Theme: WHO'S DA MAN? - T.A.'s the man.
17A. *Miracle Mets center fielder : TOMMIE AGEE
26A. *Creator of Daffy and Bugs : TEX AVERY
37A. *"Songs About Me" country singer : TRACE ADKINS
49A. *He voiced Buzz Lightyear in "Toy Story" : TIM ALLEN
58A. *Three-time Super Bowl-winning Cowboys quarterback : TROY AIKMAN
47D. Husk-wrapped Mexican dish, and when divided in three parts, a hint to the answers to starred clues : TAMALE. T A MALE
Argyle here, also Tom (desper-otto) Uttormark and C.C. Quite a few CSO's today; to be expected, I guess, given who our constructors are. The unifier ties it all together and quantifies it as a Tuesday puzzle.
Across:
1. Tie with a cord : BOLO
5. Acute anxiety : ANGST
10. Miss from Madrid: Abbr. : SRTA. (Señorita)
14. Texter's "That being said ..." : OTOH. (on the other hand...)
15. Get on the phone, say : REACH
16. Lustful look : LEER
19. ''If all __ fails ...'' : ELSE
20. Weed whacker : HOE
21. Friskies eater : CAT
22. "Your choice" : "NAME IT"
24. Skip over in pronunciation : ELIDE
28. Nevada gambling city : RENO
29. __ for the course : PAR
31. Variety show : REVUE
32. Dressing component : OLIVE OIL
36. Nav. rank : ENS. (Ensign)
39. Dashboard meas. : MPH. (miles per hour)
41. Unsettled detail : LOOSE END
42. Island near Venezuela : ARUBA. Wish I was there.
44. Mexican mama bear : OSA
45. Official records : ACTA. (plural noun)
52. European toast : SKOAL. English spelling of Skål or skál.
53. Come by : OBTAIN
54. Fraternal club member : ELK. CED provided this link of their secret meetings.
56. CCV x X : MML. 205x10=2050
57. Roughly : OR SO
61. Dumbfound : STUN
62. Wished (for) : HOPED
63. Odometer unit : MILE
64. Pajama parts : TOPS
65. Line in a ledger : ENTRY
66. Fret : STEW
Down:
1. Pester : BOTHER
2. Peter of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969) : O'TOOLE
3. Chinese noodle dish : LO MEIN
4. Unit of resistance : OHM
5. Bay __: Oakland's locale : AREA
6. Tidy : NEAT
7. Joke : GAG
8. Bad thing to make in public : SCENE
9. Bad thing to get at work : THE AX. It might be the result of 8D.
10. Record protector : SLEEVE. Some sleeves and album covers are worth more than the record itself.
11. Takes over for : RELIEVES
12. Trial in simulated conditions : TEST RUN
13. "You __ My Sunshine" : ARE
18. Skating surface : ICE
23. Large game fish : MARLIN
25. Way in : DOOR
26. High-level betrayal : TREASON
27. "You betcha!" : "YES!"
29. __ de gallo: salsa fresca : PICO
30. Chevy hatchback : AVEO
33. [I don't remember the words] : LA LA LA
34. Laudatory poems : ODEs
35. Swedish furniture giant : IKEA
37. Good sign from Ebert : THUMBS UP
38. Fargo's state: Abbr. : N. DAK. (North Dakota)
39. Yoga class rental : MAT
40. Before : PRIOR TO
43. They're waved by conductors : BATONS
46. Say "I do," say : COMMIT
48. Never seen before : ALL NEW
50. Supple : LITHE
51. Scandal-plagued energy giant : ENRON
52. Enjoy the slopes : SKI
54. Watcher : EYER
55. Title for Godiva : LADY
57. East, to Ernst : OST
59. Make a choice : OPT
60. Metric distances: Abbr. : KMs. (kilometer)
Argyle
Note from C.C.:
1) As Argyle mentioned, Tom Uttormark is our own Desper-otto (D-Otto), who's super efficient and fun to work with. I led him in the wrong paths a few times, but he never complained or gave up. Thanks for the trust, Tom! Thanks also for being a trusted friend. Click here for Tom's potato dumpling recipe (Bluehen, your Sawmill Gravy is not in the Blog Recipe archive also).
