36-Across. Home theater feature, and a hint to this puzzle's 10 border answers : SURROUND SOUND. The reveal says it all. Words that can follow SOUND march around the perimeter of the puzzle.
So, here they are, as they appear (clockwise) in the grid:
1-Across. Group working together : CREW. Sound crew. This could include a "python wrangler." Can you guess what position that might be, without looking it up? (If you give up, you can go here for the answer.)
5-Across. Evaluation : TEST. Sound test. To see if your speakers are working.
9-Across. Surf : WAVES. Sound waves.
13-Down. Vegas strategy : SYSTEM. Sound system. All the speakers, mics, wires and amps needed to get the music heard in the last row.
53-Down. Performance place : STAGE. Sound stage. Usually a SOUND-proof building on a studio lot, used for movie productions.
66-Across. Small meal : BITE. Sound bite. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear...down...this...wall!"
65-Across. Aperture : HOLE. I was wondering what a SOUND HOLE was, and then remembered
this from my misspent youth.
64-Across. Album segment : TRACK. Sound track. How about this one from the "SOUND of Music"?
42-Down. Outcome : EFFECT. Sound effect. Like this, at Halloween.
1-Down. Verify : CHECK. Sound check. "Check...1...2...3..." To check the microphone's level. So, I guess I have your attention now? Let's proceed with the rest!
Across
14. Actress Lamarr : HEDY. Not just a pretty face, she invented groundbreaking technology to get around Germans jamming the SOUND WAVEs. The principles of her technology are the basis of WiFi and Bluetooth communication.
15. Sharp product : HDTV. These are often hooked up to SURROUND SOUND.
16. Opera's birthplace : ITALY. Now often performed on a SOUND STAGE for TV production.
17. Christian denom. : EPIS.copal. Could involve a SOUND CHECK to make sure the sermon is heard in the back row.
18. EKTORP sofa seller : IKEA. EKTORP is a line of sofas and chairs. They also sell cabinets for your SOUND SYSTEM.
19. Ninnies : DOLTS. Umm, SOUNDS like "colts"??
20. Simply marvelous, with "the" : CATS MEOW. In the alley, at midnight, they create a cacophonous SOUND.
22. Besides : TO BOOT. OK, "Uncle." I can't think of any way to relate this to SOUND...
23. Kipling title orphan : KIM.
24. Pro Bowl team, briefly : AFC. American Football Conference.
25. General-turned-author Wallace : LEW. He wrote "Ben-Hur:A Tale of the Christ."
26. Cult following? : -URE. Culture. It was my first thought. I think I have been doing waaaaay too many crossword puzzles!
27. Soft drink that sounds like a bit of footwear : NEHI. Haha. "Knee-high," get it?
29. Get wind of : HEAR.
31. Sent by : FROM.
32. Some bolt holders : T NUTS.
34. "The Fisher King" Oscar winner Mercedes : RUEHL. I remember her face from "Frasier." She played the station manager in some episodes. Darned if I could remember her name though: all perps.
40. Shades of blue : TEALS. Here are some TEALS from Benjamin Moore.
42. Pair of giraffes? : EFFS. Again, my first thought.
45. Actress Hudson : KATE. She is Goldie Hawn's daughter.
47. Seas, to Sartre : MERS. French.
48. Common reason for absence : FLU.
49. Card game cry : GIN!
50. Never, in Nuremberg : NIE. German.
52. No. after a period : CTS. Cents.
54. Discovered by accident : FELL ON.
56. Is humbled : EATS DIRT.
58. Formerly employed by The Company : EX-CIA.
59. Charity : ALMS.
60. Nepal locale : ASIA.
61. Preserves, in a way : CORNS. Learning moment for me. CORN originally meant any grain. You use "grains" of salt to make CORNed beef.
62. Skelton's Kadiddlehopper : CLEM.
63. It operates under the Dept. of Homeland Security : USCG. I put in US** and waited for perps.
Down
2. Changes the color of, maybe : REPAINTS. Hoo-boy, I've been doing a lot of that lately.
3. Where to find paste? : EDIT MENU. Because "Mrs. Roberts' first grade classroom" wouldn't fit.
4. "The Swiss Family Robinson" author : WYSS. First published in 1812, and made into a hit 1960 Disney movie. Unfortunately, the screenwriters junked about 90% of the book's content, and made up their own adventures for the family.
