19. Judgments made on the fly : SNAP DECISIONS
29. Call it quits : THROW IN THE TOWEL
39. Take a nap : CATCH FORTY WINKS
55. Football play comprised of the starts of 19-, 29- and 39-Across : COMPLETED PASS
See above.
Melissa here. This will be brief - having some issues with blogger.
Across
1. Pop singer Anthony : MARC
5. Drive-__ window : THRU
9. Annoying email : SPAM
13. "Then again," in texts : OTOH. On The Other Hand.
14. Real howler : RIOT
15. In and of itself : PER SE. Latin, meaning in itself.
16. Arnaz of early sitcoms : DESI
17. Save-the-date card follow-up : INVITATION
21. Joe of "NCIS" : SPANO
22. "Dang!" : RATS
23. "The Crying Game" actor Stephen : REA
24. Hole in one : ACE
25. Connecticut Ivy Leaguer : ELI
27. Taunting laugh : HAH
36. Champ's cry : I WON
37. Airport compliance org. : FAA. Federal Aviation Administration.
38. Cuban currency : PESO
44. Patriotic women's gp. : DAR. Daughters of the American Revolution.
45. Clever laugh : HEH
46. Ef counterpart, in temperatures : CEE. Ef as in Fahrenheit, CEE as in Celsius.
47. NW state with a panhandle : IDA. Idaho.
50. Simpson who's a member of 12-Down : LISA
53. Tryst participant : LOVER
58. First sequel's sequel : EPISODE III
59. Pandora's boxful : ILLS
62. Cut again, as lumber : RESAW
63. Apollo 11 destination : MOON
64. Earth goddess : GAIA
65. Part of GPS: Abbr. : SYST
66. Like some telegrams : SUNG
67. Tiny part of a min. : NSEC. A nanosecond is one billionth of a second.
Down
1. "The __ Squad" : MOD
2. Dined : ATE
3. 1995 Reform Party founder : ROSS PEROT
4. Great Wall locale : CHINA. Look.
5. Libyan port : TRIPOLI
6. Rear : HIND
7. 63-Across exploration vehicle : ROVER
8. Erie Canal city : UTICA
9. Alien-seeking gp. : SETI
10. Aforementioned : PRIOR
11. Together : AS ONE
12. Group with an annual Mind Games competition : MENSA
15. Volkswagen family car : PASSAT
18. Ten percent donation : TITHE
20. From the beginning : ANEW
21. The "u" sound in "census" : SCHWA
24. Suffix with problem : A TIC
26. Help desk offering, briefly : INFO
28. Arizona tribe : HOPI
30. How some pics are stored : ON CD
31. La Brea stuff : TAR. Museum.
32. Owns, biblically : HATH
33. Holiday carol's "Good King" : WENCESLAS
34. Glacial ridge : ESKER. Virtual field trip of Blakeney esker.
35. Get rid of : LOSE
40. Consecrate : HALLOW
41. Like much pub grub : FRIED
42. Kennel cacophony : YELPING
43. "Now, just hold on" : WHOA
47. "Happy birthday" writers, perhaps : ICERS
48. Dwarf who swept up Doc's discarded diamonds : DOPEY
49. Off the mark : AMISS
51. Plant parts : STEMS
52. Vowel fivesome : AEIOU
54. Champ's gesture : V SIGN. V for Victory.
56. Natl. Merit Scholarship qualifying exam : PSAT
57. Frontman for the Belmonts : DION. Dion and the Belmonts.
60. Perjure oneself : LIE. All too common in court.
61. __ fly: RBI producer: SAC. Sacrifice.
63 comments:
Both Times puzzles done at 6:08 AM this morning. Must be early in the week, as well as in the day.
I like to work crosswords, and know lots of trivia,
Which Simpson is which, and the coins of Namibia.
We each have our fortes,
But my weakness is sports,
All I know is Pelé's from Bolivia!
(The baby is Maggie, SA rands or dollars and cents, with or without ā′ are acceptable, and Brazil, but that wouldn't rhyme.)
Morning, all!
Smooth sailing today. I didn't catch the them until I got to the reveal, but grasped it quickly at that point and appreciated it.
