Theme: Turn the puzzle upside down, by Warti.
As I heard the story, this was inspired by the divine one's childhood, when she was little she was called Warti, which made her embarrassed, so she changed her name to Marti, and this puzzle ensued. (I hope she does not sue me for libel!). Or maybe Ian Fleming changed his mind about the name of James Bond's boss? Fun, simple theme presented in a pinwheel (2 across, 2 down) with a very cute but too late to be helpful reveal. The 'in the language' phrases are tweaked with the simple W to M change to create new and amusing phrases. So much fun in marti's puzzles, I am going to shut up and let her entertain you.
20A. Odd way to check for ore? : M(W)INE TASTING. (11). We know our resident oenophile may have started with this seed entry. Licking rocks does not sound appealing.
57A. What you need when your car is stuck in the mud? : M(W)IRE SERVICE. (11). Nice convoluted clue, which I hope did not bog you down.
11D. Summons from the cosmetician? : M(W)AKEUP CALL. (10). Really great visual of the beautician calling and saying, "Quick get in here now, your mascara ran!"
29D. Fix potatoes the hard way? : M(W)ASH BY HAND. (10). Another great transition to a visual.
and the reveal, in the center of the grid...
37D. Audi rival, and, when spoken as a command, a hint to this puzzle's theme : BMW. "Be M, W." Maybe this was the seed....Gather up all of the Ws and make them M, that will turn the Morld on its ear.
Across:
1. Some arm bands : TATS. Fun clue and the perfect counterpart for the last Across clue. 71A. "Toodles!" : TATA. A repeat from yesterday.
5. Work on the web : SPIN. I am sure marti planned this is a misdirection involving spiders and not the internet, but with the spin doctors out there, it works both ways.
9. Grant access : ADMIT.
14. Earthy hue : ECRU.
15. "That can't be!" : OH NO.
16. Heat energy source? : MIAMI. Cute since So'Fla. is often the only place in the US where the sun is warm this time of year. The the team seems bored, waiting to see of Greg Oden is healthy.
17. On the roof of : ATOP.
18. __ accompli : FAIT. A French expression clearly in the language in the US meaning already done. You can see where our word accomplished comes from.
19. Seeing red : IRKED.
23. Dreyer's partner in ice cream : EDY.
24. Blooms with hips : ROSES. Did you know roses bore FRUIT ? Many health benefits.
25. Waimea Bay locale : OAHU. Supposed great surfing, too bad all of our Hawaii posters are not active.
27. Uncomfortable place to be in : LIMBO. Initially a religious concept.
30. Friendly response to a knock : IT'S OPEN.
33. Atty.'s group : ABA. American Bar Association.
34. Letter before mu : LAMBDA. Do you know your Greek ALPHABET? (2:19) Sing it!
38. It may be a lot : ACRE. Wonderful play on words.
39. '50s sitcom name : DESI. Mr. Arnaz, or Mr. Lucille Ball?
41. Pyle of Mayberry : GOMER. More tv, Jim Nabors, the loveable marine from Mayberry, who Rock Hudson found so fetching; maybe it was the music.
42. Mumbai music : RAGA. My learning moment. Obviously you need to know Bombay is now Mumbai, and then know about Indian music. LEARN. Think of it as the beginning of Reggae.
43. 1939 Garland co-star : LAHR. Bert, and I am not Lion.
44. Without exception : ALWAYS.
46. Remove : LOP. We will lop off a few inches.
47. Attaché's place : EMBASSY. Not the case, the diplomat.
49. Is inclined : TILTS. Another clever use of words, taking the literal meaning of an incline.
51. Shows of support : YEAS. Raise your hands if you like this clue?
52. Bit of a scrap : RUN IN. Not iron, confrontation.
55. Dash no. : MPH. My "eh" of the puzzle. Dash = dashboard? Sure, but only in context, or maybe this is just too clever for me. 100 yards was my first thought.
62. Muse for Millay : ERATO. What kind of middle name is VINCENT for a woman?
64. Culture medium : AGAR.
65. Scraped together, with "out" : EKED. I think this may be the most used fill of all.
66. Maker of the Mighty Dump : TONKA. Oh, the toy....my first thought did not pass the breakfast test.
67. Pace : GAIT.
68. Texter's button : SEND.
69. Optional component : ADD ON.
70. Some shooters, briefly : SLRS. A single-lens reflex (SLR) camera is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence "reflex", from the mirror's reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured, contrary to viewfinder cameras where the image could be significantly different from what will be captured. (Wikipedia).
