Words: 72 (missing J,K,Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 28
An
enjoyable puzzle from Mrs. Grabowski, though it might have had a few
too many proper names for some - I would have been included, except I
knew enough of them to get a foot hold, and the rest were helped along
nicely by perps. One or two WAGs, and nary a Google search nor
red-letter exposed. Nothing intimidating about the grid, with triple
10- and 9-letter corners, and two more 9-letter entries in the middle
across;
15a. Meteorological record : ALL-TIME LOW - my personal all-time low here on Long Island was going to work overnight at Roadway Express when it was -4° and snowing inside the covered dock
13d. It's beside the point : ONES PLACE - clever; number 'locations' _ _ . _ _
67a. 1998 National Toy Hall of Fame inductee : ERECTOR SET - once I had the "-S-T" at the end, I got it, though I never actually had an Erector Set - it was all Lego when I grew up
35d. Church music source : ORGAN LOFT
ONWARDski~!
ACROSS:
1. Some kids' parties : SLEEPOVERS
- I once had a two-friend sleepover for my B-day in February, about
1980; it snowed, and I was depressed because I figured it was all off,
but the moms of the two kids made it to my house ( I'm guessing they
wanted some peace and quiet themselves in their houses~!)
11. Tag word : FROM
16. Driving area : LANE - I suppose that's how you'd describe it....
17. Can't imagine : HAVE NO IDEA
18. Available : OPEN - tried FREE, had one "E" correct
19. Longtime Parlophone record label owner : EMI - RCA, RKO~?; I waited
20. Edge : HONE - think verb, and it works
21. Document preparer : TYPIST
23. Roundup line : LASSO - good guess; could have been RIATA
25. Chicago mayor after Richard : RAHM
27. Start to cure? : EPI - epicure
28. Minnesota's St. __ College : OLAF - close by, C.C.~? (From C.C.: About an hour's away from our home.)
31. "The Munsters" actress Yvonne : DE CARLO - I thought it was spelled with an "I"; her Wiki; had it been clued with a different role, I would not have known.
33. Supplies site : STOREROOM
37. City in southern Egypt : ASWAN - The Nile makes two appearances today
38. Catnip, e.g. : HERB - good WAG for me, but then again....
39. Spam, perhaps : EMAIL - all my SPAM is in email form
41. They sit on pads : MICE - whoops, I had Rice, and well, uh, that is technically correct
42. Flowed furiously : RAGED
44. Tossed out a number : ESTIMATED - hah~! Nailed it
46. High spirits : ELATION
48. Provoke : SPUR
49. __ mother : DEN
50. They might be hard to crack : NUTS - I put in SAFE, tho the pluralizing didn't match
52. Awestruck sort : GAPER
56. Stars home : DALLAS - NHL - hockey. We're closing in on the playoffs
11. Tag word : FROM
16. Driving area : LANE - I suppose that's how you'd describe it....
17. Can't imagine : HAVE NO IDEA
18. Available : OPEN - tried FREE, had one "E" correct
19. Longtime Parlophone record label owner : EMI - RCA, RKO~?; I waited
20. Edge : HONE - think verb, and it works
21. Document preparer : TYPIST
23. Roundup line : LASSO - good guess; could have been RIATA
25. Chicago mayor after Richard : RAHM
27. Start to cure? : EPI - epicure
28. Minnesota's St. __ College : OLAF - close by, C.C.~? (From C.C.: About an hour's away from our home.)
31. "The Munsters" actress Yvonne : DE CARLO - I thought it was spelled with an "I"; her Wiki; had it been clued with a different role, I would not have known.
