Theme: Fruit B-olio. Scrambles begin the theme entries:
18A. *Unit in a bowl : LUMP OF SUGAR. Plum. It's the UK's Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday today. She takes two lumps of sugar in her tea.
39A. *Website for do-it-yourselfers : WIKIHOW. Kiwi. For a while in the 90's, you couldn't order an entrée in a restaurant without it arriving with a kiwi fruit garnish, or compôte, or drizzle, or glaze, or something. Sanity finally prevailed.
61A. *Fast pace : MILE A MINUTE. Lime. I've got one in my drink as we speak. I just took delivery of a new car, and was startled to discover that it can do rather more than a mile a minute - the top speed is listed as 155 MPH. Yikes.
3D. *Skinflint : CHEAPSKATE. Peach. Seeing the word "peach" always triggers my memory of "Each Peach Pear Plum - Here Comes Tom Thumb" - a book I used to read to my daughter when she was little.
31D. Tasty mélange ... and a literal hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues : MIXED FRUIT. Olio.
Suitably crunchy Thursday from Gerry - I had quite a few blank areas after the first pass, and the theme reveal wasn't helping, but then a couple of missteps corrected (PELTS/PEELS and MOHR/MORA) and things fell into place. I'm always impressed by how constructors come up with the puzzle themes, and how to make the theme work, and this one is a great example of across-and-down organization. Good stuff. Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. "Grey's Anatomy" airer : ABC
4. Skins to remove : PEELS
9. Non-shaving razor name? : OCCAM. I always have to look up what Occam's Razor actually states. I can never remember it. Repeat after me: "Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected."
14. Scrooge word : BAH. Humbug.
15. Brilliance : ÉCLAT. Is a stroke of brilliance a coup d'éclat? *drops mic*
16. San Antonio landmark : ALAMO. The car rental lot at the airport. No?
17. Roger Clemens, for one : ACE
20. Layered rock : SHALE
22. "Sorry, we're full" sign : SRO. Not quite full if there's still Standing Room Only.
23. Test release : BETA. Pre-release phase for software. When I was coding we called the pre-beta a "smoke test" - you'd see if the program caught fire when you ran it.
24. Glimpse : ESPY. If you catch sight of a sports award you might espy an ESPY.
25. Make fun of : JEER AT
27. Sportscast staple : SLO-MO
30. Set boundaries : DELIMIT. This took a while to parse "set" as a verb rather than a noun.
34. Tour de France, e.g. : BIKE RACE
37. Nikon competitor : LEICA
38. LAX datum : ETA. My ETA at LAX on Friday is 10:05PM - end of a long week.
42. Gen-__ : X-ER. "ED" didn't fit, "SCI" was a class I took in England and doesn't exist here (third period on Monday morning, I can still remember the timetable). X-ER finally dawned on me.
43. Don't bother : LET BE. Close enough for a quick link to Sir Paul.
45. Exercise result, all too often : SORENESS
47. Rose support : TRELLIS
50. Made the last move, in a way : MATED. Here's the "Fool's Mate" moves on the chessboard. Checkmate in two moves:
Ooops.
51. Later years : OLD AGE
53. Degs. for writers : MFAS. Masters of Fine Arts.
56. Weakness : FLAW
59. Look over : EYE
60. Sherlock Holmes enemy Colonel Sebastian __ : MORAN. I really wanted MORIARTY but I ran out of squares.
65. One in Paris : UNE
66. Tart : ACERB. Like the lime in my drink.
67. David's role on "Frasier" : NILES. Great character played by David Hyde Pierce.
68. Chemical ending : -IDE
69. Eponymous trailblazer Chisholm : JESSE. The Texas-to-Kansas cattle trail.
70. Davis of "A League of Their Own" : GEENA
71. Thrice, in Rx's : TER. I never remember these. Marti would have eaten this clue for breakfast. I miss her (hugs) on a Thursday.
Down:
1. Belittle : ABASE
2. Family with several notable composers : BACHS
4. Athlete nicknamed "O Rei do Futebol" : PELÉ. "The King of Football" in Portuguese. The Brazilian great. I love the story of the Scottish team (Partick Thistle) coach, who, upon learning that his striker was concussed and "didn't know who his was", responded "Tell him he's Pelé and put him back on".
5. Old French coin : ECU
6. Name of more than 5,000 U.S. streets : ELM. Plenty of Nightmares.
7. Sign of forgetfulness : LAPSE
8. Kept in reserve : STORED
9. Western defense gp. : O.A.S. The Organization of American States. I didn't know this was a thing.
10. Neckwear denoting affiliation : CLUB TIE. Here are three members of the MCC (the founding body of English cricket) at Lord's ground in London, proving that an august organization doesn't necessarily exhibit the best judgment in color coordination. The tie is nicknamed "the scrambled egg".
