3D. Diner's breakfast request : EGGS SUNNY SIDE UP. The order you give to Flo, in Mel's diner.
5D. Baseball manager's decision : STARTING LINEUP. The list of players who will be in the game.
9D. Cop's command : PUT YOUR HANDS UP. An order that caused a lot of unrest in Ferguson.
And the reveal:
11D. What sports stats are usually shown in ... or what 3-, 5- and 9-Down each represents? : DESCENDING ORDER. Each of the three theme entries is a type of "order" descending in the grid. I am not sure if "up" at the end of each one has something to do with the theme, or if they are just coincidental. Let's see if Mr. Sessa can enlighten us.
(From C.C.: I thought they're coincidental. Lemonade said Rule 39 is "there are no coincidences". So we consulted the constructor Mr. Ed. Here is what he told us:
I figured it added a little twist to the puzzle, up being "down", along with having three different "takes" on the meaning of the word "order")
Unusual grid, with left to right symmetry, but not top to bottom. It also seemed very easy to me for a Thursday, but your experience may vary.
Across
1. Many Pindar poems : ODES.
5. Philatelist's find : STAMP.
10. Mt. Rushmore locale : S. DAK.
14. "Rich & Meaty" brand : RAGU
15. "I should have made my way straight __ long ago": Whitman : TO YOU.
16. "Try this" : HERE.
17. Joule fractions : ERGS.
18. Explosive trial : A-TEST.
19. "Makes sense to me" : I SEE.
20. Old Buick : LESABRE.
22. Not surprising : TYPICAL.
24. Schoolyard comeback : IS NOT.
25. Chaps can be seen in one : OATER. This one got a smile from me.
26. Like boxed matches : UNLIT.
28. Jackson successor Van __ : BUREN.
29. Predatory seabird : ERN.
31. "Hit me" : ONE MORE. You might hear those words at a bar or at a Blackjack table.
33. Speckle : DOT.
36. Broadway's __-Fontanne Theatre : LUNT. No clue. All perps. It was originally called The Globe Theater, but renamed after renovation in 1957, in honor of Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontaine.
38. Grind, as teeth : GNASH.
39. Young hombre : NINO.
40. Shout before Silver : HI YO. Silver, Awaaaaaaaaaaay!
41. Patterson who played the singing flight attendant in "Airplane!" : LORNA. Loved that movie.
42. Handling the situation : ON IT.
43. Pancreatic hormone : INSULIN.
45. Blue hues : INDIGOS.
47. Chase scene sounds : SIRENS.
48. Annexes : ADDS ON.
49. One of a fiver's fifty : DIME.
50. Recipe word : STIR.
51. Flock females : EWES.
53. Freedom, in Swahili : UHURU. Total WAG, with only 5 perps needed. ;-)
57. "The Country Girls" novelist O'Brien : EDNA. the novel was banned in Ireland, and her parish priest publicly burned copies, because it dealt with sexuality in the '60s.
60. Big oaf : LOUT.
61. Surgical holding area : PRE-OP.
62. Go slowly (through) : SEEP.
63. Hard-to-do dos : MOPS.
64. Part of REM : EYE.
Down
1. City about 225 miles from Moscow : OREL. I always get this city confused with Orem, which is near Provo, Utah.
2. "__ say it?" : DARE I.
4. "Valley of the Dolls" author Jacqueline : SUSANN. Gimme. That book was also considered "racy" when it came out in the '60s.
6. Carry : TOTE.
7. Word to a captain : AYE.
8. Greatest amount : MOST.
10. Many an Iraqi Muslim : SHIITE.
12. Toward the stern : AREAR.
13. Boat base : KEEL.
21. Barn dance neckwear : BOLO.
23. Remove the skin from : PARE.
27. Mortise inserts : TENONS.
28. Sarajevo's region : BOSNIA.
29. K-12 : ELHI.
30. Roman holiday attractions : RUINS. It's an incredible feeling to walk where Caesar once stood.
32. Dent or scratch : MAR.
34. Pizza topping : ONION. I just made Hawaiian pizza last night, with ham and pineapple. Yum!
35. Wee ones : TOTS.
37. Busload at a resort, probably : TOURISTS.
39. Loud to the max : NOISIEST.
44. Moon lander, briefly : LEM.
46. Prohibited insecticide : DDT.
51. With 65-Across, source of shade : ELM. And 65-Across: See 51-Down : TREE.
52. Act the suitor : WOO.
54. Charlemagne's realm: Abbr. : HRE. Holy Roman Empire.
55. Turn that's hung : UEY. I think we should take a vote for our favorite spelling of this, and then banish all other spellings forever from crossword puzzles!