Down:
1. One in the standings : TEAM.
2. Opening on Broadway : ACT I. They all have to start somewhere.
3. "__: Uprising": Disney sci-fi series : TRON.
4. A-one : SUPERB. The exact reverse from yesterday.
5. Remote hiding places? : SOFAS. More cute misdirection, marti is really in control today.
6. Introduce gradually, with "in" : PHASE.
7. DDE and JFK, e.g. : INITS. My initial nit of the day.
8. Words of denial : NOT I? At least by an English teacher.
9. Pamplona pals : AMIGAS. The female friends from Spain.
10. E, but not A, I, O or U : DIRection. Actually more misDIRection.
12. Contacted, in a way, briefly : IM-ED.
13. Neat : TIDY.
21. Trade item? : TOOL. Not trade like an exchange, but a career.
22. Official with a seal : NOTARY. Every office needs a few.
26. Winter coat : HOAR. The sliver of silver coating the ground.
27. Serve from a pot : LADLE.
28. Steel girder : I-BEAM. You knew she would get one of these in the puzzle.
30. Bean sprout? : IDEA. Oh such wit! Hers is obviously in full bloom.
31. Rye fungus : ERGOT. Home for LSD.
32. Some tides : NEAPS.
35. "Open" autobiographer : AGASSI. I am so bad with with book titles, I read it and did not know it was his until I had the AG. Did you know you cannot copyright a Title? Want to do your own Gone with the Wind?
36. Herb that protected Odysseus from Circe's magic : MOLY. All perps, never knew of this HERB, which once again is Greek in origin.
40. "Dies __" : IRAE.
45. Move a little : STIR.
48. South Pacific islander : SAMOAN.
50. Use money to make money : INVEST.
52. Majestic : REGAL.
53. Allegheny, as of 1979 : USAIR. From a regional to a huge international, to swallowed up by American....
54. "Darn!" : NERTS. An old variation of NUTS, probably from the regional dialect of the northeast.
55. Self-referential prefix, in modern lingo : META. Metadata, data about data is the only example I can think of, but it is more of our recent clue fascination with all that is Greek.
56. Impel : PROD.
58. Tabloids, to some : RAGS. Riches to others.
59. Flat pack furniture seller : IKEA.
60. One seen in a store dish : CENT. Take a penny, leave a penny.
61. Icelandic literary work : EDDA. A word I know only from crosswords, but I have seen it for so many years.
63. Ref's ruling : TKO. Technical Knock Out.
Speaking of Out, I am out of material, so it is time to hit the road. Thanks marti, I got dizzy doing this while standing on my head. I hope you all have the blood rushing to all the right places. Have a great week end. Lemonade out.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Here is a picture JD took on her first trip to South Africa. She said "The children created this likeness of their hero on a wall in Cape Town, Nelson Mandela, using hand prints."
2) Happy Birthday to dear Lucina, the only regular I've met in person. She's just as cheerful and fun as she is on the blog.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Here is a picture JD took on her first trip to South Africa. She said "The children created this likeness of their hero on a wall in Cape Town, Nelson Mandela, using hand prints."
2) Happy Birthday to dear Lucina, the only regular I've met in person. She's just as cheerful and fun as she is on the blog.
 | |
| (L-R back row: Chickie, Clear Ayes, Garlic Gal; Front: JD, Lucina, Dodo. |
Picture taken on June 23, 2011
65 comments:
They've re-purposed that old worked-out MINE.
It's now a top place to dine.
Elevators flow
To bring guests below,
And the adit's now a cellar for WINE!
The circus' situation was dire.
The road an impassable MIRE.
They'd promised the orphans
They'd put on a show for 'em.
So the aerialists crossed the road on a WIRE!
The slacker found Clown College a WAKE-UP.
Most courses weren't so easy to take up.
He almost would faint
From the smell of grease-paint,
But his final exam was a MAKE-UP!
The moonshiners cooked up corn MASH.
