Craig's just right Wednesday puzzle reminded me instantly of this movie below. Taking literary license to count the theme reveal as a piece, our midweek exercise literally had Five Easy Pieces of a Piano. In the movie the five easy pieces represent tortured Bobby Dupea's first book of PIANO PIECES/exercises.
Theme answers
18. Olympic event featuring a 16-pound ball : HAMMER THROW - Felt covered string striker or a ball and chain Olympic Event
24. Major court rulings : KEY DECISIONS - Those 88 ebony and ivory pieces or certainly this KEY DECISION
39. Speedster's motto : PEDAL TO THE METAL - Foot operated levers to modify a piano's sound or leave it to Steven to have a twist on PEDAL-initiated acceleration
50. Particle physics concept : STRING THEORY - What actually vibrates in the piano or???
...and the Theme Reveal
50. Particle physics concept : STRING THEORY - What actually vibrates in the piano or???
60. Gershwin's preludes, e.g. ... and the starts of 18-, 24-, 39- and 50-Across : PIANO PIECES - Compositions for the PIANO or its parts (HAMMERS, KEYS, STRINGS and PEDALS, etc. all shown here). Hey, a harp really is a naked piano!
Now let's examine the other PIECES of Craig's fine entry -
1. Pal to text "<3" symbols to : BFF - Man, I thought I was so clever when I put in LES as < is the symbol for less than. I thought I was in for a puzzle full of such math symbolism
4. __ Road: WWII supply route to China : BURMA - Allies flew over "The Hump" (Himalayas) in Japanese-controlled Burma to supply Chiang with material in China so they could keep fighting Japan
14. Bud's partner : LOU - "Who's on first?" "Of course he is!"
16. Stop on Chicago's Blue Line : O'HARE - Cubs game from O'HARE? Blue Line to Addison station and then the #152 East Bus to Wrigley
17. Coastal bird : ERN
20. Skin blemish : ACNE
22. Medicinal houseplant : ALOE
23. __ farm : ANT - $19.99 with 25 live ANTS from Amazon.com
29. Beehive State college squad : UTES
30. Clad : ATTIRED
34. Selective way to order : ALA CARTE - I'll just take a #2 with a Sprite (skip this Steve!)
38. "Make it happen" : DO SO - Picard's line has elements of the clue and fill
43. Part of JFK: Abbr. : INIT
44. Emerges : COMES OUT - Like the Sun for Annie Tomorrow!
45. Vouches for : ATTESTS
49. Meat : GIST
55. Irritate : IRK - What the waitress did to Bobby Dupea in the iconic diner scene in Five Easy Pieces
58. Coleridge work : RIME - A statue honoring Coleridge in Somerset, England where the Ancient Mariner bears his famous winged burden from The RIME
59. Adjuration : PLEA
65. "You don't say!" : DUH
66. When a "Macbeth" witch says, "Something wicked this way comes" : ACT IV - Says Witch 2
67. Idolize : ADORE
68. Spanish pronoun : ESO
69. Moriarty's creator : DOYLE - Sherlock always BESTS (49 Down yesterday) him
70. 2015 World Series player, for short : NY MET - I remember that series a little differently
71. Classic car : REO
Down
1. Not promising : BLEAK
2. "Star Wars" power, with "the" : FORCE - I'm NOT lining up for tickets for the next movie in this franchise that starts Friday
3. Comical : FUNNY
4. Scrooge interjection : BAH - There's not a ghost of a chance that he keeps that perspective
5. "Respect for Acting" author Hagen : UTA
6. Sleep stage : REM
7. Half a pop quartet : MAMAS - This group will perform in our town on January 22, 2016 covering The Mamas and Papas and other 60's groups. It's already sold out
8. Bedelia of kiddie lit : AMELIA - "No, Amelia! When I said make us a chicken dinner, I didn't mean serve us cracked corn!"
