51D. Lacking, or what can precede either half of 18-, 36- and 56-Across : OUT OF
18A. Mandate from the bench : COURT ORDER Out of court/Out of order
36A. Voice coach's concern : BREATH CONTROL Out of breath/Out of control
56A. Shared shares : JOINT STOCK Out of joint/Out of stock
Good Morning everyone - Steve here with what I thought was a slick puzzle from Jacob. The theme hung together nicely and the reveal tucked away at the end of the downs kept things hidden for a while. The puzzle is also a pangram - whenener I see a Q an X and a Z emerge I start to keep my eye out for the K and the J.
I found myself misdirected a couple of times - always fun when you have the V-8 moment over those.
One quibble with the theme clues was for 56A - to me the clue implies that the shares in a joint stock company are owned by more than one person; but it's actually the company that is jointly owned by the shareholders. Very minor nit, but a nit all the same.
Across:
1. Cop's route : BEAT
5. Tripoli's land : LIBYA
10. Meet activity : SWAP
14. "Let __": Beatles hit : IT BE. Very difficult not to link this! Crossword favorite Yoko Ono didn't seem to be contributing a whole lot though.
15. Acrylic fiber : ORLON
16. Sobriquet for Haydn : PAPA. Scholars disagree over whether this was a term of affection or a pejorative. Let's be nice and go for the former.
17. Loafer, e.g. : SHOE. I have a couple of pairs of the "Penny" variety. They pack pretty flat in a carry-on.
20. Frequency unit : HERTZ. I frequently rent cars from Hertz, so my unit would be a "mid-size saloon" like today's Mercedes C-Class.
22. Cross-ventilation result : BREEZE
23. Not slacking : ON THE JOB
25. Jewelry retailer : ZALES
29. Foot, in zoology : PES. From the Latin.
30. Objection : BUT
31. Make a dramatic exit? : SKYDIVE. I'll state this plainly - there is no way I'd jump out of a perfectly good plane. Crazy people!
33. Cos. with Xings : R.R.S. Railroads.
34. "And __ refuse?" : IF I. Usually followed by the antagonist hissing "Then you die, Mr. Bond" or something similar.
35. Discharge : EMIT
40. Circle calculation : AREA. Given by the formula πr² where r is the radius.
41. "Get it?" : SEE
42. Grads-to-be: Abbr. : SR.s
43. Letter holder : MAILBOX
45. Armada arena : SEA
46. Ugly Tolkien beast : ORC
49. "Tomorrow" musical : ANNIE
50. John le Carré offering : SPY NOVEL. I had "THRILLER" here first for absolutely no good reason which slowed me up a tad.
52. "Memoirs of a __": Arthur Golden novel : GEISHA
55. High capital : QUITO. Capital city of Ecuador and the highest capital city in the world. I'm told that people chew coca leaves on the train up to ward off altitude sickness.
60. Oolong and pekoe : TEAS. This is interesting - Oolong is a Chinese tea, but pekoe (more accurately Orange Pekoe) is the highest grading of a tea leaf, and that term can be applied to a number of different varietals. Well, I found it interesting, but then again I've got British genes and apparently can't function without tea.
61. Trusted underling : AIDE
62. Structure with high-water marks : LEVEE
63. Yellow-and-brown toon dog : ODIE
64. Cheery : GLAD
65. Board for filers : EMERY. I was thinking along the lines of the Security and Exchange Commission.
66. Like some memories : FOND
Down:
1. Diocese head : BISHOP
2. Hydrocarbon gas : ETHENE
3. Calls off, as a mission : ABORTS
4. Force, metaphorically : TEETH. As in "Give one some teeth" - or not? Teeth of the gale? What think ye?
5. Express's opp. : LOC. The local, or stopping service.
6. 2004 Will Smith sci-fi film : I, ROBOT
7. Ad on a DVD case : BLURB. Let's kill two blurbs with one stone:
8. Olden times : YORE
9. First chip, often : ANTE
10. Farming implements : SPREADERS. They spread fertilizer, seed, manure ... let's stop there.
11. Bundle of dough : WAD
12. Wild way to go : APE
13. Course number : PAR
19. First name in metal : OZZY. Not my first thought by a long way - my mind was firmly on the "Alcoa"variety.
21. Zoo equine : ZEBRA. I like the Z echo from the clue to the answer.
24. In precisely this way : JUST SO
26. Celeb's ride : LIMO
27. Malevolence : EVIL
28. Where the action happens : SET. Lights, Camera ...!
31. W. Coast airport : S.F.O. Coincidentally, I'm sitting at Gate 32, Terminal 1 at San Francisco International heading home from the Bay Area.
32. 2004 biopic with the tagline "Let's talk about sex" : KINSEY
33. Like wheels after servicing : REALIGNED. I liked this word - took a little while for the penny to drop.
34. Bar supply : ICE. Add Vodka, Tonic and limes and you've got a fully-stocked bar in my opinion. Tinbeni would not agree.
