Theme: NESW? I am lost where do I go? It does not matter any direction will do, they all lead to home.
There are four pairs of theme answers along with the grid spanning 'hint' 40A. Like the answers to eight starred clues ... and a hint as to how to fill them in : OMNIDIRECTIONAL (15). The gimmick is you must read the fill in the direction of the of the words themselves. 93 theme letters is a big challenge so you can expect many short fill but we do get ANOMALY, CITADEL, COOLERS, LABORED, UNRESERVED and the complete ET TU BRUTE. Of course as is often the case on Friday, many will not like the backwards words. The last KK I blogged in 2014 brought out many negative or Thumper comments. But which way do you prefer to make Fridays challenging? Obscurities? Originality? I thought this was relatively easy and I had fun. I like how the pairs also fit together, the first a clecho the others synaptic; let's peek at the answer sheet.
12A. *Ring punch : RIGHT HOOK (9). This was perps but it made sense when paired with 68A. *Ring punch : SSORC TFEL (9) Left Cross, another common boxing term. The fill must be read from right to left. We read right to left in Hebrew.
19A. *Manhattan neighborhood : EAST HARLEM (10). This neighborhood known also as Spanish Harlem is not a place many go to visit. It is paired with 57A. *Liberia locale : ACIRFA TSEW (10) West Africa, which you have to read from West to East (right to left). This where I caught on as I know where Liberia is.
4D. *Animated TV series set in the Rockies : SOUTH PARK (9). This paired with 38D. *Challenge to Eiger climbers : ECAF HTRON (9) (North Face) which requires you to head North to understand the fill.
9D. *Promising : GNIMOC DNA PU (11). Up and Coming, which is paired with 23D. *Level-headed : DOWN TO EARTH (11) like all the themers they must be read in the direction of the words. If you had not understood the theme the letter progression GNI should have tipped the scales. I loved this pair.
Across:
1. Blesses : OKS. In retrospect this was easy, but I was thinking sneezing or religion.
4. Star Wars, initially : SDI. Strategic Defense Initiative. Not the movie.
7. Go fishing : ANGLE. I floundered about looking for an answer but the bass I cod come up with is that it describes the angle of the pole and the line. Or maybe the angle of the hook? I hate to worm my way out of this, so help....
16. IQ test pioneer : BINET. Alfred did so much MORE.
17. Start of the line before "Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!" : ET TU BRUTE? This is Shakespeare's version where Cinna tries to justify killing Julius Caesar because Caesar was too popular. You can tell it is from a English writing because it mixes the Latin phrase with an English response.
18. Bluebloods : ELITE. New England and New York were filled with these types, Cabots, Lodges, Bushes, Roosevelts...
21. 1965 Sophia Loren comedy : LADY L. What a cast. LINK (0:54).
24. Gas sign in green letters : HESS. Are there any left or are they all Speedway? I did not know Speedway was owned by Marathon until today.
25. Line of work: Abbr. : OCCupation. I find this an awesomely bad clue, but it is used regularly. There are many nice clues for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. HERE.
28. Year in Mexico : ANO. Spanish.
29. Talladega unit : LAP. An Alabama track on the NASCAR circuit.
31. Result of a 1955 merger : AFL-CIO.
34. Postseason game : BOWL. College football.
36. Pull in : MAKE. Money you make.
39. Treating poorly : BAD TO.
43. Role for Dustin : RATSO. Midnight Cowboy. His breakout role?
44. "The Bridge on the River __" : KWAI. Another wonderful movie.
45. Marquis de __ : SADE. How much do you really know about this man?
46. Chooses the window instead of the aisle? : ELOPES. Really cute airplane misdirection but it did not fool me.
48. Fraud watchdog org. : FTC. Federal Trade Commission.
50. For each : PER.
51. Shade provider : DYE. Fun clue/fill misdirection.
52. Ness, for one : LOCH. Lake.
55. Castro and others : RAULS. Meh.
61. Don Diego de la Vega, familiarly : ZORRO. He will always be Guy WILLIAMS (not Madison, who played Wild Bill Hickock with Andy Devine) I am getting old! for me.