33. Supplies site : STOREROOM
37. City in southern Egypt : ASWAN - The Nile makes two appearances today
39. Spam, perhaps : EMAIL - all my SPAM is in email form
41. They sit on pads : MICE - whoops, I had Rice, and well, uh, that is technically correct
42. Flowed furiously : RAGED
44. Tossed out a number : ESTIMATED - hah~! Nailed it
46. High spirits : ELATION
48. Provoke : SPUR
49. __ mother : DEN
50. They might be hard to crack : NUTS - I put in SAFE, tho the pluralizing didn't match
52. Awestruck sort : GAPER
56. Stars home : DALLAS - NHL - hockey. We're closing in on the playoffs
58. Caps, say : TOPS
61. Satisfied sigh : AAH - I put in the first "A", then I waited to see if it was AAH or AHH
62. Cooking staple, to Rachael Ray : EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil - learned from crosswords
63. City on the Wabash : TERRE HAUTE
66. Money-raising option, briefly : RE-FI - it is time to refinance my mother's house, and start the process of fixing it up; it's in a bad way
68. Old Atl. crossers : SSTs - you know it's been so long since I've seen this answer in a crossword that I had to look up what it was~? Granted, I was thinking boats, not planes, and I don't get the chance to do many puzzles in the week; editor Rich has probably tried to avoid it. Super-Sonic Transport, like the Concorde
69. Section : DEPARTMENT
DOWN:
1. Saharan region : SAHEL - all perps
2. Wool source : LLAMA - WAG, and it stuck
3. Newsworthy inductee of March 24, 1958 : ELVIS - US Army induction - there's a dedicated Wiki page; before my time, and I am now older than the age at which he died
4. Évry summer : ÉTÉ - Frawnche
5. Elementary camera feature : PINHOLE
6. 1847 work with the chapter "Life at Loohooloo" : OMOO - Once the last "O" appeared, this was crosswordese
7. Marble characteristic : VEIN
8. Tribal leader : ELDER
9. Eggs sometimes served with grits : ROE - didn't know this, but it did fit
10. Wrap up : SWATHE
11. Probably not a really good show : FLOP
12. Joan Rivers' asset : RAPIER WIT
14. Touched on : MENTIONED - it's been "mentioned" that I like legs pics
22. Interactive party song : YMCA - did my fair share of this drunken dance
24. Frozen dessert : SORBET
26. Doesn't turn away : ADMITS - think bouncers
29. Lionel Richie's "You __" : ARE
30. Inflame : FOMENT
32. Capital east of Khartoum : ASMARA - Eritrea
33. Tracks-covering vehicles : SHREDDERS - I understand the need for a little deception on a Saturday, but shredder as a "vehicle" is a bit of a s-t-r-e-t-c-h
34. Reading material? : TEA LEAVES
36. Western alliance: Abbr. : OAS
40. Edge : LIP - dah~! Not RIM
43. Manzo of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" : DINA - no desire to watch
45. It's usually not a pretty picture : MUGSHOT
47. Sent packing : OUSTED
51. __ throat : STREP
53. Breathing spell : PAUSE
54. All gone : EATEN
55. "Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief" speaker : RHETT
57. "The Giver" author Lowry : LOIS - perps
59. Subject of the 2013 documentary "Blackfish" : ORCA - never heard of the film, but the title makes sense, now
60. '80s-'90s tennis star Korda : PETR
64. Poetic preposition : ERE
65. Coat part : ARM
61. Satisfied sigh : AAH - I put in the first "A", then I waited to see if it was AAH or AHH
62. Cooking staple, to Rachael Ray : EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil - learned from crosswords
63. City on the Wabash : TERRE HAUTE
66. Money-raising option, briefly : RE-FI - it is time to refinance my mother's house, and start the process of fixing it up; it's in a bad way
68. Old Atl. crossers : SSTs - you know it's been so long since I've seen this answer in a crossword that I had to look up what it was~? Granted, I was thinking boats, not planes, and I don't get the chance to do many puzzles in the week; editor Rich has probably tried to avoid it. Super-Sonic Transport, like the Concorde
69. Section : DEPARTMENT
DOWN:
1. Saharan region : SAHEL - all perps
2. Wool source : LLAMA - WAG, and it stuck
3. Newsworthy inductee of March 24, 1958 : ELVIS - US Army induction - there's a dedicated Wiki page; before my time, and I am now older than the age at which he died
4. Évry summer : ÉTÉ - Frawnche
5. Elementary camera feature : PINHOLE
6. 1847 work with the chapter "Life at Loohooloo" : OMOO - Once the last "O" appeared, this was crosswordese
7. Marble characteristic : VEIN
9. Eggs sometimes served with grits : ROE - didn't know this, but it did fit
10. Wrap up : SWATHE
11. Probably not a really good show : FLOP
12. Joan Rivers' asset : RAPIER WIT
14. Touched on : MENTIONED - it's been "mentioned" that I like legs pics
it's art....get it~?