It was nice to see RICH finally get the clue right for SETI, btw, since he usually clues it an an organization searching for UFOs instead of searching for alien life elsewhere in the cosmos.
Great fun, this puzzle, thanks Mark!! Terrific write up, thanks Melissa!! I managed to get the theme today, it was obvious enough for even ME to get. SETI is Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, not just life, BTW.
Good morning!
Rabbit, rabbit!
This was another quicky. Only two WOs -- IMers/ICERS, Wait/WHOA.
Melissa, I don't know where you find those high-def pictures, but they're great. I noticed in your link that the La Brea Tar Pits Museum was originally named the George C. Page Museum back in 1975. This is apparently not the same George Page who was the narrator of Nature on PBS until he died. Since then, not so much.
Dang! Not only a FIW,. but a DNF too. An all tome low for me on a Tuesday puzzle. But, IMO, Mr Beckham had an error also. 33D should be WENCESLAUS, not WENCESLAS, at least according to my dictionary.
My issues were PaRSE. Did not see the PER SE & I overlooked entering the crossing S for SPANO & SCHWA. Otherwise, I had a heckuva day.
Thank you for the write up Melissa...always good to hear from you.
Pinch, Pinch ...
Melissa bee: Nice write-up & links, especially the football pictures.
Mark: Thank You for a FUN Tuesday puzzle and timely theme.
OK, I will admit I needed ESP (Every Single Perp) to get the spelling of the Good King WENCESLAS name.
Also, until I read the write-up, I didn't notice I had filled in the 64-a, Earth goddess, GAIA ... ESP, too.
Looking forward to a "non-rainy" Sunset. "Toasting Y'all" will come into play.
Cheers!1!
Rabbit, rabbit.
Hondo - I wrote in WENCESLAu and ran out of room for the S. I didn't bother looking up the correct spelling - I just changed the "u" to an S and moved on. But then I got curious how Rich could let a misspelling slip by. As it turns out, the clue specifically indicates the name of the king in the Christmas carol, which is "Good King Wenceslas." It is based on the life of Saint Wenceslaus I. So, absolution granted. ;-)
Fine Puzzle, Mark. Great pictures, Melissa. So quickly done that I didn’t even notice a few of the Downs until I read the blog.
I read that Wenceslas or Wenceslaus are both correct in English. The word is a transliteration from the Czech alphabet so there can be no exact spelling in English, just as we find with Hebrew words which have several different spellings in English.
It sad and astounding how fast the Great Wall of China is deteriorating. The following article says, “More than a quarter of the wall has disappeared for good, and most of what remains is ‘very broken down.’”
Link Great Wall
Good morning everyone.
ESKER inspired me to find a suitable poem:
Friends of the Pleistocene Digging Song
Music: Sung to the tune of “Little Buttercup” by Gilbert and Sullivan
Lyrics: E. J. Cushing (Univ. Minn.) and C. L. Matsch (Univ. Minn.-Duluth)
Composed on May 15, 1960 returning from Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene in South Dakota. Also in the car were Prof. R. G. West (Cambridge) and L. J. Maher (Wisconsin)
"We’re Friends of the Pleistocene; damn little ice we’ve seen;
Listen and we’ll tell you why:
The glaciers retreated, the lakes are depleted,
The temperature’s risen too high.
We’ve till and we’ve gravel, our problems unravel,
When stones oriented we see.
We’ve ESKERS and kames and various names
To apply to the glacial debris.
We’ve loess and we’ve soils which add to our toils,
We’ve lakes and we’ve peat bogs to bore.
With Quercus and Fagus and Pinus to plague us,
The pollen we cannot ignore.
So we’re Friends of the Pleistocene, where geology’s nice and clean.
Granites and faults we decry.
Instead of petrology, on carbon chronology
And climatic change we rely."
Enjoyed the puzzle - No issues.
Timely and speedy puzzle for the "kick off" of the college football season this weekend.
Thanks Melissa and Mark!
