Title: YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND
Today we have the pleasure of seeing our Grand Dame C.C. collaborate with yet another member of our puzzling community - Tony Caruso, better known here as Anon-T. The result is a very enjoyable Wednesday exercise. This puzzle is the fourth puzzle in a row that I have blogged where showing the grid first better reveals the clever gimmick - (PTA MEETING, WACKY WORDY and WHITE CAP). Tony and C.C. employed an equally clever device, as you can see, where they have inserted the word STEP in a upward orientation in four vertical phrases which yields the REVEAL
66. Rise to the challenge ... and a hint to a hidden word in 5-, 10-, 25- and 28-Down : STEP UP
Two years ago an EF-4 tornado decimated the small town of Pilger, Nebraska and took the life of a golfing buddy of mine. Fifty Husker athletes from all sports did STEP UP, boarded a bus and helped get the town on the road to recovery. Here you see them carrying veteran's flags they recovered from the collapsed city hall building to the delight of the entire town.
Theme Fills:
5. Armstrong improvisation : TRUMPET SOLO
10. Stop on a redecorating spree : CARPET STORE - a rather famous CARPET
28. Nominally sovereign country : PUPPET STATE - The Russians came and stayed for decades
Across
1. Sharp as a tack : SMART
6. Fave texting pals : BFFS - So ubiquitous now, it needs no explanation
10. "2 Broke Girls" network : CBS - I tried it for 15 minutes and couldn't discern one scintilla of wit over and above their string of double entendres, sex jokes and sarcasm
13. Chain known for fresh-baked bread : PANERA - Their Frontega Chicken Panini!
15. Count (on) : RELY - They, of course, will STEP UP for you
16. "Blessed __ the meek ... " : ARE - Blessed but sometimes taken advantage of
17. Imaginative : ARTFUL
18. Lacking scents : ODOR FREE - Now about your breath...
20. "My parents are gonna kill me!" : I' M TOAST
22. Page with views : OP-ED
23. Cough syrup meas. : TSP
26. Cowpoke's pal : PARD
27. Like the Flash : SPEEDY
29. Tennis period since 1968 : OPEN ERA - For both pros and amatuers
31. Legendary soul seller : FAUST - We baseball/broadway fans well remember the show where Joe Boyd sold his soul to 36. Buyer of 31-Across' soul : SATAN for one great season as a Washington Senator ballplayer
