Theme: Is your hangout hanging out?
Two of the Minnesota crossword clan (see George Barany and the rest of his friends at Facebook) collaborate on this Friday punfest. Five places where people may congregate are revealed in clues which re-purpose words or phrases with the first word of the fill an animal, to give us whimsical answers. All are clued with "HANGOUT." I thought some of the theme fill was very funny and the long non-theme fill are especially sparkly. DARTH VADER, AXIS OF EVIL, DON QUIXOTE are an impressive triumvirate. The rest of the fill is a bit easy for a Friday, but lets peel this grape and see where the seeds are.
17A. Hangout for Hyacinth in "Fantasia"? : HIPPO CAMPUS (11). We begin with a brainy pun. How many recalled that her name was Hyacinth?
37A. Hangout for Heckle and Jeckle? : CROW BAR (7). Oh those wacky BIRDS (6:04).
42A. Hangout for Mickey and Minnie? : MOUSE PAD (8). In California.
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Across:
1. Call of the wild : ROAR. Nice simple 1A.
5. Shade : NUANCE.
11. '80s defense prog. : SDI. Strategic Defense Initiative.
14. Competent : ABLE. Which brings to mind 19A. Poetic preposition : ERE.
15. Walk down the aisle, maybe : ESCORT. A nice safe clue.
16. Dough unit : WAD. Money not Dunkin'
20. Condescend : STOOP. How could you stoop so low?
21. "__ Louise!" : GEEZ. An expression that skirts blasphemy and rhymes.
22. Agreeable word : LET'S.
23. Moon observation : MARE. A Friday piece of info that we have not seen in a very long time. The lunar maria /ˈmɑriə/ (singular: mare /ˈmɑreɪ/) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for "seas", by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas. Wiki.
25. Bk. before Job : ESTHer. A mini-version animated.
26. "Skyfall" singer : ADELE.
32. Dendrite counterpart : AXON. Neurons have specialize cell parts called dendrites and axons. Dendrites bring electrical signals to the cell body and axons take information away from the cell body. Neurons communicate with each other through an electrochemical process. Wiki.
33. Mediterranean country : GREECE.
35. Hoop holder : EAR. Backboard?
36. Pewter part : TIN. Another CSO to our always shiny toastmaster.
38. iPhone, e.g. : PDA. Personal Data Assistant.
39. Lawyer letters : ESQuire.
40. Warm to the max : NICEST. No clue.
41. Runs out of gas : DIES. Sorry honey, my car died.
44. Pep squad output : CHEER.
46. Panda maker : FIAT. Cars; and 57D. Soul from Seoul : KIA.
47. __ ed : PHYS.
48. Explicit message : SEXT. It is back; you know there is a cache of all your texts.
49. Eleanor's successor : BESS. Truman. A classy first LADY.
52. Rub the wrong way : PEEVE. Not usually thought of as a verb.
56. Ab __: initially : OVO. Repeat of the week.
59. Like a fiddle? : FIT. This may be the ORIGIN.
60. Still together : INTACT. After 56 years of marriage...
61. Tenderfoot : TYRO.
62. Something for the inn crowd : ALE. Cute in/inn pun.
63. 1979 title role for Vanessa : AGATHA. If you watched the movie or know the story and watch CASTLE you can see where those writers get their ideas.
64. Simon __ : SAYS. Let us reveal the downs now.
Down:
1. 44-Across cries : RAHS. Rah rah ree, kick 'em, in the knee...
2. Story of a lifetime : OBIT. Nicely clued.
3. Canine filler : ALPO. Not the tooth, but the puppy.
4. Some bank agents : REPO MEN. Most banks use independent contractors.
5. Japanese IT services giant : NEC. Yes they are BIG.
6. Linguistic practices : USAGE.
7. Maker of earthquake pills and dehydrated boulders : ACME. Free shipping on orders over $50.00
8. "Ain't gonna happen" : NOPE. Not prudent.