9. Strong : POTENT
10. Contented sound : AHH
11. Croft of video games : LARA - Well, what would you wear to raid a tomb?
12. Word before man or maiden : IRON
13. Eye source for a dramatic cauldron : NEWT - Clever!
19. Plant part : ROOT
21. Schools : EDUCATES
25. Short list shortener : ET AL
26. Marriage doc. : CERT - ...or do you remember the ad slogan that went with these CERTS?
27. What a colon means, in analogies : IS TO - Guitar : (IS TO) Cello as Segovia: (IS TO) _____
28. Avoid : SIDE STEP - "No one wants to hear about my tax evasion, let's talk about Syria!"
31. __-Rooter : ROTO
32. Old Testament twin : ESAU
33. Nitwit : DOLT
34. Capital of Samoa : APIA - Yep, even in APIA, Samoa "You deserve a break today"
35. Mardi Gras follower : LENT
36. Mine entrance : ADIT
37. Short list shortener : ETC
40. Boss on "The Dukes of Hazzard" : HOGG - Ah, ya cain't beat the classics!
41. Exude : EMIT
42. Screen door stuff : MESH - We had to retrofit our screen door to kitty-proof mesh.
46. Tried hard : STROVE
47. Vacation plan : TRIP
48. Apelike : SIMIAN
51. Down-and-out : NEEDY - NEEDY people aren't necessarily down-and-out
52. More mature : OLDER
53. Reduce, __, Recycle : REUSE - What you can do with old milk cartons
54. Bumpkin : YAHOO
55. Microsoft Surface alternative : I PAD
56. Puerto __ : RICO
57. "Teenage Dream" singer Perry : KATY - She hasn't spoken to her husband of 14 months, Russell Brand, after he texted her on New Year's Eve 2011 that he was divorcing her
61. Nothing : NIL
62. Site attachment? : COM
63. Afore : ERE
64. Firmed up, as plans : SET
Now you can enter any comments you have on PIANO PIECES, Chess Pieces, Reese's Pieces, et al, etc...
Husker Gary
Across
1. Pal to text "<3" symbols to : BFF - Man, I thought I was so clever when I put in LES as < is the symbol for less than. I thought I was in for a puzzle full of such math symbolism
4. __ Road: WWII supply route to China : BURMA - Allies flew over "The Hump" (Himalayas) in Japanese-controlled Burma to supply Chiang with material in China so they could keep fighting Japan
9. Michael of Monty Python : PALIN - Michael, no relation to the former Alaska governor
14. Bud's partner : LOU - "Who's on first?" "Of course he is!"
15. Best of the best : A-TEAM
16. Stop on Chicago's Blue Line : O'HARE - Cubs game from O'HARE? Blue Line to Addison station and then the #152 East Bus to Wrigley
17. Coastal bird : ERN
20. Skin blemish : ACNE
22. Medicinal houseplant : ALOE
23. __ farm : ANT - $19.99 with 25 live ANTS from Amazon.com
30. Clad : ATTIRED
34. Selective way to order : ALA CARTE - I'll just take a #2 with a Sprite (skip this Steve!)
38. "Make it happen" : DO SO - Picard's line has elements of the clue and fill
43. Part of JFK: Abbr. : INIT
44. Emerges : COMES OUT - Like the Sun for Annie Tomorrow!
45. Vouches for : ATTESTS
49. Meat : GIST
55. Irritate : IRK - What the waitress did to Bobby Dupea in the iconic diner scene in Five Easy Pieces
58. Coleridge work : RIME - A statue honoring Coleridge in Somerset, England where the Ancient Mariner bears his famous winged burden from The RIME
59. Adjuration : PLEA
65. "You don't say!" : DUH
66. When a "Macbeth" witch says, "Something wicked this way comes" : ACT IV - Says Witch 2
67. Idolize : ADORE
68. Spanish pronoun : ESO
69. Moriarty's creator : DOYLE - Sherlock always BESTS (49 Down yesterday) him
70. 2015 World Series player, for short : NY MET - I remember that series a little differently
71. Classic car : REO
Down
1. Not promising : BLEAK
2. "Star Wars" power, with "the" : FORCE - I'm NOT lining up for tickets for the next movie in this franchise that starts Friday
3. Comical : FUNNY
4. Scrooge interjection : BAH - There's not a ghost of a chance that he keeps that perspective
5. "Respect for Acting" author Hagen : UTA
6. Sleep stage : REM
7. Half a pop quartet : MAMAS - This group will perform in our town on January 22, 2016 covering The Mamas and Papas and other 60's groups. It's already sold out
8. Bedelia of kiddie lit : AMELIA - "No, Amelia! When I said make us a chicken dinner, I didn't mean serve us cracked corn!"