5. Pickup artist? : THIEF. Fun clue!
6. Three-term New York City mayor : ED KOCH.
7. Pot-au-feu, e.g. : STEW.
8. New Deal dam org. : TVA. Tennessee Valley Authority.
9. Black or golf follower : WIDOW.
10. Small step : A TO B.
11. Bravery, in the RAF : VALOUR. British spelling.
12. Banderillero's target : EL TORO. I went to a bullfight in Mexico once. Never again.
21. French teacher : MAÎTRE. More French
22. Mother __ : TERESA.
25. Sing the praises of : LAUD.
28. Wounds : HURTS.
30. Dadaist Max : ERNST. Our German friend returns.
31. Magical item in a 1791 opera : FLUTE. Die Zauberflöte by Mozart.
33. Permeate : SOAK IN.
35. Elementary fellow? : HOLMES. Sherlock, I presume?
37. __ Bator : ULAN.
38. Jonquils and daffodils : NARCISSI.
39. D.C. part : DISTRICT. of Columbia.
43. Bending muscle : FLEXOR.
44. Pivot points : FULCRA.
46. Nail covering : ENAMEL. I was on the galvanized variety of nail at first.
49. "Find out" : GO ASK. In our house, those words were always followed by "...your father."
51. Reply from outside a door : IT'S ME.
55. Friend of Pete and Julie on "The Mod Squad" : LINC.
56. Cockney greeting : 'ELLO.
57. Smear : DAUB.
59. Berlin beef? : ACH.
My only beef? All my fun is over!
Marti
50 comments:
"WYSS" on perps, otherwise easy.
Morning, all!
NARCISSI, WYSS, ALTAI, RUEHL...
Appreciated the theme density (although I was also mystified by HOLE) and how much work such a feat must have required. Not sure it was worth it in the end, however.
Good Morning, Marti and friends. Interesting puzzle, but not too difficult for a Thursday.
I never read The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann WYSS (1743 ~ 1818), but I had heard of the book and for some reason remember the name of the author.
I wanted Uno! in lieu of GIN! for the Card Game Cry.
I knew that CORNS is a method for preserving food only because I am currently reading Salt by Mark Kurlansky.
ULAN Bator is a crossword staple and the world's coldest capital.
QOD: You see much more of your children once they leave home. ~ Lucille Ball (Aug. 11, 1911 ~ Apr. 26, 1989)
How nice to have Mary Lou back joined by vocal puzzle poster and constructor Loren. Though I had to work for the solution, especially the uncommon answers that Barry listed were a good part of what made it worth it for me. I always appreciate having a visual aspect to a puzzle.
My only nit was the cluing for EPIS which does feel like a real abbreviation and we do have EPIS as the life saving self injecting treatment for an extreme allergic reaction.
Finally, marti great job and I loved a lot the sound ideas coming from your brain.
Thanks ladies
WYSS was all perps for me, too. And it was especially difficult because I had "team" for 1A at first. So that corner took a while to unravel.
Hahtoolah, thanks for giving me my next book to read. Salt sounds fascinating!
A serious challenge today. Really had to bounce around, but it finally worked out. Not many erasures, but plenty of spots where I had to wait for help fron the cross. I always want spell Clem with a K and Kate with a C, as just a couple of examples. Did get Linc on the first try, but had to wait to see if it was Dirt or Crow on the menu. Like many, Ruehl and Wyss were all perps.
Good morning all. Thank you Loren Muse & Mary Lou Guizzo and thank you Marti.
With just a few perps in place, was able to get SURROUND SOUND. CHECK was the only theme answer I had at that pont in time, and it made me change "Group working together" from COOP to CREW.
EATS CROW rather than DIRT messed me up for a while. Had to have a lot of perp help and guesses. Definitely not a puzzle that I could first do the acrosses, and then do the downs. Each area took a lot of proving. And even then...