9. Oscar winner Penelope : CRUZ. Pictures tell it all.
10. Vulcan and Klingon, briefly : ETS. Since extra-terrestrial means not of earth...
11. Honey alternative : SWEETIE PIE. Sappy names for loved ones. My wife uses honey all too often.
12. AFI's third-greatest movie villain : DARTH VADER. Can you name the other two? Hint, both were played by actors first name Anthony.
13. Bad day for Caesar : IDES. Coming soon. It means he middle of the month, not necessarily the 15th.
18. Hydrated gemstone : OPAL. Also a small car maker.
22. '60s trip cause : LSD. Ah, those days.
24. Maintain, as golf clubs : RE-GRIP. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. Not to be confused with this horror.
25. U.S. dept. with a lightning bolt on its seal : ENERgy.
26. War on Terror epithet : AXIS OF EVIL. One from George W. LINK.
27. "Ingenious gentleman" of classic fiction : DON QUIXOTE. The very important myth is reality work by Cervantes.
28. Basted, say : SEWED. Not a chicken but a hem.
29. Entanglements : WEBS. We weave, when first ....
30. Some kind of trick : A CATCH.
31. Baroque and Classical : ERAS.
32. "Lemme __!" : AT'EM.
34. Portuguese cape : ROCA. The westernmost part of Europe it SAYS.
37. Tech news website : CNET.
41. Leaves high and dry : DESERTS.
43. Met : SAT. Another no clue for me.
45. Shot provider : HYPO. Not confused with HIPPO.
47. "Gotcha!" : PSYCH.
48. Couch potato's spot : SOFA.
49. Cherry variety : BING.
50. Sundance Kid's gal : ETTA. What a face.
51. Strikeout-to-walk ratio, e.g. : STAT.
53. Irish New Ager : ENYA. LISTEN. (3:41)
54. Not just somewhat : VERY.
55. Boy with a bow : EROS.
58. Windy City transit initials : CTA. Chicago Transit Authority.
Some music, beautiful people and a challenge that was great. Thank you Tom and Marcia. Lemonade out.
Note from C.C.:
This is Marcia's LA Times debut. Her puzzles have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Wall Street Journal. Congrats, Marcia! You continue to rock, Tom!
 |
| Left to right: Marcia Brott, David Hanson, Tom Pepper & Nancy Herther |
62 comments:
Thrilled to see this puzzle from my Minnesota friends Tom Pepper and Marcia Brott. Click on the links for more about them personally, and for lists of their puzzles--both mainstream media (MSM) and on our website.
Thanks too for Lemonade's lovely writeup, and to C.C. for her continued warm support.
Greetings!
Thanks, Marcia, Tom and Lemonade!
Really liked the theme.
Took awhile, but no cheats!
Do not understand A CATCH. Someone please explain!
Late for bed.
Cheers!
Morning, all!
Bit of a crunch today, but ultimately very doable. Got hung up in the entire NE section for awhile, but I finally was able to work on it from the bottom up after getting CHEER, DIES, PDA, and -- most importantly -- SWAN DIVE (thanks, theme!)
To pick a nit, I really didn't want to enter KITTYCORNER, since the "real" word is actually catercorner, but I know that KITTYCORNER is pretty standard these days...
Fermat,
The sign says "free oil change" the common reaction is, "What's the catch?" The hidden condition.
Very nice puzzle, hard enough, fun to do.
Hi Y'all! Record solve for a Friday. Very amusing. Fun one, Tom & Marcia. Thanks, Lemon, for the fun expo.
CROWBAR & SWANDIVE were my first theme filled. Found them very chuckle-worthy. I knew all the names in the theme clues except Hyacinth. Had HIPPO___pus for too long because I didn't know NEC or ACME or NUANCE. Finally dawned on me.
ESTH was easy except I forgot it had an "H" in it. SDI was unknown but most of that east side pillar of words was easy so it perped in DARTH VADER.
Jason, be glad your wife calls you "Honey". Lot better than some things you've been called, dear man.
Didn't know Panda maker was FIAT. Don't see the cars or ads out here.
