19-Across. Poet friend of Jonathan Swift : ALEXANDER POPE. Together, the friends formed the Scriblerus Club.
The current Pope Francis scoots around town in a Ford Focus, instead of this POPEMOBILE.
33-Across. Kipling story collection, with "The" : JUNGLE BOOK. The original edition is worth a couple of bucks, I bet.
The BOOKMOBILE is becoming another victim of the computer age.
38-Across. "Poetry Man" singer : PHOEBE SNOW. I had the pleasure of seeing her in person twice - such a talent. She died in 2011.
SNOWMOBILEs are not just for recreation!
48-Across. Title phrase that rhymes with "he lightly doffed his hat" : CASEY AT THE BAT. Is there any joy in Mudville?
The original BATMOBILE is a far cry from its modern counterpart.
And the reveal is found at 44-Down. Vehicular attachment for the ends of 19-, 33-, 38- and 48-Across : MOBILE.
Across
1. Bodybuilder's pride : ABs. And a clecho at 20-Down. Bodybuilder's pride : LATs.
4. "Wizards of Waverly Place" actress Gomez : SELENA.
10. Like crudités : RAW.
13. Helpful URL link : FAQ. Frequently Asked Questions. They never seem to have the answer I am looking for.
14. Literary postscript : EPILOG.
15. Townshend of 22-Down : PETE. And 22-Down. "Pinball Wizard" band : THE WHO.
16. Cross-shaped letter : TAU. It's also an empire in this video game.
17. Forecast words golfers like to hear : NO RAIN. Husker, do you golf in the rain?
18. Glade target : ODOR.
22. Frequent Hepburn co-star : TRACY.
23. Take a load off : SIT.
24. __ rhythm: brain waves pattern : THETA.
25. Old-style "For shame!" : FIE.
28. Soothing sprinklings : TALCS. I was thinking along the lines of Jimmies on ice-cream.
32. Rink VIPs : REFs. Ice hockey rink, REFerees.
35. Iconic WWII setting, familiarly : IWO. Jima.
36. Missouri tributary : OSAGE.
37. Garden product word : GRO.
41. Water-to-wine site : CANA. As shown in this painting of "The Wedding at Cana" by Veronese.
42. __ voce: softly : SOTTO.
43. Longing : YEN.
44. Gourmet mushroom : MOREL. Do these look "gourmet"?
45. Storage media : CDs.
47. Theorize : POSIT.
54. Leave off : OMIT.
55. Hummus ingredient : TAHINI.
56. "Run to __": Bobby Vee hit : HIM. Blast from the past. 2:05
59. Galvanizing metal : ZINC.
60. Like many Schoenberg compositions : ATONAL. Here's a small sample from his "Pierrot Lunaire." 1:15
61. Possible reply to "Got milk?"? : MOO. And 2-Down. Ewe cry : BAA.
62. Shout of success : YES! (With or without fist pump.)
63. Seuss reptile : YERTLE. the Turtle.
64. Classroom fill-in : SUB. Another CSO to HG!
Down
1. Not fore : AFT.
3. Storage unit? : SQUARE FOOT.
4. Iroquois Confederacy tribe : SENECA.
5. Powerful adhesive : EPOXY.
6. Turkish bread? : LIRA. Anyone else think about filling in "na'an"?
7. Gusto : ELAN.
8. Reason to be turned away by a bouncer : NO ID.
9. Patron saint of girls : AGNES. CSO to Irish Miss!
10. Edit menu choice : REDO.
11. Straddling : ATOP.
12. "While __ Young": USGA anti-slow play campaign : WE'RE.
15. Can convenience : POP TAB. Anybody else fill in POP Top?
21. Religious ceremony : RITE.
24. Vacation plans : TRIPS. We're still trying to decide where and when to travel in Europe next year.
25. Persnickety : FUSSY.
26. Lacking sense : INANE.
27. Encourage : EGG ON.
29. Shortcuts for complex multiplication : LOGARITHMS.
30. Trumpet cousin : CORNET. In what song were there 110 CORNETs "close at hand"?
31. Toaster's word : SKOAL.
33. Beanery cuppa : JOE.
34. "Ben-Hur" author Wallace : LEW.
39. "... and all that jazz," for short : ETC. ETC. Yadda, yadda...
40. Fullness of flavor : BODY.
41. __ Nostra : COSA.