No idea on the L in RUEHL, the T in ALTAI, or that the magical item was a FLUTE. DW gave me NARCISSI.
Anon-T from last night, yes, I thought of A Horse With No Name. Today I thought of the 1972 hit by Todd Rundgren, HELLO IT'S ME I especially like the horns.
I had a few hold ups here: TEAM, CURES, RUEHL, ALTAI and WYSS all needed perps, but since several either crossed or needed the same perps, it made it a real bear. I finally switched to CREW and changed EDIE to HEDY, but some of the others never recovered. I've never heard of a FLEXOR muscle, but then I've never studied biology. For finding paste I wondered if it was a keyboard clue--as in cut and paste: CONTROL V, but getting SURROUND SOUND early ditched that in a hurry. Good workout for a Thursday.
Good morning!
I'm late to the party. My ISP's service went out last night, and just came back a few minutes ago. This theme was way beyond me. I saw the SURROUND SOUND and CAT'S MEOW (CSO to CED), but couldn't figure out the sort of sound you'd get from TO BOOT or EATS DIRT? D'oh! Marti, thanx for 'splainin' SOUND HOLE. Even after you told me to look at the words around the periphery,I couldn't figure that one out.
FLEXOR, FULCRA, NARCISSI -- yep, we're getting toward the end of the week.
This has been a bad week for SOUND SYSTEM and HDTV. My SURROUND receiver threw craps again, and in the process took out the HDMI circuits in my HDTV. The internet going out overnight was just icing on the cake. Bleak!
Hahtoolah, that article says it can get down to -40 celsius in ULAN Bator. Imagine what that'd be in fahrenheit! ;7)
Good Morning.
Thank you, Mary Lou and Loren for a solid Thursday workout. I knew when team wasn't working for CREW that I would be off to a slow Thursday start. It was fun. I am very impressed with the installation of the sound system! I was stuck at CTS and couldn't see ATOB for the world. One of those days.
Marti, thanks for the very detailed recounting of the puzzle. Nicely done. I'd say it's a twofer: fabulous puzzle yesterday and terrific tour today.
Walter Payton was often a python wrangler on the sidelines. I caught him any number of times helping keep all the coaches' headset cords in order. I have a photo somewhere to validate that. He was a real team player and not one to sit on the bench when he wasn't on the field.
Yesterday's Music Man talk really took me back. It was the first live stage performance I had ever seen. My dad nabbed some great seats, and I was smitten: Forrest Tucker and Joan Weldon at the Shubert Theatre (now the One-Bank-or-Another Theatre) in Chicago. He worked for Balaban and Katz for years and did stage work (a Grip!) on his day off. So with his connections, I became a Stage Door Annie, and collected my first autographs on my program. I was all of 11 years old. Only yesterday!
Have a beautiful day!
Good morning everyone.
A few more WAGS than I would have liked, but got it all without too much hassle. Did have 'eats crow' before EATS DIRT. Saw the theme lurking in the background, but completed the solve without using its possible benefits.
Fun challenge.
Good Morning:
I second Barry's summation and will let Thumper add any additional comments.
I did smile at the CSO to our own CED, AKA, Mr. Meow.
Marti, your write-up was as enjoyable as your Wednesday puzzle. Thank you and thanks to LMS and MLG for your efforts.
Have a great day.
Wow! Two days in a row with especially fabulous themes. I liked the way the theme answers surrounded the puzzle. I wondered what SOUND HOLE meant. Thanks, Marti.
Only answer that was all perps was RUEHL. I needed some crosses to suggest some answers, but a puzzle that doesn't need crosses is kinda boring. CORNS, ALTAi, WYSS were no prob with a cross or two. As a kid I enjoyed reading the Swiss Family Robinson. I got EPIS from just the E. As an Episcopalian I have often seen EPIS, but EPISC is more common, I think. I knew HEDY, an extremely intelligent and glamorous woman, right off.
Quick solve for a Thursday.
