18-Across. "Hang on for a sec" : BE RIGHT BACK. I'm not holding back, I'll tell it like it is!
23-Across.. It can be white or red : BLOOD CELL. Oops - don't want to ever see the inside of a holding cell.
31-Across.. Way with words? : SPEECH PATTERN. Sometimes I feel as if my life were in a holding pattern: same old, same old every day.
40-Across.. Cry from a daring biker : LOOK MA NO HANDS. I just finished a great book, "Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands" by Chris Bohjalian.
50-Across.. French Open surface : CLAY COURT. I enjoy holding court here every Thursday!
57-Across.. Type of tax ... or how the ends of the other five longest across answers might be seen? :
WITHHOLDING. You have to read it a different way to see the connection: They might be seen "with" HOLDING. Lots of themage from Mark today, with six entires. It's not easy to do that without compromising the fill. Lets see how he did.
Across
1. Hypotheticals : IFs. No ands or buts?
4. Casino conveniences : ATMs.
8. Painfully bright : AGLARE. I'll let it go this time, since I enjoyed the puzzle so much.
14. Medical research org. : NIH. National Institutes of Health.
15. Cool, in '90s slang : PHAT.
16. Military builder : SEABEE. Their name is from "C.B." - Construction Battalion.
17. Subject of many 10-Downs : DNA. And 10-Down. Doctor's order : LAB TEST. Ummm, "bed rest" also fit. Just sayin'...
20. Banjo virtuoso Scruggs : EARL.
22. Most slimy : OILIEST.
25. "Better information. Better health" resource : WEB MD. I have blocked this site from DH's computer. He keeps thinking the worst every time he gets a rash, ache, ingrown toenail, gas pain...
29. Barbershop voice : TENOR. Hmmm, Husker Gary. Which one do I choose? 4:13
30. Run for again, as office : RESEEK.
36. Act decisively : OPT.
38. Capital near Casablanca : RABAT.
39. "30 Rock" star : FEY. Tina. I loved her book, "Bossypants."
45. Literary breakdown : GENRES.
46. Actress Sonia : BRAGA. She was in "Kiss of the Spider Woman." No wonder I had no clue - all perps.
49. Had leftovers, say : ATE IN.
54. Checking the parts list, e.g. : STEP ONE.
56. Jr.'s exam: PSAT. Preliminary SAT. SAT was Scholastic Aptitude Test, then the Scholastic Assessment Test, then the SAT Reasoning Test, and now simply the SAT.
61. Oaf : APE.
62. Jeans appliqué : IRON ON.
63. Words to a double-crosser : ET TU?
64. Some fridges : GEs.
65. Nickel and cadmium : METALS.
66. Frequent fast food flavoring : SALT.
67. Ballpark fig. : EST.imate. I never know whether to put in RBI or ERA or EST. But ERA got ruled out with 32-Down. Bullpen stats : ERAs. Earned Run Average(s).
Down
1. Financially behind : IN DEBT.
2. Often-dramatic movement : FINALE. Like this famous one played in Boston every Fourth of July. 1:56
3. "Casino" Best Actress nominee : SHARON STONE.
4. BOLO equivalent : APB. "Be on the lookout" and "All Points Bulletin."
5. 2000s teen drama set in Newport Beach : THE O.C.. The "O.C." stands for Orange County.
6. Callender in the food business : MARIE.
7. To this day : STILL.
8. "A Hard Road to Glory" writer : ASHE.
9. Jumps in the pool : GETS WET. Duh, I was thinking of a different kind of pool, and wanted "antes up."
11. Esq. group : ABA. American Bar Association.
12. DirecTV remote button : REC.ord.
13. "A spider!" : EEK.
19. Hodges of the Dodgers : GIL. I actually remembered his name!
21. Chicago area, with "the" : LOOP.
24. Dr. who founded the Aftermath label : DRE.
26. Link often smoked : BEEF SAUSAGE. Hmmm...anyone else think of "brat" sausages?
27. Just : MERE.
28. High-fashion letters : DKNY. Donna Karan New York.
30. Pro __ : RATA.
33. Preservation container : CAN. Ummm..."jar"???
34. "True Detective" network : HBO.