63. Frankness : UNRESERVE.
67. The Bradford kids of '70s-'80s TV, e.g. : OCTET. Who didn't love this FAMILY (1:02)
69. Milo of "Barbarella" : O'SHEA. He was in so many great roles. THIS (3:51) was not one of them. Jane was adorable.
70. Long time : EON.
71. Major : KEY.
Down:
1. Natural resource : ORE. Or not?
2. Young beaver : KIT. Be careful here....
3. Pepper, for one: Abbr. : SGT. All perps, cute clue.
5. Words before dances : DO THE. This was filled before I saw the clue but I am completely unaware of this phrase. Help.
6. Some furniture stores : IKEAS. Meh, the extra s....
7. Biblical brother : ABEL.
8. Juba's "White" river : NILE. This was my learning moment, I just do not know much about the Southern Sudan.
10. Betray, with "down" : LET. To me the act of betrayal is much more than letting down.
11. Juillet's season : ETE. French for July and Summer. 30D. Brest friend : AMI. More French.
13. One of three cartoon nephews : HUEY.
14. Little League precursor : T-BALL. and the semi-clecho 15D. Little League belts: Abbr. : HRS. Home runs.
20. Soweto's home: Abbr. : RSA. Republic of South Africa.
21. Toiled : LABORED.
22. Rule exception : ANOMALY. A wonderful word.
26. Stronghold : CITADEL. Also a college.
27. Beach party staples : COOLERS.
32. Govt. group that began in 1908 : FBI.
33. Where kip are spent : LAOS. No idea, but I do know Thailand uses Baht.
35. Sylvester's problem : LISP.
37. London's __ Gardens : KEW.
41. Fawn's mom : DOE. Yes, her name is Jane.
42. Tiny songbird : TIT. Always good for a link. I like it when the two MATCH.
47. Canon offering, briefly : SLR. SingleLens Reflex.
49. Dimin.'s opposite : CRESCendo.
53. Handy : OF USE.
54. Playground retort : CAN SO.
56. Mad as __ hen : A WET. I could not find anything definitive as to the origin of this phrase.
58. Algonquian language : CREE.
59. Bit : IOTA.
60. Sun. message : SERmon.
61. Animal house : ZOO. Funny.
62. It turns out lts. : OCS. Lieutenants. Officer Candidate School.
64. Nats' former stadium : RFK. Baseball team that shared the park with the unnamed football team.
65. Symbol of peace : VEE. This always reminds me of Churchill, which reminds me that I am watching the Roosevelt mini-series while I ride the exercise bike. Such an interesting family.
66. Eastern Nevada city : ELY. An old stagecoach TOWN which I know only from puzzles.
Another Friday in the books and another month about to go away. We did get 5 Fridays this month so I must be tired. Thanks Kurt. Enjoy all. Lemonade out.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteI figured something funk was up with the theme answer when I couldn't get 12A to work and therefore decided to just ignore all the theme answers and work on the rest of the grid. Ironically, 12A was actually straightforward and my problem was caused by putting OIL instead of ORE at 1D. Still, my strategy came in handy overall as I was able to get enough perps to understand what was going on by the time I got to the theme reveal. At first I thought the trick was just that all the theme answers were backwards, but obviously it ended up being more subtle than that.
Fun experience overall, but I also do not understand DO THE dances. And I couldn't understand OCS and OCC until I came here.
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. I am so proud of myself for figuring out this theme. It was, indeed, the GNIMOC DAN PU / UP AND COMING answer that confirmed the theme for me today. Very clever.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite clue and answer was Words Before Dances, but think of DO THE Hustle.
For Blesses, I was thinking of something more Biblical than just OKs.
Lots of choices for Biblical Brother ~ Abel, Cain, Enos, Seth, and Esau, just to name a few.
My first thought for Natural Resource was Oil, not ORE.
I liked Chooses the Window Instead of the Aisle = ELOPES. I travel too much and really was thinking of that airplane.
Another very hot day predicted. Stay cool.
QOD: Hall hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned. ~ Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 ~ Nov. 16, 2006)
It is interesting to me that OIL never came to mind and I put ABEL in without thinking of any of the others. I guess it is better to be lucky....
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteI normally solve across and down simultaneously, so when GNI appeared at 9d I snapped to the theme. This one went faster than normal for a Friday. I liked it.
I remember Barbarella, but, somehow, can only recall a single character. But the mental image of that one is very vivid.
Lemon, ANGLING is a common synonym for fishing. So I guess "to angle" would be the infinitive form -- especially if you were using an angleworm for bait. Before playing RATZO, Dustin Hoffman had a small part in The Graduate.