I still have a BEEF about ACH being a complaint. My grandparents were PA Dutch and I went to high school in PA Dutch country. I heard ACH all the time, very seldom as a complaint, with the mild exception of ACH du lieber and ACH, du lieber himmel, meaning oh, dear and good heavens. More frequenly it was: ACH,I'd be glad to help. ACH, it's no trouble. ACH,so! Oh, I see.
Yep, this was definitely an end of the week puzzle, but not a Friday since I was ultimately able to complete it in pencil and paper. No red letter help needed, but perps were all-important.
Had a little trouble in the SW corner, but once I remembered that "the Company" was the CIA it filled in quickly. I had a number of neighbors who worked for "the Company" when I lived in the DC metro area. It was difficult talking about work with them, but I could sometimes tell when things were going on in the world when they worked a lot of Overtime or went on extended travel.
DO: I have an IPhone 6 with the Hotspot feature that gives me internet WiFi for my other non-connected devices. I use this when I go to my beach house and when I travel. I've had to use it a few times when my DSL internet connection has been down at home. I previously had an Android phone that had the WiFi Hotspot feature also. On my Verizon plan I have 10GB of data to use each month and I have never gone over my limit doing email, crosswords and general surfing on my IPad and Laptop using the Hotspot. However, I don't do streaming video using it, so that would probably chew up the 10GB allocation pretty quickly. It's nice to have a backup. There are also some other options for free or almost free wireless WiFi like Freedom Pop and JUNO.
Another nice day here in Central PA. I hope it's nice where everyone is today.
I enjoyed the puzzle and the writeup though this puzzle was hard for me. Thanks Loren, Mary Lou and Marti. I really got stuck in the upper-left corner but it all eventually worked out.
D-O, your weather report for Ulan Bator was clever and sneaky. Dunno why that little factoid remained stuck in my brain.
The Music Man, Foyle's Law, etc. I always enjoy it when other folks share some of my favorites.
I better round up some breakfast and coffee. See ya.
oc4beach: My house is a WIFI hotspot when my internet is working. But my "flip-phone" isn't smart enough to provide any assistance when my ISP is out. In fact, I only turn in on when I need to make a call -- usually to report my internet out. My regular phone service is VOIP, so no internet, no home phone. I'm a technosaur when it comes to modern communication devices.
Thought the theme was very clever, and well done. Thanks Loren and Mary Lou. Thanks for the perps for WYSS and RUEHL!
Marti, great job today with your write-up that included SOUND whenever you could! And no, you're not doing too many crosswords!
'ELLO all!
Today I EATS DIRT... DNF.
Downfalls: 38d xing 41a, 47a & 63a; 55d xing 61a. I also had to GO ASK the Google 2x (4d & 34a) that, without, I couldn't have extended the fun. Odd thing - I had SURROUND SOUND very early on (I did think MEOW had something to do w/ theme and kept wanting EATS crow/caw? - note to self: gotta read the whole clue -T)
CORNS, eh Marti? All makes sense now. Thanks for that learning moment as well as your SOUND writeup.
I FELL ON many c/a pairs - Uno b/f GIN, cultURE after an A TO r run, IT is I (@51d) etc. TO BOOT, I kept reading 35d as Elementary follower.... Suffice to say, this was not a Monday :-)
Fav - HEDY not just for the Blazing Saddles image it conjured , but also for her contribution to my field. 5d is a runner up.
Did anyone find pause at 27a's clue w/ theme's answer in it?
Thanks co-creators LMS & MLG for another meeting diversion.
Hahtoolah - CORNS was in Salt? I've read that book and was fascinated; I guess I missed that bit. Marti - If you liked The Ascent of Money, you'll like Salt.
For Jon Stewart fans - today is the day... If you're at home, Comedy Central is running "best of" all day. I'm recording it for my next 3 months of TV time.
Cheers, -T
Hello, friends!
Fun puzzle from LMS and MLG! First pass yielded only HEDY about whom I echo YRs opinion. Slowly, ED KOCH, EL TORO, MERS and a few other fill emerged. It surprised me that WYSS was correct.
I, too, wanted KLEM but EFFECT changed it and I recall CORNS in a previous puzzle when I helped a friend with it. He was having fits and not accepting it as a verb. Learning moment for me as well.
