In another variation of the letter substitution puzzle, Robin removes the letter "H" from some common phrases and inserts an "IT" in its place, and the resulting new phrases are skillfully clued. The clincher is the very witty reveal which reparses Switch Hit to Switch H IT. As you all know by now, for me the reveal is critical to the enjoyment of this style of puzzle, and I love IT! Robin has been with the LAT for many years going back to this PUZZLE She also is active on Twitter, and commenting on puzzles as well as having her own SITE promoting her puzzles and some books she has authored. This puzzle for me had the feel of a Friday with a low word count, no classic crosswordese and some fun 7 and 8 letter fill. ACETONE, ADOPTEE, ASUNDER, CELESTE, FERRARO, ROBERTS, CHATROOM, ETRUSCAN, LOIS LANE, SUGAR PEA.
17A. Imp who annoys the webmaster? : SITE DEVIL. (9) S
24A. Security group at a protest? : SIT IN GUARDS. (11) S
34A. Quote from "Guerrilla Warfare"? : CITE GUEVARA. (11) C
49A. Improved Gemini missile? : BETTER TITAN.(11) BETTER T
57A. Swing both ways, and a literal hint to how four puzzle answers were created : SWITCH HIT.
Across:
1. 1980s Vicki Lawrence TV role : MAMA. The much younger Vicki played Carol Burnett's mother first on Carol's variety show and then on MAMA's FAMILY.(6:12).
5. Baylor University site : WACO. Where RG III and Brittney Greiner starred.
9. Cul-__ : DE SAC. We do not always want to use literal translations of French phrases incorporated into English. Not to be confused with 18D. Make potable, as seawater : DESALT.
14. Org. created in Baghdad in 1960 : OPEC. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
15. Emperor after Galba : OTHO. He was one of the 4 in the year of 4 Emperors, which I learned about from my Classics studying son. No operation or salad named for this one.
16. Taken : IN USE. I doubt the movies would have done very well with this title.
19. Person of influence : MOGUL. If you ever wondered, the name comes from the Great Mogul, Mughal emperor
of India after the conquest of 1520s,
20. Steel plow pioneer : DEERE. A company built on a very simple premise. HISTORY.
21. Amy Adams' "Man of Steel" role : LOIS LANE. Why do the movies and TV shows always get it wrong; Lois is a brunette and Lana Lang the red-head. Once again a ginger.
23. "Baudolino" author : ECO. Author Umberto is becoming a favorite of constructors.
27. Mondale's running mate : FERRARO. Geraldine, if you forgot.
29. Cheesecake ingredient? : GAM. Pulp fiction word for an attractive female leg, probably from the Italian Gamba. Splynter are you out there? A classic.
30. Fondle : PET. Sounds weird.
31. Tasteless : BLAND. Ah, tasteless, not tasteless.
33. "Where __ you?" : WERE. A bad question to ever here from your SO.
38. Cheers : RAHS.
40. "On the Record" host Van Susteren : GRETA. No way to link this Fox news star without it ending up in political discussion.
41. Mozart's "L'__ del Cairo" : OCA.
42. Humanities degs. : MAS. Master of Arts
45. Oliver Twist, e.g. : ADOPTEE. Not my first or second thought.
52. __ mission : ON A. A Gemini one?
53. Ancient Po Valley dweller : ETRUSCAN. With a son who majored in Roman Archaeology, the pre-Roman Italian people is another gimme.
54. Classics, e.g. : I-PODS. I am too old to understand this. (From C.C.: This refers to iPod Classic model.)
56. Underground network : ROOTS. This clue/fill will grow on you.
60. CD alternative : T-NOTE.
61. Fleming and McKellen : IANS. An Odd Couple? James Bond and Magneto? Or Gandalf?
62. Hawk's foe : DOVE. A very vocal comparison from the 60s when the Vietnam War raged.
63. Certain car carriers : SEMIS.
64. Span. miss : SRTA.
65. Hip follower? : STER. This is an accepted suffix (mob, trick etc.) even if you do not like this type of fill. My personal favorite is easy. LOB. Anyway, hipsters abounded in the 60s.
Down:
1. Rapper Yasiin Bey, formerly : MOS DEF. I know him only from his films, certainly not his most recent name. He was born Dante Terrell Smith. Not a 60s reference.
