36A. Bouncer's demand, and this puzzle's title : LET'S SEE SOME ID. I added my title to the mix since two of the new phrases sound like the Wizard (soft ID) and two sound like what you have to produce to satisfy a big, steroid raging bouncer (hard ID). Except for some difficult clues/fill, this felt more like a mid-week puzzle, with many 3/4 letter words, with a few nice answers like: DEMEANS, BUMS A RIDE, I’LL BE AWAY, PEKINGESE, and ROSE MARIE, though the ID in "bum's a ride" is a little troubling. Let's examine this latest from Jeffrey, the self-proclaimed Rip Van Winkle of construction.
17A. Cause of brittle cigars? : DRY HUMIDOR. A little self assessment here, with his sense of humor becoming a excuse for bad cigars. Does he puff?
29A. Rebuke a revolutionary? : CHIDE GUEVARA. Now here is where it gets eerie; as you recall Robin Stears just had Che as a theme answer where she added "IT" (taking out the H) to her theme answers. ID happens to be the Latin word for IT, which is where Freud got the term, but it is all irrelevant because JW was thinking Identification ID. Oops, Freud wrote about THAT as well.
44A. Tolerate a Midwest capital? : ABIDE LINCOLN. A CSO to HG and his Nebraska buddies, built from Honest Abe.
60A. God of honeymoon truck rentals? : RYDER CUPID. Very timely fill, as the Ryder Cup (US versus Europe) is coming soon. Phil's second place finish at Valhalla cemented his position on the team, while Tiger (wisely) withdrew from consideration. Rory's third win, and second major in a row makes Europe the favorites. (Another clue fill conflict) 62D. Ryder Cup team : USA. JW?
And I remind you of the reveal:
36A. Bouncer's demand, and this puzzle's title : LET'S SEE SOME ID.
let's see some action:
Across:
1. Classic beginning or ending? : HARD C. This one had me going for a while, until I got 4D (DOH) and 5D (CLUTCH) then the bell in my head rang. Hey Don Gagliardo!
6. __ bag : GRAB.
10. Some NYSE traders : ARBS. Back again.
14. Playwright Fugard : ATHOL. I did not know this man at all, but he seems INTERESTING. Maybe Gareth Bain can provide some insight, enjoyed his puzzle on Thursday.
15. Smart Simpson : LISA. You all can finally catch up watching every episode, all 207 hours. 4D. "I should have thought of that!" : DOH. The Homer Simpson spelling.
16. Wet course : SOUP. Logical but I am unfamiliar with this term.
19. "This __ Song": Petula Clark hit : IS MY. College years. Going Downtown.
20. Intention : AIM. It is our aim to entertain and educate and learn.
21. Bit : TAD.
22. Artistic surroundings? : FRAMES. Cute.
24. Inventor for whom a N.J. township is named : TAE. Those of you who do not know Edison Township, or think it is unfair to get just the initials of Thomas Alva Edison did not see that NJ tells you what is coming.
25. Said "You're on!" to : CUED.
27. Friar __ de Torquemada : TOMÁS. No clue about first name of this man mentioned in the Catholic ENCYCLOPEDIA. No religion, no politics, no comment. One of the Friday clues/fill.
32. NYSE event : IPO. Initial Public Offering.
34. Tortilla dough : MASA. Well this is the Spanish word for dough. Corn tortillas I think are made of masa de maize (help Lucina!). A Friday clue.
35. Manipulate illegally : RIG. Boxing, basketball and the 1919 Black Sox come to mind.
41. Jan. honoree : MLK. Martin Luther King.
42. 7UP's opposite? : COLA. Remember WHEN (1:01)? Clecho- 50A. 7UP, e.g. : SODA.
43. "Pioneer Woman" cookbook writer Drummond : REE. Another CHEF.
49. Red head : LENIN. Cute misdirection.
51. Olympic diver's ideal : TEN.
54. Former vice-presidential family : AGNEWS. Hmm, there are so many...and the plural?
57. "... from __ far country blows": Housman : YON. From A.E. Houseman's 40th poem in A Shropshire Lad, also inspired the title of of Nevil Shute's The Far Country. (per wiki and other places).
Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
58. Kitchenware giant : OXO.
59. Actor Wilson : OWEN. Luke also has 4 letters. I now find Luke boring.
63. Vintner's quantity : CASE. Cask?
64. Certain tunnelers : ANTS.
65. Virtual transaction : E-SALE. Now we have A words and E words.
66. Batik artist : DYER. I was looking for a famous one, not just the job.
67. Garden headache : PEST.
68. Obliterates : RAZES. Always loved how the homophone RAISES is so opposite, learning English is such fun.
Down:
1. Tackled : HAD AT.
2. Heart chambers : ATRIA.
3. Sound mostly the same : RHYME. A CSO to all of our resident poets.
5. Shifting aid : CLUTCH. More than aid, I think.
6. Moved smoothly : GLIDED. Not when I am driving stick....
7. Free : RID. Finally I am free of those stupid emails.
8. Since : AS OF.
9. Epstein-__ virus : BARR. Completely unrelated to Roseanne. LINK. One of those from the happy herpes family.
10. Heinlein contemporary : ASIMOV. To me the greatest.
11. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" actress : ROSE MARIE. She was a child actress.