They planned to sell whiskey for cash.
But the brew, oh my gosh,
It was weak as mouth-WASH.
Their still ended up in the trash!
[If I gave myself grades for my limericks, yesterday would have been a B+, today a C-. Today is one of those occasions when a really good puzzle uses up so much fun, it leaves the poorest poems. I did get to use a word I've only ever seen before in crosswords.]
Morning, all (and Happy Birthday, Lucina)!
Parts of this puzzle were very easy for me today, while other parts were nearly impossible. Made for quite the roller coaster ride!
I had the opposite experience with the theme as Lemonade. I struggled with the theme answers, since none of them seemed particularly "in the language" ti me. But once I got the theme reveal, it all made sense and I was able to finish them off in short order.
MOLY? No idea. It looked so wrong I kept checking and double-checking the crosses to see where I had gone astray. Seemed like a real outlier for an otherwise accessible puzzle.
Many of the clues caused me some consternation as well, but they all provided a nice *AHA* moment when I finally got them. "some arm bands" for TATS, "work on the web" for SPIN, "Heat energy source" for MIAMI (wasn't sure if this was referring to the city or the team), "Trade item" for TOOL, etc. Had to work for each and every one, but it was a rewarding experience.
[phyxte]
Greetings!
Thanks for the fun puzzle, Marti, and great expo, Lemon!
MOLY baffled me too, but there was no shaking it! No cheats!
Happy birthday, Lucina! Have many more!
Millie returned from vet with cone on head to protect the stitches from her skin operation. Have to wait a long while to find out prognosis. Cone to remain on for two weeks. Do not know which one of us will go nuts first!
Have a happy Friday!
HBDTY and many more dear Lucina. All day seminar, have fun.
Happy Birthday, Lucina! Enjoy the day!
I loved this puzzle. I had red letters on, but moved quickly though it. Perps helped a lot. Maybe it only seems easy for a Friday because I read what Marti has to say every day.
I did not get the theme and I looked for it. Thanks, Lemon, for the explanation of it.
Stay warm,
Montana
Good morning!
Marti (oops, I meant Warti) almost got me today. I was getting no traction in the NW, so I worked my way up from the bottom. My Dash No started out as RPM, but RETA looked too weird and BYMAND even weirder. Good thing I got the theme. I needed it when I got back to the top. The M in MINE was the key to that corner.
The only MOLY I'm familiar with is a grease. It contains molybdenum sulphide. That makes it super-slick.
I've never heard anybody say NERTS. I've only seen it in cartoons and cw's.
Happy Birthday, Lucina! Hope you're planning something special.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Marti (Warti), for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the fine review.
OwenKL, was the word you referenced ADIT?
Got through this puzzle quite easily today. That is why I am on the blog so early. Not bad for a Friday.
Well, I figured out they all started with M. That was all I got of the theme until I came here. I guess I was so excited that I finished this early that I looked no further. Great job on the theme.
AMIGAS threw me for a while. I had AMIGOS, thinking of the male version. Pals usually refers to males. Fixed it with OAHU.
LAMBDA was easy. It was the longest Greek letter I could think of and it fit. As the perps evolved, it stayed.
Lots of clever clues: Dash no./MPH, for example.
Liked SLRS for 70A. My favorite was a Canon AE-1. Best camera ever made, IMHO. Got it stolen from me. That is when I converted to digital.
Liked NOTARY. I am one. However, I never use it. Renewed the License after it was due to expire. Used it on my former job.
Busy weekend. Dinner downtown tonight, lunch tomorrow, and dinner tomorrow night. then my Lodge installation on Sunday afternoon. December is bad.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(doetru)
Good day all,
NE did me in, Had Ilked for IRKED and Meadi for Miami. Del for 10D and Ided for 12D. Never saw MIAMI and never picked up on my goof with Ilked. I was sure i was wrong but there were no alternatives in my thinking either.
In spite of a DNF an enjoyable challenge. Thank you Marti and best of luck with your contractors.
Edna Millay's middle name is St Vincent
Forgot............
Happy birthday Lucina. Have an enjoyable day.
Good day,all! I ALWAYS appreciate the words from our wise and witty Lemonade, thank you.