46. Skewered Thai dish : SATAY. With peanut sauce - yummm!
47. Serving to punish : PENAL.
48. Like a warm nest : COZY.
49. Nice lady friend : AMIE. "Nice" misdirection.
50. Confession details : SINS. On this site, you can apply for a SIN, obtain a confirmation of your SIN or amend your SIN record! (Might be a useful link for CanadianEh?)
51. London gallery : TATE.
52. Superhero with a hammer : THOR.
53. Help for a solver : HINT.
57. Letters of credit? : IOU.
58. Group gone wild : MOB. Like the one at Keene, N.H.'s pumpkin festival last week. Link credit: HG!
Marti, over and out.
What a fun puzzle, my mind is now filled with mobiles, from the ones I got for my son's crib,my T-mobile phone, friends from Mobile, Alabama all packed into a Gareth Bain puzzle with his tremendous variety of fill.
ReplyDeleteAdd that to Marti' s really extensive analysis and it is a great start to a busy Thursday.
Satay is one of the many things my fiancee prepares as a cook, so now I must go eat.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeletePOP TAB?
I didn't know PHOEBE SNOW or LEW Wallace and worried about them crossing, but in the end it was pretty easy to guess the intersecting W. Good think her last name wasn't SNON or SNOS...
As soon as I started reading the clue for the theme reveal and realized we were doing a "word that can be added to the end of every theme answer" puzzle, I looked at the first theme answer (ALEXANDER POPE) and instantly filled in MOBILE with no perps needed and a big grin on my face.
Seriously, though, POP TAB? Is that even a thing? I wanted PULL TAB, but of course it didn't fit.
Thanks, Gareth and Mardi.
ReplyDeleteWow, I went through this puzzle as if it were Monday. Don't know why, but most answers just fell into place. The perps were solid and quickly filled in the few I didn't know, right off. I have never done a Thursday puzzle this quickly.
I thought I wouldn't get the theme. POPE, BAT and BOOK were filled in, but when I read the unifier, MOBILE made sense and SNOW completed the puzzle.
Have a good day,
Montana
Glad to have had a chance to work through Gareth Bain's clever puzzle and to enjoy Marti's interesting analysis. Too bad there was no way to include this beloved operatic aria.
ReplyDeleteThose of you who may still have one more puzzle left in them for today might want to try Over the Moon, which I constructed with Ellen Ross to celebrate some recent news from one of America's top political families. It comes with an extensive "midrash," and is deliberately non-partisan.
BTW Marti, a new morel? Really?
ReplyDeleteThe Corner is still the best
Good Morning, Marti and friends. Fun Thursday puzzle. It seemed a bit easier than some Thursday puzzles.
ReplyDeleteI should probably read The Jungle Book one of these days.
Hand up for the Pop Top before Pop Tab.
TALCS came easily as it is truly soothing on a hot, muggy day.
QOD: If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito. ~ Anita Roddrick (Oct. 23, 1942 ~ Sept. 10, 2007)
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteTSK, oops, it was FIE. Hand up for NAAN and POPTOP (because TOILET wasn't working). Marti, I think that mushroom photo is of a "false morel." The real ones look like this.. I thought there was a blog photo of Marti with a giant morel, but my memory was playing tricks again. It was a giant pickle that Marti was hugging.
ALEXANDER POPE reminded me of the riddle in Dan Brown's book -- "In London lies a knight A Pope interred..." The knight was Sir Isaac Newton and the Pope was Alexander.
Although the picture linked for MOREL is indeed quite provocative, I don't believe it is a morchella. 'These distinctive mushrooms appear honeycomb-like in that the upper portion is composed of a network of ridges with pits between them.' Link pictures. I'm not trying to diminish anyone's enthusiasm, just setting the record straight.
ReplyDeleteSorry D-O, I guess my eagerness to post was premature.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought Marti's mushrooms were too exiguous to be MORELs.
ReplyDeletep.s. I recently downloaded a dictionary.com app to my phone that gives me a word of the day each morning at 715a.
I, too, winced at POP TAB but many charities collect them as part of fund-raising campaigns (example).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Wikipedia has an interesting article (if you're interested in that sort of thing) on the history of the beverage can.
Other than Pop Top to Pop Tab, no major stumbling blocks in this fun outing. But while it might have been a little easier than a typical Thursday, it soitenly wasn't a speed run. Had to think about it...all the way through. Lot's to like.
ReplyDeletePhoebe Snow was my favorite theme entry. Here she is performing the Etta James classic At Last
(Timely captcha...musles. Really)
Geez guys, who are you to question my morels?
