Aha! It's this year's Christmas present
from Obinray Earsstay. She tweeted last
year at this time, “It's just not Christmas unless we push our bodies to the
brink of alcoholism and diabetes.” Now
there's a woman who gets it! You can
visit her for
more examples of her quirky sense of humor.
As I was
working this one, knowing I was going to have to 'splain it to you guys, I kept
scratching my head. What does OVERSTAY
have to do with chocolate? And in what
world does EASTBAY mean “savage?” The
perps demanded that those answers be correct.
I finally came to the reveal:
58a.
What four puzzle answers need to be written in: PIG LATIN...and
the V8 can came flying. Utecay!
17a. Big name in chocolate: OVERSTAY (Stover, as in Russell)
21a. Savage:
EASTBAY (Beast)
35a. Loot:
UNDERPLAY (Plunder)
52a. Lay waste to:
ASHTRAY (Trash)
Let's see
what other presents Robin put under our tree...
Across:
1. ___ appeal: SNOB
5. “The Girls Next Door” co-creator, for
short: HEF. Hugh Hefner.
8. Torus-shaped gaskets: O-RINGS.
Per Wiki: In geometry, a torus (plural
tori) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in
three-dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle. But you knew that...
14. Lift one's
spirits: TOPE. If you lift them too often.
15. Pay dirt: ORE
16. Secure again: RESEAL.
[Meh] I get it, but that doesn't
mean I have to like it.
19. Against: CONTRA.
In another time (and what seems like another world), the CONTRAs battled
the Sandinistas for control of Nicaragua.
20. Crème de
___: MENTHE. Because “la Crème” was too long and “Cacao”
was too short.
22. NATO member since
2009: ALB. No, not American League Baseball, but the country,
ALBania. Remember, we went to war
against them in Wag the Dog.
23. Says “y'all,”
say: ELIDES. “Resides in Texas” was way too long. DRAWLS would have worked, though.
26. Time of one's life: AGE
27. Reunion group: CLASS.
“Aunts” would have fit, too.
29. Beats Electronics co-founder: DRE
(See 42d.)
30. Danube tributary: ILLER
Those are
the Allgäu Alps in the background – beautiful area of southern Bavaria.
32. Early 20th-century poet ____
Crane: HART. No idea.
33. Layer:
PLY. Let's see the hands of those
who confidently wrote HEN.
34. The Beatles, e.g.: IDOLS.
Tried BRITS first.
38. IQ test name: BINET.
I remember those standardized Stanford-BINET tests from my ute.
40. Abu Dhabi is its cap.: UAE. United
Arab Emirates. I was there in the
'80's. I asked about a Stephen King
novel in a bookstore, and was told, not so politely, not to mention that name
there. Okey dokey...
41. Sounds from toys: ARFS.
Wasn't fooled.
45. “_____ run!”: GOTTA.
Or as JzB puts it, IMBO.
46. AC/DC song with the words “I'm
dynamite”: TNT. Easy enough to suss.
47. Road challenge: GLARE
48. Pharm. drop-offs: RXS
49. “WarGames” computer.
JOSHUA. Should have remembered
that. Didn't.
51. Muscle mag subject: PEC.
Mag indicates it'll be an abbrv.
55. Biblical escape obstacle: RED SEA.
“Holy Moses, Batman!”
57. Get hot under the collar: SEE RED.
Could be tough to parse. RED dupe.
60. March:
PARADE
62. Bluster:
RANT
63. Treat badly: STEP ON
64. El ___:
CID. Spanish hero played by Charleton
Heston with a cast of thousands.
65. Energy units: ERGS. Hello again, old cw friend.
Down:
1. Acid producer: STOMACH.
Should have been easy enough to guess.
Wasn't.
2. “Breakfast at Tiffany's,” for one: NOVELLA.
Some might recall a minor movie.
3. Spot for free spirits: OPEN BAR.
Nailed it.
4. Friend of Mary Poppins: BERT.
All perps.
5. Monopoly buy: HOTEL
6. Big time:
ERA
7. Early 2000s “SNL” standout: FEY.
Tina.
8. “Blackfish” creatures: ORCAS.
Political documentary. Nuff sed.
