Theme: "Just Say No" - No is inserted into each common phrase.
24A. Congressman lacking influence? : LEGISLATIVE NOBODY. Legislative body.
31A. Inexperienced company leader? : NOVICE PRESIDENT. Vice president.
53A. Conquer one's Pachelbel addiction? : KICK THE CANON. Kick the can. Click here. Jayce probably needs to conquer his Pachelbel addiction. I'm not familiar with the guy or his Canon.
69A. Flight getting in at 12:00? : NOONTIME ARRIVAL. On-time arrival.
85A. Chamber group income? : NONET REVENUE. Net revenue.
103A. Promo line for an open wine bar? : BOTTOMLESS PINOT. Bottomless pit.
116A. Unimportant orbiter? : MINOR SPACE STATION. Mir Space Station.
Last Sunday we had "Oh, No!", today we have "Just Say No". Eager to see what's the gimmick for next Sunday's LAT.
Three
NO's are attached to the beginning of the first word, one attached to the start of the second word, three are inserted inside the word. This multiple approach in letter insertion does not happen often with LAT.
Across:
1. Paddle : OAR
4. Peter who produced James Taylor's debut album : ASHER. Unknown figure to me.
9. Stash : STORE
14. Old Dodge : ARIES
19. Pair : DUO
20. Now, in Spain : AHORA. Vowel-rich, like most foreign words in Xwords.
21. Yam, e.g. : TUBER
22. Time-share unit, often : CONDO
23. Investment adviser's suggestion, for short : IRA. Are you still thinking of retiring, TTP?
27. Where you might see "Hello" : NAME TAG. Hello, my name is ...
29. Take on : HIRE
30. O. Henry device : IRONY
36. Wit : CARD
39. Those, in Spain : ESOS
40. Myth ending : ICAL. Mythical.
41. __ room : REC. And 46. __ room : HOTEL.
44. Really enjoyed : ATE UP
49. 1987 Costner role : NESS (Eliot)
50. Slightly, to Salieri : POCO. Italian.
51. Cheerleader's accessory : POM-POM
56. Doe in "Bambi" : ENA
57. Becoming fond of : TAKING TO
61. Rib : NEEDLE
62. "Smokey and the Bandit" city : TEXARKANA. Tex-Ark-ana. Sort of portmanteau word.
64. Scout group : TROOP
68. Tart fruits : SLOES
72. Santa ___ : MARIA
75. "Oklahoma!" aunt : ELLER
76. Gashed : LACERATED
80. Ukrainian port : ODESSA
82. Teacher's concern : ABSENTEE. Me in college. I bet Yellowrocks seldom missed her classes. Great news about your shoulder.
84. Altar vow : I DO
89. Bland stuff : PABLUM
91. Significant periods : ERAS. Cultural Revolution is certainly the most important period in my life. Been through quite a bit of the nightmares in my life.
92. Angry : IRED. Spell check does not like this word.
93. Scrawny : GAUNT
97. Family member : NIECE
98. __ Aviv : TEL
99. FDR's mother : SARA. Oh, I did not know this.
100. They're expected : PARS. For the pros.
102. Keats creations : ODES
109. Slow movement : LARGO
111. "You really think that's true?" : IS IT
112. At : TOWARDS. I often struggle with one-word clues.
121. See 122-Across : OUT. And 122. With 121-Across, force from hiding : SMOKE
123. Persona : IMAGE
124. First-aid kit item : GAUZE
125. Half and half : ONE. Simple & effective clue.
126. Some are dominant : GENES
127. Colorado resort : ASPEN
128. Bugs' nemesis : ELMER
129. Not many : FEW
Down:
1. Thor's father : ODIN
2. Ghostly glow : AURA
3. Gad about : ROAM
4. Finnish architect Alvar __ : AALTO. Splynter might have heard of this guy. Not me. What's his most famous work?
5. Bundle, as wheat : SHEAVE
6. Greedy : HOGGISH. Not a word I use.
7. "___ tu": Verdi aria : ERI
8. Most daring : RASHEST
9. Oldest Beatle : STARR.
My former boss is named Ringo because he liked Ringo Starr. Most people
in Hong Kong have a Chinese name & an English name.