2) We had TICO ("Costa Rican native") for 29D in our original submission. Rich changed it PICO to fit the Tuesday difficulty level. He also made the reveal entry easier to grasp. 8D is also Rich's (and lots of others as well), 9D's is Tom's. I love that "Bad thing to ..." clue echo.
Note from C.C.:
1) As Argyle mentioned, Tom Uttormark is our own Desper-otto (D-Otto), who's super efficient and fun to work with. I led him in the wrong paths a few times, but he never complained or gave up. Thanks for the trust, Tom! Thanks also for being a trusted friend. Click here for Tom's potato dumpling recipe (Bluehen, your Sawmill Gravy is not in the Blog Recipe archive also).
2) We had TICO ("Costa Rican native") for 29D in our original submission. Rich changed it PICO to fit the Tuesday difficulty level. He also made the reveal entry easier to grasp. 8D is also Rich's (and lots of others as well), 9D's is Tom's. I love that "Bad thing to ..." clue echo.
 |
| Tom Uttormark (D-Otto) |
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteNice to see some familiar faces today. The theme was cute, although I didn't get it until the end, mostly because two of the theme answers were complete unknowns to me (TOMMIE AGEE and TRACE ADKINS), so I didn't get the chance to see a pattern until everything got filled in by the perps. In fact, I almost went with GRACE instead of TRACE until the perp showed me otherwise.
Speaking of that particular perp, I have to give a THUMBS UP to the puzzle as a whole...
All proper names for a theme, most of whom I had no idea who they were. BOTHER! I figured out the T.A. part of the theme early, for what little good it was. Even the reveal was just a bother. How did TA, MA, and LE mean anything? I finished it easily enough with perps and a couple WAGs, but it wasn't the funnest. Right from the start, you swing a BOLO, you throw a BOLO, you can even tie a BOLO, but you never BOLO a BOLO! It wasn't until I started writing this that I realized tie was being used as a noun, not a verb!
ReplyDeleteBeen spending the last hour trying to go down memory lane. Can't find a picture of the BOLO balls toy from when I was a kid. Do you remember? a.k.a. Eskimo bolo, clackers, etc. I could do all sorts of yoyo-like tricks with mine. When did BOLA become the weapon and BOLO relegated to neckwear?
T. A. , C.C. Said
ReplyDeleteRidiculous I can say
Stuck in the moment.
Well done D-O. I too was thinking Ta Ma Le at first even with all the theme filled in. Trace Adkins I learned from the endless tv ads for CMA and other country music awards shows.Tommie Agee I remember well. Back in the 60s I was a big Chicago White Sox fan and TOMMIE was picked up from Cleveland to be the centerfielder.
ReplyDeleteThank U both for a Tuesday gift
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteI let out an audible groan when I saw that the first theme answer was baseball-related. I thought I was in for it.
Then I cam across the second themer, and the only thing I remember about cartoons is that Mel Blanc voiced many of them. But none of the perps worked for him.
Third themer - country music? Nope, not a chance! If it isn't Dolly Parton or Loretta Lynn, I have no idea.
Fourth: Never saw Toy Story, and had no idea who voiced whom.
Fifth: Football! But guess what? Andrew Luck wasn't working with any of the perps, either!
I ended up solving almost the whole puzzle by depending on the "down" clues. But I did get it done without help and no lookups, so "yay me."
And congrats on your debut, D-otto!
Good day all,
ReplyDeleteWell done D-O (Tom). Had to work at it today because of all the unknowns like TEX AVERY, TIM ALLEN, TRACE ADKINS & PICO. The crossing C 37A & 29d was my last ENTRY and a double wag.
Of course TOMMIE AGEE & TROY AIKMAN were gimme's for me.
Had a couple other issues along the way beginning with 1A where I tried making Bond work. Also filled in Acts for 45A and then I wondered what sllnew was?
Argyle: Nice write-up and links. Especially the TRACE ADKINS.
ReplyDeleted-otto & C.C. Thank you for a FUN Tuesday solving experience.