I thought it was a nice mis-DIRECTION for a change. I was thinking something was 'up' when RIGHT HOOK and EAST HARLEM were on the 'left' after I filled ANGLE, BINET, & ANGLE and couldn't think of a word starting with GNIM.
ReplyDeleteThe long fills were easy. I was baffled on 62D with the 'lts.' abbreviation and had no idea who the Bradford kids were. But OCTET seemed reasonable. Lemonade- DO THE dances is something that was also filled by perps and is new to me. LADY L was a complete unknown.
I don't follow boxing but LEFT CROSS just doesn't compute in my brain. Does that mean to backhand the opponent? Add that to UNRESERVE without the 'D' for past tense usage and I had a little trouble in the SE as I thought VEE was the sign for victory, not peace. I wasn't a hippie back in the sixties.
Hands up for OAK or ELM before DYE.
I found this one easy for a Friday.
Easy, the left indicates the hand doing the punch. The cross indicates the arc of the punch - HOOK, CROSS, UPPERCUT, JAB are the four basics.
ReplyDeleteDO I am familiar with the term Angling, I just do not know where it came from.
5D. Do the ... Hustle.
ReplyDeleteI see it's been answered, but the dance clue took a minute to dawn. then i thought of do the hustle...do the Watusi.....do the funky chicken.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle! With some of the early answers seeming too short for the possibilities, I figured this was going to be one of those turn the corner to finish type themes. Nope. But it did emerge and the reveal was among the last fills. Lots of interesting mis-directions. Lots to like. Good job.
WBS, except I never even saw OCS until I read the write-up. And I do agree with Lemony about OCC, but the grid had some serious constraints. Four of the theme entries crossing a central 15-letter reveal is awesome, though!
ReplyDeleteOMG, I had to get to SSORCTFEL to get the gimmick. I then could hold my white flag in abeyance and finish. Wow!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-There -well over 30 College Football BOWL games. If a coach doesn’t make it into one, he’d better start polishing up that resume’.
-I could see ELOPES was going to be the answer but it took a while to “see it”
-The Castro brothers have kept Cuba locked in poverty for a half century
-The act that engenedered ET TU BRUTE was a much bigger betrayal than LET DOWN
-Gotta run. 2nd doctor to see in Omaha. Read 'ya later.
Okay, now I get it; it is not DO THE DANCES it is DO THE _____________ (dance). Thanks Corner
ReplyDeleteToo many total unknowns for me to get anywhere close to figuring out the trick today. I have never heard of HESS in relation to gas, the quote after ET TU BRUTE, or the word UNRESERVE. I had no idea what lts were--thought of letters but not lieutenants and never saw Barbarella. otherwise, I got all the NE corner and most of the mideast, but only a smattering elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle, TERRIFIC write-up, thanks Lemonade!! Went to your Barbarella link and ended up watching the whole movie. Favorite clue "ELOPES". Where are Owen's limericks?
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm in the minority because this was a Thumper for me. I'm just not a fan of "gimmicky" puzzles, although I can accept puns, anagrams, add/drop a letter, etc. better than words spelled backwards.
That said, Mr. Krause deserves an A+ for creativity and execution and ditto to Mr. Lemonade for a detailed and precise expo.
I wonder if we'll have a Silkie tomorrow?
Have a great day.
I have the 1985 HESS toy truck.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Mr. Krauss, auto-correct cannot mind its own business.
ReplyDeleteLemon: Nice informative write-up explaining my Friday Ink-Blot.
ReplyDeleteCaught on to the theme with 57-a, *Liberia location, ACIRFA TSEW (West Africa).
That helped with SSORC TFEL (Left Cross) and ECAF HTRON (North Face).
My fave today was 46-a, Chooses the window instead of the aisle?, ELOPES.
But I had major write-overs for Ness being a G-MAN before LOCH and HOT-DOGS at the beach before COOLERS appeared.
Also, ARE TO before CAN SO and ELM before Dye.
Like I said ... with the write-overs ... it is an Ink-Blot. Rorschach would be proud!
Took my morning walk and enjoyed the Blue Moon at 6:43 am.
And we've already had the 1st of our rain-storms for the day.
A "toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
PS to Chairman Moe yesterday ... Sounds like a Scotch to savor!
Wow! One of my all time favorite puzzles, probably because I saw the gimmick right away. Starting with GNI suggested backwards, then PU at the end suggested UP. So, I looked for directional clues as I went along. Very clever. Knowing the gimmick made this easier than the usual Friday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteWe still have HESS stations around here. They used to be among the least expensive, but now they are not. The HESS toy trucks are famous at Christmas time.