36. Cereal material : BRAN
37. Carriage driver's tool : REIN. I liked WHIP first, especially with the "I" in place.
38. With 59-Down, L-shaped tool : HEX
39. Sedative, casually : TRANQ
40. Org. whose past presidents include two Mayos : A.M.A. I'm assuming of Mayo Clinic fame?
44. Veggie with a Ruby Queen variety : BEET. Thank you, crosses.
45. Bit of orthodontia : SPACER
46. Cathedral city in northern Spain : OVIEDO
 |
| The Portico |
48. Shut : CLOSED
50. Leave the dock, with "off" : SHOVE. Because "CAST" isn't long enough.
53. Catalina, e.g. : ISLE. I'll be flying over it in about an hour if my flight's on time.
54. Come (from) : STEM
56. Crying __ : JAG. I used to own one of these - an 89 XJS V12 convertible that made me weep every time it broke down, which was about once a week.
57. Driveway blotch : OIL
58. Ore. neighbor : IDA. Not CAL, which I had first.
59. See 38-Down : KEY
That's about it from me today. Enjoy your respective Wednesdays!
Clarkie the chemist was wont to pontificate,
ReplyDelete"You can be the solution, or be the precipitate!"
He set up his lab
By the school's tennis slab,
For OUT OF COURT settlements when sediments separate!
A peeping tom lives just down the block.
For his target he'd watch like a hawk.
But of late, for this clown,
Restraining orders are down;
With age he's just run OUT OF STALK!
The setters were bored half to death,
So a challenge the agreed to accept.
To design a grid tall and narrow,
A crosswordy scarecrow,
They got height, but they ran OUT OF BREADTH!
Bonus: Grand Avenue, Mar.21
Clever puzzle by Jacob Stulberg, with nice theme entries, and the usual wonderful poem by Owen.
ReplyDeleteThose of you who still want more, check out today's New York Times puzzle by my friend Alex Vratsanos. Then, click here for a previously unpublished puzzle, entitled "It's Element-ary," by my friend Charles Deber. Other chemistry-themed puzzles are indexed here. Happy solving!
Fairly straightforward and fun puzzle, but I had trouble in the Southeast corner. I'm not familiar with John le Carre, Quito, or Oviedo. I penciled in Toledo for the Spanish city and never recovered, giving me a DNF on an otherwise doable Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteMorning, all!
ReplyDeletePretty smooth solve today, except I totally couldn't figure out what TEETH had to do with "force" (metaphorically or not). I think Steve is probably right in his interpretation, but it just wouldn't come to me while solving.
Good Morning, Steve and friends. Interesting Wednesday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteWhen I took piano lessons as a kid, I learned a little ditty that went: PAPA Haydn's dead and gone / but his memory lingers on. / When his mood was one of bliss / He wrote jolly tunes like this.
Lots of US Cities are protected by LEVEEs; some protection is stronger than others.
QOD: Even more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for. ~ Viktor Frankl (Mar. 26, 1905 ~ Sept. 2, 1997)
Pretty straightforward.
ReplyDeleteLast fill: The "O" in OVIEDO and ORC. One of these days I'll remember that Tolkien beast (unlike most of my peers, I never jumped on the JRR bandwagon).
[8:21]
Good morning, all! When oh when will I readjust to my normal sleeping cycle?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Steve, for your illuminating analysis. Funny, too.
What a nice midweek romp that was finished much too quickly. Learning moment for me was the realization that HERTZ means frequency unit.
Count me as one for whom REALIGNED took its time to appear. The R in RRS was last to fall and matches 5D, LOC(al).
I liked the clue for EMERY, board for filers. LOL
Memoirs of a GEISHA is one of my all time favorite NOVELS.
OVIEDO/QUITO, now that could be a natick for some. I'm not sure if I visited that cathedral city. I'll have to check my album.
Thanks, Jacob Stulberg, for your fine effort today.
Have a super Wednesday, everyone!
Al Cyone:
ReplyDeleteCount me also as one who never appreciated Tolkien's Hobbits. All I know about it is from crosswords.
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteWow, a puzzle right in my wheelhouse with no techie terms or abbreviations. MMVH..Made me very happy!
Wasn't sure if it was HERTZ or Hartz because a gas usually end up with ane, not ene. But I was pretty sure HERTZ was correct so I went with it.
I guess BREATH CONTROL is something needed if you have ambition to perform on the stage. Only stage I was ever on were the athletic fields and arenas. Just needed to control one's temper.
Winter still in Ct today, but just wind and cold. No precipitation. HG, love em or hate em, you Cornhuskers got a pretty good gals basketball team coming to visit for a few days.