32. Tag line? : NOT IT - NOT IT! Are so! Am not! Are so!...
33. Woodworking device : CLAMP
35. Fryolator sound : SSS
38. Central parts : GISTS
39. High ball : LOB - Roger Federer returns a LOB with a between-the-leg shot that smacks his opponent in the back.
40. Piece of a pansy : PETAL
42. Pub pint : ALE
43. More than a little plump : OBESE
45. Put a little extra into the part : EMOTE - Exhibit A
46. MapMyWalk statistic : MILES
48. Dilapidated place : RAT TRAP in the 12. Far from posh : SEEDY part of town
50. Vegetable container : PEAPOD - Lots of work to hand-shell a bowl full
52. See 31-Down : EGGS and 31. With 52-Across, jeweled creations made for Russian czars : FABERGE
53. Tolkien creature : ENT
54. Viola's clef : ALTO
55. Italian relative of grits : POLENTA - Spicy rainbow chard with bacon and POLENTA
58. Hard-to-pass drivers : ROAD HOGS
60. Catwoman portrayer Kitt : EARTHA - Pretty easy to pick out of this litter
64. Seafarer : TAR
65. Tropical getaway : ISLE
67. "__ takers?" : ANY
68. Some Fr. martyrs : STES
69. Relaxes : EASES
Down
1. Place for losers? : SPA
2. Scratch or dent : MAR
3. Little six-footer : ANT - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Yup, six of 'em!
6. Far-reaching : BROAD
7. Govt. agents : FEDS
8. Bobbing wreckage : FLOTSAM - Sometimes that FLOTSAM is the result of a horrible event
9. Country W of Iraq : SYR
11. Make more toys? : BREED - Toy poodles for example
14. Wedding site : ALTAR
19. Ones on either side of a "v." : FOES - As in Brown v. The Board of Education
21. Conduits for gods' wisdom : ORACLES
23. South Pacific monarchy : TONGA
24. Ruin : SPOIL
30. Minor peeve : NIT
34. Rock's __ Lobos : LOS - One hit wonders with La Bamba
37. Sacked out : SLEPT
41. CPR provider : EMT - Breathe, Fluffy, breathe!
44. Canopy support : BEDPOST - Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the BEDPOST overnight?
47. Apple MP3 player : IPOD
49. Anne Brontë's "__ Grey" : AGNES
50. Medicare card specification : PART A
51. Big name in online financial services : E-LOAN
52. "It's somebody __ problem" : ELSE'S - If you're not willing to, well, you know...
56. Check out rudely : OGLE
57. Geometric figure : AREA
59. Towel word : HIS
61. Pulls a yard prank on, briefly : TPS - Industrial strength on Ellen with leaf blowers
62. Color nuance : HUE
63. College-level H.S. classes : APS
Now it's your turn to STEP UP to the keyboard and comment on Tony and C.C.'s just-right Wednesday puzzle:
Husker Gary
Notes from C.C.:
1) Fantastic Answer Grid, Gary! You're getting better and better.
1) As Gary mentioned earlier, this is Anon T's debut. Huge congratulations, Tony! So much fun working with him. Tony has one more
puzzle in Rich's queue & one puzzle accepted by the WSJ.
 |
Anon T, Giza, Feb 2014
2)
Happy Birthday to dear Barry G, who joined this blog in 2008 and
rarely misses a day of posting. Barry is one of my trusted test solvers
and his feedback is essential in my development as a
constructor. Barry, you need to send me a new picture. I've been using this one since Joshua was five. How time flies!
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to CC, Tony and Gary!
Cute theme!
No problems. Had to let perps fill in PANERA.
Happy Birthday, Barry!!
Cheers!
Well, this theme surprised me! I thought sure it was based on PET, since that was 30d, and PUPPET REALM didn't have an S to make it plural! Except when I finally got done, 30d was NIT, and REALM was STATE. Also complicating things, I expected 52a to be FABERGE's first name, so had IGOR instead of EGGS. Looking it up afterwards, I see his given names were Peter Carl, 1846–1920,
ReplyDelete{C, C+, C, B-.} [Points docked for vulgarity and politics.]
Childhood games once kept our kids fit.
They would kick the ball, or STEP UP to hit.
Now OBESE boys have man-boobs,
Never in active play moods,
Only skinny kids play tag, declaring, "NO TIT!"
A Parisian EGG, with more ego than most,
A wedding cake ingredient, he expected to boast!
But in lieu an ALTAR trip,
For breakfast he's whisked,
In dismay he cries out, "Sacrebleu, I'M French TOAST!"
When a mage wants a ride, he doesn't call Uber.
Instead to a CARPET STORE he will maneuver.
Where feeling quite smug,
He'll ensorcell a rug,
And if it gets dusty, he'll hover a hoover!
A political candidate, declare those who know,
Is expected to eat local, wherever he'll go.
But will a man who has billions
Feast on hot dogs and chitlins?
Who could imagine that TRUMP ET SO LOW?
Very enjoyable puzzle! I always do the LAT puzzle in paper form and the NYT puzzle on my iPad. I usually favor the LAT puzzle. I'm not sure if the puzzles are better or if I like the newspaper format better.
ReplyDeleteMorning, all (and thanks for the birthday wishes)!
ReplyDeleteAnother delightful puzzle today. Had no idea what the theme was until I got to the reveal, and then it became crystal clear. Absolutely no NITS to pick.
Dang, I can't believe I'm 50... No big celebration plans, but on Saturday we're gonna go to the Capital Grille and eat some really nice steak!