Yowza, Marti! MINE TASTING? No, thank you but I sashayed rather quickly across this grid. It took me a very long time to grok TATS, however, even though my S-I-L has exactly that, arm bands.
And I roughly guessed TRON but had to verify it after the fact. LAMBDA was another that seemed right but again, had to make sure because MOLY was outside my ken.
Otherwise a great start to this day with cluing like:
bean sprout, IDEA
remote hiding places, SOFA
Tonight I'm going to my granddaughter's dance recital so not much celebrating until Sunday.
Owen:
Seeing ADIT amused me because it is one I've seen only in crosswords.
You all have a SUPERB Friday, everyone! And thank you for the kind wishes.
Good Morning Everybody and Happy Friday! (Yay!)
Friday puzzles can be tough for me, but once I saw Marti was the constructor I had to give it all I could. I still fell short in the NE corner.
I had ALLOW for ADMIT and IRATE for IRKED. You can imagine what that did to my grid!
There were a lot of great clues here. I liked:
1A - Some arm bands: TATS
38A - It may be a lot: ACRE
27A: Uncomfortable place to be in: LIMBO
I used to love playing with my brothers old metal Tonka trucks. Now they make them out of plastic.
Have a wonderful weekend everybody!
Happy birthday Lucina, your posts are always very nice. Best wishes.
May you "sashay" through all the puzzles this week, and have a great day, and a great week.
Thank you Marti! for a challenging puzzle! and thank you lemonade for a great blog. Especially the rose hips article and the song on the Greek alphabet.
I was trying to fit in Ex-lax for the Mighty Dump ... But perps prevented that.
Long ago, I actually worked in a lab that manufactured Molly - molybdenum disulfide, a dry lubricant, high pressure grease. Nice to know there is a herb, of doubtful benefits, with the same name, handled by gods, no less. Maybe it made Odysseus very slick enough! to escape circe's magic ...
Have a nice day, all.
Morning all!
And Happy, Happy Birthday, Lucina! You brighten my days with your lovely comments and cheerful attitude. I hope you get to spend the day surrounded by your loving family!
¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫
Great write-up Lemony. I loved your pun on Warty - too funny. Doesn’t Jim Nabors have a great voice? Great links and info, too!
I had “Magical herb in Homer’s ‘Odyssey’” as one option for the MOLY clue. The other option was “Word after holy and before guacamole.” But I do like constructing because it sends me all over the place in order to come up with fresh clues. Before I did this puzzle, I never knew that MOLY was an herb.
OwenKL, no fair. I handed you those rhymes on a silver platter! (^0^)
And I did notice you were able to sneak in “adit”…
Have a great day, everyone – TGIF!
Good morning everyone.
Happy Birthday, Lucina. Hope you have a great day.
Great puzzle from Marti, today. It was fun, clever and challenging. First fill was FAIT. Settled into the "groove' in the center and built outwardly. First theme file was MIRE SERVICE, and began to see the W-M switch which helped get the other long theme fills. NE was last to fall. Only wite-out was 'leans' before TILTS. ERGOT was a WAG, but had a vague recollection of having heard a word like that, before. Favorite cluing was for SLRS.
Big BRAVO ZULU to Marti.
Marti, your puzzle was really fun to solve with all the clever puns noted by others. It was a just right challenge. MOLY was the only entry I never heard or saw before.
Lemonade, thanks for your masterful blog, especially jim Nabors' song.
To hear ADIT used you would need to be having a discussion or reading about about a mine, fairly rare, eh? I read about mines in westerns and novels about the Gold Rush.It is common there.
Edna St. Vincent Millay, like Emily Dickinson, seemed obsessed with death in her poems. They seem too dark to post here.
Have a very happy birthday, Lucina.
Lucina:
I forgot. Happy Birthday to you, and many more!
Abejo
(dowaic)
Good morning everyone.
Happy birthday, Lucina!
WBS.
Thanks Marti for a fun puzzle, with fresh, challenging cluing for some old standards! Great expo, Lemonade!
I got the reveal first, but it didn’t reveal anything to me. Then I got MIRESERVICE. D’oh! We’re looking for W changed to M!
Several people said this was easy, but it took me 30% longer than yesterday. South was last to fall – GAIT, SLRS, REGAL, USAIR.