11. Zoo sight : CAGE
12. Latin 101 word : AMAT. AMA- and wait for the cross.
13. UCLA Bruins coach Jim : MORA
19. A conspicuous position, with "the" : FORE
21. Singer Lovett : LYLE. Could have been golfer Sandy, prone to yelling 19D, and also being Scottish, AKA a ...
25. College athlete : JOCK
26. Completely incorrect : ALL WET. A new one for me. I'd never heard this phrase before.
28. "Big Brother" creator : ORWELL. The wonderful novel "1984", not the execrable reality series.
29. Le cinquième mois : MAI. Portuguese and French today. The fifth month. Janvier, Février, Mars, Avril, MAI. Thank you, high school French classes.
32. Secures, as a victory : ICES
33. Sailors : TARS
34. Corn __ : BELT
35. Road to the Forum : ITER. Seems to be familiar, it's cropped up a few times lately.
36. Mixgetränk cube : EIS. Oh, add German to the language mix today. Mixed Drink. Which is what my lime is in.
40. Strikes may cross it : HOME. C.C. undoubtedly nailed this one. Home Plate. Strike Zone. Baseball. STRIKE THREE! I love dramatic umpires.
41. Man-mouse connector : OR A. Are you?
44. Fall noisemakers : BLOWERS. Fall? Not here in LA - year-round.
46. Verne captain : NEMO.
48. As above, in a footnote : IDEM. Compare and contrast with ibid. Your essays are due by Friday, please.
49. Saw : SAYING
52. Lamp output, if you're lucky : GENIE. "And ix-nay on wishing for more wishes".
54. "Intervention" channel : A AND E
55. Expression for Ozymandias : SNEER. I love this poem. Shelley's masterwork:
56. Key of the first two Brandenburg Concertos: Abbr. : F MAJ - -M-- and wait for the crosses!
57. Bothersome bugs : LICE. Eew.
58. Pub quaffs : ALES
60. Southwestern sight : MESA
62. Fiver : ABE. Mr. Lincoln gets the $5 bill.
63. Suffix with glob : -ULE
64. Half a score : TEN. Or two Abes.
And ..... here's the grid.
Steve
18A. *Unit in a bowl : LUMP OF SUGAR. Plum. It's the UK's Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday today. She takes two lumps of sugar in her tea.
39A. *Website for do-it-yourselfers : WIKIHOW. Kiwi. For a while in the 90's, you couldn't order an entrée in a restaurant without it arriving with a kiwi fruit garnish, or compôte, or drizzle, or glaze, or something. Sanity finally prevailed.
61A. *Fast pace : MILE A MINUTE. Lime. I've got one in my drink as we speak. I just took delivery of a new car, and was startled to discover that it can do rather more than a mile a minute - the top speed is listed as 155 MPH. Yikes.
3D. *Skinflint : CHEAPSKATE. Peach. Seeing the word "peach" always triggers my memory of "Each Peach Pear Plum - Here Comes Tom Thumb" - a book I used to read to my daughter when she was little.
31D. Tasty mélange ... and a literal hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues : MIXED FRUIT. Olio.
Suitably crunchy Thursday from Gerry - I had quite a few blank areas after the first pass, and the theme reveal wasn't helping, but then a couple of missteps corrected (PELTS/PEELS and MOHR/MORA) and things fell into place. I'm always impressed by how constructors come up with the puzzle themes, and how to make the theme work, and this one is a great example of across-and-down organization. Good stuff. Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. "Grey's Anatomy" airer : ABC
4. Skins to remove : PEELS
9. Non-shaving razor name? : OCCAM. I always have to look up what Occam's Razor actually states. I can never remember it. Repeat after me: "Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected."
14. Scrooge word : BAH. Humbug.
15. Brilliance : ÉCLAT. Is a stroke of brilliance a coup d'éclat? *drops mic*
16. San Antonio landmark : ALAMO. The car rental lot at the airport. No?
17. Roger Clemens, for one : ACE
20. Layered rock : SHALE
22. "Sorry, we're full" sign : SRO. Not quite full if there's still Standing Room Only.
23. Test release : BETA. Pre-release phase for software. When I was coding we called the pre-beta a "smoke test" - you'd see if the program caught fire when you ran it.
24. Glimpse : ESPY. If you catch sight of a sports award you might espy an ESPY.
25. Make fun of : JEER AT
27. Sportscast staple : SLO-MO
30. Set boundaries : DELIMIT. This took a while to parse "set" as a verb rather than a noun.
34. Tour de France, e.g. : BIKE RACE
37. Nikon competitor : LEICA
38. LAX datum : ETA. My ETA at LAX on Friday is 10:05PM - end of a long week.
42. Gen-__ : X-ER. "ED" didn't fit, "SCI" was a class I took in England and doesn't exist here (third period on Monday morning, I can still remember the timetable). X-ER finally dawned on me.