A WHITE river in Africa had to be the WHITE NILE as opposed to the Blue Nile.
IKEAS is OK by me. There are many IKEAS, meaning many IKEA stores.
As much as I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai, the movie and novel took many liberties with the actual story. For one, the bridge was not blown up the first time it was used. The Japanese used it for about 2 1/2 years before an Allied air strike blew it up.
Tinbeni, wine COOLER is one for you.
Lucina. thanks for last night's answer about carry-ons.
Lemonade, the write up was delightful and informative. I admired the creativity and hard work it took to construct the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteBut Thumper and I will withhold our other opinions!
Feels like another scorcher today.
YR
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of "COOLERS" ... they are always for BEER.
And the Beach "Beer coolers" would be filled with ice.
(Damn, I actually typed that 3-letter word. oops! MY BAD! lol
Enjoyed the trick and the fill. Easy for a Friday. Thought 21A was one word (LADYL) until I came here. Couldn't figure out 62D because I read the last word of the clue as if the lower case L was an upper case I, but the perps worked.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of UNRESERVED.Loved the clues for ELOPES and DYE.
More rain today.
morning all!
ReplyDeletewhat a difficult and fun puzzle today! fantastic job Kurt on all the misdirections! i was getting very frustrated when i had a 9D starting out as GNIM until i saw the end (beginning?) of WEST AFRICA and had my big AHA moment! everything came together after that and although this took longer than usual for Friday, it was well worth it and very enjoyable!
great write up Lemon, informative as always!
wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
t.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Kurt Krauss, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteWow! This puzzle about beat me to death. I totally missed the backwards phrases. I had the puzzle about 80 percent done and was stymied. I handed it to my wife and she caught it within about 2 minutes. Then we both finished in a few more minutes. Good for Linda!
This whole thing was so clever. Great job!
Held on VEE until the perps proved it. To me VEE is for victory. However, I guess a victory on one side really brings peace because the other side is vanquished.
Liked ET TU BRUTE. I usually like anything Latin, but no French for me.
Bridge on the River KWAI is one of my favorite old time movies. Another favorite is High Noon, which I watched last night via Netflix.
Lots to do today, including a funeral visitation. Man from our church died. Tonight, going for ribs at Medinah Temple.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Good Morning!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kurt for a fabulous theme. I was flummoxed. I paused the puzzle and went for a walk. On my return I saw TFEL and immediately read it as left. My sibs and I spent a lot of time with backward spelling--names, places, TV shows, so that discovery led me to find the theme answers and their perfect placement. (Remember long lazy summers with no internet required creativity. Mostly we argued about the pronunciations in our reverse vocabulary.) After SSORCTFEL, I was on the way. How clever! Favorite today: window or aisle! I was fooled by LOCH. Hey, I'm from Chicago; I couldn't suss what about Elliot fit in there!
Thanks, Lemonade for the fun run through. I'm with you on Guy Madison. Have a good day, all. Stay cool.
Am I the only one who thought this was difficult?
ReplyDeleteI'm blown away by this puzzle. There are 93 letters of theme material. This is one short of more than half the letters being theme material (there are 187 letters in the grid). And it's more than Dan Naddor's max of 83 from 5/23/07. And the fill barely suffers for it (one DO THE partial? I can totally live with that). Kudos to Kurt Krauss!
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:28
ReplyDeleteWe all think Fridays are difficult; that is the progression of the week, only some seem almost impossible and this one - if you get the gimmick- was not as hard as others. If you did not suss the backwards writing, it was impossible.
Fun puzzle today... DH figured out the gimmick early, so it was pretty smooth sailing. Thanks Kurt. Favorite clue was "Chooses the window instead of the aisle?" Also, now have another 3-letter fill for shade provider!
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, Lemonade. Thanks for the 5-Friday's month of work!
This was a prodigious theme accomplishment, well worth the handful of "meh" entries needed to make it work. The only one that really raised an eyebrow with me was UNRESERVE . . . but what the heck, this was a fun puzzle and not really too tough once you sniffed out the theme. "Come on, Baby, let's ___ twist!"
ReplyDeleteThe VEE sign.