Barry G. enjoy your birthday and the year that follows. Congratulations Tony and C.C. another successful debut. These collaborations all manage to include some sparkly fill like BEDPOST ORACLES FLOTSAM EARTHA ROAD HOGS POLENTA OPEN ERA RATRAP....
ReplyDeleteMarvel comics once had a regular monthly called WHAT IF that explored alternate histories such as What if Gwen Stacy didn't die...anyway...My point is can you imagine the puzzle world if C.C. had not started this blog and all the contributions and puzzles that have come from the Corner? I cannot imagine any blog in any field with more impact.
Thanks
Good morning! And Congrats to Anon-T and C.C.
ReplyDeleteTheme? Of course not. Managed several goofs in today's solve: _R_F__ = CRAFTY not ARTFUL, ODORless, Yer IT, Cores/GISTS. Nicely done, guys.
Cough syrup measure = SLUG chez desperotto.
Eartha Kitt was famous as an actress, singer, comedienne, ad nauseum before the role of Catwoman came her way. Remember her hit record, C'est Si Bon? Her French accent was pretty good, says this non-French-speaking guy from the Midwest.
Nice shoutout to Irish Miss at 49d.
Barry, Happy Birthday, young man!
When I first saw this movie I wondered why "cematary" was misspelled. As the movie unfolds you learn the cematary was started by children whose pets were killed on the busy road. They put up the sign and misspelled Pet Sematary.
ReplyDeleteHusker: Great Job! Your write-up's ARE very informative.
ReplyDeleteAnon T (Tony) & C.C. Thank you for a FUN Wednesday level puzzle.
Really enjoyed the STEP-UP theme.
OK, I had two major write-overs ...
1) Odorless before ODORFREE
2) Plane was my woodworking device before CLAMP appeared (Thanks ORACLES you gave me the C).
Fave today was the cluing and answer for "I'M TOAST".
I will be "Toasting" at Sunset.
Cheers!
Quest for Anonymity:
ReplyDeleteToday, as you see
The Quest for Anonymity
Eluded me
To be cool
Like Argyle, JzB, Steve, and HG
A published puzzle
Out'd thee
I'm Tony. Thank you C.C.!
To be honest, C.C. did the heavy lifting. She's fun, kind, and honest when cruft is, well, cruft.
I had a kernel of an idea, just a nib;
C.C. refined it and returned a grid
I clued the best I could
Many C.C. re-do'ed
Rich, nor Patti
Returned a grid wouldn't
They redid some clues to make them gooder'ent
But, hey
We're published today
I'm exuberant!
One check off the bucket list! Thank you so much C.C. It's a hoot working with you and I learned a lot too.
More nibs are in the hopper
Some C.C. said are non-starter
I've got more puzzle ideas with little time to refine
Does this poem even rhyme
Or.... have meter?
{B+, C-, D--, and a 0.0 Mr. Blutouski }. Apologies to OKL (and everyone else). Did I mention I'm from Volgon?
Thanks to all the regulars for being nice to a newbie and letting me play in your sandbox. Special thanks to OMK for the moniker Anonymous -T.
I'll play later. Cheers, -Tony
Creative puzzle - WEES about ODORLESS first! I also didn't get the theme until the reveal - though the theme answers filled easily I was excited to see what it was since the vertical theme puzzle are usually very creative. And this one didn't disappoint!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Tony and CC!
Happy birthday, Barry!
Thanks HG!
Good morning all. Congrats to Tony ! Happy Birthday Barry !
ReplyDeleteI found this to be a really ODOR FREE puzzle, and then an ARTFUL review by three really SMART people. That's my OP ED.
I'll check back in later. Busy morning.
Bob, it's spelled cemetery, all E's.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun today! Thanks Tony, C.C. & Husker Gary. Congrats on your debut AnonT.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Barry G.
Great work today OwenKL.
Hand up for Odorless before ODORFREE. My woodworking device was a Lathe before a CLAMP. Divided the words at the wrong spot for 32A and did not understand the answer until I arrived here. LOL!
I'm not familiar with PANERA and was stumped by ANT so a DNF.