Good morning!
This was cute'n'easy, except for Kansas/Nebraska. Didn't know that golf clubs needed "maintenance." And NICEST for "Warm to the max" was very slow in arriving. That section filled in last, and not without a soupçon of Wite-Out. Nicely done, Marcia, Tom and Lemon.
Lemon, I'm guessing numbers one and two were played by the "kins," Perkins and Hopkins.
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Interesting puzzle that made me laugh.
Like a Fiddle = FIT was my favorite clue of the puzzle.
I was thinking that the Hoop Holder must refer to basketball. NOPE!
I misread Dough Unit as Donut Unit, so wanted DOZen.
I also wanted BED for Something for the Inn Crowd.
The original REPO MAN movie was very odd and funny.
Read it here! She STOOPS to Conquer.
To say that the book of Esther comes before Job depends upon which bible one reads. Esther follows Job in the Hebrew Bible. An interesting bit of trivia about the Book of Esther ~ it is the only book in the Hebrew Bible without mention of G~d. Purim is the holiday that celebrates Queen Esther. It is coming up later this month.
QOD: I’ve learned to look like I’m listening to long confusing plots of cartoons and comic books when I’m actually sound asleep or making grocery shopping lists in my head. ~ Patricia Heaton (b. Mar. 4, 1958)
IMO, this was one of the easier puzzles for this week. Except for the NW corner, I blew through it quickly. Yet, as I predicted yesterday, a DNF. 23A MARE, was unknown and for 32A I entered axos leaving me with repo-es for 4D.
I was sure SEXT was going to be wrong, but I couldn't come up with an alternative.
Almost messed up in the NE too. For 11D began with Sweetheart, but the crossing fills got me back on track and SWEETIEPIE won over.
That's it from snowy CT whose roads are scenes for A LOT of fender benders this AM, so Day Care for Casey today. I'm sure he will come up with some type of havoc to gain his revenge. Have an enjoyable weekend.
Damn........... second to last should read ........so no............
Marcia and Tom: Thank You very much for a FUN Friday puzzle with a great theme!
Lemon: Good Job on the write-up and musical links. Almost as much FUN as my solve.
Hmmmm ... what was my fave today??? ... well this will surprise no-one ... it was the CSO, TIN ... go figure ... LOL
And I'm stuck with a beautiful, sunny (temp in the 70's) day here in Tarpon Springs.
Perfect for a walk on the "Dog-Beach" at Honeymoon Island.
(Hondo, is your Avatar a new picture of Casey?)
Looking forward to toasting-you-ALL at Sunset.
CHEER(s)!
Easy for a Friday,except for the north central. I had JEEZ LOUISE and MARS. I first thought CRUZ but wrote RUIZ. When I went back to CRUZ, then NUANCE, ESCORT, CAMPUS and USAGE fell into place. So much fun today.
Ruth is the WARMEST person I know. Ruth is the NICEST person I know.
Kitty corner, cater corner and catty corner are all REAL. At home we said catty corner. My friends say kitty corner. I seldom hear or see cater corner. Working from the bottom up, KITTY CORNER gave me the theme.
Light snow over night and now flurries. The well salted roads present no problem here. March 7 through 23 we will have ideal temps IMO, 50s on the 7th and 60s thereafter, temperate and moderate.
Heckle and Jeckle aren't crows, they're magpies, a different genus from crows (though of the family Corvidae)
"GEEZ Louise" does not "skirt blasphemy"; it hits it on the head (unless the "skirt"ing refers to the misspelling pointed out by Yellowrocks). And as puns are the lowest form of humor, this was the lowest form of crossword puzzle.
I'm surprised that no one pointed out the Lemony didn't point out that today is National Grammar Day.
AND... all 26 letters are present.
Good morning everyone.
Great write-up, Lemon.
AB OVO my reaction was the challenge was daunting. But tinkering with the center and south got it started. MOUSE PAD and KITTY CORNER showed me the theme, and the rest of the theme fill came easily. Favorite was CROW BAR. SW was last. Had AXON and NQU at 27d. Refocussed on the quotes in the clue and tried DON QUIXOTE. Then got AXIS OF EVIL and voilà, it was done.