43. Don't bother : LET BE. Close enough for a quick link to Sir Paul.
45. Exercise result, all too often : SORENESS
47. Rose support : TRELLIS
50. Made the last move, in a way : MATED. Here's the "Fool's Mate" moves on the chessboard. Checkmate in two moves:
1. f3 e5
2. g4? Qh4#
Ooops.
53. Degs. for writers : MFAS. Masters of Fine Arts.
56. Weakness : FLAW
59. Look over : EYE
60. Sherlock Holmes enemy Colonel Sebastian __ : MORAN. I really wanted MORIARTY but I ran out of squares.
65. One in Paris : UNE
66. Tart : ACERB. Like the lime in my drink.
67. David's role on "Frasier" : NILES. Great character played by David Hyde Pierce.
68. Chemical ending : -IDE
69. Eponymous trailblazer Chisholm : JESSE. The Texas-to-Kansas cattle trail.
70. Davis of "A League of Their Own" : GEENA
71. Thrice, in Rx's : TER. I never remember these. Marti would have eaten this clue for breakfast. I miss her (hugs) on a Thursday.
Down:
1. Belittle : ABASE
2. Family with several notable composers : BACHS
4. Athlete nicknamed "O Rei do Futebol" : PELÉ. "The King of Football" in Portuguese. The Brazilian great. I love the story of the Scottish team (Partick Thistle) coach, who, upon learning that his striker was concussed and "didn't know who his was", responded "Tell him he's Pelé and put him back on".
5. Old French coin : ECU
6. Name of more than 5,000 U.S. streets : ELM. Plenty of Nightmares.
7. Sign of forgetfulness : LAPSE
8. Kept in reserve : STORED
9. Western defense gp. : O.A.S. The Organization of American States. I didn't know this was a thing.
10. Neckwear denoting affiliation : CLUB TIE. Here are three members of the MCC (the founding body of English cricket) at Lord's ground in London, proving that an august organization doesn't necessarily exhibit the best judgment in color coordination. The tie is nicknamed "the scrambled egg".
11. Zoo sight : CAGE
12. Latin 101 word : AMAT. AMA- and wait for the cross.
13. UCLA Bruins coach Jim : MORA
19. A conspicuous position, with "the" : FORE
21. Singer Lovett : LYLE. Could have been golfer Sandy, prone to yelling 19D, and also being Scottish, AKA a ...
25. College athlete : JOCK
26. Completely incorrect : ALL WET. A new one for me. I'd never heard this phrase before.
28. "Big Brother" creator : ORWELL. The wonderful novel "1984", not the execrable reality series.
29. Le cinquième mois : MAI. Portuguese and French today. The fifth month. Janvier, Février, Mars, Avril, MAI. Thank you, high school French classes.
32. Secures, as a victory : ICES
33. Sailors : TARS
34. Corn __ : BELT
35. Road to the Forum : ITER. Seems to be familiar, it's cropped up a few times lately.
36. Mixgetränk cube : EIS. Oh, add German to the language mix today. Mixed Drink. Which is what my lime is in.
40. Strikes may cross it : HOME. C.C. undoubtedly nailed this one. Home Plate. Strike Zone. Baseball. STRIKE THREE! I love dramatic umpires.
41. Man-mouse connector : OR A. Are you?
44. Fall noisemakers : BLOWERS. Fall? Not here in LA - year-round.
46. Verne captain : NEMO.
48. As above, in a footnote : IDEM. Compare and contrast with ibid. Your essays are due by Friday, please.
49. Saw : SAYING
52. Lamp output, if you're lucky : GENIE. "And ix-nay on wishing for more wishes".
54. "Intervention" channel : A AND E
55. Expression for Ozymandias : SNEER. I love this poem. Shelley's masterwork:
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said—"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . .Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Who said—"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . .Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
56. Key of the first two Brandenburg Concertos: Abbr. : F MAJ - -M-- and wait for the crosses!
57. Bothersome bugs : LICE. Eew.
58. Pub quaffs : ALES
60. Southwestern sight : MESA
62. Fiver : ABE. Mr. Lincoln gets the $5 bill.
63. Suffix with glob : -ULE
64. Half a score : TEN. Or two Abes.
And ..... here's the grid.