12. Hitches : BUMS A RIDE. Nice hard Friday fill, but the ID in the fill seems ????
13. Furtive sort : SPY.
18. Wailuku's county : MAUI.
23. Crackerjack group : A-TEAM. No Mr. T.?
26. Humiliates : DEMEANS.
28. Lose some support : SAG. I am sure Lois has never lost her support from here at the Corner.
29. Camp sight : COT.
30. Natural resource : GAS. When I am around my youngest son, I am not so sure how natural it is.
31. Mil. morale booster : USO.
32. "That's my vacation time" : I'LL BE AWAY.
33. Typically long-haired breed : PEKINGESE. Did you do the NYT where the fill was PIQUE PEKE PEAKED, or something like that?
37. Dramatic division : SCENE.
38. Sonora sun : SOL. Another Spanish word.
39. Timothy Omundson's role on "Xena" : ELI. No clue. Watch.
40. Coastal raptor : ERN.
41. Content beginning? : MALcontent. From the French for bad.
45. "What's for __?" : DINNER. Really? Leftovers.
46. Least straightforward : COYEST. Nice clue.
47. Burning sulfur quality : ODOR. Funny, as this is often related to damnation.
48. Cavalry soldier : LANCER.
51. November birthstone : TOPAZ.
52. Napoleon, ultimately : EXILE. Using it as a noun was tricky.
53. Meeting places : NODES. CLUBS? No. I love this misdirection, as this botanical and biologic term does define where things meet, or intersect. I would like to intersect with the young lady from Splynter's last blog.
55. Stole, for one : WRAP.
56. January 1 word : SYNE. This clue getting auld?
59. It typically involves repetitive behavior, briefly : OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
61. Sot's woe : DTS. Delerium Tremens. 11th grade math teacher, first period, his coffee cup shaking and rattling- a memory for all time!
Speaking of memories, I recall it is time to thank JW for another romp in his world, thank you all for reading, thank C.C. for being our Werowance and best wishes for Alan, and the three people who I know who are have their birthday today, and DIL tomorrow. Lemonade out.
Hard, but a fun theme once it was resolved! I had to go to red letters, and found bunches of errors, mostly simple spelling where I didn't know or didn't check the perps. PEKINEESE>PEKINGESE was probably the worst. But I also had PESO>MASA (which in Santa Fe I should have known even tho I don't like Mexican food), COLA>COKE, HUH>DOH, CEE>MAL (1a had flummoxed me since I wanted CEE there too, but it wouldn't fit). Total unknowns that I might have expected to know were Fugard, Drummond, and OXO.
ReplyDeleteIf someone steals my ID
It will finally be good that I'm me;
My credit score: low,
Bank account: ditto,
They can keep it, while I go have tea!
Loved Forbidden Planet when I was a kid,
With that mysterious monster from the ID.
Now that I'm older
And look the world over,
It politicians' egos I think need a lid!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this one from Jeff Wex. The theme isn't new, of course, but I appreciate the cleverness. Just a few unknowns, particularly Ree, but these were well perped. Was a little surprised to see Ryder Cup in both clue and answer but assumed this was deliberate.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteI was mostly on Jeff's wavelength today, especially with regard to the many tricky clues, but I still struggled down south a bit. ELI was unknown to me, as was YON, and I just couldn't think of COYEST or LANCER for awhile. When I finally figured out that LINCOLN was the midwest capital in question at 44A, however, everything fell into place.
Did not know REE, but the perps took care of it and I actually didn't even see the clue before it was already filled in. Knowledge of Spanish definitely helped with MASA. And yes, I was surprised to see RYDER in both a clue and an answer today.
In other news, ILL BE AWAY all of next week (Sunday to Saturday) without access to computer. Something tells me the blog will survive without me...
Good day everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy stubbornness led to a DNF today. I entered C an C for 1A and refused to consider it might be erroneous. On top of that, did not know ATHOL (although I was feeling like one!) so RHYME never appeared and even though I thought HAD AT was appropriate for 1D, I stuck to my guns.
There in lies my tale of woe for today. Everything else came along fairly easily after I picked up on the theme or Constructors gimmick. Still, inspite of my failure, it was a fun puzzle.
I'm likely to continue to be a part time poster for a while. Riley's been "out of sorts" and I'm beginning to fear it's something bad. Will know more Monday when he sees the Vet. In the meantime, he is getting all my spare time.
A pretty clever theme and no major hang ups. Abide Lincoln was the first theme answer to fall, which answered the reveal. I've never considered my 34 years there to have been "abiding", but I gues it has been.
ReplyDeleteBusy day. IMBO.
Hope Riley is OK, Hondo!
Mensa did not have the puzzle up so I did it on Webster's site. overall good Friday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteI got the theme at DRY HUMIDOR, and I was off and stumbling. Shot myself in the foot at 33D -- read the clue for 30D instead, thought it was a clecho for GAS, and inked in PETROLEUM where PEKINGESE needed to be. That totally bollixed up the southwest. I created an inkblot that only Wite-Out could fix. DEBASES/DEMEANS was a minor hiccup by comparison.
Lemon, why do you think C.C. is a Virginia/Maryland Indian chief? Did your fingers go off on their own?
Good luck on the Riley front, Hondo.
While the term comes from Virginia Maryland, it means chief and it was one of Archie Goodwin's favorite greetings for his boss.
