods. Gas was severely rationed. Nylon stockings had seams and were not readily available, although I was way too young to wear them. We took coins to school to buy war stamps to paste into booklets to buy war bonds. Everyone readily sacrificed for the U.S.A.