Theme: Follow the waters
For those who attempted this without the circles the theme was most assuredly deeply submerged, but if you know your major world rivers and you understood 34A was the hint, it was a very fun paddle, though some white waters to avoid. JW has become a regular contributor to our entertainment, with this being his 17th publication in the 18 months or so since his first trip to the LAT stage. marti has done most of the explicating, but this will be my 5th, the first almost exactly one year ago. Each has been a very different type, as well from anagrams, to homonyms to definitions. This is the first with any "gimmick" as the theme answers crawl over both across and down fill, giving each name the "bend" which is the hidden treasure. I hope you enjoy this Friday freshness. Presenting the theme will be different, but here goes.
River one: PECOS running from 17A down the middle of 3D.
River two: GANGES running up from 5D though 4A.
River three: AMAZON running backwards in 19A and down 1D.
River four DANUBE running from 58A up 41D.
River five: NIGER running backwards in 62A and up 44D.
River six: THAMES running down the middle of 51D and backwards across 67A.
and the Hint/ reveal at 34A. Topographic feature represented in this puzzle's circles : RIVER BEND. This tells you the river names bend around the answers.
The rest of the puzzle does not exactly feel like a Friday with one nine letter fill the longest, but 22 of fill are 7 letter answers including some fun ones. Let's get going
Across:
1. __-de-sac : CUL. Well this dead end is our beginning.
4. Consumes : INGESTS.
11. Privately keep in the email loop, briefly : BCC. Blind Courtesy Copy.
14. New START signatory : USA. Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Double your initial pleasure.
15. Unexpected result : FALLOUT. This was hard for me, I guess I was raised in too sheltered an environment.
16. Bit of cybermirth : LOL. My Romanian friend thought this was Lots of Love for a long time.
17. Upper-bod muscle : PECtoral. Like these...
18. With great energy, in music : AGITATO. The Italian influence, I will defer (yes I corrected it manually, not autocorrect) to JzB.
19. Gp. that declared obesity a disease : AMA. Once again we are seeing lots of initialisms.
20. Natives who met Lewis and Clark near modern-day Council Bluffs : OTOS. More natives, 64D. Cheyenne allies : ARAPAHO.
22. Scent : ODOR.
23. Puts one's feet up : LAZES. This is a word I never see outside of the crossword world, you? Do you laze about?
25. Go the distance : LAST. Why does this sound sexual to me? Followed immediately by...
26. Desire : YEN.
27. Stopper, with "the" : KIBOSH. I had better put the Kibosh on that line of thought.
28. Pretended to be : ACTED AS. Another toughie for me, that perped itself out.
30. Bow tie preference : AL DENTE. Love this clue, it was cooked just right!
31. Likely to tax one's budget : STEEP. Gee honey, the prices here are awfully steep.
32. Corrida cry : OLE.
33. Greenskeeper's supply : SOD. The seniors are back in Boca Raton playing this week; are you going Dennis? The ones I have met and played with are all very nice. 47A. Not good for a pro, usually : OVER PAR.
39. Inflate : PAD. The bill, not a balloon; tricky for three letters.
42. Hyde's birthplace? : LAB. Dr. Jekyll's of course, another wonderful clue.
43. Less furnished : BARER. Why furniture?
50. Traditional process for hammock making : MACRAME. How many crafty people are at the Corner?
52. "The Canterbury Tales" inn : TABARD. Oh the depths of memory, it has been so long since Chaucer. Interestingly according to wiki, it was built by the Abbot of Hyde. A Tabard is the tunic you see in the depictions of the crusades etc.
53. Geometric fig. : CIRcle.
54. Moderate pace : TROT.
55. Dimwit : STUPE. This does not seem very PC.
56. Small opening : PORE. I got that by the skin of my teeth.
57. Exobiologist's org. : SETI. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Acronym.
58. Voice actor Castellaneta of "The Simpsons" : DAN. Also he was not the father on The Wonder Years
59. Foolishness : FATUITY. I know fatuous, but not this incarnation; a very much Nero Wolfe word.
62. Cotton __ : GIN. As a kid this always puzzled me because I thought it came from juniper berries, and we had juniper bushes.
63. Storied vessel : ARK. I hope you Noah this one.
65. "Middle of Nowhere" director DuVernay : AVA. Indie movie.
66. Ed.'s pile : MSS. Manuscripts.
67. First, second or third person? : BASEMAN. Baseball, but you need the perps to get that.
68. Pinch for Pépin : SEL. French for salt.
Down:
1. Domelike structures : CUPOLAS. There are many kinds, reminds me of Ken Follett
2. Be diplomatic : USE TACT. Nice fill.
3. 1920s tennis great René : LACOSTE. Lives on through all the shirts.
4. "__ tree falls ..." : IF A. in the forest....