Steve, like you, I had an answer for LeCarre offering for no good reason. Intrigue. Took that out with the 46D entry for Cathedral city in northern Spain - tolEDO
ReplyDeleteMe thinks "That contract has no teeth. It's unenforceable."
Good Morning Everybody. Great puzzle today, but I had a few errors. I wanted PENNY STOCK at 56A, which messed up my SW corner.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know PAPA Haydn and a few others, but I was able to PERP most of them.
Have a great day!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle. Enjoyed your "crying Jag," Steve.
I had a close encounter with a SPREADER back in my ute, when I was still immortal. We were playing bicycle tag and I was free-wheeling down a dark alley. I ran smack into the rear end of a SPREADER that some farmer had brought to town for repair. Destroyed my front wheel, and I flew over the SPREADER blades and landed in.....you guessed it.
PAPA Haydn was known to suddenly change the volume and tempo of his pieces to wake up the folks who had nodded off during his concert.
I remember when AM's kiloHERTZ became the standard and the old familiar kilocycle was no more. With FM, it was megaHERTZ.
Off to the dentist for a routine (I hope) cleaning.
This puzzle stumped me for a while. The top half was an easy solve with BLURB as the only unknown. I loved the clue for TEETH. But after is passed 35A I had a sea of blanks on the paper. I misread clues that had me thinking in the wrong direction. Was it WHIP or REIN? LAX or SFO? I knew ALIGN would be in there but was brain dead on adding the RE. Ruby Queen BEET was an unknown and I have never heard of crying JAG,whatever it is. ODIE being yellow and brown was a WAG because I always think of him as black and white. HEX KEY had me stumped as I had always known those little things that I hate to use as ALLEN WRENCHES. I never saw the show ANNIE because I always disliked 'that song' that is an earworm. Well the sun will come up tomorrow but since the paper only comes here on Sunday, Wed, & Fri, I'll do Friday's puzzle.
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun run today.
ReplyDeleteLucina and Al, I am not a Hobbit fan either. Glad to see I have company.
Memories of a Geisha is one of my favorite novels, also.
Although I finished the puzzle 45 minutes ago I just now sussed why first name in metal is OZZY. Heavy metal music. V-8 can, please.
In the news there is much talk about putting TEETH (force) into regulations and laws.
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteHad to rely on perps for that city in Spain, but mostly straightforward solve today. The reveal clue has the phrase "...what can precede either half...", which sent me checking the three answers. Sure enough, the letter count of each word in the pair matches. Elegant!
Owen from yesterday - I must have missed your post about hacking Cruciverb last week (or whenever that was). I don't know if there's a connection to the recent Cruciverb issue. Last night I read a message on that site saying that third-party links to the site were unacceptable. I had been using a doorway in Crosswords to access Cruciverb for a couple of years; I guess the site operator recently built some sort of wall to block such access. I don't understand why he wants it this way, but now you are required to log in to Cruciverb directly from a browser. Thoughts?
O theme, where art thou? Oh, it’s both words in Jacob’s fun puzzle!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Singers of The National Anthem with bad BREATH CONTROL diminish the performance
-The PAPA sobriquet more likely fits Hemmingway for me
-Auditory ORLON(s)
-Papa, you used to actually write a letter and put it in a MAILBOX? Really?
-A trusted AIDE sometimes has to “take one for the team”. “Yes, officer, she was with me”
-A scene in Apollo 13 shows Tom Hanks staring at the ABORT handle during a liftoff problem
-Some of the BLURBS extolling a movie are laughable. Go to rottentomatoes.com for candor!
-Manure SPREADERS are called honey wagons (or politicians) around here
-A friend of mine flew OZZY and Sharon Osborne into the Grand Canyon on a helicopter sight-seeing tour. He said they were both lovely and gracious people.
-This “LIMO” ride at Disney Studios will rock your world!! It’s my fav.
-Potholes are a REALIGNMENT specialist’s cash cow
-My friend taught me that using a REIN like this is a horse’s emergency brake
-HEX KEY? Nope, that’s an Allen Wrench in my shop
-What 50’s song had this lyric BUT, BUT, BUT, oh honey, BUT, oh baby you know what I like
-What 1985 movie features the phrase OUT OF TIME (OUTA TIME)?
For a Wednesday, some clues were really over the top, e.g., 33A. I don't understand that clue at all. What is "Cos."?
ReplyDeleteI now get 65A but that was a bit stretchy.
Good Morning all. Glad to compete the puzzle before 10 AM EDT. No sick grandkids to take care of today. Thank God!
ReplyDeleteGood Wednesday puzzle from Jacob Stulberg and comments from Steve, particulaarly on TEETH I thought it was easier than yesterday's.
Steve, I agree PAPA for Hayden was meant aS praise. I checked with a friend who taught music in school and she agreed.