ReplyDelete;-)
We call them "pop tabs" out here in Oregon! At the school where I teach, we collect them to assist dialysis patients with expenses at a local hospital!
ReplyDelete"Puzzling thoughts"
ReplyDelete**as a golfer, 17A was a no brainer; we are soon coming into our "NO RAIN" season here in SW FL - which also means the cost to play will increase exponentially
**I liked this Thursday offering, as it made me think, but didn't require a lot of obscure look-ups; PHOEBE SNOW was a nice look back in pop music history; what a great voice - I also enjoyed listening to Pavarotti singing La Dona e MOBILE - thanks George.
**Sorry, Marti - that link to Bobby Vee on American Bandstand was one I don't recall, nor the song. I was certainly alive then, but didn't start following the show until much later. Interesting to note the integrated fan base on that show - given the racial tension of the times, AB was definitely a progressive program (not meaning to start any political discussion!)
**Hands up for POP TOP before POP TAB - I liked the link to the shot of the beer can collection which brought back a few memories. I was not a collector but had several friends who were.
**YERTLE the Turtle also brought back memories; I can recall having the book when I was a lad (circa 1958-59 maybe), and I remember reading it to MY kids. Quite an interesting read about the "perils" of greed. While this is missing the illustration, here is a link to the text of the book
Straight forward and easy for a Thursday.
ReplyDeleteMarti, the SATAYS look delicious.
Hand up for na'an before LIRA.
No problem with POP TAB.
I never golfed, but I used to hike in the rain in my rain suit before my knees gave out. People thought we were crazy.
Almost all novels these days have EPILOGS. Some of them tell what happened years later. In the last novel I read, the EPILOG was just like the final chapter with no need to separate it from the rest.
Irish Miss, thanks for asking about Alan. He is fine this week and is back to work. We are working on finding the line between too ill to work and not being 100%, but soldiering on.
ERGO, I wrote in sympathy for your loss of Drake. It was part of a longer post which disappeared. I became discourage and didn't rewrite the post. Sorry for the delay.
This was a fun puzzle and I got the MOBILE ending early which helped.
ReplyDeleteCLUE before HINT,HOMY (wrong spelling) before COZY, PEC before ABS but perps gave me LAT. I always have to remember to use ODOR not odour and EPILOG just did not look right without the UE!
Yes Marti, I have a SIN!
All Canadians are in shock today after the shootings in Ottawa yesterday. Our age of innocence is over! We have homegrown terrorists.
More "puzzling thoughts"
ReplyDelete** can we send a mini CSO to Nice Cuppa for the clue/solve at 33D? Don't know if they like a cup of JOE or not, but I've known some Brits that can enjoy both tea AND coffee
**Found an easy spot where Gareth could've used a "V" and completed his pangram: in the very SE corner, he could've had as 50A: Initials you don't want to be positive; 61A stays same; 64A: Gov't issuer of a nine digit number; 57D: Apple core? and 58D: US Fed'l Gov't news provider. Anyone care to solve?
One of these days I am going to try my hand at constructing a CW . . . but in the mean time, I won't quit my day job!!
marti, best line of the year, "who are you to question my morels?"
ReplyDeleteA limerick, just for fun . . .
ReplyDeleteIt's my age, I'm beginning to feel,
And believe me, the feeling's quite real;
When you feel like I do,
Then of course, feel free to
Let your feelings be part of your spiel!
ReplyDeleteMarti's got morels ? What fun - lets join her. ;-D)
Great blog Marti, loved it.
Thanks Chairman for the lyrics (?) to Yertle. Fun read.
Lemonade, your twin is better looking than you. Charlotte looks even better. :-)
CanadianEh !
Sad to say -
The NRA may have won today,
If we take the guns away,
Only the ----- will have them. ( doesn't rhyme.)
seriously, My sincerest heartfelt sympathies for the tragedy in Canada. Maybe you need really really strict immigration rules and a really really beefed up security. So sad.
There seemed to be too many 3-letter answers today. Too many for my liking, especially on a Thursday.
ReplyDeleteI see that some of the reviewers keep track of whether the puzzle is a pangram -- would someone please explain why?
P.S. These anti-robot tests are hurting my eyes.