ReplyDelete"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteTo Anon @ 10:28 - I, too thought this difficult. Took me a couple of cheats and google's, and finally realizing that a couple of the solves were spelled upside down and then right to left. Didn't really find it "rewarding" once the TA-DA occurred.
To the puzzle's creator (Krauss): as Marti said, having 1/2 of the themes (4) crossing the reveal was pretty cool; and to the re-capper (Lemony), well, you continue to amaze me with the ease in which you solve these puzzles. I know you cited a bit of "luck" with ABEL and ORE (not falling into the "abyss" that I and several others did), but if not for Google and Mordo Crossword, I would have had less than 1/2 of it completed
Odd that my "paper view" is not full of ink blots, write-overs and smudges; I guess when you cheat, things look neater! Of the ones I tried and failed, I had SEMI in 34a before BOWL; TMAN before LOCH in 52a; AM TOO, then ARE SO before CAN SO in 54d. As others noted, the mis-direction of 46a (ELOPES) was clever, but there was maybe TOO much mis-direction overall in the puzzle. But then again, Friday solves are supposed to be tough
Speaking of "window vs aisle", when traveling 10+ hours by plane, a window seat, to me, is better, for two reasons: 1) you can lean your lead against the plane, rather than the person next to you, and 2) you don't have to have anyone step across you when they need to use the toilet
Tinbeni: had a dram or so of the Talisker last night. It was good but not as great as their "aged" whisky; certainly not worth the cost here in FL. But it had a nice smoky, peaty taste with some serious heat (94 proof, I think). Of course, I drank it "neat", but adding a few drops of water seemed to open the flavors a bit.
to unclefred @ 9:04:
ReplyDeleteNot Owen, but here is a limerick, themed for the crossword:
Today's puzzle gave me a RIGHT HOOK,
'Cause its clueing was not "by the book".
OMNIDIRECTIONAL
Isn't quite "textual",
But it all depends just how you look.
Angling is another word for fishing. Fisherman are frequently referred to as anglers. Not sure if this is relevant, but when I was a kid in Minnesota we would look for "angleworms." Maybe for fishing?
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a near consensus that "do the" had the worst of the clues as it required a mental leap to relate it to dances. Can't argue with that. But it might have been a little more tolerable if the clue had been "Words before honor". Or not.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion of the VEE sign immediately made me think of Paul Talk by Noel Paul Stookey from the 1962 In-Concert album. It's about 12 minutes long -- the discussion of the VEE sign occurs around 10:50. If you haven't heard it before, the whole 12 minutes is worth listening to. If you have heard it before, you'll probably still want to re-listen to the whole 12 minutes. Listen, dagnabbit!
ReplyDeleteThis is the wine cooler I had in mind, not the ice chest or the wine refrigerator. These coolers are good at beaches which allow alcohol.
ReplyDeleteLink wine coolers
DO THE needed only the D as a perp. No prob for me. DO THE hustle, the madacrena, the twist are all common enough phrases.
Great expo, Lemonade. I always look forward to your blog on Fridays. You never disappoint me.
Tough until I saw the theme/trick, then it fell together, as stated above once the theme/trick was clear the solve became a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I shot myself in the leg with this one.
ReplyDeleteI knew something was up when I saw that 9D ended with a "U". Figured the words were written upside down or backwards. Unfortunately, I screwed up some answers which made it impossible for me to finish.
For 52A I put TMAN, as in Eliot NESS. Never thought anything else. That made the playground retort at 54D AMTOO. These errors effectively messed up the bottom for me. Add that to several unknowns, OSHEA, BINET, LADYL, UNRESERVE. Would never have gotten OMNIDIRECTIONAL without perps.
In other words, WAAAAAY over my paygrade.
The only answer I appreciated was ZORRO. Absolutely loved Guy Williams in that show growing up. So handsome. I remember him always interacting with this overweight sgt. which was hilarious.
Considering that I did quite well on the previous puzzles of this week, I'll just let it go. Friday's offering is supposed to be challenging, and the constructors do an amazing job.
Have an enjoyable and save weekend everyone.
That's SAFE...Sorry
ReplyDeleteHello, friends!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous@10:28:
Yes, this was hard for me, too. I was clipping along pretty well and completed the entire WEST side until 9D and upside down words didn't occur to me. Finally, I had to rely on Google and saw the gimmick. After that I could fill them all reading from the bottom. Fourth grade geography (which I taught)used to center on AFRICA so the White and Blue NILE are familiar as is BINET. He's well known in education circles.