Really liked the T.A.MALE theme.
Of course my fave today was SKOAL ... go figure. lol
PICO de gallo was all perps ... I guess I'm not a "salsa" person.
And when I think of THE BAY AREA ... I think Tampa Bay Area ... just sayin'
A toast to ALL at Sunset. (I'm stuck with sunny skies and 75 degrees).
SKOAL!!!
Congratulations on your debut, DO! I often don't look at the constructor(s) until I've gotten a few fills in place. But I saw it before starting today, so was looking forward to it. It didn't disappoint.
ReplyDeleteTuesday level overall, but with many multiple options that forced reliance on the perps. e.g. wanted Bind at first. Didn't know the first 3 theme answers from the clue, but all were known people and I was able to get them with several perps in place. I'd already realized that all theme answers were proper names of men with the initials T.A., but as others have pointed out, I also tried to parse the reveal as Ta Ma Le, so that seemed a little awkward. But overall it was very good.
Enjoyed the puzzle, all but Tex Avery were in my wheelhouse, as they say. I still needed the reveal clue to get the theme. I was thinking it would be various vowel sounds with the starting letter T- but didn't go the extra step for the "A".
ReplyDeleteThanks, D-otto, CC, and Argyle for a good start to the day.
Excellent! CC & D-Otto! I finished it & was still stumped! (possibly because I divided my Tamale wrong.)
ReplyDelete45A Never heard of Acta, kept trying to rewrite that corner...
Not used to seeing "TheAx" without an "E", but I knew Tex Avery.
15A Get on the phone=reach? (That was a stretch....) nice misdirection!
Soo,,, how do I find funny links for TA Male? (The cats not going to like this...)
A little nit but CCV x X : MML. 205x10=250 should read 2050?
ReplyDeleteOops!
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss:
ReplyDeleteI even filled in a certain 3 letter ("_ _ _") since when it is used to skate on and NOT put into my NEAT drink I thought it was acceptable.
(Plus, it was the perps who actually filled it in. lol!)
Good morning! Thanks Argyle for the explication and the fun pics. Congratulations D-Otto! I am impressed by the ability to construct a crossword. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get the theme very easily. I also wanted Mel Blanc: alas, creator and voice were not the same. The new WB cartoons are very witty. My grandkids watch them on some kids' channel on cable. Daffy is a hoot. I love that Dennis Farina voiced his girlfriend's father.
Didn't know Trace Adkins so I started with that stall in the middle. Even after TAgee and TAikman and TAmale.
We're moving into a heat wave here in the Midwest--creeping up to mid-thirties by Sunday. Stay cozy.
second day in a row my cruciverb isn't working
ReplyDeleteIs it just me?
Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Good job, Desper-Otto. Unfortunately, this was not a good job for me. I didn't know most of the names and thought Tom Hanks was the voice in Toy Story (despite knowing his name didn't work with the perps. )
ReplyDeleteStay warm.
How can we have a TAMALE theme without a CSO to our friend, Lucina? Hi,Lucina.
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle. I divided TAMALE wrong and was a little mystified by the theme until Argyle explained it. I saw all men with T and A initials, but didn't really "get" it. Clever. Congrats to Tom.
More like a Wednesday, but I did eventually get it unassisted. I never heard of TEX AVERY or TRACE ADKINS. I heard of the others, but only TIM ALLEN sprang to mind easily.
I'm home from having my angiogram yesterday with a clean bill of health and feeling fit, except for the knees. The hardest part was lying flat on my back for hours of recovery. Now I will have my knee replacement soon.
Alan woke up Sunday with a very bad cold and was insisting on not going to respite, creating much ANGST on my part. I cajoled him into going and the respite staff were very accommodating.I have been calling him and he is improving. He even went to work yesterday and today.It is hard to tell just how sick the communications handicapped really are.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteI had to get TOMMIE AGEE and TRACE ADKINS from the perps, too. Otherwise, an easy enough early-in-the-week solve. Chortling over how KMS crosses MILE, like dueling measuring systems.
Congrats to Tom and C.C. on their successful collaboration and providing this morning's entertainment.