Musings
-A NASA guy like I cannot let it pass that the Lunar ROVER was not on Apollo 11. It was on 15, 16 and 17. I know the fill is MOON but still…
-SNAP DECISIONS can feed racism, ageism and other ism’s
-Our McDonalds has the fastest Drive THRU I’ve ever seen
-Desi loved Lucy but also many others
-IDAHO supplies more than half of these
-My former friend had TRYSTs with no LOVE component that cost him his reputation. No one ever thinks they will get caught
-My most common GPS use
-The new PEROT?
-My compulsive DW has our pix stored on our hard drive, a CD, a thumb drive and in the cloud besides being printed out
-HALLOW is part of one of America's most famous speeches
-A great SETI movie for the first hour and then…
-FORE!
Good morning all.
Here's my story. It's sad but true. It's about a puzzle - no, it's about a clue...
It took my head, and spun it around, tried every single letter, the right one not found...
Hey, hey, whoooa hey, hey whoa whoa
OK, enough of that.
1961 Dion-Runaround Sue
0 for 2 this week. FIW again. Couldn't decode the "Ef, counterpart in temperatures" clue, and had no idea and never heard of Wenceslas.
Also wagged that second E in ESKER, as the other letters in it came via perps.
Cee as in Celsius. DOH !
Thank you Mark and thank you Melissa!
Spitzboov - Thanks for that excellent song!
Good Morning:
I think this is my first ever Tuesday that I FIW. I had parte instead of per se which gave me SATI instead of SETI, which I can never remember, anyway. And at one instead of as one looked okay but, no Tada today! 😟
As others have said, the theme is timely and clever, even though some of the fill was meh: atic, sac, resaw, hah and heh. Had wait before whoa, but Utica was a gimme.
Thanks, Mark and Melissa, for getting September off to a good start.
Have a great day.
Husker, you nailed it on Contact -- great start, lousy finish. That video sequence at the start, complete with time-lapse radio broadcasts, is really good.
Nice song, Spitz!
Nice puzzle to get September off to a great start. Good links, Melissa. We have the windows open to let in some cool before the temp heads for the 90s out here on the northern plains. I feel kind of sorry for kids stuck in school when it's such wonderful swimming weather.
PS
Hand up for wondering about the spelling of WENCESLAS.
I just learned that Australia considers today (and not the equinox) to be the first day of Spring. Go figure. You can read about it here. Their other seasons begin on December 1, March 1, and June 1.
Good morning all. I found this puzzle easier than yesterday's. Thanks Mark and Melissa for the entertainment.
WEES about Good King Wenceslas! I wanted a pop fly before SAC.
iCERS put Happy 93rd on my mother's cake last weekend. Blessed to still have her here.
Weather is predicted to go to 34CEE today. That's hot!
"Puzzling thoughts"
A DNF/FIW for me, too; the PER SE/SETI Natick got me, along with LOVER/V SIGN/YELPER, you name it. Other than that I did OK ... ;^)
As another poster mentioned, this is a timely puzzle given the first of college football games start this weekend, and most HS teams have already played one
This is for IM: you can use a strong cleansing agent to dezinc the lamp post. ;^)
Enjoyed working this puzzle
Good morning, folks. Thank you Mark Bickham, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Melissa Bee, for a fine review. Nice to see you again.
Puzzle had a couple tough spots, but other than that pretty smooth.
Wanted YAPPING or YIPPING for 42D. Had WAIT for 43D. LOVER fixed both of those to YELPING and WHOA. First inkblot.
Had SANG for 66A until SUNG became the one. Second inkblot. And the last.
WENCESLAS was a piece of cake for me. I play it every Christmas Eve at church. TTP, stop by on Route 59 and you can hear it.
Initially wanted ARETE for 34D. Held off for some crosses and ESKER appeared. I had seen that word in the past, probably in a puzzle.
Theme was good. Appropriate to the season just starting.
How about the Cubs no-hitter the other day in LA.
Lots to do. Getting ready for our first York Rite meeting of the fall, tomorrow night. Heading to Johnsonburg on Thursday for my wife's class reunion. It is actually an Alumni Reunion. They do it each year. I got myself on the Committee, and I am not even from Johnsonburg. I love it! Fun weekend.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Greetings, friends!
How nice to see you, Melissa. Thank you for providing your insights and thank you, Mark, for today's puzzle.