9. Strong : POTENT
10. Contented sound : AHH
11. Croft of video games : LARA - Well, what would you wear to raid a tomb?
12. Word before man or maiden : IRON
13. Eye source for a dramatic cauldron : NEWT - Clever!
19. Plant part : ROOT
21. Schools : EDUCATES
25. Short list shortener : ET AL
26. Marriage doc. : CERT - ...or do you remember the ad slogan that went with these CERTS?
27. What a colon means, in analogies : IS TO - Guitar : (IS TO) Cello as Segovia: (IS TO) _____
28. Avoid : SIDE STEP - "No one wants to hear about my tax evasion, let's talk about Syria!"
31. __-Rooter : ROTO
32. Old Testament twin : ESAU
33. Nitwit : DOLT
34. Capital of Samoa : APIA - Yep, even in APIA, Samoa "You deserve a break today"
35. Mardi Gras follower : LENT
36. Mine entrance : ADIT
37. Short list shortener : ETC
40. Boss on "The Dukes of Hazzard" : HOGG - Ah, ya cain't beat the classics!
41. Exude : EMIT
42. Screen door stuff : MESH - We had to retrofit our screen door to kitty-proof mesh.
46. Tried hard : STROVE
47. Vacation plan : TRIP
48. Apelike : SIMIAN
51. Down-and-out : NEEDY - NEEDY people aren't necessarily down-and-out
52. More mature : OLDER
53. Reduce, __, Recycle : REUSE - What you can do with old milk cartons
54. Bumpkin : YAHOO
55. Microsoft Surface alternative : I PAD
56. Puerto __ : RICO
57. "Teenage Dream" singer Perry : KATY - She hasn't spoken to her husband of 14 months, Russell Brand, after he texted her on New Year's Eve 2011 that he was divorcing her
62. Site attachment? : COM
63. Afore : ERE
64. Firmed up, as plans : SET
Now you can enter any comments you have on PIANO PIECES, Chess Pieces, Reese's Pieces, et al, etc...
Husker Gary
62 comments:
Greetings!
Swell puzzle, Craig! Cool expo, Gary!
Great theme1
No problems.
,<3 was confusing.
Cheers!
Morning, all!
Very straightforward solve today. Needed the perps to get OHARE and BURMA, but that was mostly to jog my memory as both were known to me. I got HAMMER THROW off the clue, which helped a lot. And, while I didn't figure out the theme until I got to the reveal, it was still nice to see.
Got the first two theme answers, and wondered if it was piano parts or boxing match outcomes (THROW, DECISION).
Rose was a delicate, haughty flower.
Elm dominated his leafy bower.
Rose held beauty in each petal,
Gnarled bark was Elm's mettle;
In their tryst, they had PETAL TO THE METTLE for an hour!
Decided to revert to Win7, but still struggling with 10 for a couple of days. I bought an 8gig flash drive online a week ago (before this win10 showed up), and need that to make a full back-up before I do the reversion. Eventually, MS is going to cease supporting 7, and hopefully they will have fixed the compatibility bugs in 10 by then.
Fine, fun puzzle, thanks, Craig. Got 'er done in my usual Wednesday time. Still don't get <3 being BFF. It only filled with perps. So that corner slowed me down a bit. Nice write up Husker, thanks!!
In Textspeak, the <3 is a symbol for a heart, hence BFFs, or Best Friend Forevers would send a heart / <3 to to each other.
Not following the JFK init...
Good morning!
I waited to the very end to screw this one up. My bumpkin was a YOKEL, but then nothing else seemed to work in that area. D'oh! Got the theme at the reveal. Not before.
So <3 is supposed to be a heart. I thought it had something to do with yesterday's BOB. No, I'm not a texter.
I always pictured the ancient mariner with an ice (or rime) coating. Not a big Coleridge fan.
Good morning all BFFs !
Thank you Craig and thank you Husker Gary. Excepting the love of my wife and dog, this puzzle and write up might be the best thing that happens to me this rain-drenched morning, as I'll be heading to the perio shortly. Oh joy of joys.
Tough clue at 1A for a more mature audience. It perped in easily enough. As did other unknowns, such as ACT IV and DOYLE.
Did not know the word adjuration, but reasoned it would have the same roots as adjudicate, and the suffix told me it was a verb turned into a noun. If that wasn't enough, the perps practically screamed PLEA.
For some reason, I always feel compelled to brush twice before seeing a dental professional.
Gotta get cracking. And I don't mean corn for the chicken's dinner. TTYL
Hello, friends!