Anonymous @ 10:29
ReplyDeleteA pangram is noted when the crossword constructor uses all 26 letters of the alphabet within the solves of the puzzle
When I got up this morning, many of my motions were robotic . . . are you getting a captcha (sp?) to enter or numbers? I am getting numbers today . . . they are usually less blurry than the letters
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteHand up for wavering between Poptop and Poptab, but other than that, smooth sailing.
Morning, Marti - your link to the Keene mess shows how modern college crowds can take a really nice festival and ruin it instantly. I hope there are mass expulsions over that.
The mess in Canada doesn't give much encouragement either. I'm sorry that terrorism has seen fit to take root there.
Marti: Wonderful write-up ... and your MORELs are fine by me.
ReplyDeleteGareth: Thank you for a FUN Thursday puzzle and clever theme.
Chairman Moe: The green fees don't go up because we are entering the NO-RAIN season; they go up due to the number of Northern Tourist visitors.
Gotta >gouge when you can ... lol
Hand up for pop-top before POP-TAB but then I wondered "What-the-hell" is a JUNGLE pOOK?
... oh, it's JUNGLE BOOK.
A "toast" to ALL at Sunset.
SKOAL!!! (yeah, that was my fave today!)
Thanks to Chairman for responding to my question, though apparently I was unclear. I don't understand the significance of the pangram. I understand what it is (A-Z), but I am assuming the "accomplishment" is more of a novelty (akin to hitting for the cycle in baseball). It doesn't seem to be a big deal to me, but apparently it is worth tracking/commenting on, so I feel I am missing something.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Testing--can't read the captcha.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWell, this started out as a delightful speed run, and I was thrilled that I got ALEXANDER POPE right away. But then it got tough, although with a lot of work, it did finally all fall into place. That's how a Thursday puzzle is supposed to work, isn't it--many thanks, Gareth Bain! And Marti, your morels made our day! Thanks too, for the shout-out to Irish Miss!
Canadian Eh, I thought of you all last evening watching the news. Your lovely civilized country doesn't deserve this--so sad.
Glad Alan is doing okay, Yellowrocks.
Have a great day, everybody!
Hello, friends.
ReplyDeleteOh, Marti, you are in great form today and your MORELs are outstanding!
I believe Dennis knows a thing or two about those, too.
It was a lovely time sashaying through Gareth's grid. Hand up for POPTOP but JUNGLE BOOK derailed that. I also had TURTLE before YERTLE gave him a name.
I see, too, that BAT crosses MOBILE and would someone tell me what is TAHINI.
Anonymous@11:22
Using all 26 letters of the alphabet in a crossword can't be easy for a constructor and it enhances the solving experience, IMHO.
Have a fantastic Thursday, everyone!
Anon @10:29 & 11:22
ReplyDeleteI'm in your corner ... being a pangram is no big deal.
I've solved many pangram puzzles that suffered from lousy, crap fill answers just to get the last 2 or 3 letters needed to get all 26 letters.
Your "hitting for the cycle" analogy was very adroit.
I agree Charlotte is better looking, she will be back soon, though I loved the twin picture. not because it was me but it was so Janus.
ReplyDeleteTahini is YUMMY.
Chairman Moe
ReplyDeleteFirst your clues to complete the pangram:
56A: Initials you don't want to be positive = HIV
64A: Gov't issuer of a nine digit number = SSA
57D: Apple core? = IOS (iPhone etc. OS)
58D: US Fed'l Gov't news provider = VOA (are they still a propaganda agency or have they improved?)
NC
Wow! tough puzzle, but doable. (JunglePook?)
ReplyDeletepull tab/ok
pop top/ok
pop tab/wtf?
Marti! Did you plant that false morel just to use that line!
P.S. when in doubt, don't eat it!
25A Fie, does that have anything to do with Fe Fie Fo Fum?
Bill G, apologies for yesterday (but it is still driving me nuts!)
Hi Everyone:
ReplyDeleteAnother fun offering from one of my favorite constructors. My only write-overs were ETO/Iwo and pop top/pop tab. I thought it was easier than a typical Thursday but with a few crunchy spots. Thanks, Gareth and thanks to Marti for the informative expo and the CSO. Also CSO to HG=sub and Avg. Joe=Joe.
YR, that's good news about Alan; I hope he continues to be stable.
Canadian Eh, you have my deepest sympathy for your country's suffering after that horrific act. I guess none of us are immune to terrorism.
Mari asked me to say hello to everyone as she can no longer post due to her employer blocking the blog website.
Have a great day.
Chairman Moe
ReplyDeleteIn re TEA vis-à-vis COFFEE.
