Theme: "Those Creepy Crawly Things" (Thanks, Tom, for supplying me with the title!)
No unifier is necessary for this type of theme. Each of the theme entries is a different definition for the common clue:
17. Bugs : HIDDEN MIKES. I had hidden wires at first.
23. Bugs : BEETLE CARS. I thought this was going to be a literal definition at first.
37. Bugs : SOFTWARE DEFECTS.
48. Bugs : ELMER'S BANE. Bugs Bunny, of course!
59. Bugs : DRIVES CRAZY.
I really enjoyed this puzzle. Sometimes definition type puzzle have strained theme entries, to fit within the constraints of the grid size, and to come out symmetrical. But all five of these entries felt like normal phrases. There was some fun stuff in the fill, too. So let's get to it.
Across:
1. Shake, as one's tail : ELUDE. Oh, I was sooooo thinking of this. 2:30
6. Apple polisher : TOADY. From the 16th c. "toad-eater." Fascinating story here.
11. "Ri-i-ight!" : HAH. Hah! Nailed it! And a clecho at 25-Down. "Ri-i-ight!" : AS IF.
14. Patient's share : CO-PAY. It seems to be more and more the "lion's" share lately...
15. Els only about six feet above the ground : ERNIE. I love golf, and enjoy watching ERNIE Els, a.k.a. "The Big Easy." (BTW, he is actually 6'3".)
16. Big name in kitchenware : OXO.
19. Animation collectible : CEL.
20. "Double Fantasy" artist : ONO.
21. Carnation spot : LAPEL.
22. Booked solid : BUSY.
26. Says it isn't so : REBUTS.
29. Annual Queens sports event : US OPEN. Tennis, not golf. It is held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and runs from August 26-September 9 this year.
32. Seals, as a deal : ICES.
33. One may be given to a detective : ALIBI.
36. ___ diet : ON A.
41. "Don't Bring Me Down" rock gp. : ELO. Listen here. 4:04
42. Hits the trail : HIKES.
43. Mongolian tent : YURT.
44. Try to better understand, as difficult prose : RE-READ.
46. Bandleading brothers' name : DORSEY. Tommy and Jimmy.
52. Moo juice : MILK.
54. Lofty nest : AERIE.
55. Get-up-and-go : VIM.
58. Kerfuffle : ADO. I want to see the word "kerfuffle" in a crossword...
62. X, at times : TEN.
63. "Peer Gynt" playwright : IBSEN.
64. Lincoln's side : UNION.
65. Withered woman : HAG. (Hey, I'm not all that withered...)
66. With 67-Across, San Diego Zoo attraction : GIANT. and 67-Across. See 66-Across : PANDA.
Down: (...worth repeating.)
1. Letter before Foxtrot : ECHO. Have you memorized your NATO phonetic alphabet yet?
2. Pork purchase : LOIN.
3. Bridesmaid's coif : UPDO.
4. "American ___!": animated sitcom : DAD. While I was doing this write-up, the show came on TV and I suffered through it, just so I could report to you. My report? .... judge for yourself.
5. Ornamental embroidered hole : EYELET.
6. Bait : TEMPT.
7. Projecting window : ORIEL.
8. Popular tat spot : ANKLE. Bicep also fits. Just sayin'...
9. Conk out : DIE.
10. "It's a go!" : YES!
11. Words before disappearing, perhaps : HOCUS POCUS.
12. Fires : AXES.
13. First word from Robin : HOLY. Holy You Tube!
18. Laddie's turndowns : NAES.
22. "My man!" : BRO.
23. Pedestal sculpture : BUST. Like this?
24. 8 or 64, e.g. : CUBE.
26. Choir support : RISER.
27. Place for élèves : ECOLE. French for "students" and "school"
28. Any day now : BEFORE LONG.
30. ___ nous : ENTRE. "Between ourselves..." ("Keep it confidential.")
31. Vile : NASTY.
33. Object of Indy's quest : ARK. Indiana Jones and the "Raiders of the Lost Ark." (Why, all they had to do was look on top of Mt. Ararat!)