9. Model T contemporaries: REOS.
Named for Ransom Eli Olds. Many
people think the Oldsmobile was named for him.
Correctomundo!
10, “____ that special?!”: ISN'T .
Made famous by Dana Carvey.
11. Court
surprise: NET BALL. Tennis, I'm guessin'.
12. Parking
places: GARAGES
13. Buffy, for
one: SLAYER
18. Tom Jones' “____ a
Lady”: SHE'S
21. Shoebox
letters: EEE
24. Between jobs: IDLE
25. Rehearsals: DRY RUNS
28. Double's job: STUNT.
Stunt-double in the movies.
30. Wash.
neighbor: IDA (Washington/Idaho)
31. Steadfast: LOYAL
33. Wash. hours: PDT.
The same Wash., not D.C.
34. Key for Debussy?: ILE.
Debussy was a French composer, and a key is an island.
36. Teachers'
org.: NEA. Standard crosswordese.
37. Buddha's Noble
Eightfold ____: PATH. Perps to the rescue.
38. Choice ballpark
location: BOX SEAT
39. “I found what
you're looking for!”: IT'S HERE
42. Drake or
Nelly: RAP STAR. If you say so. Actually, I had first perped it as RAPSTER,
but “Bluster” = RANT, not RENT, straightened me out.
43. Letting go: FREEING
44. Cosine reciprocals: SECANTS.
Thank you, high school trigonometry.
45. Comprehends: GRASPS
46. Stocking
stuffer: TOY. Tried TOE first.
47. Certain Celt: GAEL.
There are several Celtic languages.
GAELic is one of them.
49. Will Smith's
second son: JADEN. Just how were we supposed to know that?
50. Goaded: URGED
53. Sting,
perhaps: TRAP. Narcotics sting.
54. Modernize: REDO
56. Have the
gumption: DARE
58. ___-Man: PAC.
Many a squandered hour in my younger days...
59. In this
emplacement: ICI. More French. Shouldn't “In this” also have been in French?
Oh, well...
That'll do it for me. Glad
to have had the opportunity to fill in today.
Lemonade will be back next week with his Christmas Special, same Bat Time,
same Bat Channel. Desper-otto signing
off.
Note from C.C.:
I would like to tell you about two coupled puzzles by my neighbor Steve Bachman (with some help from George Barany): Wit and Wisdom, as explained further on this bachblog post. Even if you don't have time to try these puzzles, click on Steve's name for his inspirational personal story.
61 comments:
Morning, all!
Ummmm, yeah.
I actually enjoy a good "trick" theme, but only if I know there's actually a trick involved. This one was just a lot of frustration until I finally got to the reveal and discovered there was a trick and it wasn't just that somebody screwed up with the clues (or that I was too dumb to understand them). The thing is, by the time I got to the reveal I had already filled in all the theme answers anyway, so it didn't really help anything other than my understanding.
Of course, even after getting the theme and confirming all the theme answers, I still crashed and burned in the NE. NETBALL means absolutely nothing to me and ILLER was completely unknown. I figured that 34D was going to be the French word for "key" but didn't get that key was being used as a synonym for island. And I really, really should have gotten IDA as the neighbor of Wash, but I just couldn't think of it. So total fail in that section. Hate it when that happens...
Finished it, but no ta-da, decided to check it over before I gave in and turned on the red letters. Realized it wasn't United Arab Republics but United Arab Emirates, and that got me my bell! On paper that would have been FIW, but on the 'puter, I'll take it as a win.
Did young Moses play with mosaic tiles?
Did they help in FREEING his magical wiles?
Make Pharaoh SEE RED
When the RED SEA fled?
Did he fashion tablets in Mosaic styles?
JOSHUA was Moses' LOYAL spy
Who rose to general by and by.
A Philistine SLAYER
And ram's horn player,
Made Jericho's walls collapse with a sigh!
A sot, a tippler, a man given to TOPE,
May be a wretch unable to cope
Or a high spirited guy
Whom the spirits on high
Have decided to give some extra rope!
Hart CRANE is familiar to the limited world of students of Poetry, but despite dying young as so many poets have, he left a legacy.
Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith (currently in theaters in Concussion) and Jada Pinkett is, well you decide. JADEN
Thank you Tom, I should be back fro Christmas
Wonderful puzzle. Great idea.
desper- There's no doubt that many Arab nations have banned books. It should also be pointed out that some of Stephen King's books have been banned in a school district in his home state of Maine! If you Google 'Banned books' you may be shocked by the number of great authors whose works are, at this moment, being targeted for censorship in schools and libraries in our own country.
Greetings!
Just finished online Christmas shopping and am all jacked up. How am I going to get to sleep?
Anyway, super puzzle and expo!
Prevailed w/o cheating. ILLER and HART were perped. Knew JADEN for some reason.
Cheers!
"NETBALL means absolutely nothing to me"
Hand up.
But I looked it up. It's actually a word.
On a different note, the theme sucked. Sorry, but enough with the Pig Latin already.
Well, this gimmick may have been a tough one to coax out of the shadows, but the fact that all the themers are in the language words or phrases kicks it up by several notches, IMO. I had the same troubles already discussed. But liked it quite a lot when it all came together. And I had only two theme answers when I got the reveal, so it actually helped a little. Good job. And also a fine write up, Tom. Thanks for subbing!
"Wash. hours" presently are PST, not PDT. Aren't crossword puzzles supposed to be current?
Anon, not necessarily.
What Avg Joe said. No complaints.
Robin, thanks, I guess, for a Friday workout. And Tom for the explaining of this really haaaaard puzzle!
I too didn't get the PIG LATIN until the reveal. Then I looked to see which answers had AY at the end and it really helped. Some answers, like ASHTRAY for "Lay waste to" looked sorta ok in a convoluted way.
I am glad I did it on the computer, since I had to change many of my answers. HEN before PLY, CLE [key that opens a door] before ILE, etc. I got the J in JOSHUA after the rest of the letters were filled in. I thought I was done then red letter showed I had put HEP for HEF. But hey, 1 red letter is pretty good. Although I didn't know who PEY was on SNL.
Thanks to all for their enjoyable and entertaining comments.
OwenKL -- loved your poem.
Live Well and Prosper
VS
I also looked up NET BALL. NET_vs_LET_BALL gives this explanation. FWIW.
"When a serve hits the net and continues across it, it's a "net." All that means is that that serve won't count as a serve, one way or the other. Ordinary folks won't bother with calling "net," they'll wait to see if:
--the ball lands within the correct service box, then it's a "let" and the serve (1st or 2nd) is replayed, or
--the ball does not land within the correct service box, then it's a "fault," a missed serve. If it was the first serve, proceed with the second. If it was the second serve, double fault, server loses the point."
I am assuming that the correct service box is where it was supposed to go on the other side of the net. If anyone who knows tennis wants to explain further I'm all ears.
VS
d-otto: Great Job Pinch Hitting.
Robin: Thank You for a FUN puzzle with a unique theme.
jeez. My head hurts from all the V-8 can smacks ... followed by groans and laughs.
Faves today? Surprise! Surprise! Yup! They were the OPEN BAR crossed by TOPE and Crème de MENTHE.
Also liked the RED-SEA and SEE-RED in the grid.
Cheers!
Hi gang -
Nicely done D-O.
Pretty much WBS, except he finished and I didn't.
Other than that, I hate this gimmick.
So rather than rant, I will wish Robin, D-Otto and all the rest of you a happy weekend.
Playing tonight - Nutcracker Suite and Sibelius First Symphony. Dour piece of music with some amazingly beautiful moments. Not technically difficult, but requires enormous attention to detail, and is really hard to bring together for the orchestra. Tempo and meter changes make it hard to counts measures of rest and find entrances.
Wish me luck.
Cool regards!
JzB
Today was a DNF because I had to use Red Letter help and I'm not very conversant in Pig Latin. Although some enjoyed the puzzle today, I didn't. It was a gimmicky puzzle. I did like DO's 'splaining though.
WRT rivers of Europe in crosswords, we need to see rivers and creeks from this continent like MONONGAHELA, CHICKAMAUGA, the BIG and LITTLE PEE DEE, SUSQUEHANNA and maybe even a simple one like the HUDSON river. I've heard of these bodies of water but didn't know the ILLER. Also in this neck of the woods (central PA) a small stream is pronounced CRICK (krik) not CREEK. So today I was up the CRICK without the proper means of locomotion.