35. "Phooey!" : PAH...."bAH"??
36. 10th-century Russian Orthodox saint : OLGA....Olaf? Sheesh!!
37. Well-versed one? : POET.
41. Avatar of Vishnu : KRISHNA.
42. Lozenge flavor : MENTHOL.
43. "30 Rock" network : NBC.
44. Word before kick or pass : DROP.
47. Market bunch : GRAPES. We will be traveling through the Wachau wine region in Austria, where we will see acres and acres of these.
48. Declare to be genuine : ATTEST.
50. Mil. rank : CPL. CoL??
51. Rich veins : LODES.
52. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" novelist Loos : ANITA.
53. 1983 Streisand film : YENTL.
55. Geologic periods : EONS.
57. Director Wenders : WIM.
58. Soreness? : IRE.
59. Tater __ : TOT.
60. Instinctive, as a reaction : GUT. As you can see, I went with my GUT reaction on a lot of answers, and had to back-pedal.
I finally fixed them all, and had fun doing it!
Marti
A well done theme by the always reliable Mark Bickham that seemed really easy for Thursday. OLGA was an unknown but filled by perps and I did see Sonia Brava so that filled. I liked the odd semi clecho of Casino and Casino and will pass on AGLARE and OILIEST.
ReplyDeleteThank Mark and Marti
Morning, all!
ReplyDeletePAH? My first thought, of course, was "what the heck is a SPEECH BATTERN?" And then I switched BAH to PAH for the win. PAH? PAH! Seriously, never heard of it.
Smooth solve overall, despite the aforementioned PAH. Wasn't crazy about RESEEK, but everything else was golden. Except PAH. Did I mention how much I hated seeing PAH? Now, maybe if it had been clued in relation to OOM or something...
Her parents were HOLDING COURT on her swain,
ReplyDeleteEnforcing a HOLDING PATTERN on the twain.
HOLDING HANDS they could do,
HOLDING BACK they must do,
Else a HOLDING CELL the lad would attain!
Good Morning, Marti and friends. Interesting Thursday puzzle that seemed a bit daunting at first glance. Always good way to start the day with some Janis, however.
ReplyDeleteHand up for wanting Bed Rest and Col in lieu of LAB TEST and CPL, respectively.
I am having to replace my Subzero fridge next week. It will be another Subzero and not a GE for various reasons.
Sônia Braga (b. 1950) is a Brazilian actress. I remember seeing her in many foreign films back when there was a theater in town that showed such fare. She is absolutely gorgeous. The 1985 film, Kiss of the Spider Woman also starred William Hurt and Raúl Juliá.
Thanks for the book suggestion, Marti. I have read and enjoyed several of Chris Bohjahian's books.
We are excited that it will "only" be in the 90F today!
QOD: I never said all actors are cattle; what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle. ~ Alfred Hitchcock (Aug. 13, 1899 ~ Apr. 29, 1980)
Good morning, all!
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle, but didn't get the theme, even when I looked for it after the reveal. [sigh.] I wasn't familiar with THE O.C.; wasn't able to parse it; figured it was going to be wrong. I do remember back in the day when folks would say that if the country were tilted up on edge, all the fruits, nuts and loose individuals would end up in Orange County. (Oxford comma omitted. Discuss at your peril.)
How come when Medicare approves a lab test, they only pay $12, but if they deny the very same lab test, you get to pay $115? Doesn't seem fair, somehow.
d-o said . . . "How come when Medicare approves a lab test, they only pay $12, but if they deny the very same lab test, you get to pay $115?"
ReplyDeleteSo the lab can make up its losses on the below-cost Medicare payments?