I thank my lucky stars for perps! Not being an experienced texter I had no idea that <3 means heart but I do know BFF. It's ironic that LOU Costello sits right below BFF, the new and the old.
Thank you, Craig Stowe, for this meaty grid. And thank you, Gary, for a fine expo.
Luckily, I'm familiar with all the theme answers and could STRING them together with only a few letters
showing. And anyone who EDUCATES middle graders knows AMELIA Bedelia, an all time favorite of 4th to 6th grade students.
My daughter and her fiancée are avid Star Wars fans. They bought their tickets for the movie in October.
I spoke to a friend who is a nurse and she informed me that what I have is "old age diabetes." Ah, the surprises of being OLDER.
Have yourselves a wonderful day, everyone!
At first sight I was ab out to give up on this trivia piece, but then after misspelling PALEN, not having an idea what went with both maiden and man, along with FAT for ANT and never having heard of LARA Croft, I got the rest out. Short of googling, these types of clues, along with several others here, are impossible for someone unfamiliar with their associations. WAGS only work a percentage of the time for me. I thought the theme was good though, and it definitely helped me know what to look for.
I would never have thought of a heart with <3. I took it to mean fewer than 3, hence a duo or pair, so when BFF perped, it made at least some sense.
Hammer Throw- An event that every carpenter who has smashed a finger has participated in.
Kazie, glad I'm not the only one. I've never been good at being abstract enough to recognize some of those text symbols, especially the sideways ones. The <3 combination looks sorta like something to do with buns.
54D: I went with "yokel" and couldn't get out off it. Obviously I couldn't make the crosswords resulting in a DNF.
I liked today's puzzle a lot. Again, without perps there would have been no completion. Good expo HG.
Just a few missteps that the perps solved: DOIT vs DOSO, AAH vs AHH, and PAL vs BFF.
It had to be ACT 2 or ACT 4 since I don't think there is an ACT 9(IX). And in crosswordese is there a classic car other than a REO?
Microsoft will never totally fix a system. They just go to a certain point and come out with a new system that has other problems and then they quit supporting the system that you have finally gotten used to using. Oh well, I guess it's all about the money.
Have a great day everyone.
Interesting, easy puzzle. The L in LARA and PALIN was a wag. Great write-yup as always, Gary.
I had to laugh at the kitty climbing the screen. We had a squirrel climb our screen, hang upside down by the back claws and stretch over to the bird feeder. It was a screen on a sliding door we don't use, so I just slid the screen over to the next glass panel.
I learned recently that the IRON MAIDEN is a hoax. It is featured in many novels of about the religious wars in England. So who knew?
Link hoax
Didn't know what <3 stood for, but got BFF.
My students loved Amelia Bedelia and so did I.
Alan's half hour commute took an hour today. I'll only be home 90 minutes before I have to start back to pick him up.
Husker: Excellent write-up & links. Good Job!
Craig: Thank You for a FUN Wednesday puzzle with a musical theme.
Gary, I'm with you, I entered ROYAL before NY MET appeared. My only write-over.
All-In-All it was a more enjoyable solve, took a bit of actual thinking, than the easy-peasy offering yesterday.
Jeez, that one was a puzzle for beginner's.
Liked how when I entered my last letter I got to say YAHOO!
Cheers!
Good Morning:
No real bumps but needed some perps along the way. Didn't catch the theme until the reveal. I wasn't aware of <3 meaning, either but BFF is familiar and fell into place. IMO, Russell Brand always looks like he needs a shave and shower; he just looks so unkempt.
Thanks, Mr. Stowe, for a mid-week nosh and thanks, Husker, for your amusing and insightful review.
Bill G from yesterday: that cat packs quite a punch! Very funny.
Have a great day. (I wish CED would check in.)
How cool to see Craig back so soon after his Friday debut this month, served up nicely by Gary- thanks.
The <3 reminds me of dear marti...the puzzle was a good distraction though I did not know Amelia Bedelia, though I have a grandniece Amelia.
Did you all miss Mrs. Brad Pitt as LARA CROFT ?
Our Corner friend John Lampkin authored today's WSJ.
be well all
Musings
-Dang, I picked up the paper, made coffee and two PBJ’s on English Muffins before I realized I have no LA puzzle to do today. The ubiquitous “They” say your memory is the second thing to go!