Hope everyone has a great day.
Good Morning!
WES so far; especially that this was a lot of fun. In the end. I consider myself somewhat of a chocolate expert, but OVERSTAY really knocked my socks off. Flummoxed!! Even without seeing the theme here, I thought the puzzle was well-done. Generally, the theme is not my forte. Thanks, Robin.
D-otto, nice of you to cover and lead this tour.
Have a great day.
Good Morning:
I had a tough time with this but, eventually, prevailed w/o help. I, also, put UAR before UAE, and Ore before Ida. I've heard of Hart Crane, but thought he was a novelist and Jaden was known, as well. (Base on the entertainment shows/magazines, he seems a tad peculiar.). Net ball, Iller, and tope all unknown, but easily perped. (Auto correct wanted permed.)
Kudos to Robin for a Friday challenge and thanks to DO for pinch-hitting so successfully. Nice job, DO.
I noticed our local buses are alternating the large, neon destination information with SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.
Completely off topic, but a personal pet peeve: Why on earth are greeting cards $4.99-$5.99? Yes, there are some for $2.99-$3.99 (still overpriced), but the majority are at the higher pricing. I don't know who spends that much on such a simple, disposable item, but I, with the rare exception, refuse to buy them, on principle alone. (I don't have easy access to a dollar store, unfortunately.) End of rant. 🙊
Have a great day.
Wow, this was a toughie. Couldn't figure out any of the theme answers until the reveal. Several unknowns, such as JADEN Smith, HART Crane, ILLER, JOSHUA (it's been a loong time since that movie), and TNT (as clued). Many mistakes along the way didn't help -- curB appeal rather than SNOB, striDE for PARADE, alumS for CLASS, TOe for TOY, rEddEn for SEE RED (thought it might be madden as well), UAr for UAE (no excuse) -- which made me think of MER for Debussy, although I didn't see how it related to key. Glad I was doing this online, or it would have been a huge mess.
Agree about ICI. I know the word, but there should have been a hint that the answer is in a foreign language, as in 34D (ILE). Not sure why NET BALL in tennis is a court "surprise", it happens often enough...or did the composer mean the sport NETBALL? (But still not a surprise.)
Thanks Robin for a hard challenge, and to d-o for the writeup.
The surprise could be when the ball hits the net during a return and still goes over.
Tawnya, finally an answer to your suggestion about my club's (ahem) gentleman. Thanks. Being a former teacher we went the whole nine yards. We counseled Mr. X and advised him of the consequences. Before barring his membership I spoke to the son with whom he lives. Mr. X has been quite abusive to the family for the last 2 years. Friends refuse to come over to their house. The son has tried to pursue a medical answer. You can't force a independent, delusional, and stubborn person to eat wisely, take his meds and keep his doctor's appointments in your absence, short of committing him. Mr. X takes umbrage at every suggestion. Last week he was in the hospital for 5 days with diabetic foot and leg problems. His meds were changed. It is indeed a sad situation, but beyond our ability to remedy.
At least I am no longer called A**H*** once or twice a week, my friends and I are no longer accused of stealing $50 and I don't have to placate insulted callers.
Argyle -- fair enough. Thanks!
The barrier became the ally! It took the reveal to finish with confidence. The phrases were not only devilish but made sense in and of themselves. OVERSTAY? Wow!
Musings
-Thanks for getting a pinch hit, Tom!
-Yeah, these are The Girls Next Door to me
-Frozen O-RINGS doomed the Challenger
-Have you ever had trouble RESEALing these?
-ILLER – When will we have Elkhorn as a tributary of the Platte?
-Sorry DRE, I’m not shelling out $150 for headphones
-My daughter’s AGE caught up with her. Her back went south trying to help with a bathroom remodel. She is working on a project for State Farm from home
-That last very thin PLY (veneer) can cost big dollars
-I suppose EMIRS would have EMIRATES
-I can phone, text or email my RX’S to Walgreens
-The WarGames computer was the WOPR. The backdoor password was JOSHUA
-SEE RED – Of course we know bulls are color blind
-Breakfast at Tiffany’s was boring with a racist role for Mickey Rooney
-My sister’s GARAGE is full of junk and her car sits out. Huh?