Fun puzzle, but a FIW. Went with The W.C. instead of O.C. Wiliest seemed pretty weak, but I went with it. Bzzzt. But I still enjoyed it. Got all of the theme answers right anyway.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed hearing Summertime, Marti. Was expecting "Piece of My Heart" when I clicked. Doc Watson also does a great version: Summertime
And Janis had a cover of a similarly bluesy Nina Simone tune (on Pearl, IIRC) that never got much air play, but deserved it: Little Girl Blue
And last, I couldn't help but think of this blog when I read today's Non Sequitur
Okay, I’ll accept PAH as a word and take a “got ‘er done”.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-SPEECH PATTERN – Drop a “y’all” or “it’s aboot noon” and I’ve got a clue
-Too many white CELLS put me back in the hospital
-Marti, that HOLDING PATTERN can be a rut or a groove ;-)
-WWII necessitated passing the Current Payment Act for WITHHOLDING instead of paying taxes the following year
-What could possibly go wrong with this?
-Yup, if you wanna scare the bejabbers out of yourself, research your symptoms online!
-I’ll take Lida Rose with Sweet And Low as counterpoint every time, Marti!!
-Are you game or afraid of what you’ll find out?
-RESEEK - “He may be an SOB but he’s our SOB!
-Chinese leftovers sat in car overnight. No “ATE IN” for them!
-The best Bullpen ERA’s by far are held by teams in Missouri
-My Callender was a Colander first – SIEVE. DUH!
-She was Just a bus driver’s daughter, but she told the boys where to get off!
-CPL Hitler was a dispatch runner in WWI and then I think he went into politics
Good morning all. Thank you Mark Bickham and thank you Marti.
ReplyDeleteNot my fastest Thursday solve. Had to work a bit for this one.
My type of tax went from progressive to WITHHOLDING. Then the SW corner then made a lot more sense and soon fell. Only had a single theme answer at that point. HANDS.
My doctor's order went from bed rest to LAB TEST. I so did not want painfully bright to be AGLARE, but that was the key to breaking that corner open. We'll let it slide.
"BE RIGHT BACK, be a good boy" is what I have to tell my boy (my avatar) when I leave the house without him. He has the saddest eyes when he can't go.
Golfing league buddy Bob was a SEABEE. He turns 70 on the 25th. Big party on the 22nd. 18.75 % of the golfers in our league are named Bob. I called a two stroke penalty on a member on one of the Bobs last night. Probably won't get his vote when I RESEEK the secretary / scorekeeper position next season.
I will ATTEST that I burnt the casings on my pork SAUSAGE links this morning.
Yep, hand up for first fill of CoL
Marti, good idea to block Allan. Watch this: Surprise! WebMD is almost never correct: Science Tells Us
This was a speed fun for a Thursday in spite of all the fills solved by perps. Never heard of Sonia BRAGA, the movie Casino-the only SHARONS that fit were GLESS or STONE, Aftermath, True Detective show, WIM Wenders or THE OC. PAH??? BOLO = APB?? I just talked to my son, who has been a policeman for 21 years and he hadn't heard of BOLO either. Hindu dieties- always all perps because there are just too many. OLGA sounded like a Russian saint's name. 55D could have been ERAS or EONS, but ERAS was already taken directly above it on 32D.
ReplyDeleteI take my hat off to Mark for managing to place six long fills in a weekday puzzle.
Using ATMS at casinos is a sure-fire way to bankrupt.
DNA LAB TEST- that's usually a court order, not a Doctor's order.
BEEF SAUSAGE- give the pork sausage with lots of fat, especially on the BBQ grill.
WED MD- I read "The New, New Thing" by Michael Lewis about 15 years ago. It was about Jim Clark, who started Silicon Graphics and Netscape and how he started the company that would eventually become WEB MD. Two guys who coincidentally went to college in New Orleans- Clark at UNO and Lewis at Tulane. Interesting book about the ways Silicon Valley worked.
I really have only one nit to pick and that is the clue for WITHHOLDING. It is really not a tax. The IRS is just making sure they get your money in advance so they will have it in their band when you technically pay your taxes in April of the following year.
Nice write up Marti.