On 55 across I first thought of Denver (a great city to visit - wonderful vistas) but not enough spaces. I got if off the perps.
I never heard of OVIEDO but filled it in on perps. I also thought of Toledo but fortunately waited on the perps.
To Lucina and Al Cyone - remember FRODO LIVES!!. I enjoyed reading Tolkien.
Cos - companies (caught me before, too)
ReplyDeleteJohnr, do something!
According to Wiki, PAPA was used as an affectionate nickname for Hayden during his lifetime and well beyond.. In the 19th century, when Hayden's work fell out of favor, PAPA became pejorative. Now Hayden's work is becoming respected again.
ReplyDelete"For years the nickname 'Papa Haydn' has characterized the composer. Used by his own musicians and others as a tribute of affection and respect, the expression increasingly took on misleading connotations, and came to signify a benevolent but bewigged and old-fashioned classic. The recent revival of interest in Haydn's music has made plain that the traditional picture had become a caricature, and that it gave a false impression of richness and diversity of his development as a composer." See Papa Hayden in Wiki. The article mentions Hahtoolah's rhyme, as well.
I read 65A as "(CO's)companies with crossings" = railroads.
I thought 65A was a cute misdirection, board with filers = emery, after I realized it was filers not fliers.
Johnr,
ReplyDeleteI asked you this question last time. You never replied. What browser are you using?
I mentioned Misty solved her post jail problem by changing her browser.
Please, please try a new browser and post here. Poor Argyle can't monitor the blog all the time and release your blocked posts.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThought this had a bit of a crunch for a Wednesday, but it all fell into place. I had ethane at first but hertz called for an e, not an a. Never read Tolkien but loved Geisha.
Dudley, were you able to get the puzzle from Cruciverb? I wasn't and I still have no idea how I accessed yesterday's.
Nice job, Jacob, and good expo, Steve. (Once again, that dreaded three-letter word at 34D! Stay calm, Tin.)
Cold, windy, and dreary. Yuck!
Good morning folks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a fun write-up, Steve. I will go with "affectionate" nickname for PAPA Haydn. And I do remember that he would add sudden bursts of sound to his symphonies to wake up potential dozers. HG - I also link that nickname to Hemingway.
I enjoyed the solve because it was a bit of a challenge, especially in the SE. I did remember QUITO and OVIEDO eventually, since I already had SPY NOVEL in place. I have never been to Spain - it's on the Bucket List.
The theme didn't do much for me, only because I thought it was strange to use (what I looked at as) a partial for the unifier: OUT OF. So maybe I am just out of it...
Nice, smooth puzzle today. I like that the reveal was at the end of the downs.
ReplyDeleteSteve, your commentary is fun! Loved your explanation for HERTZ! What's a mid-sized saloon?
Didn't read Memoirs of a Geisha, but it is one of my favorite movies.
Today's offering was challenging, but ultimately doable. It was "out of" sight. I did it with pencil and eraser in the newspaper. In a couple of spots I wore a hole in the paper before I finally got it.
ReplyDeleteI knew QUITO right away. In the 60's through the 80's NASA had a tracking station {Tracking Station pictures} in the mountains above Quito that we used to track manned and unmanned satellites. It's still in use, but not by NASA anymore once most tracking was moved to the TDRSS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.)
I had SWIM before SWAP and wanted TOLEDO and ETHANE but after a while and with the help of perps I got the right answers.
Let's hope that the cold windy weather we are having today in central PA and the rest of the country is Winter's last gasp. Frankly, along with most people, I am tired of Winter. It's time for the beach.
Yesterday, it was the NW, today it's the SE. DNF! (Oh well, at least the wind has changed...)
ReplyDeleteI can't beat myself up over Naticks like oviedo/quito. Kinsey/Spynovel was a personal Natick also.)
3/25/14 Rhymes with Orange.
I am not suggesting anyone try a wheel alignment at home, but posted this here to remind me to check these later. I always wanted to know how they did a wheel alignment...
out of #1
out of #2
out of #3
Teeth = Force hit a raw nerve with me. Our N.J. town several years ago passed an ordinance making it a crime to feed stray cats. I stood in front of the Mayor, & all the Council & desperately tried to explain to them how I had saved the town from from untold stray kittens by feeding, then adopting & having spayed a female feral cat. My words fell on deaf ears. But I distinctly remember the councilman saying he wanted his ordinance "to have teeth," & therefore proposed the fine be no less than $500 per day...
($500/day for feeding a kitten???)
Well thanks for bending the law to your whims, & making the police "the enemy."
You know what I say about your stupid law! BITE ME!!!
(I admit it openly, I fed a cat! Come & get me you dirty coppers!)
Very DF crossing to start off the morning in the NW corner.
ReplyDeleteBEAT BISHOP huh?