Hand up for didn’t know MOLY or TRON.
Couldn’t figure out what E had to do with DIR until I read Lemonade’s expo. D’oh!’’
All in all, a fun Friday!
@ Marti,
I didn't "get" Edna St. Vincent Millay's middle name either, so your question spurred me to check it out.
"Her middle name derives from St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, where her uncle's life had been saved just before her birth."
Millay Wiki
OOPS! I meant @ Lemonade for my 9:39 comment.
@ Lemonade
55D META - I thought about metapuzzle instead of metadata.
I tried a metapuzzle once. Only once...
Metapuzzle Wiki
Not all of Millay's poetry is dark. Try "Renasence."
Good Morning:
What a fun, clever Friday fest from our Divine Miss M!
Started out like a piece of cake but then got a little chewy. But, eventually, all fell into place and brought the always pleasant TADA. Fav clues were winter coat=hoar and bean sprout=idea. (Interesting duo: idea and Ikea). Had two write-overs: irate/irked and rpm/mph. Can someone please explain culture medium=agar? I'm totally in the Dar on that one.
A very Happy Birthday to you, Lucina, and many, many more. You bring much joy and warmth to our Cozy Corner. Have a lovely day!
I was up until all hours last night (this morning), as a result of getting drawn in to watching In the Heat of the Night. What a powerful movie, with two great actors,, Sidney Poitier and Rod Stieger.
Did anyone watch Elementary last night? I thought it was one of the best episodes so far.
Ferm, I hope Millie has a speedy recovery and gets rid of the cone soon.
Have a great day.
NERTS! Today I got a TKO
DNF ... something (someone) would never ADMIT to ...
Though I want to thank Marti for an enjoyable (attempted) solving experience.
MOLY was a learning moment, ALWAYS a plus.
Especially liked the 'E' clue answer DIR and SOFAS for Remote hiding places?
Knew I was in trouble when for 13-D, NEAT ... all I could think about was scotch. lol
Happy Birthday Lucina
Tonight's first "toast" is to you!
Cheers!!!
Hi Y'all! I rated Marti's puzzle as definitely chuckle-worthy. Very amusing! However, the BMW reveal had to be mulled over awhile to make sense to me. I had gone 'round the pinwheel solving so all the theme fills were done except the northwest. BMW helped fill that.
Last fills were in the NW with TEAM/TRON & SPIN/SOFA. "P" for PHASE gave me Tada so I could go TATA.
Great expo, Lemonade!
MOLYbdenum is also used as a coating on some engine pistons, maybe like teflon to make them slicker.
I'm an expired NOTARY. Wait, that doesn't sound good.
Took a while to come up with the Heat energy source: Miami. Once I had Heat as the BB team, I was still puzzled because they play in American Airlines Arena. Thunder & Jazz play in arenas with "energy" in their names. Good clue, however.
Happy birthday, Lucina! May you have many more.
Irish Miss: Agar is the jelly-like substance (aka medium) used in petri dishes to culture bacteria.
A wonderful, wonderful adventure this morning. The clues that weren’t off the chart clever were ambiguous enough (team/lead, doubt/limbo/labor, zap/lop, spin/blog, admit/allow, et al) to exercise the north end of my pencil too but not make for a DIES IRAE! Thanks Marti!
Musings
-Missed the clever BMW fill/reveal because it appeared on its own
-A MAKEUP CALL in sports is when a bad official calls a foul on Team B because he knows he made a bad call on Team A earlier
-Choosing between two equal applicants where one has a TAT on their neck and the other doesn’t. Call me old fashioned but…
-ATOP, yes. ATILT, no.
-Jim Nabor’s annual gig
-OH NO, not TONKA too!
-Gmail allows for a brief UNSEND option after you SEND it out into the ether
-The 20 best 5-TOOL baseball players
-Liza Doolittle’s wonderful spoken dialogue in the box at Ascot containing “gin being LADLED down her (aunt’s) throat”. She, uh, wasn’t quite ready for the EMBASSY Ball.
-Clement Clarke Moore described a night where nothing was STIRRING, not even a mouse
--Easy one today - What song contain the spoken lyric, “ACT I was when we met”
-HBD, Lucina!