BING - The only cherry I know the name of.
Cape ROCA - Did not know it was Europe's most western point. Was taught in ELHI that it was Cape Finisterre, but I see ROCA is ~ 10 NM farther west.
BZ to Marcia and Tom for a fine Friday fiat.
After HIPPO CAMPUS the other theme fills were easily guessable and I had to wait for the perps to determine if it would be SWAN LAKE or DIVE and CATTY CORNER or KITTY (I knew CATER-corner wouldn't be correct)
The only slowdown was the correct spelling of DON QUIXOTE crossing SEXT. It took a few minutes to remember the X and SEXTing is basically a new fad that probably won't pass. I have never heard of a FIAT Panda but it fit nicely and also filled ROCA from perps. I still don't get PSYCH. Being PSYCH-ed out, PYSCH-ed up, a PSYCH being a shrink, a PSYCH patient, but not as 'aha, I "gotcha"'. A 'northern' saying?
PK- ESTER is an organic compound; ESTHER is a book in the bible.
D-O, maybe re-gripping my clubs would help my game. A wet rag wiping the only maintenance I use.
Anonymous- GO AWAY. It's National Put Up or SHUT UP Day.
If DARTH VADER is number three, I wouldn't want to meet one or two. Hannibal Lector? And for an AXIS OF EVIL comparison go back and watch the original Road Warrior movie with Mel Gibson. Perfect prediction of the current events sweeping the Middle East and northern Africa.
Too many blanks to talk about today. However, I did get a couple of the theme answers, and figured out what they were after, but still couldn't come up with CAMPUS (tried DRONES), SWAN to go with dive, or mouse PAD.
Lemonade,
OPEL is the German car maker owned by General Motors, and they don't only make small cars. Is there another one called OPAL? If so I am unaware of it.
Kazie I was not being serious with my OPAL/OPEL comment. FIAT and KIA also make full size cars.
I believed the changing the J to G in GEEZ moved it one step away from a direct blasphemy.
One was Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs and two, Anthony Perkins in Psycho
Good Morning:
What a delightful theme; it's just so clever, IMO. Had a few bumps here and there but, overall, a smooth solve. Anything to do with felines brings CED to mind and, of course, Tin was the man of the hour! (Happy Hour, right, Tin?). I was struck by Axis of Evil and Don Quixote and then Sweetie Pie and Darth Vader being side by side. Fav answer was Hippo Campus.
Thanks, Marcia and Tom for a fun-filled Friday offering and thanks, Lemony, for the factual and fanciful expo.
Before I came to the blog, I went to Words With Friends and found my opponent's last play was Mousers (all 7 letters) on a Triple Word, giving her 123 points. My message to her was "All I can say is Cong(rats)! 👿
Have a great day.
Forgot to congratulate Marcia on her LAT debut; good job, Marcia! 🤗. And forgot to tell you, Hondo, what a handsome "devil" Casey is!
Also, just for the record, I have never, ever, never in my entire life heard of or considered gee, geez, gee whiz as blasphemy. If one intends to be blasphemous, one doesn't have to use euphemisms. Amen.
Hola y Buenos dias!
Many thanks to Tom P & Marcia J.B. as well as to Lemonade for today's fun fest! Very high on the easy scale and higher still on the clever one.
Hand up for SWEETHEART before SWEETIE PIE. Anyone with small children or grandchildren knows the names of all animated film characters so HYACINTH was quick to fall. I loved HIPPOCAMPUS.
DNFIW though as I left SWANDIVA/ARTS. I really should review more carefully. Still, it was fun.
Have a terrific Friday, everyone!
MARE seemed mysterious to me until your explanation, Lemonade. So if it's Latin for sea it would be pronounced MAH-RAY. Spanish: mar, French: mer. Both I'm sure are derived from the same root.
billocohoes you are of course correct, but magpies look like crows for those who live in North America.