10. One in a class by himself? : TUTEE. Nice clue for a blah fill.
11. Kimono sash : OBI
12. Gun : REV
13. Before, in poems : ERE
14. __ squash : ACORN.
This looks yummy & perfect for D-Otto who just went through a
yankage. Never had cranberries before. I bet raisins work as well.
15. Automaton : ROBOT
16. Part of, plotwise : IN ON
17. Whirlpool : EDDY
18. Tofu base : SOY. Have any of you tried fermented Tofu? It's definitely an acquired taste. Sort of like Blue cheese.
25. Sass : LIP
26. Ratings giver : NIELSEN
28. Eventually become : END UP
32. Gentle sound : COO
33. Ruin : SINK
34. "New Jack City" actor : ICE-T
35. Short run : DASH
36. 10th century French king : CAPET. Hugh Capet. Stranger to me.
37. Make amends : ATONE
38. Big name in real estate : RE/MAX
41. Sonata section : RONDO
42. Pierre's school : ECOLE
43. Scoop holders : CONES
45. Hearty entrée : POT ROAST. I just can't seem to like beef.
47. Hosp. test : EKG
48. One who more than just trash-talks? : LITTERBUG. Ha ha.
50. Spanish dish : PAELLA
52. Deadly shark : MAKO
54. Mrs. Dithers in "Blondie" : CORA
55. Special delivery? : CESAREAN. Nice clue also.
58. Classic Welles role : KANE
59. Part of IBM: Abbr. : INTL
60. Clinch : NAIL
63. Liqueur flavorings : ANISES
65. Heraldic border : ORLE
66. Setting for Camus' "The Plague" : ORAN. Gimme!
67. Ancient Celt : PICT
70. Average : MEAN
71. Nixon, in the '50s : VEEP. To Ike.
72. "Haystacks" series painter : MONET. Monet, Manet dilemma.
73. Be gaga over : ADORE
74. Kind of artery : RENAL
77. Did floor work : TILED. And 113. It may be 77-Down : ROOF
78. Draw out : EDUCE
79. Field protectors : DOMES
81. British bluebloods, informally : ARISTOS
83. Vast amount : SEA
86. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT
87. ___ Beach, Fla. : VERO
88. Wax-wrapped cheese : EDAM
90. Regional life : BIOTA
94. Steal the spotlight from : UPSTAGE
95. Drop off : NAP. And 101. Drop off : SNOOZE
96. Isotope of hydrogen : TRITIUM. Learning moment to me also.
103. Penniless : BROKE
104. Fairy tale baddies : OGRES
105. Feudal lord : LIEGE
106. City near Düsseldorf : ESSEN
107. Pose : SIT
108. One with a title : OWNER
109. Green shade : LIME
110. Before long : ANON
114. Buggy site : DUNE
115. Brood : STEW
116. Stir-fry additive : MSG. Not in my stir-fry. Nor do I use any cornstarch.
117. Actress Zadora : PIA
118. Morning hrs. : AMs
119. Cover : CAP
120. Singer Bachman : TAL. Canadian singer. Also an unknown figure to me.
C.C.
NO way, Mark! Greetings from the frigid land of the North Star, home of your gracious host C.C., and the two constructors of today’s bonus offering. Hope you like it, and stay warm!
ReplyDeleteA fascinating little word is NO.
ReplyDeleteYou hear it 'most everywhere you go.
The sad part, I guess,
Is you want to hear yes,
So it's woe to know NO is a foe!
Even with red letters helping, it was a DNF today. The biggest fault was in the NNE block: ASHER, AHORA, AALTO, & ERI, I hadn't a clue.
- I keep thinking a NOVICE PRESIDENT would be one who's in training to become a nun.
- My wife is an organist, and I often tease her about her favorite piece being Taco-Bell's Cannon.
- Chamber had me thinking Chamber of Commerce, so I needed all perps to realize it was a 9-piece orchestra.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteThings went a lot smoother once I figured out the theme, but I still struggled a bit because I was expecting the NO to be added to the beginning of a word in each phrase.
Took a guess at the ASHER/AALTO crossing. The former was a complete unknown, and the second looked more probable than UALTO or EALTO.