Steve
51 comments:
An interesting puzzle that had very few misdirecting clues. I would have done it faster but the print in the newspaper's 34D clue looked like 'Com__' instead of 'Corn__' and after sloppily filling LET ME as an answer and sloppily not reading the ENTIRE clue for 69A, I filled BOONE for the trailblazer. Don't SNEER or JEER AT me or call me a MORON (( MORA (Sr. or Jr.)), MORAN), but blame it to OLD AGE. I'm not an XER ( or a CHEAPSKATE).
Years ago, my Dell computer had Brandenburg Concertos in them, I guess either placed by them or Microsoft in the operating system. ALL WET- Steve, that's an expression used to tell someone that they don't know what they are talking about. It was my favorite clue today.
TVs- It's easy as ABC and we have 'A AND E'.
Frozen water- EIS and ICES
I'm outta here.
Greetings!
Thanks, Gerry and Steve!
Fun puzzle. JESSE and EMAJ were perped. No cheats.
Cheers!
Morning, all!
Definitely on the crunchy side today, and heavy on the obscure proper names. JESSE and MORA were all perps, but I actually remembered MORAN from my days of being a huge fan of anything related to Sherlock Holmes. These days, not so much. I love the recent BBC "Sherlock Holmes" with Benedict Cumberbatch, but I haven't seen a single episode of "Elementary".
I'll always remember, "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!" However, I completely forgot about the SNEER, so that took a lot of perps to get. I had a pet iguana years ago I named Ozymandias (Ozzie, for short) because I thought it was a great name for a baby dragon.
Good morning!
Get the theme? Are you kidding? No, natch. This was a quick solve for a Thursday. Some of those proper names were obscure, but the perps were kind. Thanks, Gerry.
OCCAM's razor -- if you see hoof prints, think horses, not zebras.
ALL WET was a common expression in my ute. Don't hear it much today.
morning,
Big time DNF today. Got the north completed, but the rest of it was a lot of ???????'s. Just not in my wheelhouse today and quickly lost interest.
Oxymandias, Brandenburg Concertos, Mixgetränk, Le cinquième, were a few of the road blocks & perp help was scarce.
Off day, I'll blame it on being a bit under the weather.
Tough offering from Gerry Wildenberg today. With some out of the box thinking I managed most of it and even unscrambled the fruit. But then came the east central section where I would not give up ACES and that held me up for a very long while. Another was WIKIHOW which I finally had to get help on. There is so much of modern culture of which I'm unaware.
Sports references inevitably throw me off my game. That and OLDAGE.
Like Steve I waited for the crosses at AMAT and FMAJ. At 36D I studied mixgetrank cube closely and sussed that it called for EIS which for some reason I remembered.
Thank you, Gerry and Steve. It's a fine way to start the morning.
Have a lovely day, everyone!
Challenging fun today with a few redirects like MOREL before MORAN and PELTS before PEELS. Definitely needed the reveal to get the theme.
Thanks Steve for an entertaining write-up and Gerry for the puzzle!
Slow and challenging with a misstep at IBID/IDEM, but eventually figured out the theme and desnarled the SW corner. Other than LEICA, NEMO, GEENA, NILES and OCCAM, had to guess all names. Well, it felt like a lot of guesses.
Not too difficult in most areas. Most of the answers went in methodically, but the theme sure wasn't obvious. But then I really hit the wall in the SE corner and had more blanks than fills. Finally TER came back to me, which allowed completion and understanding the reveal. Phew.
Thanks for the challenge Gerry and for the writeup while globetrotting Steve.
A LIMEy and a KIWI were arguing one day
About which nation's women had the superior sachet.
New Zealand PEACHEs, England PLUMs,
On that the two agreed as one.
But KIWI preferred plump; to LIMEy, fuzzy was okay!
The skate was unhappy, so he challenged his fate.
Tho a fish, he could fly, thanks to his ray shape.
An adaptable critter,
He next learned to twitter,
To himself a bird, friends named him CHEEP-SKATE!
Department store Santas take kids on their laps,
One was feeling OLD AGE, his memory would LAPSE.
He once went to his store,
But got thrown out the door
When his right hook caused the Easter Bunny to collapse!
(He'd forgotten it was March, not December perhaps.)
{D, C-, C-}
Still agonizing over getting Win10 to work for me, instead of against me, so not in a very poetical mood. :-(
This is the second time I've tried to move from 7 to 10. Last attempt lasted less than a week, but this time I may have burned my bridges.
Owen, I've got W10 on my laptop and it works pretty well. It came with W10, though, so no "upgrade" was involved. My big regret -- I thought 28G was plenty of hard-drive space. Not when the pre-installed stuff uses up 26G. In hindsight, I would also have opted for more memory. W10 is a memory hog. W10 works a lot like W7 -- just slower.
Good Morning, Steve and friends (and happy birthday to the Queen). Getting the MIXED FRUIT helped with the starred clues.