First of all, have a wonderful birthday, Lucina! You are one of the joys of the blog!
Oooh, Marti--what a great puzzle from you this morning. I sashayed right through it although it took me a little time to figure out the theme. But what fun when I finally got it! A perfect Friday puzzle! And Lemonade, you have never been wittier than you were this morning. Chuckled all the way through you expo.
Loved BEAN SPROUT for IDEA! But never heard of SLRS. On the other hand, because I taught James Joyce's "Ulysses" for a kazillion years, I know both my MOLY and my MOLLY (MOLLY BLOOM, that is).
Speaking of which, hope MILLIE recovers quickly, Fermatprime.
Will be getting a new driver's license in two weeks--the first new one in ten years. I pointed out to the clerk that I no longer weigh 135 lbs (am skinnier) and that my hair is no longer brown (should be "drab grey" now), but he just left it. Makes me feel I haven't aged a day, though the new photo will probably show otherwise.
Have a great day, everybody!
My brain has rejoined me, just in time for one of Marti's fun puzzles! A few sticking points, but for the most part it was pretty easy. Great write-up Lemonade; thanks!
I got the theme with Minetasting, then found BMW.
55a Dash no. I wanted Vehicle Identification Number. Wrong. MPH
I've been reading this blog for a while. At 13D-Neat I tried uniced, then no ice. Duh. Neat as in not messy.
Happiest of birthdays, Lucina! Celebrate with fruitcake and cookies!
Our rain/freezing rain has now turned into big, fat, fluffy flakes of snow. We're forecast to get 5"-9" by tomorrow morning. Snow blowers are good things.
Happy Friday, all!
Pat
Husker: Are you Lonesome Tonight? (2:56)
Irish Miss: Did you stay up and also watch 'Glory' on TCM after 'In the Heat of the Night' ... like I did???
Geez, I need a nap ...
Misty, I too had to get my drivers license this year,
when I told the clerk at the BMV that I was an inch less than 5'10". And 5 pounds heavier than 172 lbs ..... She took another look at me, and kindly said, ... 'Close enough, ' and refused to change the existing figures. I wished I could have tipped her, generously. She made my day.
Now, if only she had also upped my date of birth ..... She could have added 5 years to my youth ...
Irish miss, like PK said ... Agar Wikipedia
Agar or Agar Agar. Is also used extensively in Asian cooking , primarily as a jelly and a soup thickener. It's main advantage is that it's from a vegetarian source, ...... unlike jelly which is made from ground up cow and horse bones.
Also Agar mixes wonderfully with milk for custards etc... And the jelly like consistency does not have to chilled or refrigerated. You can get the jelly which will be fine at room temperature.
At most Chinese and south Asian stores ,, agar agar "starter "bars are actually cheaper than Jello.
whichpa madeLike nay others I got stuck in the NW but enjoyed Marti's lastest offering.
I am too busy towards the end of the week, so Thursday, Friday, Saturday are relegated to the red letter solve, so I let out an audible "groan" when I turned the page to see the name of the creator of todays puzzle.
"Nerts!"
I am going to have to do it in ink!
& it's Friday! The tricky theme day!
Laundry is going to go undone!
The house won't be cleaned!
Kids will be left standing at school in the rain!
Marti! what have you done! Why Oh Why on a Friday!
(anywho...)
What Lemon said about the devious clues, & WBS about their "aha" moments. I got most of the aha's after I had to look up the Greek Alphabet, but finally threw in the towel (TKO?) on the final theme answer.
I had M-m---pvice with the second m being "mags" because I had "Arts" for culture medium. I was perfectly willing to change both, but just could not come up with anything... 45D move a little, I had "step" which seems logical, but didn't fit. I desperately wanted to change the "P" to a "D" because I was sure the answer was something about "Mud Advice."
(Double Nerts.)
HBD Lucina!
-YES, Tin it was that song and NO I am not ;-). BTW, it was -8°F here last night and snow will be here on Sunday. And, yes, I know what the temp was in Tampa!
-Weekend reader, a young lady made my night when she did not give me a senior’s price at the local movie theater and we had a nice laugh about it. When you think about it, she was in a no-win situation. If she asked if I were a senior and I wasn’t it would be hurtful but if she doesn’t give me the discounted price that wouldn’t be good either. Hmmm…
-Ain’t it amazin’ how hard it is to get your driver’s license out of your wallet when you have to.