ReplyDeleteI just learned that today is Rose Marie's 91st birthday. I guess she got a shout out from JW
Good morning everybody!
ReplyDeleteIt must be Friday. These words are not a part of my regular vocabulary: ARBS, ATHOL, TOMAS, MASA, DYER, BARR, ASMIVOB, SYNE. I certainly needed help from Google today.
I hope you did better - have a great day!
Good morning everyone!
ReplyDeleteWow, I thought yesterday’s clue with “poem” in it, with another grid entry of POEM was odd. Today we had the USA “Ryder Cup team” actually crossing a theme entry with RYDER in it! But, I see I'm not the only one who "noticed."
d-otto, I also picked up the theme at DRY HUMIDOR. The other entries were cute, but RYDER CUPID didn't really do it for me.
We have had Fugard as a clue for ATHOL before, but I remember his name because I was actually born in ATHOL, MA. REE was also a gimme, because I watch Food Network. But her recipes are very hearty and high calorie, à la Paula Deen. They might be just the ticket for her ranching family. For me, not so much.
More beautiful dry weather here today. TGIF!
Mari, ASMIVOB isn't in my vocabulary, either..
ReplyDelete(^0^)
I caught the theme immediately with BAD HUMIDOR (wrong) and worked my way across and down with a couple of WAGS- ASIMOV TAE ARBS, and perps for the unknowns TOMAS REE ELI MASA OXO, but just stared at 1A & 14A. My first thought on 1D was HAD AT but it wouldn't agree with my BAD HUMIDOR. When it was changed to DRY everything clicked but I stared at ATHOL just hoping it was correct. Luckily it was.
ReplyDeleteI also found it unusual that the 62A clue would be in the answer of 60A. Speaking of golf, yesterday I was on my way to shooting a 39 on the back nine at TPC Louisiana when I made a three putt bogey from 10 feet on 16, and double bogeyed BOTH 17 & 18. I earn my 18 handicap.
HeartRx @ 7:44 and others, I see the reason for most of the crossword construction rules, but this rule seems unnecessary. "Like I care" that it is the same word. Does anyone know why the rule exists?
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeffrey Weschler and thank you too Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteDOH ! Might have been my one of fastest Fridays ever at 29:59, and even though I don't especially care for these "add letters" types of puzzles, I was on to this one with the easily solved southeast area and theme answer RYDER CUPID. Maybe this is easy puzzle week ?
One lousy letter. 50-50 shot with O or U for "Playwright Fugard." DuH. Also took a shot with the A in TOMAS before BUMS A RIDE became evident. Pretty confident that TOMAS is Spanish for Thomas.
GLIDED makes me think of the way Fred Astaire danced with Ginger Rogers. Nailed ROSE MARIE. REE Drummond was easy. DW watches her Food Channel cooking show on Saturday mornings. Then I have to look up the recipes online.
On the first across pass, I had "Take it outside" for the "Bouncers demand..." That fell apart of the first pass of the down clues. But 70 % of badHUMIDOR was correct !
Liked Red head. I thought of Avg Joe at LINCOLN. NODES. In addition to biological and botanical, a technology term.
OK, off to work. CYA later.
Although there were a few too many foreign, proper names for my taste, I enjoyed this much more than yesterday's.
ReplyDeleteTo tack-on to a prior post -- what exactly are the rules of crossword construction? And, are they actually written somewhere? Or is it (like baseball) more an unwritten thing?
Thanks.
Much better than yesterday, though at first I really thought it's be a bust. I WAGged most of it nevertheless, but was rewarded with a very satisfied feeling when it was all done.
ReplyDeleteI tried GONE before AWAY, and before that I had CHENEY/YEAR for AGNEWS/SYNE. But it all worked itself out in the end.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteClassy puzzle; clever theme. Not much to add.
Only write over was I had Oahu before MAUI.
Some wonderfully clever misdirections; favorite was stole || WRAP.
Guess Gary and Avg Joe will appreciate the shoutout to their LINCOLN.
Have a good day.
Fantastic Batik pictures. I would love to download those pics, can you give the URL Lemonade?
ReplyDeleteI loved Rose Marie in the Dick Van Dyke show and also her name! Loved that it was two lovely feminine names together as a whole name. So that was my first guess. Very nice to remember her today on her birthay!
Thanks for the xword Jeffrey Weschler and for the writeup Lemonade!!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI had some trouble with this but finally finished w/o help. Fav clue was Red head=Lenin. Thanks, JW, for a Friday workout and thanks, Lemony, for your informative expo.
Cool and cloudy here today, not a typical mid-August day. Summer is on the wane, I think.
Hondo, I hope Riley is okay.
Barry G - If your being away means you're on vacation, have fun!
Have a great day. (My captcha is nothing but a big blur.)
Yellowrocks,
ReplyDeletePerhaps the rule (editor's guideline ?) exists because it creates too immediate of an association ?
Good afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteRead the answers yesterday for some unknown reason. Still DNF today.
However, what's the apostrophe doing in 12 D. Bum's a ride? Perhaps we can just put it in Barry G's: Ill be away (I'll be away).
Cheers
BOOM, Roasted!
ReplyDeleteIt is generally acceptable to have common words like "a," "the," "an," etc. be repeated in clues and answers in a grid. It is definitely not acceptable to repeat an answer word in its own clue. For example, clueing the answer PIE A LA MODE with the clue "Type of pie" would not be acceptable.