56. Canapé topping : ROE.
58. Wedding page word : NEE.
59. Oaf : APE.
That's all from me. Let's hear from you!
Marti
60 comments:
Morning, all!
Pretty straightforward today. I, too, was wondering whether the theme had something to do with all the UPs in the theme answers, but then I eventually figured out that it was just ORDERS that were DESCENDING.
Didn't know LORNA or EDNA, but the perps came to the rescue and they were both common enough names to guess with a little help.
I did know UHURU, sort of. I remembered from my Trekkie days that Lieutenant UHURA's name means something in Swahili, and that was enough to get me started. The perps changed the final A to a U, but that was all the help I needed.
I love the new CAPTCHA. No squinting -- just check the box!
Pretty quick solve this morning although I did start out misspelling SUSANN but soon got on the right track. Half the time I can't make out the squiggly CAPTCHA words.
Felt like a Monday
Good day, puzzlers! Marti, I agree with you in most of your analysis, but if you limit UEY to only one spelling, what would you do if you needed those other vowels?
A fine puzzle from Ed Sessa and though I didn't get the theme, it was fairly easy to suss the UP and down fill. Initially I misspelled SUSANN and recall reading Valley of the Dolls. It was considered risqué at the time. Does everyone know that the "dolls" were drugs, pills?
On UHURU, WBS, I knew it meant something in Swahili.
LOUT and APE made me smile.
Finally, I prefer my EGGS over easy.
I really hate this early wake up!
Have a fantastic Thursday, everyone!
Good morning!
I usually have some problems with Ed's offerings, and today was no exception. My LASALLE had to become a LESABRE, and ONE HERE had to change to ONE MORE. Plus I wrote DIME at 39a when it belonged at 40a. I made quite a mess!
I've never actually heard anyone call it an OATER, just a Western. I like Airplane!, but DW has affixed a "sticky" with a big "No!" on it. I only watch it when she's out of town.
Lucina, I'm with you on your Egg Order. And, Marti, I hear you. Let's set a standardized spelling for the UEY. Today's works for me.
See? I've really got something against 49a -- I couldn't even type it the first time.
Good Morning, Marti and friends. I thought this was an easy puzzle for a Thursday, however the theme totally eluded me. I was able to get the answers, but all the only thing that they seemed to have in common was the word "up."
HANDS UP seems too close to Ferguson.
I have never read anything by Edna O'Brien, but she is an Irish author who just celebrated her 84th birthday on Monday.
I remember reading Valley of the Dolls back when I was in high school. Jacqueline Susann died young at age 53 back in 1977.
Cool! the new captcha is just a check off the old box.
QOD: If you’re going to kick authority in the teeth, you might as well use both feet. ~ Keith Richards (b. Dec. 18, 1943)
Good morning all !
Fast solve today. The only unknowns were LUNT, UHURU, LORNA and EDNA, but they all perped easily. All proper nouns. Go figure.
Got STARTING LINEUP with only the ST and the second N.
I have no interest or desire to see the ruins of Rome. Maybe if I were there already. "Roman holiday" sounds like something Don Pardo would shout out on "The Price is Right" in the 60s.
Hand UP for eggs over easy.
I agree this one was quick and easy. Star Trek taught me that UHURU means freedom in Swahili. Because I live only 40 miles from NYC, LUNT was a gimmee. LORNA and EDNA needed a few perps. It took a while, but now I really appreciate the theme.
HAND(S) UP for eggs over easy.
I was switched to Tylenol for 9 days pre-colonoscopy. It did absolutely nothing for me. Last night I switched back to Ibuprofen and register a 7 instead of a 10 pain-wise with more mobility. Good thing, because I have to clean today. Starting the first week in January I must start to use Tylenol again pre-surgery.
Good day,
I agree with earlier posters, pretty easy today considering it's Thursday.