34. Sea side : LEE. Nice misdirection.
35. Tags on bags : IDS. Identification tags are about the only things many airlines still give away for free.
38. Impact sound : WHAM!!
39. Camp staffer : AIDE.
40. Rochester's bride : EYRE. Plain Jane.
45. Antlered critter : ELK.
46. Place of honor : DAIS.
47. Like small coffeemakers : ONE CUP.
49. Madame Gorbachev : RAISA. She died in 1999 of leukemia. In 2009, Mikhail made an album titled "Songs for Raisa" made up of old Russian love songs. Who says the Russians are cold-hearted??
50. Atomic number for nitrogen : SEVEN.
51. Bush adviser Scowcroft : BRENT.
52. It has roots and branches : MATH. Great misdirection!
53. Think tank output : IDEA.
55. Unable to merely walk past a mirror, say : VAIN.
56. Brand that once sported a reptile : IZOD.
57. Flying talker : MYNA.
59. "Get it, man?" : DIG?
60. Slugger's stat : RBI. I am finally getting the hang of this: slugger = Runs Batted In, pitcher = Earned Run Average. And then we have : 61-Down. Transfer ___ : RNA. Runs Not Allowed. (^0^)
Have a great week, everyone. See you next Thursday!
Marti
Welcome Tom Pepper, you really gave me quite a workout. It was fun seeing ERNIE ELS after yesterday's trains.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was well done and after reading the interview very impressive. I did remember YURT and enjoyed Marti' s words.
Good morning, all; seems odd to be up here at the top with L714. The regulars must be sleeping in today.
ReplyDeleteLike Dennis, I have a hard time suffering fools with no name, but will try harder in the future.
And of course in yesterday's post I was referring to the omnipresent crossword beast of burden.
First "no threat of rain" day in two weeks here today, guess my staycation is over.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteNot sleeping in today, but today's puzzle did take a bit longer than usual to complete.
Although it was pretty straightforward overall, I was hampered by putting in THUD instead of WHAM at 38A and CODERS BANE instead of ELMERS BANE at 48A. It wasn't until I took out THUD that I was finally able to get SOFTWARE DEFECTS, and that let me know that CODERS BANE probably wasn't right.
I didn't get the *TADA* when I finished and it took an embarrassingly long time to track down my error. Don't ask me why, but IPSEN/RPI looked perfectly fine in the grid the first five times I looked at it...
[uiltavo]
Oh -- and most definitely a terrific clue for ERNIE at 15A!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thursday everybody!
ReplyDeletePersonal Best time for a Thursday xword, but was really off Mr. Pepper’s wavelength for the longest time, as evidenced by write-overs POSE for VAIN, DENIES for REBUTS, IDOL for BUST, BADGE for ALIBI, WRIST for LAPEL, and DANCE for ELUDE…. That’s DANCE as in Shake One’s Tail (Feather)….
YURT was a crossword learning moment many puzzles ago….
As a former student of mathematics, really appreciated the appearances of both CUBE and MATH, along with the associated extremely clever cluing…!
Pablo Sandoval – would he qualify as a GIANT PANDA…?
Just once, I would’ve liked to hear Robin utter “Holy Shinola, Batman!”
THUD for WHAM held me up until the bitter end, but it did finally reveal the best answer for BUGS, and That’s All, Folks!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteI zipped right through this infested puzzle. My only write-over was INKS before ICES. I've only seen ORIEL in xwords; is it the same as a bay window?
Marti, I enjoyed your take on Indy's quest. Oh, not that ARK?
Time to turn into the walkin' dude.
Howdy,
ReplyDeleteBefore reading CC's interview with Tom, I hated this puzzle. After reading the article, i didn't like it. If this Damn humidity will ever leave, I'd probably like it.
That said, I did finish, but there was a clue or two I really cursed at. As Marti pointed out, Ernie Els is 6'3". That is hardly about six feet.
ON A diet got my cursing again. Just didn't like it.