5. Noritake headquarters city : NAGOYA. Luckily ODOR and YEN were easy, which helped the section to fall.
6. Moves smoothly : GLIDES. Getting excited about the ice skaters and the Olympics?
7. John of pop : ELTON. As C.C. would say, nailed it!
8. Hang-glide, say : SOAR. Oh oh.
9. Word of disdain : TUT. Usually needs two but the clue does say 'word.'
10. Impassive : STOLID.
11. Displays publicly : BLAZONS. I am familiar with things being emblazoned, but not this verb.
12. Opens one's eyes : COMES TO.
13. Butted heads : CLASHED. My research shows this fill has never been in the LAT or NYT before.
21. Direct : STEER. Fits in with our earlier STEEP and STUPE?
24. First Japanese prime minister born after WWII : ABE. No clue about Shinzō Abe, born in 1954. I read it as the first prime minister after WWII, never seeing the word bord; coincidentally, also a man named ABE.
27. "The Goldfish" painter : KLEE. This WORK. So you think you could have done that?
29. Print resolution letters : DPI. Dots Per Inch, from our old dot matrix printers.
30. Clerical wear : ALB. It is the long white (the word is from Latin for white) dress like garment.
32. Moon, e.g. : ORB.
35. "The Impaler" who inspired Dracula : VLAD.
36. "Who hath a story ready for your __": Shak. : EAR. An obscure quote from Measure for Measure, but easily sussed.
37. 2014 Olympics airer : NBC. So many initials.
38. Moves quickly : DARTS.
39. 1945 Big Three city : POTSDAM. One of the meeting places for the allies, US, England and Russia.
40. Online game icons : AVATARS. If you did not know it before the movie should have taught you.
41. Proves fallacious : DEBUNKS. I myth the mythbusters.
44. Xenon, for one : RARE GAS.
45. Soul-stirring : EMOTIVE. Did the clue move you?
46. __ scan: ID method : RETINAL. Eye had no problem with this one.
48. Knock : RAP. Don't knock rap?
49. Assembly-ready : PREFABricated.
50. Sister of Moses and Aaron : MIRIAM. You need to know MORE?
53. Two-door vehicle : COUPE.
56. School gps. : PTAS. At least the initials are all familiar.
60. __ Pacis: altar of Peace : ARA. This is just Latin for an altar built during the time of Caesar Augustus for the goddess Pacis. It is from her name we get our word.
61. Thither : YON. Hither and yon, hither and thither, it all sounds silly to me.
Well we are into February, with only 7 more days to prepare for marti's birthday, oh and Valentine's Day. I thought this was a nice romp and the trick did not give me fits, and I hope none of you. Lemonade out.
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteManaged to logjam the NE until the very end, by having Steely instead of Stolid, Eases for Lazes, and a few others that looked good at the time. The theme was clear, and I had circles, but too few correct letters to see Amazon. Got there eventually!
Have you bathed in the holy GANGES,
ReplyDeleteWhere the faithful Hindu come.
Met the law west of the PECOS,
Where the West was won by gun.
Surfed down the mighty AMAZON
Where piranha wished the worst.
Waltzed 'long side the blue DANUBE
Where the wurst excited thirst.
Gone safari up dark NIGER
Where both the oil and men are black.
Lived history along the THAMES
Where Romans, Normans, Nazis did attack.
Every river has its mystique
Around near or distant RIVER BEND,
And each river, like a poem,
Meanders, spring to end.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteOuch.
No circles for me, and I incorrectly guessed RIVERBANK for the theme since I had nothing to go on visually. It was mostly right, but it kept me from getting KLEE or DARTS. I thought KARTS seemed a bit off and wasn't familiar with any artist named KLEA, but what you gonna do?
The rest of the puzzle played hard for me. STOLID, TABARD, NAGOYA, BLAZONS and STUPE just didn't want to come to me today. And the cluing for KIBOSH was just brutal.
Finally turned on the red letter help to get RIVER BEND. The rest I managed to suss out on my own. Eventually.
My poem today is one of my weaker efforts, but I have dipped my hand in the PECOS. My LW thought I was silly for bothering.
ReplyDeleteI finished, but no ta-da. Red letters showed the error of STATE for taxing one's budget. One of the affected crosses, LACOSTe was unknown to me, and I just didn't notice that the other two didn't make sense.
If we again starts that pointless discussion about Carbon Copy vs. Courtesy Copy, I vote for Carbon.
Lemon, I think you defer to JzB, not differ with him.
Person of Interest this week had a bow tying sequence, during which Harold asked John if he was trying for a shoelace or batwing type knot. That was still in my mind when I got to 30A, and so it didn't make sense until I read the write-up today with my V8 can.
33A. Greenskeepers don't actually keep a supply of SOD on hand, do they?
The current PM of Japan is Shinzō Abe, born 1953. Nobuyuki Abe (1875-1953) was born just a leeetle bit before the end of WWII. ;-)
Xenon is a RARE earth and a noble GAS, but I don't think I've heard those terms conflated before.