CORVIDAE
The Minnesota cartel supplies a very clever Friday device that was also very helpful once discerned
Musings
-Lemon’s summative paragraph works for me
-We’ve seen ODILE’s friendly letters before
-SDI was recently referenced here as a Reagan era Star Wars program
-In education competence is usually punished. I had 23 yrs of lunchroom duty because I was ABLE to handle it
-You’ll find Neil Armstrong’s footprints in this MARE TRANQUILATATIS
-ADELE’s big voice and the familiar Bond riff make for good listening
-GREECE has been bailed out more often than a leaky rowboat
-These girls in PEP Clubs are anachronisms of a very different era and are now more likely to play themselves
-Memories of PHYS Ed are enough to keep some alums away from reunions
-The gripper not the GRIP is the more logical problem
-Haven’t we all titled at QUIXOTIC windmills?
-The CATCH for this was we had to listen to a pitch for a timeshare?
-Back to subbing in Art today.
Since it was Friday I started out with Red Letters on, so I can't take credit for finishing the puzzle. However I did see where the theme was going after HIPPOC-MP-- showed itself and was able to fill in the other theme answers. It was amazing that I remembered Hyacinth was a HIPPO.
Doable puzzle and nice write-up today.
There were a few clues that did not compute. Had problems with Met:SAT, ACATCH, NUANCE, and PSYCH. Also, to me a Tenderfoot is a Boy Scout but that didn't fit.
I think that ADELE has been beaten to death lately. Time for a new one-named singer to be used.
I love BING cherries. There are hundreds of cherry varieties. In addition to the BING cherry there is a BADA cherry. If you crossed the two would you end up with a BADA-BING strip club (ala Sopranos) (My attempt at low level humor.)
The snow has stopped for now, so it's time to go fight with a credit union.
Have fun today.
Thanks Tom, Marcia and Lemon. Great theme. Some tricky cluing. I got almost all of it without help.
oc4beach: Is that Ocean City in Maryland or somewhere else? I spent many a day there during summer vacation, both having fun and hoping to meet girls. I got more suntan than intercourse/conversation with girls though.
Snow in Ocean City? No hope for any here but some significant rain is heading our way this weekend. Yay!
I've also liked the yellower cherries. One variety is called Queen Anne I think. Or Ranier. They're all good when they are really ripe.
Loved the puzzle. Got the theme right away, although a learning moment for HIPPOCAMPUS. Thanks, Marcia & Tom.
Very nice write-up, Lemonade. Loved the Adele theme link, as it is a very "Bondish" theme..... eerily haunting!
Happy Weekend to all!
Re: Yest. Anon T, that matrix clip was hilarious. (& so true...)
Todays learning moment: "fit" as a fiddle. (Hmm, I wonder what I'm fit for...)
V8 moment: Portuguese Cape = Roca (don't even want to say what I was originally thinking....)
WSS (What Spitz Said) Bing was easy, I don't know any others.
So I Googled, & found a PDF file that was a constructionists dream, & a crossword
solvers nightmare! Then I read Oc4beach, LOL! Bada-Bing! (very good!)
2 other things that made me LOL today:
Pearls before Swine. (Hmm, wait a sec, isn't that Ass like me on the Internet?)
Cose to Home. (Another puzzle solved!)
So, Where do you like to hang out?
Intercourse. Discourse. It's all the same when you're a math nerd.
I usually dread Friday and Saturday puzzles but this one turned out to be quite doable and a lot of fun. I got the animal starts to the theme answers after HIPPO and SWAN, so that helped a lot. The down with AXIS OF EVIL and DON QUIXOTE was a real bear, but very satisfying when it fell into place. My only cheat was that I had to look up that 1979 Vanessa Redgrave movie. Never heard of AGATHA and would not have gotten it otherwise. So, many thanks, Tom and Marcia, for a great Friday puzzle, and you, too, Lemonade, for your always helpful explanations--especially MARE, which made no sense to me at all.