TAL was another complete unknown, but the perps wouldn't give me any other choice in the matter.
A few missteps along the way gave me short-term grief, including ROD instead of REV (wrong type of gun, obviously) and SEAL instead of NAIL.
Ended up with a DNF due to having CAPUT/UNA instead of CAPET/ENA. I'm just going to have to accept the fact that I will never remember the name of Bambi's aunt, no matter how often I see it in a puzzle. Seriously, was she even mentioned by name in the movie?
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteMark had lots of words that came to me immediately today: CESAREAN (We have a street named CAESARS CIRCLE in our town. I call it the Caesarian section.) ELLER (Can't forget her and her "fascinator.") NIELSEN (When I was in college he donated funds to build an indoor swimming complex on the campus. Learning moment: natatorium.) TRITIUM (That's used to make heavy water for nuclear reactors.) POT ROAST (I finished it up just last night, and fixed potatoes and gravy and ACORN squash for a side. I just use butter and brown sugar as a "filling.")
On the other hand, PACHELBEL and AALTO were complete unknowns -- I was familiar with Peter ASHER so that helped with the double-A.
All in all, NO problem.
George B, I enjoyed the cold cuts that you and Marcia put together. Gonna be close to 70-degrees here today -- then back to winter.
ReplyDeleteJust finished reading the late (after noon) posts from yesterday. Sallie, great news and good to see you back. YR, sounds like those exercises may be good for something after all. Anything that keeps you out of the operating room can't be all bad.
Oops! Deuterium is the component of heavy water. It's atom has one neutron, normal hydrogen has none. But Tritium, with two neutrons, is produced inside reactors that are cooled with heavy water. Turns out that Tritium is both radioactive and unstable.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteLouis Capet the first king of the Capetian Dynasty. As rulers, they became regarded as weak. Louis VII is the Capet I'm most familiar with. He married Eleanor of Aquitaine and they produced two daughters. The marriage dissolved when Louis decided Eleanor would never bear him a son and heir so he divorced her.
Eleanor then married Henry II, King of England and the produced seven children, two girls and five boys. Louis, two marriages later finally had his heir.
Don't know much more about the Capetian Dynasty. More interested in the Plantagenet Dynasty, of which Eleanor and Henry were both important cogs in its history.
Well, in the end a lot of fun but lots of WAGs. A 3-letter word here, a 3-letter word there, and it began to look like progress was being made. It took a while to figure out the theme (and then to figure out that "NO" wasn't always at the beginning). I had CACHE before STORE, GAT before REV, NEEDY before BROKE, and no doubt countless others. Finally filled all the squares with no "TaDa!" so I was off on what I'll generously call a "typo hunt". Turns out I had a "U" in CAPUT/UNA. Who knew.
ReplyDelete[31:44]
(By the way, I find myself frequently tempted to just type "What Barry G. said".)
I finished by the hardest. Way too many complete unknowns.ASHER AALTO PABLUM CAPET foreign AHORA ESOS ERI
ReplyDeleteSARA Roosevelt saved every piece of FDR's schoolwork. PIGGISH yes' HOGGISH never heard of. Randy Bachman yes , TAL who?
We have symmetry with SOY in the top right and MSG in the bottom left. TEXARKANA was a gimme. Both parents grew up directly south of there, mother from AR and dad from TX. Does anybody know why Burt Reynollds went to Texarkana? He went there to get COORS beer which was not available east of TEXAS
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteTechnical DNF again. Had to turn on red letters to correct Piggish. Since I didn't know the perps Asher and Ahora with any certainty, and that guy Aalto was no help, that section was rough.
WBS about Ena. That name doesn't stick to your brain the way, say, the Canon in D does (the tune, not so much the name). On Pandora, we've heard hours of that tune, served up every which way the musicians can think of.
Owen - just last week I was musing over having a T-shirt made featuring Taco Bell's Cannon. Still working on the design.
Morning C.C.! I'm with you, beef is nothing special to me. It's not that I refuse the stuff, it's simply no big treat.
Hi Everyone ~~
ReplyDeleteIt took a while but I finished ~ almost. Not until I read C.C.'s write-up did I realize that I had left two blank squares. I didn't have the C at the crossing of CARD and CAPET or the A at the crossing of AALTO and AHORA. I probably would have had the first but not the second.