Thanks, Owen. We got the PM corrected.
ReplyDeleteGroundskeepers may not have precut sod on hand but probably have a spot where they can cut out a patch to use elsewhere.
Oh, and I thought the poem was good.
ReplyDeleteNo circles so no rivers. This seemed to go more smoothly than most Friday puzzles. Nothing notable though some of the clues were clever (and, therefore, fun to get). I had ALLEGRO before AGITATO but perps fixed that.
ReplyDeleteI always thought BCC stood for "Blind Carbon Copy".
The temperature dropped to just below zero last night on my little CUL-de-sac here in the beautiful mid-Hudson valley.
[9:08]
Al Cyone: You are correct. BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteGot 'er done, but there were still some areas I was unsure of. Don't recall seeing BLAZONS before. FALLOUT seemed a weird answer for the clue; I think it more like collateral damage. RARE GAS also pinched a nerve.
Lemon, I cannot differ to [sic] you about The Wonder Years.. It was Dan Lauria, not Dan Castellaneta, who played the father.
Did anybody else think YETI before SETI showed up? And I thought MIRIAM was Marian -- I "maid" a mistake there.
Later...
TGIF to everyone,
ReplyDeleteA DNF today due to two goofs. Had oso for 14A and Utes for 20A. Copolas looked good and I couldn't remember the French tennis player. Everything else worked out OK, but it was a struggle.
AGITATO & TABARD were all perps.
Nailed 47A OVERPAR & 67A BASEMAN. Started with Marion for MIRIAM, but got it corrected. Had no circles.... doubt they would have helped.
Wasn't thrilled with having Hang-Glide as a clue and GLIDE as a fill.
Local radio station I listen to when doing the puzzle mentioned this statistic today. Of the top ten most dangerous USA cities with population under 200K, four are Springfield, Ma, Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven, Ct..all within a 50-100 mile radius of each other. Pretty good endorsement for promoting tourism in CT, don't you think? I don't know why I stay in this area.
Well I certainly made a ton of mistakes, but I was sleepy. Ah well, next time
ReplyDeleteMy paper not only had circles, it also had them filled. Couldn't tell at first if that was intentional or an error. And even with those cells spotted to me, I still found it pretty difficult. An odd solve for sure. Anybody else have those answers given, or was it just the Journal-Star?
ReplyDeleteGood morning everybody. I was able to solve or PERP a lot of the fill, and I did get RIVER BEND, but I didn't even try to figure out the circled clues.
ReplyDeleteI liked the clue for 67A: First, second or third person? BASEMAN.
There were a lot of new words for me here, including: STOLID, BLAZONS, AL DENTE, TABARD, POTSDAM, AGITATO, KLEE, FATUITY, and NAGOYA. Now if only I could remember them all...
Have a nice Friday and a great weekend!
Avg Joe, we got circles in the Barnacle, but they weren't filled.
ReplyDeleteThat is what I call the Chronicle too.
DeleteI had filled circles and still was challenged by STOLID, largely because I can't spell KABOSH/KIBOSH. BASEMAN also had me befuddled, since I was thinking personal pronouns as verb subjects for 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons. Must be those 33 plus years of teaching languages. Finally got both it and FATUITY once PREFAB fell in.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a good challenge, Jeffrey. Thanks for a fine review, Lemonade. You provide lots of comments and insight beyond the answers.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was a good challenge for me. There were many words I don’t know, but the perps got them.
I work the puzzle online so no circles, but I got the reveal RIVER BEND without them. I didn’t see the theme until I came here.
Favorite clue / answer was 67A First, second or third person? : BASEMAN, although I needed some perp help for it. 7 more days until the start of spring training! Hopefully spring won’t be too far behind!
Also liked 57A Exobiologist's org. : SETI.
I finished in less than my usual Friday time, but no ta-da! I reviewed my answers and liked them all. So I turned on red letter help and had 1 letter wrong. I changed ANA / EMOTINE to AVA / EMOTIVE and ta-da!
As the Kentucky colonel said " Keep your COTTON picking hands off of my GIN
ReplyDeleteweird -- my puzzle had not only the circles but they were all filled in with the letters of the rivers. So this was a pretty quick romp.
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone ~~
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this puzzle ~ fun to solve. I figured out the theme after seeing the unifier/reveal, and recognizing AMAZON - probably because I often find a package from them on my doorstep. :-)
Knowing the theme helped to fill GANGES and DANUBE since I had unknowns in those areas. Among my unknowns: FATUITY, TABARD, NAGOYA, and AGITATO.
~ FALLOUT didn't come to me right away but after a few perps I recognized it and thought I should have known it - that seems to happen a lot.
~ I had 'Rests' before LAZES for 23A - Puts ones feet up. It seemed a better fit.
~ I liked the misdirection of 30A - Bow tie preference / AL DENTE.