I had the same thought regarding SRO. I was hesitant to write it in because the answer implies there is some room available, just not seating room.
I ESPY with my little EYE.
I am experiencing some SORENESS from my surgery, but expect to be back to the office and work on Monday.
I don't think of myself in my OLD AGE just yet.
I never knew that the Chisholm was named for a JESSE Chisholm.
Keep that CLIB TIE away!!!
LYLE Lovett was once married to Julia Roberts.
My mother used the expression You're ALL WET. Usually said in jest.
Hope all our Houston friends are safe and dry.
QOD: Better to be without logic than without feeling. ~ Charlotte Brontë (Apr. 21, 1816 ~ Mar. 31, 1855)
A very nice Thursday tester with eraser-worthy fill and a needed reveal for a fun theme.
Musings
-Amen to Steve’s summative paragraph
-I wonder if WIKIHOW could have helped fix a leaky sink valve last week
-BAH! I am subbing and in my first class I have a boy who never stands or even acknowledges the daily pledge of allegiance. It’s just not a hill I’m willing to die on.
-wordinasentce.com offered - Ed had to call a locksmith when his attempt to open his car was met without éclat.
-Yankee teammate Jorge Posada says ACE Roger Clemens should never be in the Hall Of Fame because of doping suspicions
-BIKE RACING – Speaking of doping…
-It was SRO when this Winnebago Tribe team played in the state tournament
-SORENESS – Most say No Pain No Gain is a myth, especially in OLD AGE!
-GEENA passed for a baseball player, but this is her real sport
-Those LAPSES seem to occur more and more often
-Most consider keeping some PANZER divisions in reserve was a fatal D-Day mistake for Hitler
-MORA against Huskers last year
-Ozymandias is a favorite of mine as well
D-N-F ... like Hondo, I was not on the constructor's wavelength ...
Also, I refuse to enter a "certain-3-letter-word" ... even in Germany.
Did enjoy the MIXED-FRUIT theme.
Fave was the OCCAM razor, clue and answer.
Cheers!
Good morning everyone.
Theme was not clear but got the theme fill ok. Only one white-out; had fin before ABE.
PELE - The Portuguese phrase and their word for soccer made Pele a solid choice.
MAI - Ditto, Steve, for HS French.
EIS - Easy enough. Pronounced same as 'ice'. I think a German might be more inclined to say Eiswürfel for 'ice cube', But I felt EIS was clued adequately.
Nice informative intro, Steve. Thank you.
Good Morning:
Alas, this was a DNF due to Moran/sneerTER cross. I had TED and although I have read the Ozymandias poem before, I just couldn't come up with the correct answer. That aside, I enjoyed the solve and needed the reveal to suss the theme. I knew our Tin man would rebel against not one but two of that nasty frozen water answers! ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️
Thanks, Gerry, for a "peachy puzzle" and thanks, Steve, for the humorous and helpful expo.
If I don't post in the future, it's because the FBI has arrested me for money laundering, somehow discovered by them finding a shipment at JFK containing $4.1 million dollars with my name on the paperwork. I've been ordered to contact them immediately or risk prosecution. I don't know whether to be more alarmed by the FBI's email or the one from "Apple" stating that someone has hacked my iTunes account and is buying slews of songs! I just can't seem to stay out of trouble! 😈
Have a great day.
Several lightbulb moments today especially when I realized the theme. Thanks Gerry and Steve. Special thanks to Steve for the reference to Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday today. I was reminded of it with OLD AGE but see that you got it included right at the start.
Hand up for Ibid before IDEM, pelts before PEELS and Aces before ICES (changed when I realized we would never have ACE and Aces in the same puzzle). I also tried Canon before LEICA.
Tour de France has had lots of doping allegations similar to the baseball (like Clemons) incidents.
We have a local connection to Tour de France, Steve Bauer who wore yellow jersey many times. Now he runs a company which organizes bike tours both internationally and in Niagara (think vineyards!)
SteveBauer
Good morning all. Thank you Gerry and thank you Steve.
No corner to corner runs today. Oh well. Still fun. Still started in the SE and moved towards the NW. Got the theme answer early, so that helped. Had to wait for crosses in a few places. Solving multiple puzzles daily and gaining makes for easier late week success.
My usage would be inclined towards, "At the FOREfront of...", or occasionally yelling FORE! on the course as my ball leaves the fairway for sights unknown. I've never golfed and had a FORE caddy.
I think this group could come up with a better WIKIHOW article.
Jesse CHISOLM's father was Scottish and his mother was Cherokee. The Tale of the Chisolm Trail: "...the greatest migration of livestock in world history."