I caught the theme with KICK THE CANON ( I really like Pachelbel's Canon) and it helped with some of the other fill. This was fun to solve and I enjoyed the cleverness of the theme answers. Thanks, Mark Feldman.
I was held up for a while at BOTTOMLESS PINOT because I had NOD at 95D - Drop off, and was SO sure it was right! Finally realizing I needed PINOT took care of it.
Another write-over was 'Sulk' before STEW for 115D - Brood. Perps came to the rescue in many places - a number of unknowns.
Favorite was 48D - One who more than trash-talks / LITTERBUG.
I enjoyed your write-up, C.C. I, too, struggle at times with one-word clues, especially when they are common words like today's 'At.' I do enjoy the challenge of figuring them out, though.
Greetings, weekend solvers!
ReplyDeleteNO, C.C., I have never tried tofu and it's unlikely I shall except accidentally. Being a carnivore, I rarely stray from pork, chicken or beef. As for ACORN squash, I made it last week with raisins. It's yummy.
After yesterday's fiasco for me this was a walk in the park, slow and thoughtful. ASHER/AALTO finally came through because it made the most sense.
Loved all the Spanish, AHORA, ESOS, MARIA and a shout out to teachers with ABSENTEE. That is always a bane. POCO is also Spanish as well as Italian.
Down south I almost perished because I wanted BOTTOMLESS DRINKS, but realized it required NO so PINOT arrived and TRITIUM was all perped.
Alas, though, my Oklahoma aunt was ELLEN and so a DNF. Drat!
Have a splendid Sunday, everyone! Stay warm and well.
AALTO/ASHER/ERI was a top drawer Natick that I SMOKED OUT. I’ll take a 100% on this fun puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-MI(NO)RSPACESTATION elicited a belly laugh for this NASA guy
-The Pachelbel CANON was played at both my daughter’s weddings and we played KICK THE CAN into the darkness in my ute on many a night
-TAKE ON me (5:31). With two cwd favs – band is AHA that formed in OSLO
-Daughter’s cheerleader POM POMS which we saved were a big hit with our granddaughter’s
-When I taught at a tech school, most of the students were low-income drop outs on a government grant that required they be perfect ATTENDEES to get their money. It was a very big deal!
-Our NIECE is having a rough pregnancy and looked very GAUNT last night
-Miley Cyrus cares little about her trampy IMAGE. As long as it pays the bills…
-Every gear head on this site knows this song (2:00) that begins with engine REVS
-We were a NIELSEN family once and it was more work than I thought
-I love POT ROAST and suspect that CC is fond of dishes that might give me pause ;-)
-Lord Grantham’s CORA plays second fiddle to Julius Dither’s wife today
-William Randolph Hearst refused to let the parody of his life, Citizen KANE be advertised in his many newspapers and consequently it was an artistic success but financial failure
-PICTS and Druids didn’t really care for the Romans crossing the channel
For 36 down, I looked up the back-scratcher the king is holding in the posted photo: "a uniquely French type of sceptre is the Main de Justice (Hand of Justice), an ivory Hand of God in a blessing gesture."
ReplyDeleteThe clever theme helped greatly with the other clues. It seemed easy for a Sunday. The A in ASHER and AALTO was a wag. TAL was all perps, otherwise no other unknowns, although quite a few clues needed a perp or two to get me started.
ReplyDeleteI graduated HS in 1955 and college in 1960. Way back then there were hardly any ABSENTEES from class without a good reason, mostly because skipping class deducted points from your grade average. In grad school in the 80's no one skipped either. We were all adults and teachers. But I did take a class required for certification that I had in another guise as an undergrad. I received a 98% on the pretest and went to class regardless. Duh! What a dumb waste of time.
I love beef. I never cook any beef except ground meat unless I have company because that’s the only beef Alan will eat. Dave and Motoko often serve beef as a treat for me when I visit. I usually have steak in a restaurant.
NATTŌ, fermented soy bean, is one of the few foods popular in Japan that I detest. It is served with the traditional Japanese breakfast. To me it smells foul, tastes awful, and is too slimy.
I do like small fresh tofu cubes in miso soup.