~ MACRAME was one of my crafts of the 80s - haven't done it since. Now, it's all crocheting.
Thanks for a great write-up, Lemonade. I always enjoy the info you provide and your comments!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the fine review.
ReplyDeleteNo circles on my puzzle.
I missed on AVATARS and TABARD. I had an "I" where they crossed. Close, but no cigar.
The puzzle seemed a typical Friday level in difficulty. Got it all except for the note above.
I, also, always thought BCC meant Blind Carbon Copy. And still do.
AL DENTE was clever.
I remembered ABE from newspapers, etc.
OVER PAR may not be good for a pro, but it is typical for me. And, I am happy with that.
VLAD was easy.
PREFAB gave me FATUITY.
Knew some of the story about MIRIAM, the Nile River and Moses, etc. Did not know all the rest. Thank you, Lemonade for that link.
I am outta here. Lots to do. 5 below when I got up. Hopefully will get warmer.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(63259324 7)
Greetings, friends!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to be home again after visiting the chilling San Bernardino area with two sisters to see our fourth sister and her family.
Yikes! AvgJoe, I also had the circles filled in the AZ Republic.
Still, this was difficult especially the NE where STODGY remained rooted until KIBOSH erupted through and ALDENTE made me realize I was looking for pasta.
Thank you for all the insights, Lemonade. As usual you clear out the fog for me.
I also had EMOTING so AVA and SEL were lost to me.
Still this was a great challenge from Jeffrey Wechsler. Thank you.
It's great to be among the blogging family again as I was in the throes of LA Times withdrawal. The SB SUN now prints a really weak crossword instead of the LAT.
I hope your Friday is fantastic, everyone! Busy one for me. Have to collect my tax file and see the results.
Like Joe, my Omaha World Herald puzzle came with the circles already filled in and so I did not get to ferret out Jeffrey’s clever theme. Tough but fair words made this interesting.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-FATUITY that seems less used than fatuous appeared which knocked out WISEMAN and the deed was done
-I saw a Holy Land presentation two weeks ago and I don’t think I’d dunk in the Jordan River
-Unexpected FALLOUT over this Biggest Loser
-Ray Kinsella being told to Go the distance (3:25)
-If you USE TACT there shouldn’t be any FALLOUT. If I’d only known…
-No STEEP hills in our flat city so city built one and a snow making machine. It’s been busy.
-PAD your resume’ at your own peril
-How might a SETI devotee might make Contact (9:43) from movie of same name
-Joann said she would not go to Sochi even if grandkids were GLIDING on the ice
-Did Japanese ABE have a stovepipe hat? ;-)
-NASA successfully DEBUNKS “Moon landing hoax” every time it is raised
-Remember having to tilt the front seat forward to get into this COUPE
Obviously I am aware the bcc has always meant blind carbon copy, but like mentioned in a earlier discussion, since carbons do not exist isn't it time to move on to courtesy copy?
ReplyDeleteCircles filled in, hmm I wonder....
Greetings friends, old and new
ReplyDeleteWe finally received some rain in Southern California last night, which made be "come to" early today I had some extra time on my hands.
The on-line crossword at games.latimes.com had no problems with the circles.
I actually used the theme to help me in the deep south, where I was having a spot of bother. I took a WAG and wrote in THAMES (flowing downstream) and solved it from there.
I always associate CUPOLAS with gun turrets on tanks and aircraft (from my plastic modeling days as a child - seems to be a lost art now).
My friend always used to call Ms. Franklin URETHRA (along with Joan ARMORPLATING), so it took me a while to figure her real name.
A room would be bare without furniture. That was my take.
Tata for now.
NC
Lemony, you are as witty and informative, as always. I liked your pun on FALLOUT. Owen, fine poem. Neither of you should apologize.
ReplyDeleteI started out with a printout from the Mensa site, no circles. I finished up with the newspaper puzzle with open circles. They helped in a few places where I was unsure. It's too bad some papers filled in the circles.
I didn't parse ALDENTE. Pasta didn't occur to me. Although I have often seen them I never use bow ties. I find them doughy, so I substitute some other pasta in recipes..
I like FALLOUT used this way. See HG's examples. The FALLOUT of being snarky with your boss, can be loss of your job.
I use LAZE as a verb, but it is more than rest. My son and DIL get up late and LAZE around in their PJs on Sundays. When they are working full tilt and stop to put their feet up for a minute that is not lazing.
I pronounce KIBOSH with a long I, which helps in spelling. I see the first syllable can also be pronounced with the indistinct schwa which leaves you wondering which vowel it is.
Although news readers pronounce Abe as AH BAY, the Japanese say something like "aah-behh" . There is no long A sound in Japanese.
I was sailing along nicely (LOL) on the Mensa site when I reached the reveal clue and realized that there were circles. I attempted to continue without them and then the site closed on me. So I went to the LAtimes site and found circles and completed the puzzle there. (But having to sit through the gory ad at the beginning means I will not willingly return to that site!)