24. Frozen dessert : SORBET
26. Doesn't turn away : ADMITS - think bouncers
29. Lionel Richie's "You __" : ARE
30. Inflame : FOMENT
32. Capital east of Khartoum : ASMARA - Eritrea
34. Reading material? : TEA LEAVES
36. Western alliance: Abbr. : OAS
40. Edge : LIP - dah~! Not RIM
43. Manzo of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" : DINA - no desire to watch
45. It's usually not a pretty picture : MUGSHOT
Mr. Larry King, in the year I was born
51. __ throat : STREP
53. Breathing spell : PAUSE
54. All gone : EATEN
55. "Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief" speaker : RHETT
57. "The Giver" author Lowry : LOIS - perps
59. Subject of the 2013 documentary "Blackfish" : ORCA - never heard of the film, but the title makes sense, now
60. '80s-'90s tennis star Korda : PETR
64. Poetic preposition : ERE
65. Coat part : ARM
Splynter
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gail and Splynter!
Great to have a workable Saturday. No cheats, but some things perped. Like SAHEL, DINA.
Roof is being fixed, at great expense. Another #$@%& loan.
Have being suffering with large red ulcerated area on my arm. Dentist said that it is staph. Was able to get
I to see doctor today. (Head of construction took me!)
Harv has been sick with throat/cold bug. Won't go to a doctor.
Have a great weekend!
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteToughie today. Muddled through most of it, but almost lost it in the NW and SW. Finally got things done in the NW after guessing at the SAHEL/EMI cross and imagining that SWATHE might be a thing. Fortunately, I had my son looking over my shoulder to help me get SLEEPOVERS.
The SW was a lot grimmer. I had no idea the Stars were a team, let alone a hockey team from Texas, so that was a bust. And, while I appreciate (in hindsight) the trickiness of the clue for SHREDDERS, the "vehicle" bit totally flummoxed me. Once again, my son helped out by suggesting, with _A__AS in place, that Stars might be a team of some sort in DALLAS. That was enough to get me LOIS, which got me REFI, and all that was left was to grit my teeth and enter SHREDDERS. I agree with Splynter that the clue is a stretch, but I'd probably go a bit further and call it just plain incorrect.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteI was on Gail's wavelength this morning. My first thought was, well, 1a could be SLEEPOVERS, and then that wool source could be LLAMA. And so it went. Only needed Wite-Out to correct FIRE UP to FOMENT. Quicky.
Splynter, I also put in A_H and waited to see if it'd be A or H. As a kid my two favorite xmas presents were an ERECTOR SET and a chemistry set (Oh, you shouldn't boil a liquid in a corked test tube? Who knew? I'll bet those chemical stains are still on the overhead joists in that basement).
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteThis was an inch-by-inch project. Struggled to get a toehold anywhere, even among the three-letter choices. The SW filled in first, but that vehicle connection to Shredders was a cause for pause. Got there eventually, surprised at the TaDa.
Morning, Splynter, so sorry you missed out on Erector sets! Dr. Gilbert invented them early in the century, with a goal of giving kids an inspiring and educational toy. I benefitted from the beat-up postwar sets my older brothers used, mixed with a somewhat incompatible and dumbed-down 60's vintage set my folks got for me. I learned a lot about fundamental machinery from Erector sets, and I'm sorry they have become passé. Dr. Gilbert was evidently concerned about getting young Americans prepared for productive careers; he wrote a series of books about various trades in which boys might take an interest. I found in my grandfather's things a Gilbert book about surveying, which was ultimately added to a local surveyor's book collection.
Just slogged through it. A usual Saturday for me.
ReplyDeleteI HAVE NO IDEA how I finished this puzzle with no mistakes. The NW took most of the time due to the newspaper's typo on 4D. The clue read "...vry summer" instead of the correct "Evry summer" and the ETE was from perps. Initially penciled in RCA instead of EMI before reading the SAHEL clueThe term RAPIER was all crosses, never having heard the term except as a sword but crosses were solid. I liked the MUG SHOT clue and although GAPER was correct, it just doesn't sound like a word that anyone would use.
ReplyDeleteThe SW gave a little trouble as I filled GALAXY instead of DALLAS, wrote OVOO instead of EVOO, and didn't know who LOIS or DINA were. 'Real Housewives of....' is not any show I would care to waste my time watching.
Good writeup Splynter and thanks Gail for the two 'inductees': ELVIS & ERECTOR SET, EVOO & OMOO, and the four African continent mentions: SAHEL, ASMARA, ASWAN, KHARTOUM.