-8 actors who do most of their own STUNTS
Husker re:WarGames computer
Thank You for clearing that up.
When I was solving I remembered the password was JOSHUA and was picturing the computer but couldn't remember its name was WOPR.
Missed in the write-up was 61 across, "big heart." That crossing with "ICI" slowed me down for a while, until I figured out it was a playing card being referred to. Good, clever puzzle.
Fun puzzle by Robin. Thanks for the challenge. Without DH, wouldn't have finished, as I did get the reveal first before any of the theme entries.
Very nice job, D-O! Thanks for the clarifications and pics.
No joy in Mudville, unclefred has struck out. Total failure. Embarrassing failure. Got eight answers, total. Started with CURB appeal, and went downhill from there. Oi. Far too tough a puzzle for my meager capabilities. 😟
I was initially lost in the wilderness on this one until I got a TOEhold in the SW that turned out to be a TOYhold. After looking at ASHTRAE, then ASHTRAY, I thought it might be PIG LATIN and 58A confirmed it. It didn't help that I started with CURB appeal and HOUSE instead of SNOB and HOTEL. And C.C. or was it D-O, I'm with you on NET BALL; I've dumped so many serves into the net on the tennis court that it is never a surprise.
I think the use of real word converted to PIG LATIN is really neat. And the NE really stumped me for the longest, so I did my usual- drop it, read two newspapers, cook breakfast, and come back after a couple of hours. I was waffling between NET BALL or BAIL because the ILIER river made as much sense as the ILLER (sicker?) river. The cross of two other unknowns- JODHUA & JADEN had me thinking because HADEN is a real name and the unknown computer from the unknown movie (or book or television show) could have been anything. My computers are HAL, HAL-1, and HAL-2.
A couple of problems with the clues- 33D should have said summer and TOYs ( 46D answer) was used as part of the clue for 41A.
Having played tennis for over 50 years I have never heard the term NET BALL. If you are SERVING and hit it into the net on the FIRST serve it is a FAULT. If you hit it into the net on the SECOND serve, you LOSE the point. Ir either your FIRST or SECOND serve hits the top of the net and goes over the net and lands in the correct service box it is called a LET serve and does not count as an attempted serve or fault; you just serve again. If it lands OUT of the service box it is a fault on the first serve and a lost point on the second serve.
Once play has begun, if it tips the net and lands in the court of play you just keep playing until either person or team hits the ball out of bounds or into the NET. But after playing and observing thousands of matches at every level of play I have never heard anyone say NET BALL.
As I was working this one, knowing I was going to have to read one of lemony's convoluted write-ups, I wondered how he would take a very simple theme and complicate it. Needless to say I was surprised with the short and sweet summary. It was obvious that something was afoot but I couldn't put my finger on the blogger. C.C.? Boomer? Not Melissa. Oh! Desper-otto!
Thanks, it was a gas gas gas.
Hello Puzzlers -
What Husker said! It was just bits and pieces until I got to the reveal answer, and smooth sailing from there. I was impressed at the Pig Latin phrases making sense on their own. Well crafted, Robin!
Howdy D Otto, thanks for pinch hitting. Nicely done!
Wow, this one was extra fun. Some sneaky misdirection in the cluing and some nifty fill. I like how all the pig latin entries were real phrases. I have a feeling Ms. Stears put a lot of work into constructing this one. Thank you for giving us (me, anyway) such pleasure. Yeah, I stumbled on the TOY answer, not wanting to fill it because "toy" had been in a previous clue. Having SEETHE instead of SEE RED added to the time it took to sort out that area.
DRE Beats products are actually quite inferior and overpriced.
According to the little weather app on my iPhone, it was actually below freezing in Phoenix last night. Whoo.
Best wishes to you all.
Funny,
The reveal,"pig latin" just jumped out at me.
However nothing else did...
One of the hardest themed puzzles I have ever done (correction:attempted) in red letters.
Learning moment: tope.
(although I am still trying to parse it...)
(are you sure it doesn't just apply to beer?)
Thank you Desper-otto, but I still do not understand 61A big heart = ace?
Public Service Announcement.