ReplyDeleteVery clever theme and setup.
The south was the last to fall. DH gave me COUPE. Smiled at BOW TIE PREFERENCE=AL DENTE, HYDES BIRTHPLACE=LAB, and PINCH FOR PEPIN=SEL.
I wanted Matisse for the Goldfish painter but it wouldn't fit!
Now to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony on CBC (not NBC). Canadians have high hopes for Patrick Chan in the Men's Figure Skating.
Hmmmm, good puzzle! good explication! fun poetry for first thing in the morning. Thank you, Jeffrey and Lemonade and Owen.
ReplyDeleteThe Cincinnati Enquirer doesn't give us a title or author, but it did give us circles without fill - thank you very much! And I guess I should look at the rest of the paper today since it has been publicizing its increase in size and content. It apparently has done a partnership with USA Today, a paper which did not exactly enjoy NYT status originally, as I recall.
Getting the PECOS first thing led to RIVERBANK, which eventually had to BEND to NBC and KLEE. Then PRECUT finally yielded (yealt?) it's secret, leaving only the frozen NorthEast where STEELY and RESTS were finally washed away by the AMAZON. Hooray for a finish with no research! Happening more often on Fridays, but only recently.
IMHO, it doesn't matter whether it's carbon or courtesy. Forever after, it's now BCC to almost anyone younger than 60?? 50?? Same thing with script. It will only be the text for a play or telecast, never handwriting. TSTC (too sad to contemplate).
Cheers for the weekend to all.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteSort of a toughie but perps came to the rescue. Saw the rivers after getting the unifier. Very clever theme, Jeffrey, and cool review, Lemony. Fav clue was bow tie preference.
It's very cold here but the brilliant sunshine warms the soul.
Have a great Friday.
Well done KK, glad you have a warm soul IM; it was the lack of sunshine, not the cold which drove me out of New England
ReplyDeleteI first saw the circles and grimaced, but once I got the reveal, it was pretty smooth sailing. Great effort by Jeffrey and a nice change in construction.
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Lemonade, as always. All of you bloggers do a great job every day!
Favorite clue - bow tie preference!
Nice Cuppa, how nice to see you. Welcome back Lucina.
ReplyDeleteA totally fun puzzle even though I goofed at the very end with RARE GEM rather than RARE GAS. (I thought the French pinch should be SEL, but figured MEL was some French word I just hadn't heard before). So, many thanks, Jeff. And, Lemonade, thanks for clearing up that AL DENTE bow tie for me. I got it but was totally stumped by trying to imagine how that little man's accessory could possibly be AL DENTE. Also the pics of the CUPOLAS were really cute.
ReplyDeleteI've never played golf, but I play Fairway Solitaire every day on the LA Times Game site. So I actually got OVER PAR. The way we learn things these days . . .
We finally had a little rain in Southern California. Totally freaks the doxies out, who hate to go out in it. But we needed it, goodness knows.
Have a great Friday, everybody!
Our newspaper, The Arizona Republic, published the puzzle with the letters fill in, in the circles: GANGES, PECOS, etc., which made the puzzle unusually easy for a Friday.
ReplyDeleteHi Gang -
ReplyDeleteNot too difficult for a Friday. Plugged and chugged my way through.
I don't recall differing with Lemonade, but it could happen.
Re: AGITATO - I don't have to think to much about the Italian tempo indicators, since I have a conductor to take care of that, and can just follow the baton. On German music they're in German. But on Russian Music, they're in Italian. Go figure.
There is so much magnificent Russian music. We're playing Borodin's Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor next month. [11:21, and worth every second!] Can you name the pop song that stole the melody beginning at 1:05? It pops up again just before the 7 minute mark. Very cool trombone part at 10:05, and great camera work captures the moment.
Cloudless blue sky here and 15 degrees.
Very Cool Regards!
JzB
Owen -
ReplyDeleteYour poem was good!
But Xenon is not a rare earth. Those are all solid materials that are not necessarily rare, but dispersed so that they are not found anywhere in rich lodes.
Xenon is a noble gas, meaning it is a vapor at room temperature [Boiling Pt -162.578 F] and chemically inert under normal conditions. But it is also literally rare, and the noble gasses are also commonly referred to as the rare gasses.
Cheers!
JzB
NE corner was a toughy for me too. I had CDC or WHO for obesity and a generic RESTS for feet. Finally got the AHA for the AMA, which led me to BLAZONS and "DOZES", and an LOL on ALDENTE. Had to put the KIBOSH on STOIC/STERN (too short) and STONEY/STEELY with a STOLID answer, which gave me LAZES. LAZES? Yes I've been known to "laze about" (e.g. doing the crossword). But LAZES? Isn't that what an eye surgeon does?