Explanation for the new slang challenged.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle today. Like a theme which has a unifier telling you what it is. No lookups and no strikethroughs needed.
Catalina ISLE - Have I told you about the 4 days I spent continually circumnavigating Catalina Island on the (USS Greer County LST-799) back in 1958 on a training cruise a year before I became an ENS? Top speed was about 11 knots and factored in my decision not to request duty in the 'gator Navy, but to request destroyers.
Time to SHOVE off
Maybe I have brain cramps today, but I found this difficult. Took me longer than usual for a Wed.
ReplyDeleteHG is it Chantilly Lace?
ReplyDeleteJB in VA
Look, mom, no cavities! I asked the dentist if he thought I'd be able to keep my teeth until I turn 69. His response, "Hmmmm. What day is today?"
ReplyDeleteHeartRx, but do you kinda like the Beatles?
Yippee! Got my check and deposited it in the bank. This guy is official out of the mortgage-lending business.
There shoulda been an "ly" there -- officially.
ReplyDeleteHeartRX:
ReplyDeleteSpain is a wonderful country to visit. I've been three times though of course since it's the land of my ancestors I feel very at home there.
TOLEDO is a beautiful, ancient city where Christians, Moslems and Jews lived together peacefully, that is until a certain movement triggered by Torquemada.
I hope you go someday.
I enjoyed the puzzle. I had La Paz instead of Quito. Didn't work. I thought the gas was ethane but I got them all fixed.
ReplyDeleteYes, Chantilly Lace (and a pretty face). Anon. beat me to it.
Add me in to the group not liking Tolkien. I tried The Hobbit and quit about halfway through it. The movies were too long for my tastes.
Did anybody like the favorite New Yorker cartoons yesterday? I had a few favorites. Touché was one of my favorites. Another was the frustrated little man shoveling snow in a snow globe, the doggy at the Pearly Gates asking for his testicles back and some others.
I love a speed run on a Wednesday morning--many thanks, Jacob! My only goof was ETHANE/HARTZ instead of ETHENE/HARTZ. You can tell I'm not a scientist. Like Rev, I also had TOLEDO before OVIEDO at first--but, my, what a beautiful cathedral--thanks for posting a photo, Steve!
ReplyDeleteI still don't "get" OZZY for metal, even though I got it. Does it refer to music, heavy metal? Ozzy Osbourne, maybe? (I only know his wife and daughter from TV--not his music). Or is this something else entirely?
Anyway, a fun way to start the morning. Have a great day, everybody!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jacob Stulberg, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteTook me a while to get this one. I thought this more like a Thursday than a Wednesday puzzle. But, that's OK.
NW filled up easily (for a change).
Had SWIM for 10A. That goofed up that corner for a long time. Finally got PAR and then I was OK with SWAP.
Theme was good and made sense. (In other words, I got it)
Liked LEVEE for 62A.
OVIEDO was unknown to me. I also tried TOLEDO for a while, but nothing else made sense. Finally perped it.
I guess OZZY must be some musician. Perps and a wag.
I tried cruciverb.com again today and no cigar. I read the note about logging in directly and having an account. I do have an account and go directly there from my IPad. ???????????????????
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(312 33995322)
Steve,
ReplyDeleteBrilliant theme title!
Misty,
Yes. Heavy metal Ozzy Osbourne.
Dudley, Irish Miss & Abejo,
Can you download the Cruciverb puz via your computer? If so, you'll have to forward it to your iPad.
Hola Everyone, A tough puzzle for me. I had some unknowns like first name in Metal--Oh! that kind of metal. Also, had breeze in at first, then erased it. I didn't know I Robot, (not much for movies) and But seemed too easy for Objection! Overthinking, under thinking, whatever I did today didn't help.
ReplyDeleteAfter I used Goodgle for a couple of answers, things fell into place and seemed much easier than I thought they would be. For instance, mail box for letter holder. I was thinking of an office letter holder and couldn't come up with anything at all.
Thanks for all the explanations, Steve. Good job!
Quito is indeed very high. The native population have chewed cocoa leaves for generations. The leaves help ward off the cold, the altitude problems, and give the people energy in that high mountain area. The Andes natives in Peru also chew cocoa leaves. Along with veggies and grains you could purchase dried cocoa leaves from the vendors in the village markets.
Busy morning.
Have a gareat day, everyone.
C6D6 Peg - A mid-size saloon? A bar with about 10 stools? Actually, you made me realize I had lapsed back into my native English - in the UK a sedan is a saloon - a four-door car.
ReplyDeleteMisty - Ozzy Osbourne indeed. He was the lead singer of Black Sabbath. here is a representative sample of their music if you want to rock out your Wednesday.
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings - the Hobbit was a 150-page kids' book that Peter Jackson bloated into a movie trilogy to cash in on the LOTR success. I wasn't impressed with those movies either - he cut a lot of the subplots from the narrative and made a complete mess of the ending. Some books are meant to be read, not chopped up to make movies. I don't think Tolkien would have been impressed.