ReplyDeleteConstructors also avoid using answer words anywhere in other clues, as well. Here is a list of rules that was published by crossword guru Patrick Merrill. In particular, rule # 21 addresses this issue.
Inanehiker,
ReplyDeletePlease don't be discouraged by the poster who stole your ID yesterday. This happened to PK and Al Cyone before. It'll happen again. Most of the regulars on our blog are loving & caring people, but there are a few meanies who have a habit to steal others' IDs & attack regulars they're not fond of.
I strongly encourage you to get a Blogger account and turn blue. This way they can't steal your ID again. Just go to our blog front page, and click on "Create Blog" on the very upper right corner, then follow directions.
I wrote this post in 2008. The instructions are outdated, but it might help in some point.
If you have any question, please feel free to ask on the blog. Chairman Moe recently turned blue. He might guide you also.
Athol is an important name in the history of Freemasonry. I won't bore you with a long story, you can look it up.
ReplyDeleteTorquemada is an important name in cryptic crossword puzzles. He was the inventor of the cryptic form, who chose his nom de croix because he intended his clues to torture solvers, not unlike our own Nice Cuppa.
Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke were long considered the Big Three of science fiction writing whose works defined what SF was. Asimov however was eclectic, and wrote books on probably a wider range of subjects than anyone either before or since. Even a book of dirty limericks!
Well, I did see WIZARD OF ID yesterday, so I thought that would be the theme--and was a bit puzzled when it didn't fit anywhere. As a result it took a while before I got the ID in the theme answers. (I didn't think BUMS A RIDE was a theme answer, by the way, since BUMS A RE doesn't make any sense). Had a few other false starts, MIS before MAL, ACT II before SCENE, and a really dumb one, ELBAN before EXILE.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really fun puzzle, however, so many thanks, Jeff. And you too, Lemonade, for explaining TAE (never heard of an inventor named TAE) and OCD, and for printing that poem, which was new to me.
Loved the Dick Van Dyke, show and got ROSE right away but couldn't remember her last name. Was it really MARIE?
Hondo, I'll keep my fingers crossed that Riley will be okay.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Inanehiker via C.C. @ 11:22
ReplyDeleteIIRC, the way to "go blue" and lock in your moniker, is to go to blogger.com main page and establish a profile. I think you need a Google Mail account in order to do so. Once you log in with your Google Mail "ID", you can default to your moniker. Once you do that you are no longer invisible, but then again, no one can steal your identity.
FWIW, it seems that all of these blogs/chat boards, et al, have their share of trolls and poachers. Best advice I've heard is to just ignore and they'll eventually go away. It's the attention they crave not necessarily the debate or controversy . . .
JMTCW . . .
Today's "puzzling thoughts":
ReplyDeleteAll in all, a pretty entertaining and challenging Friday Crossword; Wechsler threw in some clever clues and solves, as well as some that for me were totally obscure. But the theme and various perps helped me get through without any cheats or look-ups, and with minimal write-overs. I did FIW though, as I had DUH/ATHUL for 4D/14A.
Speaking of write-overs, "hands up" from those who, like me, will not take the few seconds to look at the crossing clue! I had ILL BE GONE for 32D. If I had only looked at 54A and 59A first. No other VP's come to mind whose last letter in their last name is a W. Plus, OWEN Wilson is a pretty popular actor.
Once I got the theme I looked at 36A and tried to figure out if "SHOW ME SOME ID" would fit. Another of my write-overs was 30D when I originally had ORE before GAS. ARBS in 10A is unknown to me. Source? As an occasional cigar smoker, 17A was a no-brainer. And since I smoke occasionally, I DO have to pay attention to the HUMIDOR. Even here in tropical Florida.
Today's limerick has nothing to do with the puzzle and its clues/solves. But it does relate to me, on occasion, and I wonder if anyone else suffers from the same experience . . .
ReplyDeleteI have just figured out why, perhaps,
Wake-up time has for me many gaps.
It's because I'm not rushed,
The "snooze" button gets pushed;
I enjoy all my "nine-minute" naps!
Inanehiker,
ReplyDeleteFurther to what Chairman Moe said at @12:04pm. If you don't feel comfortable disclosing where you live or other personal info, you can just fill in a minimum profile like this one (our LAT constructor Jerome Gunderson.)
Misty et al,
ReplyDeleteUpdate on my pickle problem. The pain has lessened substantially. More importantly, my dizziness is completely gone. I'm scared every time I have a lightheartedness issue.
As I told D-Otto, I could only had a few grapes on Wednesday. Earlier I finished two big peaches in one sitting!!
I'm not going to be stupid and eat a whole jar of pickles next time.
C.C., so glad you are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteI found those batik pictures among many others here.
BATIK .
Hello, puzzlers!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun grid from Jeffrey today though it's been a hectic day so far but that's a long story.
I knew ATHOL from previous puzzles and researched it at the time so nothing to tax my brain there. I had a harder time with HUMIDOR since it's not a word I encounter often but eventually it oozed out from the shadows.
And actually the puzzle filled from the bottom up not unlike a swimming pool. SOL and MASA were a nice surprise. (yes, Lemonade, corn tortillas are made from MASA de maiz. You are right.)