I started this puzzle late last night and just finished it. It was hard for me. Fill like HOGGISH, AALTO, ASHER, ELLER, CAPET, ORAN, ARISTOS, BIOTA, TAL, none of which I know. Then some other tricky stuff combined to make me feel a bit overwhelmed and frustrated. This is the kind of a puzzle that, if I didn't use red letters as needed, I would never finish. But I much prefer red letters to a DNF. Anyway, I'm not sure if I dislike this puzzle or just found it too hard for me. I did enjoy the theme though. Thanks for your efforts Mark and CC.
ReplyDeleteRegarding beef, I'm a fan.
Cute, I have never liked fill like ARISTOS; TAL (his father is much more famous) AALVO and CAPET were a challenge but Sundays are so big, it is daunting. Thanks Mark.
ReplyDeletePeter ASHER was the Peter from Peter and Gordon; I worked with his New York attorney when I started in 70's.
C.C., I also must have some red meat in my diet. Thanks for your words.
Good Afternoon:
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely in the minority on this puzzle. Maybe I am suffering from brain freeze, but I found this not only difficult, but frustrating with too many unknowns (for me, anyway) and too many Naticks.
However, Mr. Feldman deserves thanks for his efforts and creativity as does CC for her concise expo.
Have a Super Sunday.
Yes! I finished with only 3 Google helps. Our newspaper has the Sunday puzzle on Saturday (because paper does not publish on Sunday) so I had a headstart. Just a few inkblots and no red letter help when done on paper
ReplyDelete.
Once I got the theme, BOTTOMLESS PINOT fell into place. But having NO NET RECEIPT created problems. I smiled at MInoRSPACESTATION and also liked clue for LITTERBUG.
Clecho of DROP OFF=SNOOZE or NAP was cute also and noVICE PRESIDENT AND VEEP.
We use ECG more than EKG here and also spell CAESAREAN the British way.
Canadian trivia for today – PABLUM was developed by doctors at Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) in Toronto.
Shame on me for not knowing TAL Bachman. He is the son of the well-known Canadian rocker Randy Bachman, of The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive.
Pacelbel CAONON has been popular at some weddings I've attended and CAESAREAN is the usual spelling although Wiki cites 11 other spellings.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon all ! Finished this puzzle around 8:15, but had to move last night's snow off of the deck and the driveway. It's going to be beyond cold for the next couple of days. Finally got back to the write up after all of these hours.
Thank you Mark Feldman. Fun puzzle. I didn't ace it though. Among other unknowns was the intersecting E of CAPET and ENA. I didn't know either name.
Had NOBODY and tried to fit in representative where LEGISLATIVE proved to be the answer.
Teachers concern ? I had the beginning A and ending E. Aptitude ? Attitude ? No, ABSENTEE.
Singer Bachman ? This BTO fan knew if Randy doesn't fit, it had to be Tim, right ? Tim, right ? Nope, Randy's son TAL. Randy was a member of The Guess Who before BTO. I also liked The Guess Who. Burton Cummings was the lead vocalist there.
From yesterday... Sally, I am glad to hear that you are in remission. Also good to hear that you are doing better Yellowrocks.
CC, thank you for your wonderful writeup. Yep. Still thinking about retirement. Have passed all of the pre-req's to make it happen. Now that I know I can, and have been further considering all aspects, I'm not sure whether I would enjoy it as much as I think. I think I would miss working with friends at work, and I really enjoy the challenges.
I have not tried any fermented Tofu, but I used to use MSG quite a bit to enhance my cooking. I still buy and use Accent from time to time. Less sodium than salt.
Happy Sunday everybody!
ReplyDeleteTDNF due to WBS about ENA/UNA....
Also had INTEL for HOTEL, BARD for CARD, COCO for VERO, ESTO for ESOS, and VICERATED for LACERATED....
On the bright side, I did get the all the theme answers - BOTTOMLESS PINOT was the Rosetta Stone....
Pretty sure most folk know Pachebel's Canon from the excellent 1980 movie Ordinary People....
First experienced PAELLA in Barcelona - superb stuff...!
Was on hand for the final Dodger Spring Training game at their complex in VERO Beach (Holman Stadium) in 2005. Tommy Lasorda was the honorary manager. Dodgers lost - Yeah...!