2. Pricing word : A PIECE.
3. Astronomer's sighting : METEOR.
4. Aspire maker : ACER. Computer.
6. Beach transp. : ATV. All Terrain Vehicle.
7. It may be seen on a dog : CHILI. Funny.
8. Chinese tea : OOLONG. Did you know the HISTORY? It ties into the ...
9. Chinese dish served on small plates : DIM SUM. An odd sort of Clecho.
10. __ Gay : ENOLA. I think it is time this clue was dropped.
11. Edible pod : SUGAR PEA. These are a form of snow or snap pea, not a sweet pea.
12. In bits and pieces : ASUNDER. Divorced anyone?
13. Pizza-For-One maker : CELESTE. A CSO to my son's MIL.
22. Supermarket letters : IGA. Independent Grocers Alliance.
25. Requiem Mass hymn word : IRAE.
26. Half a patio pair : TONG.
28. MLB stats : RBIS. It should never be "RBI's" as the plural is Runs Batted In, still RBI, you can have 10 RBI.
32. Grooved on : DUG. here we go back to the 60s; I am home.
33. Trendy sandwich : WRAP. So last year.
34. Place to practice netiquette : CHAT ROOM.
35. Latin 101 word : ERAT.
36. Sacred Hindu text : VEDA.
37. Not accented, as syllables : ATONIC.
38. 1955 Fonda role : ROBERTS. Hey MISTER. (2:18) A wonderful romp with Hank Fonda, Jimmy Cagney, Bill Powell and a young Jack Lemmon (no relation).
39. Polish remover ingredient : ACETONE.It is where the smell comes from. If you smell that in someone's breath get them immediately to a hospital as it is likely caused by diabetic ketosis. Or too many orange certs.
42. Diddles (around) : MESSES. Not my first thought, nor likely Dennis'.
43. Hyperbola part : ARC. Not an exaggeration.
44. Equilibrium : STASIS.
46. One of Goldilocks' complaints : TOO HOT.
47. Vitamin K source : ENDIVE.This is the one vegetable I do not like.
48. __ egg : EASTER.
50. __-frutti : TUTTI. We have to go here: LINK. (2:05).
51. "__, truth is the first casualty": Aeschylus : IN WAR. Another topic I will avoid for non-political political reasons.
55. Third degrees? : PHDS. Philosophiae Doctor(s). Nice misdirection BA-1, MA-2, PhD-3.
58. Bank acct. entry : INTerest.
59. PC-checking org., at times : TSA. Transportation Safety Administration.
Another Friday in the record books, the Open Tournament from Royal Liverpool is here to amuse us and of course in So.Fla. We have sun and have rain. Thanks Robin and thanks Corner.
Enjoy all. Lemonade out.
Somehow got this without getting the theme.
ReplyDeleteMorning, all!
ReplyDeleteTook awhile, but I finally managed to get through unassisted. Like Hungry Mother, however, I couldn't figure out the theme while solving and had to rely on perps (I couldn't even get the theme answers from the "wacky" clues without massive amounts of perp help).
To my credit, I did eventually suss out the theme after the solve (and before I came here).
Lots of reliance on red letters for this one. I came up dry on any poetry today, and the Cryptic clue I came up with is, I admit, pretty lame:
ReplyDeleteI've gone beyond the last witloof (6)
Hello to you all. I solved the puzzle but could not figure out the SWITCH HIT connection. Only through WAGS and PERPS was I able to finish this puzzle. On my first pass I had about a fourth of the blanks filled but there were so many unknowns. Rap Singers and crossword solvers don't go together and putting these people in puzzles is about the same as asking the third leader of Mozambique. But I got MOSDEF anyway. OTHO was new to me, and the spelling of Dr. GUEVARA was a guess because my Latin knowledge is minimal. I'm glad I had some gin with A TONIC while reading about those crazy people shooting at planes last night. Other unknowns were CELESTE ROBERTS (never saw the movie) and DIMSUM.
ReplyDeleteMy last solve was 7D CHILI dog because I kept wanting to put OTTO and had never heard of OTHO.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteRight on, Hungry Mother. Moi, aussi!
I don't think astronomers actually look at METEORs. It's only a meteor for one brief, shining moment.
Big Easy, you ought to watch Mister Roberts the next time it's available on TMC or Netflix. It's worth it.
33. "Where __ you?" : WERE. A bad question to ever here from your SO.
ReplyDeleteA little too dependent on spellchecker?
I got a few of the theme fills but it took awhile to actually figure out the theme (though I think just knowing that "IT" was in the answer helped).