Well, okay, they may be sappy, but the things couples call each other are also sweet, aren't they? I don't know how it started by I always called my late husband "Honeypie," and he always called me "Honeybunch"--later shortened to "Bunch." I'm sure people raised eyebrows when they heard us address each other like that, but we'd become so oblivious to how it might sound to others--they were just our endearing names for each other. Remembering that just makes me smile.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody!
Small car maker is Opel, not Opal
Welcome Ron, but Kazie already dealt with the carmaker. The comments are often better and more informative than the write ups.
Montmorency cherries were what I picked & pitted gallons of. Make very good pies and jams/jellies. In my yard, the deer got the low hanging ones, I got the middle ones and the birds got the high ones. Nothing cheerier than the sun shining on the shiny green leaves and pretty red orbs and a slight cool breeze to keep the mosquitos at bay while picking.
My husband's pet name for me is nothing I have ever shared with anyone. And won't.
We had the long-tailed black and white magpies in our lower orchard a few times. Pretty birds. Very nasty personalities. Big bullies that would roll the eggs out of other birds nests and eat the babies. Heckle and Jeckel look more like the crows we had. Not NICER birds either, but better than magpies.
Many smiles from this puzzle today. Thanks Tom & Marcia, and Lemonade.
WEES about CATCH, SAT, PSYCH (Big Easy @9:27 it is not an expression we use here in the true NORTH!)
I noted the CSO to Tin (was your 2nd favourite, ALE?)
Also noted DIES and OBIT.
I was anticipating the IDES clue later in the month.
Hoop holder referring to EARrings was clever.
Canadians used to say chesterfield but SOFA or couch are becoming more common now.
ENYA is sometimes clued as one-named Irish singer. Are you tired of that clue also oc4beach@11:12?
Busy weekend coming. See you all Monday.
A FUN PUN RUN
So GEEZ is a CROSSWORD euphemism. Cute! Quick, fetch the Calvary Cavalry!
I had to resort to the Urban Dirctionary (Careful what you ask for…) to get a match between "GOTCHA!" and "PSYCH!". A 2004 definition uses "psych!" at the end of a sentence as meaning "Fooled you!"
I believe "LET'S" is 2 words, not 1 word, as clued.
I call my wife, WIFE, or simply W., in texts/emails. No gloopy stuff, thanks.
Why the question mark for fit? Fit as a fiddle is a pretty common expression.
PK:
Good for you! My pet name is and will also remain secret.
Below is a great photo of our familiar moon superimposed with Jupiter and its four biggest moons originally discovered by one of my heroes, Galileo. (Double click on the photo to enlarge it.)
When Galileo first used a telescope to look at Jupiter, he could see the moons changing position as they orbited around the mother planet. He reasoned correctly that since those moons orbited Jupiter, that not everything went around the earth (as the Church insisted). So that it was reasonable to hypothesize that the earth orbited the sun rather than the reverse. He got in big trouble with the Pope etal. and was confined to house arrest.
MOONS
Enjoyed this Friday-level challenge from Tom and Marcia. My pleasure came from being on the same wavelength as the creators. Normally, such a tough pzl might have required two or more lookups, but I knew I was tuned in when I cracked the second clue (5A) without blinking, moving intuitively from "Shade" to NUANCE.
Then, before continuing, I used the "N" at 5D to give me NCR, a wrong answer but close enough to NEC to give me a useful dose of confidence. (This slip offered an insight into how our brains solve these things. We just need enough success to stay in the zone, to keep on a roll.) From there to the first long fill--HIPPOCAMPUS--was a quick series of short adjustments.
SWAN LAKE quickly gave way to SWAN DIVE, and the clever theme became clear. The only lookup I used (but hardly needed) was to check the order of bible books, to choose between EZRA and ESTH. Pretty good for me on a Friday... Ta-DAH!
Like Lucina and Misty, I was thrown by MARE, although perps gave me no choice but to leave it alone. In the back of my mind I was dimly aware of the Latin/Italian titles for the moon's "seas," but expected some hint of a non-English answer in the cluing. "Galileo's moon observation" would have done it, or even a narrowing reference to the year 1610....