OK, rant over :)
Learn how to love
ReplyDeleteForget how to hate
OZZY and Randy, going off the rails on a Crazy Train
I can understand some of you not reading Tolkien, you either love, or hate it.
ReplyDeleteA best friend of mine tried to get me to read it for years, & I declined. Wizards, dwarves, Hobbits? (You must be joking.) Not my cup of tea.
However, when a girlfriend suggested I try it, (the power of female persuasion) I found I could not put it down. It is in the way J.R.R. Tolkien writes, catching your attention, & then making you want more.
Please note that the 1st book, The Hobbit, was intended as a childrens book, written for his young son at the time. The epic trilogy The Lord Of The Rings was sent to that same son in serial fashion, who was fighting overseas during World War II.
The War influenced the books just as much as ancient lore, & many books have been written to explain how this Epic came to be.
Let's try that again...
ReplyDeleteCrazy Train
("NOT" - because he would have done it right the first time)
Thank you for the puzzle, Jacob. Thank you for the review, Steve.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was just a bit more difficult than my usual Wednesday, but not as hard as a Thursday. I liked the theme, although I didn’t need the unifier to get the theme answers.
Hand up for TOLEDO before OVIEDO. Hand up for THRILLER before SPY NOVEL.
I also don’t know JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, but the crossword answers are always ORC or ENT, whatever they mean. I didn’t know I ROBOT. I was debating whether to enter NYLON or ORLON. In each case, perps saved me.
The perps gave me PES. It looked wrong, but the perps insisted, so I left it.
So between me and the perps, ta-da!
Steve: Excellent write-up & links.
ReplyDeleteJacob: Thank you for a FUN Wednesday puzzle.
Irish Miss ... I'm calm ... but for (at least) the 8th time this year, due to THAT WORD being in the grid, it was a DNF !!!
Like my Pinch, I prefer my grid to be NEAT!
JOINT STOCK ... stock owned by a Husband and Wife.
Never heard of a Crying JAG, but I liked your story Steve.
The JAG's V-12 was a perfect engine ... for about 100 miles ... then it needed to be re-tuned.
Bill G. I enjoyed the New Yorker cartoons yesterday. Didn't think it was a requirement to comment.
Cheers!!!
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteNo nits today, but OVIEDO was a stumbling block. A few false starts, but perps brought it all together, eventually.
I'm FOND of this puzzle
Playing any wind instrument is all about BREATH CONTROL.
I'm a big Tolkein fan.
Cool regards!
JzB
C.C., thanks for the Ozzy confirmation, and thanks for the link, Steve.
ReplyDeleteA fun little romp today. Tough, but fair, and lots to like. Fell into the ethane trap, but it straightened out. Didn't fall into the La Paz trap since I already had the Q.
ReplyDeleteLaughed out loud at the crying Jag comment Steve. And speaking of such, a year or so back 62 Rampy posted a link to a spoof on the Prince of Darkness that is just hilarious. Well worth reading again.
Hi Y'all! Enjoyable puzzle, Jacob! Thanks, Steve! I've read enough English novels to know a saloon is a car. Sounds like the type of car which drives one to drink.
ReplyDeletePES? I thought it should be PED, but the perps said not.
KINSEY was all perps, but I should have known. I remember how that study shocked a generation of people who didn't talk about sex at all -- especially in our conservative neck of the prairie. You'da thunk my mother had five kids by immaculate conception.
Hahtoolah, You must have played out of the same piano book I did. I sure knew the Papa Haydn ditty for a quick cw fill .
Board for filers: first thought was IRS or taxes but those fills didn't pay out.
BillG, I tried to access the New Yorker cartoons & failed. One flashed on my screen then off. Tried several times.
I have absolutely no idea what a "browser" is or how to change one.
Nope, no requirement. I enjoyed them a lot and I thought they would be fun to talk about. But, maybe not...
ReplyDeletePK: dunno why they would be hard to access. They were on a webpage on CBSNews.com. Here's their URL.
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/60-minutes-favorite-new-yorker-cartoons/
100%, but I don't think it should have been as difficult as it felt. not for a Wednesday. I had a couple of re-writes, but the main delay for me in was the SW corner. I just couldn't make myself believe that an AIDE is always to be "trusted," and I couldn't for the longest time think of a three letter sequel to "Crying," until, that is, I did.
ReplyDeleteMy sky diving days are long past. But the reason some of us (me) take it up in the first place is to overcome a fear of flying. It worked! After a year of sky diving in Florida, whenever I got on another plane, I could think to myself, "Well at least I don't have to jump out of this one."
Ol' Man Keith
ReplyDeleteI never had a "fear of flying" but in my early 20's I dated girl who was into SKY DIVING.