ReplyDeleteSomehow I completely forgot the circles and just worked the puzzle until I finished it but it was slow for me.
ReplyDeleteThe front range pulled out of our subzero weather (actually rather rare) during the night. its in the 30s and sunny now.
I had my troubles navigating this puzzle, but I knew the Ulanga would meet up with the bora ((kilombero) eventually....
ReplyDeleteMy newspaper had circles but not filled in.
ReplyDeleteHow does a mistake like having the puzzle partially filled in happen? Honestly. Who filled in the answers? How does it get by 'games page editor'? Why are some papers wrong while others are not? Did anyone's Jumble or Suduko print half solved? Not a life changing event but just another example of why print media is fading away.
Musings 2
ReplyDelete-Jazz, I would have gotten that song from just the title because for some reason known only to God, I remember learning that connection in Music Appreciation in college. How ‘bout dat? Something stuck, like ALDENTE pasta ;-). I won’t post the answer but I will say TB’s version is probably the most famous.
-Barn CUPOLAS are very familiar around here
-CED, Bogie and Kate suffered untold miseries making that film
-Exciting outing into the cold air today. A haircut!!
The Freep did have the circles, but no letters today.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
JzB
A good Friday to all of you.
ReplyDeleteI worked on this late last night. I enjoyed the solving of it and I liked the fill but the circles didn't show up on the Mensa site (or any other site) last night. That made the theme so obscure that it seemed like a Saturday puzzle (not my favorites). I figured out what the theme must be like because of the clue in the middle but I didn't put the effort forth to be able to find the bendy rivers. Anyway, I solved it all without having the fun of the theme. You'd think the programmers could find a way to include the circles or at least a list the squares with circles as an addendum. But alas, no...
On a happier note, did you see Jay Leno's goodbye show? It was really enjoyable and poignant. Billy Crystal was great, Garth Brooks sang "I've got Friends in Low Places" and Jay said his emotional goodbyes. Great stuff...
Jay Leno's goodybe
Excellent writeup by LEMONADE714.
ReplyDeleteAnd a very good puzzle from J. Wechsler, maybe a little easy for a Friday, but it kept me busy. I got all the rivers except for overlooking the Ganges.
The easy gimmes for me were CUL-- as for everyone, yes?-- and POTSDAM-- because I've read a lot about that benighted postwar conference, when Uncle Joe barely batted an eye when tipped off about the Bomb.
Like others I enjoyed the misdirection to BASEMAN and especially to AL DENTE. I used to like wearing a (real) bow tie on occasion, but couldn't imagine names for the different types. I just thought of them as skinny or flared or (shudder) clip-on. Nowadays, when we rarely wear any necktie at all (the Iranian influence?), I guess young men don't know the styles much less how to tie them-- four in hand, windsor, double windsor etc.
On another note, I LOVED Klee's "Goldfish"! Thanks for linking to that, as I don't recall ever focusing on it before. Here's another of Klee’s Fish-- when Paul seems to have been in a different mood.
Yes, I know and use the word "laze" as in lazing about.
ReplyDeleteFATUITY, that's a Nero Wolfe word.
Lucina, so you were in San Bernardino? I wish I had known. I would have driven about an hour east of here and bought you lunch. Rats!
Here's my take on Mr. Baseman from the 1980's. I've square danced to this tune. We use music from many genres and decades including the 2010's.
ReplyDeleteLink The Deltones
BillG:
ReplyDeleteThank you for the thought. I almost contacted you but thought you were too far from that area. Since my sister lives there and her daughter has breast cancer which has spread throughout her body, I'm sure we'll be going again, possibly this summer.
I guess we just missed the rain though it was cold enough without it.
Lemonade:
Thank you for the welcome back. I really miss all you bloggers when I'm gone and the next trip will be even longer. That won't be for a while.
KK:
I completely sympathize with you about the gradual disappearance of print and other of our once comforting appurtenances.
Jazz:
You lucky musician who gets to play that Borodin piece. I absolutely love it! Thank you for linking it. Along with Tchaikovsky's Capricio Italien, those are my top favorite scores.
OMG, a '57 Chevy! Beautiful car, isn't it, Husker Gary?. I love that car! I learned to drive in one, and learned to kiss, too. Woohoo!
ReplyDeleteJayce,
ReplyDeleteIf you like '57 Chevys, you may enjoy this video. It's quite a story.
57 Chevy link
A Friday puzzle, of course I am going to have nits. But it is very stress relieving to toss your nits in the river,,, so here goes...
ReplyDelete9D word of disdain, I wanted Tsk, but had to change it as Tsk is a sound & not a word???
45D Soul stirring, I was sure it started with "Ego..."
57A Exobiologist's org., It's not NASA?
But my Major Nit is that I would have aced this puzzle except I spelled it kEbosh. I guess I am not stolid about about bowties, I mean I know nothing about names of bowties! What the HECK DO YOU CALL A BOWTiE ANYWAY?