Doha, Pablo was at Norwich for about six weeks during his progression to the "bigs". His last at bat was a HR over the center field fence, roughly 420 feet. He's gotten really huge........ Omar must make his uni.
Marti, thanks for your usual quality write up.
All that said, i respect the effort it must take to construct a puzzle and I have always been reluctant to criticize the author. So Tom, thank you for the challenge from an ill tempered, aging old fart.
Promise to be in better humor tomorrow.
Challenging, but fun puzzle. Hands up for thud over wham, which had me stuck for quite some time.
ReplyDeleteDoha Doc, that was a great clip of the Blues Bros & Ray Charles. It really got my tail shakin' this morning!
ReplyDeletehondo, sounds like you need some Irish Whiskey in your coffee this morning, LOL!
Hondo, you crack me up.
ReplyDeleteThank you Tom Pepper and thank you Marti !
LOL when I finally saw ELMERS BANE.
Walking Dude, thought of you at 37A. Not that you personally had any. I had CODE DEFECTS poised, so SOFTWARE came easy.
My COPAY on my recent stress test was $287.
Temporarily tripped up by (figuratively) inking INKS rather than ICES for seals the deal.
"Twas an eerie night in Erie as I climbed to the AERIE." Oh wait, that was yesterday. BTW, belated to Don G !
DRIVES CRAZY - "I just ignore him" she said, matter-of-factly.
ALAS, an incomplete today, as I couldn't get the B intersecting BRO and BUSY and the first word from Robin was left HOL-.
Shake as one's tail = ELUDE also made me laugh.
Have a good day all.
Except for 'inks' before ICES, I zipped through this one without a problem. Does that mean my thought processes are just as twisted as the constructor's?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great write-up, Marti.
Hondo, if Mr. Pepper made you groan, curse and smack your forehead with the V8 can, then he accomplished his goal as stated in his interview. Great job, Tom!
Hi Everyone ~~
ReplyDeleteI had fun with this, as I kept erasing and writing over! 'AOK' before YES, thud/WHAM, nude/BUST.
~ I really like this type of theme ~ we had a similar one last week.
~ As others have mentioned, the misdirection of 1A was great. I, too, was thinking of tail feathers.
~ In the SW corner, 62A - X at times - TEN and 52D It has roots and branches - MATH, stumped me for a bit but I loved both when I finally got them.
~ Favorite: 15A - Els only about six feet above the ground - ERNIE.
~ Hondo - I enjoyed your comments. You seemed to mellow as you went along. :-)
~ Thanks, Marti, for your always enjoyable write-up!
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteI liked the 5 'bugs' but I thought overall, it was tougher than usual for a Thursday. First time solving one of Tom's puzzles, I think, so it took a while to get on his wavelength. A few anchors like RAISA, HOCUSPOCUS, COPAY, SEVEN, and CO=PAY made it doable. In hindsight I thought it was fair and well constructed with lots of good clues.
I should know better than to attempt a Thursday puzzle, but thanks, Tom, for an interesting one and thanks, Marti, for an informative expo.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a DNF for me, but I enjoyed the clues I 'got.' I even 'sort of' figured out the theme. When I had done all I could, I had about 8 clues unfilled so I started red lettering the first letter of unknowns. Still only added a couple and the perps didn't help yet. So, in the end, I used a lot of help to finish this puzzle.
If you go camping in the southern part of my county, on the Missouri River, you can stay in YURTS. I am a retired math teacher and I missed CUBE. Ugh!
I don't have breathing problems, but I am still finding it hard to walk in Denver's altitude.
Montana
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Tom Pepper, for an excellent puzzle, Thank you, Marti, for the great review.
ReplyDeleteDid not get started very easily, but bounced around and picked up a word here and there. Got a few footholds.
Liked HIKES and YURT. I kind of remembered YURT from other puzzles. Only had one wrong letter. Fixed it.
AERIE was easy. We get that high nest a lot. Caught your ERIE slogan TTP. Very clever.
Almost put in CHOP for 2D, but held off for a letter. LOIN worked. I love roast pork, or baked pork, or barbecued pork, etc.