Most Brits have tea at breakfast, coffee during their morning break, and tea again for their afternoon break and again after dinner (as a digestif).
Afternoon Tea (with biscuits) is an excellent way to get over the post-prandial slump. And a final cuppa (tea) after a night at the pub is also good for preventing/ameliorating hangovers.
Do Americans have breaks? Lunch (sometimes), I suppose.
P.S. The caffeine in tea (when correctly brewed) and coffee are comparable, but other elements in tea seem to prolong its effects and have a calming influence (although the science here is sketchy); while a strong coffee gives you a stronger jolt but then withdrawal within an hour.
I find the best is a combination, which seems to have a synergistic effect: a strong jolt o' Joe followed by a strong cuppa tea an hour or so later. And loose leaf tea is far more potent than the powdery stuff in tea bags. I take 2 teaspoons (moderately heaped) of assam or other black tea, pour boiling water over, strain, and add a dash of milk (tames the tannic acid). Result: Happiness (mild high, increased energy and mental acuity) for the rest of the afternoon.
NC
Tin @ 11:11 - regarding the golf fee hike: yeah, I said that "kind of tongue-in-cheek, and obviously wanting to use the NO RAIN / golfing connection. It is amazing that here in SW FL, the greens fees during the summer are SOOO cheap; and we enjoy a reciprocal relationship with other clubs, so getting to play some really top notch courses for $40 or less is a perk. From Nov - April, though, with the snow birds' arrival, the same $40 course goes for $150+
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ 11:12 - you're welcome! As for the pangram, I for one don't even notice it unless one of our illustrious re-cappers mentions it in his/her report. Sure, I'll notice when the letters Q, Z, and X are used, but I don't really care one way or the other
Nice Cuppa @ 12:04 - regarding my crossword clues, to quote the Fonz: Correct-A-Mundo
Thanks, too for the explanation of tea vs coffee @ 12:32. I am a wine geek and often use the comparative sensation of tannins in wine (red, especially) to the aftertaste of tea (fresh-brewed, of course). Whilst I don't drink much hot tea (mostly iced) I am truly a coffee "snob". I have finally found the roaster and blend(s) that give me my coffee enjoyment. And no, the name of it does NOT contain a word synonymous with "Sun" or slang for "money"!
Good afternoon all.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Barany: Your comment that it is too bad that "La Dona e mobile" was not included is the best comment I've read all year. And having a link to go to was spectacular. Thank you!
Cheers
October 23, 2014 at 12:50 PM
Delete
Musings
ReplyDelete-Yup, I’m 64 Acrossing today and a software program that has never let me down did just that and it took 15 minutes of hold and then 15 minutes more to get it running.
-Gareth’s puzzle and Marti’s write-up were a hoot
-There is joy in Kansas City, MO!
-Quinn Martin used an EPILOG on The Fugitive
-The rain has to be pretty hard, the snow very heavy or the lightning very near for us to not complete our appointed rounds!
-New demands on NHL REF’s
-I love baseball but they need to speed that up too
-I need to get some POP TAB openers
-Thank goodness for YouTube so I could catch on logarithms to help Emma last year
-Gotta run!
In re GOLF
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in England, where, as you know, it rains nearly every day, I played a lot of golf as a teenager. [In Scotland, of course, the home of golf, it rains EVERY day, except when it snows].
Rain of any variety (of course, we distinguish between many different kinds of rain - something akin to Inuits and snow) could therefore not be an impediment to playing golf.
The only thing that drove us off the course was an ELECTRICAL STORM - really not the best time to be wielding metal objects on hill-tops and other exposed places. At such times, the warm club-house, with its warm beer, or perhaps a Scotch, beckoned irresistibly.
NC
Anon @ 10:29 / 11:22, a pangram is worth noting only because they are out of the ordinary. Most people do not even realize when a puzzle is a pangram, so that's why reviewers often mention it. But I also agree with Tinbeni, that I would much rather see a well-filled puzzle than one that was filled with crap just to get the last Q, X or Z.
ReplyDeleteCED @ 12:05, wink, wink.
Hitting for the cycle in baseball is much more than a novelty, IMO. Cycles are rare in Major League Baseball (MLB), and have occurred only 305 times since the first by Curry Foley in 1882. The cycle is about as uncommon as a no-hitter (287 occurrences in MLB history); it has been called "one of the rarest" and "most difficult feats" in baseball. Based on 2009 offensive levels, the probability of an average MLB player hitting for a cycle against an average team in a game is approximately 0.00590%; this corresponds to about 2.5 cycles in a 162-game season with 30 teams.