WGN interview with Royal correspondent about the Queen's 90th. Made me laugh.
Irish Miss, my Yahoo account spam folder gets four or five emails a week about "Canadian Pharmacy." Apparently I can "...save 80%, right here, right now !"
Interesting that both US and Canada are putting a woman on a new bill. New US twenty to have Harriet Tubman (who has a Canadian and local to me, Niagara connection). Canada has not decided yet which woman will be honoured. Of course, we have always had the Queen, but this will be the first woman other than Elizabeth.
TubmanConnection
I always have to remember TER. In all my professional career, I have never seen TER on a Rx; the accepted abbreviation ON Rx's for three times daily is TID (from the Latin TER in die). But since the clue states "thrice IN Rx's", I suppose it is literally correct.
I love the four generation photo for stamp to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday
RoyalStamp
More photos
Queen90
Interesting that Queen is lunching with US President Obama (& Michelle) tomorrow.
Hi gang -
Totally missed the theme. D'OH"
Had to google MORAN. Do not remember that villain at all.
After that, things came together. Solved in SLO MO, though.
Horrible insomnia last night, 2nd headache of the week today. So, not at my best. Grrrr.
Caught the end of the Tigers game after rehearsal last night. After K-Rod [?] came in to save a 3-0 lead and gave up two home runs, I suspect Brad might have had a sleepless night as well.
Despite all their best efforts, the Tigers can never find a closer.
Cool regards!
JzB
Good puzzle today, but delimit??? That's not delovely, thanks Cole Porter.
Hi everybody. I started OK in the upper-left and then got bogged down in the other places. I eventually prevailed. WEES. Thanks Gerry and Steve.
Yesterday's bike ride carried me past a local Farmer's Market. Some things are so much better there than in the supermarket such as strawberries and tomatoes. With some other things like lettuce, squash, etc., it doesn't seem to make as much difference. I carried home a small back of Roma tomatoes on my bike.
It never struck me that saying that somebody was all wet (all wrong) wasn't a very common place expression but I guess maybe I'm all wet about that opinion...
Gary, I agree with you about the boy who won't salute the flag. I'm as patriotic as the next person but I thing having kids forced to repeat a set of words while standing at attention doesn't really accomplish much. The hassles with the kids and their parents isn't worth it.
Once I learned about Occam's Razor, I've always appreciated it.
CanadianEh!, thanks for your comments on TID vs TER. My first job in HS was clerking in a small town drug store. I had to handle lots of Rx's. The druggist would go the restaurant across the street every morning 9 - 9:30 for coffee. He always told me to fill (but not deliver) any prescriptions which came in while he was out. I'd fill 'em, label 'em, and leave the Rx along with the source pill bottle on the counter so he could verify that I'd dispensed it correctly. I also remember the abbreviation as TID. But I've seen TER so many times in xwords that I thought it was just another example of my faulty memory.
Often used in newspapers and news magazines.
"There is protocol surrounding the office, certainly, but nothing as definitive as, say, what delimits the behavior of British royals." Seattle Times, Mar 12, 2014
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Gerry & Steve!
The north tier was fairly easy and the southern tier was doable. Really struggled in the middle tier.
Wanted SORENEck before SORENESS. Last fill was DELIMIT (not DELIned)/ICED/TARS. DELIMIT is a word? Huh!
No idea of the theme. Had FRUIT early but by the time I got MIXED, I didn't recognize it as a reveal. Duh! I have MIXED feelings on this because of the LAPSEs of OLDAGE. Besides I'm allergic to KIWI. Never heard of WIKIHOW.
MAI? my my... OXYwho?
Agnes: Good grief! Let us know if you need contributions for bail! Not LOL!
Chisholm Trail was a problem for farmers in my old farm area. I was researching in spring 187? newspapers once and came across the statement, "The Texas cattle along the river are beginning to stink." The cattle had been left in the care of a person who lied about owning hay stacks and the animals starved to death. They crowded down into the trees along the river for meager shelter. Since people relied on water from the river, it was a scandalous problem.
I forgot SNEER is actually a word in the poem. But I filled it on the first go because it certainly expresses the essential Ozymandiac "attitude." This powerful sonnet is a late entry in the same tradition that caused ancient Rome to position a lowly servant next to each powerful statesman who was granted the privilege of riding a chariot in triumph through the city streets. While high officials and thousands of citizens cheered the honoree, the servant would repeatedly whisper in his ear, “Respice post te! Hominem te esse memento! Memento mori!”-- meaning “Look behind you! Remember that you're just a man! Remember you'll die!”
This was a great pzl from Gerry Wildenberg, the kind I didn't think I could complete w/o help, but ended up with a fine finish. It took an unusual number of WAGs to get me through. The toughest, and last to fall, was the NE corner. I don't know many coach's names. But I was happy to land with OCCAM's razor.