Been a while since we have had ORIEL. Used to be quite regular, in my memory.
Enjoyed reading the interview with Tom Pepper. Inspirational!
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(igedoreq)
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteFound this quite a workout but, as usual, patience, perserverance and a few perps gave the TADA w/o help. The theme was fresh and clever and the cluing added some zest. Job well done, Tom Pepper, and smooth expo, Marti.
Hondo, you are too nice a person to be grumpy, so let a smile be your umbrella on these rainy, 3H days; they have to end sooner or later! (-:
Mari must be on vacation as she hasn't posted all week.
Happy Thursday.
I have not seen Dennis in quite a while, either.
ReplyDeleteIt took a while to get a toehold, but then I was on Tom’s wavelength all the way. OXO and CEL in the extreme NE got me started. Then the middle strip came easily, followed by an easy bottom strip. Then in the top central TOADY and ELS got me started. I was looking for creepy crawlies and was surprised to find none. Fine puzzle. I liked the misdirections already noted. My only write over was BREtT for BRENT, soon corrected by IBSEN. Marti, delightful, informative write up, especially the article on TOADY.
ReplyDeleteORIEL definition by Bing: bay window: a bay window projecting from an outside wall and supported from beneath by a bracket
Link ORIEL
When I was a virtual assistant for a home remolding company I arranged for the installation of these and other types of windows.
TOADY: HOLY Shinola Good one, Doha doc.
Some PA state parks have YURTS for rent. I think my own tent is much cooler in the summer.
My car window is done. Itcost $360 after $130 worth of discounts.
Whew! this was tough! 46A I totally missed the word "leaders" & assumed the band brothers had to be "Allman."
ReplyDelete(hmm, I wonder if I am not such an old fart, just an intermediate fart...)
1A totally eluded me. I have always wondered why people go to such great lengths to train a dog, (I would be happy with a friendly dog.) & in this clip for a brief moment, (between 1:15 & 1:20) I could see the possibilities that could make my tail wag...
But 6 foot Els, toady, & strange sounding bay windows totally flummoxed me into cheating!
Excellent puzzle!
That was a remodeling company, not a remolding company. Darn autocorrect! Of course, we did not create stone ORIELs, but some of those wooden ones in the pictures were right on.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! I seemed to be on Tom's wavelength today, but had trouble getting started on 1. The rest were read and peck in a few letters with some "aha's". No red-letter runs today. Thought it was really fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marti, your upbeat links did not "Bring Me Down". I wanted to shake my booty, but it was too soon after breakfast. Watching ELO, I kept waiting for the spinning couple in black to ELUDE consciousness.
Queen's sport: Ascot didn't fit.
ICES was last to fill. Hand up for "inks".
My detective wanted "clues" not ALIBI.
ANKLE tat makes me think of the girl I saw with all the SEVEN dwarfs ringing her's. Wow! If my ANKLE was that big around, I wouldn't call attention to it.
My fall sound was first WHAp.
CED, such a smart dog had his owner trained to spend a lot of time with him.
Now I'll go read C.C.'s interview with Tom Pepper. Thanks for providing these extra efforts, C.C.
Hi y'all! I just went back and read the posts from late last night. I DID NOT write the 10:35 p.m. post about stolen money from retirement accounts and kid's college funds. Apparently, my earlier post hit a sore spot with the ANON and he wanted to make ME look bad too. Such venom eats out the soul of the avenger.
ReplyDeleteWhy did windy throw Dennis under the bus? Dennis had nothing to do with windy's inane comment yesterday?
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom for a fun and interesting puzzle, with some good mis-direction cluing. My Only nit was Ono clued as Double Fantasy artist yes maybe she was on the album but does anyone really think she has musical talent. If you do better get your ears checked, just sayin. have a great day to all. RJW
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, this was a toughie. More like a Saturday than a Thursday, to my mind. But I got the WHOLE thing--though only after sweating, agonizing, going through the alphabet, thinking of every possibility misdirections offer. The bottom of the puzzle slowly filled in first. The top was sheer torture. Never did understand ERNIE ELS since I kept thinking of Chicago transit. But the theme answers were a lot of fun, and I'm so glad you didn't stay with the originals, Tom. Anyway, many thanks, and you too, C.C. for the interview. And Marti thanks for explaining what Robin said--I couldn't have figured that one out without you, even though I got it.