Good Morning, all.
ReplyDeleteNice run with a few stops. Thanks, Mark.
Barry and I have the same speech battern. PAH!! WEBMD is a place I never had to block; I just stay away. Like Marti's hub, I was always symptomatic of some rare tropical disease! ;-) I wonder if Rossini's William Tell Overture the conclusion of the Boston 4th of July Concert? That would be about as crazy as Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture concluding the Chicago celebration. It celebrates Russia's defeat of Napoleon! Hence the strains of Le Marsellaise when the French "march" in. Always found that an odd choice for 4th of July.
Speaking of Chicago: Tina FEY's Bossy Pants' section on Evanston (when she was here working at the YMCA while she performed at Second City) was particularly humorous as we sussed out the unnamed personalities she met here.
Thanks, Marti, for the links and the tour--wonderful as usual. Glad you're HOLDING court here!
Have a sunny day!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteAnother fun and clever offering. We've had a string of enjoyable puzzles this week! No real problems, although the theme was elusive until the reveal. Only w/o was only instead of mere. Seeing grapes reminded me of an article in the newspaper yesterday about a woman who bought a bunch of grapes at a local supermarket and, while washing them, discovered a black widow spider. Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps! 🙀
Thanks, Mark Bickham, for a pleasant and enjoyable Thursday treat and thanks, Miss M, for an entertaining expo. Though, I thought your Boston Pops link was going to be the 1812 Overture.
The 3 H's are coming back, but it IS August so it's pretty normal. And it's not as severe as the southern and western climes, so no complaints. (Well, many a wee bit. 😕)
Have a great day.
BOLO is heard on detective shows.
ReplyDeleteBe On (the) Look Out
More later.
D-O- If Medicare doesn't pay for a lab test it's usually because the test is a useless test. My wife had a routine checkup and the doctor sent her for tests. Medicare paid about $25 for three of the tests and refused to pay the other three. ELEVEN months later she got a bill from the hospital saying she owed $297. I told them to drop dead and they turned me over to a collection agency. I just laughed and told the agency to see me in court because a judge would laugh at the prices they tried to charge for those tests. Never heard from them again.
ReplyDeleteAvg Joe, my BFF and I used to scream until we were hoarse, trying to imitate JJ's "Piece of My Heart"!!
ReplyDeleteSorry - I did intend to link the 1812 Overture finale. The link has been updated.
HG, I knew you would like that choice. ;-)
Big Easy: You may never have heard from the collection agency again but that unpaid bill (fair or not) could be on your wife's credit report for years (with unexpected consequences, such as higher auto insurance premiums).
ReplyDeleteHusker, yeah, I'm game. Took the test about a year ago, but so far I've only found one relative I didn't know I had.
ReplyDeleteBig Easy, the lab at my doctor's office is run by a separate company. Before they draw any samples, I'm required to sign a statement to the effect that I'm responsible to pay for any tests that Medicare and/or my supplementary insurer doesn't approve. If I later refuse to pay their bill, I'm just being an SOB.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteNice work, Mark and Marti! Did expect the 1812!
Was a very chewy Thursday. PAH? In the end I prevailed.
Can't sleep much with this ache in my gut. Internist quit. Don't know what to do.
Have a nice day!
ReplyDeleteAccording to ESPN, the gap between the lowest team ERA (St Louis) and 2nd lowest TEAM ERA (NY Mets) is .58 and is the largest gap in MLB history Team ERA stats. St Louis and Pittsburgh maintain the 1st and 3rd positions respectively, when looking at either Team or Reliever pitching stats.
At this point in the year, it's probably more accurate to look at stats after the break to get an indication of how teams are doing, but yea, those form the Show Me State have good reasons to puff their chests.
What amazes me is the way St Louis and Mike Matheny so readily adapt to the talent of the ballplayers on the team. This year they just seem to be shutting the door on everyone, reminiscent of the Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz led Braves teams.
The Pirates had an 0fer against the Cards last night. As in 0 fer 10 with runners in scoring position. They are also 0fer5 at Busch Stadium this year.