I quickly sashayed across the grid and like Yellowrocks didn't see some of the downs. Sadly, though, I missed DION so DIW.
It was fun.
Hand up for WENCESLAS/WENCESLAUS but Marti, your explanation makes sense.
Have a lovely day, everyone!
Tom Brady??? Really??
DNF for me today,
The S in Schwa/Spano was a total WAG that I got right. But I really wanted 15A, In and of itself to be "Terse," but Passat was a gimme. Still, I never did correctly parse the perse...
I always thought the King was Wences, where did all these extra letters come from?
(Oh wait, am I thinking Senor Wences?)
Anyway, all that yapping left me with two Hahs, which made me 43D "now just hold on" = Whaa, and a tryst participant being a Paver??? I knew it was wrong, but I was so muddled I could not figure out where this puzzle went Kablooie...
Pretty smooth sailing today. A few hesitations, but no serious road blocks. Fortunately, I don't know the spelling of saints names well enough to question most of them. Well, maybe Drew Brees. Didn't get the theme until the reveal, but thought it was clever.
Here's a theme song for the Pat's this year ;-) Link
I got it, I got it, even though this puzzle was challenging at moments. So, many thanks, Mark, and Melissa.
I still don't get SETI (even though I 'got' it) and must have missed the explanation somewhere. I wisely waited for the across answers to give me the spelling of WENCESLAS, which still looks peculiar to me.
What a funny song, Spitz.
Have a great September, everybody!
Makes sense, though, does it not?
No spelling ambiguity in the Christmas carol. The "Feast of Stephen" [the first Christian martyr) is the day after Christmas. It is known as Boxing Day in the UK & Comm. and is a public holiday. The carol is about giving alms to the "poor man", and is related to Boxing Day (giving gifts to one's servants). We often sang it at morning "assembly" (i.e., meeting of the whole school, before classes began) around Christmas. Does/did "assembly" ever happen in US schools.
I always enjoyed the rhyming and meter of cruel and fuel, which places the stress on both syllables; and also the second verse - the poor man's home always sounded very mysterious/Tolkeinish to me. Here are the first 2 verses:
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel
"Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know'st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain."
Blogger problems
Hi Gang -
Blogger problems indeed. Had a very hard time getting here.
Got the puzzle, but it took a lot of hunting, pecking, perp help and swags. [no oxford comm for me]
Could picture Ross Perot, but drew a blank on his name. DEZI did not help.
I always want to put a U in WENCESLAUS.
Well executed theme, but I have some nits with the fill.
Great pics, Melissa.
Music goes back into full swing this week.
Cool regards!
JzB
'sa right?
all right!
Good morning all,
Thanks Mb and MB for the fun romp.If I got the theme, everyone did.LOL! I did have to change threw to throw. Hand up for parse as I did not know of SETI being an alien seeking gp. I could have filled it with the clue, an Egyptian pharaoh. Also I was on the wrong thought wave for the NW state with a panhandle. Didn't write in AK because I couldn't figure out a correct abbrev. Luckily the perps let me know I was off base.Yipping had to be changed to yelping.
For a Tues., I erased a lot, but had fun.
Spitzboov, LOVED your poem/song and TTP, yours was funny too.
Have a great day all.
Joining the party late today.
Am very sad. My kitty, Yentl, ran outside and accidentally was run over by my neighbor. She was a four year old calico. My husband is beside himself. She was his baby. Waiting to see how long it takes for my other two to notice she's missing. Dr's bills and cremation over $300.00. My heart hurts.
This puzzle theme was football, so off the cuff I would have no idea. However, perps helped fill it in.
WEES about WENCESLAS, SETI and PERSE
My son is getting married in November, and I received my first ever save-the-date card. It references to a computer site, where their entire love story is related, and other wedding info. They have an on-line gift registry, as well. Things are done so differently nowadays. I don't think I'll ever feel 100% comfortable with the cyber world we live in. Feel much like my grandmother felt about cars. A modern convenience, but that doesn't mean I need to learn how to drive. I try to keep my world as low tech as possible. So much has been lost, as kids don't relate on a personal level, face to face, anymore. Get off the texting, make a call, visit someone! Sorry... It is a very touchy subject for me.