ReplyDeleteHave a great Thursday, everybody!
Hello, everyone! Wonderful commentary, Marti.
ReplyDeleteHOLY moley!! What a delightful puzzle from Tom Pepper. It's true to his name, Pepper, and just the right amount of spice.
I loved all the misdirection and still didn't get ERNIE until I read Marti's blog.
Luckily I knew just enough to get started and thanks to our recent discussion of the NATO alphabet, ECHO came easily.
My little sister (she's 61) is here so I'll cut this off.
Have a terrific Thursday, all you puzzlers!
G'Afternoon all:
ReplyDeleteDr. Pepper is an evil genuis! I've not had that many empty squares (24d Sqare was the only thing I could come up with - SQIN from yesterday didn't help the grey-matter) since last Saturday...
I kept looking for Bunny and with CEL there I knew it was comming, but alas, it was Elmer...
NE was easy as was NW and SE, but all the fly-over states ELUDEd me.
Tom, keep it up! Thanks for the interview & write up CC.
Oh, and I am not the snarky Anon from FL last night.
Have a good day and "don't feed the trolls..."
Cheers,
-T
TTP, of course I wrote some "buggy" software. Everybody does. A wise man said that it's impossible to make foolproof software; those fools are just too ingenious.
ReplyDeleteYR, thanks for the ORIEL explanation. Glad you got your window fixed at a reasonable price.
Marti, I'm dying to know what you linked for BUST, but all I get is "Page not found." I hopin', but at the same time ready for a big letdown.
desper-otto: Folks who make foolproof software only make better fools...
ReplyDeleteSent from my iPad :-)
-T
Marti: Thank you for another wonderful write-up & links.
ReplyDeleteRon Worden, it's always great to see you.
32-A,"Seals, as a deal" ... of course I had INKS ... y'all know "ICES" never enters into my way of thinkin'.
Always great to see our crosswordese friends: ONO, ORIEL & AERIE.
Transfer____ = RNA ... ='s a WTF.
Not a fan of "My man!" ='s BRO either.
A "toast" to all at Sunset.
Cheers!!!
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteHoly wow-did-i-wake-up-too-early-this morning. Didn't make me sharp, at all. This puzzle was two slogs, a workout, and a battle. Amazingly, I did finish. This is one of those puzzles I like more now that it's done than I did while working it.
Very clever, but I never got on the wavelength. After I very reluctantly filled in ELUDE, it still took me about an hour to get it.
We have Nate an Em today. IMBO.
Cool regards!
JzB
d-otto, it was this link. Not sure why you couldn't open it.
ReplyDeleteMarti: The @1:06 link only told me how to win sweepstakes.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I had, too, but now they are all working. (and I'm happy)
ReplyDeleteERNIE Els was definitely my favorite - great clue!
ReplyDeleteFor those who wanted THUD instead of WHAM, I wonder why my first impulse there was WHUMP? (Didn't fit, but I wanted it.)
YURT was a gimme for me because we have a specially constructed Yurt on our campus, built as a solid wall version of the Mongolian tent--built for a famous visiting professor years ago.
Some other amusing moments today included "Shake, as one's tail," misleading me toward variations on "Wag"; "Bugs" when it led to ELMER'S BANE; and the near pairing of ONO and OXO. A neat, clever crossword--tough too, fittingly so for Thursday. It took some doing, but it got "did." I only slowed myself down because I mis- remembered RAISA Gorbachev as RAINA for a while.