Favorite,being a fan of Western movies, was OATER. Wondered if the cluing would cause confusion, but appears not to have done so.
As others have commented, lots of unknowns... UHURU, EDNA, LUNT, & LORNA.... but perps came through.
Best part of Christmas is done..Decorations up, tree trimmed, & Lucy's cookies are bakes. Now I'm gaining weight! It's time for my least favorite Xmas thingy.......shopping & wrapping.
See ya
Interesting, this new reCAPTCHA. The photos even look sort of fun. Does the orange cat count, I wonder?
An early Christmas present from Ed Sessawith a nice visual aspect as the theme answers and the reveal all appear in descending order. I saw it like an elevator, which when you get to the bottom gives you no choice but UP.
Thanks Ed and marti.
I enjoyed the change in direction of the theme answers-- had to erase "put up your hands" to the changed order after some perps. WEES about UHURU.
When I saw the Roman Holiday clue I thought of one of my favorite movies with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn and wanted to put VESPA, but that isn't a sight -- just what they rode around on to look at the sights!
Thanks Marti and Ed for a good start to the work day!
This morning when I saw the grid before I put on my glasses, I thought it looked like a cat. . . .I was all set for feline clues, but EGGS SUNNY SIDE UP set me straight with a better idea of where the long fills were going. Thanks, Marti, for your insights.
Very smooth solve for a Thursday. Didn't get the theme until Marti's reveal, but that isn't unusual for me.
Knew UHURU from the Robert Ruark novel of the same name. Read a lot of him in my 'ute, especially his regular column "The Old Man and the Boy" in Field and Stream magazine.
Hands up for eggs over easy, or "over light" as they say around here.
YR, good luck with the impending surgery. DW gets her new hip right after Christmas.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Putting UP second in PUT YOUR HANDS UP was a roadblock for a while on this fun Friday puzzle.
Musings
-The Chicago Bears Football coach made big news yesterday by taking his $23M QB out of the STARTING LINEUP
-If a cop tells me to PUT YOUR HANDS UP…
-Can you put your finger on the error on this FDR STAMP?
-Before Rushmore, Borglund got fired from this project
-Criticize a puzzle? “HERE, you do it!” ;-)
-When OATERS were TV royalty. How many can you name?
-Many think Van BUREN, Old Kinderhook, started the phrase O.K. during his campaign
-Surely, Airplane is the only movie to make me laugh until it hurt, and don’t call me Shirley!
-Jake and Elwood eluded all these cars with SIRENS
-EDNA, there was sex in the 60’s? Really?
-I wonder if teams from OMSK play ones from OREL?
-Did they invent TOTE bags?
-We’d “hang” a right but “flip” a UEY
Husker Gary, I googled the answer on FDR - but I won't ruin it for the others.
You have to look very carefully and let's say, its medical.
No, he's not missing his two front teeth ...
very interesting - and obvious.
Hi all!
Wow, what a quick Thurs (for me anyway). The middle of the puzzle fell first, followed by 9d, 5d, 11d. 3d was the last theme to fall as 24a was amNOT and 40a was HIhO. In my defense, MIL says she hears HIhO too.
Thanks Ed for the pre-meeting diversion and Marti for the write-up.
AYE - Over Easy or over medium for my EGGS. Pop's SUNNY SIDE UP is the only SSU I like - though the EGG floats in bacon fat :-)
Fav: MOPS - just 'cuz mine needs more than a trim. GNASH is a fun word too.
Cheers, -T
//check - not a bot too
HG
Do we know for a fact FDR was not a polydactyl?
Hello Puzzlers -
WBS. Really easy, and I never caught onto the theme until Marti 'splained it.
I recall the Star Trek episode in which the meaning of Uhura's name was given. It was part of a spoken greeting to the crew by an intelligent being temporarily inhabiting Spock's body; the "fusion" had been authorized because the Enterprise was lost in some space fog and the crew needed help navigating out.
This new reCaptcha is easy!
The pictures look out of proportion so I am not sure about some, but they do bring back memories.
It took me way too long yesterday to revall that Gene Barry played Bat Masterson, though Hugh O'Brien as Wyatt Earp was a gimme/ Ned Buntline started it.
Sadly most, if not all are no longer with us.
Van Buren is buried in Buffalo near both of his wives.