ReplyDeleteMost power hitters lack the speed needed to accomplish the triple while most speedsters lack the power to hit a homerun. Add in the effect of late game specialist pitchers coming in and shutting down an offense. Not to mention defensive outfielders coming in to cut off the gap shots and the newer style ballparks that either give up triples or homeruns but not both.
Its only the most athletic that can usually hit for the cycle. Add in the ability to play defense and a good arm and that's where you get a 'five tool player' such as Mike Trout. The great Mickey Mantle only did it once as did Frank Robinson, Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson. The greats that didn't do it include Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr.. Lou Gehrig did it twice. How adroit of him.
SATAY kept me from 100% today. I haven't eaten Thai in decades. Neither that nor its cross, TAHINI, were familiar. Otherwise, the perps did me fine service, helping to answer a number I wouldn't otherwise have guessed.
ReplyDeleteI go with Barry G & others on POP TAB. It should be either PULL TAB or POP TOP; we don't need a new hybrid for these familiar can openers.
Changing the subject, I have just started reading JUST MERCY, Bryan Stevenson's account of the vast injustice within our legal system -- nothing we didn't already know, but this book gives names and faces to those victims who are mistakenly seen as perpetrators. Powerful stuff.
That was a pleasant and properly difficult Thursday puzzle. I didn't know PHOEBE and I enjoyed seeing CASEY AT THE BAT. Well done Gareth and Marti.
ReplyDeleteCreativity - a carrot clarinet.
AnonT, no worries. I'm glad you found it interesting to think about. I re-interpret the question like this. A question follows this next statement. The answer to the question is found in the parentheses that follow the question. How many letters are in the answer to this question and therefore, in the parentheses? (FOUR)
OMK@1:48 "It should be either PULL TAB or POP TOP"
ReplyDeleteI don't think those are the same things as a POP TAB. I'd say that "pop top" describes a type of can, while "pull tab" refers to the old-style openers where the tab came off (and caused the occasional lacerated foot . . . and much litter).
In any case, I refer you to the Wikiepedia article, linked above.
ReplyDeleteI really had my doubts that I would get todays theme. Finally something baseball-related flittered through my head and I filled CASEYATTHEBAT. MOBILE then came easy.
I left a few renegade empty spots in SATAY and YERTLE, but from where I was to where I ended up, it still felt like a moral victory.
Thank you Marti and Gareth.
Bill G @ 2:01
ReplyDeleteThe carrot clarinet link was cool. Wonder, though, why it plays in a Minor key?
76 trombones led the big parade, with 110 cornets close at hand. Music Man, great movie
ReplyDeleteAll over the Internet you can find dozens of references to pop tab, pull tab, and pop top, all with the same illustrations. "You say to-MAY-to, I say to-MAH-to. Let's call the whole thing off." As mom would say. "It's six of one and a half dozen of the other."
ReplyDeleteAll over the Internet you can find . . . pretty much anything.
ReplyDeleteEvidence of usage is not evidence of proper usage.
Yellowrocks,
ReplyDeleteAs my departed step-mom would have it, "It's six of one-- and six of the other."
~ Kf
PS. It was my Dad who'd answer "Why does a chicken cross the road?" with "That was no chicken, that was my wife"....
I don't know much about POP TABs, but I know what I like.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, folks. Thank you, Gareth Bain, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle had some tough spots for me. After all, it is a Thursday.
Tried UNDO for 10D. Fixed that to REDO.
Had SOTTA for 42A. Fixed that to SOTTO. Those were my only two inkblots.
TAHINI and SATAY crossing were tough. I won that battle with a wag and lucked out.
Liked the theme with MOBILE.
ZINC was easy.
110 CORNETS was in 76 trombones. or the Music Man.
Nice Cuppa: Liked your commentary on Tea vs Coffee. Very informative. I am solely a tea drinker now. I used to drink coffee by the gallon. I quit cold turkey. Had withdrawal symptoms for about a month.
Got THE WHO after I had about 4 letters.
Thought SQUARE FOOT was a good one.
Lots to do.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(2205)
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks for interesting efforts, Gareth and Marti!
Great theme!
Hand up for POPtop at first.
Long ago, my daughter gave me a YERTLE stuffed toy for my inanimate turtle collection. Last night dreamt of my animate turtle collection.
Cheers!