CED @11:57
Thanks for mentioning THAT "matrix clip" posted yesterday by Anon-T.
I went back and watched it ... and couldn't agree more, while enjoying a great laugh.
Irish Miss @10:04
It is always Happy Hour at Villa Incognito.
And if a visitor isn't "Happy" ... they would be asked to leave.
GEEZ ... I think I walked to far on the beach ... I believe I'm quite sunburned ...
Cheers!
BillG @ 11:44 AM: Actually I am in Central PA and have a beach house in Ocean City. It snowed here (PA) and in OC this morning. According to the Weather Channel, Salisbury MD had about 4 inches of snow this morning and the beach had over an inch of the white stuff but it's melted now. I check webcams in OC to see what it's doing. I spent my summers during my college years in Ocean City, NJ working and also trying to meet the fairer sex. Like you said, got a suntan.
I like your Moon pix.
CanadianEH @ 1:11 PM: You're right, ENYA is another one of those names that should be put to pasture. Have you noticed that when you see a new unique clue that in short order it is picked up by just about every other constructor and beat to death.
CED @ 11:57 AM: Are you anywhere near where the real club (Satin Dolls) is in Lodi, NJ where they filmed the Bada-Bing scenes.
BillG: Queen Anne and Rainier cherries are different strains of cherries, but look a lot alike and taste almost the same. So there's not much difference between them. I like them both.
RE: ADELE being in the grid too often.
I remember when I started "solving" crossword puzzles about 45 years ago.
(My Mother was an avid puzzle solver ... and I thought I would "try" one ...)
So after a few puzzles I asked her:
"Why should I know that Fred Astaire has a sister named ADELE?"
And she informed me that Fred and his sister Adele were a huge Broadway & London stage show success before he made movies with Ginger Rogers.
Therefore, earlier in the week when ADELE was clued as Fred's sister, I thought of my Mom and smiled!
(Though it has been over 19 years, since I was orphaned, I think of my Mom, and Dad, every day!)
oc4beach @3:20
Thanks for the "news" ... I'm sure my friend, who works at the Salisbury Airport, enjoyed the 4 inches of snow.
(GEEZ, I tried to say that with a "straight-face." LOL
Bill G. ... WOW !!! liked the Moon pic!
Hi All!
Thank you Rich! After yesterday's crash & burn I was dreading today but I got'er done. A Friday win for -T and a CSO to TIN!
Thanks too to Tom & Marcia (congrats!) and Lem for kickin' off the Friday party.
NE & N.Cent. was mostly easy. NE was fun, but I was stuck at SWEET__PIa looking for 'not honey' in my tea. When I realized I can't spell CHEaR... V-8.
The middle didn't come easy. I actually had to switch from my preferred 0.5mm pen to a 1.0 pen so I could read my write-overs.
Notable WOs: evil-doers (wa? extra blocks?) b/f I spun around the AXIS. Also, I had H&J in a Corn???, CropB?R b/f V-8.
HIPPO CAMPUS was 1st theme to fall (Tho, Hyacinth made me think of Keeping up Appearances") and I "got it" once I got to MOUSE??? Very cute & well executed theme.
Fav - c/a for 62a. I enjoy puns, er, low humour.
I still didn't "get" 34a 'till I got here. I was all, like, "so a ROCA is a cloak in Portuguese." PSYCH!
I think I'll let Lucina tell me if GEEZ is blaspheme. Really anon, what the Hell ails you? Just a pet PEEVE?
I'll play more later, but it's been a long week. Nap time.
CHEERs, -T
ENYA is still quite relevant. Her latest album, Dark Sky Island, just came out this past November. I'm sure there are some who think all her albums sound the same, but there are nuances in her work. Dark Sky Island has a mixture of songs that would fit in on each of her previous albums (except for maybe that Celts soundtrack, which is unique in its own way). Her music is very soothing and calming, yet moving, and I highly recommend it to you all.