Anyhoo....Doable Tuesday puzzle. Let me go try to see if I can soothe my husband's feelings a bit.
Bless you all...
Coneyro, I'm so sorry about your kitty. I had a calico years ago and it was my favorite cat of all times. Also, I agree about your frustration with some technology these days.
Best wishes for you and your husband.
Coneyro - I'm sorry to learn of the loss of your cat. Being a cat person myself, I can well appreciate the hurt. Sending best wishes your way.
A fun puzzle totally appropriate for Tuesday.
Meteorological seasons start on the first day of March, June, September and December. So, Australia goes by Meteorological and not Astronomical starting dates. Meteorological is actually supposed to be more accurate.
Coneyro, condolences about your calico. It's always tough to lose a member of the family.
We also lost a calico this year, and that wasn't the only one. We're aware of about 8 cats from the neighborhood that have "gone missing" plus a couple of entire raccoon families. Our local coyote population is well fed.
Also I must add my sympathy to Coneyro. This is a major reason I never let my cat out and don't you think that becomes his main mission. So you cannot beat yourself up about a true accident although I'm sure that is no comfort at all.
My brother just lost his cat in a most horrible way. Google "saddle thrombus cat" if you want to make yourself a bit sick to your stomach.
The only thing I could suggest is to go rescue one from a shelter in your cat's memory.
APVX said..."Meteorological is actually supposed to be more accurate."
Well, that's just flat out wrong. Australia chose the first of the month for convenience.
Ah, Coneyro, that is so sad about your cat. Sorry.
I don't agree about kids not relating on a personal level. It's certainly not true of my grandchildren.
But they're all involved in group activities - dance, band, sports, etc.
So maybe I'm missing a bigger and worse picture.
Cheers!
JzB
Coneyro, I'm so sorry you lost your kitty. I send you and your hubby my sympathy.
On a happier note, how wonderful, Canadian Eh, that you still have your 93 year-old Mother with you. God Bless her.
Just a reminder that episode two of Public Morals is on tonight.
Hello everyone, Coneyro, I'm so sorry about your Calico. Losing a pet is always heart wrenching.
Thank you Melissa Bee and Mark Bickham for the fun today.
The puzzle was quick and easy. I had the same spelling questions about Wenceslas, but finally got it with all the crosses and perps. Gaia was not a Goddess listed in any of my three crossword dictionaries. I've added this one to my dictionary in case we come across it again. Otherwise, I'll forget it next time and will be stumped as I was today.
Yapping, yipping or yelping? The latter finally fell into place after some erasures.
Have a good day, everyone.
coneyro:
That is so sad about your calico kitty. Please accept my sympathy. I'm not a cat person, I prefer dogs, but pets are dear to us in whatever species.
JD, thank you. I tried.
Abejo, thank you for the offer, but DW would ring my neck if I went elsewhere on Christmas Eve. I did listen to it on youtube though.
Anon-T from last night, good one ! They just played an extended set of JCM while I was messing with the plumbing in the garage.
CONEYRO, so sorry for your loss. I have two friends that lost their dogs in the same manner.
My avatar doesn't like cats, but I do. Had a couple of them in Houston years ago. They never got along, and my townhouse reflected that. The staircase was often a battleground, as one presided over upstairs, and the other ruled the ground level.
The Snap!
The throw AND the catch "in one link!"
Just waitin' for that completed pass...
Coneyro, my condolences. It has been a year and a half since I lost my PK, (Pretty Kitty) & I still miss her terribly. I am still on the lookout for another Cat, but it is special when they adopt you instead... Show your Husband this link, which proves that you never know what might happen tomorrow. I found it on todays popular YouTubes under The Daily Awww!
One other thing, my paper today was miscut right at the Crossword. Luckily I was able to read & fill in the acrosses, but the left side had only half a box. I would have called & complained, but crosswords have made me realize how busy Editors are. And then I went to read the "Thought For Today." it read exactly this: "There is little
There is little? WTF? It wasn't cut off, it was just incomplete!
What if it's a thought I need to know!