-My busty classmate from the class of ’64 (yes, 1964 not 1864) has used that <3 symbol for external anatomical features in correspondence.
-We have let Lily keep her front claws and so the reinforced screens were a small price to pay. BTW, that is not our kitty on the screen.
-Have you noticed pets become much more prominent in your lives once your offspring move out?
-I don’t know about other bloggers but I read the comments uneasily hoping I haven’t made a huge blunder. I mean, “huger” than usual! ☺
-No one asked, but here ‘ya go!
Thanks everyone!
I went with Gershwin as Prelude II is one of the four piano pieces I can play.
Cheers!
Craig, thank you for a fun but crunchy Wed. puzzle, I was able to finish using perp help without cheating.
Gary, thanks for your write-up, but there is a typo. For 62d you had Site attachment, not Sit attachment. That was my last to fall, and getting sitCOM allowed me to see that 70a was NYMET.
WEES mostly. Even after explanations I didn't get that <3 looks like a sideways heart. I needed Dudley's [@8:50] comparison to a pair of buns to get it. I thought that "<3" gave you a heart icon.
13d. Eye source for a dramatic cauldron : NEWT . This is also in Act IV of Macbeth. Scene I, ~ line 16!
The 66a clue comes later in the same scene, about line 48:
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."
[Spoiler Alert]
Moriarty does best Holmes before he is killed by the detective. In the book, Valley of Fear, Holmes helps out the main character, Jack Douglas, aka Edwards, who has already beaten Moriarty once by making his dead attacker look like himself. But at the end of the book we find that Moriarty triumphed by somehow having Jack thrown off his ship in a gale during his flight to South Africa.
Does anyone know what is a "hot" gift for 11 year-old girls? I don't see my granddaughter much and have no idea what to get her.
VS
29 Across: The Utes are U of Utah, not the state college (Utah State).
Boy, I screwed this one up every way possible. First, I did not enter the P into box 9. For 11D had Lora, not LARA.For 50A was Stress Theory instead of STRING. And finally, the box for the crossing M for 58A & 48D was left blank. Other them that, I kicked butt today! What a cluster.....
I'm not a texter so BFF was accepted based on trusting the perps. Had no clue otherwise.
Despite all my grousing, I enjoyed the puzzle today. If I had concentrated a bit, the results might have been better.
Regarding the conversation on pets, Casey's breeder has been named Breeder of the Year by the AKC. Casey is the second dog we've owned from him. He is much deserving of the award.
Asked Lucy if she wanted to celebrate Hump day by >>>>>>>>>> & she told me to go >>>> >>>>>>. Such language.
Enjoy the day.
Fun romp today with a little challenge here and there
Thought of YOKEL as well, but already had the O in REO so quickly switched gears to YAHOO.
@WBB at 643 A - JFK is made up of INITials, I first wanted INTL because it is and international airport - but realized that wasn't actually in the clue
Slow morning as we sent our daughter and her husband off , back to the their home in the NW and I don't start back to work until this afternoon. We had Christmas Eve/Day Observed (as my daughter put it) on Monday night/Tuesday while they were here -- not sure what we will do next week at the actual holiday.
Thanks, Gary and Craig!
VS @10:13
CASH ... $$$$$$
Hondo @10:15
tears ...
I have seen them play, so I know IRON MAIDEN is real.
For some reason I had a hard time getting going on this puzzle after a night of Bourbon Street ( we really left Galitoires at 7 pm) even thought the only unknowns were UTA, AMELIA, & PALIN. Worked it NW to SE with only one change-YOKEL to YAHOO- but the fills were coming slowly to my brain. Although I am currently looking at my PIANO, I never figured the reveal before I started the SW.
"<3"- I had no idea what that meant but BFF was a good guess for me. Any time someone sends a text message to me with and abbreviation, symbol, or an idiotic emoji I always reply that I don't understand what they mean.
Kazie- I liked the FAT farm; didn't think of that one. And I only know LARA Croft because she shows up in puzzles as an alternative to LARA's theme from Dr. Zhivago .
Guitar:Cello Segovia: YO YO MA ( not sure whether YOYO or MA is the surname)
KATY Perry & the drug-addict drunk ex-husband. She's definitely better off, especially financially..