BTW, I think that TIE WITH A CORD is a noun, BOLO can be a tie. The male square dancers often wear them.
ReplyDeleteLink BOLO TIE
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteCongrats D-Otto, nicely done by you and CC. I was familiar with all the names except Tex Avery but, like others ,my parsing was ta ma le. Soooo, Argyle to the rescue with his spot-on expo. Thanks to all for a Tuesday treat.
Big CSO to Lucina with the entire theme of the puzzle. Also thought of Tin with that devilish three letter word appearing again, although in an acceptable context. (Personally, I couldn't survive without my _ _ _ maker!)
Have a great day and stay warm!
What a fun theme! Congrats Otto and C.C.!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-TRACE ADKINS is a spokesman for this wonderful organization which we support
-It had to hurt TROY to do the game where his Cowboys lost on a controversial play Sunday
-If ALL ELSE fails
-Lily can smell her Friskies being opened from two rooms away
-See any distractions on this most famous this PAR 3 at Pebble Beach? (:26)
-Where exactly would you max out this Corvette’s speedometer?
-I’ll bet a lotta y’all have heard this lovely song with an ELIDED title from 62A (2:56)
-I got ANGST PRIOR TO taking a TEST RUN on a program I just wrote
-When mom didn’t know the words, she made ‘em up, not bothering with LA LA LA
-I’ll bet Elaine soon wished she had said I DO before running off on the bus with Benjamin
-Owen, here’s your Clackers/Bolos (:25)
Anon 8:48 - No, it's not just you. Cruciverb is still broken.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThank you Tom, C.C. and Argyle.
I had to smile at the clue "Nevada Gambling City." Don't they all fit that description? :-)
Congratulations D-O! Thanks C.C. and Argyle. Nice Tuesday puzze, and it mattered little that I really had not sussed the theme out well enough to get TA.
ReplyDeleteToy Story, wasn't that a Pixar project? The clue reminded me of Steve Jobs, who was down and out (seemingly) after getting THEAX from Apple, but he rose from the ashes with Pixar, NeXT and other endeavors and eventually was rehired by Apple's BoD as CEO. I often wonder where we (and Apple) would be if he hadn't died so quickly from pancreatic cancer, a very deadly form if not treated early and aggressively.
Fun puzzle today. Thanks C.C., D-otto and Argyle.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Tex Avery, Trace Adkins, Tommie Agee or Troy Aikman so I had a few Google learning moments!
I had BIND before BOLO, SALUT before SKOAL and debated whether the dressing was for turkey or salad.
ENRON, SRTA, ODES are favourites lately. Also noted CSOs to Tin and Lucina and clecho with MILE and MPH. Smiled at the LALALA clue.
I accidently came upon a new Tim Allen show on TV last week called Last Man Standing. Some of the characters from Home Improvement (my kids loved that show!) appear.
Drat! My post disappeared.
ReplyDeleteHola, amigos y amigas! Congratulations, Tomas y C.C.! You have served us a spicy dish of TAMALEs with PICO de gallo. Yum.
It took me a while to catch the theme, trying to connect TOMMIE, TEX, TRACE, TIM and TROY. But at the reveal TAMALE, I saw the T A MALE. Ay! Ay! Ay!
Well done. The only name I knew with certainty was TIM ALLEN. My first granddaughter watched Toy Story interminably and so every scene is etched in my memory. The others were completed with perp help.
YR and IrishMiss, thank you for the CSO. I loved this theme.
Of course, when I divide my TAMALEs, it's in a different way and they go from my fork to my mouth.
Thank you, desper-otto, C.C. and Argyle for some great fun today.
Have a terrific Tuesday, everyone!
Well, I struggled with this one, but it was so much fun I kept at it till everything fell into place. Thanks, D-Otto and CC!
ReplyDeleteI didn't "know" any of the names, but they were all vaguely familiar so with perps I could fill them in. Last to fall was TeX Avery. I laughed out loud at The AX and then it seemed obvious.
Good puzzle!!
Congrats D-Otto on hour debut and a fun puzzle with CC.