A more accurate measure for cough syrup is MLS (5 mls=1 tsp) because household teaspoons vary in size.
OPEN ERA and LOB reminded me that we are hoping for good results from Canadian Milos Raonic at Wimbledon.
Did anyone else notice that 28D PUPPET STATE almost included the whole theme STEP UP!
Enjoy this beautiful day!
I was pleasantly surprised to see another blog collaboration this morning when I printed out the puzzle. Congratulations on your debut Tony, and well done. Thank you Gary and C.C. as well.
ReplyDeleteThe Odorless gaffe caused me a long delay, and I also toyed with "art" in lieu of "are". So that corner was tough. Everything else was largely problem free, but it took some time. Wednesday, maybe even Thursday level. Needed the reveal to get the theme, but it was pretty obvious with that tell.
Also congratulations on another puzzle yesterday, Jason.
Happy Birthday to Barry, and to C.C. as well.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to see another Cornerite's name next to CC's. This was a fun solve with a theme that remained hidden until the reveal. Nice CSO to me, although I'm not familiar with that novel.
Congrats, Tony, and will look forward to the next one and thanks, CC, for being such a marvelous mentor and creative constructor! Thanks, HG, for the informative and entertaining expo!
Happy Birthday, Barry, hope it's a fun day. I'd wager that the majority of your blog buddies would like to be celebrating their 50th! 🎂 🎁 🎊
I started watching "Brooklyn" last night but fell asleep early into the movie so I'll have to start over.
Have a great day.
DO, did you ever get the baggage credit resolved?
Congratulations, Tony!! So, you're not just a good cook, but a SMART one with ARTistry. I'm impressed. And kudos again to C.C. for encouraging and assisting yet another prodigy.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this and particularly like the upwardly mobile theme. Believe me, I was shocked when first seeing PETSEMATARY on a book cover and since I'm an avowed non Stephen King fan never read it. Thank you for the synopsis, Bob Niles.
The clue for ANTS was my fav today followed by PEAPOD.
I saw that shoutout to AGNES.
Happy birthday, Barry, you youngster.
Well done, Gary.
Have a lovely day, today, everyone!
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Barry G. Always enjoy your posts.
Congrats to Anon -T and C.C. on a very nice puzzle.
Good theme, and long downs which I like. Some great cluing - BREED - and words we don't see often - TONGA, POLENTA, FABERGE. Compound words were fun, too. - BED POST, ROAD HOGS.
Kudus to you both.
Gary's tour de force intro was entertaining, too.
IM, yes, the refund showed up on my credit card this morning. So, my trip to Florida (now scheduled for August) will cost almost $300 less than the one I cancelled. Figured it was high time I visit my sister. I think the last time was spring of 2000.
ReplyDeleteAvgJoe -- I think you've missed it by a day.
Nice job, C.C. and Tony. Congrats on your debut, Tony. Easy, smooth solve today and enjoyed the theme, even if I didn't get it until the entire solve!
ReplyDeleteThanks, HG, on the great write-up. Loved the grid you showed with the arrows, and the CPR-giving cat was adorable!
Hi Y'all! Kept seeing PETS in the long-downs so when STEPUP appeared, I saw the PUP and thought that was the theme. Duh! If I'd known Tony was ANON T, I'd have figured it couldn't be that simplistic. Fun puzzle. Congrats Tony & C.C.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Barry! I've got kids older than you, child. But I remember turning 50 which sounded so much older than 49. Freaked me out too. Age is a relative figure.
HG: Thanks, you always STEP UP. That cat CPR is unbelievable.
Owen: speaking of TRUMP, I'm wondering if he would lower himself to move into a rattrap like the white house when it doesn't have gold-plated walls & ceilings like his abode.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Anon-T and C.C. on an interesting puzzle with the right amount of difficulty for a Wednesday. Very imaginative theme that I didn't get until HG 'splained it. I did manage to fill it all in without the theme though.
Like others I stumbled in some of the same places, like ODORLESS before ODORFREE, LATHE before CLAMP, and I needed perp help for OPENERA, ALTO, FAUST and PETSEMATARY.