I always enjoy being reminded of that wise rule, and I appreciate and thank you, Steve, for printing it in full!
Well, it was bad enough that I had to cheat to finish this Thursday, but in the end I still goofed up because I figured it was BEST and MORT rather than BETA and MORA. Darn! At least I'm not the only one who thought this was a bit of a toughie. But I liked the MIXED FRUIT theme, and actually figured out the reveal when I noticed that all the starred clues had fruit names in them. So, okay, many thanks, Gerry, and you too, Splynter, for an entertaining expo.
"Mixgetraenk cube" is some clue, I have to say.
My goodness, those money scams are a pain, aren't they? And it's so sad that some people still fall for them.
Also, thanks, everybody, for warning me about Windows 10. I get a notice every few days that I should try it, and would have a much harder time resisting if I didn't hear about all the complications it can cause. I don't need it, and so won't get it.
Have a great day, everybody!
Had to understand Portuguese, French, and German to do this one. Had Canon before LEICA. Didn't know Mr. Chisholm's first name but did know the alternate spelling of William of Ockham's home town.
I see where Prince has just died at age 57. He was never one of my musical icons but maybe that's just me being out-of-touch or ALL WET. Anyway, RIP.
RIP Prince.
Cool, creative, fun puzzle.
Not so fun...
"I met this nice gal, CELIA"
"Do you LEICA?"
"Yeah, I LEICA a lot"
"What's her name?"
"ALICE"
Trivia- The school song of the Arkansas Razorbacks is "OCCAM All Ye Faithful"
I fell in a pool. Now my WALLET is ALL WET.
Sorry guys, I just can't help myself
It's ok, Jerome, and we know after all that laughter is the best medicine! Thank you.
d-otto @12:26. You were the original pharmacy technician. LOL! Glad the Rxs were being checked. Thanks for the story.
Hi everyone!
I had a tougher time than usual for a Thursday, but it may just be fatigue getting the best of me. I happily filled in TID and refused to change it. 15 years working with veterinarians and now nursing school and I have never heard or seen TER. They are teaching everyone to write everything out now in an effort to decrease the amount of medication errors. I imagine in fifty years no one will know TID either.
I was watching the Dodger game today and there was a six minute review trying to decide if Kershaw's slide beat the throw HOME. We lost that call. But he sure can pitch!!
RIP Prince...I can't pick a favorite song because there are at least 10 that I absolutely love...even the Minnesota Twins are saddened by the loss, they tweeted that it was only fitting that it's raining in Minneapolis today.
I keep forgetting to mention that I did the big switch to Windows 10 (from W8) and I didn't have any problems whatsoever. Everything transferred just fine. I don't like Cortana - she responds when a dog barks but not when I want her to.
Have a great day!
t.
RIP Prince. A true artist. A man who could write his own music. Perform all the instrumentation. Sing and produce it also. Was a mentor to many others and a vehicle for giving access to the industry for many emerging artists. His live shows were mesmerizing if you were ever lucky enough to see him as I was in 1983 at a relatively small venue. It's sad he is gone. I had hoped to see him entertain me once more before he retired to his very personal life just down the road from me. Did you know he had a song titled PEACH?
Totally mystified by the puzzle today, I was not only off the constructors
wavelength, I was completely out of tune...
36D EIS???(What?)
55D oxyWhosawhatz?
(& even) 43A don't bother,=let be. Really screwed me up as always being courteous
i had let me...
Oh well, it is puzzles like this that make me want to join Tinbeni for a mixed fruit dinner.
Anywho, I resisted posting before completing the puzzle,(who am I kidding, this wasn't a DNF, it was a throw in the towel...)
which left me with a bizarre compilation of things I wanted to share:
10 minutes of oddly satisfying stuff...
Words we invented by getting them wrong. Figures it started with French...
CC! This link is for you!
Have an Avocado on toast with red pepper flake whenever you want!
Musings 2
-I’ll make $405 this week for sitting at a desk watching NETFLIX surrounded by teenagers. I think I’d rather actually teach something, but “Be careful what you wish for!”
-I agree Bill. I’ve watched a countless number of kids recite that pledge with all the enthusiasm and understanding of a Daschund. But try to stop having the kids recite it and …
-Same goes for the fine upstanding people reciting church creeds and violate all those tenets once they are out the door.
-Irish, I had no idea you were capable of such chicanery! ☺
-Lucina, I loved those Crossword solving hints. I don’t use any of ‘em! The puzzle didn’t look that tough either.
-Jazz, your Tigers are in KC tonight. Are you watching?
-Dave, my wine-loving daughter got a kick out of your fruit salad recipe!