Mops= hair!!
Thank you
What is a Catch?
I squinted
All I want for Xmas?
Hi gang -
Fun puzzle from Ed today. I like the ironic UP twist.
The STARTING LINEUP gives the batting ORDER. Clever!
I have my eggs over medium, unless I get the veggie omelet with feta cheese at our local diner.
Ooops - mispelt BOLA. ANEMORE makes no sense, but I didn't notice it. D'OH!
SIRENS
Here's Another Christmas Song from Christopher Bill.
And, at no extra charge Jingle Bells, a la Count Basie from our concert on Monday
Cool regards!
JzB
Tinman’s award-winning photo that says a lot about him and his lifestyle.
The only song I know with Van BUREN in it. They Might Be Giants taught me more than Mr. ??? did in history. :-)
Cheers, -T
Other than starting out at 1-d with OMSK before OREL this was a breeze.
Yeah, when I was at our office in Sarajevo I went and stood on the spot where Archduke Ferdinand was shot ... Starting WWI.
Already "Hand-Washed" and Detailed the CR-Z ... geez, the weather is perfect (again!).
A toast to ALL at Sunset.
Cheers!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Ed Sessa, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for a fine review.
I agree with somebody, that this puzzle was a little easier than normal. I did not notice the alternate grid style. OK. Theme was fine. Got all the answers easily.
I do not eat eggs very often, but when I do it is always SUNNY SIDE UP.
OREL was not known. Four perps.
I do not think of Bosnia as a region, but a country.
ROE, UEY, and EYE were tough. After some deep thinking I got them, and then UHURU became obvious.
Tried PEEL instead of PARE. My only inkblot.
OK, see you tomorrow.
Abejo
(7805)
Wonderful to get a pretty easy doable puzzle with the challenges of those long downs--many thanks, Ed. I saw those UPs at the ends of the downs but didn't get "order" as the determiner of the theme until Marti's expo. Nice way to start a Thursday, have a great one, everybody!
Musings 3
-Lemon and Lurker, I tried to give a hint to the FDR STAMP error by saying, “Can you put your finger on the error?” I didn’t get it without help.
-Here’s a big time Wal Mart doll ERROR.
***The Knick is named Carmelo Anthony not Anthony Carmelo
***Carmelo is not white
***Carmelo’s number is 7
***Maybe that worker didn’t know much about sports ;-)
***Here are the two athletes side by side
-It has since been pulled off the shelf and Wal Mart has admitted it was a mislabeled Jeremy Lin doll
-BTW,that is the last Tin picture I will need to post. God help us, I have taught him how to do it. ;-)
Good morning everyone.
Bottom's up! comes to mind for today's offering. Very enjoyable puzzle to work on. Thank you Ed and to Marti for the fine intro.
Fairly easy for a Thursday. PUT YOUR HANDS UP was about the third fill. No searches or erasures were needed.
There seemed to be a shoutout to the Sea Services with AYE, AREAR, and KEEL.
Many BOSNIAN refugees and their descendants live in our area. Hard working and honest.
Got UHURU from the perps but was thinking of Uluru, the modern name for Ayers Rock in OZ - I kept scratching my head: "They don't speak Swahili in Australia." D'uh.
Noted 6 cheater squares. Is there a limit under LAT guidance?
Husker, I got the FDR error from your crosswordy clue, but, sports fan that I am, I didn't see anything wrong with the basketball doll. I see that Tin hadn't raised the mast on his raft.
And why won't Recaptcha recognize my mouse-click. It still shows me a picture to identify before recognizing my humanity.
D-O: Are you on an iPad? I am and get the house-numbers too after tapping "I'm not a robot." I tried to type them the 1st time and then ignored them the 2nd time and it still "worked."
Did you notice the business section today - page D6?. As soon as I saw the image I had an answer to Ave-Joe's question from last night - Jay Leno is going on a buying spree for classic cars in Cuba!
Spitz - I read 7d, 12d, 13d as a direct SO to you. I also liked EYE and AYE in the same puzzle.
Cheers, -T
Good Afternoon:
I, too, thought this was easier than a typical Thursday. I did get my Dakotas mixed up but not for long. Uhuru just popped right out but my pizza had an olive for a minute before onion showed up. CSO to YR with pre-op.