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Gareth! Great expo, Marti, despite the questioning of your morels. LOL!
ReplyDeleteTALC: The current ads stating TALC causes female parts cancer sure aren't soothing. Where the heck are women putting that TALC?
A turtle is a reptile? Guess Yertle could tell us that. I'd forgotten.
Never heard of PHOEBE SNOW, TAHINI, or SATAY. Perps & WAGS.
LEW Wallace was a gimmee. He was my great grandmother's cousin.
I wanted to share the joy in KCMO so tried watching the World Series. Went to sleep after the second inning both nights. Missed all the excitement. That's my current life in a nutshell.
Lemonade, "Fiancee prepares...SATAY". Is this a new status for your lady friend? Congratulations!
CanadaEh, So horrible that the "Dogs of War" have been unleashed in your lovely country. I remember when it was a haven for the peace lovers who refused to go to war.
IrishMiss, thank you for asking the other day. My brother went back to teaching college classes four days after his heart attack and stint installation. Says he is okay but was really tired after class. My other brother continues to be out and about.
Yes PK it is indeed all new.
ReplyDeleteAck!
ReplyDeleteI had 6 links all prepped & ready to go. I started typing how busy & late I was when I hit the wrong X & lost everything!
Oh well, the Popemobile link would have got me sent to hell anyway...
I did retrieve just 2 links that I thought might be of interest, (sorry. the nude snowbunnies on snowmobiles will just have to be left to your imagination...) For some technical reason, when you Google "mobile" it always comes up with phones. If you want the other kind of mobile, you have to type in hanging mobile.
Anywho, today I saw a lot of links that I thought you might enjoy. They have nothing to do with the puzzle, so click on them only if you are bored...
Can anyone explain the science behind this sound? The internet is a bit sketchy on the subject...
My ice maker broke, but the dispenser still works. So I have been freezing cubes the old fashioned way & then putting them in the dispenser. Then I saw this video...
I was never interested in those young kids shows on channel 11, until I saw this...
An airline safety video that I actually enjoyed watching!
EddieB @ 2:24, Bazinga!! You get the prize. Just send $10 to my email address, and you will be the proud recipient of a Marti Hearti (Abejo - runner up gets a fist pump...)
ReplyDeleteLemony, woo-hoo! Do tell more about this fiancee!
Nice Cuppa:
ReplyDeleteThank you for clearly explaining the effects of coffee vs. tea which is something I had not realized. Usually tea makes me sleepy but maybe it's as you say, the bags contain a weaker version. I'll give your method a try.
Can someone tell me what perp means in crosswordese? I assume it is an acronym like wag but I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteSigh!
ReplyDeleteok, I will lose a post explaining...
On the right side of the Blog is a section called Oleo (crosswordese for hodgepodge i believe...)
therein you will find Comment Section Abbreviations
Now showing. Partial solar eclipse. At a theater near you.
ReplyDeleteJust had a thought. I know...scary.
ReplyDeleteI've seen any number of lunar eclipses and a few partial solar eclipses in my nearly 60 years. But I don't recall any instances where they were only 15 days apart. While that makes sense on the surface, is it at all common? Anyone on board that has reasonable celestial knowledge?
CED @ 5:30, I dub you with an extra post this evening...I should have been all over Anon's question @ 5:05. Thanks for filling in!!
ReplyDeleteAvg Joe, that would seem to be reasonable but it doesn't happen. The moon's orbit around the Earth is tilted by about five degrees so when it passes between the Earth and the sun, it is usually too high or too low and passes just above or below the line from the Earth to the sun. When the moon is lined up properly for an eclipse of the moon, when it goes halfway around the earth, because of the slant of its orbit, it's just too high or too low to also eclipse the sun. Anyway, most of that is kinda right.
ReplyDeleteI went outside on my way to my bike ride, made a little pinhole between my fingers and could see the image of a tiny partially-eclipsed sun. Eclipse video
Good evening folks.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted state for the record that
Nicole was not in any of the pictures of the rioting at Keene State.
She and her roomies just stayed in their dorm and waited it out.
It was a little unnerving for us though for a while.
Thanks for all the expressions of concern about our Canadian shock over the tragedy in Ottawa yesterday.
ReplyDeleteParliament convened today and our PM said, "As for the business of government, we are here in our seats, in our chamber, in the very heart of our democracy, and we are working."
We refuse to be silenced by terrorism. But our belief that "it can't happen here" has been shattered.