Whats that? Pasta you say... (Darn you Jeffrey Wechsler!)
YR, Mr. Baseman? ( I love it...) Except it was one of those songs I never understood the words to. ( I always thought they were saying Mr. SpaceMan...)
AvgJoe@7:56AM Circles Filled In??? I was shocked by this mystery! I even tried to Google an explanation, nothing! (can we get our editor, Rich, to explain it???)
Can somebody out there explain why a newspaper would print a puzzle with some of the spaces filled in?
(It's mind boggling...)
Oh, & as an afterthought, Disney has introduced some great music, but have you ever heard Just Around The Riverbend from Pocahontas?
My second car was a 57 Chevy...but it was a 4 door hardtop and it didn't look nearly as nice as the one in Gary's link. Still, a lot of fun and fond memories.
ReplyDeleteI guessed the song JzB was asking about, but I think I remember Vic's version a little better. Could be wrong...they are very complimentary versions.
Hi Y'all! Really liked the RIVER theme, Jeffrey! I had empty circles on the ChiTrib site. When I stumbled on to AMAZON, I was excited. I immediately wrote in RiVER for the reveal. Doing water issues as a newpaper writer forever changed my view of RIVERS and their impact on people and civilization.
ReplyDeleteLemon, thank you for your efforts on this. I stopped and studied the maps for quite some time.
JzB, "Polovtsian Dances" is a favorite of mine. Thanks. A roommate had a record of it many years ago. I was glad to lose the roommate but missed the record. I once performed the pop song in a slinky black strapless dress for a HS dance.
I did a lot of MACRAME in the late 70's but never a hammock. I still have a big hooped medallion wallhanging that hung in my parlor for years.
This former Ed. couldn't figure out MSS. I didn't do books though.
CanadianEh! I enjoyed Patrick Chan's performance on TV last night.
BillG: I watched the Leno goodbye. I've always liked his monologue. Didn't watch the show a lot. My favorite was always the "Headlines" portion.
Buckeye bob, thanks for that Chevy link. She's a cool woman. Apparently hers had an automatic transmission. Mine had a manual transmission, "three on the tree," and it was bit balky. Some skill and finesse was required to get it into 2nd gear from first gear. Sometimes I'd just shift from first directly into third because it was easier. By the way, (and please forgive me if this is TMI) the girl from whom I learned to kiss in that car never married. What a loss to some otherwise lucky man out there.
ReplyDeleteMusings 3
ReplyDelete-YR, I enjoyed your Mr. Bassman (not BASEMAN) video but I had to wait through the Bob Dylan Super Bowl Chrysler commercial first. Did anyone feel that the ultimate iconoclast had sold out for a few bucks?
-Joe and Jayce, I couldn’t afford a new ’57 Chevy and probably can’t afford/justify that one I posted today. The cars of our ute are still hot ticket items. Great story, Buckeye!
-PK, if you’ve got pix of that black slinky dress, you know my address…
-Tony Bennett’s beautiful hit version of the Polovtsian Dances
-Off for a fund raising lasagna dinner – probably not al dente!
Gary, I. couldn't afford a new one when I was 2 either. I bought mine in 71 and it cost me $100. Given its aging condition, I'm not sure it was worth it. I "invested" another $400 in it over the next year and sold it for....wait for it....$100. My first serious lesson in Econ 101.
ReplyDeleteIf I could sell my experience for what it has cost me, I'd be a wealthy man.
Joe, what're your feelings about Bob Dylan's commercial for Chrysler?
ReplyDeleteHG, HA HA. Of course, bass man is not baseman. I think I never use BASEMAN for baseball, I say first base, second base,etc. By the sound, Bass man is music. Just listen to that bass! Funny how the mind works.
ReplyDeleteWell,,, I couldn't find any funny riverbend pics, but here is what I found while looking...
ReplyDelete#1
HG, don't tell Dylan about the river
#3
WTF?
?!#$@!!
Moon River?
& finally...
Well let's see Gary...
ReplyDeleteAn American icon shilling for an Italian car maker that in recent years has cranked out some of the worst crap that ever rolled off the assembly line. I'd put him right up there with Mike Rowe and Sam Eliot for this effort.
Otherwise, I like Mr. Zimmerman.
Aren't you glad you asked.
(captcha: TSA n CIA..Seriously. But obviously without the gaps. What are the odds of that combination?)
HG, the local rock station did a funny bit this morning about the Dylan commercial. They "called" Dylan to ask if he thought he had sold out to corporate America. The actor portraying Dylan, who got the nasally voice down pretty good, replied that he had not sold out. He then proceeded to mention that he just finished shaving with a Gillette razor, enjoyed Coca Cola, and was Lovin' McDonalds....
ReplyDeletePersonally I hate Dylan and his music. If he comes on the radio, I rush over to change the station. That's my motto - No Dylan...!
But that's just me....