Thanks, Marti, for the nice write-up. Thanks, Hondo, for cracking me up--favorite comment! And thanks, everyone else, for your comments.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you already know, but I have to tell you, this puzzle would be nothing without Rich's direction and editing. Rich asked me to rewrite it two times, and the puzzle is much better as a result. As for the clueing, not counting the theme clues (you can't change those!), Rich changed three-quarters of them ... again, all for the better. Not knowing what changes he had made until I sat down this morning to solve my own puzzle, I found myself stumped at 1A! The Ernie Els clue is Rich's too. So my thanks to Rich for making me look much better at writing puzzles than I am. :)
And thanks, C.C., for your kind words. Talk about Minnesota Nice--that's you!
Clever theme with clever resolutions! Fun, fun, fun.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Opposite of yesterday, “Ernie, you’re in. Chicago Red Line, you’re out.”
-If you think there are no HIDDEN MIKES and cameras everywhere you go, you are naïve
-The Zimmerman trial lawyer are busy with REBUTS as I type this
-Famous affirmation(:02) after an ALIBI
-The Omaha Zoo backed away when they found out the cost of getting and maintaining GIANT PANDAS
-ONO an artist? HAH, AS IF!
-PAWN STARS last night had a huge poster of BUGS signed by Friz Freleng and Mel Blanc and bought it for $300
-Coffeemaker? Can anyone tell me an efficient way to make iced coffee? ONE CUP or many at a time. I made a huge pot Sunday night and put it in the fridge and after two days, it has no taste at all.
Marti, that second link still raises a "page not found", and like Tinman, it takes me to a page for entering a sweepstakes. Tried it on my tablet -- same thing.
ReplyDeleteWeird! I was just doing some family research on Ancestry, and came across a reference to an old college roommate. He dropped out after his freshman year. After a little digging, I found out that he died back in '87. News to me. We both attended high school in the same little Wisconsin town. A few weeks ago I ran into a reference to a former boss. He ran the radio station in Iowa. He had a very common name -- Jim Young -- so I figured it had to refer to somebody else. Nope, there was his picture...and his memorial page. He died back in '07. Now that I'm of a "certain age" I guess I can look forward to more such surprises.
Hola Everyone, I actually was able to finish a Thursday puzzle with only two lookups. I didn't know the French for student, but did know the answer, Ecole. That is a crossword regular. My other lookup was the US Open. My sports knowledge is minimal.
ReplyDeleteThe clue for Math/It has roots and branches was very clever, as was Ernie/Els only about six feet above the ground. Both were miss-directions which made me laugh when they filled in.
I tried to sleep in today, but our phone rang at 5:45. I was sound asleep and was angry that I was awakened so early. I have a hard enough time sleeping as it is.So I started my day early, but didn't get to the puzzle until almost noon.
Our Giant's Panda (Pablo Sandoval)always has a whole lot of fans wearing bright orange Panda Hats during a game in SF.
Have a great day everyone.
d-otto and tin, your web browsers must have better blockers than others. The picture probably would have left you both speechless and AGAPE. But you'll never know...
ReplyDeleteTom, thanks for stopping by! I may run into you at next year's ACPT, if I am through licking my wounds from this year's tournament by then.
Chickie, nice to see you! I can't believe someone called you at 5:45! I routinely get woken up by my cats around that time, but they haven't developed the knack of picking up the phone yet.
Marti, I get the sweepstakes site, too.
ReplyDeleteBecause I liked today's puzzle I tried Tom's other puzzle. It was fun. It took slightly longer that the LAT.
How common is RNA in baseball? I am surprised that I have never heard or read it. Good perps saved the day.
I loved the Ernie Els clue. Three inches over 6 feet, could mean about 6 feet.
If you can't open Marti's link, try this one. LINK. Spectacular.
ReplyDeleteHer eyes, I mean, of course.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the puzzle. Good job Tom and Marti. WEES.
ReplyDeleteCED, I have never seen a dog trained as well as that one!
Hey Argyle, that new link worked fine. Thanks. What was the problem? Say, that girl reminds me of an ex-student...