I'm not a big fan of Steven King novels although I have read a few. As far as I know almost all of his novels could take place in a cemetery.
CanadianEH: I'm not sure where you live in Canada, but there are a few Panera Breads in the Toronto/Hamilton area with the furthest north one being in Barrie, Ont., but none in other parts of Canada as far as I can tell.
Have a great one everybody.
That was an excellent puzzle from CC and my pal, Tony. Super write up, Gary. Thanks to all including Rich who seldom gets a mention.
ReplyDeleteHBD Barry and a great year to follow.
I've been to Panera once for lunch. It may be healthy but it was unappealing to my palate. No more.
Anon-T, congrats on a great debut puzzle and kudos to CC for mentoring yet another newbie. CC, I don't know where you get the time to be so prolific, and the patience to work with so many newcomers. Gary you outdid yourself today. BTW, cute CPR cat.
ReplyDeleteOwen KL I rate your poems today much higher than you do. A's and A-'s.
I thought the theme was going to be PETS which I saw very early on. The reveal showed me I had it backwards.
I knew of King's Pet Cemetery, but for respelling it,PETS helped a lot.
Plenty of Panera stores here.
Happy birthday, Barry and many wishes for a great year.
I am again thinning my paper work. Boooring! I think it multiplies in the night. Thank you all for being a bright spot in my day.
Thanks oc4beach for the info on Panera. Closest would be Oakville or across the river on the American side.
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever puzzle! I loved the fresh fill and clues. ANTS was my favorite, although there were many. Thanks, AnonT and C.C.
ReplyDeleteHG! Your links were great, as always.i always love hearing that trumpet!
I also loved the poems, Owen. No need to discount points. You are always too hard on yourself .
HBD Barry, you little kid, you!
Wow, what a cool puzzle! I was actually excited to see the Tony Caruso byline. Some wonderful fresh fill and terrific cluing. I greatly enjoyed solving this one. Good job, you two! Husker Gary, many thanks for your interesting, insightful, and humorous write-ups.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Barry G. Yes, treat us to a recent photo, please. Call it your birthday present to us :)
Hand up for not being a fan of Stephen King. Hand up for being a big fan of POLENTA.
Does flattening a pansy in a waffle iron count as putting the PETAL to the metal?
Best wishes to you all.
P.S. By the way, I personally don't think the mere mention of a politician's name is "politics," no more than mentioning the name of a religious figure (such as SATAN) is "religion." Just my opinion.
What a delightful debut, Anon T! Thanks, C.C., for mentoring another Cornerite!! H-G, great expo! Of course I didn't even look for a theme until the reveal.
ReplyDeleteI knew Pet Sematary but not how to spell it. Had to wait for perps. I read The Shining and that was it for me. Mr. King is too intense/scary for me.
I haven't read your poems yet, OKL, I'll get to them later. Same with your links, H-G. I'm supposed to be cleaning the sun porch before windows get washed tomorrow. There's a years worth of cobwebs in corners it needs to be vacuumed.
Barry G.: Happy Birthday, young man!
I hope you are all having a good day.
Pat
Kind of like polenta is spoonbread. I am a BIG fan of spoonbread served hot with a bit of butter on top.
ReplyDeleteLate to the game today.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Anon-T! C.C., you are quite the mentor. My favorite: ANTS--Little Six-Footers. A great oxymoron!
Thanks for another great tour, Gary.
Happy Birthday, Barry!
How exciting to see another C.C. plus blogger construction! Congratulations on your debut, Tony! And, Husker Gary, thanks for an exciting set of videos! Loved seeing how the FLASH was SPEEDY, and I still can't believe that cat doing CPR on its inert buddy! Was that for real? (I doubt it). But this all made for a fun morning.
ReplyDeleteI too thought the theme was going to be about PETs before I finally saw those STEPS going up. And how nice to see a shout-out to our Irish Miss!
Have a wonderful birthday, Barry G.!
And have a great Wednesday, everybody!