Tough, but doable in normal Saturday time, which is not usually very fast for me.
ReplyDeleteDINA was the only totally unknown, but perpable.
Big Easy, my 4 D was a misprint, too, so I checked it out on Mensa which made it easy.
I read several Lois Lowry books with my young students.
They still sell Erector sets with more interesting gizmos than in our day. Wiki says: Current "Erector" sets are actually "Meccano" sets manufactured by Meccano, France and marketed in the United States as "Erector".
Vehicle was no problem, since I know of at least two meanings other than a means of transport..
-a medium of communication, expression, or display:
The novel is a fitting vehicle for his talents. Language is the vehicle of thought.
-a means of accomplishing a purpose:
College is a vehicle for success.
A shredder is a vehicle or means of covering your tracks or paper trail.
Ferm, please take care of yourself, staph is serious. Bad news about your roof. When you own a house there is always “something.”
Splynter: Nice write-up ... but 'what-the-hell-happened-to-the-gratuitous' "Babe-Photo"?
ReplyDeleteGail: Thank you for a FUN Saturday Theme-less ... that seemed like it was a Thursday difficulty level. JMHO
I don't normally solve on the weekend, but today was my last "Saturday-Off-Day" since I "Un-Retired".
And though I wanted to "sleep-in" (which I did) ... I still awoke at 5:35 am.
Jayce (from a few weeks ago) ... Yeah, I AM a "Morning-Person."
... I can't even get past 6:00 am even when I don't set the Alarm Clock.
... "This Early-Bird is going to GET the worm!" LOL
Fave today, was 45-d, It's usually not a pretty picture, MUGSHOT. Thought Splynt was going to post the 2002 Nick Nolte one.
We're in for some nice Spring-Showers welcoming in Spring over the next few days.
(Yes, I am glad it is NOT the deluge E.Texas and Louisiana received earlier this week. Hope you are "Dry" Hahtoolah!)
Something will happen today at Sunset ... I'll leave you'all to "wonder-what" ...
Cheers!
Thanks Gail and Splynter for another fine Saturday.
ReplyDeleteAs is usual for me, Slow and Steady wins the Saturday race. Once I plug in a few of the easier fills, the longer ones seem to fall into place. Once, I loathed Saturdays, now Friday is my bugbear.
Vehicle is also a means or method. As in: "Writing is one vehicle for personal expression."
Favorite today: TEA LEAVES as reading material.
Have a great day!
Slowly wrestled this one to the ground. Some of my initial wrong answers got me away from actual answers like: DICARLO for DECARLO, CHOIR LOFT FOR ORGAN LOFT, GAZER FOR GAPER, FIRE UP for FOMENT. Waited for perps for TOPS vs HATS, RCA vs EMI.
ReplyDelete"Reading material" was my favorite clue too @Madame Defarge and RAPIER WIT my favorite fill.
Thanks Splynter and Gail!
It's a TOUGH nut to crack, not a hard one.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't the EVOO clue need a "briefly," or "for short" or "abbr."?
ROE served with grits? Maybe to snobs in Charleston, South Carolina; but in de rest of da Souf it's "over easy 'n' grits," "scrambled 'n' grits," "half a hog 'n' grits.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI started off raring to go with sleepovers and lots of short fill but then I tapered off, but finished w/o help in normal Saturday time. Had as is>sold>from and yogurt/sorbet. Threw in Ankara quite confidently until perps uncovered Asmara. (Geography is not one of my strong points.). Fav clue was for mug shot!
Thanks, Gail, before a challenging but enjoyable solve and thanks, Splynter, for the cool write-up.
Ferm, hope you heal quickly; be careful.
We have bright, blue skies, lots of sunshine but brr, is it chilly!!! Oh well, Spring is about to be sprung, so there's that!
Have a great day.
Autocorrect strikes again! For not before!
ReplyDeleteANON @ 9:32, "Rachel Ray" was the give away for EVOO. She lists it that way without a dot in all her recipes. I don't watch her on TV, so the first time I read it in one of her recipes I had to Google it.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:32 - I'm glad you mentioned that. I only know of roe as caviar (which I've never tried), and therefore figure it's an expensive delicacy. Seems odd to pair it up with humble grits. (I loves me some grits! Hold the roe.)