ReplyDeleteLike several others, looking for TA MA LE in the theme. Didn't even think about TA MALE.
Stay warm!
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteCongrats, D-O.
C. C. - you are truly special and wonderful.
Very tough Tuesday for me. Recognized TEX AVERY - after I had him filled in. Guessed TED for a while, and that didn't help. Couldn't remember who voiced Buzz Lightbeer, don't follow country music nor the Mets.
Even GAG held me up for a while.
Then, with everything filled in, couldn't suss the theme.
Good puzzle; downs were good; but a struggle start to finish.
I loath the Cowboys, but never had any animosity toward TROY. I was happy he retired when he did. After several concussions, he was in a real danger zone. There was so much joy and schedenfreude here in the D when the Cowboys lost on Sunday, made all the sweeter since it was a Dez Bryant play.
Buckeyes made a statement last night. Wow!
Cool regards!
JzB
Congratulations on your debut, Desper-Otto. Thank you C. C. and Argyle. Fun puzzle today. TROYAIKMAN was a gimme, managed to dredge up TIMALLEN and TEXAVERY from the deep depths of my memory, but really shot myself in the foot with the Met outfielder. Hmm, a baseball xword clue. . . it has to be one of the Alou family. Felipe fits and sounds reasonable. No problem, at least until I got to the perps. Perps were also a big help with TRACEADKINS. I like him a lot, but the clue meant nothing to me. Learning moment.
ReplyDeleteLots of food and cooking clues today, including my favorite condiment PICO de gallo.
That's it for now. I have to come up with a yearend accounting of Special Olympian sons finances for the courts. I'd rather be slathered in honey and staked out naked over an ant hill, but then who wouldn't.
I was incredibly excited to see a Tuesday C.C. and partner (good job Desper-otto!) puzzle, but I'm afraid this turned out to be a real toughie for me because I didn't know any of the name answers, and read TA MA LE, like many of you. In the end I did get everything except I had TRACI ADKINS (it would have helped to know the singer was male rather than female). But, hey, a challenge is still fun, so many thanks, C.C. and Tom!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day, everybody!
Thanks for the kind words about today’s puzzle. I’m living proof that C.C. is willling to collaborate with just about anybody. And as others have pointed out, she does all the heavy lifting. She came up with the idea, she laid out the grid. I supplied clues for all of the entries, but only about a third of them survived to publication. I’d be exaggerating if I claimed credit for 10% of the total effort.
ReplyDeleteC.C. approached me last August to see if I’d like to work on the Tamale puzzle. I searched high and low, and came up with ten T-A format names. Included in my list were Tori Amos and Tracy Austin. C.C. chided me that those women might not appreciate having their names appear in a T-A-Male puzzle. D’oh!
It was fun to work on this puzzle with C.C., but I’m not gonna give up my day job (doing nothing). In all, I’d say the clue changes made by Rich improved the puzzle, though I’m sorry that a couple of my favorites didn’t make the cut. I’d like to think it’s not that they weren’t good enough — just not Tuesday-friendly.
Hi everybody! I liked this puzzle, especially so since I noticed the names of the constructors. I solved everything and enjoyed the process but hands up for not being able to make sense of TA-MAL-EE, even after the reveal.
ReplyDeleteHave a good day.
D-Otto (at 11:28) and CC: I am pleased to be learning more about the difficult process of construction and Rich's rehabbing. It makes the fruit of your labors all the sweeter. CC is certainly an excellent mentor.
ReplyDeleteI am really enjoying this little corner. Thanks so much.
This was a little bit much for a Tuesday. Started off with thinking 1A was a verb, and put in "bind". Changed it after knowing answer to 2D. Got the TA connection early, so that helped, but the names came in slowly from other entries. I did finish it, but I admit to needing some help. All in all, not my favorite of challenges.
ReplyDeleteThis one had me scratching my head for a time. I thought it was a little crunchier for a Tuesday. But what a great theme! Thanks CC & D-Otto.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I see Troy Aikman's name I always think back on his high school football team...The Henrietta Hens. It just always makes me giggle.
Good day to one and all.