Successful finish, but unenjoyable.
I have an idea, why not just clue the whole puzzle in various foreign languages?
The foreign language clue is the easy out for lazy constructor's IMHO.
*Constructors. Plenty of room for lazy grammarians though.
Hi:
This is Gerry Wildenberg, today's composer and I am grateful to the commentators' many nice remarks.
I want to give Rich Norris the credit for WIKIHOW. He suggested it in response to a previous version.
I wanted to avoid the foreign word definition of EIS and originally I had: ___ for Elephant. But many of the clues are mine or minor rewordings.
E is for Elephant?
Thank goodness for Rich...
(but it would be the one clue on my wavelength...)
:)
Probably too late for this post, but just got home from a flight that I used to work on today's puzzle. Although I did not finish ... for one I had pelts for peels ... I really liked the theme and clues. I'm here now fishing for an answer to why the clue SAW equates to the answer SAYING? I figured that was the answer, but had no idea why and then came here to find I was right, but alas the write-up did not address this clue. Must be a no brainer.
Can't wait to tell my wife about the OCCAM razor clue. She's such a physics nut ... and loved Contact.
Haha, warum sollte jemand ein Problem über das Mixgetränk Ahnung haben?
An old saw is an adage or saying.
-Hebow44, Here are some old SAWS
Thanks Anon & Gary. But in my defense the clue was SAW not OLD SAW. Does it make a difference? No need to reply.
The Cubs are playing the Reds and won 16-0. Cubs pitcher Jake Arietta just threw a NO NO. It's like a perfect game in that it's NO HIT for the Reds. No problem with that clue from the other day. We have plenty of deceptive clues.
Congratulations to Jake Arietta.
Had to go back through the puzzle to where all the foreign words were. EIS was easy to suss, but would've perped in anyway. Guess the clue might have been made Monday / Tuesday level with a clue like "Sue Grafton's ___ For Evidence."
MAI perped in, but might have got it anyway due to the cinq. The first 5 numbers in French and Spanish are so close to one another. UNE was easy, and SNEER was easily seen with S-EER in place. Didn't need to know who it was or that it was in a poem.
Latin 101 word pretty much tells you it's going to be crossword friendly, so AMA and wait if you need to, but all four letters perped in. Like OCCAM's Razor, just don't make it harder than it is.
Hi All!
Crunchy for me too. I was stuck for a while and finally looked up the coach at 13d to get a move-on. That didn't help until much later.
Thank you for the FRUIT-y pzl Gerry and for swinging by the corner. It took me trying to suss 31d to see the theme. I kept looking for a connection between LUMP, MILE, and WIKI. Not until I went from fIXED F-something to MIXED FRUIT(?) did the penny drop. BTW, MIL said it was easy - I SNEER in her general direction... :-)
Thanks Steve for your LIME-y* writeup. Also for pointing out 3d was part of the theme. How many drinks did you have your LIME in? :-)
WOs: Hand-up, LETmE and Ibid (never heard of IDEM) and JokeAT which gave me STOcks and had me confused what else 22a could be other than SRO.
ESPs: all the non-English save UNE; that UNE.
NNTM (notable news to me): CLUB TIE is a thing and you call a fiver an ABE. I knew about Benjamin or Bennie for a C-Note so I guess it makes sense.
Fav: c/a for 9a. OCCOM's Razor is invaluable in sleuthing hack-attempts.
Runner up: ORWELL. Personally, I'm more a fan of Animal Farm over 1984.
Other fun connections: HOME park, MINUTE Maid, was oft SRO when our ACE Clemens ICEd games in '04 & '05. Later we learned about the, er, LIME juice.**
Hebow44 - think OLD Saw and OLD SAYING; so a SAW is a SAYING.
OKL - IMHO, Windows 10 is not fit for BETA. Wait for Service Pack 3 or so (or whatever MS does now).
CED - I'da gotten here earlier if that video wasn't so satisfying. Thanks
IM - You're supposed to smuggle the drugs in and the money out...
RIP Prince. I wasn't a big fan but he was a talented artist and down-to-earth. When my CHI brother was stationed in Belgium, he'd go to dive music clubs. One night Prince showed up and played a short-set to a crowd of about 50 patrons. That's cool.
Cheers, -T
* The Internet assures me that's not an insult.
** Funny thing: shortly after Minute Maid opened, Milo Hamilton nicknamed it the Juice Box. How right he was...
Steve - thanks for being such a tool. I guess you've never had autocorrect do something unexpected.
But again, thanks. I love how people reveal their character.
aPVX - Chill. Steve was cracking wise. It's a joke. He may be a LIME-y but he's not an arse. Cheers, -T
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