ReplyDeleteThis didn't look promising. The first pass yielded Ete, Epi, EMI, Den, EVOO, Ola_(f or v) and A_h. And none of those seemed certain. But with a lot of wagging, it eventually came together. Complete unknowns were Sahel, Lois, Dina and Petr, but they all perped out to a point where any blanks were inferible. Didn't like the clue for One's Place. Did like seeing YMCA, especially since it solve the dilemma of spelling Rahm correctly. Tough puzzle, but an enjoyable one once completed.
ReplyDeleteIt's a nasty day on the plains. 32f and a west wind of 30 mph. Not pleasant at all.
Sure would like to know the name/location of the church photo in 35d
ReplyDeleteAnon @10:10, I see you agree with Madam De @8:33 and me @8:27. We two posted almost simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteDudley, I was surprised at the combination of roe and grits, too. Then I remembered that we found roe in some of the fish my dad and brothers caught in the lake. That kind of roe would be cheap.
There are numerous recipes for shad roe and grits. I care for neither roe nor grits.
Link Roe and grits.
In the numeral 368.0
ReplyDelete8 is in the ones place, beside the point (or decimal). 6 is in the tens place. 3 is in the hundreds place. I taught this for years in grade school math and again when tutoring.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteJust finished working on this delicious puzzle from Gail. Difficult as many have said but mostly gettable with persistence. Hard to get a foothold but RAHM, ASMARA and DE CARLO helped get the central east going. FIW tho; only error was having TamS instead of TOPS. Sigh.
Favorite clues were those for TEA LEAVES and ONES PLACE.
BZ
There is another definition of vehicle:
ReplyDelete'A thing used to express, embody, or fulfill something.
"I use paint as a vehicle for my ideas"
synonyms: channel, medium, conduit, means, means of expression, agency, agent, instrument, mechanism, organ, apparatus
"a vehicle for the communication of original ideas"
Musings
ReplyDelete-This challenging puzzle fit my Saturday M.O. where I struggled on top finished the entire bottom and then got keywords up top to finish.
-Of course some of the cluing was right on the edge of fiendish, but it’s Saturday
-I can’t remember when my kids quit buying this FROM tag
-Omaha drivers must know I’m from out of town because, unlike them, I signal a LANE change
-That green area indicates OPEN or available
-We HONED not EDGED our nursery knives but we did “put an EDGE on them”
-One look at RAHM’s record. Chicago bloggers?
-Many Lutheran kids in Nebraska trek north to ST OLAF in the fall
-I tossed out a ridiculously high ESTIMATE on a landscaping job I didn’t want to do and, yup, I got it anyway
-I had kids make many PINHOLE CAMERAS out of coffee cans and oatmeal boxes
-ROE seems so elitist and grits so, uh, not
-My tracks-covering Zamboni had too few letters
-I would think the REAL problems of these photogenic HOUSEWIVES might generate very little sympathy
-When STREP hits my daughter’s household, everyone seems to take their turn
-After much public pressure, there was big ORCA news at Sea World this week
Friday was easy, today even easier. I liked the Rhett Butler quote...but I prefer the one that starts,"Frankly my dear..."
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! I'm seldom on Gail's wavelength and wasn't today, but thanks! Good one, Splynter!
ReplyDeleteHad a bad start. We had SLumber parties in my day. SLEEPOVERS was a long time coming. Never having actually read any TEA LEAVES, boo hiss! Everything was a slog today except the SE and NE corners.
I've heard of PIN HOLE cameras, but that didn't leap to mind.
OMOO was a lucky WAG! EVOO I've heard on trailers for her show. RHETT quote, a gimmee! They actually used handkerchiefs in those days.
I've listened to the St. OLAF choir Xmas concert on PBS, so knew this one.
SAHEL - guess HEL is the telling word for such a hot spot. We've been spending entirely too much time in Africa this week to suit me.
My back yard neighbor woke me up at 8 a.m. running a jackhammer for three hours. Too much shrubbery to see what the SAHEL he's doing over there. Someone told me once they had a pool over there. Never seen it. Think maybe he's taking out the concrete apron. He seems to have stopped for lunch. Maybe I can grab a nap. Only three hours of sleep last night. I'm so cranky I can't stand myself.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeletePutting PIPE ORGAN in 35d didn't help me get started there ...