So, Bill. It's merely coincidence? That was my first conclusion, but wanted to ask in case I was missing something obvious. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteManac, glad to hear you didn't have bail to contend with. Question: How far is Boscowen from Keene, or Concord for that matter? I have a close friend there. You might even know him.
Joe,
ReplyDeleteTold all my kids early on "I have
no money for bail".
Keene is about an hours drive from Concord, 20 min. longer from Boscawen. I lived next door to Boscawen, in Penacook, for 15 years.
AJ, I don't think it's a coincidence. I THINK that when the moon is in the right position for one eclipse, that the slant of the orbit carries it too high or too low for another eclipse 15 days later.
ReplyDeleteOk, in honor of Manacs return, I resurrected the lost CED links.
ReplyDelete(However, HeartRx, you may regret that extra freebie post as in hindsight they were not that funny anyway...)
Would you pick up a hitchhicking poet?
The reason the Bookmobile was banned...
& finally, why I never found a funny snowmobile pic... prudes look away!
But Bill, are you forgetting that we had a total lunar eclipse 15 days ago on October 8? That's the coincidence I'm referring to.
ReplyDeleteManac, check your GMail account for a message from me. But also be warned, it's damn near my bedtime, so I might not see any reply til morning.
Don't believe anything you read in the papers. The rioting students were almost all from Baaston and Lexington, who come to our state NH, and to Keene to spend their papa's money and have fun. They deserve to be hanged drawn and quartered. Not bailed out. I wish our state had a decent amount of state income tax so we could pay our own college subsidies and then we could nix all these foreign kids and their tuition and tell them to shove it.
ReplyDeleteAj Bill G and others - re eclipse discussion.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to go to this NASA site Eclipse Web Site and slew down half a page and read about Lunar Eclipse Tetrads. There are other interesting links when you get there.
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gareth, Marti and everyone for the fun links (looking at you CED!)
Argg - A big fat DNF. The north came easy (PETE, THE WHO, FAQ, SELENA all anchored the space). The south took so many look ups I'm afraid to admit how dumb I am. I did get TAHINI off THE BAT 'cuz I make my own hummus.
Barry, I had SNOn for a long time. Don't know who PHOEBE is; THE WHO is more my cuppa.
Fav - LOGARITHMS. Did anyone hear the slide-rule story on NPR yesterday? SQ.Ft. was a close second.
Marti - I have no MORELs just a SIN. I had to get one for a two day meeting at our Calgary office. Your MOREL comment was a hoot.
Ave Joe - I don't have your years, but I don't recall eclipses that close together either. Maybe because New Moon is tomorrow and the eclipse happened on the full moon (Hunter's Moon)? Where's HG?
Glad to hear health has returned to the corner. C, Eh? sorry those bastards are now going after the friendly North Americans.
Cheers, -T
Oops, I thought today was Wed. when I glanced at the calendar. The new moon is tonight. That's a good mistake to make; in 1.5h TGIF!
ReplyDeleteCheers, -T
Verpa conica (Müller) Swartz
ReplyDeleteKongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens nya handlingar ser. 3 v. 3: 130. 1815.
Common Name: Thimble Fungus, Bell Morel
Pileus
Cap 1.5-3.5 cm tall, 2-3.5 cm broad, conic, becoming obtuse-conic to bell-shaped in age, smooth to shallowly folded (but not wrinkled), attached only at the stipe apex; margin at first inrolled, irregular to wavy in outline, often slightly recurved in age; upper surface fertile, glabrous, dull brown when young, light-brown to ochraceous at maturity; lower surface sterile, pallid, matted tomentose to subpubescent; context thin, whitish, unchanging when cut or injured; odor not distinctive; taste mild.
Clearly I have more to learn about the timing of eclipses. :>)
ReplyDeleteAre any of you watching "How We Got to Now" on PBS? Very good I think. It's about how various people and inventions changed our world.
Bill G. - re: eclipses - YES, I think we all do :-)
ReplyDeleteI heard about that PBS show, but don't look at TV much. Maybe I'll binge watch this weekend if it's on-demand since Stewart & Colbert seem to be in re-runs.
KIA Lime R: FYI - on an iPad your link tries to add to my contacts. I guess it looks like a phone number. BTW, it was today in 2001 the iPod was launched.
Near time to get COZY and rest for a few hours. Only 3 more pages in my current read (How Google Works).
Cheers, -T
Lemonade,
ReplyDeleteSuch happy news. Congratulations!