Argh.
Nice puzzle, Mark. Thanks for the expo, Marti!
ReplyDeleteI agree about the "withholding" not being a tax; I might be persnickety about such things, but during meetings or presentations I always refer to "tax withholding" not "withholding tax" - the subject comes up a lot when I'm discussing royalty payments with customers.
PSSST ... Marti ... It's Donna Karan, not Karen.
Maybe PAH! is British, I didn't think twice about it.
I worked so hard on this puzzle and can't believe in the end I goofed up on the clue I should have known best. Put THE WC instead of THE OC even though I live in Orange County and am pretty sure I watched the show back in 2000 when it came on the air. What was I thinking! Don't say it, I'm embarrassed enough.
ReplyDeleteStill, great puzzle, Mark, and fun expo, Marti--many thanks.
Hope you get some help with your pain, Fermatprime. I'll be thinking about you.
Have a good day, everybody.
56 across feels left out.
ReplyDeleteyou didn't want to include it in answers?
Anon@11:22 -- It was one of the theme answers, so Marti covered it at the top of the blog.
ReplyDelete56 Across is PSAT
ReplyDeleteMaybe 56-Across got cut when moving 57-Across to the top.
ReplyDelete-Very few unknowns today. BRAGA was all perps, but after filling it I remembered I had seen it before. V-8 can, please. THE OC was also all perps. BAH before PAH, but I have seen PAH in novels, so no prob. I had to demote my COL to a CPL.
ReplyDelete-Having dealt with doctor bills and Medicare for 30 years for Alan I know that, just because you haven't seen a bill lately, it doesn't necessarily mean it no longer exists. I'd worry about that hospital bill going to a collection agency. The testing lab receptionist at the hospital hands me a form to sign saying that a particular test may be declined by Medicare because you can only have it every so many months or years. Because of HIPPA laws, the clerk who hands me the form has no access to my medical records and cannot tell me when I last had the test.
-Insurance companies, as well as Medicare, get big breaks in what they have to pay for Part A and Part B. Medicare Part D, pharmacy insurance, does not get the breaks and the benefit of mass puchasing power that insurance companies do.
-Fermatprime, I hope you feel better soon.
-Yes, I agree tax withholding makes more sense than withholding tax.
A good challenge for today, that ultimately ended in victory.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was simple, and helped when I also had "battern" instead of "PATTERN"
The word "PAH" is an old British expression of contempt.
YENTL is my favorite Barbra Streisand movie. That is also the name of my youngest cat. IMO, she is the greatest natural (no singing lessons) singer of all time. Her acting is nothing to sneeze at either. As is obvious, I'm a BIG fan.
Am I the only one who thought 23A had to do with wine, at first glance?
WEES about AGLARE. My machine's internal computer is asking me if I want to add it as a word. Even my smartphone doesn't recognize it.
Don't really like the slimy/OILIEST connection. Maybe an oil slick would be descriptive of those two words. Otherwise meh...
NIH, ASHE, OLGA, WIM, ANITA perps filled it in.
Favorite was Market bunch/GRAPES.
In the '60's I lived across from a famous Brooklyn, N.Y. bowling alley, the Gil HODGES Lanes. Great times, great memories. I also went there for sandwiches and noshes. Good eats!
Coming to the end of another week. This year is going by so quickly. It's more than halfway over. In a few short weeks, the temperature will start dropping, and before long, "IT'S TOO COLD", will commence. Stay warm, while you still can.
My best to everyone.
Wees, the O.C. was last to fall. Pah gave me indigestion, but it is in the dictionary. I did like the Oom __ as a clue reference (Barry G.)
ReplyDeleteIn looking for something funny about PAH, (there is none...) I came across the possibility of Native American Origins? Unfortunately it is on private land, which begs the question, how did Ken Anderson become the owner of this National Treasure?
My 1st reaction to Phooey/Pah, Holding Back...
A holding cell titled Joy in Prison...