D-O@6:44
LOL at Dustin Hoffman's "small" part.
It's a brilliant theme and splendidly reviewed by Lemonade. Thank you, both.
DYE and ELOPE were fun.
Chairman Moe:
On airplanes I prefer the opposite from you, the aisle side allows me to go to the loo without disturbing anyone. Very often when I go, the person next to me also goes and we avoid interruptions. With three seats across it's not always that coincidental but I don't mind.
Hope you are all having a beautiful day!
Uncle Fred, Brother Owen tends to get hurt when he feels his lyrics are underappreciated or ignored or not raved over; so he disappears for a while, until he is "called out of retirement."
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your query will bring him back anon.
Very clever puzzle. Took me a while to figure out the four directions, then it became relatively easy. Never did understand what "lts" was until reading Lemonade's explanation. The same with Little league belts = HRS. Loved the window/aisle clue.
ReplyDeleteLucina @ 12:36 - on shorter flights, I, too prefer the aisle seat, but having just flown to and from Europe, I found the window "better", for the reasons stated. Less disturbance is the main reason, as I do manage to sleep a bit on the long hauls, and that's easier from the window position. I was on the aisle seat on my return flight, and there was quite a queue passing by my perch in row 34, as the loo was in the rear of the plane. Interrupted my zzzz's! ;^)
ReplyDeleteFirst for 4a should have had abbreviation in clue? Right? I put rizzo instead of ratso first. Other than that. Real easy.
ReplyDeleteanon @ 1:27 - I think the word "initially" in the clue for 4a indicates the abbreviation. As in, what "initials" would you use to describe Star Wars (the political battle, not the movie)
ReplyDeleteHello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteWhat Kevin Christian and Mark McClain said. What an impressive theme-rich project!
Mr. Google 10:56 - fascinating stuff. I've travelled in places where the culture was unknown to me, often with a nagging worry over accidental offense. Even more familiar places like Australia call for care, as mentioned in your reference.
Lemon - same here, I was at a loss about Do The Dance until arriving at the Corner. Loved the Sophia Loren link (which led to other YouTubes) because the actress was a bit before my time, thus I had only a faint idea how lovely she looked on screen.
Yellowrocks 9:34 on Thursday
ReplyDeleteI did watch Jeopardy and could only remember The Thorn Birds, but not the author!
I have read Pilcher, and I like her writing very much. It's a great escape; her details paint such clear pictures. I only recall for certain that I have read Shell Seekers, Winter Soltice and Coming Home. You are reminding me I might need to pursue another novel of hers for bedtime reading. I don't like to read anything seriously thought provoking before bed. I started My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, but didn't finish it as I was still teaching and didn't have much time for my own reading.
Sorry to comment so late and out of context.
Kevin and Mark thank you for stopping by; it is great to see the community appreciate its own.
ReplyDeleteI have updated the write up to reflect (as coneyro and others have pointed out) it was Guy Williams who portrayed Zorro, not Madison. The brain is going. I was always better remembering girls than GUYS anyway.
MME DeFarge: you mean there is a context to our comments?
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your essay
Well, yes, until much later in the day, ��. I also meant Guy Wiliams!
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks:
ReplyDeleteAlso from your previous post. I was having a hard time recalling Jodi Picoult as a familiar author then reading Mme DeFarge's mention of My Sister's Keeper jolted my memory. It was a book club selection and very good story.
I loved Colleen McCullough's The Thorn Birds which I read after the mini series was over on TV. Riveting stuff! I fell in love with Richard Chamberlain then later discovered he bats for the other team. That's ok, I still love him.
I was sad when she died earlier this year. The same for Dick Van Patten who died only recently. He was so entertaining as the father in Eight is Enough.
ChairmanMoe:
I hear you about those long flights.
Those goofy ?? Are supposed to be a ;-). Technologically challenged here.
ReplyDeleteOMNIDIRECTIONAL yer ass. How 'bout ASSBACKWARDBACK?
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon all. A last minute invite to play 18 interrupted... Was going to say my routine but I'm not sure that I have one yet.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing RIGHT and EAST, and seeing GNIMO, it was pretty clear words would be heading in different directions. Very good puzzle. I'm impressed.
DO THE dances ? I get it. Didn't care for it. But, as Kevin Christian and Mark McClain said... Also didn't care for UNRESERVE.