BFF- I wonder how many of the young kids will be BFF in 30 years. APIA and ADIT are old Xword staple that are not seen much these days.
oC4beach- the reason Microsoft will never be able to 'fix' a system is that Windows has to deal with every possible customer ( we're talking billions) from every peon like us to the CEO of IBM. Apple only has to deal with Apple customers ( less than 5% of the market), who tend to be less tech savvy and don't mind overpaying. Both Apple and Microsoft STOLE the mouse and icon format from Xerox and Apple found a way to make their system - I-Tunes (that Napster originated) work for the music industry. My first computer- an IBM 1130 with 8K (not mega or giga) memory, 1.5mB disk, 100 lpm printer, card reader, and key punch that I was paying over $10,000 a MONTH.
Hi gang -
Nicely done Gary
Who smashed the piano?
My only nit is 52 D. I'm living proof that there is no relatoinship between being OLDER and maturity.
DOYLE meets Lovecraft.
Here's a bit of levity from our concert on Monday. Incoherent trombone solo by me.
Cool regards!
JzB
Well, not a Wednesday speed run for me, and I sadly goofed on the JFK clue, putting UNIT instead of INIT. Darn, I should have gotten that. But the theme was a lot of fun, so many thanks, Craig. And Husker Gary, your write-ups with those great pictures, are always wonderful!
Teen Dream, thanks for explaining <3. I had the same confusion as everyone else.
Have a great day, everybody!
For 62 down: Site attachment?
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA) had
Sit attachment?
Was not able to figure it out. Had to look at answers.
Hi everybody. I enjoyed the puzzle just peachy. I needed more crossing letters than usual in several places. Several clues left me enigmagated until crosses filled them in and I had a second sip of V-8.
Why is it called a Hammer Toss? It doesn't look like any hammer I've used or seen or heard of. I guess calling the event "A heavy round ball on the end of a chain twirl and release" doesn't flow.
Hondo, sorry for your rejection. Funny though...
Q: Why was the cow in line for Star Wars?
A: She heard it was a good MOO-vie.
I'll go now...
Well, I thought that was the easiest of the lot this week. I had never heard of BFF either, or seen the <3 text symbol, but the perps were rock (IRON MAIDEN?) solid. Indeed, the few unknowns were all solved by solid perps. 7D had an interesting moment - MAMAS or PAPAS? - which was it to be?
• I was a little IRKed by "RIME". Coleridge never called it this - he always referred to "The Mariner" (Full name in modern spelling: "The RHYME of the ANCIENT MARINER". I see that other commentators refer to it as "THE RIME". I would have accepted "Coleridge work, familiarly, with 'The'".
• 43A "Part of JFK:Abbr." was questionable. This is formulated as a standardized clue, pointing to an abbreviation of one of the names, maybe "FITZ" or "KENN". But ALL PARTS of JFK are abbreviations, and they are all INITIALS: ergo, each part of JFK is an INIT. Meh.
• I disliked equating BUMPKIN with YAHOO. Like most other posters, I wrote in YOKEL first until forced to change it. YAHOO has a very specific etymology from Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and is defined as "a rude, noisy, or violent person". A BUMPKIN is "An unsophisticated or socially awkward person from the countryside". Quite distinct.
• Whether STRING THEORY is a concept in or alternative to PARTICLE PHYSICS I will defer to someone with more knowledge of the subject.
NC
FACTOID, sparked by 1D. Charles Dickens's "BLEAK HOUSE" was voted number 6 in a recent list of "GREATEST BRITISH NOVELS", voted for by an international selection of experts.
BRIT-NOVELS.
The top 3 were all written by women:
#1 Middlemarch by George Eliot
#2 To the Lighthouse by Wirginia Woolf
#3 Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.
Here's something this group might appreciate.
Cheers!
JzB
Could "62. Site attachment? : COM" work as "62. Sit attachment? : COM"?
Yes; Web site attachment: (DOT)COM or Entertainment sit attachment: Sit(uation) COM(edy).
That's my take, at least.
OWEN: You MIGHT consider turning your PC into a "HACKINTOSH" that runs a modern virus-free operating system (Apple OS X). It's easier than ever to do, and costs nothing (but time) - you need only a friend with a MAC and an 8 GB USB stick.
NC
Fun puzzle, enjoyed it. See y'all later.
JzB:
Haha. Agreed - just like the PEASANTS, the PEDANTS ARE REVOLTING. But the point of pedantry here is to keep Rich Norris busy (and honest), because although (a few) obscure clues may spice things up a bit (and/or expose one's ignorance), IMHO, it is inaccurate clueing that make crosswords less fun.