-Irish, In the Heat of the Night is a personal favorite of mine too! That bigoted mindset will probably never be completely eliminated but it’s much less prevalent than it was.
-NOTARY humor
Marti, I really enjoyed that. I started it late last night. Whoa, it was hard for me; maybe not for everybody else but I had a pleasant struggle. I switched M for W but I couldn't quite connect it with BMW. Now I see. The tricky fill gave me trouble but was satisfying once I figured it out. Good for you (and me too)!
Lucina, I have really enjoyed getting to know you. This blog is much better due to your participation. Have a great day!
I'm watching an old Dirty Jobs, one I hadn't seen before. Lots of fun.
Tinbeni, did you listen all the way through to your link? Elvis breaks up! I never heard that one before. Very funny.
Hi Everyone ~~
What a great puzzle, Marti ~ a very enjoyable challenge! Such a clever theme and unifier clue. You really brightened a cloudy, dreary day ~ I think snow is headed our way.
Thanks for a great write-up, Lemonade ~ I enjoyed your comments as always.
A very Happy Birthday, Lucina ~ such a caring, thoughtful person. You add so much to the Corner. I hope you're having a wonderful day and celebrate in style on Sunday!
PK and Weekend Reader - Thanks for the info on agar. I was stuck in the mindset of culture, as in the arts.
No, Tin, I didn't stay up to watch Glory; 2:00 AM is late enough! No wonder you need a nap.
HG - Cute cartoon.
Bill G - Your favorite lady, Sophia Vergara, is on Queen Latifah's show right now, 3:00 PM EST.
Lucina,,,
I felt bad that I was in a rush & could not find you a cake, then looking at it again I started to wonder if that is what I posted last year?!?!
I hope this makes up for it...
Something bad must have happened here yesterday. When I tried to leave a message late yesterday, the site was closed.
Nelson Mandela left us many gifts, and especially some important moral guidelines. I cannot remember the precise wording of one of my favorite quotes from him. If anyone can point me in the right direction, please do! The message of the quotation is (now paraphrasing): "All men have greatness in them. The only question is 'What will you do when your time for greatness comes?'"
Today's puzzle kept me hopping. I got it all eventually, so the balance between difficulty and achievement was, for me, just right!
CED - you are amaaazing! Who woulda thunk to search for Lucina on YouTube? Excellent!
CED:
Yes, you are amazing! My name is not that common so it's really impressive to even find it anywhere. Thank you so much.
And thank you to all here for your warm wishes and kind comments. I hope to live up to them!
Argyle, when I was looking for a link of that Elvis tune that one cracked-me-up.
Actually he never really gets out the "“Act one was when we met” line.
BTW last night on Jeopardy was my "ALL-TIME" favorite category ...
Modern Drunkard Rules (1:15)
ALWAYS go with quality ...
keith Fowler @ 1416:
“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”
― Nelson Mandela
Now this is a great Friday level puzzle!
No lookups, No Red letter help, Not full of obscure proper names that no one has ever heard of just to raise the difficulty. Just good old fashion crossword solving with some head scratching and a few AHA!
moments.
Marti, You outdid yourself IMO.
Enjoyable solve all around
Thanks for all the nice comments - it makes constructing worth all the hours put in!
Sorry I haven't been able to check in so much lately. I just got word that I will have a bathtub delivery tomorrow sometime "between the hours of 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM." Well, now..that really narrows it down, doesn't it??
CED @ 12:45, so sorry to screw up your Friday…I promise, I will make it up to you, soon!!
Weekend reader, I enjoyed your DMV story--thanks for posting it.
Thanks for the good wishes for Millie, Irish Miss and Misty! She managed to get thew darn thing off so I had my caregiver find the scotch tape and reinforce the closure.
Really enjoyed Elementary also! Particularly like the use of English in that show every episode! Hope that it lasts a long time.
HeartRx@4:27
No apologies necessary, the kid can stand in the rain & wait for pick up if a good puzzle is involved:)
However,, hmm, laundry???