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteWhoopee! An easy Friday! Thanks Jeff, Lemon!
No circles, though. Bummer.
Kate: there are no titles for non-Sunday puzzles! Our reviewers make them up. Please look at late night postings before posting the next day!
Bill: I am about 45 minutes from you! Would like to come up and swim in a nice, warm pool?
NAGOYA was all perps, but was the only real problem.
Thanks for the Borodin, Jazz! Love it! Loved Kismet, too. Now socially inacceptable, I guess. Richard Kiley was superb. We went to see him in person at some theater. However, we got Jose Ferrer instead. Not quite the same!
Cheers!
If anybody gets up this way, we can play golf here.
ReplyDeleteCC, I am not sure how you get your news (re:MSNBCnew format) but I just got an email MSN News round up that included this photo:
ReplyDeleteAfghan refugee in Pakistan
No circles here also, so the theme eluded me til coming here but finished the grid rather quickly with only a few hangups.
ReplyDeleteHG and others,
What are these ads on youtube you're talking about. I go straight to the intended link. I will add however that I am never logged in to gmail or blogger when I search there or click on the links from the blog. Your search habits are remembered.
Tried YR's link logged in just for giggles and same thing, No ad.
Just wondering.
I hope it's not against protocol to post today about later posts from yesterday. I want to thank FermatPrime for letting me know about the titles and Cross-Eyed Dan for the link to the Jan 30 comic strip. Thanks, all,
ReplyDeleteI learned a new set of vocabulary words . Always fun to learn something new.
ReplyDeleteLemonade,I also had fun looking at links to different rivers. I didn't get theme, without circles, until I came here.
Has anyone here ever thought about taking a Viking River Cruise? I thought it might work out well for me since I don't walk well and use a Hoverround for long distances. What do you think??
Like Linda, I did MACRAME years ago. Lately, I have been doing cross stitch and repairing a quilt made by my great aunt.
I need to bake Valentine treats to mail to my daughter in Florida.
Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm DVRing the Olympics opening games.
Kentucky Kate,
ReplyDeleteNo, not at all. Your post will be read by all today even if it's about yesterday.
P.S. I,m Dan... That Crossed Eyed dude is Dave :-)
Thought I had this one whipped till I checked here, but I had "Rip" @ 48D, so Tabird @ 52A.
ReplyDeleteOh well, three years ago I didn't even try Friday.
I got some respite (and some sleep) from the critters today, so no obnoxiety from me.
What a fun Friday crowd
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one reading Goldsborough' s 'new' Nero Wolfe novel?
ReplyDeleteBlue Iris, I am in Florida too and love cookies.
For those of you read s one of the links thank you
Speaking of fun...
ReplyDeleteHER FIRST TIME
Yes, I purchased the new Nero Wolfe novel for my Nook though I haven't started it yet. (Is it good? True to the originals?) I'm trying to get through The Odessa File first.
ReplyDeleteFP, I'm not a good swimmer. I've taken lessons when I was younger and have tried swimming laps for exercise. When I watch others do it, it looks easy and relaxed. With me, I feel I'm stressed and seconds away from drowning.
Daughter #1 had a pic on her Blog that I thought was awesome.
ReplyDeleteHere is how it is done.
CED, very cool indeed. The only trouble is that I would hesitate when it came time to bite into that pretty creation.
ReplyDeleteI just got a call from one of my students in algebra. He was stuck on: Find two consecutive even integers with a sum of 11/60. He had made a careless mistake and so did I at first but we got it now!
Late as usual...watching the opening ceremonies while enjoying all the "extras" that all of you provide every day.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see you back Lucina and so sorry to hear about your niece.
Owen, I loved your poem.
cul-de-sac: ours is a dead end for many who get lost seeking parking for the near by elem. school
Jayce, my 1st year of college I lived 30 miles from town... Way up in the sticks, close to Sequoia nat. park.I either caught a ride with my neighbor in his white 57 Chevy, or....took the yellow school bus that also dropped off all the H.S. Students. Which one would you choose? LOL!
CED, I'm anxious to try those rosebuds...
Almost forgot... Enjoyed the river voyage and Lemon's travelogue
Just sittin' back watching the Olympics Opening Ceremony and the following poser came to mind: Every couple of years, summer or winter, the Parade of Nations begs the question - exactly how much time, effort, and (more importantly) money has been spent on each country's team uniforms...? It's just embarrassing how absolutely butt-ugly some of them are.... imho, of course....
ReplyDeleteAvgJoe: For a specific 7-letter captcha, the odds are 3 billion, 315 million, 312 thousand* to one.
ReplyDeleteBill G.: How can two integers have a fraction for a sum? I think you've got a typo there.
*3,315,312,000:1
Owen, right you are! That's my second careless mistake. What I meant to write was: Find two consecutive even integers so that the sum of their RECIPROCALS is 11/60.
ReplyDelete