Here today, gone tamale.
Tex Avery and Tim Allen I knew, though both took a few perps to jog the memory. The others I vaguely recognized after ESP, but couldn't tell you what sport AGEE or ADKINS played, or what songs AIKMAN sang.
ReplyDeleteCanadianEh!: Last Man Standing has been on for two or three years. I like Allen, but the sitcom is meh. I tune in for the last 5 minutes when Allen does a coda to the fourth wall. I loved Home Improvement, the show within the show, but the framing sitcom stank. Wish your Canadian Red Green showed down here.
Husker: thanks for the bolo video, didn't think to look for that. I did find lots of photos of bolo balls, but none were the kind I had. The handle was a plastic pipe, so the length of the cords could be changed while doing tricks.
The anniversary photo of me in CC's album is the only time I've worn a necktie in 30 years! Or any tie at all for the last 10. But I used to wear, make, and collect bolo ties. Had about 20, all with storyteller dolls as the clasp.
Owen, hands up for the Red Green show. Local PBS carried late Saturday nights, but stopped airing it years ago. Oh well, remember, were all in this together.
ReplyDeleteOwenKL: DH and I saw Red Green in person last year when he was on tour. I would not have believed that one person with just a few props could make me laugh so much for over an hour!
ReplyDeleteAfter yesterday's foray into haiku love and hate, I took a shot at it again today.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
JzB
Here's an amazing human kaleidoscope, supposedly with no CGI. Kaleidoscope
ReplyDeleteI wish somebody would be this happy to see me. An excited doggie
For those of you, like me, who are in love with Emmylou Harris Together Again
Excellent, Tom and C.C. Well done!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I found this puzzle to be more difficult than I expected, mostly because I made mistakes such as spelling TROY AIKMAN's name as AIKens and trying to squeeze ELLIDE into the space for the properly spelled ELIDE. I put in, took out, and put in MML several times, thinking my mistake was due to bad Roman math than to spelling Troy's name wrong. Of course I divided my TAMALE into TA, MA, and LE. Lots of bullet holes in my foot today.
Then there was ACTA. Grrr.
Best wishes to you all.
Bill G., absolutely amazing human kaleidoscope. I have Ted talks permanently linked on my toolbar.
ReplyDeleteAnd the excited doggie clip was hilarious! My cats just run to their food dishes when they see me.
Emmylou Harris? I listened to the first five syllables, realized she was a country singer, and shut it down. Which is why I didn't know Trace whatshisname today. :-(
*sigh* Emmylou. (pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat)!
ReplyDeleteI've seen her twice in person. Once within a year of that show at the Big Mac in Denver and again in ''04' at a small venue in Lincoln. Decidedly different shows, but enjoyed them both.
From the video, I'd forgotten how awful Rodney Crowell's helmet hair was back in his Hot Band days. But he still sounded good. And it was the 70's.
Thank you, C.C. and D-O for today's challenge! I got a Tuesday DNF. Geesh! I made all the errors already mentioned and couldn't recover from them.
ReplyDeleteYR-glad your procedure went well. I hope the knee replacement takes place soon.
Happy Tuesday evening.
Pat
It would be a great help if my newspaper (The Appleton Post-Crescent) would print the theme. It only does it on Sunday!
ReplyDeleteDJ
DJ, the Appleton Post Crescent (Is it still called that?) used to be the evening daily at our house. A cousin of mine worked there for many years. To answer your question, the daily puzzles don't have titles -- the daily bloggers make it up. Only the Sunday puzzle has a title, and my local paper, in its infinite wisdom, chooses to print a week-old NYT instead.
ReplyDeleteGood evening, folks. Thank you,Tom Uttormark and C.C., for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that Tom was D-O until I came here. That is great. Nice job!
Liked the theme, but I missed part of it. It divided the TAM ALE in two parts, not three. I figured the Tam and Ale were a hint to the initials of the names of the theme answers. I got them all easily, i just misread the theme.
Liked the thumbs up for 37D referring to Roger Ebert.
My first answer was the Roman Numeral at 56A. From there I spread.