ReplyDeleteIn the end, the north central proved a bit sticky (NERO was an early entry which, of course, didn't help). WACO eluded me for some reason (even though I had the "O") until CHILI took me home. OTHO was a complete unknown.
[12:08]
Not very enjoyable. There was a theme?
ReplyDeleteGood morning all.
ReplyDeleteWho was the emperor before Galba ?
I thought 17A "Imp who annoys the webmaster" was ANONYMOUS. It fit.
Trader Joes yesterday and IGA today. RE: Marti's comment yesterday. IGA was ranked 34th.
Thank you Robin and Lemonade.
And Thank you Marti and CC for yesterday as well.
Got the theme yesterday but didn't get the theme today. Completed yesterday's but not today.
I had a CHILD on a dog. I wasn't thinking of food there. But I was thinking of food at the Cheesecake clue, until the V-8 came a flyin'.
Gotta get back to work. See all y'all later.
Good morning everybody,
ReplyDeleteAfter a week of easy puzzles, it looks like I met my match. I got SWITCH HIT but I couldn't figure out the theme clues.
I liked the clues for 55D: Third degrees? PHDS and 7D: It may be seen on a dog: CHILI. For the second one I kept thinking of fleas on a dog. I never saw CHILI coming.
Have a great day!
What a wonderful write-up! I'm all verklempt.
ReplyDeleteI amazed myself today by finishing unassisted, despite just about everything being WAGS. I lack all knowledge of modern (read post 1970's) music and its perpetrators, science and sport. My memory deserts me when it comes to names of characters in film, TV or novels most of the time too. So I consider it a miracle that I got through at all, especially without having a clue about the theme.
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ on ERAT too. Since this is the imperfect tense of the verb esse, I resisted using it for the longest time, thinking it would not come until after Latin 101, but never having perused a Latin course in this country, I must be wrong. I thought it could have been better clued as a theorem proof word.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect to Nice Cuppa, this was definitely not my cup of tea. In other words, I defer to my good friend, Thumper.
We have a beautiful day, picture-perfect for the opening day at Saratoga.
Bill G from a day or two ago: re The Bridge. You are right in saying the show is dark and violent, more so, I think, this season. Unfortunately, drug cartels, sex trafficking, police corruption, smuggling, etc. all lend themselves to violence and evil, if they're going to be portrayed factually. IMO, the acting and cast ensemble far outweigh any negative opinions I have and I do have several. :-)
Have a great day.
PS Thanks, Lemony, for your cogent expo.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteFun Friday fare. Slow getting the theme gimmick, but the unifier, SWITCH HIT, helped. Got APODS from perps, but didn't see the classic connection either.
Didn't realize the ETRUSCAN culture extended into the Po valley, but perps were solid. Learned something today. Also got OOLONG and DIM SUM.
Always like ASUNDER; don't get to use it much.
Didn't know ENDIVE was strong on vit. K. Don't eat it much.
Mister ROBERTS is one of my most favorite movies.
Robin:
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by. We who toil here at the Corner really enjoy our constructors and getting to know them. Happy belated birthday.
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteA bit less difficult than the typical Friday. Scattershot fill game me enough perps to work through it. Theme - which I now appreciate - totally eluded me though. Thanks for the expo, Lemon.
Horriblye insomnia last night. Even when it was time to get up, I sill couldn't sleep. That's my excuse.
Owen - Had to look up witloof, but it works.
These should be obvious.
Light-weight wheel turned by model's leg [3]
Forest ruminant grows tail, works on the farm. [5]
Much to do today, though I won't be operating heavy equipment or making important business decisions, so IMBO.
Cheers! [or, per 38A - RAHS!]
JzB the over-tired trombonist
D. I am suffering from an odd dyslexia lately misusing here/hear there/their; sorry.
ReplyDeleteAnon at 7;32, did you read the write up? There was a very clear theme with a reveal.
Owen, you choice of cryptic fits in with my choice of vegetables.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your insightful comments. Your instant feedback is invaluable to me.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I take all your comments to heart. If you really hate seeing a word in a crossword grid (like ESNE, for example), chances are, I'll delete it from my database.
Thanks for the birthday wishes! I celebrated by cosplaying Batwoman at All-AmeriCon, with the grandkids.
Hi Y'all! Enjoyed WAGs & perp filling today, Robin, but the theme was too far-fetched for me to get. Lemon had to lay that one on my feeble brain. Thanks to both of you.
ReplyDeleteTrying to figure out CHILI on the dog gave me indigestion.