Now I'll bid adios because like Barry G I'll be gone for two weeks but not with him!
Have yourselves a great, great two weeks! Hasta la vista!
C.C.- One of the main objects in life is to try not to be stupid (we all have been more times that we won't to admit)and if you can get away with it, don't let anybody know about it. Nobody likes egg on their face or wants to feel like everyone is snickering behind their back.
ReplyDeleteA call at 5:30 am put me to subbing and not blogging until now. I loved the fill and the theme, especially ABIDELINCOLN as we were there yesterday to celebrate Hudson’s 12th birthday.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-My daughter’s 45-year-old friend got asked for ID in a bar last spring. She was overjoyed to get it out.
-I missed this ARB movie the first time around
-School policy at my old school – Ready, fire, AIM!
-Anyone else have the nightmare where you are CUED “You’re on” and don’t know your lines?
-MLK would be appalled at what’s going on in St. Louis
-Owen Wilson’s pattern sounds a lot like Robin Williams’
-Joann HAD AT sorting and labeling our Pacific NW pictures this week
-An athlete who comes through under stress is said to be a CLUTCH player
-If you want to move up the ladder, don’t be a MALCONTENT. Sing the organization’s song.
-A girl I took to EPCOT had a severe allergy to sulfur which is big ingredient in fireworks. Guess where she sat to watch them? Yup, downwind in the middle of the fumes. She curled up in a ball and the Disney medics got her through the episode. DOH!
-Glad you’re better, C.C. I love Fritos but know if I eat more than a few, I’ll be down for the count.
Very cute that today is Rose Marie''s birthday!
ReplyDelete5 down: aid in shifting?
ReplyDeletelemonade made the comment that the correct answer "clutch" is more than just an aid.
As a youngster, when I didn't have the money to buy a new clutch, I learned how to drive without one.
Ever since then I have regarded the clutch as more of a frill, than a necessity. It's on a par with a radio, or A/C; not really necessary for a car to get around.
With a little practice anyone can drive without a clutch. The trick is to match the engine speed to the speed of the wheels. You can up shift, down shift, or take off from a dead stop by using your starter.
That seemed appropriately hard for a Friday. Thanks Jeffrey and Lemon.
ReplyDeleteINSHFRLFTTT (I needed some help from red letters from time to time.)
Hondo, best wishes for Riley and you.
Hey Marti, thanks for that list of CW rules. I had absorbed most of them by osmosis but it's nice to see them spelled out.
I've had zero negative consequences from 'going blue.' I know a few people are apprehensive but I think that concern is unwarranted.
Hello everyone,
ReplyDeleteI had to CLUTCH onto DOH and ARBS in order to suss out ATHOL and ASIMOV.
To me, the RYDER CUP overlap seemed so blatant that I thought it might have been intentional. Perhaps JW was having fun with the idea that the Ryder Cup is based on match play and how scoring is based on being over and under. This is just a tenuous theory, but I still feel like the intersection was done on purpose.
Lemon: I said it before, I'll say it again ... Nice write-up & very informative links.
ReplyDeleteProbably my easiest Friday solve ever ... of course, having read Lemon's write-up yesterday, it was kind-of-a-slam-dunk.
Stayed up late, last night, to watch Charlie Chaplin "City Lights" on TCM. Great movie!
Woke up to a Lightning Bolt hitting the tree outside.
Deluge followed ... don't expect the SOLset to be visible later.
Cheers!!!
I believe I've been called an ATHOL a time or two.
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks- It lacks elegance to repeat clue/answer words. What is stylish or artistic about repeating words you have already used? It seems a bit lazy to do that. There's a jillion ways to clue USA. Why not come up with something fresh and creative. Frankly I'm somewhat stunned that this happened in the LAT. Rich is a master at cluing, so yeah, I'm perplexed.
ReplyDeleteC.C.- I cannot imagine that anyone on earth would give a damn about what I read or what movies I enjoy. As for my picture, suffice it to say that I'm homely as sin and simply wish to spare others from such an unfortunate sight.
So Lucy and BG are having a coast to coast affair; how exciting!
ReplyDeleteThe Patrick Merrill link was great, thanks marti.
C.C., I would bet everyone has gone overboard eating something they really like, at least once in life. Mine was the bottle of maraschino cherries my parents kept for their mixed drinks for company. Bearing in mind my childhood was basically Mad Men, you can appreciate how upset hey got when they went to make their Manhattans and there were no cherries.
desper-o et al:
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'm going to miss those laughs.
desper-o et al:
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'm going to miss those laughs.
desper-o et al:
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'm going to miss those laughs.
RoseMarie(2:52)
ReplyDelete$50 bucks says Rich Norris knew what he was doing. If the clue for USA had been "Home of the ISO," that would have been an egregious repetition.
ReplyDeleteAs Picasso said, "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist." Rich Norris certainly has mastered the rules, so he probably broke this one on purpose. What that purpose was, however, is up to the critics to ponder.
FIW Big Time,,,
ReplyDeleteI did it in ink, so no TADA. I do crosswords because I like being puzzled, & the more I am puzzled, the more I like coming to the Blog for answers. I like to do Friday puzzles to make sure my brain isn't slipping a clutch, unfortunately today I think I have smoke coming out of my ears...