(Hey! Don't blame me, it was a side link to Lemons Jaden link!)
(P.S., results may vary...)
I apologize for missing the 61A clue/answer in the writeup. CED, think of playing cards. Most times the ace is the biggest heart of all.
WEES about this being a very impressive theme - since most pig latin are nonsense in and of themselves, but these were actually words that made sense in and of themselves - way to go Robin!
Slow start as I put CURB in instead of SNOB - and both having Bs at the end made me keep it in way longer than it should have.
I was surprised about the PDT - since usually there is some reference to it being summer, since you would normally put in PST - but chalk it up to Friday difficulty I guess.
OVERSTAY took a moment because I was trying to think of a candy word T___RS, but when I stepped back to look at it and put the S up front, STOVER was a gimme as I grew up in Kansas City, headquarters of Russell Stover's candy. On our way to my dad's office growing up we could drive by the Stover family mansion with awnings with a big S on each one.
Thanks for the write-up D-Otto!
What a great puzzle!! Lots of 7 letter fill and few crosswordese.
If Robin stops by, I would love to hear if there are any more eligible themers that found the cutting room floor. I'm not talented enough to guess any on my own.
Btw, yes, the computer was called the War Operations Plan Response(WOPR) but Joshua was more than just the password, he was the "brains" of the system that originally wanted to play chess but used tic-tac-toe to "learn" that certain games, such as thermonuclear warfare, are unwinnable and "the only winning move is not to play." IMDb even lists an actor for the Joshua character. Passwords don't have actors portray them. Maybe WOPR is the hardware and Joshua is the software? So no nit.
I just realized that a themer would have to start with a vowel and end with ay. Somewhat obvious but it made me realize we don't have an entry for "i". Ink tray in actually two words and utilizes the already used 'tray' suffix. Besides, what is a Tink? Bzzzt.
I kept thinking, wow, this is a Saturday toughie, and am embarrassed to realize it's only Friday. Wow, this was a Friday toughie! At least I got the reveal, but I've never quite understood PIG LATIN (did pretty well in real Latin in my Catholic school, so never felt the need to learn PIG LATIN). But it was still fun in many places, so thanks, Robin. I knew Tinbeni was going to like this one too.
Christmas party at my house tomorrow--the first in over two decades without Rowland. But I want to maintain the tradition as long as I can. Probably won't get to the puzzle tomorrow, so have a great weekend, everybody!
Thanks very much for all your kind words...there's no EARTH DAY of nice comments here. ;)
@Jim Ackerman: That's the one that didn't make the cut.
Hi All!
Another DNF that was never going to get fixed...
1a: curB (I knew BERT). That, plus MENTHE, got me 1d: cheMist making acid (ha!, LSD, you can't fool me on Friday*) which led to 22a: isr;
my Beatles were Brits giving me org as Wash. neighbor. @57a SEETHE didn't help me SEE RED. @46d Hand up for putting my TOE in a stocking. Lotta white in the N & SW.
Thanks Robin for the Friday fun. This really is a brilliant puzzle taking everyday compound words and cluing them PIG LATINey. My only wish is themes were *'d.
Thanks for subbing the write-up Tom. It made me fell good that you had some of the same W/os as I. Your side-links were fun too.
Focusing on the positive: I did get the theme early on (like CED - it just pop'd out) and that helped w/ EASTBAY. AC/DC lyrics? I got this: T-N-T. I'm dynamite. ELIDES didn't fool me today y'all.
Fav: WOPR's pet-name: JOSHUA (named by Dr. Falken's after his son. Lightman was blown-off by Falken until he said "this is about JOSHUA")
I've prob said this b/f but my buddy & I owe our careers to that movie. We wanted to be like David Lightman (hey, we were in grade 9 - if that could get us Ally Sheedy... :-)) and wrote our 1st hack tool after seeing WarGames. My buddy does Intellectual Property law and I do CyberSec. Not bad for one movie, eh?
Cheers, -T
*OK, so you can...
D-Otto , Howard W Enplacement is the French word for Location /Place. That was a gimme for moi ~!~!
Hands up for RAPSTER the E stayed in till I turned on RED letters LOL
I put SEETHE before SEE RED. So that came out later. I also put ABS for PEC that to got changed later.