Hmm, to complain, or not complain,,, that is the question....
Irish Miss @ 3:42
I enjoyed the "Pilot" of Public Morals" so much last week ...
I set the DVR to "record" the Series.
Geez, the remnant of ERIKA dropped another 2.4 inches of rain ...
I guess the idea of actually seeing the Sun ... Set ... is a dream for another day.
Cheers!
Good puzzle; enjoyed it. However, I did wrinkle my nose at HAH and HEH.
I knew SETI because a friend of mine is a SETI researcher (as well as a San Jose State University professor).
I have made many SNAP DECISIONs in my life, and some of them were actually good ones.
"What HATH God wrought?"
The so-called team at my former employer often does not work AS ONE.
Sometimes my mid-afternoons naps are only twenty WINKS.
I'm a dog person, too. My friend's new Weimaraner puppy took 3 weeks to finally realize I was not trying to be the alpha dog, and accepted me. He's sure got a distinctive personality. Damn nice dog.
Best wishes to you all.
Coneyro, please add my condolences. We lost a wonderful dog nearly 4 years ago, and the pain is still real. We do still have a very affectionate calico that is approaching 6. I know how hard it is, and am sorry to hear about your loss
"There is little difference in knowing."
CED - Thanks for the Sir Wences and the Daily Awww, both brought smiles. Those poor kitties were darn lucky. I'd like to get my hands on whomever dumped them there.
Coneyro - So sorry over your loss. Losing a dear pet is so very heartbreaking.
Loved the puzzle, so timely to kick off the football season.
Meteorological and Astronomical Seasons…
Mr. Google should check Google.
APVX said...Mr. Google should check Google.
APVX should learn how to post links to support his absurd claims. The first day of a month is arbitrary. It's not in any way "meteorological". There's nothing "accurate" about it.
It's as "accurate" as moving holidays to Monday to make for three-day weekends.
Rabbit rabbit!
Loved this one! Probably because of the football, but lots of the other fill was good, too. Had no problem with Wenceslas, SETI or Perse. Just on the right wavelength I guess. Even HEH and HAH just seemed funny, not annoying.
Thanks, Melissa, for a good expo.
Coneyro, I'm so sorry about your kitty.
Thinking Allowed @ 4:50
Holy crap! You just freaked me out!
or maybe it was from watching this movie...
Uh, is it late enough for late nite yet?
I just tried to google what happened to the kittens on the Warrior River,
& for some reason, ( maybe they haven't been adopted yet...) this came up instead...
Coneyro, if this does not distract your husband, than he is beyond hope...
Coneyro, I am so sorry about your kitty. It know it hurts. I had to put my favorite to sleep long ago and I still miss him.
I knew the question about Wenceslas referred to the carol. I was not sure of the spelling, but knew it was various. I chose the one that fit the spaces. Why the angst?
Hi All!
What TTP said - my hangup was also CEE xing 33 & 34d. Doh!
OTOH, the puzzle was a RIOT. I love THROW IN THE TOWEL on the puzzle that had to. Thanks Mark & Melissa!
WEES re: W/os - @ 42 & 43d there's an inky mess.
Fav - CATCH FORTY WINKS - my goal every Sat/Sun.
Coneryo - So, so, sorry to hear about your kitty. Did CED's video help?
Anyone every participate in SETI@Home? I did in the early 2000s.
If SETI folks find something, do we send an INVITATION for them to join / eat us? How about a Search for Terrestrial Intelligence (STI)? Does MENSA qualify? I know D.C. doesn't (they all seem kinda DOPEY).
Cheers, -T
AnonT, yes, I did SETI home. It seemed like a cool idea that I wanted to be part of but surprisingly enough, no aliens contacted me on my computer. Rats!
Google did indeed lead me to posts like this weather blog quote
"... So what does all this mean, if anything? I would say that it just verifies one of the main reasons that the NWS uses the meteorological seasons as the standard. It portrays a more accurate reflection of the seasons, since the 90 coldest and 90 hottest days of the year usually, but not always, fall closer to the meteorological seasons than the astronomical ones."
BTW, I thought it was WENCELSAS until perps corrected me. I never could pronounce it.
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