Finally, I guess I'm in the MINORity, but I liked HOGGISH. Tried out a BBQ place 10 miles from here called Hogg's Gourmet Grill a couple of weeks ago. The HOGG stands for Hot Off the Grill Good. So, as you can tell, I'm definitely a red meat kind of guy....
Good afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteGrandson Max and his Dad stopped in on their way moving from Boston to Buffalo. Nice to see them.
So got to the puzzle late. Theme didn't do much for me but it worked well enough. Knew TRITIUM; only H₂ isotope w/ 7 ltrs. TEXARKANA was a gimme. ESSEN usually shows up where Düsseldorf is. ODESSA was fairly easy, too.
EDUCE - Our Damage Control lockers on our DD carried EDUCTORS. Fine way to empty debris-laden water from a flooded space. No moving parts so nothing to fail. Thankfully we never had to use them for an actual emergency.
Buona sera!
ReplyDeleteI did the puzzle at 5:00 AM but cats and other duties called…before I knew it, the day was gone and I hadn't even commented!
Loved the puzzle, and found the theme to be immensely helpful as I was solving. Nothing really stands out in my memory, except for LACERATED crossing CAESAREAN, which crossed PABLUM…oh, and then a little further on, we had GAUZE (which you might need for that LACERATION!!)
C.C., I went to the link for your ACORN squash pic and found the recipe. Sounds absolutely yummy, and it will definitely be on the menu sometime this week.
Have a great evening everyone - where did the weekend go???
Good afternoon all. This was an enjoyable outing with a punny theme that worked for me. The first theme fill was at the top, and it helped throughout. Still, a DNF since I couldn't recall Asher and took the gamble that Aalto would begin with an E. Bzzzt! Liked it despite that.
ReplyDeleteAs Doc said, most folks might be familiar with Canon in D due to Ordinary People. I know that's where I first heard it. Probably my favorite piece of classical music, with Rhapsody in Blue running a very close second. And as Dudley mentioned, it's been covered by thousands. My favorite version is by George Winston Variations on the Canon
Lacking other programs on this pause weekend for NFL, we're watching AXS TV with a predictions show for the Grammys. One category is Best Rap Album. Isn't that an oxymoron?
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteJust finished puzzle. Very enjoyable. Thanks Mark, CC.
Liked theme. Love the Pachelbel. Now am falling asleep. Haven't been sleeping lately, so maybe I can get a nap.
Only 25 people have written. What gives?
Perhaps will "see you later." Cheers!
Hi Y'all! Busy day, but did the puzzle last night. I thought it was harder than usual for Sunday and made me STEW a bit. Half done I felt LACERATED. I had failed to read the title so didn't get the theme until the end. I had thought NOBODY and NOVICE VP were odd. Took more red-letter runs than usual but I filled it all.
ReplyDeleteC.C., thank you for the link to Pachelbel's Canon. It was a good start to an evening when I'd just viewed a truly magnificent sunset. Our lovely 60* day just blew out with high winds as winter resumes command.
I was tapped to play Aunt Eller in college, but opted to follow my military husband to Massachusetts instead.
I love beef but don't eat it much anymore. A treat when I do. I buy a beef teriyaki frozen entree.
PK, beef is a treat in this house as well…
ReplyDeleteIt is 14* and with the wind chill, about 1*. But we had steaks grilled in the fireplace, and fresh local corn that we had put up in freezer bags in August, along with sautéed mushrooms and onions.
For dessert? A home made pound cake, with fresh strawberries (God bless our truckers!!)
SO, I am in a beef sated, home-baked goodies haze right now!
Figured out the theme from the bottom up with Mi(no)r space station, but it got a little harder when I thought the next one up was "bottomless winos." (knew it wasn't right, but had a devil of a time straightening that out...)
ReplyDeleteLuckily Noontime arrival & nonet revenue were not as trying, but I never did get the last 3 in their entirety. Hotel room & litterbug eluded me, I think because the Aalto/Asher combo was a personal Natick. I thought 8D most daring = boldest because 29A take on could have been "dare." but I didn't like it, & wanted take on to be hire, but was sure the last letter had to be an "O" because 10D one in a class by himself could be "tutor?"