I've heard of DIM SUM but that took most of the perps. Never heard of CELESTE pizza.
Big Easy: Right on about rappers and crossword solvers being incompatible. The only time I hear rap is when a car cruises by with the radio too loud.
I knew Mister ROBERTS. Saw the movie on one of my first dates ever. Even watched it all.
I watched part of the Open Championship from Royal Liverpool during breakfast. I couldn't find anything else on TV except war & violence or some other nauseating situation. Too sad.
Good news (maybe): My brother went home from the hospital yesterday. His daughters posted a picture of the occasion. He looked very sick yet. Now if he can survive the presence of 8 grandchildren under 8 yrs. old and the sight of his beloved huge yard needing work....
Well, I finished this one but I had no help from the theme entries - of course having no theme clue printed out with the puzzle starts things off for theme grok failure.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad for the explanation of the them because I never would have figured it out.
Another reason why I'm not a fan of wacky theme puzzles.
How many people would have gotten MOS DEF with the clue: Brother Sam on "Dexter"?
ReplyDeleteJust wondering.
Robin -
ReplyDeleteI had MAMA, OPEC, FERARRO [mis-spelt] and DEERE, and perped out MOS DEF - a name I vaguely recognize. Yasin Bey was a total unknown.
Cool regards!
JzB
Hey, I got the theme! Well, except BETTERTITAN... I couldn't figure out the TAN part. Che Guevara was the first theme answer I parsed. (Love Antonio Banderas in Evita, BTW)
ReplyDeleteThe reason for a DFN was FERRARO/TONG. I had Ferrari/Ting. Huh? WTH is a ting?
Robin, a different clue wouldn't have helped me with the Mos Def answer. The only rap person I know is Dr. Dre...old school. Oh maybe IceT.
All in all, a good Friday-type puzzle.
Okay, so 1 week to the infamous Gilroy Garlic Festival. The city is abuzz with activity. Everybody gets involved which is a good thing because we expect 90,000 garlic-lovin' folks to visit!
May the garlic be with you.
No vampires in Gilroy this month. Anyone watching the last season of True Blood ?
ReplyDeleteRS, I loved Dexter which I refused to watch until my children sat me down one marathon Sunday in their second year and that clue would have been much easier.
G G - re: tong.
ReplyDeletePatio grillers use a pair of tongs to flip food. Half would be one TONG. Sorta like one scissor. :-)
Robin, thanks for dropping in. The Dexter clue wouldn't have helped me, either. I'm familiar with MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor), but I'm deaf to MOSDEF -- that was all perps.
ReplyDeletePK, so you got to see the whole movie! There's a first time for everything. I take it you saw it somewhere other than the drive-in. Good news on your brother. Tell him not to sweat the small stuff (ie: lawn).
Robin,
ReplyDeleteI solved MOS DEF the same way as JzB.
Do you call this song about a rapper ?
Back to work for me.
Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong. I liked this puzzle and appreciated the clever theme (once it was explained). But I found a couple of clues a bit off; courtesy of Robin or Rich? 54A Classics, e.g.: I-PODS doesn't make much sense to me even after the explanation. Also, 3D Astronomer's sighting: METEOR. I think meteors flashing through the night sky are not usually of any concern to most astronomers. I would have thought "Dark night sighting" or something similar would have been better.
Irish Miss, thanks for your feedback about The Bridge. It makes sense that the subject matter would be dark and violent. However, it also makes sense for me to avoid that show now that I have that insight. Also, if I'm correct that all of the episodes run together rather than having a conclusion each week, then that's another reason for me to avoid it. Thanks again for your feedback.
Greetings, friends!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lemonade for your illuminating blog. Not only did I not see the theme, I didn't understand SWITCH HIT.
Over all, Robin, most of this was quite doable and I sussed MOSDEF with only the S missing once the others filled across.
Very few clues or fill bother me; I simply accept them as necessary to the integrity of the puzzle and move on.
This whole effort takes on such minimal importance after the tragic events of yesterday. I can't imagine the grief for those 289 families affected. R.I.P.
Have a peaceful Friday, everyone! Enjoy every day as if it were the last.
Robin, Dexter wouldn't have helped me solve the rapper. I don't even know what channel that would be on. Honey, just do your puzzles and don't worry about what we'll get or not. We all have such different backgrounds and interests, we don't expect to get everything in the puzzles. We all like to learn. We just sometimes point out the hard areas.