Thanks Ed and Marti for a fun solve and expo. (Hand up for eggs over easy.)
We haven't had any sunshine for about 10 days. Today is mild but very windy. At least we're not being buried in snow. (For now, anyway.)
Have a great day.
I like the three different types of "orders."
I have thought all of these years that it was Hi 'Ho' Silver - news to me that it was Hi Yo Silver all along!!
And Martin Van Buren is buried in Kinderhook, NY - no where near Buffalo. The lead pipes in his home may have contributed to his death.
Anon-T, yes I saw that article. I'm surprised at how many antique car nuts there are here in my little town. I can think of five that are all within 1/2 mile of me, and several more within 1 mile. Oh, and I'm on an IMac. I guess I'll just keep hitting "Preview" and "Publish" and ignore the check box.
Synapstic Mom, I can see it now -- Mrs. Van Buren in the Conservatory with the Lead Pipe.
Thank you S Mom, I am getting old as it obviously is Millard Fillmore buried in Buffalo.
HG you did not answer my question, is it a bad photo or was FDR a polydactyl? We all know he had health issues
Lemonade, regarding Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I have it on unimpeachable references, from FDR's personal physician, no less, ( unfortunately, also, no longer with us - ) that FDR did not suffer from polydactyly or polydactylism (same - ). Sorry to have to pour cold water on your impending theories.
His health issues were mostly due to the effects of his polio outbreak, (despite of which, he had - ) his numerous ongoing affaires and his smoking of various obnoxious weeds...
This physician also assured me that the Monaco artist who drew the infamous picture on the stamp was afflicted with diplopia ( double vision ) combined with keratoconus, which provided certain ghost images. Thus, that was the proximal cause of the unusual drawing...
Husker Gary, you have totally misjudged the intention of the design of the Walmart Carmelo Anthony doll. It was a 'paint by numbers' type of doll. You have to paint the number '1' ( for the '17') and color it ebony black all over ... As is explained in 'White men can't jump'. lol.
I apologize for a 6th post, but I must ask Lurker again,who does not have an email attached, how interesting; who was the artist? I myself have suffered with kerataconus since I was a very small child and have had 5 eye operations. I seldom read or hear anything about kerataconus (from the Greek for Cone Shaped Cornea).
Anon T and Abejo, it looks like we three are in the minority here. I also like my eggs SUNNY SIDE UP.
HG, I stared and stared at the stamp for way too long before I continued on with the comments. I was sure it had something to do with the fact that he died in 1945, but the date on the stamp was 1947. (D'uh, Marti, it was a commemorative stamp!!)
D-otto @ 12:12, very funny!!
Should've made my way straight to you earlier but tennis prevailed.
WES about the Thursday difficulty. But totally enjoyable.
I do question OREL. Couldn't find it as clued near any Moscow I know…
MOST fave today: MOPS.
Was not familiar with LORNA nor EDNA.
I didn't care for AREAR but like ABAFT., which IS a word.
And I don't get why "holiday" was needed to get Roman attractions. RUINS it??
Other than these nits, Ed Sessa's offering was very nice, albeit too quickly over. Thanks Ed for the subtle clueing, and to Marti.
Hang in there, YR, but not the UEYs.
Lemonade, mucho apologies.
1. There was an LARGE element of satire, firmly tongue-in-cheek, and total speculation, involved in my earlier post. Coupled with some irreverent, though somewhat appropriate scientific terminology.
2. Although I am only too aware of your serious debilitating eye disorders, I thought you would look past all that and take it with a BIG grain of salt. Much to my horror, you have taken me far too literally. I too, suffer from keratoconus ( but, no ghost vision, yet ) and have gone through some procedures, so far, unfortunately unhelpful. Having no other choice, I have learnt to live with it.
I just 'put in' the word keratoconus because it is one of the syndromes which can cause ghost vision, which perhaps, the artist could have been afflicted with(?)
Sufficeth to say, my earlier post can be described as 'pure undiluted 100% bunkum'.
NEVER believe what you read on the internet. lol.
Thank you Ed and Marti.
Sorry to be a wet blanket, but the puzzle to me was a 'meh' for a Thursday.
The verticals did help a bit. The lack of symmetry was odd. And what's up with hanging a UEY? We used to hang rights and lefts, but never a UEY. Those, we flipped.