(For those who don't care about my sanity, you can skip the next paragraph)
2D I penciled aorta from the get go knowing it had to be related, but forgot to change the O, leaving "Aohol?" (P.S. good one Desper-otto...) I am starting to feel like one myself... But the plurality of 12D evaded my ID & I automatically penned "bumaride" never seeing the 2 "A"s side by side!?!? Which left me with 22A = frameA??? (Sure, a skiers A frame would be an Artists delight! ) I came to the Blog with with Alpine works of art in my head, never knowing I had lost touch with reality...
d-o @ 2:38
ReplyDeleteI was thinking how I might use that reference in my limerick today, but since I used a "lisping rhyme recently" (O-CEL-O/OTHELLO) I deferred . . .
HeartRx @ 7:44
I remember Athol from my days living in W MA. Off of Rte 202 at the top of the Quabbin Reservoir if memory serves. And not too far from one of my favorite golf courses, Crumpin Fox
Hi Y'all! Fun puzzle, Jeffrey! I caught the them with DRY HUMIDOR which helped on others. Didn't know ATHOL or HARD C -- both all perps. Got CLUTCH only because we were discussing stick shift here the other day.
ReplyDeleteDidn't "get" why the answer to Lenin was RED HEAD until I saw it standing up on Lemon's expo. Oh, communist RED! Thanks! Also didn't get who TAE was without Lemonade.
"Dis" before MALcontent. Couldn't remember a "G" in PEKINGESE. Couldn't find the right spelling until AGNEWS perped in.
Learning moment: NODES. I thought these were lumps not meeting places.
Tiger has declined a spot on the RYDER CUP team. YAY! Mention of him was apt today, Lemon, because he definitely had/has a big ID (in true Freudian meaning).
Thanks to Lucina's recipe for tamales I knew MASA. Wasn't today the memorial service for your SIL? Bless you, dear lady. Hasta la vista!
C.C. I've done a lot of binges in my lifetime. Popcorn has produced the worst stomach aches for me as far back as I can remember as a child. I'll swear off it then someone has it and it smells so goooood.... Chocolate was another painful experience. Grapes & peaches likewise.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you have a vitamin deficiency if you are binging. I was anemic and needed iron & B12. Hope you feel better soon.
Binging? Bingeing?
ReplyDeleteAnon driving without a clutch, no-no.
ReplyDeleteClutch must have been good or you wouldn't have got going. Sounds like a linkage problem; you couldn't disengage the clutch.
Might get tricky with the newer cars where the clutch must be pushed down to start the engine.
Anon (2:02), yep. When the clutch cable in our 1965 VW broke when we were away from home and away from our mechanic, I drove back home from UCLA including a stretch down the 405 freeway without using the clutch exactly as you described. I was proud of myself.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, a woman who I met in the coffee shop and who called herself Fabulous Phyllis gave me a ride in her 1929 Cadillac. She couldn't drive it with the non-synchromesh transmission very well even with a clutch. I was going to give her a couple of pointers but she made it clear she didn't want any input from me.
Anywho, my ID refuses to accept the correct puzzle answers, & seems to create its own scenarios...
ReplyDeleteA few thoughts (before they fade away completely.)
Lemon, you posted Petula Clark's This Is My Song before, & for some reason I was reminded of some WWII movie where the soldiers found an old record sung in French. So I went looking for an older French version, but instead, found this.
just in case RoseMarie does the LAT puzzle & reads the Blog...
P.S. It was very hard to find a RoseMarie cake, (& impossible to find one where the words aren't separated) but had to post this pic because this Rose Marie, who was 5 in 2011, definitely has her famous smile...
Re: clutches, fascinating! I did not know it was possible. Check out this video (you may have to raise the sound). It can be done! Shifting up gears is easy, He even shows you what it sounds like when you do it wrong! Downshifting however takes a lot more technique...
Whoever it was, Thank you for putting FIW on the "Comments Sections Abbreviations" page. Somebody just used it and I went to that page to see what it meant and slapped myself on the head (DUH!) because I just asked yesterday what the acronym was for when you finish but with mistakes. That was nice of you to add it to the list!
ReplyDeleteSomebody??? (Ouch!)
ReplyDeleteSo whats the difference between Ego & Id?
CED, cool clutchless shifting video. Exactly like my experience in my VW when the clutch cable broke. That 'wall' he referred to isn't there in an old car without a synchromesh transmission. The wall is replaced with that awful grinding of gears sound. When I was driving home with no clutch, I would look ahead and try to avoid red lights. When I was forced to come to a complete stop, I put the car in neutral and then turned off the engine. To start back up, I put the car in first gear, turned on the key and let the starter get me going again.
ReplyDeleteCC, I hope you are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteI am a pickle eater from way back, but DW recently bought on sale a jar of pickles I had never tasted before, & I fell in love with them.
They can only be found in the refrigerated section, as they have never been boiled. (See that white stuff on the bottom? Chunks of garlic!)
I loved them so much, I ate the whole jar in one night.
(That's when I found out pickles give you gas!)
Dave we are all make believe cyber somebodies here.
ReplyDeleteFYI (not FIW)
Among the many things we miss not having Dennis on a regular basis
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
1057: Macbeth, king of Scotland, was killed by Malcolm Canmore.(MacDuff?)
1911: Proctor & Gamble Company introduced Crisco vegetable shortening.
1935: Aviator Wiley Post and actor Will Rogers were killed in a plane crash.