RUEHL was completely perped as McCambridge didn't fit but LINC was quick and easy.
EFFS stumped me momentarily then evoked chuckles when I got it.
Thank you, constructor ladies and Marti, too, for a detailed and sparkling review.
Have a special day, everyone! I'm going for ENAMAL on my nails today.
Oops. ENAMEL
I thinks this one is splendid. Some classy longer fill words, and for those that stumped me WYSS RULE FULCRA (plural with no S), the perps made them very gettable. Basic theme that made this puzzle pretty breezy. Great job. My only quibble is EPIS, I think it's usually EPISC, though it is legit. I would have clued it as one of Paul's works. But what the heck, it was very gettable either way.
Of course I meant RUEHL
"Puzzling Thoughts":
I had a few hiccups along the way, so my newspaper copy looks a bit like a Rorschach test. I did get the "theme" answer so it helped me solve the perimeter. Although it took me awhile to get EFFECT, as I originally had RESULT in its spot (42d). Also, I had CROW before DIRT in 56a, but once I knew the "theme" I realized that STAGE was the answer for 53d. My other error was in that same SE region, when I thought DEC was the correct answer for CTS (52a).
NARCISSI and GO ASK were also hang-ups. The overall theme and construction was fun but I had to cheat and google, which at least allowed me to fill in the blanks. Thanks Marti for the great recap; still don't quite get the cluing for 42a "Pair of giraffes? = EFFS
-T, I, too thought of Blazing Saddles when I saw the clue/solve HEDY for Lamarr. Thanks for the link to a few of his better lines; here is another short scene as Hedley recruited thugs to raid Rock Ridge
No Owen today? I did create a limerick although it's not theme-related:
A big fight commenced with our first daughter,
Over present my husband had bought her;
She just couldn't forgive
That he got her a sieve!
His apologies just won't hold water . . .
Hurry back, Owen . . . !!
Very ingenious puzzle. Must have taken a lot of work to get the entries surrounding the outer rim.
My downfall was that I got stuck in the NE. The only across filled in was 16A. Could not get 9,10,11, or 12D. After coming to the blog and seeing the answers, without perp help I wouldn't have gotten it anyway. Oh well.
The rest was slow to fill. RUEHL, MAITRE ALTAI, FULCRA, NARCISSI, were perp assisted.
The theme came early, and I was trying to figure out what "HOLE" had to do with it. Thanks for the clarification.
In the end, it got me, but I gave it my all. So it's technically a "win" for diligence.
Everyone ready for the 9 P.M. GOP debate on FOX news. Can't tell the players (except Trump and Bush) without a score card. Should be fun, if nothing else.
And another week is winding down. The weather is finally back to its sunny self. Roads are drying, and the weather related damages are being taken care of. Florida, for all its plusses, has some really serious negatives. But I'd rather be poor and warm, than poor and cold. You can't have everything.
And that's about it from me.
Fun fun fun all around. Smiled at many of the clues and answers. Did not like or understand the clue for EFFS, and refused for a while to believe EFFS was the answer. That was the only one I had to wrinkle my nose at. For some reason I knew Mercedes RUEHL right away. As for the theme, I didn't include TEST or HOLE as being part of it, so the question of what a sound hole is never came to mind. Irish Miss, I'd love to know what it is about this puzzle you didn't like, that prompted you to invoke Thumper. Lucina, you're an ENAMAL!
Best wishes to you all.
That "Pair of giraffes" clue is one of the favorite ways to clue a plural of an alphabet letter. They're best when the clue really misdirects the solver (hopefully for only a short while). Like this one could have been "Pair of cufflinks?". Another example: "Pair of spades" (ESSES) might make you think of FOURS, FIVES, SIXES, NINES, JACKS, or KINGS.
Jayce: I see the 42a c/a as 2 ff's which hang their heads high above all the other letters in giraffes. Don't don't take that as EPISc gospel, just a WAG from a DOLT.
Ms. Smith & Guizzo, care to explain? Cheers, -T
Thanks Loren and Mary Lou for a great puzzle an Marti for an amusing explanation.