My English friend called a vacation a holiday. A Roman holiday could be a vacation in Rome where one of the tourist attractions is seeing the ancient ruins. I thought the clue was clever.
Ergo, that's what Husker said about the Uey. It must be a Nebraska-ism. Where I grew up we would hang a UEY and flip a bird.
Must be. I'd agree with the hanging and flipping comments.
Enjoyed the puzzle, but didn't find it overly easy. Guilty of Orem before Orel. Wrong Moscow, evidently. Liked the difference in the types of orders.
I like my eggs over easy, but don't often get them that way in a restaurant. I like the whites set and the yolks hot but still runny. I usually order basted cuz most short order cooks I've encountered overcook them if you ask for over easy. Maybe that's also a Nebraska thing :-)
I did the puzzle waiting for Daughter#3 to get thru a Doctors appt. (just a head cold that is leading to an ear infection) So it could not have been that easy if it took all that time...
I must be getting old, I make notes of what I want to discuss, & the 1st note was "stew." What the heck has "stew" got to do with the puzzle? It took a while but I realized I had saved The Singing Stewardess clip to post later
Yes, Holiday in the 30D clue did not make me think of "ruins." Yellow Rocks, thanks for the explanation, it does make some sort of sense now. P.S. keep us updated about how the knee thing goes, as we may be all next in line...
34d pizza topping ,,, onion? (am I missing something?)
It would be nice if our constructors made a puzzle that included all of the UEY variations as the clue, and the answer was the words "oneeighty..." (parse that one...)
had to look up the FDR stamp, interesting!
Dudley, the 1st clip is the Uhura = freedom. (I haven't time to watch all 8 minutes, gotta do a Mr. Moms taxi run. Maybe later...)
Good thing the puzzle was about descending & not climbing...
Hmm, I think the daily crossword is all the puzzling I can handle...
In my notes to discuss, after 30D Holiday Ruins? i added "YRTX"
It took me a while to realize that I had already done it, but can you figure out what I was trying to tell myself?
d-otto @11:33
Since I was holding the camera below my mast ...
It is really hard to say whether the mast had been raised at that sunset moment. lol
Looking at the FDR STAMP I believe the deformity is quite obvious.
Jazz:
I've surely enjoyed the trombone arrangements. Thank you.
All the puzzles this week have been fairly easy. I'm sure tomorrow will be very different. I didn't get the theme, as usual, so thanks to Marti for explaining it. Thanks for the puzzle, Mr. Sessa.
YR--hang in there! It'll take a couple months after surgery to really start feeling better, but the result is well worth it. No more thinking about every step to minimize the pain.
Eggs over and almost fully cooked. Just a little yolk oozing out.
Mom would have celebrated her 94th birthday today. She's in a better place now. RIP.
Pat
Greetings!
A very workable Thursday. Thanks Ed, Marti!
Going out of house to rheumatologist for regular appointment. (Can't help me with cold!)
YR: Get you doctor to prescribe some meloxicam. Good pain reliever.
Cheers!
CED @ 4:17 - Your notation YRTX was to thank YR for explaining the Rome holiday sight=ruins clue.
Add me to the list of those who enjoyed the trombone arrangements. Thanks JzB.
BTW, another one in the same series is "Silver Bells," number 2 I believe. I especially enjoyed that one.
The rain has let up and I am heading out for a bike ride and espresso. No tutoring for two weeks.
CED 3:31 - that's the one. The entity sharing Spock's body was a little more outgoing than Spock himself, obviously.
Nice to see bits and pieces of the shows to which I was riveted in my ute! The sets may have been cheesy, but the sci fi was solid.
Thanks Irish Mist for clearing that up. I was thinking maybe Young Radiologist Takes X-ray. Or
You're Really Tall, Xena!
Yitzhak Rabin Took Xcederin ?
Spitzboov,
No limit on cheater squares. But the total black square count must be under 43.
Ed's puzzle has 42 black squares, but only 72 words.
My paper said 10. Mount Rushmore Local. There was no abbreviation for Mt. Like you show. Held me up the whole day. FOUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So sorry but the nit is with the paper. Let them know. Politely. They may not know crossword etiquette and thought they were helping.
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