I enjoyed the puzzle today! Great job, C.C. and Tony.
ReplyDeleteI do have one comment. _Agnes Grey_ is a novel and should be underscored not put in to quotation marks.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Barry. Like others, I would love to be just turning 50. Enjoy.
A tip of the hat, Mr-T. A perfect Wednesday puzzle. I was also impressed by some of the fill. It doesn't get much better than ODOR FREE, I'M TOAST, ROAD HOGS, and RAT TRAP.
ReplyDeleteStephen King has certainly earned a place as a great American writer. Perhaps too many folks blame him for some of the terrible movies based on his books and think the books are probably just as bad. That's like thinking Poe stinks because of an awful Vincent Price flick. I wonder how many people realize "Stand By Me", "The Green Mile", "Misery", and "The Shawshank Redemption" were based on King's writings.
I'm not sure all the PUPPET STATEs looked on themselves that way. The East Germans (DDR) often tried to out-Soviet the Soviets.
ReplyDeleteAh, I remember it well. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent," said Mr. Churchill. Of course I was too young to be aware of his speech at the time, but I certainly came across the results over the years - from my first visit to East Berlin in the pre-Wall days, to having to detour via Friedrichstrasse during the Brr-times, to my last visit with German kids saying, "Die Mauer? Was Mauer?" It may not have been "Iron," but the "Concrete Wall" was fierce and firm enough.
Neat Weds pzl, BTW...
Woohoo Anonymous T!
ReplyDelete(except I am starting to feel I am the only one on this Blog that hasn't collaborated with CC...)
Sorry for being late to the party,
yesterday was a disaster (as in plumbing...)
(& I don't mean mine, the house. so I guess it wasn't a total disaster...)
But the power failure overnight (5th in 2 days) kept me awake to the sound of
chirping smoke detectors, but allowed me to fathom a solution to my plumbing problem.
(German {Grohe} parts & American plumbing suppliers do not communicate very well...)
Fixed the plumbing, started the puzzle, got stuck & took a nap.
(if you can call 4 hours a nap...)
Jeez Anon T! was I puzzled!
Yes, odorless stunk up my NE corner,
but the clue for 19d "foes" was awesome!
1D, place for losers = Spa? Sorry, I just don't associate Spa's with dieting.
Relaxing, yes, dieting, no.
if I had any nits, it would be this clue...
Let me know if I am thinking this wrong...
Still stuck, & puzzled, not knowing why Cemetary wasn't perping
I took another look at the theme, which finally gave me the "S" in Semetary.
(One of those "AHA" moments that make puzzle solving so enjoyable..)
Thank you Anonymous T & CC, you made me forget my problems for longer than most puzzles would...
Owen! A+, A, (little confused on the 3rd one, what is ensorcell?) & definitely an A!
ReplyDeleteHG, Loved the GIFs!
(I might change my Gig to moving pics,
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery..)
30a LOB! I want to make this GIF my screensaver!
( I must have watched that guy walk away from a perfect save a 100 times!)
Cats!, (Don't get me started...)
(Still looking for a GIF of cats Heimliching up a mouse...)
Which brings me to Barry G.
This Blog would not be this Blog without Barry G..
& while I tried to find the perfect cake for your Birthday,
I got stopped cold when I saw this one.
There must be hundreds of Happy Birthday Barry cakes on the internet,
Many beautiful, many so so, most with the wrong year...
But this one just resonated...
(Aw crap! {no pun intended} don't get me wrong)
(Just wanted you to know we care..:)
Re:Stephen King Movies,
most do not transfer from type to screen well without an excellent director.
but don't forget Carrie, & Christine! Both great movies!
I could not watch Pet Semetary (The Movie)
because the writing description of how he loses his son was so descriptive,
I could not possibly go thru that again...
Spoonbread?
(I never heard of Spoonbread, intriguing... )
Most videos were over ten minutes, but I did find this shortened version:
48 Eggs?
A joke for Bill G.
ReplyDeleteA mathematician wanders back home at 3AM,
& proceeds to get an earful from his wife...