ReplyDeleteDesperotto, I can't imagine how you would guess the movie was in a theatre. LOL! Apparently you had some of the same experiences I did with drive-ins. My brother has a spectacular yard with roses and other flowers. I hope he just looks at it in the summer heat from his windows for awhile.
Well, I worked and worked on this one, and amazingly got the reveal and the theme--and so thought I had nailed this toughie. But, alas, 'twas not to be. A few goof-ups on my part, beginning with MAME instead of MAMA and AMAT instead of ERAT (wondered who might have the name GMETA?). But I still had a lot of fun, so many thanks, Robin.
ReplyDeleteI first had EDWARDS instead of FERRARO for Mondale's running mate--wrong election, I guess. Laughed out loud when I finally got the Cheesecake clue. Was sure MOSDEF had to be wrong, but go figure.
PK, glad to hear your brother is home.
We finally watched EXTANT last night. A bit creepy, but intriguing. Will have to see how it goes.
Have a great Friday, everybody!
Lemmon: Thank you for explaining my DNF ... Ink Blot fest ...
ReplyDeleteGeez, for my 1955 Fonda role I put in Tom Joad (it fit) before those ETRUSCANs bailed out Mr. ROBERTS.
Got the theme reveal, SWITCH HIT, early ... but thought it meant that HIT would be SWITCHed from its location in the other themes.
Robin: If the clue had been "Write in MOS DEF" I would have liked it about as much as I like Rap Music?
No booze in the grid ... though a Gin ATONIC would be nice.
RAHS!!!
Well, for me this is what happens when you have four straight days of easy puzzles - Friday "h its" and my brain is still on Monday! Anyway, after doing a quick tour and picking off the "low-hanging fruit", I was stumped. I got SWITCHHIT (57A) but when I tried to apply it to the long clues, I was focused on finding the letters HIT and making them HTI, ITH, IHT et al. Part of my initial problem, too, was having FORD as the answer to 4D. Any other hands up for making that error?? Ford's Aspire was truly a POS! And what's ironic is that I had an ACER Aspire Notebook once upon a time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I had SWEETPEA initially in 11D and BAS in 42A. Miss Ellie (my SO) helped with a couple (CELESTE and ADOPTEE), but still needed two lookups. I had the back end of the long clues (DEVIL, GUARDS, TITAN) but I really couldn't "get" the theme until I solved SITEDEVIL and saw the H/IT connection. I did like the puzzle and the challenge, and not ashamed to say I had to "cheat" on a couple of clues.
Man oh man, I could not get the theme at all until reading Lemonade's writeup. A hard puzzle, yet solvable for me without having to look anything up.
ReplyDeleteI came up with a five-liner that summed up today's LATCWP for me:
ReplyDeleteMy puzzle solve suffered a glitch,
When I couldn't discover the SWITCH.
I wanted to quit,
When I didn't find "IT",
But I did, so I don't have to bitch!!
Robin- I got MOSDEF strictly from the crosses. Never heard him or his music and don't care to find out what he looks like or listen to his "Bad Poetry put on top of sound machine"
ReplyDeleteTough but completely do-able.
ReplyDeleteCould not get the theme until reading Lemonade's fine explanation. Even so, the "BETTER THAN" flip is a disappointment. The other three are actual things or people. But a happy birthday to Robin....
Here's my offering for a Cryptic Clue:
ReplyDeleteSouth florida resident bank robber (5)
Hi all:
ReplyDeleteI started this puzzle when the paper dropped and solved the SWITCHHIT corner and had (what I thought) a strong toe-hold.
I was no smarter after a nap. 1/2-dozen Googles later (15a 13d, 38d, 41a, 8d, and finally 4d). The last (4d) was my saving grace. I had AUDI (donno who made the car (Moe says Ford), but it fit). OPEC fell and then, um rapper MO___F? Easy. Finally realized HIT wasn't going to be switched.
For 13d did anyone think of those pizza-on-a-bagel people?
I had LEM-lexia too: SweatPEA sat for too long.
I thought 34d was going to be this blOg.
Other than Phd for DW, My Fav is ON A mission from God(?)
Robin thanks for stopping by and now you know my take on MOSDEF as a c/a - seen it enough to get it (with the right perps). I don't watch Dexter nor do I care for Rap.
PK - Good to hear about your brother.
Garlic Gal - Mmmm, I had roasted garlic pizza at a GGF years ago. But, I'll pass on the garlic ice-cream.
Cheers, -T
Chairman Moe, thanks for stepping up to the plate with a fine limerick today!