1939: The Wizard of Oz premiered in Hollywood. (As they said at the fiend, maybe Gareth's Dorothy Gale should have run today)
1947:The Indian Independence Bill created the two independent states of India and Pakistan.
1948: South Korea became the Republic of Korea.
1969: Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York. (oh did it rain, but it was still an incredible time. I had never seen that many people in my life, not people together, but people period. It was like Fenway Park sold out for 12 or 14 games all at one. It also is amazing that it was 45 years ago.
Imagine if we had possessed cell phone cameras there? Of course there might not have been as much skinny dipping....
ReplyDeleteDear C.C., what a relief that you're feeling better! Thanks so much for letting us know. As you can see, many of us have been concerned.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteDOH! 4 little squares wrong and 3 of them in my fav. Sci-fi writer's name (I can't claim to have read them all, ASIMOV as too prolific!)
I got the theme when DRYHUMIDOR sat there and L-T-SS----M---. LETS SEE SOME - nah doesn't work; yet.
Fav was LENIN. I tried so hard to fit giNger in w/ all the Irish abriv.s I could. Looking back to Jan. on my calendar finally gave MLK and PORTUGUESE was finally out.
Hand up for ORE. Looking back Natural GAS is a darn good c/a pair.
On MASA - R&R -> APO -> PTO before it fell. I was looking at MAtA thinking - like Matzo? There were Spanish Jews? Certainly not TaMAS Torquemada (Mel Brooks.
C. Moe - snooze == best sleep always!
Anon - only a handful here could get even come close to IDing me and I'm blue.
C.C. Glad your back - I did the same thing w/ vanilla icing when I was 7! Hondo - good luck w/ Riley.
FLN - aka thelma: yes C2CAM is still on but not the same (too commercial). I lost track of Art after he abruptly canceled his SiriusXM show earlier this year.
For egg on my face Big Easy (I obviously don't mind playing the fool) I had ISIMAR for 10d. Sounds like another German name. Donno if Heinlein is, but WTH - and I totally DNF'd it.
Cheers, -T
The heritage of the Jews after the Diaspora is bifurcated into Spanish/Middle Eastern Jews and German/Eastern European Jews. Even the reading and pronunciation of Hebrew was divided in two. If you like to READ .
ReplyDeleteJerome, thanks for your insight on puzzle construction.
ReplyDeleteCC, I am glad you are feeling better. Too many pickles or too much pickle juice leads to horrible indigestion.
Yellowrocks
CrossedEyedDave @ 4:02 - Ha, I hope I did not really offend you. I felt it would have been ruder to say, "Dave just said FIW." I logically do not know why that sounds wrong (because there is clearly nothing wrong about a FIW), but my instincts made me use "somebody."
ReplyDeleteI will say this though to make amends:
If anybody thinks it is impossible to shift without a clutch, you should check out Dave's link at 3:43. I, too, did not know one could do that.
desper-otto from last Sunday (August 10 @ 9:25am) - I loved the story you linked about the carjackers who stole a KIA from an 70-year-old women but could not get away because they did not know how to drive stick. What a bunch of Athols!
So many errors in my post so donning anon-proof asbestos pANTS to ready for their AIM.
ReplyDeleteI was re'ing 31 down w/ all the APO et.al. permutations.
C.C. I love pickles too. I made 2 CASES 2 years ago. EldEST loves tart and finished a CASE w/ in two weeks.
True story - Eldest she was <9 mo - I know 'cuz she could talk at 9 mo. and grunted then. DW & I went to dinner w/ her. She kept wanting the lemon (point & cry) that came w/ tea - I told DW to let her have it; she'd figure it out. She bit big into it and made the funnies "bitter beer face" and then went back for more!
LEM - thanks for the lesson. I knew about traditional v. modern (uncle-by-marrage eats ham) traditions but not that Hebrew had fractured.
Cheers, -T
Hi all. 1 across got me good, so did nodes until I realized it had to do with Horticulture which is my field of business. Surprised to see Rydercup twice but Simpsons are in it twice also with doh and Lisa. Wanted Mensa for 23 d. but masa cleared it up and hands up for thinking peso. DNF today, but got all of the long answers except for 29 a had chide and a few letters in that fill. Plus tard from Cajun Country !!
ReplyDeleteKevin @ 5:23, no offense taken, it's just that I can't pass up an opportunity for a segue...
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, Lemons earlier link to the "uncola nut" commercial had a side link (yes, my mind tends to wander...) that I thought you might enjoy, as I had only seen 2 of these 15 commercials. I loved the tear stained letter that turned out to be condensation from a heineken beer. But best is required viewing for all you snarky Anons @8:00!
(Oh crap! The wiggly line captchas are back!)
C.C., so glad you are feeling better!
ReplyDeleteChairman Moe @ 3:12, I have also played at Crumpin Fox golf course! I absolutely love that place – lots of challenges, especially the par 5 8th hole. I actually birdied it, the last time I was there (club tees)!
ReplyDeleteDave @ 4 20 - Claussens have been my favorite pickle for years and years.
ReplyDeleteI am frustrated with my new tablet as I cannot find several punctuation marks, such as the colon, semi-colon, apostrophe, etc,.
Well done.