Holding pattern aftermath.
Holding Hands. (cute)
English Majors holding court?
& finally, Withholding.
A pleasant way to start my Thursday. Well done, Mr. Bickham, and thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking in terms of Uriah Heap. He was slimy and oily.
ReplyDeleteAGLARE seems to be used almost exclusively in writing and not in speaking. I like it.
References where AGLARE has been used
"His eyes were aglare with a terrible rage and hate; he stepped backward a little, bending his right arm, spreading the fingers." from 'Drag' by Harlan Charles Alden Seltzer
"The high Balsam peaks were shaken by thunder and aglare with lightning." from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney
"At three in the morning Port of Spain woke up, all aglare with the blaze six miles away to the north-west." from At Last by Charles Kingsley
From an early draft:
ReplyDeleteAnd the rockets AGLARE
The bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there
Ask your doctor if AGLARE may be right for you.
ReplyDeleteDr. Seuss says certainly, by all means, by Jove.
ReplyDeleteThe (understandable) nits about AGLARE are duly noted. Fwiw, I struggled with whether I should use a cheater square on the A of AGLARE. It would turn AGLARE to the much more user-friendly GLARE, and ASHE to SHE; and the symmetrical cheater square would merely cancel the S of EONS/METALS. Guess I opted for keeping the grid more aesthetically pleasing. Also, I had to consider number of 3-letter words: the cheater-square addition would have kicked the number up to 25, which is encroaching on High Enough To Risk Rejection, whereas 23 is High But Still In Acceptable Range. I think it's a tough call.
ReplyDeleteMisty and Avg Joe, I'm a little fascinated by the THE OC/OILIEST being interpreted as THE WC/WILIEST. Rich did a good job at cluing WILIEST as [Most slimy], for had it been something like [Most slick] then either OILIEST or WILIEST would work for that Across; fortunately, [2000s teen drama set in Newport Beach] pretty much *has* to be THE OC, as the W in place of the O could only be correct had the clue referred to the much lesser known 2005 BBC documentary about a toilet in Newport, Wales.
Mark Bickham
Mark, I rarely watch TV on any of the alternate channels. In hindsight, I can vaguely recall "The WC", but I've never watched it. And it's no doubt carelessness on my part in reading the clue, but the reason I filled in the W is that I can also vaguely recall "The WC". That could be a product of an aging mind, and might have actually been "The WB". I do know I've heard of something along those lines. Either way, it was what I chose and since I solve pencil, I got no electronic assistance. So, it beat me. But it didn't diminish the enjoyment of the exercise, and I've been beaten before.
ReplyDeleteMark,
ReplyDeleteI could never complain about all you do to construct a puzzle. I for one do not find the A-words unacceptable. First of all they exist in the English language. Secondly, CWs in my opinion require some flexibility.
I have a BA and MA in English--from the days when we had to study broadly, not create our own localized curriculum interest. I love language and how it flows.
Thanks for your efforts.
Steve, thanks for the Karan correction. My fingers just automatically type what's in my brain, sometimes...
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 11:22, updated 56-A.
coneyro, I'm also a big BS fan. Her voice is incredible. Surprisingly, she is extremely shy and has anxiety attacks every time she has to face an audience!! And BTW, EVERYTHING makes em think of wine!! ;-)
Mark, thanks for the insights into how the puzzle came to be. As I noted, it was really fun, and AGLARE was totally excused! But as a constructor, I find it interesting that you are so concerned about "cheater" squares. To me, if it enhances the fill, I will use cheaters. Most solvers (probably 95% +) would not even notice them, or how many 3-letter words are in the grid. So, who are we constructing for? The reviewers (who are quite picky, sometimes), or for the pleasure of the average solver? I usually opt for the latter...reviewers be damned!
Madame D. You are a gal after my own heart. Right on!
ReplyDeleteMark, as always a pleasure to work on your puzzle and to reads your comments on the puzzle and our comments
ReplyDeleteYR@6:15
ReplyDelete:-)
Good evening everyone.