ReplyDeleteRobin, I struggled with this one mightily. The entire NW was a swath of white, but I slowly started filling in from the SE and worked my way back. I absolutely do not listen to Rap, but have seen MOS DEF in enough puzzles that it was easy enough after a few perps were in place.
In the end, a big DNF. I misspelled GUEVeRA, and since eTONIC looked like a perfectly acceptable word (for a sneaker, that is), I left it in. BZZT!
Anyway, it's Friday. So all's good!
-Correct fill? Check. Got the reveal? Check. See the connection? Took a while. CH/ITe Guevera finally gave me that on Robin’s great puzzle. SIT, SITE, CITE was a tempting blind alley.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Scroll through top SWITCH HITTERS in baseball history. Betcha know who was number 1!
-Bye, bye OTTO, SWEETPEA, BLAHS, OLES, ADOPTED, EDAMAME, ATATTER,
-Brittney Griner’s punch (:44) brought no honor to Baylor
-I wonder how much DESALTing CA is doing in this drought
-Selecting FERRARO and Palin for VP candidates were transparent gambits
-WHERE WERE YOU?
-HIPSTER doofus (:22)
-Some announcers say 50 RBI’s and some say 50 RBI. I grew up with and prefer the former.
-What does is say when I got VEDA immediately?
-The Goldilocks planet theory posits there is no life on VENUS because it is TOO HOT
-Bank INT rates are a joke
-Most common use of ASUNDER
Ol' Man Keith
ReplyDelete1st I too prefer the new Avitar :-).
What is a SITE DEVIL? I could see a SITE DEAMON being a real thing (though a webmaster's helper not annoyance).
I forgot to thank LEM in my 1st post. Thanks for the writeup and explaining it was a substitution puzzle.
Cheers, -T
kazie @8:41
ReplyDeleteAs far as Latin 101 goes, I agree.
I always thought E-RAT was something you bought on E-Bay ...
Husker @1:12
I went out-on-a-limb and guessed correctly the #1 Switch Hitter.
@Husker Gary - I also prefer saying "ribbies" (RBI's) when referring to the plural of a run batted in; and as for the best SWITCHHITter of all times, well it's subjective at best, but my vote would go to Charlie Hustle. His batting average as a "S" was nearly equal from both sides. That to me epitomizes the term.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous T - check my first post - I linked the word FORD to a jpeg of their Aspire model. What were they thinking? I guess that model epitomized their acronym: FixOrRepairDaily!
@HeartRX - you're welcome!
Ms. Stears, thank you for stopping by. Happy Birthday, and best wishes for many more.
ReplyDeleteIts nice to have an instant feedback from an avid, amateur, crowd, but I would take the statistical results with a big pinch of salt. This is a very skewed distribution, population of (senile) seniors and old timers and a plethora of english teachers. Not your typical solvers. Our biggest concerns are, in order, Social Security, Depend-ability on Medicare, Regularity and availability for our next doctor's appointment ( - and how to pay off the s.o.b.). All the rest is plain gravy.
If you wanted MOS DEF clued to our liking, you'd have been wise to write thus: Green fungus with a hearing aid, spelling truncated by the onset of Alzheimers.
That, I will understand. Like I understand Lemonade.
Talking of which, Lemony, I wish you'd stop worrying about your typos. I 'hear' you just fine, even if you omit entire sentences. Don't sweat the small stuff, and quit responding to snarky anons. Its below your dignity. Do you think the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King worried about his southern grammar when he was enunciating his 'I have a Dream' speech ?
IMHO, rappers rape the common sense and decency of their listeners.
Bill G - You are correct about The Bridge being a continuing story, which I know isn't your favorite format. Murder In The First is also ongoing.
ReplyDeletePK - That is wonderful news about your brother. Tell him that now is the time to stop and smell the roses and to let someone else tend to them until he's fully recovered. :-)
HG - Re Brittney Griner: I am truly appalled at the conduct and poor sportsmanship of so many of today's athletes. From the soccer player who bit an opponent to a female punching another female in the face, and all of the other hi-jinks in all sports, you wonder where it will all end.
I wish we would hear from Yellow Rocks; it's been awhile.
Husker, thanx for the learning moment. I always thought it was, "what God has joined together, let no man put us under." No, I don't get out much.
ReplyDeleteI just finished a "live chat" with my new ISP. I wondered why three of us in this little town are paying three different rates for 6mpbs Internet-only service. The lady didn't know, but she did find two charges that had migrated from my old ISP -- things the new one doesn't charge for. At the end of the day, my monthly internet service is going to drop by $17.24. Call me James Brown -- I feel good!