To make a long story shorter, "I was puzzled..."
I always like to hear Canon in D, but my absolute favorite version is David Lanz, (Variations of).
Also, some people are very serious about their Tritium...
Business is slow around here today. "It's quiet out tonight. Almost too quiet..."
ReplyDeleteHumor. Has it changed? Gone downhill these days? I kinda think so. Some of it anyway. David Letterman's Top 10 list is tired and terrible. Jay Leno has some clinkers mixed in with some good stuff. The worst (for me) is SNL. Barbara sometimes records it. Most of the skits are obvious, heavy handed and not funny though the audience seems to disagree. Where's the wit of what I think of as good comedy?
Bill G - I find I have to agree. I seldom see SNL, Leno, or Letterman any more, and the few times I do I wonder how they've stayed on the air. I hope Jimmy Fallon can inject new life into the tired Tonight Show.
ReplyDeleteWhat a relief that Bates now knows what's been bothering Anna! I hope he doesn't overreact...
Oh damn, Cruciverb is confusticated again.
Dudley:
ReplyDeleteBut you know Bates will over react. I just hope he doesn't land back in jail. And did you notice Edith visited the doctor? I think we know what could that be about.
Dudley, fogys, that's us. Letterman's monologue is funny sometimes with topical humor. The audience doesn't laugh though; they usually applaud as if to thank him for saying something that slightly insightful though not very funny. I think he knows the Top 10 list is tired and dull but maybe he feels the audience expects it every night at a certain time.
ReplyDeleteLeno has some really good skits among the losers. Jaywalking is usually funny. Did you see the Pumpcasting segment when the couple pumping gas did some karaoke? Really good stuff.
I guess it must be hard to be clever five nights a week, even with a staff of writers.
I think the only thing I thought was clever about SNL in years was Tina Fey's takeoffs on Sarah Palin.
Then, of course, watching little bits of the Grammies left me feeling even more fogy-like.
Big Easy- I guess I'm telling my age now, but I too drove a bit to get Coors beer many years ago when it wasn't available in Missouri, went across the river into Kansas to get it. Drank the whole six-pack before crossing back into MO and got stuck in a rush-hour traffic jam on the Broadway bridge. Made for an interesting dilemma which I'll leave to you to figure out.
ReplyDeleteI had trouble with this today. I got all the themed answers but there were many unknowns so I had a 'red letter' day to finish. Felt frustrated but many learning moments saved it for me.
I agree there's much to be desired with late night and I'm hopeful Fallon can pull off something new and entertaining. As to the Grammy Awards tonight, I didn't see all of it but did enjoy this Pink Try
ReplyDeleteNot sure if anyone knows, but she does NOT lip sync during any of her performances which is incredible to me. I only caught this because my granddaughter said, "are you watching the grammies?', so I flipped to it.
Dudley, Bill.....
ReplyDeleteFallon has a show on NBC... check him out and see what ya think... :) :)
I have never watched him.....
thelma :)
Good Monday morning, folks. Thank you, Mark Feldman, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the fine review.
ReplyDeleteHad a busy weekend. Finished the puzzle on the train this morning on mynway back to Chicago. It was a little tough, but I got it all.
Theme appeared early on. Helped with the puzzle.
ACORN squash is my favorite. I still have some in the basement from last summer. I will eat it all.
Yes, I remember the movie regarding TEXARKANA and the Coors beer. To me, Coors is terrible. I am a micro beer dark beer nut. There is so much out there and they are great.
My last entry was ASHER and AALTO. I was missing the A. So, I wagged the A and my IPAD lit up like a Roman candle.
AHORA took me a while.
They are planning to take my mother back to the nursing home in the next day or so. That is where she lives. Sad existence, but it is what it is.
Hondo: I just read "The Plantagenets" by Dan Jones. Excellent historical book. What a gang most of them
were. A couple losers.
For beef, yes I love it. Nothing better than a New York Strip Steak. I have a tub of Smith's Ox Roast in my bag to take home. Froze it and wrapped it up in insulating material. We will enjoy that.
See you later today. No cruciverb puzzle for Monday.
Abejo
(reveals utmost)