I had to make 5 Static-Line jumps (from 2,500 to 4,500 feet) before I was "Qualified" to make a "Free-Fall" (from around 10,000+ feet).
What I mostly remember was the "Free-Fall" lasted about 50 seconds ... but your mind is working so-fast that it seemed like a half-hour.
After walking away (in-one-piece) from that "Free-Fall" experience ... I decided not to press providence.
It was FUN ... but once was enough.
C.C.:
ReplyDeleteOK, I went to cruciberb.com from my desktop Mac and was able to download today's puzzle via Across Lite puzzles. I could not from the Archive section of the Home screen.
Then I went to the same site via my IPad and could not download the puzzle from the Across Lite puzzles section. Nor could I from the Archives section.
I will try to forward to my IPad, but if I am away from home what good does that do?
I tried to contact cruciverb but there does not seem to be a phone number to call.
Anyhow, I will keep working on this when I have time.
Abejo
Irish Miss 9:46, and others -
ReplyDeleteOnce I spotted the message on Cruciverb about arriving only via a browser, I tried that, on the iPad. From there I could access the LAT current-day puzzle, as usual, and accept the iPad's offer to open it in Crosswords. It didn't open up the first time, so I tried again and it worked. No idea what I did differently if anything. It may take a few more iterations before I catch on to the knack.
C.C. - if the experience above can be repeated, I won't have to take your suggestion. One thing I haven't learned yet is the time of day at which the current puzz file becomes available; historically, I have had access at 10:00 PM Eastern, but only through Cruciverb's Archive section. That part is shut down for now.
Ol' Man Keith:
ReplyDeleteYou don't seem to be yourself in the Avatar. Must be a role you're playing.
PK: A "browser" is what you use to surf the internet. Typically many use Internet Explorer from Microsoft which comes with Microsoft Windows, Firefox from Mozilla or Google's Chrome to name a few.
ReplyDeleteTo switch Browsers you will have to use your current one to go to another browser's home page to download it and then install it. To make it your prime browser it will ask you if you want to select it as your primary one during the install process.
I currently have 4 different browsers on my computer, but I mostly use FireFox. I find it works best for my needs.
Funny. Thought this was easiest of the week. Never heard of a jag crying. But with "glad" and "aide" it fell in place. Where are all the people who comment "oh a speed run for me" today?. It wasnt for me today but it was fun. Not like last two days. Very straight forward. Good puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jacob Stulberg and Steve. It was a fun puzzle and great write-up. Easily solved and easier than yesterday.
ReplyDeleteSteve, my employer in the early '70s had a Jag XKE that was almost always in the shop. In fact, I think once it was in the shop for a year or more.
I haven't read any Tolkien but loved Memoirs of a Geisha (so did my husband).
From yesterday, Anonymous-T, I think you must have meant Mitt Romney's wife's horse was in the Olympic dressage competition.
Have a nice day.
Dudley @ 2:56 - I posted earlier but I guess I did something wrong. Your solution worked like a charm. Thanks. If you find out the time we can get the next day's puzzle, please let me know.
ReplyDeleteTin, you sound a little riled up, so go have a pinch or two of Pinch! Cheers. :-)
Musings 2
ReplyDelete-Just back home from subbing in Omaha and driving in a 40 mph wind to and from!
-All right Dave, drop that cat and put up your hands.
-Yup, JB and BIll, The Big Bopper told his girl, “you knooooooow what I like” in Chantilly Lace after all those but’s (one t)
-We teachers have all dealt with a child on a Crying JAG
-Do you recognize the OUTATIME phrase and movie now?
-Ethel Tofflemeier was the musical character who played this PIANOLA about which I proffered a question last week. Name of the musical?
oc4beach: Thanks for the info. I have an IMAC set up for me by a GEEK. I have no idea what my browser is. I keep getting update notices which I don't allow because I don't know what they are. I need a resident Geek I think.
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss ... really ... I'm very calm ...
ReplyDeleteBut every time THAT WORD appears I have accepted it will be a DNF.
And three little spaces will be blank.
Husker: I'm going to guess "The Music Man" ... though I'm not familiar with the Ethel Tofflemeier musical character.
(I believe you have mentioned (many times) that it is one of your favorite movies).
Ahhh, the Sun is "close-enough-for-government-work" to be setting.
Cheers!!!
I read about one third of Ishiguros Never Let Me Go, mentioned in a puzzle this week. I could not finish it. I found it banal and boring.It foreshadowed its ghoulish thesis,but took forever to get to the point. I gave up and read the entire synopsis on the internet. Ridiculous. I am glad I did not waste more time on it. I did enjoy Remains of the Day by the same author.
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks
I can't remember the details for sure but Ethel Tofflemeier sure sounds like a character from my favorite musical, The Music Man. Every song is a keeper.