I got the theme fairly early and worked my way around the edges.
Hand up for Eats Crow, Klem, Uno. I had Watson before HOLMES.
Mini language theme with German ACH, French MAITRE and MERS, Latin plurals for NARCISSI and FULCRA, and of course the British (and Canadian) VALOUR.
Beautiful day here! Off to enjoy concert in the park tonight.
No joy today. I actually enjoyed it, though, even with a DNF.
My undoing was the ALT_I/N_R_ISSI/_TS crossings. Took a total WAG at ALTaI and lucked out, but as I ran the alphabet for the other crossing I didn't pay much attention to the down answer. So I came up with PTS for 52A thinking "period" referred to a segment of a sporting event.
I also had Polish before ENAMEL. Actually now I have my nails done with Shellac - it lasts up to 2 weeks and dries immediately!
Mark, we appreciate your comments and insights. Look forward to more and more puzzles.
Thanks for the entertaining write-up Marti. I enjoyed reading it and checking out the links. Did not know about the python wrangler!
I'm glad most of you enjoyed the solve. Thanks for all your comments. It was fun working on this with Loren. Special thanks to Jeff Chen for helping us tweak the grid. And thanks to Rich and Patti for accepting and editing the puzzle. Rich improved the NE corner which originally had ENCINA and ELUTE in it.
"Pair of giraffes" does indeed refer to the two F's in that word.
Enjoyable puzzle...even though it left me DNF. And a delightful expo. A good day all 'round.
One hang up I still don't understand, though the rest of you seem to have no problem with it .....is.....52 a: "No after a period. " What No.?? What period? My brain is on auto pilot!!
Can anyone help 'splain it?.
Swampcat,
Dollars and Cents. eg $1.52
SwampCat - The No. (number) after the dot. Just my $0.02 CTS (cents). Cheers, -T
RUEHL flummoxed me out of a completion as HOLMES stubbornly refused to occur to me in this brilliant puzzle. ALTAI and NIE didn’t help either ☺. 2 bad cells.
Musings
-Oops, make it 3 bads, HEDE/HEDY and WESS/WYSS
-My HDTV setup now takes three remotes for me to watch the Indiana Jones trilogy my daughter gave me for Father’s Day
-A friend’s mom took us to LEW’s Ben Hur when I was 10 at a wide-screen 70mm theater. I’m not sure I was ready.
-Oh, her name is Mercedes REUHL. I remember her and Frasier in a steamy scene in a freight elevator
-I have seen ¢5 and 4$ on signs before
-My friend gives food and personal hygiene products to beggars not ALMS
-I live in a CORN state and had never heard of that usage
-These stations seem ripe for a THIEF
-The TVA probably gave electricity to some of my Kentucky ancestors
-Our flat golf course can’t SOAK IN any more rain
-Only D.C. would reelect a mayor who was caught snorting cocaine in a hotel
-All those years of teaching levers, I never knew the plural of FULCRUM
-The SOUND HOLE of my guitar has eaten some picks
-Re: Music Man and square album covers - Another album/record I wore out in my yute!
-Do you know the eponymous name for people who make sound effects for radio, movies, etc.
HG, not Neb. corn.
Gotta argue with you Gary.....I don't know what you have for a meal on March 17, but I make a habit of having Corned Beef and Cabbage. I.e., You've heard of it.
Wees, Got it done, but the SW corner was a headscratcher. (NE wasn't easy either...)
Of the 3 WAGs I circled to confirm on the Blog, the only one I got wrong was Hedi/Wiss.
Pair of giraffes=effs? I guess so, by the longest stretch of imagination. But I don't like it, don't like it at all... As a matter of fact, I would venture to say it is almost as bad as my surround sound system...
I must say I did enjoy the marvelous cats meow!
Simply marvelous!
Amazing resonance experiment & todays apercu.
I am reading today's comments w/o eye glasses. Cataract surgery was a success beyond my wildest hopes. Other then that, the only better news might be that CC sprains his ankle on the way to the bullpen for his game prep tonight and Adam Warren replaces him. Then the Yanks will have a good chance for another win.