Marti, since you mentioned it, why don't you undertake to make a puzzle with a "kerfuffle" theme? You could also include from among: Foofaraw, hubbub, tumult, to-do, melee, rumpus, ruckus, donnybrook. I especially like kerfuffle and foofaraw. I will offer to assist with the cluing :>)
Well, I suffered through the first half of the season with the hapless version of the Dodgers; having the bases loaded with no outs and failing to score, for example. Now, they seem to have a hard time failing to win somehow. Last night, they tied up the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth (and nobody on) and then won the game in the fourteenth. They've gone from last place to a game and a half out of first. I'm a happy camper. Their new rookie has instilled some life into their previously moribund offence. I hope he keeps his head screwed on straight and his ego in check but the odds are against him.
Hand up for the sweepstakes page (both times).
ReplyDeleteYR, not baseball. Transfer RNA
YR,What am I missing? To the best of my knowledge, RNA haas zip to do with the game of baseball.
ReplyDeleteUpper Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula Yurts at Mt Bohemia.
ReplyDeleteIt's the highest point between the Alleghenies and the Rockies.
I think Marti was jesting us. With all the different stats in baseball (ain't it great ?), I think she was taking a little liberty to come up with her own...
Marti's comment:
ReplyDelete60D Slugger's stat : RBI. I am finally getting the hang of this: slugger = Runs Batted In, pitcher = Earned Run Average.
And then we have : 61-Down. Transfer ___ : RNA. Runs Not Allowed. (^0^)
I see it was a joke, but I didn't get transfer RNA until I looked it up. I've heard of RNA, but not transfer RNA. I got it through perps.
Argyle, of course "her eyes." Aren't they spectacular?
ReplyDeleteBill G., you are ON!! I'll send you a grid in a few minutes so you can write up the clues, and we'll send it to Rich tomorrow...
YR, sorry to throw you off with my little joke!
Not your ancester's YURTs.
Good afternoon, gang - been on the go for the past week or so, but I was told I needed to check the blog today:
ReplyDeleteArgyle @4:12, Holy Produce Section!! And thanks for pointing out the eyes...
Semper Fi @11:09, neither Windhover nor I would ever throw the other 'under the bus'. Unless some comment was deleted, I see nothing to back up what you're saying.
Have a great day; gotta run.
On the plus side ... I'm NOW entered in over 100 Sweepstakes.
ReplyDeleteCheers!!!
Marti,
ReplyDeleteDamn, missed your RNA comment.....could have had some fun with it. Clever though.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle, Tom! Loved the theme! Delightful write-up, as usual, Marti! No cheats.
One way to avoid getting woken by the phone is to buy a Panasonic house phone that has a "night mode" (turns off ringer from time X to time Y, whatever they are). Then hide the cell phone where you cannot hear it.
Friend Harv away for 5 days. He asked caregiver to cook some spinach for me to eat for dinner, but it didn't occur to her to bring it in to small fridge in my room! Would be nice with the lentils she brings in.
Cheers!
Good night all.
ReplyDeleteTinbeni: so nice to see you again. Is all forgiven? Whatever it was, I hope so.
Got 25 answers today. Hooray! None of the bug ones tho-- too dense I guess.
Am feeling fine but sleepy with the chemo.
Cheers
Me and my big mouth. Tomorrow? I was figuring maybe two good-quality clues a day and there's a Dodger game on tonight. But, but...
ReplyDeleteOK, OK...
Thank you Tom Pepper, and welcome. Enjoyed the interview.
ReplyDeleteThank you C.C.
and , as always, I love your humor, Marti..so thank you.
Did I cheat today..of course, but it was fun.
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteUm, kinda late to the party, I guess. Did Tom's puzzle fast for a Thursday, just happened to know all the answers except for Oriel. That one seems vaguely familiar but I don't recall seeing it in crosswords.
Belated Good Morning Marti! Loved the RNA humor.
Argyle - yep, definitely, it's the eyes.
CED's trained dog clip left me in awe. That was one athletic pup!
YR - glad your window got fixed, for something less than the National Debt. Electric window regulators can be remarkably feeble...after two failures in my truck's left door, I got a spare regulator to keep on hand. The quality of the GM part is below poor.