I was wandering how can a ASHTRAY associate with a waste to be laid. Then I saw the theme clue and PIG LATIN went in right away and I started looking and the rest fell into place except for that E.
Joyeux Noel et Bon Anne Mes Ami from Cajun Country ~!~!
Hi Y'all! Robin, I liked this puzzle. Probably because I caught on to the pig latin on UNDERPLAY and went back and fixed the prior two theme fills I had been resisting and the others were a piece of cake. My first pass through the top tier had red letters jeering at me the whole way. I did make three red-letter alphabet runs to find starting places. I'm encouraged that I now enjoy a major crossword challenge like this.
ILLER for a dubious river name made me a little sick at first. Since it stayed black, I got over it.
D-O: great expo. Thanks.
AnonT: Thanks for the John Denver link last night. I binged for over an hour on the side-bar tunes. Favorites are "Take Me Home Country Roads" and "Sunshine On My Shoulder". Waaa! I'm homesick for my farm.
Good afternoon from Denver, CO.
Nest puzzle & write-up. Thanks. If one has been around grandkids recently, who were learning Pig Latin, this was not a difficult puzzle. I had more trouble with Monday's.
Almost every electronic thing I own has had problems this past couple weeks. I have put off upgrading to Windows 10 on Windows 7 laptop until next year. I've had real issues with iPhone and iPad. Verizon and Apple support people have been great and patient. I struggle to do crossword on iPad now--touch near the edge of iPad doesn't work, and that's where the letters are. I haven't called back about that issue. We did get all my pictures moved to computer before updating OS. I'm with granddaughters now and they keep me busy. I also changed my PW for gmail and forgot it. Corner site wouldn't let me post without it. I couldn't post Anonomously either. (I have it now.)
Christmas is coming-I'm ready for Merry and Bright!
Montana
Fun. Tricky but fun.
Got 'em all except for 61A/59D. No way could I see more sense in ACE than in APE, and as long as ICI (French) is okay, why not IPI (In Place Installation) in good old English?
But those are the breaks, ne c'est pas?
Hi everybody. It's all been said by now (WEES) but put me down for Hen rather than PLY. It was one of the things that made me eventually turn on red-letter help. Robin, Earth Day seems like a great theme answer. Any idea why it didn't make the cut? Thanks Robin and D-O.
The hard water around here finally made my shower head less than satisfactory with corrosion and deposits. It was never anything special but like of the other bathroom fixtures, it had an "Antique Gold" finish. So our plumber was out here a month ago for a slow-running drain and a corroded faucet aerator. He had also installed a new shower head in another bathroom that Barbara liked very much so I asked him to install a new one to replace the "Antique Gold" one. He had to special order one with that finish. It turns out it was over $200! Since I'd left the responsibility in his hands, I just went with the flow. He's here installing it right now. It looks very nice and it is quite heavy compared to the cheaper ones. At that price, I hope one of the setting produces water with gold particles and champagne. We'll see...
I am almost always impressed with the driving quality and driving manners locally -- until yesterday. (Did I mention some of this yesterday? If so, please skip over it.) Several people went through stop signs at almost full speed, drivers alone in their large SUVs seemed incompetent and insecure on a narrow street with cars parked on both sides. They didn't feel confident enough to stay on their side of the center line so I had to pull over and wait for them to go by. When I'm in a line of slow traffic, I try to leave a space for people to enter from a side street. Usually they'll give a friendly little wave as a thank you. Not yesterday. Just plowing ahead with their head down. Maybe it's just the stress of the holiday season...
For over 30 years now, I cannot hear or see ALBania without singing, "Albania... Albania... you border on the A-dri-atic... your land is most-ly moun-tain-ous, and your chief ex-port is chrome... your a communist republic, your a red regime..." Originally sung by the late, great Nicholas Colasanto in season 3, episode 16 of Cheers, titled Teacher's Pet which aired on January 31, 1985.
My wife and kids are always embarrassed by my singing but this one always has them running for the door. I think they might get a enthusiastic rendition of this tonight after coming home from yet another Christmas party(with an OPEN BAR I'm sure)! Now, just how do I work Albania into the conversation so I can break into song?