The SE corner fell rather quickly (loved the clue for 45d) but I had to cheat to get a foot hold in the other quadrants. SAHEL was an unknown but looking it up helped me solve the NW. I first put HAVE NO CLUE (which for a crossword puzzle would be a GREAT answer) in 17a, but a few perps eventually changed that answer. My DW told me that DE CARLO was spelled DI CARLO, so SWATHE was a long time coming
Speaking of the Munsters, does anyone else think that Ted Cruz looks exactly like Al Lewis, who played Grandpa?
35-Down church. LINK Hyde Park Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo by Don Chesnut.
ReplyDeleteLewis and Cruz
ReplyDeleteTough but ultimately doable xword for me today too. Silkyish solve. The perps helped me feel pretty confident in my answers, except for the EvoO/LOis crossing. Nearly went with EvoU/LUis there, not being familiar with either reference. Ultimately wagged LOis as a better first name fit for a northern European sounding last name like Lowry.
ReplyDeleteRe shredder, I like Yellowrock's clever explanation better, but take note it is also a type of farm vehicle whose passage would indeed cover the tracks left in a planted field.
Whew, this one took me a while. Dudley said it well: "This was an inch-by-inch project." A fingernailhold here, a toenailhold there. Sometimes if I stopped thinking about it, an answer would come to me out of the blue. For example, ------WIT; after not thinking about it suddenly it came to me. Mt favorite was TEA LEAVES. Did not understand ONESPLACE until coming here. Wanted RODEO for Roundup line, thinking of weed killer. Put NUTS in then took it out, thinking, "Nah, that can't be it, too easy." Of course, NUTS it was.
ReplyDeleteI had an Erector Set when I was a kid. I played with it often and learned a lot. A generation later we bought one for our son; it was vastly inferior and got played with maybe all of two times.
Roe on grits? What a waste of both!
Best wishes to you all.
You may remember we had this roe row before. This picture may help you why shad roe and grits could go together. Picture
ReplyDeleteThis one did me in. After several weeks of feeling cocky, cracking many Friday and Saturday pzls with no (or minimal) cheats, I threw in the towel with the NW corner. I never heard of SAHEL before today--and, given my mood after grudgingly looking on line, still inclined to think Mrs Gabrowski made it up--I could not work the perps to yield anything of value.
ReplyDeleteIn a few areas, mainly the bottom three biggies and the single left-side vertical ORGAN LOFT, I was proud of my intuitions. I also give myself credit for cracking SWATHE after several futile attempts to force a CHE ending.
Ah, well, there's always next Saturday...
Chairman Moe @11:59
ReplyDeleteAl Lewis, as Grandpa on the Munsters, and too many other "Character-Parts" to mention ... had a unique look.
Whereas, Ted Cruz is ... just creepy ... LOL
Funny thing, yesterday's puzzle kicked-my-butt until I wadded-it-up and punted THAT D-N-F across the room.
Today's offering from Gail, with SLEEPOVERS going in immediately at 1-a (and I was "Off-And-Running") makes me think I "Got-Lucky" and was just on the Constructor's Wave-Length.
In all honesty, this may have been my "Fastest Saturday Solve" ... EVER!
And YES ... SAHEL was ALL Perps ... and a Learning Moment.
Cheers!
Easy-peasy Saturday Easy... NOT!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gail for the puzzle and dope-slap. Thanks Splynter for hitting me again - with the answers.
@1a I kept wanting "Expensive." "Dumb-costly" fit. If you've attended any of the kids' parties DW threw you'd know why that jumped to mind.
Started w/ PINHOLE which led to OLAF (thanks Prairie Home Companion), ARE, EMAIL, LIP.
Got FLOP, OPEN, and LANE. RAHM, ELDER. ERE, ERECTOR SET (Thanks Dad!). And then not much else. (Thought about ROOM at 33a but wouldn't commit - same w/ LLAMA).
Cold as hell (or some such) was desired for 15a. Overnight the temp dropped precipitously. Bed at 75F-ish woke to the 50s...
FermatP - please get that checked and make them give you (and take all of it) some serious antibodies.
D-O: LOL "popin' the chemistry-cork." Reminds me of...