I liked this puzzle a lot! Thank you for dreaming it up, Marti. Happy birthday wishes to you, dear Lucina.
fermat:
I must have missed the news about your dog's problem. I'm sorry she is suffering but I know you are happy to have a new companion.
Happy Birthday Lucina!
Hi all. So nice to see Marti's name at the bottom of the grid. And not to hard (for me on Fri. anyway). The word play was fun. Lem - your write-up was icing on Lucina's cake except for the non-appetizing 66a. It was funny, but I don't want it on my cake.
I did have to consult the Oracle (Google) on 31d and 53d to break those areas OPEN, but I'll take the TDNF -- its better than a TKO.
TRON was easy - we get that as an '80s Disney movie sometimes (plus I loved it as a kid).
My inkblot is in the south-central. AGAR sat there, but I wanted newS at 58d Link and RoyAL at 52. Finally, I found USAIR online and put everything back together.
Yesterday's discussion of Morse code, DIt @10d. Eventually TIDY'd that up.
Owen - you're too hard on yourself. Today was a solid C+ :-)
CED - thanks for reminding me on the laundry. We've got a packed weekend, so I need to get a jump on the chores.
Marti - the window on your tub delivery is tomorrow or sometime next week ;-)
Cheers, -T
I hated this puzzle. I didn't find it cute or anything, but annoying. Sorry, I'm dumb but, I admit it.
No problem. That's what Mondays are for.
Long day but I know more about old people law, so all good.
Nice to see you all and thanks for stopping by Warti.
Weekend Reader, thanks for the info on agar agar. I'll share it with my vegetarian daughter. I make several soups and thicken them with corn starch. Nice to know of an alternative.
Fermatprime: what is the issue with Millie? I hope it's not serious. Dealing with cones is a royal pain, for the pet and for you.
The overly-hyped storm is over. Looks like we got about 5" of snow, very little ice. I'm not complaining about not getting more ice.
Pat
OK,
Who didn't think of these guys
@34A Lambda?
manac - sweet. I loved that time... It was the rise of the nerds! Now we rule the world, muahhaha!
Argyle - You're on your toes tonight. C, -T
Irish Miss, thanks for the heads up. I recorded that show and saw that SV was scheduled to be on it. But they had Whoopie Goldberg and Tim Conway instead. I guess they made a last-minute change. It was still enjoyable.
I'll be back later. I think I'll spend a few worthwhile minutes heading over to some other blog and have some fun posting some garbage anonymously. Sounds like good times...
Happy Friday everybody!
First of all, HBD to Lucina, and many more...!
MINE for WINE - only in a Marti puzzle...!
Been using plenty of NOTARYs lately....
What Mari Said about ALLOW and IRATE for Da Doc....
Irish Miss - just starting to catch up on one of my favorite shows, Elementary....
Misty, I also applied for a drivers license today. I told the clerk that there should be a salt and pepper choice for hair color. Apparently that's not an option because your hair will grow more gray as time rolls on. My thought - but you could always color your hair, so what's the big deal...?
Good point, River Doc. Since people can, and do, color their hair in different ways all the time, the hair color on the driver's license is pretty meaningless, isn't it. I suppose the important thing is just to have a license, at all, and to keep from losing t!
maddid - 2 years ago I'd get less than 1/3 of a Wednesday and I still have to Google for a Thurs or Fri. Saturday's are still beyond me. If you enjoy the play, play. One day we'll be smart like YR.
Re: driver's license: I had to take a drug test* for a new position** and the nurse who had to see my license told me I "looked so much better without the grey goatee." Our superficial appearance is easy to change, but fudamentally we look the same (humans are good patern matchers - that's why CAPTCHAs work).
C, -T
** ITS not OPEN, but I'm switching employers...
* I think I passed the drug test! I knew the difference between qualudes and uppers, and could identify 9 variaties of weed (though I wasn't sure about The Big OAHA and MIAMI ROSE) ;-)
Oh, wow man!
Keith,
Sorry for the inconvenience. I closed the Comments section for a short period yesterday morning because there was a heartless soul who was relentless in his/her attacking posts.
Spitzboov @ 3:48:
Many thanks! That's a fine quotation from Tata Mandela. It isn't precisely the one I'm after (in which he put more emphasis on the individual being addressed), but I will want to pass this one on to students as well.
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