ReplyDeleteJust had time to post now. BH's birthday.
Great puzzle with Sonia BRAGA in it. Loved her in "The Milagro Beanfield War".
Guess we could have had the Firth of Forth as theme fill and the we would have had 'holding forth'. There are probably other good examples, too.
Fairly easy solve for a Thursday. No white-out needed.
Avg Joe, my apologies: my citing of a documentary about a toilet was an apparently unsuccessful attempt at humor; maybe most people don't know that "w.c." is a common British utterance, short for "water closet", a euphemism for "toilet"... or maybe my delivery just sucked. Guess I'll have to pull up my to-do list for today and uncheck the box by "Quit day job".
ReplyDeleteMarti, I, too, make a conscious effort to construct for the solver and not the reviewer; but as you know between constructor and solver sits the editor, who cares very much about things like high 3-letter word counts.
As a fairweather solver, I don't mind entries like AGLARE. The part of me that as a constructor wants to avoid those poetic words is a part heavily influenced, in contrast to the above paragraph, by bloggers. And I can grok, and for the most part support, the movement to move crosswords out of Stuffyville into Hipster Town or whatever. But I think that campaign has been pretty successful: the past Decade has been a crossword Renaissance. I think some Victorian throwbacks now and then balance out the high frequency of avant-garde themes.
Thanks to all for the feedback and remarks and to Marti for the write-up. Wish I had more time to respond to individual posts, but the aforementioned Day Job beckons. Great blog, as always.
That it was a Welsh WC is what sold it.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletePlacemafan, we love you! Such fun to work on your puzzles....and I seldom solve them completely! You usually defeat me, but I love it anyway! But you are doing exactly what we "regular" solvers need. Giving enjoyment with challenging word plays. And I didn't mind AGLARE! Keep on keeping on!
40 across answer ... LookMaNoHands ... I just noticed the word "mano" embedded in the phrase. "Mano" is Italian for hand. Seems ripe for a clever crossword creator to craft a devious clue.
ReplyDeleteI have nothing to add to what's already been said. Aren't we a lucky bunch to have access to such prolific and clever constructors, a great editor and a wonderful bunch of people to talk it all over with. (with whom to talk it all over??)
ReplyDeleteLucina, Thelma and others. If you live in Arizona, HOT weather is coming your way. We have about four more days of suffering apparently.
If you believe the weather forecasters, we're due for a big El Niño event this winter producing lots of stormy weather. Personally, I'm happy with that but I'm sure some folks are going to suffer with mudslides, etc.
Bill G... :) it is already here... :) :) 112 on my deck today.... only 98 right now... :) 10pm... heard that tomorrow is suppose to be 114... we will see... definitely not my favorite time of year.... no summer here.... just monsoon season... :) and blistering heat....
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the puzzle... thanx to mark and marti... smiled at aglaze...
thelma :)
I wanna play said...
ReplyDeleteIt's too late. I did the puzzle earlier today and struggled w/ everything but the SE corner. But not a DNF! I got 'er done when I finally demoted CPT to a CPL. WITH HOT DING didn't make a lick o' sense...
YENTL was YENTa for EONS. Once I committed to SALT, things fell into place.
Thanks Mark & Marti!
W/Os: DnkY and the mess in the SW.
ESPs - too many to mention... 38a, 46a, 36d, 19d, 4d, etc.
Fav: LOOK MA NO HANDS - It's a kid's version of "Here, hold my beer" :-)
I read posts upto noon so here it is:
OKL - Nice. Made me think of my courting of DW. Her dad was a Marine and we were 17. He let us marry @18.
YR - thanks for what BOLO means. I had no idea. Hope Allan is done with, er, EEK.
Cheers, -T
Antony Gordon fills his pitches for money and for delay of repayment with inspirational messages from Torah, including the admonition it is not permitted to pressure people for repayment. He told some creditors he would make a big push within his religious community to borrow money before Rosh Hashanah, but apparently he did not have much success.
ReplyDelete