Got to come up with a condensed report of Casey's mis-deeds. He's my 7th collie and absolutely the biggest Hell raiser. Love it, love it, love it. Lucy, not so much.
A short comment on today's puzzle....got my ass kicked. Tomorrow will be a better.
Lucina, maybe ENA(MAL) is a bad polish job?? A mal mani??
thehondohurricane - If I had cataract surgery, then for me, success beyond my wildest hopes would be if I could see through other people's clothes. ;-^) lol.
I really, really thought that No. after a period would be .... PMS. Pre menst...
Husker Gary, is that you with the shopping cart at WalMart trying to sneak out (w/o paying ) ? I thought I recognised you wearing a U.S. order mailman's pants.
Nice puzzle and a very nice blog. Now I know the difference between a Foley Artist and a gaffer. thanks Marti. Husker Gary, I guess, thats the answer to your ultimate question, right there.
The 'true' Foley artist would be a skilled urologist who introduuces, maintains and eventually removes the Foley Catheter.
While you at the eMedicineHealth website, might as well enjoy the slideshow on the Surprising Health benefits of Sex.
Anon T and TTP, many thanks. Man, do I feel stupid! It's all so simple once you understand!!!
Very late to solving and commenting today. Running the roads. Clever theme getting 10 sounds in the puzzle but it was a DNF due to a careless mistake. Wrote HEDI & WISS instead of HEDY & WYSS. I have never heard of the ALTAI republic and NARCISSI was all perps. Unfamiliar with 'Jonquils and daffodils'. Smith and Guizzo should have listed about 5 politicians' names; it would have been an easier fill.
'Small step' and 'pickup artist' had me stalled for a minute, and I initially wrote ILL for FLU and EAT CROW for dirt. FULCRA just didn't look right until a V-8 moment. The only other unknowns were MAITRE, CORNS, and RUEHL.
Hoo Haw...that whole EFFECT/FLEXOR/FULCRA corner had me flummoxed for the longest time. I even had EFFS and it didn't help. Challenging puzzle, misleading clues. DFN for me though because I had COINS instead of CORNS. Learning moment!
Mercedes Ruehl was in one of my favorite movies "Rosanna's Grave". Bittersweet comedy that takes place in Italy - wife is dying; town cemetery is running out of space; husband is trying to keep a spot for her - quirky, but enjoyable. She's got quite a list of movie credits.
I haven't been posting much but I read ya'll every day.
Hasta la pasta.
Greetings!
Many thanks, Loren and ML! Another swell expo from Marti, too!
Had uno first, but that was about it. No cheats. Had WYSS in one of the puzzles that I regularly work recently.
My internist has quit. Ugh. Good ones are so hard to find here.
Haven't heard from Harv yet. Don't see a contribution from Abejo on the blog. Wonder how they are doing!
Cheers!
Just finished watching the GOP debates. They should make it a weekly tv show. One of funniest programs I've watched in a long time. Trump is a hoot. This should prove to be a very interesting road to the 2016 elections. At least they'll keep us laughing. Just saying.....
Hondo, congrats on the great results after your cataract surgery. Casey sounds like she's a wonderful companion. My boy was almost too much to handle when he was a pup and sowing his wild oats. Now his regimen is predictable. His antics are not.
Garlic Gal, I missed the Gilroy festivals yet again this year, but it is on my bucket list. Pasta mañana to you.
fermatprime, Abejo ( ) was here yesterday so he's fine. I don't know Harv, so can't say.
SwampCat - no need to feel silly. I'm sure there are more days than others that I'd have been going wha???
CED - Loved the Hz clips. That's what I loved about EE & specifically continuous & discreet signals class; once you knew the maths (which I've pretty much forgotten by now) you could visualize the WAVES and interference patterns.
Garlic Gal - nice to see you back posting.
'Tis the eve of -T's great adventure. I fly to Tallahassee tomorrow to drive the AR Spider back to HOU. NOLA pals, you'll see me at the Bourbon Orleans assuming the car makes it to the midway.
Cheers, -T
Post a Comment