Coach gives studying advice
For you Boo
LE CHANSON
PK - Glad you got your J.D. fix. Both songs you cited are very good too. The quality is crud, but here's J. Denver & Kermit right for the Season. There's more side-bar; go nuts! Enjoy.
I can't believe I found this... Siskel & Ebert on WarGames.
Bill G. to deal w/ hard water I strap a newspaper or Ziplock bag filled w/ cheep vinegar over the shower-head. Works for me.
"Norm!" Oh gosh, am I going to binge on Cheers now?
Cheers, -T
Lemonade Merci ~!~! Here is one for everybody Tee Jules was a prof at LSU in mass media and he narrates this on ENJOY ~!~!
https://youtu.be/AkmRl4RUudA
AnonT, thanks for the tip. I already took the stupider, easier, lazier, more expensive approach. Next time...
But won't the vinegar affect the taste of the vintage champagne setting???
I loved Cheers. Norm!!!
Speaking of old TV shows, one of my all time favorites was Friday Night Lights. It wasn't really about high school football but like all good TV shows, it was about people. It had a wonderful cast and great writing. I came across reruns and am enjoying it all over again.
I struggled for a while and then turned on the red letters. That allowed me to finish and smile when I got the Pig Latin theme.
Drake is Canadian and represents the Toronto Raptors basketball team.
Irish Miss, I feel your pain about the cost of greeting cards (and then you have to add a stamp!). I have started to send e-cards to those who use computers (nieces and nephews especially).
Waiting patiently for grandbaby to arrive in the world today.
Hello crossword people. A NETBALL in tennis would not be described as a surprise in my opinion so either the clue isn't about that or a stretch that probably should've been changed. On another note, maybe you guys can help me out on a clue and answer from another puzzle that I can't figure. C: First arrival? A: NEWME which is probably NEW ME. Thanks all.
Anon@5:09 My guess is it could refer to the birth of Cain, the eldest son of Adam and Eve.
Lemonade at 3:37 and Boo at 4:08 .. .. Merci!!! There are more of us Cajuns out here than you suspect!!
The puzzle beat me up , but I appreciated the construction. Very clever! And thanks for the tour, D-O.
Owen, always a pleasure....
@anon 6:22 How do you figure?
I figure since the eldest born of Adam and Eve was cestinay, for certain, so it was a reproduction of both of them. There were no 'others' for the diversity of the species. If the blebibay is to be believed. Thats my limit on the extent of the 'no religion' rule on this site.
Oilavay ! Thus New me or better New us.( or Knew Us ? ).
Surprised no one else had TRYOUTS instead of DRYRUNS for their rehearsals.
Your stupido answer makes no g--d---- sense. Adam and Eve had plenty of brothers and sisters. They just lived like one beeg happy family.
Its so sad to see that the late nite comments on this blog are going steadily downhill and headed straight to h---.
Please Mr. Blogchief-of-the-day will you stop all references to the Bible on this here blogg. This is becoming highly sacroledgerous. Where in the devil is Mr. Bill G. cracker who bicycles around strange neighborhoods, all day, while ogling young nubile ones, who keep backing into his shopping carts, while he slurps on a dayold macchiato. Give us the latest chapter on your engrossing thrilling drama. I am all ears and toes. I need my daily dose of romance at a distance, right now.
@Anon 6:22 Thanks for replying but I still don't follow.
Hello, friends!
Though it's very late I had to post and thank Tom for a good job subbing today. Well done!
I started the puzzle this morning but could see that it was going to require time and deep thinking so after a few cells done I put it aside to finish my cards, start the gift wrapping, etc. Finally, after dinner, and Jeopardy, I resumed the puzzle and really enjoyed it. WEES. I had most of the same writeovers. But with enough erasures it all came together. Great theme, Robin, and thank you for stopping by.
I just have to say that my two semesters of trig finally yielded results with SECANTS. Didn't even have to think twice about it.
Firmly hoping that your Friday was wonderful, everyone, I bid you good night!
Boo luquette-
Thanks! I didn't recognize "emplacement" as a French word. (It's also a valid English word.) But given that, ICI makes sense.
Anonymous at 1:40 -
One thematic answer starting with "I": ice tray. Unfortunately, it overlaps ASH TRAY.
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