I saw Toy Story many years ago. I seemed to remember that Tim Allen was involved, after a couple perp letters.
Once again, congratulations D-O, hope to see another from you.
Worked again at the Elgin Community College Book Store. We were really busy.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Bill G - Enjoyed your links, especially the dancing doggy diva, which I saw last week on Nightly News.
ReplyDeleteTiny tidbit of trivia: Today is Trace Adkins birthday.
ReplyDeleteGood evening all !
What a very long day after a very, very late night last night (for me), while watching the Buckeyes dismantle Oregon. Besides the obvious accolades, what a great job by that O-Line ! Saw little of that highly touted fast paced Oregon offense that so many thought would run up and down the field on the Buckeyes. Great defensive job.
What a great puzzle ! Boy did I get a kick out of the theme. D-O says he rarely gets the theme, but he coauthored a very clever one ! Great job CC and DO ! I almost fell out of my chair when I parsed T.A. MALE when TA MA LE didn't make sense. How fun was that !
As well, enjoyed your write up Argyle. Great links on the theme answers. Aruba looks nice. "SLEEVE. Some sleeves and album covers are worth more than the record itself." Like the original cover to the Rolling Stones' Some Girls album.
No hesitation with TOMMIE AGEE, TRACE ADKINS, and TROY AIKMAN. TIM ALLEN was only a slight pause. TEX AVERY was unknown but perped in. I would have guessed Fritz Freleng as the creator of Bugs and Daffy and would have been wrong.
We love PICO. Great as a side, or with chips, but I love it on fajitas.
Hesitated at ACTA, but it had to be. That was really the only stumble, except that I first read
"high level betrayer" rather than betrayal.
Great puzzle. Best I've seen in a long time.
Going to be an early night tonight. OOPS, maybe not !
ReplyDeleteLucina from last night... You are welcome. Wasn't that neat ? Puts to shame every model railroad I've ever seen.
Anon T from last night... I'm wearing my 2002 sweatshirt from the last time OSU was the national champion. That would be the OSU Buckeyes. It's in fine shape. In fact, I wore it last night in the win over Oregon, and on Jan 1st when they beat # 1 Alabama, and before that when they beat Wisconsin for the Big 10 championship. Call me superstitious and irrational, but I'm going to take a little iota of credit in their win...
HI all!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great puzzle D-O (and C.C.!). Too bad you TOPed me. DNF at the x-ing of 30d and 37a (TRACy). Oh well. North Central took me the longest to suss out. I almost threw in the towel before NAME IT broke it up (after I fixed 11d RELeaVEs).
In the south I OPTed for STir before STEW. ALLNEr just didn't parse...
TIM ALLEN was my first theme fill as was TROY AIKMAN. I knew AVERY after a perp, but couldn't decide on a fist name.
Have you had HEB's in-store PICO? Goes quite well with their in-store chips.
Bill G. I thought you were going to link OK GO for the kaleidoscope. It's >5 min, if you don't like the music, turn it down and just watch. If you do like the song - warning: ear worm.
TTP, whew. Glad it was the Buckeyes and not the Cowboys. We can still be friends :-)
There's a food truck that comes by the office. It's Mexican Thai fusion (good too) called ThAiMALE. My buddy tried to find where it would be next. Google parsed it as Thai MALE. You can un-see that.
Cheers, -T
BillG:
ReplyDeleteThat human kaleidoscope clip is fabulous! It's amazing what the mind can create.
AnonT, I enjoyed your kaleidoscope video too. I want one of those things they are riding on. (On which they are riding!)
ReplyDeleteLucina, yes, I agree. Creativity is a wonderful ability to possess. I'm sure I have some good qualities but I'm afraid creativity is not one of them. I am envious of people who possess it.
AnonT:
ReplyDeleteYour link was fun, too. I decided to come and look for something more uplifting to watch and turned off the depressing News.
Bill G. & Lucina - what STUNs me about all their videos is they are one-take. Sometimes they try 50+ times to OBTAIN a video. Bill G. The UNI-CUB by Honda is not yet commercial, but I want one too!
ReplyDeleteMaking of the video.
Cheers, -T