NC
ARGYLE
Site Attachment = COM. I like it! That would rate as CRYPTIC.
NC
FWIW
This article 2015 AKC / Eukanuba Nat'l Championship - 7 Memorable Moments has a picture of Casey's Breeder John Buddie. The show champion, GSD Rumor, looks like my boy. Congrats to your breeder Hondo !
An alternate clue for 40D could have been "First Lady of Texas Ima ___ " but would probably be too obscure for most people except Houstonians and Texans Here's the WIKI on Ima Hogg. Her father was a past governor of Texas. She and her brothers were going to sell the land that had been willed to them at his death, but his will wouldn't allow that until thy had owned it for fifteen years. Oil was subsequently discovered on that land. They became wealthy beyond belief. She gifted most of it back.
Typo in houston chronicle on 62 down made things a little interesting! Said sit instead of site.
Kt
Hi all!
Python's PALIN and NEWT in the same pzl??? Burn her! (in ACT IV).
Fun puzzle Craig. I don't know if you held back w/ the music clues, but in add'n to the PIANO PIECES & MAMAS (& Papas), there's also REM, IRON Man (Black Sabbath), IRON Maiden, REO Speedwagon, LOU Reed, and Fallon's band The ROOTs. What fun Easter eggs.
I was totally on Craig's wavelength today... W/ only 1 or two perps in theme answers I filled 'em lickety-split. Only hiccup: IRe b/f IRK. I think I filled this faster than any puzzle ever.
Thanks HG for assuming the Hump-day helm. Fun writeup (naked PIANO, LOL). Also, the STRING THEORY comic - is that from XKCD?
1a: <3 - Rotate -90deg to get a heart like you rotate :-) 90deg to get a smiley. I've got 2 teen girls, so I know BFF and all the txt-isms. Dudley re: buns: o[=3 (rot +90) :-)
OKL - sorry you're having so many problems. Win10 not ready for prime-time. 7 is almost stable...
YR - I'm glad to hear the IRON Maiden is a "conversation piece" as I couldn't imagine how one human could do that to another. Youngest and I saw one in a DC museum and I just shuddered. Then there's your IRKsome club member... (just kidding)
Back to work - I'll play later. Cheers, -T
Hi all,
Late to the game today. I enjoyed all your clever commentary, as always. Thanks, Craig. I wanted Jack or Fitz for JFK, but that made no sense so I moved to the airport and still had no idea INITially. I climbed on the Blue Line and moved through the city looking for 5-letter streets til I came to the end of the line. DUH: OHARE! That felt pretty silly since I've lived here all my life. Just read AMELIA Bedelia the other night. Well, my grand daughter read it to me--a lovely new twist in bedtime stories.
Something to remember about the "when" Shakespeare clues in CWs: It's usually asking what ACT, so if you start with ACT the I,II, III, IV, V will follow. Perps?
Thanks for a pleasant turn, HG. Enjoy the rest of the day.
Good afternoon everyone.
Easy solve today. Agree with Nice Cuppa's take on YAHOO. Just a small swerve around some roadkill, but perps were ample.
PIANO PIECES was filled near the end so had no impact on the solve.
No searches were needed.
Big Easy: Ah for the "good old days" of computerdom. In the late 60's and early 70's we flew (controlled) unmanned spacecraft at NASA using a number of computers like the SDS 930 that filled up a 2500 square foot room and had a Random Access Drum the size of a refrigerator that had less than 50 meg of ram (actually there were 2 computers in the room, one was a backup). Our command computer at the remote tracking sites around the world in 1968 were ADECS 37A Computers that were built by General Mills and had vacuum tubes. It's amazing how far we have come.
WRT Microsoft vs. Apple, I think that if a system doesn't work properly, it doesn't work. Having more users just means more opportunities to find the errors.
The first time I saw a mouse was at a demo by Xerox trying to sell us their new computer. The "powers that were" with the budget to buy didn't see the value in it and declined to buy it. They said it would never fly. Oh well, some of them never moved any higher in the organization either.
For those w/ time in the afternoon Michael PALIN pulling a Phileas Fogg. C, -T
Dudley at 8:50,---on the <3 question, another alternative would be a double ice cream cone someone has dropped.