Messes I made in the basement. I had a model ship FROM Santa. One boring summer day, lil bro and I decided it would be fun to "burn it asea." We spent the morning gluing it together. We filled the washroom sink, doused the boat w/ lighter fluid and observed it melting/sinking. It was fun until we turned around and saw soot everywhere. Subsequently, we spent the entire afternoon scrubbing. We didn't get "caught" until the weekend when dad opened the door to the coal-chute and saw what we missed. He thought it funny so we mostly spared - just a lecture on fires in the house.
'Course Pop is is the same man that taught us how to punish tomato worms. We'd put the tomato on a post and stick a fire-cracker in the worm's hole. After it was puréed, Pop would say, "That'd send a message to the other worms." Good times.
C. Moe - I'll just go w/ Thumper and say, Al Lewis looks like he's a nice guy ;-)
Cheers, -T
Online Britannica says:
ReplyDeleteSahel, Arabic Sāḥil,
semiarid region of western and north-central Africa extending from Senegal eastward to The Sudan. It forms a transitional zone between the arid Sahara (desert) to the north and the belt of humid savannas to the south. The Sahel stretches from the Atlantic Ocean eastward through northern Senegal, southern Mauritania, the great bend of the Niger River in Mali, Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta), southern Niger, northeastern Nigeria, south-central Chad, and into The Sudan.
The semiarid steppes of the Sahel have natural pasture, with low-growing grass and tall, herbaceous perennials. Other forage for the region’s livestock (camel, pack ox, and grazing cattle and sheep) includes thorny shrubs and acacia and baobab trees.
I thought ONES PLACE for "It's beside the point" was both tricky and clever. I didn't really get it even after crossing letters filled it in. It was the high point in this Saturday grind.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed building with an Erector Set when I was a lad. Tinkertoys too.
PK: We have rules locally about construction noise with different starting times allowed on weekdays and Saturdays. None on Sundays. I don't think a jackhammer at 8am on Saturday is reasonable. Certainly not friendly toward ones neighbors.
I used to love shad roe with scrambled eggs. I haven't had it in years. I don't know where to get it anymore.
I didn't come up with SHREDDER either until the end. This despite the fact that my husband's grain-cutting combine had a SHREDDER on the back which cut up the stalks with a spreader that flung the stuff around over the machine tracks. It often became plugged up which necessitated the operator shutting down the big machine, getting out, and pulling chaff out by hand while getting very dirty.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the answer in the puzzle, I was thinking more of commercial trucks that advertise they will be at a certain parking lot to shred all of a person's unwanted documents.
Just lurking today, I had to drive to Philadelphia & back.
ReplyDeleteNo time to do the puzzle, so I will just add my own silly stuff here...
(Meaning, you can stop reading now...)
Even tho Daughter #3 was accepted to Temple, she wanted to apply to University of the Arts.
All those months of listening to her practice piano, & they didn't even want to hear her play!
They reviewed her hand written compositions against recordings of original music she had written, then asked her to look at a bunch of emoticons. Happy, Sad, etc...
Then they said "write a flute solo to match a chosen emoticon."
Well, I thought, simple! sad = minor chords, happy=major chords.
so what does she pick? Mysterious!
She said it was easy. Even with a 33% acceptance rate, I think she will not be rejected...
PK@2:51 - your last sentence reminds me of Arthur Andersen and the Enron affair. Trucks lined up to behind Allen Center 4 to SHRED... Bad times.
ReplyDeleteThey (Enron) built a gorgeous new building and The Saturn Ring right before these goings on. I worked in the building in the background.
Cheers, -T
Cont...
ReplyDeleteSo we were late. (10 minutes)
Did you know that 401 S.Broad street is downtown Philly Pa.
Did you also know that there is another 401 S. Broad street Philly Pa
listed on GPS's as"metro" that turns out to be 22 miles NW of downtown philly?
(50/50 shot, & my toast always falls butter side down...)
I don't get it! I thought "metro" was short for metropolitan, or closer to downtown!
What gives!
(luckily everyone in Pa seems to drive at 80 on 55mph highways, so I fit right in...)
Anonymous T, I knew there was I reason I liked you!
Many of my model ships bade goodbye via a Viking Funeral...
(a few cars too!)
A few drops of wet model glue set alight will simulate a burning destroyer perfectly,
(alas, the smoke leaves residue on the ceiling...)
(Ask me someday about my home made depth charges in the bathtub!)
But I think Pickles captured the hearts of sons & Granpa's in this offering.
Shredders?? Really. I hope it's last time I come across this Grabowski character.