D-O, I love that line and I will use it! I probably will do so with an accent though...
ReplyDeleteAnon, thanks for having my back and I really don't let words bother me, but i do not like being careless. It is all good, we have such a great crowd here.
C. Moe - I wasn't questioning you (I saw the link), just pointing out that you pointed it out (i.e. you knew it was Ford and I was thinking, "What the heck, Audi?").
ReplyDeleteAnon AARP - we're not all pensioners! Some of us are still have 20+ years to order our worries that way. TTP is still working, Steve* is always on the go.
Re: Rap - Art reflects society, society reflects art. Where's Degas' TUTUs today?
IM - Yes, YR, where WERE you?
D-O - taking it to the man! (more '60s for you Lem :-))
I finished Think Like a Freak yesterday and started on Capital in the 21st Century last night (a bug got me and I can't stand daytime TV). Anyone read the latter?
----
*Anyone notice Nice Cuppa showed up when Steve dropped off-line? Mmmm, both are: smart and witty, do crosswords, have funny accents. One's avitar is athletic, the other an unassuming tea-pot. LOISLANE, look at him in the cape w/ his spectacles on!
Cheers, -T
I've | gone beyond | the last | witloof (6)
ReplyDelete[I'VE] [on theother side of] [END] = [ENDIVE]
Jazz: Given the small range of possible answers, your reversal and addition were very easy. The first one was especially clever. The second would have been nice to indicate what the added letter was, though it's obvious enough that it's not strictly necessary. I would have added a touch of misdirection with "... grows tentacle tail...".
I'm baaack. Thanks for the shout outs from so many virtual friends. I enjoyed reading your posts. We were vacationing from July 11 to 18 at Worlds End State Park, Pa in the Loyalsock State Forest. Lovely scenery, babbling brook, beautiful woods. This year I can no longer hammer in the stakes for a tent and the air mattress is too low or my knees, so we camped in a rustic cabin, electricity, bunks, but no running water. Wonderful peaceful place. Public shower and restrooms.
ReplyDeleteAlan was fine from July 7 until July 17, yesterday, when he had another mild break out. Today he is okay. I thought it was over.
PK, good news about your brother.
Just before we left for camping my washer sounded like the coin counter at the bank. First order of business when we returned today was to call the repairman who will come on Monday.
I'm rusty in the crossword department. I had to rely on red letters today, but I enjoyed the puzzle. I needed Lemony to explain the switch.
Yellowrocks:
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I have to tell you I was worried that something had happened but I'm glad you were enjoying a vacation.
YR - Glad you were on vacation and not in trouble. I hope Alan gets back on track again.
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle. In the world of chemistry, there is an important distinction between statis (no change) and equilibrium (equal changes in opposite directions).
ReplyDeleteHG @ 1:12 "WHERE WERE YOU?" Unfortunately, I was laying on the couch, trying to keep my stomach from heaving. I was in the middle of chemo for breast cancer, but all I could see on TV was the horror unfolding before my eyes. And I thought, "I really don't have any reason to complain..."
ReplyDeleteYR, good to see you back. Hope the recent incident was just a fluke and not an indication of continuing problems. Glad that you had a (mostly) relaxing vacation. I remember going to Yosemite for my 50th birthday and forgetting to pack underwear. You know, you can't buy it there. There were several nights of washing underwear in the shower, and then hanging it to dry on the lamp shade. DW thought it was hilarious. Me, not so much.
ReplyDeleteCould someone please further explain why GAM is the answer to cheesecake ingredient? I can't understand it and it's driving me crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteGam is slang for leg. During the WWII era, Cheescake was what those glamourous posters were called where the Gams were shown to their best advantage.
Thanks! I was getting the gam-leg part, but had no idea of that meaning for Cheesecake and wasn't finding anything on the internet.
ReplyDeleteGary, Yep, I guessed the best switch hitter, one of Barbara's baseball heroes. Who knows what he might have accomplished with two good knees...
ReplyDeleteHere's what I ride past almost every day on my bike ride. The Manhattan Beach Pier
Hola Everyone, As for the puzzle, WEES. I had it done and Switch Hit is within my vocabulary, but I couldn't suss the theme for the life of me. Thanks, Lemon, for your great explanation.