OTOH, loved "Chooses the window instead of the aisle?" That clue should be nominated...
Desper-otto from yesterday, thanks for relating about the Weavers.
Thanks Kevin and Lemonade.
OOPS ! Thank you KURT !
ReplyDeleteWhat an enjoyable puzzle! As busy as my Fridays are, I spent hours on this puzzle, refusing to give up. & when my work was done, I spent even more time reading The Blog!
ReplyDeleteAs always, thanks Lemon714 for the interesting write up. Loved the cartoons, (but Sylvester was cut off at the end!)
I have notes on 3 different scratch pads for things to talk about, where to start?
With right hook, & East Harlem, Directional appeared with very limited perps. I chicken scratched "omni" because of "Labor" (which I could not complete because of that shady clue at 51A) without having any idea what it meant...
I managed to get all the directional theme answers that were in the right direction, but then I got totally stuck! I just didn't have the perps! (%$#@* puzzle is making me go back to work!)
I must have tried every missing piece at least 10 times...
to wit, at 31A result of a 1955 merger, I had --L--o (Hmm, merger,, Velcro?)
I finally caved & went to see Mr. Google (Tx for the Vee link, I had forgotten!)
Liberia, where the heck is it... According to Google, it is in Costa Rica?
(Well that doesn't help at all...)
Looking further, West Africa appeared, & with that I had some direction...
Still it was hard to finish this puzzle. 25A line of work Abbr, I could only think vocation?
The NW corner was like pulling teeth!
(The SW corner was like having implants!)
But I finally got her done! Thank you Kurt Krauss for a most painful experience!
P.S. 62D (No fair!) I thought the clue said "It turns out its." (WTF?)
43A role for Dustin ( 5 letters )
ReplyDelete( i did not look this up until after I had completed the puzzle...)
In chronological order:
(Note: all I had was Tootsie...)
Buddy / Robert Burke
Hanus Wicks
David Sumner
Alfredo SbisÃ
Louis Dega
Lenny Bruce
Max Dembo
Wally Stanton
Willy Loman
Chuck Clarke
Dutch Schultz
Captain Hook, (alright, it's not 5 letters, but try & get it out of yr mind!)
Teach
Stanley Motss
Ben Floss
The Critic (if u had chosen this, i would be pissed...)
Professor Jules Hilbert
Shifu
Mr. Hoppy
Kurt Krauss, you're despicable! (spoken with a lisp...)
(I can't believe I wasted a whole post on this...
We can...
ReplyDeleteMy absolute favorite has to be the window seat clue. I always opt for the window because from the moment the plane backs away from the gate, I get seasick if I can't sea... DW always opts for the aisle for a quick escape... After a few beers to calm our nerves, we evacuate to the Lav together... (If yr in the middle seat, sorry for stepping on yr toes...)
ReplyDeleteTin Man! I put in Loch for 52A early on, (Ness, for one) but desperately wanted to change it when the only possible perp I had was "canso?" It wasn't until SLR that I was sure of loch! I must have spent a half hour trying to (unsuccessfully) remember Gman! (Not to mention Chairman Moe & Coneyro's Tman)
I got "awet" right away, (56D) but it helps to put it into perspective...
Barbarella was before my time, (or at least I was too young to watch it.)
However IMDB trivia pointed out that the opening credits were a strip tease to go down in history. Many have tried to copy it, with limited success...
CED I am so glad you linked the Barbarella opening. I always loved the young Jane Fonda
ReplyDeleteOK. I finished. It took me all day. I was determined to beat this thing--and I did. But I still feel stupid because I did not see that the crazy letters formed backwards words. HOW could I have missed that?
ReplyDeleteAfter ten hours I finally determined that the perps left me with no other choices, so I signed on to the blog-- fully expecting to be told how foolish my answers were.
But they weren't.
Very funny. Ha.
Ha.
It's Okay. I'm just tired.
ReplyDeleteThe older man was sitting at the bar gently crying. The bartender asks, What's wrong?
ReplyDeleteThe old man sobs and says I married a beautiful woman just two days ago. She's a natural blond, thirty years old, a great cook and housekeeper, very kind, generous and very passionate in bed.
The bartender pauses, takes this all in and says, It all sounds perfect. So why are you so sad?
The old man looks up and says, I can't remember where I live...
I've never seen Barbarella but now, seeing that scene, I understand why it's a cult classic. Jane Fonda, wow!
ReplyDelete