ReplyDeleteMy own version failed in two places, giving me ZOUL for "Wet course." God only knows what I was thinking! I actually thought ASIMOV was spelled with a "Z," even though I read several of his works as a teen. Shoulda known...
ATHOL, on the other hand, was a gimme. I produced one of his shows many years ago.
I guess this is an advertisement but it's the most stylish one I can remember. The Wager
ReplyDeleteC.C. - good to know you're on the mend. My careless overindulgence story dates back nearly fifty years: we had some lean times when I was a kid, and occasionally we applied to get government surplus food. You never knew what would arrive, and one time there came a package of semi-dried prunes. I'd never had them before, so I was pleased to find they tasted like huge moist raisins. I ate up half the bag, and suffered the consequences.
ReplyDeleteGreetings to those few of you who will read this!
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle, Jeffrey, and expo, Lemon!
No problems. REE was all perps.
Attempted to visit a chiropractor for K-laser treatment. Harvey and I got lost. No address on building. When we finally found it, the elevator was not working. Two hours wasted. Boy does my back hurt!
Best wishes for Riley's continuing health!
Cheers!
Fermatprime, being a west-coaster, I'm reading and writing late. So now Lemon's gonna point out that almost everybody reads the late-night posts. And are you gonna read this? Lemme know tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteSo let's see... Being late and looking for something to do, I'm going to try to whinge about Alex Trebek. But it's hard. He's good at his job. He's smart. He has aged well. I thought I'd caught him in a mistake tonight but it turns out the mistake was mine, not his. I think one of the few things I find to complain about is when he tries to be funny. He's really not a funny guy. Witty and clever maybe but not funny. But he keeps trying. OK, so he's not quite perfect.
FLN - Bill G. From your GRAB-bag of puzzles I emailed you the 3^3 solution (thinks Rubic's cube all) and you challenged me w/ the n^3 solution for any value of n. I gave it a go...
ReplyDeletea = Three colored - the corners. Always 8 on any n-sided cube.
b = Blank (1" cubes w/o paint i.e. inner cubes) = (n-2)^3.
c = One Color - (n-2)^2 *6 (six sides)
d = 2 colors = n^3 - a - b - c.
Rubic's (3x3x3) a=8; b=(3-2)^=1;c=(3-2)^2 *6 = 6; d=27-8-6-1= 12.
Ok, that's my brute force - what's the elegant solution? WRAP this up for me.
Cheers, -T
//fixed my error
Thanks for reminding me. I think my approach was mostly the same as yours.
ReplyDeleteFor a larger cube that has 'n' little cubes on each side, the cubes with no paint form a smaller cube in the interior of the large cube. Each side of the smaller cube is 2 inches less than the large cube. The cubes with paint only on one face form a square on the six faces of the larger cube. The cubes with paint on two faces are found on the 12 edges of the larger cube. There are always eight cubes in the corners of the large cube with paint on three faces.
No paint: (n-2)^3
Paint on only one face: 6(n-2)^2
Paint on only two faces: 12(n-2)
Paint on only three faces: 8
Bill - Aha! 12(n-2). I was thinking how to get the edges w/ out double-counting cubes on the face & back 8 edges front & back 4 non-counted edges top & bottom; now all edges are counted.
ReplyDeleteI watched Good Will Hunting* w/ the kids tonight ("Aladdin!" they realized when Williams appeared) and tried to knock out the puzzle after that - I'm no Good Will nor Matt Damon :-)
Cheers, -T
*yes I forgot about the tons of bad-language but eldest pointed out she hears that on the bus and when riding w/ DW in the car :-0
Bill G, I hope your Manhattan Beach is feeling better today. I heard on the news yesterday that there was a major toxic spill off the coast and some of the beaches had to be closed. I hope your bike ride yesterday was not interrupted by it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Alex Trebek, I think that is an interesting subject. An old teacher of mine used to say that the reason everyone watches the 7 O'clock news is because it comes on every night at 7 0'clock. He is definitely worn out, but I appreciate that he is on every weekday at 7. It is somehow comforting, like an old Teddy Bear that has lost its luster. Admittedly, he may be a bit robotic, but I like that he is not forcing himself to be what he is not; we have too many aspiring funny men out there: after all, Larry King and Brian Williams see their true callings as comedians. To me, Alex is as much Alex, as Pat (Sajak) is Pat. Though, I do miss Richard Dawson a lot, but not from the Family Feud--I love him in the old Match Game days... bless his heart.
That said, if you do not want to feel alone on Trebek, here is Conan O'Brien having a go at him in case you have not already seen it:
Alex Trebek's Insane
P.S. Since Brandi went out with friends for the night, I made my son and I bacon and eggs for dinner; he ate every bite!
Anon -T....
ReplyDeleteThanx for the reply... I will check with a friend of mine in nevada and see if he has seen him or heard anything about him.... I haven't listened to Bell for years.... he used to own KNYE and his wife would come in to see if we wanted to advertise... :) I'm sure we did from time to time.... have you checked Bell's website to see if he might have a show on the internet.... ?? just a thought.......
Fermatprime....... :) :) I am always late around here and yes, I read your posts either at nite or in the morning... :) I am so sorry for your discomfort and also for the aggravation of the doctor visit today.... :(
Wishing you all the very best of all good things......
thelma
The clutch is not a "shifting aid"; it is a shifting impediment. You have to disengage the clutch to shift the gears.
ReplyDelete