Beth
Since ENYA has two vowels (in a 4-letter answer) ...
and since ADELE has three vowels (in a 5-letter answer) ...
And BOTH are, as you said, "quite relevant" ... they will continue to "pop-up" in our crossword puzzles.
GEEZ ... there are more-important things happening in the world ... than to get panties-in-a-wad over these two answers appearing too often in crossword puzzles.
Oh, well ... time to get ready to "toast-you-ALL" at Sunset ... at 6:34 pm.
Cheers!
PS ... yeah, I think I'll do a few "test-toasts" tonight ... and the "Car-Keys" are now off-limits ... lol
One named singers??? A few more
ELVIS (Costello doesn't count), CHER, MADONNA, STING, SADE, BONO, RINGO
AnonT, I totally overlooked your matrix video yesterday. A big thanks to Tin and CED for reminders today. I went back and watched it just now. Very good stuff! Thanks for the technical insight into a complicated issue. Henceforth, I think you should avoid burying such a good link in your regular posts where it can be accidentally skipped over. Make it stand out in all caps or some such so they'll be harder to overlook. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed it.
Oh my! After reading all the posts I'm ashamed to admit this was just a CW to me. Enjoyable...yes..thanks! And I loved the write up...as always. But even tho I eventually finished, I have nothing really witty to say!
Some days are just .... Ordinary.
AnonT:
In my distant past life I believe I learned that the meaning of words like geez, gosh, etc. which were mentioned before had been corruptions of Jesus Christ, but were not considered blasphemous in themselves. With common usage the meaning behind them is quickly forgotten and likely not thought about by most people. I repeat, most people.
Lucina, I agree. Most of the previously suspicious words have devolved into common usage and lost whatever blasphemous meaning they might have once had. Some people just have to search for something to object to. Pity them!!
Glad the video was enjoy'd by at least the "men" side of the blog. DW said, "What part of you thought that video was appropriate to show a Feminist Studies major?" Er...
Thank you Lucina - I knew someone close to the source could enlighten us.
On Pet names:
Hon - She wants something small - maybe a soda.
Cutie - snuggle time
Funny Man (sarcastic) - I just made a bad pun
Sweetie - wants something that requires driving
Hey, Going to Work All Night? - :-) time
Ass - I spoke reality and said something like "you're a 9 and 5 crazy." Just a 9???
"OK I'm feeling a 7/8 crazy right now..."
DW is headed to Italy (w/o me!) Sunday so tonight is her last chance at a good Fajita (I'm making fillet-mignon tomorrow). Off to the Cantina.
Cheers, -T
Easy for Friday...so that means tomorrow will be a bear.
Bill G - then you probably missed my Keeping up Apperances (<-- LINK) earlier. Do they not show up in blue on your screen? Cheers, -T
No, they show up OK. But sometimes if the link is short, the blue lower-case type is easy to miss. Or sometimes if the link doesn't sweep me off my feet with its name, I think I'll come back to it later after I've read the other golden words you have written. And then, of course, I forget.
Did you like moon and Jupiter?
Geez.. There, I said it again. I'm probably going straight to hell.
Bill G. I did enjoy the Man on the Moon face. The write-up under it made me clean my iPad screen to notice the other satellites - what a cool photo. NASA does so much w/ so little from our 15 APR contributions - God bless 'em.
On going to hell - sometimes, while reading the paper, I pause and think - "what, what? I'm in Hell This is it. What did we do wrong to deserve this?" Then I see my kids & DW and think - "Nope, I'm in Heaven." Cheers, -T
CED - Thanks for warning me that your link was a Pearls b/f Swine comic. I just finished the paper, including the depressing bits, and ended the day with my laugh. Pearls/Swine is my very last read before bed and Pastis didn't disappoint. C, -T
I keep thinking I posted about my wife and her use of Honey and a response to MY at 9:26 to point out that the puzzle has no "J" and is therefore not a pangram.
I swear i did this puzzle somewhere else not to long ago. Anybody else seen it elsewhere?
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