"YOUR LATE!
YOU SAID YOU'D BE HOME BY 11:45!"
(& he replies,)
"Actually, I said I would be home by a quarter of 12."
Oh,
ReplyDeleteStill looking for the Cat/Heimlich GIF...
Musings
ReplyDelete-Thanks for the kind words. C.C. has indeed attracted a lovely bunch of coconuts here and it has turned into a second family for me.
-That show about Joe Boyd who sold his soul to SATAN to have one great baseball season!
-Happy Birthday, Barry. 50 is well-ensconced in my rear-view mirror!
-BTW, the baseball last night was horrible but it was great visiting with my girls!
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the feedback and congrats. HG, wonderfully playful writeup; I too like the UP arrows. And, C.C., thanks again. Y'all, she was very patient with my early ideas and she's a grid-wiz.
WOs: Hand up; ODERless at 1st. Also, I put in peT peeve b/f NIT. D'Oh!
Fav: ANT - I'd sell my soul for that clue! I wish it was mine. IIRC, PEAPOD is.
HBD Barry G.!
Don't worry about 50, "A man is only as old as the woman he feels." [Marx]
CED - I can't recall if clue for FOES is mine. I'll claim it and let C.C. correct me :-). Also, thanks for the spooncake vid. I gotta try that.
And thanks to all you SMART Cornerites for my daily learning & playing.
And now for something completely different: Blessed ARE the meek. (@1:48).
Cheers, -T
Owenkl, please explain enscorcell.
ReplyDeleteThat's two oops-days in a row {A,B,C, A+}. C, -T
ReplyDeleteENSORCELL
ReplyDeleteI loved the SO ti Irish Miss....
ReplyDeleteThis was on America's Got Talent last night. I LOVED it! I think I remember it from several years back but no matter. I think I'll watch it still another time. Make sure your sound is on.
ReplyDeleteAGT!
And the hits just keep on coming, as my fav DJ used to say. Congrats Tony.
ReplyDeletePK & Barry: my oldest will be 51 July 4; it does make one stop and reflect. On the other hand, the year I was 50 was one of the best of my life. Enjoy !! It speeds up from here on. :-))
CED@ 4:48:
ReplyDeleteNot to worry! You'll never be the only non-constructor here! If I find time to be creative, it will be knitting! I love the wordplay, and puzzles provide me great pleasure even as I stand in awe of the constructors, but I will only be solving and knitting away! I will remain a member of this esteemed community without ever creating a puzzle!
Madame Defarge- I can't knit... wouldn't even try. It's a talent and an art that's far beyond my ability. Some of us are crafters with material, some with words. It's all a beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteMadame Defarge, you could knit a crossword grid.
ReplyDeleteArgyle- If she offered you one of her sweaters you'd have another knit to pick.
ReplyDelete"Puzzling Thought":
ReplyDeleteI already emailed today's constructor with congrats - and though I'm not a very skilled poet, I have one to honor him for his work today:
Today's puzzle, from our good friend, Minus T,
Was capably gridded, by dear Ms C.C.
He's no longer anonymous;
Next time he'll be autonomous,
As the lone name that we'll see is Caruso, Tony!
Madame Defarge is smiling away here!! You all (That's Midwestern for y'all)have a grand sense of humor in addition to all your eclat!!
ReplyDeleteNow on to Thursday's puzzle, late as I am.
Happy Birthday to Barry G.
ReplyDeleteI use mapmywalk every day. One of my most used iPhone apps . Since 3-14-16 I've ridden 830 miles on my bike.
The Great U R here finally. Got it done in usual Wed time except only started Thur. FABERGÉ EGGS came to me and I rushed out the door with the theme of PETS in my head
ReplyDeleteI didn't like King despite his being a fan. I read Christine and it reminded me of a teen paperback I'd read before
Owen I always give you A's for creativity
Liked all the verse.
I needed the blog to get six footers and FOES.
I'm on Thursday and this was no Thursday
I meant King is a Reasox fan. Smartphone wants to correct me
ReplyDelete