ReplyDeleteA honey wagon is a manure collector, not a spreader.
ReplyDeleteI could get the front page of the New Yorker cartoons, but it wouldn't advance to the next one. I manually posted the link to see pages 2 & 3, and then gave it up as not worth the trouble.
Dudley: Cruciverb seems to be in process of re-writing their linking program, and aren't letting anything go public except the current puzzle until it's OUT OF beta. Current problems will probably clear up then in a few days.
Across Lite occasionally says a downloaded file is corrupted (especially if another puzzle is still running in a different window), but I just download again and it works the second time. I even went to my download cache once and loaded the allegedly corrupted file from there, and it still worked fine.
It seems odd that LAT maintains 3 formats: Across Lite, which seems to be exclusively for Cruciverb, Arcadium, which I've only seen on their home site, and the UClick format, which they send to all their other outlets: Mensa, Merriam-Webster, Yahoo, and syndicated newspapers. Do those links work okay?
Honey wagon is a collector if you're talking about septics but on the farm, it's a spreader.
ReplyDeleteBig Easy at 8:19 am...if you are still here, get the Advocate (newspaper). It come out every day!
ReplyDeleteI found today's puzzle more difficult than most Wednesdays. Didn't understand how TEETH was used, missed JOINT STOCK entirely. Big Easy, are you doing the puzzle in the Times-Picayune?
ReplyDeleteWell, guess I'll just see what the rest of the week holds.....
Owen - Thanks for that info. The two links in your post, UClick and Arkadium, both fail on an iPad. Arkadium does run when accessed straight from LAT. I haven't tried UClick elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss 4:31 - will do!
Mary K: If a law is ignored and un-enforced..it is said to have "no teeth". If the powers that be want to change that they might say, "Put some teeth into it!."
ReplyDeleteTo "beef it (whatever needs it) up", or to make something stronger are synonymous meanings.
Tinbeni,
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember most of all was the wonderful silence that came after the rush of the jump and the air whizzing by. When I'd deploy the chute, everything just *stopped*--and there you'd be, just sitting there calmly in the middle of the sky.
Lucina,
My avatar is just a modest, democratic attempt to fit in with the great mass of surfers. I have been feeling anonymous of late, and I thought I would go all the way with it.
Hi all...
ReplyDeleteFor starters, hand up with CED - yesterday the NW, today SE. I finally have to give and consult the Google for John le Carre. Then felt dumb - I heard about Soldier Spy Toy Guy... Oh, well. Still a DNF at X-ing of 46 and 55. Thanks for that last letter (and a fun writeup) Steve.
Jacob, I enjoyed it.
32d - I wanted Dr. Ruth. BUT why talk about it, just do it! Someone explained KINSEY and I recall hearing a book review on NPR.
Re 65a - Is a flyer another word for hang-nail?
I, ROBOT originally an Asimov story - a favorite author of my ute. Anyone read the Foundation Trilogy (2x). I preferred this to Tolkien. I could never get out of the Two Towers (I really did try twice).
Bugs BEAT me to the BEATs me last year, I'll try again.
Apropos: "ON THE JOB"... That's where I've been until coming here and watching everyone BREEZE through my STOCK of things to say...
Nancy - Yes. Duh! Thanks.
PK - please accept the updates! Your browser is Safari.
PSA to all with Microsoft Word - don't click .rtf files in emails. Big bug.
HG - Chantilly Lace is the bar PAPA met his keeper (3rd) wife. She's never been an EVIL stepmom.
Also, we just discussed Back to the Future today at lunch. We were talking about the Space Ripples discovered this week and trying in to SHOE it into time-travel movies. Yes, we are all nerds on my floor.
D-O: SPREADER story - That's your Biff moment.
Board from this RRS - I did long ago. OZZY. If you don't like the music - just read the lyrics. OZZY is the poster boy for being OUT OF it.
Cheers, -T
Nancy Murphy - I was once told that if you had a Jaguar, you had to have two - "One to drive, while the other one is in the shop".
ReplyDeleteI can vouch for that, I did indeed have two. The V12 XJS and a supercharged XJR. And absolutely they did rotate shop-duty.
Now I have a 12-year-old BMW and the start of a retirement fund.
Keith - I'll build an Anonymous K for you if you like. We'd be in the same TRANQuill font...
ReplyDeleteI was just re-reviewing the puzzle and saw Xing again. It reminded me of DW's friend in grad school that was smitten with the "Duck X-ing" sign.
ReplyDelete"Oh, cute a duck 'zing'," she said. DW just looked at her. It took a bit to sort out the sign meant duck crossing.
To DW friend's defense, though she grew up in the US, she taught in China for a year.
Ever have one of those moments? Like when you realize Pontius Pilate is not an on time pilot?
C, -T