I had to smile when I guessed "String Theory" with only a few letters filled in. I remember a TBBT episode with a Sheldon career dilemma. And tomorrow's episode will also feature another Sheldon dilemma of a completely different sort.
Do dey do double dips different down under?!? <OO
Looks like Mickey had one too many eggnogs and is passed out on the floor: <3
If you get them in a double cone they'd look like the <3, except once dropped it would roll sideways and you'd only see one scoop from the side. But here I guess I can't say I have ever seen one of those double cones.
Hi Y'all! Fun & interesting puzzle, CW. I STROVE to do the puzzle, but had no idea what <3 was. Looked like a bird's eyes & beak from above to me. Took all four perps.
Did know what BFF meant. My best friend from 12 years of ELHI school and I have reconnected on a more frequent basis since I got internet. We email several times a month. We have such a long fun history with a lot of heartaches too. A valuable woman in my life. She took PIANO lessons from my mom and still plays PIECES at several churches almost weekly at age 74.
Virginia, I second the vote for money for a grandchild you don't see often. That's what all seven of mine get. All but one of them really appreciate it. My nine-yr-old told me one year, "Boy, am I glad to get that. I was just about down to my last dollar."
One grandchild doesn't like money because his mother immediately banks it and he thinks he didn't get a gift. Someday he'll have enough for his first car.
JzB: Loved the bouncy Wabbit Hunting and seeing you play.
DEAR CED: please come back and let us know you and your daughter are all right. You don't have to entertain us if you aren't up to it. You've spoiled us with your links, but that isn't the only reason we like you.
Thanks, Gary for the expo and posts. Always know why you were a good teacher from your material.
CED, what PK said.
Dear friends, sorry to make you worry...
I did not have that face to face Monday, because I always discuss
things with my Family first. (which is probably why I posted Saturday b/4 deleting it...)
Today I rec'd some news that seems positive, but I will have to wait until tomorrow
to be able to confirm it.
P.S. Daughter is OK, & spent Sunday at home.
Whatever splinter of glass is in her foot, we cannot get it out. It has healed over
& she can now walk normally. Doctor assumes it will work its way out
eventually. Plus, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger...
In the meantime, I feel like tickling the ivories...
Appropriate pic for todays puzzle...
Remember this piano hammer?
& previously posted piano key?
Explaining piano pedals requires 2 links...
& no funny links about piano would be complete without a link to Victor Borge.
However we have posted most of his stuff in the past.
However,
I found some of his earlier work, pls excuse the quality, it is why they called
old movies "flickers..."
An even older piece that fell off the piano...
Victor Borge teaches Perry Como how to play...
Thanks Dave! Glad you were in a position to share your grand wit with us again.
I once had a plastic pin head that broke off in my index finger. Indeed, it eventually worked its way to the surface. A hug to your daughter.
CED's back! I loved the links thanks! I'm very glad to hear your daughter is OK.
oc4beach & Big E. Thanks for making me feel young. I've had transistor calculators, but never computers w/ tubes :-) The 1st boxen I worked on was a Apple ][e, Vic20 and IBM 360. I KEY'd progs on those >30 years ago when I was but a wee 14yro lad.
For those that don't know xkcd, link. This is the same guy that wrote What If.
I am a sucker for a story, esp. if I think it's going to get better. I'll COMES OUT and says it... I just wasted 2 hours of my life on Ridiculous 6 (a Netflix film). I like the actors in it but it was just too silly and never hit zany, madcap, or surreal. It was cute, but IMDB got it right 5.1/10. At least it was down-time I wasn't working.
Did anyone start PALIN's Around the World in 80 days? I saw that on PBS years ago and loved it. Thought maybe some of you world travelers would too.
FUNNY(?) use of the IRON Maiden Brook's The Inquisition (@4:36)
Cheers, -T
CED is back=All is right with the world. Amen.
What Irish Miss said re CED!
My Shortyz CW app did have "Sit attachment."
CED, good news about your daughter. I hope all continues to be well for her. I hope that your doctor/hospital issue gets resolved satisfactorily. Thanks for sharing it and my best good luck wishes.
It's been unseasonably cold here. I was driving my grandson home last night and I noticed that the warning light for low tire pressure had come on. I'm guessing the cold weather reduced the air volume and pressure so I wasn't too worried. The Toyota dealer took a quick look today, added some air and the problem seems solved. BTW, I think it's amazing that a fairly simple and cheap device in the tire valve stem can accomplish that.
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