ReplyDeleteMUG SHOT is excellent fill, but I would have clued it as "What your drivers license photo always looks like"
ReplyDelete"... this Grabowski character." Gail Grabowski is one of the most respected, brilliant, and prolific constructors of all time. You sound like a real thoughtful, fun guy to be around.
With the plentiful BIG fish down here and shrimp for $2.50-$4.00/pound, the fish are filleted ( or is it fileted?) and people eat SHRIMP & GRITS. I find it unreal that people are paying more for crawfish than shrimp around here.
ReplyDeleteRoe???- Thrown back in the water or used as bait in crab nets. I've never heard of anybody in Southeast Louisiana ever eating any fish eggs. SW LA-Cajun country- my friends out there eat everything. Nothing goes to waste.
Ruminations on self-esteem
ReplyDeleteStudies show that U.S. children score low in math and science, but off the charts in self-esteem.
According to one pundit, America ranks “number one in confidence in math skills, even though they suck at it. Yes, we’re number one in thinking we’re number one. And when the numbers don’t validate that confidence, we know who the culprit is: the numbers. So we change them.” An example is the outrageous grade inflation at Yale, where in 2012, 62 percent of all grades at Yale College were an A or A-minus, compared with 10 percent in 1963 and 40 percent in 1974.
Some of this is caused by the times a parent takes the kid’s side over the teacher’s and worshipping at the altar of self-esteem where every kid always gets a trophy.
Bill G - I'm neither an educator nor a parent, but all the same I feel justified in agreeing with you completely.
ReplyDeleteETE made no sense to me even though the French word for "summer" is a tres, tres common fill. Then I saw others pointing out that the LA Times had a typo in the cluing, i.e., "...vry summer."
ReplyDeleteNo way to make sense outta that.
OMOO? I have learned over the years that whenever an obscure four letter novel is needed, it is always OMOO.
Jerome, you seem to sit back and admire your own cleverness waiting for someone to offend you. (Big Easy just commented so there is your muse.) I may just be another rich tourist who loves a high quality glass of red but I'm sure you would enjoy scratching my big shiny black suv.
ReplyDeleteI probably am mistaken but I took Mr. Moody's comment as a 'tongue in cheek' kinda thang. Ymmv
AnonT: I took a bus tour with a guide around Houston just after Enron folded and saw those buildings and what was once Enron field. Very interesting that anything so crooked could get so big. Just after that the CPA niece of a friend couldn't find a job anywhere because she had been let go with the restructuring and downsizing of Arthur Anderson. She ended up flipping hamburgers for awhile. I don't know if she ever got back into accounting.
ReplyDeleteBillG: Your comments on self-esteem and helicopter parents are too true. I have very smart grandchildren. I've just found out that my DIL hovers over two of my grandsons, making sure their homework is done perfectly. My son is afraid they won't know how to work on their own if they go to college. I never helped my kids. They had to sink or swim on their own merits. My husband helped a couple of them with some math a few times, but terminology had changed so since we went to school. DIL is very competitive in every way. I bite my tongue and tread lightly while trying to encourage her to let them do it to save her own sanity.
Yay, Jayhawks!
That was a hard sleep interrupted by Youngest texting me. She took it upon herself to go to a friends house to swim but needed a ride home at 10.
ReplyDeletePK - That's what greed gets us. "Little people" who wasn't even part of it, like your niece, gets the fall-out. I trust she's back CPA-ing again.
Enron Field is now Minute Maid Park. So far Coke has been a good steward of it and their books (disclosure - I have $$ in KO and CCE and a good buddy works high-up for them).
Big E - I thought mudbugs was poor-man's shrimp. Who'd pay more for them than shrimp? Both are tasty tho.
Bill G. I saw said pundit last night. The punch-line was spot on - "and every kid gets a trophy... -wife."
My kids are mostly "free-range." 'Course that bit me in the butt tonight.
Jerome - I couldn't have said it better re: G.G. Though she was above my pay-grade today, I do enjoy her pzls.
And CED - LOL GPS story. That happened to me in Dallas when I needed to be at a testing-center for my PMP. I was sitting in a bad part of town when Siri said "You have arrived." If there was "arriving." my life took a right-turn at Albuquerque. :-)
But your trials over the last week and gluing story deserves at least this Viking Funeral (Brooks 0:45).
Cheers, -T