ReplyDeleteI had a DNF today because I put in BAs for MAs/Humanities Degs. I also had not gone back over my work and Besses was Not in my vocabulary. Messes did make sense once I read the write up.
PK, Good news about your brother and welcome back Yellowrocks. Your peaceful vacation in the woods sounded wonderful.
Marti, sorry to hear you are undergoing chemo for breast cancer. My prayers are with you. As for you not having anything to complain about, the victims of the air tragedy are feeling no pain, while you are still going through a trying time.
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks, I was hoping you were on vacation. Poor Alan, this must be so frustrating for him as well as yourself. Welcome back!
Evenin' Lemonade, Robin, and all
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never I suppose, though some might disagree. No sign of Superman either….
Robin, I thoroughly enjoyed the crypticity of this one. I thought the cryptic clues were a little uneven though, in whether they defined the answer or part of it. No matter, it was still great fun. "Guevara" suddenly stared at me, and CIte=> Che established the substitution order. QED, but I agree that ERAT (imperfect active indicative) is not Latin 101.
Still, glad to see OOLONG of course - makes quite a decent cuppa. Ooh, and ASUNDER... In the Church oF England, the vicar (well ours did) often finds the "let no man rent asunder" bit a little too exciting, and tries to tear apart some suitable cloth.
Like others, I consider "rap artist" an oxymoron, and DrDre is the limit of my knowledge there. As a relatively recent immigrant to these shores, most of the clues about TV personas are complete unknowns and I needed the perps. But Cuppa culpa in this case.
I only got stuck on 2 letters - perps between _AMA and _OSDEF; and between IG_ and G_M. For the latter, I was clearly in the wrong country at the time, as I had no idea that CHEESECAKE had a slang meaning, nor what a GAM was.
NC
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteFine puzzle and expo, Robin and Lemonade! Theme was cool!
Made a spelling error that I couldn't catch. Hence a DNF for me today.
Anyone like Satisfaction? I did.
Cheers!
Well here is a cryptic for your Friday evening based on today's theme:
ReplyDelete"THOSE DOG YEARS (……AND SO AD INFINITUM?) (3,4)"
(3,4 = two words, first with 3 letters, second with 4).
Good luck
NC
Garlic Gal,
ReplyDeleteWish I were there !
We ate at /The Stinking Rose in San Francisco. I had the 40 Clove Garlic Chicken. Wonderful. I'm sure my love of garlic would be sated in Gilroy at the Garlic Fest.
PK @ 6,21 pm.
ReplyDeleteThis is obviously not Marti - HeartRx -
But I think Marti was referring to the date September 11, 2001 when the two towers were crashed into, in that/ those act(s) of airplane terrorism. She was responding to HG's post for that date.
That was the date that Husker Gary, HG's link was referring to. 9/11/2001.
I would think and assume, probably, that at that date Marti was indeed taking chemo. I believe she is in remission now.
Marti, if I am wrong - Please correct me, immediately.
I think, Marti's post referred to that period of time. But I also realized, while originally reading the post, that the date referred to, in the post was somewhat ambiguous.
I hope I am right - about the remission.
Hi. I live in Monterey, just south of Gilroy. I attended the Gilroy garlic festival last year with my boyfriend and found the men out there to be very aggressive and truculently forward. They tried to pinch me and flirted with me obnoxiously. I think too much eating of garlic with the polysulfides causes the young guys to get horny. Maybe garlic has some valium in it and bumped their sex hormones.
ReplyDeleteI didnt mean Valium I meant Viagara.
ReplyDeletePK:
ReplyDeleteThat's what I understood as well, that Marti was referring to 9/11 which HGary alluded to.
Yes thankfully I believe our dear Marti is now cancer free.
ReplyDeleteLilibeth P.welcome. if garlic was a natural viagra my girl friend would be too tired to do anything. You must have just been quite fetching in Gilroy.
Thanks for all the fun comments. I was driving to work listening to Howard Stern with my first reaction being what bad taste to make, such a joke
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this "where were you" news article.
ReplyDeleteRush I turned off at the first commercial. The main character was a d-bag, and I couldn't imagine any transformation that would make me like or care about him. Satisfaction OTOH held me with a voyeristic fascination while still having mercifully few sex scenes. The pilot was a good movie, but I wonder how they're going to spin it out into a series.
Cuppa: You have me stumped with Those dog years (… and so ad infinitum?) (3,4). Yin Yang, big flea (from the poem), hem item (the only 3,4 letter change I could come up with except what's already in the puzzle) -- nothing works.